Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 86

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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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Chapter 86

When you win a game, you accumulate points on the map according to your position and up to your Fame Points.
If Attack Points are higher, the territory changes hands; if Defense Points are higher, the status quo holds — a simple rule.
Ultimately, the core of the Battlefield was a game of territorial control: which faction held the most land.
Over the next ten days, both sides would probe carefully, gaining and losing ground in turns.
Seo Jun’s role in all this was disruption.
A charge starting at seven o’clock sharp?
What are those Demonic Cult lunatics thinking?
Or is it recklessness?
And the reaction they want is…

-Just run the game right now lol
-No turning back lol
-This was agreed on beforehand, right?
-What coordination, when the most important force just gets thrown in?

‘Is he just going all in? That streamer might actually do it.’ — that was the vibe.
“Ha. Well, from now on, there’s no need for bonuses from successful defense, right? I’m just going to do whatever I want.”

-So that’s resulting in a headlong charge? lol
-You promised us the championship……! Make us champions!
-Take a lot of the Orthofaction’s territory! That’s how we win!

Just from reading the chat, you could tell which faction they belonged to.
Seo Jun held back a smile and spoke.
“The game’s locked in.”
His vision goes black.

* * *

Four users were summoned into the fortress’s waiting room.
‘Are they all Rankers?’
There was no user in For the Sect with a Fame Points level comparable to Seo Jun’s.
Even in normal circumstances, users with similar Fame Points were rare, so most matchups paired him with players slightly above average — but now?
He was curious what kind of users he’d face when he held more than ten times the Fame Points of second place.
‘Doesn’t seem like they’re all Rankers though.’
The matchmaking took two minutes.
Two minutes was fairly long, but it had been similar before.
‘Even with a massive jump in Fame Points, nothing really changes. Well.’
It’s an unavoidable limitation.
Seo Jun smiled and glanced around at his surroundings.
His teammates smoothly began taking stock of the situation.
“Hey.”
“Have fun.”
“Hi.”
“Let’s decide positions first.”
“And check the enemy stats. Figure out what to do and then… Heavenly Demon Divine Art? Uh, no. What the hell.”
Right.
The perception of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was terrible, wasn’t it?
It was a skill that no one in Korea used — practically taboo.
“That’s broken. Is this trolling?”
“How the hell are you picking that garbage? And the detailed traits — you went for cognitive dulling?”
“What’s with all the weird choices?”
Everyone chimed in, turning to look at Seo Jun.
He got a taste of what group mockery felt like.
“Ah, I figured this might happen. You probably saw that yesterday and copied it, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t see the dojo-breaking match yesterday?”
“Nope.”
“Wow. You missed that.”

-For real, they missed it
-That guy practically lost at life lol
-But wouldn’t the ones who saw it recognize him?
-From the Demonic Cult’s perspective, they just got a game warning lol that’s hilarious
-All the trolls who picked Heavenly Demon Divine Art today copying the streamer are about to go wild

“Anyway. You missed it. I watched the replay.”
One person who didn’t know, two who did.
‘No snipers, then.’
Which made sense — they hadn’t recognized Seo Jun.
Unless you were a hardcore viewer, who memorized a streamer’s game ID?
And remembering a face you’ve only seen once isn’t easy.
The chat was thinking the same way.

-You’d need some really striking feature to recognize him lol
-Like a unique comma-shaped scar or a memorable name that sticks?
-Yeah, that’d do it
-Snipers, why aren’t you hyping up our streamer? Hurry and recognize him, pretend to be a random teammate, and make a big fuss lol

Seo Jun reflected on the snipers he’d encountered before.
Maybe it’s better to just let them not notice.
Sigh.
Might as well just play the game.
He sighed and stood by the entrance.
“Hey. Hey. Troll bastard. Pretending you didn’t hear us?”
“You clearly heard our whole conversation.”
“What were you thinking picking the Heavenly Demon Divine Art? I want to hear that first.”

-What were they thinking? lol
-Is this what raw power tastes like?
-Go ahead and curse him out, ignore him all you want
-I’m going full Heavenly Demon too

The chat laughed, and his teammates gave up early.
“Ah, looks like this round’s a loss.”
“We can win this.”
“No way.”
“Let’s just have fun.”
“He’s not listening?”
“Couldn’t he at least do his fair share?”
“Look at him — won’t answer till the end.”
Finally, the one who’d mentioned the dojo-breaking match grabbed Seo Jun’s shoulder.
“Come on, you troll. Just because you do it doesn’t mean… wait. How are you that handsome? Could you be… Heavenly Demon?”

-????
-Lol recognized him by his face?
-The striking feature = being handsome
-Damn, I’m suddenly annoyed
-If you’re handsome, that’s just good lol one-time viewers remember your face…

“… the ID does match, now that I think about it”
“Whoa, really? Wow, nice to meet you. It’s an honor.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
Seo Jun nodded and bowed politely.
“Have fun playing.”
“”Yes!””
“What’s with that, you nerds!”
“Shut it.”
“Shut your mouth!”
Well, since they’d figured it out, he might as well play normally.
“Then I’ll head to the center alone.”
“Roger.”
“Roger.”
“Wait, why are you going to the center by yourself…?”
“Well now. Don’t you dare.”
“Don’t backtalk me!”
As for the game that followed:
Though balance adjustments meant his opponents’ four were stronger than his team’s three,
Seo Jun still easily held the center alone and won the match.

* * *

Cheon Sal-sung looked around.
The Namgung Clan’s map.
In its best location — a command tower where Han Pun-man and various Orthofaction users had gathered.
Well, not quite a command tower.
The assembled group was communicating via a chat channel.

[Orthofaction]

-What do we do?
-Can’t figure out what they’re after
-How are things this chaotic less than ten minutes in?
-That’s 14 wins for Ranker once per victory
-Shouldn’t we block them?
-So that’s the Demonic Cult’s goal? Take us out?
-What’s the Heterodox Sect doing?

Everyone was chatting, so it was quiet, but the sound of minds working seemed to echo in his ears.
Normally he’d act separately to chase first place, leaving the Orthofaction users be — but this season was different.
For reference, Namgung Sega Jeomsoyi was also just spectating from the sideline.
Not just them, either.
With the race for first place now meaningless, top-tier users naturally shifted their focus to factional victory,
And since the Demonic Cult’s balance had been leveled, this Battlefield was expected to be fiercer than ever.

-For now, the Heavenly Demon is moving solo
-From what I saw on stream, seems like they’re just doing whatever
-Surely that’s just talk lol

Mm-hmm.
Working those brains hard!

-The Heterodox Sect is grabbing games on the Demonic Cult side
-They thought the Demonic Cult was targeting the Orthofaction?
-Let’s take the Demonic Cult’s other regions too
-Is defending that even possible?

Han Pun-man replied.

-Kind of rough. Ranker resources are about even between all three of us anyway, so even if we send 14 and balance things out, there’s no guarantee we’ll win all of them
-What if we fought the Heavenly Demon and won?
-Possible?
-What if we gang up with multiple people?
-If we try that, the Demonic Cult people might come to help too, and if they lock a match, that’s 2v2 by Ranker standards, and if we lose that, we just hand over the territory

Right, that makes sense.
The Demonic Cult could go for that.
Cheon Sal-sung was thinking he wished he had popcorn when doubt suddenly struck him.
But…
Why would it become 2v2 with matching?

-Hey.
-You shut up
-Just don’t say it

Huh.
The reception was cold, but he had to say something.

-Wait… guys.
-I said shut it?
-Bark if you must bark, and bite if you must bite
-This is the Orthofaction lol
-No! Guys! Just one more thing! How come you all think if the Demonic Cult’s other Ranker runs matches too, it becomes 2v2? The Heavenly Demon’s Fame Points are that high? If the matching system were normal, wouldn’t it attach one Ranker and the Heavenly Demon to the other Ranker pair?

A brief silence followed.
Then Han Pun-man, standing nearby, let out a word.
“Oh?”
And the chat soon followed.

-…Oh? Could that be?
-Oh?
-Is that so?
-Gangbang then?

They grasped the situation in an instant.
They just hadn’t noticed because it was an unprecedented situation!

-Second game ends, immediate snipe
-And here I thought you were smart
-How many do we send?
-Actually, if it works, sending 4 Rankers is profitable. If 4 of us beat the Heavenly Demon, that’s like beating 14 others — this HAS to be done. The expected value is insane

Sending four is profitable.
With 4v1, it’s hard to lose even if you try.
But the payoff from that is enormous.

-But if that territory breaks through, our main base only has 3 territories left. It’s the shortest distance. Maybe we should just play it safe and defend? Let’s observe today

Current time: 7:10.
They hadn’t figured out the enemy’s intent, yet that streamer was already wrapping up his second match, pushing them to choose.
Not satisfied with being a dull blade, he was even trolling them in this game.
Truly the master of gaslighting.

-What main base lol
-Let’s just defend now
-So how many?
-What if we try 2? Since we don’t know how it’ll go
-3 to be safe
-That hurts my pride though
-3v1 lol not even 2v1
-Either way
-I’ll go

All the Fame Points Seo Jun had accumulated could become worthless.

* * *

Seo Jun returned to his original position and restarted the game.
“You’re not taking a break? What’s the point of resting? Let’s wrap this up quick.”

-Orthofaction, are you really going to let this slide?
-How does a game end in just a few minutes? lol
-Just innocent players dying in front of the fortress
-Unlike the Xuan Huo Technique, Heavenly Demon Divine Art doesn’t recover health, so you can’t go near the fortress? Then just don’t get hit! Wow!

While Seo Jun was trying to gauge how long he’d have to wait,
Ding.
A game notification came through, and the chat lit up.

-Did something just flash?

Seo Jun immediately checked the map before him.
The Battlefield map was the Central Plain, divided into pieces by the game company.
Not divided into 12 per faction or anything extreme, but it was a bit complex.
‘Southern Region is Heterodox Sect. Western Northern Region is Demonic Cult. Eastern is Orthofaction.’
The map showed which user was running a game.
When a high-ranking Ranker locked a match in a region, a specific marker appeared, and clicking it showed that Ranker’s nickname.
After about an hour, probably the whole map would fill with red markers and get messy.
For now, it was sparse.
The northern region where he was gaming.
A shimmering marker appeared in the Orthofaction territory where Demonic Cult and Orthofaction met, and Seo Jun clicked it immediately.
What appeared was:
His ID: Heavenly Demon 14.
And newly appeared Orthofaction users.
“Three of them? That’s quite the welcoming committee.”

[Cheon Sal-sung]
[Namgung Sega Jeomsoyi]
[Han Pun-man]

-Legend
-Wow that’s crazy
-They came prepared
-Seriously, all the famous names showing up? That’s insane lol

Then they couldn’t just sit still either.
In less than ten seconds, his allies called out for backup and were added.

-This side’s quick too
-Reinforcements coming
-Let the Orthofaction taste 16 of us!
-Now that’s a Battlefield!
-Nice

[Dang So]
[Bandit King]
[Heavenly Demon 14]

3v3.
With this new formation, the chat got excited.
‘Not so sure.’
Seo Jun was skeptical.
The matching system probably wouldn’t treat him as equal to another single Ranker.
The Demonic Cult side and Seo Jun both knew this.
But still.
The game was locked.
“Let’s go.”
Even in the worst case, if his Ranker allies didn’t lock in and he faced 3v1,
Seo Jun smiled and stretched.
‘3v1? Let me give it a shot.’

-By the way, why do those Demonic Cult guys’ nicknames look so weird? lol
-Definitely not normal
-Tang Clan Successor and the Bandit King lol
-When did the Heterodox Sect and Demonic Cult merge? lol

Right?

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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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