Chapter 19: WeaponMaster Oh Dae-sik

Weapon Master Oh Dae-sik.

That name was familiar to people active on Switch.

The 27-year-old man was a celebrity on Switch.

A streamer’s streamer.

He was widely known in the broadcasting industry, even by those who had never seen his streams.

Was it because of his manly, bold name?

He had turned his real name into his streamer nickname, and it had become a meme within Switch.

Because of the name’s tone, it was often used in a mocking manner.

Whether it was due to the name or his rough, manly appearance, Oh Dae-sik’s rise to fame had always been a topic of long-standing interest among the viewers.

What was Dae-sik up to today?

Surprisingly, the hard-working streamer was streaming again today.

His broadcast was titled “Oh Dae-sik Grandmaster Run.”

“Damn it!”

Bang!

The man slammed the desk angrily.

Whatever had gotten him so angry was even reflected in the angry breath that came through the microphone.

This had all happened just one minute after the stream started.

[Did Dae-sik arrive?]

[Sounds good]

[Hwang Dae-sik’s Grandmaster attempt, about the 43rd try]

[Just give up, Dae-sik]

[Just live like a Master, bro~]

[Why is this guy doing All-Weapon when his skills aren’t even good?zzz]

[The teammates can’t do it, haha, Dae-sik is doing fine]

[Even if he focuses on one thing, he still can’t do it]

[Big Mad haha]

[This is pretty much a middle-aged rage]

From the title alone, viewers immediately knew the situation and responded with familiar comments.

Grandmaster.

A tier that Dae-sik had been aiming for, but had failed to reach—often called a “permanent Master,” or “Ma-Dak,” among fans.

Top-ranked Challenger #89.

That was the one thing Dae-sik could still claim.

An old user who had been with *EOWAR* since launch, he had once reached the ranks of top players.

But that was a brief period.

As he aged and his skills deteriorated, and as the game became stagnant, his rank plummeted.

The glorious days had vanished, replaced by the current pitiful state.

“Do these idiots even want to win? Did I get kicked again?”

Dae-sik hit the tab key to check his team’s status.

While he had been away from the game, the team had lost a large-scale fight, resulting in three players being eliminated.

Only Dae-sik, who had chosen the mage and stayed at the back, and the assassin, who had been hiding, were left.

The loss was inevitable.

Dae-sik clenched his teeth and made a decision.

WeaponMaster: Hey, try to get some aggro, I’ll go in once the damage is right.

ShiningDagger: haha

A quick order.

Fortunately, the assassin followed Dae-sik’s order.

However, Dae-sik’s strategy and the assassin’s play didn’t align.

The assassin used their ultimate to engage with an enemy damage dealer, only to die within a second.

“…Fuck.”

Left alone, Dae-sik was killed by the enemy, and the victory announcement echoed through.

The enemy had marched into his base, and the defeated Dae-sik watched the scene in silence.

“How are we supposed to win when these idiots play like this every time? Look at these dumb teammates.

We’ve got three Diamonds, and their whole team is Masters. Whenever their Diamonds get caught, it’s all alt accounts.

The world just wants to screw me over.”

Dae-sik was criticizing his teammates’ skills while looking at the last match’s records.

6 deaths, 7 deaths, 10 deaths… Numbers that clearly indicated something was wrong were displayed on the screen.

“And then if I say something in the chat, they report me and I get banned.

Is this right? I miss Season 1. Back then, if you sucked, it was just natural to get trashed.

There was romance, romance.”

[The romantic era of Season 1… what kind of place was it?]

[Romance? More like barbarism]

[This guy keeps talking about the old days. Is he an old man?]

<ShiningDaeSikHwangDaeSikDaeSik donated 1000 won!>

– But even Dae-sik got 8 deaths… Don’t blame others, Dae-sik.

“No, I died while dealing damage, during a team fight. These guys just got caught without me.”

[Ah, haha, Dae-sik ‘sacrificed’ himself]

[If he died from drawing aggro, he did what he needed to]

[Why is a mage drawing aggro?]

[This guy is just a fool]

[Hey, don’t slander our Dae-sik]

The reactions in the chat weren’t great.

Objectively speaking, Dae-sik’s play was also subpar compared to the enemy’s team.

He just wouldn’t admit it.

<ShiningDaeSikHwangDaeSikDaeSik donated 1000 won!>

– Pathetic, Dae-sik. Just go back to your hometown. If you’re Diamond, you’re the king there.

“Fuck! Just shut up and empathize!”

Dae-sik forcefully kicked the viewer who donated out of the chat.

[Everyone, get your hands off the keyboard!]

[Dae-sik is starting again]

[Is Dae-sik on his period?]

[Can’t even do it, and he’s throwing a tantrum haha]

[This is pretty much middle-aged rage]

Fuck.

Dae-sik took his eyes off the chat and refocused on the game.

When the criticism against him was building up, he knew no matter what he said, it wouldn’t be heard.

Instead, Dae-sik concentrated on the game screen.

Please, let me catch someone this time.

– BloodRedBlade joined the game.

– KimBaekGu joined the game.

– lillliilll joined the game.

– SweetAndSourPork joined the game.

– WeaponMaster joined the game.

Dae-sik quickly checked his teammates’ stats.

He compared their win rates and recent performance to figure out if his teammates were decent or not.

“Good…”

Dae-sik muttered to himself, feeling relieved.

It seemed like this match might have better team luck.

He was excited, thinking he might finally secure a win after a long time.

However, his smile didn’t last.

The game was leaning heavily in one direction.

The top right kill log kept scrolling non-stop.

If the kill log was showing his team’s victories, it would have been great.

But instead, his team was being slaughtered.

By some monster with a sniper rifle.

“What the hell is this guy? Why is he so good?”

Dae-sik was watching his teammates die in real-time.

He had just been killed a moment ago by a bullet whose origin was unknown.

It was clear that the sniper was a smurf account.

He had been thinking about blaming the game for “playing against pros” if things went wrong, but the skill gap was so wide that even that excuse seemed pointless.

It just felt like if you entered the sniper’s line of sight, you were guaranteed to die.

Every time the sound of the sniper rifle rang out, agents fell helplessly.

Any agent who wasn’t taken out in one shot was brutally murdered by the enemy team, who soon followed up.

The outer base was captured, and the enemy pushed deep into their side of the map.

Dae-sik swore under his breath and put his mouse down.

“No, they gave them another smurf account! This fucking game.

Why does our team never get smurfs? I can carry too. I want a pro smurf, not some random Chinese smurf.”

<GrandpaGinsengCandyThiefDaeSik donated 1000 won!>

– That’s not a smurf, that’s a local Master player haha.

“Local Master, huh? Don’t bullshit me.

No way a local Master plays like that. And I told you not to use that nickname.

People keep asking if it’s for real.”

Dae-sik was now receiving donations with comments about elderly people and ginseng candy, but he ignored them.

If you feed the trolls, they just get bolder.

<GrandmaCartBreakingMollu donated 1000 won!>

– Teacher, I missed you so much.

“Teacher? What are you talking about? Does that person even stream?”

“Teacher” was a title used by viewers to refer to certain streamers.

Dae-sik quickly scanned the rapidly scrolling chat.

Sure enough, the reactions were unusual.

[Dae-sik doesn’t even know who Mollu is haha, she’s been streaming AoW for a week]

[Dae-sik, calling someone a bitch? To a woman?]

[Why isn’t she streaming? What’s she doing there?]

[No announcement, just taking a break and playing games]

[Mollu, you bitch! Turn on the stream!]

[Mollu, are you targeting Dae-sik now?]

[So who the hell is Mollu, you nerds?]

[Ah haha, Mollu is…]

[Here’s the info~]

Based on the viewers’ reactions, Mollu seemed to be quite a popular figure.

At this point, it was likely mentioned in the community, but Dae-sik hadn’t checked the forums in the past few days, so he didn’t know.

Dae-sik carefully chose his words, afraid of making a mistake.

“So, is she a Master? Her skills are nowhere near Master level. Look at how she’s smurfing this match.”

[She’s a Master with an appeal account.]

[She probably has a main account, but she can’t use it for some reason, so she’s playing with this one instead.]

[She’s an ecosystem disruptor haha.]

Seems like she’s a talented streamer.

And she’s a woman, which is why the viewers are losing their minds.

Whenever a charismatic streamer appeared, this was the typical reaction.

Having been in the streaming game for a while, Dae-sik quickly figured out the situation.

He was surprised by the fact that the woman had such skill, but he shrugged it off.

Mollu, the streamer, being a woman and her streaming history—none of that mattered right now.

What was important to him was that he had just been run over by a truck named Mollu and was handed an automatic loss.

He just hoped they wouldn’t face each other this time.

No, he hoped they would be on the same team this time.

If he was handed one loss by her, it would only be fair to get one win in return.

Dae-sik eagerly started the matchmaking queue.

– GalbiJjimHanSang joined the game.

– WeaponMaster joined the game…

There was no Mollu on his team.

Dae-sik licked his lips and assessed his teammates’ status.

Not bad, he thought, shaking off the disappointment as he selected his agent and the screen shifted to the loading page.

‘Mollru’

“Shit…”

His curses rose to his throat.

Why?

What was the matchmaking system even based on?

What did he do wrong to deserve facing this person again?

It was a scream born from Dae-sik’s chest, unheard by anyone.

[Alright, let’s go~ let’s go~ let’s go~ let’s go~]

[Look at Dae-sik’s face, it’s frozen]

[Dae-sik, use nice words^^; she’s a TAs player]

[Mollu’s a disaster in Master]

[MollDisaster haha]

Dae-sik gritted his teeth and focused on the game.

For the first time in a while, his team played without trolls, giving their best performance, but—

<Defeat!>

What greeted him was a black screen and the image of their shattered base.

That was seven losses in a row.

The devastating losing streak made Dae-sik dizzy.

And at the same time, he felt it.

He wouldn’t sleep tonight.

Until he could recover this, at least retrieve half of his points, he wouldn’t be able to close his eyes peacefully.

Amidst the mocking and disdain from the viewers,

Dae-sik ground his teeth and queued up for another match.

The game started, and he didn’t relax, even as the enemy team appeared.

No, it would be more accurate to say he couldn’t relax.

Instead of checking his teammates’ stats like usual, he sat still, tapping his foot anxiously, staring at the screen.

Finally, when both his team and the enemy team were ready and the game transitioned to the loading screen,

‘Mollru’

“Fuck…”

This time, Dae-sik couldn’t hold back his curse.