Chapter 167

CHAPTER 167

Here.

We have a Bull of the Rift.

Not only does he look like he'd be great at farming fields, he also looks exceptionally good at fighting.

Brave.

Agile.

And currently one of the last opponents anyone would want to meet in the Rift.

A creature standing at the very top of the food chain.

Bull can plow through both his lane opponent and the entire top lane as if tilling a field.

Over years of tournament appearances, this terrifying creature has repeatedly proven that even top lane—a role often considered low-impact—cannot be ignored.

Top lane.

The place supposedly inhabited by people who are just a little mentally unstable.

No living creature exists in the wild without understanding just how terrifying and dangerous the beast that dominates that territory truly is.

And right now, Bull's face is grave.

He seems to have something he wants to say.

So the production staff asked him directly.

[Now then! You've seen today's three MVPs! But before that—Bull! We heard you have something you'd like to say to Seojun. Is that true?]

Travel was a caster who had firmly established his territory in the survival-of-the-fittest wilderness that was streaming.

Apparently he'd acquired some information.

Bull's eyes darted around.

He kept swallowing nervously.

Just what exactly was he planning to say?

And what kind of preparation required this much mental filtering beforehand?

The lowest members of the food chain—viewers.

Yet without them, the ecosystem itself couldn't exist.

While worried about Bull, they secretly urged him on.

This was the wilderness.

A place ruled by the unforgiving law that boring people simply did not survive.

'Damn it!'

He'd accidentally nodded.

Honestly, he hadn't really had a choice.

The image he'd built.

The misunderstandings.

The persona of a strong man.

Those things were frightening.

[Number. Problematic.]

That line was what had made Bull famous.

A small offline retro arcade tournament hosted by a major streamer.

Bull had won.

After the event, the major streamer told him to provide his contact information so they could send the prize.

And Bull's response had been—

'That's where it all started...'

A short answer.

Back then, he was still a tiny streamer.

Suddenly receiving a flood of attention.

And for the first time in his life, a woman other than a family member or customer service representative had asked for his number.

The combination of those two things had made him so nervous that he'd blurted out that response.

Fortunately, it had landed well.

And it wasn't just his vocal cords that froze.

Every muscle in his face had stiffened.

Even his eyes had frozen.

Miraculously, his voice hadn't cracked.

And just so happened, he was a streamer.

Finally, there had been a veteran major streamer sitting beside him who smoothly salvaged the situation.

All the conditions necessary for viewers to interpret it as a character persona had fallen perfectly into place.

After that, Bull's career took off.

Every now and then, he just had to intentionally speak in a strange manner.

Was speaking that way difficult?

Not really.

Just schedule a collaboration with a female guest and it would happen automatically, regardless of his own will.

And in-game, as a top laner, his playstyle already perfectly matched what viewers wanted.

There was rarely a problem.

Except for moments like this.

When that image came back around and shackled him.

[Oh? What is it?]

One quarter of the screen showed Jun.

The screen was split between the host and the three MVPs.

Jun looked straight ahead with obvious curiosity.

In reality, Seojun had simply looked directly into the camera.

Bull got intimidated anyway.

Once again—

Outside of gaming, he was actually a gentle person.

When he watched prey get caught, he felt sad for the prey.

When predators failed to hunt, he sympathized with their hunger.

That kind of person.

Which made provoking someone extremely difficult.

Of course, everyone understood that streamers said things for entertainment.

It wasn't that he was afraid Seojun would genuinely be hurt.

It was just...

[I'm really curious now!]

Seojun smiled brightly.

Bull saw that smile and became even more nervous.

'Before fighting him, I was confident enough.'

He'd already lost to Seojun on the proving grounds.

He'd witnessed the skill gap firsthand.

And he'd witnessed Seojun's personality.

That was the biggest problem.

Bull didn't know Seojun personally.

Only what he'd seen on stream.

But if Seojun really was like he appeared on stream...

Then provoking him here would probably make Seojun happy.

And then Seojun would deliberately find ways to torment him later.

Everyone's eyes focused on him.

The chat was begging him to take it easy.

But if he really took it easy, viewers would definitely be disappointed.

'Maybe I should just say, "Come top lane." No, what am I thinking?!'

Absolutely not.

If Seojun actually came top lane, it'd be a disaster.

Then what could he possibly say?

Something that preserved his image while also avoiding attracting Seojun's interest?

'Maybe I should include a compliment?'

That way, Seojun wouldn't take it personally.

But how do you compliment someone while provoking them?

Did he really need a compliment?

What even counted as a provocation?

Bull's thoughts became tangled.

The familiar tension returned.

Social skills were truly important.

In the end—

"Duel me. I'll break you. Handsome guy."

Bull was pushed forward by everyone's expectations and delivered the worst provocation imaginable.

[Pfft...]

[Cough—]

[Hngh!]

• LOL
• This is supposed to be a provocation?
• Wait, Bull just hates handsome people? Honestly, understandable LOL.
• LOL he was one of us all along! Fellow squid brother!
• Hating handsome guys is peak loser behavior LOLLLLL.
• Were you just jealous this whole time? LOL.

Seojun wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to this.

He even dug through memories from his previous life trying to find a way to handle the situation.

Nothing came to mind.

'Is that even a provocation?'

No.

Was it even a normal conversation?

He wasn't sure.

Bull's face was bright red.

Apparently he was extremely embarrassed.

"[Hahahahaha! Ah, yes. That absolutely counts as a provocation!]"

Bangju said with a grin.

"[Why?]"

"[First, the target is clear. It's Seojun. Second, the objective is clear. He said he'll break him. Third, he even stated the reason.]"

"[Then why aren't you telling us that reason, Bangju?!]"

• Because he's handsome LOL.
• This isn't a third-rate villain's taunt. It's a formal declaration of war between nations LOL.
• It definitely counts as a provocation!
• Stop teasing Hwangso. He can't even lift his head anymore LOL.

Hwangso's macho-man image cracked slightly.

Rather than a bulldozer-like beast charging forward with overwhelming mass like a real bull, people were beginning to see him more as the familiar big, slightly dumb guy from the neighborhood.

Either way, it wasn't particularly important to Seojun.

What mattered was—

"Haha, I'm not entirely sure myself, but it was a provocation, right?"

The fact that someone had managed to confuse Seojun's normally razor-sharp judgment this much could be considered a talent in itself.

"[Ah! Yes, that's right. Seojun, what do you think about Hwangso's provocation?]"

"First of all, regarding him thinking highly of me..."

Hmm.

Did he actually think highly of him?

Seojun was still confused, but finished the sentence anyway.

"...Thank you."

Looking at the screen, Hwangso was secretly watching Seojun's reaction.

Seriously, what is this guy's deal?

"[Hahaha! Well, he certainly thought highly enough of you.]"

• At least he didn't call him a pretty-boy parasite LOL.
• Honestly, being called a pretty boy is basically a compliment in this industry anyway LOL.
• No matter how you look at it, it's praise.

"And since he told me to come at him, honestly I'd like to start fighting from lane phase..."

"[But?]"

"Even so, I trust our Babam Sword. And I trust our coach too. So I'll leave the laning phase to my teammates. I'll look forward to fighting Mr. Hwangso afterward."

It was a textbook answer.

Hwangso quietly let out a sigh of relief.

It appeared on camera.

Hard to notice, but obvious if you watched carefully.

'Did he not actually want to provoke me?'

Too bad.

Seojun was currently considering going top lane.

Naturally, everything he had just said was a bluff.

'I can't let this slide.'

Seojun lacked self-restraint.

Even a provocation that was only 98% complete was still a provocation.

And Seojun wasn't capable of ignoring it.

How about a little bullfighting?

"[Ah! The appearance of Lee Dongsu was something absolutely nobody expected. Everyone's curious how you became acquainted enough to arrange this collaboration. Are you really not going to tell us?]"

"I can't help it. The secret is simply too important."

In reality, Lee Dongsu knew that if Seojun wanted to, he would reveal the whole story on stream without caring about anyone's dignity.

So he'd preemptively asked Seojun not to tell anyone.

Because it was embarrassing.

After being thoroughly humbled by Seojun already, Dongsu no longer felt embarrassed around him personally and could be surprisingly straightforward.

"[That's unfortunate. Alright, we won't ask anymore. Then shall we talk about the game?]"

"[Oh! I have a question!]"

"Yes, caster. What is it?"

"[The secret to multitasking! That's what I want to know!]"

Seojun explained in detail.

The methods he personally used.

Bangju suddenly clapped.

"[Ah! I think I've heard something similar before. It was about chess masters. There was an experiment where they were shown a chessboard for five seconds and asked to memorize it. There were two versions: one was completely random, and the other was taken from an actual historical chess match.]"

"[Oh? And then?]"

"[The chess masters could instantly memorize the board taken from a real game. But when the pieces were placed randomly, they couldn't memorize it at all!]"

"[That's fascinating!]"

"[It really shows how powerful familiarity can be. This could be huge news for Zen players.]"

"[Seojun! Is it really okay to reveal such valuable information? You're practically the only person who's reached that level. It was the same thing with Kael. You're too nice.]"

"Ah. It's not like that."

"[Huh? Then what is it?]"

"Like you said, I explained things during Kael too, but nobody could actually do it. So there's no reason for me to hide it."

• That's true LOL.
• Since when was the streamer nice? He's constantly looking for opportunities to flex.
• This one actually sounds possible though.
• Brb, going to play Zen.

Of course, even if someone learned how to do it, Seojun didn't particularly care.

"[Understood! Do you have a goal for your next match?]"

"Ten deaths."

"[Ah... pardon?]"

"Just ten deaths. I'd be satisfied with that. I won't say whose."

"[Hahaha.]"

"[I really wonder who you're talking about.]"

"[Seriously, what kind of ten deaths could he possibly mean? I'm incredibly curious, but we'll move on without asking further!]"

Seojun's next opponent was Jipaljikkon.

The next day, with no scheduled events, Hayoonho left his house.

6 A.M.

Very early.

"Wow. How long has it been since I woke up at this hour?"

For streamers, sleeping late was practically unavoidable.

Some even streamed through the night and completely reversed their sleep schedules.

Breathing in the fresh morning air, Hayoonho headed toward the gym.

"This is just preliminary scouting."

As team captain, he was fulfilling his responsibilities.

It definitely wasn't because he wanted to meet Lee Dongsu early.

Definitely not.

"Seojun kindly gave me permission to come first."

To repeat—

He had only gotten up early because, as team captain, it was necessary to assess the situation in advance.

The training facility.

The training methods.

And the coach.

Hayoonho placed the autograph paper and pen he'd prepared the previous night on the passenger seat and got into the car.

"Hehehe. They said I'd get to train with Lee Dongsu before everyone else."

Perhaps the burden of leadership was simply too heavy.

He couldn't stop smiling.

This smile definitely wasn't because he was happy.

"Such tremendous responsibility!"

However—

The bright smile blooming across Hayoonho's face didn't last very long.