Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 69

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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 69

[Well, I apologize for beating around the bush so much just to say that someone who plays the game well and has never been defeated ranks high.]

Bang Ju continued speaking.

[But that skilled player isn’t just you and Cheon Sal Seong here, is it?]
[That’s right.]
[Well, Dang So, who’s famous for aggro, was already eliminated from the race early, but there are still plenty of other incredibly skilled users, aren’t there?]

Bang Ju began listing several such users.
Starting with Cheon Sal Seong.
Go Su A.
Hunsudweobwa.
Himulsumgineun Gangja.
Singsing Miyeok Sangtae.
Cheonwaecheon.
Murim Maengju.
And so on.
Looking at their rare usernames, you could tell they’d been playing since the early days.
‘Some people probably bought their nicknames, didn’t they?’
He had no intention of buying a nickname himself, but suddenly he became curious about what the user with the Heavenly Demon nickname was doing.

[Well anyway, those people find it hard to lose unless they actually meet each other. And they do their best to avoid running into each other.]

The reason people don’t complain about it is because they know that from now on, they’ll all interfere with and fight each other mercilessly.

[So in any case, wouldn’t there not be much difference between them?]
[It’s definitely true that someone other than Cheon Sal Seong or the Heavenly Demon could take first place without being strange at all.]

Cheon Sal Seong had been listening to their conversation from the side, and Bang Ju suddenly clapped his hands as if remembering something.

[Ah, and something like this happened too.]
[What’s that?]
[When Dang So switched factions from the beginning, the burden of defeat disappeared, didn’t it?]
[Right.]
[So that’s why he was just going all out.]
[Ah. I know. Our Orthodox Faction people were complaining terribly too. They said they kept running into him. Some even said they wouldn’t fight the Demonic Faction for fear of running into Dang So.]
[Why was Dang So eliminated? You can check the community post I uploaded for that. The video will be going up gradually.]

Someone with nothing to lose has nothing to fear.
That’s why Dang So had told Seo Jun.
‘I’ll interfere with all the rankers. Just trust me.’
So that’s what he meant. Impressive.

[So, let’s compare their performances now, shall we? Han Pun Man also ranked Cheon Sal Seong as second place, didn’t you?]
[Yes, that’s right.]
[Why second and not first place? Can you explain that in detail?]
[As I said before, Seo Jun obtained 600 Fame Points on the first day. That’s a high number, right? Usually people gather around 500.]
[Right. But didn’t Cheon Sal Seong also verify getting 600 Fame Points on day two, the same as Seo Jun?]
[He didn’t verify after that day. He’s a fraud.]
[…….]
[And I think the Raid was a big deal.]

-Is that so?
-The Raid was over 3 minutes though
-Spent all his inner energy to climb up and just one-shot itㅋㅋㅋ
-Another Demonic Faction guy tried the same thing but had insufficient damage and couldn’t kill it quickly so Demonic Corruption hit
-Damage really needs to be compressed

The Raid record of 3 minutes.
Cutting from 7 minutes to 5 is always easier than cutting from 5 to 3.
So wouldn’t this number naturally be reflected and widen the Fame Points gap?
This was Han Pun Man’s argument.

[Haha. Thank you for explaining. Now it’s Cheon Sal Seong’s turn. Why do you think you’re in first place?]

Bang Ju turned his body toward Cheon Sal Seong this time.

[First of all. The reason I didn’t verify after day two is that there was no need to.]
[Is that so?]
[Yes. I actually did need some cooperation from my teammates, but I obtained similar figures to that person.]

Disregarding teammates and catching enemies as they came out in front of the entrance was something only those with the Heukseonggdaebeop—a technique that allowed recovery through combat—could do.
So to take credit for that much contribution, he would have needed his teammates’ cooperation.

[And the Raid. I came in at 4 minutes 30 seconds.]
[Ah, is that so? That’s incredibly fast, but unfortunately slower than the Heavenly Demon.]
[Yes. So the gap widened a bit there. But I think I made up for it sufficiently in other areas.]
[What areas?]
[It’s the attack, of course. There’s an Attack Bonus, isn’t there?]
[That’s contribution though?]
[The mid-tier rankings are calculated by contribution.]
[Ah, that’s right! We were so focused on Fame Points that we forgot the Orthodox Faction had successful attacks. Meanwhile, Seo Jun just kept defending the whole time, didn’t he?]
[Yes. I succeeded in attacks twice—once when we occupied Demonic Faction territory and once when recovering territory we had lost.]

His judgment was that the bonus from that couldn’t be ignored.
The audience’s opinion began to shift.
A big reason for that was the fact that Seo Jun ultimately didn’t provide exact numbers.
Everyone knew the Raid record was historic, but there was no sense of how many points he actually earned.
1 minute 30 seconds.
Because Fame Points earned from 5 minutes and 6 minutes 30 seconds didn’t show a huge difference, couldn’t Cheon Sal Seong also make up for it even with a 3-minute record? That’s the thought that took hold.

[Perhaps because I’m also the Greatest Under Heaven, Cheon Sal Seong’s opinion carries more weight inevitably. Shall we take a vote around here? Number 1 is Cheon Sal Seong. Number 2 is the Heavenly Demon. Number 3 is someone else. Like that.]

-Going to vote and be back.
-Charge!
-The guild leader is new to our game so it’s okay if he doesn’t place first…
-Should we also vote?
-What does public opinion even matter…

There was one wise person in the comments.
“Those of you who want to support me, please go vote. I’m just going to watch and see.”
Bang Ju’s chat was flooded with votes.
From what you could tell at a glance, it looked like number 1 was winning, and the results were the same.
Seeing this, Cheon Sal Seong spoke with great confidence.

[See this.]
[What?]
[How could someone who loses even in a vote like this be the Heavenly Demon?]
[No, here we go again…….]

-Ha. The guild leader just needs to be in the top 16, but they don’t know that
-ㄹㅇㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Actually the guild leader probably doesn’t care who wins first
-But I’d like him to win

As they chatted, time passed quickly.
Two minutes until 10 p.m.
Han Pun Man spoke.

[Hehe. The way Cheon Sal Seong is interfering with the Heavenly Demon makes it seem like he’s pretty nervous, huh?]
[……That’s not true.]
[Seems like it to me?]
[Well, I’ll grant that he’s incredibly skilled for a newbie, but when he actually goes up against real masters, his true level will show quickly.]

Bang Ju chimed in.

[Baek Ho beat him though. Isn’t Baek Ho a real master?]
[Yes.]
[……I see.]

Acknowledgments appeared in Bang Ju’s chat.
“Do you think I can beat Cheon Sal Seong?”
Seeing this, his viewers seemed slightly angry.
It’s frustrating not just to be dismissed yourself, but to have something you care about be dismissed too.

-Getting annoyed nowㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-So is Cheon Sal Seong arena viable?
-Guild leader let’s snipe just that guy
-Why is he being so quiet today

Just as he was thinking he should probably step in (?) somehow.

[Huh?]
[…….]

After Cheon Sal Seong’s questioning remark, the chatter died and silence fell.
Seo Jun wondered what was happening and checked Bang Ju’s broadcast.
Three faces on screen.
But all three of them had their eyes wide open, staring only at the screen.
“What is it? Oh.”
It was 10 p.m.
“Why aren’t you showing it?”
Seo Jun went to the homepage to check for himself.
Since his broadcast screen was pinned to an internet window, he didn’t check through the interface.

-?????
-??
-What is this?
-Why are you coming in

The viewer count began rising at alarming speed.
Could it be.
After the loading finished, Seo Jun’s eyes widened as he checked the rankings posted on the homepage.

* * *

# 1 / Heavenly Demon14 / 115,254
# 2 / Cheon Sal Seong / 86,075
# 3 / Hunsudweobwa / 85,498
# 4 / Singsing Miyeok Sangtae / 85,432
# 5 / Sapaui Poomgyeok / 84,789
# 6 / This Isn’t Murim / 83,376

* * *

[??? Why is the ranking that just came out like this? Did my eyes go wrong?]
[Isn’t this a calculation error?]
[It is strange though ㅋㅋ]
[What is this why is the gap so huge???]

At 10 p.m., the rankings were revealed.
And the many people interested in this immediately checked the rankings.
The 70,000 viewers also joined the ranks as Bang Ju, having barely come to his senses, revealed the rankings.

[Is a 30,000 point difference normal?]
==
Current ranker Fame Points are 5-6 thousand, so you’d need to play 6 more games solo to get that many points. Is this an error?
==

An ID that could still be called a newcomer among streamers.
He’d stirred up issues several times and had some notoriety, so it wasn’t strange that he took first place.
But.

[If the Heavenly Demon turned off the broadcast, found a bug solo, and played 6 more games then major respect ㅋㅋ]
[Did he really play a few more rounds solo?!]
[Summon the 3-minute Curry King!]

If you looked at the rankings, most rankers had similar contribution rates.
Real differences only started when they clashed, sniped each other, interfered, and losses accumulated.
But a gap this wide from basically the start was naturally bound to become a topic of discussion.
“…….”
Lee Ji Ho.
For the faction, the nickname Sapaui Poomgyeok.
He was a user who’d placed second the previous season, and while he appeared normal on the surface, he did many unsavory things behind the scenes.
Few people knew this.
You could tell from how casually he was chatting with the anonymous user right now.
“Wow, that’s crazy. Don’t you think?”
Lee Ji Ho replied.
“Right?”
“That seems to be because of the Raid, doesn’t it?”
However much experience they had in battle.
They saw it at a glance.
Probably Bang Ju, Han Pun Man, and even Cheon Sal Seong would realize it quickly once they composed their initial shock.
“I saw that person during the Raid. I thought they were impressive then, but I never thought they’d be this high. Something like this has never happened before.”
“Right.”
“But with all the Interference coming from now on, it should be fun.”
“…….”
Just as his friend said, now was truly the beginning.
With the gap he’d opened, other rankers’ obstruction would focus on Seo Jun from now on.
The difference would naturally narrow.
But.
That didn’t match his disposition.
“I’m quitting the game now. See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, you probably have a headache too. I’m not gunning for first anyway, so I don’t care.”
Lee Ji Ho said goodbye to the anonymous user and logged out of the game.
After exiting the capsule, he promptly sat in front of his computer and muttered.
“Good thing I pre-researched that streamer.”
He made it a habit to know everything about his competitors.
The reason was for times like this.
He logged into the community with a secondary account and began copying and pasting the post he’d drafted beforehand, then quickly refining it.
“I never thought I’d use it right when the rankings were revealed, but this should be enough to stir things up, right? Hehehehe.”
Creating controversy.
Fabrication didn’t matter. If he could shake things up even a little, that was enough.
Lee Ji Ho believed this was also a form of skill.

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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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