Chapter 54: The Race for First Place

[Boss, I played a game with a broadcaster named Arina in my recent solo rank match. Do you know her?]

“She’s a VTuber I’ve been watching frequently recently.”

[VTuber…? Anyway, the editor of this person is asking if they can use your broadcast screen. What should we do about that?]

“It’s fine.”

[Got it. Since we’re giving permission, why not use Arina’s broadcast screen as a source too?]

I finished my call with Jeong Sangheon and started watching Even Repeating Students Need Love.

I wanted to keep doing solo rank broadcasts, but I had to take a break because the viewers kept asking me to rest.

When they say “rest,” they mean turning off the broadcast and sleeping… ᄉᄇ

Playing a different game now…

Even though I granted the viewers’ wish, for some reason, I kept getting complaints.

This is strange. Aren’t you supposed to be enlightened when you fulfill a wish?

In other words, these aren’t my viewers. They’re terrorists.

No negotiations with terrorists.

Doo-doo. Yurim Company! The logo appeared with the signature sound.

For a moment, I thought I heard someone shout, “Inho Company is terrible!”

What was that? A ghost?

But I do admit, the sound of “Inho” isn’t great. I’ll acknowledge that.

Anyway, whatever the reason, evil spirits must be banished.

I made the sign of the cross and sprayed some holy water (the perfume Bunnyrun gave me).

The game started.

The intro played, and I was soon dropped into the noisy prep class for repeating students.

“Should I just show you the ending of Han Yurim’s game since no one can guess it?”

“That’s not going to happen.”

That’s the other players’ responsibility. I’m not about to spoil it.

I immediately jumped up from my seat and left the classroom. The class was still in session.

However, the viewers weren’t surprised.

Gamers are the kind of people who get satisfaction from finishing a racing game on the first day of its release.

Not attending class and roaming around outside? That’s something others have been doing for a long time.

I went to an arcade and sat down in front of a fighting game machine.

The viewers were puzzled.

What’s the big deal about that?

It’s just the same screen repeating over and over on a game machine.

There were many people who stopped here.

But no one got this far.

I grabbed the controller and input the hidden command for the famous fighting game.

Doo-doo.

The fighting game, which had been repeating the same screen, now displayed a logo.

“This is online, so anyone who bought the game can come in.”

What was that just now?

What did you put into the dating sim?

“Don’t you know the hidden character select command?

If you don’t, go study it.”

I set up a room and waited for someone to join.

Soon, someone entered.

Han Yurim’s Toothbrush: ᄒᄋ

“Hello, Toothbrush!”

I greeted them warmly and picked my character.

33

“Master!”

Right. Every defeat until now has had meaning.

All defeats were stepping stones toward the future.

As I gained enlightenment, my opponent’s movements became clear.

So, this was the view you were seeing.

Thud. I stepped firmly on the ground.

With a determined expression, I faced my opponent.

From now on, it wouldn’t be easy.

[Victory]

I won Round 5 by just one hit and exhaled.

“That was close.”

My opponent was that strong.

Wiping sweat from my pants, I looked at the chat.

The viewers must have been excited after witnessing that intense match, right?

Damn, something felt off.

Crazy bastard.

When did they make that master voice clip?

“I don’t know what you guys are talking about.”

< user donated 1000 won>

• Don’t play with people, you crazy bastard.

It was a misunderstanding. If I hadn’t gotten enlightenment just now, it would have been me who lost.

But no one believed that.

A society without trust is so cold.

“Next.”

In the end, there was only one thing I could do.

Prove it.

After that, I kept repeating intense battles (barely winning by one hit).

After facing about 30 opponents in soul-crushing duels, I felt refreshed.

I opened a plum-flavored drink that I always had and spoke.

“I’ve hidden a bunch of mini-games too. Try to find them.”

I gave out a little info after no one found anything for a month.

How’s that? You’re probably so excited you can’t even sleep, right?

It was always victory, victory, win, win, by just one hit.

No wonder new players don’t emerge in fighting games.

Huh? Why does no one care?

“I’ve hidden lots of mini-games, you know.”

What do they call this again? A nasty 5-clutch?

They’re calling me a psychopath.

For some reason, the viewers weren’t interested in the game but only in my story.

Talking only about me on my own stream.

That’s a violation of the Geneva Convention.

Eh. It’s whatever.

“I’ll teach you how to play RTS games too. Go to a PC bang and enter the cheat codes for a classic RTS game, one by one, and boom. How does that sound? Looks fun, right?”

An RTS game with demons, angels, and humans battling appeared on the screen.

“Since I opened the room, come in one by one.”

< user donated 1000 won>

• I’m not playing with you anymore, you crazy bastard.

Even though they said they wouldn’t play with me, I got a lot of handshake requests from people.

After selecting random, I let 56 people experience different strategies, and then it was time for my part-time job.

I happily headed to the movie theater.

“Are you feeling good today?”

My older sister.

She’s meeting someone for work today.”

“…Who?”

“Unfortunately, it’s not Inho.”

Kim Inho was startled and waved his hands, denying it, but I had no idea what he was denying.

I hummed and made my way to the staff room.

Creeak. When I opened the door, the person inside was startled and looked up.

“Sis? Why are you so excited?”

“I can finally punish that cocky rabbit.”

I still hadn’t settled the score with Bunnyrun, as she kept running away.

Sitting down with my legs crossed, I let out a smirk.

“Diamond 1? You made it to part-time work with that tier?”

“Sis. Get a grip.”

“The old version of you… Chaewon, would have been too embarrassed to sleep if she were Diamond 1. You’ve changed a lot.”

“I’m always switching between Diamond 1 and Master. We’ve only known each other for a few months.”

Hmm.

Not so great.

If Bunnyrun’s tier had been Diamond 5, I wouldn’t be reacting like this right now.

Is there any way to get her to Diamond 5?

“Sis. Your eyes are scary.”

“My eyes are always normal.”

“Also, aren’t you too busy for this? I watched your stream yesterday, and you were just playing around. Is that okay?”

What’s she talking about?

I tilted my head in confusion, and Bunnyrun explained.

“Pae-Pae is grinding Solo Rank hard.”

“Well, she’s a skilled streamer, so she’s always grinding.”

“That’s not what I mean. Did you check Pae-Pae’s ranking?”

“I saw it once before.”

“You haven’t checked recently. Go ahead and search for it.”

I followed Bunnyrun’s instructions and opened the ranking page to check Pae-Pae’s rank.

Pae-Pae: 64th

…012+?

In just two days, Pae-Pae had jumped about 20 ranks.

Something felt off, so I turned on the stream.

Pae-Pae’s stream title was as follows:

[First Place Run]

This…

Is she trying to skip the score settlement by hitting first place first?

I could see the future.

Han Yurim: Pae-Pae, do you get any sleep at that tier?

Pae-Pae: I’m resting after reaching first place before you, though.

No!

If you’re going to play like that, I’ll have to use my trump card.

From tomorrow, I’m going for first place non-stop until I hit it.

“Phew.”

I thought I heard a sigh that seemed to mean “success” from the side, but that wasn’t the important thing right now.

I’m the one who will get the One Piece.

No one else can take it.