Chapter 115
– Last Story
Moon Si-hyun, the winner of the “Demons” tournament in Fist Over Legend.
After that, she took some time off and was recommended to play “Guardians’ Journey” by the viewers as a casual game.
However, despite the popular opinion that her brain power might actually be quite good, her performance took a dive in this tournament.
She often missed the reward chests while rushing, or showcased bizarre antics by going around in circles trying to impress the viewers with how brilliantly she could solve puzzles she had already figured out in her head.
Instead, she somehow contributed to raising the viewers’ blood pressure in the most outrageous ways…
―――
Fist Over Legend.
Abbreviated as Fiore, it underwent a massive patch three years ago.
The system that split players based on reaction speed, quick judgment, and experience saw a significant reduction.
Team play began to take precedence over individual skill.
The boundaries between the Current Realm and Sky Realm were solidified.
Each realm saw the emergence of a support position.
Patching meant shedding onerous elements requiring immense physicality and experience, thus lowering the entry barrier.
This was referred to as the Age of Beasts in hindsight.
It was the moment when that era ended.
The assessment of the management team responsible for the seismic patch was split down the middle.
They eradicated Fiore’s uniqueness, or no, they broke the barriers and drew in more users, so this is the right path now.
Generally, the former was the evaluation of the old-timers, while the latter was from newcomers.
The professional scene was, of course, profoundly affected by that seismic shift.
As the required abilities for players changed completely, professionals who couldn’t adapt faced elimination, resulting in a massive turnover.
The world of competition split black and white; it was ruthless. No matter how well one had performed until now, if one faltered, they were swapped out.
“Yoon Do-hyung. What are you doing? Are you planning tactics again? Isn’t what we have now working fine? You should take a break sometimes.”
“Ah, haha… No. I’m just taking a break right now, watching a personal broadcast.”
And Yoon Do-hyung was one of those caught up in that unstoppable wave.
“…… Then I’m glad. Make sure to rest well. Da-hyun seems a bit strained lately too; take care of him.”
The coach, after saying that, regarded Yoon Do-hyung with a somewhat pitying gaze before leaving.
Yoon Do-hyung felt a twinge of pain at that look.
He recalled the situation of himself, now benched instead of being a starter, and Lee Da-hyun, who had sunk from starter to the second team.
He never imagined that his fate would change so greatly just from one game patch, neither from aging nor a lack of passion.
Even being a substitute was merely a title; he wouldn’t get any chances to play. He was pushed out by a younger player who was newly recruited after the team adjusted to the seismic patch.
Still, he carried out his role as a playing coach in the substitute position.
Lee Da-hyun also remained in the second team, refusing to terminate his contract, pledging hope for the future.
Both worked tirelessly not to become obsolete after the seismic shift. They played solo games every day to keep their skills sharp.
Thanks to their efforts, the results ended up with Da-hyun in the second team’s starting position and Yoon Do-hyung as the playing coach. That was somewhat luxurious.
Their former teammates, unable to adapt to the tide of change, often found themselves swept away and began to head towards retirement.
Thus, alongside his old teammate, Lee Da-hyun, contributing to the team like this was a joyful matter.
When a person has hope, they can curl up for a long time.
Recently, he had been focused on a particular broadcaster.
―――
Moon Si-hyun’s Broadcast
―――
It was merely a broadcast he tuned in to out of curiosity, to unwind.
Attracted to the title of being the first female Current Realm Dealer Grandmaster, which was exceedingly rare worldwide.
And her nickname.
Beast Woman, a bundle of physicality.
Including Jo Dae-woo, the words transported him back to the nostalgia of the era he once thrived in, which didn’t align with the current meta.
And those expectations were spot on.
Moon Si-hyun’s explosive gameplay was enough to make him, a member of the Age of Beasts, go wild.
Truly a beautiful battle.
Natural response speed, quick judgment, and the ability to orchestrate the game, which many Current Realm Dealers struggle with.
Unlike the common “she’s not smart” frame often read in chats, her performance was nearly perfect.
Seeing Moon Si-hyun overcome all obstacles and claim victory in her own way, Yoon Do-hyung felt a whirlwind of indescribable emotions.
While it was something he couldn’t express openly, deep inside, his old memories bubbled up like magma beneath the surface.
Moreover, seeing her win and the truly assigned Gladiator, the Berserker, made him seriously contemplate strategies as a playing coach.
……And now, the echoes of her victory were still lingering.
[Preet’s Sword? You weren’t supposed to pick that up. My instincts—well, my instincts yelled at me not to find it. I shouldn’t have picked it up. In the end, that was the answer, wasn’t it?]
“……”
– Crunch
He could hear the sound of his teeth grinding together in response.
At first, the chats, which had been harsh and unforgiving towards Moon Si-hyun, suddenly felt like a moment of identification.
…… It was the first moment of empathy.
―――
Victory!
―――
Several minutes passed since the results appeared on San-deng and Park Tae-yeon’s screens.
[No way, f*. Don’t you think we’ve gotten better? Seriously?]
Through personal calls on Discord, Cactus, aka Sun In-jun’s excited voice rang out.
Whether in broadcasts or reality, his tension and tone were pretty much the same.
Despite having declared a temporary broadcast break due to the exhaustion from a two-week-long tournament,
It seemed that the afterglow of winning the Demons tournament hadn’t faded, as they were currently duo-ranking without ever turning on the broadcast.
And oddly enough, they were achieving a streak of wins. Turning off the broadcast eliminated sniper and solo play enemies, leading to relatively better conditions, but such a win rate was rare.
After winning several rounds consecutively, Park Tae-yeon and Sun In-jun were having a casual discussion about taking a short break right now.
[So, do you think we’re getting better?]
“…… Maybe.”
Park Tae-yeon nodded, pondering deeply.
Clearly, it felt as though both Sun In-jun and Park Tae-yeon themselves had improved.
It might also have been due to the guidance from Sansu and syncing together as a team.
…… But honestly, the ruthless 1v1 matches with her seemed to have immense significance as well.
…… However, still.
[But… hmmm. Still won’t play Berserker, right?]
“…… Absolutely not.”
Perhaps out of the remnants of pride, Park Tae-yeon had no intention of doing that.
[Well, later on, when we duo with Moon Si-hyun, we’ll have to do it again at some point. I heard there’s news coming out that the duo restrictions will be lifted above Grandmaster soon—]
As Sun In-jun spoke, his voice grew steadily fainter. It happened as Park Tae-yeon began focusing elsewhere.
Before long, a not-Piore results screen appeared instead of Park Tae-yeon’s VR screen, which read Google’s search bar.
The words etched in that search bar were.
…… Moon Si-hyun.
As soon as Park Tae-yeon searched that name, the first result was a gallery.
―――
Pazzk Minor Gallery
―――
Originally a community he would never go near or even glance at.
After searching her name on Google, he decided to type it into that community’s search bar.
―――
Real-time Moon Si-hyun… Creator’s Twitter Shocked…jpg
―――
cappper
@caper1453
WTF??????????
(A picture of someone defeating the Frost Dragon)
💬47 🔁3K ♥️7.4K
110,000 views
Can someone describe this picture for me? 3💬 5 🔁 5♥️
ㄴ Korean streamer ‘Moon Si-hyun’ just defeated the Frost Dragon in Hardcore without grabbing Preet’s Sword before boss stage 💬203🔁3K ♥️ 1.4K
ㄴ (Shocked GIF) 💬1🔁23♥️93
―――
Hahaha
– It was truly an unheard-of situation.
– Translate it.
ㄴ Basically, she cleared the Hardcore Frost Dragon without picking up the Preet Sword and the production team was freaking out, getting 7k likes within an hour.
ㄴ Is it really that much? It took a hell of a long time.
ㄴ A few days ago, a content master of this genre gave up trying to catch the Frost Dragon in Hardcore and finally cleared it in Easy mode, his video hitting over a million views on YouTube.
– I was ready to curse, but I honestly didn’t think she’d clear it after so many hours.
ㄴ She has not one but several instant-cast skills; how on earth did she do that in one try…
– Not smart but has insane physicality…
ㄴ Especially the kind that makes her more frustrating.
ㄴ A bothersome woman.
– Seriously frustrating.
―――
“What is this.”
‘…… Did she just play a game?’
[…… Hello? Can you hear me?]
“…… Yeah, I can.”
[Ah!! Then you should respond!!]
“Uh.”
Park Tae-yeon gave an appropriate response and quietly scrolled down.
He’d deny it, but ever since he got more involved with her recently, he had begun caring more about her.
The search results for the term “Moon Si-hyun” contained all sorts of stories.
While many focused on her gaming skills,
“……”
There were plenty of writings laced with male sexual desires like wanting to eat her, squeeze her tightly, wanting to mate, wanting to be buried, and all sorts of lewd stuff.
At first, he tried to maintain his usual stance of being indifferent to other people’s matters, but the more he saw, the stranger his anger flared up.
Should I really consider suing over this; does Moon Si-hyun not know? Should I let her know, no, would that hurt her more? She’s just an oblivious person. Let’s bury it. After going through those thoughts.
[Hey, hey! What are you doing?]
“Moon Si-… no wait, just chill.”
[What did you say first? Moon? Moon Si? Oh, Moon Si-hyun?]
“……”
He unconsciously spoke while deep in thought.
There was no way Sun In-jun would let that slip.
[Hey, are you perhaps showing interest in Si-hyun lately?]
Though mixed with laughter, Sun In-jun’s voice sounded like a tremor to Yoon Do-hyung.
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
Park Tae-yeon shook his head vigorously, and feeling that he couldn’t leave it as it was, he attempted to share his thoughts.
“……”
How Moon Si-hyun had been aware of the experiment that had taken place at his university.
“……”
But as he opened his mouth to speak,
“…… No. How would you know anything?”
He casually deflected, turning the conversation around.
Then, Sun In-jun’s outrage could be heard briefly, and they both went back to their respective activities.
[…… What’s up? Hey, Si-hyun just started her broadcast?]
Suddenly, Sun In-jun’s voice rang out.
“What?”
The Bear Doll Family, or the participants of the Demons tournament, announced a break for the following day. The fatigue from the tournament had indeed taken its toll.
“…… Has this person not worn out yet?”
[Shall we check it out?]
Park Tae-yeon agreed with the suggestion and followed suit into the broadcast.
She wasn’t playing Fiore.
“…… Guardians’ Journey? Ah, this.”
He vaguely recalled it as well.
A game that had been heavily requested by viewers even before its release.
Still, he had planned to play only Fiore while streaming, so he answered the query passively and moved on.
It seemed Sun In-jun felt the same way, as it had never come up when they were together.
He had also assumed it would be that way with Moon Si-hyun.
‘It feels a bit off…’
Thought Park Tae-yeon.
“…… Since there’s nothing to do, should we watch it together?”
It started merely as a curiosity-driven experiment to watch alongside Sun In-jun.
…… But somehow, he couldn’t pull himself out of it.
[Seriously!! Wow!! Is Si-hyun deliberately doing this!?]
“……”
Snap.
It was as if he could hear a virtual onomatopoeia ringing loud in his head.
Park Tae-yeon wasn’t someone who usually watched streams, but when he did, he wouldn’t actively chat except for Sun In-jun’s broadcasts.
…… However.
“……”
This time, Park Tae-yeon’s fingers, much stronger than before, took to the air.
[She was just next to the treasure chest!]
“……”
– Tap tap tap
[She was just next to the treasure chest!]
“……”
[Si-hyun, are you doing this on purpose?]
“……”
– Tap tap tap
[Si-hyun, are you—]
“……”
[No, you just needed to stick the stick in that hole back then, you idiot!]
“……”
– Tap tap tap
[No, you just need to shove the stick into that hole!]
“……”
[Is this seriously the same person from yesterday? Why’s she like this!?]
“Hah… for real…”
It truly required immense effort for him to refrain from diving into the chat this time.
But strangely, the answer was simple. If he got frustrated, he could simply choose to stop watching the broadcast.
Seeing her not react the way he wanted made him genuinely very annoyed.
‘…… Why can’t I leave?’
…… For some reason, he just couldn’t leave the broadcast.
Could it be that the over 10,000 viewers, who continued to watch while spewing curses, felt the same?
Somehow wanting to see Moon Si-hyun succeed or maybe take a major fall.
Perhaps Sun In-jun felt the same way, as he too watched the stream with an almost mad fury.
During that moment.
―――
The user ‘BroadcastOnFingBh’ gifted Sun In-jun a one-month subscription!
The user ‘BroadcastOnFingBh’ gifted San-deng a one-month subscription!
―――
[Thanks for the subscription! … Oh? Sun In-jun? San-deng? Are you here?]
Moon Si-hyun bowed her head, then asked the question.
―――
???
San-deng, ha ha ha ha ha
Lee Da-nam, these crazy soup-smelling bastards
Join us!
Stinky bastards,
Immediate arrest, ha ha ha ha ha
You guys didn’t know at all, did ya? S*,
San-deng, for the love of God, do something about this girl!
I don’t mind Sun In-jun, but what’s up with San-deng? Ha ha ha
―――
“…… Ah.”
[Ah, f*!!]