A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 102

After getting out of the capsule, Sojun entered the MyVR app.

In this place, he could check messages from all his game accounts.

And in Sojun’s game message box, numerous notifications had popped up.

These were from people he had met as teammates or enemies in “For Justice”.

Regardless of the outcome, they had all sent him friend requests, which Sojun had accepted.

As expected.

Connections—it was truly a game for veterans.

If he played on the Battlefield just one more time, they might even figure out his entire family history.

In doing so, they might deduce his greatest secret—his previous life!

Without dwelling on the fact that no one believed his hints to figure it out, Sojun went on to check his messages.

『Heaven-Slayer Star: Next time, I will definitely win!』
『Heaven-Slayer Star: So, please join the next Battlefield! You never know—I might bring you a twelve-win streak again.』

Heaven-Slayer Star was someone who continued to challenge despite losing.

The previous World’s Greatest and sniper god.

Even while Sojun was attacking the Orthodox Faction, they met twice, perfectly timed—showing a surprising level of skill.

『Heavenly Demon14: Okay.』

Sojun replied and moved on to the next message.

『JustOneCoin: Please, don’t come.』

In the same force, there should be some consistency in opinions.

『JustOneCoin: Just kidding. If you do come, please join the Orthodox Faction.』
『JustOneCoin: Otherwise, don’t come.』

Sojun chuckled.

『Heavenly Demon14: I’m thinking of going Unorthodox next. Winning with the Demonic Cult is going to be tough from now on.』

As soon as Sojun sent the reply, JustOneCoin apparently read it as the ‘1’ mark disappeared.

And the indicator for writing a message appeared.

No reply came.

Perhaps there were many thoughts involved.

It wasn’t that difficult of a message to reply to, was it?

Sojun moved on.

『ThirdElder: If there are 7 billion fans of Heavenly Demon14 in the world, I am one of them.

If there are 1 billion fans of Heavenly Demon14 in the world, I am also one of them.

If there are 10 million fans of Heavenly Demon14 in the world, I am still one of them.

If there are 100 fans of Heavenly Demon14 in the world, I am still one of them.

If there is only one fan of Heavenly Demon14 in the world, it is probably me.

If there is not even one fan of Heavenly Demon14 in the world, then I am not of this world.』

Heavenly Demon14, my love.

Heavenly Demon14, my light.

Heavenly Demon14, my darkness.

Heavenly Demon14, my life.

Heavenly Demon14, my joy.

Heavenly Demon14, my sorrow.

Heavenly Demon14, my pain.

After reading it with slight embarrassment, Sojun wrote a reply without a moment’s hesitation.

『Heavenly Demon14: If you posted this while streaming, you’d definitely get blocked.』

Many others had sent messages too.

From those he fought and defeated.

To users from the Demonic Cult, delighted with their victories.

And then.

『Tang So: Although my contributions take up around 80%, it’s undeniable that you contributed about 10% to the Demonic Cult’s victory!』
『Tang So: Good job!』
『Tang So: In the next Battlefield, I…』

Sojun didn’t read further.

Tang So was self-promoting how he would nobly ensure the victory of the Demonic Cult in the next Battlefield.

That clearly meant he wanted to game together next time.

That’s all he needed to know.

The rest was all nonsense.

『Heavenly Demon14: I’ll think about it.』
『Tang So: Think? What are you thinking about?』
『Tang So: Don’t go!』
『Tang So: I said, reply! You’re reading it, aren’t you!』

Moving on.

『Ark: Well done, Sojun-nim! Would you care to share your thoughts?』

It seemed like they wanted to feature him on iTube.

Sojun pondered briefly before replying.

『Heavenly Demon14: I had fun. Satisfied with the victory.』
『Heavenly Demon14: If MubiSoft invites me, I’ll return as Heavenly Demon.』
『Ark: Thank you.』

They seemed to be keeping a close watch.

“MubiSoft will extend an invitation, right?”

They were said to invite users who placed within the top 16 to events similar to tournaments. While uncertain what it would turn out to be, he thought it might be just as fun as the Battlefield.

So if invited, he would go.

“Meanwhile, what if no Orthodox Faction members make it into the top 16?”

There wouldn’t be zero due to previous battles, but the number seemed small.

Of course, that was not Sojun’s concern.

After replying to the last message, Sojun turned off his phone.

“Finally over.”

“For Justice.”

A game with its clear, distinct color that was unique and fun.

The battles themselves hadn’t been particularly special, but aligning Martial Techniques with game-like elements was intriguing, and the faction rivalry was enjoyable.

If there was one disappointment, it was not having the opportunity to face off against professional gamers.

No matter how well users wielded their swords and maximized the Martial Techniques system in “For Justice”, pros operated on a different level.

The professional world was one where a lack in skill, intuition, or strategy left no room for survival.

“Well, it’s a bit of a stretch for pros to join.”

The nature of the battleground content required communication to participate in the competition.

“The Martial Techniques were the dilemma.”

Games inevitably have barriers to entry.

Each character has skills and traits, the in-game systems have countless details, etc.

From the newcomer’s vantage point, those elements might seem overwhelming at first.

However, once engaged in gaming, players often find themselves absorbing these details naturally.

Should a game be enjoyable, players might find themselves knowing the skills of over a hundred characters in no time, much to their surprise.

This was also true for “For Justice”.

As long as the rankers had appropriately researched the Martial Techniques.

Appropriately.

“There should be a limit.”

They became consumed by the concept.

As if becoming real martial artists, they delved endlessly into the Martial Techniques, creating a deep chasm that required enormous time investment to keep up.

Spontaneously enjoying the game became impossible to grasp or learn from the gap they created.

Lee Dongsu nonchalantly choosing Green Forest wasn’t without reason.

However, this didn’t apply to Sojun.

“Ah, it was fun.”

Sojun smiled.

“And I’ve achieved my goal too.”

On today’s stream, he finally hit 30,000 viewers.

While iTube didn’t offer any buttons for reaching certain viewer counts, this seemed sufficient to prove his reputation, likely ensuring him a spot among the elite in Travel.

“Even if it’s a bit of a bubble.”

Although he would stop playing “For Justice” soon, how many people would stay was unknown.

Still, there was consensus that he’d maintain the status of at least a mid-tier streamer for a while.

His impact wouldn’t fade, and since “For Justice” ended the Battlefield, people wouldn’t necessarily leave swiftly.

“Tomorrow’s a day off. The day after too.”

Absolutely not because he wanted to rest.

Too many people can be toxic. Unless he kept playing “For Justice”, continuing was unreasonable.

Time was needed for those who would stay to remain.

Considering short-term numbers, not skipping a single day might seem ideal, but in the long run, taking some time off would be more beneficial.

Especially since taking a break was necessary.

‘Anyway, those who will leave, will leave.’

There were other things to do tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning.

After exercising, Sojun checked the notice posted on iTube.

『There will be a two-day break. I believe I’ve earned the right to be lazy.』

-Brother, do you want to die for real?
-The right to be lazy, lol.
-Now that the Battlefield is over, is it back to excessive break times?
└I remember when he ended the stream and took a break right before finishing the hidden quest in The Assassin’s Dawn.
└PTSD incoming, lol.
└It seems like it’s time to apologize, lol.
-Stream-nim… I’m already cold… Just let us in now.
-Is this the guy who led the Demonic Cult to victory, the Heavenly Demon???
-You donated so much yesterday, of course, he’ll slack off. Reflect on it.
└I donated a hundred thousand won yesterday. If I request a refund, will the stream come?
-Is there any other streamer who takes a break during a time like this? And for two days?
-Thanks for winning, but I don’t think this is right, brother. Address, please^^

After skimming through the over 1,000 comments, Sojun thought.

‘The reaction is ordinary.’

It wasn’t much different from the chats during streams.

Apparently, the break notice was well written.

Posting it at 6 AM, precisely aligning with the audience’s usual bedtime, seemed to pay off.

Satisfied, Sojun nodded and closed the notice, then opened his emails.

His inbox was filled with new game advertisement proposals.

All within this week’s schedule.

Accepting an ad before moving on to the next game seemed appropriate, and these offers were quite enticing, but Sojun would choose only one.

Considering they were all competing titles, it was only natural.

The game Sojun initially picked was a 2-player cooperative game by a developer called MONSTER.

The conditions were the best.

20 million won.

‘MubiSoft offered 10 million, but that was an exceptional case.’

Ordinarily, such conditions were reserved for veterans with 400–500,000 subscribers and 10–20,000 steady viewers.

Even though Sojun’s streaming was gaining attention, his iTube presence wasn’t strong.

Yet, the conditions weren’t the reason Sojun chose this game.

‘The game seems fun.’

Surely, the developer didn’t simply say it was horror—one of the genres they previously mentioned in the email—just to pique interest.

While the theme was horror, the true genre was a 2-player cooperative action-adventure game.

Correct.

Usually, games where two or more players cooperate against common enemies are called co-op games. Sojun wanted to try such a co-op game.

Despite the tight schedule with the advertisement set for three days later, he still hadn’t made a final decision.

『Han Jimin: Boss! Please tell us who you’ll do the ad with! I’m curious!』
『Jin Sojun: Yes.』

Given that it’s a co-op game, the collab partner was vital, yet MONSTER hinted that secrecy might make it more interesting.

They said they’d reveal it if he was curious.

If Sojun found the partner unsatisfactory, he mentioned he’d even refuse, despite only having three days, to which they agreed, leaving it be.

He assumed they had their reasons for recommending secrecy.

“I should head out.”

The current time was 8 AM.

With a meeting at 4 PM, he had 8 hours left, but as a university student, he needed to attend lectures.

Hence, he got up.

“Huh? What are you doing?”

Coming out of his room, he found Taewoo dressed in outdoor clothes, lying on the sofa in his usual attire, looking at his phone.

Typically, he’d be asleep by now after being forcibly dragged to the gym by Sojun, so seeing Taewoo up surprised him.

“Oh. I’m about to go out. Getting ready.”

“Yeah?”

Sojun didn’t worry much.

No matter how much Taewoo loved gaming, he wasn’t leading a life entirely indoors.

*Clack.*

After opening the door, stepping out, and walking toward the bus stop, Sojun pondered.

‘There’s no way my co-op partner would be him, right?’

The ominous thought crossed his mind.

But since Taewoo was already preparing to go out, it seemed unlikely.