Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Lightning was one of the two things the player community considered to be ‘broken’. The other thing, of course, was Lee Su-hyeok. Both ‘broken’ things were included in that one post.

[Crazy, lol. Yesterday, I heard some people making a fuss about a ‘Newbie Hyeok’, so I watched out of curiosity, but he really got the Lightning skill.]

[How to get it? Easy. You just have to kill the giants’ leader in the ‘Survival’ stage.]

[Do you think I’m lying? There’s a link attached below.]

The post, which included both ‘Lightning’ and ‘Lee Su-hyeok’, quickly became a hot topic.

– ??? Isn’t this a troll post???

– It’s 100% a troll post.

– Right? OP should have taken more time to make the troll post. There’s no way someone would be able to hunt that, lol.

– Oh yeah, so easy.

– Don’t feed the troll.

At first, almost everyone was skeptical, but it wasn’t hard to verify the truth. After all, there were already over 500 people watching the stream.

– The guys from above are saying the same things as the people who were watching the stream, lol.

– How did he kill it? Just watch the replay.

– Newbie Hyeok hasn’t enabled replays yet.

– Well, today was his first stream, after all, lol.

– What?? Is this real??

– I just checked, and it’s true. How did this happen???

‘First stream’, ‘Lee Su-hyeok’, ‘Lightning skill’... Although the description was short, it was extremely provocative.

– Lee Su-hyeok!!! I always believed in you!!!

– Su-hyeok’s gang is ready!!!

– Although Su-hyeok is doing great, it’s not like the real Lee Su-hyeok reincarnated, lol.

– Ting! [Lee Su-hyeok used ‘Reincarnation’.]

– Reincarnation? Lol.

Although it was at the bottom of the page, it was still very popular. Moreover, among players and streamers, many used to be fans of Lee Su-hyeok. Maybe that’s why a streamer who had about 8,000 viewers, the streamer ‘Hawk Eye’, who focused on reviewing content, watched Su-hyeok’s stream.

“Hello, everyone! Today, we’re going to dissect and analyze the new Lee Su-hyeok streamer!” Hawk Eye smoothly started his stream. Next to his screen, another screen showed Su-hyeok surrounded by giants.

“Why ‘currently’, you ask? Don’t be impatient... Ah, no one asked? So what do you want me to do?”

– Hahaha.

– LOL.

– He’s really blunt, lol.

– This is what makes Hawk Eye’s stream great.

“Alright, everyone, let’s focus. This is a mad video of Lee Su-hyeok a viewer sent. They recorded it themselves.” Hawk Eye played a short video for a few minutes that showed Su-hyeok killing the giants’ leader, obtaining the Lightning skill, and escaping.

Hawk Eyes’s mouth fell open, and his eyes widened. “Woah...” He seemed to be in awe, looking as if he’d forgotten he was streaming as he watched in silence.

– Amazing...

– Is this how good people on the 2nd floor are these days?

– He’s drooling.

– Hawk Eye’s reaction is genuine.

– Hawk Eye doesn’t react to good plays on purpose.

– He goes silent when he sees good plays.

Hawk Eye was a successful streamer whose ability to analyze players’ fights had earned him recognition. He’d watched and carefully observed all sorts of player videos.

Of course, he’d also seen Cha Min-woo’s videos, who had recently joined Blue Zone. He’d also watched Kim Ilsu, the former Blue Eyes member’s, videos.

The legendary player, Lee Su-hyeok, was no exception.

– He isn’t as good as I thought. His lightning isn’t as flashy as the Lee Su-hyeok I remember.

When he saw a viewer’s critique, he snapped back to reality. It wasn’t something that should’ve been evaluated in such a way. “First of all, everyone, refrain from making baseless criticism. This is insane. How can he even do this?”

Hawk Eye shook his head at his involuntary exclamation. It wasn’t the right time for him to be stuck in admiration—he needed to proceed with the stream.

“Everyone, can you see the weapon he’s using? It has a subtle red effect, right? That’s a magic sword.”

– A magic sword?

– On the 2nd floor?

– Aren’t you going to make a final review?

Hawk Eye quickly returned to his senses.

A final review... he needed to conclude and summarize the observed play in one line. If he had to summarize it in one line, he couldn’t help but give the highest praise.

“In terms of control alone, he’s better than the true Lee Su-hyeok.”

* * *

Felius was an outstanding knight. Even if he needed to face huge giants, he had enough skill to handle two or three on his own. It wasn’t for nothing that he’d set out to defeat the giants’ leader.

After confirming that it was Felius who had lifted him and was running from the giants, Su-hyeok lost consciousness.

[The 6th stage is waiting.]

[Your Fatigue has decreased to 0.]

[Do you want to stop the trial?]

There were two conditions to stop and return in the middle of a trial: the first was to clear a stage and stop right before the next one started, and the second condition was to be at 0 Fatigue and in perfect condition.

Even if you stopped in the middle, you needed to meet conditions that wouldn’t affect the next trial. It seemed his Fatigue had reached 0 during his short break. However, there was something he needed to be wary of.

‘Even though I’ve recovered from physical fatigue, the mental fatigue remains.’ One couldn’t let themselves be deceived by the Fatigue level shown in the status window. Proper rest was necessary for concentration. The harder a trial, the more your success or failure depends on the slightest difference.

‘Lightning... I need to have some time to test how it synergizes with Selfish Sacrifice.’ He needed to check how much combat power he could use while using Lightning and Selfish Sacrifice together when his Stamina was full.

If he wanted to do that, he needed to take a short break.

“It was nice having met everyone today.” Before ending the trial. Su-hyeok left a farewell to the viewers who had entered his stream.

[Viewers: 742]

His viewers had steadily increased, even though he’d rested until his Fatigue hit 0, so he was wondering why they were still watching.

– ???

– Is today’s stream going to end here?

– I only saw him rest.

– If you were going to end the stream, you should have told us sooner.

Regrets and complaints erupted from the chat.

‘Should I have ended the stream first?’ It was understandable that the viewers who were waiting for him to recover were perplexed. After all, they’d been waiting to see the next stage.

If he were an experienced streamer, he would have anticipated such complaints and ended the stream early. Su-hyeok made a mistake since he was too focused on the trial to pay attention to the stream properly.

“I’m sorry. Next time, I’ll tell everyone in advance.”

– It’s okay.

– Since this is your first stream, it can happen.

– ?? Was this his first stream?

– I think I’ve seen this question about 500 times today.

– When is it going to be the next stream?

“I’m going to rest for a day and continue.”

– Subscribed.

– Subye~

– Subye (It means Su-hyeok bye)

– Bye bye!

The farewells continued. After a few moments, Su-hyeok ended the trial and the stream simultaneously.

[Ending the trial.]

[Ending the stream.]

Swoosh—

Everything in view vanished until he found himself in a white room—the 2nd floor’s rest site. Su-hyeok took out the kit from his pocket as he walked toward the door.

‘I think it wasn’t bad for the first day.’ Most of the trial contents were things he knew. He wasn’t worried about that. Instead, he was more concerned about the stream.

Had he started with a strong foundation? Since he didn’t know, he couldn’t make a clear judgment. Feeling a sense of anxiety and anticipation, he turned his kit on to connect to the streaming site.

At that moment, Su-hyeok received a message.

[Mr. Lee Su-hyeok, this is Un-hyang from Balhae Entertainment’s management department...]

The message was quite long, and Su-hyeok tilted his head as he took off his suffocating mask.

“Balhae Entertainment...?”

____