Chapter 171
After streaming, Hyeonu kept touching his smartphone . He sent several messages and then called someone . “Kale? Have you started work already? I’m not interrupting your rest, am I?”
Nike’s Kale was the other person on the phone . -Already? It is almost time to eat lunch . It has been a few hours since I entered my office .
At Kale’s words, Hyeonu dropped the smartphone and checked the time . It was 11 p . m . This meant it was 10 a . m . New York time . As Kale told Hyeonu, it was past early morning over at Nike . Hyeonu smiled and changed the topic . “I see . Have you seen my stream?”
-I didn’t see it myself, but I was told what happened . Did you want something?
Hearing Kale’s words, Hyeonu nodded . “I want information on the streamers . I hope I can receive it tomorrow when I wake up . ”
-Are you talking about any streamer specifically?
“Please gather information on the streaming times for arena streamers who have a higher ranking than me . Something interesting might happen tomorrow . ”
Hyeonu was using Nike correctly . He didn’t have to waste time and effort investigating . Instead, he should use his management for these types of things .
-You want to snipe them . I understand . I will send it by email by tomorrow morning . Do you need anything else? Do you need material items or skill books? Kale asked Hyeonu to use the rights stated in the contract .
However, Hyeonu refused . “I don’t need them . ”
There was no need to receive them . The level of skills that Nike could acquire probably wouldn’t be any use to the current Hyeonu . The material items were even worse . Rather, Hyeonu could sell the material items he had obtained if he wanted . He didn’t need to get them from somewhere else and use them . Currently, the player who was present at Arena’s leading hunting grounds was Hyeonu .
“Only I can get the level of items and skills that I want . Thank you for Nike’s favor, but I don’t need it right now . I will ask if I need it later . I am grateful for your thoughts . ”
-I understand . Such a request is always possible, so please don’t hesitate to speak . Additionally, the creation of the professional team will take a bit more time . It requires more professional manpower than expected . The process is tricky . . . Still, don’t worry too much . If it doesn’t work, we’ll go in the acquisition direction .
Kale talked about something Hyeonu would be curious about .
‘It is rather strange that the result would come out so quickly . ’
“I understand . Please proceed slowly . I will believe in Nike . Then I’ll call you back next time . ” Hyeonu nodded and ended the call .
Then he murmured in a small voice while slapping his cheeks with both hands, “A pro team . . . ”
The name of his professional team was one that would represent a turning point in his Arena story .
‘Let me sleep on it . ’
Hyeonu lay his heavy body on the bed, unable to overcome the sudden surge of fatigue .
Hyeonu looked at his laptop and sang a strange song . “Which one should I choose? Please guess!!! Ding dong daeng dong!”
A file was open on Hyeonu’s laptop, showing a blend of English and numbers . It was the information regarding the streaming times of the streamers which Hyeonu had requested for . Hyeonu stared at his laptop for a long time before finally deciding . “I’ve decided on you!!!”
Streamer Nine Steel—if he had to be defined in one word, that would be ‘troublemaker’ .
Nine Steel had the ability to show brilliant battles, but his words and actions were always controversial . He proved that strength and personality were separate .
‘I didn’t like him since that time . ’
Did this mean that Hyeonu hated him? That wasn’t it . Hyeonu simply wasn’t interested in Nine Steel in the first place . He only knew about Nine Steel from the file Nike sent him . Nine Steel wasn’t some terrible criminal, and Hyeonu had no reason to hate him . Still, if Hyeonu had to give a reason, then it would be that it just… It just ended up like this . Even if it wasn’t the same for his opponent .
-Steel, why didn’t you take part in the ranking battle yesterday?
-?? You don’t know? He was scared of Alley Leader .
-Ah, is that so? Our Steel turned out to be a chicken?
-Do you know now? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ He is the well-known coward of World .
Streamer Nine Steel frowned when he saw the messages in his chat room . He wondered if yesterday’s decision was poisonous to him . ‘No, I did well . Otherwise, the viewers would’ve left . ’
Nine Steel smiled and made an excuse for yesterday’s escape . “No . Brothers . When did I run away? I was just a bit tired and needed rest . Wasn’t it time to rest?”
Nine Steel knew himself . His personality might be crap, but he was one of the best arena streamers in terms of strength .
‘It’s over for me the moment I lose in a humiliating manner . ’
Wouldn’t he be humiliated if he failed to fight against Alley Leader and got defeated? The image Nine Steel had accumulated so far would be shattered . For his image, Nine Steel had reduced his sleep to focus on hunting and invested more than half the money he had earned into buying items . Such efforts would be wasted with a single defeat . Thus, he ran away .
‘I can live if he steps on someone else . ’
Based on what he had seen of Alley Leader’s skills, he would have no chance of saving his reputation after meeting Alley Leader . Of course, once Alley was ranked first, they could meet without it being an unlucky encounter . This was because it wouldn’t matter by then . After all, it was natural to lose to the person ranked first in the rankings, even if it was Nine Steel who was on the verge of entering diamond .
“Today I got a ranking battle quickly . I think it is a good sign, Brothers . ”
Nine Steel saw he was matched in a ranking battle and turned to the chat room . However, the reaction he got from the viewers was strange . Additionally, the number of viewers started to increase dramatically .
-Uh, yes . Start quickly .
-You couldn’t escape today?
-I came to see Nine Steel receive justice .
-Is this where the famous Nine Steel is stepped on like gum on an asphalt road?
‘What does this mean?’
Nine Steel questioned the unexpected words . “No, Brothers! What does this mean? I’m going to be stepped on . . . ? I am Nine Steel . I don’t know about my personality, but my skills are real . ”
Even the viewers who would’ve usually sympathized with Nine Steel to some extent disagreed .
-Eh, no way .
-You will be well stepped on .
-Your opponent is Alley Leader .
-It will soon be broadcasted as Alley Leader’s highlight video . Okay? Hundreds of millions of people are watching .
Nine Steel trembled like a man who had seen and heard something he shouldn’t have . “A . . . Alley Leader?”
The moment he spoke, Nine Steel’s ranking battle opponent, Alley Leader, appeared .
Hyeonu gave a silent cheer when he saw the familiar man standing in front of him .
‘The sniping was a success!’
Then Hyeonu turned on the streaming mode straight away . Why did he have to suffer this hardship? Wasn’t it for his own stream? All this hard work would be meaningless if he didn’t turn on the streaming mode .
[Sniping Nine Steel’s stream . The sniping was a success!]
The stream’s title clearly portrayed the situation . It was a bit irritating, but there was no exaggeration . Rather, it was 100% true .
-Kyah! I was caught off guard .
-No one could expect when the grasshoppers will start crying out .
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Today is the day Nine Steel will fall into the gutter! Scream loudly~
-This is really the first time it is continuous streaming . It would be good if it was usually like this .
Hyeonu greeted the audience with a smile . “Hello? I am Alley Leader who succeeded in sniping . The first sniping will soon begin . The next sniping could be a few hours away or tomorrow . ”
He was about to pridefully show off to the audience when an information window appeared in front of him .
[The ranking battle has begun . ]
“The ranking battle has begun . Viewers, you’ll see it in a moment . Please enjoy it to your heart’s content . ”
After he finished speaking, Hyeonu turned his head back toward the man in front of him . This person seemed to be relaxed . However, he shouldn’t have such an attitude considering the low level of his fighting ability .
‘What are his skills? They are as lousy as his terrible behavior . ’ Hyeonu scoffed and slowly pulled out his single-edged sword . Then instead of wielding his sword, he opened his mouth and said, “Hello? I am Alley Leader . It is nice to meet someone who is in the same industry . Let’s get started . ”
Nine Steel was already half out of his mind . ‘It is real, real!!!’
He hadn’t rested at all in the past year since he started streaming his ranking battles . Yet, last night, he broke his own rule and used some excuse to take a break from streaming . It was all so he could avoid Alley Leader . There were many streamers who could be called assholes . He succeeded as a streamer because he had the skills to do so . If he lost, he would lose that image .
‘I can’t let it be taken away here!’
Nine Steel grasped his weapon—a long red sword . He pointed his sword at Alley Leader, who was watching him with indifferent eyes .
“Bah, do you think I will lose so easily? How did I get to my current position?” Nine Steel said .
Then he moved . Nine Steel’s movements made him seem like a leopard racing through the Serengeti . It was extremely fast . Nine Steel’s sword seemed like a beast that was about to bite Hyeonu . “Huup!”
However, if Nine Steel was a leopard, then Hyeonu was a tiger . He made heavy but fast movements as he easily blocked Nine Steel’s attack . Hyeonu’s sword was covered with a dark pure energy that pushed at Nine Steel’s red pure energy . The leopard couldn’t penetrate the tiger’s defense .
The subsequent battle was extremely one-sided . This was Hyeonu’s overwhelming dominance . Nine Steel was crushed beyond belief .
-Crazy . Is this the Daniel cosplay he showed on Masked Fighting King?
-There is nothing lacking when it comes to situational judgment, design, and control . In short, he is perfect .
-Honestly, I thought it was due to the items and stats . But this . . . It doesn’t make sense .
Hyeonu was a clever hunter, and he literally hunted Nine Steel . There wasn’t the overwhelming power he had shown so far in his streaming and videos, but it was overwhelming in a different sense . If Hyeonu had previously been a sharp spear that could pierce anything, then he was currently a suffocating iron wall . That wall was now holding Nine Steel’s neck and preventing him from breathing .
Hyeonu’s sword once again blocked Nine Steel’s sword . Nine Steel had already returned uselessly to his original position dozens of times .
‘I’m going crazy, crazy . ’
Nine Steel bit his lips . This was a scam . How could there be such a skill difference between the same players? It was like an adult playing with a child .
‘I can’t lose . ’
Nine Steel wouldn’t have a chance to recover if he lost so helplessly . He prepared for a final counterattack to keep his dream . “Berserk . ”