A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 4

『Action-Adventure Open World Stealth Franchise Game, Assassin’s Dawn.』

Upon its release, the game attracted over 2 million viewers on the first day and continued to generate buzz on Travel even a week later.

The latest series, 『Breath of the City』, was particularly praised for its high level of freedom and city-focused assassination gameplay from the very beginning.

People began to compare it to the most perfect open-world game ever and started to call it 『Assassin’s Dawn: Breath of the City』, abbreviated as 『Breath』.

“They say you can assassinate in any manner you want.”

When it came to assassination, the target would die in one strike, no matter how strong.

However, the player had to identify and choose everything themselves – from the assassination target, the target’s routine, the assassination location, the entry method, the assassination tools, and the escape route.

This high degree of freedom enabled all sorts of unconventional assassination gameplay, which kept the excitement alive.

Thus, even after a week, they boasted over 800,000 viewers.

『〈Assassin’s Dawn: Shadows of the City〉 has finished downloading.』

As the notification sounded, Sojun pressed the start stream button.

『Newbie both in streaming and in playing the Breath. Anyone to guide me?』

Taewoo had decided on the stream title.

“Although it’s not my first time playing a VR game…”

Since it’s a title that seasoned explorers and veterans of popular games couldn’t resist, Taewoo insisted it was necessary to attract people first.

Sojun was not entirely convinced.

As the message appeared indicating the stream would start in 5 seconds, Sojun took his eyes off the stream window and pressed the start game button.

In an instant, the lobby was engulfed in shadows, and modern European-style buildings began to spring up in the dark, empty space.

* * *

The starting point was an alley.

“Is this automatically progressing?”

Sojun’s body was moving on its own, performing parkour.

He passed through a malodorous street, scaled walls, and climbed up window sills.

*Clatter.*

“Who’s there?”

He clambered across a clothesline and knocked over a flowerpot on a balcony.

But Sojun’s body ignored it and continued, hanging onto a pole attached to a household and climbing up.

Upon reaching the rooftop, he began to leap across buildings, heading somewhere.

As the atmosphere brightened and he entered a place resembling an entertainment district, the surroundings became lively with sounds.

*Ha ha ha.*

*Ho ho ho.*

Ladies in opulent yet functional dresses and dandily dressed gentlemen occasionally came into view between the buildings, reminiscent of the Belle Époque era.

At some point, a clock tower standing alone in the city appeared before him.

Without hesitation, Sojun began to climb the exterior of the clock tower.

“It feels like I’m moving myself if I relax.”

However, when he tried to exert force and move as he wished, he instantly realized he lacked control.

He climbed like a climber propelling himself upward on a challenging course.

Approaching the top, there were no more grips on the wall.

*Whoosh.*

His chest tightened with the sensation of gravity, and as his body was pulled towards the ground, the world began to whirl.

Even as he fell, Sojun waited calmly with his muscles relaxed.

Then, his body automatically extended his right arm to shoot a wire at a flawless moment.

*Click.*

The hook latched onto the peak.

*Whirr!*

As the wire retracted, Sojun ascended, almost running up the side of the clock tower.

*Dong! Dong! Dong!*

The clock tower chimed just in time, and startled crows flew away with flapping sounds.

Riding the cool night breeze, the laughter and string instrument sounds from the entertainment district floated by, blending all urban dissonance into an announcement of the game’s start.

It felt like it was showing the kind of city players would explore.

“Nice direction.”

Sojun took a brief moment to enjoy the scenery.

“Hey, Dane. This mission might get you killed.”

A beautiful soft voice was heard.

His body turned towards the direction of the sound, where a woman in a hood emerged from the shadows, golden hair peeking out from under her hood.

“Heh heh. Christina. When has it ever been safe?”

Sojun’s lips opened.

However, the voice wasn’t his; it was probably the character named Dane’s.

“That’s…”

“If you plan to kill, be ready to die.”

“Okay, fine. But be cautious. They might have noticed.”

“Don’t worry. Just stay at the tavern.”

Christina nodded and handed him a note, then whispered softly.

“There is no truth. Only suspicion.”

Sojun responded.

“Not even chaos.”

Then, he shot a wire, hooked it to a nearby rooftop, and began descending like a zip line.

As he approached the end, he let go and landed on a street lamp, jumping down to the ground.

The moment his foot touched the ground, Sojun felt power spreading through his body.

“Ah, ah.”

Was the tutorial over? He could speak properly and move his limbs.

*Ding-*

『Tutorial Quest – Assassination Mission』
『Etor was both a high-ranking noble and a middle manager for a secret organization that supplied orphans from the streets to the Knights Order and the Magic Tower.

In response, the assassination squad assigned the mission to assassinate Etor to their member, dain.

Quest Clear Condition: The death of Etor』

A notification sound rang out, and the game system window appeared.

A route to Etor’s mansion and his location were displayed on the map.

“So, I have to assassinate him. First, I need to head over there.”

Sojun, who was playing a game other than those in the AOS genre for the first time, had a rough idea of what to do.

He initially walked straight in the direction marked with a blue sign.

When he encountered a blocked path, an alarm popped up.

『Climb the pipe.』

As he grabbed the pipe and exerted a little strength, it felt similar to when Dane moved his body.

“So, this is how the correction works.”

However, when he completely relaxed, he slipped down.

『Try jumping.』

He was supposed to jump over the buildings, but he was curious about what would happen if he missed.

He fell straight between the buildings.

A slight pain coursed through his body.

『Try crossing using the rope.』

Even hanging onto the rope didn’t require much strength, so he continued to hang on.

After holding on for a while, he began to feel a loss of strength.

Once again, he fell to the ground.

Just as he was enjoying the unfamiliar experience, Sojun remembered something he had forgotten.

‘I was streaming, wasn’t I?’

Even though it hadn’t been long, he wondered how many viewers there were…

『4 viewers』

He was surprised by the unexpected number.

Usually, he wouldn’t get even one viewer if he streamed all day, but was it thanks to choosing the right game or the stream title?

Unsure, he opened the chat window.
– This newbie is real, lol
– Haha, watching newbie streams for this

– If this was acting, it would win a Nobel Prize, lol

Oh.

Viewers were chatting among themselves.

He felt a bit embarrassed knowing they had seen everything that just happened.

“Sorry, I just saw the chat now.”

– Haha, it’s okay. Watching you being fascinated alone was pretty fun, lol

Three of the four viewers were chatting.

『Knight in White Armor』
『The Best Defense is a Winter Defense』
『Public Toilet Brick Theft King』

‘Those nicknames.’

They were funny yet intriguing.

Was this kind of nickname in trend here?

Putting those thoughts aside, Sojun recalled the advice given by Taewoo.

‘If there are no viewers, practice filling the sound. If there are viewers, try communicating without disrupting the flow of the stream.’

People often come to streams with fewer viewers because it’s easier to interact.

In the massive streams led by big-time streamers, the chat often moves too fast and gets buried.

Sojun attempted light conversation as he moved toward his objective point.
– Are you really a newbie, host?

“Yes, I am.”

– Haha, I checked your past records and they were clean. The account creation date was two days ago too.

“You can check that?”

– Yes

– You need to switch it to private.

“That sounds like a hassle.”

Sojun didn’t feel the need to turn it off.
– So how did you start streaming if it’s such a hassle?

– Right, lol

‘It’s nice they are active in chat, but is this alright?’

Feeling the need to examine other streams’ chats, he asked, “Hmm, I’ve arrived quickly. What should I do next?”

– Open the note

– Once you open the note, you can view information about the mansion in three dimensions.
– As it’s a tutorial, it provides extensive information including assassination routes; just follow it accordingly.

Surprisingly, this time, he answered properly.

Sojun opened the note as instructed, and a blueprint system activated, presenting a 3D screen before his eyes, much like those seen in movies.

He could zoom in and out on a point of interest, rotate the view, and even modify the map. It displayed not only the mansion’s structure, secret passages, and enemy positions, but also the detailed infiltration route leading to Etor’s location.

Etor was situated in a bedroom on the second floor, which was the most interior part of the mansion.

“There are twenty enemies. As for weapons in the inventory… an assassin’s gauntlet and a cane?”

The cane was a weapon designed for both assassination and self-defense, with a slender sword concealed inside the cane that could be drawn in situations of imminent danger. The cane itself had a shallowly embedded blade that could cut through enemies. Its tip was pointed, similar to the end of a sword.

The gauntlet contained an assassination blade that extended from the back of the hand and a wire that fired from the wrist.

“Are these weapons part of the basic tutorial setup? Anyway, I just need to kill Etor, right?”

– ㅇㅇ

– Yes.
– ㅇㅇ

Shall I give it a try?

Sojun held the cane and walked straight to the main gate.

However, there was an immediate objection in the chat.
– I told you to follow the note’s instructions exactly

– Leave him be, others who tried the main gate figured out they’ll need to scale the walls after getting killed.
– Our lord approaches

“Why? Shouldn’t I go through the main gate?”

– No backseating. The host is a newbie. Just watch.
– Fine. ㅇㅇ Open the main gate and enter quickly

– They’re fodder. Just one hit and they’re dead.

The shift in stance was remarkable.

“Hmm, so I guess the main gate is a no-go.”

– Oh no, the host noticed, you guys!
– The lord was about to go, but then changed his mind.

Sojun felt puzzled by the viewers’ reactions.

“I heard you can do anything in this game. So, why can’t I go through the main gate?”

– I told you, you can.
– ㄱㄱ

– Hahaha, these guys, stop messing with the newbie.

A quiet observer couldn’t hold back anymore and typed in the chat.
– Usually, instead of sneaking in and killing targets, some aim to kill every enemy in sight, which is called the ‘Musou Play’…

The viewer’s explanation went as follows.

In this game, when undertaking a mission, although one could kill the target in one hit no matter how high their status, if caught, they would have to engage in intense melee combat with NPCs that had several times more HP than the player. Thus, people usually tried not to get detected.

However, some veteran players disregarded the assassination plans and boldly stormed through the main gate.

This was known as Musou Play.

Despite the lack of an information-gathering phase, Musou Play was significantly more challenging than standard assassinations.

This particular game, shadow in the City, was praised for encouraging assassination play while maintaining freedom in difficulty adjustment.

“So, is it impossible to clear the tutorial with Musou Play?”

– Not sure. No one has done it yet.
– Streamers find it more beneficial to play other parts than waste time on it, haha

– Someone tried for 10 hours before giving up and promised to clear it after the first ending.
– Even the community veterans haven’t reported success.

“So, it’s not impossible, right?!”

Sojun focused solely on this point.
– ㅇㅇ Probably only possible if you have control like Shin Hayun.
– In theory, you just need to dodge all attacks from Etor within the time limit and hit all critical points with your attacks.
– Sounds easy, right? Haha, anybody can beat Shin Hayun, right?

“Shin Hayun? Fine, I’ll give it a try!”

Sojun said confidently.

After all, a win was still a win, even against AI.
– ?????

– Do you even know who Shin Hayun is?

– Get that guy who said anyone can beat Shin Hayun, haha

Sojun proceeded to walk towards the main gate.
– Our lord is indeed going

– Oh, newbie… Do you need to touch a hot stove to know it burns?

– Five minutes later, the host (crawling on the ground): Are you sure this way avoids them? Haha

– Hahahahaha

TL’s Corner:
도숨 – Breath is a combination of 도(do) from 도심(City) and 숨(sum) from 숨결.
The word Breath doesn’t have any meaning itself, so I opted to use Breath instead.
Musou Play is the only way!
The term “musou game” for games like Dynasty Warriors came about from the Japanese name of the series, which is “Sangokumusou” (三国無双).
The word “musou” (無双) means “unmatched” or “peerless”, and it refers to the ability of the characters to defeat hundreds of enemies with their powerful attacks.

There are also two installments for Assassin’s Dawn.
Assassin’s Dawn: Shadows in the City (암살단의 여명-도심 속 그림자)
Assassin’s Dawn: Breath of the City 암살단의 여명-도시의 숨결