It’s not that kind of malicious broadcast

Chapter 52 – Know Your Enemy, Know Yourself, and You Will Never Be Defeated

“Ah. Ah. Can you hear me well?”

“Loud and clear~ Good.”

Before starting the broadcast, Revan met with Dodat in advance through Dot chat and Discourse voice chat to check the settings.

“Shall we warm up with our secondary accounts for the first game? I have a secondary account that’s about 30 master points.”

“Yes, that sounds good. I have one that’s about 12 master points.”

This was partly due to Revan’s meticulous preparation but also because he had something he wanted to ask before the broadcast began.

“Ah, hyung. I have something to ask you.”

As they wrapped up the settings and chit-chat about various things, with about ten minutes left before the broadcast, Revan casually started the conversation.

“Huh? What is it?”

“Do you know ‘CravingWarmAmericano’? GetDevoured? Anyway, do you know that person?”

Dodat, who was continuing the conversation nonchalantly, paused momentarily as if hesitating. Then, he said, “It would be a stretch to say I know them… We’ve seen each other’s broadcasts, that’s about it. Why?”

“I ran into them while using a secondary account before, and they seemed a bit… unusual. I’ve never seen a rogue of that caliber even in Challenger, but I encountered them in Master. So, since you’re the rogue expert… I was wondering if you might know where they came from.”

Revan had never seen a rogue of that level. Though he expressed it cautiously, it clearly meant that they were better than him.

Even though he acknowledged that himself, hearing it from a close younger gamer renowned for his keen gaming insight as a Challenger was a different matter. Dodat, who had been silent for a moment, replied in a bitter tone.

“Indeed. I don’t know where they came from either… Before long, if you mention rogue, it will be GetDevoured. I don’t even want to say I play rogue anymore.”

“Ah, that’s not what I meant-”

“Even on my fan cafe, as soon as someone joined impersonating GetDevoured, there were people causing a stir. I don’t know, but it seems they’re already quite famous among rogue users.”

Unfortunately, dodat could not have imagined that the person who caused a stir on the day they joined under the ID ‘CravingWarmAmericano’ was actually Yena herself.

Especially after receiving an email demanding he fulfill his duty…

“Still, I think once they make a big splash soon, people will start digging in to find out. Considering from the beta, how many rogue users could there be worldwide?”

“Maybe. Ah, it’s about time. I’ll go turn on the broadcast and start the greetings.”

“Yeah~”

***

About the Matching System in KoK.

I don’t know much about KoK’s matching system, but there are two things I know for sure. No faction gets more than one pair of duos.

And if there is a duo in one faction, there must be a duo in the opposing faction.

It’s a reasonable rule. From the perspective of someone who prefers solo queue, in my experience, solo play in queues with multiple duos is really… inconvenient.

For now, it’s a really reassuring rule too.

When queuing as a duo, the chances of getting into the same queue as the Dodat-Revan duo increase significantly—

Most importantly, the chance of being on the same team disappears. As I timed the queue, I apologized to Ark.

“Ah. I’m sorry. It got delayed more than I thought.”

《It’s okay! Are we queuing now?》

“Yes, yes. Let’s go.”

There’s not much time for opportunities. Revan and Dodat are users who play between Master and Challenger.

Moreover, queuing as a duo typically places you in higher-tier games.

So realistically, to match up with their duo queue, I would need a Challenger ID—but, since I’ve never been interested in raising my tier, I don’t have such an ID.

However, isn’t it said that if you know your enemy and yourself, you will never be defeated? War is essentially an information battle.

Dodat always starts his first game with a secondary account that hovers between high Diamond and low Master.

So, the first game is the shot with the highest probability. With a familiar sound, the queue was matched—

A quick glance confirmed that they also entered the queue on their broadcast.

『GetDevoured: I’ll go underground rogue』

Naturally, I typed on the keyboard to announce my position and looked at the chat.

『Masese Sedance: Top Holy Knight』

『Ark: I’ll go mage』

『C’thun: Ah』

『C’thun: Can you possibly yield rogue?』

Huh?

What… what did I just see?

《Ah, what should we do? Our positions overlapped. Yena-nim, you said you only play rogue, right?》

『GetDevoured: Yes, of course!! I’ll take any leftover position! Is Holy Knight available?』

Oh my goodness, a new rogue novice is starting to emerge even in the Master tier?

This is irresistible.

*

The lifeless branches barely clinging to the trees, and the withered brown grass spread across the ground.

The plants at the center of the battlefield, soaked with blood instead of water, look so lifeless.

Perhaps it’s not the nutrients from the absorbed blood but the greater agony of the spirits that have perished – such a useless thought crossed the mind of the Holy Knight, dodat.

It was a sign that he couldn’t concentrate on the enemy in front of him, on the battle.

It was because of an unexpected name he found in the enemy list a while ago. No, it was because of a familiar name playing an unexpected role.

It was because of that approaching Holy Knight.

There was no radiance symbolizing the Holy Knight, no large shield to protect his teammates.

All he held was a long, two-handed sword. On the left wrist, where the Holy Knight’s shield should be, was a small piece of wood – a mockery of the Holy Knight’s rule to protect their comrades with a shield.

Could that small wooden piece, smaller than a buckler used by a four-year-old learning sword and shield, be claimed as a shield?

The Holy Knight narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth as he watched the opponent approach, swinging the two-handed sword.

Could that even be called a Holy Knight? Surely, the rogue knights known as Raubritter in ancient times must have looked like that.

The black helmet pulled over the head had no faceguard. It seemed to suggest that it was enough to dodge straightforward attacks or arrows.

The fierce glint in the eyes under the helmet that looked like just a hood, emitted a sense of madness.

That bizarre taste in armor wasn’t limited to the helmet. Despite wearing full plate armor, the gauntlets covering both hands boasted the unique shine of plate armor.

“No need to get swayed. No need to get swayed.”

Repeating to himself, the Holy Knight firmly planted his shield with his left arm and hid his body behind it. In a stable stance, he thrust the shield forward with his left arm and raised his sword high with his right, pointing the tip at the approaching opponent.

“Come at me.”

He intended to give the initiative.

He was already well-acquainted with the rogue’s insane level of reflexes from the previous trial by combat. Without overexerting, he planned to slowly dominate the territory and read the opponent’s moves.

As the rogue knight, loitering, approached and shook his sword as if measuring the distance, the Holy Knight matched his steps.

-BOOM!

In a moment of irregular timing, the rogue knight stomped the ground and struck the shield as if splitting wood. Had he reacted a second later, his left arm would have been severed.

It was a movement of such speed that couldn’t be seen unless one went all-in on mobility and attack speed.

“He has abandoned most of the Holy Knight-exclusive traits.”

Barely raising his shield in time to block the abnormally fast attack, he succeeded but at the cost of losing several breaths due to the strain on his body.

“I should have guessed it from the lack of auras.”

However, despite blaming himself, he did not lose his composure. From the outset, he had anticipated that this rogue would employ such unorthodox tactics and welcomed any form of initiative.

Calmly, he took a step forward.

The opponent was wielding a two-handed sword that required significant strength even for simple thrusts. For an attack with that much force—

Surely, he would want to chain it at least once. And if he were to chain an attack, its position was certain.

Without hesitation, the Holy Knight advanced, raising his shield diagonally to the upper left and solidifying his stance.

As expected, the rogue’s two-handed sword, swung downwards as if intending to cleave him from the head, clashed once more with the shield.

However.

-Thunk!

A light sound.

It meant that, thanks to a courageous step forward, the opponent’s attack had missed, not even hitting the shield.

“Now.”

That arrogant rogue knight had no shield. And, with his two-handed sword already swung, he couldn’t defend in time.

The Holy Knight lunged forward with all his might, swinging his right hand like a whip to deliver a horizontal slash aimed at the rogue knight’s waist.

This strike would end the battle, a critical blow prepared from the beginning to slice through the joints of that thick armor and topple the opponent—

-Bwhoong

The Holy Knight’s eyes widened in shock.

His sword did not connect with the opponent, who had already retreated three steps back. It meant the opponent began to evade even before his attack initiated, having anticipated his every move.

But, this wasn’t a reaction possible within human perception. Unless the rogue knight had read his entire attack pattern, how—

“How.”

There was no time for contemplation. The rogue knight had already closed the distance, bringing down his raised two-handed sword.

He couldn’t block such a forceful strike, but he could deflect it. The Holy Knight’s eyes, momentarily wavering in despair, regained clarity. If he could deflect it and counterattack, he could regain his momentum.

In a split second.

Just one moment—

-Krrrrk!

The sound of the descending sword sliding off his angled shield.

“I did it!”

Hearing the long-awaited sound, the Holy Knight’s face beamed with triumph as he prepared to thrust his right hand holding the sword—

Until he saw the fist right in front of his face.

-Thwack

The Holy Knight was struck straight across the face by a punch carrying the weight of a plated gauntlet, sprawling pathetically to the ground. He had no strength to recover his posture.

Lying on the dirt, his blurred vision caught sight of his two-handed sword also lying on the ground.

“I didn’t deflect it… he just dropped his sword?”

Filled with shock and rage, the Holy Knight’s eyes finally looked up at the sky—

Only to see the rogue knight, now holding the two-handed sword in reverse grip, about to strike down at his neck.

《Skill-wise, the rogue knight is superior.》

A final word, like a farewell, reached his ears.

-Pwoosh.

For some reason, the voice reminded him of his ex-girlfriend who doubted his intentions—

No, it was the voice of his senior who had suspected he went for an interview at a major company on the day he took leave.

TL’s Corner:

Random scrub’s POV for most of the chapter, but we all know who the rogue knight is.

Also, clarification, holy knight’s raw is 성기사, which has the literal translation of holy knight.

기사 means knight, and the rogue knight is 탑기사.

And the rogue knight isn’t really a class in KoK. It’s just a holy knight that plays like a rogue. And you should know who likes to do that kind of unhinged stuff.