MSS 06

Malicious Stream Sniping (6)

Choosing the difficulty is no small matter.

For a streamer, the audience always pushes for the harder path.

If difficulty can be chosen, viewers will never recommend “Easy”—always “Hard.”

Why?

Because it’s thrilling to watch someone beat what others can’t.

But you can’t let yourself be fooled.

The cheers only last until you get stuck.
The moment the streamer stumbles against the difficulty, those same viewers who demanded “Hard mode!” vanish without a shred of loyalty.

“Still, isn’t it admirable of me to take the hard road?”

「Hmm… admirable? Sure.」
「LOL what kind of praise are you fishing for」

「Thanks to EmperorSwordSentSphinx for the ₩1,000 donation!」
▶ So basically, if you get your ass kicked by the boss, it’s our fault, right?

“Tch. This is why I hate sharp-eyed viewers.”

“Anyway, I’ll drop a save here midway, and head down the side-quest route.”

I strayed from the stardust navigation and took the lower path.

After clearing out a few snake-headed cultists, a massive white serpent coiled at the cliffside came into view.

[The Fallen White Star]

So this was it.

The cursed monster responsible for ruining my chat?

A massive white serpent with grotesque horns.

The sub-boss hissed, baring its jaws.

「“Shaaahhhh!!!”」

Damn.

Seeing a monster that size in VR was overwhelming.
A reptile the size of a building staring hungrily at me—my body tensed up involuntarily.

“Uh, how’s anyone with snake phobia supposed to play this?”

「LOL they don’t. They just quit.」
「Other devs at least add casual graphics mode…」
「Mystery Circle doesn’t give a damn hahahaha」

I was already nervous against tiny snakes, and now they wanted me to fight a house-sized one?

Fine. Total immersion. That was the only way through.

“My name is Victor! A snake… is nothing to be af—afraid of!”

「LOL」
「Worst roleplay ever」
「‘Not af… afraid!’ LMAO」
「(shaking legs intensify)」

The serpent’s massive head crashed down toward me.

‘Why’s it so fast?’

I instantly realized the viewers who’d told me to take the main boss first were probably right.
This was a tight difficulty.

If I couldn’t use Victor’s body properly, I’d be dead in ten seconds.

‘Still, dodging’s possible…’

I focused, raising Victor’s body to the limit.

Suddenly, the serpent’s movements slowed—whether from game mechanics or my concentration, I couldn’t tell.

「Holy crap, he dodged with like 1 cm to spare」
「Dude’s got nerves of steel」
「Wait, is this the same guy who was scared a second ago?」

Dodging was fine.
But my punches bounced off uselessly.

―Wham!

The serpent’s tail swept like a club.

I jumped rope-style over it, stealing a glance at chat.

「……Star Force……」
「…LOL… weakness…」
「Head…」

I couldn’t keep up with chat, but I caught the keywords.

So: regular attacks useless, meant to have a gimmick.

Of course. Still a game.

I baited the serpent into pounding its tail like a hammer, smashing the ground.

Perfect.

Next came its headbutt pattern—same one I’d seen earlier.

‘Now!’

I sprinted up the cliff, bounding off the walls in triple jumps.

My body flipped midair, soaring higher than the serpent’s head.

「?????」
「What the hell was THAT?」
「Dude, was that like Heavenly Demon Step??」
「Bro I’m on my 4th playthrough and I don’t even know how you did that」

No tips in chat, but I’d already decided.

That horn on its head? Not a horn.
A massive fang jammed deep into its skull.

First bosses always had obvious weak points.

I gripped it hard, muscles swelling, and ripped.

The fang tore through scales as I slid down like a bloody playground slide.

―SPLASHHH!

The serpent split apart, gushing blood.

I yanked the fang free, then tore its body wide open.

[New Star Force Acquired.]

So this was a boss drop.

A half-star hidden in its body flew into me.

No tutorial. No explanation.

“Uh… so, where do I use this Star Force?”

Silence. No answers.

「This guy’s a 0-hour newbie? THIS guy??」
「Bullshit LOL」
「Wait, you weren’t supposed to kill it without Star Force??」
「Bro I take it back, I repent, I’m starting my 5th run humbly」

The chat completely ignored me and argued among themselves.

“Seriously, will someone explain what a Star Force is?”

Finally, one sane viewer donated to answer.

「Thanks to StarWar9thRunNewbie for the ₩1,000 donation!」
▶ LOL just think of it like an active skill.

So I had two Star Forces:
the serpent’s “Enlarge” and Victor’s innate “Black Hole.”

「Normally you’re supposed to use Black Hole to nullify the serpent’s Enlarge.」

“Oh… so it shrinks if I use it?”

「Yup. Temporarily turns small, since its Star Force is ‘Enlarge.’」

It clicked.

The game’s story was obvious:
Use the Black Hole to nullify constellation powers and smash through them one by one.

“Aha… that makes the ending really interesting. Definitely a masterpiece.”

「…Gasp.」
「Don’t…」
「Don’t mention the ending.」

“Why? Is the ending bad?”

「Thanks to StarWar9thRunNewbie for the ₩1,000 donation!」
▶ Hahaha let’s just say… you end up wagging your tail for the Master.

「WTF dude」
「Spoilers nooo」
「Mystery Circle games—only play the early story lol」

Their reaction only hyped me up more.
If even a broken ending didn’t kill its reputation, then the journey must be amazing.

Still—
“It’s already 4 a.m. I’ll stop here for today.”

「?」
「??」
「Nooo you can’t leave, beat the main boss first!」

“Hmm, how long would that take?”

「Depends… maybe 30 minutes?」
「With your skills, easy under 30.」

“In that case, let’s do it.”

I pushed forward, clearing mobs along the stardust path.

The scenery inked over like an oriental painting.
Snake cultists’ jaws elongated, turning lizard-like.

“Hold the backseating—I’ll try a headbutt myself.”

Sure enough, the boss arena appeared.

―WHOOSH!

Something rose from the lake.

[The Little Dragon That Devours Stars]

The first main boss.

It looked like a giant worm with dragon scales.

The viewers had guessed I’d need 20 minutes here.

But after the serpent fight, it just seemed slow.

「Tutorial tells you to use Black Hole, but he’s ignoring it LMAO」
「And yet he doesn’t even need it」
「Wtf is he actually the God of War??」

The warm-up ended.

I clawed at its scales, climbed onto its back as it tried to soar skyward.

「Bro that’s BRUTAL LOL」
「Why does the boss look pitiful」
「Sphinx: Don’t you dare die already, this is boring!」

I clung on, tearing at its hide.

Victor wouldn’t hesitate. Neither would I.

Both hands ripped its scales apart like shedding skin.

「“Kueeeeehhhhh!!”」

The dragon screeched as it plummeted.

I jammed my fingers into its eye socket, pulling free a glowing shard.

[Star Force Acquired: “Flight.”]

「Yoooo」
「Holy shit」
「This guy’s insane」

“Not bad, huh? How’s that compare to Legend of Heroes—about diamond rank?”

「Thanks to StarWar9thRunNewbie for the ₩1,000 donation!」
▶ Diamond? LOL not even close. There’s literally no one who plays like you, man.

The compliments piled up.

But it was nearly 5 a.m., and my eyelids drooped.

“Thanks so much, everyone. See you tomorrow.”

「Thanks to SnipingKingSphinx for the ₩1,000 donation!」
▶ Didn’t you promise to compare this with Beast?

“Oh, right—Beast. I’ll have to play both games first, then I’ll put out a comparison video on YouTube. Ping-ba.”

「Ping-ba」
「Ping-ba」
「Night!」
「Why ‘Ping-ba’ if you’re Sphinx?」
「‘S-ba’ sounds like a swear lol」

At 5 a.m., with 1,132 viewers,
I ended the stream.

Meanwhile…

On the streaming platform Teujijik, the late-night crowd was buzzing.

Project AD’s ambitious new title, Beast: Lord of All, had been released early for streamers.

「This new game’s plagiarism is insane—straight-up God of Star War」
「Streamers playing it look exactly the same LOL」
「Of course, Project AD are the kings of plagiarism」
「Background looks different tho, what’s copied?」
「?? Are you blind?」
「12 Constellations = 12 Beasts」
「Star Force = Beast Soul」
「Even the first bosses are a snake and a dragon LOL」

What was everyone so mad about?

We’d swapped out models, attack motions, everything.

‘Tch. Games are all the same anyway.’

Developer Kim Oh-cheol scowled at the plagiarism comments and put his hands on the keyboard.

「You guys must not know what you’re talking about. If you actually watch, the games are clearly different. Even the early game setups are nothing alike.」

「???」
「LOL corporate shill spotted」
「‘Clearly different’—are your eyes broken?」
「Thanks for your hard work, Project AD devs ^^」

…Shit. How did they know?

If word got out that a dev was arguing in the comments, it’d be bad.

Kim Oh-cheol tried again, carefully.

「I’m not a shill, just stating facts. In Beast, you can’t use Beast Souls early.」

「Are you dumb? That’s the same as playing God of Star War without Star Force LOL」
「You never played it huh. Without Star Force you literally can’t kill bosses.」
「True, Star War is impossible without it」
「So yeah, early game IS different」

At least some defenders started to appear.

Until one new post dropped.

[Cleared God of Star War 9 times. Too many clueless people, so here’s proof.]

—Video attached.
Timestamp 3:45:00 ~

Summary:
The game is fully playable without Star Force.

The footage showed someone triple-jumping up a cliff and tearing apart the giant serpent with bare hands.

「?? WTF」
「He killed it without Star Force??」
「Wait… you could do that?!」
「How’s he scaling cliffs like flat ground…」
「Who IS this guy? A streamer?」
⤷ LOL shockingly, a total VR newbie
⤷ Yeah right
⤷ Don’t believe it? Check for yourself: Teujijik.live/Sphinx

“…Sphinx? Never heard of him.”

Kim Oh-cheol clicked the link.
A random streamer, maybe 500–1,000 viewers.
Didn’t even have a YouTube channel.

Hardly an influencer at all.

He scoffed.
“At most, a successful first day.”

Beast already had over 100,000 live viewers.

Some newbie clearing without Star Force?
Meaningless.

「Fact is, no matter what you say, Beast is a hit LOL」

Satisfied with the positive comments, Kim Oh-cheol checked the time.

That was enough monitoring for the night.
He closed Sphinx’s channel and went to bed.

「Wait… what was that?」
「I’ve never seen that animation before」
「Hold on, doesn’t that mean… it really IS plagiarized?」

It was the greatest mistake of his life.