Streaming of a Reincarnated Genius

Episode 7.

Streamer Battle (4) – Knights of Honor

[What??]

[Why did Saraming die???]

The sudden outcome shocked the viewers.

Of course, the remaining three members of Southpaw’s team were even more surprised.

Sure, Saraming was the weakest in their squad.

But he was still an above-average player.

Plus, he was playing a heavily armored class—

A tank.

Getting one-shot in melee combat like that made no sense.

But the moment Mars calmly stepped forward again—

None of that mattered anymore.

If they didn’t stop him, they would lose.

“What the hell are you doing? It’s just one guy! Kill him!”

The NPC prince shouted from behind them.

But the team wasn’t panicking.

“We attack together. Same positions as always.”

Just like in practice.

Just like since the team first formed.

All they had to do was show why they had gold medals.

Southpaw’s three remaining players steadied themselves.

This time, Saseumrebe took the lead.

The other two moved to his sides.

A tight formation.

Saseumrebe wielded a massive two-handed war hammer.

If he attacked from the front, the others could strike Mars’ weak spots from the sides.

This was the exact same strategy that got them into the escort team, despite their weak second phase.

And now, they pushed forward with perfect coordination.

***

Mars watched three weapons coming his way.

And thought—

“Not bad.”

For once, he gave an opponent some credit.

This battlefield was strange to him.

It was hard to find things that felt ‘real.’

Everything was off.

No matter how many times he cut them down, the enemies stood back up.

People laughed and joked in the middle of a bloodbath.

For a man who had survived hundreds of real battles, this place felt unreal.

But not everything was fake.

The clash of weapons.

The sound of blades piercing flesh.

The pain.

The violence.

It was all real.

And that was enough.

Mars had lived for battle.

He had never feared violence.

He had only known one way to prove his existence—

Through fighting.

Through killing.

Through war.

The world called men like him monsters.

But Mars knew exactly what he was.

And when he looked at his enemies again—

He saw only one truth.

Mars knew exactly what he was.

And now, looking at the battle again—

“Their formation looks neat… but that’s all.”

A cold, merciless judgment.

Then—

He acted.

CLANG!

The war hammer came down from the front.

Mars blocked it with his greatsword.

The enemy thought they had the advantage—

But in that very moment—

Mars let go with his left hand.

The hammer tilted off balance.

And with his now free hand—

He drew a dagger.

Then—

THRUST!

The blade pierced into his opponent’s armpit.

The enemy dropped their spear.

Mars kicked the weapon away—

Then caught it himself.

Another enemy hesitated—

Dodging Mars’ attack slowed his reaction.

Too late.

Mars drove the spear straight through his throat.

“Guhhk—!”

The last enemy—

Alone, shocked, frozen.

Mars headbutted him.

Then tripped him as he staggered.

The knight spun his sword in reverse grip.

And—

SLAMMED IT DOWN.

CRACK!

Three enemies.

Three gold-medal players.

All dead in seconds.

The NPC prince behind them muttered curses.

Mars didn’t care.

He flicked the blood off his blade.

And stepped forward.

Now, nothing stood in his way.

The last opponent—

Prince Three.

He gripped his ceremonial sword in shaking hands.

“Such skill… What a waste, serving that First Prince.”

Mars narrowed his eyes.

He didn’t even know who the First Prince was.

But honor mattered.

His lord’s name was his own name.

A knight could die, but he never abandoned his honor.

“I will not beg for my life.”

“I only wish to know the name of the knight who takes my head—”

Before Prince Three could finish his sentence—

The blue knight swung his sword.

A single, precise slash.

Like a ruler-drawn line—

It cut through both the prince’s ceremonial sword

And his throat.

“A filthy traitor like you—”

“—does not deserve to know my name.”

As blood poured down,

Prince Three’s body collapsed.

〈Mercenary’s Blood Dance – Phase 3 Complete〉

〈Result: Attackers’ Victory〉

At the same time, Hyunseong’s vision turned dark.

“Oof…”

Dizzy.

Hyunseong checked his condition.

“My name is Kang Hyunseong.”

“I am a streamer playing a virtual reality game.”

“Right now, I am playing Knights of Honor.”

The noise in his head had faded.

But some traces remained.

For example—

“I only wish to know the name of the knight who takes my head.”

When Prince Three spoke those words—

Something had stirred deep inside.

A name almost left his lips.

Sir Edward Cain.

When he repeated that name—

A strange feeling lingered.

Like it was his own name.

***

“Mars! Mars!”

Hoyangbo shook his shoulder.

Hyunseong snapped back to reality.

“Huh?”

“Are you okay? The match ended, but you were just standing there…”

“Ah… Right. Defeating Prince Three must have ended the match.”

“I’m fine. Just a little dizzy.”

“That’s good, but—this isn’t the time for that!”

“Why?”

“The broadcast! Look at the screen! Right now!”

Hyunseong turned on the broadcast screen—

And froze.

[Oh… a perfect game-ending scene?]

[MAJESTIC.]

[MAJESTIC.]

[auto.]

[MAJESTIC.]

[Wait, no donation box here??]

[MAJESTIC.]

[h o.]

The chat exploded.

Messages flooded the screen too fast to read.

And the viewer count?

41,120.

Double the usual.

“Mars, you’re ranked #1 in the whole Pinbox right now! Number one!”

***

No time to process the insane viewer count.

Because—

A new challenge appeared.

The winner’s interview.

“Now, let’s meet the champions!”

“This is Pinbox TV! Hello!”

“Hello!”

“A-Ah, hello!”

“Hi!”

“That was an incredible match! Your team led the attack to victory! Congratulations!”

“Thank you!”

“T-Thank you very much!”

“Thanks!”

Hyunseong glanced at his teammates.

A wry smile appeared.

For streamers—

The main event of the tournament wasn’t the game.

It was the winner’s interview.

A spotlight moment before thousands.

A rare chance to advertise yourself.

For small streamers?

Even more important.

This was the real test.

A test of how far they could go as entertainers.

“Alright! First up, team leader Hoyangbo! Please introduce yourself!”

The team sent silent cheers.

Hoyangbo smiled, took a deep breath—

And hyped up her voice.

“Hello! I’m Hoyangbo, streaming on Pinbox TV! Nice to meet you~!”

[Yo, voice is cute.]

[Hoyha!]

[Hoyha? No, Boha!]

[Should’ve said Bogaru, lol.]

[Wait… isn’t her avatar kinda familiar?]

The chat exploded again.

As the host continued—

“So, what does ‘Hochugaru’ mean?”

“Why did you join the tournament?”

Easy questions.

Nothing too hard to answer.

But—

Hoyangbo’s way of answering stood out.

“When Mars did that headbutt—BOOM! The castle gate FLEW OPEN!”

“And I thought, ‘That’s it!’”

“We’re winning this. Tournaments, sponsorships, everything!”

“Ah~ I see!”

“But Hoyangbo, you almost broke character just now! Gotta stay in role~”

“Ahh! Sorry~ I’ll fix it~!”

[LOL]

[Cute.]

[Wait, is this really Hoyangbo? She’s great at streaming.]

Hoyangbo stayed calm and cheerful, keeping the flow of the broadcast smooth.

Her teammates widened their eyes in surprise.

Hyunseong?

He simply nodded.

“Yeah… no wonder she hit a million subs before.”

She had fallen from fame, but it was clear—

She had the talent to get there in the first place.

“Thank you for the interview! Next, Garibi!”

“Ah… Hello!”

Unlike Hoyangbo—

Garibi and Choran were a mess.

They stumbled over words, messed up their pacing, and even stammered.

If someone was impatient, they’d find it frustrating.

[Well, they are still small streamers.]

[At least they’re trying.]

[They won, so who cares? CHEERS!]

[They’re cute, so it’s fine.]

The chat remained kind.

Everything went smoothly—

Except once.

Choran, nervous and distracted, slipped up.

“Oh, how did we form the team? Actually… we had another leader at first. But then they suddenly left for another group, so—”

[Wait, there was another leader?]

[Who was it?]

[Where did they go???]

Choran froze.

Realizing his mistake, he quickly fixed it.

“Ahaha! But then, our amazing Hoyangbo brought in Mars, and we went with this lineup!”

The host picked up on the tension.

Smartly, he changed the topic.

“Aha, got it! Then, last but not least—Mars! Please introduce yourself!”

Hyunseong instantly understood.

This wasn’t a topic worth digging into.

He played along.

“Hello. I’m Mars, a new streamer on Pinbox TV. Nice to meet you.”

Smooth.

Hoyangbo’s interview was confident.

Hyunseong’s?

It was experienced.

He wasn’t nervous.

He just didn’t let it shake him.

Even if he never made it big, his years of streaming had given him a strong mindset.

That was his biggest asset.

“Alright. This time, for real… I’ll make it work.”

Drawing from all those years, he gave the best interview of his life.

He told the story of how he met Hoyangbo in a game.

How he joined the tournament after planning to make a duo video with her.

Every story his teammates had started—

He tied them together.

And when the interviewer mentioned that the game devs had immortalized their match in the game’s history?

The audience erupted.

[Wait, no wonder Hoyangbo’s avatar looked familiar!]

[That wasn’t just a cutscene?? That was real gameplay??]

[OMG, it’s actually on their channel!]

[This is some crazy viral marketing LOL]

With Mars’ interview, the event finally ended.

“And that’s a wrap! Once again, congratulations to the winners! Thank you for watching!”

“Thank you!”

“Good job, everyone!”

As soon as the stream ended, a message popped up in the team chat.

This was their private space, where only they could talk.

[Choran: Uh… I think I messed up earlier. Is it okay??]

[Hoyangbo: Oh, you mean that slip-up?]

[Choran: Yeah… I wasn’t trying to bring it up, but it just slipped out ;;]

[Hoyangbo: Pfft, it’s fine. You didn’t even say any names.]

[Garibi: Yeah, nobody really cares about us that much anyway.]

[Hoyangbo: LOL true ;;]

Hyunseong read the chat.

He didn’t agree or disagree.

It wasn’t that he had no thoughts on the matter.

He just didn’t feel the need to speak up.

[Choran: Haha, then I guess it’s fine. Good job, everyone!!]

[Hoyangbo: Yeah, good work, everyone~!]

The mood was light.

The night ended on a cheerful note.

Hyunseong didn’t want to ruin that.

But still—

He had a bad feeling.

***

Years of streaming had taught him to trust his instincts.

“Hopefully, I’m just overthinking.”

But bad feelings usually meant one thing—

Trouble was coming.

That night.

A spark ignited in an online community.

[Team Leader Abandonment Scandal in Today’s Tournament]

At first, it was small.

Even if thousands had watched, the game wasn’t major.

And the people involved weren’t big-name streamers.

But then—

Someone noticed a famous streamer’s name in the mix.

[Trending Post: Who Abandons a Team That’s About to Win??]

[Trending Post: Wait, This Isn’t Their First Time LOL]

[Trending Post: You Really Think They Didn’t Know?]

By dawn—

The flames had exploded.

Even big-name streamers had to take notice.