Chapter 15
Eyes closed, Seojun stepped forward, dominating the space, and slowly drew his sword downward.
Among those watching, none could discern the profound meaning behind that single step.
Scrawk.
Seojun’s blade touched the shield. And began to scrape across its surface.
It was clearly not slow—fast enough that the AI should have been able to react.
Yet for some reason, the AI failed to respond properly.
Scraaawk.
The sword traced a line along the shield’s surface, then at some point it accelerated.
Swaaack!
Seojun retracted his sword, its purpose fulfilled, and opened his eyes.
Then.
Crunch!
The shield shattered, fragments scattering in all directions.
It had all happened in a mere two seconds.
“Whoa! Insane!”
Alpaca shouted.
-??????
-Did that just happen?
-Did he do it in one go?
-What did he even see ㄷㄷ
“He found it! With his eyes closed! What is this, is he really an alien?”
Alpaca reflexively clapped his hands as he spoke.
His mouth was already stretched as wide as it could go.
-For real lol
-No, seriously, what is he seeing?
-This guy’s a genius!
-Now he looks like a real master lol
-That’s rigged. Didn’t he check it yesterday or something?
“No, I said it’s not rigged! Absolutely not. I thought Mr. Seojun was just bluffing until a moment ago. But nope. Wow. What can he see? I honestly have no clue.”
-Eek lol the normal bettors are furious
-Why’d you bet normal? Why’d you bet normal? Why’d you bet normal?
-You guys got a clue now? You guys got a clue now? You guys got a clue now?
From the moment Seojun effectively broke the shield, those who had bet on the outcome that he couldn’t find the fault—55% of the bettors—were confirmed to lose all their points.
The chat began to descend into chaos.
-Give me back my fortune! Give me back my fortune! Give me back my fortune!
-This is a scam! This is a scam! This is a scam! This is a scam!
-Host! That’s my college tuition! Just let me off this once......
-The memories we shared together are being deleted!!!!!!!!!
From viewers who had lost their minds.
-The normal bettors look so pathetic lol
-Normal = scaredy-cats
-You should’ve trusted Master Nameless!
It was a crucible of chaos, mixed with viewers mocking the normal bettors.
A common sight. It was part of the fun of channel point predictions.
Before he knew it, Seojun had approached Alpaca.
Alpaca saw the guards in a groggy state beyond Seojun and understood the situation.
For the sake of communication, Seojun had temporarily neutralized them and come here.
But as soon as Seojun arrived, he launched a wide-area taunt.
“Ahem. See, guys, why did you bet on normal? Wow, someone bet a whole 250,000 points. Their ID is King Jeonjasan? Not living up to the nickname, I see.”
Incidentally, the channel point prediction system publicly displays the nickname of the person who bet the most on each option and the amount.
And 250,000 points was the maximum you could bet at once.
-Lololololololol
-They blew 250,000 points in one go lol
-How is the guy who lost his shirt named SafetyAsset lol
“And it’s weird. Why are so many people celebrating? I don’t think it’s only the normal bettors who are in danger?”
Seojun recited the betting status.
“Let’s see. Only 1% of people bet that I would find four or more, but are all of you chatting right now that 1%?”
What Seojun was asking was this: Are you guys safe?
-Ah!
-Oh, that’s right?
-Eek lolololol Seeing him pull it off in one go just now, honestly, doesn’t that mean he knows something? 99% are going to lose lol
-Looks like we’re all going down together, thank goodness.
At Seojun’s comment, the normal bettors, who had been going crazy, found new energy.
Because the people making fun of them were likely going to lose too, a festive atmosphere erupted.
Ah, those guys are ruined too? All the better!
That was the mindset.
“That’s why I told you to trust me and bet.”
-You said that too late ㅠㅠ
[‘Hwimanghoer’ has donated 10,000 won – a big donation!]
[Honestly, couldn’t it just be a fluke? He might only find one more from now on.]
-Yeah, I’m already confirmed to lose anyway
-Do you really think that looks like a fluke? lol
-He broke it with his eyes closed, so if he opens them, he’d probably find a hundred. For real.
Seojun smiled at the donation, picked up his sword, and turned back toward the guards.
“Haha. It could be a fluke. Of course. Sure.”
Watching the whole sequence, Alpaca quietly admired him.
He had teased the viewers without becoming unlikable and even moved the stream along naturally.
“Wow.”
It seemed he had talent not only for the game but for streaming as well.
Honestly, Alpaca had assumed he would have to lead this co-stream.
But that wasn’t the case.
[30,000 viewers]
Many people had tuned in to watch.
Probably, Seojun would leave a deep impression through this opportunity.
“You scoundrel! Not only have you dared to trespass in the manor, but you’ve destroyed the shield of a Neville soldier like me!”
The guard who had been groggy got up and aimed his sword at Seojun.
Then the soldier who had fallen beside him rose and stood at his side.
It looked like they intended to help each other perform a synchronized attack.
It was one of the characteristics of the soldiers you encountered in the tutorial.
‘Now that I think about it, they didn’t use synchronized attacks when we took down Drake.’
Perhaps that was the difference between the gang members in the chaotic five-minute segment and the elite soldiers.
The more he played, the more Seojun felt himself falling for the game’s charm.
‘The detail is incredible.’
He could feel the dedication of the developers who had implemented systems like parrying and fault lines so that even a player like Seojun, skilled in combat, could enjoy it.
Also, the bizarre and ingenious assassination methods he had seen on the community forums seemed to showcase the very pinnacle of freedom.
For him, the soldier who had lost his shield positioned himself behind the soldier who still had one.
‘If I use parrying, I could deal with them really easily.’
But what the viewers wanted was for him to destroy the shields and the soldiers’ swords at the same time.
A moment ago, honestly, he had been lucky.
He hadn’t been able to pinpoint the shield’s fault line down to a single candidate.
So he had chosen one out of three, drawn along it first, and it had hit, making the demonstration look good.
The sword was no different.
In his mind.
Four curves were drawn across the blade of the guard’s longsword.
Simply by tracing along one of those curves, he could destroy the weapon.
Seojun’s intuition was telling him so.
Intuition is another sense that you merely fail to perceive consciously—a signal sent by the subconscious after processing information.
Thus, the more experience accumulates, the sharper intuition becomes.
For example, people often fall into a state of “no-self.”
When studying, gaming, or playing an instrument, at the moment you become so extremely focused that you even forget yourself, you transcend your usual limits.
And that state of no-self is precisely a phenomenon that arises when the subconscious takes over the body beyond conscious perception.
Therefore, the subconscious is not something lacking; rather, it’s something you should utilize.
Especially in a chaotic combat situation.
‘Right now, at best, I’m only facing two soldiers.’
Seojun concentrated as much as possible on the tip of his sword.
And he took a step.
“Block and attack...!”
The moment the shield-wielding soldier, now close to Seojun, shouted, Seojun seized a slight opening and drew along the shield’s fault line he had identified earlier.
It was a swift slash.
Shrrrk!
The wooden shield split apart and broke, splinters floating into the air.
Up to here, it was easy.
The soldier whose shield was destroyed was flustered, and the soldier who had been a step behind aimed for an opening and brought his sword down.
‘Not that.’
Seojun intended to target all four curves at once.
And at this moment, the angle of the soldier’s sword coming down at his forehead was not suitable for finishing it in one motion.
So Seojun deflected the soldier’s sword.
No parry judgment occurred.
It was intentional.
And as Seojun’s sword bounced back from the repulsion, the shieldless soldier thrust his sword at Seojun’s waist from the right.
‘Now.’
In an instant, Seojun exerted tremendous focus, lifted his sword, and placed his blade against the enemy’s blade that was extending in a straight line.
“Hup.”
Then, keeping his blade glued to the enemy’s blade, he traced the curves as if connecting constellations.
Since he couldn’t rely on luck again, this was a trick only Seojun could pull off to destroy the sword in a single strike.
First line. Not it.
Second line. Same.
Third line. Bad luck.
The tip of the soldier’s sword was almost upon Seojun.
But Seojun, having calculated even this timing, didn’t panic and kept moving.
Finally, just before it touched his waist, Seojun’s sword narrowly traced the final curve.
Claaang!
The soldier’s sword shattered.
He had found the fault.
Patter, patter.
Fragments of the broken blade rained down onto the grass like shards of glass.
‘The last one. My luck wasn’t great, huh.’
Huuuuh.
Seojun let out a deep breath. Even for him, such precise and seemingly inefficient movement demanded tremendous concentration.
-Wow, crazy
-?????
-Is this real???
-This is absurd. How on earth did he do that???
Hook-words flooding in instantly.
-Again, done in one go!
-It was like a scene from a movie lol
-This one really seems difficult, right?
-So damn cool, I’ve fallen for you, oppa. (wiggle wiggle)
As the second soldier’s sword came down again, Seojun swatted it as if catching a flying fly, successfully executing a parry.
And then he cleaned up both soldiers.
-His control skills are seriously insane lol
-Alpaca’s expression right now = my expression
-No no, our expression
“Wow! Mr. Seojun! I’ve fallen for you too.”
Alpaca said as he ran over to Seojun, who was steadying his breath.
“No, seriously, how on earth do you see such things and move like that?”
Alpaca was extremely excited. It was because he had just witnessed such an incredible scene.
Outrageous difficulty and dramatic flair.
‘So this is the level needed to defeat Shin Ha-yeon!’
Alpaca almost let that thought slip out of his mouth, nearly revealing his secret.
“Well, that’s a trade secret, isn’t it?”
Seojun grinned mischievously.
-I’m honestly curious lol
-I mean, I can accept that he’s an alien for seeing those fault lines, but I’m curious about how he built up those skills
-Lolololol
And while reading the chat, he let out a chuckle.
Why was being an alien the part that was acceptable?
-For reference, he’s only been playing for 3 days
-What on earth does he do in real life
-I’m seriously curious about his real job lol
“Real life, um. Just an ordinary twenty-something young man...”
“No way! You’re not ordinary.”
Beside him, Alpaca cut in and refuted Seojun’s words.
“Huh? Why not?”
“I mean, saying you’re ordinary with that face is just deception.”
-?
-Mr. Seojun is handsome?
-It’s probably just a common thing streamers say to each other lol
-For real lol
-You can’t call a fellow streamer ugly
“Everyone, you know the avatar Mr. Seojun is using right now? This is exactly his real face.”
-????
-??
-Yeah right lol
-Ah, being that skilled and handsome is just insanely unfair;;;
-Aren’t they going to patch his balance?
-What is the planet’s admin doing...
-Still, he must have tweaked it a bit, right...?
“He didn’t tweak the avatar. I saw him in person.”
-Ah, I don’t believe you.
-I’m just going to believe he tweaked it.
-Lies ㄴ
“Later, we’re having an after-party dinner with Mr. Seojun at the studio, so why would I lie? Check for yourselves then.”
-Oh?
-Wow, I guess it’s true lol
-The after-party looks like it’ll be fun
Seojun admired Alpaca’s streaming skills, casually dropping a reason for viewers to watch until the very end.
Then a donation rang out.
[‘Geugeon’ has donated 10,000 won – a big donation!]
[It’ll be small! I’ve seen it!]
“Tsk.”
Alpaca clicked his tongue and lifted his hand toward the chat, but another donation came in immediately.
[‘Geugeon’ has donated 100,000 won – a big donation!]
[Ki-yo. Ki.]
Alpaca looked back at Seojun, and when Seojun shrugged his shoulders as if to tell him to let it slide, Alpaca nodded and said,
“I’ll let it pass just this once.”
-A manager with a sword just walked past lol
-He almost got banned
-Look at that quick thinking, paying the bail right away
-You should become a master too lol