A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 24

The moment Sojun’s sword precisely pierced the intersection, a crackling sound erupted right in front of him. It all happened in an instant. A blue current of lightning flowed swiftly into the sword.

As the blue lightning was absorbed by Sojun’s sword, the blade turned white and gained weight, producing a heavy, tingling sensation.

“Hmph!”

Sojun swung his sword. The white lightning that had clung to the blade burst forth with a crackling noise and rushed towards the wall.

Kwakakang!

The lightning struck directly at the bookshelf attached to the wall and lingered for about a second before vanishing.

Thud.

Boom!

As books tumbled to the floor, the desk collapsed under them.

-Wow? ㄷㄷ
-Using magic as is?
-What did he do? Didn’t use a weak spot, did he?
-There he goes, doing something only he can do again.

It was exactly as described.

A clue to attacking the Tower Lord of the Magic Tower.

‘He indeed was the actual creator. As expected.’

Sojun laughed contentedly and reclined.

Crack!

Above him, lightning sped past. Sojun identified the minute intersection and stabbed his sword again, then swung it towards the Tower Lord of the Magic Tower. The white lightning shot towards the Tower Lord, directly striking the shield.

Though he could’ve dodged with instant movement, the Tower Lord chose to stand his ground. The translucent, spherical shield cracked visibly.

“It seems it can be broken by his own magic.”

As blue lightning drew lines in the air, white lightning responded by drawing lines again.

The offense and defense repeated until the cracks on the shield grew larger and finally shattered.

Immediately after, Sojun swung his sword towards the glass container at the back, sending lightning flying.

“You wretched scum!”

The Tower Lord’s pupils dilated momentarily. He had no choice but to teleport as Sojun stood his ground.

Crash!

Finally, the glass container broke. Inside it, a ring the size of a soccer ball began to glow and tremble.

The Magic Tower Lord, who had evaded to Sojun’s side, furrowed his brow and started glaring at him.

“Huff… You think breaking that will solve everything, don’t you? But that’s a misconception. The core is merely a device that refines and transmits the Tower’s infinite magic to me more efficiently.”

Shrugging, Sojun replied, “Well, you’re panicking.”

-ㄹㅇLOL
-It looks solved to me
-Did he discover the secret of infinite mana?
-A transformer, ㄷㄷ

Despite Sojun’s mockery, the Tower Lord continued undeterred.

“Even without the core, I can still use infinite magic. More magic will only make me stronger. Since it’s come to this, I’ll use this power to end you swiftly.”

As veins glowed blue across the Tower Lord’s face.

“You sure talk a lot,” said Sojun, resting his sword on his shoulder.

-That explanation though, was he flustered?
-Transformer confirmed
-Just need to hold out
-Go to Phase 3!

Gamers with experience quickly caught on. They realized that if Sojun survived the restricted time, the Tower Lord would self-destruct.

Sojun also noticed this by reading the chat window.

“The AI is pretty dumb. Without using lightning, I can’t break the shield. The AI digs its own grave by using lightning.”

-ㄹㅇLOL
-If they just used basic magic and shields, streamer-nim would run out of time and end it himself, lOLOLOL

“Then… Die!”

The Tower Lord extended his hand. The magic that materialized seemed to draw in the atmosphere, feeling much stronger than before. The Tower Lord then disappeared.

He reappeared behind Sojun.

“You pest.”

Boom!

Thunder roared as a blue line drew itself into existence.

Hearing the sound, Sojun dodged right. As he tried to impale the lightning with his sword, the ground beside him shot up. Sojun swiftly altered his sword’s trajectory to destroy the rising rock, causing the lightning to dissipate.

The Tower Lord vanished again, this time reappearing in front of Sojun. Sojun didn’t miss the veiny hand of the Tower Lord.

Boom!

The Tower Lord’s magic began to surge more fiercely than before, with increased intensity and speed.

Sojun sought patterns amidst the downpour of magic.

-The difficulty is insane
-Streamer-nim is avoiding everything too
-Are we supposed to solo this or not?
-ㄹㅇLOL They put so much effort into making it only for no one to clear it due to the difficulty.

“So true. I always feel that the creator is kind of a pervert.”

Ice arrows whizzed past both sides of Sojun. At the same time, lightning struck from behind.

“And even if I don’t know how long we have to hold out, it’s better to finish it than let things self-destruct, right?”

Sojun dodged to the side and immediately thrust his sword into the lightning.

The sword charged with a white glow.

– Don’t dodge while looking at the chat, you idiot.
– LOLOLOL LOLOLOL
– Declaring to finish in the middle of this mess.
– The sword generating lightning really does look awesome

White lightning shot from the tip of Sojun’s sword. At the same time, blue lightning flew in. The two spells intersected in midair. It was dangerous.

“Guess they relied on the shield and just fired it off.”

The shield refilled by the Tower Lord shattered, and Sojun dodged the lightning. He drew his sword from the scabbard and thrust it into the center of the magic, then pulled it out. The electrical energy gathered once again.

‘This ends here.’

Now, without the shield, it was the perfect opportunity.

Kwakakang!

Lightning struck from the tip of Sojun’s sword. Naturally, the Tower Lord wasn’t there. He had teleported.

But then,

“Gah.”

A sound came from the right.

– ???”
– What happened?”
– Why is the Tower Lord’s belly pierced by a sword?”
– Dang LOLOLOL LOL he predicted that.

“Mages’ bodies are indeed fragile.”

Sojun’s right hand was empty. He had predicted the teleportation, unleashed the lightning, and thrown his sword simultaneously. Sojun approached and pulled the sword from the Tower Lord’s stomach.

Cough.

Thick blood flowed from the Tower Lord’s mouth. The Tower Lord, clutching his waist, raised his head and glared.

“You insect…”

“Shut up.”

The tip of Sojun’s sword glowed, marking the end of the Tower Lord’s raid.

『The Magic Tower Lord has been slain.』
『You have acquired a Fragment of Order (3/4).』

– Wow!
– Watch the ending again. That was epic.
– He probably let his guard down? Caught him by luck?
– Stop talking nonsense LOLOLOL
– He kept dodging the lightning, so he threw the sword LOLOLOL LOL

“Crazy.”

“This time, no guards will come, right?”

Sojun spoke while looking around the tower.

– ㅇㅇㅇ
– Three Rulers down!
– Another first clear

“Then, I’ll claim the mission rewards.”

『Cleared without exploiting weak points against the Tower Lord — Mission reward: 1,417,000 won』

Sojun pressed the success button for the mission, which had the reward increased to 1.4 million won. The characteristic congratulatory notification sound rang as the prize was sent to Sojun in the form of a donation.

– LOLOLOL LOLOLOL Safe assets, my foot. It was extremely risky.
– Just watch.
– Would have been fun with a bet too.
– Only streamer-nim is grinning

『’Ark’-nim has donated 100,000 won!』
『Well done. I guess you just needed skill to clear it. ㄷㄷ』

“Thank you, Ark-nim, for the 100,000 won donation.”

But something about the donation message seemed meaningful. Sojun saw the reason upon looking at the chat.

“Oh, it’s the post owner.”

– Ark was watching ㄷㄷ
– A famous analyst.
– Former professional in collectible card games.
– Ark’s official statement: just skill.
– Officially, Sojun’s skill is unmatched.
– Officially, if Sojun were a pro, he’d win

He seemed to be quite famous.

Anyway, how far will this go, guys?

Sojun shook his head.

“Alright, now I’ll take a leisurely look around the tower. No one will disturb me.”

– Killed them all, hahaha.
– By the way, I want to get the Weakpoint Perception too, it looks so cool.
– Do you really think you can handle magic with that?
– Not hoping for lightning either, hahaha.

Sojun had been chatting with people while surveying the map before he descended. The moment he stepped out of the Magic Tower, a cutscene played.

– Oh???
– This is new to me.
– Has anything ever not been new in this stream, hahaha.

* * *

In the colored light streaming through the stained-glass windows, a woman with purple hair flowing to her shoulders, wearing a distinctive hat pulled low, walked in, her heels echoing. The scene shifted to a man looking up at a mural, and then the woman stood beside him. Both were dressed in tidy uniforms.

The man spoke first.

“Altheon?”

The man’s head didn’t move as he stared at the mural.

“We have found someone to take over our work,” a melodious voice came from the woman with purple hair, who also glanced at the mural.

“Have all been dealt with?” she asked.

“No. Only the rotten branches. Three out of four.”

– Looks like guild master is speaking.
– Aren’t they from the Organization?
– Calling them rotten branches? They probably are.

The storyline of the Assassins’ Dawn revolved around the fight between the Organization and the Assassins. Even after the reboot from the capsule, the dynamic of Assassins killing the societal evils within the Organization had not changed.

The Assassins pursued chaos, while the Organization pursued order. The Assassins saw the Organization’s rule as tyranny, while the Organization saw the Assassins’ freedom as anarchy.

Here, chaos meant a state of freedom that gave birth to order rather than simple disorder.

“Was it the Assassins?”

A monotone voice asked.

“I don’t know. They didn’t assassinate in their usual manner,” the woman’s voice teased the ears.

– Hahaha.
– Streamer-nim. The developer is saying it’s not an assassination?
– Hahahaha.
– According to the developer, the mod’s act wasn’t an assassination.
– This is going to be controversial.

The viewers seemed fixated on something obscure.

“Can we persuade them to our side?” the woman spoke first this time.

“I don’t know.”

The man echoed her words.

“We’ll have to go directly, then,” the woman sighed, turning to leave again.

“You were planning to go anyway.”

“Well, true.”

The woman paused briefly to adjust her hair after taking off her hat, revealing a face as beautiful as Christina’s from the tutorial, creating a stir among the viewers.

– That nuna is coming to see us?
– Definitely the Organization in the storyline, hahaha.
– Should I ditch the Assassins?
– Oh, seems like I liked being oppressed.
– Are you all crazy? It’s always Christina nuna.
– So what is this video?
– So annoying that only the mod gets to see these things in the game, hahaha.

* * *

“You finally caught the Tower Lord!”

Eve Faimo laughed tiredly. It was amusing to be disappointed after setting up the mission herself, but she didn’t expect the streamer to catch the Tower Lord so relentlessly.

To defeat a Tower Lord with Musou, one had to disable the barrier. Among those, the easiest way would have been using the Weakpoint Perception to break it. Therefore, she had challenged the streamer to find the barrier’s weakness without using the Weakpoint Perception.

But somehow, the streamer’s vision was extraordinary enough to find and counter the lightning magic, which was visible for only a second, clearing it without any skills. The lightning counter, called ‘Thunder Reflection’, was a cool system feature implemented to make it exciting.

“Thinking about it, the other Rulers were also taken down by brute force. Well then, now that the cutscene has played, the next stream will focus on collecting the Fragments of Order….”

Eve Faimo wasn’t an idiot who engaged in the stream just because all employees were working overtime without any consideration. She wanted to verify something: the ability to discern the grain and the skill to consecutively defeat the Rulers.

“I just need to recruit that streamer,” she thought.

Other players? Honestly, she didn’t think she could gather anyone else.

“Just one week left!”

With a satisfied smile, she called out Kim Yunchan.

“Hmm, what kind of gift would be good?”