A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 69

『“I apologize for circling around, stating that just being good at a game and being undefeated is a high accomplishment!”』

Ark had said repeatedly, with a hint of a smile.

『“However, it’s not just you, Heavenly Demon-nim, and Heaven-Slaying Star-nim here who are exceptional, right?”』
『“Yes, that’s true.”』
『 “As notorious as Tang So is for causing agitation, he was eliminated from the race long ago, yet there are many other users with outstanding skills, aren’t there?”』

Ark then proceeded to list several of these notable users, starting with Heaven-Slaying Star and moving on to others like Expert-A Nim, GiveSomeAdvice, HiddenMaster, Fresh Seaweed State, Beyond Heaven, and the Murim Alliance Leader.

Observing their rare nicknames, it was evident that they had been involved since the early days.

‘There must be some who bought their nicknames’, he pondered, although he had no intention of buying a nickname himself. Still, he found himself curious about what was happening with a user holding the nickname ‘Heavenly Demon’.

『“Well, unless they run into each other by chance, it’s extremely difficult for them to lose. Moreover, they tend to avoid meeting each other as much as possible.”』

The reason people didn’t criticize this was because they knew these elites would eventually compete and confront one another fiercely.

『“So, wouldn’t you say there isn’t much difference among them?”』
『“It’s not odd at all for someone other than Heavenly Demon-nim or Heaven-Slaying Star-nim to win first place.”』

Heaven-Slaying Star was quietly listening to the dialogue beside them when Ark suddenly clapped his hands as if something had just dawned on him.

『“Oh, right, I remember something else.”』
『“What is it?”』
『“Wasn’t it that Tang So lost the burden of failure once he switched allegiances?”』
『”Yes.”』
『“So it seems he started going all out as a result.”』
『“Ah, yes, I know. Our Orthodox Faction members have been complaining a lot about repeatedly encountering him. Some even avoided fighting the Demonic Cult, fearing they’d run into Tang So.”』
『“Why did Tang So get eliminated? You should check out my post on the community board for that; the video will be uploaded soon.”』

Someone with nothing to lose has no restrictions.

That’s why Tang So had told Sojun, “I’ll disrupt all the rankers. Trust me on this.”

Was that what he meant? It was admirable.

『“Alright, anyway, should we compare the recent activities? JustOneCoin also picked Heaven-Slaying Star-nim as second place, right?”』
『“Yes, that’s correct.”』
『“Why is Heaven-Slaying Star-nim not first? Can you explain the reasons in detail?”』
『“As I mentioned earlier, Sojun-nim earned 600 Reputation Points on the first day. That’s a high score, right? Usually, people manage around 500.”』
『“Yes, but didn’t Heaven-Slaying Star-nim also verify acquiring 600 Reputation Points like Sojun-nim on the second day?”』
『“However, he stopped verifying from the next day onwards. He’s a fraud.”』
『“……”』
『“And I think the raid is significant.”』

– Is it so?
– A 3-minute raid is a different league.
– Using all inner ki to rise up and just defeat it, haha.
– Another Demonic Cult guy tried the same but couldn’t defeat it quickly due to lack of damage and ended up in a mental breakdown instead.
– Indeed, damage output must be compressed.

A 3-minute raid record. It was much more challenging to reduce the time from 5 minutes to 3 minutes than from 7 minutes to 5 minutes.

Hence, this was naturally reflected in the Reputation Points difference, according to JustOneCoin.

『“Ha ha. Thank you for explaining. Now it’s Heaven-Slaying Star-nim’s turn. Why do you believe you’re number one?”』

Ark turned his attention to Heaven-Slaying Star this time.

『“Well, after the second day, I didn’t need to verify anymore.”』
『“Is that so?”』
『“Yes. While I did require a bit of cooperation from teammates, I obtained a similar score as that person.”』

Ignoring his teammates and dealing with enemies at the entrance as they appeared—only the Absorption Skill enabled recovery through such battles.

Hence, he might have needed his team’s cooperation to secure his contribution level.

『“And the raid— I entered it in 4 minutes and 30 seconds.”』
『“Oh, really? That’s fast! But unfortunately, it’s still slower than Heavenly Demon-nim.”』
『“Yes, so there may have been a slight gap. Nonetheless, I think I compensated for it in other areas.”』
『“What areas?”』
『“Mainly, my attacks. There’s an attack bonus, isn’t there?”』
『“That counts towards contribution, doesn’t it?”』
『“Mid-rankings are based on contribution, right?”』
『“Oh, that’s right! We were so focused on Reputation Points, we forgot that the Orthodox Faction succeeded in attacking. Meanwhile, Sojun-nim continued to focus solely on defense, didn’t he?”』
『“Yes. I succeeded twice in attacking during the occupation of the Unorthodox Faction area and the recovery process of the occupied territory.”』

He judged that the bonus from that could not be ignored.

The opinion of the viewers was also becoming more persuasive.

The main reason was that Sojun ultimately did not provide precise figures.

Everyone knew he set a record during the raid, but no one could quickly grasp how many points he earned.

One minute and thirty seconds.

Due to the fact that the obtained Reputation Points at both five minutes and six minutes thirty seconds showed little difference, people began to think, couldn’t Heaven-Slaying Star also manage to make up for even a three-minute record?

『“Since you are, after all, recognized as the best in the world, it seems inevitable that more weight is given to Heaven-Slaying Star’s opinion. Shall we conduct a vote at this point? Option 1 for Heaven-Slaying Star; Option 2 for Heavenly Demon; Option 3 for someone else like this.”』

– Going to vote now.
– Charge!
– It’s Streamer-nim’s first time in our game, so it’s okay if they don’t get first place…
– Can we also pause to vote?
– What does public opinion even mean…

There’s a sage among the comments.

『“Those who wish to support me, please go and cast your vote. I’ll just watch from the sidelines.”』

Ark’s chatroom got flooded with votes.

From a rough glance, it seemed like Option 1 had the majority, and the result was no different.

Heaven-Slaying Star, seeing this, spoke with confidence.

『“See?”』
『“See what?”』
『“How could Heavenly Demon lose even in such a vote.”』
『“No, right there…”』

– Ha. Streamer-nim just needs to be in the top 16, they don’t even get it
– LMAO
– LOL
– Honestly, no matter who takes first, streamer-nim probably doesn’t care
– Still hope we win

Time went by quickly with the chatter.

Two minutes until ten o’clock.

JustOneCoin remarked.

『“Hehe. Heaven-Slaying Star seems to be quite nervous seeing him keep checking on Heavenly Demon?”』
『“… I’m not.”』
『 “Pretty sure you are?”』
『“I know he’s doing well for a newcomer, but once he faces real experts, his true skills will show.”』

The Ark intruded.

『“He did defeat Baekho. Isn’t Baekho an actual expert?”』
『“Yes.”』
『“… I see.”』

Chats confirming in Ark’s room that they accepted the recognition started pouring in.

“Do you think I can beat Heaven-Slaying Star?”

His viewers seemed a bit angry upon witnessing this.

It was infuriating to see what they admired being disregarded, not just themselves being ignored.

– Starting to get angry LOl
– So, is a spar on the ground with Heaven-Slaying Star possible?
– Let’s target him, streamer-nim
– Why so calm today

Wondering whether he should intervene at that moment.

『“Huh?”』
『“…….”』

After Heaven-Slaying Star uttered those puzzled words, the small talk vanished, and silence fell.

Sojun wondered if something happened and checked Ark’s stream.

Three faces.

Each of them was wide-eyed, just staring at the screen.

『“What’s going on? Ah.”』

It was 10 o’clock.

『“Why aren’t you showing it?”』

To check personally, Sojun logged onto the website.

His stream screen was fixed on the internet window, so he didn’t verify through an interface.

-?????
-??
-What is this?
-Why enter

The viewer count began to climb rapidly, almost terrifyingly.

No way.

Sojun’s eyes widened as the loading finished and he confirmed the ranking posted on the website.

# 1 / Heavenly Demon14 / 115,254
# 2 / Heaven-Slaying Star / 86,075
# 3 / GiveSomeAdvice / 85,498
# 4 / Fresh Seaweed State / 85,432
# 5 / Unrighteous Dignity / 84,789
# 6 / This Isn’t the Martial World / 83,376

* * *

『“??? What’s with that ranking just now? Am I seeing things?”』
『 “Is there a calculation error?”』
『 “It does look weird, haha”』
『“What’s this disparity about???”』

At 10 o’clock, the rankings were revealed.

And countless people interested in this immediately checked the rankings.

Even the 70,000 viewers barely regaining their senses joined in once Ark revealed the rankings.

『“Is a 30,000-point difference normal?”』

==

At present, the rankers’ Reputation Points range from 5,000 to 6,000, but with those points, you’d have to play six more games solo to reach that number.

Is there an error?

==

First place was Heavenly Demon14.

In fact, it was an ID of a streamer that could still be called a newcomer.

They had drawn attention multiple times and had some level of recognition, so it wasn’t surprising to see them in first place.

However,

『“Even hyung who said the gap was too big was wrong, hahaha”』
『“If Heavenly Demon actually discovered a solo bug and played six more games, that’s wild, haha”』
『“Did they seriously play a few more games alone?”』
『 “Summon the 3-Minute Curry Squad!”』

The gap between first and second place was way too large.

As seen on the rankings, most rankers had similar contributions.

Differences only truly began to emerge when competitors started clashing, targeting, and sabotaging each other, resulting in accumulated losses.

But such a considerable difference already was bound to become a hot topic since the competition had just begun.

“….”

Lee Jiho.

With the nickname ‘Righteous Dignity’.

He was a user who placed second in the previous season and appeared ordinary on the surface but engaged in quite a bit of sleazy behavior in secret.

Not many knew about this.

You could tell by how casually he talked to Nameless.

“Wow, that’s insane. Isn’t it?”

Lee Jiho responded.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t you think it’s probably because of the raid?”

How long had it been since they were on the Battlefield?

They recognized it instantly.

Ark, JustOneCoin, and Heaven-Slaying Star would likely realize it soon after overcoming their initial surprise.

“I’ve seen them during a raid before. I thought they were impressive then, but not to this extent. This has never happened before.”

“Right.”

“But now, more checks will come in, making it interesting.”

“…”

As his friend said, this was indeed just the beginning.

Given the gap he created, other rankers’ hindrances would now aim at Sojun.

The gap was sure to naturally close.

However, staying idle wasn’t his style.

“I’m logging off the game now. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, must be a headache for you. I’m not aiming for first place, so it doesn’t matter to me.”

Lee Jiho bid farewell to Nameless and exited the game.

Emerging from the capsule, he immediately sat at his computer and mumbled.

“Glad I did some preliminary research on that streamer.”

He preferred knowing everything about his competitors.

For moments like this.

He logged into a community with a secondary account and pasted a pre-written post, quickly refining it.

“I didn’t think I’d use this as soon as the rankings were revealed, but this is enough to stir things up, heh.”

Causing a controversy.

Even if it was forced, as long as it added some shake, it was enough.

Lee Jiho considered this a skill too.