NOVEL NEXT Chapter 41
Chapter 41 – It’s Not Teabagging
In a broadcast studio meticulously organized from furniture placement to decorations, the camera captured a pristine setup.
“Thank you, GodWarrior, for the 100,000 won donation. Currently working on a build? I’m refining an attack-focused variation of the dual-axe berserk build. Yes, it’s the build that Zeke showcased yesterday.”
From this spotless background, a man competently conducted his broadcast.
『Revan’s build used by pros ㄷㄷㄷ』
『Classy』
『Did you get royalties for that?』
『GodRevan』
Revan, Lee Shihoon.
Since the beta test phase, he had consistently appeared on the ranking leaderboards and was a broadcaster specializing in KoK.
Unlike many who only claimed to run skillful streams, he proved his prowess through self-tested builds and high-tier rankings.
Although KoK’s professional league was still in its infancy, pro team coaches would often send him in-game messages inviting him to try out for their teams.
Even if he was struggling in the middle ranks of Challenger due to streaming, ‘Revan’ was an unskippable name in any discussion of top amateur players.
“It’s the last game, and the opponent picked a rogue. No, I can’t say it will be an easy game… This alt account is already in Master tier. Anyone picking rogue at this level is either a troll or a dedicated monk mastering only rogue.”
ㅇㅇ has donated 1,000 won! –
【We decided to just call them trolls】
『LOL LOL LOL』
『The rogue with a 0% pick rate in pro leagues』
『If you’re a rogue monk, aren’t you just a bum?』
『A rogue infiltrating for monastery food』
『『Manager』 Please refrain from derogatory remarks about specific characters』
『Let’s win this last game easily~』
Even at this late hour, around 3,000 viewers gathered to watch his gameplay.
Given the nature of the late-night crowd, having a few unpredictable individuals wouldn’t be surprising, but Revan’s chatroom remained unusually calm, as always.
This peaceful atmosphere was something Revan cherished.
A well-ordered and focused game broadcast.
Emphasizing brilliant gameplay over flashy talk, this was the broadcast he had diligently built over the past year.
Rechecking both teams’ compositions on the loading screen, Revan lightly rotated his wrists, starting his pre-game routine.
“They’ve got two mages, so if we don’t capitalize early, it could get tough. We need to press underground and strike quickly.”
Planning out routes and running simulations based on both team compositions.
While it was somewhat more relaxed on his alt account, the tension was of a different kind compared to playing on his main account.
Even if the chances of winning were higher, the criticism and ridicule for losing would also be much greater.
I must win. With this thought, Revan took a deep breath and heightened his focus.
As a dedicated gamer, setting aside the streaming aspect, he never wanted to lose the last game of the day. Still, he felt fairly at ease.
Despite all the talk, facing a rogue as the opposition’s underground player often felt like a guaranteed win. Revan had no doubts about it.
****
In a damp, humid corner of the underground dungeon, a warrior clad in relatively lightweight armor cautiously scanned ahead, completely mismatched with his fierce exterior.
His dual axes remained unstained, not a drop of blood upon them yet. His sharp eyes swept over the forked path in front of him.
Where would that rogue, likely lurking like a vermin in this underground battlefield, be headed?
No matter how keenly he listened for the clash of weapons, the death throes of monsters, or the hurried footsteps bounding through the dungeon – in the eerie silence, all he could hear was his own thumping heart.
There was no sound from the enemy. Silence that could only be maintained by doing nothing and moving nowhere. In the underground mind games, the first to reveal their move was at a disadvantage.
But still—
It was rare to encounter a rogue as insane as this one, who would counter such tactics by making no moves at all, simply waiting. If the warrior chose to engage with monsters, the rogue would gleefully run for the trap chest room and gamble greedily.
If he went to guard the trap chest, the rogue would play coward, hide and vanish again.
In the first scenario, he had to be prepared to face a potentially empowered rogue who succeeded in gambling with the trap chest.
In the second, there was a risk of both of them becoming non-factors in the battle.
He was confident in winning either way, but the twisted sense of these two undesirable choices began to irritate him.
For a rogue to dare enter the battlefield of warriors, he must possess a notable degree of skill. It had been 30 seconds of waiting at the fork.
He couldn’t wait any longer. If the rogue was equipped with stealth, he could be silently moving toward the treasure chest even now.
After glaring beyond the dark fork in the path, the burly warrior lowered his axes and headed towards where the monsters awaited.
He silently hoped that the cowardly rogue would find nothing but worthless junk from the chest he was undoubtedly about to open.
***
Krrkk!
With a single wretched cry, the goblin fell, and the warrior pulled his axe from its skull, surveying the battlefield.
Contrasted against the blood-soaked axes, his pristine armor made it clear that what had just transpired was less of a battle and more of a massacre.
The warrior had allowed himself a couple of hits to inch closer to his berserk state; otherwise, he stood unscathed, unlike the seven goblins, of which only two survived.
But he knew that the real hunt was about to begin, so he maintained a vigilant stance, crossing the axes in his hands.
Once reduced to two, goblin packs—neutral monsters that yield the highest experience—become more aggressive and powerful.
As the goblins charged from the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock directions, the warrior lifted his axes and prepared to roar.
-This is war—ugh.
Rather, he attempted to roar.
A precision strike from behind interrupted his war cry—a skill buffing attack and defense—forcing him to reflexively turn around.
There stood a rogue, clad in a mix of plate, heavy, and leather armor, hood pulled over his head without a helmet.
It might have been his imagination, but it seemed like he could see a sly smile under that hood.
‘What the—’
Timing-wise, it didn’t make sense.
‘Did he stealth and wait before I even started hunting the goblin pack?’
There wasn’t time to contemplate the situation leisurely.
-Swish!
Feigning a retreat to engage in a distancing fight, the rogue suddenly hurled a dagger at terrifying speed.
The warrior managed to evade the swiftly approaching dagger with a hurried sidestep.
But immediately after, two spiked clubs, filled with rusty nails, smashed into the back of his head.
Just moments ago, he had intended to effortlessly dispatch the two goblins. Despite being minor monsters, their full-force attacks from behind were anything but light—and there were two of them, leaving the warrior teetering on the brink of death.
Stunned by the sudden appearance of the rogue, he had briefly taken his eyes off the fight—and was paying the price.
In a battle started with most of his points allocated away from survival and defense, he found himself critically injured and surrounded on three sides.
The rogue, maintaining his distance and lightly stepping in a mocking manner, seemed to taunt him with every movement.
The warrior’s eyes turned blood-red with rage as he entered a berserk state.
At the very least.
At the very least, he would take that damn rogue down with him. Charging forward with explosive power to decapitate the rogue in one strike.
As the warrior’s right-hand axe traced an obvious Ark, the rogue simply tilted his head to evade.
‘Got you!’
Waiting for that very dodge, the warrior’s left arm swung upwards from beneath, aimed to slice from a blind spot—
-Clang!
But with a clear metallic sound, his deadly strike was effortlessly deflected. And in the moment he staggered from the recoil, the rogue stabbed his exposed collarbone twice with a dagger and then retreated.
Blocking even his last desperate charge with a thrown dagger, the rogue retreated gracefully, displaying a microphone-shaped green icon above his head.
《Rogues are great, aren’t they?》
Just before being killed by the pursuing goblins, a voice chat message chimed in, almost like a farewell.
《Ah! It’s not teabagging.》
Fortunately, the last words were cut off due to the warrior dying just in time. At least there was that small relief.
TL’s Corner:
It’s not teabagging indeed.