Master Swordsman’s Stream

League of Streaming.

On his way home, Seojun looked up about it.

‘300,000 average live viewers? Isn't that almost at the level of a regular tournament?’

Seojun knew that the tournament had some level of popularity, but he didn't expect that many people would watch it. However, after further research, he quickly realized that while 300,000 viewers was indeed a significant number, it didn't reach the level of a regular tournament, as he had mistakenly assumed.

‘Oh, in Korea, regular tournaments have a minimum of 1 million viewers.’

The finals, including international viewers, reportedly had 15 million viewers in real-time That's the Korean league. Even adults who didn't have time to play games were caught up in the excitement. Seojun, who had intentionally avoided news and discussions about capsules, was taken aback by the popularity of capsule games. It exceeded his imagination.

‘So many people... are getting into it.’

Although he wasn't particularly interested in the virtual reality market seven years ago, he was aware that it hadn’t been as popular.

After arriving home, Seojun asked an expert, who happened to be a current streamer, "Hey, aren't you into the League of Streaming?"

It was his friend. In response to Seojun's question, Taewoo, who was holding his phone on the sofa, replied, "Yeah? Of course, I know. I participated last year and failed miserably. Ha, I really wanted the grand prize last year. Such a waste."

He mentioned winning while being eliminated quickly. Seojun bit his tongue internally.

"What was the prize?"

"A car. They gave the MVP a supercar. The prizes were pretty impressive, right? Since many people were watching, companies provided sponsorships."

"Oh, I should look up how many people are watching."

"You know? Why are you suddenly interested? You never cared about virtual reality before."

"I don't know either."

He had lived well for the past seven years without virtual reality. And he could continue to live well in the future. So why did he search for RIOS?

‘Darn it.’

In reality, he knew. He had been avoiding it intentionally because he had no choice. The virtual reality he experienced seven years ago... It was fun. He wanted to go back.

‘I guess that’s it. It's not like I'm spending 100 million won.’

Thanks to Oh Jihye's generosity, he could borrow it for free until the competition ended. It wasn't like he’s wasting several years.

‘There's no reason not to do it.’

Seojun sat down next to Taewoo.

From now on, he had to think about "how" rather than "why."

"Taewoo."

Seojun's eyes began to sparkle.

"Yeah?"

"What are the participation requirements for RIOS?"

"Why do you suddenly want to know that? Ugh. First of all, the organizers didn't explicitly announce it, but of course, you have to be a streamer. When applying, they prefer established mid-level streamers with a decent following."

"What if you don't have a following?"

"It's difficult. Viewers also prefer well-known streamers to some extent. But that doesn't mean they won't select streamers with no following."

It all depended on the circumstances.

"So, what do you have to do to succeed as a streamer?"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Taewoo pondered for a moment, then stood up straight and stretched his back. His serious expression, which was not usually seen, felt awkward.

"I don't know either."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Hey, do you know the most common thing I hear?"

Seojun shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know."

"It’s people saying ‘I envy those who play games and make money. Life seems so easy for them. No struggles’."

"..."

"But do you know that despite having an average of less than 100 viewers for four out of the seven years, I've been streaming for eight hours every day? Hm, maybe I earned about the electricity bill in a month. I even felt like I was leeching off you for a year after graduating."

"That's true."

Although the number of viewers increased with the advent of virtual reality, the proportion of streamers increased as well, if not more. The biggest challenge for streamers was attracting viewers.

"However, I still consider myself lucky. It could have taken more than four years. If I go big, it's a jackpot. But I don't know when it will happen. I don't know the way. Even if I hold on for ten years, what if it never happens?" Taewoo paused and continued,

"Even those who skyrocketed and reached 10 million within a year went through a dark period when they couldn't even gain 1,000 viewers for five years. Holding on for so long and still not making it..."

Of course, there were various rules within that.

"But if I were to name the most important thing, it would undoubtedly be to have fun."

Taewoo began explaining further.

To succeed in streaming, you need either entertainment value or skill. However, surprisingly, purely skill-based streams are not widely watched. There were many alternatives, professional streams, and edited videos.

"So, it's difficult to succeed based solely on skill. It's not impossible, but take a look at this."

Taewoo found an article and showed it to Seojun.

Game streamers should focus more on the word "streamer" than on the game itself. Surprisingly, the game was not that significant.

This was one of the pieces of advice from a famous streamer who had a 100% accuracy rate in objective tests.

When Seojun looked at it carefully, Taewoo asked, "Do you really have an interest in being a streamer?"

"I just got interested."

"Heh. Did you hear what I just said? I won't stop you, but what do you expect?"

Seojun closed his eyes and pondered.

‘What do I expect?’

Even though he hadn’t gone to virtual reality for the past seven years, Seojun had confidence in himself.

"I'm probably better than most people."

Many types of games focused on swordplay, and even if he didn't use a sword, it didn't matter. Even if it was just memories, Seojun had experienced countless battles in his past life. He slowly opened his eyes, suppressed his laughter, and spoke. It sounded absurd even to himself.

"I guess... it's skill?"

"Just being good doesn't automatically make you a streamer."

"Then, how good do you have to be?"

Taewoo pondered for a moment and then said, "If you're better than Shin Hayeon, it should be enough. No, if you're better than Shin Hayeon, you'll definitely succeed. I guarantee it. Do you know who she is?"

Shin Hayeon. She was a famous female pro-gamer. She was more popular than most top celebrities, and when you think of virtual reality, you think of Shin Hayeon, and when you think of Shin Hayeon, you think of virtual reality. She was truly an icon of virtual reality. The reason for that was undoubtedly her overwhelming skills displayed in professional leagues.

"I see."

Seojun made his decision after contemplating. For now, he’d give it a try. Seojun sent a message to Oh Jihye that he wanted to borrow the capsule.

* * *

***read at novelworldtranslations.blogspot.com***

* * *

"So... you bought it because you're confident that you're better than Shin Hayeon?"

"Yes."

"You crazy person. Then go pro."

"I can't because it's dangerous."

"Are you really crazy?"

* * *

Oh Jihye's replied and the delivery were fast. It didn't even take a day. It’s as if they were waiting.

"Ah, just, move aside for a bit. I need to connect the cables. Didn't I tell you to call the technician to install the capsule? Or at least, don't touch it until my stream is over!"

Seojun silently bowed his head and listened to Taewoo scolding him while installing the capsule.

"Hey. Didn't I tell you when you said your phone was broken and you were going to wash it with soap? I told you not to act like a machine."

It seemed like that had happened before.

"How can you mess up installing just this? Hey! It looks expensive just by looking at it!"

Seojun didn't have anything to say, so he kept rubbing the capsule placed in the corner with his hand. Taewoo glared at him and then flopped onto the bed next to him after finishing the final connection.

"Ah, enough now. Installation is done. Do you have your biometric account?"

"I have it."

"Then you can connect right away."

"Yeah, thank you."

"Thanks for what? By the way, isn't this model too high-end for streaming?"

"Well, don't worry about that."

He only borrowed it.

"Ah, then where will you do the streaming?"

"Travel."

Travel was a game streaming platform that currently held a dominant position.

"Same with me. By the way, let me see your records. How good were you seven years ago that you're so confident now? Did you install My VR?"

"Here."

Seojun turned on his phone and opened the app Taewoo mentioned. Then, on the screen, information about Seojun's virtual reality ID appeared. It was a management app that showed everything from the creation date to gameplay time and records.

"Huh? Am I seeing things? I see an account of a brand new newbie created less than two days ago? When did you start living without a sense of time?"

"Oh, that? I had it before, but I deleted it and created a new one."

"Don't lie."

"I'm telling the truth."

It was true.

"By the way, if you're really better than Shin Hayeon, no, if you're better than me, I'll do all the housework from now on. Instead, if not..."

Huh? Even though he didn't throw a fishing rod, a fish jumped in on its own.

"You want me to do it?"

"How about it? If you're hesitant..."

Seojun immediately answered without hesitation.

"Deal."

He made the right choice by challenging.

"Heh! No mercy for newbies. I won't go easy on you. You won't start streaming right away today, right?"

"No."

"Come in right away."

* * *

After seeing Kim Taewoo's back as he headed to his own room, Seojun entered the capsule. The lid closed, and Seojun leaned comfortably against the backrest. He closed his eyes and got lost in his thoughts.

Streaming. A field he knew nothing about. It wasn't a naturally interesting category, and he didn't have the naive belief that skill alone would guarantee success. So even if he criticized his current actions as a foolish and wasteful choice, he had nothing to say. But still, the corners of Seojun's mouth curled up.

"People usually start from a point where they are much worse at things than they are good at."

If he didn't challenge himself despite being bad at something, he wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

[Connecting to the virtual reality world in 10 seconds.]

[10]

[9]

...

[1]

Whoosh-

As his field of vision darkened, a familiar sensation engulfed Seojun. He felt the surge of excitement.

Hwaah!

A bright white light passed through his closed eyelids and illuminated the space. This was the lobby, a blank white room with nothing in it. Streamers usually interacted with their viewers here before or after a game. Since Seojun's ID had just been created, there was nothing placed in the lobby.

"I guess I need to fill this place too."

[#105979 would like to add you as a friend.]

While looking around, a message popped up. After Seojun accepted the friend request, more messages appeared in succession.

[Kim Taewoo invites you to ‘Training Ground’.]

As he accepted, the background instantly changed. It now resembled a martial arts arena.

"Did you arrive?"

Taewoo was walking towards Seojun while pulling a humanoid doll-like robot.

"This is the training ground. A basic game is installed in the capsule, so you don't need to download anything."

"Like Minesweeper? We didn't have this kind of thing back then."

"What do you mean by 'back then'? Say hello to our dojo AI, Kim Cheolsu."

Taewoo held Cheolsu's hand from behind and shook it like a puppet show.

"He looks cute."

"Haha. If you keep getting hit, just looking at Cheolsu's face will drive you crazy."

"What nonsense is that?"

Taewoo smiled mysteriously.

"Try getting hit. Let's talk after that. What weapon do you want to use?"

Naturally.

"A sword."

Taewoo positioned Cheolsu in front of Seojun and went to a storage-like place to retrieve a sword.

"Here you go."

Seojun grabbed the sword. As he looked ahead, a sword appeared in Cheolsu's hand as well.

"Shall we start with the explanations?"

"...Sure."

"Great. Cheolsu is an AI for sparring. I named him, by the way. We're going to fight. If you manage to defeat the 7th level Cheolsu, I'll do the household chores."

"Why don't I just fight you?"

"I can't go easy on you. Anyway, here, everyone is on equal terms. This place is where we can test pure one-on-one skills. Cheolsu goes up to level 10. I've beaten until level 8. If you're a beginner... starting with level 4 should be appropriate."

Taewoo shrugged his shoulders.

"But that's assuming you actually have talent. By the way, the pros can even beat level 9."

Seojun also shrugged his shoulders and began touching the settings window that appeared before his eyes.

"I guess it's a good warm-up."

It seemed like it would be fun.

"Hah, I should record this. My friend trying virtual reality for the first time, fearlessly challenging level 4 and getting beaten up. How about the title? If the video gets a lot of views, I'll do a special joint stream."

Seojun just smiled.

"Just watch quietly."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What are you doing? Haven't you started yet?"

"Well, it's not working."

"What's not working? You just have to press 4 to start."

"No, it's not that. Why is level 10 locked?"

"Hey, you..."