A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 33

At the bus stop, Lee Gunyung wore a hoodie to cover his face and stared intently at his phone. A blue bus was approaching the stop.

He checked the route he had searched on the internet once more.

“Is it that number?”

He boarded the bus, feeling uncertain. It had been years since he used public transportation.

*Beep.*

『Fare: 1,200 Won』

The bus fare registered.

“It used to be 720 Won…”

Lee Gunyung realized he had become an adult over the years just from the bus fare. It had been two years since he became an adult, but staying in his room all the time meant he hadn’t been conscious of it at all.

“It’s quite empty.”

He sat in a vacant seat and pulled out his earphones, putting them into his ears. He opened iTube and went into his viewing history.

『What is parrying? – Assassin’s Dawn (Shadows in the City) #1』

Laughing at the title, he knew the content of Sojun’s stream by heart. The video wasn’t edited by him but by another editor. Despite having watched it several times while working on the final touches to send Sojun the edited version the previous day, he played it once more as he was headed to meet him.

Starting with fast-tempo violin background music, the scene showed Sojun climbing a clock tower wall.

“That’s really well made.”

The intro, made exclusively for the “Assassin’s Dawn” series by another editor, was incorporated into the video he worked on too. The screen, showing Altheon’s nighttime view, quickly transitioned. It was similar to an intro from a superhero movie company.

The scenes changed rapidly, depicting moments from Sojun’s gameplay, culminating in a single logo.

『Jin Sojun iTube』

The well-crafted intro instantly increased the immersion of the video.

“I heard they’re experienced. Will I get to work with them…?”

Sojun then displayed behavior typical of a novice gamer, prompting laughter in the chat. Usernames appeared: “White Horse Knight” and “Best Defense”, and finally, his nickname: “BrickRobberKing.”

“Agh. So embarrassing.”

He paused the video momentarily. Online, that nickname felt somewhat proud(?), but thinking that the people he’d meet knew his identity made him feel embarrassed and self-critical.

“Still, it’s really well-made. Envious.”

The comments were positive. As he arrived at his destination, he stopped the video and got off the bus.

“I have plenty of time.”

They agreed to meet at a café. As he headed to the meeting spot, he pondered.

“This is my first time making a contract like this. What should I do? And the other editor is so good. Do I matter…?”

Anxiety crept in.

He had become too accustomed to his comfort zone.

“If I let these thoughts consume me and stop now, I won’t get anywhere.”

Lee Gunyung opened the café door and sent a message in the group chat indicating his arrival. A woman, looking at her phone while sitting by the window, began to look around. She saw him standing at the entrance and waved.

“Hello.”

Lee Gunyung tried to respond but found himself tongue-tied. It had been so long since he talked to anyone outside his family.

“Yes… ahem.”

“I’m Han Jimin. Hello.”

“Yes, hello. I’m Lee Gunyung.”

His voice gradually softened like a decrescendo. However, the atmosphere soon shifted.

“What? That happened?”

“Yeah. What a jerk, right? Once he succeeded, his true nature came out. We worked so hard to grow that channel, juggling part-time jobs just to keep going because there was no income.”

Han Jimin vented her frustration while Lee Gunyung empathized. He realized that meeting people and talking comfortably wasn’t that difficult after all.

“So, what I’m saying is, don’t voluntarily become a slave. Got it.”

“Absolutely.”

Though Han Jimin was 26 and Lee Gunyung 21, they seemed to get along well. To him, she appeared far more mature, having started working earlier and achieved some success.

“If they use revenue sharing as an excuse to force unpaid labor, just don’t do it.”

“But…”

Lee Gunyung wanted to work with Sojun, who had recognized his talent for the first time.

“The second video posted today, that was yours, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did you see the reactions?”

“No, I’m too scared to see what others think.”

“You seem talented enough to thrive elsewhere.”

Hmm.

Han Jimin nodded.

“And it’s likely that the new streamer will try to cut corners rather than properly compensate two editors. Sure, the streaming seems to be doing well, but who knows how long that will last. The channel isn’t even generating revenue yet, so there’s no way they’ll invest in an editor. So, don’t get your hopes too high.”

“Then why did you come here?”

“To give hell to those who think they can exploit us.”

Lee Gunyung turned his eyes away from Han Jimin’s burning gaze, feeling uncomfortable. It appeared that her grievances with her former employer had accumulated significantly.

“That… Sojun-ssi probably knows how to fight in real life too.”

Lee Gunyung swallowed his words.

At that moment, both of their phones lit up simultaneously.

Ding.

It was a message from Sojun, stating he would arrive soon.

***

“Boss, are you sure about this? You might end up taking a huge loss.”

Han Jimin asked for the fifth time.

“It’s fine.”

Sojun answered for the fifth time as well.

“Seriously?”

“Yes. We even have a contract.”

“Boss! I will trust and follow you for life! Loyalty!”

Lee Gunyung looked in disbelief at Han Jimin, who was excitedly signing the contract.

“Well…”

The conditions Sojun proposed were straightforward.

The two editors would manage the entire channel. They would receive a minimum base salary but a 25% incentive from the channel’s revenue. If there were no other reasons for termination, the contract would continue indefinitely, which seemed disadvantageous to Sojun at first glance.

Lee Gunyung poked Han Jimin’s arm as if needing an explanation.

Han Jimin, evidently excited, spoke in a high-pitched voice.

“Hyung is a god!”

Why is she calling him hyung? Isn’t she older?

“That’s not what I meant.”

“RobberKing-nim, what are you curious about?”

Sojun, who had been watching, finally spoke up.

“Err, hyungnim, I mean Boss. My name is Lee Gunyung, you know?”

“And your nickname is ‘BrickRobberKing’, right?”

Sojun gave a mischievous smile. It was the same expression he had when teasing viewers during his streams.

Lee Gunyung felt the urge to hit Sojun, who made a point to loudly mention his nickname every time, seemingly to provoke the people around them.

“Sigh… Anyway, as someone who doesn’t know much about this, I still think Sojun-ssi doesn’t need to share the revenue.”

That was what Han Jimin had tried to explain to Sojun multiple times.

He likely could have found editors without sharing the revenue.

And Lee Gunyung would have accepted even without the incentive.

“Well, as long as you work hard, robberking-ssi, I won’t be at a loss.”

Sojun had his own calculations. After all, iTube was just one of the income sources for streamers.

Given that, it would be better to leave the channel growth to editors and focus on streaming entirely rather than learning and investing time to grow the channel himself.

In fact, Alpaca had succeeded this way.

It was also why people joined MCNs despite having to share iTube revenue.

“Wow, boss, your view count already surpassed 10,000! It took me months of hard work just to break that barrier!”

Han Jimin urged Lee Gunyung to sign quickly.

Eventually, Lee Gunyung sighed and signed the contract with an exhausted laugh.

“Let’s go out for a celebratory dinner. Boss, I have some money left from the last scumbag I scammed. It’s on me today!”

That night, it was Lee Gunyung’s first time drinking, and he got thoroughly drunk.

***

“What? You’re calling me an arrogant lunatic? Then you’re just a plain lunatic. Hahaha!”

A handsome man, who would be seen as an noble if dressed ordinarily on the streets, laughed heartily.

Amid a battlefield filled with blood and torn flesh.

A surreal scene unfolded.

Two young men surrounded by dozens of enemies.

It seemed like a typical battlefield, but the fact that the surrounding enemies hesitated and maintained a tense state, rather than attacking, was peculiar.

But those who knew the identity of the two men would consider it natural.

“Shut up and open the way.”

The one who spoke had the character ‘正’ (Correct) on his back.

Behind the laughing lunatic, no, the handsome man, was the character ‘天’ (Heaven).

They were the junior leader of the largest martial clan, the Demonic Cult, and renowned successor of the orthodox faction.

They had formed a temporary alliance in a crisis.

The memory faded briefly.

And then the face of that man came to mind like a revolving lantern.

His eyes, always filled with arrogance and confidence, stared at him.

“That detestable face never ages.”

“If it weren’t for you in the orthodox faction, cooperation wouldn’t have been possible in this situation.”

“Lunatic. Are you really of the orthodox faction?”

“We are so alike.”

“Did you forget that I’m ten years older than you? You jerk.”

“My long-time friend…”

* * *

Sojun woke up from his sleep.

“Ah, it was a stupid dream…”

He lay there, pressing his forehead with his hand.

His head pounded.

The vivid memories of his past life made him furrow his brow.

“Why did I have to have such a dream? Tsk.”

Sojun clicked his tongue.

It was a restless sleep.

More restless than usual.

“Should I just skip streaming today?”

He had already canceled his stream the previous day.

Not because he wanted to tease the viewers eagerly waiting for him to finish the quest.

No, really.

He had simply been busy meeting new editors, which left him no choice.

There were no other intentions.

Absolutely none.

『Why of all times did you have to cancel now? Damn it.』
『Please start the stream soon.』
『Open the door, streamer, I’m cold…』
『I’ll never complain no matter what you do! Just come back…』

A bit, maybe, he thought as he closed the community chat with a smile and opened the discussion room.

『BrickRobberKing: Streaming duration for day 4: 1 hour 23 minutes, 27 minutes, 34 minutes. Please check.』
『Han Jimin: Checked!』

.

.

.

There were countless other messages, too.

Mostly, Lee Gunyung was asking Han Jimin about various editing techniques, while Han Jimin was asking Lee Gunyung about Sojun’s streaming content.

Passion overflowed.

Sojun stretched and got out of bed to wash up.

It was 8 a.m.

“Too late for a workout.”

Beep beep beep beep.

While having a simple breakfast of cereal, the front door opened.

It was Kim Taewoo, who had gone for a morning workout for the first time in a while.

Taewoo used to follow Sojun everywhere back in high school, but as adults, he only went when he felt like it.

“Hey, you crazy bastard.”

Why was he like this from the morning?

“Did you know Lee Dongsu is a Free Fall athlete?”

Free Fall?

Sounded familiar.

“Isn’t that the team Shin Hayun is in?”

“Yeah.”

Sojun had heard they were a dynasty team from the PC era to the current capsule era.

“Was he? No wonder his moves looked so skillful.”

“Because you bullied, I mean, trained him during sparring.”

Not bullied, trained.

“We got close while talking behind your back. Even had warm soups together.”

Sojun thought.

Why are friends like this?

“Oh! And this is a team secret, but Shin Hayun didn’t play any other game for a week and just trained in the sparring ground to finally beat you.”

“Oh?”

Sojun’s AI, of course, didn’t possess the same skill level as Sojun. If he fought again, he would easily win, but it was at a level higher than Shin Hayun.

She couldn’t surpass it in a week.

Yet Shin Hayun eventually overcame the AI.

‘Hmm, given our connections…’

This meant she broke her limits and grew.

As an immensely senior practitioner, seeing a junior grow made him happy.

Thus,

‘As a senior, I should help. Hehe.’

After finishing his meal, Sojun stood up.

“What are you doing? Why are you getting inside the capsule?”

“Ah, just stretching a bit.”

Sojun remained in the capsule for a long time afterward.

It wasn’t just a bit of stretching.

Feeling uneasy, Taewoo turned on his phone and entered a site related to the sparring ground.

And he genuinely marveled.

“Is he crazy? What is he thinking?”

Sojun Jin’s name appeared in the sparring ground rankings.