A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 8

The next day.

Sojun visited the ‘Assassin’s Dawn’ community before starting his stream.

Most of the top posts were related to major streamers and game information.

The post by ‘I am Joseon’s Assassin’ from the previous day was…

“Found it.”

He found several threads related to it by flipping back to the second page.

『30 reasons why Nameless’ video is rigged』
『Why Nameless’ video is legendary』
『Pros didn’t miss a Perfect Clear; they chose not to do it』
『Why so much emphasis on Musou?』

The posts had high views and lots of comments, and it seemed like there had been some arguments.

-But if you watch Nameless’ video, why is there damage when he cuts with a cane?

└ Have you never played Breath?

└ Nope.

└ Let me explain. The cane is made of iron.

└ So what?

└ Tetanus damage.

└ Nonsense. The cane has a hidden blade. It looks like he didn’t draw the sword, but he used the hidden blade instead.

Comments like these were rife.

But that was it.

“It disappears so quickly.”

Even just scrolling a bit up, people were already heatedly discussing new topics.

The community Sojun visited constantly presented topics that caught people’s interest. Without fresh material, it was almost impossible to stay relevant for long.

Sojun browsed other posts.

Soon, he found a post that caught his eye.

『Reposted) Why the new Level 10 AI is seriously annoying』

“This is the Assassin’s Dawn community, but they talk about sparring too?”

Sojun didn’t know much about it, but famous events were often mentioned regardless of the community’s usual topics. Since most people knew about these events, they often received a lot of recommendations.

The sparring grounds were a place many people visited at least once when starting virtual reality. Shin Hayun’s AI, which had held the Level 10 position for five years, was famously unbeatable, making it a place for stretching and warming up.

The fact that someone had defeated this AI without revealing their identity made it strange if the whole community wasn’t buzzing about it.

Sojun clicked on the post. The post seemed to be copied directly from another community.

====

Everyone knows the Level 10 AI has changed, right?

A few days ago, during a pro gamer’s live stream before starting the game, a random guy suddenly appeared instead of Shin Hayun, causing a huge commotion.

His name is Unknown. He’s an anonymous user.

Because of this, everyone is focused on finding out who this Unknown is, but I’d rather talk about his bad manners.

This time, a hyung I know fought against Unknown and gave me the video.

Here’s that video. Permission to upload was granted.

(Video of a fight with Level 10 AI)

In the video, his skill is undisputable, but you can see just how nasty this guy is.

Sometimes he intentionally turns his head while blocking the sword.

His manners are terrible.

To show he can block even without looking, he’d turn his head mid-fight, which made the hyung I know extremely angry.

What fault is it of the AI’s?

This shows his bad manners.

Also, whenever you drop the sword, Shin Hayun’s AI used to wait until you picked it up. But this new Unknown is different.

If you drop the sword, it’s game over. Unknown would step on it or casually flick it away as a taunt.

Maybe that’s why they kept their identity anonymous, lol.

What’s even more chilling is that when people register for Level 10 AI fights, the AI is set to fight the previous Level 10 AI for several hours to gather data.

That’s how it collects information.

What’s creepy is that this new Unknown seemed to have fought Shin Hayun for five years, picking up data like this. Blocking attacks and turning his head, all of it, lol.

My hyung suspects that Unknown isn’t a human but a new type of AI, like an advanced AlphaGo, created by a project team.

(Original post link)

====

-Shin Hayun didn’t play League ranked yesterday, lmao

└ I bet she’s at the sparring grounds, trying to reclaim her throne. She’s famous for periodically updating her AI data.
-Manners are trash, lol

└ For real, lol. That spot is actually prestigious, and other top players showed respect. But this anonymous guy shows up and does this, lol.

Sojun felt a sense of injustice.

“It was just banter with Taewoo that led to this…”

Updating the data was more tedious than expected. It was just a repetitive series of battles.

Because of this, he unwittingly became someone with poor manners.
-Watched the video, is it maybe Nameless?

└ Stop mentioning that small fry.

└ Enough already!

Once again, it was I am Joseon’s Assassin. Their intuition was sharp.

“Quite perceptive. Hmm.”

Checking each comment, Sojun felt a bit of regret. He hadn’t expected this much attention.

But.

“Good things don’t come from sudden fame.”

He knew this from his past life experiences.

It was said that unprepared power is actually a poison.

And.

“Growing a little each day will do.”

Sojun stretched and then entered the capsule to prepare for his stream.

『Followers: 432』

More people had clicked follow than expected. However, only six of them watched his live stream.

He wondered how many would tune in today.

『Starting the stream…』

Sojun chose the Assassin’s Dawn – Breath of the City.

The background turned dark, and buildings that were lying in the distance quickly approached and started to loom over him.

* * *

“Ta-da!”

As soon as Sojun started the stream, the chat window and the viewer count began to rise.
– Soha!
– Is this the famous Nameless stream?

– I’ve been waiting.
– Bang on.
– It’s not Joas’s stream, huh?

“Yes, this is not Joas’s stream. And, for the record, I didn’t buy followers or anything.”

– Hahahahaha

– Controversy killed instantly hahaha

– Is this the skill of a day-two streamer?

Just as he started interacting with the viewers, a sound like a fanfare echoed.

『’ReallyHowToDo’ has donated 10,000 won!』
『I’ve tried it after watching your video, but I can’t defeat Etor. How? I kept waiting for the stream just to ask!』

It was his first donation.

“Oh. Thank you for the donation. Umm, you’re asking how to beat Etor? Just keep hitting one spot. That seems to work.”

– Wow! I didn’t know that.
– As someone who watched yesterday, don’t ask this guy anything hahaha

– Only the stream host can ask questions here.
– Ten thousand won down the drain hahaha

Seeing the comment about wasted money, Sojun quickly regained his composure and gave proper advice.

“If I had to give a tip, aiming for weak spots would be best. NPCs don’t react much when you hit other places, but they get really flustered and break their stance when you target weak spots. The damage is about the same, though.”

Sojun continued chatting casually, buying time for more people to join.

『’Finally’ has donated 1,000 won!』
『I… can… breathe…』

“Uh, congratulations?”

A puzzled look appeared in Sojun’s eyes. Was this a new joke?

– Congratulations, LOL

– Is that the guy who donated 30 times yesterday?

After having a short interaction session before officially starting the stream, Sojun checked the number of viewers.

『Viewers: 327』

He had expected around 100, but the number of viewers far exceeded his expectations.

‘It looks like most of the people who were going to join have arrived.’

Sojun felt the need to stop chatting and start the game. After all, his stream was a gaming stream.

However, Sojun wasn’t well-versed in the game.

For other games, he could just follow instructions, but Assassins’ Dawn was an open-world game.

A typical player would naturally learn by wandering around, but as a streamer, Sojun needed something to immediately show his audience.

“So, what should I do now?”

In response to Sojun’s question, the chat flooded with messages.
– Show some Musou.
– Is it finally testing time?

– What is there to test, you guys?

The viewers who came in through the community wanted to see some combat.
– Just look around. You can earn money by taking on requests from the Assassins or by pickpocketing. You can even just tour the city. That’s open-world!
– If you want story, you need to complete assassination requests. Roam the city and kill key figures.

One person gave a detailed explanation of the game.

It was the same person who had explained things in detail during his first stream, based on the nickname.

“Hmm. If I want to continue the story, should I use this signal stone?”

The description of the signal stone read:
『It’s a tool imbued with the magical power to contact the Assassins’ Guild.』

-You can go to the tavern.
-Amazing fact: Christina nuna is always there, no matter which zone you go to.

Sojun recalled the basic information he had looked up yesterday.

The name of the city in this work was Altheon.

Altheon was an ideal city that blended the beautiful architectural styles of old Europe with the bustling modern streets.

Altheon was divided into a total of four zones.

The city center, which housed the royal palace; the northwestern part with the magic tower; the northeastern part, which was an affluent district; and lastly, the area for commoners.

Security was in the order of: Royal Palace 〉 Magic Tower 〉 Nobles 〉 Commoners, and so was the difficulty of assassinations.

Players could receive missions suitable for each zone through the Assassins’ Guild no matter where they went, and in fact, it was possible to perform random assassinations without missions.

Even attacking the Assassins’ Guild itself was possible.

“For starters, I’ll try some pickpocketing as a warm-up.”

Sojun had never tried pickpocketing, neither in his past life nor in his current one. So, he was curious.
-Worried about getting caught because you suck at it? lololol
-Go ahead and try. If you get caught, the guards will be on you right away.
-Head to the marketplace.

Sojun opened the map.

“Wow, the city is huge.”

The marketplace was located at the center of the commoners’ zone, the fourth zone.

It was just a short walk from where Sojun was currently standing.

Sojun expressed his admiration as he looked around the city’s streets, and the viewers enjoyed his reactions.

Before long, he arrived at the market.

He blended naturally into the crowd. Almost like a shadow.

He intentionally bumped into people, subtly moving his hand.

“Oops!”

Swoosh.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!”

Swoosh.

“Oh, young man, are you okay?”

Swoosh.

Before he knew it, Sojun had three wallets in his pocket.

“I tried incorporating the technique of ‘Gold Hand’, and it was surprisingly easy.”

-The channel owner is suspiciously good at pickpocketing lololol
-Did his real-life skills come from some back alley?

-He’s actually from the martial arts world.
-Is this a thief stream instead of a Musou stream? lololol
-No, the fun part about pickpocketing is getting caught and chased by guards― ―

Sojun looked proudly at the chat window.

“With skills like these, I wouldn’t starve anywhere.”

-With that skill set, you could be building skyscrapers in Gangnam lololol

At that moment.

“Hey, hey, come over here.”

Sojun turned his head to locate the source of the voice.

He looked towards a shadowy market alley.

Two people emerged from the shadows.

“Yeah, you. Seeing you do some fun stuff, you know you need our permission to operate in this market, right?”

Sojun glanced back and forth between the two, looking flabbergasted.

“Wow. Instead of getting caught by the guards, I got shaken down by thugs while pickpocketing? What kind of game is this?”

He felt incredulous.
-lolololol the freedom in this game is crazy

-Forget skyscrapers in Gangnam, you’re getting cut off right here lol
-Finally, some Musou action? Let’s take them all down.

“Can’t be helped. Hey, can we take out their organization in the game?”

Sojun’s mind began to work, thinking it might be good content for the stream.
-Yes

-Defeat their boss and the market will be clean.
-Breath, best game ever!

Sojun flashed a bright grin.

“If we can do that, then today’s stream goal is to eliminate their organization.”

With the goal set, the viewers grew excited by Sojun’s declaration.
-Oh man, are we shooting a noir here?

-Gonna take down the Dissembler? lol
-Testing his skills on the Dissembler? We can’t miss this.

It was no wonder. The thugs calling out to him had the mask emblem of the Dissembler on their shoulders.

The boss of Dissembler was a mid-boss-like entity who ruled the fourth zone in the game.
-The guy doesn’t even know what Dissembler is lol
-Let’s go!
-Fruit candy.
-This mad lad wants to take down a gang just to pickpocket.
-First time here and this stream is gold lololol