Chapter 55

Seo-jun ran simulations through his head.

After just one practice run, he felt confident he had grasped most of the important elements of Deathmatch.

The room layouts, the staircase structures, even the shape of the outer walls.

And after mentally running through all of it—

“It’s possible.”

He declared it boldly.

• 4 minutes lmaoooo
• I’m pretty good myself and even I think maybe 6 minutes is possible
• “I’m ~~ btw” type comments incoming
• If it’s streamer, it’s possible!
• We believe in Heavenly Demon-nim!
• Jin Boss, open the betting! Jin Boss, open the betting! Jin Boss, open the betting!

Public opinion was split down the middle.

But most of the people saying it was possible were clearly joking around.

It felt less like they truly believed him and more like they simply didn’t want to deny him.

And some people were just gambling addicts begging for betting pools to open.

“Hm. We’ll do point betting later.”

He didn’t particularly want to.

• Why won’t you open betting?! Why won’t you open betting?!
• I’m literally trying to give you my points!
• Ahhh lol I need to recover what I lost last time

The reactions were intense.

Bunch of addicts.

The world was doomed.

“Obviously I’m going to finish within four minutes anyway. Who would even bet on failure? So we’re not doing betting.”

It was a statement with absolutely no basis, no matter who heard it—including himself.

But that was fine.

He’d always been like this.

If someone did well a hundred times then failed once, people cursed them for it.

Likewise, if someone usually spoke reasonably but suddenly said something ridiculous, people would tear them apart.

But what if they’d always just said nonsense from the start?

• Just shut up and open betting already
• This dude is insane lmaoooo
• I wanna bet
• Can you guys even handle this?

There was backlash, but everyone mostly let it slide.

Streaming was live entertainment, after all. The most important thing was being comfortable.

If the streamer was relaxed, the viewers could relax too.

And viewers didn’t come just for incredible content or information—they came to hang out with the streamer.

In that sense, Seo-jun was actually a pretty good streamer.

He was skilled, not overly serious, and good at making dumb jokes.

That was veteran streamer Tae-woo’s evaluation of him.

• There’s no saving this guy
• I’d definitely bet against him though?
• So what’s the route for sub-4 minutes?
• Reveal the strategy!

Strategy, huh.

Honestly, there wasn’t much you could even call a strategy.

“Speaking of strategy, you guys know I’m actually really good at games, right?”

Seo-jun sat down.

The central building in the game resembled a restaurant, so he almost instinctively called for a waiter.

Since it was a public channel, he made eye contact with a viewer watching from afar.

People generally didn’t approach too closely. Probably because it was virtual reality.

• He really is good though lol
• Honestly this guy’s a real genius
• Except when he says insane stuff sometimes

“I may not be great at fighting, but I’m super smart, so that’s why I’m good at games. Hey, stop laughing. If I were dumb, would I have solved the Dawn of the Assassins storyline mystery that nobody else could solve?”

Solid evidence.

Even if nobody acknowledged it.

• Lmaoooo instantly starts saying insane things again
• Dude crushes everything with mechanics then pretends it’s brainpower
• ???: “What’s parrying?”
• ???: “What’s the Ruler?”
• ???: “I don’t even know the Dawn of the Assassins lore that well though?”

“Anyway, the point I want to make is simple. Make the most of your strengths.”

That was the greatest strategy of all.

And to properly utilize your strengths, you first had to understand yourself.

The same applied to your enemy.

Why else would there be the saying: Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated?

• So what’s the strategy then
• lmaooo
• Just hurry up and play already

“Yes, yes.”

Seo-jun turned his attention from the chat window back to the battlefield interface.

He selected the same region again.

And just as he was about to press Start Game—

A donation notification rang out.

['DangSo' donated 10,000 won!]

[4 minutes? As expected of a fraud. You sure are good at talking nonsense!]

The donor’s name was DangSo.

The same idiot from the Unorthodox Faction earlier.

“Ah, thanks for the 10,000 won donation.”

He didn’t know whether the donor was actually the same player from the game.

After all, donation names could be changed freely.

Still, considering people usually didn’t impersonate others, and assuming Dang So had dramatically stormed off earlier only to later realize today’s battlefield mode was Raid and then came to the stream—

There was a decent chance it really was him.

Maybe he was gathering information too.

Either way—

10,000 won was still profit.

• Is it actually him?
• Possible. He’s famous for being an attention seeker
• If he’s famous for that, then wow lmaooo
• Brain-dead dude watching the stream right now

['DangSo' donated 10,000 won!]

[If you clear it within 4 minutes, I shall graciously bestow 100,000 won upon you!]

Now there was suddenly a challenge donation too.

“Hm, thanks for the donation. But if you really are that guy, stop donating and just tell me your Travel ID. Let’s talk in whispers.”

Seo-jun’s minimum donation amount was currently set to 10,000 won.

If it were only 1,000 won, too many people would spam donations and interrupt the stream flow.

What a waste of money.

['DangSo' donated 10,000 won!]

[Do you think this great one lacks a mere 10,000 won? minj4635]

• If he’s rich why’d he leak his ID
• Guess he still wanted to show off
• Cute. Very cute.
• Not at all

After reading the ID, Seo-jun smiled wickedly.

Naturally, he hadn’t asked for Dang So’s ID because he cared about the money.

Seo-jun immediately found the matching ID in chat and banned the user.

A 100,000 won challenge?

Didn’t need it.

“Thanks for the 10,000 won donation. And you’re banned.”

You had to deal with troublemakers mercilessly.

“Travel IDs aren’t something you casually reveal.”

He should’ve hidden it somehow, like Lee Dong-su did.

• LMAOOOO he spent 30,000 won just to get banned
• Absolute justice
• During streams, streamer is god! Even has ban powers!

Anyway.

Problem solved nicely.

Seo-jun laughed together with the viewers, looking highly satisfied.

Then, just as he was about to chat a little more before starting the game—

“Stop!”

Someone tried grabbing Seo-jun’s wrist.

Feeling the approaching presence, Seo-jun slapped the hand away.

Turning his head, Seo-jun showed a look of admiration.

He had only banned the guy because he thought he was just a troll.

Looks like it really was him after all.

Once again, Seo-jun thought banning him had been the right decision.

“Lift the ban immediately. If you do, I shall generously overlook this matter just this once.”

Dang So approached while threatening him.

“No thanks.”

But Seo-jun didn’t even blink.

Instead, he grinned.

“If you do not unban me immediately, you will have to refund the 30,000 won!”

Unlike Seo-jun, Dang So’s expression had become utterly serious.

• Ahhh lmao, people get pissed when a vending machine eats even 1,000 won, and streamer just straight-up stole 30,000 won from him!
• True. Even losing 1,000 won to a vending machine is infuriating lol
• The fact he came this quickly means he must’ve been desperate

After reading the chat and thinking about it, Seo-jun admitted the guy probably did have a reason to be upset.

Even if it had started as a joke, once he got banned and couldn’t continue messing around, the money he had already spent naturally felt wasted.

Well, couldn’t be helped.

“If I refund you, the only method is bank transfer, which is annoying, but I’ll send it after the game. Give me your account info and I’ll whisper you.”

Seo-jun put on a magnanimous expression, but there was an unmistakably mischievous grin plastered across his face.

“Really? My ID is minj— wait. Didn’t I already tell you earlier?!”

Slow on the uptake, Dang So exploded again after finally realizing it.

• God-tier trolling lmaoooo
• Bro’s tea-bagging IRL
• Technically streamers aren’t obligated to refund donations though

Seriously, who told him to start trolling?

Anyway, Seo-jun felt he had squeezed enough entertainment out of this already, so he decided to refund him.

“Send the account number now. I’ll transfer it after the game.”

“Fine. Still, where exactly did you learn the habit of accepting donations and running away with them? Honestly.”

Dang So grumbled while typing out the message.

Seo-jun casually added another remark.

“So the 100,000 won reward is still valid if I clear within four minutes?”

Dang So raised his head and stared silently at Seo-jun.

It almost looked like he was cursing him with his eyes.

The gaze was oddly piercing.

• This guy seriously never stops lmao
• What a monster
• Still, streamer’s pretty nice for refunding him

After a brief silence, a game notification appeared.

Seo-jun checked it, then looked back toward Dang So.

“So we’re done now, right? You can leave.”

“I shall retreat for now. But know this—sub-four minutes is impossible. If you want a good record, then this great one shall graciously give you advice.
You should invest everything into movement speed traits. And wait. Follow routes other people discover first. Then maybe you’ll get around six minutes. Also, another useful tip about one of the Demonic Cult’s other traits—”

He sure talks a lot.

Dang So passionately continued rambling.

Did he calm down after hearing about the refund? Was this his version of goodwill?

Seo-jun smirked and interrupted him.

Listening any longer sounded exhausting.

“Then let’s do this.”

“I know the Demonic Cult pretty well, so—what?”

“We make a bet. If I clear it in four minutes, I win. If I fail, you win.”

Dang So grinned in amusement.

“Hah. Confident, just like a fraud. What are we betting? 100,000 won?”

“No. The loser switches factions to the winner’s faction. Today. What do you think?”

“Uh…”

For a moment, Dang So seemed speechless.

“You said you’ve played the Demonic Cult before? Then that works out nicely.”

Heh heh heh.

What’s wrong?

Scared?

If you lost and switched factions, at worst you’d only waste a single day.

But for someone aiming for the top, that one day was fatal.

• Scared?
• If you’re scared, just die
• Dude couldn’t answer immediately
• Ahhh come join the Demonic Cult
• The Demonic Cult’s a great place to live~

“……”

“Scared? Then forget it.”

“What nonsense. This great one does not know fear… Fine. I accept the wager. But start immediately. Right now. Don’t watch other people’s gameplay first.”

Messages calling him pathetic flooded the chat.

“I was planning to start right away anyway, but wow, that really is pathetic.”

“Enough talking. Start already.”

• But can streamer actually do this?
• Doubt not the Heavenly Demon!
• If he fails, punishment instantly activates

Seo-jun was summoned into the exact same location as before.

60 seconds until game start.

“Didn’t I tell you guys earlier? Make the most of your strengths.”

What advantages and disadvantages did he currently have?

The disadvantage was that reaching the thirteenth floor where the commander waited took too much time.

Because he couldn’t utilize his traits against ordinary NPCs.

The advantage?

The actual time required to kill the commander was short.

Clunk.

The game began, and an enemy burst through the door.

Seo-jun instantly snatched away the enemy’s weapon, infused his sword with Internal Energy, and destroyed the wall.

Fresh outdoor air rushed violently into the room.

Seo-jun exited through the shattered wall.

Landing outside, he looked upward.

The top of the thirteenth floor was completely open.

If he wanted to reach that place—

He would have to expend all of his Internal Energy.

And fighting the commander with empty reserves wouldn’t be easy.

But he had another advantage.

He was skilled. His traits also favored resource recovery.

Seo-jun prepared to kick off the ground.

• No way lmaoooo
• He’s climbing the outer wall with movement arts?
• So this method existed lol
• But can’t he only reach halfway at most?

The viewers were right.

Unfortunately, Air-Stepping movement arts that let you stand on empty space didn’t exist in the game.

‘No matter how much Internal Energy I use, the highest I can reach in one jump is around the seventh floor.’

In that case—

Seo-jun bent his knees and launched himself upward.

“Hup!”

While ascending with a short shout, Seo-jun threw the sword he had taken from the enemy into the wall.

Because he had infused a small amount of Internal Energy into it beforehand, the sword embedded itself firmly.

• No freaking way lol
• The movement mechanics are generous enough that it might actually work, but can he really land on that?
• Of course he can

Naturally.

For Seo-jun, who had already envisioned this situation before jumping, landing on the embedded sword wasn’t particularly difficult.

As he infused Internal Energy into his feet and landed atop the sword, it supported his body perfectly.

And the movement art system was forgiving when it came to reducing body weight.

Pouring all his remaining Internal Energy into one final leap, Seo-jun shot upward against gravity at incredible speed and grabbed the railing atop the thirteenth floor.

“See? I told you it was possible.”

His Internal Energy was nearly depleted.

Even so—

• That actually worked lmaoooo
• Now THAT’S a master!
• Why does this guy keep doing stunts instead of just playing the game lol
• If he wastes all his resources like this, how’s he supposed to beat the NPC?
• Easily!
• Somehow!
• Don’t you trust streamer—no, Cult Leader-nim?

Only 18 seconds had passed.