NOVEL NEXT Chapter 168 - To Throw or Not to Throw (3)
Chapter 168 To Throw or Not to Throw (3)
– The guy who messes with other people’s missions VS The guy who takes the money and runs.
– Dakhu
– ㄷㅎ
– No, it’s Dakjeon, honestly, wasn’t it Shia who started messing around first?
– ㄹㅇㅋㅋ So satisfying.
– No, at this level, isn’t Nyanggaejwa just delivering justice?ㅋㅋ
– Agreed, there’s a relationship dynamic.
Nyanggaejwa was a nickname given to Husu by the Evil Gang. He was one of my main rivals, a bad guy who constantly clashed with me.
Honestly, it was true that I had messed with his challenger as a joke, but this was too much.
[
I boldly demanded my share from him, but he only said one thing.
– Betrayal is what makes it taste better. Good job.
The first time I entered his stream and heard that, I felt my mind go blank. I hadn’t anticipated that he would betray me like this.
I tried to remain as calm as possible as I spoke to Husu, who had entered the chat room.
“You know, this feels a bit wrong between us.”
“What kind of relationship do we have anyway?”
“We’re comrades with a lot of love-hate, aren’t we? We’ve practically shared life and death together.”
“Didn’t I ask you earlier during the game if your mouth was your anus?”
Damn it.
Look at the way he talks.
But there’s one rule that always applies in a capitalist society: the one giving the money is always more shameless and confident than the one receiving it.
This situation was exactly like that.
“We’re in the same crew, aren’t we? Come on, let’s not get ugly between us.”
“What’s ugly about it? Isn’t messing with a fellow challenger ugly?”
Honestly, there was no counterargument.
But in these situations, it’s best to brazen it out.
“When did I ever mess around? I’m telling you, Sung-shin was just that good! Ever since he became a pro gamer, his skills have skyrocketed.”
“Then why did he suddenly dominate as soon as I got a mission?”
“Well… because that’s when our synergy finally shone through?”
It seemed that my tone had gotten on Husu’s nerves.
He looked at me and raised his middle finger lightly, then confidently spoke.
“Not a chance.”
“Hey!”
This bastard.
He left me with nothing to say and quickly started swaying public opinion.
I sneaked a glance at the chat, but not everyone was on my side.
There were quite a few viewers who agreed that Husu had a point.
– But Nyanggaejwa is rightㅋㅋ
– Hey, was it a mission on you or what?
– Honestly, at this level, wasn’t Shia trying to screw over Nyanggaejwa?
– Still, it’s true that we won thanks to Shiaㅋㅋ
– The showdown of the real pros is crazy~
– At this point, let’s call Kan and get Solomon’s judgment.
Right.
There was that method.
When I checked the time, it was still when Dong-su hyung would be streaming.
He was probably enjoying the last game of the season just moments ago.
When I checked Dong-su hyung’s stream through the Twipod module, it was just as I expected.
His stream was still on.
As soon as I confirmed that, I spoke to Husu.
“Let’s get Dong-su hyung’s judgment.”
“Dong-su hyung? I agree if it’s him.”
This guy hated me to death but always treated Dong-su hyung with utmost respect.
It was the same back in
Dong-su hyung had an image of a friendly neighborhood big brother. He had built enough good karma and often played the role of mediator among streamers when there were disputes.
This was exactly the kind of situation where we needed Dong-su hyung’s wise judgment.
I immediately used the whisper system in
“Hyung, are you busy?”
Soon, a reply came from him.
“No, I just finished collecting donations. Hey, I hit Platinum. Isn’t that amazing?”
“Oh… yes.”
“But why are you contacting me during a stream? Is something urgent?”
He was a sharp guy.
“You only contact me first when you have something important.”
…Ah, so that’s how it was.
“Hey, hyung. I contact you often even when there’s nothing urgent.”
“Hmm, just tell me what’s up.”
I began to explain the dispute resolution matter to Dong-su hyung. Of course, I added a bit of MSG to make it more favorable for me, but I tried to stick to the objective facts.
However, Dong-su hyung had experienced countless such incidents. Despite my efforts to distort the truth, he quickly grasped the hidden reality in my words.
“Hyung, you’re probably busy, so you can just tell me directly.”
“You’re with Husu, right?”
“How did you know?”
“I’ll go there. Hey, how can I judge something like this by only listening to you?”
As expected, he was wise.
Dong-su hyung didn’t make the mistake of judging after hearing only one side.
He soon accepted my invitation and entered our chat room, waving and smiling at us.
“My brothers.”
– Kanha
– Impossible to hate hyung
– ㄹㅇㅋㅋ Feels just like our neighborhood hyung?
– It’s not the same without Kan in such situations
– Can’t wait to see what judgment he’ll give
“You’re here, hyung.”
“Husu, how have you been? You’ve been quite out of touch lately. I’m a bit hurt.”
“Hey, it’s almost the end of the year. Let’s meet up then.”
“Let’s do a joint end-of-year content. Your crew and our crew were supposed to have a match, right?”
Dong-su hyung effortlessly spilled out plans that were still in the planning stage.
If he stirs up interest like that beforehand, it makes future content much easier to handle.
I looked at Dong-su hyung with a smile.
I expected a wise judgment.
When it came to matters involving money, Dong-su hyung always tried to be as neutral as possible.
Knowing this, I had called him.
“Husu, tell me your side of the story.”
Upon hearing that, Husu explained his side to Dong-su hyung, who nodded as he listened.
“That’s how it happened. Both of you were at fault.”
“From my perspective, it was really annoying.”
“I understand. Shia is known for being annoying. Probably no one can deny that.”
Wait, why was the atmosphere turning against me?
While listening to Husu, Dong-su hyung glanced at me and then nodded, summarizing the situation.
“Are both of you okay with my judgment?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“Alright.”
Finally, after thinking it through, Dong-su hyung looked at both our faces and smirked as he gave his verdict.
“Since you’re both my brothers, I can’t side with either of you. Let’s call it mutual fault. Apologize to each other and shake hands.”
– Both did something wrong, so who can blame whomㅋㅋ
– Solomon’s judgment, indeed
– But doesn’t this end up hurting only Shia?
### Chapter 167
#### 56. To Throw or Not to Throw (3)
5.
– How is Shia at a loss here? Does it make sense to reward him for taking it easy in the game and then getting serious?
– Still, he should get what was promisedㅋㅋ
– I don’t know~
Even among the viewers, opinions were divided.
But it seemed Dong-su hyung, being the veteran he was, had already taken this into account.
“Ah, and since both of you were at fault, you should each perform a punishment fairly, right?”
“Punishment?”
“Yeah, man. Both of you should carry out a punishment as a way of apologizing to each other.”
Hold on.
This wasn’t part of my plan…
“It’s about time you guys played a horror game, don’t you think?”
Calling Dong-su hyung turned out to be the worst mistake I made that day.
Damn it.
### 6.
In the end, Dong-su hyung’s judgment concluded with an unprecedented ruling: ‘each of you plays a horror game till completion once’. This quickly united the divided opinions of the viewers.
Dong-su hyung, showcasing the dignity of a veteran streamer with just one ruling, left Husu and me no choice but to accept the judgment grudgingly.
“Sigh…!”
As soon as I stepped out of the capsule after the stream ended, I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.
Horror games.
A new genre I had never experienced before.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I had never experienced them or if I had avoided them, but what was certain was that it was an unknown world to me.
Modern VR games had developed to the point where they resembled reality.
Even during the last golden age of PC games, horror games boasted realistic visuals that could instill fear in humans with just a monitor.
But after the advent of the VR game era, the dynamic drastically changed.
In horror games, where realistic sensations were the most important, VR had given them wings.
“Hyung, congratulations.”
Had Jin-hyuk been watching my stream after finishing his own?
As soon as my stream ended, Jin-hyuk entered my room and started getting on my nerves.
“You got chosen for a horror game? Wow! I always wanted to see you play a horror game at least once.”
“Do you want to die?”
“Hyung, you handled zombie games without a hitch. Won’t you be good at horror games too?”
“Horror games and zombie games are different, you know?”
Zombie games and horror games were distinctly different.
Zombie games usually emphasized the thrill of mowing down zombies, whereas horror games…
…were filled with content meant to provoke genuine human ‘fear’.
“Should I pick a horror game for you? I’ll choose a really fun one.”
“What kind of coffin should I choose for you?”
“Pardon?”
“Before I play the horror game, I just want to shove you into a coffin.”
Hearing my words, Jin-hyuk broke into a cold sweat and laughed awkwardly.
“Why are you like this, hyung? I just thought it would be great if your horror game content was a hit.”
And this guy was supposed to be my brother…
I raised my middle finger at Jin-hyuk, who kept babbling, and he finally left my room after mocking me till the end.
Though I was told to choose a game myself, I knew I had to pick the scariest one.
If I chose a game that wasn’t scary, I would definitely get criticized by the viewers…
Having never experienced a VR horror game before, I felt a bit scared.
It was true that I wasn’t a fearful type.
But that was only in human relationships. I couldn’t guarantee that I was immune to primal fear.
Damn it!
I never imagined Dong-su hyung would screw me over like this.
A horror game came out of nowhere, and due to the unique circumstances, I had no choice but to accept it.
The only thing comforting me was the look on Husu’s face when the horror game was decided.
He had already experienced horror games in China, apparently.
Though he seemed expressionless at first, his face turned to ice as soon as the horror game was decided, didn’t it?
Anyway.
Even Husu, who could face horror games without flinching, seemed filled with dread, leaving me feeling utterly helpless.
It was when I returned to my room and lay down on my bed.
*Ding-a-ling.*
Despite the late hour, someone was calling my phone.
It couldn’t be Sung-jae, right?
“Huh?”
When I checked the phone, an unexpected name popped up.
[Ju-hyun]
Why was Ju-hyun calling at this hour?
I furrowed my brows slightly as I answered the call, and soon, Ju-hyun’s lively voice came through the receiver.
“Hello?”
– Oppa!
Ju-hyun alternated between calling me ‘Master’ and ‘Oppa.’
But why did she sound so cheerful?
“Hey, Ju-hyun.”
– Oppa, are you going to play a horror game?
“…Yeah, I guess so.”
As expected of Ju-hyun, my ardent viewer, she must have been watching the stream just now.
– Wow! Oppa, then…
What Ju-hyun said next made me hold my breath.
“Are you serious?”