Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 11

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 11

“Enemy! An enemy has infiltrated!”
An NPC organization member who had been patrolling the Theater in a fixed pattern grabbed Alpaca’s tail.
‘Damn it. Too crowded.’
Alpaca immediately used the Smoke Screen Skill and Clone Skill to scatter his aggro, then hung from the outer wall of the second-floor audience seating.
‘I need my stamina to hold out.’
Stamina drained with every Parkour move.
He could conserve it by using Wire, Adhesive, or other tools, but Alpaca was currently attempting a challenge: assassinating with nothing but his bare hands.
‘If I fall, they’ll swarm me and catch me for sure. If I climb up, the NPCs are still on guard. If I stay in one spot too long, the organization members on the first floor will find me. What skill should I use…?’
Based on a week of accumulated experience, his mind raced through possibilities, but such deliberation proved pointless when—
“Kyahahaha!”
A cruel laugh echoed, and something whistled through the air toward him.
Whoooosh!
Hanging motionless, Alpaca turned to look behind him. Reflexively, his eyes snapped shut.
A blade embedded itself between his brows. Dangling from the second-floor audience seating, he plummeted.
Thud.
“Gaaaah! Failed again!”
He was done for.
Each death cost him reputation, and now if he wanted information from the guild, he had to grind his reputation back through sheer labor.
Or undertake another bout of simple grinding: Sub Quests.
Both were equally headache-inducing.
He needed to deal with Drake somehow using reputation accumulated naturally from assassinating other NPCs.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-You’re hopeless lmaooo. Just quit the game.
-Grinding incoming lol
-Give up on the bare-hands thing already.

His viewers, who delighted in his failures more than anyone.
‘Evil. They’re wicked.’
He couldn’t fathom how much they enjoyed it.
His stream wasn’t exactly a gathering of toxic people, he thought, but years of streaming experience had taught him something.
Most viewers carried a little malice in their hearts.

[‘ㅇㅇ’ donated 1,000 won!]
[By the way, a new route just popped up on the community for finding Drake. Check it out.]

“Oh? Thanks for the thousand-won donation!”
Yeah.
It’s viewers like these that keep me going!
‘No, wait.’
When he actually checked, there would inevitably be posts of an actual alpaca caught on a fishing line, made with crude video editing skills.
‘But getting baited is a streamer’s fate.’
Alpaca paused the game and returned to the lobby.
A sprawling Alpine Grassland unfolded before him, and Alpaca sat on a hay-shaped chair.
A fan had custom-made and gifted the entire background.
‘At first, I thought they were messing with me.’
But the chair turned out to be far more comfortable than expected, and the scenery was beautiful.
In the end, appreciating the fan’s thoughtfulness, he made the grassland his default background.

Bleeeeat! Bleat!

As he sat on the hay chair, an actual alpaca resident of the lobby approached him. His name was Daebak-i.
With pristine white fur and a cute face full of complaints, he was a fixture of the broadcast.

Ptui!

As Daebak-i spat, Alpaca jerked his head to the side.
“Ugh!”
He’d experienced the spitting animation countless times before, yet his reflexive reaction still flew out.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Daebak-i’s here!
-When are you gonna get used to it lmaooooo
– ㅡㅅㅡ
– ㅡㅇㅡ (Ptui!)

‘Did they really have to implement the spitting animation?’
Even fans with such high loyalty and quality-crafted lobbies were viewers—and viewers couldn’t resist adding some malicious touch.

Bleeeeat!

He ignored whether Daebak-i was munching on the hay beneath him and opened the internet.
“So what should I search for? I’ll check the information board first…”

-30+ recommendations lol
-Discussion board
-Incident/accident board
-General chat board
-Tips and tricks board

This was his mistake.
Who was he to blame?
He shouldn’t have asked the viewers.
“Let me see. Oh, it’s right there.”

[Drake Location Info – New Route Summary]

The person in the video was extracting information from an organization member in an unconventional way—actually, a very unconventional way.
“Whoa! There’s a method like this? I wonder who the kind soul was who discovered this.”
Alpaca, who had some skill with Parrying, brightened immediately. He wouldn’t have to do the tedious reputation grind.
“Whoever found this and whoever at the company hid this route—they’re both amazing. Don’t you think?”

-For real
-Damn
-An Open World’s polish comes from the detail of freedom.
-Movie Soft is a god-tier game!

With the burden of finding Drake’s location lifted, Alpaca began calculating how many more attempts he could make during today’s stream.
Then, a long text donation arrived.

[‘ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ’ donated 10,000 won!]
[Isn’t it a bit early to be impressed?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

A donation text crammed to the character limit.
Then voice chat chimed in.

[‘Some Idiot’ donated 10,000 won!]
[???: If you beat it, I’ll make that person my master, learn from them, and keep my stream running nonstop until I clear Drake in Rampage mode!]

Huh?
“Who beat it? Come on, I’m not falling for it no matter what you guys say.”
Despite being in virtual reality, Alpaca felt cold sweat trickling down his back.
Uneasy.
Suddenly he remembered that Ethor had been caught yesterday. No, wait. Why didn’t I think of that before?
As he blamed himself, his chat slowly filled with people simply laughing.
People typing nothing but ‘ㅋㅋㅋ’.
Given his viewers’ notoriously poor unity, there was only one scenario where they’d laugh in unison like this.
‘When I’m suffering.’
Just then, another post with thirty recommendations appeared above the thread he was reading.

[Drake Rampage Clear – First Time Ever.]

“Wow, seriously? You guys manipulated the recommendations just to trick me? Nice try, but I’m not falling for it. You’re all brutal, you know that?”
Gulp.
His mouth denied it, but his hand slowly moved toward the post.
And the truth was revealed.
A man wielding a Pipe was casually—no, very casually—beating Drake.
Really casually.
At first, he’d thought—
‘Huh? This might be doable? Maybe the Keep Broadcasting Marathon isn’t so bad?’
But in that very moment, the man on screen Parried a blade, and without even glancing back at the Chain piercing his back, simply tilted his head slightly to dodge it.
The relief evaporated, and the sequence forced him face-to-face with reality.
‘I’m screwed.’
That was impossible to replicate.
He’d already struggled with assassination—there was no way he could pull off Rampage.
And so—
“That looks like edited footage. Doesn’t it? Come on, how could a person even do that? Agree with me. Please?”
He began denying the video.

-There’s no way lmaooo
-You’re contradicting yourself lmaooooo
-Alpaca’s started denying reality lmaooooooo
-In-game pressure on
-He’s a streamer. The system notification will show everything.

Of course it didn’t work.
“Oh, so this person must be that streamer who beat Ethor in Rampage mode.”
This time, he tried changing the subject.

-??? Ethor got caught?
-??
-Alpaca got pummeled by Ethor for 10 hours on day one lmaooo. So someone actually beat it?
-How did they beat it????

His viewers knew from firsthand experience a week ago how difficult Ethor was to defeat.
Suddenly, viewer interest shifted entirely to how Ethor had been cleared, and Alpaca considered it a successful topic change.

[‘Here’s How to Beat Ethor’ donated 10,000 won! – Travel clip]

Perfectly timed, a video donation played.
A streamer named Jin Seojun wielded a Warhammer and demonstrated his technique.
Even Alpaca, who’d seen it before, gasped in admiration again.
How much practice would he need to pull off something like that?
The movement was smooth, fluid, yet restrained and controlled.

-Damn! The Unknown Master truly.
-Wow, that’s genuinely insane.
-The difference is stark. Unlike someone else.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-You gotta be this good to do Rampage
-What’s the streamer’s name?

Even first-time viewers seemed shocked.
“And the craziest part? He’s only been playing for two days. I was completely floored when I found that out.”

-?? That’s insane talent
-Is he like an intangible cultural asset or something IRL?
-That’s not Chuk or whatever. Damn.
-But still gotta do the Keep Broadcasting Marathon, right?

Alpaca’s eyes trembled like a sailor facing a storm surge.
From somewhere above, he heard a voice dismissing him: ‘How could that possibly happen?’
Then voice chat opened again.

[‘Some Idiot’ donated 10,000 won!]
[???: If you beat it, I’ll make that person my master, learn from them, and keep my stream running nonstop until I clear Drake in Rampage mode!]

“Sigh……”
Alpaca let out a sigh so deep the earth itself seemed to cave in. So much for changing the subject.
He cursed his past, careless self from the bottom of his heart.
‘Maybe if I stream all-nighters for three days straight, they’ll let it slide……’
Beating Drake to end the stream wasn’t even in the realm of consideration.
With a dejected expression, Alpaca saw the next post’s title and couldn’t help but shout.

[Please help up Alpaca who’s trembling in fear because Drake was caught lmaooooo]

“Hey! If I had hooves, would I wear shoes? These shoes! Everyone, stop upvoting posts like that, please. I’m already stressed enough.”

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Alpaca’s hooves lmaooooo
-Who wrote that? Well done.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– ㅡㅅㅡ

[Handsome Alpaca Reading Community Gets My Vote.]

Now that one he could get behind.
Alpaca quietly slipped into the post and upvoted it.

-He’s a lackey!
-Kick out the lackey!
-Where’s the manager!

Consistent, every single one of them.
Alpaca sighed deeply and announced his surrender.
“Well, a promise is a promise.”
If he collapsed mid-stream, the viewers would understand anyway.

-Hell yeah!
-That’s the spirit, Alpaca!
-Is the next stream title gonna be “New Year All-Nighter”?
-Let’s try for the Guinness World Record for longest stream lmaooooo
-Anyone wanna bet if Assassins’ Twilight – Shadows in the City releases new content before Alpaca finishes the Keep Broadcasting Marathon?
-Basically admitting you’ll just stream until you die in this lifetime rip

Was that it?
Alpaca gave his viewers a sidelong glance.
Though he had to admit, a Collaboration Broadcast with that streamer did sound fun.

-But seriously, inviting that streamer would be hilarious.
-Just went to the community and wow, he’s actually crazy good lmaooooo

His chat seemed to have read his mind.
But—
“Please don’t mention me when you visit his stream. That’d be rude.”
In matters like this, you had to be careful—thorough and early.

-Understood
-ㅇㅇ
-ㅔ

The fact that he was only on his second day of streaming bothered him.
He’d have no experience with Collaboration Broadcasts, and from the look of things, his stream was running smoothly—suddenly inserting himself could disrupt that, worry him, burden him.
‘Hmm.’
Just as Alpaca was contemplating this, a System Notification appeared.
Seeing the notification, Alpaca’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Okay, I’ll wrap up today’s stream here.”

-Wrapping up so soon.
-He’ll never end the next broadcast, so if you get upset about ending early now, you’re heartless lmaooooooo
-For real lol

“Thanks, everyone.”

[Stream has ended.]

That day, an announcement about a Collaboration Broadcast was posted on Alpaca’s fan cafe.

* * *

Meanwhile.
Movie Soft, which oversaw more than ten subsidiary development studios across the globe.
Someone burst through the office door of the president of Movie Soft Korea, which had developed Assassins’ Twilight – Shadows in the City.
“Sir. We have a problem.”
“What is it?”
Eve Paimo, president of Movie Soft Korea, turned his chair to see who had just entered.
Kim Yunchan.
An exceptionally optimistic subordinate.
“The Ruler has been defeated, sir.”
“……”
“In Rampage mode.”
Faced with awkward news, Eve Paimo demanded details.
“Who?”
“Drake, sir.”
“Then it doesn’t matter. He should’ve been defeated by now. Isn’t he the weakest Ruler?”
Eve Paimo’s serious expression relaxed.
“But if people start becoming curious about the Shards of Order—”
Kim Yunchan continued—
Eve Paimo cut him off.
“Enough. Unnecessary worry. Yes, if all the Shards of Order were already collected, our plans would face problems, but you’re the one who designed and implemented the mechanism that prevents them from collecting them all. Why are you like this?”
A Shard of Order was obtained every time a Ruler was defeated in Rampage mode.
And one particular Ruler could never be defeated through skill alone—a specific Skill was required.
They had designed the unlock requirements for that Skill to take considerable time, meaning there was no need to worry just yet.
“I understand that, but ‘what-ifs’ can kill a man. Besides, that person was a streamer. And they just beat it. Casually, while walking.”
“You’re oddly pessimistic for an optimist.”
“It’s instinct. Instinct.”
“Quiet and get back to work. Wait—just? So you were watching their stream during work hours?”
“……Well, I should get going.”
“Hey!”

* * *

The next day.
“What are you doing?”
“Just looking up some game skill information.”
Taewoo shook his head in exasperation watching Seojun browse the community from the taxi seat beside him.
“Don’t get obsessed with that stuff.”
“……Quit nagging. I’m double-checking because of the collaboration. We didn’t have much time to discuss it.”
The sudden arrangement of a Collaboration Broadcast hadn’t left much time to talk, but they had at least coordinated how they’d conduct the broadcast.
“Why are you coming along anyway?”
“I wanted to see that hyung after such a long time.”
“What about your stream?”
“I’ll just go find a capsule café nearby and stream from there. It runs fine either way.”
‘Sheesh.’
Seojun sighed deeply.
The dignity of a veteran streamer shining through.
“We’ve arrived.”
The taxi driver announced they’d reached their destination, and after paying, they stepped outside.
“Let me see. I’ve been here a few times before, so follow me.”
“Alright. By the way, how did you and him meet?”
“He did a rookie discovery content series back then. We met through that. Though I was in my fourth year and you’re on day three now, damn.”
Despite the words, there was no genuine resentment or self-deprecation in his tone.
Taewoo was someone who had endured long, difficult years and ultimately succeeded.
He understood that comparison with others was meaningless—what mattered was oneself.
After wandering for about thirty minutes, Taewoo finally reached their destination.
‘You said you’d been here before.’
Seojun shook his head and pressed the doorbell.
Ding-dong.
After a moment, the door opened and someone came out.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————