NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10
The ‘shooting’ of the Streamer Taker has been a somewhat historic content that has been passed down through the ages.
The Diamond 4, known as the Yeti Zone, where the Taker stays.
The games that happen there are tough, one by one.
From the diamond gatekeeper, who plays a thousand games a season, to various substitutes with an unnaturally high win rate, to those oddly angry trolls – the lineup is anything but easy.
Sometimes even pros find themselves stuck here, unable to quickly climb the tiers when a new season starts, so the notorious reputation of this place is well-deserved.
In short, it’s a noisy place where incidents and accidents are never-ending. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Harlem, I guess. Given that all sorts of people reside here, it’s undeniably perfect for filming.
A fantastic collaboration between snipers and locals, a kind of chemistry happening among them.
Snipers wanting to make the Taker lose at all costs, yet facing constant trolls who keep throwing games from the opposing side.
Just one game packed with highs and lows.
That’s why sometimes it feels like a variety show, sometimes like a drama, and other times like a movie scene.
Tonight’s filming seemed closer to a serious film than a variety show.
The genre is an action movie, and not just any action, but a blockbuster intentionally crafted with flair.
“….”
In the middle of the filming set, Taker Gunhee stood with bated breath.
It was like a scene from a war. A mountain of corpses piled up, disregarding allies and enemies alike. Gunhee moved silently through the battlefield like a war correspondent.
With each rising kill log in the upper right, another body stacks up.
Honestly, just based on this scene, it looked more like a disaster movie than an action film.
However, the reason it’s an action movie and not a disaster flick is that the person who caused this catastrophe was Gunhee’s ally.
Yes, there was a monster on Gunhee’s team.
What was somewhat surprising was that this monster was far too beautiful to simply be called a monster.
In the midst of the battlefield, a girl was dancing.
Every time the girl wielding dual swords danced, the enemies rushing towards her had their heads drop one by one in succession.
Blood sprays. Literally a blood-soaked battle.
The pure white dress was soaked in sticky, thick blood, long since losing its original color.
The glass slippers the girl wore splashed into puddles of blood with every step she took.
What was frightening was the fact that the blood spilled by the girl among them was barely noticeable.
All that blood was from enemies, staining the girl who was now covered in it.
Yet, the girl’s beauty remained completely intact, giving viewers a strange feeling.
Beautiful yet chilling. Like a flower blooming on the battlefield, she somehow seemed out of place yet fitting.
That was why Gunhee was more focused on capturing her image on the screen than on his own gameplay.
His numerous past filming experiences, along with the instincts of a 700,000-subscriber VTuber, told him one thing.
This would definitely be a viral hit, just by filming it.
“Phew!”
After the brief battle ended, Gunhee exhaled the breath he had been holding. He had deliberately talked less since the mid-game, worried that the audio might overlap.
It seemed his efforts were not in vain. The viewers appeared to have been quite engrossed in the recent scenes, as the chat, which had been slow during the battle, suddenly started speeding up.
[What’s this no-attack situation?]
[Wow, I feel like I’m watching a war movie.]
[Where can you find such a pretty character in a war movie?]
[Crazy, what an epic vibe…]
[What is that? I’ve never seen this hero before.]
[If I played Camilla, I’d just dance and die.]
[Is she a tier one hero?]
[Who knew pretty trash could be used like this…]
[Isn’t that the person who appeared on Nicang’s broadcast?]
[I checked her stats, and it’s insane ㅋㅋㅋ all blue.]
[The ‘bu’ from the great defense.]
[Is this person not an actor?]
[Ah… you don’t know? This is the original challenger Kayak…]
[What does that mean, you nerd?]
[But there should be a few actors at Grandmaster level who could just wipe them out.]
[It seems actors are distributed somewhat evenly on both sides, yes.]
[Look at Gunhee laughing ㅋㅋㅋㅋ.]
[He’s hyped because he’s riding the bus now.]
“Yeah, it’s hype.”
Given the situation, there was no way it wouldn’t be. He had captured footage that could rival ten rounds of any game all in one go.
With this, Gunhee believed even the picky subscribers would be satisfied.
‘If I had faced them…’
He would have probably been torn to shreds, like the corpses lying at his feet.
‘The video angle might actually look even better.’
But then, there was a thought. If they captured the perspective of such a high-skilled player, it would definitely have been worth watching.
[If it were me, I’d have been taken down in three seconds ㅋㅋ.]
[For real ㅋㅋ.]
[Watching them, it seems they only hit critical hits ㅇㅇ If not a tank, it’d genuinely be a three-second kill.]
“Hit him, yeah, if it’s not the Taker, it’ll be a 3-second cut.”
“…Or not?”
Then Gunhee checked the chat and reconsidered.
Perhaps, if he were on the opposing team’s side, they might not capture any scene at all.
Suddenly, something flashed before his eyes, and the screen turned black and white. It was a common sight that could often be seen through the personal screens of users who met top-tier users.
Well, anyway, that wasn’t important right now.
“If things go well, today’s shoot will end quickly.”
Feeling good after securing the video distance, Gunhee was in high spirits.
Of course, he would need to get the consent of the parties involved to post it on his VTube channel.
*
“Hmm…”
The game ended. As he relaxed his body, the stiff muscles loosened, and the tips of his fingers started to gently tingle.
The world flowed back to its original pace. He gently pressed on his sore eyelids and reflected on the game from a moment ago.
It was a game that required a certain level of concentration. One might say it was as expected.
The actors appearing in the Taker’s shoot had skills quite worthy of that reputation. Yet, it was not enough to stop Camilla, who had finished her build research.
Some of them had skills that were similar to or slightly below those of players he had met during his Challenger days. Thanks to that, he could feel a sense of nostalgia.
There was a slight question in his mind about why players with such skills were just sniping here, but since he was participating in the shoot himself, he had no grounds to criticize.
To his surprise, he was matched as an ally with the Taker. His imagination had led him to expect facing off against him.
If they had been matched as enemies, he would have planned to mercilessly slaughter the Taker, but that didn’t happen, much to his disappointment.
Not that he had any feelings towards him, but that was simply the customary way to stand out as an enemy.
In the game earlier, he could be considered more of a hero than a villain.
After all, in this moment, he was a participating actor in his viewer’s content.
He might have been seen as a supporting character or hero helping the protagonist with overwhelming power.
Personally, he preferred villains, but anyways.
He had come across the Taker’s broadcast purely by chance. While eating Tteokbokki yesterday, he randomly clicked on VTube, and his video popped up right away.
Getting to participate in the content the very next day was quite lucky. It wasn’t like he had played multiple rounds; he managed to meet him right in the first game.
“I should give the MVP to Camilla. I’m not someone who recognizes just anyone, but this is worth acknowledging.”
“Heh.”
A silly laugh escaped his lips before he even realized it, and he quickly covered his mouth.
A faint laugh escaped as I covered my mouth.
The broadcast was turned on to confirm whether Taker left a significant impression on the viewers in that room.
Indeed, Taker and the viewers were talking about me.
Unlike my previous broadcasts, the chat was rapidly filling up. The comments were nothing but praises and admiration for me, which secretly made me feel a bit good inside.
That moment, a laugh slipped out. Embarrassingly so.
In the midst of that, I wondered if there would be another shoot. If so, should I participate in that too? I was pondering.
– Friend request from Taker_1 (1)
A friend request from Taker arrived.
As I checked the broadcast, Taker mentioned he had something to take care of and turned off the screen with the viewers’ understanding.
It seemed that this “something” had something to do with me.
After seeing a post in the gallery about how cringe it is for friends to hang out in a dead game, my friend list was always empty.
But now, Taker was the first to step into that vacant space.
– Unread message from Taker_1 (1)
As soon as the friend request was accepted, a message flew in from Taker.
I immediately checked the message.
Taker_1: Hello, I’m Nox from the last game we played together. Your gameplay was so impressive that I reached out.
…
If it’s not too much trouble, may I upload this game we played together, featuring you, on my VTube channel?
I’d also be happy to share a portion of the revenue generated from the video.
Please take your time to think about it and reply!
It was quite a lengthy message.
From my perspective while watching the broadcast, it felt like a short time had passed, but he managed to write such a long text in that interval.
Maybe he had a template for it.
“VTube….”
Even though it was a long message, I quickly grasped the content without needing to read into the details.
It seemed Taker wanted to use the game we played together for this week’s shooting.
A video. It was a proposal quite different from my initial plan of only showing my face during live broadcasts.
I tapped on the desk as I contemplated, weighing the pros and cons.
If the VTube video goes up, if my recent gameplay gets immortalized on Taker’s YouTube channel…
My thoughts didn’t take long. I quickly placed my hands on the keyboard and replied to him.
Weak Camilla: You can upload it.
Honestly, it was a question that didn’t require much deliberation.