Chapter 44

The Battlefield was famous content.

It had been the most popular mode in For the Sake of Chivalry, a game with huge recognition, and every season produced stories that became hot topics.

Choosing one of three factions and fighting against players from the opposing factions to seize and lose territory in a three-way war—there was no way that wouldn't be fun.

"So, what should we go with?"

First, let's decide on the challenge goals, you lunatics.

Seo Jun spoke while reading through punishments that were becoming increasingly bizarre, staring at them in disbelief.

"I mean the Battlefield goals."

-Just do the punishment first lol

-20

-So which faction did you pick?

"Ah, I'm planning to go with the Demonic Cult."

Orthodox Sect, Unorthodox Sect, and Demonic Cult.

Out of the three, the Demonic Cult was the weakest.

To the point that they had never once won the Battlefield.

The reason was simple.

Their performance sucked.

Because they were weak, relatively fewer skilled players chose them compared to the other factions, which meant they couldn't win the Battlefield, which then meant new players avoided joining them.

A faction trapped in a vicious cycle.

-Do not cross that river

-Of all things, the Demonic Cult LMAOOOO

-Well, considering your nickname, it makes sense

"Right, my nickname plays a part too."

If he were thinking purely about contribution points, choosing the Orthodox Sect would be best.

After all, they had won the Battlefield the most times so far, and they were also the faction most likely to win this season.

Players from the winning faction received bonus contribution points.

The Orthodox Sect was already popular due to its characteristics and strong performance, and with their history of victories piling up, players naturally flocked there.

The complete opposite of the Demonic Cult—a virtuous cycle.

Of course, that didn't mean Seo Jun choosing the Demonic Cult meant he had completely given up on the prize money.

"And honestly, I don't think the Orthodox or Unorthodox Sects are any better than the Demonic Cult."

-Then make winning the promise lololol

-LMAO the Demonic Cult winning

-Who the hell taught you For the Sake of Chivalry? The Demonic Cult is trash. Repeat after me.

"The Demonic Cult winning? Sounds nice. Simple and clean."

Looks like the first challenge goal had been decided.

Seo Jun had been thinking of making one faction goal and one personal goal.

-He's basically declaring he'll do the punishment lol

-Look at him committing first and thinking later LMAO

-Ahem. He is the Heavenly Demon, you know.

-I bet all my points the streamer has no clue what the Battlefield actually is

-The streamer never knew anything about games to begin with!

The viewers' disbelief was understandable.

The faction rankings weren't something a single person could influence.

No matter how unprecedented Seo Jun's performance in Dawn of the Assassins had been, the viewers knew an individual could not defeat an entire group.

Seo Jun knew that too.

"Yeah, I know it'll be hard for the Demonic Cult to win. So I'm thinking of adding another goal. If I succeed at even one of the goals, there'll be no punishment. What do you think?"

-Honestly, Demonic Cult winning is too much

-We should basically count that one as nonexistent lol

They accepted it far more easily than expected.

The Demonic Cult.

Was that really the kind of image it had?

While talking with Seo Jun, the viewers started throwing out various suggestions.

Getting into the overall Top 16 contribution rankings was the first one brought up, and then there were others.

Getting first place in contribution points within the Demonic Cult.

Never failing an attack or defense.

Accumulating the highest amount of Fame points earned while playing.

And so on.

A flood of suggestions poured in.

Seo Jun gathered them together and started a viewer poll.

Every single one of them was extremely difficult.

Most of the viewers had watched Dawn of the Assassins, so their standards for Seo Jun had become absurdly high.

Even so, the reason Seo Jun accepted their suggestions was simple.

He was confident.

"Oh, looks like Top 16 got the most votes. Alright then, let's decide the punishment now."

The chosen challenge goal became reaching the Top 16 contribution rankings.

A goal that also aligned with the prize money.

Doable.

-Finally.

-Jump into the sea in the middle of winter

-Rage Quit clear challenge lol

-At that point, just go dig up 5,000 razor clams in the mudflats instead

-Show us a Christina noona cutscene

-Is a cutscene even a punishment? lol

There were some strange ones mixed in, but anyway, countless punishments poured in.

Seo Jun wrote them onto the roulette wheel one by one.

He had no choice but to include Magical Girl too.

The person who suggested it had donated 100,000 won.

"Okay, adding 'drink snow melted water instead of regular water for a year.' Though I'll reduce it to a week. Stop spamming."

All kinds of bizarre punishments kept coming in, and Seo Jun adjusted the intensity to more reasonable levels as he filled up the slots.

"You're asking why I'm so calm? Because I don't care what it lands on."

He intended to do this properly.

The only reason it had seemed bothersome before was because he hadn't really understood the Battlefield.

-His confidence is insane

-Please Magical Girl. Please Magical Girl. Please Magical Girl. Please Magical Girl.

-I wanna see him cross-dress and go clubbing

-You evil bastards LMAOOOOOO you all need to leave

Honestly.

If he got one of those and failed, he might actually have to quit streaming.

No matter how young he was, and even if he had never grown old in his previous life, he still remembered living as someone people would call "sir" wherever he went.

Seo Jun shook his head and moved the mouse.

"Starting now."

Rattle rattle rattle.

The roulette wheel spun.

Since they'd stuffed in practically everything they saw, each slot on the wheel was tiny.

Cold sweat ran down his back.

Entirely because of the Magical Girl punishment.

The wheel gradually slowed before finally stopping.

-Ah, shit…

-Ri—

-Gged

-No way

-Ri—

-For the streamer, clearing a game is way too easy lololol

-Gged

"Ah-ha."

Seo Jun showed a genuinely disappointed expression.

Grinning in a thoroughly punchable way.

"If I fail, I'll do a Rage Quit clear challenge."

Rage Quit was the name of a game—an incredibly difficult indie game.

The title itself came from the English expression "rage quit," meaning to quit a game out of anger after getting frustrated.

But both he and the viewers knew it wasn't really a punishment for him.

"Alright then, I'll head into the capsule right away."

-Look at that smug expression LMAO

-Someone please humble him

-['ScamDice' has registered a mission!]

-[Spin the roulette one more time and add another punishment — Mission Reward: 300,000 won]

Seo Jun's hand, which had been about to tidy up the computer screen, stopped.

The displayed nickname in the settings was ScamDice.

A major spender who, once they started donating, threw around money in units of a hundred thousand won.

"Hm."

Spin the roulette one more time for a mission success reward?

That was hard to resist.

Still, accepting immediately would make him look amateurish.

"Guys, if I spin it again and land on cross-dressing, I'm going to have to seriously consider quitting streaming and disappearing forever. Why would I take that risk? I'm not doing it."

-LMAOOOOOO is it really that bad?

-Bro, become a clown streamer while you're at it!

-You're seriously not doing it?

-There are so many incredible punishments on there though…

That wasn't the issue.

If he was going to take on more risk, there had to be a reward worthy of it.

As if someone had read Seo Jun's mind, a perfectly timed alert popped up.

-['IfMoneyCan'tSolveIt' added 100,000 won to the reward!]

-['MaybeTheAmountIsJustTooSmall' added 100,000 won to the reward!]

-['MoreMoney' added 50,000 won to the reward!]

-LMAOOOO legendary teamwork

-Are you trying to insult me?!

-Are you trying to buy me with money?!

"Ah, seriously. This isn't okay."

He said that, but his mouse cursor was already drifting toward the roulette wheel.

The mismatch between Seo Jun's words and actions made the chat burst into laughter.

-"It was too much money to refuse!"

-Don't surrender to capitalism, comrade!

-Have you no pride?!

The teasing comments flooded in, but Seo Jun eventually spun the roulette anyway.

An upbeat BGM started playing.

And when the wheel finally stopped, Seo Jun's expression turned as if he'd just bitten into something rotten.

Pressing his fingers against his brow at the horrific result, he finally spoke.

"…You all know that as long as I succeed, none of this matters, right?"

Yeah.

If he succeeded, that was all that mattered.

-Of course. We know very well lol

-(gritting teeth) If I succeeb then ib doesn't mabber, righb?

-He's coping so hard

-Magical Girl WWWWW

-How does it land on Magical Girl of all things LMAOOOO

-That's the karma of capitalism right there

The roulette had stopped on the one slot it absolutely should not have landed on.

[Wear a Magical Girl outfit and dance in front of the main gate of the streamer's university]

Damn it.

This was why greed for money was dangerous.

He had already planned to take this seriously.

But now?

Now he truly, genuinely had to go all out.

Seo Jun entered the capsule and immediately launched For the Sake of Chivalry.

Beyond the village outskirts, bamboo shot up everywhere like a forest springing from the earth, while pandas rolled around lazily in the streets.

[You have reached LV 5. You may now choose and join a Murim faction.]

A notification telling him to choose a Murim faction blocked his vision.

Seo Jun pressed the confirm button, closed the window, and walked toward the center where the streets converged.

To find the road leading to the Demonic Cult.

-Going Demonic Cult means giving up on the championship from the start lol

-With a punishment like that, are you seriously still picking Demonic Cult? Not Orthodox Sect? LMAO

"Seriously…"

Seo Jun ignored the excited viewers.

In For the Sake of Chivalry, players could choose from seven detailed Murim factions.

For the Orthodox Sect: Mount Hua Sect, Namgung Clan, and Beggars' Sect.

For the Unorthodox Sect: Green Forest, Tang Clan, and Assassin Hall.

And the Demonic Cult.

Interestingly, the Demonic Cult had no sub-factions.

Instead, its trait builds were far more diverse than the others.

That was why people joked, "The Demonic Cult only seems weak because nobody's discovered the optimal build yet!"

But veteran gamers were the kind of people who dissected every possibility imaginable.

If they hadn't found the optimal build, there was only one explanation.

The Demonic Cult was simply bad.

'Honestly, I did consider Mount Hua Sect, but I just don't feel any connection to them.'

Clicking his tongue, Seo Jun quickened his pace.

"By the way, if you choose Orthodox or Unorthodox, can you freely switch sub-factions later?"

-Not freely lol

-But since it's within the same faction, there's no Battlefield penalty

-The test difficulty increases when switching sects compared to first joining, so your initial choice matters

"Oh, wait, there's an entrance exam too?"

-ㅇㅇ

-And Demonic Cult is the hardest one to get a high grade in lol

-Having exams even in games is disgusting!

"Hah. Starting tomorrow, I'll actually study in advance."

The viewers immediately resumed teasing him over his declaration to prepare beforehand.

But regardless of what they imagined, Seo Jun had already decided to play efficiently.

He arrived at the center.

It was the massive building where the conquest war had begun.

Beside the entrance stood a huge map.

When he approached and clicked it, a hologram-like map unfolded before him.

"So I have to go outside the village."

The Murim factions in For the Sake of Chivalry were geographically divided into two groups.

Those inside the village.

And those outside it.

The Namgung Clan, Tang Clan, Beggars' Sect, and Assassin Hall all had headquarters within the village.

Meanwhile, Mount Hua Sect, Green Forest, and the Demonic Cult were located outside the village—in the eastern, western, and northern mountains respectively, based on the initial starting position.

"The Demonic Cult is north."

Mount Hua was east, and Green Forest was west.

"So I just follow the road straight out the way I came."

Once outside the village, the entrance to the mountain appeared.

Seo Jun climbed the stairs and headed toward the Demonic Cult at the summit.

"So what's the Demonic Cult entrance test? And what's the reward?"

-You demonstrate martial art forms to an NPC lolololol you can literally make them up yourself

-Maybe because the Demonic Cult's whole concept revolves around build crafting?

-Getting a high grade gives huge starting benefits though. Don't tell me you're actually not going to look up guides online?

-Ah lol if you don't want to become a magical girl, you better start reading every guide possible now

-His back's against the wall now

Apparently there really was a reward.

And a pretty significant one at that.

In that case, he absolutely had to ace it.

"Hah, as if I'd follow some guide."

There was no need to worry.

Martial art forms?

Whatever it was, getting the highest grade was practically guaranteed for him.