Chapter 151
[The stream has ended.]
Viewers were thrown into confusion by the sudden situation.
-???
-What happened?
-Technical issues?
-They’ll restart it, right?
However, the stream that had been cut off did not return. The curious viewers were left in a state of puzzlement. This had never happened before, and there was no legitimate reason to suddenly end the stream. In fact, now was precisely the time they needed to stream.
Valhalla was a place that many viewers were curious about. Just revealing that place was bound to attract viewers, and the future videos edited from this footage would generate significant revenue.
-Why aren’t they coming back?
-Ending the stream without a word is so rude.
In that short span, over fifty thousand viewers had tuned in. As she observed their growing anger, Un Hyang shook her leg nervously against the desk.
“Could something have happened? Why did the stream just suddenly go off….”
She stared intensely at the blacked-out stream screen. Like the viewers, she waited, hoping that maybe Suhyuk would restart the stream any moment now. However, several minutes passed, and Suhyuk did not come back.
“It doesn’t seem like he ended the stream himself,” Un Hyang remarked.
“Why do you say that?” asked Cheon Ryang.
“Our money-loving streamer wouldn’t do this without a reason, right?”
Un Hyang nodded, though she didn’t quite like the term “money-lover”. It was true that Suhyuk was very attached to accumulating points. Though she didn’t know why, it was clear that he aimed for these points.
Right now, it was a crucial time for the streamer, Lee Suhyuk. The flow of the stream had been going well, boosted by the huge advantage of a significant disclosure. He had every reason to put in more effort, not suddenly cut off the stream without any reason.
Therefore, it meant one thing.
“Did something happen?”
“Nothing has changed from before,” Cheon Ryang said, shaking his head as he listened to Un Hyang’s mumbled words.
“Don’t worry too much. He’ll handle it well. That’s the kind of person he is, right?”
True.
The streamer Lee Suhyuk was exactly that type of person. No matter what challenges he faced, he would always manage to overcome them. He was the very player who best exemplified the term ‘perfection.’
Viewers watched his streams to see that side of him.
“While we’re at it, let’s talk about what’s bothering us.”
Maybe it was a bit late, but it was a conversation that had to happen.
“Are you really going to follow him into the Counter-Fight?”
“Yes.”
“You might end up meeting everyone, even… your father.”
At first, her eyes wavered slightly, but it was only for a moment. Soon, she nodded her head and showed her determination once again.
“Un Cheon-guk is not one to cause trouble in crowded places. It should be fine.”
“Really?”
“For now, I’m planning to go. I can’t keep living in hiding forever.”
While living as the manager of Balhae, she had constantly been engulfed by anxiety.
The anxiety of never knowing when her location might be revealed, and the tension of the Murim World and Un Cheon-guk possibly finding her.
All these things piled up and gradually choked her throat.
“I need to breathe a little. Me too.”
She began to catch her breath after meeting Suhyuk.
Through Suhyuk’s stream, she felt like she was stepping back out into the world.
It really felt as if Lee Suhyuk was reincarnated, and she faced a vague hope.
Avoiding the Counter-Fight here was no different from tightening her barely opened airways again.
Looking at the Suhyuk’s stream screen that wouldn’t turn back on, Un Hyang voiced the resolve she had sharpened for a long time.
“I’ll fight. No matter who it is. Win or lose.”
* * *
His vision was covered with all sorts of colors, like a rainbow.
Messages flickered in his mind, and he felt nauseated as if he was heavily drunk.
‘What happened to the stream…’
Trying to restart the stream was useless.
[An unknown force is at work.]
[The stream is terminating.]
The stream ended before even starting.
He tried two more times, but the result was the same.
The stream kept terminating under the reason of ‘an unknown force.’
And meanwhile.
As the colorful light dissipated, the scene of the ‘Sixth Asgard’ gradually emerged.
Rustle—.
Grass rustled underfoot.
The scent of flowers pierced his nose, and beautiful colors filled his sight like a rainbow.
Unknown flowers bloomed all around him. Clouds as white as can be floated leisurely across the sky.
The breeze, the temperature, the visuals.
Everything was like a perfect painting.
“Is this paradise…?”
A beautiful world as if someone had created it.
Standing still and immersed in the scenery, Suhyuk suddenly felt a sense of discomfort on his face.
It was the mask he usually wore.
Today, there was no reason to wear it.
Click—.
He took off the mask on his face and put it in his inventory.
Cool, refreshing air flowed into his nose without any hindrance.
Not streaming had its perks. Feeling complete freedom was something he hadn’t experienced for quite a while.
As he enjoyed the brief moment of pleasant freedom, Suhyuk checked his inventory.
“As I thought, it’s not here.”
The sword fragment that had been in his inventory until a moment ago was gone.
It seemed he used the sword fragment to enter this place, just as the message indicated.
‘It was consumed far too easily.’
The sword fragment was a reward obtained after passing the 6th-floor test.
It had been acquired after a hard-fought victory over Baldur.
Although it seemed useless on the surface, Lee Suhyuk thought it couldn’t be just an ordinary item, given that it was a reward for saving Midgard.
However, it appeared that its purpose was to serve as a key to get here.
“What could be in here…?”
“I am.”
Someone answered Lee Suhyuk, who had been speaking to himself more frequently due to his long-time streaming habit.
Without knowing who was present, he hurriedly turned his head, following the voice.
However, it was difficult for him to discern where the voice was coming from.
It seemed as if it was coming from the sky.
“Where are you looking? I’m right here.”
The voice was clear on the second try.
Only after turning his body completely around did Lee Suhyuk discover the person.
A man who had one eye covered with an eyepatch and was wearing an elegant robe made of thick fur.
Even though he was covered in thick clothing, it was clear he had a muscular build. He also appeared quite old, judging by the wrinkles on his face.
How long had he been behind him?
Or rather, had this person called out to him?
“Who are you?”
“It’s rare for a guest to ask for the host’s name.”
With the man’s response, Lee Suhyuk realized his mistake.
It was true.
After all, he was just a first-time guest in Asgard, and this was their world.
“My name is Lee Suhyuk. I’m afraid there’s not much more to introduce.”
“Why do you say there’s nothing more to introduce?”
The man’s gaze flickered briefly toward Suhyuk’s hand.
“You have so much in your possession.”
“Do you know what this is?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”
Even though he spoke as if it was obvious, the man didn’t explain why.
Lee Suhyuk’s curiosity grew. When he was about to ask more about it, the man spoke first.
“You seem to have many friends, but don’t be too hurt. This is not a place anyone can enter.”
Friends.
It seemed he was referring to the viewers who watched Suhyuk’s stream.
It was a fresh shock.
The stream was a mechanism created by the system. To interfere with it was essentially equivalent to directly intervening with the system.
“Is that even possible?”
Just who was this person?
As that question kept revolving in his mind, the man pulled out a small item from his pocket.
Swoosh—.
“If you brought this, it means you came here on Tyr’s recommendation, right?”
It was an unidentified sword fragment that had been in Suhyuk’s inventory just moments ago.
“That’s correct.”
“Then, you are welcome. Glad you came.”
It was an unexpected welcome. Due to Tyr’s reaction, Lee Suhyuk had thought the gods would grind their teeth at the sight of any human.
“I have a story to tell, would you care to follow?”
Before waiting for an answer, the man turned around.
As if implying he would leave if Suhyuk chose not to follow.
Suhyuk had no choice but to follow.
It was clear as the day that the test wouldn’t proceed if he didn’t follow him.
“Yes. I’ll listen.”
“Wise choice.”
Step, step.
Lee Suhyuk started to follow the man.
He wondered what the man might say, and at that moment, the world changed.
Ssshh-
The bright blue sky turned pitch black. Like the beginning of a cutscene, a new environment emerged.
A black sky covered with storm clouds. A blood-soaked ground and corpses.
‘What’s this?’
As the scene fully revealed itself, Suhyuk’s eyes widened as if they would tear apart.
How many corpses could there possibly be? Everything in sight was a corpse.
A world where there were more corpses underfoot than ground.
Even knowing it wasn’t reality, he felt an urge to vomit rising.
“Don’t turn away, look closely.”
The man watched the horrendous sight with a calm demeanor.
“This isn’t an unrelated story to you.”
“To me?”
What on Earth did he mean by that?
He was supposedly not unrelated to these corpses.
For some reason, the back of the man, standing in his fine clothes, blended well with the pile of corpses.
Turning his head, Suhyuk saw a few people still standing, not yet dead.
A man who had lost an eye was supporting a comrade who had lost an arm.
An eye and an arm.
Two people came to his mind.
“Tyr?”
“A friend who sent you to me.”
With the man’s affirmation, Suhyuk was convinced.
“Then, you’re him.”
“Correct.”
As expected.
Suhyuk once again took in the sight of the battlefield. Though he had seen and experienced many horrific battlegrounds, this scene was the most chilling.
Why did he feel this way?
It didn’t take long for him to realize.
“This isn’t… two factions clashing.”
Fear.
The nausea from this battlefield was due to the chilling fear it induced.
“It’s a massacre by a single person.”
“You have a keen eye.”
“What on Earth happened here?”
The standing figures were not just the man in front of him and Tyr.
Another man who had lost both eyes and was in despair, a woman barely clinging to life and writhing amidst the pile of corpses.
Looking at the survivors, the man provided the answer.
“There was a war. With a human.”
His words instantly dispelled the doubts Suhyuk had harbored.
Why did the gods despise humans so much?
Seeing such a horrific scene, it was understandable.
However, a new question arose.
“A human… one person?”
One person.
Was it really possible for a single human to massacre so many gods?
Before his doubt fully cleared up,
“Shall I add one more thing? Why did that friend detested you so much?”
Pointing a finger at Suhyuk’s heart, the man dropped the second bombshell.
“The human who did this to us shares the same heart as you.”