A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 19

Lee Dongsu had just finished a 30-minute run and headed toward the coach.

“Dongsu.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll tell you what to be cautious about during sparring. Sparring is meant to check your techniques and improve your skills, not to knock out your opponent.”

Dongsu looked up at the coach and thought.

If he were born in the old days, he would definitely be a bandit leader.

“…… So remember to be respectful, don’t get too excited. You shouldn’t go all out either. Hmm? Are you listening?”

“Ah? Yes, of course.”

In reality, he hadn’t heard a thing.

‘Well, I guess I can just think of it as a practice match.’

Lee Dongsu was young but had the sportsmanship befitting a professional athlete.

Though he sometimes had childish thoughts.

“Okay then, let’s start once those guys finish. In the meantime, it’s good to think about the techniques you want to practice in the sparring. Although you haven’t learned much yet.”

“Yes, I understand!”

“Great, that’s the spirit!”

The coach ruffled Dongsu’s hair while speaking.

“By the way, have you decided who you’ll spar with?”

Fighters who trained there also enjoyed games. It was once predicted that the combat sports field would be the first to fade away with the emergence of virtual reality games, but the popularity of virtual reality led to an unexpected rise in interest in combat sports.

The flashy in-game fights and brutal, blood-spilling real-life fights complemented rather than substituted each other.

And more than anything, virtual reality games were simply fun for fighters.

That’s why Dongsu couldn’t help but be popular in the gym.

Among men, the best gamer is practically a god.

But being an 18-year-old professional gamer, second in the world, and good at making friends?

Not getting close to him was even harder.

So the coach didn’t worry too much.

“Choose without pressure. Everyone will be considerate.”

In sparring, the opponent mattered the most. If the opponent didn’t match your pace properly, you wouldn’t gain anything from the sparring, and the risk of injury would be high.

And if the opponent was not only highly skilled but also had a nasty personality?

Bang! Bang!

A sparring session was happening right in front of them. The coach looked on with a wry smile.

Sojun.

That lunatic was back after a while, stepping on the sprouting rookies.

‘He’s just here to blow off some steam again. I told them to just avoid him.’

The coach reminisced about the past while watching a newcomer filled with confidence, about to debut professionally, getting played with by Sojun.

He should have known Sojun was a madman when that high-schooler, who looked just like his father, approached saying, “Teach me modern martial arts.”

If Lee Dongsu was a cute little brother whom the athletes wanted to play around with, then that guy was right.

A stinging nettle.

The coach thought he had found the perfect metaphor and nodded to himself.

Touch it, and you’ll get pricked. With innate skills that no one knew where they came from.

No, even if you leave him alone, he’ll come and sting you.

Just today, after coming back, instead of doing his exercises, Sojun gave unsolicited advice around the gym and eventually picked a fight with a clueless newcomer.

‘The ones who know better should’ve stopped him. Sojun doesn’t know when to stop.’

The coach glared at the other athletes who hadn’t stopped the situation.

They were watching the ring with fascinating interest, as if watching a show.

‘I need to console that newcomer later.’

The coach sighed and looked beside him.

Seeing that Dongsu’s eyes were on Sojun, he started to feel uneasy.

Not him.

‘You won’t gain anything from fighting him.’

Despite all the mischief and showing off his skills, the reason why Sojun wasn’t kicked out of the gym was simple.

Weirdly enough, the performances of those who accepted his advice improved.

‘It’s not just because Sojun’s dad is dumb enough to register his entire family here or to eventually bring Sojun into this field.’

Yeah, that’s right.

If you think about it, stinging nettles have toxic spines on their stems and leaves, but once the toxins are removed, the plants are nutritious and versatile.

For the athletes, Sojun was useful.

But for the current Dongsu, Sojun was just a raw stinging nettle, with all the spines intact.

Even though Sojun had never picked a fight with an ordinary person first, that was only if they didn’t provoke him.

“Can I spar with that hyung?”

In the end, something came out from Dongsu that shouldn’t have.

The coach quickly turned his head away and pointed at someone else.

“Oh, that hyung?”

The coach said in a voice as tiny as a crawling ant.

“No, not there. You’re pointing at the wrong person. They’re completely different.”

Dongsu scratched his head awkwardly.

“Just the hyung sparring over there. I haven’t seen him before. Is it rude to ask him?”

“Oh! Right. That’s really rude and out of line. Ask a hyung you know. Or I can spar with you myself.”

It had been a long time since the coach held mitts, but he’d rather spar than let Dongsu get hurt.

He sighed in relief inwardly.

On the other hand, dongsu felt deep disappointment.

Because that streamer named Sojun amazed even Shin Hayun.

‘They’re just that good, and Hayun-nuna was impressed?’

Dongsu couldn’t accept it.

He planned to replicate Sojun’s play in the game “Assassin’s Dawn” that afternoon.

After all, Park Minhyun, a teammate he respected, was awestruck, and Shin Hayun, someone he looked up to, was moved as well.

The fact that they couldn’t accept others was displeasing on its own.

But thinking that even though there was an opportunity to directly defeat someone in reality without the need for a game, such an opportunity was missed.

“Well, it can’t be helped.”

It wasn’t polite, they said.

“Then, please go ahead yourself, sir.”

Lee Dongsu quickly shook off his thoughts and prepared for sparring by extending the moves he had learned over the past two weeks.

The instructor brought the protective gear with a satisfied smile and corrected his posture.

The warm atmosphere continued.

Until he came.

Someone approached them.

The instructor, identifying the person, sighed and looked towards the ring.

There was the newcomer with a dazed look as if he was in shock, staring into the void.

And there was the intimidating guy, with a calm and indifferent face, seeming unaffected as he removed his headgear, without a single bead of sweat.

“Hello. I heard you were talking earlier, want to spar with me?”

The instructor felt his plan to attract pro-gamer clients through Lee Dongsu crumble away.

“Oh? Sure. You are Sojun-hyung, right?”

“How did you know my name?”

“I watched your stream. Ah, is it okay if I call you hyung?”

Sojun didn’t realize the influence of collaboration had reached this extent. People recognizing him immediately.

“Do as you like.”

“Are you resting?”

“No, let’s go right now.”

Both of them climbed onto the ring.

“By the way, hyung, you play games well? Though not as well as I do.”

“Oh really? And… who are you?”

Lee Dongsu tried to provoke Sojun.

However, it didn’t affect Sojun at all. He didn’t even know who Lee Dongsu was in the first place.

Even if he had known, it wouldn’t have mattered.

Lee Dongsu felt a momentary shock, wondering if Sojun was provoking him back, but he reignited his fighting spirit remembering that Sojun had only started playing games three days ago.

“I’ll tell you when I win. You’ll be honored to know later.”

“Alright. Let’s start.”

As Sojun finished his words, he threw a jab, and Lee Dongsu thought as he felt the fist hit his face.

‘Weren’t we supposed to spar with courtesy…?’

Thud!

That day, Lee Dongsu realized it was too much for him in reality, and he added Assassin’s Dawn to his game library.

* * *

Sojun and his father, Jin Hajun, were returning home together from the gym.

They lived next door to each other, more specifically, in a building owned by Hajun.

It was because his wife wanted to keep their son close, who wanted to be independent as soon as he turned an adult.

The two reached a compromise, and eventually, Hajun provided the next-door apartment at half the cost.

Of course, Hajun’s opinion as the homeowner wasn’t considered.

“Sojun, you could have taken it easy on him earlier. He looked like an ordinary person.”

Thinking about how many players his son had made quit, he felt that his son was indeed ruthless.

“It’s alright. Judging by his footwork, he has talent equivalent to that of a decent martial artist. Maybe he’s just building up his physique.”

In the end, Lee Dongsu hadn’t told Sojun that he was a pro-gamer.

“Is that so? Are you getting on well with your streams?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m not opposing it like your mom is because it’s supposedly safe now. But isn’t streaming tough?”

Hajun had heard from Taewoo.

He knew that it was hard for new streamers to even secure one viewer.

“Hey, I’ve got a good tip for you. Try ‘Constellation Craft’. There’s a resurgence of PC games lately. You might capture that blue ocean market. What do you think?”

For the record, Hajun was a die-hard PC gamer.

His recommendation wasn’t out of concern that capsule play was dangerous.

Nor was there any real trend of PC games becoming popular again.

“Is it really trending?”

“Forget it. So, how many viewers do you have?”

“Well, last time I checked, it was around 440. If I stream today…”

Hajun was surprised to hear that there were 440 viewers.

“Since my follower count is 3,000, I expect at least 1,500 to watch.”

“Ugh.”

Hajun spluttered his coffee at the higher-than-expected numbers.

“Why so many?”

“Well, I got lucky.”

Right after his collaboration, Sojun’s follower count had increased to 1,000.

Considering it used to be in the 400s, it had more than doubled.

Then Lee Suhan had edited key moments into short clips for AiTube.

When those shorts reached 15th place on the trending videos in the gaming category, Sojun gained an additional 2,000 followers.

It showcased the significant impact of AiTube vividly.

“To be that lucky… You didn’t do anything weird to grab attention, did you? If you did, your mom would take your capsule away immediately.”

Hajun shuddered.

“Do you think I’d do that?”

“Well, no, but… 3,000 followers in such a short time?”

* * *

“1,000 people were actually the minimum number that Sojun and Taewoo had expected.

Before starting his stream, Sojun briefly opened the community page.

Due to the impact of yesterday’s collaboration, the community had been dominated all day by posts related to him and Alpaca.

Sojun matched the time to the beginning of the collaboration and started browsing.

『About Sojun who is live now』
『About the grain on Alpaca’s stream now.』
『The greatest sucker in history who bet 250,000 points on 1% chance in real-time, LOL』

-‘Losing years of memories just like that, LOL.’
-‘Truly a beast’s heart.’
-‘It’s Joas, LOL.’
-(best) If this happens, I’ll grill meat in the middle of Myeongdong on Christmas Eve.
└Isn’t this an old best comment pledge? Quick, the person who said they’d sing beside and the one who said they’d play the tambourine, come out.
└I’ll sing.
└I’ll take charge of the tambourine.

Sojun scrolled down to check the replies posted later.

└??????????????? Why did it really happen? Why????
└Don’t delete your comments.
└Guys, we’re screwed.
└Someone made 25 million points, while another looks like they’ll be embarrassed at Myeongdong, LOL.

『Richard Neville Musou Strategy Guide』

-(best) Oh? LOL. If you analyze the video and hit a couple of times, you might break his armor and catch Richard soon?
└+ I just tried it. Took 10 tries to break his armor, but then got my head split by Richard right after. Give up on that.
└Sojun challenged it in one try and broke everything in one go?
└That’s unbelievable, seriously. Wait a second, why is my comment the best?
└You’ve been marked.

『What is it about this grain that it even has a unique skill?』
『Can anyone confirm by capturing it in place of the Ruler?』
『How did Sojun find the grain? Seriously unbelievable.』
『Caution to trolls) The one with 25 million points in real-time (it’s me LOL)』
『Weakpoint Perception conditions』
『Oh my god, Sojun is ridiculously handsome. Immediately unfollowed.』

Every single one of these posts had more than 30 recommendations.

There were no longer posts ridiculing Sojun’s fame.

At least, in this community, most people now knew him.

But then,

-‘LOL Sojun, look at this.’

Sojun clicked the link Taewoo sent him, which led to a post that had been downvoted and hidden (blind).

When Sojun clicked to view the content,

『The Reason Why Streamer Sojun is a Cheater』

It was a long, serious post, but to summarize, the user claimed that the reason Sojun could see the grain on his stream was unclear, and since no one else could, Sojun must be either a game developer or a cheater.

Naturally, this absurd claim received a barrage of downvotes, hiding the content. However, the link Taewoo sent revealed a few more posts with similar tones.

Sojun burst into laughter.

He recalled Taewoo’s words, “Once you become famous, you’ll be criticized for other things.”

Upon deeper thought, the idea of Sojun being a game developer did seem somewhat plausible.

With a smile, Sojun entered the Assassin’s Dawn’ official site and filed a report, then got into his capsule.

After writing a stream title, he started streaming.

『Titled: I Surrendered.』

‘Is this going to be a clarification stream on the third day of streaming?’

It was a silly thought.

It was not a real clarification stream, anyway.

‘How many will join?’

Anticipation made the corners of Sojun’s lips curl slightly.

『Viewers: 400』

It had only been a few seconds since the stream started, and already 400 viewers had joined.

『Viewers: 700』
『Viewers: 1,300』
『Viewers: 1,500』

About a minute in, the numbers effortlessly surpassed the minimum that he and Taewoo had predicted, and the chat was rapidly filling up. Sojun greeted them.

“Hello.”