A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 91

Losing this battle would inevitably mean losing the game.

No matter how they tried guerrilla warfare or other clever strategies, it seemed impossible to overcome such a disparity.

It would be different if the opponent only consisted of Sojun, making it a true 3 versus 1, but the game was a 4 versus 4, which was disheartening.

– Can we win this time, everyone? Fighting!

One of their team members, who wasn’t a ranker, sent this message in the chat, and JustOneCoin thought to himself.

‘Well, that’s nice.’

If it were him, he would have cursed, questioning why they should lose.

‘Can’t even win this?’

However, one realizes it when they fight.

If the situation seemed unfavorable due to his speed, he would break the opponent’s momentum with sword ki at the perfect timing.

Blocking most attacks within a certain range was another of their skills.

Heaven-Slayer Star extended his sword, shouting.

“Just get hit already!”

Ordinary attacks would never land.

‘Ah.’

JustOneCoin regretted participating in the game.

‘I crave a sword formation that can withstand absolute masters.’

This was desperately needed.

*Clang!*

A back-and-forth where all attacks returned to nothingness.

He wished the opponent would take some hits, but the enemy seemed determined not to attack and mostly avoided without even uttering much trash talk.

“How much longer until he goes berserk, OneCoin?”

“Probably……”

The experience he had accumulated throughout came back to him as an incredible instinct.

Like how some skilled gamers unexpectedly say, ‘Oh? I think the enemy might be hiding there?’ and detect with radar.

“Soon.”

“I see.”

The game had been lost.

“Are you going for the next round?”

JustOneCoin asked, and NamgungClanStoreOwner approached him without a change in expression, observing Heavenly Demon14’s sword swings closely.

He made his decision quickly.

“No, let’s tell others to defend.”

* * *

Viewers watching Sojun’s stream could clearly hear the conversation among the rankers of the Orthodox Faction.

Because they neither whispered quietly nor chatted.

『Righteous Victory』

– Ah… I suddenly want to fight with the Unorthodox Faction today.

Thus, one ranker said.

He just suddenly felt like that.

No one asked why.

People just started having similar thoughts.

– Me too.
– Haha, all those Tang Clan kids are dead today. I’ll deflect all their daggers.
– I ran into Green Forest while hiking yesterday, and it annoyed me.
– Did you too?
– Me too!
– Honestly, I’ve beaten the Demonic Cult quite a lot, haha.

Ark, watching this, laughed lightly.

“Hmm. Indeed, it’s been beaten quite a bit.”

Checking the current viewing channels of those chatting would certainly reveal a particular streamer.

“Oh. Is the berserk mode about to activate?”

The movements of Sojun seen through the stream became fiercer, and his sword started to move faster.

The second reason that 3 vs. 1 wasn’t so favorable.

Berserk mode.

Since it was a system initially designed to reverse odds in such fights, the outcome was almost predetermined.

“No use in watching further. This is today’s Battlefield.”

Of course, saying it wasn’t that favorable meant only when one’s skills far surpassed those of the opponent.

“No one wouldn’t know this, right?”

『Unorthodox Warriors』

– Shall I do it too? It’s easy if you endure.
– Okay, if that looks easy, you’re handling the Demonic Cult and Heavenly Demon from now on.
– Ah, of all times, this Battlefield is promised to teach the Orthodox faction a lesson, so I can’t help it. Such a pity.

Ark laughed loudly again.

“All the same, really.”

Though he was not a ranker, he had been invited to Righteous Victory, Unorthodox Warriors, and Demonic Victory (formerly 2nd Place Please).

This was a result of users accommodating him to make it easier for him to grasp the situation.

Knowing each other roughly in such a stagnant game turned out to be advantageous.

It was also a result of him keeping the trust.

“By the way, he’s skilled as expected.”

A streamer lacking nothing in physicality, control prowess, and trash talking.

The Battlefield had officially begun, and Ark had to be busier than anyone because he needed to grasp and record the movements of all forces.

Yet, only at this moment, all rankers’ attention was drawn to one place, making for a more relaxed atmosphere.

“Wow.”

He opened the Battlefield map and was surprised to see no red dots.

It had been 30 minutes since it started, and a ranker or two, or someone acting independently, would have moved by now, but no one was playing the game.

The reason was obvious, someone was captivating their attention.

Suddenly, he was curious.

“How many viewers are there?”

The 18,000 viewers from the previous joint stream was undoubtedly due to Ark’s help.

He had managed to draw a tremendous amount of attention, directing a large number of viewers to Sojun’s stream, leading to an influx of viewers.

Conversely, it could also mean that 140,000 still chose Ark.

The reason being viewers tend to prefer what they are more used to.

This not only applied to viewers but to humans overall, who instinctively prefer the familiar and find it hard to embrace the new.

Therefore, it wasn’t easy to increase viewer engagement.

To elevate oneself, one had to constantly build recognition, show up, and expose oneself to others.

So now.

How many viewers would be there when he wasn’t present?

“More than 10,000 maybe.”

The milestone of 10,000 viewers.

Though the range of being a mid-tier was broad.

Achieving over 10,000 viewers means being recognized as a mid-tier streamer with some influence on Travel.

Not an official title, but delved into popularity without skipping his duties.

『Number of viewers – 13,000』

“Easily surpassed 10,000.”

The Battlefield owed momentarily indeed?

Was it due to yesterday’s collab?

Possibly.

Though.

Ark scratched his cheek while looking into the Demonic Cult’s chat room’s strategy.

This.

“By the time the Battlefield ends.”

Perhaps 20,000 is feasible?

* * *

『Victory』

Sojun stared at the text that appeared before him for a while then moved to the side.

The 3 vs. 1 game with the rankers ended overwhelmingly.

He was curious what kind of ripple effect this result would cause.

– Wow, victory was insane.
– Whether it’s tactics or force, nothing is lacking.
– Why did you join the Demonic Cult, sigh.

Sojun smirked slightly as he exited the map. The view flipped, revealing the original background.

If it were a public channel, he wondered what those viewers who had been waiting would do.

If they did something bothersome, he would just change the channel; moreover, perhaps due to not moving their bodies directly, there weren’t many trolls.

Yet, there were always those born utterly impervious to shame who eventually emerged.

– The Orthodox Faction just got toasted, didn’t they? The Orthodox Faction just got toasted, didn’t they? The Orthodox Faction just got toasted, didn’t they? The Orthodox Faction just got toasted, didn’t they?
– Getting invaded by three and losing, really? Getting invaded by three and losing, really?
– Heaven-Slayer Star trait) A points ATM.

Excitement might have driven the abundance of repetitive chats.

Sojun opened the map to grab the final game.

“Now. Let’s see who comes this time.”

Viewer count stood at 13,000.

‘There must be quite a lot of rankers watching now, right?’

Eager to see how they would respond post-defeat.

As Sojun initiated the game, the region they continuously played appeared marked once more.

– Try defending, haha.
– Heavenly Demon deployment!
– Those damned Demonic Cult members having fun is really irritating.
– Right, the jerk cultists.
– Cultists or not, it’s top-notch.
– It’s really different this time, just try to block us if you’re annoyed, haha.

Amidst the chat, the Demonic Cult and the Orthodox Faction were quarreling, with the Orthodox Faction losing in terms of firepower.

Typically, the defeated have little to say.

『’SpokespersonOfTheOrthodoxFaction’ has donated 10,000 won!』
『This round will be different.』

Oh, there’s a donation.

“Thank you for the donation. Well, we shall see how it unfolds, won’t we?”

Sojun said with a chuckle.

“Catching the game first takes priority, doesn’t it?”

Only a singular nickname kept popping up on the map.

『Heavenly Demon14』

– Ah
– No one is coming!
– No one
– No one’s coming! haha
– Were they really scared? hahahahaha
– Enter the contestant. What? The contestant ran away?

* * *

『Righteous Victory』

– No one to go?

JustOneCoin felt awkward as he looked around after typing this pride-wounding message.

Everyone seemed to have nothing particular to say.

Thankfully, they weren’t scolding him for losing.

In the end, relying on an additional 14 rankers was needed to even the scales tilted by Sojun’s victory.

Of course, the assumption that all 14 would win was a problem, but nonetheless.

The Battlefield is a team game.

– The Demonic Cult seems crucial going forward.

‘Indeed.’

What exactly might have been Sojun’s intention?

What was he aiming for?

The streamer’s final game was being set up.

There were no rankers.

And suddenly, red markers were appearing all over the map.

‘It’s the real beginning.’

JustOneCoin kept an eye on the Battlefield map, maximizing the exchange of opinions.

– The Unorthodox Faction and Demonic Cult are attacking one another in various regions.
– Shall we lightly pierce one Demonic Cult area?

The strategy of the Orthodox Faction always remained consistent.

Righteousness.

They waited for the opponent to move first and then countered.

As the strongest faction among the three, it was the most efficient option.

– Some people from the Demonic Cult are attacking the same area as the Heavenly Demon.
– Defend it?

JustOneCoin watched the situation and sent a message.

– Abandon it and use the resources to secure other places instead.
– The Unorthodox Faction is also targeting us.
– Defend that area.

‘No noticeable maneuvers yet.’

They were merely poking here and there, giving and taking what they could.

When the 12th day of the Battlefield ended, it was time to wait and see what the results would be tomorrow.

‘MubiSoft, those wicked folks.’

Providing immediate results would allow preparations for the next day prematurely, which could make the game monotonous, so they just revealed the outcome at the start of the next day.

To test adaptability and skills.

This approach led to quite a few unexpected Battlefield losses, making it entertaining.

The next day.

JustOneCoin waited for 7 o’clock.

While watching Sojun’s stream that started at 6:30.

『After all, the winner is the Demonic Cult』

This was Sojun’s stream title.

‘Nonsense about winning.’

He chuckled at the title and entered the personal channel he was invited to.

Users were gathering.

“You came?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you check today’s hotfix?”

A hotfix referred to an emergency patch.

Although regular patches were done once a week, a hotfix could occur at any time to fix any bugs or issues that manifested.

This was indeed a hotfix.

“Yeah.”

“They supposedly adjusted the matchmaking system based on Reputation Points. Bet it’s a direct hit targeting the Heavenly Demon?”

“Seems like it.”

The fact that they don’t explain changes in detail was problematic in itself.

“Will it become a 4 vs. 1? Ensuring he can be stopped somehow.”

JustOneCoin shook his head in disagreement to his colleague’s words.

Most people discussed it as the colleague did, but JustOneCoin saw it differently.

In a conquest battle, a 3 vs. 1 inherently didn’t make sense balance-wise.

Many were under a misconception due to Sojun’s victory.

In terms of gameplay, winning a conquest not by battle but by conquest was decisively favorable for the group of 3.

Yesterday, they had made a mistake, and the opponent simply countered well.

‘MubiSoft wouldn’t be oblivious to this.’

So if the matchmaking system indeed changed to favor the Heavenly Demon.

“Hmm.”

It complicates things.

『Today we start right away. Where are we heading? To the Orthodox Faction, naturally. I must have been part of the Orthodox Faction in a past life.』

The sound from the streaming echoed, and JustOneCoin grabbed his nape.

‘What does that even matter?’

By the way,『I’m heading straight. Let’s see if you can stop me, Orthodox Faction folks.』

JustOneCoin squinted his eyebrows with a strong sense that how they were to stop the Heavenly Demon would be a decisive factor determining the course of this Battlefield.

The beginning of the full-fledged Battlefield had arrived.