Chapter 6
The viewer with the nickname “I am the Assassin of Joseon” had been a hardcore fan of the Assassin’s Dawnseries since the PC era.
He was so dedicated to the series that he had played the previous installments, which were criticized for not fully utilizing the potential of virtual reality, for thousands of hours.
Moreover, he had a natural talent for virtual reality, making it quite suitable for him. In other words, he had some inherent skill.
Of course, he couldn’t fly around like the pros, but when it came to Assassin’s Dawn, there weren’t many who were better than him.
He was a well-known figure in the Assassin’s Dawncommunity, where he uploaded numerous high-level gameplay videos, and he was also a beta tester for the new game, Shadows in the City.
[We are focusing on the core elements of stealth and assassination.
Musou? Try it if you can.]
The developers announced this principle before the release of the game.
He cheered when he heard this.
He was so dedicated to Musou play that he loved the phrase, “If there are no witnesses, it’s an assassination!”
But they were increasing the difficulty?
For someone with his skill, it was a new challenge. He liked that it became something not everyone could easily do.
However, that expectation was shattered during the beta test.
The reason was the difficulty.
It was raised way too high.
All the close combat-related skills from the previous games were carried over, but the enemies’ HP and numbers had increased too much.
To overcome this, you had to use the new parrying system introduced in this game, which greatly amplified damage when successful, but the difficulty of parrying had also been raised too high.
Even for someone as skilled and semi-professional as him, he failed occasionally. That one failure was a painful setback in the gameplay.
On top of that, despite claiming to focus on assassination, the boss fights, which seemed to have been meticulously crafted, frustrated him with their extreme difficulty.
Ultimately, during the beta test period, he had to enjoy the game mainly through assassination rather than Musou play.
Still, he was quite satisfied.
After all, it was hailed as a god-tier game for showing insane freedom in assassination methods, opening new horizons in assassination games, and was even called the breath of the city.
But when the beta test ended and the official release happened, the Assassin of Joseon felt something was missing.
For him, true assassination meant Musou play.
So he started watching streams. He had played the game enough and would continue to play it anyway.
But.
[Guys, you can assassinate by collapsing buildings. Crazy.]
Even here.
[The target really sits on a bench reading the newspaper every morning. Just blow up that box and the assassination is successful. This crazy god-tier game.]
And there.
[Been hiding in the shadows for 3 hours now. Still getting trampled by people on the street. When is he coming!]
– “Hahaha, why are you doing this? Gather information, brother, please.”
– “Because that’s assassination. Hmm!”
– “Why am I watching this for 3 hours?”
No matter where he looked.
He couldn’t find any Musou play.
So he couldn’t enjoy it.
During this time when all the fans of Assassin’s Dawnwere laughing, chatting, and causing chaos!
Just as he was losing motivation and ready to quit, a recommended stream popped up.
He thought it would just be another typical low-viewer stream, but the title caught his eye.
[Newbie who is starting both streaming and VR gaming with Assassin’s Dawn. Anyone to give tips?]
A newbie starting VR with Assassin’s Dawn? A legitimate chance to coach?
“Can’t resist this.”
When he clicked on the stream and entered, the first thing he saw was the streamer flawlessly parrying the sword of a tutorial guard.
‘Was that a coincidence?’
Even though he knew better than anyone that parrying couldn’t be done by chance, he still thought so.
However, the streamer continued to handle the guard and then parried four out of the five soldiers’ attacks.
“This is what assassination is!”
The Assassin of Joseon cheered, proudly showing off to the viewers who had previously mocked him.
Of course, his comments were soon blocked.
And then a little later, he heard a line from the stream.
[Guys, I’ll show you a 13-hit parry combo.]
“13-hit parry combo? Surviving there alone would be impressive enough…”
The Assassin of Joseon swallowed with anticipation and stared at the screen.
With this new installment, fighting multiple enemies at once had become especially difficult.
The reason was the synergy.
The developers seemed to have deliberately designed the game to enforce stealth play, and in this game, if a group of enemies were together, they moved efficiently.
Once they settled into their positions, it was almost impossible to find an opening.
Yet, the streamer gave them time to settle.
It seemed like a beginner’s arrogance.
But why did it feel like he might succeed?
He switched the perspective from first-person to third-person, locking it in place to watch the streamer’s play more closely.
[Kill the intruder!]
[There’s only one enemy! Don’t be afraid!]
Clank!
Clank!
The sound of metal armor moving, and the soldiers encircling the streamer moved in succession.
Only then did the streamer start to move his feet.
And his staff traced a semicircle.
Clang!
Clang!
The Assassin of Joseon’s eyes widened.
‘How on earth is he parrying at such angles? His account’s creation date shows he’s not even a beta tester.’
It didn’t make sense.
He merely swung his staff widely, yet he managed to parry the sword coming from behind and another slicing in from the side almost simultaneously.
He seemed to have grasped in that short moment that when a parry was successful, there was no force reaction, allowing for smooth movements!
After easily downing two soldiers, the streamer leaned his upper body back, dodging a sword by a hair’s breadth as if tightrope walking.
And once more.
Clang!
Clang!
Swinging wide, he downed two more soldiers in one move.
‘How on earth is he seeing the attacks from behind? Is he using hacks?’
In an instant, the 13-to-1 situation became 9-to-1. 9-to-1 turned into 8-to-1, and then 8-to-1 into 6-to-1.
– “Whoa, does he have eyes on the back of his head?”
– “Was the streamer secretly a pro?”
– “Even pros couldn’t pull that off.”
– Who would be able to wait four years to create a new account after deleting it? Once you’ve tried VR, you can never give it up, lol. He’s definitely a newbie.
A puzzle of thirty thousand pieces can be completed by starting with the edges and putting it together piece by piece.
The streamer did the same, carefully avoiding what he could and parrying what he could, gradually reducing the number of enemies.
‘It’s easier said than done.’
The Assassin of Joseon thought that if anyone could survive in that situation for more than a minute, they could make this their profession.
However, the streamer went beyond that, approaching the stunned enemies and finishing them off.
The streamer would dodge the enemies’ coordinated attacks and then, at some point, move to the side of a fallen enemy.
Smoothly, as if unintentionally, but it was clearly deliberate play.
– How far ahead are you seeing things? You’re the GOAT in the Assassin’s squad!!!!!!!
***
Excited, he typed in the chat.
After finishing off the last soldier, Seo-jun looked at the chat.
-Waa
– The hope of a musou (warrior)! The hope of a musou! The hope of a musou! The hope of a musou! The hope of a musou!
– Woooooooow
– Am I even worthy of seeing this with my lowly eyes?
– Is the streamer using hacks?
“Why are you so surprised by this?”
-????
– Then what should we be surprised by?
– Do you even get surprised?
“You just need to dodge what you can and parry what you can.”
– No, lol, it’s not like we don’t know that, lol
– This is what assassination is! This is what assassination is! This is what assassination is! This is what assassination is!
– This stream is really deceptive
“it’s deceptive? So, are you going to stop watching?”
– No
-hahahaha
– I’ve already followed
Oh.
Seo-jun was surprised when he checked his follow list. All six viewers currently watching had followed him.
You could say it’s only six people, but in terms of ratio, that’s 100%.
It’s a number that’s small enough to be possible, but it’s still not a bad thing.
“Shall we go catch Ettore now?”
– Somehow… it feels like you’re going to catch him
– For real, lol
Seo-jun walked towards where Ettore was.
As expected in a mansion, chandeliers and various luxurious furniture caught his eye.
When he climbed to the second floor and opened the door to the central bedroom, something silver caught his eye.
His pupils instantly widened, and he immediately dodged to the side.
Crash!
Ettore had been waiting for the moment Seo-jun opened the door and swung his mace down.
The iron ball at the end of the mace smashed the door and the floor.
– He dodged that, lol
– I felt it when he banned that person earlier, but his reaction speed is insane
– Other people usually die at least once here
However, Seo-jun immediately lunged and slashed Ettore’s neck with his staff.
His HP was slightly reduced.
“Hey, can you parry a mace?”
– Trying to one-shot a boss, lol.
– Where’s your conscience?
– If it was possible, someone would’ve cleared the tutorial somehow
– Even the developers have common sense. How could you parry a mace with a staff, lol
“Ha ha! You dodge like a rat! Let me show you the taste of my flail!”
A flail is a weapon with a spiked, round head attached to a handle by a rope or chain.
In Korea, it’s commonly referred to as a mace.
Whoosh!
Ettore started swinging the flail wildly.
Crash!
Crash!
Seo-jun retreated as the flail smashed into the innocent railings and walls.
-Goat, if you don’t kill Ettore within 5 minutes, reinforcements from the Order will arrive, and it will be an instant fail.
Seo-jun read the chat and thought about the damage he had done earlier. He concluded that defeating Ettore within 5 minutes was impossible.
But he didn’t give up.
If it’s designed to be beatable, there must be a way.
As he considered pulling out the sword hidden in his staff to target vital points like the eyes…
The chat continued to flood in.
-Hitting the same spot again increases the damage, according to the community’s opinion. Goat!
What’s this goat thing?
“First, thanks for the information, ‘I am the Assassin of Joseon’.”
Damage increase rate?
Let’s check it out.
The answer to the opponent’s weapon is to narrow the distance.
The opponent using their HP advantage in combat means that closing the distance might be akin to walking into a trap. However, this game doesn’t include such unrealistic combat actions.
Soldiers don’t fight as if they have plenty of HP, trading blows with the player. Instead, they move as if one hit could kill them.
As expected.
Ettore seemed flustered.
Even though getting poked in the eye with a staff wouldn’t be fatal, he didn’t utilize that knowledge.
A human would have used it.
Seo-jun slashed at Ettore’s neck as he tried to retrieve the flail embedded in the ground.
Then, grabbing the flail’s handle along with Ettore, he slashed Ettore’s neck again.
A struggle for control began.
The dangerous part of the flail is the spiked head.
But by holding the handle together, the force doesn’t transfer to the head, neutralizing its danger.
-He grabbed that?
-That was quick.
However, Seo-jun could tell his strength was less than Ettore’s.
So he immediately slashed Ettore’s neck again.
Each time Ettore flinched, his strength waned.
“Let go of my weapon, you assassin scum!”
Ettore tried to kick Seo-jun away.
Seo-jun blocked the kick with his staff before Ettore’s leg even lifted.
Ettore then threw a punch with his free hand, but Seo-jun easily dodged it by tilting his head.
Slice.
Once again, the staff cut into Ettore’s neck.
It was enough to noticeably reduce the HP bar.
“If I keep this up, it should work.”
-Wow, lol.
-Ettore, we’re sorry, ㅠㅠ.
-Can a human really do that?
***
Meanwhile, Joseon’s Assassin, who was enjoying the third-person stream of the legendary gameplay, couldn’t help but express his amazement repeatedly.
“Dispersing Ettore’s strength, avoiding all his attempts to shake him off, and slashing his neck dozens of times without getting hit once—this skill is insane! Truly the GOAT!”
What was even more impressive was the fact that the streamer hadn’t even drawn the sword hidden in the staff.
Other streamers had tried using the sword hidden in the sword stick, the assassin’s blade in the gauntlet, or wires and had all failed. But the streamer was facing Ettore using just the staff.
The staff had a blade, but its damage was half that of the embedded sword and a third of the assassin’s blade.
[It’s over.]
Ettore still had a fifth of his HP left, but the confident voice echoed from the speakers.
Since the damage increases exponentially, the streamer might have calculated that the next hit would be fatal.
With that level of skill, damage calculation is a piece of cake… or maybe not.
[Oops, one more hit needed.]
He seemed a bit clumsy after all.
[Ahem.]
Finally, Ettore’s HP dropped cleanly, and a cutscene rolled.
[Hypocritical hound of the Assassin’s Guild! I won’t go alone!]
[Tutorial Quest – Assassination Mission]
[Success]
-Is this a world-first clear?
-Lol, I just randomly tuned into this small stream and witnessed the first clear.
-We’re witnessing history right now.
In disbelief at the world-first success, Joseon’s Assassin joined the equally surprised chat briefly before opening his web browser.
His destination: the Dawn of the Assassins community.
He then started writing a post along with the recorded broadcast video.
The title would be:
[A Newbie Who’s Streaming and Gaming for the First Time Defeats Ettore, the world’s first clear, After Parrying 13-to-1 Against Mobs in the Tutorial (Not a Hoax, Seriously)]
