Chapter 68
CHAPTER 68
Midway check.
The trends of the factions so far, which Rankers had been defeated, and what incidents had occurred.
What would happen going forward.
It was content where named players were invited on, waiting until 10 o’clock when the rankings would be revealed, while discussing how things might unfold from there.
Seo-jun turned on Bangju’s stream and fixed it on his screen.
Now he was skilled at setting everything up.
Even viewers in the chat praised him for it.
That weirdly made him feel proud.
[Now now, yesterday the Orthodox Faction and the Unorthodox Faction only exchanged a few light jabs. The real fun starts from here. The Rankers should’ve accumulated a fair amount of Reputation Points by now too. The bullets are loaded!]
Currently, Bangju was chatting casually before the broadcast properly began.
[Of course, the people aiming for the Top 16 will still carefully choose their battlefields. Hehehe.]
If that had been the case, it would’ve been boring.
In For the Sake of Chivalry, there wasn’t really a culture of trying to win through dirty tricks.
It probably helped that everyone was connected somehow and practically knew each other.
The reason he had met quite a few Rankers of a certain level but never encountered any masters within the Top 50 finally came out of Bangju’s mouth.
Of course, just because every single victory was important to them didn’t mean they refused to participate in their faction’s strategies.
Currently, Bangju was chatting casually before the broadcast properly began.
[Of course, the people aiming for the Top 16 will still carefully choose their battlefields. Hehehe.]
If that had been the case, it would’ve been boring.
In For the Sake of Chivalry, there wasn’t really a culture of trying to win through dirty tricks.
It probably helped that everyone was connected somehow and practically knew each other.
The reason he had met quite a few Rankers of a certain level but never encountered any masters within the Top 50 finally came out of Bangju’s mouth.
Of course, just because every single victory was important to them didn’t mean they refused to participate in their faction’s strategies.
[Anyway, you all know there’s another reason I started this stream today, right? It’s because the Contribution Rankings are being revealed today! People seem really curious about it....]
Now they were getting to the main topic. Enough viewers had gathered.
Just as important as which faction would win was this question:
Who would take first place in Contribution Points?!
The rankings displayed the Top 200 players.
And once the rankings were released, the regions where those ranked players were grinding would be revealed to everyone.
The competition would intensify, and massive upheavals would occur.
But no matter how much things changed, the person most likely to become the final victor was still the one currently in first place.
Now they were getting to the main topic. Enough viewers had gathered.
Just as important as which faction would win was this question:
Who would take first place in Contribution Points?!
The rankings displayed the Top 200 players.
And once the rankings were released, the regions where those ranked players were grinding would be revealed to everyone.
The competition would intensify, and massive upheavals would occur.
But no matter how much things changed, the person most likely to become the final victor—
[So today, I invited two guests. First up is Hanppunman-nim, the one who posted the estimated Reputation Point chart on No-Hyeop!]
—Welcomeee
—It’s Hanppunman
—This beggar bastard actually dresses well in real life lol
—No way he’s an extrovert, right?
—With that face? Of course he is
—Why??? TTTT Even the streamer says he’s an introvert
—You actually believe that? lol
Hanppunman’s real-life appearance was revealed.
“Who’s that guy?”
It was Seo-jun’s first time seeing Hanppunman.
[Hello, I’m Hanppunman.]
[Yes, hello. Thank you for coming.]
[No, thank you for inviting me.]
—He’s basically a civilian who analyzes things as well as Bangju
—He’s a named player
—He’s also a Ranker, but not enough to aim for Top 16
—The brain of the Orthodox Faction
Currently, they were in Bangju’s studio.
Hanppunman’s real-life appearance was revealed.
“Who’s that guy?”
It was Seo-jun’s first time seeing Hanppunman.
[Hello, I’m Hanppunman.]
[Yes, hello. Thank you for coming.]
[No, thank you for inviting me.]
—He’s basically a civilian who analyzes things as well as Bangju
—He’s a named player
—He’s also a Ranker, but not enough to aim for Top 16
—The brain of the Orthodox Faction
—Now that you explain it, he really sounds like a terrible guy lmaoooo
[What do you mean “irresponsible pleasure”? If problems arise, I immediately delete the post and upload an apology.]
[I see. Then please continue enjoying that pleasure in the future as well.]
—Huh? Come to think of it, wasn’t Hanppunman also the one who started the Grandmaster controversy with our streamer...?
—So he was the culprit? CC
[....]
Bangju was skillfully carrying the broadcast with witty banter and smooth hosting.
[What do you mean “irresponsible pleasure”? If problems arise, I immediately delete the post and upload an apology.]
[I see. Then please continue enjoying that pleasure in the future as well.]
—Huh? Come to think of it, wasn’t Hanppunman also the one who started the Grandmaster controversy with our streamer...?
—So he was the culprit? CC
[....]
Bangju was skillfully carrying the broadcast with witty banter and smooth hosting.
[So, the thing Hanppunman-nim received the most pushback about was this.]
[Yes.]
[It was regarding Cheonma14-nim.]
[Ah, really?]
Seo-jun was startled when the conversation suddenly turned to him.
It hit him from a completely unexpected direction.
—Kya! Getting mentioned live in front of 80,000 viewers!
—Our streamer is world class! Our streamer is world class! Our streamer is world class! Our streamer is world class! Our streamer is world class!
—Hanppunman ranked the streamer as number one
[Yes. People said it was fine that you placed Cheonma14-nim in first place, but the problem was that the gap between him and second place was way too large.]
[I see.]
[Honestly, anyone ranked that high obviously hasn’t lost even once and probably secured all the bonuses too.]
[Hmm. But do I really have to refute this? We can just say I was wrong....]
—Pffffff “If you disagree, you’re right” incarnate
—Look at how comfortably this guy lives
—Wise man
—Is that why he chose to become a beggar? Maybe all this fierce worldly competition is meaningless after all
Even Seo-jun’s tiny face cam, sitting in the lower-left corner of the screen filled with Bangju’s stream, bobbed up and down.
As expected of an analyst, he nodded in agreement at the cleverness.
[Ah, the comments are calling it “peaceful poverty and contentment.” Is this the dignity of the Beggars’ Sect?]
[Hehe. Thank you.]
[Still, please explain it once. Otherwise there was no reason for me to invite you.]
[Ahem.]
[Why did you estimate such a huge gap between second place and the streak bonus?]
[Hmm, first of all, I’d like to point out that Cheonma—no, Seo-jun-nim’s method of handling occupation battles is unusual.]
[Yes.]
[It’s a playstyle other Rankers can’t easily imitate since they have to recover health, internal energy, and stamina. Blocking the entrance like that, for example.]
[Ah! Then does that mean the Demonic Cult is advantageous?]
[Hmm....]
[Yes! Understood.]
—Looks like he only speaks the truth lol
—Completely opposite from a certain someone who sells snake oil
[Alright then, let’s bring in the next guest! This is the representative person who said Hanppunman-nim was wrong. It’s none other than Cheonsalseong-nim!]
—God of hosting = lmaoooo
—The guest almost got put in an awkward spot
—Whew
—Hanppunman isn’t even saying the Demonic Cult is superior. Guess he really only speaks facts lol
—Completely opposite from a certain someone who sells snake oil
[Alright then, let’s bring in the next guest! This is the representative person who said Hanppunman-nim was wrong. It’s none other than Cheonsalseong-nim!]
—God of hosting = lmaoooo
—The guest almost ended up in an awkward spot
—Whew
—Hanppunman isn’t saying the Demonic Cult is superior. Guess he really only speaks facts
It was a nickname he had heard somewhere before.
Cheonsalseong meant the Star of Heavenly Slaughter, and though Seo-jun wasn’t really in a position to talk considering he had named himself Cheonma, it still sounded unbearably chuuni.
Only after reading the chat did Seo-jun finally remember who it was.
People called the player with the highest battlefield contribution The World’s Greatest Under Heaven until the next battlefield opened.
—Oh, a true master is showing up
—Not an analyst, but he was first place in the previous battlefield
—Damn, Bangju’s networking skills
—This is insane
[You earned that position in the last battlefield with truly outstanding skill and unbelievable sniping.]
[Yes. Some of you may already know this, but Cheonsalseong-nim is none other than the current World’s Greatest Under Heaven!]
“Unbelievable sniping,” huh.
For reference, after the rankings were revealed, the system practically encouraged targeted hunting, so skill at sniping was considered one of the important qualities.
Though sniping by bribing enemy teammates was looked down upon.
Of course, apparently people still did it anyway.
He probably knew countless competitors and their approximate numbers, backed by years of accumulated experience.
More importantly, unlike Seo-jun, he likely knew roughly how many Reputation Points he himself had.
[Cheonsalseong-nim, who do you think has the highest score?]
[Obviously....]
[The person with the highest score will be me. Not that streamer with the ridiculous gimmick.]
Seo-jun became interested and listened carefully to what followed.
The words of the previous battlefield’s number one were worth hearing.
He probably knew countless competitors and their approximate numbers, backed by years of accumulated experience.
More importantly, unlike Seo-jun, he likely knew roughly how many Reputation Points he himself had.
[Cheonsalseong-nim, who do you think has the highest score?]
[Obviously....]
[The person with the highest score will be me. Not that streamer with the ridiculous gimmick.]
Seo-jun listened carefully with growing interest.
The words of the previous battlefield’s champion deserved that much attention.
Hmm.
Maybe he got his hopes up for nothing?
[...right? Don’t you agree?]
[Ah....]
It was true.
If the Heavenly Demon lost, then he wouldn’t be the Heavenly Demon.
Seo-jun chuckled as he recalled the Heavenly Demon from his previous life.
But when he laughed, the viewers seemed to interpret it differently.
—Holy crap, streamer looks pissed
—This is crazy
—That smile isn’t a real smile
—Is he about to send a duel request immediately????
—I’m scared...
—Cold. So cold.
Regardless of the misunderstanding among the viewers in his own stream, Bangju’s chatroom was laughing, perhaps because this level of provocation happened all the time.
[Hahaha! Is that so?]
[Yes.]
[You seem confident.]
[I wouldn’t have come here if I wasn’t.]
[I would like to once again clarify that Cheonsalseong-nim’s statements have absolutely nothing to do with me.]
[Now then, before hearing Cheonsalseong-nim’s reasoning, let me briefly explain Reputation Points for the viewers.]
Bangju laughed, while Hanppunman, sitting to the left, shook his head helplessly.
The two seemed close.
[Hahaha! Is that so?]
[Yes.]
[You seem confident.]
[I wouldn’t have come here if I wasn’t.]
[I would like to once again clarify that Cheonsalseong-nim’s statements have absolutely nothing to do with me.]
[Now then, before hearing Cheonsalseong-nim’s reasoning, let me briefly explain Reputation Points for the viewers.]
Bangju laughed, while Hanppunman, sitting to the left, shook his head helplessly.
Reputation Points functioned as a system that matched players against others with similarly high scores.
However, those tiers weren’t thick or evenly distributed, so it was impossible to match only players of similar skill who had accumulated large amounts of Reputation Points.
Because of that, sniping became somewhat easier, but in battlefield mode at least, that wasn’t the important part.
[The real reason Reputation Points matter is because you can gain Attack Points and Contribution proportional to that value. Right, Hanppunman-nim?]
[That’s correct.]
They said the number of Korean users who participated in the battlefield at least once was close to 300,000.
However, the number of users who participated every single day without fail was only around 10,000 per faction. Roughly 10% of the total.
That might sound low.
But those 30,000 players were users who logged into their capsules every single day for 21 days straight and played four matches daily.
Virtual reality games had gained far more users than games back in the PC era, and concurrent player counts had increased as well.
But they hadn’t grown proportionally with the increase in total users.
That was because the fatigue from the games themselves was far higher than in the PC era.
Accessibility was lower too.
‘Thanks to that, the streaming market built around vicarious satisfaction exploded.’
In that context, 30,000 core users was an extremely high number.
But over half of them still couldn’t earn as many Reputation Points as Rankers gained in a single day.
The Reputation Points earned for pulling your weight in one match were 30.
Assuming a 50% win rate—
During the last nine days, winning 18 out of 36 matches would earn 540 Reputation Points.
Of course, if you got lucky and went on a winning streak, you could accumulate much more.
[The winning streak system is calculated and reset daily, and starting from two consecutive wins, it increases fourfold. For example, if you only achieve a two-win streak, you receive 50 Reputation Points before the next day begins. If you reach a four-win streak, you gain an additional 200, giving you 250 Reputation Points the next day.]
[But everyone gets that, so it doesn’t really create a gap.]
[Correct. Tomorrow will be different since winning streaks can once again be farmed for Reputation Points, but up to this point, that’s true.]
[Which is why the most important factor separating players is the Reputation Points calculated after the game ends.]
The conversation between Hanppunman and Bangju flowed smoothly.
It seemed they had prepared this in advance.
—Clean explanation lmaooo
—So that’s how the mechanic works? I had no idea
—You can live just fine without knowing. Look at our streamer
—Classic case of having such a good body that life becomes easy for the brain lol