Chapter 47

The battlefield opens every day for three weeks, from 7 PM to 10 PM.

In truth, it was the alpha and omega of why the factions were divided for faction warfare, and the game mode where every season produced entertaining stories and famous players.

"Let's see. The Demonic Cult is in the northwest."

When Seojun selected the battlefield, a massive map of the Central Plains unfolded before his eyes.

And the land was currently occupied by the Unorthodox Faction in the south, the Orthodox Faction in the northeast, and the Demonic Cult in the northwest.

"They seem to have distributed the territories pretty well."

He could also understand why the Tang Clan belonged to the Unorthodox Faction.

If Sichuan, where the Tang Clan was located, had also belonged to the Orthodox Faction, the map would have looked a bit awkward.

[Would you like to participate in the battlefield?]

[YES/NO]

A window popped up, and Seojun pressed YES.

[Please lead your faction to victory.]

[You may obtain rewards after the battlefield ends depending on your contribution.]

[If you change factions, all contribution accumulated so far will be reset.]

"Hmm, where should I enter from?"

Seojun examined the map.

There were two positions players could choose in every battlefield match.

Attack and Defense.

Attack meant selecting a region adjacent to another faction's frontline territory and playing a match there.

If they won, they earned attack points equal to their Fame score.

Defense meant selecting a region adjacent to their own faction's frontline territory and playing a match there.

Winning the match granted defense points equal to their Fame score.

When the battlefield closed at 10 PM, the attack points and defense points generated in each region would be compared to determine success or failure.

If the attack points exceeded the defense points in that region, the opposing faction would capture the territory.

"And contribution per point is higher for attacking than defending, but there's no need to obsess over it."

-Oh, he actually studied up lol

-Streamer did his homework!

-Yeah, and if the attack or defense succeeds, you get bonus contribution too

-Just pick defense for the Demonic Cult!

The viewers were right.

You had to succeed in your position to collect even slightly more contribution.

Since the battlefield could only be played four times per day, even these small choices mattered.

Especially if you were aiming for 16th place.

Choosing attack allowed you to gather more contribution than defense, but because the Demonic Cult was the weaker faction, successful attacks were difficult.

"While choosing defense gives a much higher success rate."

Of course, the best scenario would be attacking every game and succeeding every time.

But that was unrealistic.

-But seriously, are you actually serious about the 16th place thing? Why are you so intense about it lol

-Wouldn't you be serious too?

-I recommend attacking. The Demonic Cult needs to expand territory lol

-I disagree.

-Defense is basically the standard meta on the first day.

-Defense is the standard opening. Tsk.

"Decision made."

For now, the viewers were right. Defending was the correct choice.

There was no way faction players would unite and launch coordinated assaults from day one.

Most people already understood that, so they would first choose defense to secure steady contribution.

The enemy focused on defense, and their side also focused on defense.

It was the testing phase.

So for now, it was better to go with the crowd.

"I'll defend."

Seojun made the decision carefully.

Some might ask if that meant he would just keep playing mind games forever, but—

'I do have something to rely on.'

Still, for now, he would proceed step by step.

-Good choice.

-Fighting!

-Xinjiang let's go

Xinjiang referred to the Demonic Cult's headquarters.

The far northwest edge. The deepest part of Demonic Cult territory.

Which also meant no frontline had even formed there yet.

"Why are you making fun of the Demonic Cult? Anyway, let's try facing the Orthodox Faction first."

Seojun selected defense in a region bordering the Orthodox Faction.

[Would you like to defend?]

[YES/NO]

The game type was Occupation Battle.

The terrain was unfamiliar.

Let's do this.

Seojun moved his fingers.

He fiddled with the sword he had obtained from the Demonic Cult.

Perhaps because of the Grandmaster title, he had been able to simply take one from the shop display, and it fit perfectly in his hand. He also liked the blade length.

Some traits forced specific weapon types, but Absorbing Star Great Technique wasn't one of them.

More people continued entering.

'All Demonic Cult.'

Seojun was currently summoned inside a fortress.

The enemy side was the Orthodox Faction. Since he had chosen defense in a region bordering them, it was only natural.

Two from the Mount Hua Sect.

One from the Namgung Clan.

And finally, one from the Beggars' Sect.

[The battle will begin in 1 minute.]

Once the team filled up, the notification appeared, and Seojun stood up.

"Hmm, our team has two Absorbing Star users? Alright, let's quickly decide who's going to the Byeong capture point."

The player beside him spoke first.

Occupation Battle had three capture points. At the start, the standard strategy was to send three people to the most important central point, Eul, and one each to the nearby points Gap and Byeong.

There were other strategies, but this was the norm.

However, Seojun had no intention of playing normally.

Nor of speaking normally.

"I'll handle the center alone."

"Excuse me, what kind of bullshit are you talking about? Aren't you a tank?"

The player who first spoke looked around, spotted Seojun, and checked his trait.

Seojun's main trait was Absorbing Star Great Technique.

Naturally, he assumed Seojun was a tank.

Seojun smiled faintly as he looked down at his teammate.

"One person goes to Byeong like usual, the rest go to Gap, and I'll handle Eul alone. Is that difficult to understand?"

"No…"

"Don't tell me you don't know that capturing all three points simultaneously is the fastest strategy?"

-His way of talking is hilarious lol

-Heavenly Demon mode ON

-He's not wrong though lol capturing all three is technically fastest lmaooo

-If you want to be fun, cool, and sexy, then just be fun, cool, and sexy

-Of course taking all three is fastest lololol

This was fun.

The player's cheeks trembled slightly.

"No, forget whether it's hard or not—you're a tank. Even if you're skilled, you're going to fight outnumbered with Absorbing Star?"

"Don't worry. I am the Heavenly Demon."

Yes. The Heavenly Demon.

"Yeah, I can see your nickname is HeavenlyDemon14, so what? Are you trolling?"

Trolling.

People who intentionally harass others online for their own amusement and self-satisfaction.

And what Seojun was doing definitely fit the definition of trolling.

Well, that would only be true if he sucked at the game.

"Are names the only thing you can see?"

At Seojun's words, his teammate's eyes shifted above and beside Seojun's head.

"Grandmaster? What's that? I've never seen that title before."

"It's proof that I'm the Heavenly Demon. So do as I say."

Seojun stood before the gate.

[The battle will begin in 10 seconds.]

[The battle will begin in 9 seconds.]

—

The gates opened, and Seojun advanced toward the capture point together with the soldiers.

The teammates left behind had no choice but to follow his plan.

"Well, it's not like my teammates are going to lose a 2v1."

-LOL "proof that I'm the Heavenly Demon"

-Honestly Grandmaster sounds like an insanely cool unique title, but why does it lose all dignity when he uses it for roleplay lmaooo

-I'm genuinely curious, why does the streamer use polite speech with viewers?

"Why do I use polite speech? How could I speak casually to all of you viewers?"

Of course, there were streamers who spoke casually, but most of them were at least somewhat older.

Not that he couldn't do it too.

The problem was that he couldn't prove it.

-He was talking down to people just fine earlier though???

-It's just his natural personality lol

-Maybe he really was the Heavenly Demon in a past life

-Now the puzzle pieces finally fit together

'What puzzle pieces?'

Continuing the trivial chatter, Seojun moved forward.

By carefully managing his stamina while using Qinggong, he arrived before even the soldiers did.

And the same applied to the enemy.

An enemy group of three arrived, just as expected.

When they saw Seojun alone, instead of focusing on him, they became wary that his allies might appear from the sides.

"Guys, why is there only one enemy over there?"

"No idea. Looking at their composition, there don't seem to be any weird traits."

"Free win? Maybe they're throwing."

"Seriously though, those Demonic Cult guys are weird."

-100% troll

-The Demonic Cult really has no normal people

-As expected of the Orthodox Faction, they're intelligent!

-What are these two-faced Orthodox bastards talking about right now!

-lmaooo

The enemies chatted among themselves.

They didn't seem particularly cautious of Seojun alone.

Instead, they were more wary of hidden teammates nearby.

'Guess I'll just go first.'

Seojun used Qinggong and charged in rapidly.

Since the levels were still low, it became a basic fight.

A player wearing robes embroidered with red flowers on the sleeves drew his sword.

"I wonder what kind of person that guy earlier really was."

"Seriously."

The player with the nickname CoconutLover, who had spoken with the strangely mannered and bizarrely roleplaying HeavenlyDemon14, deeply sympathized with his teammate's question while heading toward Gap Point.

Seriously, what kind of person was he?

"Maybe he's a veteran?"

"No way. Real veterans don't dress that normally."

CoconutLover sighed as he kicked off the ground.

The basic requirement of a veteran player:

They had to look bizarre.

Wearing only underwear.

Painting their whole body purple.

Especially in the Demonic Cult, there were many people like that.

Maybe it was because the Orthodox Faction cared about image, while the Unorthodox Faction attracted macho types.

Compared to that, the Demonic Cult's image was…

How did things end up like this?

Moisture gathered in CoconutLover's eyes.

He had joined the Demonic Cult because he admired the Heavenly Demon.

But what was this?

Nothing but purple-underwear villains everywhere.

And nobody even used Heavenly Demon Divine Art because it was trash.

"Still, that Grandmaster title did seem rare. Considering how committed he is to the roleplay, maybe he's legit."

"So you're saying he went to fight 1v3 with Absorbing Star? Oh right, I can just check his account level."

CoconutLover opened the interface window to inspect HeavenlyDemon14's account level.

And froze in shock.

"His account level is total newbie tier… Figures."

"Huh?"

Sigh.

"Ha… Should we head toward Eul Point even now…"

He strongly felt the urge to turn back and play the game normally.

"No. Let's at least secure Gap first. Since it's 2v1, if we capture two points first, we might still gain the advantage."

Thankfully, his teammate calmly stopped him.

"Yeah."

The two fell silent.

Pushing through the awkward silence, they arrived at the capture point.

Because the distance was short, the Namgung Clan player who had arrived first and was already capturing it was startled upon seeing them.

"What the— I thought maybe not, but you guys really split up separately? What the hell is the Demonic Cult doing?"

The enemy withdrew the hand extended toward the capture point and drew his sword.

After all, capture progress automatically stopped once combat began.

"Seriously."

Standing a short distance away while facing the point, CoconutLover's hands turned black.

His build specialized in fighting barehanded instead of using weapons.

"We don't know either! So hurry up and hand over the point!"

The Absorbing Star Great Technique user beside him charged first, and he followed immediately after.

Naturally, they pressured the enemy by positioning themselves in front and behind him.

Unless someone had eyes on the back of their head, it was normally difficult to react when attacks came from both front and back simultaneously.

So the enemy tried desperately to avoid being surrounded by constantly moving around—

But failed.

"Ah, damn it, what a dirty way to play. Why the hell are you pulling this crap here?"

Clang!

The Namgung Clan player barely blocked the allied attack and shouted.

And then CoconutLover noticed the words Changcheon embroidered on the enemy's back.

"We told you we don't know either!"

The blackened Dark Hand shot forward.

No matter how skilled someone was, unless there was an overwhelming gap in ability, numerical superiority was impossible to overcome.

And this guy didn't even look strong enough to win in a one-on-one fight.

So his defeat was inevitable.

"I'll capture the point."

"Got it."

CoconutLover reopened the interface window.

He needed to observe the battlefield situation to decide what to do next.

"You think you can win playing like this? Don't you know the center point is the most important? You Demonic Cult bastards!"

The defeated enemy, waiting to respawn, shouted bitterly, apparently upset that he had died so early.

Reasonable enough.

CoconutLover nodded inwardly while checking the interface.

"Yeah, that's why I'm trying to decide what to do now… Huh?"

Why were all the enemies dead?

He checked the notification window to confirm the cause.

[HeavenlyDemon14 → Jeon Jaehun]

[HeavenlyDemon14 → Gilbadak]

[HeavenlyDemon14 → FarewellFromFarewell]

[The appearance of a hero!]

"What?"

He muttered blankly, unable to understand.

"What the hell is happening?"

And the Namgung Clan player collapsed nearby also checked the interface and spoke in a bewildered voice.

"Is it bugged?"