Chapter 15
Seo-jun took a step forward, dominating the space as he slowly drew his sword. Among those watching, no one could discern the technique behind that single step.
Ka-ga-gaak.
The tip of Seo-jun’s sword touched the shield and started to scrape the surface.
Though it wasn’t particularly slow, it seemed like a speed that AI could react to.
However, for some reason, the AI couldn’t respond properly.
Ka-ga-gaak.
The sword traced a line on the shield’s surface, then suddenly sped up.
Cha-a-ak!
Seo-jun retrieved the now useless sword and opened his eyes.
Then,
Kwa-jik!
The shield shattered into pieces.
It all happened in just two seconds.
“Wow! This is insane!”
Alpaca shouted.
-?????
– “Is that possible?”
– “Did he do it in one go?”
– “What did we just witness?”
“I found it! And with his eyes closed! What is this? Is he really an alien?”
Alpaca clapped his hands reflexively.
His mouth was already wide open, as if it couldn’t open any wider.
– “LOL”
– “What exactly is he seeing?”
– “This is what genius looks like!”
– “Now he truly seems like a master, haha.”
– “Is this a setup? Did he check it beforehand?”
“No, it’s not a setup! Definitely not. Until just a moment ago, I thought Seo-jun was bluffing. But it turns out he wasn’t. Wow. What is he seeing? I have no idea.”
– “LOL, the people who bet on the favored option are angry.”
– “Why bet on the favorite? Why bet on the favorite? Why bet on the favorite?”
– “Are you waking up now? Are you waking up now? Are you waking up now?”
By the time Seo-jun broke the shield, the 55% who had bet on him not finding the weak points had all lost their points.
The chat started to become chaotic.
“Give me back my life savings! Give me back my life savings! Give me back my life savings!”
“This is a scam! This is a scam! This is a scam! This is a scam!”
“Streamer! That was my college tuition! Please, just this once!”
“Our shared memories are being erased!!!!!!”
Some viewers were losing their minds.
“Serves those who bet on the favorite right, haha!”
“Favorite-bet cowards!”
“You should’ve believed in No-name!”
It was a mix of viewers mocking those who bet on the favorite, creating a chaotic scene.
This was a common sight. It was part of the fun of channel point predictions.
By now, Seo-jun had approached Alpaca.
Alpaca saw the groggy guards behind Seo-jun and understood the situation.
To communicate, Seo-jun had merely incapacitated them temporarily and come over.
But as soon as Seo-jun arrived, he unleashed a mass taunt.
“Ahem. So, why did you all bet on the favorite? Wow, someone even bet 250,000 points. Username is SafeAsset? Not living up to your name.”
For reference, the channel point prediction system publicly displays the username and amount of the highest bet for each prediction.
And 250,000 points was the maximum you could bet at once.
“250,000 points lost in one go, haha!”
“How does someone with a name like SafeAsset lose everything?”
“And it’s strange. Why are so many people happy about this? It’s not just the favorite bettors who are at risk, right?”
Seo-jun recited the betting statistics.
“Let’s see. Only 1% bet on me finding more than four. Are all of you in the chat the 1%?”
Seo-jun was essentially asking this: Are you all safe?
“Oh!”
“That’s right?”
“LOL, given he succeeded once, he probably knows something. 99% are going to lose!”
“At least we’re all going down together.”
Those who had bet on the favorite found new energy in Seo-jun’s comment.
Even the ones who were mocking them joined the festive mood, realizing they might also lose.
Oh, they’re going down too? Even better!
That was the mindset.
“That’s why I told you to trust me.”
“You told us too late!” 😭😭😭😭
[‘HopeReactor’ donated 10,000 won!]
“Honestly, it could just be luck, right? He might only find one more.”
“Yeah, I’m already guaranteed to lose.”
“Do you think that was luck, LOL.”
“If he can destroy it with his eyes closed, he’ll probably find a hundred more with his eyes open.”
Seo-jun laughed at the donation, picked up his sword, and turned back toward the guards.
“Haha. It could be luck. Sure, sure.”
Alpaca, having watched the entire process, quietly admired Seo-jun.
He had managed to tease the viewers without making them dislike him and smoothly continued the stream.
“Wow.”
“He seems to have a talent not just for the game but for streaming as well.”
Honestly, Alpaca thought he would have to lead this collaboration stream.
But that wasn’t the case.
[Viewer count: 30,000]
A lot of people were tuning in to watch.
This opportunity would certainly make a lasting impression of Seo-jun.
“How dare you! Not only did you trespass in the mansion, but you also destroyed the shield of a soldier from the Nebil family!”
The soldier, who had been groggy, stood up and pointed his sword at Seo-jun.
Another soldier who had been lying next to him also stood up and stood beside him.
It seemed they were trying to perform a coordinated attack.
This was one of the characteristics of the soldiers encountered in the tutorial.
‘Come to think of it, the gang members didn’t coordinate like this when I fought Drake.’
It must be the difference between a ragtag gang and elite soldiers.
The more Seo-jun played, the more he felt captivated by the game.
‘The level of detail is amazing.’
The game had systems like parrying and breaking weaknesses that made it enjoyable even for a player skilled in combat like Seo-jun.
Additionally, the outrageous assassination methods he saw in the community seemed to showcase the ultimate freedom the game offered.
The soldier who lost his shield positioned himself behind the one who still had a shield.
‘Using parrying would make this really easy.’
But what the viewers wanted was for Seo-jun to destroy both the shield and the sword of the soldier.
Honestly, he had been lucky earlier.
He hadn’t been able to narrow down the possible weak points of the shield to just one.
So he had chosen one out of three potential weak points and luckily got it right, making it look impressive.
The same went for the sword.
In his mind, four curves were drawn on the guard’s longsword.
One of those curves, if he traced it correctly, would allow him to destroy the weapon.
His intuition was telling him so.
Intuition is another sense that we often don’t consciously recognize. It’s a signal sent by the subconscious processing information.
Therefore, the more experience one accumulates, the more accurate their intuition becomes.
For example, people often enter a state of “flow.”
When studying, gaming, or playing an instrument, during those moments of extreme focus where they forget themselves, people can surpass their usual limits.
This state of flow is where the subconscious takes over the body, beyond conscious control.
Therefore, the subconscious is not something to be underestimated but rather something to be utilized.
Especially in chaotic combat situations.
‘Right now, I’m only dealing with two soldiers.’
Seo-jun focused intently on the tip of his sword.
Then he moved.
“Block and attack…!”
The soldier with the shield shouted as he got closer to Seo-jun.
Seizing a slight opening, Seo-jun slashed along the weak point he had identified in the shield.
It was a swift strike.
Crack!
The wooden shield split apart, shattering into fragments that floated in the air.
This part was easy.
The soldier who lost his shield was flustered, and the soldier behind him swung his sword down at Seo-jun, targeting the opening.
‘No.’
Seo-jun planned to target all four curves at once.
And the angle at which the soldier’s sword was falling on his head wasn’t easy to deal with in one go.
So Seo-jun deflected the soldier’s sword.
There was no parry.
It was intentional.
As the recoil caused Seo-jun’s sword to bounce back, the soldier whose shield had been broken thrust his sword at Seo-jun’s waist from the right.
‘Now.’
Seo-jun momentarily displayed incredible focus, raising his sword to meet the enemy’s straight thrust with his blade.
“Hmm.”
He pressed his blade against the enemy’s sword and traced the curves like connecting stars in a constellation.
Relying on luck was not an option; this was a meticulous trick only Seo-jun could perform to destroy the sword in one strike.
The first curve. It wasn’t right.
The second curve. Still wrong.
The third curve. Unlucky again.
The tip of the soldier’s sword was almost upon Seo-jun.
However, having calculated even this timing, Seo-jun remained calm and continued his movement.
Just before the sword could reach his waist, Seo-jun traced the final curve,
Clang!
The soldier’s sword shattered.
He had found the weak point.
Fragments of the broken blade fell to the grassy ground like glass shards.
‘The last one. My luck wasn’t great.’
Seo-jun exhaled deeply. Even for him, such precise and inefficient movements required immense concentration.
– Wow, is this for real?
– Unbelievable. How did he do that?
Messages flooded in.
– Another one-hit cut!
– It was like a scene from a movie, haha.
– This one looked really tough.
– That was so cool, I think I’m in love.
Seo-jun effortlessly parried the descending sword of the second soldier, swatting it away like a fly.
He then finished off the two soldiers.
– His control skills are insane, haha.
– Alpaca’s expression right now is my expression.
– No, it’s our expression.
“Wow! Seo-jun! I think I’ve fallen for you too.”
Alpaca exclaimed as he ran over to the panting Seo-jun.
“How on earth do you see and move like that?”
Alpaca was visibly excited, having just witnessed such an impressive scene.
The high difficulty and dramatic execution.
‘This is what it takes to beat Shinhayeon!’
Alpaca almost blurted out his thoughts, nearly revealing a secret.
“That’s a trade secret.”
Seo-jun responded with a sly smile.
– I’m really curious, haha.
– Okay, assuming he’s an alien who can see the weak points, how did he get those skills?
Seo-jun chuckled as he read the chat.
Why would being an alien make that any more plausible?
– By the way, he’s been playing for only three days.
– What does he do in real life to be this good?
– Seriously, what’s his actual job, haha?
“In real life, um, I’m just an ordinary guy in his twenties…”
“No, you’re not!”
Alpaca interrupted Seo-jun’s words with a rebuttal.
“Yeah? Why?”
“Really? Why?”
“Because calling yourself ordinary with that face is just deceit.”
-?
– Is Seo-jun good-looking?
– Probably just something streamers say to each other, haha.
– Really, lol.
– You can’t just call a fellow streamer ugly.
“Everyone, you know the avatar Seo-jun is using right now? It looks exactly like his real face.”
-??
– No way, haha.
– If he’s that skilled and good-looking, that’s just too much.
– How is that fair?
– What’s the admin of Earth doing?
– Still, they probably tweaked it a bit…
“It’s not tweaked. I’ve seen him in person.”
– I don’t believe it.
– I’d rather believe it’s tweaked.
– No way.
“We’re going to have an afterparty at the studio later with Seo-jun. Why would I lie? You can check then.”
– Oh?
– Okay, maybe it’s true, lol.
– That afterparty sounds fun.
Seo-jun admired Alpaca’s skill at naturally giving viewers a reason to stay until the end of the stream.
Then a donation came in.
[‘ThatOne’ has donated 10,000 won!]
[He must be short! I saw it!]
“Sigh.”
Alpaca clicked his tongue as another donation quickly followed.
[‘ThatOne’ has donated 100,000 won!]
[Height. Height.]
Alpaca glanced at Seo-jun, who shrugged, signaling to just let it slide. Alpaca nodded and said,
“I’ll let it go just this once.”
– The manager just walked by with a knife, lol.
– Almost got banned.
– Quick reflexes with that donation.
– You should become a master too, haha.
