Chapter 87
“There’s no way I can’t talk about it! I’ve brought up a hot topic that’s been making waves in the community lately. And that topic is none other than ‘World of Arseria’!”
“A sudden game segment? But isn’t World of Arseria a game?”
“That’s right! It’s a world-famous game that has claimed the number-two spot in Korean PC bang usage!”
“Will I finally get to relax with a game for once...!”
But Woo Dayeon still couldn’t hide her anxiety, even in front of the camera.
It had already been three months since she joined ‘Higgs Studio’ at the recommendation of Ji Seonghun, her classmate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
She belonged to ‘Letterbox,’ Korea’s leading MCN, and served as the physics-content producer for a VTube channel with 1.45 million subscribers that had gained popularity for its science and magic content.
Last month’s topic, ‘Can humans cross a river using the principles of skipping stones?’ had remained nothing short of a nightmare for Dayeon.
She had been too afraid to ride even a roller coaster, but thanks to the gravity-acceleration resistance enhancement training experience (g-test), she had been forced to overcome every phobia related to it.
“It’s just playing a game. Right...?”
“Why don’t you trust me? Wasn’t the skipping-stones experiment pretty fun in its own way last time?”
“I was scared to death!”
“Anyway! Since it looked like you’d been through a lot, Ms. Dayeon, I prepared content based on something you’d like this time.”
“I’m already feeling anxious, you know?”
While she was deeply pondering what the next piece of content should be, Ji Seonghun suddenly thrust a camera toward her, spotting an opportunity for a VTube video.
She almost pretended to be caught off guard, but failing to play along would be unprofessional, so Dayeon naturally went along with Seonghun’s intentions.
“Have you ever played this game?”
“No, I’ve only seen the occasional clip that pops up in VTube Shorts.”
“Then shall we watch the video that’s been making headlines first?”
All the fluorescent lights in the studio went out, and the projector came to life.
Dayeon gnawed nervously at her fingernails.
She felt most uneasy whenever Ji Seonghun wore that sly smile.
He was Korea University’s undisputed top student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, an inhumanly talented person who had even double-majored in theoretical magic, but he was also an enormous eccentric.
Thanks to him bringing in such novel content, Dayeon had been able to make a name for herself at Higgs Studio, but the problem was that the process had never been entirely smooth.
She had lost count of how many times she’d thought she might drown in the middle of the Han River at the prime of her life.
At last, the screen lit up, revealing a woman with gorgeous golden hair.
In a dense forest bathed in the light of a full moon, she snatched away the sword of a knight charging at her.
Another dozen or so knights surrounded her.
But she assumed a battle stance with eyes full of confidence.
‘Whoa... Amazing...’
With dazzling movements, she proceeded to defeat the knights one after another.
As if that weren’t enough, she freely cast magic in the process.
She altered the trajectory of a sword thrusting in from her blind spot, and at times even calculated a triple combined magic circle without the slightest difficulty.
The screen swiftly changed again, and the characters moved to an old-fashioned study.
The battle began with an NPC letting out a shriek and being slammed into the ceiling.
The woman slipped through the cramped space with ease, moving in a way that would have been nearly impossible to reproduce in reality.
More than anything, Dayeon couldn’t contain her admiration when the woman delivered the final blow to the boss.
‘A quadruple combined magic circle? No, was it quintuple...?’
Before the video had even ended, Dayeon whispered softly to Seonghun.
“Did this game have a magic-assist function, too?”
“Not if you exclude scrolls.”
“This is seriously amazing.”
The video ended with a gentleman in a splendid suit collapsing flat on his face.
As the surroundings brightened again, Dayeon rubbed her bleary eyes.
After signaling that the camera was rolling, Seonghun asked her for her thoughts.
“I never imagined World of Arseria was this kind of game. It really makes me want to try it.”
More than anything, the character was exactly to Dayeon’s taste.
Wasn’t a frail heroine straight out of an action movie carrying out a massacre instead?
“But you won’t have many chances to try it yourself! This content is closer to analysis than an experience!”
“Analysis?”
“What you just watched was a gameplay video by a streamer named ‘NoName.’”
“That was actual gameplay? Not some kind of teaser?”
No matter how high the freedom of a virtual-reality game was or whether it had assist functions, what she had just watched was far too abnormal and unrealistic.
Why was someone with that kind of talent wasting it on streaming?
With athletic ability like that, she could go straight to the Jincheon Athletes’ Village and prepare for the Olympics. Even if her physical body couldn’t keep up in reality, judging by her casting time, she could make it big in magic as well.
“That’s why I prepared this! Today’s content is analyzing the magic used by NoName! It’s also a video that Ms. Dayeon and I will be watching over and over from today onward.”
“How much of it is there? Can’t you tell just by looking at the video length? Besides, I don’t know magic circles nearly as well as you do, Seonghun...!”
“There are actually three runs, but I only brought the first one with you in mind, Ms. Dayeon, so I can’t accept any more complaints. And wouldn’t it be boring if we only analyzed it?”
“What else are you plotting...!”
“Let’s calculate how much it would cost if we used the exact same magic in reality. Fighting!”
Before she could object, Seonghun quickly pressed the video’s stop button.
With her brakes fully released, Dayeon ruthlessly pressed him.
“Are we seriously doing this? Can’t we just delete what we filmed and switch to another topic, even now?”
“Why not? It looks fun! Didn’t you just watch that gameplay video? It already has a million views from that one video alone! Even if we only analyze it, we’re guaranteed at least two million views.”
“Then why isn’t anyone else doing it?”
Wouldn’t others have gone after content with guaranteed views?
“Good question. For one thing, the magic NoName used is far too difficult for Circle 1 magic.”
“Circle 1 magic? You mean all of that just now was Circle 1 magic?”
Dayeon already had a bad feeling at this point.
Wasn’t Circle 1 magic extremely simple magic that everyone finished learning by middle or high school at the latest?
The complicated magic circles that gave her a headache just by looking at them had all actually been Circle 1 magic?
Solving the KGSAT math section using nothing but the four basic arithmetic operations seemed more believable.
Expanding magic was the domain of experts. Even for Ji Seonghun, this was clearly crossing the line.
“Another factor is that there’s simply too much to analyze for one person to handle alone.”
“Definitely. There are nearly a hundred spells used.”
“Exactly. And there’s hardly any overlap. That’s why this isn’t a ‘hot issue’ but a ‘hot potato.’ Everyone knows something has to be done, but no one can move forward or back. If we could peel it and eat it, it’d be a jackpot, but it’s just too hot!”
Dayeon turned her eyes back to the VTube video Seonghun had shown her.
The view count was still climbing steeply in real time.
Since WoA was an American game, there were quite a lot of foreign comments as well.
In other words, if they played their cards right, this was a good opportunity for Higgs Studio to attract foreign subscribers, too.
“But do you have a plan? I’m completely at a loss. Do you have any idea what to do?”
“No, not at all...?”
“Then what are we going to do!”
“If we can’t use our heads, we’ll have to use our feet. We have good connections and academic credentials, don’t we?”
In short, his plan was to grab idle graduate students and professors from Korea University’s Department of Magic and have them analyze the magic circles she had shown.
Saying that food cooked by someone else always tasted best, Seonghun had already started contacting everyone he knew.
Dayeon had a strong premonition that this content, too, wouldn’t proceed smoothly.
* * *
[Streaming starting: 0:00:01 – NoName]
[Just Chatting – Please set a title.]
[Stream time - 0:00:02]
[Viewers – 4]
-??
-Is this a dream or reality?
-Where have you been all this time!!!
-Being able to type in chat as soon as the stream starts—what a leap forward, NoName!
[Stream time - 0:01:24]
[Viewers – 439]
-What the fuck is this influx speed?
-She was my little insomnia cure!!! I liked her first!!!
-World-class after one stream ㄷㄷ
-But why has this person never cashed in while the tide was coming in?
-She smashed the whole boat while the tide was coming in, though?
-LMAOOOOOO
[Stream time - 0:03:08]
[Viewers – 1092]
-Say something, streamer
-Is it okay to go radio silent for two weeks without even one announcement?
-NoName can.
-She was already notorious, so what’s so surprising now? lol
-Want a taste of LoL guys?
-Fact) The streamer is an LoL girl, so she’s immune
-NoName, did you see the VTube videos?
-I want to see our Adella, turn on WoA already!!!!!
The chat was in utter chaos.
NoName’s recent activities had seemed to be becoming a hot topic in the WoA community, but the ACK pro gamer’s confession of match-fixing had instantly buried it.
But those destined to shine will shine eventually.
As snippets of her gameplay were uploaded, centered around VTube, NoName’s fame gradually grew beneath the surface.
And two days ago, Korea’s most famous science-content channels, ‘Higgs Studio’ and ‘Doby Science,’ uploaded videos about NoName almost simultaneously, finally providing the catalyst.
As if they had coordinated with each other, they provided friendly explanations that made NoName’s exploits easy for ordinary people to understand, giving even those who didn’t play the game a chance to learn about her.
It had gotten to the point that comments from several broadcasting stations saying they wanted to cover NoName had even started appearing here and there in personal communities.
-Where the hell is this bastard?
-WhyJustChatting?Whyisn'titWoA?WhyJustChatting?Whyisn'titWoA?
-Now that I look at it, there isn’t even a stream title ㅁㅊ lol
Because of NoName’s irregular streaming schedule, most of her subscribers joined her streams already furious.
And listening to NoName’s sweet voice to cool their anger had become a sort of tradition.
However, the newest viewers were bewildered that she hadn’t said anything for several minutes after starting the stream.
Comments from longtime viewers reassuring them that this was how her streams normally were were swept away in a rough wave of text.
[‘Uncle Bob’s Magic Class’ donated 10,000 won!]
-If you want NoName to phone in her stream, upvote lol
Before long, the first donation came through on her stream.
It had been sent in the hope that the host would lead the stranded refugees who had nowhere else to go.
Anything would do.
Some wanted her to retry WoA’s highest difficulty, which no one had managed to clear, while others hoped she would reach Challenger in Legacy of Legends after leaving it untouched for quite some time.
As if speaking for those who wanted to mock NoName’s arbitrary streaming style, the chat filled once more with a barrage of forceful spam messages.
-Upvote
-Upvote through my tears lol
-What do you mean, upvote? Get out here already!!!
-Upvote
-
-Upvote
-?
-?
-???
-What was that above just now?
-??????????
-Stop typing in chat and stream already!
-This really is NoName lololololol
-I can’t even with this lolololol
They were viewers who had somehow sniffed out NoName, quietly trying to ride along unnoticed in the raging torrent.