Chapter 76: The Genius Awakener's Livestream (5)

The chat was filled with endless questions, and Jerry Kim’s mind was no different.

W-What just happened?

He hadn’t even caught the moment properly. There was a violent surge of blue lightning, and in a flash, the three Murlocs were shredded and strewn across the ground.

Kwon Oh-Jin hadn’t used any powerful Astral Relic or life-consuming special move. He had effortlessly eliminated three five-star monsters in one clean stroke.

Smirking faintly, he waved at Jerry Kim. “Are you planning on just standing there like that for the entire thirty minutes? I'm heading off.”

“W-Wait!” Jerry Kim tried in vain to stop him, then sprinted forward, scrambling to catch up. “Damn it!”

As they ventured deeper into the tunnel, more Murlocs emerged.

“Ahhoooo!”

“Ahhoo!”

Kwon Oh-Jin quickly assessed the situation.

Two to the right, three to the left, and two assassin types lurking underground. I couldn’t sense them before, but they’re there.

Now that he knew about the assassin types, activating the Stigma of Canes Venatici made pinpointing their location a breeze.

Jerry Kim resolved not to lose to Kwon Oh-Jin again.

“Gatling Shot!”

He unleashed a rapid flurry of blue arrows that rained down on the Murlocs like machine-gun fire.

Tudududu!

“Ahhhooo!”

“It’s a powerful skill, for sure... but his aim is trash,”

Kwon Oh-Jin remarked.

He smirked and extended his arm, now riddled with stray arrows like a porcupine.

Bang!

A sharp spike shot out from his wire shooter, cleanly piercing the Murloc’s forehead.

“Ah...!”

Jerry Kim was stunned.

“You said the kill goes to whoever lands the final blow, right?”

“Ugh!”

Jerry Kim bit down on his lip hard.

┗This is insane lol

┗Which idiot said the Thunder Wolf was only a three-star?

┗He fs ain't just a four-star either.

┗Wtf am I even watching right now

┗Hell noooo. I bet my entire paycheck on Jerry!

┗Underdog! Underdog! WHOO

The chat turned chaotic as Kwon Oh-Jin continued to dominate the competition.

“Damn it!” Jerry Kim's face twisted with panic.

I can’t lose like this!

Hundreds of thousands of people were watching live. If he didn't put up a proper fight, the humiliation would haunt him forever. He began forcing out his mana with all his might.

“Ughhh!”

His mana circuits screamed in protest, but this was a battle he couldn’t afford to lose.

“Arrow Blast!”

Hundreds of glowing arrows spiraled together, hurtling toward the three Murlocs on the left.

Boom!

Under the relentless barrage, the hulking, fish-headed creatures collapsed to the ground. The viewers were thrilled.

┗Oooohh!

┗Jerry! Jerry!

┗Lesssgoooooooo!

┗Mom, I swear I'll be a good boy starting today if I win this bet!

Jerry Kim dropped to his knees, gasping for air.

“Haaa! Haa!”

He was so drained from pushing his mana reserves to their limit that he couldn't even glance at the chat.

Just then, the two underground Murlocs emerged in a swift ambush.

“Ahhhoo!”

Venomous purple spikes thrust toward Jerry Kim's neck.

“H-hiyaaaaah!

” he shrieked, desperately trying to get out of the way, but he couldn’t move freely after overexerting himself earlier. “S-Save me...”

Bang! Bang!

Wires shot out, coiling around the lunging Murlocs.

“Ahhhooo!”

They convulsed in agony under the surge of blue electricity running through the wires.

“H-Hic!”

Jerry Kim quivered as he stared at the Murloc corpses lying in front of him. He would’ve been stabbed with their venom-coated spikes if Kwon Oh-Jin had been even a second late.

Kwon Oh-Jin smirked, retracting the wires. “Quite the unique scream you’ve got there.”

┗”Hiyaaaaaa” lmao what even was that

┗Lol this stream is epic

┗Noooo this isn't what my Jerry's like!

┗I'm dying lololol

Jerry Kim got up, his face flushing bright red as his viewers mocked him.

“Ugh...

We should head deeper in.”

He needed to pull off something truly extraordinary to redeem himself and regain his audience’s favor.

However, as time passed, the gap between him and Kwon Oh-Jin only widened.

Crackle!

“Ahhhoooo!”

By the end of the thirty minutes, Kwon Oh-Jin had killed twenty four monsters, and Jerry Kim had only killed seven—he could barely even put up a good fight.

His jaw dropped in disbelief. “Th-This doesn’t make any sense...”

┗Wtf is this even real

┗No way that guy's only a four-star lol

┗My paycheck, fuck.

┗Those who bet on the top dog got shit on lmao

┗Thunder Wolf! Thunder Wolf! Thunder Wolf!

┗Mom, I want to be like the Thunder Wolf when I grow up! Mom!

The same chat that once clamored for Jerry Kim to teach Kwon Oh-Jin a lesson was now overflowing with praise for the Thunder Wolf.

“Time’s up,” Kwon Oh-Jin announced.

Jerry Kim looked utterly defeated. He yelled, “You said you were a four-star!”

“When?”

“What?”

“When did I ever say I was a four-star?”

“... Ah.”

Jerry Kim stood frozen with a blank expression as he realized Kwon Oh-Jin had never once directly said that he was a four-star. Since the moment they’d met or even prior to that, Jerry Kim had been completely deceived—not by his adversary but by his own assumptions.

“Then, what exactly...?”

Kwon Oh-Jin raised five fingers. “I’m a five-star.”

Jerry Kim’s eyes widened. “A-A five-star...?”

For an Awakener who had been active for just over half a year, reaching five stars was an astonishing feat.

“B-But even so, how is something like this possible...?” Jerry Kim muttered.

Overcoming a one-star gap wasn’t unheard of among Awakeners, but that was only when the opponent’s Stigma was mediocre. Jerry Kim had a Stigma of the Twelve Zodiacs, a group of top-tier constellations.

And yet... I lost miserably.

Jerry Kim swallowed hard.

Just as a Zodiac Awakener could overpower those with lesser Stigmas, the Awakener of the North Star could just as easily overpower a Zodiac Stigma as if it were second-rate.

Jerry Kim's eyes shook as he stared at Kwon Oh-Jin, “Shit...”

He felt like he was in the presence of an alien from outer space, not a human.

“So, I’ll be taking this, then?” Kwon Oh-Jin pointed at Jerry Kim's bag filled with Starstones.

Jerry Kim let out a small, defeated sigh. He wanted to take it all back and say that the bet had only been a joke, but there were tens of thousands of viewers watching. He clenched his fist tightly and nodded.

“Yes. A promise is a promise.”

There was nothing left for him to do except admit defeat.

┗Wait, he was a five-star?

┗That’s insane. Hasn't it only been two months since news came out that he was a four-star lmao

┗This is faster than the Abundance Star.

┗Breaking news: Jerry Kim got robbed of all the Starstones he collected for over a month.

┗So did the people who bet on the top dog.

┗Jerry Kim, you fucking dumbass. You should’ve asked him his star level first.

Jerry Kim witnessed the chaos unfolding in the chat. Some insulting comments clearly crossed the line. If he could, he would shut down the stream right then.

Song Ha-Eun approached him with a smirk. “Alright then. It’s time to settle the gambling results, don’t you think?”

“... Yes.”

Since most viewers had placed their points on Jerry Kim, the mention of settling the bet drove the chat into madness.

┗We eating good tonight, boys! We eating good tonight!

┗Void! Void! Void! Void! Void!

┗Sorry, Mom. I'm sorry. Mom... I'm so sorry.

┗The underdog is invincible! What a god.

Jerry Kim sighed as he scrolled through the chat. “Alright, let’s announce the bettor with the most points!”

He placed his hand on the point settlement button.

Song Ha-Eun’s eyes widened in shock.

“Huh?

W-Wait a second! Why are you announcing the username?!”

He glanced at her, confused. “What do you mean? This is Toitch policy.”

“W-What? W-What kind of policy is that? They don't do that in any of the streams I watch!”

“... That’s only the case of streams with a smaller number of viewers. When you’re a Toitch partner like me, you’re required to disclose all match wager results.”

To prevent illegal activities like match-fixing, Toitch mandated full transparency on who earned what.

"Now then, I’ll announce—”

“W-Wait!" Song Ha-Eun desperately cut him off. "Void! Let’s void the match wager!”

Both Jerry Kim and Kwon Oh-Jin frowned.

“What are you going on about?”

“Ha-Eun?”

“Th-The viewers didn’t know what star level Oh-Jin was when they participated, right?” she blurted out with an awkward smile. “So it doesn’t count! This round is void!”

Her desperate declaration threw the chat into chaos.

┗Yeah, it should be voided!

┗I love you. I love you. I love you.

┗Come on, what kind of excuse is that? No one said he had to reveal his rank beforehand.

┗Lol fucking dumbasses. Would you have bet on the Thunder Wolf even if you knew he was a five-star?

The reactions were sharply split.

“

Whoa, whoa,

everyone, calm down,” Jerry Kim said, stepping in to rein in the chat. “The wager didn’t include any rule about revealing star levels, so we’ll go ahead with the point settlement.”

If he went along with Song Ha-Eun’s suggestion to void the entire bet, his viewers would turn their backs on him. Besides, a petty thought lingered—he didn’t want to be the only one losing everything.

I am not going down alone. Besides, it's not like my money’s involved in this wager. What does it matter who lost or gained points?

“Alright then, let’s announce the first-place winner," he announced. "The person who bet big on the underdog—”

“

Ahhh!

S-Stop!” Song Ha-Eun attempted to lunge at Jerry Kim, but Kwon Oh-Jin held her back.

“Stay put, Ha-Eun.”

“Let go! Let go of me, motherfucker!”

It's no riddle that she's acting this way because of her username,

he thought.

What kind on earth did she use...?

He cocked his head as Ha-Eun squirmed around in his arms.

Is it something like the ‘BlackEyedReaper’?

Judging from her reaction, it has to be something ridiculously cringeworthy.

He clicked his tongue.

She was really going to cancel the entire wager because she’s scared of sharing her username? That'd be such a waste.

Kwon Oh-Jin smirked and shrugged.

Whether it was "BlackEyedReaper" or "FallenAngelPower," it didn't matter. Four hundred sixty million won was wagered on this competition, and the underdog had come out on top—there was no way the bet was getting voided.

Jerry Kim announced, “And the winner is...!”

“Aaahhhh!

N-Noooo!” Song Ha-Eun screamed.

“CutiepieOhJinSlurpSlurp!”

... Say what?