Chapter 69
CHAPTER 69
[Now then, sorry for beating around the bush up until now just to say that the people who are good at the game and haven’t lost are ranked highly.]
Bangju continued speaking.
[But Cheonma-nim and Cheonsalseong-nim here aren’t the only skilled players around, right?]
[That’s correct.]
[Well, Dangso-nim, who’s famous for stirring things up, already got eliminated from the race early on, but there are still plenty of other insanely skilled users out there.]
[Now then, sorry for beating around the bush up until now just to say that the people who are good at the game and haven’t lost are ranked highly.]
Bangju began listing several such users.
Starting with Cheonsalseong.
NotAMaster.
TryBackseating.
HiddenPowerhouse.
FreshSeaweedState.
Cheonoecheon.
Murim Alliance Leader.
And so on.
Judging by their rare nicknames, it was obvious they had started from the game’s early days.
‘Some of them probably bought those nicknames.’
He had no intention of buying one himself, but suddenly became curious about what the player with the nickname Cheonma was doing.
[Well, unless those people run into each other, it’s hard for them to lose. And they generally try to avoid meeting one another whenever possible.]
Still, the reason people didn’t criticize that was because everyone knew they’d soon be violently clashing and keeping each other in check anyway.
[So in the end, wouldn’t everyone’s scores be pretty similar?]
[It honestly wouldn’t be strange at all if someone other than Cheonsalseong-nim or Cheonma-nim took first place.]
Cheonsalseong listened quietly beside them, when Bangju suddenly clapped his hands as if remembering something.
[Ah, and there was also this incident.]
[What is it?]
[Dangso-nim no longer had to worry about losses after switching factions from the very beginning, right?]
[Right.]
[Maybe because of that, he’s been going completely wild.]
[Ah. I know. Even the people in our Orthodox Faction were cursing him out nonstop. They keep running into him. Some people even said they’d rather avoid fighting the Demonic Cult entirely because they were afraid of encountering Dangso.]
[You’re asking why Dangso got eliminated? I think it’d be best if you checked the community post I uploaded. I’ll gradually upload videos about it as well.]
A person with nothing to lose has nothing to fear.
That was why Dangso had told Seo-jun:
‘Looks like I’ll just go around sabotaging all the Rankers. Leave it to me.’
So that was what he meant. Impressive.
[Right.]
[But didn’t Cheonsalseong-nim also verify that he earned 600 Reputation Points on Day 2, just like Seo-jun-nim?]
[But he stopped verifying after the next day. This guy’s a scammer.]
[Now then, shall we compare their performances? Hanppunman-nim, you also placed Cheonsalseong-nim in second place, correct?]
[Yes, that’s right.]
[Why second instead of first? Could you explain the detailed reasoning behind that?]
[As I said earlier, Seo-jun-nim earned 600 Reputation Points on the first day. That’s a very high number, right? Usually people gather around 500.]
[Right. But didn’t Cheonsalseong-nim also verify 600 Reputation Points on Day 2, just like Seo-jun-nim?]
[And then he stopped verifying after that. He’s a fraud.]
[Now then, shall we compare their performances? Hanppunman-nim, you also placed Cheonsalseong-nim in second place, correct?]
[Yes, that’s right.]
[Why second instead of first? Could you explain the detailed reasoning behind that?]
[As I said earlier, Seo-jun-nim earned 600 Reputation Points on the first day. That’s a very high number, right? Usually people gather around 500.]
[....]
[And I think the raid is the decisive factor.]
—Really?
—That 3-minute raid record is absurd
—Using up all his internal energy climbing up there just to kill it lol
—Another Demonic Cult player tried copying it and ended up suffering qi deviation because his DPS was too low to finish quickly
—You seriously need insane burst damage
That was Hanppunman’s argument.
[Haha. That was a good explanation. This time it’s Cheonsalseong-nim’s turn. Why do you believe you are first place?!]
A 3-minute raid clear record.
Originally, reducing a clear time from seven minutes to five minutes was already difficult, but cutting it from five minutes to three minutes was incomparably harder.
If so, wouldn’t that naturally be reflected in the Reputation Point calculations and widen the gap?
That was Hanppunman’s argument.
[Haha. That was a good explanation. This time it’s Cheonsalseong-nim’s turn. Why do you believe you are first place?!]
Bangju turned his body toward Cheonsalseong this time.
[First of all, the reason I stopped verifying after Day 2 is because there was no need to.]
[Is that so?]
[Yes. It’s true that I needed a bit of cooperation from my teammates, but I achieved numbers similar to his.]
Ignoring your teammates and camping the entrance to kill enemies as they emerged was something only the Absorbing Demonic Art—which restored energy through combat—could pull off.
So naturally, in order to secure that level of contribution, he would’ve needed cooperation from his teammates.
[And regarding the raid—I entered the rankings at four minutes thirty seconds.]
[Ah, really? That’s incredibly fast, but unfortunately still slower than Cheonma-nim.]
[Yes. So there’s probably a bit of a gap there. Still, I think I more than made up for it elsewhere.]
[And what part would that be?]
[Attack contribution. There’s an attack bonus, isn’t there?]
[But that’s contribution score.]
[And the midterm rankings are calculated based on contribution score.]
[Ah, right! We were so focused on Reputation Points that we forgot the Orthodox Faction succeeded in their attacks. Meanwhile, Seo-jun-nim has only been defending continuously, correct?]
[Yes. I successfully attacked twice—once while capturing Unorthodox territory, and once while reclaiming occupied regions.]
Because the difference in Reputation Points gained between a five-minute clear and a six-and-a-half-minute clear wasn’t that massive, people started thinking:
Even with a three-minute record, couldn’t Cheonsalseong still close the gap elsewhere?
That was his reasoning.
The bonuses from offensive victories couldn’t be ignored.
Public opinion among the viewers gradually began shifting as well.
A major reason was that Seo-jun had never revealed exact numbers.
Everyone knew he had achieved a historic raid record, but nobody had any sense of how many points he actually earned from it.
One minute thirty seconds.
Because the difference in Reputation Points gained between a five-minute clear and a six-and-a-half-minute clear wasn’t enormous, people started wondering whether even a three-minute record might still be something Cheonsalseong could compensate for.
He believed the bonuses from successful attacks were too significant to ignore.
Public opinion among the viewers slowly became persuaded.
The biggest reason was that Seo-jun still hadn’t provided exact figures.
Everyone knew he had set a legendary raid record, but nobody could estimate how many points he had actually gained.
One minute thirty seconds.
[Well, since I am the current World’s Greatest Under Heaven, I guess it’s inevitable that Cheonsalseong-nim’s opinion carries more weight. Shall we hold a poll at this point? Option 1 is Cheonsalseong-nim. Option 2 is Cheonma-nim. Option 3 is someone else. Like that.]
—I’m going to vote.
—Charge!!!
—Our streamer is new to this game anyway, so it’s okay even if he doesn’t get first place.....
—Should we go vote too?
—What’s the point of public opinion anyway...
The results turned out similarly.
Seeing that, Cheonsalseong smugly spoke up.
“There’s a wise man among the comments.”
“If anyone wants to support me, go ahead and vote. I’m just going to quietly watch.”
Bangju’s chatroom was flooded with votes.
At a rough glance, it looked like Option 1 had more votes—
[See this?]
[See what?]
[How can someone lose even in a poll like this and still call themselves the Heavenly Demon?]
[No, not this again....]
—Ha. Our streamer only needs to make Top 16, but these guys just don’t get it
—Honestly, no matter who gets first place, I don’t think the streamer really cares
—Still, I hope he wins
As they kept chatting, time flew by.
Two minutes before 10 o’clock.
Hanppunman spoke.
[Hehe. Looking at Cheonsalseong-nim trying to keep Cheonma-nim in check like this, it seems you’re pretty nervous?]
[...I’m not.]
[Seems like you are, though?]
[Sure, he’s incredibly good for a newbie, but once he faces the real monsters, his true level will be exposed quickly.]
Bangju cut in.
[But he beat Baekho. Isn’t Baekho considered a real monster?]
[He is.]
[...I see.]
—I’m actually starting to get annoyed now lol
—So when’s the sparring match with Cheonsalseong?
—Streamer, let’s just snipe this guy only
—Why are you so calm today?
Messages agreeing with Bangju appeared in the chat.
“Do you guys think I’d beat Cheonsalseong?”
Seeing this, his viewers seemed slightly angry.
It wasn’t just annoying to see yourself looked down on—seeing something you liked being dismissed was irritating too.
—I’m actually starting to get annoyed now lol
—So when’s the sparring match with Cheonsalseong?
—Streamer, let’s just snipe this guy only
—Why are you so calm today?
Messages agreeing with Bangju appeared in the chat.
“Do you guys think I’d beat Cheonsalseong?”
His viewers seemed genuinely upset now.
Just as Seo-jun wondered if he needed to step in—
[Huh?]
After Cheonsalseong muttered that in confusion, the casual chatter disappeared and silence filled the stream.
Seo-jun checked Bangju’s broadcast to see what happened.
Three faces.
Yet all three of them were staring at the screen with widened eyes.
“What is it? Ah.”
It was 10 o’clock.
“Why aren’t they showing it?”
Seo-jun entered the homepage himself to check.
Since his stream screen was fixed on the browser window, he didn’t use the in-game interface.
—?????
—What is this?
—Why are people flooding in?
The viewer count began skyrocketing at a terrifying pace.
No way.
Once the loading finished and the rankings appeared on the homepage, Seo-jun’s eyes widened.
#1 / Cheonma14 / 115,254
#2 / Cheonsalseong / 86,075
#3 / TryBackseating / 85,498
#4 / FreshSeaweedState / 85,432
#5 / DignityOfTheUnorthodox / 84,789
#6 / ThisIsntMurim / 83,376
[??? What the hell is with those rankings just now? Am I seeing things?]
[Isn’t that a calculation error?]
[This really does look weird lol]
[What the hell? Why is the gap so huge???]
[Is a 30k gap even normal?]
==
Current Rankers only have around 5k~6k Reputation Points.
To reach that number, he’d basically have to play six extra matches alone with that amount of Reputation.
Isn’t this just bugged?
10 o’clock arrived, and the rankings were revealed.
And the countless people interested in them immediately checked the rankings all at once.
Even Bangju’s 70,000 viewers, who had only barely regained their composure, joined in after he revealed the rankings.
[Is a 30k gap even normal?]
First place was Cheonma14.
The ID of a streamer who could practically still be called a rookie.
He had caused multiple controversies already and possessed a decent amount of fame, so him taking first place wasn’t strange.
But—
[Summon the 3-minute curry squad!]
[Even Hanppunman-hyung, who said the gap estimate was too exaggerated, was wrong lol]
[If Cheonma discovered a bug after ending stream and secretly played six extra matches alone, upvote lol]
[Didn’t he seriously play several extra games by himself?!]
[Summon the 3-minute curry squad!]
[Even Hanppunman-hyung, who said the gap estimate was too exaggerated, was wrong lol]
[If Cheonma discovered a bug after ending stream and secretly played six extra matches alone, upvote lol]
[Didn’t he seriously play several extra games by himself?!]
The gap with second place was absurdly large.
As the rankings showed, most Rankers had fairly similar contribution scores.
The real gaps normally started appearing only after players clashed directly, sniped each other, interfered with one another, and losses began accumulating.
But for such a gap to appear already, at what was essentially still the beginning, it was naturally bound to become a huge topic.
“...”
Lee Ji-ho.
His For the Sake of Chivalry nickname was DignityOfTheUnorthodox.
He was the player who had finished second in the previous season and, while appearing ordinary on the surface, secretly engaged in plenty of dirty schemes behind the scenes.
Very few people knew that.
You could tell just by looking at Mumyung casually talking to him like this.
“Wow, that’s insane. Don’t you think?”
Lee Ji-ho replied.
“Yeah.”
“That’s probably because of the raid, right?”
How long had they been playing battlefields?
They recognized it instantly.
Bangju, Hanppunman, and Cheonsalseong would probably realize it soon too once they recovered from their momentary shock.
“I saw him during the raid before. Back then I thought he was impressive, but I never imagined the numbers would be this high. We’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“True.”
“But it’ll get fun now. Everyone’s going to start targeting him hard.”
“...”
Just like his friend said, now was truly the beginning.
With a gap that massive, interference from the other Rankers would naturally begin concentrating on Seo-jun.
The difference would obviously narrow over time.
However—
That didn’t mean he intended to sit still.
“I’m logging off now. See you tomorrow.”
“Well, you’re gonna have a headache too. I don’t care since I’m not aiming for first place.”
After saying goodbye to Mumyung, Lee Ji-ho exited the game.
The moment he climbed out of the capsule, he sat down in front of his computer and muttered:
“Good thing I investigated that streamer in advance.”
He was the type who gathered information on every competitor.
For moments exactly like this.
Entering the community site with an alternate account, he pasted in a draft post he had already prepared and rapidly began editing it.
“I never thought I’d use it the moment the rankings were revealed, but this should be enough to start a fire. Hehe.”
Create controversy.
It didn’t matter if it was forced.
As long as he could shake things up even a little, that was enough.
Lee Ji-ho considered that a skill too.