The Veteran Swordmaster’s Stream (Novel) - Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Fast speed was a great advantage.

All kinds of actions—evading, deflecting, and blocking the enemy’s attacks, and landing, twisting, and concealing one’s own attacks—became more advantageous the faster the speed was.

However, in games, if there was something to be gained, there was also something to be lost.

‘Compared to the fast speed, the damage is definitely weak.’

The enemy’s next attack was a thrust.

As soon as he recovered his sword, he landed and balanced his body, stepping his front foot forward and aiming at Seo-jun’s chest.

The series of processes was as natural as flowing water, and a natural attack was immediately threatening.

Instead of avoiding it, Seo-jun slightly twisted his body and took the enemy’s attack with his left shoulder.

His health was not reduced by much.

But just taking hits did not suit Seo-jun’s personality.

While drawing in the enemy, Seo-jun preempted the advantageous position at the same time.

Before anyone knew it, Seo-jun’s blade was draped in front of the enemy’s neck.

The enemy’s pupils dilated in an instant.

He tried to hastily use the lightfoot technique to pull back and threw back his body’s center of gravity, but.

Already, he could not avoid the sword at such close range.

Chwaaaak!

He slashed the throat.

Although force was not properly loaded into the strike, Seo-jun’s attack was enough to recover all of his lost health.

– That counter is insane

– The enemy literally brought his neck to where the sword was

– Ah, ah. This is what you call swordsmanship

– Did I get nervous for nothing? lololol

Dignity of the Unorthodox Faction grit his teeth after pulling back.

An embarrassed emotion was fully exposed in his eyes.

“Since I let you have the first strike, it’s my turn to go.”

Because he was not of the temperament to show leisure.

Seo-jun approached and the enemy pulled back to compose himself, but the map was narrow.

The current map was atop a canyon.

Below, a stream of water was flowing, and the sound of the waterfall faintly grated on the nerves.

At a glance, it looked like falling down below was impossible.

For a translucent wall was erected at the cliff that Dignity of the Unorthodox Faction was gradually approaching.

Seo-jun unleashed sword qi.

The enemy snapped back to his senses upon witnessing the effect surrounding the sword blade.

Whoooosh.

Putting strength, he swung his arm wide.

A slight weight was added.

It meant a judgment had been made.

A heavy attack judgment, just like the enemy.

The enemy raised his sword, which had drawn out sword qi, to block the attack.

Even if the body was fast, it was impossible to accelerate the speed of thought and perception along with it.

Therefore, it was not easy to gain an advantage equivalent to the difference in speed.

Of course, it was not that the traits of the Assassination Guild made one fast enough to even speak of the speed of perception, but a lot of proficiency was still required to utilize it.

And Dignity of the Unorthodox Faction was a user who had accumulated a lot of that proficiency.

The enemy, who quickly regained his composure, did not take his eyes off the tip of the sword, intending to land a parry.

And at the end, he smiled.

Seeing this, Seo-jun snorted inwardly for a moment.

How cute.

Clang!

“Huh?”

To the enemy who was flustered because the parry failed, Seo-jun kindly explained.

“It’s not that you must have a fast speed to twist it at the last moment.”

Ultimately, every action of deceiving the enemy by mixing variations into the attack was a battle of timing.

Seo-jun knew this fact well.

He likewise knew well how to do it.

If it were a fast speed, it would be easy to catch the timing and easy to execute, but.

it meant that even without that speed, while it might not be easy, it was still possible.

Seo-jun withdrew his sword and prepared to thrust.

The previous situation proceeded in the exact opposite way.

Lowering his posture, he stepped his left foot onto the ground beside the enemy and thrust his sword forward.

Even if he wanted to target his neck, it would be impossible.

Since he would target the heart precisely.

The enemy, who noticed how the situation was unfolding, glared, but for a moment, he could not make a choice on whether to attack like Seo-jun or to avoid it.

Hesitation.

Ordinarily, he would have naturally chosen to avoid it, but the memory of being hit in the exact same situation just moments ago made him hesitate.

That hesitation led to the worst situation of the sword piercing his heart.

His health drained rapidly.

It was partly because Seo-jun’s sword was enveloped in sword qi, and partly because the difference in base attack power was also large.

“Oh dear. You won’t even be able to recover your health, so that’s too bad. Tsk tsk.”

Seo-jun clicked his tongue with a smile.

It was a shame; if only he had a long beard, he would have stroked it.

“Now, why don’t you try to run away.”

Noticing that the enemy had immediately revised his strategy, Seo-jun looked down at him and declared.

The 5th ranker, whose health was cut in half, stood in stark contrast to Seo-jun’s full health.

***

“Ah, everyone, the 5th ranker! The 5th ranker has been matched in the game!”

Swallowing a bit of worry over the matchup that occurred from the second round, Bangju began commentating on the second round.

– This is crazy lololol

– He’s about to be exposed immediately

– A real veteran’s skill will be on a completely different level

– For real lol

– They were betting in that other room, and it was half-and-half. Clean sweep possible vs impossible lololololol

“Dignity of the Unorthodox Faction’s sect is the Assassination Guild. As you know, the Assassination Guild’s advantage is fast speed. In one-on-ones, its tier is Tier 1.”

Tier was an English word meaning grade or level, and was displayed with a number in front of it.

Tier 1 meant the first grade. In other words, the Assassination Guild belonged to the good side.

Of course, the best sect trait setup that had almost no flaws was called OP (overpowered), and the Assassination Guild was not at this level.

“It’s also popular for its high tier in conquest matches, but the fast speed has a high difficulty level and the drawback that the damage of each individual strike is low.”

Bangju quickly explained the basic information before the start of the battle.

“In contrast, everyone knows by now that while Seo-jun’s Great Art of Absorbing Stars has powerful attack power, it has the risk of having to catch the enemy quickly, right?”

The battle began.

“Now, first, Seo-jun starts lightly with informal speech. The Heavenly Demon villain is back! Earlier, when facing a normal user, he spoke politely. This is a typical example of being strong against the strong and soft against the weak!”

– Is he actually nice if you get to know him?

– He only BM’s the strong

– No he doesn’t. If you look at him, he does all kinds of BM to NPCs too lololol

– Their conversation is savage right from the start

– The psychological warfare is crazy

– Good talker

– A battle of pests, whoa

“Sapum-nim’s first strike! It’s a heavy attack, and Seo-jun lightly blocks it. However, a parry wasn’t achieved. Sapum-nim’s thrust as he balances himself while landing! But! Ah, Seo-jun’s sword is in front of Sapum-nim’s neck! How did he move?”

Bangju’s words turned into rapid fire as the battle progressed.

– *shiver*

– He definitely fights well

– It’s savage in just a few seconds lol

After exchanging moves with each other, Dignity of the Unorthodox Faction fled backward in embarrassment.

Bangju did not miss this moment and inserted commentary.

“Now, to explain quickly here, Seo-jun was trying to deflect Sapum-nim’s sword. Here, a unique technique used by players of the Assassination Guild appeared. It’s twisting it right before the swords make contact. It’s like a Brazilian kick, but the trajectory isn’t that large. It’s a technique aimed at landing a follow-up hit on an enemy who is flustered after failing to parry an obvious heavy attack!”

While it was quite famous, there were also many who did not know it. The reason was that the majority of users could not even parry well.

There was rarely any occasion to see such a technique.

– Such a technique exists? *shiver*

– As expected of an experienced commentator

– My eyes are feasting on just the first move

– Is it okay to just reveal industry secrets like this?????

– Everyone who knows already knows, what industry secret

– Bangju is not of the Unorthodox Faction anyway. It’s fine to reveal secrets

– Detestable Orthodox Faction bastard!

“Now, Sapum-nim pulled back, and Seo-jun immediately caught up. Since it’s not a normal Great Art of Absorbing Stars after all, he shows an appearance of not being able to give any breathing room.”

There had been nothing to commentate on in the first round.

Because the opponent, who was beaten so unilaterally and lost their fighting spirit, had left the game.

“And, huh?”

Seo-jun’s sword swung in an obvious manner.

Bangju felt a momentary sense of déjà vu in the process of the blade cutting through the air and colliding with the enemy’s sword.

This?

[You don’t necessarily have to be fast to twist it at the end.]

– ????

– What is it

– Why is he surprised?

And Seo-jun’s subsequent actions also evoked a sense of déjà vu.

Lowering his stance.

Raising his sword to aim at the enemy.

Pushing his arm in, he thrust.

“Wow!!!!”

Unlike just a moment ago, it was a thrust that pierced precisely into the chest.

– He is doing the exact same thing lol. Isn’t this also BM?

– Isn’t he returning the attack exactly as it was given????

– Looks like he’s clearly showing the gap in skill

– Genuinely insane

“Everyone, if I didn’t see wrong, Seo-jun returned the attack in the exact same way! Including the technique I mentioned earlier!”

– ???? That twisting at the last moment?

– Was that something other users could use too?

– Didn’t he see wrong?

– Does that actually work?

“I also don’t know if a non-Assassination Guild user can use it, but looking at what Seo-jun said, it seems likely.”

Since both he and the viewers were unsure, it seemed they would have to watch the replay.

“[Oh dear. You won’t even be able to recover your health, so that’s a pity. Tsk, tsk.]”

“[Now, why don’t you try to run away.]”

– lololol His mouth is literally that of a seasoned master

– Look at him tsk-tsking lolol

– But the 5th ranker is also getting wrecked, is this for real?

– That 5th ranker is running away just as the Heavenly Demon said lololol

First, the commentary.

“Ah. Sapum-nim is really starting to avoid the fight. He seems to be trying to drag out time, but unless he resolved to flee from the very beginning, it is difficult with half his health already gone!”

There was no need to watch the first round any further.

By the way, even though the opponent allowed critical attacks to the neck and chest, was that trait build, which cut health in half in just two clashes, powerful?

‘If another ranker had chosen that…’

Because it was not yet clear, Bangju temporarily suspended his judgment.

“Ah, he dies. GG! Now they will proceed to the next round.”

Now, a waiting time was given to change traits at the starting point and prepare for the next round.

“Then, shall we go watch the replay? Let’s check whether he indeed used the unique technique of the Assassination Guild as I said.”

Bangju skillfully operated the replay, and the viewers chatted among themselves.

– lol Probably not

– Wait, isn’t someone in the chat saying even rankers don’t have it?

– Even for an Assassination Guild user, it takes quite a lot of time to master that lol

– Is it certain that the person in chat is a real ranker?

– But still, he won the first round dog easy. Dignity of the Unorthodox Faction isn’t a bad player either

– He was one of the candidates for the Number One Under Heaven, damn

Having plenty of experience conducting post-mortems or re-verifying through replays, Bangju quickly pinpointed the timestamp and brought up the screen.

Bangju crossed his arms and said.

“Now, then. Let’s take a look.”

The video played at 0.25x speed.

It was possible to see that the sword was slightly twisted at the perfect timing right before contact.

Although the angle was much smaller than what was normally seen, it clearly moved.

– ? What, it looks like it’s real?

– Crazy lololol

– He’s smiling, goosebumps

– Verified top-tier expert, acknowledged

– That actually works?

“Indeed! One of the important points of this technique is that while you make it impossible to parry, at the same time, you have to make it so the enemy can deflect one’s sword. Developing the sense to finely adjust all of this is the difficult part… If he really did it after seeing it for the first time today, it is truly an unbelievable talent!”

Bangju read the comments while rewinding the video again.

“You say that can’t be it? Who knows. Hehe. Now, I’m curious about what choice Dignity of the Unorthodox Faction will make against Seo-jun. Will he deliberately drag out time using stealth and speed from the start! Or will he go head-to-head with his skills again! He will probably be in deep conflict.”

If he resolved to run away, it could become quite difficult from Seo-jun’s perspective.

Even if the map was narrow, that is, if he well-combined several traits that allowed fast speed and stealth during movement.

However.

Bangju, who turned the screen back, widened his eyes.

“Ah! What is this? That choice. It has disappeared?”

Seo-jun was suddenly changing his traits.

– Why on earth is he changing it now of all times lol

– Drag out time? Then doesn’t he just have to not use the Great Art of Absorbing Stars? lololol

– Ah lol, he plays so dirty lololol