Chapter 19

After finishing thirty minutes of running, Lee Dongsu headed toward where the gym owner was standing.

"Dongsu."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll tell you what you need to keep in mind during sparring. Sparring is meant to check your technique and improve your skills, not to knock your opponent down."

Looking up at the gym owner, Dongsu thought:

If this guy had been born in the old days, he'd definitely have been a bandit boss.

"...So make sure to show proper manners and don't get overexcited. And don't go all out either, got it? Are you even listening?"

"Huh? Ah, yes. Of course."

Truthfully, he hadn't heard a single word.

Well, I'll just think of it as a practice match or something.

Though Dongsu was still young, he possessed the sportsmanship expected of a professional athlete.

Even if he occasionally had childish thoughts.

"Alright then, once those guys over there finish, we'll start. In the meantime, think about what techniques you want to practice during sparring. Though you haven't really learned much yet."

"Yes, sir!"

"Good."

The gym owner ruffled Dongsu's hair as he spoke.

"By the way, have you decided who you want to spar with?"

The fighters at this gym also loved games.

After virtual reality appeared, combat sports had originally been predicted to die out first.

But as virtual reality exploded in popularity, combat sports ended up becoming even more popular alongside it.

The flashy skill-filled fights inside games and the raw, bloody fights of reality weren't substitutes.

They complemented each other.

And above all else, virtual reality games were simply fun even for professional fighters.

Which naturally made Lee Dongsu popular in the gym.

Among men, the guy who was good at games was basically a god.

And a friendly eighteen-year-old pro gamer from the second-best team in the world?

It was harder not to become friends with him.

That was why the gym owner wasn't particularly worried.

"Pick whoever you want. They'll all go easy on you."

In sparring, your opponent mattered more than anything.

If the other person didn't properly match your rhythm, you might gain absolutely nothing from the session and only increase the risk of injury.

And if your opponent happened to be both vastly more skilled and a terrible person?

Bang! Bang!

The sparring happening nearby grew more intense.

Watching it, the gym owner smiled bitterly in resignation.

Jin Seojun.

That lunatic came back after a long time just to mercilessly crush a rookie.

He's here to relieve stress again. I told them to avoid him.

As he watched the confident newcomer—someone preparing for a professional debut—get toyed with by Seojun, the gym owner recalled the past.

He should've realized something was wrong back when that handsome high schooler, who looked exactly like his father, came up to him asking:

"Please teach me some modern martial arts."

In a tone completely unfitting for his face.

He should've realized then.

That the kid was insane.

If Lee Dongsu was the lovable younger brother everyone wanted to tease—

Then Seojun was…

A stinging nettle.

The gym owner nodded to himself, satisfied with the comparison.

Touch him, and you get stung.

By his absurd natural talent that came from who-knows-where.

No, scratch that.

Even if you stayed still, he'd walk up and sting you first.

Even today, after returning for the first time in ages, instead of working out like he was supposed to, Seojun wandered around the fighters giving unsolicited advice until he eventually ended up fighting a rookie who didn't know any better.

The experienced guys should've stopped him. That bastard Seojun doesn't know moderation.

The gym owner glared at the other fighters who had failed to intervene.

They were all staring at the ring with fascinated expressions like they were watching a fire across the river.

Guess I'll have to comfort the rookie later.

The owner sighed and turned to the side.

Then he noticed Dongsu staring directly at Seojun and immediately felt anxious.

No. Not him.

You won't gain anything from getting hit by that guy.

The only reason the owner had never kicked Seojun out despite all the unsolicited coaching and domination was simple.

Strangely enough, the fighters who actually listened to Seojun's advice improved dramatically.

Not because his dad registers the whole family at my gym every year like an idiot. And not because I secretly want to drag that brat into the martial arts world someday.

No. That wasn't it.

Come to think of it, nettles may have poisonous stingers on their stems and leaves, but once you remove them, they become highly nutritious and useful plants, don't they?

To the fighters, Seojun was useful.

But to Lee Dongsu right now, Seojun was a raw nettle.

Untouched. Full of stingers.

Sure, Seojun had enough common sense not to mess with ordinary civilians first—

But that only applied when they didn't approach him first.

"Can't I spar with that hyung over there?"

And finally, the one thing that absolutely should never have been said came out of Dongsu's mouth.

The owner desperately looked away and pointed toward someone else.

"Ah, that hyung?"

The owner spoke in a voice barely louder than an ant crawling.

"No, who are you pointing at? They look completely different."

Dongsu awkwardly scratched his head.

"I mean the guy sparring over there. It's my first time seeing him, but would it be rude if I asked?"

"YES! That's incredibly rude and inconsiderate! Let's ask someone you already know instead. Or I can spar with you myself."

It had already been a long time since the owner had even held mitts.

The thought of actually sparring exhausted him already.

Still, inwardly, he sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, Dongsu felt genuine disappointment.

Because Shin Hayeon herself had praised streamer Jin Seojun's gameplay.

Hyung Minhyun made such a huge fuss, and Noona Hayeon was impressed too?

Dongsu refused to accept it.

He had already planned to install Dawn of the Assassins that afternoon and recreate Seojun's gameplay himself.

Because Park Minhyun was a teammate he respected.

And Shin Hayeon was someone he admired.

The fact that they acknowledged Seojun annoyed him.

And now, he had the chance to beat the guy directly in real life without even needing the game—

Yet he had to let it go.

"Well, can't be helped."

If it was rude, then fine.

"Then you can spar with me, Coach."

Dongsu quickly let it go and began preparing for sparring by practicing the movements he'd learned over the past two weeks.

The owner smiled warmly while bringing over protective gear and correcting Dongsu's stance.

The atmosphere remained peaceful and wholesome.

Until that bastard showed up.

Someone approached them.

After seeing who it was, the owner let out a groan and looked toward the ring.

The rookie who had just sparred with Seojun was staring blankly into space, looking emotionally shattered.

Meanwhile, the terrifying man himself calmly removed his headgear without even breaking a sweat.

"Hey. I overheard earlier. Want to spar with me?"

At that moment, the gym owner heard the sound of his plans to secure a pro gamer customer base through Lee Dongsu collapsing into pieces.

"Oh? Sure, I'm down. You're Hyung Seojun, right?"

"How do you know my name?"

"I watched your stream. Ah, it's okay if I call you hyung, right?"

Seojun hadn't realized the collab stream's influence was already this strong.

Someone recognizing him immediately was unexpected.

"Sure. Whatever."

"What about resting first?"

"Nah. Let's go now."

The two climbed into the ring.

"Hyung, you were pretty good at games though. Not as good as me, obviously."

Dongsu deliberately provoked him.

But it had no effect on Seojun.

Because Seojun genuinely had no idea who Lee Dongsu even was.

Even if he had known, he probably wouldn't have cared.

For a brief moment, Dongsu was shocked.

Then he wondered if Seojun had intentionally reverse-provoked him.

But remembering that Seojun had only started gaming three days ago, his competitive spirit reignited.

"I'll tell you after I win. You'll learn my name as an honor later."

"Sure. Then here I come."

The moment Seojun finished speaking, he threw a jab.

And as the punch slammed directly into his face, Lee Dongsu had one thought:

Didn't they say sparring was supposed to be polite…?

Smack!

That day—

After realizing reality was impossible, Lee Dongsu added Dawn of the Assassins to his game library.

Seojun and his father, Jin Hajun, were walking home together from the gym.

The two lived next door to each other—or more precisely, in buildings owned by Hajun.

The reason was Seojun's mother, who wanted to stop her son from moving out the moment he became an adult.

Eventually, they found a compromise, and the conclusion was that Hajun would rent the neighboring unit to Seojun at half price.

Naturally, the opinion of Hajun—the actual owner—had not been considered at all.

"Seojun-ah, you should've gone a little easier on him earlier. Judging by his body, he looked like a regular person."

How many aspiring athletes had his son made quit by now?

Seriously, the kid was merciless.

"He's fine. Judging from his footwork, he's got talent on the level of a decent fighter. Looks like he's still building his body."

In the end, Lee Dongsu never revealed that he was a professional gamer.

"Really? Anyway, the streaming's going well?"

"Yes."

"Well, your dad here won't oppose it like your mom anymore now that they say it's safe, but… isn't streaming pretty hard to make work?"

Hajun had heard from Taewoo.

Apparently, new streamers struggled to secure even a single viewer.

"Here's a pro tip from your dad: try playing Stellar Craft sometime. PC games are becoming popular again these days, so you could totally dominate that blue ocean market. What do you think?"

For reference, Hajun was a hardcore PC gamer.

It wasn't because he thought capsules were dangerous for his son.

And PC gaming definitely wasn't making a comeback either.

"Pff!"

Seeing the number, far higher than expected, Hajun nearly spat out his coffee.

"Why is it that high?"

"I just got lucky."

Right after the collab stream ended, Seojun's follower count had already risen to 1,000.

Considering he originally had around 400 followers, that was more than double.

But then Lee Suhan edited together only the key highlights into iTube Shorts.

And when one of those Shorts hit #15 on the trending gaming category—

Another 2,000 followers poured in.

It was a perfect demonstration of iTube's influence.

"How lucky do you have to be for that…? Don't tell me you got attention by doing weird stuff or something. If your mom hears that, she'll confiscate your capsule immediately."

Hajun shuddered.

"Is that trend actually real?"

"Forget that. So how many viewers do you get?"

"Hmm, last time I checked it was 440 people. But if I stream today…"

Hajun was shocked hearing the viewer count had reached 440.

"With 3,000 followers, I'm guessing at least 1,500 people might come in?"

"You really think so?"

"Well… maybe not…"

Still, wasn't 3,000 followers way too much for someone who had barely started?

In truth, 1,000 had been the minimum estimate both Seojun and Taewoo expected.

Before starting the stream, Seojun briefly opened the community page.

The community had been completely dominated all day by posts related to him and Alpaca because of yesterday's collab.

Seojun adjusted the timeline back to when the collab first began and started scrolling through.

[About Seojun appearing on stream right now]

[About the "Lines" currently being shown on Alpaca's stream]

[The greatest fool in history betting 250k points on the 1% odds LMAOOOO]

Throwing away years' worth of memories just like that LOL.Truly the heart of a beast.He's the real gambling king LMAOOO.(best) If that actually hits, I'll grill meat in the middle of Myeongdong on Christmas Eve.Isn't this one of those old top-comment promises? Someone said they'd sing beside him and someone else promised tambourine accompaniment. Get out here already.

I'll sing.

Then I shall handle the tambourine.

Seojun scrolled down and checked the replies that came later.

??????? WAIT WHY DID IT ACTUALLY HIT???? WHY????Don't you dare delete your comment.Guys… I think we're screwed.Someone earned 25 million points while someone else is about to suffer public humiliation in Myeongdong LMAOOO.

[Richard Neville brute-force strategy guide]

(best) Oh? LOL. If people analyze the footage and keep trying, they'll probably destroy the armor and beat Richard pretty quickly.

ㄴ + Just tried it myself. Took me 10 attempts just to break one gauntlet, then Richard split my skull open immediately afterward. Give up.

ㄴ So Seojun did all of that in one try?

ㄴ That's why it literally makes no sense. Wait, why is my comment the top one?

ㄴ Because you got immortalized.

[What exactly are Lines if there's even a dedicated skill for them?]

[Can someone kill the Ruler instead and check?]

[How the hell does Seojun even find Lines? This seriously makes no sense.]

[Warning: shameless bragging) Owner of 25 million points here LOL]

[Predicting Weak Point Detection unlock conditions]

[Holy shit Seojun is insanely handsome. Instantly unfollowed.]

Every single post had over thirty upvotes.

No more posts mocking Seojun for obscurity appeared anymore.

At least within this community, the majority now knew who Seojun was.

But then—

LOLLOLLOL Seojun-ah, look at this.

Following the link Taewoo sent him, Seojun found a heavily downvoted and hidden post.

When he clicked View Content—

[Why Streamer Seojun Is Obviously a Hacker]

The post was long and written seriously, but the summary was simple:

Because Seojun's explanation for seeing Lines was vague, and because nobody else had managed to do it yet—

He was either secretly a game developer or a hacker.

Naturally, the post had been bombarded with downvotes for being ridiculous, but after checking the link Taewoo sent, Seojun found several more posts with similar tones.

Seojun burst out laughing.

Because he remembered what Taewoo had said:

"Once you get famous, people will find different reasons to hate on you~"

And after thinking about it carefully, the "game developer" theory actually sounded somewhat believable.

Chuckling, Seojun opened the Dawn of the Assassins homepage, sent a report post, and entered his capsule.

Then he wrote the stream title and started broadcasting.

[I. Confess.]

'Does this mean I'm doing a clarification stream on only my third day of streaming?'

A ridiculous thought.

It wasn't even a real clarification stream.

'How many people will come in?'

The corners of Seojun's lips slowly rose in anticipation.

[Viewers: 400]

Only a few seconds had passed since starting, yet already 400 viewers had entered.

[Viewers: 700]

[Viewers: 1,300]

[Viewers: 1,500]

Had it been about one minute?

Watching the viewer count effortlessly surpass the minimum estimates he and Taewoo had predicted—and seeing chat fly by rapidly—

Seojun greeted everyone.

"Tra-ha. Hello, everyone."