Chapter 20 : Suspicious mask

(Il-eo-tak-su).

It’s an old saying that means one mudfish muddies the clear water, a sage’s wisdom that even a single troublemaker can ruin a perfectly good ecosystem.

So.

If just one troublemaker can turn clear water into muddy water, what happens when dozens, hundreds of them come in? What if a wave of troublemakers floods in endlessly, as if a dam has burst?

[Let’s go~! Let’s go~! Let’s go~! Let’s go~!]

[So did you use a hack?]

[Why are there so many new people today?]

[Did someone post a coordinate somewhere?]

[Damn it, stop promoting in the Soul Gallery, you taunting bastards.]

[So when is the streamer turning on the mic? This is the 3rd time I’ve asked.]

[Yeah, they’re gonna get perma-banned anyway, right? We all know they’re using external tools, right?]

[Damn, the chat’s ruined.]

Naturally, it goes beyond muddy water and becomes sewage.

…In a normal situation, that is.

[PromotingPromotingPromotingPromotingPromoting]

└Continuous spamming is a warning. Warning 1 time.

[So when are you turning on the hack? So when are you turning on the hack?]

└Continuous spamming. 30-minute chat ban.

[So when is the streamer turning on the mic? 5th try.]

└Continuous spamming. 30-minute chat ban.

[Damn, the sword dance is so scary, kekekekeke.]

[A small stream with less than 100 average viewers has 3 managers, kekekeke. What is this?? Kekeke. Isn’t this only the 2nd day?]

[Who knows.]

[Yeah, what do you think it is, a corporate-type, right? It’s obviously a corporate-type Vtuber mass-produced idol, isn’t it? It’s so obvious, but people are falling for it.]

└Chatting to incite disputes. 30-minute chat ban.

[We don’t even know if the streamer is a girl or not, what bullshit.]

[Whatever, the sword dance is awesome.]

The ones who stopped the overflowing wave of troublemakers were the Ego-Searching Team.

In fact, their original mission was to monitor online communities and manipulate any impure or unhealthy public opinion to create a more ‘docile atmosphere,’ but in the current situation where Seongwon’s broadcast manager was absent, they had no choice but to also serve as broadcast managers.

Looking at the chat being suppressed in an instant, Seongwon recalled what Vice President Cha had said.

“This, um, probably in the next broadcast, a lot of malicious viewers will come in. It’s inevitable. We gathered viewers by doing malicious things, after all.”

“Um, you’re talking about manipulating public opinion?”

“No. Because of the viral spamming that the chairman did.”

Of course, Seongwon didn’t say something like, ‘You told me to do that? Are you kidding me? Write a letter of apology.’ in that situation.

Vice President Cha had simply suggested the best course of action, and she had chosen to trust and follow it. If you decide to trust someone, you have to trust them to the end.

“Anyway, a lot of viewers who spam maliciously, use profanity, or disrupt the broadcast will come in this time. Of course, the chairman is not the type of broadcaster to be swayed by such people, but, um… there’s also such a thing as the atmosphere of the chat.”

“So?”

“For now, our Ego-Searching Team will act as a filter, but that’s only suppressing those malicious people temporarily. If we don’t do this properly, the growth of the broadcast will stop for a while, or it will become a muddy stream where only malicious people gather. This is important.”

Vice President Cha asked Seongwon with a serious face.

“Chairman. Make those malicious guys never do anything stupid. Make them fans who will forever praise the chairman. Can you shut them up with your skills?”

To that question, Seongwon laughed as if it were common sense, as if she was being asked something so obvious.

“Of course.”

As always.

It was an arrogant, but confident answer.

*

[Show those trolls your skills!]

Seeing the chat, which seemed to be filled with anger from deep within, I jumped from the high-rise tower.

Currently, two of my allies are down.

To be precise, one of them cursed MInder as soon as the game started and went AFK, and the other one spat and wandered around alone before dying after being knocked out.

‘Wait, isn’t this the top of Diamond?’

If even a Diamond-ranked player declares AFK as soon as they see MInder, how bad is this guy’s reputation?

It’s practically a self-destruct nuclear button for throwing games. This is what it means to be a hero for throwing games.

The problem is, when you get to the top ranks, it’s hard to carry the game alone. The opponents aren’t fools either.

Of course, the other side also frequently explodes by mistake because they don’t know MInder’s skill combos or builds….

‘Relying on luck is a one-time thing.’

If I climb the ranks like that, I’ll fall the moment the backlash hits. Besides, there’s no need to rely on such luck, I can just prove myself with skill and climb. I can do that.

Well, the good thing is that there’s at least one ally who has the will to participate in this game?

“Wow, Sno.1, you’re really good. That, putting skills in during cognitive acceleration. How do you do that, really?”

I turned my head at the voice I heard from the side.

Then, a user gliding through the air in a cool pose followed me. A man in a black suit with a long silver cane. He’s wearing a black mask, presumably to hide his personal information, which is suspicious.

He’s a psychic-type hero, just like me.

Professor.

Professor is a mid-range pure mage dealer who uses psychic powers. If I had to describe MInder’s attribute, it would be a nuking-type assassin, while Professor is a mage focused on sustained damage dealing.

As a ranged psychic who makes a living through chipping and spacing, Professor was a hero who often appeared in the pro scene. Because he’s versatile and efficient.

I gave a proper answer to this suspicious masked man.

[Sno.1 is live streaming on Pachichik.]

[Subscribe and like. If you press it, I’ll tell you.]

“I already pressed it, I pressed it. Oh, that advertisement. I already did it, so please tell me the secret.”

[It’s not that hard. It’s simple.]

Then the masked man chuckled.

“Well, no one can do that, so they don’t use MInder? Do you have any tips you can share? You said you’re live streaming, so if it’s difficult to disclose, can you tell me separately?”

Hmm, tips.

I thought for a moment.

Aside from whether this is a tip or not, would the other person believe it’s true if I told them? Wouldn’t they rather believe that I was lying and trying to hide the truth?

‘I don’t know.’

It’s too ambiguous. The skill of the other person makes it even more ambiguous for me to judge.

Because, this opponent’s skill is definitely not at this tier.

The psychic control ability, the field of view, map reading, distance control, etc. This suspicious masked man is definitely not at the Diamond or Ranker level.

‘I don’t know where, but it’s higher than Ranker.’

I ran a simulation in my head.

‘What if I fight this person 1:1?’

Then, I soon came to a conclusion.

I won’t lose, but it might be a bit annoying if it goes to a long game?

‘Hmm.’

Seeing that even guys like this are getting caught, it seems like I’ve reached the upper tier smurf zone.

The upper tier smurf zone is where the smurfs of the highest tier roam the most. It’s because it’s the easiest place to park when they’re casually playing their main account and smurfing.

In addition, the main accounts of the current Soul Frame pros are all stuck here. It’s because they don’t have time to play rank games because they’re preparing for the Soul Frame domestic and international competitions.

‘This guy is probably a smurf or something like that.’

If I had to guess, he’s probably a high ranker?

It might not be, but I think so.

Anyway, that’s why raising your rank score here is a battle of time, effort, and patience.

You can only raise your tier by building it up one step at a time.

Well, I don’t care.

‘I’ll just cut them all down.’

I came to that conclusion and sent an emoticon. The yellow bear thumbs-up emoticon I always use.

[I’ll tell you when I reach 500 subscribers.]

“…? You already passed that?”

Ah, um.

Already passed, huh….

[Sno.1 is live streaming on Pachichik.]

[Subscribe and like.]

“Excuse me?”

[Sno.1 is live streaming on Pachichik.]

[Subscribe and like.]

[Sno.1 is live streaming on Pachichik.]

[Subscribe and like.]

“Um, excuse me?”

[Enemy. East direction. We are C. Easy to catch, right?]

“Sno.1-nim?”

[Excuse me? ‘Enemy’.]

[They’re ignoring this.]

[Kekekekekekekekekekeke.]

[Forced avoidance kekekeke.]

[Ah keke. They only promote to subscribe, but don’t care how many people subscribed kekekekekekekekeke.]

[For real keke.]

[Ah, anyway, I won’t tell you kekekekekeke.]

No, I really didn’t know.

‘Vice President Cha, this guy….’

He should have reported this right away…!

*

-Crash!

The psychic explosion that detonates immediately after the cognitive acceleration ends.

As it’s practically an impossible-to-counter instant skill, the opponent’s glass cannon ‘Ion’ was immediately stunned.

But the other three survived.

‘They’re all tanks and bruisers because they’re Ion one-trick.’

Anyway, when you get up here, everyone starts caring about team composition.

In fact, it was because MInder can pack in nuking at an unbelievable speed that I was able to instantly kill Ion, but if it were any other nuker, they would have been blocked before they could even see the damage angle.

I clicked my tongue and escaped with psychic acceleration.

‘Anyway, I’m satisfied with doing C.’

The opponent is in battle with another team. Just taking out Ion, the main dealer of that team, is a big advantage.

If you look at the other side, that’s a strange composition in its own way. It’s a team with only three members left, as if one of them was sold off….

‘Professor, The Batter, and Explosion…?’

Something’s suspicious about the composition?

“……Are they, like, a baseball team?”

The masked man said what I wanted to say.

[I guess so.]

[Kekekekekekekekekekekekekeke.]

[They’re really playing baseball, these crazy bastards kekekeke.]

[Isn’t this the Diamond Ranker section? There are so many crazy people.]

[Ah kekeke. There are many because it’s the Diamond Ranker section kekeke.]

[Explosion makes the ball with a short explosion, Professor throws it, and The Batter hits it. Damn, they could go to the KBO.]

[Embraced the dream of baseball….]

But they’re really doing that.

Explosion creates a ball with a short explosion, and when Professor throws it? The Batter hits it like some kind of artillery and bombards Ion’s team.

It actually seems to be somewhat effective, Ion’s team can’t even approach properly and is in a state of panic. Of course, me instantly killing Ion with nuking had a big impact, but it seems like they were being hit like that even before that.

The masked man, who was watching the scene from afar, muttered with a serious expression.

“This, if another hero joins in, it’ll be really serious. I think we’ll have to see who’s smurfing, but if it’s not nerfed, it’s a composition that could blow up the tournament.”

[Blow up the tournament kekekekekekekeke.]

[If the tournament can be blown up by that, it should just be blown up now.]

[But really, how do you break through? The Batter’s batting range is ridiculous, isn’t it? When the creep is fully grown, it’s endlessly long.]

[Who knows? Just make them fall behind in the early game.]

[It would be funny if it appeared in the tournament kekekekekekekekeke.]

[SCK is more fun than baseball.]

The masked man made a humming sound.

“I’m sorry, but I have to fight this now. Honestly, I have to see how it goes. I can’t guarantee victory. Are you okay with that?”

At those words, I grinned.

[It doesn’t matter, because we’ll win anyway.]