Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 156

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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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Chapter 156

[GG!]
[The first scrim has ended! Rich-Poor Gap versus One Bite Only faced off, and the winning team is One Bite Only!]

Tae-woo’s team name ultimately settled on Rich-Poor Gap. Watching from beside him, Seo Jun could tell that Tae-woo genuinely hated that name.
But what could be done? It was a democratic society, after all.
One Bite Only was the name of the team with A-rank ADC Spoon.
The team’s ace—the spoon.
And since ADCs were often teased by that nickname, they’d apparently just named the team One Bite Only to match.
Actually.
He wasn’t exactly sure what it meant.
‘One Bite Only, huh.’
Back in high school, there’d been a classmate who would shout “just one bite!” whenever they saw a friend returning from the convenience store.
To be precise, the kid wasn’t exactly a friend—more like one of Seo Jun’s subordinates, about number 453 in the hierarchy—but that student’s special talent was demonstrating a bite so massive that even a ravenous beast would yield.
It didn’t matter if it was a drink or bread.
Once he got permission, half of it would vanish and return—a miracle so shocking that even Seo Jun found himself surprised.
Was it because of that memory?
Spoon’s team name felt oddly threatening to Seo Jun.
“This is quite the ad break, isn’t it.”
Rumi had been enjoying it immensely until the broadcast cut off—she let out a deflated sigh, her spirits visibly dampened.
From her behavior over the brief time he’d observed, she was a genuine Twitch viewer.
In fact, aside from Seo Jun being slightly unusual, most people were naturally Twitch viewers, and a decent number of them became streamers.
Ha Yun-ho, Kim Tae-woo, and Alpaca—all fell into that category.
“Alright. We’ve received notice that the next game is us. Let’s head into The League now.”
Since this was a scrim, broadcasting and playing via chat were now prohibited.
They didn’t rely on conscience to enforce it.
Travel had a dedicated anti-cheating mode. Its official name was Focus Mode.
When a streamer activated Focus Mode, they couldn’t pull up any chat at all—not even from other Travel channels.
And viewers could confirm whether a streamer had the mode active.
It created an environment where streamers could fully immerse themselves in the game.
‘Of course, that’s just the cover story.’
The mode had been pushed through after a streamer with four-wheel-shaped pupils appeared in a tournament, got caught cheating via chat, and faced backlash—but everyone knew that Travel’s spin as “Focus Mode” was just window dressing. The real purpose was damage control.
Still, making things this explicit was good for everyone. Except cheaters, obviously.
The truth was, human society rarely creates such systems unless truly catastrophic problems emerge.
However.
Surface, which owned Travel and The League fifty-fifty, wielded considerable power.
The moment controversy erupted, they pushed through a new update in just one week.
Their effort to protect their monopoly was nothing short of remarkable.
Because they knew that the moment they harmed consumers, courts and governments around the world would draw their blades and shred the company to pieces—they were scrupulously consumer-friendly.
“Everyone, we’ll see you after the game.”
Seo Jun activated Focus Mode.

-Don’t do it
-Lol the captain can’t see chat
-Let’s start having some fun now
-You ready big defense?
-You know it, assassin
-(This comment was deleted by a manager)
-X
-What if the manager abuses power?
-You’re cut too lol
-Lmao seriously abusing it

The richly populated chat vanished from his view in an instant.

[Executing The League.]

After Seo Jun entered the game, he received an invitation message from the tournament organizers.
As he stepped into the lobby, he could hear the casters’ voices broadcasting live.

[Alright! With Seo Jun joining us, everyone’s here! Rich-Poor Gap versus Cudgel!]

Late again, he thought.
‘Cudgel, huh? That’s quite the lazy team name.’
He had no room to judge—Rich-Poor Gap was hardly inspired either.
The voice of Bang Ju rang out.

[Then we should examine team power first. According to information we gathered yesterday, Rich-Poor Gap appears to have a significant jungle issue.]
[Oh, that was the tier-3 mid situation, right?]
[Exactly. Since top and mid are the most similar lanes, the team’s real problem is the jungle, they say.]
[True. It’s the only position in the League that doesn’t compete in lane phases.]

Jungle.
While top, mid, and bottom fought on their respective lanes, the jungler roamed through the map’s jungle spaces, took down monsters, and rotated to help other lanes.

[And according to our intelligence from yesterday, Wind Sword is apparently weaker than Alpaca.]
[Wow! Where on earth did you get such advanced intel?]
[From Travel. So everyone, use Travel! Haha! CEO, are you watching? Haha!]
[Hehe!]

Seo Jun was taken aback.
He hadn’t realized Bang Ju had such blatant product placement in him.
Watching the audience reaction made it painfully clear how out-of-touch the casting had become.

[Now let’s look at the Cudgel team.]
[Sure!]
[First, what we need to watch for is A-rank jungler Dokkaebi. Naturally, the jungle has the highest impact on the game. In other words, if the jungler plays well, you win—and this team has the best jungler around.]
[It’s a strong team. By classification they weren’t ranked as strong, but then again—what kind of existence is a Challenger-tier jungler? They’re inherently threatening! I think today’s scrim results will make things much clearer. Ah, by the way, Penguin—who do you think will win?]
[Obviously Seo Jun. Or rather, Rich-Poor Gap.]
[Why is that?]
[Want to bet on it?]
[No.]
[Hah! But I’ll take that bet. If Cudgel wins, then this time I’ll…….]
[This time I’ll!]

* * *

The Ban/Pick phase approached, and everyone muted the broadcast audio.
“Let’s stick with what we discussed yesterday—ban out their main picks.”
Ha Yun-ho, who’d done the most thinking on strategy, issued the order.
It was something they’d already discussed to some degree.
“Understood.”
Alpaca, in the first pick slot, acknowledged.
When they said “their main picks,” they were really referring to just one hero.
Lee Shin.
The name sounded like it belonged to a prince born into Korean royalty, but this hero was the one Dokkaebi played best.
They banned Lee Shin and then sequentially banned B and C’s most-picked heroes.
And their opponents.
“Huh? At this rate, it looks like they won’t ban Kaelion.”
When the enemy made their second ban, Rumi spoke up.
The enemy had only banned heroes unrelated to Seo Jun.
“You think it’s because of the nerf that they feel comfortable letting it through?”
Alpaca kept his eyes on the interface in front of him as he spoke, responsible for banning as he was.
“Could be that, or they might want to see it firsthand.”
As Seo Jun listened to the exchange, he was thinking.
Or possibly.
“They could be testing us.”
“Pardon? What do you mean, testing, Seo Jun?”
In the end, Kaelion wasn’t banned.
“If other heroes I can play don’t get revealed in this practice game, that’s bad news for the other two teams in our Group A.”
“Ah.”
From his team’s perspective, it was good to keep their strength hidden.
Even so.
“But that feels a bit disrespectful, doesn’t it?”
Ha Yun-ho laughed with a thin edge to it.
“There’s no need for us to show our hand. They’ll find out during Group Stage anyway.”
“Still, they’re basically looking down on us!”
“Well, I suppose that feeling isn’t entirely wrong.”
Even if they acknowledged Seo Jun’s skill, the team was still an underdog. And the League was a team game.
“Seo Jun. What if you don’t play Kaelion?”
“Hmm.”
“Don’t tell me……. You’re not planning……?”
Ha Yun-ho turned his head sharply toward Seo Jun, who stood nearby.
He could tell what kind of misunderstanding had taken root.
“Oh no, that’s not it. I have plenty I can play. Everything’s prepared.”
“Relief. But you haven’t actually played any of those in a real match, have you?”
“Probably not?”
“Sounds good!”
The conversation was odd, but none of the teammates pushed back.
“I’ll go with Kaelion then.”
“Got it. But you’re sure you’re prepared, right?”
Ha Yun-ho asked again, still anxious.
“Of course. Um, Zen? That one looked fun too.”
“Zen? Shadow Mage Zen?”
“Yes.”
A hero who manifested an additional shadow body to control.
Ha Yun-ho chuckled softly and selected the hero.
‘Another difficult one.’
At that level, it had to be talent…….

* * *

“Hello. It’s an honor to face you.”
After the game started and Seo Jun headed mid, the enemy mid greeted him.
The enemy mid was B-rank. Primary position: top, secondary position: mid.
Currently, the enemy team’s top was filled by a D-rank player.
“You’re streamer Moja, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s an honor to be remembered.”
Emphasizing “honor” twice had a subtly provocative ring to it.
More precisely, the opponent was showing off competitive spirit toward Seo Jun.
Respect, yes—but a burning determination to win.
“Kaelion got nerfed though—you’ll be okay?”
Judging by his smile, it was definitely the case.
“Well. By the way, Moja, you’re the one who died rushing to save Dokkaebi back at Ground Zero, aren’t you?”
“Yes…….”
“I still remember the expression on your face when you died.”
“…….”
“I have a fairly good memory.”
Seo Jun smiled and leveled Kaelion’s sword at him.
“Haha.”
Moja answered with an awkward laugh, raising his arm.
The hero Moja had selected was Stone Titan Bikal.
His passive was Rock Skin.
Bikal’s characteristic was a body capable of partial Petrification.
Petrification was a skill that hardened portions of one’s body, reducing damage taken and inflicting a slow on the attacker.
However, the petrified parts couldn’t move freely, the effect wore off quickly, and only narrow areas could be petrified at once—so proper usage right before impact became the measure of a Bikal player’s skill.
Bikal’s arm suddenly swelled and transformed into cracked gray stone before reverting to normal.
‘Planning to hold strong.’
As expected, the enemy team seemed intent on directly testing Seo Jun’s Kaelion to gauge his true strength.
Well then.
He’d show them something appropriate.
Minions entered the lane, and they maintained distance from each other, last-hitting low-HP minions or trading pokes while testing the waters.
But then.

[Dokkaebi –> Ha Yun-ho]
[Dokkaebi –> Rumi not a crane]
[Double Kill!]

‘Already?’
Two teammates in the bottom lane had died.

[I’m sorry. They were lying in ambush.]
[They were waiting along the leash route.]
[I was late to rotate. My apologies.]

A leash was when bottom lane players helped the allied jungler take their first jungle camp, then headed to lane slightly late.
But if they were caught in an ambush on the way—that meant the enemy team hadn’t taken the leash route.
“Our Dokkaebi is just fast at jungling solo, you see.”
“I see.”
Dokkaebi had skipped the leash, cleared the jungle camp quickly on his own, then joined the fight while the enemy team was ambushing his teammates.
A bad start from the get-go.
“Well then, shall we see what you’ve got?”
Moja bent his waist and drove his fist down into the ground with a heavy thud.
The earth where Bikal’s fist struck surged upward, rolling toward Seo Jun like a wave. The speed made it difficult to completely evade.
Bang!
The ground rose higher and higher, until right in front of Seo Jun it became nearly solid rock, erupting with a deafening boom and dealing damage to all nearby creatures.
It was Bikal’s Rock Wave skill.
‘The radius isn’t that wide.’
Even though it approached fast and he hadn’t managed to distance himself much, he was still able to dodge.
“Too bad.”
“Let me try once more, then.”
Seo Jun adjusted his grip on the sword and positioned himself directly behind the melee minions in his lane.
Standing there meant that every time the enemy last-hit one of Seo Jun’s minions, his presence in the back would make them uncomfortable.
‘Now.’
The opponent draws closer. They have to approach the minions to attack them—or cast a skill.
As distance closed, vulnerable points appeared on Bikal’s body.
Seo Jun attempted a horizontal slash at that weak point.
If the opponent petrified the torso and clothing, he could deal with it momentarily and recover.
But then.
The opponent, as if he’d been waiting for it, stretched out his arm to attempt Petrification—not to block Seo Jun’s blade, but simply to take the hit head-on.
A movement that would’ve been nearly impossible to execute without pre-planned coordination.
‘That’s a bit arrogant.’
Seo Jun, who’d only meant to probe, changed his approach instead. In that instant, he twisted his wrist inward and released the sword.
The blade spun, its guard scraping past the tips of Moja’s fingers as it passed.
Simultaneously, Seo Jun’s hand moved upward.
The opponent couldn’t react to the sudden shift.
His thinking had only extended to either blocking with his petrified arm or Seo Jun getting caught.
Click.
As a result, Seo Jun’s arm moved unimpeded, catching the spinning sword again in front of Moja and slashing cleanly through the weak point.
Slash!
‘Next weak point.’
Just as he was about to continue the combo.

[Dokkaebi –> Alpaca]

Now the jungler was dead.

* * *

-Lmao
-Even B-rank can’t match him lol
-We’re losing this one, I’m telling you
-It’s Mutual Pan Blocking Exchange
-Finally getting karmic retribution at last!

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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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