Chapter 37
[Tip. Repeated team kills will result in penalties, so please be careful.]
Seo-jun read the tip and chat window as he returned to the respawn point.
“Ah. That certainly makes sense.”
– Yeah, hitting teammates can’t be helped
– In a fight with many people, if you can’t hit your own team, weird strategies like using them as meat shields might appear.
– Still, team killing is a bit much lol
– For real, anyone can see the enemy team is roughly red, and our team is blue
The League didn’t allow team kills, it seemed.
He figured that was probably for practical reasons rather than a design philosophy.
The League combat revolves around area-of-effect skills, so if attacks hit allies, it severely restricts your actions.
But in *For the Sake of the Martial Arts*, while there are fantastical martial techniques, most combat follows realistic constraints, so even if you hit allies, it actually adds to the realism.
“But how do I revive someone?”
– Just get close and make a motion as if reaching out your hand
– An effect will appear. Then they revive
– But what if they’re executed?
Execution, what’s that now?
It seemed there was still a lot to learn.
“Should I go and apologize first?”
He was almost at the respawn point.
“Hey, you lunatic! You die once too!”
Someone lunged out from a thicket beside him and ambushed Seo-jun.
ID: Heaven’s First Swordsman.
The user Seo-jun had team-killed.
The sword wielded by Heaven’s First Swordsman swept from left to right, grazing the tip of Seo-jun’s nose.
Seo-jun instantly infused inner energy into his feet, accelerating just enough to narrowly adjust the distance.
It was a delicate control that required expertise.
“You dare. Dodge this lord’s sword?”
Of course, Heaven’s First Swordsman couldn’t grasp such details or realize the fundamental difference in skill.
He was a newbie who had only been playing *For the Sake of the Martial Arts* for two weeks.
“This lord shall mete out punishment to you.”
And he was deep into ‘concept play’, one of the ways to enjoy the game.
Concept play refers to adopting a personality and setting different from reality for fun, mostly in virtual worlds, and *For the Sake of the Martial Arts* was a game optimized for this.
*Fwoosh!*
Seo-jun bit his lip and ducked his head to avoid the opponent’s sword.
Did he bite his lip because it was hard to dodge?
No.
It was just.
“Impudent! O Heavenly Demon of the Fourteen Evils. Offer your neck meekly to this lord’s blade! Quickly!”
It was funny.
That clumsy tone, and the choice of words.
‘This lord.’
A word he rarely heard even in his past life.
*Heh.*
– Hmm. That newbie sure knows how to enjoy *For the Sake of the Martial Arts*, doesn’t he? (sniff)
– A properly raised newbie!
– LOLOLOLOLOL I’m watching this game for the first time today, have you martial world guys been messing around like this all along? LOL You’ve been having this much fun on your own?
*Fwoosh!*
Every enemy sword narrowly missed, and the result made the opponent tilt his head.
“Huh? Why can’t I hit you?”
His concept just shattered.
Unable to hold back, Seo-jun burst out laughing.
Only then did Heaven’s First Swordsman realize the gap in skill between him and Seo-jun, his cheeks flushing red.
The concept he’d been maintaining until just now had become embarrassing!
Normally, concept play grows more entertaining the more you win fights, but if you suffer a crushing defeat, you have to bear the risk of that much embarrassment.
“Ha, you’re pretty good. Just kill me again or don’t, whatever. The game’s already tilted, I should just rest. That’s why you team-killed me too, right?”
Heaven’s First Swordsman looked at Seo-jun with a deflated expression.
Seo-jun stopped laughing and revealed the truth.
“Sorry. It’s my first game, so I didn’t know. Same for how to revive.”
“Ha.”
Heaven’s First Swordsman sighed as if dumbfounded.
Did he just get completely wrecked by a first-timer?
“You really fight well. Must’ve been pretty famous in some other game.”
He thought of himself as somewhat talented.
After all, he maintained an 80% win rate, albeit only in the beginner zone.
That’s why concept play was really fun.
But the real deal was different.
Or so he thought.
“Well. Fighting is my job.”
Since Seo-jun’s team kill was a mistake and his reaction was friendly, Heaven’s First Swordsman started his concept play again.
“Indeed, the Heavenly Demon is special. This lord is moved. Shall we not go together and overturn this game?”
Seo-jun almost laughed again.
Then he shared one secret with Heaven’s First Swordsman.
“Ah, but for the record, this lord is streaming.”
Mimicking his speech.
Heaven’s First Swordsman froze in place for a moment.
He asked in a quiet voice.
“Just... how many people are watching...?”
“Let’s see. The number of viewers who have come to this lord totals eight thousand.”
Seo-jun grinned.
It had dropped a bit in the meantime.
But it was still a fairly large number.
Mainly foreign viewers had left.
“Damn. Should I just quit?”
He smacked his forehead.
– LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
– Forced dark history LOL
– This comedic sense is insane
– Is he a hired guest? LOL
Just as Seo-jun was getting a kick out of teasing him, a team chat message arrived.
[What are you two doing. Stop messing around and play the game!]
[An ID of Heaven’s First and a Heavenly Demon? You’re something else, all of you. Are you a duo?]
Since the whole team could see team chat, Heaven’s First Swordsman checked it too and said to Seo-jun.
“Let’s head to the center together for now. Lord Heavenly Demon. Do you at least know the game rules? But since you didn’t know how to revive... you skipped the tutorial, right?”
Seo-jun and he set off again toward the center where the soldiers clashed.
“This lord, such things...”
“Ugh!”
“...Yeah, I skipped the tutorial.”
“Whew.”
“No, but just a moment ago you were doing it so excitedly.”
“That was before I knew eight thousand people were watching.”
Despite saying that, he seemed like someone who wasn’t actually that easily embarrassed.
“Anyway. How much do you know about Occupation Mode?”
“I don’t.”
“Nothing at all?”
“Yeah.”
Heaven’s First Swordsman didn’t get angry at Seo-jun and began to explain calmly.
“First, the goal of Occupation Mode is to kill all the enemies.”
“But they revive.”
“Yes. That’s exactly why you have to destroy the enemy fort. If you die while your fort is destroyed, you can’t respawn.”
Oh.
So that’s why the fort’s health was going down.
Seo-jun checked the current fort HP.
[Blue: 183] vs [Red: 441]
Both were damaged, but his team’s health had taken far more of a hit.
“And there are many ways to reduce the enemy fort’s health, but capping points is the most efficient. You chunk it by a lot when you capture, and just holding it reduces it over time. Besides that, killing enemy soldiers or users also reduces fort health.”
“I see.”
“Yeah. And those capture points far away are marked with a marker, see. Red means the enemy holds it. Blue means our team does. Purple means the other side is currently capturing the point. The central point is the only one with soldiers, so it’s especially important.”
Seo-jun observed the status of the points.
All three were red.
– Teacher! Thank you!
– He explains well
– This overwhelming comfort is so different from Days of the Assassins LOL Is this what multiplayer is?
– If this were single-player, he wouldn’t have understood the host’s rules even after ten games. No, he wouldn’t even have played them LOL
“Oh. People are saying you explain things well?”
“Ah, really? Maybe because it’s the beginner zone, a lot of clueless people come in, so I’ve gotten used to explaining things.”
“I see. So, to sum up the conclusion, I just have to not die and kill everyone, right? Easy.”
“Ah...”
– LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
– Is this what I explained it for, I feel shame and agony
– This guy www doesn’t listen at all www
“Then let’s go.”
Seo-jun manipulated the streaming window, then took a step forward with his right foot and shifted his weight. Then he exerted force. Using his lightness skill unleashed at maximum output, he flew not into the battlefield but straight into the capture point.
“Ha...”
Heaven’s First Swordsman sighed from behind and followed.
[A channel point prediction is starting.]
[This game’s comeback.]
[Possible] vs [Impossible]
– President Jin! Are we finally doing the betting?!
– Let’s go!
– Choam, bet everything you’ve got here too, got it?
– This is absolutely Impossible LOL Unless there’s a sub-in
– But it’s the streamer, you know
– The fort’s about to be destroyed. From then on, it’s basically sudden death.
– Yeah, in Days of the Assassins he never died even once.
[Point prediction closes in 1 minute.]
The central point beside the path where soldiers fought was just an ordinary pavilion.
As soon as Seo-jun entered, the red border on the ground marking the point’s boundary turned purple.
And a gauge resembling a loading bar at the center of the point began to fill up.
“Lord Heavenly Demon. If we just wait a bit longer, we’ll seize it, but...”
The loading bar that had been moving quickly came to a halt.
“They’re here.”
Seo-jun immediately understood the meaning and turned around.
An enemy from behind was rushing at him.
The enemy had also used a lightness skill, judging by how fast they were.
*Clang!*
Sword met sword, and their eyes crossed.
Seo-jun attempted a parry like in Days of the Assassins, but it had no effect.
Instead, a brief stiffness took hold of Seo-jun.
‘Looks like there’s a different system in play here.’
In that state, he was stabbed by the sword of another user who lunged from the side.
– LOLOLOLOL
– If you don’t know about strong attacks, you die
– This is why I bet on Impossible~ My patriotic betters, you scared?
“Hey, grab him quick!”
Seeing another user leap out from the side, Heaven’s First Sword tried to protect Seo-jun, but yet another user appeared and stopped him.
“Lord Heavenly Demon, watch out!”
A total of three enemies appeared at the central point.
As soon as Seo-jun recovered from stiffness, he gently put force into his feet.
‘From now on, I won’t deflect. I’ll dodge everything.’
The downward slash of a user named Ten Thousand Nyang narrowly sliced Seo-jun’s bangs.
The moment the tips of his short hair were cut and fell softly, Ten Thousand Nyang met Seo-jun’s eyes.
And for a fleeting instant, he felt a chill he couldn’t even recognize.
There was no fluster, no fear, none of the emotions a person was supposed to show.
“I can’t lose my very first game.”
Seo-jun’s lips parted.
And then.
His sword shot in, aiming for Ten Thousand Nyang’s neck.
*Swoosh-slice!*
The fact that he had narrowly dodged the enemy’s sword meant the enemy was also within his territory.
Ten Thousand Nyang, still stuck in the beginner zone, allowed the first blow, but his fighting spirit burned.
He still had plenty of health!
His duo partner, Thousand Nyang, stood on the opposite side with Seo-jun between them and assisted.
“Let’s take this guy out fast and go discipline that ‘this lord’ weirdo.”
“Yeah. If we just catch these two, ending this game will be easy!”
*Clang clang!*
But.
Why isn’t he going down?
Ten Thousand Nyang looked across at his comrade, who was clenching his teeth with a flustered gleam in his eye.
In just one minute, his comrade’s HP had been cut by more than half.
In contrast, the enemy hadn’t allowed a single attack to land since that first hit.
“Hey, we don’t have time.”
“Get your act together!”
“You get your act together!”
The problem was.
If just a little more time passed, a Fury state would activate.
Fury state triggered when you fully charged a gauge that built up while fighting multiple opponents alone.
A user in Fury state temporarily gained a shield and movement speed, and their stamina and inner energy required for lightness skills became unlimited.
Even now they were only grazing him. If he reached Fury state on top of that...?
“Damn it! Hurry up! You come and attack too!”
“Sorry, Lord Heavenly Demon! I lost!”
– Almost fully charged lol
– In Fury state, he’ll wipe everyone in an instant. I mean, stamina’s unlimited.
– Go comeback! Go patriotic bet victory!
Even while dodging the two-on-one attack, Seo-jun checked the chat window and could figure out the reason for the enemies’ impatience.
Looking back, Heaven’s First Swordsman had been defeated in his one-on-one duel and lay fallen, and the enemy who had been fighting him was now joining the attack on Seo-jun.
Amid the urgent three-on-one situation, Seo-jun had other, idle thoughts.
‘Patriotic bet, what’s that about?’
Judging from the atmosphere, it seemed like the people who bet on him winning were the patriots, and those who bet on him losing were the traitors.
‘Anyway. So inner energy is unlimited, huh?’
As soon as the gauge filled, he could feel his movement quicken.
Seo-jun grinned and declared.
“From now on, this lord will show you why he is called Heavenly Demon.”
From behind, the fallen Heaven’s First Swordsman let out a lament.
“Ah...”
Definitely not a lament of the good kind.