Chapter 6

I first checked out the video of Rozon that kept getting mentioned in the chat.

[The current state of Eternal World these days], [I met an intentional troll in solo queue], both of these.

Hmm. Huh. Aha.

I totally get it now.

While I was at it, I turned on my smartphone and also visited the VR Broadcasting Gallery that kept getting mentioned in the chat.

<Watching Hakkoryun's video lol>

<Is Han Yoorim really an intentional troll?>

<But without a cam or mic, it's kinda boring though>

It felt a bit off.

I noticed the video had zero viewers, and the uploader only had 2,000 subscribers on MTube.

No matter how I looked at it, this didn’t seem like something they’d care about. What’s going on?

I binge-read the featured posts.

Then, I kinda saw the flow.

The core of the incident was the Game Gallery.

<Hakko from Game Gallery got sniped>

(Rozon’s MTube video link)

-Hakko’s viral stuff is insane

-Boring lol

I saw a bunch of salty comments.

At first, it was like that.

A few hours later, another clip was uploaded.

<Hakko from Game Gallery got sniped and is super pissed?>

(A clip of Mos refuting Rozon’s video point by point)

This guy’s from Grandmaster, and getting called out by a Plat player made him mad lol

-For real, the chaos in Platinum is legendary

-Getting called out by a Grandmaster is just…

-Hakko fans are swarming again

This time, the reactions were slightly different.

The comments were split between those who agreed with the post and those who just cursed like before.

This happened because most of the VR Broadcasting Gallery members were guys who had played Eternal World, so they knew exactly what a Grandmaster meant.

A Platinum player picking a fight with a Grandmaster over game content was like a layperson picking a fight with a lawyer over the law.

There was a gap between them as wide as that between an amateur and a professional.

Short-form content really had great accessibility. As soon as the clip was uploaded, a few derivative posts popped up in the featured section.

Mostly posts making fun of Rozon’s MTube.

<The reason Hakko is Hakko...jpg>

<This guy has no talent, he should quit ASAP>

<Rozon: Everyone who does community stuff should be executed>

Honestly, from my perspective, it wasn’t a big deal.

Posts like these pop up several times a day.

And they’re quickly forgotten.

So Rozon was almost forgotten too, but…

Why did he have to jump into the fire with a barrel of oil?

Does he have a self-harm hobby?

<Hakko who sniped Game Gallery uploaded a new video?>

(A video of Han Yoorim calling out an intentional troll)

This guy seems to be looking for a scapegoat now that the heat’s on him.

-Just stay quiet. Who even cares about Hakko lol

-For real, does he think people won’t notice this obvious move?

-But Thierry did hit him, right?

<Let’s revisit Rozon’s famous quotes at this pointㅜㅜ>

(A clip of him saying everyone who does community stuff should be executed)

For real, I agree

-Hmm. Is he just seeking attention?

-But shooting them all would actually help society

┗Definitely needs to be normalized ㅇㅇ

At first glance, the second post seemed to agree with Rozon, but it didn’t.

The salt levels were through the roof, ready to explode at the slightest touch.

And there was also a vibe of “well, this is convenient” in the air. I know communities pretty well, even if I don’t know much about streaming. This was definitely the vibe before a festival.

<Hey, the guy Total Execution sniped is streaming?>

(Han Yoorim’s stream link)

He’s still streaming lol

-How do you even find this?

┗Just searched the game nickname and it matched the stream name.

This was the most recent featured post.

Someone had announced the start of the festival.

I kept watching the chaotic chat.

This was just a temporary fire anyway.

They were here to kill time because there was nothing else fun to do.

For them, time was an abundant resource, and chatting in a stream didn’t cost anything.

If I just ignored it and focused on game development for a day, it would probably resolve itself as if nothing happened…

But the problem was, this was a team play.

I guarantee it. The moment I end the stream, these guys will flock to Rozon’s MTube. And Rozon, seeing that, will do something crazy again. It’s a vicious cycle.

Honestly, even then, it’s not a big deal.

Unless Rozon suddenly goes crazy and sets his house on fire, it’ll eventually die down.

And quickly.

Even if Rozon uploads a new video, it’ll just burn for a few more days. Let’s be real, Rozon isn’t some superstar who can control hundreds of people with one action.

In fact, they didn’t even take this issue that seriously.

As proof, look.

―――

Do you like trolling? Do you like trolling? Do you like trolling? Do you like trolling? Do you like trolling? Do you like trolling?

I’m disappointed, I’m unsubscribing. I’m disappointed, I’m unsubscribing. I’m disappointed, I’m unsubscribing.

Isn’t Thierry’s pick a crime…tsk

―――

Even though I didn’t think I was intentionally trolling, they were typing stuff like this.

They were just doing it because it’s fun to see me flustered.

They’re total dopamine addicts.

I checked the viewer count.

[876 viewers]

That’s a lot.

I fell into thought.

Regardless of the backstory, these are viewers who came to watch me.

They’re potential customers who might buy my game.

And as a developer, I had to satisfy the users.

What would make them happiest?

The answer came quickly.

I ended my deliberation and queued up for a solo ranked match in Eternal World.

The queue popped.

[No one can dodge my bullets]

The pick line played. So this is what he says. First time hearing it.

Main Carry (1st pick): Support, is this Isahyang?

Support (me): This is usable.

I glanced at the chat.

―――

OMG

WTF

This crazy dude lololol

OMG

―――

They loved it, as expected.

See? I’m not bad at understanding popular taste.

My game flopped not because my taste is weird.

It’s because of poor marketing.

Q.E.D. Proof complete.

The game started.

I checked the Main Carry’s pick. Probably because of Isahyang, they picked a character that could farm decently on their own.

The common trait of such characters was weak late-game carry potential.

High stability meant easy growth, which meant they were strong early. The trade-off was being weak late.

Perfect.

I opened the map and spammed pings on the farming area I wanted.

ToolsAreTools (Main Carry): Are you really farming from Tier 4?

Eternal World had various growth methods, but the most common one…

So, it turns out it was about eating objects.

From Tier 1 to Tier 5. There were objects scattered across the map, divided into five tiers, and naturally, the lower the tier, the better the rewards.

And, of course, the difficulty of clearing them increased accordingly.

From Tier 3 onwards, they appeared after a certain amount of time, so at this point, the strongest object was Tier 4. Well, even then, farming a few Tier 5 objects to level up would make it easy to take down… but still, no one starts their first farming run with a Tier 4 object.

I pinged “I’m going” and moved. The Main Carry tilted their head and followed.

Currently, my tier is Diamond. In any game, the higher ranks usually have their own established strategies.

That’s why the Main Carry followed, even if they were suspicious of my orders. They figured I must have some plan and decided to trust me.

If I lost their trust, I’d probably get blocked, but that wasn’t going to happen.

I entered the Tier 4 object, [Yakuza Office].

Yakuza with knives rushed at me.

I charged forward.

Isahyang was a ranged dealer, but her range was short. Not quite melee level, but not that long either.

So, Isahyang had a unique skill set for a ranged dealer. It was clearly hard to use and required a lot of proficiency.

I dodged a knife. 1 stack. A fist grazed my cheek. 2 stacks. Bang! I tilted my head to dodge a bullet fired by the Yakuza boss. 3 stacks.

Isahyang’s passive, [Gun Kata], stacked up when attacked or dodging.

The effect was skill enhancement. As soon as I got 3 stacks, I activated the skill.

Click. The bullet loaded. A red bullet. I aimed the gun at the Yakuza group and fired.

Boom! Flames erupted. It was Isahyang’s first basic skill, [Elemental Bullet].

The Yakuza’s health dropped drastically. I pushed through them, unleashing gunfire.

I dodged every attack, landed basic hits, and fired the right elemental bullets whenever stacks built up, taking down enemies.

After piercing the last Yakuza boss’s head, I typed in chat.

Han Yoorim (Support): Let’s recover health and clear out the other Tier 4 objects.

ToolsAreTools (Main Carry): This actually works.

Securing Tier 4 objects this quickly would starve the enemy scout.

With the momentum, my growth skyrocketed. Having farmed resources like a sub-dealer, I headed to the area where Tier 3 objects spawned.

The enemy scout glared at me. Probably got flamed by their team for falling behind.

I ignored their gaze and read the situation.

Even though the enemy scout was behind, we were at a disadvantage.

The enemy City Core was overgrown. In contrast, our City Core hadn’t grown at all. In this state, a normal team fight wouldn’t work.

Our City Core pinged retreat. They judged that engaging wasn’t worth it.

I ignored it and charged at the enemy. Those who can’t perform don’t get to call the shots.

They shouted something in surprise from behind, but I was already in the zone, so it sounded faint.

An ice pillar fell from above. The enemy City Core’s skill. I twisted my body to dodge and took another step forward.

The enemy Main Carry fired a skill. A bird made of wind tore through the air. True to the sniper concept, it had an insane range.

But the trajectory and timing were predictable. I slid and easily dodged the skill.

Now, the enemy was within my range.

Whoosh. Flames wrapped around the pistol.

Isahyang’s ultimate, [Marksman’s Bullet].

For the duration, every basic attack dealt additional elemental damage.

The panicked enemy Main Carry fired, but I dodged and shot back. Flames engulfed the enemy.

Realizing this wasn’t working, the enemy Support opened a book.

Vines shot up from the ground, binding me. Targeted restraint. The duration was short, maybe 0.5 seconds.

But that was enough for the enemy to chain their skills.

A laser dot appeared on my forehead. An ice pillar formed above. Shurikens flew at me.

It was a firepower barrage that would normally be impossible to survive.

Calmly, I crossed my pistols above my head.

They must’ve panicked because I kept winning trades, as their skill distribution was uncharacteristic of high-tier play. It was like they forgot what Isahyang’s role was.

Kiiing—. The skill activated.

Isahyang’s second basic skill, [Gun Guard].

The effect was a brief 1-second invincibility, blocking all attacks and gaining attack power proportional to the damage taken.

I blocked all attacks at the perfect timing and raised my pistol.

It’s showtime.

*

[Victory]

The enemy surrendered after consecutive team fight losses.

Satisfied with the game, I nodded contentedly, then realized something.

There were over 800 viewers on my stream.

I’d forgotten because I usually streamed to 0 viewers. I got too focused on the game.

I sneakily checked the viewer count.

[2643]

Huh?

Something felt off, so I checked again.

There was a bug with the viewer count.

Was there some kind of issue?

I checked the chat.

—

“Mom, I want to grow up to be Han Yoorim! Mom, I want to grow up to be Han Yoorim! Mom, I want to grow up to be Han Yoorim! Mom, I want to grow up to be Han Yoorim!”

“Sign here! ‘Isahyang is a Support.’ Sign here! ‘Isahyang is a Support.’ Sign here! ‘Isahyang is a Support.’ Sign here! ‘Isahyang is a Support.’”

“Rozon: Huh. Is the intentional troll me? Rozon: Huh. Is the intentional troll me? Rozon: Huh. Is the intentional troll me? Rozon: Huh. Is the intentional troll me?”

“Rozon, let’s go to the abyss lol Rozon, let’s go to the abyss lol Rozon, let’s go to the abyss lol Rozon, let’s go to the abyss lol Rozon, let’s go to the abyss lol”

—

There was no problem at all.

By the way, the abyss meme is still going. If you’ve had your fun, let Rozon go already. Honestly, what huge mistake did he even make?

People can make mistakes when they’re flustered.

This won’t do.

I quickly queued up and picked Isahyang.

I’ll have to play harder to drain their energy.