A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 80

The matching window continued to spin.

Sojun glanced at the time after checking it. The current time was 8:40 PM, leaving about 1 hour and 20 minutes until the end.

Even if it ended as is, he could consider his skills sufficiently proven, having defeated six of the top players, including ones ranked within the top 10.

Nevertheless, he felt a sense of regret.

“Everyone, doesn’t ending it like this seem a bit ambiguous?”

– Looks like he really wants 8 consecutive wins, hahaha.
– Are the rankers scared?
– Did everyone forget? The Streamer-nim is bound to the magical girl. Widening the gap while we can is the right strategy.
– Even though you’re 1st, you never know, haha, it’s understandable to be desperate.

It wasn’t because of the magical girl, but he was being falsified once again. Since the instant the rankings were revealed and he confirmed being 1st, he had stopped worrying about penalties.

“What is Ark doing right now?”

He was curious about what Ark, who was streaming him, would be doing during this period when games couldn’t be found.

– Just reviewing all the previous games and watching your stream again.
– Realistically, it’s considered that Ark has done all the gaming for today.
– Who would dare challenge now?
– Even 2nd place was taken down, haha.

It wasn’t that the rankers weren’t playing because they were afraid of losing.

Even if they lost a second time after already losing once, how much pride would they lose, and how much pride could they gain by not fighting and not losing?

Of course, even knowing this, Sojun spoke differently than he thought.

“Right? They must be really scared.”

He wanted to fight more.

– Hahaha, they won’t do it.
– You’re too transparent, haha.
– Just sign off as usual, haha, why do you want to keep beating pitiful rankers, haha.

“Why do I want to play more games, you ask?”

There was an evident restriction of speed. Being in a position like Sojun’s meant he enjoyed such restrictions even more.

“The Heavenly Demon Divine Art is surprisingly more fun than I thought. Why didn’t I try other traits earlier?”

– Talking about how fun the Heavenly Demon Divine Art is while hardly using inner ki, haha.
– Are you really a pervert?
– Is this how the true old-timers have fun?

Even while chatting, the matching continued to spin. Smack. Sojun clicked his tongue.

“Well, there’s always tomorrow.”

*Ding.*

A message arrived.

『Sojun-nim, I’m joining now.』

It seemed Ark also thought it would end. Ark returned to the place where they had left.

“Thank you for showing us, Sojun-nim.”

He joined shortly after the message arrived. Quite fast.

“Especially, I rewatched the game from the previous opponents’ point of view, and it was absolutely insane. Ah, hold on a moment, adjusting some streaming settings.”

Then Ark transferred their stream from the computer to the capsule.

“Hehe. Sojun-nim’s physical prowess seems out of this world, doesn’t it, everyone? Do you agree? Don’t you think he’s the best within For Justice? What about you, Sojun-nim?”

“Well, I think there might be people better than me.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. So, if they’re out there, they should come quickly.”

Then Ark paused for a moment to interpret before expressing admiration.

“Wow. Did you all hear that, rankers? If you don’t fight now, you can’t refute it in the future. You dodged it.”

– Hahaha!
– Unless you want to donate a winning streak, what can you even do?
– But it seems it’s really over now.
– Travel, sniff sniff.

“But the matching isn’t happening, right? Are you still queuing?”

“Yes.”

“It can’t be helped. If you achieve 8 consecutive wins, Sojun-nim’s Reputation Points would be double compared to 2nd place.”

“Hmm. Are they unable to give up being 1st in contribution?”

“Yes. Besides, even if they don’t aim for 1st place, wouldn’t they feel awkward to fight now? Especially against comrades aiming for 1st within the same faction.”

“Oh.”

“8 consecutive wins aren’t unprecedented, but historically, they were achieved by targeting specific matches. Who comes in openly announcing their challenge? Especially after Sojun-nim already showcased superior skills.”

Ark spoke with confidence. That this was enough.

– His physical prowess makes no sense, haha.
– The ‘true’ World’s Greatest.
– Losing here becomes a betrayal of the people.”

“It is not a tribe but a force, right?”

Sojun also agreed.

However, there could not be any disagreement.

That was why they kept turning it around.

If one thought they could do better, they should try without making excuses.

For various reasons, it was difficult to be caught this way.

“But Ark-nim, you seem excited.”

“Hehe. Naturally, today seems promising. Using the Dull Sword, huh? I’ve wanted to experience that once myself.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Then, right now?”

“No.”

The answer came swiftly.

“I’m satisfied just watching. But I think others might want to face Sojun-nim’s Dull Sword.”

“Then should we provide a reason?”

“A reason?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Sojun did not want to fight at the expense of getting involved in another game instead of the Battlefield.

Proving something with no gain was not what Sojun wanted.

Rather, it was better to let others believe that he was better.

So then?

Sojun answered Ark’s question.

“If things end as they are now, my chances of getting first place are high, right?”

“Yes, indeed. You’ve already opened a significant contribution gap, and the six-win Reputation Points are no joke. It’s realistically almost impossible to catch up, unless Sojun-nim decides to stop playing.”

Sojun nodded with satisfaction.

The bait was ready.

“Then, I can give them a chance to eliminate the competition, right?”

“What opportunity…?”

“If I lose even once in the additional games today, I will change factions.”

Sojun threw the prepared bait.

“What? No….”

“Changing factions resets everything, correct? Not just one match, but a single round. If I lose even once in one round, I will change factions. So….”

Sojun looked at Ark directly and smiled.

Most viewers would be watching through Ark.

“Come in. From now on, my trait will be fixed as the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Aim at those who want to. I’ve gone this far, surely they won’t avoid a fight? It doesn’t matter if they’ve fought once before.”

Ha.

Sojun smiled slyly.

If they were watching, it must be itching for them.

He had given them ample reason, scratching at their pride.

So come on in.

– You seriously resist this? LOL
– If they avoid a fight even after this, it’s not the Orthodox Faction.
– Not even the Unorthodox! LOL
– Couldn’t resist and started a game in the streamer’s area. Of course, the fact that Reputation Points are less than 1,000 is a secret.
– Have you all lost your pride, rankers?!
– Let’s go!

“Uh….”

And then, at the moment Ark was at a loss for words.

The game was found.

3.

2.

1.

Sojun, with a satisfied smile from a successful baiting, disappeared.

“Uh. I’ll go out and resume the stream immediately.”

Ark scratched his head helplessly while staring at the empty space and left the capsule.

* * *

11 consecutive wins.

A whopping 11 consecutive wins.

Considering that a record exceeding 8 consecutive wins had never been achieved before, the streamer’s provocation was indeed effective.

It made the fights uncontrollable.

Those rankers, who held back their desire to contest the streamer, could no longer openly criticize the ones who did, even when challenging in the matchups.

Despite sacrificing their victory and Reputation Points, they earned the image of manliness.

Unrighteous Dignity, who was trying to control the public opinion, quickly wrote posts using multiple IDs, but.

『Did any fools get fooled?』
『Seriously, are people really going into that? LOL Is this for real?』
『You’re letting them win first place just to be thrashed, intelligence level check.』
『Win first and do it!』

They got bombarded with downvotes.

And this repeated again an hour ago.

He had been blocking Sojun’s 8-win streak using multiple accounts.

『We know it’s impressive, just stop fighting.』
『If you keep at it, you’ll only prove you’re a fool.』
『Points gained from an 8-win streak.』
『The only ones thrilled seem to be the Demonic Cult.』

And similarly, he received a deluge of downvotes.

After checking the list of those who downvoted, Unrighteous Dignity shouted.

“Those bastards from before!”

Those same people kept downvoting both during the 8-win streak and now.

Whenever he created a 10-upvote post using multiple accounts, those guys would appear out of nowhere, downvote it, and bury the post.

“It’s over. Damn it.”

To be precise, from the moment Sojun hit an 8-win streak, it was as good as half-over.

But then, having achieved a 10-win streak, Sojun earned an additional 12,800 reputation points, making it an insurmountable gap given that Unrighteous Dignity’s reputation stood at only 4,900.

And yet, the troublesome streamer, seemingly unsatisfied, started another game.

A 12-win streak was truly unacceptable.

It couldn’t happen, not even for the sake of their faction’s victory.

If Sojun succeeded in getting a 12-win streak, he would effectively be able to handle 14 ranks by himself.

That would mean handling 14 of the highest-rankers.

Unrighteous Dignity understood this threat better than anyone.

“Should I fight?”

He was conflicted.

Winning against that streamer and making him switch factions was the only scenario left for him to clinch the first place.

“But still.”

There was no guarantee he could win even if he did fight.

Meanwhile, those who downvoted were giving recommendations to posts like these, swaying public opinion.

『Even in defeat, those manly men were impressive. Vote up if you agree.』
『Even in loss, I believe they showed justice.』
『Such pride!』
『This is how you preserve the game’s dignity!』
『A true exemplar of the Orthodox Faction.』

Damn it.

“Are these bastards manipulating public opinion too?”

Nevertheless, he thought it was right to somehow challenge it.

In the end, he gave up.

“It can’t be helped. I have to give up on first place for this arena.”

He felt even more bitter realizing all this arose from the inflammatory post he had written.

On top of that, he wasn’t treated like a fool in the game where he tried to break the winning streak from the second round.

“The more I think about it, the more it frustrates me.”

Yet, for the sake of the Unorthodox victory, he held back.

However, “Huh? Why was that game matched? Don’t tell me someone doesn’t know the reputation points earned from a 12-win streak. What kind of idiot!”

With not much time left until it was all over.

Why, why now?

“Oh. That stupid Orthodox jerk!”

* * *

“Wow…”

With about 20 minutes left until the end.

Sojun thought.

They’re giving me this chance.

-?? 12-win streak coming???? WTF
-How many reputation points for winning this one?
-Who’s the opponent?
-This might get some backlash, lol
Sojun went out to face his opponent.

『Heaven-Slayer Star』

“Hello. I thought it was just bad luck when I lost last time.”

I see.

“But do you know how many reputation points I get if I win here?”

“Of course. But isn’t winning all that matters? Haha.”

His voice seemed a bit shaky, but maybe it was just his imagination.

-True macho man, lololololol
-Impressive, Slayer Star!
-I’m really thrilled right now, Slayer Star
-Orthodox and Unorthodox higher-ups crying in real-time, lolololol
-Super emergency!
-This is a true disaster, lol
-Does he know he’ll be the biggest villain of this arena if he loses, lol

Naturally.

“Alright, try to win.”

Heaven-Slayer Star’s real reason for losing wasn’t due to luck.

『Reputation gained: +49,600』

In the end, the reputation points gained for achieving a 12-win streak flashed before Sojun’s eyes.