Chapter 93
Chapter 93
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Blackened Streamer
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Victory really is something else.
Every morning, he expresses gratitude to his fans and steels himself by reminding himself that without them, he's nothing.
What is this, some textbook superhuman?
I admire it, but I can't respect it.
I could never live like that.
Viewers still feel a bit foreign to me.
I'm grateful they watch my streams, but I wouldn't die without them.
And I genuinely hate the ones who say nasty things.
Is it because my livelihood doesn't depend on streaming that I can't be sincere?
But the advice from that anonymous donor resonated with me more than Victory's words.
His advice was good, but this one suits me better, I guess?
The best revenge against those who hate you is to succeed and show them how well you're doing.
I like that outlook on life.
Even if it might not be the healthiest.
If me quitting streaming and vanishing would make them happy, and my success would make them sick to their stomachs...
Fine, I'll succeed big time.
I'll turn all your malicious digs, smears, and hatred into backfire.
'Yeah, time to stream.'
I launched Teamfight Arena.
Explanations?
No thanks.
Hate comments?
Ignore.
Why should I step onto the stage you fools arbitrarily set up for me?
I'll decide where I stand.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "That day, I hung out with Jun oppa. Yeah. We ate some delicious food."
Since Seol-a was staying completely silent on the controversy, Woo-seung and Lee Jun decided to align their stories and say they just hung out together.
Woo-seung generally believed lying was bad in almost every situation.
But this was a special exception that didn't fall under "almost every."
The female streamer who'd be hurt most by this kind of controversy, Jeon Jeonseol, needed protecting.
Woo-seung's clarification quickly spread across the internet.
Not everyone online was a malicious troll.
It was just a noisy minority making a racket.
The controversy was baseless nonsense from the start, and plenty of people couldn't stand it.
So the haters were shut down in no time.
As a bonus, word spread that Jeon Jeonseol had earned 30 million in just five minutes, giving the haters a real stomachache.
Everything seemed to work out fine, but one minor personal issue cropped up for Woo-seung.
He flinched.
His phone wallpaper was an anime character illustration.
A commemorative Nox illustration distributed for the theatrical release of Magical Girls Chronicle.
Every time he unlocked his phone and saw it, someone who looked just like Nox came to mind, making him flinch.
No ulterior motives, of course, but he opened Cocoa Talk and checked Seol-a's profile, whose number he'd gotten during their last meetup.
People confident in their looks tend to boldly use their face as a profile picture, but disappointingly, Seol-a's was blank.
She just hated the hassle of potential drama.
Unfortunately.
Don't fall for her.
If you do, don't show it.
If you show it, don't confess.
He finally understood why she brimmed with such confidence.
To Woo-seung, Seol-a wasn't just some girl he'd met for the first time a few days ago.
He'd known her face was unknown, but they'd shared tons of time and memories as friends.
If they hadn't met in person, she would've stayed just a fond memory...
'Did I mess up?'
There were no ulterior motives.
Not until he'd seen her face in person, anyway.
He'd just wanted to comfort his close bro Lee Jun and look after Seol-a, who always seemed lonely.
Should he not have?
Had he foolishly opened Pandora's box?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Wild—Lee Jun—doesn't bother peeking into communities.
The talk about him is always the same anyway.
2Jun did his 2Jun thing again; he's not even Rank 2 anymore.
Seeking that out would just be self-harm.
No matter what he said there, whether raging or threatening lawsuits.
To Lee Jun, it was all pointless.
How does a pro gamer prove himself?
Victory.
Everything else besides winning and proving it is meaningless.
But this time, he needed to check the communities once.
Because Seol-a, who spent the night under the same roof as him (sticking to facts), got dragged into controversy.
Of course, it wasn't real controversy.
Just forced nonsense.
But with her stream getting raided, he needed to know what they were saying.
So he dove into the sewer sludge—the cesspool communities normal people avoid.
The result? Not a single mention of him.
Why ignore that his game history stopped at the exact same time on the same day!
The world only cared about Victory and Jeon Jeonseol's histories!
Why overlook Wild's!
Normally, less controversy is better, but since all three hung out together and only one got spotlighted, it stirred an indescribable feeling.
Pairing a guy and girl? Nothing packs more punch than just the two of them.
Sure, other pros had no history that time too, but still!
A call from Woo-seung came in.
Woo-seung and Lee Jun synced up to say just the two of them hung out. (No kissing.)
Lee Jun lit up with fire.
He'd dominate ranks and tournaments alike.
Make sure they never forget his presence.
That was the one counter a pro gamer could take.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ I check my fan board once in the morning.
If the board owner doesn't look, the posts would feel too lonely.
The first news I saw there.
📰 Breaking News [Author: NaJakSeol] [Breaking) Jeon Jeonseol Hits Rank 1] (Ranking page screenshot) While guild leader was sleeping, Victory slipped and handed over 1st place (Victory rank history screenshot) 13-game losing streak??? What happened??? A bit startling, (Jeon Jeonseol's jellyfish avatar screenshot) Supreme Legend Rank 1 is a well-known fact for Supreme Legend Supreme Legend praise time starts now. 💬 Comments — Worship [I worship you] — Suddenly Impressive [Suddenly so impressive again] — Perfect Timing [I was born too late to explore the New World, too early for space, but just right to witness Jeon Jeonseol's legend] — Legend... [You are the legend...] — Nick Value [Lives up to the nick so well] — Goddess [She is a god!] I'd planned to climb to 1st place diligently today too, but while I slept, Victory slipped all on his own and took it.
...What the hell is this guy doing?
Of course, without him, I'm the highest, so when he fell, I took 1st, and no one wins forever in this game, anyone can drop.
Still, there's no satisfaction unless I boot up the stream, grind points, and plant my flag on the summit like a conqueror.
Waking up to "Congrats, you're 1st now" just deflates me!
Redo! Go back before that guy fell and redo it!
Is too much, huh.
'Today's stream content is ruined.'
For starters, getting robbed of the highlight moment of snatching 1st sucks.
And climbing to 1st tastes different from holding 1st and grinding there.
Plus, Victory lost way too much.
He dropped to 3rd, letting Wild climb to 2nd.
13-game losing streak? What the heck happened?
Suspicious...
No, of course I'm not suspecting abuse or anything.
Not that...
'Me again?'
Me again?
Did the Witch of Ruin destroy another pro gamer?
Delusions of grandeur?
No, the timing's too coincidental.
Why suddenly tank 13 losses and plummet right after meeting me?
Other rankers? Fine if they crumbled from my playstyle influence.
But if this guy's wrecked by something outside the game after meeting me...
No, if gaming feels that off, how shocked was he by seeing me?
Shock doesn't cover it.
This pattern is definitely...
'That can't happen!'
Hoping for the best—not the worst—I called Victory.
—"Hello?"
Fast!
Why pick up in one second!
"Woo-seung-ah."
—"What's up."
"Got something to ask."
—"What?"
"By any chance... did you fall for me?"
—"No?"
Not a confused "What nonsense?" or "What do you mean?"—straight "No" is super suspicious.
Probe a bit more.
"Good. Actually, I think I like Jun. Can you help make it work?"
—"What!?"
"Tall, muscular, perfect age match—total soulmates, right?"
—"Likes him? Jun oppa, for real?"
"Who likes people fake?"
—"......"
Silence drags. Suspicious.
Don't like me even a little.
Please, seriously.
—"I'll cheer you on."
"Help out?"
—"Help with what?"
"I'll call when needed. Still planning."
Planted the bait here.
What about the stream?
Highlight replay for hitting 1st?
Jeon Jeonseol mad movie marathon.
Not bad?
Waste to ignore the videos my editor slaved over.
And a money-making stream.
With Victory's 13 losses sparking abuse drama from trolls.
Wouldn't it be fun to rake in cash right when they show up and piss them off?