Reincarnator’s Streaming
Prologue
Uh-Woo-Hyuk. “Anyway, the Winner is Lee Soo-hyuk.” Our-Hyuk, Light-Soo-hyuk, Great-Soo-hyuk, King-Soo-hyuk, and so on…
Soo-hyuk had many cringeworthy nicknames. Every single one of them was a title praising his dazzling performances and legendary achievements.
People from countless worlds—Earth, the Murim Realm, Runeterra, Elprado, Lucan—flocked to the Tower. And among the players from Earth, who were notoriously lacking in ability compared to the others, one man stood peerless.
Is Lee Soo-hyuk a god?! Is he a god?! Is he a go—!
Mom, I want to be Lee Soo-hyuk when I grow up. Mom, I want to be Lee Soo-hyuk when I grow up. Mom, I want to—
He absolutely tore this competition apart!
ㄴㅇㄱ!! (Shocked face emoji)
(Insert meme of someone screaming with their clothes off)
Earth class, acknowledged? Yes, acknowledged.
Chill out with the “Earth class” talk. It’s just Lee Soo-hyuk who’s insane.
Still, the Blue Eyes members are pretty solid, probably because they’re our brother’s subordinates. Their class is just different.
In the inter-world competitions where players from every realm gathered, Lee Soo-hyuk had never once missed a victory. The strongest player. The hero of Blue Eyes who wrote a myth of invincibility.
But now, that myth was fading away along with Blue Eyes.
“I’m gonna die…”
From behind a half-broken mask, Soo-hyuk muttered as he leaned his body against a wall. He didn’t even know how many spears and swords were currently buried in his flesh. Having lost too much blood, his consciousness was starting to blur.
‘You bastards…’
Looking around, all he could see were corpses strewn across the floor. Most were enemies, but some were—
‘…I told you to run away first if I said so. Why were you so stubborn?’
—comrades who had climbed the Tower and crossed the line of death with him. Members of the Blue Eyes guild. To a man who had climbed the Tower alone, they were the few he could actually call friends.
Soo-hyuk called out their names one by one in his heart.
‘Min-jae…’ He saw a corpse with a hole the size of a human head in its chest, likely from a direct magic hit.
‘Soo-hoon…’ That was the name of the guy who died with his eyes wide open, still kneeling even though both his arms had been severed.
And—
‘Ji-young…’ The one who had blocked his path and taken a flying sword in his stead. Blood was still seeping from the sword wound carved into her back.
“Who asked you to die like that? You idiots.”
Three were dead, and while four others weren’t dead yet, they were barely clinging to life. Two of them looked like they could go at any moment if not treated immediately.
‘Can I save them?’
Asking himself, Soo-hyuk moved his gaze again. Through the mask, his eyes erupted with a murderous light as he glared at the ones who had caused all of this.
The Murim Alliance, a massive coalition formed by players from the Murim Realm. Prestigious guilds like the Namgung Clan, the Sichuan Tang Clan, Wudang, and Mount Hua were all part of it. There were also many players whose affiliations or identities were unknown.
But among them, there were two he hated above all else.
‘Blue Zone and Kim Il-soo.’
Guild Blue Zone. They were long-time allies who had participated in this Hydra raid alongside Blue Eyes. But they didn’t help Soo-hyuk. No, far from helping, they had launched a surprise attack on Soo-hyuk while he was exhausted and poisoned by the Hydra.
‘They planned this from the start. If they say it happened during the raid, no one will suspect them.’
Glancing back, Soo-hyuk looked at the wall he was leaning against. Hard, black scales. The boss of the 8th-floor dungeon, the Poison Dragon Hydra. Even now, he was impressed with himself for managing to take it down. It was a monster everyone said was impossible to clear.
The fact that they did clear it was mostly thanks to the efforts of Soo-hyuk and Blue Eyes. If he made it back alive, everyone would say it: As expected of Lee Soo-hyuk, the Lord of Lightning.
But—
[Status: ‘Poisoned’] [Natural healing is impossible.]
It seemed returning alive was out of the question.
[Fatigue: 95] [Fatigue is excessively high.]
When fatigue spikes, various problems arise. Decreased resistance to poison was one of them. Damn it all, Soo-hyuk needed treatment right now, not rest. Though the real problem was that in this situation, he couldn’t even get rest, let alone treatment.
Clang—
He looked down at the sword in his hand. More than half of it had been melted away by poison. The remaining half was jagged and uneven like a tattered saw.
Exhaling a long breath, his glistening eyes glared through the crowd surrounding him. Expressions of horror, shock, relief…
“Why…”
Soo-hyuk stared at one man among the enemies and asked.
“Why did you do it? You son of a bitch.”
His voice was laced with spite.
“Answer me, damn it!”
Though exhausted and wounded, a lion is still a lion. The players surrounding him flinched at that roar.
Step.
Soon, a man stepped forward from among them and answered Soo-hyuk’s question.
“We prepared a lot, too.”
A man with a kind-looking face. He was Kim Il-soo, the Guild Master of Blue Zone and a former comrade from Blue Eyes.
“We figured this was the only way to catch you. But man, your people weren’t pushovers either. It was tougher than I thought.”
He gave a sickening smirk. Soo-hyuk couldn’t stand that expression.
“I’m asking you why…”
He was beyond furious. Was it because the blood of his fallen comrades soaked his feet? Or was it the moans of the comrades still barely alive? The reason didn’t matter.
But Kim Il-soo didn’t answer his question.
“It’s been ten years, Soo-hyuk.”
As if he had waited for this moment for far too long, he only poured out what he wanted to say.
“I’ve spent ten years preparing for today. So, you should understand.”
“Kim Il-soo.”
“I’m sorry it turned out like this. But don’t feel too bad. You’ll be recorded as a hero even after you die.”
“Haah…”
Soo-hyuk exhaled a deeply suppressed breath. There was no longer any reason to hold back.
‘He won’t give me a reason to the very end.’
No matter how much he thought about it, it was strange. Blue Eyes and Blue Zone had been in a long-term alliance. Furthermore, Blue Zone was a guild founded by Kim Il-soo, who was once a member of the same guild. That’s why the names were similar.
They had trusted him. And yet, he broke the alliance. What could they possibly gain by betraying Blue Eyes like this?
However, two things were certain right now.
[Status: ‘Poisoning’ has increased to Level 2.]
First, he was poisoned. Second, he wouldn’t survive like this.
‘…I won’t last long anyway.’
Despite the grim thought, Soo-hyuk didn’t let it show. They didn’t know exactly how high his fatigue was. They only vaguely assumed he was a wreck. Even though he was poisoned by the Hydra and his body was riddled with holes, he couldn’t let his momentum waver.
He was doomed, but—
“You know, right?”
—he had no intention of dying quietly.
“I’ve never said it myself, but there’s a saying.”
Soo-hyuk glared into Kim Il-soo’s eyes.
“Uh-Woo-Hyuk.”
Anyway, the Winner is Lee Soo-hyuk.
Just for a moment, Kim Il-soo’s eyes trembled, and his feet stumbled backward. That was enough.
Using that split-second opening, he opened his inventory and snatched an item out. A large, fan-shaped item with vibrant, multicolored hues.
“That’s—!”
Kim Il-soo’s eyes widened as he recognized the fan. But it was too late.
[Bashōsen (Plantain Fan)]
Grade: Legendary
Requirement: Level 80
Effect: An item imbued with the power of mighty winds that can blow a designated target 10km away.
Remaining Uses: …
“There’s no way there are uses left?!”
“There were, you bastard!”
Gripping the Bashōsen with one hand, he spat out the words through gritted teeth.
‘I wanted us to make it out together if possible…’
Remaining Uses: 4
The number of surviving guild members, excluding himself, was exactly four!
“Blow them away! Bashōsen!”
The moment the shout erupted, storms whipped up from all sides, blowing the four guild members in different directions. This was a gamble for Soo-hyuk. There was no guarantee the critically injured comrades would survive, but this was the only way.
“Ch-Chase them!”
The head of the Namgung Clan shouted in a panic. The Murim Alliance players tried to run toward where the lights had flown.
But before they could—
“You guys have to play with me.”
A voice caught their feet.
“You guys know too, don’t you? Who’s going to be the winner anyway.”
It was an absurd statement. Look at his condition—dozens of blades were stuck in his body, and the Hydra’s poison was slowly eating him alive. Moreover, his opponents were top-tier players, including Kim Il-soo and Blue Zone. No matter how great Lee Soo-hyuk was, there was no way for him to survive.
Yet, why? That cold, fierce cry didn’t feel like a mere bluff.
Crackle—!
[The ‘Lord of Lightning’ manifests.] [Fatigue is high.] [Duration of ‘Lord of Lightning’ is restricted.] [Fatigue rises to 96.]
As if none of that mattered, Soo-hyuk burned his remaining stamina to the end.
Flash—!
A bolt of lightning fell from the sky. Curiously, it possessed a black hue as it struck down upon Soo-hyuk’s head. The size of the lightning was pitiful. Usually, when Soo-hyuk used this skill, the entire visible area was covered in electricity. But just because the scale was different didn’t mean the essence of the skill had changed.
“Lord of Lightning?!”
“He still has the stamina to pull that off?”
“Crazy bastard…”
The enemies faltered and backed away as Soo-hyuk took another step forward.
“You aren’t going anywhere.”
Resuming his combat stance, Soo-hyuk gripped a spear that was lodged in his stomach.
Squelch—
The spear that had pierced his muscles and torn his internal organs was ripped out. A wave of blood and pain nearly made him lose consciousness. Simultaneously, a message appeared saying his fatigue had reached 97.
But—
“This will do for a weapon.”
Click. Thud.
Soo-hyuk instead cast off the mask hiding his face, revealing eyes burning with battle spirit.
“Let’s see this through to the end.”
Using the spear that had been stuck in his own body as a weapon, Soo-hyuk began his final battle.
KABOOM—!
His submerged consciousness slowly rose to the surface. It felt as if his soul was drifting. Soo-hyuk recalled his final battle before dying.
‘…About half?’
He knew surviving was impossible. He had burned every last drop of mana and stamina in a final stand. About half remained. To put it another way, about half of them had died at his hands.
Kim Il-soo’s face had half-melted. Even if he didn’t die, he wouldn’t be able to erase those scars.
‘Should I be happy?’
He felt he had done well considering his condition, but he also felt regret. At the very least, he wanted to take Kim Il-soo, that bastard, with him. If he hadn’t lost consciousness when his fatigue hit 100 at the last moment, he certainly would have.
‘Anyway, this is strange. Being able to think even though I’m dead.’
Naturally, since it was his first time dying, the sensation was foreign. He couldn’t see anything. It was total darkness, a pitch black he hadn’t experienced since his vision had been maximized as a player.
The same went for his other senses. No sound, no touch. The five senses that were always sharply honed had disappeared. Only one thing remained: Soo-hyuk’s thoughts, drifting somewhere.
‘Am I going to be like this forever? This is its own kind of torture…’
Soo-hyuk frowned. A strange stench hit him. It felt like his nose was shoved into an old trash can.
“I feel like I’m gonna puke… Huh?”
The words slipped out of his mouth instinctively. With that, Soo-hyuk realized he was actually scowling. He had a body.
But why couldn’t he see anything?
Slowly, as sensation returned to his hands and feet, Soo-hyuk hurriedly sat up. At that moment—
Clatter. Clang.
The lid covering his head fell to the floor, and the place where he had been came into view.
A trash can.
Emerging from it, Soo-hyuk muttered.
“…Is this hell?”
End Of Prologue
