Chapter 14: Fire!

The Soul Warfare community was bustling with excitement due to the emergence of a new rising player.

As time passed, the opening of the SCK Spring League devolved into a uniform topic of discussion, while incidents involving certain streamers had long plunged the community into a sense of monotony.

For the troublemakers in this community, a perfect source of entertainment had emerged.

The subject was a player known as “Friedé,” or “Hero of Light Friedé,” who had appeared like a comet with a unique concept and a high win rate.

She was assigned a variety of attributes.

Her character customization boasted such high quality that it was arguably the best knight cosplay in all of Soul Warfare.

With a broken greatsword, which ranked among the worst weapons in the game, she maintained over a 90% win rate at the Master rank.

And she was a female player who hadn’t revealed her face.

Individually, none of these elements were particularly remarkable.

But, when pieced together like a mosaic, these factors created an unparalleled impact.

It all began on the broadcast of “YongsaForming” [HeroForming], a streamer who had fallen into obscurity.

The word spread through her viewers, and the buzz gradually grew, bolstered by testimonies from players who faced her in the game.

***

[General] Forming and Friedé Hero Duo Situation

“The title says we’re grinding to Grandmaster, but the stream is pure chaos.”

“Now, the viewers are spamming weird hellish missions and cranking up the difficulty like crazy.”

“I’ve never seen someone fall off twice in a row using Windmill. Lololol.”

“What kind of mission did they request for that to happen?”

“So far, I’ve seen instant kill aerial decapitations while shouting ‘Kiyooo!’, double Windmill cliff falls, and 20 consecutive parry kills.”

“Lmao just hearing about it is chaotic.”

***

[General] Friedé’s Shocking Announcement!

“So, are you going to clear the quest without claiming the rewards?”

“If you don’t like it, quit being a hero. Lolol.”

“…Yes, sir.”

“Whether collecting dung or screaming ‘Kiyooo!’, you have to do the quest.”

“Quit being a hero? Not a chance! Never! Absolutely not!!!”

“Friedé is such a troll….”

“Forming’s suffering continues….”

***

The no-break broadcast was themed around Forming and Friedé’s journey to Grandmaster rank.

It was a fairly standard setup, with viewers tuning in out of habit.

Ordinarily, the duo’s synergy—Forming’s decent skills and Friedé’s exceptional gameplay—would have ensured a smooth progression to Grandmaster.

But perhaps Friedé disliked predictable developments, or maybe she thought the broadcast was becoming boring.

Before the stream began, she proposed a unique idea.

She asked viewers to provide missions—essentially quests—to make the game more challenging.

As long as the tasks were within the bounds of what could be attempted in-game and didn’t cross any serious lines, she vowed to accept them.

Thus, the stream shifted to a “mission broadcast” format.

***

The mischievous viewers didn’t miss this opportunity, cranking their brains to come up with tasks to mess with Forming and Friedé.

The missions mentioned earlier, like instant kill aerial decapitations, double Windmill cliff falls, and 20 consecutive parry kills, were part of this scheme.

These weren’t simple tasks like dominating lower-ranked players.

Instead, they targeted players of the same tier, and at that—a high rank like Master.

As the collective ingenuity of the audience refined the missions, their difficulty steadily increased.

Everyone watching harbored the same thought.

‘She’ll make a mistake eventually.’

‘This mission is bound to fail.’

After all, penalties disguised as missions imposed significant challenges in a virtual reality action RPG.

Even Forming, who demonstrated decent skills, and Friedé, who achieved legendary feats with a broken greatsword, would inevitably falter.

There was a touch of malice in this—a desire to see the famous players stumble.

***

[General] Breaking News: Forming and Friedé Duo Achieve Legendary Mission!

“Friedé scored a kill while moonwalking.”

“Forming cleared the mission without dying, using a broken greatsword like Friedé.”

“Forming cries under the weight of these cruel missions…”

“At this point, we need to hear Forming’s opinion.”

“I’m more impressed with Forming for keeping up this far.”

“They’re going to ask her to carry with a brand iron next.”

“Yeah, that’s a bit much….”

“She already did that three hours ago.”

“What in the world…”

“Brand iron carry? This is priceless….”

***

[General] “So, idiots, what’s the next mission?”

“Send in proper missions, you morons.”

“Those two women just raked in 400 with these missions.”

“Honestly, I think it’s time to give up.”

“After pulling off a double Windmill cliff kill, that was the moment to quit. Lolol.”

“Anyone trying to catch them slipping with these missions is just embarrassing.”

“Nope. Forming is invincible, and Hero Friedé is a god.”

***

[General] Shocking Incident! Friedé Fails a Mission!

[Image: Frog giving a thumbs up]

Nope, that didn’t happen, you fools!

[Image: Crying frog meme]

“Your expected mission failures? Lololol.”

“Your desired moments of Friedé’s despair? Lololol.”

[Image: Sad frog meme]

“No matter what happens!!!!”

“Never!!!!”

[The frog meme looking like its soul is leaving its body]

“You can’t see this, bro!!!!”

[The frog meme flipping the middle finger with an irritated expression]

“Lololololololololololololololol.”

“LOL, you little sh*t.”

“This trolling is seriously getting on my nerves. LOL.”

“At this point, this is outright gaslighting.”

“Friedé and Forming are the ones who gained, and you fools are the ones who lost. Lololol.”

“Mission rewards: 770 million.”

Every time they cleared a quest—a trial drenched in malice and deviant fun—the reactions began to polarize.

A minority of troublemakers relentlessly pushed for absurd, grotesque missions that tested their limits.

Meanwhile, the majority of viewers found vicarious satisfaction in watching these ridiculous tasks and challenges being cleared.

The regulars of the community and those focusing on Forming’s stream started paying attention to a new aspect of Friedé’s gameplay.

It wasn’t just about her broken greatsword and stellar win rate.

It was her in-game movements.

***

[General] “Damn, Friedé’s gameplay makes me dizzy.”

“I almost threw up watching the in-game footage.”

[High-resolution gif]

“I watched this in real-time, and it’s like my eyes are spinning. It feels like she’s flipping a whale back and forth while moving at lightning speed.”

“The funniest thing is, she doesn’t make a single mistake during all this. Lol.”

“Lololol.”

“But seriously, Friedé’s sensitivity settings seem abnormally fast.”

“Is this some kind of protagonist reflex ability from offline sword art?”

“Lololol.”

“Her reaction speed is insane. Does she just have incredible physical skills? Even Wardens on personal streams aren’t this good.”

“This isn’t the first time people called her crazy. She is something else.”

***

The in-game footage featured Friedé’s first-person view.

For regular players of virtual reality games like Soul Warfare, where such perspectives were common, this should have been mundane.

Yet, even seasoned players felt dizzy watching her gameplay, which was what drew everyone’s attention.

It was as if she had eyes everywhere, quickly catching and countering even the slightest changes.

Her physical reflexes and reactions were so extraordinary that any opponent facing her was utterly overwhelmed, unable to land a single blow.

Her opponents often became fodder for her highlight reels.

By this point, it was clear that Friedé’s skills transcended simple high-rank gameplay; her level was something rarely seen even in the professional scene.

Naturally, people began to wonder about her true identity.

‘Was she a former professional female gamer?’

A seasoned veteran at the Challenger level?

Or perhaps a rising star, a new prodigy of unmatched talent?

Then came a post that struck a starkly different tone than the usual admiration and praise.

***

[General] “It’s obvious—Friedé is using hacks.”

A post targeting Friedé appeared.

This marked the beginning of a new phase for the Soul Warfare community.

The effect of hacks in virtual reality games was similar to speed hacks in traditional PC games—essentially the same thing.

Specifically, it accelerated the user’s perceived speed in the virtual space, making everything and everyone else seem unbearably slow.

It was stealthier and more widespread than conventional hacks for one particular reason:

‘The godlike feeling is addictive.’

Park Suho smirked as he took a drag from his cigarette.

In a fully immersive virtual reality space, every arrow, weapon, and player slowed to a crawl—everything except the user.

During the moments when a speed hack was active, the user felt an unparalleled thrill, as if they were the sole orchestrator of the game.

Having used it himself before, Suho was confident Friedé was a hacker.

His certainty only grew as he checked the stats on his YouTube channel, a pleased smile forming on his lips.

***

[General] “It’s obvious—Friedé is using hacks.”

“There’s no way even a physical-skill-heavy game could have reactions this fast.”

“With her win streak and high rank, the GMs are definitely watching her. I bet my wrist she’ll be banned soon. Get your farewells ready.”

Likes: 82,569 / Dislikes: 3,897

“Do you have proof?”

“There’s a video analysis someone posted (link). Check it out.”

“After watching, it does seem pretty certain.”

“Lolol, no way…”

“Yeah, after watching the video, it’s clear she’s cheating.”

“Seriously, there’s no way a human could react like that in real-time. It doesn’t make sense.”

“So what about Forming?”

The post that lit the flames within the Soul Warfare community contained a link to Suho’s YouTube channel.

The linked video, newly uploaded, bore the title:

“Hero of Light? More like Hacker of Light.”

Views: 414,289

In just one day, the video had gained massive traction.

The buzz around Friedé’s gameplay was undeniable.

But fame and attention are like fire on a dry woodpile.

When managed properly, it warms the hearth through winter.

When mishandled, it burns down the house—and the forest.

Just like now.

***

[General] “If Friedé’s a hacker, Forming can’t escape the blame either.”

“She’s practically riding the waves created by Friedé. Lolol.”

“Honestly, if she hired a hacker, that’s just ridiculous.”

Likes: 36,428 / Dislikes: 2,121

“Maybe Forming pushed her luck too far because her stream was small-time.”

“Lololol. Neutral stance for now.”

“It’s normal for small streamers to overreach a little, lol.”

“Lol, how’s it Forming’s fault? Friedé hasn’t even been proven as a hacker yet.”

“No, there’s no doubt about it. No way anyone can play like that without cheats.”

“Let’s be real—do you think even a top-tier Warden could show reaction speeds like that consistently, for the whole game?”

“If you want to blame someone, blame Friedé. Why are you crucifying Forming for this?”

***

The attention on Friedé twisted into malice, spilling over onto Forming.

It was like dumping a bucket of paint on a blank canvas.

Sure, saying it wasn’t unfair would be a lie, but…

‘This is what happens when you play with hackers.’

Suho smirked.

He had thrown the spark.

Now, it was time to enjoy the inferno.