Chapter 40

At Mubee Soft Korea headquarters.

Kim Woonchan stared at the monitor and clicked his tongue.

"What a smurf."

At home, Kim Woonchan was the kind of Trsu—a nickname for Travel viewers made from "Travel" and "jobless bum"—who always lived with a stream running no matter what he was doing.

Even during work hours, he occasionally watched streams while pretending to "check public opinion about the game." As a genuine hardcore Trsu, he was currently in bliss since he could openly watch streams under the excuse of checking advertisements.

First, he contacted the CS(Customer Satisfaction) team for For the Law.

The department that handled customer inquiries.

Then he turned his eyes back to the stream.

[Alright, we won the game, so now let's settle the bets.]

—Traitor Punch! Patriot Punch! Traitor Punch!

—You traitors, have you come to your senses?! Have you?! HAVE YOU?!

—That was my college tuition money!

—Please return the regulatory points lolol.

—My retirement savings...

[Game Reversed.]

[Possible] vs [Impossible]

[55%] vs [45%]

Those were the results of the channel point prediction Kim Woonchan checked.

'Ah, obviously you should've bet on "possible," you blind idiots. Well, the less people believed, the better for me though. Still, they really got destroyed.'

Naturally, he had also bet points.

A fairly large amount on "possible."

How regretful had he been last time when he failed to watch the one-on-one with Alpaca live?

'Mm, though back then I probably would've bet on "failed."'

After all, finding a path to victory had genuinely seemed nearly impossible.

[Guys, why did so many of you trust them? Are you traitors? Wait, now that I say it, that sounds weird. Why's everyone suddenly saying traitor, traitor, traitor?]

—Streamer promoting treason

—Shouldn't this get archived in the controversy section?

"Hm. You've got a point."

With a completely calm expression, he kept saying outrageous nonsense while also being insanely good at the game.

Seriously insanely good.

But it wasn't like he lacked social skills either.

The guy was just naturally gifted.

On top of that, he even had the right amount of luck and talent for creating stories.

"Starting from the very first game of For the Law, running into smurfs, reversing the match, and even delivering proper justice afterward. Damn."

Was this guy born to become a streamer?

The start was excellent.

[The World's Greatest Swordsman sent me a friend request, so I accepted it. Oh, he came here right away.]

In For the Law, people could meet each other even in the lobby.

Like a computer RPG, there were channels prepared in case too many people gathered.

There were also private channels for users who wanted to meet others.

[Heavenly Demon-nim, I watched as a spectator. You seriously won. Amazing.]

[I told you. In this game, if you just don't die and kill everyone else, you win.]

[That's actually true. Heavenly Demon-nim, if you have time, want to duo again next round?]

LOL

—Wasn't he embarrassed after his fake friendliness got exposed on stream?

—If you can get carried by a bus, temporary shame doesn't matter =

'Well, people really can't resist getting carried.'

Kim Woonchan snickered as he typed in chat.

Still, streams really were more fun during work hours.

Normally he wouldn't be able to watch this much, but today was special.

'I wonder how the overseas reaction is. Earlier I heard there were foreigners in chat.'

Just then, a message arrived from Eve Paimo.

The content was short and concise.

—To my office.

Kim Woonchan immediately headed to the office.

As soon as he entered, he heard the voice of the streamer he had just been watching.

"Wait, Director-nim, were you watching the stream too?"

Come to think of it, the person who gave that mission during the Magic Tower Lord raid before… could it have been the director?

Kim Woonchan stared suspiciously at Eve Paimo, but Eve merely watched the monitor with a satisfied smile.

"Just checking things."

"You don't need to watch all the way through For the Law though."

"It's the advertisement period."

Since when did the director enjoy watching streamers wreak havoc?

Kim Woonchan's suspicion deepened.

"Anyway, why did you call me?"

"Ah, well, the reaction this time is exploding way more than expected."

"Reaction?"

"I mean overseas. Since he took the number-one spot against the Stage 10 AI, a lot of overseas viewers gathered in the broadcast. Because of that, people are becoming interested not only in the teaser video, but also in the full story behind it."

"As foreigners get curious, Korean viewers start explaining things like the Fragments of Order, the Rulers, the Rift, and stuff like that, and then those explanations gain attention too."

That was extremely positive.

No matter how much a company promoted something or tried to attract attention, there were limits.

It was like government intervention in a capitalist market.

Sure, government intervention could be effective, but wasn't it always best when the market naturally moved on its own?

This was the same.

"Wow, and Director-nim was already disappointed the truth only got revealed in Korea. Since if Mister Egg spread it in English-speaking regions, more people would learn the details. But if interest keeps growing like this…"

"Exactly. This is the best possible scenario for us. And thinking about it, aside from our advertisement and Mister Egg, there wasn't really any reason he specifically had to reveal Unknown's identity today."

In truth, Seo Jun's calculations weren't entirely because of the contract with Mubee Soft.

First, he genuinely wanted to help Shin Hayeon, the junior who came crying after failing against the Stage 10 AI again.

And revealing his identity while switching games was a move to gather as many viewers as possible.

Mubee Soft merely benefited alongside him.

But they didn't know that.

"That's true."

"Hahaha, he's really smart. At this point, we have no choice but to give him even more."

"Seriously. As expected of Seo Jun-nim."

"What would make a good gift? Raise the ad fee? Or maybe another sponsorship?"

"That sounds good too, though I don't know if he'd accept the latter. Ah, actually, something like this might work…"

Kim Woonchan suddenly seemed to think of a good idea and pulled his phone from his pocket, searching for something.

Eve Paimo quietly waited while Kim Woonchan rapidly skimmed through videos before handing over the phone.

[What Even Is Parrying? - Dawn of the Assassins(Urban Shadows) #11]

[Got Caught Pickpocketing and Accidentally Wiped Out a Gang - Dawn of the Assassins(Urban Shadows) #21]

[Bet Your Points on Me and I'll Return Them 100x - Dawn of the Assassins(Urban Shadows) #31]

[Noble Faction Ruler? I Left Only the Stockings and Took Off All the Armor - Dawn of the Assassins(Urban Shadows) #4]

"Oh… those are pretty entertaining titles."

All those titles had been created by Han Jimin, who had know-how in channel management.

MyTube's algorithm was so complex that nobody could definitively prove whether titles truly mattered, but regardless, Seo Jun's MyTube channel had steadily continued rising after hiring two editors.

His average view count had reached fifty thousand, and the highest had exceeded one hundred thirty thousand.

The highest-viewed video was the one with Alpaca.

Thanks to viewers crossing over from Alpaca's audience.

"That's Seo Jun-nim's MyTube."

"Aha. So what's your point?"

"I watched all of them, and they're both entertaining and explain things really well. Director-nim, let's make English subtitles for the Ruler-killing video."

"English subtitles?"

"Yes. And if we pin a comment on the teaser video linking to Seo Jun-nim's MyTube…"

"Users can understand the full story more easily, Seo Jun's MyTube gets promoted, and we also get advertising benefits."

"This is what they call… what was it again? Catching crayfish while fleeing from a tiger?"

"The saying is catching crayfish while draining the ditch."

"Yeah, that."

"Then shall we proceed with it that way?"

Eve Paimo nodded.

"If we're doing it, subtitle all the uploaded videos so far. If we only do the Ruler-related videos, that's too obvious."

"Oh, so you've completely become Korean now."

Eve Paimo burst into laughter.

"Anyway, what happened to White Tiger?"

"Ah, one moment. The For the Law CS team just contacted me. They said there shouldn't be any issue even if we sanction him."

"Oh? No problems with the terms of service either?"

"Yes. What White Tiger did counts as toxic behavior. Apparently the operations team overlooked it until now because he didn't play that often and he wasn't intentionally throwing matches."

"He really was borderline."

"Exactly."

"Just terminate the account."

"…Pardon? Can we really do that?"

"We terminate all severely toxic users anyway. In my opinion, smurfing like that is serious enough."

In For the Law, normal trash talk or insults usually only resulted in warnings or suspensions. But if toxic conduct such as intentional trolling, deliberate throwing, or severe verbal abuse was clearly confirmed, accounts were mercilessly terminated.

Of course, users could make another account afterward.

But they would have to start over from the beginning, and if they got terminated again, they would permanently lose access to the service.

"Yes. Understood."

"And we should probably block ways to keep staying in the beginner zone even after winning repeatedly. Honestly, nobody expected users to intentionally remain there forever."

"That's true."

"In many ways, it feels like signing that advertisement contract was the right decision."

"Wow, Heavenly Demon-nim, that's four wins in a row!"

The World's Greatest Swordsman was wildly swinging his sword around in the enemy base after wiping everyone out.

Winning every game no matter what, occasionally teasing people while also teaching them things—there was no way it wouldn't be fun.

His weird speech patterns were annoying sometimes, but The World's Greatest Swordsman considered embarrassment a luxury.

"Now I can finally choose a sect. Want to play just one more round as the last one?"

"Oh, sure."

Seo Jun had also accumulated enough experience that one more match would let him choose a sect.

Once you received streamer verification, you could use several convenience features, and one of them was skipping the beginner zone quickly through an EXP buff.

—One more game one more game one more game

—Feels like it's about time to stop though.

—But ending after leveling up is perfect.

The convenience features given to streamers weren't limited to fast leveling.

But Seo Jun couldn't enjoy them yet.

Most of For the Law's major systems only became available after leaving the beginner zone.

Which meant that choosing a sect marked the true beginning of For the Law.

From that perspective, White Tiger dying in the beginner zone really was pathetic.

"Why isn't he showing up?"

"Hm?"

"Ah, White Tiger. We haven't seen him for four matches now."

"That smurf? Looks like he actually got sanctioned."

"Really? Nice."

—Did he seriously die just now lolol

—Murder controversy archived

—What murder? You archive-obsessed lunatic lol

"Well, even if he met Heavenly Demon-nim again, it's not like he could do anything anyway."

The moment The World's Greatest Swordsman finished speaking—

the final match found a queue.

[Starting Occupation Battle.]

And as Seo Jun and his teammate checked the enemy roster—

their eyes met someone familiar.

White Tiger was on the enemy team.

"Looks like he finally found us and stream-sniped us, everyone."

—Isn't Mubee Soft doing anything?

—Hurry and cut him off

While matchmaking, you could still watch the stream, but once the game started, watching the stream became impossible.

Meaning stream-sniping during gameplay shouldn't have been possible.

As Seo Jun headed down the central road where NPCs wandered around, he encountered a player flying toward him from the opposite side.

"Hey, Heavenly Demon—no, Jin Seo Jun, you fucking bastard. How dare you bluff me?"

Bluff? What bluff was he talking about?

"Do you know how nervous I was thinking my account might get suspended because of you? You're screwed now. I found out your stream name too, so don't think you'll ever play games peacefully again."

Aha.

Seo Jun instantly understood why he hadn't encountered White Tiger until now, and shouted loudly enough for the person across from him to hear.

"So basically, everyone, White Tiger here got scared thinking his account would be suspended, right? Then after nothing happened, he finally came stream-sniping."

—Sounds about right lolol

—White Tiger explains everything himself. Maybe his brain's actually kind?

—What does "kind brain" even mean?

—Means he's stupid

"Shut up, and prepare yourself from now on."

White Tiger shouted from afar, unsheathing his sword before leaping high.

Using skilled Qinggong, he flew over rapidly, and Seo Jun prepared to intercept him.

Then—

"Huh? Hey you motherfu—"

Suddenly White Tiger froze midair as though lag had hit him.

Then, after leaving behind a dying scream, he vanished from the world.

It happened just as he was about to reach Seo Jun.

—What the hell?

—New stealth skill?

—Qinggong evolution?

—Spatial displacement?? lolol

People exploded in confusion.

Seo Jun was the same.

But even amidst the chaos, he stayed calm and checked the opponent roster to understand the situation.

One slot had gone empty after a disconnect.

Seo Jun finally lost composure and burst out laughing.

—No way LOLLLLL

—Dude literally vanished with a poof

The viewers seemed to realize it too.

Seo Jun immediately delivered the news.

"Everyone, White Tiger has disconnected. Please offer your condolences."

—LOLOL legendary timing

—X

—X

—The disconnect timing is insane

—Mubee Soft was really watching huh!

—The final words being "hey you motherfu—" LOLLLLL