Chapter 16

Chapter 16: [Limitless War] Hmm, Am I Doing This Right？ (1)

Streaming.

After Myangbangwool’s Personal Broadcast ended, the viewers all scattered… and most of them, almost as one, began talking about Ju Seo-jin.

Of course, they went to other Streamers’ Personal Broadcasts and submitted video donations- and in every community, they stirred up attention while talking about Ju Seo-jin.

Loudly.

[Dustnet(=Category: {Game / Streamer}]

*Post Title: [Knight Soul] Current Status of the Guy Who Opened the Hidden Route in ‘Nightmare’ Mode...real (*Video Included)

└Author: Anonymous(OP)

━{ Video }

━Sword Empress, who was playing Knight Soul on Space Stream too, went to the broadcast of the guy who opened the Hidden Route and randomly threw down a 10 million won Mission lolololololol

━If he clears every boss fight in Knight Soul with No Deaths, Sword Empress said she’ll call him Master and teach him [Limitless War] lolololololololololol

━Some funny-as-hell content just opened up lolololololololololololololol

-〔Anonymous〕: ? Is that really Sword Empress?? That??

-〔Anonymous〕: I thought it was staged.. but it’s actually real? Wow.. Even if he shows promise, how does he end up tied to a Streamer like Sword Empress?? That’s fucking insane lol

-〔Anonymous〕: Ah lol I watched that in real time, and our Sword Empress was all happy because she thought she could lure an all-time talent freak into [Limitless War] lolololololololol

-〔Anonymous〕: Hey. Don’t casually call him ‘the guy who opened the Hidden Route.’ Is Teacher Seo-jin your friend??? You bastard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

└[Anonymous(OP)]: Gasp..

└[Anonymous]: For real lol Is Teacher Seo-jin your friend, man???????? Do better from now on, yeah

└[Anonymous]: Ahh.. I worship you, Great Seo-jin..!

└[Anonymous]: But when is Teacher Seo-jin opening his Personal Broadcast? Do we have to keep watching him through Myangbangwool’s streaming?? Anyone know?

└[Anonymous]: I dunno either lol But won’t he start his Personal Broadcast soon? Seeing as he’s already tied to Sword Empress, he’s 100% doing one lol

Talk of Ju Seo-jin kept spreading endlessly through every sort of community.

[Dustnet(=Category: {Game / Streamer}]

*Post Title: Ju Seo-jin <<< the fact that he’s a day-one Virtual Reality Game newbie is legendary lolololololol He’s an all-time talent lolololololololololol

[Green Tea Cafe(※Daily Life: Game / Streamer)]

*Title: Did any cafe members watch Ju Seo-jin’s Personal Broadcast today ㅜ..? Does anyone know his Ustagram or any other SNS account..? sob sob sob

[Darkside(Official Gallery: Space Stream)]

Title: Ju Seo-jin is just pure entertainment GOAT lolololololololololololololol This guy just knows what a ‘Skill Stream’ is lolololololol He’s in a different class lol

The three communities- ‘Dustnet’, ‘Green Tea Cafe’, and ‘Darkside’. 

These general communities, which gathered almost every internet user in Korea… began showing explosive interest in Ju Seo-jin.

「Space Stream : Portal Site」

━Trending Searches

*1st ┃ Ju Seo-jin

*2nd ┃ Sword Empress

*3rd ┃ [Knight Soul] Hidden Route / Opening Conditions

*4th ┃ Myangbangwool

*5th ┃ Black Moon Controversies

*6th ┃ Sword Empress’s Successor

………

……

…

It was the eve of the storm.

***

At the same time.

Sip-

At his desk. 

Having returned to his room, Ju Seo-jin took a sip of coffee from a mug and narrowed his eyes.

━Want to try being a Streamer?

The words he had heard from Ju Seo-yoon earlier kept circling through his head. …It was a suggestion he had never expected.

━Oppa, you’ve got talent. Really. You might even be at a pro-gamer level…! If you do broadcasting properly, it’ll blow up one hundred percent…! I guarantee it!

Innate Talent. 

She had said that if he started a Personal Broadcast, it would become a guaranteed hit, and had told him to think it over a bit.

“…….”

Debuting as a Streamer- as a Personal Broadcaster- was truly something he had never once considered.

Even only a few days ago, Ju Seo-jin’s knowledge of Streamers had really been at the level of ‘something he had seen in passing on the internet.’

Virtual Reality Games?

He had barely been interested.

If Ju Seo-yoon had not asked him to appear as a special guest on her Personal Broadcast, he would have gone his entire life without playing one.

If he had to be precise, even now, he was not particularly inclined.

‘Being a Streamer… isn’t an easy job. If I think about my future, it’s better not to do it. Right.’

It was only natural.

Compared to looking for a new job and going back to working at a company, was the job of a Streamer not far too unstable?

Today. 

Even if he had collected donations equivalent to several months’ worth of salary, there was no way to know how long that would continue. 

He could not be optimistic.

‘I’m not exactly a fun person either… and aside from being a little good at games, I don’t have any advantages. I shouldn’t do it.’

Reality was not forgiving.

‘That’s what I should do, but…’

And yet-.

‘I can’t forget it.’

Like a cassette tape kept rewinding, his memories from [Knight Soul] continued playing in his head and would not leave.

Thump, thump-

Joy.

Releasing, in reverse, the Divine Energy he had spent his entire life frantically locking inside his body… and using it while pushing everything to the absolute limit had been far too fun.

The pleasure of controlling every possibility one by one and creating the outcome he wanted. 

The thrill of changing fate by using every single sense to its extreme. 

There was no way he could forget it.

‘It was fun.’

Of course- that was not an emotion he felt because he was a Streamer, or an emotion he could feel only by being a Streamer.

It was an emotion he could feel sufficiently as a single gamer too.

However, that did not mean there were no emotions he felt because he was a Streamer.

The opposite.

Rather, there was something he had felt because he was in a position close to that of a Streamer.

The viewers had called the ability he had thought of as a ‘curse’ his entire life a ‘talent.’

He had been acknowledged by people.

And so───

‘I want to do it again.’

He wanted to change fate. 

He had lived his entire life curled in on himself, locking the Divine Energy he had been born with inside the vessel called his body. 

He had thought he would continue to live that way.

But after playing [Knight Soul] and being acknowledged by the viewers, he had realized something. 

That was not true. 

Resisting fate was not impossible.

An unbearable impulse began to grow larger and larger.

‘I want to check. Just how far I can go- and whether, if it’s a Virtual Reality Game, I can really use my ability as much as I want without any Rebound.’

He wanted to be certain.

He wanted to find out once more whether, inside a Virtual Reality Game, he truly did not have to pay the price or suffer the Rebound for using his ability.

He had to confirm just how special the talent he had been born with was.

Only then would he be able to decide whether he should become a Streamer or not.

‘A Virtual Reality Game… Is there one where I can use Divine Energy to the maximum? It’d be nice if it were an action-focused game like [Knight Soul]……’

Just as he was wondering what action-centered Virtual Reality Game there might be where he could use the Power of Foresight to its maximum─── a memory from earlier suddenly came to mind.

There was one Virtual Reality Game recommended to him by Sword Empress, the major Streamer who had once been a former pro-gamer.

Ju Seo-jin narrowed his eyes and touched his lips.

“Ah… come to think of it, there is one. So-”

There was, indeed, one action-focused Virtual Reality Game that had gained worldwide popularity- one that even had pro-gamers.

“I’m pretty sure… the game’s name was [Limitless War], right?”

[Limitless War].

A Full Dive content where pure Physical Skill alone was valued as the highest virtue- the world’s greatest 1:1 PVP Virtual Reality Game.

***

Modern E-Sports had become a massive arena that had pushed aside the majority of traditional sports events.

The game industry, which had grown because of the release of Virtual Reality Games, had now gained recognition comparable to popular sports.

Even if it did not match the Personal Broadcast industry, which had benefited the most from the development of the game industry, there was no doubt that the pro-gamer industry had also grown to an even greater scale.

The number of pro-gamers had increased exponentially, and all of them had been reborn as lethal beings on a completely different track from those of several decades ago.

To get even a little closer to victory in-game, they learned professional martial arts, and to adjust the gap between their real bodies and their virtual bodies, they never stopped physical conditioning.

Every day, they did not neglect exercise, adding practice upon practice and putting in effort fierce enough to shave bone.

Unlike those of several decades ago, current-generation pro-gamers were close to genuine killing weapons… and the sight of them fighting for victory drew fervent popularity.

Naturally.

《 [Limitless War] : 「VEN」 Crack ) Taking a break this morning and attempting [Limitless War] ‘Lord of Martial Arts’. 》

━「VEN」 Crack(skdlemfrltlfgek3717)

*Viewers : 3,228

[Eternal Saga]. Crack, who belonged to ‘VEN,’ a team in ESK, South Korea’s first division, was also one of the fairly popular mid-tier pro-gamers.

-Oh, Crack turned his stream on

-Crack-hi.

-I ran here like a dog, big bro

-Oh.. Crack is here....!!

-Hi

“Yep! Hello. I’m Crack. Nice to see you.”

Piercings. 

Gentle-looking eyes. 

A height that seemed to be around 178 cm. 

A man with hair dyed yellow, though black strands of hair stuck out here and there. 

Crack stretched wide and spoke.

“Huuup- Today, since [Eternal Saga] has server maintenance this morning, I’ve decided to play a little [Limitless War] as a break! Everyone, please enjoy”

-Ah.. [Eternal Saga] was in server maintenance? Usually you can log in most of the time, but I guess they’re paying some attention this time..

-Hmm.. No wonder, I was wondering why you were suddenly attempting [Limitless War] LoMA.. So that happened..

-[Limitless War] LoMA? Weren’t you in the 200-point range of Grand Master, Crack..? Can you make it by this morning??

“Ahaha. Well, it might be impossible, but shouldn’t I at least try? You never know. I might raise another 300 points today and become a ‘Challenger’!”

-That’s wishful thinking

-Still, even if it’s not today, if you keep at it a little longer, Crack, I think you’ll earn the right to challenge [Limitless War] LoMA!

-I think there are 37 Korean LoMAs in [Limitless War].. If Crack gets it too, that’ll make 38

“Yes. That’s right! If I raise my points a bit today and get recognized as a Challenger… I might be able to enter the Lord of Martial Arts!”

-brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

-Kya.. I’m looking forward to there being a 38th Korean LoMA in [Limitless War].

-If Crack had been a [Limitless War] pro-gamer, I think you would’ve become a LoMA comparable to Sword Empress..

“What? Oh, no, I’m nothing compared to the Sword Empress. Sword Empress is a living legend of [Limitless War], after all. I just hope I can quietly win one LoMA spot and leave.”

Crack waved his hands, swish- swish-, then entered [Limitless War]’s game start screen.

Within a virtual space embroidered with Eastern-style trees, where nameless flower petals fluttered through the air. 

Crack began operating [Limitless War]’s hologram window.

And… before long, instead of queueing for a Ranked Game, Crack entered an Open Match and created a room.

《 (Warm-up) [Limitless War] 1:1 Coaching Offered. Come Quickly. I Really Teach Well. 》

*Game Format: ‘Default(Default)’

━Room Creator: Crack(skdlemfrltlfgek3717)

━Battle Stage: ‘Peach Blossom Spring’

━Maximum Participants: ‘(1/2)’

━Maximum Spectators: ‘(0/100)’

Shhhhh.

The scene embroidered with enormous trees, where nameless flower petals fluttered through the air, disappeared… and the scenery of a beautiful training ground where peach blossoms were in full bloom unfolded.

Babble, babble, babble- came the sound of water. In the outer area of the training ground, streams of water from some unknown source fell into the empty void, forming waterfalls.

This was the appearance of ‘Peach Blossom Spring,’ one of [Limitless War]’s battle stages.

-?

-Huh.. Open Match? You’re giving 1:1 [Limitless War] coaching??

-Huh????????????????????????????????????????????

“Yep. That’s right. Before I queue for Ranked Game, I’m going to give 1:1 [Limitless War] coaching as a warm-up. Come on in.”

Crack grinned, operated the hologram window, changed his outfit into a splendid golden long robe, and continued speaking.

“Oh! For reference, UG Corporation has a newly released Ultra Capsule… and if you beat me, I’ll give it to you as the prize!”

-Gasp

-Ah. So that's what happened?? UG Corporation sponsored the viewer participation event for you brrrrrrrr

-Wow.. but.. even if it’s a viewer participation event, having to beat Crack in [Limitless War] is a little sob.. yeah..

Only then did the viewers watching Crack’s streaming realize that UG Corporation had provided a Capsule and sponsored the viewer participation event.

However- separate from that, they were only looking forward to being able to face Crack 1:1. 

They did not take interest in the prize, the highest-spec Ultra Capsule.

Originally, in viewer participation events, when pro-gamers said they would give something away if someone beat them, that line was also a metaphor for ‘There is absolutely no way I will ever have to give out the prize.’ -after all.

Because Crack knew that fact as well, he beckoned with a mischievous smile.

“Haha. Don’t be scared, come on in! You never know! You might be able to beat me, right?”

-This is deceit.. sob..

-Still, if Crack is giving 1:1 coaching, I can’t not go. I’m going right now

-Why is my Capsule taking so long to boot up sob sob Hurry, I have to go!!

-I’ll at least grab a spectator seat.. Everyone, hurry and go..

And. Just as everyone was trying to connect quickly to the Open Match room Crack had created- a connection sound rang out.

Ding-

“Oh! Someone’s already here. Hahaha, welcome. Let’s see, should I look up the nickname and record once? Let’s see…”

However… Crack continued his line with a smiling face for only a brief moment. 

Soon, his expression changed strangely.

“Huh?”

It was literally enough to make him laugh in disbelief.

「Ju Seo-jin」

━ID: wntjwls

━Total Login Time: {3 minutes 47 seconds}

━Player Title: {Empty}

━Player Main Character: {Empty}

━Player’s Cumulative Record: {Empty}

“Huh. This- he’s a complete newbie…? Is this for real?”

Ju Seo-jin.

Because a player with that name- one who corresponded to a perfect beginner- had appeared.