Brutal’s challenge had drawn attention from quite a few places.
Not just the Abyss broadcasting gallery, but also the Abyss League gallery where discussions revolve around pros and leagues, as well as the Abyss minor gallery focusing purely on Abyss and character-related conversations.
The league is currently lacking its star player, Lee Jun Hyuk, causing the Abyss minor gallery to mostly revolve around Brutal’s gossip, as they are tired of reading bizarre erotic posts about characters.
The foreign Reddit crowd was no different. They, too, cheer for Brutal daily while watching the live broadcasts.
MG, the team Brutal is part of, has a long-standing reputation, contributing to a thick fanbase. Plus, Brutal is young, handsome, and great at the game—truly a star player with charisma.
As a result, a considerable number of people began flocking to Brutal’s dojo-breaking broadcasts, having heard rumors from here and there.
What started as around 3,000 viewers on day one has now ballooned to 20,000 after just five days.
At the tender age of 17, with exceptional skills and the title of a genius, it’s no wonder that a young prodigy garners attention.
While MG was deliberately spreading articles about Brutal’s challenge, the primary reason for the sustained focus on him was undoubtedly Brutal himself.
Arriving on the Korean server, suffering, and raging, yet refusing to give up and continuing his challenge, painted a positive image for the public.
His silent dedication to the game—unable to understand the trolls due to language differences, unable to persuade them, and not even able to vent with a good curse—was clearly relatable.
No user has played Abyss without facing some trolling.
Thus, Brutal persevering through the trolls while staying committed to the game resonated with users, leaving a strong impression.
Though still just a trainee, he could indeed be seen as a model for pro gamers. Some were even saying that pros should learn from Brutal’s will, patience, and perseverance.
Thinking back to when opinions were mostly about him being arrogant and cocky at the start of his dojo-breaking, he successfully swayed public sentiment in his favor.
Abyss is an old game. It underwent a renewal process, transforming from a trash game into a god Tier game midway, but if you consider when it first appeared, it has easily been over 10 years since its release.
Stale water gets stagnant, and stagnant water rots. What can I say? Abyss was rotting.
The game became more balanced, and the skill level of users rose. They say when five people gather, one of them is trash. As the number of users increased, the ratio of trash also naturally went up.
The teamwork that was emphasized in the early days of Abyss seems to have vanished completely.
Team skills took a backseat to individual prowess, users were yapping like they had a rag in their mouths, and nobody wanted to sacrifice themselves claiming they were the best.
The Korean server showed a particularly severe trend, but this was a global phenomenon happening across all servers.
So, it was not surprising that users, tired of the game, started to leave Abyss one by one.
More and more people were watching broadcasts focused on Abyss instead of actually playing the game, reminiscing about the clean and tidy game from the past.
What were those people thinking while watching Brutal’s streams recently? They could recall one by one the things they had forgotten.
The excitement of playing Abyss for the first time, the thirst for victory, the passion for the game…
As those players left the game, they lost those feelings, but the boy, a trainee pro-gamer named Brutal, still held onto them.
Getting frustrated over a bizarre play from a team member and earnestly pinging to give orders was something only possible when passion for the game still burned.
Thus, recently Brutal became a hot potato in the Abyss scene, a star beloved by all, as users cheered him on, saying, “This kid is putting in the effort!”
“Phew… Thankfully we won. We were at a disadvantage at first, but from the middle of the game, things started going my way. I’m finally starting to get the hang of it.”
[Brutal! Brutal! Brutal! Brutal! Brutal! Brutal!]
[Aah… I’ve realized it! The Solo Rank on the Korean server!]
[Yeah, I’ve made it to the Grandmaster threshold, but that’s how you do Solo Rank, Brutal!]
[I’ve been to the threshold of the gate, but this is how solo queue is supposed to be, BruBung.]
[Team games shouldn’t be played like this, lol. But this is how solo queue is now.]
[But won’t you struggle to adapt if you go back to the team?]
[The strongest gamer in modern times, Brutal!]
[Brutal, you’re the pride of MG!]
[Even if offers come from other teams, you should stay with MG.]
[BruBung is actually not too shabby, lol.]
[How many wins is this? Is it 17 consecutive wins?]
[Winning so much makes my MMR go up, and I’m even catching Challengers now.]
[Let’s aim to go to Challenger like this, go go go!]
[The opponents are getting good now; I was surprised watching that counter earlier.]
[With the game level this high, it’s quite a sight to behold.]
[Even in the Diamond-Master rank, there are tons of trolls; how did you get through that so well?]
[You really are good; no mediocre VTuber or ex-pro can stand against you, lol.]
[It’s because of your age, but you’re really at pro-level.]
Brutal’s playstyle had changed significantly from what he showcased on North American, Eastern and Western European, and Brazilian servers.
Team fights created with teammates—it was Brutal’s strength and his favorite style of play, but now it had shifted to a focus on splitting and individually dominating.
“Playing selfishly is more important than playing selflessly. I feel a bit sorry to say this, but you can’t trust your teammates. The only one I can trust is myself. I think I understand why Korean server users play so self-centeredly.”
Should I say it has been localized? Clearly, when he first started on the Korean server, he showed signs of trying to coordinate with his teammates, but now I couldn’t find any of that in him.
[Korean here, sorry.]
[I feel like I’ve been drawn into bad waters.]
[This is how solo queue is supposed to be.]
[Selfish play becomes selfless play.]
[To survive among those who don’t match compositions, make bad picks, and troll, this is the way!]
[It feels like I’ve fallen from grace, lol.]
[It’s like a protagonist from a boyhood manga who used to fight fairly now fighting with a weapon.]
[But still, that Brutal really does play well.]
[I admit changing his playstyle and climbing tiers is impressive.]
[It’s okay, Brutal! MG will always support you, no matter what form you take!]
The public sentiment had shifted positively compared to when Brutal first landed in Korea.
Seeing Brutal struggle, people felt a sense of attachment, and above all, knowing that he was serious about the Abyss was the biggest factor.
The moment was huge.
Perhaps they were witnessing the moment when the player accomplished the feat of reaching the number one spot in solo rank on the entire server before officially starting their player career.
It could be a situation that adorns a page in the history of the Abyss pro league, like a scene from history that can only be understood in hindsight.
The boy, responding to the viewers’ enthusiastic cheers, merely flashed a grin.
“Should I aim for Challenger today? Just hit that Challenger rank and then climb for the rest… Huh? What’s wrong?”
At that very moment, Brutal hit the queue and finally got matched.
Suddenly, the chat began to scroll up rapidly.
“Korean? What are they saying… Let me try to translate. Give me a sec.”
Most of it was in Hangul. The streamer’s words were being translated in real-time with subtitles, but there wasn’t a function to automatically translate the chat, so Brutal quickly used a translator to interpret the comments.
“She’s coming. Demon, high-skilled player, be nervous, weak Camilla? Kayak? What does that mean? I don’t get it.”
[Wow, LOL, this match is actually happening?]
[Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak!]
[Representing Korea, Kayak’s entering, whoa!]
[Kayak: I will defend my spot as number one in the Korean server.]
[This Kayak demon, does she need to crush the young sprouts to feel at ease?]
[Why are Koreans acting like this suddenly? Is it a national disaster?]
[Looks like a high-skilled player is in the opponent’s team.]
[The Great Kayak is entering, LOL.]
[The original gallery owner vs the new gallery owner, whoa!]
[Isn’t it possible for Kayak to lose? BruBung seems to be at his peak right now.]
[Does a Chal 6 player look like a JoS to you?]
[But Kayak hasn’t even hit number one yet.]
[Honestly, I really don’t get it. Brutal is better than I expected.]
[The opponent, Camilla, seems to be quite a high-skilled player, currently ranked 89th in Challenger.]
[Camilla? Come to think of it, I heard there’s a master who created the Camilla build in Korea.]
[Damn, why are there so many masters in the Korean server?]
[Brutal! Be careful! She’s an insane high-skilled player!]
“…High-skilled player?”
It was the emergence of a demon blocking the path of Brutal, who was diligently climbing the stairs.
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