The Veteran Swordmaster’s Stream (Novel) - Chapter 29
Chapter 29
“Now then, I will start the game.”
[Running Dawn of the Assassins.]
A notification sound rang out.
The world was submerged in darkness.
***
Seo-jun woke up in the market.
“Now, let’s go.”
Where?
To the Assassin Order’s base.
“Hey. Try some of this fresh fruit.”
“Hey. Don’t block the way, move! I’m in a hurry.”
“Mister. Please buy just one candy.”
Seo-jun headed to the Sun Tavern while making his way through the market.
Although it was a place he had never visited before clearing the tutorial and defeating the Magic Tower Master, it was a place Seo-jun had visited once every day for the past few days.
-Yep, today is no different.
-I’m telling you, they’re shady lol
-They’re f*cking terrible at their jobs.
“I agree. These guys don’t work for shit.”
After entering the Sun Tavern, Seo-jun naturally walked into the kitchen.
Then, he opened the secret passage on the floor and entered.
It was the secret base of the Assassin Order that could be accessed after achieving a certain level of reputation accumulated through assassinations.
“Unnamed, what brings you here? Do you need a mission?”
-If you accept missions, you can’t get the Fragment of Order, right? You just shouldn’t accept missions lol
-Real, I don’t know why, but the guys who barely managed to catch the Rulers wailed.
-They barely caught them, but because it didn’t drop, they rage-quit lololol
Several options popped up in front of Seo-jun.
He selected one of the options.
“I want to deal with a Ruler now.”
“Sorry. That is premature. Our preparations are not yet complete.”
-Doing this again lololol
-Looks like they will never be ready in their lifetime.
-Honestly, if this were reality, the streamer would be the one without a conscience. How could they finish all the work in just a few days?
-But this is a game.
-Surely you’re not going to avoid catching the Queen today because of this, right?
Christina had been giving the same answer for days.
“Well, it can’t be helped.”
Seo-jun nodded.
-No!
-You weren’t this kind of guy.
-Since when do you listen so well?
“I’ll just have to catch her anyway. Did you think I would wait?”
He grinned and pulled out a sword from his inventory.
It was a sword he had bought at a fairly high price from the shop exclusive to the Assassin Order.
-Lololololol
-This is more like our streamer.
-Wait, if you were going to do this, why didn’t you catch them until now?
“Why didn’t I catch them? Just because. Since you guys kept asking me to catch them, I didn’t want to.”
In truth, it was because of the contract, but he did not say it.
There was no confidentiality clause, but they had asked him to keep it a secret if possible.
Seo-jun was the type to keep favors requested of him whenever possible.
-Bullsh*t, are you a green frog?
“Sssip. Please do not swear.”
-This streamer does the exact opposite lololol
-A streamer who is not swayed by the viewers!
-The epitome of zero communication.
“My goodness. Where else would you find a streamer who communicates as well as I do?”
Leaving behind the countless question marks popping up, Seo-jun stepped out of the Sun Tavern and headed toward the center of the city where the palace was located while looking at the map.
Although he was terrible with technology, fortunately, he was not directionally challenged.
“Now, everyone, please tell me a bit about the palace.”
Seo-jun asked the viewers about the in-game information as he walked.
As if it were completely natural and only to be expected.
-Did you leave it in our care?
-Please do some prep work lolololol
-Don’t you know this is all Professor Seo-jun’s deep intention to make the viewers review it?
“I’m just joking, actually, I did some rough research too.”
-Oh? What’s gotten into you?
-Tsk, it’s only fun when the streamer gets hit by things he doesn’t know about.
-And it’s cool when he easily breaks through it.
Seo-jun traveled across the rooftops.
This was the most convenient.
In the distance, the splendid palace located in the center of the city was visible.
It was Alburk Palace, with a front length of 160 meters, a height of 32 meters, four floors in total, 1,015 rooms, 2,038 doors, and 825 windows.
The Queen’s outdoor gallery surrounding Alburk, a massive lake, and the largest garden in Alteon caught Seo-jun’s eye.
“…And they say there are over 1,000 employees working there, and as many as 300 guards called the Royal Guards. The user who directly counted all of these things, including the windows, seems more amazing than the palace itself.”
-Real lol
-Amazing in many ways lolololol
-Rich in time.
-Time Bill Gates lololol
Seo-jun came down from the rooftop of the tall building.
Then he walked toward Alburk.
Indeed, as he drew closer to the palace, there seemed to be many guards around.
As he was walking while having various small talks, a donation alert rang out.
[‘RiggedDice’ donated 10,000 won!]
[Seo-jun, do you accept missions by any chance?]
Seo-jun stopped walking, and then he spoke.
“RiggedDice, thank you for the donation. What is the mission?”
-Streamer’s inner thoughts: Customer, how much did you look into before coming?
-Can’t resist a mission.
-Beta male trait) Weak against capital.
After waiting for a moment, a donation came in.
[‘RiggedDice’ donated 300,000 won!]
[Please infiltrate and defeat the Queen with an assassination just once! I want to see Seo-jun sneaking in!]
-Wow, 300k at once, damn.
-Why did he donate first lololol
-Throw the money first, and the streamer shall do the mission.
-But an assassination by the streamer? I might actually want to see that haha.
-What are you talking about? What about the Fragment of Order if he does an assassination? He shouldn’t accept it.
After that, various opinions about the mission content popped up.
Infiltration and assassination.
It was a playstyle that Seo-jun had never tried until now.
‘Trying it would be fun, though.’
The person who sent the donation seemed to be the viewer who had been agonizing over whether to start Dawn of the Assassins before the game began.
He probably wanted to see his infiltration gameplay.
[‘RiggedDice’ donated 100,000 won!]
[Ah, now that I think about it, there’s the Fragment of Order! I will cancel the mission. Also, no need for a refund.]
-Wow, a big spender, damn.
-He even donates 100,000 won to cancel a mission.
-Isn’t that the same guy from earlier? If it were me, I would have just bought a game with that money lolol.
Seo-jun contemplated for a moment and then spoke.
“I don’t know if it will work, but let’s give it a try. I mean, I can just sneak in and wake her up right before the assassination.”
Wouldn’t it naturally transition into a Musou playstyle that way?
After all, there was fundamentally no big difference between her waking up because of an alarm and the intruder waking her up directly.
“I have to do as much work as I was paid. If it fails, I’ll just die and do it Musou-style.”
-A true streamer.
-Who on earth plays a game like that lololololol
-Oh! Thank you!
Seo-jun thought about the method of assassination after reading RiggedDice’s chat.
As it was a game with endless ways to perform assassinations and infiltrations, the methods to enter the palace and approach the Queen were also diverse.
One could simply slip in by evading the eyes of the Royal Guards, steal an invitation to a ball, or become close with a noble and be invited to the palace.
What was immediately possible…
“I’ll have to just enter. Since I decided to assassinate, I should get a blueprint of the palace.”
After contacting Christina using the Signal Stone, Seo-jun visited the nearest base of the Assassin Order again.
Likewise, this base was also in the form of a tavern.
After entering the secret location on the kitchen floor, Seo-jun walked over and sat in front of a hooded man.
“Be careful not to be consumed by chaos. For true chaos does not destroy order.”
It was an assassin in charge of this sector.
“Brother, what brings you here? Hahaha.”
[–> Trade goods.]
[–> Have a conversation.]
Options popped up.
If he chose the former, he could purchase equipment from the Assassin Order, and if he chose the latter, he had to watch useless small talk.
Seo-jun chose the former.
“I want to trade goods.”
“Excellent. Brother, I assume you brought plenty of money?”
The interface appeared, and Seo-jun clicked on the blueprints in the category tab.
The Assassin Order had gathered blueprints for most of the buildings in Alteon.
Seo-jun scrolled down and found the blueprint of the palace.
“This is the most expensive one.”
Reputation or money was required to purchase this.
[Alburk Palace Blueprint]
[700 Assassin Order Reputation] [Exchange]
[3,000 Gold] [Exchange]
The palace blueprint was one of the most expensive items not only among blueprints but also when compared to other items.
However, Seo-jun had plenty of both.
[Assassin Order Reputation – 3,427]
[Gold Owned – 10,000]
His reputation could not help but be high since he had defeated as many as three Rulers, even if Seo-jun had received less reward than usual due to playing without accepting missions.
And as for money…
-He’s rich…
-Should I try pickpocketing too?
-I will enable you to buy a building in just 30 minutes a day. By Seo-jun.
Considering that 1,000 gold could usually buy the most expensive weapon available in the shop, the 10,000 gold that Seo-jun possessed was an ample amount.
And this gold was not money earned by pickpocketing.
Rather, the money earned through elements like minigames was far greater.
“Now, please stop fabricating things. I will buy it with reputation.”
Seo-jun clicked the exchange button next to reputation.
“Thank you, Unnamed. Come again next time.”
He seemed excited about having sold an expensive item.
Was this guy an assassin or a merchant?
Seo-jun looked at the NPC with dubious eyes and then stepped outside.
“Now then, let’s go.”
Seo-jun approached Alburk.
A different sight than before unfolded.
This was because the layout of the palace was displayed like a radar, thanks to acquiring the blueprint.
“Oh, so this kind of item exists.”
-The streamer only found out about this function after playing the game for a week lolol
-How do you like the taste of new technology?
-If you buy X-ray glasses too, you can see the enemies’ locations as well, how about that?
Seo-jun stood in front of the palace.
The Royal Guards standing guard were visible.
“X-ray glasses? No thanks. What’s so hard about sneaking in?”
-Lolololol, can you handle that statement?
-Karma stacking: ON
-No way he’s good at assassination too.
-He’ll get caught a few times, turn dark, and beat them to death Musou-style.
“Now, here I go.”
The moment the guard standing watch nearby momentarily averted his gaze, Seo-jun leaped over the iron fence with light movements.
The Queen’s outdoor gallery appeared immediately after he crossed the iron fence.
Since the other sides had open parks or the lake acting as a natural moat, this was the best option for approaching the inside of the palace.
Seo-jun focused on the sounds.
After all, the royal guard known as the Royal Guards patrolled all over Alburk.
*Tread, tread.*
Seo-jun moved forward while distancing himself from the source of the sound.
Because he knew the layout, he did not get lost.
Another thing to be wary of was the snipers on the rooftop of Alburk.
Seo-jun lowered his body as much as possible, left the gallery, climbed the outer wall to the second floor, and took a breath on the balcony.
“Hmm. It’s a bit easy.”
-It’s only the beginning lololol
-Don’t get cocky lol
Alburk Palace was structured with multiple buildings complexly joined together like a maze.
This was because it had a history of undergoing numerous renovations and expansions.
And since the Queen’s quarters were located at the very center of the maze-like palace, it was no easy task for a player to approach without being detected.
Seo-jun pressed his ear against the window.
He heard the sound of someone sleeping and breathing.
“Not here.”
Seo-jun scaled the wall again.
This was to find an empty guest room.
“This place is empty.”
Seo-jun carefully opened the balcony door and stepped inside.
-Lololololol
-GG
-This is why assassination is hard.
-Even though you were careful, the sound was too loud.
The viewers were laughing.
Why?
And Seo-jun was able to realize the reason immediately.
“What is that? What was that sound?”
A man’s voice was heard from behind the guest room door.
He had been caught by a Royal Guard.
*Click.*
The sound of the doorknob turning on the other side was heard.
-Go under the bed.
-Go into the closet, go go.
-Yeah, even if you do all that, you’ll still get caught. Do you think palace assassination is a f*cking joke?
-He has already entered the alert state. The NPCs here immediately go on alert if there is even the slightest sound.
The alert state was a common system in stealth games.
It was a system adopted by NPCs when a player made a sound, and during this time, the NPC would wander around the area until they found the source of the noise.
Furthermore, if the palace NPCs could not find the cause even after time passed, they would sound the alarm.
If that happened, it was a failure.
Seo-jun read the chat and assessed the situation in an instant.
Even if he hid like this, he would be caught, and he could not escape.
‘As expected, the difficulty is high.’
If so…
*Creeeeak.*
-You’re caught.
-Are you failing for the first time? lol
-Assassination seemed like a f*cking joke, didn’t it?
In the split second the door opened, Seo-jun pulled out a dagger from his inventory.
And before the door was even fully open, he pinpointed the location of the Royal Guard.
It was a speed close to pure instinct.
Then, when the door was halfway open, he threw the dagger.
*Keuk.*
With a short gasp, the Royal Guard collapsed.
“What, this works. Assassination is easy too.”
Seo-jun spoke with a chuckle as if he had never been nervous.
-It’s seriously amazing that he even thought of throwing a dagger in that split second lololol
-He’s doing Musou again, look at him.
-Stop killing them and sneak in quietly lolololololol
-Is this even an assassination!
In Dawn of the Assassins, there was something called a surprise attack judgment.
It was a judgment where an NPC died in a single hit if their vital point was attacked before they could confirm the presence of the enemy.
This was also a common system in assassination games.
The important point was that the Royal Guard died in one hit.
What this meant was…
“But he didn’t see me, right?”
-Ugh lolololol
-But you were fast lololol
-If the surprise attack judgment triggered, then it is indeed an assassination lolololol
-Real, how is it Musou if the enemy doesn’t know? It’s an assassination.
-Ah lol, if the NPC enters the alert state, you just have to hit their vital point before they see you.
-Info) Surprisingly, assassinating enemies during infiltration is normal gameplay.
-But that’s not a normal assassination lol