A Swordsman's Stream

Chapter 109

“Wow. Why do you look handsome even in toy form? This isn’t right. And what about ‘piece vs. broken piece’? Are you crazy, human?”

What was that?

Were similar comments appearing in Taewoo’s stream chat too?

Sojun scrolled through the chat with a smile.

– The one who donated must be crazy, hahaha. Sending to both streams at once as if prepared.
– Hehe, as a true fan, watching two streams simultaneously is basic 101.

So, they donated to two streams at the same time.

This definitely required quick reflexes.

To think of a joke, enter it into the donation box of both streams, and hit send, all in less than 20 seconds.

“Impressive.”

Sojun was impressed as he examined his avatar in front of a mirror.

The proportions and body remained the same, but the joints looked somewhat toy-like, and his face turned into that of a doll.

However, when he turned away from the mirror to look at Taewoo, it was exactly like his real self.

In other words.

“Seeing that it’s only visible in the mirror, it’s probably just a game effect.”

The world inside this game seemed like one where toys were alive and played the main roles.

In other words.

“It seems the developers wanted to convey that developers who entered the game are now in the form of toys.”

-?
– What nonsense are you talking about?
– Haha, I get it hahaha

It wasn’t for nothing that there was a mirror right as you entered.

Meanwhile, seeing oneself in toy form was quite amusing.

By the way.

“Should I just smash this mirror?”

Taewoo seemed to have turned dark.

– Kudos to the proud viewer of the streamer who went over there to keep teasing them, haha
– Just stating facts
– The avatar toy version is quite awful

Hm.

It looked like it would be more fun to keep an eye on Taewoo’s chat as well.

Viewers could naturally use Travel to split the screen, but it wasn’t the same streaming chat that the streamer saw.

“Hey.”

“What, everyone. Hmm?”

“Let’s set up the collab properly. Let me see your chat in streamer mode.”

“Why?”

Sojun wanted to set it so he could see Taewoo’s stream chat directly as if he was streaming himself, instead of going into Travel to watch it.

“Because it seems fun like that.”

– Hahaha
– From the streamer’s perspective, it couldn’t be more tempting
– Right lol

“Set it up quickly.”

“Got it.”

Sojun opened the Travel window and went into the stream settings.

Then he connected with Taewoo’s stream.

He started seeing Taewoo’s chat on the left side, along with the existing chat from his viewers on the right.

When he looked at Taewoo’s chat, viewers were still teasing him.

– Quickly stand in front of the mirror
– Honestly, am I envious of my friend? yes or yes.
– How can an avatar’s face be so disfigured?
– It’s shattered itself, haha

To be honest, Taewoo’s appearance wasn’t bad by any means.

In fact, it was quite decent.

There’s a saying called “camera massage”.

It’s about how, when one’s face is shown in media, they naturally discover and enhance their own charms and steadily improve their appearance.

Taewoo had been streaming with his face revealed for seven years.

Unless he had completely given up on his appearance and used it to his comedic advantage, he was an ordinary twenty-something young man.

At an age where he cared about his appearance, the effect of camera massage was inevitable.

So, he was indeed above average.

“Guys, you see, getting less attractive is only natural!”

Unfortunately, Sojun, who was laughing next to him, was the problem.

“I mean, how can one look better when their face turns into a doll’s face! If you look closely, even Jin Sojun looks less handsome in toy form compared to real life. Even if it’s less handsome, it’s still more handsome, so you guys are mistaken.”

Sojun looked at Taewoo as if he were foolish.

Tsk, tsk.

Instead of being teased continuously just step away from the mirror.

Sojun had already checked out his toy version and stepped aside from the mirror.

“Ugh! I’m telling you, only I look like that? Wow. You guys should quickly install and verify this game. Quickly!”

– Why should we?
– Disappointed for advertising like this
– Not buying it. It’s your fault, haha
– Anyway, if you turn into a toy version you get more handsome. Haha, my face can’t get any uglier……
– That’s a bit, haha

“Anyway, come over here quickly. It seems we need to go that way.”

“…… Fine. Make sure to verify it, everyone. Whether you find an app or something on your phone if you don’t want to buy the game.”

Ignoring Taewoo, Sojun headed toward the spot with a green circular mark.

There lay another shattered mirror.

As soon as he reached the mark, it disappeared, and a narration followed.

『Damn, is this real? Are we really toys?』
『No way.』
『What did you do! What the hell did you do, you bastard!』
『I don’t know either!』

Listening to the character conversations, Sojun identified the next mark.

A trash heap? Hill?

Noticing the green mark on top of it, Sojun motioned for Taewoo.

Meanwhile, the narration continued to play.

『Wait! Doesn’t this seem familiar somehow?』

It was Sojun’s character who spoke.

『What?』
『This dump looks familiar. From the toys-related trash to the exhaust outlet on top.』
『What are you talking about… huh? Here?』
『This is where the protagonist in our game declared what they wanted to become, was deemed defective, and got disposed of. Damn. This isn’t some wacky dream.』

Sojun ascended the trash heap.

There were large chunks like boxes and smaller debris scattered around.

“I’ll go up first. This is the way, right?”

Wasn’t this the first time playing such a game?

Assassin’s Dawn was an open-world game where you could do whatever you wanted, and For Justice was an online game, so Two Heads are Better was a type of game Sojun was playing for the first time.

– That’s correct
– You’re doing well
– It’s so funny how every time you ask something basic, it’s so foreign haha
– An endearing newbie who doesn’t know much about games indeed
– Will they still be an endearing newbie with a sword in hand?
– Purely a physical tool, tsk tsk. Can they really be good at games like that?
– They are crazy good, though?

Smiling, Sojun kept climbing.

『What, it’s true?』
『Yeah. You drew it, so you should know better.』
『Damn. It seems like it. So, this is really in the game? Does that make any sense?』
『Ha. What should we do?』
『What do you mean what should we do! We just wake up from this dream!』

In an engaged manner, Sojun listened to their conversation and reached the summit.

Seeing the green mark remaining, he figured Taewoo also needed to come, so he waited.

“In this game, it seems I made a good character choice?”

『Don’t you understand yet? This is not a dream.』
『Really? I have to wake up. Even if it’s here or as a toy, seeing your face is grueling.』
『Sure, snap out of it if you can. Hm……. For now, going up high seems like a plan. You should follow.』
『What? Why would I do what you say? … Hey! Wait for me!』

The character Sojun chose appeared to be rational so far, while the one Taewoo chose…

Uh-huh.

Denied reality quite well.

“The narration ended here.”

Sojun remarked, while Taewoo complained from below.

“Damn, why is my character so emotional?”

– I agree, hahahaha
– But why is it hard to imagine the streamer being emotional?
– Both suit them well though

Sojun, from the peak, looked down at the climbing Taewoo.

“When will you ever arrive?”

“I don’t even know?”

Taewoo, struggling with his foot sunk in the trash, took a step upwards.

Swish.

Clang.

Clang.

And each time Taewoo moved, tiny debris moved down like sand, pushing him backward.

The can-like scraps clanged as they fell.

“Ah.”

Ultimately, Taewoo, struggling to lift his foot, lost his balance and fell over.

So Taewoo began to crawl up the hill instead.

“Reducing your center of gravity. A good choice.”

“Do you mind keeping quiet if you’re not gonna help? How did you climb up so easily anyway? Seemed like you had no issue at all.”

“Is it that difficult?”

Sojun tilted his head.

– Taewoo, just don’t ask, hahaha
– Why does everything seem easy for that streamer? hahaha
– Exploiting footwork

What’s up with footwork.

Looking over at Taewoo’s chat, Sojun said.

“Maybe the path I took was somehow different. Let me try going down and coming back up your way.”

As Taewoo, who was crawling and climbing, raised his head to look at Sojun.

“Yeah. Try coming over.”

Step by step.

Step by step.

Sojun paid moderate attention to his balance as he strode down.

The ground beneath him moved slightly but he never lost his footing.

Passing by Taewoo, Sojun climbed back up.

Taewoo could only gaze up at Sojun’s approaching figure in disbelief.

“Isn’t he some sort of bug?”

– Hahaha, unbelievable haha
– Even though there are people in this world who walk tightropes, that streamer seems to excel at everything
– Taewoo, just focus on climbing
– What bug, haha. You’re about to experience how other users of For Justice and Assassin’s Dawn feel firsthand

At that time, neither knew this was only the beginning.

* * *

Taewoo arrived.

And opened his mouth.

Naturally, the cutscene began.

『Damn. Why did we even come up here?』
『Because you can see better from above. Plus, this place is the closest to the outlet. More importantly, the protagonist in our game came up here too.』
『Makes sense. But still, the outlet seems pretty high, no?』

They looked around.

And Sojun’s character spotted a hook among the trash tower and grabbed it, pulling it with all his might.

Swoosh.

One side slipped away, and Sojun’s character managed to retrieve a long rope.

『What’s that?』
『A grappling hook. An item for the protagonist.』
『Oh, that? But why are there two? There was only one in the game.』
『Probably means… our being here isn’t by chance.』

It did seem significant.

Sojun’s character handed a grappling hook to Taewoo and began spinning the hook.

The target was the outlet.

Woosh!

But it fell short, failing to reach the outlet, and returned to Sojun, winding up like a wire.

『How did you do that? It looked impressive.』
『It just worked?』
『Really? Let me try it… what, it works well for me too? Ha. This really isn’t a dream?』
『Let’s just drop that dream talk. You know it’s not a dream.』
『Sure. I know. Then what do we do now?』
『That I don’t know either… but.』
『But?』
『To get a clue at least… maybe we should meet the protagonist of this game. Given that the rope’s still here, the game hasn’t even started yet.』
『That seems reasonable. We’re not even done making the game, after all.』
『…….』
『…….』

Certainly, if Sojun were in a similar situation, he would have looked for the protagonist first.

If not, the final boss, perhaps.

But the final boss would be way too far, right?

『By the way, why did the lights suddenly come on in this facility earlier?』
『That was…』

At that moment.

A large gate, like a water gate, started opening.

And an enormous garbage compactor-like toy entered, lights glowing and engine roaring.

“The tutorial must be starting.”

As the cutscene wrapped up, Sojun’s view returned to normal.