Academy's Silver Gatekeeper

Chapter 23

“Aaah!”

- Eek haha, that’s Madcat’s scream

- What is it? Another fight?

- Clover, what’s going on?

“Ugh, for real. I told her I’m streaming, so keep it down.”

Seo Jaehyeon rubbed his forehead and glanced at the chat.

Normally, mentioning other streamers was against the rules, but they bent it slightly for Madcat because she was his sister. Any commotion in her stream always spilled over here.

“Did she lose again?”

- Yup

- She got stomped

“She stayed up late trying to get into promotion matches, and she failed again?”

- Yup

- Annihilated

- Their mid-laner blew the game wide open

He had told her not to go mid. He wasn’t clueless, either. He was a former pro. He had no idea why she insisted on mid so stubbornly.

- By the way, that mid-laner was definitely not from that rank

- The moves and skillshots were insane

- There’s no way it was a normal local player

-

Seo Jaehyeon’s expression sharpened at the mention of a sniper, smurfing, and stomping weaker players. As a streamer and former pro, that raised a lot of red flags.

Sniping was destructive for any broadcast. The sniper had fun, but the streamer and other viewers got annoyed. Some streamers even covered their queue screens to avoid it.

Madcat was a new gaming streamer, so it might be a bit more lenient, but as soon as Seo Jaehyeon started his own streams, he was constantly hounded by snipers.

Smurfing was even worse than sniping in his eyes, especially because he was a former pro-gamer.

People who kept newcomers out of the game ultimately destroyed it. Even if the player base was huge, it would eventually rot. They forced everyone into the same repetitive environment until it withered and died.

He was reminded of how furious it made him to see people cackling about crushing lower-skilled players.

“Guys, did it really look like he's smurfing? You’re sure it was a second account made for stomping?”

- Yes

- Madcat wouldn’t complain like that for no reason

- Their movement and skillshots were insane, and they had perfect vision control

- Impossible to be a local

He wondered what to do. Typically, you were supposed to ignore other streams. However, if someone was sniping, smurfing, and stomping noobs, it was hard to overlook.

Seo Jaehyeon folded his arms and hesitated, then grabbed his phone.

“...Yeah, it’s me. Send me an edited replay later. The mid-laner from your Bronze match. My viewers say there’s no way that was a local.”

- Haha, they’re in the same house but still talking by phone

- True siblings

- Couldn’t he just go in person?

While chatting with his sister, he got the user’s ID and started looking it up on a records site.

Tap, tap—

“What’s this...?”

It was not what he expected. Red lines everywhere, then a few spots of blue, then red again. The KDA was all over the place.

This ID didn’t look like a quick alt account. Some details didn’t fit if it was a fresh purchase for smurfing.

From a pro-gamer’s standpoint, it was confusing.

The match history looked normal enough

I got reamed out for a public official using violence against a citizen, for tarnishing the reputation of other civil servants. It went on and on until I finally woke up.

To make it worse, I woke up twenty minutes before my alarm went on. That dream had been horrifying. I still got chills thinking about it.

“I hope he doesn’t pick a fight with me the moment I walk in.”

It wasn’t impossible, which made me anxious. I scanned my surroundings before stepping through the Academy gates. If that jerk were around, I would probably feel his hostility from a mile away.

“He’s not here.”

It made sense. A guy who flaunted his superiority wouldn’t want to draw attention to the fact that he got demoted to Bronze. If he did pick another fight, he’d look for somewhere more secluded.

“Examiner Baek Seojin!”

At least I had one small piece of good news. Turning around, I saw Kim Suhyeon approaching.

“You’re here early today.”

“I just arrived.”

She walked up quietly and stood beside me, as if she wanted to head in together.

It felt nice but added a little pressure. Her background, her looks, and even her raw ability were all originally very impressive. Her talents were just stifled by her inferiority.

Villains had forcibly triggered that potential, making her go down a dark path. I was trying to open it up the right way.

Activating Third Eye.

◎ Kim Suhyeon

A Genius consumed by Inferiority

◎ Details

All abilities are currently lowered.

If she fails to escape her sense of inferiority soon, it could cause permanent damage to her powers.

A flawed awakening may trigger catastrophic consequences.

◎ Alert

A Seed has been Planted.

Seed Type - Wrath.

Nothing had changed from yesterday, and that only worried me more. I couldn’t figure out what this seed was, or what “fury” meant in this context. My heart felt uneasy.

“Um, Examiner...”

“Suhyeon.”

We both spoke at the same time. I asked her to go first, but she quickly shook her head and insisted I speak, so I went ahead.

“Hey, would you consider taking the Silver exam soon?”

“...Me?”

“Yes.”

“You mean for me to take the exam with you as my proctor?”

I nodded, and she looked troubled, trailing off mid-sentence.

“A... I’m... not good enough for that yet, I think...”

“There’s no set requirement for challenging the exam. Sometimes, you just have to try.”

“Still...”

“You won’t know what you’re lacking unless you jump in and see for yourself.”

You couldn’t take the exam unless you applied. I couldn’t just point at her and say, “You, come test right now.”

Lee Hyunwoo would definitely challenge himself again with frantic determination, but Suhyeon was a different case. If I didn’t push her, she might never take that step.

“I... can I have a bit more time? I’m sure I’d just embarrass myself...”

Her voice trembled as she said it, and she looked so uneasy that I felt bad for her.

“All right. Then how about next week? Let’s try it once next week.”

“Yes... all right...”

It made me feel like a villain forcing her into something.