Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 131

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 131

-Did he predict it?
-His style was flawless from the start
-Wait, doesn’t this guy get weaker without a sword?
-The sword wasn’t his actual body?
-You’re talking nonsense lol

Thud.
Spoon’s skill cut off as he took a direct hit to the body, and Seo Jun retreated, extending his hand.
Basic Attack.
When layered sporadically throughout a fight, Basic Attacks accumulate damage that cannot be ignored.
Crack!
Seo Jun calmly traced Spoon’s gaze as the Basic Attack connected.
‘He’s assessing me,’ Seo Jun thought.
Right after the chain hit him, Spoon’s skill was severed, but he could have landed a Basic Attack anyway.
He didn’t, though.
It wasn’t panic—not a mistake born of confusion.
If a Challenger couldn’t stay composed even when the unthinkable happened, they weren’t worthy of the rank.
Instead of wasting a Basic Attack on Seo Jun, Spoon had checked where Seo Jun’s other chain was heading, knowing his skill would vanish soon.
Spoon remained in place and raised his gun as he spoke.
“The chains attacked left and right respectively. I got caught on the left side, cleanly.”
The gun gleamed, and mana converged with a visible effect.
Bang! Bang!
Spoon pulled the trigger. Bullets shot toward Seo Jun in a straight line.
But Seo Jun stood perfectly still, not even blinking.
The bullets dissolved and vanished just before his nose.
‘So he’s already mapped out Luke’s Basic Attack range.’
Currently, Seo Jun and Spoon were probing each other.
This was the foundation of all combat, and those who’d climbed to high ranks never overlooked this fundamental principle.
“Firing both and hitting even one is better than a 50% gamble, don’t you think?”
“Hmm. I think only you would call that a 50% gamble, Seo Jun.”
Spoon’s possible positions weren’t limited.
He was free to move, and among countless choices, he’d selected just one path—approaching Seo Jun diagonally.
Yet chains flew to that spot as if they’d been waiting, and Spoon was calling it a simple left-or-right choice?

-He has to choose left or right, so 50% is fair lol. Simple is nice
-This is how the Abbot does it!
-Watching this, Eric looks pretty skilled too
-Damn this trash champ
-Yeah, low pick rate though

Spoon’s vigilance climbed higher, and Seo Jun calmly summoned the next Magic Circle behind him.

* * *

A brief Damage Exchange ended—one-sided for Seo Jun, humiliating for Spoon.
The two resumed carefully positioning themselves, scanning for angles to attack.
A Magic Circle can be summoned within 2 meters of the caster.
And since the chain had its own range, summoning behind him meant losing up to 4 meters of effective range.
Yet every time Seo Jun used Chain of Destruction, he continued summoning behind him.
In truth, Seo Jun was just doing it because the chain’s range was generous enough to reach its target even summoned from the back.
‘Does he have some intention?’ Spoon wondered.
Spoon was analyzing every gesture, every movement Seo Jun made.
From the Magic Circle hanging in the air, a chain stretched in a straight line toward a Minion.
Spoon also shot at a Minion whose health was nearly depleted.
Bang! Bang!
Even as he did, he didn’t forget to position himself and adjust the distance.
‘An angle?’
Whoosh!
He swiveled his gun from the Minion and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang!
With a staggered rhythm, one second apart, the bullets flew—but as Seo Jun stepped back, the mana bullets dissipated again just before his eyes.
They don’t land.
“You’re quite good at distance control. Is that because you practice running away so much normally?”
“That’s not something a ranged character should say.”
Seo Jun laughed off the provocation.

-Fact: they’re both ranged right now anyway
-They’re both self-deprecating lol
-Both words and distance control are intense
-The Abbot running away? lmaooooo
-If he meets a thug and admits he got caught, he’d probably rob them instead
-lol he’d definitely enjoy it. Legally committing robbery
-Self-defense, I say!

Thud!
At three seconds, the chain shot from the Magic Circle hanging in the air.
Spoon was moving constantly, and on top of that, he was concentrating on everything Seo Jun did.
Stepping left to dodge the skill was hardly difficult.
The chain struck a Ranged Minion behind him.
“You shouldn’t keep hitting the Minions.”
Minions consisted of three Melee and three Ranged.
“Why?”
“Well, obviously… never mind.”
Spoon held his tongue.
Could even this be an intentional play?
Each team’s Minions come down the lane from the Nexus in a line, and when they meet the enemy, they form a battle formation.
The three Melee Minions tank from the front. And
the three Ranged Minions attack the Melee Minions engaged in combat from a distance.
Each team’s Minion specs are identical.
So the position where both teams’ Minions meet and fight is adjusted based on hero involvement.
Closer to the Tower, or farther from it. Or perfectly centered as originally.
The method is simple.
Hit fewer Minions than the enemy does, and your Minions die faster.
Then the enemy’s now-vanished Minions advance and meet a new Minion wave, fighting again.
At this point, the position grows closer to your Tower—this is called pulling the line.
Hit more than the enemy does, and your Minions advance.
This is called pushing the line, and managing the line by pushing and pulling it advantageously depending on situation is Line Management.
The core of Line Management is your opponent.
But right now, Seo Jun wasn’t thinking about Spoon at all—he was just attacking Minions whenever an opening appeared.
Blindly pushing the line.
But Spoon wasn’t fooled by such a sight.
‘He definitely has an intention.’
The reason he’d been hit by the chain at first.
Seo Jun had acted clueless, feigned ignorance about his skill to lower his guard.
So this blind, novice-like behavior now clearly harbored some hidden intention.
‘Pushing the line does help in most situations.’
By clearing Minions faster, he could initiate unilateral Damage Exchanges while the enemy attacked Minions, and arrive first if fighting broke out nearby.
But if it were always advantageous, everyone would push the line.
Currently, the engagement favored Seo Jun—he controlled the initiative through distance management—but Spoon was gritting his teeth and dodging, so Seo Jun lacked the decisiveness to secure a kill.
And though Spoon was being dragged around by Seo Jun, his mobility skill let him close the distance and trade blows, giving him the decisiveness to force a fight where one of them dies.
“Seo Jun. You know maintaining this structure favors you, right?”
Bang! Bang!
A bullet planted itself between a Minion’s eyes.
“Well, since I haven’t landed a single hit on you, I’d say I’m in a good position?”
Seo Jun also smiled as he threw a Basic Attack, pushing the line.
Tension crept across Spoon’s brow.
But he steadied himself.
A newbie with distance control so good he doesn’t take a hit from a Challenger ranged character.
Getting excited over strange things would cost him.
“Want me to land a hit on you?”
“Then I’ll land my skill on you.”
“Ah, then I’d better pray things stay like this.”
Seo Jun benefited from this structure continuing; Spoon needed to flip it.
‘But what if he pushes the line?’
Pushing the line meant moving away from his own Tower.
If Spoon initiated a fight when they were close to his Tower, Seo Jun could simply shuffle a bit and slip into the Tower as a bunker.
Then he could happily throw Basic Attacks and chains while distance-managing again.
But if the line was pushed—if they were far from the Tower when the fight started?
That favored Spoon.
The problem was that Spoon now realized Seo Jun wasn’t the type to deliberately put himself in a bad position.
So he wanted to just maintain the status quo, but.
‘No choice. Let me focus harder.’
Spoon couldn’t let this slide.

-What’s he doing? Getting stomped by a newbie
-Lost all the initiative lol
-If you lose to distance control, why play ranged?
-Is this a Challenger ranged player?

He was a streamer.
Before that, he’d been a Challenger.
‘Whatever I think, I’ll suppress it with mechanics.’
Spoon waited for the line to pull back.

* * *

-Abbot, pushing the line isn’t good
-Leave him alone, he’s got his reasons
-Abbot, just secure the last hits or go 50-50. You have range advantage anyway
-Backseat gaming ✗
-He’s not roaming anyway
-Man, viewers really love to backseat game

Seo Jun, who’d been attacking Minions whenever there was an opening while adjusting distance, looked at the chat and thought.
“Hmm? Why is pushing the line bad?”
Some viewers told people not to backseat game, but Seo Jun didn’t really suppress it.
He actually welcomed it.
“Hmm.”
“May I explain it to you?”
“Yes, please.”
The line was pushed.
And Spoon, who’d been waiting for this moment, activated his skill.

[Quickshot]

Spoon stamped his feet and charged forward at high speed.
“Because the enemy can close in like this and initiate a fight.”
Spoon’s arm moved, aiming at Seo Jun, having closed the distance to Quickshot’s maximum range.
The distance to the Tower was now great. Even if Seo Jun kept retreating, there would be ample Damage Exchange opportunity.
Then suddenly, Spoon felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
“So closing in like this is the downside?”
His combo didn’t activate—his skill wouldn’t come out. There was only one reason for this.
Being hit and having your skill interrupted.
“Huh?”
He spun quickly and saw the chain lodged in his back.
A chain from a Magic Circle hidden right against the back of a Minion, perfectly concealed.
A chill ran down his spine.
Not only had Seo Jun predicted his position, but if his prediction had failed, the chain would’ve shot toward Seo Jun himself.
“What on earth……”
The moment Spoon realized he’d been fundamentally wrong about something, Seo Jun was already saying something else.
“Why? Why would the enemy coming to you be a downside? Isn’t that an advantage?”
There really was no calculation behind it.
He just pushed because pushing invited a fight, so he pushed.
Seven years ago or now—it was all the same.

-Wow
-Did he design this too?
-I’m curious what absurd logic he’ll spin next!

Spoon, seized by danger, opened fire.
Bang!
The first shot connected with Seo Jun.
Bang!
But the second shot—Seo Jun batted it away with an Orb.

-Kyah!
-Seeing something like that handled so easily
-If only that second bullet landed, Luke’s attack would be nullified

“Huh?”
And this time, Seo Jun didn’t create distance. Instead, he approached.
Like a swordsman closing in for melee.
“This feels better.”
Seo Jun grinned wickedly.
As Seo Jun stepped closer, something behind where he’d been standing entered Spoon’s field of vision.

[Chain of Destruction]

‘A Magic Circle? When did he….’
When he’d made it became clear in an instant.
Three seconds ago.
Whoooosh!
Seo Jun was now between the Magic Circle and Spoon.
It was dangerous play—if he miscalculated, he’d eat the chain himself.
But the chain whizzed past Seo Jun’s throat, missing by inches, and drove into Spoon.
Crack!

-lmao
-Hides it well and lands it well
-Do you have to predict every single 3-second skill timing? How does Eric even manage?

Spoon’s health dwindled to the point where just one more skill would kill him.
“Huh?”
Seo Jun could read the bewilderment in Spoon’s expression.

-When did it chip away so much?
-Eric’s skill damage itself is pretty high
-Wow, so is a Challenger solo kill coming?
-Go go!

[Chain of Destruction]

‘One more hit and I’ve got him.’
Two meters in front of Seo Jun, behind Spoon, a Magic Circle appeared.
Even in the urgency, Spoon’s eyes swept backward quickly, catching the Magic Circle Seo Jun had just summoned.
“What will you do now?”
Spoon had no time for words. Instead, he answered with bullets.
Bang!
It seemed he’d decided to retreat.
Fleeing outright was more dangerous, so he fired suppressing shots as he backed away.
Bang!
Second shot.
Seo Jun simply batted it away with an Orb again, taking no other action.
Spoon rolled backward, past the Magic Circle that had appeared behind him.
“You should have just stayed still.”
Seo Jun, leisurely observing the sight, spoke slowly.
“Y-yes?”
“Three seconds is up.”
The chain shoots from the Magic Circle.
Not toward where Spoon had been—the opposite side.
Toward where Spoon now stood, having fled.
Whoooosh!
Crack!

[First Blood]
[Sword Saint –> Frustrated Upper Body Feeling]

A shocking narration echoed across the Battlefield, startling those who hadn’t seen the fight.

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