Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 43

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 43

Shin Ha-yeon.
We’d crossed paths before.
Though it wasn’t exactly a pleasant encounter.
‘She must have figured it out.’
In truth, I’d half expected her to catch on.
I just thought the odds of us meeting in reality were slim, so I threw out that provocation anyway.
But then—
“When’s your next physical examination scheduled?”
“Probably the same day next month? The regular checkups happen once a month.”
“Thanks for letting me know.”
If we’re going to run into each other, I’ll just have to avoid it.
“Why do you ask?”
“It’s just… one of those things.”
“I see. But why are you here anyway? I mean, you’re better at the game than we are, sure, but we come for work since we spend so much time in the capsule. You don’t stream that often, do you?”
A streamer is just a civilian.
Why would there be any reason to visit a research institute instead of a hospital?
Lee Dong-soo had asked about that reason earlier, but Oh Ji-hye had cut him off.
“Hmm, I’ll explain later. Let’s grab something to eat first.”
I was hungry.
“Sure. I know a good place nearby—would you mind if I recommended it?”
“Go ahead.”
“See, I’ve come to Korea University a lot because of the research institute. I know all the good restaurants around here… Oh, you went to Korea University, didn’t you?”
The research institute had been built near Korea University.
Lee Dong-soo looked embarrassed, and Seo Jun nodded.
“Haha. But I bet you’ve never been to this place, right?”
“Let me guess—we’re heading to a lamb skewer restaurant?”
“Ah.”

* * *

Seo Jun explained the situation to Lee Dong-soo.
Starting with how his synchronization rate was low, all the way to the fact that he was aiming for Lios, the streamer competition.
“Wow. You’ve got a story like that? Or, well, a goal? I had no idea. That’s crazy. To enter the tournament for sure, you’d need a bigger audience, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So you’re targeting Cooperation for You at this exact time? Man, that’s insane.”
Lee Dong-soo spoke while watching the lamb skewers rotating on the grill as it moved back and forth.
“What are you talking about? Anyway, did you watch yesterday’s stream?”
Seo Jun asked as if surprised.
“Of course. I always catch the replays. I’ve even donated a few times.”
So he had free time on his hands.
And he’s donated?
“What’s your Travel ID?”
Seo Jun became curious about Lee Dong-soo’s activities.
He showed up every morning matching perfectly—surely some ill will should have accumulated by now.
“Um… it’s a secret.”
“I’ll give our room VIP status.”
On Travel, streamers can grant VIP status to select viewers in special cases.
Usually, to avoid the appearance of discriminating among viewers, streamers grant VIP to fellow streamers.
VIPs are unaffected by chat modes (such as slow mode, subscriber-only chat, or follower-only chat) and can chat freely.
And since VIPs appear at the top of the viewer classification during a broadcast, it’s also easier to confirm if they’re watching.
“No, thanks. You’re trying to autopsy me, aren’t you?”
Lee Dong-soo’s eyes narrowed, and Seo Jun felt a pang of disappointment.
Quick instincts.
“How did you know?”
“I don’t fall for tricks easily. Heh. So that’s why you chose Cooperation for You as your second game—because of the Battlefield, right? You’re actually insane.”
Lee Dong-soo pulled out a lamb skewer that was fully cooked and pushed the meat off with his chopsticks.
Seo Jun followed suit and removed his meat.
“Battlefield?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s that?”
“You… don’t know?”
“What is the Battlefield?”
“You don’t know about the Battlefield?”
“No.”
“And you’re playing Cooperation for You?”
Seo Jun calmly continued eating his meat, while Lee Dong-soo’s expression shifted to one of bewilderment before he recalled Seo Jun’s past broadcasts.
Based on what he’d seen so far,
this made perfect sense.
Lee Dong-soo quickly started piecing things together.
“Oh, I see. So you didn’t know. The thing is, starting today, Cooperation for You is opening an event called the Battlefield, and it’s apparently huge.”
“Really?”
“During the time the Battlefield is active, basically all the attention of Cooperation for You players is focused there. Even players of other games pay attention to it.”
“That much?”
“Yeah. It runs for the next three weeks, so during the Battlefield event, whatever you do won’t get much attention. Unless you’re participating in the Battlefield itself.”
I hadn’t known that.
Seo Jun dipped the lamb meat in seasoning sauce and considered.
“So conversely, if I perform well in the Battlefield, attention will concentrate on me?”
“Exactly.”
“So what exactly is this Battlefield?”
“The Battlefield is, to put it simply, a game mode where each faction fights over territory—it’s basically a land-claiming game. When the event period ends, the faction that controls territory with the highest total score wins.”
“Highest score?”
“Right. Not all territories have the same value. Anyway, if I get into the details, it gets complicated. I haven’t really played it properly myself, so I don’t know all that much.”
Seo Jun fell into thought after hearing this.
The Battlefield starting today.
‘Was this why Eve Pyeomun recommended Cooperation for You in the first place?’
The timing was perfect.
If Seo Jun were to participate in the Battlefield.
“Oh, and you can accumulate contribution points in the Battlefield—the top 16 are invited to an official tournament hosted by Movie Soft, so all the attention goes to them.”
“Hmm, top 16…”
Seo Jun sank deeper into thought.
If he didn’t participate in the Battlefield, it would contradict his goal of maximizing viewers before Lios opened.
Based on Lee Dong-soo’s explanation alone, it might’ve been better to find a different game.
But what if he participated and failed to achieve significant results?
It might have been better not to participate at all.
From what he’d heard, it sounded like a short-term, large-scale competitive event, and it seemed like individual players and ranking hierarchies would be intensely competitive, not just between factions.
Considering that his current broadcast concept and greatest asset was his skill, this kind of content that directly ranks individuals was troublesome.
If he was going to do it, he had to be the best.
‘Even just hearing about it, it sounds intense…’
While Seo Jun was deliberating, Lee Dong-soo opened his phone and entered a chat room.

[Bandit King]: Is getting top 16 in the Battlefield that hard?
[Just a Penny]: ㅇㅇ No way. You need a good strategy, but luck matters too, and above all the rankers rig matchmakings ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Namgung House Point Soi]: It’s hard though
[Just a Penny]: Why, you entering the Battlefield too?
[Namgung House Point Soi]: Bandit, join the righteous faction ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Just a Penny]: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Bandit King]: So how do you get into top 16?
[Just a Penny]: Be really good. Honestly, strategy and whatever—that’s all it takes.
[Bandit King]: Got it. Thanks thanks

Lee Dong-soo closed the chat room.
And he thought about it.
Was Seo Jun’s skill at the level of “really good” that Just a Penny had mentioned?
The answer was,
yes.
“With your skills, I think you could manage it?”
After all, this was someone who beat Shin Ha-yeon and showed impossible skill!
When he didn’t know about the synchronization rate issue, he’d seriously considered trying to appeal to the director somehow to recruit him as a prospect.
Though he wasn’t an owner himself.
“You don’t know.”
But Seo Jun’s answer was unexpected.
“If it were pure swordsmanship, maybe. But it’s a game.”
“Oh, I see?”
Seo Jun was absolutely confident that if every game were like a training grounds, he’d never lose even once.
But most games had countless factors beyond pure swordsmanship skill that determined victory, and when people who exploited these to their limits went up against someone like Seo Jun who only had shallow knowledge of them, that gap in swordsmanship skill could be bridged.
The example was right there—Shin Ha-yeon from seven years ago.
‘Though that was fun.’
Of course, he’d never lost.
At least, that’s what he believed.
Anyway! The Battlefield seemed like a hassle.
Maybe it’d be better to find a different game…
“So you’re not going to do it? That’s a shame. It’d probably be fun. I think they gave 30 million won or something to the tournament champion last time.”
…Decision made.
I’d better participate.
There’s no point in avoiding it.
“Let’s finish eating quickly.”
Definitely not because of the prize money.

* * *

-Seo Ha
-Seo Ha
-Teu Ha
-Is this that unknown room?
-Hey yo

The moment Seo Jun started streaming, the viewer count surged past 2,000.
The numbers climbed steadily, and despite the blank screen, countless viewers flooded the chat.
‘The training grounds effect should still be active today.’
Seo Jun waited a moment, then turned on the camera and greeted everyone.
“Hello, everyone.”

-Ha 2
-Seo Ha
-Teu Ha
-Hmm, something feels different?
-Is this real?
-Seems like it
-The streamer’s sitting in a chair anyway
-Wait, a PC game???

People caught on immediately.
“Yeah, that’s right. This is my room.”
Seo Jun shifted his chair slightly to the side so the computer camera could capture the background.
Though all that was visible on the computer camera was the bed.
Seo Jun moved the chair back into frame and spoke.
“Today I’m going to start from here. I’ll get into Cooperation for You in a bit.”

-Is this a special broadcast? Love it
-Can’t resist interaction
-Let’s play a PC game!

[‘That’s why’님 has donated 5,000 won!]
[What are you doing in real life?]

-Lol leaving the lobby alone ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Obviously a PC game
-PC normies out! Manager!

“Thank you for the donation, ‘That’s why’. Great question.”
Seo Jun paused briefly and adjusted the stream display.
The camera feed that had filled the screen shrunk to the bottom right corner, and the computer screen appeared in the main streaming window.
“Specifically, a roulette.”
On screen was a typical roulette website that appeared when you searched “roulette” in a browser.

-???
-What are you planning?
-The streamer isn’t usually like this…
-Whoa! Gambling addiction ㄷㄷ
-Picking a faction?

Seo Jun chuckled as he read the chat.
“No gambling addiction here. And I’m not picking a faction either. I’ve already decided on one.”

-???
-This is so like you. Let’s break up!
-I still haven’t forgotten the Christina Quest skip disaster. I can’t promise what’ll happen if you keep doing things your way
-Is that really a disaster though ㅋㅋㅋ
-Reflect the viewers’ opinions! Reflect them!
-Why are you deciding the faction on your own?

Seo Jun skimmed through the chat and smiled contentedly.
Fortunately, the viewers were playing along well.
All his past spontaneity was paying off.
“Anyway, I’ve decided to participate in the Battlefield too, everyone.”

-So what?
-Is there even a Cooperation for You streamer who isn’t doing the Battlefield? ㅋㅋ
-Didn’t you already know and decide?

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
But after coming home, I’d gathered information about the Battlefield.
And the more I learned, the more I thought the Battlefield was an attractive event.
It seemed fun. I probably would’ve participated even without the prize money.
‘Hoping for the best, but whatever if not.’
Somewhere along the way, the prize money had faded to the background.
“I’m actually thinking of adding a bet to this—I’ll make promises during the Battlefield, and wouldn’t that be fun?”
So Seo Jun was planning to add another layer of entertainment to the broadcast.

-What kind of promise?
-Out of nowhere?
-ㅇㅇ That does sound fun
-What’s the content?

“I’m going to decide the content with you all starting now.”
There were plenty of possible promises to make.
They could relate to the faction’s ranking, or to personal contribution score rankings.
Occupying a specific region and wrapping it up, or even causing a faction to collapse.
The options were endless.

-Hmm, what would be good?
-So you’re leaving this to us huh ㅋㅋ
-So the roulette is for deciding the promise?

“The roulette is for deciding the punishment if I fail the promise.”
A promise naturally can’t exist without a consequence.
But then,
people started flooding the chat with suggestions before they’d even settled on a promise.

-Punishment? ㅋㅋㅋ You’re cooked
-My mouth is watering just hearing the word punishment ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-How about using cat-speak for a month?
-Bald experience arc incoming ㅋㅋㅋ
-Cross-dress and go clubbing, film reactions
-What about dressing as a magical girl and dancing in front of the university gates where you go? How’s that?

Seo Jun’s eyes, which hadn’t flinched through countless brutal battlefields in his past life, trembled slightly for a moment.
Maybe I shouldn’t do this.
It seemed he’d seriously underestimated his viewers.

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