Chapter 21

Chapter 21: [Knight Soul] I Just... Did It Because I Could? (1)

After breakfast, Ju Seo-yoon lay on her bed, rolling back and forth. 

Then she stared at her smartphone and broke into a proud smile.

「Space Stream : Portal Site」

━Trending Search Terms

*1st ┃ Ju Seo-jin

*2nd ┃ Sword Empress

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

*4th ┃ Myangbangwool

*5th ┃ Black Moon controversies

*6th ┃ Sword Empress’s successor

.........

......

...

‘As expected, at this point, Oppa is the most popular person. Being the first one to open [Knight Soul]’s Hidden Route really was huge. Heh.’

That was because Ju Seo-jin had risen as a trending search term in the portal site function provided within Space Stream.

Well. Sword Empress, who had actively proposed a collaboration stream to Ju Seo-jin and appealed that she wanted to take him as her disciple, had also become a hot topic along with him... but that did not matter.

She was Sword Empress, after all. 

Rather, because a giant streamer like Sword Empress was showing interest in him, the attention on Ju Seo-jin was gradually growing even larger.

Win-win. 

It was good for Sword Empress, good for Ju Seo-jin, and also good for Ju Seo-yoon, who had become popular thanks to Ju Seo-jin.

For a personal broadcaster, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that might not come even once across an entire life.

‘Hmmm. After [Knight Soul] ends, the interest will drop a liiittle bit... but still, I think my viewer count is going to rise by a lot.’

Ju Seo-yoon brushed her fingers over her smartphone screen, then narrowed her eyes with a worried look.

‘Oppa... when we talked over breakfast today, it seemed like he was really torn over whether he should debut as a streamer or not. I wonder what he’ll do.’

It was frustrating.

‘Why? If he debuts as a streamer, he has the talent to hit it huge!’

That thought refused to leave her head. 

Of course, it was not as if she could not understand him.

A personal broadcaster was, one way or another, a fairly unstable job. 

It was possible that he might think going back to work at a company would be better.

However, that applied only to half-baked cases where someone had grabbed an “adequate” opportunity. 

In a situation like this, everything changed.

At this point, not debuting as a streamer would be a loss.

‘Yesterday... honestly, even I was so flustered that there were a lot of parts where I panicked and stumbled around... and all kinds of thoughts went through my head, so I couldn’t confidently say it. But not anymore.’

She was certain.

‘A genius. There’s no other way to describe his talent. Oppa was born with perfect talent, both as a streamer and as a gamer.’

Innate Talent. 

Ju Seo-jin could not only entertain viewers as a streamer, he also possessed an inborn talent close to that of a pro-gamer.

‘It’s not because of Divine Energy... right? I don’t know much about it, but I heard he can’t use that freely. Then if he’s that good on pure talent alone, he could even try becoming a pro-gamer.’

However, that did not mean Ju Seo-yoon looked down on pro-gamers.

A pro-gamer was, literally, the result of training the essence of one’s talent to the absolute limit and drawing it out.

In most cases, people began polishing the basic elements needed to learn Gaming Martial Arts as early as before entering elementary school, or as late as the lower grades of elementary school. 

Then, between fourteen and fifteen, they were scouted by a pro-team academy and entered it.

They had to possess excellent in-game skill, of course, but they also had to exercise steadily in reality from a young age, continuously polish their potential, and display enough outstanding talent to be called a genius before they could enter a pro-team academy and establish themselves as a pro-gamer trainee.

‘Oppa too... if he’d entered a pro-team academy when he was young, he might have been able to debut as a pro-gamer. Though now, it’d be too late.’

Twenty-eight years old. 

It was far too late an age to start becoming a pro-gamer.

That was even more true when one considered that most pro-gamers began polishing the basics at around seven or eight years old on average.

The weight of time. 

The difference between the days they had accumulated could never be overcome easily. 

Pro-gamers were people who literally lived in an entirely different world.

If he had started when he was young, maybe. 

But even if Ju Seo-jin started preparing to become a pro-gamer now, he would only be able to stand properly on the front lines after he had long since passed thirty.

In the history of e-sports, there had been people who continued competing until a late age and were called legends. 

However, the reality was that there was not a single pro-gamer who had started that late and then made a name for himself.

Even if he had been born with innate talent rivaling that of an actual pro-gamer, he could not be compared to those already standing on the front lines now.

That was reality.

Regrettably.

‘...It feels like such a waste that even I’m frustrated. With Oppa’s level of talent, he really could have aimed for pro-gaming. Haaa.’

However, that regret remained only regret. 

It might be too late for him to debut as a pro-gamer, but streaming was a different story.

‘We’re turning on the stream this evening, so if we can completely take over the popularity rankings inside Space Stream by then and draw some aggro... there’s a high chance we can reach ten thousand viewers!’

Today, there was a high chance they would surpass the number of viewers who had come to Ju Seo-yoon’s stream yesterday.

Since [Knight Soul] was enjoying massive popularity right now, people had no choice but to take interest in the first discoverer of the Hidden Route.

The only key was how long they could keep drawing aggro inside Space Stream.

And so, Ju Seo-yoon continued staring at her smartphone with a broad, beaming smile on her lips.

She was hoping that Ju Seo-jin would occupy every trending ranking inside Space Stream.

Beep.

But then......

‘Huh?’

The moment the Space Stream app sent her a notification sound announcing that the rankings in each tab had changed, Ju Seo-yoon’s body froze as if it had turned to ice.

「Space Stream : Portal Site」

━Trending Search Terms

*1st ┃ Ju Seo-jin

*2nd ┃ Crack

*3rd ┃ Crack VS ordinary person

*4th ┃ Crack VS Ju Seo-jin

*5th ┃ Crack VS Ju Seo-jin reaction compilation

*6th ┃ Crack VS Ju Seo-jin replay analysis

*7th ┃ Crack VS Ju Seo-jin highlight scenes

.........

......

...

“?”

For a moment, Ju Seo-yoon wondered if she had seen it wrong.

Crack?

...Was he not the player known as the partner of “Black Moon,” one of the legends of [Eternal Saga]’s pro-gaming scene?

A pro-gamer who had worked as a two-person team with Black Moon and won the [Eternal Saga] World Championship two years in a row. 

He was famous.

But why, and for what reason, had he suddenly appeared on the trending page in relation to Ju Seo-jin?

...She had no idea at all.

‘D-Did I... see that wrong...? That must be... it... right...?’

However... that denial of reality lasted only briefly.

Before long, Ju Seo-yoon looked at the trending Hot Clips ranking page inside Space Stream and froze.

“.......”

...She definitely had not seen it wrong.

「Space Stream : Video Clips」

━Trending Hot Clips

*1st ┃ Ju Seo-jin VS Crack (highlight version)

└Views: 382,111 / Recommendations: 19,474 / Comments: 9,889

*2nd ┃ Ju Seo-jin VS Crack (second match video) │ Replay Analysis: ‘Anathema’

└Views: 331,231 / Recommendations: 15,171 / Comments: 8,722

*3rd ┃ Ju Seo-jin VS Crack (second match video) │ Replay Analysis: ‘Ucrus’

└Views: 281,223 / Recommendations: 12,892 / Comments: 8,004

*4th ┃ Ju Seo-jin VS Crack ending...real (money-grubber legend;)

└Views: 182,212 / Recommendations: 9,861 / Comments: 8,914

*5th ┃ Sword Empress absolutely furious legend lolololololololol (Ju Seo-jin VS Crack reaction lol)

└Views: 131,441 / Recommendations: 9,182 / Comments: 7,791

*6th ┃ Let’s compare a 1:1 sparring record video of the ‘Larkranz Style’ with the second match video of Ju Seo-jin VS Crack...legend holy shit;

└Views: 81,333 / Recommendations: 5,581 / Comments: 7,211

.........

......

...

Tap—

Without thinking, Ju Seo-yoon entered the video clip listed in first place among the Hot Clips on Space Stream... and then, shocking scenes unfolded.

───.

Crack. Against a skilled player who had spent years as a veteran pro-gamer of [Eternal Saga], Ju Seo-jin won overwhelmingly without taking even a single hit.

[K.O.]

《 WIN! 》

━2P: Ju Seo-jin(=Nameless Monk)

...It was an astonishing match result that should never have happened, and at the same time, should not have been allowed to happen.

“...Uhe-eek?”

As Ju Seo-yoon watched the unprecedented video clip, one that would be no exaggeration to call a “major incident” to those currently working in the industry, she froze like a stone statue before suddenly jerking.

“...N-No way! Th-There’s no way something like this could be─── Hic, hiccup! H-Hiccup?”

...She was so shocked that she did not merely gasp. 

She had even started hiccuping.

***

Space Stream.

Among the current Hot Clips rankings, the post “Ju Seo-jin VS Crack (highlight version),” which had suddenly appeared and taken the first-place slot, was the hottest post of all.

《 Ju Seo-jin VS Crack (highlight version) 》

└Posted by: idontgamellikethat(rpdlawkfgkqslek1111)

━Video Clip (※SUPER HOT!)

*Views: 382,111 / Recommendations: 19,474 / Comments: 9,889

━{ Video: Highlights from the approximately four minutes of Crack and Ju Seo-jin facing each other in [Limitless War] flash by }

━This is an edited highlight compilation of a [Limitless War] match between ‘Crack,’ a pro-gamer from VEN, an ESK-affiliated team in [Eternal Saga], and ‘Ju Seo-jin,’ an ordinary person who only started virtual reality games yesterday.

With a total of 382,111 views, nearly twenty thousand recommendations, and close to ten thousand comments lined up beneath it—

-〔Anonymous〕: ..Since when could people upload deepfake videos to Space Stream? 

What the fuck is Cleanbot doing? 

Why isn’t it deleting this shit??

└[idontgamellikethat(Poster)]: Sorry, but this clip was made by connecting only the highlight portions of the original video into an edited version. 

It isn’t deepfake footage. 

It’s an actual record. 

This happened just now.

└[Anonymous]: ?? why is this real??????????????

└[Anonymous]: What... A pro-gamer got stomped by an ordinary person? 

That’s bullshit, fuck lol?; 

This makes no damn sense??; 

This is really real??

└[Anonymous]: It’s real lol

└[Anonymous]: It sounds fake but.. it’s real; This is legit true, real-life stuff lololololol;;;

└[Anonymous]: I was watching this live, so I know it’s real; Wow.. when Crack gave up the first move in the 1:1 and Ju Seo-jin slammed his right foot into his face, that was already a miracle.. but round 2 was the real thing, fuck lol

└[Anonymous]: ㄴ Ah, I saw that too lololol In round 2, honestly, when Crack went into serious mode, it looked like Ju Seo-jin was barely dodging his strikes, so I thought he’d lose.. Wow.. when he turned it around there, the dopamine hit was fucking insane lololol

└[Anonymous]: The second match really was the real one; dopamine was just gushing out, for real lololol

└[Anonymous]: For real; pretending to chain strikes, then instantly converting the attack motion into Flash Attack and driving in a heavy blow is a technique even pro players can’t dodge in the pro scene.. 

But he predicted it in advance, dodged with a ducking motion, and fired back with a Liver Shot. 

That’s insane;;

└[Anonymous]: What Ju Seo-jin said after winning the second match was the real legend lololol ‘Larkranz Style? 

Ah, this is that thing? 

This was fucking easy lol? 

Thanks for teaching me?’ 

He said shit like that lololololol

└[Anonymous]: ㄴ That’s just a show, obviously. 

How does someone learn Gaming Martial Arts in 1 or 2 matches? 

Go to a gym right now and try learning Gaming Martial Arts yourselves before running your mouths lol Do you really think that’s possible lol?

└[Anonymous]: ㄴㄴ You’re full of shit lol Then why would Crack ask Ju Seo-jin, ‘How are you using the Larkranz Style?’ for no reason, you dumb bastard lol?

└[Anonymous]: This is real.. Um.. I work in the [Eternal Saga] industry, and everyone’s going crazy; Especially on VEN’s side, they’re apparently calling the Larkranz Style Grand Master and his direct disciple and making a fuss, telling them to find the route of the technique leak;; They’re saying this could be a contract violation;;

└[Anonymous]: ㄴ Is that true? Wow lololololololololololololol Is Crack seriously fucked?? Holy;;

└[Anonymous]: Hmm lol If that ordinary person named Ju Seo-jin really copied it after seeing it once.. there’s no way to sanction him lol Since Crack didn’t intentionally leak it either, he probably won’t get disciplined for a technique leak lololololol

└[Anonymous]: ㄴ I agree, and in the first place, the Larkranz Style shown in [Limitless War] is missing all the core techniques. 

The Larkranz Style’s main components are its core techniques in [Eternal Saga], so.. it probably won’t be a big problem. 

They’ll likely just check whether there’s a route for a technique leak and end it there.

└[Anonymous]: Well.. unless there really is a route for a technique leak, most incidents like this just end with a warning. 

More than anything, since this was in [Limitless War], it’s presumed that the core techniques from [Eternal Saga] didn’t leak out.. So nothing much will happen.

└[Anonymous]: But.. even considering that, you have to admit this Ju Seo-jin guy has overwhelming talent. 

If he really only started virtual reality games yesterday and has never learned Gaming Martial Arts before.. he’s just a monster.

There were many people who refused to believe Ju Seo-jin’s actual play record.

They claimed, “It’s a deepfake video,” or, “He can’t be an ordinary person.”

Of course they did.

Because Crack was a pro-gamer. 

Because he was Crack. 

Because he was a skilled player who had won the [Eternal Saga] World Championship two years in a row together with Black Moon.

That was why they all believed it could not be true.

However, as eyewitness accounts from real-time viewers continued to pour in and people claiming to be current industry insiders appeared, public opinion began to change.

In an unexpected direction.

-〔Anonymous〕: When I was in elementary school, my mom said it was early education and didn’t send me to taekwondo, fuck, she sent me to a Gaming Martial Arts gym instead. I learned it as a hobby until high school.. If that’s real, he needs to debut as a pro-gamer right now. He’s a monster.

└[Anonymous]: Ah lololol that brings back memories lololololol 

For real; my mom also said she was giving me early education and canceled my taekwondo academy, then sent me to a Gaming Martial Arts dojo, fuck lolololololololololololol

└[Anonymous]: Same here. Well.. I didn’t become a pro-gamer, but I did end up working as a coach at a pro-team academy instead. 

In my opinion too, if this person named Ju Seo-jin really is an ordinary person, he should consider debuting as a pro-gamer even if it’s late.

└[Anonymous]: Because of that, strategy analysis streamers are going crazy too lololol Former e-sports strategy analysts and Gaming Martial Arts nerds are turning on livestreams and talking with spit flying everywhere lol

└[Anonymous]: For real lololol Even Anathema and Ucrus started match analysis lololololol 

They even dug up unofficial Larkranz Style sparring record videos from more than ten years ago and started digging into everything one by one, from whether there was a technique leak route to how he copied it and how high his skill level is lololol

└[Anonymous]: What’s hilarious is that both of their opinions are seriously neck and neck. 

Anathema’s opinion is that ‘he had learned Gaming Martial Arts before, but it’s true that he copied the Larkranz Style after seeing it at that time’.. while Ucrus is claiming that ‘this isn’t something that stops at [Limitless War], and even the core techniques on the [Eternal Saga] side were leaked.’

└[Anonymous]: This shit has gone completely insane lololololololololololololololol

Now, rather than doubting the actual play record, people were discussing “how” incredible what Ju Seo-jin had shown really was.

《 Emergency Broadcast) Analyzing Crack VS ordinary person(Ju Seo-jin) in [Limitless War] (*Will be switched to private video) 》

━Anathema(skwjsfurqnstjrwkfgka9918)

*Viewer Count : 4,102

= ...Now. This is the important part, everyone. Dragon Fighter, First Martial Skill, ‘Flash Attack.’ 

It’s a Martial Skill you all know, right? 

The Flash Attack that Player Crack attempted by using a jab as a feint was a strategy that struck at a blind spot with a motion that made no sense in terms of the physics engine, but—

= Ha, hahah. Can you see it here? 

This is important. 

While stepping backward and continuously dodging attacks, his center of gravity was slowly collapsing... but before Player Crack’s Flash Attack even activated, he suddenly lowered his upper body and started moving forward, right? 

In other words, by this point, he had already calculated everything—

《 [Limitless War] : Analyzing the match between Player Crack and Ju Seo-jin (*Come watch quickly before this becomes a private video) 》

━Ucrus(dbzmfmtmdlqslekd7181)

*Viewer Count : 4,118

= ...That’s why he kept unfolding the Nameless Monk’s First Martial Skill, ‘Time Shadow Style,’ forcibly corrected his center of gravity, and perfectly dug into the attack path where Flash Attack would be cast. 

At first, I thought the continuous movement of Time Shadow Style had been cut off and the Skill Connection—meaning the technique correction value—had disappeared. 

But that wasn’t it. 

It was the opposite.

= -This person named Ju Seo-jin never once, from beginning to end, cut off his Martial Skill, Time Shadow Style, beyond the millisecond unit. 

That’s why the moment the Dragon Fighter’s Flash Attack activated, he was able to chain into a ducking motion and then a Liver Shot. 

But the reason this is a problem is───

《 [Limitless War] : I have something to say, a lot to say, truly a very great deal to say, but I’m holding back, so do not provoke me 》

━Sword Empress

*Viewer Count : 17,947

= ...The problem is that he’s using the Larkranz Style exactly the same way. 

No matter how one looks at this, he learned the Larkranz Style. 

A-And as his first Gaming Martial Arts... from someone other than me...! I am displeased!

= ...He is my disciple! 

My, my disciple, whom I claimed first-! 

He said he would learn from me! 

From me! 

Did he not say that he would receive instruction in [Limitless War] from me?! 

To think that the first person to give him instruction would be stolen from me in such an absurd way by someone else?

Ding-a-ling—

A voice donation notification rang out.

Then Sword Empress listened quietly before answering with a chilling aura.

= ...What? 

Since he wasn’t directly taught, it’s fine? 

Since anyway, if he clears all the boss battles in [Knight Soul] before No Deaths, I will become Ju Seo-jin’s first disciple, so it’s fine? 

Haha- ...I shall permanently ban you. 

Leave. 

I shall not see you out.

“.......”

On her smartphone, inside the Space Stream app visible beyond the screen, everyone was talking about the contents of the match between Crack and Ju Seo-jin.

“Just when did he cause such a major incident...?”

Her head did not merely hurt. 

It felt as if it were about to crack apart.

While she watched each Hot Clip one by one and tried to gauge whether it was true, a knocking sound came from the door.

Knock, knock, knock—

In that instant, as if she had been struck by lightning, Ju Seo-yoon snapped back to her senses and threw open the door.

And then, to Ju Seo-jin, who stood there expressionless as always, she shoved her smartphone at him.

“Uh- I-Is this you, Oppa? No way, did you do this? You didn’t, right? It’s just someone who looks like you, right? That’s—”

“Ah- this. Yeah, that’s me. Earlier, I received instruction from that pro-gamer... Crack? That person.”

“.......”

“Hmm. Well, this is well-timed. I happened to bring some good news, so that’s a relief.”

“Good... news...?”

“Yeah.”

Then Ju Seo-jin, with a very proud... uncharacteristically happy expression, held out his own smartphone to her in return.

[L-78123K1 ┃ Gift Code]

*Product Registration Number: K3284-38411-A32J32-M00013

━Sender: ‘Crack’ / Gift Message: ‘If you feel even slightly inclined to accept the proposal, please contact me at my contact information anytime. I’m begging you.’

“I just got a latest-model capsule device worth thirty million won... Do you want it?”

“............”

...Ju Seo-yoon, who had lost the ability to speak, closed her mouth as a lifeless, hazy look filled her eyes.

***

Space Stream.

Just as the heat that had grown so intense it had nearly paralyzed the Korean server of the world’s largest broadcasting platform gradually began to cool down, something happened.

〈 : PREPARING : 〉

It was none other than......

《 [Knight Soul] : Clearing all bosses on ‘Nightmare’ Mode with No Deaths! (※with Ju Seo-jin) 》

━Myangbangwool(wntjdbsdlqslek1231)

Myangbangwool—meaning Ju Seo-yoon’s stream—switched to preparing... and Ju Seo-jin was about to appear.

*Viewer Count : 3,112 → 4,944 (※HOT!)

*Viewer Count : 4,944 → 6,731 (※SUPER HOT!)

*Viewer Count : 6,731 → 8,926 (※SUPER HOT!!!)

.........

......

...

...It was the moment just before a massive storm began to rage.