Chapter 125

CHAPTER 125

Seven years ago was a time when most virtual reality-related businesses hadn't truly gotten off the ground yet.

Back then, virtual reality was practically a developing country suffering from a lack of infrastructure.

So if someone were to ask how it had grown so explosively over the past seven years—

The answer was simple.

Starting the following year, Surface, a giant corporation with deep pockets, poured enormous amounts of money into virtual reality infrastructure as if they had made up their minds to transform the industry overnight.

The professional league that drove virtual reality's explosive popularity was established.

After being acquired by Surface, Travel officially began providing capsule-based streaming services.

All forms of avatar- and lobby-related transactions became active, and massive advertising campaigns for virtual reality appeared throughout cities everywhere.

That was why the seven-year-old videos Seo Jun found through the links in the email had such terrible quality.

"Wow, this brings back memories."

Travel hadn't entered the market seven years ago, but another company had provided a crude beta-version streaming service, allowing the footage to survive.

The problem was that the video quality was truly awful.

Apparently, the technology for converting the brainwave signals transmitted from the capsule into digital signals had been lacking at the time.

If someone watched that company's stream from inside virtual reality, there was no need for signal conversion, so the image was clear.

However, most viewers, both then and now, didn't watch streams from inside capsules.

Wasn't the streaming market's growth largely due to capsules having a relatively high barrier to entry in the first place?

Furthermore, back then, the number of people who even knew about virtual reality was tiny compared to today.

As a result, most old videos that remained from that era either had poor quality or were deleted after receiving almost no views.

Smiling nostalgically, Seo Jun clicked the link.

It wasn't a streamer's video.

Just a channel abandoned after someone casually uploaded a few gameplay clips years ago.

Most of the people in the video were using default avatars, which filled Seo Jun with a slight sense of longing.

Nowadays, only a minority used default avatars.

Back then, however, playing games with an avatar modeled after your real face was considered strange.

Only the absolute earliest adopters—those who started before even the early pioneers, by one or two years—thought making personal avatars was normal.

Most default avatars concealed their faces with masks or helmets, reducing the sense of unfamiliarity.

Honestly, even Seo Jun thought it might be unsettling if several people with identical faces were standing around fighting each other.

Then he found himself.

His seven-year-younger self.

The owner of the video's opponent in mid lane had been Seo Jun.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Seven years ago, even though the game's mechanics didn't require him to trigger weak points immediately, Seo Jun had still been destroying them as quickly as possible.

"No need to watch more. Let's just check the rest."

The email contained several links, and Seo Jun quickly opened the next video.

Just like before, it had been uploaded by an ordinary player for fun rather than a streamer.

Skipping ahead, he found his past self again.

"Yep, that's definitely me."

Seo Jun opened another video.

Same result.

Since the videos weren't focused on him, he only appeared briefly in each one.

How had this person even found all of them?

That was honestly a little creepy.

"They're all me?"

Finding years-old videos with fewer than a hundred views was impressive enough.

He was also curious about the reason.

Why exactly?

At that moment, a reply arrived to the email he had sent.

Through Travel's messaging system.

[It would truly be an honor if we could do a collaboration stream!]

The next day.

Seo Jun finished a match in The League and returned to the Hall of Heroes.

It was essentially The League's lobby area and marketplace.

"That's the end of that. It was fun."

Seo Jun was currently streaming.

In fact, he had already been live for two full hours.

Naturally, he still hadn't explained the pattern.

—You have to be careful lol.

—You're not ending the stream here, right, Streamer?

He had promised to explain it today.

But he had never said he'd explain it immediately after starting the stream.

The Kael addicts who had followed him the previous day to prepare for this moment had desperately wanted to riot in chat.

However, after Seo Jun banned several troublemakers as examples, they had become much better at controlling their anger.

—This streamer is such a villain lol.

—Look how quiet the Kael crowd is.

—Forcing us to watch two hours of streaming first is evil.

—If you're mad, just leave and watch the VOD later lol.

—But seriously, he's really good.

—The cheating accusations are gone now.

"That's a relief. I've never cheated even once on stream, but my regular viewers never seem to believe me. Anyway, let's begin."

Seo Jun headed toward the Practice Room.

The Practice Room allowed players to summon training dummies and bots.

It also allowed them to invite friends and conduct one-on-one matches.

Most importantly, there was no need to purchase heroes.

—Wow!

—Thank you!

—Even if he explains it, none of you will be able to do it.

—20%.

—I still need to know.

The Kael users, who proudly referred to themselves as Kael addicts, knew this perfectly well.

No matter how detailed Seo Jun's explanation was, only a tiny handful of extremely skilled players would actually benefit from it.

Even so, as proud members of the Kael community, they couldn't miss a broadcast like this.

There were also still plenty of skeptics.

People had given Seo Jun the benefit of the doubt because he had previously discovered similar mechanics before.

Otherwise, accusations of hacks or bugs would have appeared long ago.

They were waiting with the mindset of:

Let's see just how reasonable this explanation really is.

The moment anything failed to make sense, they were ready to tear him apart.

'You can't make them understand.'

Wasn't this the domain of instinct?

That's why he couldn't convince them.

He had to show them.

"Ah, everyone, today we have a special guest. It's Wind Sword!"

As soon as Seo Jun arrived at the Practice Room, he sent the invitation.

—Oh??

—Isn't that the Kael specialist streamer who was the first to pull off a double-weak-point ultimate?

—The first person to succeed with a double weak-point combo vs. the guy who did it in a single match.

—Looks like he's going to teach a Kael master lol.

Wind Sword.

The Challenger-ranked player Seo Jun had spoken with the previous day.

Interestingly, he also streamed as a side hobby whenever he played games and reportedly maintained around one to two thousand regular viewers.

His nickname, Wind Sword, came from the fact that he used to main a swordsman who fought with wind abilities before switching to Kael.

After introducing him to the audience, Seo Jun greeted him.

"Hello, Wind Sword."

"Hello, Seo Jun. Thank you for inviting me."

"No, thank you for appearing on my stream today. Shall we get started right away?"

"Sounds good."

"Ah, for reference, Wind Sword hasn't heard the explanation yet either, so he's in the same position as all of you."

"Then let me explain the designer's intention behind Kael. It's moderation."

Seo Jun began his explanation.

Pretending to slash a training dummy diagonally, he continued.

"Hm. So it generates in exactly the same way?"

Moderation?

—What's he talking about?

—Wouldn't the easiest one be a weak point that lets you simply raise your sword back up after bringing it down? The stab-type circles don't count.

"The next weak point will appear in a location that is neither too difficult nor too easy to chain into after destroying the previous one. If the next weak point appeared in the easiest possible place to continue the combo, where do you think it would spawn?"

Weak points came in two forms: points and lines.

And neither exploded simply because you slashed or brushed across them.

Lines required at least eighty percent of their length to be cut.

Points could only be triggered by thrusting attacks.

The conditions were surprisingly strict.

"If it's a thrust, then a line would probably generate based on where the thrust landed. So where would be the hardest location to chain into?"

"Hmm."

Wind Sword groaned thoughtfully and swung his sword through the air several times.

Apparently, he still didn't get it.

"To put it vaguely, since intuition is all we've got here, it'd be any location where your arm naturally twists awkwardly if you try to chain the weak point continuously without stopping. Does that make more sense now?"

Since it wasn't something that could be taught unless the person realized it themselves, Seo Jun waited.

If that was the case, the easiest pattern would naturally be a weak point that appeared along the same path as the previous downward slash.

"It'd probably be even easier if the angle shifted slightly instead of being completely identical, but yes. Thinking of it that way isn't wrong."

The player's position.

The opponent's position.

The angle of the arm and sword after breaking the previous weak point.

The placement of the feet.

Weak point generation considered countless variables that even Seo Jun himself didn't fully understand.

That was why nobody could know the exact answer right now.

Though if the developers actually exposed the formula, Seo Jun was confident he'd figure it out quickly.

"Ah... Hmm..."

Wind Sword seemed to be catching on faster than expected.

After thinking deeply for a moment, he spoke.

"I think I vaguely understand what you're saying. But... how exactly do you determine what's in the middle?"

—This is ridiculous...

—20%.

"Cheating, you say?"

Seo Jun stepped in front of the dummy and swung his sword smoothly yet rapidly.

The target wasn't moving, making it even easier.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

—Damn, that's vague.

—Isn't this just cheating?

[Divine Judgment Sword]

—What?

After six sharp bursts echoed through the room, a vibration followed.

Kael's ultimate descended from the ceiling.

—There goes my time lol.

—This lunatic lolololol.

—Okay, it's not cheating, but still lolololol.

—Alright, alright, I get it lol.

—Nah, I'm just gonna believe it's hacks lol.

—But honestly, I'm still a little suspicious.

—I don't care about any of that. Give me a refund.

People were laughing, but there were still reactions from those who remained unconvinced.

'Can't be helped.'

Again, this was something they had to realize for themselves.

Weak points belonged to a category that couldn't truly be explained or memorized.

There were simply too many variables.

The only solution was intuition built from countless experiences and split-second adaptations.

That was why Seo Jun had at least explained the underlying intent while providing examples people could somewhat grasp.

If someone already possessed sufficient experience and skill, merely understanding that intent could lead to dramatic improvement.

Knowing roughly what level those called "masters" had reached, Seo Jun could say that with certainty.

'The problem is that most people lack both the skill and the experience.'

Eventually, the masters would naturally prove Seo Jun's words correct.

The only question was how many days it would take.

—I seriously don't get it at all.

—This is nonsense. It sounded like nonsense back then and it sounds like nonsense now.

—If you don't trust the streamer, Kael addicts, just leave.

—There's a reason they're called addicts.

—So you people actually believe that explanation?

6987135

—He proved it, though lol. The streamer always proves what he says.

—Knowing how parrying works doesn't mean you can actually do it lol.

—Forget that. Hurry up and give us refunds.

—Typical black consumers.

—Calling this a lecture...

—Professor, you're moving so fast that nobody understands the lesson!

—Bring in someone and demonstrate it lololol.

—No chance lol.

That was precisely why Seo Jun had prepared someone.

Smiling, he said,

"Now, now. Refunds? If even one person understands after hearing my lecture, then it wasn't a scam, right?"

"Well, here's one right here. Someone who's clearly looking at me with the eyes of a person who completely understood everything in a single explanation."

Seo Jun turned toward Wind Sword.

—That's fair. If someone understood it.

"...?"

Wind Sword's eyes widened.

Me?

When did that happen?

His expression practically screamed:

What are you talking about?

—LMAO his eyes got huge.

—He definitely doesn't look like he understood.

—That expression has zero confidence lol.

—Exactly. He's doomed.

Naturally, Wind Sword needed much more time to reflect on what he'd heard.

But Seo Jun had a way to shorten that process.

"When Wind Sword gets a feel for the pattern, you'll all admit I was right. Understood?"

Seo Jun was preparing to commit fraud.

Or at least, what looked very much like fraud.