A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 84

The screen transitioned.

A slow sword unfolded.

Yet, it seemed fast.

It was simple.

It only appeared simple.

It looked like it could be blocked.

It couldn’t be blocked.

Trying to dodge caused one to lose balance.

The footage forced viewers into the opponent’s perspective.

Sentences predicting the upcoming situation appeared just before the attack.

And they unfolded exactly as predicted.

Rankers continuously analyzed and shared how it was done with that slow sword, but only the person involved would truly know.

*Ching!*

*Ching!*

*Ching!*

After several clashes, Sojun’s sword quietly ended up at his opponent’s neck.

*Swoosh.*

『Next.』

The person who showcased overwhelming skills looked down leisurely and spoke.

-That Dull Sword is really scary
-Gaslighting sword technique lol
-Seems even clearer when it’s well-edited like this haha
-Next!
-Showing no emotion while attacking is seriously chilling
-If I were standing there, I’d have wet myself for sure. How do I know? Watching this, I nearly did lol
-Ah!

After showing a few opponents, the video ended.

There wasn’t enough time to encapsulate every fight in a single clip.

-Next! At this time
-It’s over
-nice

Sojun left the final message in the chat.

-This time, the Demonic Cult will be victorious.

The initial release ended, and the video was uploaded properly.

The view count hit 30,000 less than a second after it was uploaded.

Han Jimin contacted Sojun as she was evidently watching too.

『Han Jimin: The first reveal was a success!』
『Han Jimin: I hope it catches the algorithm well!』
『Sojun: Indeed. Thank you for your work.』
『Han Jimin: No worries. Seems like Gunyung is asleep lol』

They easily inferred that Lee Gunyung was asleep since he always replied instantly when awake.

『Sojun: He worked overnight and barely rested. He must be tired from editing today too.』
『Han Jimin: You’re indeed a harsh boss lol』
『Sojun: Where else would you find someone who meddles as little as I do? Haha』

Sojun didn’t even review the videos.

He had entrusted the channel to them because he wasn’t more knowledgeable about it.

Editors, who could easily sabotage if they harbored ill feelings, had nothing to gain.

Exactly.

If you want someone to take ownership, just make them the owner!

『Han Jimin: True. But what about reviewing a bit?』
『Han Jimin: If we leave and you have to find another editor, you’ll have to check things quite a bit.』

It was a valid point.

Even if he didn’t want to bother and entrusted the channel, staying completely uninformed was not ideal, Sojun realized.

『Sojun: I’ll think about it if I take a leave of absence.』
『Han Jimin: Alright. Seems you’re busy.』

Later, Han Jimin sent another message in a private chat.

『Han Jimin: Even if you try to kick me out, I’d cling on desperately.』
『Han Jimin: Accidents can happen, after all.』
『Han Jimin: Most importantly, Gunyung seems a bit troubled, possibly thinking about the upcoming college entrance exams.』

Sojun and Han Jimin knew Lee Gunyung’s story.

Doing a second round of college entrance exams while living independently, he had been stagnant until Sojun came along, giving him some purpose.

It was an embarrassing story to tell others, and Lee Gunyung didn’t wish to disclose it.

But he had opened up after drinking excessively for the first time, unable to gauge his own tolerance.

“Did he say it felt relieving?”

Though Lee Gunyung was pulling his weight, to them, he felt like a little brother to be cared for.

“He’ll manage fine.”

And Sojun wasn’t one to babysit.

Unless help was requested.

* * *

The next morning.

Sojun spoke to Taewoo.

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go to my parents’ house for breakfast.”

Sojun’s parents lived next door, and it was common for him to drop by and share a meal.

“Suddenly? It’s almost mealtime, and they might not be ready.”

“No, mom just wanted us to eat together after a long time.”

“Really? Then we should go. But why all of a sudden?”

“Do we need a reason? She might have bought some meat or something.”

Sojun shrugged his shoulders and opened the front door, heading to the neighbor’s house.

Taewoo, while watching Sojun leave, felt a slight sense of unease and tilted his head, but soon followed Sojun out the front door.

* * *

Taewoo realized that his instincts had functioned excellently, if not perfectly. However, at this point, realizing it didn’t really matter.

The beginning of the issue occurred during a damned conversation between his friend and his friend’s father over their meal.

“Hey, why did you come over for breakfast all of a sudden? It’s unsettling.”

*Cough.*

The food caught in Taewoo’s throat.

He distinctly remembered the aunt inviting him, so why would his uncle say such a thing?

Right.

It’s possible that the aunt might not have informed the uncle.

Of course, once the aunt joined in the conversation, it was immediately clear that it wasn’t the case.

“You know, I’m curious too. Why the sudden visit?”

Come on, didn’t the aunt invite me!

“Ah, well, you see…”

Taewoo turned his head sharply, giving Sojun a look that demanded an explanation. However, Sojun continued to speak without batting an eye.

“Mother, father. I’m considering taking a leave of absence from school.”

After making the statement, Sojun picked up his chopsticks again as if nothing significant had happened.

*Cough.*

Once again, food got stuck in Taewoo’s throat as he glared more fiercely at Sojun.

Can this bastard really eat right now?

Taewoo yelled internally.

‘Why would you bring this up now, especially bringing me along!’

No matter how carefree he appeared, Taewoo always saw Sojun as someone who thought about the future.

Therefore, bringing him here was undoubtedly intentional.

Was it to absorb the impact together? Or was it to use as a suppressant on the aunt?

Whatever it was, he couldn’t help but think of his friend as precious.

*Clack.*

Sojun’s mother, Saeyon, placed her chopsticks on the table with a noise.

The atmosphere turned strange.

Hajun and Taewoo flinched simultaneously.

The real concern remained unfazed.

Saeyon spoke.

“What are you talking about?”

“I plan to finish this semester and take a break from college.”

“For what reason?”

“Well… to play games.”

Oh no.

That’s not how you say it.

“Games? … So essentially.”

“Yes.”

“Not traveling, working, studying, or starting a hobby, just playing games?”

“Games are a hobby too.”

“…….”

Come on, Sojun. My friend. Why are you doing this?

“Oh, I plan to earn money too.”

“What money?”

“My streaming has been going well.”

“Is it that thing Taewoo is doing?”

“Yes. Didn’t I mention it last time?”

“I thought you were just helping Taewoo with his game.”

Aunt. No, that’s not it.

This bastard said he might be better than Shin Hayun without warning and just started.

“Well, anyway, it’s going better than expected, so I intend to give it my all.”

“So that’s what it was? I thought you just wanted to hang out without thinking.”

“Would I do that, mother?”

Taewoo recalled Sojun’s stream.

Considering his attitude towards the stream and viewers.

His friend undoubtedly wanted to slack off without any worries.

However, Taewoo could make no objections.

He was merely grateful that Saeyon wasn’t angry.

If things escalated, the blame would undeniably fall on him, being blamed as the person who led her son astray.

The truth was it had nothing to do with Taewoo, and Sojun had made that choice on his own. But the fact that the aunt wouldn’t know was the crucial point.

“Until when?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’ll graduate, right?”

“Probably.”

“Alright. One last thing….”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure it’s safe to do so much of that?”

“It’s safe.”

“That’s a relief. It’s a bit ridiculous to keep telling my grown son what to do. You handle it.”

Phew, Taewoo and Hajun’s eyes met.

It was a relief that it ended well.

Unexpectedly, Sojun had a stubborn nature and didn’t bend easily once he made a decision.

And while Saeyon wasn’t the type to oppose something, Sojun had indeed been impossible to reason with this time.

What parent would laugh and say, “Go ahead and play games as much as you want,” if their child took a break from school to play games?

Unless he said he was just resting and happened to be playing games.

After that, Jin Hajun quickly finished his meal and went into his room.

The aunt went to clean the kitchen.

Once the two were left alone, Sojun spoke softly.

“It’s a shame.”

“What is?”

“If mom got mad, I was planning to ditch you and run.”

This guy?

* * *

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Sure.”

“Why is the uncle answering?”

“Because it’s the meal my wife made.”

“But why……”

“Quiet. Don’t come here anymore.”

Leaving the trivial chatter behind him, Sojun slipped on his slippers.

“Oppa, move a bit. I need to get out.”

His younger sister.

Jin Sohee approached.

“Are you going to school?”

“Yes.”

Notably, she was in her third year of high school, with the college entrance exam approaching.

“Can you go to school in your gym clothes?”

“Yes, they won’t bother me.”

She was invincible. At least within Korean society, she was untouchable before the exam.

“By the way, how’s your streaming going, oppa?”

“It’s going well.”

“Ha. Because of you, I couldn’t have a capsule during school for fear of getting into trouble. I will definitely do it once the exams are over.”

“I told you it would be fine for you.”

“No, you didn’t. You said I might collapse, remember?”

“That was just a joke.”

Sojun chuckled.

“That’s true. Mom did stop me eventually. If dad had been just a bit more into virtual reality, he might have persuaded mom. Ha. Dad loves computers too much. But hey, oppa.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re good at games, right? If I try, I’ll be good too, right? It’s genetic, right?”

Unless she remembered her past life, it seemed quite impossible.

“I represent the Orthodox Faction.”

“Oh, what Orthodox Faction are you talking about?”

Sohee giggled.

“I saw that on a stream. Anyway, I’m Orthodox.”

“Playing ‘For Justice’? The Demonic Cult is better. Better performance and popularity.”

Taewoo’s tongue-clicking suddenly sounded from behind.

“Oh, that game is called ‘For Justice’. But even if I don’t play it, I’m still Orthodox.”

“Why?”

“I screwed up my grades.”

Hm. Apparently, ‘Orthodox Faction’ wasn’t that kind of Orthodox.

Suddenly, the mood turned sober.

Noticing his usually non-swearing sister getting riled up with a strong word, Sojun thought better of pressing further.

“Oh dear, Sohee. With the entrance exams nearing, should a regular fighter be watching streams?”

Yet Taewoo lacked that level of discretion.

His only dilemma during exams was whether to mark number three or four.

Sojun shook his head while Sohee bristled.

“What are you talking about? And I wasn’t watching streams. Why would I ever watch oppa’s streams anyway?”

“Then?”

“It suddenly appeared on iTube in the morning. Latest video. I just saw what popped up. So could you not invade my account?”

“Why did it show up for you?”

“How should I know? Oh, right. Oppa, I saw it trending.”

“Really?”

Sojun replied, quite surprised.

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

Knowing its significance, Taewoo quickly opened his phone to check.

“Hey, look at this.”

And showed it to Sojun.

The video, not even up for a day yet, had its views reaching.

『I Became the World’s Greatest in the Game.』
『Trending Video #3 in Games』

It had exceeded 300,000 views.