The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 352
A surprise collaboration stream?
And with none other than that legendary figure—who wouldn’t want it?
While Baren was a fairly established MeTuber in his own right among solo creators, he was still no match for Seong, the face of Rapid Guild and a star nearing fifty million subscribers.
Their subscriber gap alone was nearly a factor of a hundred.
That said, the chat absolutely exploded.
Understandably so—Seong hadn’t done a live stream in quite some time.
—What the hell???
—That’s actually the Demon King???
—Those aren’t some ordinary items, look at the glow—absolutely insane gear;;;
—Wait, I’m seeing the Demon King here? LOL???
—LOLOLOL what’s Rapid Guild doing rn!!!
As viewers lost their minds, Baren was left flustered and unsure of how to react.
What should I even say?
Technically, they were inside a ruin.
Which meant Seong was... a competitor.
As if reading his mind, someone in chat pointed it out:
—Wait, isn’t this really bad for Baren? Isn’t he a rival right now?
—Oh crap, you’re right???
—RIP Baren 😢
—LOL everyone’s already writing him off. But they’re not wrong.
Realizing it themselves, the viewers collectively mourned what they assumed was Baren’s impending doom.
Meeting the Demon King inside a ruin?
It was good stream content, sure—but the fact that this was a contested space was the problem.
In the end, rivals had no choice but to fight. To kill or be killed.
While most expected that outcome, Seong was thinking along similar lines.
Should I kill them?
It was the natural assumption.
Seong didn’t believe he’d struggle against the five of them.
But—
—Seong, one of them’s an NPC.
—Right?
There was one thing holding him back: the presence of an NPC.
It wasn’t that killing NPCs inside a ruin incurred any sort of penalty.
After all, this was a competitive zone.
But even so, he didn’t want to kill a neutral NPC who hadn’t done anything wrong.
Players would respawn.
NPCs would not.
Helena had pointed that out to him—not that Seong hadn’t already noticed on his own.
Either way, it was a complicated situation.
And Baren was just as conflicted.
Are we really going to die here...?
Despite the terrifying title of Demon King, there had never been a report of Seong committing unsportsmanlike conduct or attacking innocent people.
Granted, PvP in competition didn’t count.
Baren couldn’t help but tremble slightly from the tension.
But he couldn’t just stand there.
The other expedition members were still frozen from Seong’s overwhelming aura.
Especially the NPC member, who, unaware of Seong’s identity, was trembling violently just from the pressure.
Baren had no choice but to make a decision.
It’s fine if we die... but not Mr. Hakon.
That thought sparked a sudden surge of courage.
“D-Demon King, sir?”
Baren addressed Seong, voice trembling.
Viewers responded as though attending a funeral.
—😭😭😭😭
—At least ask him to make it painless 😭
—That’s probably for the best 😭😭😭😭
—Great ruin while it lasted 😭😭😭
The chat turned into a sea of tears.
Of course, Seong couldn’t see that, and Baren had no room to check the chat either.
Seong responded. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
“Yes?”
“We’re members of an expedition team. We’re capable of bypassing various traps and deciphering hidden mechanisms. If you allow us to accompany you, we’ll prove our worth. And naturally, any items or rewards we find will go to you.”
Baren’s resolute tone moved his team to tears, and even the chat was slightly emotional.
—😭😭😭😭
—He’s doing this for the NPCs 😭😭😭
—Don’t kill him, Demon King 😭😭😭
It was Baren’s channel, after all.
Plenty of viewers begged Seong not to kill him.
At that moment, Seong actually brightened at Baren’s offer.
His expression was hidden behind the mask, but—
“Very well. Then there’s no need for a fight.”
At his words, the entire expedition team’s faces lit up.
Even Seong’s followers didn’t object, clearly relieved to avoid an unnecessary confrontation.
Thus, the two parties formally teamed up.
And—
“We placed the Deer Mask into a shallow indentation and the door opened. It seems like this is how separated teammates reunite.”
“Hm. Makes sense.”
Seong hadn’t realized that yet, and Baren began sharing what they’d learned.
As soon as he heard that, Seong asked,
“Hm. Out of the fifteen of you, how many are NPCs?”
Baren immediately understood the intent behind the question.
Players could die and respawn, but NPCs could not.
He replied right away.
“Two more are still unaccounted for.”
That made a total of three, including the one with them now.
Seong nodded.
He resolved to rescue them if at all possible.
Clearing the tomb was obviously still the top priority.
With that new objective set, Baren agreed to report any similar gimmicks or mechanics they found in the next rooms.
Now teamed up with Seong, viewer excitement skyrocketed.
—The Demon King??? For real???
—That’s really him???
—Why is someone that famous on this random little channel???
—???????? How is this real??? Why is he on an expedition team???
—Demon King???
—Holy crap, look at that view count...
Baren, who hadn’t had time to look at the chat until now, finally glanced—and froze in shock.
[Current Viewers – 247,562●]
“??????”
His jaw practically unhinged.
He stared at the viewer count in disbelief and blurted,
“Guys... why [N O V E L I G H T] are you all here?”
The absurdity of the number left him speechless, while chat lit up with laughter.
—LOLOLOL
—That reaction was adorable LOL
—LOL your first time blowing up a live?
—Well, expedition streams usually don’t get much traffic
—Getting all this traffic from one Demon King? That’s insane
—Yeah, I’d be stunned too LOL
Baren was now acutely aware of the power of “collaborating” with a celebrity streamer.
Half his subscriber count had shown up just for this.
As Baren awkwardly processed the moment, Seong tilted his head and asked,
“You’re live right now?”
“Ah, y-yes. I always keep it on when exploring uncharted areas...”
His tone practically screamed please don’t be mad.
But Seong didn’t seem to mind.
“Ah, I see.”
And that was it.
Baren sighed in relief.
—LOLOLOL yeah, he’s still terrifying
—I’d be scared too LOL
—I already pissed myself tbh LOL
—Never seen the Demon King spare someone in a competitive zone before
—He usually shows no mercy, what is this???
Now that the tension had eased a bit, Baren looked again at the system prompt still displayed after clearing the Deer Mask trial.
[Do you wish to challenge the next trial?]
[Yes / No]
[If you end the trial now, you can exit with your current rewards.]
It looked like they’d need to press it to move on.
With both the expedition team and Seong’s group fully rested and ready, Baren hit [Yes].
The room shook violently and began descending.
As they transitioned into the next trial, this time the walls were covered with countless new masks.
Masks that bore shadows, like layered afterimages.
But that wasn’t the issue.
Just before the transition completed, Baren and a few expedition members caught a glimpse of corpses through a slight gap.
It looked like the aftermath of a previous room’s slaughter.
Baren immediately turned to Seong.
“We saw bodies. Looks like we’re not the only ones here.”
“Judging by the corpses, probably an NPC group.”
“They weren’t in our expedition uniforms.”
Seong nodded, confirming what the others couldn’t see.
—Ah, ahh, oh glorious Overlord...
—Why didn’t I realize sooner...
—Our true lord and master...
It felt weird to say it, but the freshly killed ghosts of the Intelligence Knights hovered nearby.
Seong looked at them and smirked.
[You have activated ‘Unknown Power’ and exceeded your current stat limits.]
[Agility +3 / Stamina +3 permanently increased.]
[You have activated ‘Unknown Power’ and exceeded your current stat limits.]
[Agility +2 / Stamina +4 permanently increased.]
[You have activated ‘Unknown Power’ and exceeded your current stat limits.]
[Agility +4 / Stamina +3 permanently increased.]
Seong calmly read their memories as he absorbed the stat boosts.
Then—
“What do you think those shadow masks are?” one member asked.
“Hmm... maybe they’re just illusions?”
“Maybe we’ll know when they appear...”
While the expedition team was still trying to figure it out, Seong casually said:
“Replication.”
As he spoke, the wall opened just like before and a new puppet wearing one of the shadow masks stepped out.
This time, however, it began to multiply—one became five.
The five scanned Seong and Baren’s teams—and duplicated again.
Now they were ten.
The rapid replication made everyone tense.
“This is gonna be more annoying than we thought...”
“Yeah...”
“Let’s be careful.”
They didn’t know how powerful each one was—but nothing said they wouldn’t multiply again.
While everyone braced themselves—
Seong moved first.
And his action was deceptively simple.
He just raised his hand.
But the result was beyond imagination.
A black shadow formed beneath the puppets—
Then transformed into sharp spikes, each one burning with violet flames, skewering and incinerating them instantly.
Fwooooshhh!
WHOOSH——!
As the Replication Masks writhed in pain, ten drops of blood rose from Seong’s hand.
The blood droplets soared—and transformed into crimson crescent blades that flew straight toward the puppets’ necks.
Sliiiice!!!
A barrage of skills in an instant.
The Replication Masks didn’t even get the chance to react. They vanished instantly, and the Replication Mask materialized before Seong.
“It’s over.”
Seong spoke so casually that everyone turned to stare at him in disbelief.
—??????????
—What???
—Huh????
—They just disappeared???
Baren’s reaction mirrored the chat.
“?????”
All the expedition members who had braced for a serious fight awkwardly scratched their heads.
One of them muttered under their breath,
“...L-let’s just stick to finding gimmicks.”
And honestly?
They were right.
