Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 162

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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 162

Pado moved without a moment’s hesitation.
With their positions already swapped, there was nothing to gain from dragging out the fight.
If Seo Jun’s Skill came off cooldown again, it would spell trouble—and the same held true if their enemy Jungler arrived.
On the other hand, if Pado’s team Jungle came to help, they could turn the tide.
“They must be far away.”
Seo Jun read the situation and spoke first.
“That’s what I’m thinking too. Our Jungle seems like they can’t make it. Same goes for you, I’m guessing?”
“That’s not quite it.”
“Then what?”
The distance between them closed quickly. Just as Pado turned to retreat, Seo Jun followed right after.
Seo Jun’s goal wasn’t to prevent Pado from restoring his position—it was to deal as much damage as possible while Pado tried to establish himself.
“I don’t need my Jungle.”
In other words, he wasn’t letting him go without a fight.
“Well, I… oh!”
Pado had a good idea. He turned toward the Minions and swung his Karma in a wide arc.
The Minions were hit and displayed Marks.
Seo Jun, who had closed the distance, quickly scanned his surroundings.
He could sense what was coming.
Just as Seo Jun predicted, Pado used his Skill on a Minion.

[Mark Tracking]

Pado’s vision flipped upside down.
Pado figured his position would be pinpointed quickly.
All he had to do was find the Minion where the Mark had disappeared.
In that split second, identifying which Minion had received the Mark and which one vanished shouldn’t have been all that difficult.
He thought he’d at least be able to escape.
‘There.’
For Seo Jun, it really wasn’t that difficult.
Seo Jun thrust his arm into empty air.
Thud.
“That’s too much!”
Pado was in an Invisible State after using the Skill.
One second.
Not a short time at all. Pado had assumed he’d burn through the Skill and be fine.
The Skill’s Cooldown was a bit long, but that was a price worth paying.
Yet Seo Jun instantly identified exactly which Minion’s Mark had disappeared and thrust his arm at empty space toward it—without the slightest hesitation.
Still, their positions switched again.
‘He sees combat differently.’
This was a cheap trade for Pado.
‘One Skill used and one basic attack—that’s more than enough.’
The brief Damage Exchange ended, and Pado fell back a short distance.
Pado’s health had dropped to nearly half.
One misstep and death was imminent.
But Pado didn’t back off to base.
“From now on, I won’t fall for it so easily, Seo Jun. Your next prey?”
Hearing Pado’s muttering, Seo Jun let out a soft laugh.
“When exactly?”
“You did it with your eyes just now!”
Pado grabbed the string attached to his Karma and began spinning it as widely as he could, protesting.
Attacking Minions, Seo Jun spoke.
“Isn’t this your first time playing this character? Isn’t it?”
Pado took this to mean Seo Jun was copying what he’d said earlier.
“Now you’re reading my mind?”
“No. I was talking to the chat. I had a feeling something like that came up.”
He was right.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-This guy even reads minds now ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-There actually was a message like that ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Those who typed “isn’t this your first time” in chat above—are you our guild master’s spies?

“Well. Time’s up again.”
Seo Jun used his Skill once more.
The shadow beneath his feet crept up to cover his body.

[Shadow Art]

“What is it this time?”
“A Clone.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Pado retreated further back.

* * *

[From the start, Seo Jun lands favorable Damage Exchanges against his counter pick!]

With the Observer watching Mid Lane, Arin spoke.
Bang Ju followed up with his explanation.

[It just so happened to work out perfectly. All because Pado believed so deeply that the Clone was the Main Body.]
[Was it because of the tutorial at first? Or some other reason?]
[I think anyone standing in that situation would have thought it was themselves. Come to think of it, didn’t Dokkaebi experience something similar?]
[When?]
[During the Parachute incident.]
[Ah.]

The context was similar.
It wasn’t planned, but the opponent’s misunderstanding or misreading played into Seo Jun’s advantage, and he came away with the victory.
Everyone understood that this was only possible because his skill backed it up.

-When they mentioned the tutorial, I thought this guy was insane ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-But he actually did it ㅋㅋㅋ
-Really consistent like a pine tree, this guy

[What truly makes Seo Jun attractive is that he never intended any of this.]

The chat was done for now.
It was time for proper analysis.
Penguin started first.

[Caster Arin, do you happen to know why it became standard for the Main Body to approach and engage in Damage Exchanges first?]
[Isn’t it because of bonus damage?]
[Well, that could be a factor. But in most cases, it’s one specific reason.]
[What is it?]

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Such a simple reason
-Once you hear it, you realize how obvious it is
-Arin knows this too, newbies

[It’s just easier that way!]
[Ah! To think I’d learn the profound psychological reasons behind player behavior!]

Arin’s delivery was flat.
She sounded like she was reading from a textbook.

[Yes, the Clone has too high a difficulty. More precisely, it’s hard to control a Clone as naturally as you’d control your own body. And that’s obvious, isn’t it? Both intangible Mana and a new body are senses we don’t normally use, couldn’t possibly use in everyday life. So how could it be easy to handle them as naturally as your regular body?]
[It certainly wouldn’t be.]
[That’s why they send the Main Body instead. The game developers designed it with this in mind too. Plus, if you could just use the Clone for free, you’d have completely risk-free Damage Exchanges, wouldn’t you?]
[What do you mean by that?]
[I mean, if you only ever used the Clone for Damage Exchanges whenever Shadow Art came off cooldown, you’d take zero damage. Of course, you’d be without your Skill, so you’d still take hits from ranged heroes afterward, but…]
[Essentially, when the Skill is active, you can fight without taking any damage at all. That’s what I mean, right?]
[Yes, exactly. That’s why the developers didn’t give the Clone more power.]
[I see.]

The Main Body’s bonus damage and the Clone’s difficulty.
These two factors combined led to the Meta establishing that the Main Body initiates and swaps with the Clone for Damage Exchanges.

[Tali is an easy counter against how annoyingly Seo Jun hit-and-runs. But if Seo Jun uses the Clone well, he could still succeed—like in that last fight.]
[So if Seo Jun just sends out the Clone repeatedly, he wins? Even if he sacrifices bonus damage? Tali becomes powerless?]
[Ha, no. Tali just doesn’t engage when the shadow approaches. Just like how Tali goes Invisible after using a Skill, Seo Jun gets a movement speed boost after using Shadow Art, but Tali’s range is quite long. Not as long as ranged heroes, but still. So it’s still a counter matchup. Exactly as Pado is managing right now.]

Seo Jun sent out his next shadow, and Pado easily retreated further from the already widened distance.
Seo Jun’s forsaken shadow simply hit some Minions awkwardly.
The camera cut away.
The casters immediately adjusted their commentary accordingly.
When the camera returned to Mid Lane.

[So if the Laning Phase ends smoothly and we move into Team Fight, what does that do to the matchup?]

In a situation where things were flowing smoothly, Arin threw out a question viewers would naturally wonder about.

[In that scenario too, Tali still has the advantage.]

This time, Bang Ju caught it.

[Why?]
[Even including the Ultimate, Seo Jun can switch positions a maximum of three times. Of course, you can enhance with Runes, but Tali can do that too. And Tali currently has three switches too. All she needs is a Mark, and she can go anywhere.]

It was a difference in design rather than raw performance.
But when those designs mesh, you get matchup advantage.

[Seo Jun specializes in isolating and eliminating a single target. Truly fitting for an Assassin. But what about Tali? She’s an Assassin too, but different. Tali specializes in disrupting enemies.]
[So in large-scale engagements—Team Fights—Tali would exert far more impact.]
[Looking at just the hero’s Skill set, yes. And Tali’s lacking in ability to cut targets either.]
[Then why do people even play Seo Jun?]
[Because the shadows are cool.]
[……]

-That’s a major point though ㅋㅋ
-Same with other cool heroes, fans don’t come from nowhere ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Joking aside, Seo Jun is more stable than Tali. Tali’s a hero who keeps going in and in and in, whereas Seo Jun can attack and then fall back. And even from the back, he can attack with his Clone. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. It’s not strange for Tali to have more destructive power given that she has more risk. That’s all there is to it.]
[Ah, I see. Wait, what is Seo Jun doing now?]

The casters focused on the screen at Arin’s words and soon grasped what it meant, falling silent.

[Hm…… Is he trying to do that?]
[If it works, his teammates would get copied too……]
[Pado doesn’t seem to have noticed yet.]

Seo Jun was sending his Clone forward while attacking Minions with his Main Body.
Like he was practicing.
And his slight hesitation was starting to become apparent.

[What’s he doing?]
[There was one play everyone expected when the new hero Seo Jun was released.]
[What was that?]
[Moving and fighting with two bodies simultaneously.]
[Ah…]
[Whenever new Newbies attempt this play, they all give up and just focus on one body at a time.]

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What a Newbie move!
-When I think about Newbies who believed in this and picked Seo Jun, they’re cute as a tutorial—though this guy’s doing tutorials so openly in a tournament match ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-In a situation with nothing else going on you could maybe Multitask, but in combat? Impossible

[Is it completely impossible? Even for a master of Seo Jun?]
[Caster, could you please raise both your hands?]
[Yes, done.]
[With your left hand, draw a triangle. With your right, draw a square. Simultaneously.]

Arin complied without question.
And then.

-Ehehehe ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Why are they moving together from the start ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-At least try to do them differently!
-You know? Playing rock-paper-scissors with Seo Jun’s Clone is also hard. The first time is easy, but keep doing it and both just end up throwing the same thing ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[You see, everyone, I did try! I did!]
[And that’s already hard. You want to move two bodies?]
[Yes, I understand. So Seo Jun…]
[But still……]
[Still what?]
[Masters occasionally do show something……]

Bang Ju swallowed the rest of his words.
It was because he had faith that if it was even remotely possible, Seo Jun would show it.
But still.

-Even masters really just get lucky once in a while when it comes together perfectly
-So you’ve seen masters pull off Seo Jun’s critical hit?
-There was one like that ㄷㄷ
-Still, does only this guy have two brains? Huh?

* * *

[The enemy Jungle looks like they’re heading to Mid Lane. From the Advanced Jungle Guide we covered, the current position of the Jungle who did a Gank once……]

It was Alpaca’s voice on team comms.
His preamble was long, but the point he was trying to make was singular.

[Should we Counter-gank?]

Counter-gank meant turning the enemy’s Gank on its head.
Their current level was four.
Early game before learning the Ultimate.
A Gank coming in wasn’t strange, but.
‘Didn’t they say they’d fight fair and square?’
Seo Jun was disappointed that they’d call in their Jungler.
Of course, it was unfair to Pado, who had never actually said he’d fight fairly.

[It’s fine. Let me try on my own.]
[Understood.]

‘Still a bit awkward.’
Seo Jun muttered softly.
So Pado couldn’t hear, but the viewers could.
“You guys saying not to do this? But I don’t want to stop.”
Seo Jun had actually attempted to control both bodies simultaneously several times, but he kept pausing momentarily, so the viewers kept spamming the chat telling him to give up.
They asked if it wasn’t hard enough without practicing this outside of combat, even with the Clone already sent out.
Seo Jun expected this kind of chat and was responding accordingly.
“I was carefully cultivating the sensation.”

-Why does the guild master keep trying to talk to the chat ㅋㅋㅋ
-A streamer less than a year in knows his viewers way too well
-Maybe we’re the ones being consistent, not him?
-I think he’ll probably get exhausted from dual-body stuff and just switch to pure physicality
-Sufficiently advanced physicality is indistinguishable from magic
-If the body’s weak, the mind suffers ㅋㅋ

But even Seo Jun couldn’t hear these idle musings from the viewers.
‘Here they come.’
Pado, who had been continuously retreating, vanished in a blink.
Pado’s retreat was meant to draw Seo Jun as far forward as possible, and naturally, Seo Jun read that intention and complied.
So currently, the Mark inscribed on the allied Minion in front of him had disappeared.

[Mark Tracking]

Pado reached Seo Jun from his Invisible State.
And at the same time.
Seo Jun’s shadow was climbing up along his body.

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