MSS 07

Malicious Stream Sniping (7)

Even at dawn, more than a thousand viewers were still watching.

That was no longer a number you could call “small-time.”

But the road to ads was still far off.

Advertisers didn’t just want live streams.

The internet streaming market had grown, yes—but compared to YouTube, it was nothing.

How big a gap?

I only had to look at my father’s company.

They had countless contracts with streamers, close partnerships.

But even there, most employees and managers didn’t actually know what livestreams were like.

In the end, what companies wanted was YouTube and livestreams both.

An influencer who had caught both rabbits.

“Hm…”

My YouTube subscriber count: 0.
I didn’t even have a channel yet.

And YouTube wasn’t like livestreams—you couldn’t just rack up subscribers overnight.
Unless there was some huge scandal, like Emperor SwordGate.
And that wasn’t exactly common.

‘Guess I’ll at least set up a channel.’

― Sphinx (Subscribers: 0)

I stared at the empty channel for a moment, then launched my video editing software.

All I knew how to do was cut and stitch clips, but everyone started like this.

Forget Legend of Heroes—even Wizard, the 500k-subscriber YouTuber, was dropping views there.

Better to ride the wave and upload footage from God of Star War, the game rising alongside Beast.

Cut together some wandering-around clips, bathroom breaks, make it a long cut—it’d be good enough.

“Alright, upload.”

I hit Enter, stretched my stiff shoulders.

“…Huh?”

The upload bar, which had been moving fine, suddenly froze.

YouTube AI detected similarity with existing content.
— Link — This video matches an existing one. (AI copyright detection — See details.)

“What the hell does that mean?”

I clicked the link and read carefully.

So the AI thought my video infringed on someone else’s copyright.

‘That can’t be. I recorded it yesterday myself.’

Only one guess came to mind:
A fan video.

Maybe someone who enjoyed the stream had uploaded their own cut to YouTube already.

“Ha. Couldn’t even wait, huh? Well, thanks I guess.”

I decided to check out this “fan channel.”

― Issue Game Encyclopedia K (Subscribers: 410k)

“…Wait. That’s… a lot of subscribers.”

Not exactly a fan video channel, then.

The latest upload?

― Endless Plagiarism Debate! Deep Dive Comparison: God of Star War vs Beast

A 400k YouTuber, so of course he was fast.

The idea I’d just had, he’d already turned into a video.

Success didn’t come from ideas—it came from action.

The video had been up for only a few hours, and already had 80,000 views.

I hit play.

“Project AD fans argued this, remember?
Yes, the systems are similar—but Beast implemented them in its own unique way.
And the story direction is totally different from Star War. Story is what really matters.
First, let’s look at this clip making rounds in the community.”

The footage shifted—and I saw something familiar.

My custom Victor, ripping apart the dragon’s scales mid-flight.

“Here! Look at the cutscene after the boss dies.
Notice how it differs? Instead of merging with the body, the Star Force becomes an orb the player holds.
Then the protagonist tucks it at the waist… almost identical to Beast’s Soul acquisition scene. That’s why the community exploded.”

I could only let out a hollow laugh.

Just how much bad karma had Project AD piled up?
They were getting hammered from all sides without me lifting a finger.

The comments were a bloody battlefield between the two fandoms.

…but of course, there was no mention of me in the clip.

So I left a comment:

Hello, I’m the streamer Sphinx, the player in that footage. The issue is, I tried uploading my own recording to YouTube, but AI flagged it as this video’s copyright.ㅠㅠ
I’ll leave my email—please get in touch.

Sure, I could’ve just emailed directly.
But since they’d already used my footage, I felt fine leaving a shameless public note.

With subtitles and voice overlays, the AI should distinguish my video as unique anyway.

“Phew… doing this all alone really leaves no time to breathe.”

I posted my next broadcast schedule on Teujijik and shut off the computer.

After a hearty meal and a three-hour rest, I went live again.

(Viewers: 2,249)

Huh. Viewer numbers were looking unusual.

「Oh, he’s live!」
「Ping-hi!」
「Ping-hi!」

A rookie would ask why there were so many people.
A veteran just scanned chat to feel out the mood.

「Complete ‘Emperor Sword Hell’ vertically and win a PingBurger!」
「H」
「E」
「L」
「L」

Veteran subscribers with badges were flooding the chat, playing games.

「Whoa, why so many people here?」
「Kick the newbies out!」

Heh. You don’t just kick out paying customers.

「Complete ‘Kick Newbies Out’ vertically and…」
Message deleted.

「Huh」
「Whoa」
「ㄷㄷ」
「Respect ^^7」
「Newbies welcome!」
「We love new viewers!」

The tension from that playful ban kept the mood alive.

I unmuted the mic.

“Last time we stopped after killing that worm-dragon, right? Let’s speedrun to the next boss.”

I explained for the newcomers, then followed the stardust path.

Water rippled underfoot in this new stage.

Nothing hard so far—just more cultists with scissor-hands to tear apart.

“Don’t hide behind followers! Come out yourself, Constellation god!”

Ahh. That was Victor.

That was the thrill of VR.

Why had I wasted time in Legend of Heroes?
Nothing compared to the visceral joy of ripping monsters apart.

「Whoa, Victor’s lines are different now」
「Hidden route confirmed??」

So that’s why the viewers had swarmed in—Game Encyclopedia K’s video had stirred rumors.

But best to clear it up.

“Nope, not a hidden route. Just me improvising.”

「?」
「?」
「LOL newbies are panicking」
「Don’t worry, the streamer’s a master of roleplay」

The water grew deeper as I advanced—ankles, knees, thighs, waist.
Walking became tough.

“Wow. Too hard to move like this… should I just swim?”

「Thanks to StarWar9thRunNewbie for the ₩1,000 donation!」
▶ Haha actually the intended way is to fly here.

Right—the “Flight” Star Force from the last boss.
Fly instead of wading, bypass the water.

The stage design made sense now.
But I decided to play it handicapped.

「New mission: ‘ㄴㄴㄴㄴ’」
◇ Reward: ₩50,000

“…What the hell is ‘ㄴㄴㄴㄴ’?”

Even after watching Wizard’s streams, I’d never seen that mission title.

I hesitated, glanced at chat.

「?」
「?」
「Did they misclick?」

Must’ve been a mistake.

“Hang on, looks like you registered wrong. I’ll cancel it for you.”

I checked the admin page—and froze.

The username was familiar.

― Issue Game Encyclopedia K.

The real one, verified with Teujijik’s badge.

So what mission was he trying to push?

I hit cancel.

「New mission: ‘Clear without using Star Force.’」
◇ Reward: ₩50,000

Ah. Now I understood.

He wanted footage of me clearing without Star Force—as proof of plagiarism.

Hmph.
Comparisons were content I’d wanted to make myself.
But I was too late now.
If I started a project today, the buzz would be gone by the time I finished.

Wouldn’t that just hand all the benefits to him?

No.
I’d eat my fill too.

“Thank you, Issue Game Encyclopedia K, for the 50k mission!”

I shouted his name loud and clear.
The chat instantly erupted.

「Whoa, the 400k YouTuber himself??」
「A star descending to this humble stream…」

“By the way, did you see my YouTube comment? I couldn’t upload my own video because AI flagged yours…”

I stared at chat, silently sending telepathy: I’m feeding you source material—let’s help each other out, yeah?

And sure enough, his verified badge appeared.

「※Issue Game Encyclopedia K: Sorry, I didn’t realize you had a channel. Added subs and voiceover, should be resolved now ^^;;」

「LOL he actually answered」
「Wait, you have a YouTube channel??」

A 400k YouTuber himself had just promoted me.
I practically danced with joy.

Already, I could almost hear subscribers flooding in.

「Thanks to EmperorSwordSphinxFan for the ₩1,000 donation!」
▶ Sphinx’s YouTube? Drop the link, I’ll sub right now haha

Good man. Sharp viewer.
I’ll send him a snack box on Pepero Day.

“Alright, looks like a boss ahead. I’ll clear it without Star Force, as per the mission.”

「Hell yeah」
「The Pink God」
「Countdown: World’s First No-Star-Force Clear」

Water up to my waist.
But with Victor’s body, I didn’t need to swim like a human.

Kick off the wall underwater—
―Thwack!
A perfect dolphin kick, gliding forward like a merman.

「Wtf he can swim too」
「This guy’s not human」

After five minutes underwater, cutscene time.

Control was ripped away—
―WHOOSH!

A massive shadow passed above.

Something huge loomed, pincers raised.

「“There you are! Traitor who slays my followers! I’ll tear your body in half and devour you!”」

Its claw crashed down, trying to bisect Victor.

He broke free and leapt onto floating debris.

「“Late as always, petty Constellation. I nearly died of boredom waiting.”」
「“Victor?! How—! You should have been destroyed!”」
「“Not your concern, Cancer. Soon you’ll be the one shattered, scattering your Star Force.”」
「“Insolent little star! This time I’ll grind you into cosmic dust!”」

Control returned—
but the unstable platform tilted, plunging me back into the whirlpool.

Water churned violently, dragging me under.

The only ways out were obvious:

Use the “Black Hole” Star Force to nullify the vortex.
Or use “Flight” to soar above it.

But I noticed something else.

Among the shattered wood, one plank spun intact, perfectly round.

Why only that piece?

‘Because the devs wanted me to use it.’

I smacked the water, vaulted onto the board—
and balanced arms and legs wide, surfing the current toward Cancer.

「WTF he’s surfing」
「This is the same game??」
「Bro’s a trust fund baby, came into VR surfing skills preloaded」

The distance closed rapidly.

Just punching him wasn’t enough—this had to be highlight material.

“Riddle time! What’s the one choice in rock-paper-scissors that always wins?”

I leapt high off the board, fist raised.

“The fist, you bastard!!”

―SMASH!

A clean, exhilarating hit.

Cancer staggered, stunned despite his massive size.

“If you don’t like violence, look away now. Cancer constellation—time for your lesson.”

I pummeled him relentlessly, fists raining down.

Was this too brutal for streaming?

Before I could worry, a donation came in.

「Thanks to EmperorSwordSphinxFan for the ₩1,000 donation!」
▶ Holy shit this looks dumb but badass hahahaha

The chat exploded in “LOL” spam.

And I knew instantly:
I’d just secured the perfect YouTube Shorts clip to blow up my channel.