Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: The Guild Master's Appearance
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After their brief meeting, Soo-hyuk parted ways with Cha Min-woo.
This greeting had only served to familiarize them with each other. Whether for better or worse, any real connection would likely form once the preliminary rounds of the inter-guild battle began.
"He seems like someone with a strong competitive spirit."
Unhyang shared her impression of Cha Min-woo while preparing the stream.
"He was exactly like he seemed on his broadcasts."
"You've watched Cha Min-woo's streams?"
"A while back. He stopped streaming, so I haven't seen any lately. Though I probably wouldn't watch even if he did."
She had mentioned enjoying streams in the Lee Soo-hyuk style.
Before Soo-hyuk came along, Cha Min-woo would have fit perfectly into that concept as a streamer.
"Weren't you curious about him too, Soo-hyuk?"
"Something like that."
He had sought out Cha Min-woo on purpose, but curiosity about him wasn't the reason.
What Soo-hyuk wanted was the companion by his side.
'Two companions.'
One was a player named Hee-young. She had been nearby, and Cha Min-woo had introduced her.
A female player who used a bow.
There was nothing special about her. Her entire introduction boiled down to being a Blue Zone player participating in the preliminaries alongside Cha Min-woo.
'And the other one...'
"The other one isn't with us right now. That person is currently..."
"Let's leave it there?"
Hee-young cut off Cha Min-woo's words midway.
It was an unnatural conversation. And from that exchange, Soo-hyuk was certain.
He was the man Dark Map had told him about.
'How should I approach him?'
Prying into his companions would come off as unnatural.
Asking if he came alone might seem casual enough, but anything beyond that risked exposing his intentions.
He couldn't afford to leave a strange impression.
No matter how ironclad Dark Map's security was as an information guild, he couldn't underestimate a giant like Blue Zone.
'For now... all I can do is create points of contact.'
Fortunately, there was still time.
Cha Min-woo was participating in this inter-guild battle. Unless he got eliminated, they were bound to meet again.
"Do you think Cha Min-woo can make it through the preliminaries?"
Soo-hyuk trusted Unhyang's judgment.
She had watched his streams in the past. She should be able to gauge his potential.
"The main tournament? It's fifty-fifty."
"You mean you're not sure? Or..."
"No, literally fifty-fifty. I haven't seen him fight recently."
Cha Min-woo wasn't a veteran player. His rapid climb up the ranks proved his talent, but he still lacked experience.
'Fifty-fifty, huh.'
This preliminary round was important in many ways. Even beyond the stream, this inter-guild battle felt tied to his own comrades.
'If I follow Cha Min-woo, I might run into him.'
The Blue Zone player who had been with him.
He might very well be Hwang Gyu-seong.
Before long, the spectator stands for the inter-guild battle were packed.
The event was about to begin. With hundreds of thousands of spectators flooding in, the surroundings buzzed with noise.
At the highest point of the stands.
In a VIP room reserved for those who had paid top dollar, Hwang Gyu-seong and Lee Won-jae stood side by side.
"Have you made your decision?"
Hwang Gyu-seong responded to Lee Won-jae's question with a voice far sharper than the one he used with Cha Min-woo.
"What do you think?"
"We've shown you which side we're on."
"I saw that. Weren't you trying to tempt me with that kid too?"
The reason Cha Min-woo had stuck by Hwang Gyu-seong's side until today.
It was because Cha Min-woo was Lee Soo-hyuk's most ardent fan.
Words alone— a hundred or a thousand— wouldn't convince anyone. A few months wasn't enough time to build trust.
So Lee Won-jae had chosen Cha Min-woo.
Knowing how much he idolized Lee Soo-hyuk, he had used the boy's sincerity to sway Hwang Gyu-seong.
"Yes. Did it work even a little?"
"Just a tiny bit."
"Then I'm glad."
Watching Lee Won-jae smile, Hwang Gyu-seong thought to himself that he trusted no one.
But even so, he had no choice but to grasp this hand.
It was the moment he had waited for far too long.
"All I need is to kill Kim Il-su."
Hwang Gyu-seong flashed a pale smile.
"No matter why you plan to use me, I don't care."
"I'm glad. Our goals align."
"He'll be here soon, right?"
His long-stilled heart began to race. The moment he had waited over twenty years for might arrive any second.
Below the arena, a sea of people stretched out.
Did they know?
That this place was about to become a battlefield.
No matter how impressive he had been on stream, he still wasn't a ranker.
Expectations for him couldn't match those for Cha Min-woo.
The inter-guild battle was a clash of stars. Even in the preliminaries, rankers abounded, along with runner-ups who had just missed the main tournament.
Aside from a few fans, most thought Lee Soo-hyuk wouldn't make waves in the preliminaries.
Or rather...
Even those fans thought this time, Lee Soo-hyuk would fall from the tree.
"He'll be fine, right?"
Cheongryang asked worriedly, reading the community comments.
This inter-guild battle was an adventure in many ways.
Soo-hyuk's streams were all about vicarious thrills through top-tier play.
Viewers were drawn to their faith in him and his cool moments. But that was a double-edged sword.
The moment he betrayed that faith even once, the blade would cut his own hand.
"Of course he'll be fine. Why ask?"
"'Of course'? What do you think the inter-guild battle is? And this is his first time."
No matter how strong-willed, everyone got nervous for their debut. Especially in a massive event like this.
Even if Soo-hyuk had the skills for the main tournament, nerves could lead to mistakes.
And that was what worried Unhyang too.
"Let's just start the stream already."
It had been a while since that message rang out.
The viewers who had waited over ten days swarmed in like bees.
The chat flew by so fast it was dizzying. Viewers piled in as if they had been waiting for this day.
Soo-hyuk waved to them.
"My lieges. Good to see you. It's been a while."
Following the demands for explanation came superchats. With the screen flooded by donation messages, he had to speak up.
"This trial was in an area where streaming wasn't possible. I tried a few retries, but they all failed."
The question came via donation.
Explaining it would be long and fun, but Soo-hyuk shook his head at the query.
"No preview."
"Spoiling it beforehand would ruin the fun. What trial it was, what I did there, who I met— you'll see in the next stream."
The viewers threw a fit in frustration. Watching the chat explode, Soo-hyuk smiled happily as always.
Dumping the whole story now would be entertaining, but building curiosity and anticipation was the top priority for any stream.
He had hooked their curiosity.
Next up: anticipation.
And the key to building that anticipation was...
"See for yourselves."
This stage—the inter-guild battle preliminaries.
"Whether it's something special or not."
Waaaaah—!
Boom, boom-boom-boom—!
Countless fireworks exploded over the arena. Fireworks painting the sky, along with magical flames conjured in the air, heralded the start of the preliminaries.
On the arena floor, countless players stood in formation.
The group, mostly rankers, was a spectacle in itself just to behold.
As the preliminaries drew near, the chat buzzed with talk of Soo-hyuk's chances for the main tournament.
No matter his confidence, few believed a non-ranker like him could advance.
Or rather, it was safe to say none did.
There had never been a non-ranker in the inter-guild battle main tournament before.
Out of all these countless rankers here, only a tiny fraction could enter the main event.
"There you are."
While waiting for the preliminaries amid the participants, Cha Min-woo approached.
"Oh, are you streaming?"
"Yeah. Want to guest for a bit?"
"Is that okay?"
Cha Min-woo had no qualms about appearing on stream. He had streamed in a similar style before, after all.
Cha Min-woo approached Soo-hyuk first. Unfazed, Soo-hyuk offered him a guest spot right away.
He already had a big fanbase, so it was good stream fodder too.
"As much as you'd like. Being a guest just means chatting with me anyway."
"True. You're not great at killing time with talk."
"... That bad?"
"Yes. Total snoozefest."
This was another reason Soo-hyuk welcomed Cha Min-woo's approach. Idle time like this was the hardest for him.
"You're not here to save my stream. You have something to say?"
"Yeah, something fun. You'll find out soon anyway."
"Something fun?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"The opening ceremony."
The opening ceremony.
The event signaling the start of the preliminaries usually featured famous star players by tradition.
Even for prelims rather than mains, people came just to see it, so expectations were high.
"I wanted to tell you first who'll be there."
The viewers were thrilled to learn the opening ceremony guests before everyone else.
But at Cha Min-woo's words, Soo-hyuk's heart began to beat faster.
'No way...'
One face flashed in Soo-hyuk's mind.
There was only one reason Cha Min-woo could know the guests ahead of others.
Precisely.
"It's our guild master."
At that moment.
Boom, boom-boom—!
The second round of fireworks announced the opening ceremony's start.