Reincarnator’s Stream

After a brief meeting, Lee Suhyuk parted ways with Cha Minwoo.

This encounter barely scratched the surface. Whether it turned out to be positive or negative, any substantial connection between them would only form once the preliminaries of the Counter-Fight started.

“He has a strong competitive spirit.”

As they prepared for the stream, Un Hyang shared her impression of Cha Minwoo.

“It’s exactly what I felt from his streams.”

“You watched Cha Minwoo’s streams?”

“A long time ago. He doesn’t do them anymore, so I haven’t seen them lately. Even if he did, I probably wouldn’t watch.”

It was known that she used to enjoy streams themed around Lee Suhyuk. Before Lee Suhyuk came into the picture, Cha Minwoo would have been a streamer that fit well with a Lee Suhyuk concept.

“Were you curious about Cha Minwoo too, Suhyuk?”

“Partly.”

Indeed, Lee Suhyuk had sought out Cha Minwoo deliberately, but it wasn’t because he was curious about him. What Lee Suhyuk was interested in was the company he kept.

“Two companions.”

One of them was a player named Hwiyung. She was nearby and was introduced to Lee Suhyuk by Cha Minwoo.

A female player who used a bow.

There was nothing particularly special about her. She was simply another Blue Zone player participating in the preliminaries with Cha Minwoo.

“And the other one….”

“The other one isn’t with us right now. That person is currently….”

“Let’s leave it at that.”

Hwiyung interrupted Cha Minwoo’s words in the middle. The conversation felt unnatural. And from that conversation, Lee Suhyuk was certain.

Cha Minwoo was the man Dark Map had informed him about.

‘How should I meet him?’

Inquiring more about his companions would seem unnatural. Asking if he came alone was a natural question to start with, but anything beyond that could reveal his intentions.

He couldn’t leave a suspicious impression. No matter how secure Dark Map was as an information guild, he couldn’t underestimate a giant guild like Blue Zone.

‘For now… I just need to make contact.’

Luckily, there was still time. Cha Minwoo was participating in this Counter-Fight. As long as he didn’t get eliminated, they would inevitably meet again.

“Do you think Cha Minwoo can pass the preliminaries?”

Lee Suhyuk trusted Un Hyang’s judgment.

Though it had been a while, she had seen Cha Minwoo’s streams before. Surely, she could evaluate his potential.

“The finals? It’s fifty-fifty.”

“So, you mean you’re not sure? Or…”

“No, I mean exactly fifty-fifty. I haven’t seen him fight recently.”

Cha Minwoo wasn’t a long-time player. Although his talent was proven by his rapid ascend up the ranks, he still lacked experience.

‘So, fifty-fifty it is.’

This preliminary round held significant importance. Not just because of the stream; this Counter-Fight seemed intertwined with his comrades too.

‘Following Cha Minwoo might lead me to him.’

The player Blue Zone had discovered, the one who had been with Cha Minwoo.

That person could very well be Hwang Kyuseong.

* * *

Before anyone realized, the stands for the Counter-Fight were filled.

The start of the Counter-Fight was imminent. With hundreds of thousands of spectators gathering, the surroundings were bustling.

At the highest point of the stands, in the room provided to VIPs who paid expensive admission fees, Hwang Kyuseong and Lee Wonjae stood side by side.

“Have you made up your mind?”

Hwang Kyuseong answered Lee Wonjae’s question with a sharper tone than he used with Cha Minwoo.

“What do you think?”

“I believe we’ve made our position clear.”

“You did see it. You tried to lure me with that kid, didn’t you?”

The reason Cha Minwoo stayed by Hwang Kyuseong’s side until today, was because Cha Minwoo was the most ardent fan of Lee Suhyuk.

Convincing him with words, even a hundred or a thousand of them, was futile. A few months was not enough time to trust someone.

For that reason, Lee Wonjae chose Cha Minwoo. He knew how much Minwoo admired Lee Suhyuk. He intended to persuade Hwang Kyuseong by showing Minwoo’s sincere admiration.

“Did it work a little?”

“Just a tiny bit.”

“That’s fortunate then.”

Watching Lee Wonjae smile, Hwang Kyuseong thought to himself that he didn’t trust anyone. But despite that, he had no choice but to grasp this hand extended to him.

He had waited far too long for this moment.

“As long as I can kill Kim Ilsoo, that’s all that matters.”

Hwang Kyuseong smiled coldly.

“If that’s the case, I don’t care why you’re using me.”

“That’s fortunate. Our goals align.”

“He should be coming soon, right?”

His heart, which had stopped, now beat again. The moment he had waited over 20 years might be approaching soon. Below the arena, a massive crowd could be seen.

Did they know?

That this place would soon turn into a battlefield?

* * *

▶ Can Suhyuk Make it to the Finals? ◀

『Impossible – Upvote, Possible – Downvote』

A hot topic post on the community board.

There was ongoing debate over whether Lee Suhyuk would pass the preliminaries of the Counter-Fight.

Lee Suhyuk had not yet become a ranker. Perhaps due to that, viewers’ reactions were skeptical.

– Even if he says something plausible, lol

– Upvoting for impossible, so disgraceful

– He won’t fail spectacularly, will he?

– Nope, it’s going to be an epic fail, lol

– Does the Counter-Fight seem like a joke to you?

No matter how well he had appeared on the stream, he was still not a ranker.

Expectations were bound to be different for him compared to Cha Minwoo.

The Counter-Fight was a battle of stars. No matter how preliminary it was, many rankers participated, and there were numerous strong contenders who just missed making it to the finals.

Apart from a few fans, most believed Lee Suhyuk wouldn’t make much of an impact in the preliminaries.

No.

– I don’t want to see my bro lose, ㅠㅠ

Even those fans thought this time, Lee Suhyuk would fall from grace.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?”

Cheon Ryang, reading the community comments, asked with a worried voice.

This Counter-Fight was risky in many ways.

Suhyuk’s stream was all about showcasing the best, providing vicarious satisfaction to viewers. Viewers were enthralled by their faith in Lee Suhyuk and his cool persona. But it was a double-edged sword. The moment he betrayed that trust even once, the sword would cut Suhyuk’s hand.

“Of course, he’ll be fine. What are you asking?”

“Of course? What does he know about the Counter-Fight? And this is his first participation.”

No matter how fearless someone was, the first time always brought tension. Especially for a major competition like the Counter-Fight.

Even if Suhyuk had the skills to make it to the finals, nervousness might lead to mistakes.

And that’s what Un Hyang was worried about too.

“Let’s start the stream already.”

* * *

『’Lee Suhyuk’ has started streaming.』

It was a message that rang after a long time.

Viewers who had been waiting for over ten days.

They swarmed in like bees.

– They’re here!!!

– Explain yourself, Suhyuk!!!

– Why the silence??

– Missed you, bro ㅠㅠㅠ

The rapidly scrolling chats made it overwhelming. It seemed the viewers had been waiting for today. Lee Suhyuk waved his hand to them.

“Hello, everyone. Nice to see you again after a long time.”

Chats demanding explanations and donations kept flooding in. With the donation messages piling up, he couldn’t help but address it.

“The trial was in a region where streaming was impossible. I tried a few times, but it failed.”

– Is there such a thing?

– Isn’t he lying?

– Fans don’t trust you anymore, haha.

– First time hearing about something like that, hm?

A trial where streaming was impossible? Such a thing had never been known before.

『’ShineChocolate’ donated 100 points.』

『So what was that trial about?』

A question came through a donation.

Though explaining would be long and interesting, Suhyuk shook his head at the question.

– No spoilers.

– ???

– What, seriously?

– Latecomer acting all confident??

– If I tell you in advance, it won’t be fun. You’ll find out in the next stream what kind of trial it was, what I did there, and whom I met.

– This insane tease, haha.

– Where’s your conscience?

Frustrated, viewers erupted in complaints. Seeing the chat explode, Suhyuk smiled joyfully as always.

Sure, it would be interesting to spill the beans right now. But raising curiosity and anticipation was the most important task in streaming.

He had sparked curiosity.

The next task was to build anticipation.

『’SafeAsset’ donated 100 points.』

『It better be worth it –』

And building that anticipation was exactly what he aimed to do.

“Just watch for yourselves.”

It was going to be the stage for the Counter-Fight preliminaries.

“Let’s see if it’s worth it or not.”

* * *

Wowww-!

Bang, bang-bang-bang-!

Countless fireworks exploded over the stadium. The fireworks, which adorned the sky using magical powers, announced the opening of the preliminaries.

Numerous players were arrayed around the stadium.

A sight to behold, most of the players were rankers. Just watching them was a spectacle in itself.

– Here we gooo to the main round!

– Ah, do you really think he’s gonna make it? LOL

– Well, you never know.

– Yeah, I know~

As the preliminaries approached, the chat was abuzz with discussions regarding Suhyuk’s chances of advancing to the main round.

Even though Suhyuk showed confidence, not many believed that someone who hadn’t even become a ranker could make it to the main round.

No, actually, saying that no one believed it wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

There had never been a case where a player who wasn’t a ranker participated in the main round of the Counter-Fight.

Among the numerous rankers present here, only a select few could participate in the main round.

“There you are.”

As Suhyuk waited for the preliminaries, Cha Minwoo approached him from the group of participants.

“Oh, are you streaming?”

“Yes. Would you like to come on as a guest for a bit?”

“Is that alright, though?”

Cha Minwoo had no hesitation about appearing on the stream. After all, he had done similar streams in the past.

– It’s Cha Minwoo!

– Why is he here?

– He’s participating in the preliminaries this time.

– Were the two close?

Cha Minwoo approached Suhyuk first. Suhyuk didn’t flinch at his approach and readily invited him to appear as a guest, which Minwoo accepted. Since Cha Minwoo had a lot of fans, it was great for the stream as well.

“Absolutely. Being a guest just means you will be chatting with me.”

“Right, you don’t seem to have much eloquence while killing time like this.”

“… Is it really that boring?”

“Yes. No fun at all.”

– LOL

– Cha Minwoo dropping truth bombs LOL

– To be honest, his chat skills are not fun, I agree LOL

Cha Minwoo’s approach was also welcoming for this reason. For Suhyuk, the hardest moments were when he did nothing.

“You’re not here just to save my stream. Do you have something to say?”

“Ah, I wanted to tell you something interesting. You’ll find out soon enough anyway.”

“Something interesting?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“The opening ceremony.”

The opening ceremony.

An event marking the start of the preliminaries, typically featuring a famous star player by tradition.

Despite being for the preliminaries and not the main round, people’s expectations for the opening ceremony were always high enough that they would come to see it.

– I wanted to tell you first who’s going to be attending.

– Seriously?

– Is it okay to reveal this on stream?

– It’ll be out soon anyway LOL

– Let’s go!

Viewers were thrilled at the chance of knowing the opening ceremony attendee before anyone else.

But Cha Minwoo’s words made Suhyuk’s heart start to race a little faster.

‘No way…’

A face appeared in Suhyuk’s mind. There was only one reason why Cha Minwoo would know the attendee before others.

It was because…

“It’s our guild master.”

At that moment.

Bang, pop-pop-bang-!

The second round of fireworks, signaling the start of the opening ceremony, began.