Chapter 35…
A powerful donation of 1,000,000 won.
[Isn’t that Cheonma Parrot?]
[Whoa, did someone really just donate 1,000,000 won?]
[Wait, that Cheonma Parrot dude is actually rich?]
[Ultra-rich;]
[Super whale;;]
The chat window instantly exploded.
Lee Ji-han was also dumbfounded, but he bowed once again to express his thanks.
“Th-thank you very much, Cheonma Divine Cult Believer No.1.”
[Oh Great Heavenly Demon! No thanks needed! Quickly! Play Gangho Sword Chronicles! Hurry!]
His reaction was… strange.
Almost pathological.
Something desperate and frantic.
[LOL why’s the Cheonma Parrot guy like that?]
[Does he have some disease where he’ll die if Ji-han doesn’t play Gangho Sword Chronicles?]
[LOL probably true]
[Ji-han, hurry up and play before the poor man dies]
Seeing these reactions, Ji-han chuckled.
Whatever the case, the game he picked seemed to be a real hit.
[LOL yeah hurry up]
[But isn’t that game kinda different from Zeg?]
[That’s like saying fighting games and FPS are the same lol]
[Streamers play it a lot, but I’m not into fighters;]
[Guess this is a good chance to see. Ji-han, it’s your first fighting game, right?]
[LOL okay fine, let’s try it out together.]
In fact, people looking for Zombreath or Zeg… all got swept away by the force of that 1,000,000 won donation, unable to focus.
Ji-han instinctively understood he had to jump into the game now.
“Well then, let’s log in. Please take care of me.”
He put his goggles back on and adjusted the capsule in a comfortable position.
Gangho Sword Chronicles.
A Korean-made fighting game.
There were rumors it was a Korea-China collaboration, but they were just rumors.
Its worldbuilding felt closer to a Korean-style wuxia than traditional Hong Kong wuxia.
[Wow, what are these words? I’ve never heard some of them.]
[Third-rate, second-rate, first-rate, peak, transcendence, fire realm, profound realm, life-death realm…]
[Are those like tiers?]
[Yeah, those are player tiers in Gangho Sword Chronicles. When you play ranked, you’ll climb automatically. Don’t worry about it now.]
Most of the terms were easy to understand if you’d read wuxia novels.
“Oh, I see how it feels.”
[Ah! You totally get it now!]
[LOL nah, you didn’t understand anything]
[Ji-han, read some wuxia for once! Live a little!]
[How is wuxia real life, lol]
Looking at the game interface, Ji-han muttered.
The vast rivers and lakes of Zhongyuan spread out before him.
In a space that seemed to embody the martial world, Ji-han stretched his arms.
“This feels so refreshing.”
[LOL after always wandering ruins and underground cities, seeing wide open space feels good for me too]
[So, what weapon will you choose?]
[Did you already pick one?]
Ji-han glanced at chat and replied lightly.
“I’ll try them one by one first. Any recommendations?”
Immediately—
[Of course the sword’s the coolest, right?]
[No way, a real man fights with fists lol, forget the sword]
[Come on, sword bros, you don’t know Baiyi Spear, Cheonil Blade, and Manil Sword?]
[Doesn’t that mean sword’s the strongest?]
[LOL no, it just means sword is the hardest]
[It’s a VR game—who cares if it’s hard?]
The chat exploded again.
As always, like a people who loved to split into factions, they tore down any weapon that wasn’t their favorite.
[Well, sword is good, fist is good. Spear’s got range, but kinda awkward in small maps.]
And then someone dropped a heavy bowl of rice on the table.
[Oh, looks like someone who’s actually played Gangho Sword Chronicles?]
[LOL veterans arriving! Take your seats!]
[Anyway, just equipping a weapon doesn’t guarantee strength in this game.]
One by one, fans began to flood in, noticing the Gangho Sword Chronicles tag.
They were the so-called “floating inflows.”
[But wow, what timing. Did he know about the tournament?]
[There’s a tournament?]
[Yeah, a beginner-friendly Gangho Sword Chronicles tournament. Veterans mentor newbies in pairs: master and disciple.]
Kim Soo-ho read the chat, immediately forwarded the info to Ji-han, and once again felt the need for a fan café.
If a fan café existed, this kind of info would naturally gather there.
I really do need to make one.
But while Soo-ho was thinking that, Ji-han read the message carefully.
“Oh, the tournament’s sooner than I thought. But I doubt anyone would take me as a disciple with so little time left.”
The once-busy chat froze.
[?]
[??????]
[?????]
[What did he just say?]
And then—
Countless grappling hooks flew into chat.
More numerous than stars in the night sky.
“H-hold on, why are you all doing this!?”
Ji-han, rarely flustered, looked even more panicked, which only made more hooks rain down.
[Don’t you see the viewer count right now?]
[LOL if you just shout “Anyone wanna be my master?” every streamer will rush in!]
[Haha, try contacting Golden Whale from your last collab.]
[Golden Whale’s been playing this game for a while.]
[Forget Golden Whale. If you train with a pro, you’ll improve super fast.]
[Are there pros in this game?]
[Of course, there are tons of fighting game tournaments.]
Ji-han gave an awkward laugh at his viewers’ overestimation.
[Modesty is fine, but this is just false humility, man.]
[LOL yeah, it’s baiting at this point.]
[So if you’re serious, Zombreath is patching anyway—try joining a streamer tournament instead.]
Ddan-dara-dan-ttan-ttan!
A high-value donation alert rang out.
[Namgung Hyung has donated 300,000 won.]
—So you’re looking for a master?
“Oh, thank you for the 300,000 won, Namgung Hyung.”
Ji-han bowed, but the chat went wild.
[LOL why is he here?]
[How does Namgung Hyung know about this?]
[LOL was he secretly watching Ji-han’s stream without streaming himself?]
[Of course he showed up, Gangho Sword Chronicles is live!]
[Guardian of Zhongyuan, lol]
“Uh… is he famous?”
Ji-han’s clueless question made chat explode.
Piecing together the info, Namgung Hyung was:
A Gangho Sword Chronicles specialist streamer.
Former professional fighting game player.
An extreme wuxia otaku.
He was so immersed he even changed his handle to “Namgung Hyung of the Namgung Clan.”
His antics annoyed fans, but when he played Gangho Sword Chronicles, they admitted he was impressive.
Ddan-dara-dan-ttan-ttan!
[Hwang Seol-hwa has donated 350,000 won.]
—Ji-han, I’ll add 50,000 more if you choose me instead of that pervert.
[LOL]
[WTF why is she here too?]
[All the big names are showing up]
[They’re all fighting over Ji-han?]
[Insane lol]
Ji-han looked around nervously. Clearly, this person was famous too.
[Look at Ji-han trying to gauge things lol]
[Yeah, she’s a Gangho Sword Chronicles streamer too]
[How to put it… her playstyle’s weirdly perverse]
[She’s funny though]
[Funny but skilled too]
[LOL she’s basically turned her back on normal society]
[She sometimes does cosplay penalties—but not sexy ones, more like painting her face like a clown]
She seemed pretty famous as well.
Ddan-dara-dan-ttan-ttan!
[Namgung Hyung has donated 100,000 won.]
—What nonsense is that crazy woman spouting? I’ll add 100,000 more.
Ddan-dara-dan-ttan-ttan!
[Hwang Seol-hwa has donated 100,000 won.]
—Fine, I’ll add another 100,000 too.
Namgung Hyung bit back, and Hwang Seol-hwa countered.
An outright bidding war for Ji-han had begun.
And it wasn’t just the two of them.
Others lurking also joined the fray.
Eventually—
Ddan-dara-dan-ttan-ttan!
[Namgung Hyung has donated 500,000 won.]
—That’s my limit. Any more and it’s a loss.
Ddan-dara-dan-ttan-ttan!
[Hwang Seol-hwa has donated 500,000 won.]
—A loss? Are you saying Ji-han is a loss? You heard him, right Ji-han? Look at that attitude!
The fight devolved into mudslinging.
The viewers were delighted, and Ji-han, realizing his worth for the first time, just stared blankly.
Ddan-dara-dan-ttan-ttan!
[Tteu-nam has donated 1,000,000 won.]
—If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to have a tournament to decide who gets to take Ji-han as a disciple?
And that ended the squabble.
[OMG Tteu-men!!!!!!]
[The chairman has arrived!]
[Wow, chairman! You never showed your face during Zombreath!]
[LOL nah, I was watching everything.]
It was the fiery man, Tteu-nam.
His entrance and massive donation instantly reignited the flames.
[Okay then, let’s put Ji-han up as the prize.]
[Tournament style? Invite everyone?]
[Everyone who bid today, show up.]
[We’ll hold a tournament soon. Scared? Then just quit now.]
Things began to move steadily forward.
Kim Hyun-sik’s heart was pounding just from Ji-han playing Gangho Sword Chronicles.
But now, with his two favorite streamers clashing over Ji-han, he felt an almost insane thrill.
…Solid, orthodox fundamentals of Namgung Hyung, or the unorthodox, unpredictable style of Hwang Seol-hwa.
Both had different playstyles.
With Ji-han’s stylish physical skill, Seol-hwa might be a good match.
But seeing him build solid fundamentals with Namgung Hyung and perform perfect frame catches would also be exciting.
Either way, for Hyun-sik—both Ji-han’s fan and a professional martial arts writer—this was like rain falling on a desert.
Ttak, ttak…
Hyun-sik wanted desperately to share this thrill with other fans.
Maybe it was cringe.
But there was only one way to make sure it wasn’t just cringe or nosy meddling.
He had to add one more spoon to the pot Tteu-nam had started.
Ddan-dara-dan-ttan-ttan!
[Cheonma Divine Cult Believer No.1 has donated 1,000,000 won.]
—I’ll add this 1,000,000 won to the prize pool. Oh Great Heavenly Demon, may the winner share it with you! Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand years!
For a moment, silence.
Then chat exploded.
Tteu-nam’s 1,000,000 won.
And now Cheonma Parrot, with his second million won today.
The Gangho Sword Chronicles fans watching all declared:
[This is literally the battle between orthodox and unorthodox…]
[The first ever righteous-vs-unrighteous war in Gangho Sword Chronicles,]
[Has been fired here tonight!]
It was the beginning of a righteous-vs-unrighteous war that would shake Pretzel to its core.
