A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 70

29,179.

This was the contribution difference between first and second place.

It was an unprecedented figure, and Ark was momentarily at a loss for words.

『“Hahaha. I’m a bit taken aback. It was slightly out of my expectations. Is it just a little? Hmm.”』

It wasn’t just a little.

Ark laughed and shifted the topic.

『“Come to think of it, even JustOneCoin’s prediction was essentially wrong, wouldn’t you say?”』
『“Well, it’s still better than that friend who kept talking about concepts. Cough.”』
『“Quiet.”』

-LOLOLOL LOLOLOL
-What’s with the world championLOLOLOL
-Embarrassed, huh?
-Worthy of restrainingLOL
-So how did such a gap arise?

Ark read the chat and stopped JustOneCoin from teasing further.

『“Alright, JustOneCoin. Let’s stop with the teasing. The viewers are curious about how this score difference occurred, so let’s resolve that first. Do you have any guesses?”』
『“Yes.”』

Instead of explaining themselves, they accessed No Justice.

They thought there would be a sorted-out post.

Ark pulled up a post on the screen.

『“This person has organized it well.”』

It was a post that had quickly summarized the situation not long after being posted.

『Current Situation Summary』

==

A lot of people seem curious, so I wrote this roughly.

The reputation points and contributions from winning streaks don’t mean much, but I calculated them anyway.

If you get four consecutive wins on the first day, you’ll start the second day with 250 reputation points, and winning all matches on the second day gives you 1,000 contribution points.

On the third day, the total reputation from the winning streak would be 500, and the contribution for that day is 2,000.

Adding up separately, the total contribution you can get from winning streaks is 36,000.

This applies to all rankers who won consecutively, so it holds no significance.

And there wasn’t a huge difference made in each match either. It was revealed on the stream that the second place earned between 500~600.

Thus, there must have been a massive difference at some moment, especially early in the battle.

The only possibility is the raid.

Assuming the second place earned 100 from the raid and the first place earned 500…

If the reputation points obtained in all other games after the third day were the same, the gap would continue to widen by that much.

With a difference of 400 every day, over four matches a day.

Multiply 1600 by 7 days.

Then it would be 11,200, which does not reach the 29,000, indicating the difference is over 400.

Roughly assuming both earned similar points in other games, you do the math.

==

The post seemed hastily completed without a proper conclusion.

Ark reverted the screen and spoke.

“Since the contribution difference should be divided by the total number of 28 matches, you could assume the difference is around 1,000? Maybe 1,100?”

At the same time, a donation alert sounded.

『’ㅇㅇ’-nim donated 200,000 won!』
『Hyung, heard the first place earned 1,500 reputation points from the raid. Current reputation is 6,600.』

His minimum donation amount was set at 200,000 won.

With so many people gathered, donations were pouring in and had to be managed to avoid interrupting the stream.

However, Ark was grateful for the donations.

“Oh! Sojun-nim disclosed his score. Heaven-Slaying Star mentioned it was 500, so that makes a 1,000 difference.”

Even with a 1,000-point difference, if Heaven-Slaying Star and Sojun had earned the same reputation from the raid, Sojun would still be the first.

Ark didn’t mention this not to further distress Heaven-Slaying Star but was inwardly surprised.

“Hmm, by the way.”

Were they already starting to get wary?

After refreshing, Ark noticed some oddities in the emerging posts, catching onto the trend.

Posts starting to criticize were appearing one by one.

『Is there a balance issue?』
『How did they calculate to give 3x points?』
『So everyone’s gonna throw everything into raids like gambling LOL 』
『This isn’t skill.』

Such doubts were expected.

The issue lay in how those writing similar-toned posts were upvoting one another.

Could it be a mere coincidence?

– It’s strange just like those posts.
– It doesn’t seem right that a single raid makes such a difference.
– It is a bit over the top.

The 70,000 viewers appeared to be in agreement.

At times like this, Ark tended to just express his thoughts.

“In these posts, people are saying it’s strange to see a threefold difference. In my view, reducing time from 4 minutes 30 seconds to 1 minute 30 seconds is indeed about three times as difficult.”

The Ark continued his explanation.

“It seems like there’s chatter because the strategy was so unique and could only work with that particular trait. But finding that method is also a skill and talent, I think. Even Demonic Cult players didn’t challenge it using that method, knowing it existed. I reckon the difficulty was quite high.”

Next to him, JustOneCoin nodded his head.

“And since it’s the first time solo dominance has emerged, isn’t it going to be more interesting to see how the bid for the top spot unfolds?”

Many people agreed.

After all, if reputation points were an issue, it was ultimately the game’s company’s fault.

At that moment, another donation alert sounded.

『’ㅇㅇ’-nim donated 200,000 won!』
『What do you think of this? (link)』

He followed the link.

A post uploaded less than a minute before, still fresh.

He wondered how the donor spotted the post so quickly but decided to move on for now.

The post already had over 10 recommendations.

『Streamer’s Behavior. Am I the only one who finds this suspicious??』

==

1. Before playing ‘For Justice’, the previous game was ‘Assassin’s Dawn’ by the same developer.

2. There is a ‘Organization’ system in ‘Assassin’s Dawn’ that ‘nobody could find’, but it was discovered during a collaborative stream. Refer to the video for details. (Still unclear how they did it)

3. Not only ‘Organization’, but they also unlocked the ‘Dominant Wusang’ mystery first and posted a link to the official movie soft preview.

4. Then started playing ‘For Justice’ as the next game and received advertisement opportunities.

5. Obtained the ‘Grandmaster’ title ‘that nobody could achieve’. (Similar outcome to ‘Assassin’s Dawn’)

6. Finally, the contribution this time is historically high. The contribution part is somewhat understandable, but when coincidences pile up, what is it?

==

The recommenders’ names were familiar.

The same IDs that had been recommending each other’s posts earlier.

Then Ark read through the content and reflected.

People who watched the stream wouldn’t think much of it, but what if they hadn’t?

“Hmm. It is quite suspicious.”

Heaven-Slaying Star remarked with a mysterious expression.

– MubiSoft’s son, oMg
– Wow, this is chilling
– It’s possible
– He’s skilled, but if that’s true, it is suspicious
– It seems more unrealistic if it’s true, doesn’t it?
– So what do you think?
– Explanation needed

* * *

In Sojun’s stream, 12,000 viewers had gathered.

They say the intensity of the issue is reflected by the number of viewers, don’t they?

These people won’t just let such a big event pass by.

Of course, additional viewers didn’t change much.

“How did I get first place? Hmm. I suppose I was lucky.”

Even in front of 12,000 viewers, Sojun’s shameless response pleased his regular viewers.

– Lol, do you really think our Streamer-nim knows, newcomers?
– Lucky indeed!
– Here to see the first place
– The time magician who earned several days’ worth of contribution alone
– Be my leader, Sojun! Be my leader, Sojun! Be my leader, Sojun!

What is this ‘be my leader’ thing now?

After his ranking was revealed, Sojun had to stop inviting people into his room due to overcrowding.

He was browsing through forums afterward.

“Want me to shut it down? Hmm. It might be time to stop the stream.”

He had revealed what needed revealing and had nothing more to add.

– Not the stream, stop browsing the community Streamer-nim lol
– Sneakily trying to end the stream, huh?
– Who’s with you?
– No chance

Amidst the viewers’ teasing, another donation alert sounded.

『’ㅇㅇ’-nim donated 10,000 won!』
『Have you seen this? (link)』

Sojun followed the link and read the content together with his viewers.

The post claimed that there was some kind of relationship between him and MubiSoft.

While it didn’t name names exactly, in the current situation, it was as easy to guess the main character of the post as it was for him to play defense.

– Are they connecting it like this?
– I’ve been watching since the early days of the stream, but I never noticed anything like this, lol.
– If everything until now was an act, he should become an actor!
– So, he’s supposedly in cahoots with a game company, secretly pulling all sorts of strings while streaming? LOL.
– LOL.
– If it’s true, there’d be no one left in the world to trust, lol.

Viewers seemed to brush it off with laughter.

But that might not have been the case for others.

Once such an image spread, it could be troublesome.

No matter how much one explains, not everyone will hear it or believe it.

The post had already received more than 30 recommendations.

“What should I do?”

Ignoring it might be good, but the extent of the impact was unknown.

Even if it wasn’t a game company, people tended to believe what they wanted to believe.

“A good method…….”

While Sojun was pondering other options, a notification appeared.

『’Breaking News’ donated 10,000 won!』
『Heaven-Slayer Star challenges for a public spar in front of 70,000 people!』

A donation message announcing the news popped up.

A spar challenge in front of 70,000 people?

『’Spar Clip’ donated 10,000 won!』

A video began playing in front of his puzzled face.

『Very suspicious.』

In Ark’s studio, Heaven-Slayer Star faced the camera.

Sitting silently beside him were JustOneCoin and Ark, while only Heaven-Slayer Star spoke.

『So, I want you to prove it. Face me directly. One-on-one.』

A one-on-one.

It truly was a spar challenge.

Was it because he had never experienced this in his past life?

A joyful smile appeared on Sojun’s lips.

“This will be fun.”

The clip ended with a short statement from Heaven-Slayer Star.

『If achieved entirely by your own skill, you won’t avoid the match, right?』

The public’s interest shifted from conspiracy theories to the spar challenge.

Now, the post itself had to step back before the face-off between Rank 1 and Rank 2.

Was this deliberate?

– It really was the Spar Clip, lol.
– How does such a matchup appear so soon after the rankings are revealed, lol?
– Let’s bet something big for the loser!
– Surely, he won’t avoid the challenge, right?
– The second-placer challenged the first-placer to a spar. How could you resist!

『’Trick Dice’ donated 600,000 won!』
『Go to Ark’s stream and reply to the spar challenge.』

600,000 won.

Considering the minimum amount in Ark’s room, it was a generous donation.

Naturally, given the belief in his response and the donation, he needed to meet those expectations.

“Thank you. Let’s go right away.”

However, while the spar itself was beneficial for Sojun, it felt somewhat lacking.

There seemed to be room for a better scenario.

“Ah.”

* * *

– Why is the Streamer-nim hiding the screen?
– Let us see the donation messages too.
– Feels suspicious, lol. Like he’s going to cause trouble again.
– So, who do you think will win?
– Heaven-Slayer Star is insanely good one-on-one.
– But the Streamer-nim is on a professional level.
– Why is it taking so long to write the reply?

Despite the viewers’ grumblings, Sojun took his time composing the donation message.

Finally, a fanfare echoed through Ark’s room as the donation message appeared.

『’Heavenly Demon14′ donated 200,000 won!』
『I will play continuously from 7 PM to 10 PM tomorrow without a single break. If anyone doubts my ranking or believes they’re better than me, you’re welcome to join in. I am confident I won’t lose a single time, haha.』