🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter – 09
I was about to leave through the counter door, but I stopped immediately and turned back, leaning over the part-timer’s phone.
The tournament introduction video was zooming in on a man.
“……”
For a moment, my breath caught in my throat.
Without even noticing my stiffened expression, the part-timer excitedly kept talking.
“You know Baek Hee-an, right? He’s number one in the world in both reality and the game, and he’s so handsome he could be a celebrity. He has fans all over the country and overseas.”
“You… don’t tell me you’re a fan of that guy?”
“Wow! Aren’t you?! How can you know GOD-OF-AP and not be a fan of Ian—no, Baek Hee-an? Just watch one of his gameplay videos and you’ll fall for him immediately. He’s a legend!”
“……”
Damn.
I was about to sarcastically say, “Do guys really fangirl over other guys?”
But if I picked a fight with someone this genuinely crazy, my already blackened HP would just keep getting drained in vain suffering.
I turned away and grabbed the counter door again to leave.
“I’ll go watch it at home.”
“Ah, wait! Let’s watch together, it’s more fun! You have to watch Baek Hee-an’s legendary videos at home, okay?! Got it?!”
Shit.
I escaped out of the convenience store like I was running away, my stomach boiling with irritation.
The undisputed number one in both the game and reality—Ian.
Real name: Baek Hee-an.
That guy was the very cause of the accident that turned my leg into what it is now, back when I was doing well in college.
GOD-OF-AP private waiting room.
As soon as I logged into the game, I checked the GOD-OF-AP tournament news I had heard at the convenience store.
Sitting on the sofa in a capsule-shaped transparent space-like waiting room, I browsed the internet, and a flood of tournament articles appeared.
[“God of Fighters (GOF) by Star Oracle announces cutting-edge VR combat tournament… ‘The world will be watching’”]
I tapped an article.
[Star Oracle Games has officially announced a global tournament for its world-famous VR action game God of Fighters (GOF).
The structure and detailed schedule of the inaugural competition will be revealed later.
Of particular interest is how Star Oracle will conduct the world’s first VR-based player combat tournament.
As this is the first attempt, Star Oracle has stated it will begin beta testing the tournament immediately.]
Star Oracle is the company that made this game, GOD-OF-AP.
They apparently became insanely rich from it.
The founder is considered a once-in-a-generation genius in the game industry.
But according to the clown, this game wasn’t made by him alone—it was created using transcendent technology taught by Celestial Beings.
The world is insane.
Not that it matters whether that’s true or not.
“What’s the point of a beta tournament? Just start the main one already.”
【It’s also the last chance for Celestial Beings who haven’t found partners to meet players. Plus promotion, and testing whether the system works properly.】
AI-like data fragments turning out to be real beings still didn’t feel real.
Sometimes I wondered if my brain was broken.
Players think gacha is pure luck and pray to every god imaginable, but in reality, Celestial Beings pretending to be AI were selecting them.
And yet there are so many arrogant ones among them, I don’t even know why.
“Can you earn coins in beta too?”
【You can, but don’t expect much. It’s a beta test—how big do you think the stakes are? And Celestial Beings have high standards. They tend to watch more in the later stages when skill is more stable.】
Yeah, I figured.
【Not interested in human prize money? That should be pretty decent too.】
“What? How much?”
【I don’t know.】
“……”
Then don’t say it.
But I had been so focused on coins that I hadn’t even considered that.
Now that I thought I could earn both coins and prize money from the organizers, my motivation for the tournament shot up.
‘Killing two birds with one stone. I can fix my leg with coins anyway, so I can spend money freely. Once I have money, I want to buy real meals—no, first thing is three proper meals a day.’
Thinking about that made my hunger for money grow.
Today again, I had saved on food costs by eating discarded convenience store food, and even that was barely anything.
I clicked my tongue and browsed the internet.
Still no info on prize money.
Then I suddenly remembered the stream invitation message I had received after a 1v1 match not long ago.
‘They said they’d pay for appearing on stream… what was the channel name?’
Without even checking my inbox, I searched “ChickenPunch” and “ChickenGod” alternately, and immediately found it.
Title: GOD-OF-AP World Rank 12 ChickenGod something something.
I opened the video and checked the comments.
Since I had used a newly summoned Celestial and couldn’t use my usual skills properly, it wasn’t even a real performance—but surprisingly, there were a lot of compliments.
— lol those people saying ChickenGod is Baek Hee-an’s alt account, come out 😂
— the speed is insane
— wow the veterans are just listening quietly?? rankers are rankers huh
— leaked power before tournament?
— get ChickenGod on stream ASAP, GOD-OF-AP channel missing out on money
— S-rank clear speed in Hell-mode multi raid ㄷㄷ so someone other than Ian can do that
— if they’re a real hunter isn’t that kinda scary? feels like they’d kill civilians lol
— Baek Hee-an is definitely not this guy
— who would win if Baek Hee-an fought ChickenGod 1v1?
— we NEED ChickenGod broadcast
— am I the only one falling for the character?? my heart hurts
— skill output is crazy
— why is “is this a full sellout?” so funny in live chat lol
— no overlap with domestic hunters’ styles… maybe not even a hunter? then who?
— I want daily ChickenGod content
The recurring “hunter speculation” whenever ChickenGod was mentioned online was one of the reasons I avoided revealing myself.
‘I wish I was either a hunter or an athlete.’
That was my honest thought.
I didn’t really go into GOD-OF-AP communities much because I didn’t want to see news about Baek Hee-an or his in-game character IAN, but I at least knew I was somewhat famous.
I just didn’t care anymore since there was nothing I could do with that information.
Still, even as an outsider, watching someone else make money off my gameplay felt irritating.
The channel had over 600,000 subscribers.
“Jealous. Maybe I should try streaming too.”
I felt like I could also show gameplay while talking through my avatar inside the game like this.
The clown immediately objected.
【What? Streaming when a major tournament is coming up? Absolutely not. That’s something only weak players do.】
“I wasn’t asking you.”
【Tch. Rude as ever.】
Despite the complaining, there was no real hostility.
Ever since I accepted the tournament, the clown had noticeably become more obedient.
It had been arrogant and sharp-tongued from the beginning, but I had ignored it so much that it probably got worse out of frustration.
“I want money.”
【Just buy things with coins.】
“There’s a beta tournament first. When am I supposed to wait for the main one? And I need 50,000 coins to fix my leg. I can’t spend coins until then.”
【Hah. A human who tricked powerful Celestial Beings into a scam-like contract worrying about petty things…】
“Shut up. Money.”
I immediately created a YouTube channel under my in-game nickname.
Then I used the GOD-OF-AP system’s [Live Streaming] feature to connect to YouTube with the newly created account.
Room created.
Title: [ GOD OF FIGHTERS (GOF)/GOD-OF-AP ChickenPunch 1v1/PvP/Chicken Money/Instant Cash/Donations Only Entry]
[Start streaming?]
It was simple.
One of the most praised systems among GOD-OF-AP streamers.
“Done.”
【Chicken money? Donations only entry? You might as well beg.】
“I am.”
Tonight’s meal is chicken.
Of course, at this point I still didn’t know that transferring streaming earnings to my account would take time.
Or that you needed qualifications to withdraw earnings.
【Instead of doing that, focus on skill combinations. You’re busy enough with combat already. Just buy everything with coins.】
“If you’re so bothered, then donate.”
【No. If I do that, I could lose my tournament eligibility. Even the 100 coins I gave you were technically illegal—I’ll have to take them back during settlement.】
At the mention of returning the coins, my eyebrow twitched.
What a stingy bastard.
“Then shut up. Life is now.”
Time to eat chicken.
I glanced at the clown and pressed [Yes] on the system window.
