A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 99

『Unbelievable』
『They must have tampered with it!』
『Did MubiSoft really try to favor the Heavenly Demon? If not, this doesn’t make sense!!!!』
『It’s a bug… I’m sure of it.』

The five stages of grief according to human emotions were being played out.

Stage 1: Denial.

Just a refusal to accept reality.

『The Orthodox faction, collectively losing their minds, is hilarious, haha.』

– Currently in stage 1: Denial!
– Chaos is unfolding in the Heavenly Demon’s room as well, hahaha.
– You, Sojun, are the one who killed the Orthodox faction!
└ Actually, you did kill them, lol.

Stage 2: Anger.

『Damn, this is so infuriating.』

==

Why attack the Orthodox first? Why attack the Orthodox first? Why attack the Orthodox first? Why attack the Orthodox first?

Did we commit any crime? Did we commit any crime? Did we commit any crime? Did we commit any crime?

So infuriating.

==

– We are now in stage 2.
– The next step is bargaining, lol.
– Oh, you flowers in a greenhouse, taste the flavor of the Demonic Cult!
– They’ll be asking MubiSoft to forgive them this time? lol.

Stage 3: Bargaining.

『Just this once… Oh, they’ve predicted it.』

This wasn’t it.

『What was the result when the Demonic Cult’s base was attacked last time?』

==

Eventually, they received a faction buff, which brought some people back.

Now we’ve been attacked.

So, why not gather the unity of our distinguished Orthodox faction and call for a buff ourselves?

==

– Haha, bargaining like this is hilarious.
– Have they really lost their minds? lol.
– Back then, it was a real issue; you just got attacked.

Stage 4: Depression.

『Is it really balanced if we can’t even stop one Heavenly Demon…?』
『For a while, no more collaboration.』
『It’s truly over…』

Finally, stage 5: Acceptance was made easier thanks to Sojun.

『Real-time Heavenly Demon: Announced to the Orthodox faction that they seemed lonely, so he’d create companions soon.』

==

Now then, Unorthodox faction. It’s your turn?

==

– Take this, Heavenly Demon!
– Haha, right. Why should I be the only one to die?
– Unorthodox faction, have a taste as well, haha.
– Since it’s come to this, just let the Demonic Cult win.
– He is coming.
– Now it’s all-in!

* * *

Naturally, a clash between the Demonic Cult and the Unorthodox faction occurred.

Day 17 results.

The Demonic Cult secured a victory.

Three regions remained.

Day 18 results.

The Demonic Cult secured another victory.

Two regions remained.

After the final day, day 19 ended, the users of the Demonic Cult thought,

『Why are we so strong?』
『At first, it was just about defeating the Orthodox, but are we really going to win?』

Victory was imminent.

Despite attempts by the Unorthodox faction to stop them,

『The Heavenly Demon simply didn’t lose the game!』

==

How do you stop this guy? If someone can win against him even once, we can halt the Demonic Cult’s momentum.

==

It was a credible statement.

If Sojun lost just once, they believed they could stop the Demonic Cult’s momentum.

The number of users wasn’t precisely known, but it was generally viewed as equal.

If one side had significantly more, there would likely be posts about AI and matchups reflecting that disparity, but such posts weren’t appearing.

『The Unorthodox faction looks bad, haha.』
『We felt the same way.』
『Push through!』

A post dedicated to Sojun, who had never lost even once, emerged for him.

『Sword God』

“What is this?”

Sojun read a message from Lee Gunyung and entered No Justice to check the post.

Rumor had it that someone had edited his gameplay videos.

Upon entering the post, Sojun immediately played the video displayed.

A static black screen played for about three seconds.

Then, the sound of swords clashing broke the silence.

*Clang!*

*Clang! Clang!*

Swords clashed once more.

And again.

Then, the sounds of swords colliding grew closer and faster.

*Swhh!*

The screen suddenly brightened.

Simultaneously, the video shifted to focus on someone.

A sword blocking an enemy’s attack.

It was the perspective of the person wielding the sword.

The scene switched rapidly, now showing an enemy’s sword approaching.

The protagonist of the view deflected it effortlessly.

The background changed again, showing the protagonist slicing an enemy’s neck.

Following quickly, blocking a downward swing, dodging a side attack, and extending an arm.

Then landing before the enemy as clothes fluttered.

From that point, the club beat’s thrilling faint background music grew clearer and livelier.

“Oh.”

What Sojun was watching were many of his battle scenes compiled by someone.

Lee Gunyung had expressed jealousy, saying he should have made it himself, while simultaneously praising the creator’s skill.

It was indeed well-made.

“Wait, are the scenes in reverse order?”

Upon reflection, the first scene shown was a moment when he fought two vs. one against Unorthodox faction rankers today.

Next was yesterday’s fight.

Then, two days before. Three days before.

“That’s right.”

And now, Sojun was facing three Orthodox rankers alone for the first time.

The music gradually intensified, signaling a climax.

With editing, time slowed when Sojun spun around.

Preparing to parry Heaven-Slayer Star’s attack from behind.

Then, immediately as his swept kick left Heaven-Slayer Star stiff, Sojun raised his sword.

The scene switched to showing Sojun from Heaven-Slayer Star’s perspective.

Sojun’s calm eyes zoomed in, and his sword cut through the screen as if dividing it in half.

*Swiish!*

The screen blackened.

『Sword God Mad Movie』

The text emerged, heralding the start of the real show.

Sojun began watching, feeling as if he were reliving the experiences.

Numerous one-on-one duels unfolded.

In them, Sojun’s sword moved slowly, yet swiftly.

The video, despite only containing scenes, expressed it well from the enemy’s perspective.

The critical moment with Baekho.

A scene captured right before the sword bounced off, about to graze a target.

Then, Sojun facing Namgung Cheon, using his sword to climb up a wall.

The first time he used berserk mode with “For Justice”.

And, fighting assassins emerging from shadows.

Thereafter, capturing dominators.

“The last is Etor.”

With the battle against the assassination tutorial boss concluding, the video ended.

The video had been posted on No Justice and proudly ranked first in the top 10.

The quality and the fervor from the active war on No Justice contributed to this ranking.

And it achieved this with the title: Sword God.

His nickname from a previous life.

Sojun scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“How did they know?”

The nickname and concept he used for “For Justice” was the Heavenly Demon.

But this person had bestowed upon Sojun the name of Sword God.

Creating such a dedicated video would not have resulted in a hastily given title.

Which meant, the editor felt Sword God fit Sojun better.

“Did they not watch the live stream?”

If they had watched his live stream, they’d likely realize, “Oh, this guy is definitely more of a Heavenly Demon,” given his cheeky demeanor there.

If they still chose the Sword God title after watching him, it felt like someone was saying, despite his attempts to act like the Heavenly Demon, he wasn’t much different from how he naturally was?

Regardless,

“I never thought I’d hear the title Sword God here.”

It wasn’t too bad.

Perhaps it was destiny?

Sojun checked the comments.

The top comment was the first to catch his eye.

– He’s totally the Heavenly Demon, lol.

Oh. That felt unpleasant too.

Indeed.

Sojun, feeling resigned to his unavoidable destiny, nodded and moved to the next popular comment.

It was a reply to the top one.

└ Sword God really suits him too?

The likes on both comments were nearly equal, with hardly any dislikes.

It suggested both names suited him well.

The Sword God supporters argued:
└ He’s literally a god of swords, lol.
└ Watch the sparring ground. He defeated every game with swordsmanship.
└ I’ve never seen the streamer use a weapon other than swords.
└ Pipes exist, newbie.
└ Haha, pipe killer.

Meanwhile, Heavenly Demon supporters stated:
└ Considering his usual demeanor, Heavenly Demon fits.
└ True lol.
└ Sword God is too cool. Stick with the Heavenly Demon!
└ Honestly, that brat’s personality isn’t suited for the Orthodox faction lol.
└ Even if born in the Orthodox faction, he’d probably join the Demonic Cult, seize the title of Heavenly Demon, and launch an invasion like in the Battlefield. Heavenly Demon is fitting.

That also felt unpleasant.

Though the personality he showed in streams was entirely fabricated with not an ounce of sincerity, it still made him feel disgruntled.

However, seeing discussions naturally emerge about him in the comments of a top 10 Adventure post made him feel proud.

Despite reaching its status thanks to the Battlefield and special circumstances, having such natural discussions meant a lot.

Without debate, Sojun was the biggest beneficiary of the Battlefield event.

He made his name known to every player in “For Justice”.

Now.

He just needed to finish everything well.

“Tomorrow is.”

It was time to witness the conclusion of the 20-day race.

『Ah, call me Sword God.』

– Sword Man
– Heavenly Man
– I said, Heavenly Demon!
– Can you just come as the Sword God and join the Orthodox faction?

Sojun chuckled softly, turned off his phone, and went to sleep.

* * *

It was shocking.

From the perspective of MONSTER, an independent game developer who had taken notice of Sojun, his reaching over 20,000 viewers was astonishing.

“New Peak Price.”

The meaning could be interpreted as a newly achieved high price.

And Sojun had reached that new peak.

“His recent streams have standard viewers of 20,000?”

Crazy.

How could he attract such enormous numbers?

Previously teetering on barely achieving 10,000 viewers, once he engaged in duels and actively participated in the Battlefield, he attracted a massive audience.

Simply put.

Sojun’s value skyrocketed.

Damn.

At this point, they could only say one thing.

“We should have bought him back then.”

This was too much.

After the Battlefield ended, once the inflated viewership settled and time passed, the viewership count would naturally return to its original place.

Of course, it would be higher than before, but even considering the special situation, his value was quite high.

By the time the bubble burst and the streamer was accurately evaluated, the advertisement would have already been sent out.

“It’s fortunate we’ve outlined many other candidates…”

But, “Don’t you think so? Huh? Boss?”

What are you doing?

Why are you glaring at the video from that hyped-up stream as if you’re trying to burn a hole through the monitor?

Why are you writing comments?

What are they saying?

Roughly, the Demonic Cult is invincible?

“Boss?”

“Ah… Yes?”

“What about the other combinations?”

“What are you talking about? We must recruit him. No matter the cost.”

“What? That price…”

“Buy it! Stocks, whatever, buy! He will succeed. The Demonic Cult will win!”

What are you saying, boss?

Are you perhaps part of the Demonic Cult?

“Let’s skyrocket like the Demonic Cult!”