• Chapter 40: Dr. Strategy Gate (4)

It was late, past midnight.

Dr. Strategy was still broadcasting. With 100 million won from [Lost Land] within his grasp, of course, he couldn’t sleep.

“Alright, brothers~ I’m heading into the first basement level now.”

The moment Dr. Strategy descended the stairs, a call signal from outside his capsule appeared, making him frown.

These bastards!! I told them not to call me unless it was an emergency!!

Dr. Strategy, without letting his irritation show, spoke to his viewers. “Brothers, I’m just going to the bathroom for a moment. I’m so tense I might just wet myself.”

Should’ve worn a diaper when you started the stream.

Lol for real, you’ve lost your beginner’s mindset.

Hurry back.

“Yes, brothers. I’ll be back after I drain the lizard!”

Dr. Strategy briefly muted his microphone, then stood up, glaring irritably at Park Deok-bae.

“Hey, Park Deok-bae!! I told you not to call me!”

But upon closer inspection, Deok-bae’s expression wasn’t good.

“B-Boss, it’s serious!! Someone’s broken into the workshop.”

“Who the hell would break in at this hour? How many of them?”

“Well… just one.”

Hearing Deok-bae’s answer, Dr. Strategy’s face turned beet red as he roared, “What? One? You can’t handle just one person and you call me…”

“Gah—!!”

Thump, thud, bang!

Splatt.

One of his subordinates suddenly flew through the air and tumbled to the ground in front of Dr. Strategy. Only then did Dr. Strategy begin to look around. His subordinates were scattered everywhere, moaning and writhing in pain. Counting roughly, there were about 30 of them. Considering Dr. Strategy had 30 subordinates, it meant almost all of them had been taken down.

“What in the…?”

Thump. Thump.

Thump. Thump.

Clear footsteps resonated, cutting through the groans emanating from around him. Dr. Strategy followed the sound and looked straight ahead.

A man in a black cap pulled low and a mask. Broad shoulders and tall. It was clear at a glance that he was a formidable individual. Even if the thugs here were just a motley crew, taking down 30 people alone was by no means easy. No, it was close to impossible.

Is he a former pro fighter or something?

Dr. Strategy’s mind raced with all sorts of thoughts. The moment the unknown man stopped, Dr. Strategy became incredibly tense.

“Who the hell are you, causing trouble in someone else’s business?!”

Dr. Strategy shouted even louder, trying not to show his intimidation.

“I came for you, Dr. Strategy.”

A chilling, thick voice filled with murderous intent. The moment Dr. Strategy heard that cold voice, fear instantly spread throughout his body. His hands trembled, and his breathing grew shallow.

“Park Deok-bae!! Deal with this bastard quickly!!”

At Dr. Strategy’s command, Park Deok-bae reluctantly charged forward. But then,

Wham. Wham. Wham.

The man’s fists struck quickly and accurately at his solar plexus, jaw, and face. Deok-bae, a burly man, was sent sprawling in just three hits. Dr. Strategy’s pupils trembled uncontrollably in disbelief.

“Dr. Strategy, it’s your turn now.”

The man, no, Dojun’s eyes, filled with thick murderous intent, glared at Dr. Strategy. And he slowly approached him.

“Wh-who are you? Why are you doing this to me?”

Dr. Strategy slowly backed away from the approaching Dojun as he spoke.

“No need to wonder. Let’s just get this beating over with first.”

Dojun approached a little faster than Dr. Strategy was backing away, then picked up a solitary iron pipe lying nearby. Seeing this, Dr. Strategy turned to run. At that moment,

“Where are you going?”

CRACK!!!

“Kuaaahhh!!!!”

The iron pipe Dojun swung accurately struck Dr. Strategy’s leg, breaking it. With his leg unable to move properly, Dr. Strategy trembled and began to plead with clasped hands.

“P-Please save me!! I’ll give you anything you want!!”

“I don’t need it. I’ll just take it. Isn’t that how you’ve always done things?”

At Dojun’s words, goosebumps instantly broke out all over Dr. Strategy’s body. His past actions flashed before his eyes. But he had no idea who his assailant was. He had taken down more than just one or two streamers.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.

How could they find me? Is this… ?

Dr. Strategy gulped and asked, “Are you from SwitchTV, by any chance?”

At this sudden, nonsensical deduction, Dojun chuckled and played along.

“What if I am?”

When Dojun answered with a nuance that implied ‘yes,’ a glimmer of hope appeared in Dr. Strategy’s eyes, as if he’d found a chance to escape.

“I’m not the only one at fault, am I? It was only possible because you guys helped me!! Th-that’s right! In a way, it’s your fault for taking bribes and handling things!”

“Hmm. Go on.”

Dojun leisurely watched Dr. Strategy’s desperate struggle.

“You’d better not mess with me. I have all the bribe ledgers, audio recordings, and video files I fed you guys!!”

“What did you just…?”

Seeing Dojun show a slight hint of surprise, Dr. Strategy seized the moment and began to shout triumphantly.

“I have all the circumstantial evidence of what you guys did, you bastard!! If you touch me, I’ll hand all this data over to the media!!”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, so leave me al—”

“Where’s that data? It’s not here, is it?”

At Dojun’s question, Dr. Strategy’s heart instantly sank.

“I-I secretly hid it where no one knows!! So if you touch me…”

“If no one knows, then you just need to disappear, right?”

At the sudden, thick murderous intent, Dr. Strategy began to sweat profusely.

“Th-that’s not true! My other family members have the data!! If I disappear, that data will…”

Dojun looked at Dr. Strategy’s face and grinned.

“You’re a really bad liar.”

“I-It’s not a lie, it’s true, ugh—ack!!!”

Dojun this time broke Dr. Strategy’s right arm with the pipe. Then, grabbing Dr. Strategy by the hair, he said, “Every time you lie, I’ll break a bone in your body. Understand?”

Nod, nod.

His eyes, deeply clouded with fear, showed no further intention of resisting.

“That data is here, isn’t it?”

Dr. Strategy didn’t answer immediately when Dojun asked. Seeing that, Dojun immediately punched him in the stomach.

“Ugh—!”

In pain so intense he could barely breathe, Dr. Strategy writhed in agony, unable to even properly cry out.

“Don’t try to play smart. The data, it’s here, isn’t it? In your office over there?”

When asked again, Dr. Strategy’s head vigorously nodded up and down, confirming. Knowing the location, Dojun grabbed Dr. Strategy by his unbroken leg and dragged him towards the office.

The office itself was very simple, hardly even an office. A desk with a computer and a small storage cabinet. Dojun immediately began searching for the data. And quickly found several suspicious USBs. Each USB had something written on it with a label.

[Allari]

[Orochi]

…

[Gamshin]

…

These were probably the victims who had been targeted by him. The names of all the streamers Yoo Hae-cheol had mentioned were there. Among them, one particularly caught his eye.

[Phantom]

Seeing his own nickname, his blood boiled once more. Then, as if a good idea suddenly struck him, Dojun approached Dr. Strategy.

“Where’s your smartphone?”

“Why do you want my smartphone… Ugh—!”

Dojun kicked him in the stomach again, making him writhe in pain.

“Just answer the question. Where’s your smartphone?”

“I-It’s in my pocket!!”

At Dr. Strategy’s answer, Dojun pulled out the smartphone from his pants pocket. Checking the phone, he found an app installed, as expected.

It was the SwitchTV app. When he accessed the app, he saw that he was already logged in.

And Dojun’s finger moved towards the [Go Live] button. Dr. Strategy’s pupils began to tremble.

“N-No!!”

Dojun lightly ignored Dr. Strategy’s desperate cry and tapped the button.

[Currently broadcasting from another device. Would you like to switch the broadcasting device?]

[Yes/No]

Without hesitation, he immediately pressed ‘Yes’. The viewers who had been waiting for Dr. Strategy were startled when the screen suddenly changed.

???

What, did the game crash?

It looks like real life, not a game.

But where is this? The background looks like a factory.

What’s going on?

Dr. Strategy currently had over 50,000 viewers. While everyone was bewildered, Dojun turned the camera to Dr. Strategy.

“No!! Don’t look!!!”

At the sight of Dr. Strategy writhing on the floor, the chat window instantly exploded.

Oh my god, what’s wrong with Dr. Strategy?

His leg is bent at a weird angle?

OMG, something big is happening!!!

“Good evening. I am the Punisher who has come to deal with Dr. Strategy.”

The viewers were startled by Dojun’s voice.

What?

The Punisher?

Isn’t this a crime scene right now???

“Today, I will reveal Dr. Strategy’s true face. First, let’s start.”

He moved out of the office and aimed the camera in various directions. What the viewers saw was a dark, factory-like space with dozens of capsules. And on the ground, numerous thugs lay sprawled.

“Dr. Strategy’s reputation for being good at game strategy is all a lie. As you can see, he gathered skilled thugs in this workshop, had them analyze games, and then took only the valuable parts to show on his broadcast as if he did it himself.”

As Dojun exposed Dr. Strategy’s true nature, the chat window went wild.

Holy cow, that’s chilling!!!

So Dr. Strategy was a thug all along?

OMG OMG!!!

Public opinion rapidly turned against Dr. Strategy. But this was just the beginning.

“Of course, I don’t think this itself is necessarily bad. One could consider it a strategy. But the problem is what comes next.”

This time, he showed the numerous USBs on the desk. Many names were written on them. Quite a few viewers recognized those names.

Huh? Isn’t BJ Allari a streamer who was permanently suspended?

BJ Orochi is there too.

The list written here is all the permanently suspended streamers, right??

DAMN IT, something huge is coming!!!!

What’s the connection between Dr. Strategy and these people?

Phantom is on there too??

Seeing the reactions, Dojun slowly began to speak.

“Many of you have probably figured it out. That’s right. The USBs you just saw all bear the names of streamers who are currently suspended from broadcasting on SwitchTV.”

Dojun’s answer, which turned everyone’s suspicions into certainty, made the chat window heat up even more. It was time to add more fuel to ensure the fire wouldn’t die out.

“The game you were just watching, [Lost Land], I’m sure you all remember it. And the most popular streamer recently, ‘Phantom.’ But he was suspended just last night. Without further ado, let’s see what kind of videos are inside these files, shall we?”

Dojun streamed the computer screen onto the broadcast. As soon as he inserted a USB, a file appeared. Inside the file were video files, audio recordings, and photo files.

“There’s a video file? I’m also seeing this video for the first time, so I’m a bit nervous. Let’s play it.”

When the video file opened, the interior of a bar appeared. Three main figures were visible. Some viewers recognized their faces.

It’s Dr. Strategy?

Oh, that’s Team Leader Byun Woo-seok from SwitchTV? I’ve seen him appear in other streamers’ rooms a few times.

The other person next to him is Team Leader Joo Young-jae.

This is a lobby video, isn’t it?

The viewers quickly grasped the situation. It was Dr. Strategy lobbying the SwitchTV team leaders. Everyone watched the video with keen interest.

“Team Leader Byun, working at SwitchTV these days, haven’t you noticed anything strange?”

“Anything strange? Team Leader Joo, is there something going on these days?”

“There’s that popular figure these past few days, what was his name…?”

“Are you perhaps referring to Phantom?”

“That’s right, Phantom.”

When Phantom was mentioned, the viewers erupted again.

Wow, this is seriously incredible…

That bastard Dr. Strategy definitely knows Phantom but is acting so well like he doesn’t, lol.

For real, he deserves an acting award.

The problematic scene was about to begin.

“When Phantom-nim first started broadcasting, I was drawn in by his clickbait title. At first, he clearly had less than 10 viewers, then it suddenly exploded, and later it went over 3,000, but the rising graph was a bit unnatural, should I say…”

“Are you suspecting view manipulation?”

…

“Shouldn’t we suspend the broadcast and investigate so other streamers don’t get harmed?”

“If we make the wrong move and it escalates…”

“He’s still a rookie. And he’s a high school student, not even an adult. What could possibly escalate?”

It felt like a scene from a movie. But instead of a movie, a truly sordid reality was being broadcast live. As the video ended, public opinion completely exploded.

This bastard is total trash, not even recyclable.

This was truly a tsunami level revelation.

It’s shocking itself. This isn’t a movie?

Dr. Strategy was truly a vicious scumbag.

“Now that you’ve all seen it, I will reveal the second part of his true nature.”

At Dojun’s impactful voice, everyone instantly focused and gulped.

“Dr. Strategy is the worst kind of streamer, one who has grown by conspiring with SwitchTV officials to suspend the broadcasts of streamers who were doing better than him.”

It was the moment Dr. Strategy’s true nature was revealed to the whole world.