Chapter 5

[7 viewers]

Seo-jun checked the bottom of the broadcast screen. Somehow, the viewer count had increased by 3 more people.

It really might have been because of the broadcast title.

-I bet he dies right here

-Anyone want to bet on how many times the streamer dies before giving up?

While he was thinking about this, chats belittling him appeared.

But it didn’t matter.

Looking down on him like that, mocking him, teasing the streamer—all of that was part of the viewers’ entertainment.

As long as it wasn’t so excessive that it became problematic.

And skill? He just needed to prove it.

“Who goes there!”

As Seo-jun approached the mansion, two guards standing at the main gate drew their swords and began walking toward him.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got the hang of it now.”

-Got the hang of it. (First time today)

-Don’t worry! (Nobody’s worried)

-Wait, was all that falling earlier you getting the hang of it? LOL

Seo-jun decided to first gauge the speed of himself versus the guards.

The moment he made up his mind, he instantly closed the distance and lightly swung his cane.

“Take off your hood immedia…”

Clang!

A light strike to test the waters.

The guard blocked it without much trouble.

‘Their level is pretty high.’

And then came the follow-up from Guard 2, positioned behind Seo-jun.

“Intruder!”

Strength flowed into Seo-jun’s feet.

He quickly lowered his stance and twisted his waist, taking in the enemy’s movements with his eyes. And in that split second, he predicted.

Guard 2’s pupils reflected the hooded figure.

Seo-jun planned to deflect Guard 2’s sword and then launch an attack.

But then.

Claaaang!

The moment the swords met, the background rippled with effects and Guard 2 staggered backward before falling into a stunned state.

-Oh, got lucky lol

-That became a parry

-Lol lucky

“Hmm?”

Seo-jun couldn’t properly grasp what had happened, but he didn’t miss the opportunity and rushed at Guard 2, thrusting his cane into his throat.

The HP depleted all at once. As if he’d died instantly.

‘What?’

And when he deflected Guard 1’s approaching sword again, the same phenomenon occurred.

Claaaang!

-???

-Damn, should’ve bought a lottery ticket lol

-2 consecutive parries, that’s insane

-What’s insane, it’s just luck

Seo-jun experimented by lightly striking the stunned guard.

But the health bar was carved away in chunks.

In the end, before he could even hit twice, the guard followed his friend into death.

Seo-jun asked the viewers to find out the cause.

“Guys, what’s parrying?”

-Did it without even knowing what parrying is? Natural talent

-No, it was coincidence, what talent lol

-Parrying happens by coincidence?

-Then parrying is something a newbie can do?

-For real lol

“Let’s not fight. Can someone explain what parrying is?”

A brief silence followed, and then the viewer who had explained Assassin’s Dawn to him earlier began explaining.

-Parrying usually means deflecting an opponent’s attack, but in this game, just hitting it away has no effect. If you hit perpendicular to the opponent’s attack with perfect timing, the opponent becomes stunned. In the stunned state, they take a lot of damage. This is called parrying.

-Parrying is basically the only hope for hack-and-slash gameplay. But even former pros who were confident in their physical skills failed at parrying and went back to gathering assassination intel lol

-But those guys retired because they couldn’t cut it, right?

Former pros found it difficult too?

Seo-jun thought of the Level 9 AI called the Gatekeeper of Pros.

If the level of pros who retired due to lack of skill was similar to that…

‘That makes sense.’

It made perfect sense instantly.

Perfectly deflecting meant being able to perfectly predict the enemy’s attacks and move your body freely at any desired angle.

It would be difficult.

For other people.

“Got it. But it seemed easy?”

Seo-jun smiled as he boldly entered the mansion interior through the main gate.

-That confidence is so annoying lol

-That was luck, newbie!!

-No no, the way I see it, those movements weren’t luck? Something’s off

-Who the hell are you lmao

-Does parrying really look that easy to you

-Something’s definitely off lmao. Who are you lol

Chats consecutively appeared where the person who noticed Seo-jun’s skill was being mocked in return.

Seeing this reminded Seo-jun of his past life.

In his past life, even when he easily defeated disciples of major sects despite his humble origins and unaffiliated status, the results were always belittled by the major sects.

Whether the opponent had been drinking the night before, was going easy, or was careless.

They gave excuses more shameful for a martial artist than lack of skill, but Seo-jun had no background to call them out on it.

Just vaguely brushing it off and burying the matter—that was the major sects’ goal.

Even so, his past life self hadn’t dwelled on it.

Instead, he proved himself until the very end, and when that happened, the sects then excessively praised his achievements.

To justify their own defeats.

Of course, the chat window and his past life memories weren’t the same thing.

But the essence was the same.

There was only one thing to do.

When Seo-jun entered through the main gate, five soldiers were blocking his way.

They had heard the earlier shouts from the guards.

Having had plenty of time to prepare, they were equipped with shields and armor.

Seo-jun thrust his cane lightning-quick at the throat of the leftmost soldier.

Because that soldier was closest and in a slightly relaxed state that would make it hard to react.

Thwack!

A soldier beside him reacted and knocked away the tip of Seo-jun’s cane.

Seo-jun’s right arm, which had thrust the cane, was pushed outward.

Then the soldier Seo-jun had originally targeted brought his sword down from above toward Seo-jun.

‘This is what I was waiting for.’

Seo-jun immediately gripped his cane in reverse and raised it perpendicular to the soldier’s downward strike.

Clang!

Once again the background rippled and the chat exploded.

-????

-What is this?

Seo-jun confirmed the stunned soldier’s HP depleted as he thrust his cane into his throat, then rushed at the soldiers again.

Claaaang!

As if the game company had programmed them, their coordination was clean, but Seo-jun could see their openings far too clearly.

Claaaaang!

Movements that anyone would find admirable.

They all attacked from different angles, but Seo-jun moved his cane without missing a single one.

“If you want to catch me, you’d better bring the 108 Arhat Formation of Shaolin.”

Claaaang!

-?? Was the streamer a martial arts otaku?

-That’s not the important thing, he just succeeded at parrying 4 times in a row LOL

-Holy shit. Wow really….

-Still curious who I am? Still curious who I am? Still curious who I am?

“Da-damn it.”

“Run!”

When Seo-jun had dropped four of them, the last soldier who had fallen to the ground shouted at the standing soldier.

“Quickly request backup… Gahk.”

A cane pierced his throat.

Because after testing various ways of dealing damage to the stunned ones among them, Seo-jun found this was the cleanest method.

“Now that’s 6 down.”

-What does the streamer do for a living?

-Really a beginner???

-I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right.

“I really am a beginner. You saw earlier.”

-No lol why is someone who couldn’t even properly cross a rooftop this good

-For real, when he fell off the rope I thought I found a cute newbie broadcast to pamper, but turns out it was a broadcast by an amazing veteran

-What are you guys talking about?

-Check the replay

-Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I?

“Hey, ‘I Am Joseon’s Assassin,’ if you spam any more you’re getting banned.”

-Yep

-Establishing discipline wow

-Lol serves him right

‘I Am Joseon’s Assassin’ was the username of the viewer who had recognized Seo-jun’s skill earlier only to be mocked.

Scrolling up, Seo-jun could see that besides what he’d confirmed, other viewers had kept mocking him.

Right up until Seo-jun succeeded at his third parry.

“Now, I understand, but if viewers fight among themselves, I’ll have no choice but to ban them.”

-Yes

-Yes

-What’s scary about getting banned from a shack broadcast?

Suddenly a provocative chat appeared.

Shack broadcast.

While high-viewer broadcasts were often compared to major corporations, this was a contrasting expression born from the idea that broadcasts with no viewers were like doing business in a shabby shack.

-Go ahead and ban me lmao

[lkiop1644 has been kicked out]

“There, done.”

[6 viewers]

Seo-jun quickly removed the viewer.

If he left such viewers alone because he was afraid of losing viewer count, other viewers might think ‘Is this the kind of broadcast where this is okay?’ and a bad atmosphere could form.

He couldn’t sell the broadcast’s future just because he didn’t want to lose one person right now.

Whether that future existed or not was uncertain, though.

-LOL insane reaction speed. As expected, good physical skills

-Wow, envious of being the season’s first ban!

Fortunately, the reaction wasn’t bad. Joseon’s Assassin wrote this chat,

-Honestly, with this level of talent, I think he’ll blow up soon, so getting banned would make you regret it later lmao

-For real lol

Hmm.

If he was getting this kind of evaluation, was he doing well?

In this life, he’d never properly lived in society so he didn’t know, and in his past life, because of his background he was mostly passive and didn’t often step forward, so he wasn’t sure.

In the martial world, background was too important. No, it was more important than anything else.

Depending on where he belonged, everything from the level of martial arts he could learn to his position and the fame he could achieve was practically predetermined.

What they ate, the martial arts they learned, their teachers, experiences, the people they met.

Everything had to be different.

In such a world, he was an orphan captured from a foreign country.

Fortunately, an elder of the Martial Alliance from Mount Hua took him in.

And realizing his talent, brought him to a place where the rising talents of the orthodox sects were gathered.

At first, he was looked down upon.

But later, his talent that rivaled the world’s best stood out like an awl in a bag even there, and when his master tried to have him join Mount Hua, the interference of other major sects who couldn’t bear to see Mount Hua’s power increase meant he couldn’t belong anywhere.

A martial artist who represented nothing and was represented by no one.

But his talent reached the heavens.

The aloof Sword God.

‘Actually, I had no choice but to be aloof. Hmm. No one lived as carefully as I did…’

That’s when it happened.

‘Senior hyung, please stop talking nonsense. Have you already forgotten how much we suffered because of the trouble you caused?’

He heard a phantom voice. This happened sometimes.

Anyway.

Seo-jun was satisfied with the current situation.

Because broadcasting was more fun than expected.

The game was fun too.

‘It feels like going on a martial world journey I’d never been on…’

But.

‘Senior hyung, wasn’t secretly going to the Namgung family and causing chaos exactly a martial world journey? Hm?’

Tch, this keeps interrupting the mood.

Anyway, it was good.

-But how are you so good at parrying?

-Seriously that, do newbies have some secret technique?

“Ah. But how difficult is parrying supposed to be?”

-All the veterans from previous series who came here bragging about going to fight directly disappeared at some point and started shouting ‘Breath of the City is an assassination masterpiece’

-Former pros also kept complaining that the timing judgment was too precise. They said you really have to deflect perfectly, so they fail one out of three times

-No lol stop bringing up kids who retired because they weren’t good enough

“I see.”

-Hurry up and tell us

-Spill it spill it spill it

Seo-jun answered honestly.

“Well, you just need to remember your past life.”

-??

-Streamer lol mental state level lol

“Or, just look and hit the sword perpendicularly.”

-???

-Ah whatever, I wasn’t expecting much anyway lol

-Wasn’t expecting much (was spamming earlier)

Seo-jun finally couldn’t hold back his laughter.

-Playing tricks and laughing lol

-Hey, is it fun teasing us? Hey, hey put this down

-If you put this down the streamer will parry you

-Lmao

Seo-jun thought while laughing.

‘I guess I really am cut out for broadcasting?’

Communication was more fun than expected.

-So when are you going to move?

-If you stay like this they’ll all swarm you

“Ah, that’s…”

Clatter clatter clatter

“This way!”

“There’s an intruder this way!”

Enemies swarmed in.

Thirteen in number.

Everyone in this mansion except Etor had come running.

The first two guards, plus the 1 who ran away, the 4 he killed, the 12 new ones swarming now.

And 1 Etor.

It was the twenty enemies he had initially identified.

-13 people? They all came, RIP

-o7

-Can’t help it since he’s a newbie. Usually if you don’t keep moving, they all swarm you.

Seo-jun calmly spread his arms and waited until the 8 enemies surrounded him.

-He’s given up.

-Just die here and skip the tutorial quickly to go to the main game. Can’t beat Etor anyway

And after being completely surrounded, he announced his plan.

“Guys, I’ll show you a 13-hit parry combo.”

After that, exactly one chat appeared.

-Bullshit