Chapter 96

CHAPTER 96

Chapter 96

"We're really kicking them out."

The Third Elder spoke in a dazed voice.

He hadn't expected the Orthodox faction to be pushed this far onto the defensive.

In truth, forcing them onto the defensive wasn't that difficult. They could simply throw everything they had into an all-out war against the Orthodox faction.

The important thing, however, was speed.

Finishing it as quickly as possible was crucial, and they had managed to draw the Unorthodox faction in perfectly and accomplish almost all of their objectives.

"Didn't I tell you? I said it would work!"

Dalso said from beside him.

"It's all thanks to you, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about? It's all because I came here and the Demonic Cult has been doing well."

"Of course."

The Third Elder nodded as if he understood.

The banker they had borrowed from the Unorthodox faction had come all the way here and was causing chaos.

At first he thought having another banker was great, but now that he thought about it, maybe they could have done without Dalso altogether.

"Still, this is brutal. Scary, really."

The Third Elder, along with the Mountain Bandit King and Dalso, watched the two people fighting in the training hall.

The Mountain Bandit King spoke.

"Still... Brother Seojun beats him up well. I mean, he teaches well."

The two fighting in the training hall were Seojun and the World's Greatest Swordsman.

Without even turning on his stream, Seojun was beating up the swordsman under the pretext of training.

The Third Elder asked blankly,

"Teaching him well? That?"

Wasn't he just a stress-relief punching bag?

The Mountain Bandit King glanced to the side.

His eyes looked slightly moist.

"...It works surprisingly well."

How was he supposed to explain it?

The look in his eyes said that even he didn't really want to talk about it.

The Third Elder didn't know the whole story, but for some reason a chill ran through him.

Meanwhile, the Mountain Bandit King, Lee Dongsu, thought to himself:

Didn't he say he was training him for stream content?

Yet now he wasn't even streaming.

Come to think of it, the same was true for the Gym Master...

Seojun's personality really was terrible.

But—

His skill is improving...

Lee Dongsu stared desperately up at the sky.

Mine too.

Inside the club, they had various programs that measured physical condition and skill levels.

Naturally.

It was one of the top professional clubs in the highest-level virtual reality esports scene.

And lately, those test results had been improving little by little.

• Is his body still developing?
• His reaction speed is improving too.

The coaches and managers tried to analyze the cause.

When the head coach asked whether there was anything unusual that could explain it, Lee Dongsu mentioned Seojun.

• I've been sparring with someone. He's pretty skilled, so I practice with him regularly.
• That streamer?
• You're saying your skills improved just from fighting him?
• You've watched him play too, Coach.
• Really? But aren't you playing the same game now?
• Yes.
• Good! Free time approved!

Maybe because the results were undeniable.

If his skills were improving, there was no reason for the coach to stop him from interacting with Seojun.

Of course, "free time" wasn't much, and he still had to complete all mandatory schedules, but thanks to that he was able to participate in the war.

As a side note, Lee Dongsu never admitted that his pride prevented him from saying he spent most of his time getting beaten up.

"Hmm. So you're saying that actually works?"

"It's good, but... well... yeah. It's really good."

The stronger the opponent, the greater the growth.

They were witnessing the World's Greatest Swordsman's abilities improving at an astonishing pace.

"Then should I ask him to train me too?"

Lee Dongsu slowly turned his head.

The look in the Third Elder's eyes said he wanted many things.

The Third Elder flinched.

"Well... it's not a bad idea..."

The reason Lee Dongsu kept getting beaten up was his professional mindset.

His brain had practically gone on strike and could no longer comprehend that he was learning something every time Seojun beat him up.

Yet his body faithfully absorbed the lessons anyway.

At that point, he had no choice but to keep getting hit.

"If there weren't results, I'd have quit."

More importantly, Seojun knew how to hit people.

Painfully, but never critically.

"Do you remember what Seojun did to him before?"

Lee Dongsu decided to start with the previous lesson.

"Oh. He told him to parry and then beat him to death with heavy attacks, right?"

For the record, the swordsman had never once successfully parried and simply got beaten to death every time.

"And now?"

The Third Elder's gaze moved forward.

This time—

It was the opposite.

Seojun was telling him to attack with heavy strikes while he himself performed the parries.

At that moment, the Third Elder was dumbfounded.

Does he have no conscience at all?

The moment he parried, he mercilessly counterattacked.

It was like saying, You failed, so here's your punishment.

But how was an ordinary player supposed to succeed against someone who fought three bankers at once?

The thought of trying it himself was terrifying.

The fact that the swordsman's skill was still improving was unbelievable.

"As expected."

"Right?"

Lee Dongsu and the Third Elder exchanged looks.

They were clearly thinking the same thing.

Each was imagining himself standing where the swordsman currently was.

"Haha. If I asked, do you think Trainer Seojun would really teach me? He's busy. He'd probably just ignore me."

"..."

Lee Dongsu could definitely understand that much.

Very few people enjoyed having more punching bags added to their collection.

Of course, he had no intention of ruining the Third Elder's fantasy.

"Hah. You'd be better off learning from me."

Dalso, who had been listening nearby, interrupted.

Naturally, everyone ignored him.

"By the way, we might not be able to push the Orthodox faction out today."

Lee Dongsu said to the Third Elder.

"The Unorthodox faction, right?"

Yesterday, Seojun had created an opportunity to attack the Orthodox faction's headquarters, but they hadn't launched a full-scale assault.

Because Shaanxi had been abandoned, the connection was still severed, and the Unorthodox faction was still one region away from reaching the headquarters themselves.

So they decided to observe the situation first and make their choice afterward.

However, the Orthodox faction did not attack Shanxi. They merely defended.

After losing Shanxi, there weren't many tricks left for them anyway, so they chose not to drag things out and simply decided to endure and see what happened.

As a result, today the Orthodox headquarters would face both the Demonic Cult, which had reconnected through Shaanxi, and the Unorthodox faction that had pushed all the way in.

Even so, the Orthodox faction appeared more relaxed than when they had been getting dragged around.

Because—

"The Orthodox faction is trusting the Unorthodox faction."

"That's right."

Why would the Orthodox faction trust the Unorthodox faction?

Naturally, because everyone knew the Unorthodox faction wouldn't attack.

"See? The Unorthodox faction is shameless. You can't trust people like them."

Hearing that, the Third Elder stared at Lee Dongsu with disbelief.

Then his gaze rose above Lee Dongsu's head.

[Mountain Bandit King]

The guy who was robbing people in Green Forest up until the war started really shouldn't be saying that unless he's willing to change his nickname first.

"Well... yeah, they're shameless."

"And compared to them, look how righteous we are."

That was also questionable...

The Third Elder shook his head.

One minute before seven o'clock.

An enormous number of viewers had gathered in Seojun's stream.

It might even hit twenty thousand.

It was probably because he had become one of the central figures pushing into the Orthodox faction.

• They're really sending the Orthodox faction packing.
• I was so excited I couldn't even sleep.
• Don't come! Stay away!
• The Orthodox faction is doomed lol.

['o o' donated 10,000 won!]

[It's not fun if it's too one-sided. If you throw away victory and just bully a single faction, of course the war becomes easy. I'm honestly disappointed this time.]

"Thank you for the donation."

It was understandable to feel disappointed.

War events became boring when multiple factions ganged up on one side.

That was why it wasn't a huge controversy yet, but if the Orthodox faction was actually eliminated from the war, some of its players would definitely raise a fuss.

The Demonic Cult, which had led the effort, would be criticized.

Seojun would be criticized too.

The way to avoid that?

"But who exactly threw away victory? Didn't you read the title?"

He was simply stating the facts.

Because he genuinely hadn't acted with malicious intent.

[Victory belongs to the Demonic Cult anyway.]

• The War Master has a plan!
• We've been hearing that title for days now lol.

"And what do you mean by two factions ganging up on one?"

Seojun asked with a genuinely confused expression.

Then the clock struck seven.

• GOOOOO!!!
• Charge!!!
• Let's witness the end!

Just as everyone expected, the Demonic Cult and the Unorthodox faction reached the gates of the Orthodox headquarters.

It looked exactly like the beginning of a final showdown.

Strangely, however, no battle marker appeared above the Orthodox headquarters.

Instead, the Unorthodox faction's bankers began making moves at the border where they met the Demonic Cult.

Those who had expected an all-out clash blinked in confusion.

• Huh? What are the Unorthodox guys doing?
• LOL.
• They're betraying them now?
• I knew this would happen.

No.

Seojun belonged to the group that had expected it.

Anyone experienced in these wars probably anticipated the betrayal.

"The Unorthodox faction wants us to keep suppressing the Orthodox faction. If this standoff continues, the side that benefits most is the Unorthodox faction."

In other words, the Unorthodox faction wanted the Orthodox faction to successfully defend.

Because—

"They figured out what we're planning to do. Once the Orthodox faction is gone, they'll be the next target. The Demonic Cult's strategy is to wipe out every enemy headquarters."

Seojun openly revealed the Demonic Cult's strategy.

At this point, there was no reason to hide it anymore.

• That was really the plan? LOL.
• I suspected it, but hearing it stated outright is crazy lol.
• Everyone guessed it, but the fact they actually intended to wipe everyone out is legendary.
• Then why did the Unorthodox faction help you and come all the way to the Orthodox entrance?
• Somebody explain for the newbies.

"They were tempted because it was appealing and powerful. We knew this would happen too, and accepted it anyway."

To summarize the situation:

The Demonic Cult created a strategy centered around destroying headquarters.

But after taking Shanxi, the Orthodox faction's counterplay threatened to stall things.

Even if time dragged on, they could still destroy the Orthodox headquarters.

However, the longer it took to eliminate the Orthodox faction, the less time remained to destroy the Unorthodox headquarters afterward.

So Seojun decided to bring the Unorthodox faction into the plan.

At the time, the Unorthodox faction controlled the most territory, but that wasn't especially meaningful.

When second and third place start checking first place, a new first place eventually appears.

Then the former first place joins the former third place to suppress the new leader.

If enough time remains, the rankings can always be overturned.

Then the Demonic Cult approached them with an offer:

Let's eliminate the Orthodox faction together.

At that point, the Unorthodox faction probably realized what the Demonic Cult was aiming for.

Eliminate the Orthodox faction first.

Eliminate the Unorthodox faction next.

Even so, they accepted because—

"That way they could permanently remove the Orthodox faction as a competitor."

And from the moment the board was arranged this way, the falling Orthodox faction would drag the Demonic Cult down with it if things went wrong.

"So the Unorthodox faction believed they would ultimately win."

The Orthodox faction realized the truth too late and, unable to reverse the situation, essentially said:

Then go ahead and try.

That was the current state of the war.

• OHHHHHH LOL.
• This war is way more complicated than I thought.
• So the Demonic Cult and Unorthodox faction both understood each other's intentions and used each other.
• Damn.
• This is awesome lol. This is politics! This is strategy!
• So what's the plan, Master?

After finishing the explanation, Seojun noticed a playful comment.

What's the plan?

Wasn't it obvious?

Though the viewer probably wanted to hear it directly.

A streamer's job was to say what viewers wanted to hear.

"What are we going to do? It's simple. Today we eliminate the Orthodox faction."

Seojun opened his mouth before the twenty thousand viewers now watching.

"And starting tomorrow, we attack the Unorthodox faction. That's all. So once again..."

He smiled.

"Victory belongs to the Demonic Cult anyway."

The moment those words ended—

As if it had been waiting for that exact cue, a red notification appeared over Hebei, the region containing the Orthodox faction's headquarters.