• Chapter 39: Dr. Strategy Gate (3)

For a while, Dojun stared blankly at the alert message that had popped up. He was utterly bewildered by what had just happened.

Why, for God’s sake?

That was his first thought. The alert, though softened in its wording, essentially meant his broadcast had been suspended. And at an incredibly crucial moment.

If he had been simultaneously broadcasting on AllTube, the situation might have been different. Currently, his SwitchTV account was completely blocked from any activity.

There’s no way to explain myself.

The last he checked, his live viewership was over 70,000. All 70,000 viewers, engrossed in his broadcast, were now left hanging. Moreover, the character Dojun was playing had undoubtedly been game overed at that exact moment of disconnection.

He had to try whatever he could right now.

First, he posted an announcement about the situation on AllTube.

Then, Dojun immediately called SwitchTV headquarters. But…

—This is outside business hours. Our business hours are Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM…

“Haha…”

Only a hollow laugh escaped him. Even after business hours, it was incomprehensible that there wasn’t a single person available for constant support. Suddenly, he remembered what Lee Jun-seong had said about SwitchTV’s shortcomings.

—Their operations are a bit strange, I guess you could say?

His mind was racing, making it difficult to calm down. Still, he tried his best to calmly retrace the events.

Is it a coincidence?

After deep thought, he shook his head.

No, it’s not.

Even in bad situations, coincidences certainly existed. Dojun had two criteria for judging such circumstances. The first was the timing.

It’s too perfectly timed. Like it was planned.

The second was whether there was a third party who benefited from it.

There is.

However, he couldn’t pinpoint the third party. Anyone currently playing [Lost Land] could benefit. This led to another question:

Then was this entire situation planned?

Lost in thought, Dojun suddenly remembered something.

Jang Woo-jae, Head of Public Relations for SwitchTV!!

Dojun opened his email, intending to contact the SwitchTV representative who had contacted him today. But…

—This email address does not exist. Please check again.

The moment he saw that, Dojun was certain.

This was a premeditated incident.

Rage surged within him. At that moment, his phone vibrated.

Buzz! Buzz!

Buzz! Buzz!

He checked his phone; it was Lee Jun-seong.

“Hello?”

“—Hey, what happened all of a sudden?”

“I think I’ve been targeted.”

“—Your public image is at an all-time low. The community is accusing you of viewbot manipulation.”

“Viewbot manipulation?”

“—Yeah. They’re claiming that because a newcomer rose so sharply, they suspect viewbots. And after your broadcast suddenly ended, it showed ‘terminated due to suspicious program detection’ to the viewers.”

His head throbbed instantly. Public opinion was at its worst.

To make matters worse, contacting SwitchTV wouldn’t be possible until Monday. Since Dojun’s recording was set to begin on Monday, he was effectively helpless.

“—What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I’ll think about it and call you back.”

“—Alright. I’ll try to find out what I can too.”

As soon as he hung up with Lee Jun-seong, Dojun also looked into various methods. But in the end, it was all futile. First, he considered the 100 million won prize money for [Lost Land].

If I start from a save and play as fast as possible, it’ll take about 12 hours.

After all, the criteria for obtaining the 100 million won prize was the time of video exposure, so even if he hurried now, it would be enough. Dojun believed he still had plenty of time. But that, too, was overconfidence.

[Dr. Strategy, the Genius Strategist’s Game Broadcast♬]

▶▶[Lost Land] I’m taking the 100 million. Not much left until the boss◀◀

With Dojun gone, a streamer named ‘Dr. Strategy’ had climbed to the top rank in the [Lost Land] genre. He checked, and currently, Dr. Strategy had just created [Enchantment – Mirage] and was moving towards the final boss’s location.

His speed isn’t that fast. But…

Considering Dr. Strategy’s physical skill, it seemed he would clear it in no more than 9 hours. If he died at the boss, the turn would return to Dojun, but today Dojun had made a fatal mistake on his broadcast.

I told him all the boss’s attack patterns and strategies.

With that level of physical skill, there seemed to be no obstacle to conquering the boss, provided there were no mistakes. In short, 100 million won had just evaporated before his eyes. As that thought registered, Dojun felt all the strength drain from his body. He slumped into his chair and stared up at the ceiling.

Is my atonement still not enough…?

The hope that had been within his grasp vanished before his eyes, and even the unshakeable Dojun was utterly broken.

Is this truly the end…?

Just then. An alert rang on Dojun’s broadcast channel from an incoming email.

[Subject: I’d like to talk about the recent broadcast suspension incident.]

The moment Dojun saw the email subject, his eyes snapped open, and he immediately read the content.

Hello, Phantom-nim. My name is Yoo Hae-cheol.

I’m a viewer who has been watching you since you first started broadcasting.

There’s a lot I want to say, but to get straight to the point, there’s something specific I’d like to tell you about today’s broadcast suspension incident.

You might find this sudden contact strange, but I’d be grateful if you could trust me and contact me. 010-XXXX-XXXX

The content wasn’t long, but it had a strong impact. There was no need to think. This person clearly knew a clue about the incident.

Dojun immediately called the number provided.

Ring—

Ring—

“—Hello?”

“Hello, this is Phantom. I received your email and am calling you. If it’s alright, could you elaborate on what you just sent?”

“—Ah!! Of course. But what I’m about to tell you is my personal speculation, so it might not be factual. Do you still want to hear it?”

Dojun hesitated slightly at those words but nodded, feeling like he was grasping at straws.

“Yes, please tell me.”

“—Understood. Are you in front of your computer right now?”

“Yes.”

Dojun sat down at his computer, and Yoo Hae-cheol immediately began to speak.

“—Frankly, meeting in person would be better, but the situation seems a bit urgent. So I’ll get straight to the point. Over the past year, quite a few streamers have been suspended on SwitchTV. However, there are about 5 cases I’ve identified that are similar to yours.”

“Similar to mine?”

“—Yes. There’s BJ Allari, BJ Orochi, BJ Game Genius, BJ Gamshin, and BJ Machung. A total of five.”

Dojun immediately searched for the names of the five BJs Yoo Hae-cheol mentioned. As expected, all of them, like Dojun, were currently suspended from broadcasting.

But then Dojun tilted his head.

“I’ve checked, but why were they suspended? Their broadcast genres are all different, and there’s nothing in common with me.”

At Dojun’s question, Yoo Hae-cheol spoke in a slightly subdued voice.

“—That’s right. At first glance, they all seem to have nothing in common. However, including you, Phantom-nim, they all share one link.”

“A link?”

“—It’s BJ Dr. Strategy.”

Dojun instantly recalled the name of the streamer who was at the very top.

That person was definitely Dr. Strategy.

“—These were all streamers who were overlapping with the game content Dr. Strategy was doing at the time. To be precise, they were streamers who were one or two stages ahead of Dr. Strategy in-game or in terms of viewership.”

“No way…”

“—I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but all five of them were suspended at crucial moments in their broadcasts. And afterwards, their viewer traffic was completely absorbed by BJ Dr. Strategy.”

As Dojun listened to those words, rage began to boil within him. But as he had said earlier, this was speculation and could be a conspiracy theory. Dojun, cooling his head, asked Yoo Hae-cheol:

“How do you know this?”

“—They were all streamers I liked. So I kept being convinced that there was something going on.”

“How certain are you?”

“—99%.”

Dojun closed his eyes for a moment and fell into thought after hearing Yoo Hae-cheol’s confident answer. Even if he knew the truth of the incident, the problem was what came next. It wasn’t a problem that could be solved immediately. However, the situation where he had to solve it right now to protect the 100 million won prize money created a dilemma. Even if the broadcast suspension could be lifted, he would lose the 100 million won. It was regrettable, but there was nothing Dojun could do right now.

“Thank you very much for letting me know. But there’s nothing I can do.”

“—I know. Knowing this doesn’t change anything, really.”

Yoo Hae-cheol’s answer was a bit unexpected.

“Knowing that, why did you tell me?”

When Dojun asked, an answer that again defied his expectations came.

“—To put my mind at ease.”

“Huh?”

“—I’ve conveyed this information to all the streamers who have been harmed so far. But none of them have been able to resolve it. Still, I felt like I needed to tell you what I knew to ease my own mind. As a fan.”

Even to the usually stoic Dojun, Yoo Hae-cheol’s sincerity as a pure fan was palpable. Dojun also spoke with sincerity.

“Thank you very much. Even though my broadcasting career hasn’t been long, I’m glad I’ve made such a good fan.”

Perhaps Dojun’s sincerity was conveyed. Yoo Hae-cheol seemed to hesitate slightly, then cautiously opened his mouth.

“—There is… one way.”

At Yoo Hae-cheol’s words, Dojun asked with a slightly excited voice.

“There’s a way?”

“—Yes. It’s not a legal way. What I found out about Dr. Strategy is that he’s a gangster. So he sometimes had ‘IRL PK’ content with viewers who picked fights.”

“IRL PK?”

IRL PK. It meant “In Real Life Player Kill,” meaning to meet in reality and fight outside of the online world.

“—Yes. He seems to relieve stress by ‘teaching lessons’ to viewers like that. I once pretended to want an IRL PK to get his address when he was doing that content.”

At the mention of an address, Dojun’s eyes instantly sharpened.

“You know his address?”

“—Yes. But it’s useless even if you know it. I once lurked around the area, just in case, and there weren’t just Dr. Strategy there, but a lot of other thugs too. It’s just a gangster den.”

“Can you give me that address?”

“—It’s not difficult, but as I said earlier…”

“It’s fine. Please, I’m asking you.”

Perhaps Dojun’s earnest voice reached him, as Yoo Hae-cheol said no more and provided the address.

“Thank you. I will definitely repay your kindness later.”

With that, the call with Yoo Hae-cheol ended. Afterward, Dojun’s eyes glowed with a chilling blue light, emitting a murderous aura.

Since being born on Earth, Dojun had never once engaged in illegal activities. But this time was different.

Evil people cannot be punished by conventional means.

That was one of the things he had always felt in his previous life. Among the wicked, those at the pinnacle of power or those who clung to power were structured so that they would not be punished by normal means.

It was the same on Earth. Dojun had resolved to live by the rules in this life. But this time, he decided to let go.

Evil must be destroyed by greater evil, or by a stronger force.

Dojun packed black clothes, a mask, and a hat from his closet, then left the house late at night. He checked the address of Dr. Strategy that Yoo Hae-cheol had provided.

XXX, XX-dong, XX-gu, Seoul.

It wasn’t far from here.

I won’t forgive him.

This was the guy who tried to crush his family’s hope. Even if he didn’t repay kindness, Dojun’s creed was to repay grudges a hundredfold.

I’ll show you what true evil is.

Dojun intended to reclaim everything he had lost, with interest. And that, of course, included the 100 million won.