Chapter 315
The thirteen heroes headed from Asius, the capital, toward Brion.
They used a magic circle. Unless a special quest was in progress, this building would not be destroyed.
They arrived in Brion while stretching and loosening up.
As soon as they left the city, the first thing that caught their eyes was the soldiers fighting.
It was a common sight in places where a Stage Two passage had opened.
“The last passage.”
Day fourteen.
A week had passed by the standards of the real world.
They had to destroy that passage before this time ran out.
And the monster that was interfering with its destruction—
‘It should be somewhere around here.’
While someone was thinking that, Yon spoke.
“To where the passage is.”
Shingeom answered right after him.
“There’s a high chance he’ll be standing right out in the open.”
Of the thirteen party members, only three had never personally faced Seojun.
Somehow, those who had gathered in the Train had banded together, and the others who had never faced Seojun had already rushed in and died.
“Will he really be standing out in the open? He could ambush us. We seem awfully defenseless.”
Shingeom chuckled.
That laugh resembled someone’s.
If you gaze into the abyss for a long time, the abyss will gaze back into you.
That was one of Nietzsche’s famous aphorisms.
Why did it come to mind?
Yamada, who had watched Shingeom gradually turn black like that, sighed, and Shingeom opened his mouth.
“You know what?”
“What?”
“He doesn’t do things like ambushes.”
“Really?”
Shingeom trusted Seojun, the man he had thought deeply about ever since his warehouse had been robbed—the abyss itself.
“He comes at you head-on. Every time.”
“That sounds like big brother.”
Yon nodded.
“And no. He’ll prepare something even worse than that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He might be preparing something in some bizarre way—something ordinary, innocent people like us couldn’t even imagine.”
Thirteen people.
Nine of them were professionals.
Every single one of them was far too extraordinary to be called ordinary or innocent, but Shingeom declared it with certainty.
As they walked down the boulevard leading straight to the location of the portal, someone let out a voice filled with doubt.
“Huh? Huh?”
At that, they all began carefully examining the road ahead, and soon they too let out voices brimming with confusion.
They really had no choice.
“Wait a second. What is that?”
Even Shingeom was startled.
At the end of the street, an unmistakable player was kneeling in the middle of the road with both hands clasped, sitting completely still.
That player was, of course, Seojun.
That level of eccentricity was nothing special.
They couldn’t be surprised by something like this alone. Shingeom had his pride.
Then why was he flustered?
“The nickname above his head is red?”
“Huh, I think it really is red.”
“No, seriously? No, what is this? No, seriously?”
“That’s impossible.”
A red nickname above one’s head did not mean that the player was a murderer or a mastermind. It meant this:
[AFK]
AFK.
Did this make any sense? It was the History Book, of all things—and not just any time, but right before the final battle on the last day.
And yet he had logged out and gone AFK?
“Shingeom had really thought this far ahead…….”
They slowly approached the praying NPC (Kael).
“No……. Even I’m a little stumped by this.”
“…….”
“We really are innocent compared to big brother.”
“Is it normal that I can’t understand this at all?”
“Let’s get a little closer.”
“Wait. Stop for a moment.”
Shingeom hid his confusion and analyzed the situation in an instant.
Seojun could be understood if every action of his was connected to pure malice.
That was the conclusion Shingeom had reached.
And the result of interpreting that malice was shocking.
Shingeom shouted.
“Let’s kill him! Kill him right now and send him to the Abyss!”
“What?”
“Look at that bastard. He clearly went out while spouting crap about how it’s only Phase One, that this should be enough, and that he could just turn on auto-hunting.”
“Come on, really? Nothing happened to him?”
“I’m sure! Think about how he kept showing off the fact that he’d deliberately lost some of his health.”
“Come to think of it……. Could he be planning to come in once we let our guard down?”
“Either way, we have to fight now! Before he comes back!”
It was generally accepted that no matter how much data an AI imitating a person collected, it could never surpass the original.
If we assumed that the maximum ability a person could display was 100, then that person could not draw out 100 in every fight.
That was only natural for a human being.
It only emerged in moments of total immersion, and such situations were neither easy to create nor easy to accomplish.
Of course, professionals were capable of repeatedly drawing out something close to 100 during critical moments.
Which made things even more disadvantageous.
An AI imitated a person’s actions and measured their level.
Then what if, whenever the AI imitated that player, it displayed movements at 100 every single moment?
It would be better for every participant to leave right before the fight even began.
There would not even be any chance of making a mistake.
That was why an AI usually imitated around 70 percent of an ordinary person’s abilities and continued to perform at that level.
That was also the level at which the most data was collected in the first place.
The conclusion was that an AI could not draw out the appropriate abilities of 80, 90, or 100 during critical moments.
It was easy prey to kill.
It meant its level was low.
And yet, the fact that he had left it behind meant—
“Isn’t there really some other reason? If what Shingeom says is true, then he’s taking us too…….”
Lightly.
Ignoring them.
But it was difficult to accept that their opponent had done this at the final moment.
“So we have to send him to the Abyss. He doesn’t even have enough health…….”
Shingeom approached. While AFK, a player would not move until someone touched them.
They would simply perform a specific action somewhere in the village.
Shingeom was only a few steps away when—
“Crazy bastard. Even his AI is kneeling and praying?”
Kael opened his eyes.
Then he seized his sword and swung it.
“What? He doesn’t usually attack!”
“The mastermind’s AI must be different! Help me, everyone!”
Shingeom shouted as he blocked the attack.
Kael’s sword broke through his defense and cut deeply into Shingeom’s body.
“Was this what you were after?! Get in here already, damn it, Jin Seojun!”
Even Shingeom had not imagined that the fight would continue like this.
A battle with an AI—the first in the entire history of the History Book—had begun.
* * *
[No way???]
==
Come on. Even if he’s the party leader, he’s not really planning to turn on auto-hunting, is he?
He’s really not, right?
==
-Yeah, the fight startedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Seriously;;;; what a lunatic, what a lunatic, what a lunatic, what a lunatic......
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ For real, what a lunatic
[Shingeom still isn’t ready to understand the party leaderㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
==
“Come back quickly,” he saysㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
At least survive Phase One successfully before you call him back, you idiotㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
==
-I’m a huge fan of Shingeom now
└For realㅋㅋ
└He gets screwed over every day, so I just feel bad for him and started liking himㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[No, but seriously, isn’t this actually a huge problem?????]
==
Ah.
This is seriously insane. Why did he leave?
Isn’t there some reason?
==
-He left to turn on auto-hunting. Why else would he leave?ㅋㅋㅋ
└But can auto-hunting even work? (Original poster)
└For realㅋㅋ It can
└AI is seriously trash. Unless it’s an insanely, insanely powerful AI, but an AI that imitates players? And within the duration of the History Book, at that?
[What is the party leader relying on? Hey, party leader, did you have time to train the AI or what?]
==
There was quite a lot, huh?
This bastard fought like crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Even one-against-manyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
==
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ If this was what he was aiming for—
└No way, holy shit
└Now I understand why this bastard acted so strangely in the Train
└Wasn’t that just to earn points?
[If the AI manages to kill even one, I’ll give it credit. Though it’ll probably die before then]
[What kind of fight is this supposed to be? Ahㅋㅋ]
[And, party leader, are we even getting through to you??]
[Even if it were the real party leader, I think he’d be losing]
[For real, I think he’d be losing]
[I’ll give him credit if he kills even one through auto-hunting. Seriously, just one.]
“Thus, the battle really does begin like this.”
Team Leader Lee was watching the battle between Kael and the thirteen participants together with Seojun.
When circumstances inevitably required someone to leave their capsule, viewing was permitted from that participant’s perspective alone.
This was stipulated in the regulations, which was why they had installed a projector at the hotel the previous day.
Seojun asked.
“How’s public opinion?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Hahaha. What about the other team leaders?”
“I’m not sure, but most of them just hope he holds out. The Chinese team leader said they’d be doomed at this rate. Director Oh Jihye said it seemed like he could go in after thirty minutes.”
“Thirty minutes is a shame…….”
“Indeed. He got thirty minutes because he came out early and rested, but it’ll probably be difficult for him to hold out completely, right? He’s already used one potion.”
An item that restored half of one’s health.
It had been a quest reward from the Train.
The AI had drunk an item Seojun had never used even once until now, only one minute after the battle began.
In Seojun’s eyes, saving the invincibility and using the potion had been a good decision.
Team Leader Lee did not seem to think so.
Nor did the others…….
“That’s not what I meant. I meant it would’ve been nice if it were an hour.”
“What? What does that mean…… Huh? Oh, no! It’s dangerous!”
She shouted.
As expected of professionals.
They drove the AI into a corner with smooth combinations while still prioritizing safety.
The opponent had invincibility.
“Seojun, even if you need to rest for now, shouldn’t you go in immediately? Kael’s strikes at vital points are incredibly slow, and he’s just using potions…….”
And at the moment Seojun let out a hollow laugh as if he found it absurd, Kael’s lips curled upward in the game as well.
Gravity Field, Orb, Berserk Blade, Needles.
Amid the battlefield where countless skills were tangled together, Seojun’s eyes saw a single path.
The AI moved swiftly, following that path with perfect precision.
The moment someone discovered the path a step too late and tried to stop him, invincibility activated.
[Blessing of Radiance]
Then the AI’s sword came to rest against the neck of one of the heroes.
It was a hero in the support position.
However, the one being attacked did not feel particularly threatened.
That was because, although Kael’s attacks had been outstanding until now, his ability to strike vital points had not been threatening.
But in Seojun’s eyes, until now—
‘Three seconds. Precise.’
A silence, as if the world had stopped, entered Seojun’s perception.
Had everyone felt this sensation?
“Huh? Huh?”
The Twofold Mark. Then the damage. Everything landed with perfect precision.
In just three seconds.
[Huh? Huhhh?]
[Insane. Did the AI use a feint?]
Rachel was aghast.
The Judgment Sword, and the updated skill.
[Blessing of Radiance]
One hero whose body was exceptionally weak died.
Kael showed that someone had died by using Blessing of Radiance once more on top of the corpse where the Judgment Sword had been driven in.
“Th-that…….”
“As expected. Kael was hiding his abilities.”
It had been somewhat apparent.
“No…… Then what was the point of using Blessing of Radiance one more time just now? There was no reason to use it.”
The battle had momentarily stopped. That was how great the shock had been.
On top of that, the AI used its invincibility, and a brief lull descended over the battlefield.
Seojun answered.
“I don’t know either.”
Perhaps.
Was he making fun of them?
No way, right?
What a nasty personality.
Team Leader Lee watched Seojun click his tongue with an expression that said he did not know either, then sighed and turned her gaze to her phone.
[??? Guys, what was that just now?]
[The three-second Judgment Sword—he can use that too??? No, he was hiding that he could use it?]
[This is shocking and terrifying as hellㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Twelve professionals left. And fifteen potions leftㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Somehow, it seems like the party leader didn’t buy all those potions intending to use them himself from the beginning...?]
[Looks like getting past Phase One is going to be insanely difficultㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ahㅋㅋ Where’d that guy go who said he’d give him credit for killing even one?]
[The party leader’s such a lunatic. No wonder he bought a disgusting number of health potions and was saving them like crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Shingeom resumed the fight.
[Don’t be shocked, everyone! Let’s send him to the Abyss! The Abyss! Ha. Just like that bastard’s AI, he’s arrogantly deceiving us.]
[One potion remains.]
[Even if there were more than one, how many could there possibly be? We’ll put him in critical condition before he gets back.]
The heroes still had room to spare.
For now.
Gaming Broadcast of a Swordsmanship Master
Chapter 316
24.03.21