Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 161

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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 161

“No. Why now of all times?”
Pado asked, his mouth hanging open without thinking to close it. He seemed bewildered.
Of course, Seo Jun had his reasons.
“Well, I can’t see the chat.”
“Ah…….”
Pado immediately understood, then tilted his head, second-guessing himself, while Seo Jun continued without acknowledging him.
“Come now. Explain it to me.”

-Why now lmaooo! How can he act so confident about it lmaooo
-He’s doing a tutorial in front of everyone? Stay consistent, boss…
-Sometimes you should read the room a little…
-But now you finally realize how precious we are, right? lol
-The boss is always like this. Sorry sorry sorry

Well, he’d never done it before, so some guidance was necessary.
Even if he knew what the skill was, he needed to properly calibrate the sensation of using it.
A few viewer messages scrolling up would have sufficed, but since he couldn’t see those—

[Good. Listen well, Hu-in. Our art—no, your art—is built upon shadow. Imagine shadow enveloping your entire body.]

The skill’s name.
Shadow Magic.
Seo Jun activated the skill before the Minions arrived.
A soft rustling sound.
The shadow beneath Seo Jun’s feet climbed up his body, darkening it.
His body was engulfed in shadow, and Seo Jun felt as though something had connected with him.

[In that state, try moving just your body to the side. It should be a little faster than normal.]

“Understood.”

-Both of them grinding their teeth and using casual speech with each other is so funny lmao
-Pride lmao
-Why does the boss even talk like that to an AI lmao
-Pado just watches from a distance lmaooooo

Seo Jun moved to the side.
As he did, the overlapping body split apart.
In the place where Seo Jun had been standing, a body made of shadow remained.
A new body had appeared, but his field of vision hadn’t changed.
‘If that’s the case, I can’t send it far outside my sight to fight.’
Besides, the Duration wasn’t that long anyway.
And the shadow body had a certain amount of health, so the opponent could dispel it quickly.

[Now try moving your Doppelganger. If you move it the way you normally move, only your body will move. Picture it. Imagine that the Doppelganger in front of you is walking and swinging its arms like you, and that you can control it.]

‘Right.’
This sensation was indeed connected to the Doppelganger.
It felt foreign and unfamiliar.
He’d heard that people with physical limitations get good at this after spending a lot of time in virtual reality.
Perhaps that saying came from the fact that they were moving with an unfamiliar sensation.
Moving another body was like having a third arm or leg.
But it was much more alien than that, if anything.
The shadow that had been there before tilted its head and rolled its neck.
He couldn’t feel the sensation of movement.
He could only confirm through sight that the Doppelganger was moving.
That made it even more alien.

[Minion is spawning.]

Soon after, the Doppelganger sank below ground and traveled along the earth to return to its original position beneath Seo Jun’s feet.
A shadow was cast once more at his feet.
“Are there any other precautions I should take?”

[The shadow divides your consciousness…….]

“No, not that sort of thing.”
What was being said clearly sounded like hero concept and story material, which Seo Jun thought was a pointless feature.
Although that was precisely the reason the conversation mode had been added.
At least in the League, the developer and Seo Jun might be fundamentally incompatible beings.

[Hm. If you wish, you can swap positions with your shadow. But your opponent can notice this fact, so be careful. And shadow practitioners have a calling that…….]

As AI began to spout something pointless again, Seo Jun summoned the Interface.
“Then shut down now.”

[What? Wait…….]

That was sufficient.
“How bold of something not even ten years old yet to use casual speech with me…….”
As Seo Jun spoke in a broadcast-friendly manner—purely for the broadcast, really—Pado sprang into action.
“Haha! Well played. Shall we try a Lane phase now?”
The Minion had arrived.
“Yes, let’s.”
Seo Jun smiled slightly.

-So that was the reason for the casual speech? lol
-Total curmudgeon lol
-But he’s not wrong either lololol
-If you think about League champions, not even ten years is right?

The Minions approached and began fighting each other, forming formation lines. Seo Jun watched Pado beyond them.
After a brief wait, the Cooldown on the skill reset, which he confirmed in the Interface at the bottom of his vision.
Zen’s weapons were twin Assassination Daggers.
They had a similar design to the Assassination Daggers he’d worn in Assassin’s Dawn.
The opposing hero was the Tracker, Tali.
‘That was a classic counter to Zen, wasn’t it?’
A Counter meant an unfavorable matchup.
Pado had used his Last Pick advantage to confidently pick the Counter, not for nothing.
“I apologize for the previous incident.”
“Ah. That incident…….”
“It wasn’t intentional at all. It was because Wind Sword over there on top doesn’t drive well.”
“I’m sure that’s the case.”
He didn’t believe it.
“We’ll have to finish the fight we didn’t complete here, won’t we? You, the greatest Frying Pan user.”
“……. That’s right! Let’s do this! I’ll give it my all.”
Shadow climbed up Seo Jun’s body and covered it.

Pado couldn’t distinguish whether it was the Doppelganger or the real one.
Zen’s Doppelganger is systemically indistinguishable until time passes or it takes enough Damage to be destroyed.
Though it’s possible to infer from movement patterns.
‘That one is Seo Jun.’
Pado was certain it was the real body.
The approaching movements were natural and fluid.
Pado had just been watching Seo Jun activate the skill.
He hadn’t interfered at that moment to properly gauge his proficiency. And he wouldn’t have gained anything by interfering anyway.
What Pado had observed was clearly the movement of a beginner using the Doppelganger for the first time.
‘Though it’s possible even that was an act.’
Seo Jun was at least someone who acted first and thought later.
Looking back, even in Ground Zero, he hadn’t made any premeditated calculations.
So there was no need to be overly suspicious. There was no scheme here.
‘Arrogance……. No, that’s not it.’
He simply didn’t bother to prepare against opponents because he was confident in his own abilities.
‘That was the same back then.’
It was a fact Pado had come to understand after properly verifying the opponent following Ground Zero.
Pado adjusted his grip on his sickle-shaped weapon, the twin Kama. Tali’s main weapon.
A cord was attached to the handle, allowing for variable-distance attacks.
“You do realize I’m the Counter, right?”
Pado swung his arm and naturally released his grip. The Kama, suspended by the cord, traced a semicircle through the air.
Seo Jun didn’t respond.
“By the way, the Doppelganger can speak too.”
The shadow drew near but suddenly halted as the Kama sliced through empty air, passing before Seo Jun.
At that moment, Pado rotated his body along with the Kama, moving closer to Seo Jun.
And seeing this, Seo Jun pressed in even tighter.
Pado, as if anticipating this, pulled the cord while rotating the Kama to shorten its effective range.
And then.
Clang!
The Assassination Dagger from Seo Jun’s right arm collided with the Kama.
At the same moment, the shadow’s mouth opened.
“Oh. So the Doppelganger really can speak. Should I have done more tutorial?”
Having successfully defended, Seo Jun aimed at Pado’s ribs with his other Assassination Dagger.
“Stop pretending it’s the Doppelganger. That’s your real body.”
“Is that so?”
Though merely a dark silhouette, Seo Jun’s smile was unmistakable.
Pado didn’t attempt to block or evade Seo Jun’s incoming attacks.
The real body’s attacks after the skill ends can deal Bonus Damage, so caution is wise, but—
Zen’s Mark.
And Tali also has a Mark.
The two are heroes descended from the same school in lore.
Tali leaves a Mark on the opponent each time he attacks with his Kama.
He can stack up to three, and the Mark naturally disappears after a certain time passes, but while the Mark remains active on the opponent’s body, it increases Damage taken.
But the real importance lies elsewhere.
“Hmm…….”
The struck Seo Jun let out a meaningful breath.
“That’s why I said I’m the Counter, Seo Jun.”
‘You have to know that.’
The Kama and Assassination Dagger stabbed at each other, and health dwindled.
And.
A Mark appeared above Seo Jun’s head from where two Kama met.
The truly fearsome aspect of the Mark lies in Tali’s skill.
The Tracker Tali’s skill.
Mark Pursuit.
A skill that consumes one Mark on the opponent to instantly teleport behind them.
And this Mark can be generated on jungle monsters and Minions alike, with the skill being charge-based, currently stackable up to three. The same number as the Marks.
“Four seconds remaining.”
Seo Jun announced the Duration of Shadow Magic.
“That’s nice. I should be able to stack three Marks easily, right?”
Pado grinned and aimed the Kama at Seo Jun.
A pure physical fight without any skill interference had begun.
Assassination Dagger and Kama.
Naturally, the Kama held the advantage.
A normal Kama would be one thing, but Tali’s can be swung while suspended by cord, offering superior reach.
In contrast, the Assassination Dagger was specialized not for combat but for hiding and surprise attacks.
But.
Four seconds.
The Assassination Dagger deflected the spinning Kama and pressed deeper in.
Pado once again gave ground on the attack, attempting to land his own, but the distance was too close to swing effectively.
With only a thrust needed, Seo Jun landed his attack successfully.
Health dropped.
Three seconds.
Quickly making a judgment call, Pado attempted an upward sweep with his left Kama from below, aimed at Seo Jun’s body.
But Seo Jun rotated his body, blocked the sweep with his left hand, and using the rotational momentum, slashed horizontally across Pado’s cheek with his right Assassination Dagger.
Two seconds.
Amid the close-quarters exchange, Pado—abandoning defense entirely—landed an attack on Seo Jun.
The Mark count rose to two.
One second.
Seo Jun swapped positions with his original shadow.
‘I lost this one.’
It was physical prowess transcending weapon matchups.
Pado played in Challenger, but this was unavoidable.
Perhaps some of Pado’s fans expected him to win even in such a fight, but Pado had cleanly abandoned that expectation.
‘I drop from Challenger occasionally from playing too much anyway. Still, I didn’t pick Counter specifically in Last Pick for no reason.’

His new position: behind Seo Jun.
Zen’s basic damage trading involves generating a shadow in advance, the real body going in to deal Damage, then retreating when endangered.
Bonus Damage can be expected from Damage dealt by the real body while the skill is active.
And Tali can nullify this with a skill, giving him a matchup advantage.
‘He’ll definitely sense me and turn around to block, but—!’
The strike immediately after Pursuit includes Bonus Damage. Combined with one active Mark, that more than makes up for it.
When Seo Jun turns to block, he won’t be able to easily stop the attack, not even him.
Since his body becomes Stealth for one second after teleporting.
Thinking this, Pado moved the instant his vision reversed, but to his surprise, Seo Jun—whose back he’d now locked onto—simply remained still.
‘Did he give up?’
Pado landed the strike with ease, watching the shadow’s health drop to match his own.
And the moment its health depleted, the shadow was instantly recalled.
What Pado had firmly believed to be the real body was Seo Jun’s skill all along.
A Doppelganger that would have disappeared soon anyway if left alone.
His gaze shifted toward the center of the Lane where the earlier fight had taken place.
Seo Jun stood where the shadow had vanished.
“I told you it was a skill.”
“So it really was a Doppelganger?”
Pado replayed in his mind the movements of the Doppelganger that had just dueled with him.
And he reached a conclusion.
Seo Jun had definitely prepared Zen beforehand.
If so, perhaps the tutorial talk was also calculated acting.
“Wow. Isn’t that too underhanded?”
Coming from someone who’d banned two things in Last Pick, he had no room to talk, but he’d still given his all to engage with full strength.
Joking aside.
‘Did he really pull it off on the first try?’
Pado found himself uncertain.
Seo Jun chuckled and spoke.
“Now that you know, take a few more hits, will you?”
Their positions were now reversed. So instead of the Tower behind him, Pado had to head back to his original position—the problem being that Seo Jun was standing there and wouldn’t leave him alone.
And.
Pado hadn’t fought Seo Jun’s real body yet, so his health remained completely intact.
Unlike Pado.
‘This loss is way too steep.’
Pado had no choice but to accept outside help for the fights ahead. He’d originally planned to do it alone, but clearly that wasn’t going to work.
And Seo Jun—
“Come on over. We need to swap positions.”
He was flexing his fingers, recalling the sensation from moments before.
‘This might actually be doable like I thought.’
What Seo Jun was thinking could be summed up in a single word.
Multitasking.
Seo Jun had his eyes set on that.

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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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