Chapter 163: End Times – Era of the Bad Guys

The end times of were far worse than people imagined.

Intentional trolling, accepting money or rewards to lose matches, and other abusive behaviors were rampant.

Bad manners, usually hard to find, were prevalent.

The only fortunate thing was that unlike the old PC days, logging in now required physical information, so were gone.

Since the transition to the VR version, the proxy players who caused harm to many had disappeared.

Of course, it was still possible to create up to three secondary characters under one’s own name, so victims of secondary characters remained.

And today.

I decided to become a perpetrator.

“As I said, today I’ll be using a secondary character. Starting from placement matches, I’ll see how far I can go in three days.”

– Ecosystem Destroyer

– Solo queue warning lol

– It’s end times, so everyone is gaming intensely

– Yeah lol

– Ecosystem disruptor ON

– Playing with King Jong-woo and Comuljwi, want to duo?

I had no plans for a collab with other streamers today.

Playing for the first time in a long while.

Though considering duoing with Comuljwi or King Jong-woo, they were currently fighting hard at the threshold of Master.

Helping them reach Master rank through duoing with them could be good content, but it wasn’t feasible today.

I needed to reach Diamond 1 tier to even consider duoing.

Moreover, with this account that hadn’t done placements, no matter how hard I played, Diamond would be the limit.

I hadn’t considered a collab with them from the start.

No matter how diligently I played and won every match, it would take a lot of time to reach their playing range.

Reaching Diamond 1 within three days was nearly impossible.

I exhaled lightly and checked my friends list.

As soon as I logged in with my secondary character, dozens of friend requests came in.

“Stop sending me friend requests, you antisocial bastards.”

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– You bad guy

-ㅠㅠ Are you mocking us for not having friends?

– Hey lol but you don’t meet anyone except fellow streamers either, right? Aren’t you antisocial too? lol

– True lol

– Try to refute ㅇㅇ

“Hey! No matter what, I still have people I meet outside of streaming…”

… I didn’t.

Not only streamers, but even people like Hae-cheol and Joo-hyun were all met through streaming.

People who would not have become friends if not for streaming.

I was antisocial too.

I sighed and made a mental victory.

“Hey, at least I have people I meet for business. You guys are just home… Oh, sorry. That was a slip of the tongue, heh.”

– Satan: Here to learn from the master, professor

– You, you bastard!

– Hey lol, wouldn’t you be the same without streaming?

– Really lol

– Then why is sweat coming out of my

– Not antisocial? I’m a job seeker!

Teasing the viewers was the most fun thing in the world.

If their joy was teasing me, I wasn’t much different.

I broadcasted for the fun of teasing the viewers.

After a brief exchange of jokes with the viewers, I synchronized the friend lists of my main and secondary accounts.

[Synchronization complete.]

Let’s see.

Was there anyone among the usual streamer friends who would play from unranked?

[ is online]

Nayoung was playing.

For Nayoung, who focused on , the end times were more crucial than ever.

I noticed she was also broadcasting.

I whispered to Nayoung.

“Nayoung, how’s the game going?”

Then a harsh curse came back through the whisper system.

[Gold-Nayoung: F***! Jung-****! You butcher bastard!]

-ㅗㅜㅑ

– lololololololololol

– It’s been so long since I heard such a refreshing curse on Shia’s broadcast lololol

– Nayoung never changes lol

– Always keeping her initial mindset

It seemed the whisper got connected automatically while she was playing.

Sweating, I responded to Nayoung’s curse.

“Good luck with the game.”

She seemed so immersed in the game that she didn’t notice our whisper channel was open.

… Yeah, playing with Nayoung wasn’t a good choice.

More importantly, Nayoung was a woman who could destroy a team on her own.

In , defeat wasn’t determined when the enemy killed you.

Defeat was confirmed when the team fell apart.

“I’ll just solo queue today.”

There was no one suitable to play with.

So, the answer was to rank alone.

The viewers cheered at my words, and I slowly started the matchmaking.

After a while.

Finally, the match was found.

“Hello.”

“Hi.”

Our team members began to enter the game lobby.

I quietly observed them, and soon one of the men calmly spoke to the team.

“This is my promotion match, let’s all try our best!”

Wow.

Times really had changed.

In the past, it was a rule to hide if it was a promotion match.

Moreover, being a promotion match during end times would be a desperate situation.

Still, that person was very lucky.

The ten games known as placement exams had to be won to quickly rise to a high tier.

To achieve my goal, I had to pursue complete victory.

“Huff huff.”

It was then.

One team member who had been watching me closely since the match was found began to make strange breathing sounds while looking at me.

“It’s real… It’s real.”

“What’s real?”

“We… Ah! Successful… snipe!”

Damn.

Couldn’t these crazy people stay out?

Moreover, this was a low-rank area with the highest viewer distribution, unlike the heavenly rank where I usually played.

It was possible that every game could have a sniper.

I sighed and turned off the in-game voice.

Then, only transmitting audio through the broadcast, I grinned and said.

“Those who want to snipe, go ahead, but don’t cause trouble trying to get my attention in-game. Got it? If you act up in front of me… You know? You’ll all be dead, for real.” Ṝ

Snipers targeting streamers were always a headache.

Many times, they deliberately lost games to get attention from streamers.

“Wow! Are you streamer Shia?”

“Who’s Shia? A BJ?”

“I watched everything, even your cable TV appearances… It’s an honor! Let’s do well this game.”

At least the team’s atmosphere seemed good.

Soon, the game started.

And then, the enemy team’s all-chat started pouring in.

[ShiaExpertSniperAccount: lol I’ll prove Shia’s just hype]

[I’llBeatYouUp: Real Shia lol]

[WhyOnlyMe: Hey;; I’m in my promo series right now, why am I meeting a secondary character lol]

Being famous was tough.

I threw a light comment towards the enemy team who were showering me with attention.

[StreamerShiaSecondary: lol you guys should all come top instead of other lanes. Even if I take it easy, I could beat five of you lol deal?]

The first game always tasted best when started with a provocation.

—

2.

The end times of games with rank systems were the same in any game.

The scene would look like chaos if the word were visualized.

Five hours into seriously playing the game.

Each game took a maximum of 21 minutes.

Including the matchmaking time, each game didn’t exceed 30 minutes.

When the placements were completed, my tier was Gold 1.

It was the highest tier an account that hadn’t played any games could receive.

That was because,n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

-10 wins out of 10 games

-Perfect wins in placements lol

-How did you win every game when there were trolls in every match lol

-This guy is insanely good at the game

-Why isn’t he a pro gamer? If he were, he’d easily make a six-figure salary

-??? He already makes six figures, so why be a pro gamer lol

-Not a pro gamer, but being a pro gay might suit him ♥

-I wouldn’t mind if it were you

It was because I won every placement game.

In fact, winning all placement games was a goal anyone could achieve if luck followed.

But my case was very different from others.

An endless parade of trolls in every game.

Sometimes, two people would deliberately feed the enemy, trying malicious trolling.

But I won them all.

By an overwhelming margin.

As always, I changed every situation with my overwhelming physical skills.

The consensus among the viewers was that three highlight reels could come out of the five hours of play.

Even viewers commonly referred to as rock-solid couldn’t dare to backseat my play.

With the transition of to the VR version, the importance of physical skills had been greatly enhanced.

Of course, in the professional league where physical skills were standardized, strategic elements were still crucial, but in solo rank, the importance of physical skills was maximized.

[Match found.]

[Entering the lobby!]

While I was lost in thought, the first game after placements was found, and I entered the lobby.

The team members started to come in, and a familiar situation unfolded.

“Oh? You’re the ADC from the last game?”

“Ah…”

“You must be in your Platinum promotion series with win-loss-win-loss, right? We lost the last game because of you. You know that?”

“No, I admit I didn’t do well in the early game, but… I tried my best in the late game.”

“If it weren’t for you, the game would have ended long ago. I think you don’t deserve Platinum, so I’m trolling.”

The jungler declared to troll from the start.

The expression of our ADC, who was in the final stretch of his promotion series, contorted.

But then something happened.

The jungler, who had just declared to troll, looked around at the team members’ faces and nodded.

“Hmm…”

“Jungler, just give it a try.”

“You might do well this game. I checked his stats; he’s a good ADC. Wasn’t he just unlucky last game?”

The rest of the team, except for me, began desperately persuading the jungler.

-lol, what kind of matchmaking is this

-Except for our jungler and Ourak, the rest are all in their promotion series

-lololololol

-At this point, isn’t it using a matchmaking bug?

-Daycare ON

-There are too many people who think trolling is a right

According to the viewers’ reports, the other three seemed desperate.

The most desperate among them was the ADC ‘TryingHard,’ who was in the final stage of his promotion series.

Fortunately, there were no snipers in our team, but the team atmosphere didn’t look great.

The jungler glanced at me and nodded.

“Our top laner’s record is 10 wins and 0 losses. Are you a secondary character?”

Then the other team members started making a fuss.

“The game will be easy.”

“These days, it’s all about top lane dominance. Jungler, you’ll play, right? Our team luck seems great this game…”

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

It seemed the jungler’s rebellion ended.

But three minutes later.

After the champion selection phase ended and the game officially started.

When dodging was no longer an option.

When everyone was summoned to the Rift, the jungler, who had picked a normal champion, started typing in all-chat.

[DescendantOfDarkDragon: lol we have a perfect win streak and final promotion game in our team lol. Ruining the streak and dropping the promotion series will feel great lol. I’ll just farm in the jungle alone, so play comfortably.]

And he added more through the team voice.

“I can’t let you climb. You’re just Gold material.”

“No, I apologized. I said I was really sorry…”

“Did I say I’d accept your apology? Just lose. That’s where you belong.”

The most malicious types were those like him.

Giving hope and then taking it away.

He even picked a normal champion to avoid forcing a dodge. No matter what the other team members said, he kept talking to the ADC, ruining the team atmosphere.

I listened to him till the end and then smirked.

Then I said to the jungler.

“Hey, just throw yourself into the top lane. Even if a piece of trash like you trolls, I’ll still win.”

“Are you serious? You think I can’t throw? I’m on a secondary character, so I don’t care if I lose.”

“What’s your main character?”

“Master. Just shut up and play, you smurf.”

A second Seong-shin?

No, Seong-shin was more ethical and kind-hearted than this guy.

I started getting excited, feeling a thrill I hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Tell me your main character’s name.”

“Why would I tell you? You won’t know it anyway, you smurf.”

“How old are you?”

“Old geezers always ask about age first. In real life, you’re probably a loser who only has age to brag about, right? Following streamers, your life must be trash.”

Yeah, this was my comfort zone.

I nodded, very satisfied, and spoke to the despondent ADC.

“ADC.”

“…Yes?”

“Pull yourself together.”

“…Should we just surrender early…”

[First Blood!]

The laning phase had already begun.

As soon as it started, I drove a knife into the enemy hero’s neck and spoke with a refreshing feeling.

“Your promotion series isn’t over yet. Oh, and…”

This time, I intentionally left the team voice on and spoke to the viewers.

“Our jungler’s ID is DescendantOfDarkDragon.”

-Okay

-lolololololol

-lol why are you giving viewer detective agency requests after a cool line

-lol, leave it to us, the viewers

-Okay, we’ll find it soon

Good.

I roughly placed a bounty on him.

I then spoke to ‘DescendantOfDarkDragon.’

“Nowadays, 300-game Platinums even claim to be secondary characters? Impressive.”

“So what, you low-tier.”

“Let me give you a piece of advice.”

I curled my lips into a smirk and finished my sentence in the most sinister and delighted voice I could muster.

“Congratulations on becoming a superstar.”