A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 10

Sojun’s eyes reflected the face of his opponent standing before him, Drake.

The man had a black beard, deeply set eyes, and firmly closed lips, giving off the impression of a handsome middle-aged guy.

“Hmm. What’s your name?!”

Drake repeatedly stroked his beard.
– Drake seems a bit surprised, lol.
– He usually doesn’t ask for names. He must be really flustered, lol.

“Nameless.”

“Nice name. Nameless. A strong person deserves respect.”

– Wow.
– Cutting through those obstacles must’ve really surprised him. It surprised us too, haha.
– Seriously, some people couldn’t even dodge the first sword and died, lol. How is this even possible?

“So, I will use my full strength.”

As far as Sojun knew, Drake always used his full strength against anyone who managed to dodge his knives, regardless of their equipment or skills.

Swoosh!

Two chains with sharp tips at their ends began to float behind Drake, targeting Sojun. He then drew the twin swords strapped to his waist.

Unlike the tutorial against Etor, fighting Drake had no conditions or limitations. One could use all available equipment and skills and even boost basic stats before the challenge.

Yet, why had no one managed to defeat him so far?

The reason lay in Drake’s unique flying weapons.

Two chains capable of moving freely in the air had no angles they couldn’t attack from. This allowed Drake to seamlessly coordinate his twin swords and corner any player without gaps.

Sojun’s eyes caught sight of the chains freely moving through the air.

“This is an assassination game, but you take fighting very seriously.”

– Maybe the game developers were encouraging Musou, lol.
– Even so, if they just increased the enemy’s health to make up for it, people would complain. But I like this diversification of combat.
– Combat has always been a key element in Assassin’s Dawn.

Sojun glanced at the chat window and smiled, then he held his pipe as if it were a sword, taking a stance.

“Haha. I’ll go first!!”

Drake’s gruff voice rang out.

Clang!!

Drake’s twin swords clashed with Sojun’s pipe.

Immediately, the chains behind Drake shot towards Sojun.

Clang! Clang!

Sojun retreated, swinging the pipe to deflect the chains, but Drake rushed forward again, swinging his twin swords.

Drake had seized the initiative, and Sojun began to be pushed back helplessly.

– It seems Nameless can’t win against Drake either.
– How can anyone win against such combinations? Impossible.
– Using a pipe was pretty arrogant too.

To the viewers, it seemed that way at least.

‘This is harder than fighting those thirteen guys.’

But.

Sojun’s eyes deepened, and his thoughts began to accelerate.

What surfaced were memories of his previous life. Specifically, when he found himself isolated in enemy territory.

‘Back then, it wasn’t just four, but dozens of sword blades coming at me.’

Even in that dire situation, he survived. Not just surviving, but advancing while attacking.

Sojun suddenly lowered his stance and dived into Drake’s embrace.

Crash!

The spot Sojun stood just moments ago was impaled by the rapidly approaching chain behind Drake.

Sojun deflected the sword coming down at him.

Parrying.

While this would put regular mobs in a groggy state instantly, for a boss like Drake, it only provided a brief moment to land an attack, causing him to stagger backward momentarily.

Even then, Drake’s chains protected him.

But.

Not now.

Thousands of memories of swinging a sword allowed Sojun to perform these moves effortlessly, even with his eyes closed.

He planted his feet firmly, transferring power from his solid lower body.

‘Uppercut stance.’

Boom!

The head.

“Argh!!”

Suddenly, the chat window content flipped as if someone turned a switch.

– ?? Why is Drake so easy?
– For real, he seems super easy.
– Fact) If someone makes something look super easy, that person is likely a pro.

So much fun.

The moments of clashing, striking, swinging, and cutting with his sword were the only evidence of his previous life.

Once again, the combos began, and Sojun parried.

The chains flew instantly again.

Smoothly deflecting both, Sojun gripped his sword with both hands and adopted an uppercut stance.

The sequence was as fluid as a martial artist performing his most well-practiced kata but was actually Sojun’s improvisation suited to the situation.

What followed was the martial artist’s fundamental move, a vertical slash.

In other words.

The head.

Boom!

One could think there would be significant errors due to a body shift and virtual reality mechanics, but the reality was the opposite.

He was not bound by forms or rituals.

Even in a single swing.

“Step placement, leg posture, body twist, arm movements—all are adjusted to be optimally coordinated at every moment. Even with a different body, that is.”

Boom!

He continually broke the chains and smashed down on Drake’s head without rest.

Boom!

Boom!

Before long, Drake’s HP was completely depleted.

『Dissembler’s boss Drake has died』
『You have obtained a Fragment of Order (1/4)』

As the alert message popped up and Drake fell, the emotions heightened from the battle calmed down. He then checked the chat window.

– Nameless is a god! Nameless is a god! Nameless is a god! Nameless is a god!
– Mom, I saw another Perfect Clear! Mom, I saw another Perfect Clear! Mom, I saw another Perfect Clear!
– Seriously, it looks super easy. Didn’t get hit once. Drake, step up today. lol

『’Joas’ sponsored 100,000 won!』
『This is the hope of Musou!』

“Thank you, Joas, for the 100,000 won donation. Oh, was this also the first clear?”

-Yep

-Yes

-Is this how you verify skills? Insane.
-He’s playing a different game alone. lol

『’Spoon Killer’ sponsored 10,000 won!』
『What’s really creepy is him slowly catching it with a pipe. What would he have done without a damage increase buff?』

-Pipe killer. lol
-What would he have done? He’d still have caught it. That’s even creepier. lol

“Thank you, Spoon Killer, for the 10,000 won donation.”

Sojun laughed while checking the viewer count.

『Viewers: 447』

Sojun’s eyes widened as he confirmed the increased number of viewers. There were just a bit more viewers than followers. Although it’s advised not to worry about viewer counts while streaming, he felt good about the increase compared to the number of people who left. More people coming in than leaving meant a lot.

“So, doesn’t the guard come then?”

-Yep
-The guards in this world are like the cops in Korean webtoons. They never show up during missions but always during pickpocketing.
-Korean webtoons. LOL

“Got it. Let’s get out of the theater now.”

Sojun passed the half-destroyed stage, the pile of corpses on the steps, and the shattered glass scattered around the entrance. Once he left the theater, a hooded figure was waiting for him.

Initially, he thought it was an enemy, but the golden hair shimmering beneath the hood quickly revealed the identity. As expected, it was Christina.

“Nameless. Did you take care of Drake? Good job!”

Christina said.

“Thanks to you, we have been further freed from oppression. Thank you.”

『You have obtained money.』
『Your reputation has increased.』

As he accepted the pouch from Christina, an alert appeared.

“Heh, even though I didn’t get a mission, they still give rewards. Not like I need money anyway.”

-Yep, you get rewards even without missions.
-Pipes are overflowing in the streets; why would you need money? lol
-Drake must be dumbfounded.

Sojun thought he could accept it either way. Standing in the street, he looked at the half-wrecked theater.

“So, does that mean the assassination was successful?”

Although the theater looked like it had been through a massive brawl, Sojun spoke without changing his expression.

-???
-?????
-We never agreed that this was an assassination.
-LOL, look at that poker face.
-That shamelessness is charming.

『’Joas’ sponsored 1,000 won!』
『No witnesses, so it’s an assassination. Yes.』

“I agree too. I’m just doing what the game suggests to do in an assassination game.”

The chat filled with hooks(?) and ‘lol’.

-Indeed, that is assassination!
-Punk Cool and Sexy dude. LOL

Sojun felt it was the perfect time.

“Alright, I’m logging off. I’ve done everything for today.”

– Oh, wait a second…
– Let’s play a bit more.
– Why did it end so easily? ㅠㅠ
– I thought at least you’d be playing for 10 hours today…
– Stop the sudden end to the stream!
– Shout out to the viewers!

* * *

“Whew.”

Feeling slightly dizzy, Sojun took off the headgear. Sitting down, he opened and closed his hand a few times, stretched his legs out fully, and stood up after stretching.

‘What’s with him?’

As Sojun stepped out of the capsule, he made eye contact with his friend, who was laying on the bed while looking at his phone.

“Hey, what are you doing in my room?”

“Oh, I took a day off from broadcasting today, so I was watching your stream. It was fun.”

Taewoo twirled his mobile phone and waved it at Sojun.

“I’m checking the community now.”

“Any reactions?”

Having felt the power of the community lately, Sojun couldn’t help but be curious.

“Well, for the 440 who watched, the response is pretty hot.”

Thud.

Sojun caught the phone Taewoo threw to him and checked what was written on it.

『Drake Location Information New Route Summary』

A clip of Sojun repeatedly questioning a single organization member until he got the information he needed had been uploaded.
– Oh, that way seems much easier.
└ Parrying is quite difficult.
– He’s a real devil, lol.
– Who is this guy?
└ He’s the Nameless from yesterday.

『Guys, what is the Fragment of Order? I’ve never seen it while playing the game.』

– I played both the beta and the full game and haven’t seen it either.
└??? What is this.
– Don’t you get it by defeating Drake?
└ No, you don’t get it by defeating Drake. Maybe you need to defeat him in Musou mode? I’m super curious…

These were the initial posts.

『Came from watching Nameless’ stream.』

===

One-liner: The era of Musou has begun!

===

– The era of Musou has begun! (Got beaten by Etor yesterday.)
└ + Will be beaten by Drake today.
└ Did you hack my capsule too? lol (Original poster)
– From today, anyone who doubts Nameless is my enemy.
– Ensured he did an Etor perfect clear, so also did a perfect clear on Drake. Any issues?
└ Sounds like a light novel title, lol.

Users were buzzing about the content of Sojun’s stream. There was even a post accurately summarizing Sojun’s stream.

『Recent Noir script plot: A small-time pickpocket accidentally messes with a hidden master, leading to the annihilation of the gang with a pipe.』

– Fact) True
– The writer is skilled, lol.
– Movie software, reflect on this.

Posts related to Sojun began to gain recommendations and climb up.

“Wow, so this is how the community operates.”

『Stop with the streamer talk, you annoying bugs!』
『You sound excited about things only you know, like true geeks.』

As posts about Sojun reached 30 upvotes, it attracted more viewers, similar to yesterday, and antagonistic posts began to appear in the general boards.

“Yeah, once you get fans, you also get haters. Wasn’t it nice to be in the spotlight?”

“What do I do in times like this?”

“What do you mean? You had 400 viewers. There are over ten thousand people in the community.”

In other words, become famous enough that everyone knows your name. The problem was ‘how’.

Just then, one post caught his eye.

『Alpaca trembling after Drake was caught, raise your hoofs if you’re scared lol』

Sojun’s eyes lit up as he read the post. It contained a clip of a mid-tier streamer confidently claiming to stream until victory.

Following the clip link, Sojun accessed the streamer’s stream. It was live.

Watching the stream quietly, Sojun’s lips curved into a smile.

Maybe, he could use this situation to his advantage.

“Hey, do you know a streamer named Alpaca?”

“Alpaca hyung? Yeah, I’ve collabed with him a few times, and we’re friends. Why?”

Even trash can be used as medicine.

Sojun looked at Taewoo with newfound appreciation as he dropped crumbs all over the bed.

“Then. Could you do me a favor?”