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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Battlefield Stakes
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The Battlefield was famous content.
It was the most popular mode in For the Jianghu, the game with the highest recognition, and every season it sparked major episodes that grabbed everyone's attention.
Choosing one of three factions and competing against players from the rival factions in a three-way battle to conquer and defend territory—it was impossible for that not to be fun.
"So, what should we go with?"
He decided to settle on the pledges first, these guys.
Seo-jun read through the increasingly bizarre penalty suggestions with a look of utter disbelief.
"You mean the Battlefield goals, right?"
Just do the penalties first lololol
For real
So which faction did you pick?
"Oh, for the faction, I'm thinking Demonic Cult."
Orthodox, Unorthodox, Demonic Cult.
Out of those three, the Demonic Cult was by far the weakest.
To the point where they'd never once won a Battlefield.
The reason was simple: their performance sucked.
Because their performance was poor, there were fewer skilled players compared to the other factions, so they couldn't win on the Battlefield, which meant no new users joined.
It was trapped in a vicious cycle.
Don't cross that river
Of all things, Demonic Cult lololololol
Makes sense with that nickname
"Right? And I've got the nickname for it."
If he were thinking purely about contribution points, Orthodox would be the smart pick.
Because they'd won the most Battlefields so far, and they were the frontrunners to win this season too.
Users in the winning faction got bonus contribution points.
Orthodox already had massive popularity and strong performance, and with their win streak, players flocked to them.
The total opposite of the Demonic Cult's vicious cycle—a virtuous one.
Of course, that didn't mean Seo-jun picking the Demonic Cult was him completely giving up on the prize money.
"Besides, Orthodox and Unorthodox don't seem that much better than Demonic Cult anyway, do they?"
Then pledge a win lololol
Lmaooo Demonic Cult win lolol
Who the hell taught you For the Jianghu? ;_; Demonic Cult is trash. Try it yourself.
"Demonic Cult win? Sounds good. Simple enough."
It looked like the first pledge was set.
Seo-jun had been thinking of one faction goal and one personal goal for the pledges.
Basically declaring you're doing the penalties lololol
Let's see you actually do it lol
Whoa, Heavenly Demon over here.
Bet all my points that the streamer has no clue what Battlefield is
Streamer's always been clueless about games!
The viewers' disbelief was understandable.
A faction's ranking wasn't something one person could influence.
No matter how unprecedented Seo-jun's performance had been in Assassin's Dawn, viewers knew a single player couldn't beat a group.
Seo-jun knew it too.
"Yeah, I know a Demonic Cult win is a long shot. That's why I'm adding other pledges. If any one of them succeeds, no penalties. How's that?"
OK
Demonic Cult win is honestly too much
Just pretend that one doesn't exist lolol
They accepted it way more easily than expected.
Demonic Cult.
That was the image it had.
Viewers threw out various suggestions while chatting with Seo-jun.
The first was getting into the top 16 overall contribution rankings, and others included:
Top contribution within the Demonic Cult.
No failed attacks or defenses.
Collect the most reputation points each game.
And so on.
Lots of ideas poured in.
Seo-jun gathered them and ran a viewer poll.
Every single one was brutally hard.
Because most had watched his Assassin's Dawn run, their expectations for him were sky-high.
Even so, the reason he accepted their suggestions was simple.
He had confidence.
"Oh, top 16 got the most votes. Alright, now let's decide the penalties."
The pledge was top 16 in contribution rankings.
It lined up perfectly with the prize money goals too.
Doable.
Finally
Swim in the ocean in midwinter
Rage Quit king go go
Better to dig up 5k razor clams from the mudflats
Show Christina noona cutscene
Cutscene isn't a penalty, is it? lol
There were some weird ones mixed in, but plenty of penalty ideas came up anyway.
Seo-jun wrote them one by one on the roulette wheel.
He even had to add the magical girl one.
Because the guy who suggested it had donated 100,000 won.
"Okay, adding 'drink snow instead of water for a year.' But I'll make it a week. Stop the spam."
All sorts of crazy stuff popped up, and Seo-jun adjusted their severity to reasonable levels as he filled the slots.
"Why so calm? Doesn't matter what it lands on."
He planned to do it properly.
The hesitation had been when he didn't know the Battlefield well.
Confidence is insane
Magical girl pls. Magical girl pls. Magical girl pls. Magical girl pls. Magical girl.
I wanna see crossdress then hit the club?
Evil bastards lolololol just leave already
Honestly.
If something like that hits and he fails, he might have to quit streaming.
No matter how young he was—and he'd never even grown old in his past life—he remembered a life of being called "sir" everywhere he went.
Seo-jun shook his head and moved the mouse.
"Here we go."
Spinning spinning spinning.
The roulette whirled.
Since he'd crammed everything visible onto it, each slot was tiny.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
All because of the magical girl slot.
The speed slowed, and it stopped.
Aw shit...
Rage
Quit
This ain't it
Quit
Rage Quit is too easy for streamer lolololol
Quit
"Aha."
Seo-jun feigned genuine regret.
With an infuriating grin.
"If I fail, I'll Rage Quit."
Rage Quit was a notoriously difficult indie game.
Its name literally meant quitting in rage.
But everyone knew it wasn't much of a penalty for him.
"Alright, hopping into the capsule now."
That smug face is pissing me off lolol
Someone teach him a lesson
['RiggedDice' has registered a mission!]
[Spin the roulette once more and add another penalty — Mission reward: 300,000 won]
Seo-jun's hand paused as he was about to tidy up the screen.
The nickname displayed via settings: RiggedDice.
A big spender who dropped 100k at a time once he started donating.
"Hmm."
One more spin for a mission success? He couldn't resist that.
But accepting right away would be amateur hour.
"Guys, if I spin again and hit crossdress, I might quit streaming and ghost. Why risk it? Nah."
lololol that all?
Bro go full clown streamer!
No way you're skipping this? For real?
So many epic penalties there...
That wasn't it.
If he was going to take the risk, the reward had to match.
As if reading his mind, a perfectly timed alert popped up.
['MoneyCantSolveEverything' added 100,000 won to the prize!]
['IsItNotEnoughMoney' added 100,000 won!]
['MoreMoney' added 50,000 won to the prize!]
Lmaoooooooo unity legend
Insulting me are ya!
Trying to buy me off with money!?
"Ah, come on. This is bad."
He said that, but the mouse cursor drifted toward the roulette.
The chat exploded in laughter at his words not matching his actions.
Too much money to scold him!
Don't bow to capitalism, comrade!
No pride?
The teasing chats piled up, but Seo-jun spun the roulette anyway.
Pumping BGM played.
When it finally stopped, his face twisted like he'd eaten shit.
He pinched his brow at the horrific result, then spoke.
"...You know success means that's it, right?"
Yeah.
If he really succeeded, that was the end of it.
Of course. We know pfft lolol
lololololololololol
(Gritting teeth) If you succeed that's it right?
Succeed or die
Magical girl ㅅㅅㅅㅅ
How the hell did it land on magical girl lololololol
Karma of capitalism strikes.
The roulette had stopped dead on the one slot it absolutely shouldn't have.
[Dance in magical girl outfit in front of the main gate of the university the streamer attends]
Damn it.
This was why you don't chase money.
He'd planned to go all out anyway.
Now he had to go truly, truly all out.
Seo-jun hopped into the capsule and fired up For the Jianghu right away.
Bamboo sprouted thickly beyond the village, and pandas tumbled down the streets.
[You have reached LV 5. You may now join your desired martial faction.]
A prompt to select a martial faction blocked his view.
He hit confirm to dismiss it and headed toward the central plaza where crowds gathered.
To find the way to the Demonic Cult.
Demonic Cult means giving up win strat from the start
Penalty that bad and you're still doing Demonic Cult? Not switching to Orthodox? lolol
lololololol
"Sigh."
Seo-jun ignored the hyped viewers.
In For the Jianghu, players could choose from seven specific martial factions.
Orthodox: Huashan Sect, Namgung Clan, Beggars' Sect.
Unorthodox: Green Forest, Tang Clan, Blood Net.
Demonic Cult.
Oddly, the Demonic Cult had no sub-factions.
But their build variety was wider than others.
That led to jokes like "Demonic Cult sucks because we haven't found the optimal build yet!"
But game veterans? They'd have found it if it existed.
It just plain sucked. Consensus.
'I did consider Huashan, but no real connection there.'
Seo-jun clicked his tongue and quickened his pace.
"Guys, if I pick Orthodox or Unorthodox, can I freely switch sub-factions?"
Not freely lol
Switching within faction = no Battlefield penalty
Exam difficulty rises when switching sects vs joining. Choose wisely first time.
"Oh, gotta take exams to join?"
Yup
Demonic Cult hardest for high rank lol
Game makes you take tests? Dirty!
"Ha, starting tomorrow, everyone's studying."
Viewers poked fun at his pre-study declaration.
But Seo-jun resolved to play efficiently, no matter what they imagined.
He reached the center.
The big building where the conquest battles started.
A large map sat beside the entrance.
Clicking it unfurled a holographic map in front of him.
"Gotta go outside the village."
For the Jianghu's factions fell into two location types: inside or outside the village.
Namgung Clan, Tang Clan, Beggars' Sect, Blood Net— their bases were in town.
Huashan Sect, Green Forest, Demonic Cult were outside, in the mountains east, west, and north from the starting point.
"Demonic Cult's north."
Huashan east, Green Forest west.
"Just follow the street up like before."
Exiting the village revealed the mountain entrance.
Seo-jun climbed the stairs toward the Demonic Cult atop the peak.
"So what's the Demonic Cult entry exam? And the rewards?"
Demo martial arts form to NPC lol just make one up
Demonic Cult concept is build-crafting maybe?
High grade gives big starting boost but you won't check community guides, right?
Lol if you don't wanna be magical girl, scour every guide now
For real, feet on fire
There were rewards.
Substantial ones.
Then he had to ace it.
"Ha, like I'd follow guides."
No need to worry.
Martial arts form?
Whatever it was, top grade was a given.
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