Chapter 9
“Oh damn, I think I’m going to get caught again.”
Alpaka.
He was a streamer who maintained an average viewership of 10,000 and had achieved a peak viewership of 30,000 on the first day of “Assassin’s Dawn.” Even after a week, he still had 20,000 viewers.
Alpaka was one of the go-to streamers whenever a new release in the “Assassin’s Dawn” series came out. He was known for summarizing the series’ story, making review videos, and recommending beginner-friendly games.
Since the opening day, Alpaka had been continuing his challenge of assassinating with only his bare hands.
[“So, you were there, you little rat! Hahaha!”]
“Damn, I got caught………”
Swish!
A dagger flew straight toward his forehead, and his screen went dark.
After respawning, Alpaka trudged back to the guild and said, “Phew, if I could just take down Drake, I’d be done with the 4th District, but it’s not easy. There are too many members, and it would be great to know exactly where Drake is in his stronghold.”
The Overlord.
The 4th District of Alteon was controlled by the faction of villains in the game, with each district having a major antagonist: the Queen, the Mage Tower Master, the Head of the Royal Sect, and the Disassemblers’ boss, ‘Drake.’
They are all mid-boss level, being more challenging than the high-security royal districts but not quite at the highest level of difficulty.
Drake, the boss of the Disassemblers, had ten bases in the 4th District, and he appeared randomly in one of them.
Alpaka had already been caught four times.
His reputation was hanging by a thread. Next time, he might not be able to buy location information from the guild.
Alpaka purchased Drake’s location from the guild.
“Hmm, extreme. Sigh, where could the extreme be hiding this time? I really need to succeed.”
Alpaka sighed deeply from the growing fatigue and then sighed again due to a donation.
[If it’s extreme, just go for a ‘Muso’ run. There are people who do Muso runs with bare hands, so why are you struggling?]
“Thank you for the 10,000 won donation. What Muso run are you talking about? Where can you find people like that…”
-20 LOL
– Make some sense.
[It’s true, you might clear it soon.]
“I can’t catch Drake in the first place. It’s not like other NPCs; the Overlords are especially designed to be impossible by the developers.”
Alpaka was a user who enjoyed assassination play.
He didn’t dislike Muso runs, as combat was also part of the Assassin’s Dawn experience.
However, he was just a bit lacking in skill for this particular game.
[Haven’t you seen the community?]
“Oh. Who’s doing it in the community? If someone clears it, I’ll take them as my master and learn from them to do a Muso run until I can beat Drake!”
‘stream till reaching boss” is content where the streamer keeps playing until they achieve a specific goal.
If someone is skilled, it could be finished in a few hours, but otherwise?
[LOL, that comment.]
“Yes~ It’s absolutely impossible. Thank you for the donation. What a sweet deal.”
While a few chat members seemed genuinely mocking, Alpaka brushed it off nonchalantly.
“Of course, if a pro cleared it, I wouldn’t be doing a ‘stream till boss.”
He knew that busy professionals had no time to play other games, but he added a comment out of nervousness.
– Nervous???
30 minutes before Alpaka’s rash streaming till boss comment.
Seo-jun was entering the alley where the Disassembler members were, trying to find out Drake’s whereabouts.
“Hey, hey, come here and let’s have an honest conversation.”
“Let’s just follow them. Whatever.”
He had seen in the chat that if they fought in the open, the guards would be called, causing trouble.
Squish squish.
As Seo-jun entered the alley, he was assaulted by an unpleasant, musty odor and the smell of stagnant, undisturbed water.
“Good, you’re listening well.”
“Yeah, right. Hey! First, give us everything you’ve got. That includes the wallets you stole earlier.”
As Seo-jun followed them deeper, two more members appeared, surrounding him in the narrow alley.
– 13 vs 1, this should be easy
– LOL
But isn’t the Nameless unarmed? How are they going to fight?
– How did you even get information on Drake? LOL
With no reputation, they can’t use the guild for information, and finding the organization’s traitor requires completing related sub-quests and actions.
“Hmm?”
Seo-jun, noticing something odd, paused the game momentarily.
“Guys, is it hard to catch these organization members? Does it take long?”
– Isn’t catching an Overlord harder?
20 LOL
“What’s an Overlord?”
– Haha!!!!
– This is what the host is like, newbies, are you watching?
– Reminds me of ‘What’s a parrying?’
The chat displayed messages from players like Winter’s Great Defense, the White Horse Patient, and the Brick Robber King, in sequence.
[‘No, really?’ donated 1,000 won!]
[You’re trying to catch something you don’t even know about?]
“Please explain.”
Seo-jun did know about Drake. He had also familiarized himself with other basic information by reading community posts.
He realized he needed to know at least this much to effectively run the broadcast.
It was a coincidence that he met the Disassembler members in the market.
There were two methods to tackle Drake’s challenge that Seo-jun had identified:
1. Increase Reputation: By completing multiple assassination missions, you build up enough reputation to confidently take on Drake, and then buy information from open organizations or guilds in Alteon.
2. Create a Secure Information Exchange: Complete sub-quests to create an environment where identities can’t be tracked, then buy information on Drake’s location from the Disassembler members.
The crucial factor in both methods is that you need to consider the potential consequences for the information provider.
But couldn’t there be other methods?
Community users thought so.
Given the game’s high level of freedom.
Seo-jun also thought similarly while reading the information posts. However, his approach was different.
‘What if I just beat the organization members to the point they can’t even think about consequences?’
If that doesn’t work, he could always follow the strategy guide.
As long as he knew the location, capturing Drake wouldn’t be a problem.
“So, I need to get information, right? That’s difficult, and capturing him is tough too.”
– 00
– You’re not postponing this until tomorrow, are you?
– No strategy guides allowed.
“Hmm. I don’t do repeats.”
The chat was filled with ‘LOL’. Viewers seemed to enjoy watching streamers struggle the most.
Seo-jun thought about this as he resumed the game.
“Hey, hey, you guys scared the kid because of your faces.”
“Exactly, why didn’t you get our permission before doing business?”
The Disassembler members exchanged light-hearted jokes, chuckling to themselves.
Seo-jun asked them, “Do you know where Drake is?”
“The boss? We do. But why would we just…”
As soon as he got the answer he wanted, Seo-jun interrupted the member’s words.
“That’s enough.”
“7”
“Let’s get started. They usually talk once they get hit.”
“What are you saying! Guys, kill him!”
The Disassembler members drew their daggers and immediately charged at Seo-jun.
Seo-jun kicked off the wall to leap over the members in front of him.
Being attacked from both the front and back in a narrow space is more troublesome than expected.
After dodging the attacking member’s dagger, he grabbed their arm and threw them down.
Gack.
[Disassembler Member’s Basic Dagger]
The member dropped their dagger, and Seo-jun grabbed the weapon mid-air.
– How did he catch that?
– Reaction speed is insane
With the weapon in hand, Seo-jun quickly started dispatching the lesser enemies.
Clang!
“Gack!”
Clang!
“Crash.”
Clang!
In no time, everyone except the member who knew Drake’s location was dead.
“Prying is so convenient.”
– Wow
– He’s a pro!
– Looks fun, this invincible playstyle
– Anyone else thinking of trying it? Haha
The remaining member charged at Seo-jun as well.
Clang!
The member collapsed next to their fallen comrades, entering a groggy state.
Seo-jun slowly approached the fallen member and asked, “Where is Drake?”
The viewers began to mock his actions.
– Is this even possible? LOL
– Seriously LOL
The member trembled without saying a word.
Seo-jun waited for him to recover.
“Do you think I’ll tell you that?”
Then he stood up again.
Clang!
The same member fell in the exact spot.
“Where is Drake?”
– ??? Is this a new kind of interview?
Wake up, LOL
“Do you think I’ll tell you that?”
The member gathered his strength and shouted.
Clang!
So Seo-jun gave him another beating.
“Where is Drake?”
Crazy LOL
Although the viewers didn’t understand his actions, Seo-jun felt that each time a member fell into a groggy state, their reactions weakened slightly.
“Ah, this is getting weaker.”
– Where are they going?
– What are you watching, teacher?
– No matter how happy you are, he won’t give up the info.
Go check the strategy guide already.
After incapacitating the member once more and waiting for him to stand up, Seo-jun noticed that the member’s reactions had clearly changed, enough for viewers to notice.
Seo-jun then asked him again.
“Where is Drake?”
“Th-that’s…”
The member started to evade the question and tried to run away. Seo-jun quickly closed the distance.
The member swung his dagger recklessly, but Seo-jun incapacitated him once more.
In his groggy state, the enemy began to speak.
-???
– Is this for real?
– Movie soft, these crazy peopleㅋㅋㅋㅋ They make a route like this while claiming to be invincible.
– Is this normal for newbies learning the game on a stream?
“Biggest theater at 13th Street. He’s there, so just… please stop…”
“Wow, this really works. But where exactly is Drake?”
The member gave no further response.
“No particular reaction, huh? Is he having a seizure or something?”
– LOL
– The streamer’s got talent for games too? Finding new routes like this ㄷㄷ
[‘You’re such a guy’ donated 1,000 won!]
[Etto, so you fought so hard to stop guys like this, huh?]
– Re-evaluating Ettoㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– He was a martyr…
Seo-jun ignored the viewers’ chatter and opened the map.
“Home. By the way, the dagger is too short and inconvenient. Is there something better?”
In the game, Assassin’s Dawn, there was no weapon that couldn’t be used.
From the market’s fruit knife, darts and bottles at the pub, to bowling pins, anything could become a weapon.
– Let’s earn some money and buy weapons.
– Wire is so much fun, you can play SpyXman
– Pickpocketing ㄱ?
“Home, I’ll… oh, this looks good.”
Seo-jun looked around and spotted something useful.
[Rusted Pipe]
“This length is just right. Now that I have a weapon, let’s go to 13th Street.”
13th Street is known as the Cultural Street.
And the biggest theater on Cultural Street is the White Lotus Theater, located about 3 blocks from the market.
In essence, the largest theater is also under the influence of the Disassembler gang.
Seo-jun soon arrived at the White Lotus Theater.
He noticed people with excessive gear, more than typical guards, loitering around.
‘I have no way to find out where Drake is.’
It seemed they had densely packed the members.
But it didn’t matter.
Because he wasn’t here to assassinate.
And the viewers didn’t come to see an assassination either.
“Sorry, but the show’s over…”
Crash!
Seo-jun approached the main gate without warning and smashed the gate’s glass with the pipe.
Then, as a member drew a machete, Seo-jun quickly swung the pipe and struck him.
HP was less than one-tenth full.
So, Seo-jun had no choice but to wait until the machete wielding began.
‘No problem.’
Clang!
He read the trajectory and countered.
– Wow!
– It’s amazing every time. How does he manage to avoid failures?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Thud thud thud!
The commotion attracted more gang members to join in.
However.
Every time Seo-jun swung the pipe, a clear sound rang out.
Seo-jun dealt with the gang members one by one and headed towards the stairs at the entrance.
It was a more convenient position to handle the incoming enemies.
Eventually.
The stairs were filled with countless gang members.
Occasionally, external patrols attempted surprise attacks from behind, but Seo-jun easily dealt with them by detecting their approach through sound.
The number of enemies stacked up to 30.
“There were 30 people in such a theater, ugh, the developers are too much. How can you assassinate anyone?”
Seo-jun, marveling at the difficulty set by the developers, casually entered the theater.
– Is this something you can say?
– Wow, what did I just see? It’s so absurd that I can only laugh.
– This guy is real…!
As Seo-jun entered the theater, a loud laugh echoed from the stage.
The opponent was waiting for Seo-jun in the center of the stage.
– It was terrifying when I saw this scene in another streamer’s stream, but why is it just funny now?
– Haha, so can Drake handle a 1v30? Can he beat Etto?ㅋㅋ
The Disassembler’s boss, Drake.
As a despicable gang leader, Drake immediately threw a knife at Seo-jun as he got closer.
“Die!”
A small, thin throwing knife flew through the air.
Clang!
Seo-jun immediately swung the pipe to deflect the flying knife.
– He’s deflecting it again without dodging???
– How did he do that?
– Reaction speed is insane
“Instead of reacting to the flying knives, watch the enemy’s fingertips and predict their throws to deflect them easily.”
As Seo-jun got closer, the number of knives thrown increased.
The rate of fire became faster, and halfway through, Drake started throwing with both hands simultaneously.
But Seo-jun deflected them all.
With the pipe.
– He even deflects the flying knivesㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What can’t he deflect?
– Viewer
– Right, viewers can’t deflectㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Seo-jun quickly reached in front of Drake.
