Taeya’s studio in Sangam, Mapo-gu.
“Aigo~ Welcome!”
The moment he saw me, Taeya came over rubbing his hands together.
“Thank you for coming all this way, sir!”
“What for? It’s Seoul to Seoul, anyway.”
“Honestly, I didn’t think you’d really contact me. You’re completely hot right now, aren’t you? Broadcasters and YouTubers with much bigger audiences must be scrambling for you with fire in their eyes, yet you chose me! This younger brother is moved by your loyalty, sir!”
“Hmm.”
If I told him I had only contacted him because he was the streamer I could reach the fastest, he would probably be disappointed.
Sometimes, a truth was only beautiful when it remained covered.
“And the person behind you must be the one you said would come along...”
“My name is Jeong Suhyeok.”
True to his elite upbringing, Suhyeok gave a crisp greeting.
“For now, you can think of me as something like Jaeha’s manager.”
When I said I would come alone, Suhyeok had insisted on accompanying me because he was worried.
Taeya did not seem like the sort of person who would pull a scam, but there was no harm in having Suhyeok beside me.
“You’ve already found a personal manager. You’re thorough, sir.”
“Ha ha, you could say that.”
Suhyeok, who had suddenly become my manager for the day, let out a soft sigh.
“By the way, sir. Since you requested a collaboration stream, are you thinking of becoming a streamer?”
“Yes. For now—”
“Wait!”
Taeya abruptly cut me off, then grinned.
“Speak casually, sir. It feels awkward having you use formal speech with me all the time.”
“Can I?”
“Come on, you did just fine in Underground Prison.”
“That was because of the situation.”
“Formal speech is even more awkward for me, so please speak casually~”
Well, if he was going that far, there was no need for excessive politeness.
“All right.”
“Ah~ Excellent!”
“Anyway, I am planning to become a streamer. The goal may sound a little materialistic, but it’s money and raising my market value.”
“Ha ha ha! There’s nothing left to streaming if you take those away!”
Taeya himself had been able to get in contact with Eclipse because he had made a name for himself as a streamer.
I had worried that he might be displeased by what I said, but that did not seem necessary.
“Then the style you’re aiming for is a Skill Stream.”
A Skill Stream.
The kind of broadcast with no special content, where overwhelming ability itself became the entire show.
“Right.”
“With your skill, sir, it will obviously work. But competition in this industry has become quite fierce lately. To secure regular viewers, you need to show something clear and overwhelming, whatever it is.”
If there were a hundred streamers, there were a hundred broadcasts.
There had to be something that would make people pass over the other ninety-nine, choose mine, and spend their money.
“I’ll lay out an absolutely perfect stage for you! All you have to do is dance to your heart’s content!”
“Excuse me.”
Suhyeok approached Taeya, who was staring excitedly with shining eyes.
“How will the donations from today’s broadcast be divided?”
“Of course, I’ll give Jaeha, sir, a fifty-fifty split! After the platform fees, naturally.”
“Hmm, sounds good.”
In other words, today would be something of a trial run at being a streamer.
I could also make sure people remembered exactly who I was.
“This is a good opportunity, Jaeha. You must seize it.”
“Don’t worry.”
After lightly patting the shoulder of my brother, who was more nervous than I was, I walked into the studio Taeya had prepared.
“There are probably a lot of viewers waiting, sir. I announced that an exceptionally special guest would be coming.”
“I saw it on the way here. Most people had already guessed it was me.”
My fame had truly taken off after I appeared on Taeya’s broadcast, so it was only natural that people would assume the special guest he brought on immediately afterward would be me.
If it was anyone else, people would only be disappointed.
“There’s a difference between expecting someone and having them really appear.”
Taeya finished the final camera setup and stood in the center.
“You checked the plan I sent beforehand, right? Please stay outside, then come in when I tell you to!”
“All right.”
I stepped outside the camera frame.
A moment later—
“The broadcast... begins!”
The streaming began in earnest.
[Viewers: 916]
[Viewers: 2,340]
[Viewers: 5,301]
Viewers began pouring in across the broadcast monitor at an incredible rate.
Even I nearly cried out in surprise as I watched from the side.
-The stream’s on! The stream’s on! The stream’s on!
-Today’s guest is that Warrior, right? I’m looking forward to it!
-Finally!
-I’ve been waiting since this morning just to watch this stream.
-The clip views went crazy, lol.
-Even a ton of people who do not normally watch Taeya have piled in....
-So where’s the guest? So where’s the guest? So where’s the guest?
-Minotaur Warrior, come out!
The instant the chat window became active, countless lines of text rose as though they had been waiting.
There were too many for even my eyes to follow.
Taeya let the suspense build while viewers gathered.
[Viewers: 10,314]
Then, the moment the viewer count peaked, he began his greeting.
“Hello, everyone! Nice to see you~! Thank you for coming to Taeya’s stream again today!”
Perhaps because the audience was several times larger than usual, his voice was thick with excitement that he could not hide.
“As announced! Today, I’ll be joined by an exceptionally special guest!”
-It feels like we all already know who the guest is, lol.
-Only we know who the guest is...
-Is the Warrior coming out~?!
Taeya deliberately played tug-of-war with the viewers, acting as though he might reveal the guest at any moment.
Then, when their anticipation had burned just enough—
“He’s the most famous person around these days! The legendary Player who discovered the Minotaur strategy and conquered Underground Prison at Level 6! Please welcome Shin Jaeha, sir!”
At Taeya’s signal, I stepped into the camera frame.
-Whoa, an immediate face reveal?!
-Why is he handsome? That’s not fair.
-Please be short... Please be short... Please be short...
-From today on, I am a fan of Jaeha, sir.
-Having that face and skill is cheating! Aaaaargh!
-Big brooooo!
-The Level 6 Warrior is here!
-“All of you, just listen to me.”
The response was even hotter than I expected.
I waved my hand casually and responded.
“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you. I’m Shin Jaeha.”
-What’s with that reaction?
-Looks like he just came out for a casual stroll, lol.
They seemed to have expected me to be overwhelmed.
‘That kind of attention was nothing new, even before my Regression.’
Once you reached Grand Master, attention was inevitable.
It had died down soon enough after people learned that my Mana Circuit was wrecked and I was only half a Player, though.
“You’re remarkably calm, sir. Don’t tell me you have broadcasting experience too?!”
“Well, it’s better than facing a giant boss up close, isn’t it?”
-That is true.
-That place was physically dangerous, lol.
-Your comparison point is a little too grand, sir....
Amid the steady stream of comments, the first donation came through.
[‘Marisol’ donated 1,000 won!]
<So what is today’s content?>
The donation message played in a synthetic voice.
Taeya’s eyes sparkled as he grasped its meaning.
“For the first part, we’ll simply watch the Underground Prison footage and take questions. My hands were honestly itching because I wanted to lift that mosaic so badly.”
Taeya brought up the footage.
It was the Underground Prison clear video that had already been released.
The one difference from before was that the mosaic covering me had been removed.
-Wow, it really was true....
-How are those Level 6 movements possible?
-Even seeing his orders again, they are art, lol.
-I heard it has already caused an uproar overseas. The first proper strategy to crack Minotaur.
Watching a video of myself together with everyone else... felt a little strange.
Maybe it was like being dragged onto the stage at a school talent show, dancing, then having the video screened at the local movie theater.
[‘Gimmugim’ donated 10,000 won!]
<How did you know the strategy?>
A more elaborate sound effect played with the new donation message.
‘Wow, five thousand won.’
My motivation for streaming suddenly blazed to life.
“The strategy? It came to me as soon as I thought about it a little.”
-Mm, I see.
-Geniuses......
-A little thought (No one found it until now)
-Why is the thought threshold so high?
-How to get into a prestigious university: Think your way through the questions.
They would not believe me even if I told them the truth, so it was better to keep up the genius image.
I would be putting future information to good use from now on, after all. I could not sit around explaining myself every time.
[‘Ssscream’ donated 10,000 won!]
<Why are you so handsome? Life is fucking unfair.>
“Come on, what’s handsome about me? This much is ordinary.”
-?
-??
-Seriously, f***, I’m so bitter...[This chat has been temporarily restricted.]
-Looks like he forgot what kind of person he is.
-If you’re going to humblebrag, at least buy us chicken first!!!!!!!!
The broadcast continued in a fairly relaxed mood.
Then, a donation with an entirely different feel came through.
TA-DA-DA-DAA~!
A single message arrived with a majestic fanfare.
[‘MK Thunders’ donated 1,000,000 won!]
<Hello. This is the Planning and Strategy Department of MK Thunders. We would like to speak with Mr. Shin Jaeha separately. Would you possibly have time for us?>
One million won.
Everyone froze at the astronomical amount.
-Whoa.
-One million won?!
-Do not tell me that is really MK Thunders?
-Insane.
Taeya immediately stepped in front of the camera and shouted loudly.
“Aigo~ Our generous big-spender sir sent one million won~!”
Taeya, who had insisted on casual speech until then, began using honorifics in a nasal voice.
“By the way, every major team has a unique nickname, so there are no impersonators!”
-Then it really is Thunders, holy shit.
-As expected of a first-division team. Look at their money, casually tossing out one million won right away, lol.
-Does that mean Warrior sir got a love call from a first-division team?
I smiled inwardly, making sure not to show it.
‘They took the bait.’
And as for MK Thunders, I had recently met some of their prospects and personally given them a thorough beating.
They had probably been looking for me already. Now that they had found me here, they would want to create a point of contact somehow.
“First of all, thank you for the donation. I’ll provide my contact information separately later.”
When I did not make a big reaction and simply moved on—
[‘Deep Space’ donated 1,000,000 won!]
<Hello, this is Deep Space. We would like to give wings to Jaeha’s dazzling skill...>
[‘FB’ donated 1,000,000 won!]
<This is Choi Yongju, an FB Scout. We would like to arrange a good meeting with Mr. Jaeha....>
Two more million-won donations came through in quick succession.
Both had been sent by K.P.L. first-division teams.
They could not be called top-tier teams, but simply playing in the first division made them major teams of considerable scale.
“Yee-hawww! Ah, no... Ahem! Thank you for the donations! Today really is a jackpot!”
Taeya let out a cheer, then subtly read the room and cleared his throat.
‘Streaming was the right answer.’
Three first-division teams were paying attention to me.
That fact alone was practically enough to validate my worth.
Mid-tier and upper-tier teams that had yet to pay much attention to me, and even the Three Great Elite Teams, would surely tilt their heads the moment they heard this news.
And more than anything—
‘I earned 1.5 million won!’
I had earned that much less than an hour after starting the broadcast.
I calmed the corners of my lips from twitching through superhuman restraint.
After that, several Second Division teams also sent smaller donations of 500,000 won or 100,000 won, trying to get in on the action.
“Thank you for the interest. I’ll contact the rest of you separately later as well.”
-A man who can tell first-division teams to wait. Damn.
-With ability that high, it is worth taking a shot.
-Is he not still Level 6? This feels like overreacting.
-Precisely because he is still Level 6, they need to snatch him up quickly.
One comment abruptly caught my eye.
“I’m not Level 6, though.”
-Huh?
-What do you mean?
-You were Level 6 until recently.
-Then does that not mean you are, at most, Level 7 now?
“Come to think of it, I still haven’t told you about the second part of the broadcast.”
With my arms folded, I grinned.
“The second part will be my Placement Exam.”
-Placement Exam?
-At the level where he can take that, surely...?
“Yes.”
I displayed only the Level section of my Status Window before the camera.
[▶Level: 10]
“I’m Level 10.”
A Player who had been Level 6 only a few days ago had suddenly reached Level 10.
At that unbelievable news—
-???????
-How did you do that?!
-Do not cheat your Level! Do not cheat your Level!
-Are you perhaps the only one using a ten-times-experience cheat?
-Four Levels in that time?!
-Unfair! Unfair! Unfair!
The viewers were thrown into complete chaos.
“I was surprised too! Just a few days ago, you were Level 6, but now you are Level 10... How the hell did you do it, sir?”
“It just happened.”
After I killed the Minotaur, the System had handed me four Levels at once.
If they had a problem with it, they could clear Underground Prison at Level 6 with the highest contribution themselves.
-Die, genius!!!!
-The humblebrag concentration is too high... I cannot breathe....
This was enough warming up.
Taeya checked the mood of the broadcast, then gave me a slight nod.
“All right, let’s keep this energy going! The second part that sir mentioned! Jaeha’s Placement Exam begins now!”
Placement Exam.
A system that analyzed your level of skill through the first three Ranked Matches and assigned you to a rank that suited it.
-You will be Stones or Iron anyway.
Placement results generally fell into two categories.
Most people began in Stones, the lowest rank. Those with a decent amount of skill, or those who performed particularly well in Ranked Matches, were assigned to Iron, one rank above it.
But if it were that ordinary, it would not be interesting.
“I’ll make a pledge.”
I stood, loosened up my body, and declared to the viewers.
“I’ll get Bronze or higher from the Placement Exam.”
-Bronze?
-Bronze right from the start?
-Are you insane... lol.
-Even Nam Siwoo could not do that.
-True. Did even God Siwoo not start at the very top of Iron?
Naturally, everyone reacted as though it were impossible, but I was confident.
Confident that I could complete this Placement Exam with a better result than anyone else.
“I’ll begin right away.”
There was no need to drag it out any longer.
After setting up screen sharing with Taeya’s broadcast—
[Connecting to Channel.]
[‘Ranked Match: Placement Exam’ begins!]
—I immediately connected to the Channel.