Former Hero Streamer – Chapter 205

“Do you happen to know how to play Go?”

Friede asked, her eyes wide as if she had just realized something important.

At first, I was so taken aback that I seriously considered getting angry, but soon I had to let it go.

After all, Friede was only now asking that important question, and I hadn’t communicated with her at all, relying solely on her until now.

Besides, it was Gundar who had suggested the collaboration in the first place, and I wasn’t the kind of guy to poke fun at her in this situation.

“I really only know the basics. I’m a beginner.”

Gundar hurriedly nodded and replied. I never thought the knowledge I had picked up before would actually come in handy now. I sighed in relief internally.

Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Friede nodded and smiled warmly.

“That’s good. It’s rare to find young people nowadays who are interested in it. I’m a beginner too, so let’s just relax and play.”

Seeing her gentle smile eased my tension, but I shook my head and collected my thoughts.

If I showed even the slightest weakness here, I’d be the one getting roasted for ages.

With my heart calming down somewhat, Gundar regained his composure and asked calmly.

“So, did you have other plans if I had said I couldn’t play Go?”

“Well, I suppose I would have taught you a bit as we went along? Go is great for educational content, you know.”

“… Ah, yes.”

This girl is serious.

She really plans to fill our collaboration with Go.

Gundar couldn’t hide his bewilderment at facing such an unusual scenario for the first time in this industry.

[Hey! Why are we playing Go?!]


[What’s Go? The only Go I know is the kind I ate in the countryside when I was little haha.]


[Wow! You must’ve really wasted your life not knowing Go.]


[Is it a board game? I’ve genuinely never seen anyone play Go before.]


[I know that! I played some kind of marbles with my uncle during the last holiday using that.]


[Wow, these kids really don’t know Go.]


[These brats always end up talking about Soul Warfare.]


[I know that’s a Go board, old man.]


[Sniff sniff, I smell a decaying corpse.]


[LOL! Look at these old folks being startled by the mention of Go.]

The chat seemed to reflect my own feelings perfectly.

After pulling all kinds of stunts just to recruit Friede, we’re now doing a Go stream?

‘Is this stream really going to be alright?’

I was worried that I had stepped in something really big, but it was water under the bridge now, as my words were already out.

Since there was no way to turn back, Gundar decided to focus.

Though my Go skills were at a beginner level, at least it was better than not knowing how to play at all.

Indeed, if this stream transformed into a Go instructional show, the future would be obvious.

By the way…

‘Go in virtual reality…’

Some people thought that as virtual reality became widespread, the game of Go might eventually disappear into the sands of time.

It might be a harsh assessment, but what could be done?

A new frontier had emerged in human entertainment, opening up new horizons.

Yet, against those expectations, the Go offered on virtual reality platforms quickly gained popularity.

Users discovered that it had a quite different flavor compared to traditional PC tournaments.

This game allowed you to focus on long matches without draining your mental focus like reality, and it perfectly captured the true sensation of playing Go that couldn’t be replicated on PC.

It overcame the limitations of space and time, scratching both sides’ itches and covering all the important points.

What lay before us now was a neatly arranged wooden deck in a tranquil garden.

While it was just a simple lobby and nothing could be done here, I noticed a gentle stream and a small pond in front, with an adorable garden nearby.

I couldn’t help but think it would be great just to sit here idly.

And then there was the Go board and a container filled with Go stones before me.

“Definitely….”

I felt like I was well-prepared for at least Go.

“No?”

“Nothing, sensei.”

Without realizing it, my title had changed, but I didn’t mind awkwardly acknowledging it.

Gundar instinctively understood.

In this atmosphere, in this genre, and in this game, he shouldn’t act all loud and enjoy himself like in his usual streams.

“So, shall we start?”

Friede smiled and prepared to begin the game. Standing confidently, I felt foolish for being the only one caught up in my own feelings. In the end, I decided to let everything go and just wait comfortably.

Sure, since we were playing Go, it should be classy. No matter how much of a free spirit and eccentric she was, she must have at least checked the game she used for streaming. There shouldn’t be any issues as long as the genre was Go.

—

“Such a pity.”

“What? What do you mean?”

While watching the male streamer’s collaboration interpreted as a secret meeting with a serious dude, Ji-hye inadvertently voiced out her lament.

Next to her, Ah-jin, who was helping with Da-young’s video editing, tilted her head at Ji-hye’s random outcry.

What was she lamenting about? Did she want to be part of that?

“Hey, are you going to stream too?”

Could it be that another Hero Streamer was about to emerge here? The thought made her shudder.

If we increased the number of streamers, it would be a lot of editing… not that it would be unmanageable.

“Yeah, no. Just participating occasionally is better; continuously streaming like Se-hee would be tough.”

I have my dreams, you know.

But now that the content was brought up on stream, Ji-hye was gnashing her teeth because it was a field she was somewhat confident about.

“Don’t tell me you’re good at Go?”

“Yeah, I was doing pretty well in my previous world. Back in my day, I’d discuss things with the elders of the Mudaeng faction using Go instead of words.”

Ji-hye’s statement, dripping with pride, had Ah-jin puzzled.

Discussing ideas with Go?

Can that even happen?

“Using the Go board as the battle marker and deciphering moves with the stones, we could visualize the points of contention. Sure, to someone unaware, it may seem like random moves, but we called it Argument Go.”

“Heh….”

It sounds pretty neat now that the term Argument Go is thrown into the mix, even though Go usually gives a boring impression.

“But can our boss even play Go?”

Ah-jin shook her head. She had no idea what kind of life Se-hee had led in the past.

Well, the way she talked about her past struggles sounded like she lived in a rough world as a Hero.

‘She said her parents were gone too.’

Curiosity about what her life was like before she was summoned as a Hero bubbled up.

Of course, Se-hee hadn’t intentionally avoided answering, but it felt like she had only scratched the surface of what was truly shared.

I didn’t know where she was born, what her hobbies were, or what school life was like.

If she could play Go, it might very well be a trace of her life before becoming a Hero.

With the thought that perhaps I could peel back the curtain hiding her past, Ah-jin’s gaze sharpened and became focused on the stream, just like Ji-hye’s.

—

Usually, the majority of the audience who had never encountered a Go game would start thinking at this point:

‘What the heck? Why is this game even being played?’

Gundar now seriously pondered what he had done wrong.

Had he unintentionally harmed someone? Was there a mistake somewhere?

As he frantically rifled through his mind, he found no major faults across his entire life.

But why?

In the middle of the meticulously arranged wooden deck, the Go board was currently in the midst of a fierce contest between the black and white stones. The air was thick with tension, causing me to wipe my forehead subconsciously.

In a virtual reality, there wouldn’t be a need to wipe it, yet I felt a surge of anxiety and desperately needed to do something to keep my mind from slipping away.

If it wasn’t for the virtual reality aspect, I would have been drenched in cold sweat by now.

Traditionally, the virtue of virtual reality Go was its ability to provide the optimal conditions for playing, but now it felt like that meaning had been overshadowed.

[Holy crap, it’s stone Buddha.]


[Wow! Gundar’s really pushing it.]


[LOL! Just think of the punishment and be ready to die.]


[Hey, Gundar. If it gets hairy, just flip the board over.]


[Thinking of the punishment gets me dizzy; how can you play Go under these circumstances?]


[Ugh, damn… I just came in here, what is this?]


[LOL! Just placing stones on the board means it’s all Go.]


[Hey, a pretty girl can play Go too. No mercy.]


[Gundar, hang in there!]


[Friede, give him a punishment!]

No matter how much encouragement I received, it wasn’t easy.

Right now, Gundar was having difficulty maintaining focus as he watched his opponent deeply engrossed in their match.

There was a reason the chat was going wild.

‘This is just not sinking in.’

The vibe of playing Go was entirely different from the atmosphere when playing Soul Warfare.

Having different personalities or multiple identities is something often seen in culture, yet I had never realized a person could appear so different just from a simple, intangible atmosphere.

The problem was that this new atmosphere was putting me at a disadvantage.

If this continued, it would undoubtedly lead to a clear loss.

Losing one game might seem trivial, but I had to win this one for a very important reason.

If I lost this game, the loser would face absurd consequences.

‘What kind of game is this?!’

Internally screaming, but what could I do? It was my fault for blindly trusting and leaving it to Friede.

The game I was currently playing with her was titled “Go Girls Panic.”

A title formed by combining words that simply didn’t match.

It was an indie game, but it surprisingly boasted tremendous quality illustrations, charming girls, and a solid storytelling narrative.

It was considered an anomaly in the Go world, known only to a select few who engaged with it.

It was more like a romantic simulation through Go rather than a pure Go game, and that sentiment dominated.

However, perhaps due to the multiplayer aspect, allowing players to compete against each other, people might think it was fine to play Go regardless of motives.

Yet, there was something critically important about this game…

“Hey sensei? If I lose, does that really mean forced cosplay?”

“Yes, of course. The heroines in this game wear outfits randomly. It’s a bit like a fatality move, so don’t worry about it being stretched out.”

“…….”

The rules stipulated that a player who loses a match would be forced into cosplay as a character from the game.

Even if they tried to escape, their avatar skin would still display all the characters. It was truly a vile and despicable game.