Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 273

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 273

The morning of the History Server’s first day.
Seo Jun received another briefing on the rules from Ian, the team leader, rather than from his manager.
Special treatment.
It could have been a bad omen, but Seo Jun decided not to worry about it.
“The start time is 2 PM. From 2 to 6, the world will progress for four hours, and then it will stop for one hour.”
The world goes still.
It’s a phrase used often enough.
From 6 to 7 PM, the server literally just halts.
“Then it resumes at 7 PM and continues until 11 PM, at which point the day ends.”
When the tournament was global, they synced to British time, and all participants had to adjust their sleep schedules.
Even now, gathered in one place, the participants from other countries were effectively doing the same thing.
Both scenarios required a change in sleep patterns, though some people really didn’t like being awake at night.
Back then, the Game Company had solved that by inviting such players to Britain.
“An in-game day passes six times faster.”
Four hours, and one full day passes in the game.
Of course, the actual time the participants experience is still four hours. You just need to know that day and night will alternate rapidly.
“And from now on, you can only use Capsules for electronic devices, right? We’ll install a management app on the Capsule to enforce restrictions, of course.”
“Yes, obviously.”
If he’d hated this, he shouldn’t have come.
Everyone knew these restrictions were unavoidable.
“Then in a bit, please return your Mobile Phone, and we ask that you don’t use any other electronic devices. They’ll all be detected anyway if you do.”
“I know. I heard some participants get caught occasionally.”
“Right. But I don’t think you’ll do anything like that.”
“Why not?”
“You’re good enough to win without cheating. Aren’t you?”
“……Well, yes.”
He couldn’t deny it.
Seo Jun asked a question.
“So do you think I’ll be the victor of history?”
“I do root for you. It’s better when our own country’s participants do well, don’t you think?”
Oh.
Seo Jun let out a small exclamation.
He seemed genuinely interested.
“So even team leaders have their own pride contests?”
Pride contests.
That was one of Seo Jun’s favorite elements—the kind of petty rivalry people got into without meaning to. He couldn’t help himself when he saw it.
“Haha, how could there not be? We’re human too. Somehow our pride gets lifted and our shoulders rise without us meaning to.”
“I see. You don’t need to worry anyway—there are plenty of other strong players. Baek Do-yul, for instance.”
“Ah, Baek Do-yul was asking about you, actually. Do you two have some prior connection?”
“We had some contact during the Rios broadcast back then, but nothing since?”
Seo Jun had just said it offhand.
Baek Do-yul was the previous champion, after all.
“Is that so? Well, Baek Do-yul kept asking me what you were doing, how you were preparing, what questions you had. Very thorough.”
A chill ran down Seo Jun’s spine.
Why in the world was that guy…?
He immediately began to think through what he knew about Baek Do-yul’s champion hero.
Was it at complete odds with his own, or did they start near each other?
No. The hero was on the opposite side of the continent—no overlap whatsoever.
He considered whether he might have made an enemy somewhere.
But this didn’t yield any conclusions.
‘I’m not someone who provokes people, but others often take things as provocation.’
Hmm.
Seo Jun nodded to himself and, thinking he should be especially careful if he ran into Baek Do-yul, began to stretch out his body.
He didn’t trust people in general, but this meant being extra careful.
“So about going outside—is it the same as what was said yesterday?”
Staying cooped up in a room is difficult.
Seo Jun could handle it easily enough, but for most people, even being denied a simple walk could damage their mental health.
Ian answered.
“Yes. It’s the same. But there are precautions to keep in mind, as I mentioned yesterday.”
The hotel was completely reserved.
Starting today, there would be no outside tourists.
The Game Company had handled everything—compensating other hotels for the cancellations and all the rest.
That much was easily manageable. Their backing was Microsoft.
“The dining hall, lobby, and so on are all available. But pools, saunas, and such where it’s hard to monitor information exchanges are off-limits. If you’re caught discussing anything related, you’ll be expelled as well.”
“Understood.”
“Hmm, this has never happened before, so I’m not sure how it’ll go.”
“You said you’d prepared in advance, though.”
“We’ve looked into gathering everyone in one place before, going back a long time. Well, from now on, let’s do our best.”

* * *

[Who do you think will be the protagonist?]
==
The protagonist of history!
lol can’t resist this.
==

-Today’s the day finally
-That’s what we always say around this time though
└And predictions are always wrong
-It’s gotta be Bang Ju obviously lol
└The lineup is insane though. No telling what variables could pop up. Even with Bang Ju
└And there’s Baek Do-yul too lol
└Why isn’t Shin Ha-yeon showing up? Scared?
└lol facts
└If she came it’d be a three-way battle, would go crazy

[30 pros! This is actually insane.]
==
Which stream are you all watching?
lololololol
==

-Where are you watching tho
-Official broadcast for each country?

[Everyone check out Bang Ju! He said he’s only broadcasting Bang Ju’s perspective!]
==
???: Ah, the Korean official account offered me commentary, but since I only wanted to watch that person, I turned them down. I’m doing my own stream with just his perspective!
Bang Ju <–this guy seems super smart about gathering viewers lol approved
==

Streamers who requested server relay privileges for the History Server could all watch remotely.
And from this spectator mode, they could switch between any of the fifty champions in real-time, though official broadcasts focused mainly on special moments, and the broadcasts tended to fall into two categories: ones that jumped between heroes, and ones that stuck with a single hero.
Bang Ju, who held a fairly unique position as a commentator for Trabol in Korea, had announced that he would follow Seo Jun.

-Nice!
-Even the spectator brings romance!
-Just watch Bang Ju and you're good lol
-Don't the foreign streamers have people like Bang Ju?
└How could they? They're busy rooting for their own
└Some of the smaller names might just watch Seo Jun
-You gotta attach yourself to a good spectator for this. Bang Ju is pretty solid
-Hearing Bang Ju Bang Ju boom skyrocketing
└Bang Ju coin <–this guy's never crashed even once

Naturally, the reception was positive.
Besides Bang Ju, many Korean streamers said they'd watch Seo Jun.
But if Seo Jun got eliminated early, or if other heroes pushed past him in solving problems, eventually the viewers would leave.

[Summary of each streamer's chosen hero]
[How long will this History Server actually take lol]
[For working viewers who can only catch the endgame and miss the early part…… really tragic lol. As long as it's not me!! Really grateful to be a streamer viewer.]
[So what's Bang Ju actually gonna do]
[Heard he's dumping the character concept and going straight for emperor lolololol]
[Heir to an ancient empire. I shall stand above all!]

In any case, drawing interest from the start was hardly a bad thing.
And this interest wasn't limited to Korea alone.

* * *

[I don't think streamers necessarily need to watch their own country's participants.]
==
So there's no reason to flame streamers for watching that Korean.
==

-Agree. I'm curious too tbh
-Everyone's free to watch whatever
-But I just can't understand why people want to watch that streamer
└Why?
└└There are too many strong competitors. Why skip them to watch Geomsin?
└└└Yon submitted to him. (pic of viking Yon bringing down his axe)
└└└└Fair point

[China doesn't have a single streamer saying they'll watch that guy! Hahahaha!]
==
Hahahaha!
==

-You'd get buried if you did lol
└What's even fun about a Korean?
└└You guys find him fun tho? lololololol
└└└Ha. You'll stop watching him soon anyway. How good can a streamer be, really
└└└└(pic of viking Yon bringing down his axe)
└└└└└lol no more replies? Chinese invasion repelled lol

[The fact that Yon created a whirlwind with his tail was honestly surprising.]
==
That he smashed a punch machine too.
Feats like that in reality would definitely be worth paying attention to.
==

-Nah I'm not watching. Korean streamers' self-promotion is too predictable
└(pic of viking Yon bringing down his axe)
└└Alright, I'll watch
-I admit others are watching, but I've got my own streamer I prefer
-Meaningless. Remember that since all national official broadcasts will show most of it anyway, what matters is doing plays that could appear on those broadcasts

[Soon now!!! The start!!!]

* * *

1:55 PM.
Seo Jun entered the Capsule.
As Ian had explained, inside the Capsule he couldn't run any other game.
All he could do was tap the icon that appeared directly in front of him to connect to a server.
"Playing without a broadcast?"
Though realistically, it was the same as having everyone watch.
Seo Jun started the game.
He didn't need to fill the full four hours, and he could waste time if he wanted, but not a single participant would do that.
The moment he blinked, Seo Jun was standing in darkness.
He could see buildings, but they were all shrouded in shadow, and he could see figures, but they were frozen in place.
In this frozen world, he too could not move.
'Hmm.'
Seo Jun went over the information he'd gathered beforehand.
'Collecting lots of Achievement Points is definitely good.'
Achievement Points were the currency unique to participants within the History Server.
The way to earn them was to complete Quests that appeared based on circumstances.
If he was Unaffiliated, he'd start with some personal problem; if he had an affiliation, orders would come from above.
Whether to do them or not was his choice.
But since Achievement Points could be used to obtain special currency matching the region or faction where the participants were, it was good to do them.
Following Quests was one of the easier ways to get close to the story, but even if he skipped current Quests, new ones would keep being adjusted and appearing based on circumstances, so it was better to aim for currency and move accordingly.
Time passed, and 2 PM arrived. The shadow covering the world began to lift.
The space where Seo Jun stood appeared to be the office of a temple.
The figure sitting before him was of high standing.

[Cardinal Ian]

Kael was the Judge of the Light Order.
The Judge was a hunting dog of the Order that took commands from the Cardinal, but Kael bore the title of Representative of Radiance and was a hero of the age blessed with divine power.
Ian spoke.
"Curious about the prophecy that came down this time?"
Not curious at all.
But Seo Jun could sense how the story would begin.
"No matter how independent and special your position allows you to be, a Judge cannot be told the contents of a prophecy."
Ian continued.
"Unless you make sufficient Contribution Points first."
Contribution Points and prophecy.
These were the first tasks Seo Jun would need to resolve in this History Server.
The background made clear that whatever Contribution Points had been accumulated before were now completely spent.
Seo Jun considered Kael's righteous, steadfast, and rigid nature, began to formulate an answer, then paused to think.
Really, the manner of speech didn't matter much.
So Seo Jun spoke as he usually did.
"So what do you want."
Just slightly disrespectful.
The actual ages of NPCs were rarely what they seemed.
The History Server had begun.

* * *

Meanwhile, Bang Ju, watching Seo Jun's start from outside, offered this commentary:

[Ah! Kael's finally hit his rebellious phase! I'm terrified to see how much worse it'll get!]

-Source material destruction from the start lol
-This is what History Server should be!
-Ah just hurry up and say what you want lol
-Already like this, the future just looks grim lolol
-Just not showing the prophecy and taking the pope's seat lol
-The Order's spring lol

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————