The Magic Words
Wang-ko was certain.
Today's victory was already a foregone conclusion.
Every so often, when Battle Royale streamers branched out into games outside their main title, they caught flak for it. The complaint was that they played for real instead of playing for the stream — like someone shooting a documentary in the middle of a variety show.
Wang-ko never saw that as a problem.
A man needs competitive fire. Sure, some people hate it when you take things seriously and kill the broadcast vibe — but there are fans who respect that side of you, too.
And that strategy of his had paid off in its own way. Viewers who preferred healing content and a lighthearted feel steered clear of O-Wang Company. But the ones who wanted total immersion and a fight to the bitter end became die-hard fans.
Wang-ko kept coming back to the same thought.
In the end, streaming was about authenticity.
What was he supposed to do about a personality that had always been built this way? Even if people tore into him for going full tryhard, fine. He still wasn't going to hide his hunger for first place.
Even if it's a healing server, if there's something called Purge Day, of course you go for number one.
He wasn't going to listen to the noise afterward.
He'd spent the entire day mining, grinding out money, and gearing up. Even then, the time left until Purge Day had been so tight that he'd borrowed cash from Oh-ha and Su-ppi. Only then had he barely managed to complete a full endgame set. The rest of O-Wang Company's staff had all been armed with diamond gear as well.
At this level, nobody would be able to claim they were out-specced in a fight against another company.
Lethal Company is a non-factor. Bad Potato Company is a ghost outfit with no leader. Akatsuki isn't even a real company — just a club. Dananyang and Rim-ani's alliance might need some watching… but the real core is still V-Live Company.
Wang-ko had already gotten a full briefing from Oh-ha on every company operating in Rena World. He knew V-Live Company had won Purge Day back-to-back.
But that only happened because the gear gap was overwhelming. Now that I'm stepping in personally, that doesn't happen again.
He intended to use this chance to lock down the server's atmosphere with a decisive win — the kind of image where, no matter the match or the stakes, first place always belonged to O-Wang Company. For that kind of brand, the first footprint mattered enormously.
So he, Oh-ha, and Su-ppi had run mock battles over and over. Yesterday a casino had suddenly appeared and they'd blown their conditioning spinning slot machines, but even so, defeat never once crossed his mind.
There's a reason Battle Royale streamers get called a social menace. I'll prove it with an overwhelming win — that O-Wang Company has every right to sit at number one in Rena World.
At last, 4:45 p.m.
Players' footsteps converged on the main plaza in Rena World's Seoul. Once enough people had gathered, Rena-ttang launched into a grand introduction of Purge Day's rules and prize money. The purse had ballooned compared to previous rounds — first place was three million Rena, second one-point-five million, third one million.
Not just first. Second and third are ours too.
Wang-ko glanced back at Oh-ha and Su-ppi standing solidly behind him. When it came to Battle Royale streamer mechanics, there was no one he trusted more.
Looking forward to another spectacular match, I'll start the countdown now.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
Ready~ Start!
The third Purge Day had finally begun.
Wang-ko's Netherite sword pointed straight at V-Live Company.
The confidence radiating off Wang-ko as he charged from the front was impossible to miss.
I almost envied that mindset. If I could be that positive, that overflowing with self-assurance, things would be a lot easier. But what could I do? A little pessimistic, always leading with worry — that was just who I was.
"Everyone, drink your potions and don't forget spacing!"
Which was exactly why we'd practiced and prepared so thoroughly.
As one, the whole team downed potions, backpedaled, and drew the bows and crossbows we'd prepared in advance. Minecraft crossbows took longer to load than bows, but they had longer range and hit harder as ranged weapons. With the Quick Charge III enchantment, they could even fire faster than a bow. And with Multishot I, you could launch three bolts at once — a versatile piece of kit.
The catch was that they were brutally hard to obtain. Our company had only managed to secure two, so Mayo and I were the priority holders.
"Everyone, fire!"
A swarm of arrows poured out like a cloud of bees.
In Purge Day, seizing the early momentum was everything. The reason was simple: the moment even one person went down, their top-tier gear got looted. After that, even if they scrambled into a spare diamond set and rejoined, the drop in combat power was unavoidable.
So we desperately avoided close combat and bought time with ranged harassment.
"Hey, that's cheap!"
Wang-ko, mid-approach, flinched hard and ducked behind a nearby building. The rest of O-Wang Company hesitated just the same. In that window, we opened the gap a little further.
"Hmph! Fine — there's another way. Kids!"
Wang-ko pivoted and pointed at the other companies. Purge Day rankings were decided by kill count, after all. There was no need to stubbornly fixate on a tough opponent.
His read of the situation was excellent. Melee DPS outpaced ranged, which made it better for farming kills. If they closed the distance, they'd switch targets back to us; if not, they'd run up the kill gap as planned.
But Wang-ko was underestimating us.
"It's fine if the early kill score slips a bit. We only ever focus one person."
We watched for openings with ruthless patience. The moment an O-Wang Company member drifted away from the pack, we poured focused fire and chunked them for massive damage. Even if it didn't finish them, it left them in crisis against whoever they'd been fighting up close.
"Aaaah! I'm in trouble — save me!"
"You little—!"
A furious Wang-ko came charging in, but we opened the distance again and kept him at bay with ranged fire. This time, though, he'd decided he couldn't leave us alone — and he didn't give up easily.
"Oh-ha, Su-ppi! Suppress with ranged fire and close in!"
"Yes, seonbae! I'll swing right!"
"Then I've got left!"
True to Battle Royale streamers raised on squad play, their coordination was seamless. But our preparation was a step ahead of them.
"Front two, raise shields!"
"Nice. Finally our turn."
Han A-yeon and Miho lifted their shields and efficiently blocked the incoming projectiles. Getting those defensive motions muscle-memory-smooth had taken nearly three full days of private-server drills. Thanks to that, the enemy's ranged fire was shut down, and we could keep dumping one-sided harassment while gradually widening the gap.
"Come on, this is way too dirty. We're just grabbing each other by the ankles and dragging this out. Can't you see the other companies racking up kill scores right now?"
Wang-ko shouted from cover behind a wall. He wasn't wrong — while we were locked in this standoff, the other companies were fighting hard and climbing the board.
But unlike Wang-ko, I didn't show any impatience. This situation was already inside the plan.
If we just break O-Wang Company, the kill score can flip whenever we want. That's the whole match.
A plan calculated and prepared down to the last detail. I trusted the work we'd put in.
"Damn it! We've got more people anyway. Take some losses if you have to and surround them. Grab on and don't let them run!"
In the end, Wang-ko made the bold call to absorb some damage. In a six-versus-nine setup, if things kept going like this, the numbers disadvantage would put us in real danger.
Good. He took the bait.
But did Wang-ko know? That we'd been steering him into exactly this?
A wide encirclement inevitably scattered O-Wang Company's people. In their once-tight formation, a huge gap opened — and the "villains" who'd been waiting for that exact moment made their entrance.
"You old coot Wang-ko! Barely four days on the resident list and the ink isn't even dry, and you're out here playing protagonist?!"
"Kyaaah!"
In an instant, the Akatsuki trio came gliding down from the sky on elytra. Yeon-sei, tightening the right edge of the encirclement, took a concentrated burst of attacks and went down.
"What the hell?! Yeong-jun, has your liver swollen up or something?!"
"Yeah, it has. So what are you gonna do about it? Think a big nose is all it takes?"
Oh Yeong-jun's contrarian streak didn't flinch under the raw competitive heat rolling off Wang-ko. Looking at the faint violet glow of Netherite gear covering him and Muyo beside him, I felt the advance payment had been worth every coin.
"Now! Focus fire on the leftmost one!"
With the encirclement stretched wide, this was the opening. After a volley, we charged and picked off the isolated member. Nearby allies tried to help, but for a moment the power ratio was six-to-two.
O-Wang Company was down another person.
"Everyone, don't forget to grab the gear."
With their main equipment gone, even a rushed return to the field couldn't avoid a combat power drop. And just like that, it was six-plus-three versus seven.
"Ugh… you absolute—!"
Even with the situation turning against them, the fighting spirit of Wang-ko and O-Wang Company didn't die. If anything, it felt like they were daring us to come finish it.
Yeah. I knew from the start this wouldn't be easy.
Even after all of this, I still couldn't call the win certain. So I raised my voice even louder.
"……!"
The magic words that boosted every V-Live Company employee's combat power by a hundred percent.