The Veteran Swordmaster’s Stream (Novel) - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Assassination followed by concealment.

It was a traditional infiltration method that could not be omitted from Dawn of the Assassins.

The moment their route was blocked during an infiltration, players often chose this method.

There were even some who played by assassinating every single NPC.

But.

What Seo-jun did was, strictly speaking, something on an entirely different level.

Killing an NPC, who had been forced into an alert state, before they could even spot him, thereby turning it into an assassination.

In a word, it was a play that crushed them through sheer mechanics.

-This hyung is doing something only he knows how to do again.

-Geez, just do everything yourself, lololololol

-Anyway, an assassination with no witnesses, shiver shiver

-An assassination where you kill them right before you’re spotted, shiver shiver

In difficult areas like the Alberque Palace, if one assassinated and then concealed the body, the colleagues would notice their absence after a certain period of time.

If one killed an NPC and concealed them here, they would be forced to perform a time attack.

“Well. From now on, let’s proceed a bit faster.”

It was not particularly tight.

Because from now on, he had no intention of caring about things like noise.

*Clack, clack.*

Seo-jun walked down the hallway leisurely.

No, the expression that he strutted was more accurate.

And when a Royal Guard approached after hearing that sound.

He pulled a dagger out of his inventory and threw it.

“Assassination is definitely easier than going Musou.”

After concealing the fallen NPC in a nearby empty room, Seo-jun walked again.

-We really never agreed to call this an assassination either;;;

-I’m a bit flustered, lolol

-You throw it before they even show up? Shiver shiver

The hallways of Alberque were decorated enough to make one feel its splendor even in the dark night, and they were wide enough for several people to walk side-by-side holding hands.

*Step, step.*

Then, imposing footsteps echoed from the other side of the wide hallway.

The Royal Guards was a unit where those who had received all kinds of training in magic and martial arts belonged.

Naturally, pride could not help but leak out from every single step they took.

The moment the uniformed knight turned the corner and even the tiniest part of his body was caught in his field of vision.

*Swoosh!*

The dagger tore through the air and embedded itself in the Royal Guard.

The Royal Guard gasped with shocked eyes before closing them.

-Wow, that prediction shot was insane.

-Did he even see it before doing it?

-That was insane too, lolol

-It was just insane, seriously.

Once again, the footsteps in the hallway became one.

“It’s quiet, so I like it.”

While uttering words uncharacteristic of an intruder, Seo-jun scanned the surroundings.

Despite having the blueprint, the Alberque Palace was nothing but complex.

The viewers had also given up on seeing Seo-jun fail by now, and began to give him directions.

Seo-jun discovered a staircase leading down to the lower floor and walked in that direction, following the viewers’ words.

“Oh.”

Seo-jun held his breath and admired in a low voice audible only to the viewers.

A split staircase, where it felt as if a female lead would walk down while showing off her dress and beauty to the fullest in a highlight scene, and the banquet hall that appeared below the stairs welcomed him.

“The scenery really is something else.”

Whispering so, Seo-jun vaulted over the banister.

Beneath the stairs, two Royal Guards looking at the hall from both sides came into view.

Seo-jun dropped toward the Royal Guard on the right.

The coat he was wearing fluttered.

Just before making contact with the floor, Seo-jun threw the dagger in his hand, ending the life of the Royal Guard standing on the right.

Immediately after, he pulled out the dagger embedded in the neck, spun around, and threw it at the Royal Guard standing on the opposite side.

-Whoa, holy crap, what did he just do? lolololol

-Taking down two guys like that.

-This is what you call an assassination!

-This guy is just good at assassinating, lol

When performing a surprise attack with a melee weapon rather than a throw, a one-second assassination motion was forced.

And in high-difficulty areas like the palace, if one were to surprise-attack one person with a melee weapon while two were standing, they would inevitably be caught.

And Seo-jun had only one dagger left.

Thus, he approached closely and threw it from the nearest possible distance to skip the surprise attack motion, while simultaneously drawing that blade to dispatch the other person as well.

Seo-jun explained this point to the viewers.

Crucial to this, the viewers were dumbfounded.

-Couldn’t you just, lol, throw the dagger and then surprise-attack the remaining guy with a longsword? lolololol

-Seriously, it’s not like you don’t have other weapons just because you don’t have daggers.

-The streamer is lowkey stupid. I like that about him, though.

Oh.

You’re right.

Seo-jun readily admitted.

“I didn’t think of that. That method would indeed be easier. But.”

It was largely because he had not thought about it deeply.

“Even doing it this way isn’t particularly hard. Try it.”

After saying so, Seo-jun grinned.

The viewers were thrilled to death.

-Holy crap, he really flexes every chance he gets.

-Guys, let’s not give that evil streamer an angle to flex, lololol

-???: Oh, I just did it, is there a problem?

-God, why did you give talent to a guy like him?

-Seo-jun wins!

“An assassin must absolutely use a dagger.”

Seo-jun, wearing a victorious smile, headed toward the Queen’s quarters.

-But if an assassin has to use a dagger, does that mean he himself, who has been beating enemies to death with a longsword until now, isn’t an assassin?

-The streamer has fallen into self-contradiction, lolololol

Honestly, whether it was an assassination or going Musou did not really matter.

As long as the stream was fun, that was all that mattered.

“Let’s overlook the trivial things.”

Seo-jun’s heavy voice echoed pleasantly.

-Yes, hyung.

-Yes, oppa.

-Sigh, if I had said that, I would’ve been cursed out. It’s because he’s handsome first of all, lol

-Suddenly I’m so annoyed. Unfollowing right away.

Seo-jun smiled and held two daggers between his fingers, centering them around his index fingers.

The other dagger was a kitchen knife he had picked up on the way.

Seo-jun aimed at the enemies in the darkness.

‘Hmm, it’s my first time throwing ones with different weights.’

But it would be fine.

*Swoosh!*

The two daggers rushed forward almost simultaneously.

Then, the two guards guarding the door of the quarters collapsed at the same time.

“Gah!”

It went well.

A short death cry rang out, and Seo-jun confidently entered through the main gate.

Now, it didn’t matter even if he was caught.

“Now, Mr. RiggedDice, how is my infiltration?”

-RiggedDice, who requested the real-time mission, is sobbing right now, lolololol

-A guy crazy for Musou who does infiltration and assassination like Musou!

-Crazy guy! Crazy guy! Crazy guy! Crazy guy!

[‘RiggedDice’ donated 100,000 won!]

[Uh? Was I scammed? Shiver shiver]

Seo-jun gave his thanks, and the viewers laughed.

Then, sensing the presence, someone stood up.

*Whirrr!*

A red cluster of light gathered on the front of a sphere that floated beside Seo-jun, and was fired as a beam.

The Queen, the Ruler, had awakened.

“Where does a lowly creature think he is entering, not knowing his place?”

Before he knew it, she, who had been lying on the bed, stood behind Seo-jun.

***

The strategy to defeat the Queen was already widespread.

Another streamer had caught her before Seo-jun did.

It was not a surprising fact.

For there were people who occasionally defeated the other Rulers as well.

Fortunately, however, there was no one who had gathered all the Fragments of Order yet.

The reason was that someone who had defeated the Magic Tower Master had not appeared yet.

In the case of Richard Neville, it was enough if one had the skill to follow along after watching Seo-jun’s stream.

And they had Spot Weakness as well.

Drake, too, could be defeated with the help of various items and skills if one’s skill was outstanding.

‘Of course, it’s an extremely small minority, though.’

In any case, the important thing was that there were a few people.

However, the Magic Tower Master was different.

Those who obtained the Spot Weakness skill had immediately challenged the Magic Tower Master.

Solely to deflect lightning like Seo-jun.

And those who saw the grain of the lightning fell into shock.

The spot displayed as the weakness was simply too narrow.

In addition, the speed at which the lightning disappeared was also too fast.

[No, how did Mr. Unnamed do it? lololol]

[Even more chilling fact: he didn’t even use Spot Weakness, shiver shiver]

[Dynamic vision at least bird-level]

And even without aiming for the grain of the lightning, the difficulty was simply too high.

As a result, the evaluation of Seo-jun rose day by day.

In any case, the conclusion was.

‘People aren’t expecting me to just defeat the Queen right now.’

For she had already been defeated by someone else once before.

What people truly wanted was to gather all the Fragments of Order.

After using Spot Weakness to see the grain, Seo-jun slashed the Queen’s Mirror with his sword.

The Queen’s Mirror was a glass sphere that reflected like a mirror, and it was a special weapon used by the Queen.

It was an orb-type weapon that moved freely in the air to reflect attacks or cast embedded magic.

‘They said that the Queen’s difficulty level went way down thanks to this Spot Weakness.’

*Shatter!*

The Queen’s Mirror broke, and glass shards scattered.

By a special power, countless shards were fixed in midair, blocking Seo-jun’s vision.

“How dare you touch my property!”

Seo-jun could see the Queen’s arm swinging on the opposite side through the mirror shards.

A flying dagger flew in.

Squeezing through the glass debris, it flew precisely toward Seo-jun.

Reflecting off the mirrors, the flying dagger multiplied like illusions, distracting his gaze.

‘But the real one is only one.’

And Seo-jun had never missed an enemy’s attack during combat.

*Clang!*

The flying dagger, which flew like an arrow, was blocked by Seo-jun’s dagger.

And in reverse, Seo-jun threw a dagger.

“Ah…”

The last remaining HP bar dwindled.

The Queen uttered a brief death cry, stared at Seo-jun with empty eyes, and collapsed.

-Clean, shiver shiver shiver

-The class is truly different, lololol

-First try. No damage, no skill. Crazy.

-Let’s go now!

“It’s over.”

An alert sound rang.

[Queen Arietta has died.]

[You acquire Fragment of Order (4/4).]

[You have collected all Fragments of Order. Hidden Scenario ‘Choice’ is in progress.]

A crow flew toward Seo-jun, who was reading the text, and landed softly on his shoulder.

A letter was tied to the crow’s leg.

“A carrier pigeon?”

When Seo-jun detached the paper from its leg, the crow flew away through the veranda with a flutter of wings.

He unfolded the rolled-up letter.

The content was asking him to come somewhere to receive a reward.

“It was sent by the Branch Manager.”

It seemed to be a format where the scenario would start if he went there.

-I waited a week to see this!

-Choice? What kind of choice are they talking about?

-Please don’t end the stream. Please don’t end the stream. Please don’t end the stream.

The location was the 4th floor of an abandoned factory on the southern outskirts of Alteon.

In fact, it was the edge of the in-game map.

“Then let’s go check it out.”

No differently from when he infiltrated, Seo-jun leisurely slipped out of the Alberque Palace and headed toward the marked location while looking at the map.

He had to pass through Sector 4, where the commoners lived, and go further down.

-The streamer, who usually ends the stream instantly, is doing this?

-Right, row when the tide comes in!

-Phew, I almost started a riot.

When Seo-jun arrived at the marked location, a cutscene played.

“Why did you call me?”

Arthur, the Branch Manager of Alteon, quietly emerged from behind a machine that had turned into scrap metal.

The distance from Seo-jun was quite far.

“Unnamed. So you ended up defeating the Queen.”

“And?”

Arthur glared.

“Damn it. Didn’t I tell you? If you defeat them recklessly, the damage will only grow. The Cabal bastards are coming.”

Arthur was speaking politely, but he could not completely hide the anger boiling inside him.

Arthur’s hands were trembling with agitation.

“We also requested reinforcements, but we haven’t received a reply yet. I told you to restrain yourself until then. You couldn’t even wait that short time?”

Nevertheless, Seo-jun—no, the protagonist in the cutscene—was completely calm and unbothered.

“That is your problem, it has nothing to do with me. And more of them are coming? Then I just have to defeat that many more.”

-Is the streamer the one moving right now, not a cutscene? lol

-So rude, lolololol

-It seems to be because he chose that kind of dialogue option when talking to Arthur last time.

-Oh dear…

“Right. You were never our brother. Not even accepting missions.”

Arthur’s trembling hand stopped.

Then, Arthur wore a benevolent smile as if he had never been agitated.

“But, Unnamed, you are strong. You are charming enough that I can’t help it, even if you escape my control and disrupt the order.”

Control and order.

They were words that should never come out of an assassin’s mouth.

At that moment, the protagonist felt something strange and went into a combat stance.

*Swoosh!*

Arthur threw a flying dagger, and the protagonist, after dodging the blade, glared at Arthur.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Heh. As expected, I knew this much wouldn’t work. Truly fitting for the man who killed four of my comrades.”

“Comrades? Don’t tell me…”

The protagonist’s face contorted.

“Yes, just as you guessed. I was in a cooperative relationship with the Rulers of the Cabal.”

-Crazy, I knew his background was shady as hell.

-No, why would the Assassin Order’s Branch Manager?

-Is he the final boss?

-So this was the true ending. No wonder.

“There was only one reason we cooperated. If we fought with the intent to destroy each other, the answer would be obvious. Mutual destruction. However, Butcher of the West, the moment you arrived, the balance of this city was shattered. So I thought. Let’s use you to kill the other Rulers and replace them with my subordinates.”

The reason why one could not obtain the Fragments of Order when accepting a mission was revealed.

Because the very fact of accepting a mission was equivalent to moving according to Arthur’s will, which was inconsistent with the conditions for entering the hidden quest.

“But you acted as you pleased. Because of that, the plan got tangled, and it took time to take control of Alteon.”

Arthur smiled and held a button in his hand.

“Anyway, it is true that you eliminated them, so I express my gratitude. Well then, farewell.”

Arthur went upstairs via the stairs right next to him.

At the same time, an explosion echoed from the lower floor.

Flames surged up, and the floors began to detonate one by one.

The place where the protagonist was located was the 4th floor.

He chose to throw his body outside instead of following Arthur.

However, because he jumped in such a hurry and from a high altitude, he suffered an injury upon landing and collapsed.

Arthur, who was on the rooftop, smiled and threw a flying dagger at the protagonist, wearing a triumphant smile.

And the protagonist closed his eyes, thinking he would inevitably die.

Seo-jun thought the same.

However, in the eyes of Seo-jun, who was watching from a third-party perspective, a scene unfolded where a woman in a black silhouette appeared, deflected the flying dagger, and fled with the protagonist.

“Hmm. A traitor? I didn’t expect this, but hide-and-seek will be fun too.”

Arthur had a leisurely attitude.

For Alteon was already half-close to being his.

Arthur whistled, and a crow flew over.

Arthur took out the paper on the crow’s leg and wrote a letter.

[Unnamed has betrayed us and joined the Cabal. From now on, Unnamed is designated as the highest priority assassination target.]

The crow flew away, and the cutscene ended.

***

*Pant, pant.*

Seo-jun was currently carried on the back of someone who was panting heavily.

Strength had not returned to his body yet.

Just then.

*Ding.*

A window popped up before his eyes.

Seeing this, Seo-jun’s eyes gleamed.

It was something like this?

“This should be quite fun.”

-Wow.

-A true legend, lolololol

-The hidden quest is insane, shiver shiver shiver

-Get a taste of your own medicine for once, users!

-Ah, lol, of all people, the quest to teach users a lesson went to the streamer who is crazy good, lolol

[Hidden Quest – Hunt]

[Arthur, the Branch Manager of Alteon, was a traitor.

To make matters worse, you have been placed on the highest priority assassination target list.

From now on, all assassins who received his order will rush in to eliminate you by any means or methods necessary.

It is said that there is no place in this city of Alteon where the eyes of the assassins do not reach.

The only way to survive is probably…

…to remain vigilant about whether the blades of the Assassin Order are hidden in every shadow on the street.

Quest Clear Condition: Survive for one day from the attacks of the Assassin Order]