A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 7

The moment Sojun defeated Etor, he lost control of his body, and a cutscene began to play.

“The hypocritical assassin’s dog! I won’t go alone like this!”

“!”

However, unlike Sojun, Dane, who was now controlling the body, couldn’t react immediately. Etor, with a body close to death, dashed to the bedroom and tore up some parchment.

Boom!

A fierce explosion erupted nearby, causing the atmosphere to redden as if ignited.

“Damn it!”

Dane checked outside the window and saw buildings nearby exploding one by one, with flames and debris flying everywhere.

And if it continued like this, the next one would be…

Crash!

Dane, realizing the urgency, flung himself out the window to escape.

The screen showed Etor laughing behind him.

Boom!

The moment Dane smashed through the window and jumped, a massive explosion occurred behind him, with flames scorching Dane’s back.

Beep!

A ringing sound echoed as Dane lay on the grass, the world coming into focus bit by bit.

“Over here! There’s a terrorist here!”

From a distance, he could faintly see soldiers rushing towards him.

Despite his dizzy state, Dane forced himself to get up and started running.

He tripped over the mansion’s fence, got up again, and climbed onto the rooftops.

A chase ensued.

As the distance grew and Dane’s vision cleared, an arrow hit his shoulder from behind.

Following that, a magic missile struck directly.

Eventually, with his body in tatters, Dane fell into the river nearby.

Someone unknown watched the scene.

The soldiers, seeing him fall from the rooftop, assumed he was dead and moved on. And with that, the scene changed.

***

A man stared blankly at the sea.

As he started to walk away, a black shape carried by the waves came into view.

As he approached, he realized it was a corpse.

The man nonchalantly searched the corpse and drew out a brooch engraved with a flying eagle, a symbol of freedom, placing it into his pocket.

* * *

Once Sojun regained control of his body, he checked the chat window first.
– The cutscene hasn’t changed at all… T_T
– Dane dies every time…
– How can the protagonist loot a corpse? lol

Then Sojun said what he’d been wanting to say for a while.

“If it were me, I’d have deflected the arrows and magic.”

– Hahaha, sure you would.
– Destroying the atmosphere, lol.
– I can totally see you doing it.
– Seriously, doing that with someone else’s face is just mean.
– Right, lol.
– He kinda deserved to die, lol.

After confirming the chat’s reactions, Sojun clapped his hands.

“Alright, so what should we do now?”

The current location was a tavern.

Christina, whom he’d met during the tutorial, was cleaning a cup.

“Looks like she wants to talk to us…”

Sojun approached her. As he got closer, another automated sequence started.

“Customer? Do you need anything?”

“Need something? Yes, a lot.”

Christina showed signs of caution, and Sojun took out the brooch from his pocket and slammed it on the table.

Christina was startled and quickly hid the brooch, checking to see if other patrons had noticed. Relieved that there wasn’t much reaction, she hurriedly took Sojun to the kitchen where they could be alone.

“Who are you?”

“Calm down. I just came because I thought I could help.”

“What… do you mean?”

“I’m an expert. Especially in assassinations.”

“… How much do you know?”

“Everything. Your Assassin’s guild, the tiresome history with the Organization, and all the battles and purposes. Because I’ve fought against those Organization bastards in Sion.”

“You’re… from the west, aren’t you?”

“Exactly.”

“If you’re a mercenary who’s willing to do anything for money, you wouldn’t side with the guild. Fine then, let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Christina.”

“I’m…”

Sojun regained control over his mouth.
-Oh, are you finally picking a nickname?

-So his streamer name was really Jin Sojun?

-His real name isn’t bad, lol.

Currently, Sojun’s streamer name was his real name because he hadn’t changed it.

Streamers could set their names freely, just like a friend called Kim Taewoo, or name themselves after a percussion instrument, or slightly modify a trendy phrase.

‘The most straightforward option is my real name.’

Since he didn’t know how long he’d play, he didn’t see the point of overthinking it.

For the game nickname…

“Nameless.”

『Would you like to be known as ‘Nameless’?』

It was a popular phrase from a previous life.

Nameless. A name giving off an impression despite its meaning. It was quite popular in his past life.

『Yes.』

“Alright, fine, Nameless.”

“How should I contact you when needed?”

“Wait, before that, I need to know where the owner of this brooch is.”

“I buried him at the west dock.”

“Is that so? Got it.”

Christina showed a nonchalant reaction even after hearing about her colleague’s death.

It seemed to indirectly indicate how easily people could die in the line of work they were in.

『You can now receive assassination requests at the ‘Sun Tavern’!』

“Use this to contact me.”

『’Signal Stone’ obtained!』

Sojun received the item, a signal stone, and stepped out of the tavern.

“Why the sudden Nameless?”

“Is the streamer’s nickname going to be Nameless from now on?”

“How can a person’s name be Nameless? Hahaha.”

“Ah, Nameless is just my game nickname. I haven’t decided on a streaming name yet, so I’ll go with this for now. Call me whatever you’d like.”

『Watching: Jin Sojun 6 viewers』

“Alright everyone, I’m logging off now. I’ll stream at the same time tomorrow. Bye, tr… ahem, tova.”

Sojun fumbled saying goodbye in a cringey manner, which he seldom did.
– Did you just announce you’re logging off and then saved the game?

Games were tough in this regard. It wasn’t because he was getting older.

– Haha, you said you’re logging off.
– It’s fine. Really.
– Newbie haha, it’s like you’ve never played a game before.

Sojun shut off the game.

* * *

“Hey.”

“Hmm?”

“Is this you?”

『A total newbie just killed 13 enemies in a single frame while beating minor mobs and taking down Etor for the first time in the world (Absolutely Not Fake)』
『Views: 750』
『Likes: 25』

Taewoo clicked the video on his phone to verify.

“Anyone can tell it’s you.”

They were part of the Assassins’ Dawn community.

The reason was due to a strange chat that popped up in Sojun’s chat log a little while ago.

“I should have come early, now I missed it haha.”

As he reviewed the stream, Sojun thought he missed that particular comment during the live stream. Checking the time, he saw it appeared a few minutes after he had logged off.

So he scrolled up through the chat log.

“Is this the Musou stream?”

“Why is it off?”

Other similar comments were plentiful.

Sojun was puzzled. There shouldn’t have been people visiting after he logged off. Of course, well-known big streamers might have people drop by even after the stream ends, but Sojun had only just had 6 viewers.

He then asked Taewoo, who had logged off around the same time, and found that post.

『A Newbie’s First Stream who Parried 13-on-1 in the Tutorial, handled Mobs, and Achieved the World’s first Perfect Clear of Etor (Not Fake, seriously)』

====

(Video of 1vs13)

(Video showing first-time clear of Musou Etor)

====

A user named ‘I am Joseon’s Assassin’ had diligently clipped and uploaded the video.

‘It was that particular viewer.’

An impressive viewer indeed. From recognizing his skills early to actively participating.

Sojun scrolled down to look at the comments.
– No way, the title itself is a lie.
– I am Joseon’s Assassin sure does parry well. It’s at a supernatural level.
– Are you new to the game? Have some conscience.
– But was he always this good?
– Not me. It was Nameless. Nothing’s a lie in the title.

“Hahaha, selling a Perfect Clear and garnering a loyal viewer on your first day. Impressive.”

Taewoo stared at the screen, appearing dumbfounded as he spoke.

“Selling?”

“Yeah, if this isn’t selling, what is it?”

Taewoo scrolled down to highlight more comments on the screen.
– It seems like that asshole, Joas, changed his avatar for the stream. His old face was really…

└ LMAO, subtly throwing shade.

“Wait a minute. Not this one.”

– So, who is he?

└ Here’s the (channel link), go watch it quickly. It’s really insane.
– Is this the first time this guy cleared the boss, etor?

└ Yeah, he was a newbie who couldn’t even climb walls properly.

└ Is that even possible, insane.
– Joas with 10,000 hours of experience in Assassin’s Dawn, stop pretending to be a newbie.

└ That’s not me!

Although the comments targeted Joas the assassin, Sojun momentarily felt targeted by the “newbie cosplay” remark. But since the Assassin’s Dawn was genuinely for newbies, it didn’t bother him much.
– Wow, his skills are seriously insane.

└ The livestream just ended, but you can still watch the replay (channel link). Nameless is our only hope for greatness!

Sojun understood the point Taewoo had made.

“So this is what you mean by sales pitch, right?”

“Pretty much. He probably gained some followers by now.”

Taewoo was right.

His followers had jumped from 6 to over 60 in no time.

『Followers: 68』

“Wow.”

“And soon it’ll hit 30 recommendations. Then it’ll increase even more. I’m off to bed.”

In the community, there was a feature that allowed posts with more than 30 recommendations to be categorized separately. The majority of lurkers usually only viewed posts with 30 or more recommendations.

Because of this, the view count difference between 10-recommendation posts and 30-recommendation posts was significant.

“Alright, good night.”

For some reason, Sojun felt a surge of anticipation.

* * *

The number of recommendations on Joas the assassin’s post had exceeded the 30 mark as Kim Taewoo predicted. Consequently, the community ignited as usual.
– Newbie? Yeah right, it’s fake.

└ How do you fake something like this?

└ My friend, haven’t you heard of video editing? Haha

└ Then are you saying a streamer with 6 viewers hacked the travel server? LMAO. That’s more impressive than defeating Etor!
– People are so gullible. They believe this stuff? Nameless, my foot lol.

『30-Recommendation Post: Why Nameless’s Video is Fake』

====

Because I can’t do it!

====

– For real lolol. Those calling it fake are just salty.
– Honestly, isn’t that level of skill something all pros possess?

└ The narrative has changed from ‘It’s fake’ to ‘Anyone can do it.’

『Why the Nameless’s Video is Legendary』

====

Etor had several reasons for being unkillable for a week by veterans.

First, Dane, by design, couldn’t use skills since he’s almost like a regular person. So, even in the tutorial, players have to fight without skills. (The developers likely intended this.)

Second, etor’s weapon is a flail, which doesn’t have parry judgement, meaning no instant kills. (This applies to most bosses, though. Only assassins can execute instant kills.)

Third, there was a time limit, which was the biggest issue.

While surviving and fighting normally was something veterans could do, dealing proper damage while dodging everything within 5 minutes? Without some kind of miracle move, it was impossible.

Most believed it was impossible until seeing this video. No one had successfully executed the damage optimal moves before.

Professionals were busy.

This streamer, Sojun, catching Etor on his first try, had insane skills. Who else can nullify all attacks while decapitating a flail-wielding boss?

But a newbie? What is this?

I was in awe watching it. Truly a god of control. How did someone manage to beat it, lol?

I subscribed immediately.

Anyway, now that we know it’s possible to catch Etor, I’ll attempt it (I can’t resist), but I honestly don’t think I can do it.

====

– Summary) Professionals missed the Perfect Clear because they were busy. This guy Sojun isn’t all that amazing.

└ This guy is really exasperating.

└ Just watch the video once. It puts most pros to shame.

└ So he’s a pro just because he achieved the Perfect Clear? Nonsense.
– Analytical recommendation

『Why make such a fuss about the Perfect Clear? lol』

– This post is clearly written by someone who hasn’t played the game. Unbelievably biased.

Sojun, now known as Nameless, found himself being discussed widely thanks to Joas the assassin’s post. Opinions diverged, but eventually merged into one consensus.

『Agree if you think Nameless should start his stream immediately to confirm everything, lol』

– It hasn’t even been 3 hours since the stream ended.

└ Yeah, but I’ll hold my breath until he starts. Don’t launch the stream. If people die waiting, it’s Nameless’s loss. (Author of the post)

└ (Message deleted.)

└ Who’s gonna educate this guy about losses? lol

TL’s Corner:
Raw for Joas is 조암(Joas) which is short for 내가 바로 조선의 암살자. But I translated it as Joseon’s Assassin, so I changed it to Joas.