Chapter 82
The next day.
Early in the morning, Suhyuk left the dorm to challenge the next trial. The place where Suhyuk started his stream was on the 4th floor testing grounds.
In front of the white portal. As he turned on the stream and waited for a moment, viewers started to flood in.
-Su-Hi
-Su-Hi!
-Did he just go live?
The waiting time was 5 minutes.
After about that much time had passed, the viewer count exceeded 7,000.
And then.
The stream began in earnest.
“Su-hi. Hello, everyone.”
With these words, the stream began.
-Su-Hi!
-Hi hi
-You’re early today.
Quite a number of viewers had tuned in early in the morning. By now, even Suhyuk had gotten used to responding to the viewers’ chat messages.
『’IloveLeeSuhyuk’ has donated 1,000 points.』
『Su-hi! Are you going to the 5th floor starting today?』
『’Great Man Lee Wonjae’ has donated 100 points.』
『Heck, heck. Brother, please greet us once.』
As the number of viewers increased, the frequency and amount of donations pouring in alongside the stream also grew.
“Thank you ‘IloveLeeSuhyuk’ for the 1,000-point donation. Yes, I’m climbing up again from today.
‘Great Man Lee Wonjae’…”
The time spent reading and replying to donation messages lasted for a bit.
Among them:
『’MissionVillain’ has donated 100 points.』
『What crazy stunt are you pulling this time?』
A question perfectly suited for the stream had come in.
-What ‘stunt’ lolol
-He did pull off some crazy ‘stunts’ lolol
The objective for this trial.
When asked about it, the viewers responded with great enthusiasm. Simple but this was the identity of the streamer Lee Suhyuk.
Having passed the Trial of Thunder and conquered the Thunder Cave. Suhyuk had been completing trials by doing things that others could not.
It seemed that viewers most anticipated this kind of feat from his stream.
However, “Well, this place is somewhat boring…”
Unlike other trials, the 4th floor’s trial made it difficult to attempt something special.
“There’s nothing to do but to get through it as quickly as possible.”
-This place is a bit boring.
-True, sad but true.
-Why? I found it interesting.
-But if this guy participates, doesn’t he break the ecosystem? lol
There were many disappointed reactions. Suhyuk also wanted to meet their expectations, but there wasn’t much he could do.
Even if other floors were different, the trial on the 4th floor was particularly restrictive for players attempting to do something unique.
Both Un Hyang and John Dale regretted that Suhyuk had to take on the 4th floor’s trial during a key growth period for his stream.
For in a sense, this trial was excellent content, yet its nature was completely different from what Suhyuk typically offered.
Steps could be heard approaching. Stepping forward. As he entered the portal, a message resonated.
『You have consumed 3,000 points.』
『Starting the 4th Floor Trial.』
Around him was still a white landscape. The trial hadn’t begun yet. Messages continued to appear.
『You have been assigned a ‘Bronze 3’ rank.』
『All abilities are adjusted to 50% according to the Bronze rank.』
『Earn points to raise your rank and achieve the ‘Challenger’ rank.』
『The ranking order is Bronze – Silver – Platinum – Diamond – Challenger.』
『You can earn points by winning matches against the opposing team.』
All the strength in his body drained away. His stats were halved, and even the effects of his items were cut by half.
Win matches to earn points and raise your rank to achieve Challenger status. A simple yet tedious method. It was also a task that took a lot of time.
As short as half a year. As long as a lifetime, it could be impossible to pass this ranking system trial.
‘It feels horrible, as always.’
Suhyuk frowned at the strange emptiness.
The power that had filled his body suddenly halved. He had felt it long ago, but from the very start, this trial was designed to make the player feel a sense of hardship.
Of course, ‘It’s better than waking up in a trash can.’
It was a hundred times better than the moment he thought he had died, only to wake up in a trash can having lost all his stats.
『Searching for participants.』
『Search complete.』
Swoosh-!
The view began to change right then. The surrounding world shifted, and the air changed. A large circular building appeared in front of him. In the distance, lush forests spread out, and three paths stretched far ahead.
The most commonly used map.
The Forest of War.
『Victor Roman: Platinum 2』
『Nile Tool: Platinum 3』
『Roen: Platinum 4』
『Lee Suhyuk: Bronze 3』
—
『Liandry: Platinum 2』
『Lord: Platinum 3』
『…』
—
The names and ranks of allies and enemies were displayed. Suddenly, three players appeared around him in a white light.
And predictably,
“Bronze?”
“What’s this? Is it a bug?”
“Why is the balance like this?”
They showed displeasure and confusion at Suhyuk’s presence, which didn’t match the ranks.
-??????
-Why is the queue like this?
-It’s a Platinum field lolol.
-Is it really a bug??
The viewers were equally baffled.
Ranks weren’t just labels. Just like the Bronze rank capped stats at 50%, stats varied greatly with each rank.
Silver ranks retained 75% of their stats.
Golds retained 100%, Platinum retained 150%.
And Diamond ranks retained 200%, granting them double stats.
Which meant, Platinum players had roughly three times the advantage over Bronze players.
– The system is really trolling us lololol.
– A Bronze in a Platinum room? This is rare.
– Hahaha, I thought it would be boring, but it’s actually amazing fun, isn’t it?
Thanks to this unexpected twist, the interest of viewers, which had cooled down before the trial began, suddenly heated up.
Suhyuk was the only Bronze-ranked participant in a Platinum room. No matter how skilled he was, the severe penalties imposed by the system couldn’t be ignored.
What was supposed to be an easy trial abruptly morphed into a hardcore challenge.
『Welcome to the Forest of War.』
『Defeat your enemies to grow stronger.』
『Destroy the enemy base to win the match.』
—
Fight enemies to grow stronger and win. That was the core content of this trial. The problem was.
“Damn it, it’s really a Bronze?”
The trial on the 4th floor was mostly team-based rather than individual.
“How does a Bronze get caught in the same queue as us? This is too much, even for bad luck!”
Right from the start, the atmosphere wasn’t good. A scrawny man was glaring at Suhyuk right from the beginning.
The name ‘Nile Tool’ was floating above his head.
“Wait a minute, isn’t he Lee Suhyuk?”
One of the four comrades, a female player, looked at Suhyuk in surprise. It seemed she recognized Suhyuk.
“That Suhyuk? He’s been dead for ages.”
“No, not that Suhyuk. Fake Suhyuk.”
“Fake Suhyuk?”
“Yes, the one who does streams…”
But even after explaining, Nile Tool’s expression didn’t change.
“What, a streamer?”
There were many players who didn’t watch streams. In fact, more people didn’t know him than those who did. The only reason some old Suhyuk fans were interested was because of the unique nature of the Thunder power.
Whether Suhyuk was a streamer or not didn’t matter to Nile Tool, what mattered was his own trial.
“So what? Just because he’s a streamer doesn’t mean he can screw us over.”
“I don’t know why this bug happened, but he didn’t join our party on purpose…”
“So what, damn it! If he can’t pull his weight, that’s trolling!”
Nile, unable to contain his anger, shouted furiously.
At that moment.
“If you have a brain, why don’t you use it?”
Suhyuk, having heard enough, spoke up.
“What?”
“If you keep getting angry until the match ends instead of starting properly, you won’t achieve anything.”
“Who do you think you’re…”
“The system is the fairest of all. If you can’t see the essence because of ranks, just gouge those eyes out.”
“What?”
The already tense atmosphere became even more hostile.
The tension was so high that it wouldn’t have been surprising if a fight broke out among the allies before the match even started.
Seeing this, the only female player, Roen, quickly intervened between the two.
“Come on, guys, let’s not fight among ourselves. Right now, we’re a team.”
“I can’t team up with a guy like this…”
“You might meet as enemies again someday, right? So save the fighting for then.”
Nile frowned and replied irritably to Roen’s attempt at arbitration.
“I doubt that would ever happen.”
Thanks to Roen’s mediation, Nile didn’t provoke any further. Perhaps realizing there’s nothing good about clashing too much with a streamer on stream.
“How about we decide our positions now? Does anyone have a preferred position?”
Roen, trying to organize the situation, asked. Suhyuk responded.
“Anywhere is fine with me.”
“Send me to the bottom.”
“I can only do mid.”
After hearing everyone’s preferences, Roen pondered for a moment and then spoke.
“Then, Suhyuk, please go to the forest. You know how to play that position, right?”
“Yes.”
The forest position involved less direct confrontation with opponents compared to other positions. Roen’s choice likely considered the characteristics of that role.
“We’re in a bit of a disadvantageous situation, but let’s try to win anyway. Suhyuk, you’re talented, so I believe you’ll do well.”
In simple terms, she was asking him to at least pull his weight. Though she didn’t speak harshly, Roen also didn’t trust Suhyuk completely.
– He’s really sidelined…
– From being the strongest on the 3rd floor to this???
– Can’t be helped since Bronze fell into a Platinum match.
The viewers seemed to share the same sentiment.
“I wonder if you’ll even manage to catch the creatures in the forest.”
Nile couldn’t resist leaving a snide remark. Suhyuk wanted to say something back but held his tongue. If he said anything more, it would only delay things further.
『Monsters will spawn in 30 seconds.』
The final warning message.
“Come on, let’s stop fighting and get going. Suhyuk, you too. Do your best.”
With Roen’s final words, the team dispersed into the three paths. Suhyuk was left alone and entered the forest.
With a brief moment of peace,
– But seriously, why did the queue end up like this?
– Right?
– Has this ever happened before?
– Sometimes we get matched with Silvers, but Platinum is a bit much…
The viewers began to seriously question the situation only then.
Why on earth was Suhyuk, a Bronze rank, stuck in a match with Platinum-ranked players?
Of course, they could only speculate and couldn’t understand the exact intent of the system.
But there’s one thing for sure.
There was one thing, however, that all viewers unanimously agreed on.
If he manages to win this, he’ll get a massive score boost.
If Suhyuk could overcome this rank disparity, he stood to gain a substantial number of points.
TL’s Corner:
Time for some MOBA…