Chapter 132: Korean Samurai

The Ed Cup had begun.

This portmanteau of “EoW” and “World Cup” was a global festival for those who lived and breathed “Echang.”

Unlike the World Cup, which is held every four years, the Ed Cup takes place annually.

Despite the name, it’s really no different from any other international competition.

As expected of a festival for Echangs obsessed with EoW, people were fired up with passion.

The players gave it their all to showcase the effort they’d poured in over the past year.

And fans cheered them on fervently as they watched those performances.

That passion occasionally overflowed into slander against certain players or teams, but that was a regular occurrence.

Rather than fussing over such petty things, people focused on the list of teams that had made it to the Ed Cup, which had just been released a few hours prior.

<If we’re gonna get stomped like dogs, dog-like upvote lololol>

Starting with me, lolol.

User1: Hitting the voodoo hard.

User1: What do you even expect from a Tier 3 team?

User1: Isn’t it different this time though? All the Korean teams are in the top 10 of the power rankings.

↳ User1: Don’t jinx it. Power rankings don’t mean much.

↳ User1: We made the list fine last year and the year before too. This is just the first time all four teams made it in.

<Yeah~ but China’s gonna win anyway>

You think the continent’s a joke?

User1: No for real, the Chinese players are good.

User1: I don’t know about their macro, but their skirmishes are sharp.

User1: In a game where skirmishing is everything, if they’ve nailed that, it’s over.

User1: NA’s doing pretty well this year too;

↳ User1: Yenssany said he’s retiring after this year. Guess it’s his last blaze of glory, he came out fully prepped.

User1: The group draw really matters.

↳ User1: Nah~ even if you get a good draw, at best we’ll be runner-up again~

↳ User1: Why are you so salty? Are you a Chaoxianzu shill?

↳ User1: Typical Egallers. Always angry about something.

<But don’t we actually have a shot this time?>

Since the matches are in Korea, there’s no jet lag or food issues.

Condition management will be on point, and if we just play like we usually do, we should win no problem.

User1: Nope~ instead we’re gonna get our heads bashed in by Kimchi-powered Lichao.

↳ User1: Lichao eats kimchi? That’s kinda likable.

↳ User1: Yeah he eats it well, even said on stream that it tastes good.

↳ User1: What doesn’t that pig eat, ffs.

↳ User1: Lichao devouring Korean teams like a snack, damn.

User1: This really is the year with the highest chance of winning. If we don’t win now, we might never win again.

↳ User1: You can’t ignore the home team buff.

↳ User1: But technically China used to be Goguryeo land, so why don’t we get the home team buff?

↳ User1: This guy is spewing pure nonsense.

That’s right.

The Ed Cup, which had always been hosted in foreign countries, was being held in Korea for the first time this year.

It was a definite advantage.

No need to adjust to time zones, no trouble eating unfamiliar food, and no exhausting flights.

If there was one downside, it was probably not being able to travel abroad for sightseeing after the tournament.

But no player would be disappointed over that.

They all knew what mattered most.

Unlike the early days of the Ed Cup where they repeatedly lifted the championship trophy, it had now been years of runner-ups — or worse.

Korean fans were desperate to see their country return to its former glory.

And while they were pouring out silly posts on the gallery out of frustration…

(Image: Michael staring at his screen with a frustrated expression.jpg)

Ah lol the white boy tasted kimchi and lost his mind.

User1: Damn.

User1: Pure brilliance… truly, our gallery deity.

User1: Proudly holding rank 16 in Challenger among pros, Mount ‘Mollu’.

User1: Defending the nation from foreign threats…

User1: Mollu is guarding the Korean Peninsula!

User1: Too bad it wasn’t streamed.

↳ User1: For real, the reaction would’ve been gold.

User1: This is the modern Shinmiyangyo.

↳ User1: Shinmiyangyo, lmao what the hell.

User1: Who’s Mollu?

↳ User1: If you don’t know Mollu, why are you even in this gallery?

↳ User1: Get out.

<What? Korea’s weak? NA is scary? China’s terrifying?>

Meanwhile, our General Mollu is slicing through everyone lolol.

User1: NA or China, if they run into General Mollu, they’re done.

User1: Game ends at Mollu’s doorstep!

User1: Honestly he’s a beast in solo queue, should’ve gone pro.

↳ User1: Ah… yeah…

↳ User1: That girl who fearlessly challenged Mollu to a duel… only to get wrecked and rage afterwards… but still had pro-tier drive…

↳ User1: Jimin, Jimin-ah… I don’t really miss you…

User1: The gallery lord is swinging his sword, whoa.

↳ User1: The reason America, China, and Japan are all shocked when Mollu draws his sword.

↳ User1: This is full-on nationalist TV now.

User1: Mol-sun-shin! Mol-sun-shin! Mol-sun-shin! Mol-sun-shin!

User1: As someone who takes things seriously, I have to say—Mollu is an amateur, not a pro, so you can’t go all-out on him.

↳ User1: Who doesn’t know that? ^^

↳ User1: I really wanna smash your head in, for real.

↳ User1: Agreed, lol.

↳ User1: The point is breaking enemy morale, smh.

<Breaking News) Michael joins the gallery wtf lololol>

He’s seen typing in chat, his mind blown by Mollu’s insane swordplay.

User1: Look at this savage lineup, lolol—same team has Ward and Insomnia, and on the other side there’s Mollu, Jerome, and ChaoD.

User1: Michael asked which team Mollu was on, then freaked out when told he’s a streamer, lol—definitely not your average streamer skill.

↳ User1: Is this the power of a Korean streamer?

↳ User1: Ter.rif.ying, Korea!!!

↳ User1: Ahh… I may be a streamer, but…

User1: Just pure national pride, GOAT.

People were cheering over the sudden news of Mollu’s victory.

---

Games with top-tier players demand extreme focus.

One second—divided into ten parts, 0.1 seconds—can decide the outcome of a match.

That’s how it is at this level.

It might sound exaggerated, but it’s true.

In a skirmish, that brief moment is crucial, and missing it means losing the fight.

Losing the fight often means losing the whole game.

That’s why I played with maximum focus.

The stream was on, but I’d already let viewers know.

I said I wouldn’t be able to speak or read chat.

Still, people didn’t seem to mind—no, they actually liked it.

Apparently, just watching was satisfying enough.

I could understand.

Each game at this level probably felt like art to those who loved the game.

Not elegant, refined art—but more like the opposite.

Because in solo queue, teamwork takes a backseat to raw individual skill.

The result is utter chaos—a brutal battlefield drenched in blood.

It’s like a gladiator match where each player showcases their mechanics and tests whose blade is sharper.

And once again, I managed to survive to the very end.

“Hoo…”

As the victory screen appeared, I leaned back in my chair.

I hadn’t even realized I’d been leaning forward.

My shoulders were hunched, and my neck stuck out like a turtle’s—like I was about to get sucked into the screen.

It was the natural posture that came from being completely immersed.

If I had to name it, maybe “gamer posture.”

Kind of an occupational hazard.

No wonder so many pro players have neck issues.

Well, anyway—I won, so whatever.

Smiling with satisfaction, I rolled my neck and shoulders.

At the same time, I turned my mic back on and glanced at the chat.

Apparently, a lot had happened in the single match I just played.

[WTF]
[lollolololololololollll]
[😄😄😄😄😄]
[Why are there so many foreigners?]
[Michael was on the enemy team lol, NA pro]
[A Korean took down an Ed Cup pro?]
[Yeah lol, just another Tuesday for us]
[‘Country with Mollu’]

Turns out there was a foreign pro player on the enemy team.

These days, there’s almost always at least one or two pros in every match, so I hadn’t thought much of it.

Come to think of it, Ed Cup season is around the corner.

Lots of players are probably grinding hard, including the ones who flew in from abroad.

—Mollru 52k

“Is that a bug?”

Viewership suddenly exploded—word must’ve spread that there was a streamer in the match.

Looks like I drew serious aggro.

Now half the chat is in English or flooded with strange emotes.

<Vix7Michael has donated 10,000 Bits!>
—Are you the Korean samurai? I have fallen for your play, your swordsmanship, your soul as a swordsman. It is beautiful and inspiring.

“Yes, uh… Vix7Michael? Thank you for the 10,000 Bits. Thank you for your donation.”

[Korean samurai joins the gallery lolol]
[lol, not samurai—he’s Yi Sun-shin]
[Korean samurai lol]
[Nono, she’s a kimchi warrior zzz]
[Mol Soon Shin]
[Mollu, successor of Admiral Yi ㄷㄷ]
[Didn’t the streamer say his last name is Lee?]
[So he really is a descendant~]
[General draws his sword—make way!]

Looks like I just earned myself a new nickname.