NOVEL WEB Chapter 22
Chapter 22 – Warrior? Next.
The controversy surrounding GetDevoured’s hacking was truly a bombshell that exploded like fireworks.
Although it was embellished with hype and beautifully embroidered in the sky (on the Ark broadcast), once it withered away in a flash, no one paid any attention to it.
There were several reasons for this.
First, the bombshell that GetDevoured was actually a woman was enough to bury the mere controversy over the hacking, and secondly, GetDevoured, although somewhat famous, didn’t broadcast, leaving little room for sustained interest.
Third, even the protagonist of the underground one-on-one brawl, Gwangjil, who caused the hacking of the controversy, never directly targeted GetDevoured as a hacking user, so there was a lack of kindling to keep the bombshell burning.
Looking back, it was all due to various coincidental circumstances that the attention was focused to that extent as if it was all because of a post someone uploaded to the forum by bypassing the IP using a VPN.
As with internet bombshells, after chewing on it for a while, savoring it, and enjoying it, it will only remain as a vague memory of “Did something like that happen?”
However, for Gwangjil, the aftermath was a bit different. With just one defeat, the carefully constructed image of the invincible martial arts expert crumbled. And there seemed to be no way to restore that image.
Despite sending 300,000 won as an underwater transaction and attempting to reconcile with GetDevoured to finalize the matter, all his efforts were met with rejection.
Even trying to leave a coupon in the guestbook of the forum ID failed, as GetDevoured always operated under the non-logged-in alias ‘Got Devoured.’
He couldn’t even figure out how to send the 300,000 won coupon.
“Is she really asking me to post a picture of myself naked in the forum? Is she out of her mind?”
He bit his lip and internally cursed out in all sorts of ways, but it solved nothing.
There was no way he could post such a picture,
and he didn’t have the face to return to the forum as ‘Kwang-jil’ as if nothing had happened.
The memory of trying to smooth things over with donations on the Ark broadcast, only to get pelted with criticism, was still vivid.
‘Someone of my caliber as a Warrior being beaten by a Rogue is obviously because of hacking, but unfortunately, I ended up facing such a person and disrupted Ark’s broadcast.’
He tried to steer public opinion with a donation that implied something like…
‘Someone of my caliber as a Warrior being beaten by a Rogue is obviously because of hacking, but unfortunately, I ended up facing such a person and disrupted Ark’s broadcast.’
However, right after that, GetDevoured came out as a woman, and Kwang-jil became twice as despicable—a guy who lost to a woman and then tried to manipulate public opinion.
At that time, the KoK forum was flooded with praise for GetDevoured’s voice and insults directed at Kwang-jil and many of his relatives.
Though the forum moved on to another topic in just 2-3 hours, the barrage of insults from countless people left him with an almost traumatic experience.
So all he could do was log out and make hacking claims whenever GetDevoured was mentioned in the forum or the broadcast, while also spending his time reviewing GetDevoured’s gameplay for opportunities to analyze and find clear evidence of hacking (mostly watching past Ark broadcasts).
However, pathetically, the more he watched, the clearer it became that hacking wasn’t involved. Though there were issues with her personality, she was also a Challenger who had racked up thousands of matches in the underground.
Watching the Mage’s perspective broadcasts, he used to casually suspect any rogue-like behavior he saw as hacking. However, after analyzing the video with the minimap revealed several times, he couldn’t help but realize that GetDevoured’s intricate plans and map reading skills dictated his routes and movements, whether he liked it or not.
And at some point, he found himself admiring and learning from the plays displayed by GetDevoured. Despite that, he deluded himself into believing that he was in the midst of finding evidence of nuclear weapons, searching for phrases like ‘GetDevoured’, ‘EatNSteal’, ‘Devour You’, several times a day. So, it was only natural for G-tube’s algorithm to recommend a certain video to him.
『Warrior? Next.』
『GetDevoured FanTube』
『Views: 1.1K』
『What’s this…?』
* * * *
The first video that surfaced was a crude, amateurish one.
It was from a small-time aspiring broadcaster who had streamed GetDevoured’s first Rogue Revival Movement, wherein she faced Kwang-jil in a one-on-one match in the underground.
He uploaded the entire video to G-tube without any edits, and it garnered a significant number of views.
Realizing how sweet the “honey” from the straw was, he keenly jumped into the second Rogue Revival Movement and broadcasted it as well.
In reality, he spent the whole day chatting on an online community without preparing for the broadcast he should have been doing.
Such is the way of the world, following the law of seven parts luck and three parts skill.
He thought he would attract more viewers than his usual 10, but still believed he wouldn’t match the success of his previous show, which featured a well-known figure, so he started the broadcast with low expectations.
However, contrary to his expectations, a staggering 400 people swiftly tuned in to watch the infinite 1:1 match he was streaming.
After winning a one-on-one duel against Dodat just a week ago, GetDevoured had started to attract even more attention, possessing the power to draw in hundreds of viewers on his own.
Excited by the unexpected success, he hastily spouted off nonsense he had skimmed from KoK Wiki based on his hasty research, and even started streaming, fueled by the newfound popularity. He uploaded a video edited by himself with the title “The Phenomenal Female Master Rogue GetDevoured’s Underground 1:1 Duel!! What is her secret?!” on his G-tube channel.
Sadly, the video only managed to get a dismal 23 views in 24 hours as if it was destined to be forgotten.
However, the fate of that video, which was supposed to be just another forgotten piece, took a sudden turn when a new channel took the entire video and started to drastically transform it.
The owner of the channel named “GetDevoured FanTube” completely removed the original broadcaster’s voice, edited only the thrilling highlights of the fight scenes perfectly timed to an epic music, and uploaded it.
In that video, numerous warriors and paladins were helplessly falling before the swift movements of the rogue wielding daggers to the beat of the music.
With every warrior that fell, despite the slightly languid and whispering tone that seemed somewhat weary, GetDevoured’s low voice somehow pierced through the ears.
It was an imitation of my voice that echoed when I replied on Ark’s broadcast, saying, “I will definitely do the interview next time.”
Even though I subtly adjusted my tone, unwilling to give a definite answer about when the interview would take place, but still hinting at it, as I feared it might fix the schedule and lead to further inquiries, I simply replied, “I will definitely do the interview next time.”
The word “next?” delicately placed between inquiries and demands, whispered almost in a weary manner, harmoniously resonated with the image of endless piles of crumbling bodies of enemies.
With the title “Warrior? Next.” uploaded on “GetDevoured Fantube”, the first video began rapidly garnering views.
Mostly, it was thanks to someone donating videos under the nickname “Warrior? Next” on any KoK-related broadcasts that accepted video donations.
The effect of this video, shown to countless broadcasters and viewers, started to manifest very slowly but surely and steadily.
* * *
『Warrior? Next.』
『Title: GetDevoured FanTube』
『Views: 3.1K』
『Enjoy watching』
『Who is this?』
– You can see the ID.
– No, I mean, whose alt character is it?
– Isn’t that their main character?
– Of course not;
– It’s definitely a pro.
– Why would a pro act like that?
– ?? What do you mean “act like that”?
– Playing as a rogue is acting like that. Why are you asking with question marks?
– Hmm… Is it really that bad?
– Hm… That’s right?
『Can that be done with a rogue?』
– Must be possible, that’s why they did it
– With a tier difference, even a priest can beat a holy knight
– Nah, that’s not true unless the holy knight is an idiot
– That holy knight is a master
– Really? What an idiot
– Y’all just make your own parties
『What’s that rogue build? Owner, answer please』
– The build is private
– Are you the owner? I want to try it, can you at least share a rough idea?
– No, it’s private, so even I don’t know the build
『If you only edit in the winning fights, anyone can make a mad movie LOL』
『What’s up with this… Is there an advantage to armor combinations?』
– No, it just changes the movement for each part, makes it really confusing
– Then why do it?
– Who knows
– Maybe there’s an advantage
– You can only use plate armor to deflect critical hits, so having plate on arms does make sense
– That was a thing?
– Yeah, normally only paladins wear plate, so there wasn’t a reason for it, but it functions like that
『Please make an hour-long video of just the “Next?” parts』
『Why keep donating this? It seems domestic-only, don’t overdo it』
– ???Domestic-only??? ???Domestic-only??? ???Domestic-only??? ???Domestic-only??? ???Domestic-only??? ???Domestic-only???
– There are no broadcasts to send domestic-only content to, you idiot
– Damn, if it were domestic-only, would I watch this and the Ark replays all the time?
– If you keep donating, maybe domestic-only broadcasts will start? You guys should do it too
– LOL
– Open chat link (link)
『What’s the point of 1v1 in KoK? LOLOLOL LOL Does the enemy fortress crumble if you win 1v1?』
– 1v1 meaningless is for surface level, underground is all about repeated 1v1 battles
– If you can win 1v1 as a rogue, all the chests are basically free
– True, if you take all the chests…but wouldn’t you sweep the underground with that skill level and then dominate 6v5 on the surface as a warrior?
(Pinned Comment) 『Rogues are good? Isn’t this practically a god-tier character? Honestly, it seems like they’re winning solely because of the character throughout the whole video』
– That’s not the case
– Not true
– Absolutely not
– ???
– In what way?
– Are you GetDevoured?
– I’m not GetDevoured
– Got Devoured?
– I Want a Warm Americano?
Ah…
These days, there’s a serious problem.
Really.