Samurai Hearts – Chapter 1: For Vengeance (1)
When she woke up, the world had changed.
That was how Seungyeon felt.
By Tricky TV's standard classification, she had originally been considered a small-tier streamer.
Her average view count was around 2–3 thousand, and her previous peak barely exceeded 5,000.
With the big-tier cutoff at 20,000 viewers, mid-tier at 10,000, and small-tier at 5,000…Her channel wasn't even properly within small-tier.
Nothing big ever happened on her stream.No buzz meant no new viewers, and no new viewers meant no growth.Her channel had simply stagnated.
A stream known only to those who already knew her—that was exactly the level she'd been stuck at.
But that changed.
With just a single stream yesterday.
─Victoria's streaming today too, right?
There was no break notice, so I think so. What time does it start?
I'm so excited I can't sleep.
-? Are you insaneㄴOP: Why? Can't I be excited for Victoria's stream?
ㄴIt's been ONE MINUTE since the date changed, you lunatic lol
ㄴOP: But…! I wanna see Sword Saint Kratos so badly!
–Victoria streams in the evening. Around 6? Yesterday was just unusual.
ㄴOP: Oh really?
ㄴYep, so stop posting at dawn you maniac lol
There were too many posts like this on VGC to even count!
On top of that, 80% of VGC's trending posts were filled with discussions about her stream—and about Dohyeon, her brother.
And that wasn't the only change.
"Hello, Victoria! I'm the streamer DumDum. I wanted to talk to you about a collab…"
"This is Yeonwoo of the Easy & Friendly Guide Channel! I'd like to arrange a collab with you and Kratos…"
"I'm personal streamer Song Youip… I was really impressed by your stream today, so I'd like to…"
Her inbox was absolutely flooded with collab requests from countless streamers!
Including big names—like DumDum—whom she herself occasionally watched.
It showed just how deeply her stream—or rather, Dohyeon—had landed in the center of the internet's attention.
'A shame it's not my broadcast causing this ripple… but oh well.'
It would've been easy to get drunk on the sudden popularity, but Seungyeon didn't forget the truth:
None of this buzz was something she accomplished.
It was, realistically, something Dohyeon created entirely on his own.
So she made up her mind.
'Before this hype dies down, I need to pull these viewers into my channel.'
She had no idea how long Dohyeon would stream with her.
He promised to join her during the vacation period if she insisted, but after that, who knew if he'd keep appearing?
Once he left, the viewers who came for Dohyeon would obviously leave with him.
Before that happened, she had to sell the appeal of her channel and convert them into her viewers.
To do that—
'I need to stream!'
Seungyeon took a deep breath.
A calming breath to ease her nerves.
10… 9… 8…
The numbers atop the eye-shaped hologram ticked down quickly.
The countdown to stream start was nearing its end.
3… 2… 1…
Finally, the number hit 0, and the closed eye opened.
The stream had started.
Seungyeon spoke with her usual bright smile.
"Hello everyone! I'm Victoria, the streamer who always strives to make your teeth grind!"
It was the same line she always used for her opening.
But today, even saying her opener made her heart pound and her lips dry.
The reason was simple:
Her viewer count skyrocketed the moment the stream started.
Before she even finished her opener, she broke 10,000 viewers.By the time she finished speaking, she hit 30,000.
The view count had kicked the ceiling from the moment she started.
And it kept climbing, unstoppable.
"Is this… real…?"
Viewers: 50,000—achieved!
It hadn't even been three minutes since she went live.
Seungyeon stared, mouth hanging open.
She knew she had become a hot topic, but she never imagined she'd pull in 50,000 viewers at the very start.
The skyrocketing view count slowed only after surpassing 60,000.
What was even more terrifying:
It slowed—but never stopped increasing.
The steep curve simply smoothed out; it never dipped.
-Starting at 60k, LET'S GO~-Super mega corporate-tier streamer lol-Victoria panicking is cute-But where is Kratos? He's not skipping today, right?-Came to see Sword Saint Kratos!
"I am right here. Nice to meet you, viewers."
The moment chat started asking for him, Dohyeon—who had been quietly standing beside her—stepped into view.
Seungyeon had told him to jump in when he thought the timing felt right.Apparently this was the moment.
Chat exploded as he appeared.
-OHHH Sword Saint!!-I watched the videos! You're incredible!-You showing crazy mechanics again today?!
"Thank you for the warm welcome. Crazy mechanics? I'm not sure about that. I just… do whatever feels natural."
-lol THAT'S EXACTLY why we're here-Just do whatever, sir. That's what we're here for-Exactly lol you're a genius anyway hahaha
Dohyeon's confused head-tilt sent chat into chaos.
To them, Dohyeon was a genius drawn into human form.
From his debut to his rise to fame, everything about him fit that image perfectly.So his earnest confusion only made them adore him more.
That was exactly the kind of "genius reaction" they craved.
"Everyone~! This is my channel, okay? Kratos is my little brother. I'm the host, Kratos is the guest, alright?!"
-lmfao wait what?? I thought this was Kratos' channel-She's desperate lolol-Move!! You're blocking Kratos!! lol
Seungyeon slid in front of Dohyeon, blocking him from view.
Of course, she wasn't serious—it was just for entertainment.
And because the viewers understood that, they only laughed; nobody was annoyed.
Besides, technically she was right.
This was Victoria's channel, no matter who the real star was today.
'Godtoria' has donated 1,000 won!
[Game today?]
"Thank you for the 1,000-won donation, Godtoria! And as for today's game—well, as you can tell by Kratos standing here, we'll be continuing Samurai Hearts from yesterday."
-OHHHHHHHHHH-Finally, Sword Saint time?!-Wow, Samurai Hearts!
"Everyone seems really excited. Then I won't bother with more opening chatter. Let's start the game right away. That's what you all want, right?"
-Yes! We want it!-You read our hearts too well ㄷㄷ-Finally watching Sword Saint live!
While the viewers excitedly spammed the chat, Samurai Hearts launched.
A wind full of swirling cherry blossoms wrapped around them.
When the soft pink petals faded away, they found themselves in an entirely different place.
Seungyeon and Dohyeon, who had been quietly standing in the studio moments before, were now lying on a bed—wearing the armor from the previous day.
Their wounds were all healed, and even the armor that had been smashed to bits in the fierce battle—well, in Dohyeon's case—was pristine again.
Their weapons lay neatly beside them.
Except…Dohyeon's sword wasn't the original one he used.
It was Sword Saint Kato's blade.
'Right… my old sword broke. Then what about the armor?'
Dohyeon tried to sit up, puzzled—but couldn't.
His body refused to move.
At the same time the game started, an event cutscene had begun.
'We're starting straight from a cutscene?'
"Are you awake?"
A raspy old voice came from the darkness.
The red fox and black wolf turned toward the voice.
A long-nosed figure with a bright red face was staring at them.
Upon closer look, it wasn't a face—it was a mask.
A Tengu mask.
The voice's owner was dressed entirely like a Tengu, and from his snow-white hair and wrinkled hands, one could tell he was quite old.
The red fox stepped forward to confront him.
"Where are we? And where is our lord—where is Tatsuki?"
"When we arrived at the hill, the only ones still alive were the two of you."
"Impossible…"
The red fox bit her lip hard.
Without their protection, their lord Tatsuki's fate was obvious.
Falling into the hands of the Nagamatsu butchers…
Her clenched fist trembled with rage.
The fury of a warrior who'd lost their lord burned within her.
"…Who are you."
"Can't you tell by looking? A Tengu. A Tengu."
"Nonsense."
"Heh. Quite rude to an elder, aren't you? It won't be pretty—do you still want to check?"
The red fox nodded firmly.
The old Tengu chuckled with a rasping metallic tone and removed his mask.
The face revealed beneath was horrific.
Scars covered the entire face, the left eye seemed blinded, and a huge burn scar stretched from the lips down the chin.
These were not wounds one earned through ordinary battle.
The red fox immediately recognized him.
"You were a ninja."
"I was. Once."
"Once?"
"As you see, now I am simply a Tengu."
The old ninja chuckled again as he put the mask back on.
"Fine, then. Ex-ninja Tengu. Why did you save us?"
"Is 'because you just happened to still be alive' not enough?"
"You expect me to believe that's your only reason—coming all the way to save us and move us here?"
The red fox's eyes sharpened.
"If the opportunity arises, we will repay you. And that will be the end of it."
A firmly severing statement.
It meant:If you don't give a real answer, that will be the extent of our relationship—nothing more.
The red fox stood up sharply, and the black wolf rose with her.
But they couldn't leave immediately.
The Tengu's next words stopped them cold.
"Aren't you curious about the truth behind the Nagamatsu Clan's attack?"
The red fox froze, turning sharply to glare at him.
A fierce, fiery gaze versus the Tengu's eerie grin.
And then, the event cutscene ended.
Seungyeon, now back in control of her avatar, clapped excitedly.
"Finally, the real beginning of Samurai Hearts. Since we ended right after the tutorial yesterday, it jumped straight into the event cutscene today. Sorry if that surprised you!"
-It's fine-Victoria staring people down-It was a total blessing -The red fox mode was cool lol
"From here on out, I honestly don't know much. All the studying I did to avoid annoying you guys only covered the tutorial. Meaning—we're about to go full blind and smack our heads into walls together!"
Seungyeon tried to sound intimidating, but the chat remained calm.
After all, longtime viewers knew that while Seungyeon's mechanical skill was bad, her game sense wasn't.
And for everyone else?They were here to watch Dohyeon's insane mechanics, so they didn't really mind anything else.