One of Thousand — Placement Test (1)
Lately, Yujin had become nothing short of a bona fide internet sensation.
Fleeting stars who flashed bright and faded just as fast were nothing rare in this scene — but someone who had people talking every single time he went live, someone who was writing legends in real time, was another matter entirely.
Skill and physical talent so absurd that no ordinary person — no ordinary streamer — could ever hope to copy or even imitate them. On top of that, the cold composure and battlefield judgment of a man who might as well have spent twenty years crawling through a war zone.
Yujin was an invasive species that had crashed into the industry like a comet and overturned the entire ecosystem in a single instant.
It went without saying that, whatever regular viewers might feel, other streamers could never bring themselves to like him. Maybe it was just paranoia — but every time Yujin hit the Go Live button, they couldn't shake the feeling that their own viewer counts were bleeding out.
Even so, even they had no choice but to admit, deep down, that his skill was the real deal. Which was why, now that Yujin had seen Nightfall's true ending, the entire community's attention was locked on one question: what game was he going to play next?
One thing I am sure of tho — whatever he plays next, Soma's gonna go full legend mode again
btw I'm SoCheonji, the guy whose skull Soma caved in lmaooo
gonna watch the Soma handshake mad movie and the Shin Doo-hyung no-spin free kick special before bed lmao
Even after two days without a single stream, interest in Yujin hadn't cooled off — it had only amplified. With the atmosphere like this, the flood of viewers the moment he went live was only natural.
"It's been a while. Good to see you all. This is Soma."
"Sorry I'm late. I've had some personal stuff going on the past few days. And I've been thinking about what game to do for the next content."
While Yujin fielded chat one reply at a time, Winter reflexively checked the viewer count.
Viewers: 102,196
Over a hundred thousand people had stampeded into Yujin's stream the second the broadcast opened.
His existing audience had been heavy on Powell Software and Nightfall fans. The expectation had been that a lot of them would bounce the moment he started new content…
Far from dropping off, the Nightfall fans were the ones leading the charge demanding a new game. They weren't here to watch him play Nightfall anymore. In the truest sense of the word, they had become fans of the streamer called Yujin himself.
"Just as you all expected, starting today we're kicking off a new game. And the one I picked is none other than…"
"…One of Thousand."
At Yujin's words, the viewers nodded as if they'd seen it coming all along.
At this point in time, One of Thousand was the most popular online game out there, with a player base so massive it defied description — so Yujin's choice was hardly surprising.
"Like with any other VR game, this is also my first time playing One of Thousand. Originally I wanted to show you all the account creation process from the start, but…"
Yujin scratched his head with a wry smile.
"I got chewed out by my little sister for that. She asked me what the hell I thought would happen if I revealed my Unique Skill live on stream."
"So because of that whole situation, I couldn't show you the account creation process. But in exchange, I should at least show you what Unique Skill I got, right?"
The fact that Yujin was offering to show off his Unique Skill like it was nothing sent the entire chat into a frenzy.
And then—
Master of Swords
A low hum resonated through the air.
Before Yujin, a single sword materialized — one that looked strangely familiar. The viewers tilted their heads the moment they saw it.
And then the sword's form twisted and shifted, until it settled into the shape of a charming little doll.
A doll that anyone who had been watching Yujin's streams couldn't possibly fail to recognize.
It was none other than—
The appearance of Yuria — a Nightfall character — inside Thousand left the entire chat speechless with disbelief.
"This is one of the effects of my Unique Skill, Master of Swords. To be more precise, it's a skill that lets me temporarily materialize any sword I've personally wielded."
"No need to worry about copyright. I've already gotten official permission from Powell Software. The general director heard my situation and gave the green light without hesitation."
To be more precise, the general director hadn't really had a choice. With Yujin already locked in as the final boss of the Nightfall DLC and as one of the bosses in the next mainline title, there was no way they could start nitpicking about copyrights and legal issues and risk ticking him off.
But the general director had gone a step further — he'd even cooked up an idea to turn the whole situation to their advantage.
"Everyone, do you remember? In the upcoming Nightfall DLC, a boss monster based on me is going to appear, and the first person in the world to defeat it gets ten thousand dollars."
"No, not bragging. The general director said something to me. The DLC is still a ways out from official release, so how about running one more event in the meantime?"
"It's simple. Just like the first person to beat the DLC's final boss — the Demon King — gets ten thousand dollars, he said they'd run an event where the first person to kill me inside Thousand also gets ten thousand dollars."
In that instant, the chat window that had been flooding nonstop fell into dead silence.
Hold on… what did he just say?
The first person to kill Yujin gets ten thousand dollars, paid out on the spot?
It was an utterly absurd statement. But Yujin pressed on in a tone that was completely, deadly serious.
"And of course, the method doesn't matter. Form a sniper squad just to hunt me down, ambush me, dig a trap — all of it is allowed. As long as you kill me, by any means necessary."
Arms folded as he said it, Yujin looked arrogant beyond measure. But the viewers watching couldn't help thinking that arrogance suited him perfectly. In truth, he more than earned the right to talk that way.
"With that in mind, I hope as many players as possible join Powell Software's event — Catch Soma. Ideally, I'd love for one of you watching this stream right now to be the lucky winner."
And right after saying that, Yujin added one completely unnecessary little line.
"Assuming, of course, that killing me is actually possible."