NOVEL NEXT Chapter 67
Chapter 67
*Swoosh!*
The sword moved gracefully, as if it was dancing.
From left to right, drawing a diagonal line.
『Strawberry-Tang defeated!』
From behind, an enemy tried to stab him, thrusting a sword into his back.
Aware of this, he turned his body, drawing his arm inward, and swung his sword as his rotation completed.
*Slice.*
The enemy failed to block the sword and allowed the attack.
He prepared for another strike.
“Let’s see you handle this.”
Gripping the sword with both hands, he lifted it high over his head.
The blade caught light, sparkling in the glow.
It would strike straight and true.
Instead, he planned to strike with overwhelming force. His resources were plentiful.
The enemy, who had already nearly exhausted their stamina, realized this and stepped back in retreat.
But it was already too late.
『Star Tortoise defeated!』
The enemy turned into a corpse.
The corpse then disappeared.
They had exited the game.
『Victory』
The phrase appeared on the screen, signaling the end of the game.
“What, is it over already?”
He had only been capturing enemies emerging from the entrance.
Sojun quickly gathered his thoughts.
– Hahaha, you bad guy
– One of them got so mad they quit
– It was truly horrifying…
Thus, he finished all four rounds of the game on the 10th day.
“Today’s games all ended in victory. Everyone.”
Sometimes, there were people who wished for him to lose, but losing wasn’t an easy task for him.
The reason was simple. Although he occasionally faced rankers, he had never encountered those in the topmost tier.
He avoided unnecessary conflicts.
Maybe that’s why Sojun had only encountered easy opponents.
Even if the matchmaking system aimed for the highest-ranking competitors, it couldn’t do much if there were no top players online.
One could say he hadn’t faced proper competition yet.
“Oh, the viewer count has increased.”
Even though his game had ended, more people were joining.
『Viewer Count – 9,317』
– Everyone’s done gaming, that’s why
– Congratulations. You’ve been selected for the waiting room
– I just finished my match and came here lol
The reason was simple.
In short, Sojun’s stream had become a waiting room.
A ranking waiting room, set to be revealed at 10 o’clock today.
Since the previous day, numerous predicted contribution rankings were circulating through the community.
They would inevitably be moot, as they would officially be disclosed today.
Predicting the future is deeply ingrained in human nature.
It allows people to better prepare for events and thus increases their chances of survival.
The person who many of those prediction charts consistently placed at the top was him.
This made viewers enter his stream expectantly, as apart from him, there were no other streamers at the chart’s top.
– We just need to see the results now.
– Coming soon
– Streamer, show us your current contribution and reputation points!
– How much did you gather lol
– You might be in the top 16
– Just reveal it now!
– The streamer is number one. I saw it in the future.
– No way lol
Sojun’s chat had no restrictions on posting messages at that moment.
Many people joined, and it was clear they loved to chat, so Sojun let them have free reign.
“I’m sure it will be revealed in about an hour, so hold on just a bit.”
He was right.
Exactly right.
And it’s common for streamers to be swayed by donations.
『’Reveal it now’ donated 10,000 won!』
『’Me too’ donated 10,000 won!』
『Here we go!』
『’Can’t wait an hour’ donated 20,000 won!』
『Twice? I’ll triple that.』
Momentarily shaken, Sojun’s resolve wavered.
In about an hour, it would be revealed anyway, so it might be worth just taking the sixty thousand won.
“Thank you for the donations.”
However, he decided against it. Revealing it in advance seemed like it would spoil the fun, and he thought it would look better to compare them all at once later.
“Well, since I haven’t checked it either, let’s just wait and see together.”
Without the ability to compare with others, even checking early wouldn’t change anything or allow him to act differently.
If the Demonic Cult were to attack, he would need to decide whether to join their ranks, so comparing even the estimated figures would be necessary.
But it wasn’t the case.
“Don’t you think the score will be quite high?”
Sojun, like others, expected that he would rank at least in the top 16.
-Is it really true that the Streamer-nim is in first place according to that post?
-Is he going to become world-class just like that?
-Our Streamer-nim is definitely not world-class.
-Are you the Streamer-nim’s dad? LOL
“So, what should we do now?”
There was about an hour left until ten o’clock. Of course, it wasn’t necessary to spend the entire hour.
This was because from nine-thirty, he could spend his time by watching the Streamer Ark’s stream.
“Shall we visit again?”
Sojun climbed up to the Demonic Cult’s mountain. Although he could enjoy content elsewhere, the Demonic Cult was almost free.
The black robe he was wearing was purchased without using any resources, thanks to the Grandmaster title, suiting his taste perfectly.
No matter how he looked at it, the Grandmaster title was great. Unfortunately, he couldn’t obtain items distributed through events or mileage, but the regular shop sufficed.
“Isn’t it practically a strategy by Baek Wigang to enlist the person with the best skills in the Demonic Cult?”
A reasonable suspicion arose.
-True that
-Look at how cowardly the Demonic Cult is
-Call it effective marketing
-But are you saying you’re the one with the best skills now?
Sharp comments emerged.
“Well, no one else has obtained the Grandmaster yet. So, what are its conditions?”
Comments appeared asking about the Grandmaster’s conditions. It was understandable since no one besides Sojun had managed to get it so far.
But, “Why are you asking me that?”
He didn’t know either. It must have just been because he was good. Transforming and perfecting Martial Techniques was not something just anyone could do.
Even a genius who trained in swordsmanship for decades found it hard to reach and fully understand that level, so what could game users do with it?
-Could you show it one more time?
-I’m curious if you could get it again
-Prove it! Prove it!
-Can it be done with different techniques?
If he couldn’t earn it again, he wouldn’t have received the Grandmaster in the first place.
“Hmm. Then, shall we visit Baek Wigang?”
Excited comments flooded in. It was the perfect way to kill time.
“Alright. I’ll show you. What technique would you like to see?”
He opened No Justice and pinned it to the stream screen.
Then he searched for techniques on the No Justice strategy board.
There were countless techniques and detailed strategy guides on their outcomes. Seeing users continuing to research through comments too…
“…….”
Sojun’s fingers itched.
“Hah. I feel like backseat gaming.”
It was that feeling when you watch but can’t intervene. Even when he watched simple games like Go, he felt this strong urge.
It was impossible to overlook people passionately discussing his specialty, Martial Techniques.
It would be easier for a sparrow to bypass a mill.
-Let’s go
-The Grandmaster’s backseat gaming? LOL Can’t resist
-Did a rare encounter pop up?
-The rare encounter finds its way!
-Perfect title
-Is this stream for real? Or just a concept?
-There are no concepts here.
Sojun tried to leave a comment on the most eye-catching post first. But as he clicked, the page shifted, and he realized he didn’t have an Adventure ID.
“Oh, hold on.”
He switched off the screen.
-LOL
-Not having a community ID! Such a decent gentleman
-That’s right.
“All done now.”
The community nickname he created was decided as HiddenMaster14. The nickname HiddenMaster already existed.
-What Hidden Master
-With 9,000 viewers but claiming to hide LOL
“Please give me some feedback on my writing.”
-14 hahaha
Having made a nickname for himself, he slowly browsed through the posts.
He then began to leave comments on techniques that seemed promising to him.
For example, comments like these,
“The angle of the right foot should come slightly more inward to ensure smooth power transfer.”
“Can’t you see that there needs to be more strength in the lower body?”
“The issue is with the left shoulder going in, tsk tsk.”
“Can’t you feel that the position of your gaze is wrong? The opponent is right in front of you, why are you looking to the side?”
“If you place your feet correctly, the upper body will naturally follow.”
Finding and informing others of the optimal correction methods was an enjoyable task.
The viewers reacted,
– What on earth are you seeing?
– Changing the angle of the left foot really makes it better?
– Is he just saying whatever?
– Of course, the Grandmaster would see something different.
Sojun engaged in conversation with them, even going back to videos from several years ago to leave comments.
“Shall we stop here?”
Sojun enjoyed interacting with the viewers for a while, then turned off No Justice when the time came.
It was almost 9:30 PM.
– Why’d you turn it off when it was getting exciting?
– We felt like masters too.
– The fortune-teller game was super fun.
– Well, teaching the world’s number one swordsman was fun too.
– That was just beating him.
“We’ll do more backseat analyzing next time when there’s a chance, alright?”
Surprisingly, the response had been positive.
– The opportunity won’t come again, hahaha.
– It’s like when Koreans say let’s have a meal; meeting again within a few years is seriously unlikely.
Is that how it is?
“Anyway, let’s just move on.”
Maybe it will be forgotten eventually. Though considering how the Christina Favorability Quest is still being talked about, maybe not.
“Let’s get ready to watch Ark’s stream soon.”
Current viewer count: 9,500.
If things go well, it might surpass 10,000 again.
However, ‘It’s likely it won’t happen today.’
Even if the overall number of viewers increased due to heightened interest, there was always a specific place that drew the most attention.
– That’s right, that’s happening.
– Midterm check is starting.
– When Ark’s stream starts, I’m off to watch that.
– Don’t leave our stream, guys!
– We’re staying, hyung!
It was Ark’s livestream.
He did not go live often, but every time he did, his influence was enormous.
And today was precisely the day he decided to stream.
『Ark is starting the stream.』
Thanks to Travel being on, a notification sounded.
The same notification reached the viewers too.
– Let’s go!
– Me too.
– Take care!
– Good luck!
– I’m cheering for you!
People who flooded in like a tide now ebbed away.
It was a bit disappointing, but they weren’t really his viewers to begin with, so it was okay.
“700 people left at once. Oof. I’m going to watch it too.”
‘Dobang’, an abbreviation for ‘boomerang stream’ or alternatively ‘exploring stream,’ refers to the act of playing another streamer’s live stream on one’s own screen.
This requires the permission of the original streamer.
Ark always allowed dobang.
He understood his position as a sort of official commentator and made a choice that allowed everyone to enjoy more.
– Honestly, watching it together is more fun.
– Missing the Streamer-nim’s reaction? Hahaha.
– Wow, audiences are crazy.
– Wow!
– I wonder what it’s about.
Sojun was also surprised.
Not even a few minutes had passed since it began.
Even though it was a planned stream, the number of viewers exceeded imagination.
“Let’s go with the Midway Checkpoint!”
『Ark』 『Viewer count – 78,000』