I Have a Reason to Hate Streamers

Chapter 5

There are two main types of core content in Infinity Black.

One is the large-scale RvR battlefield, commonly known as "Siege War." It's a muddy battleground where massive factions fight over territory and resources. Along with dirty politics, fierce covert operations unfold behind the scenes. Because huge amounts of resources are at stake, underhanded dealings are commonplace.

Field skirmishes to disrupt the enemy’s growth, assassinations, guild wars to take over hunting grounds, and the oppressive consequences and harassment that follow the outcome of these battles—if Infinity Black could be divided into light and darkness, Siege War would clearly fall into the dark side.

The brighter side would be the ranked PvP system, where battles range from 1v1 to 6v6. When people talk about Infinity Black as an eSport, this is what they mean. Unlike in the field, ranked games have limitations on equipment, so it's a battleground where players compete purely based on skill.

Infinity Black was designed from the ground up as a PvP game. The combat, which made you feel like a superhuman in a fantasy or martial arts world, stimulated players’ nerves, and by now, the game had grown to the point where leagues were held all over the world.

As for me... I didn’t properly fit in anywhere.

I occasionally received offers from the pro scene, but due to my physical condition and the problems with my connection device, I couldn’t realistically accept. I can’t perform at my full potential unless I use my personal connection device at home. If I could, I would have done it already. I’ve tried dozens of times.

On the other hand, in Siege War, I worked as a mercenary without any particular affiliation. This was due to financial reasons.

‘I need money. A lot of it.’

The scraps that fall from Siege Guilds aren’t small. For the older players, we call them “Assassination Squads.” In cruder terms, they're known as "troublemakers." Specialists in field warfare can receive corporate-level compensation depending on their skill.

But that’s as far as it goes.

Even if I were to join a Siege Guild, I’d still be just another employee. Even if I got better treatment because of my skills, my fundamental situation wouldn’t change. It wouldn’t be better than working as a freelance mercenary like I do now.

After all, I—and my leg—am a special case. Just receiving a salary wouldn’t be enough to fix my leg.

[Adventurer Germaniumnailclipper...] [Adventurer HangangTrashCan has been forcibly killed.] [Adventurer BluetoothShowerhead has been forcibly killed.] [Adventurer NoseyNoodles has...]

Another blade pierced a heart. The next guy was lucky enough to have his throat cut in one clean stroke, and the one who tried to put up a fight was neatly finished off. The adrenaline from killing Soolbbang was still surging, making my heart race wildly.

This time, my assassination target was a newbie streamer named “BluetoothShowerhead.” He was the leader of a new guild called “Pseudoscience,” and now even his guild members were starting to recognize me. It was similar to Soolbbang—I'd probably have polite conversations with them for a few days.

As for why he was targeted, I didn’t know either. It’s a rule that only money and the contract details are exchanged between me and the client. Since real money changes hands in Siege War, the cold logic of capitalism often applies.

Being an assassin who kills respawning targets comes with its own set of challenges.

Still, I didn’t worry about getting caught in a lie. Not once had this kind of excuse failed me.

In games that allow field PK, like Infinity Black, they’re usually designed for the strong to bully the weak. In this game, guild wars didn’t require any complicated procedures, so conflicts often broke out over trivial reasons.

When you get beaten down enough, someone’s bound to start spewing harsh words. From that moment on, even the pretext belongs to the stronger party. And once the strong gain a pretext, they become even more brutal toward the weak. I’d seen plenty of cases where the terms of peace were horribly exploitative. Almost beyond what you could call a game.

It was just the nature of this world. Nothing surprising about it. The dark side of a game ruled solely by the logic of power. At least in this game, no one involved in Siege War was clean, or innocent, or innocent of bullying others.

If a client comes to me with a contract, it’s almost certain—no, practically guaranteed—that the target deserves it.

‘The problem isn’t that there aren’t any suspects; there are too many.’

Sure enough, BluetoothShowerhead seemed to give up on finding my imaginary sibling. Instead, his gaze began to shift uneasily. Once to his staff, then randomly glancing toward the sky.

He was probably counting his skill cooldowns. Or maybe waiting for his guild to send help through the guild chat. Either way, it didn’t matter. People feel more humiliated when they fail after taking a risk. I decided to ignore the danger and play along.

“Th-then... what about financial compensation?” “That’s funny. After being killed by me eight times, don’t people usually figure out what I’m about? Have you ever heard of me taking money from someone I killed?” “N-no... I don’t think so.”

His eyes darted to my sword. I had already made my decision. He had been calculating his skill cooldown. Was he planning to fight me alone? Admirable courage.

I pretended to let my guard down, moving my sword aside. That’s when it happened. As if waiting for that moment, the wizard raised his staff and shouted loudly.

“You filthy bitch! Your sibling and whatever else—”

Squelch—unfortunately for him, my hand was faster than his spell. There’s no rule saying you have to hold your weapon in just one hand, right? As an experienced assassin, I always keep a secondary weapon handy. The blade pierced his jaw, shattering bone and slicing through somewhere in his skull.

Poor judgment. I thought he’d at least have the sense to wait for a better opportunity. I guess wizards aren’t very good at ambushes. An ambush only matters if your target doesn’t see it coming. When it’s this obvious, it’s harder for me to even bother pretending to fall for it.

Not that this was the first time someone had tried to backstab me while pretending to talk.

I wiped the blood off my blade and gave him a wide grin.

“See you next time.”

[You have forcibly killed adventurer BluetoothShowerhead.]

[Warning: Due to Field PK, your infamy has increased...]