Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 203

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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 203

“Ah, Seo Jun’s going with ADC after all! Just like he said! He’s giving up Kael!”
The moment Wealth Gap made their fifth pick, cheers erupted from the caster’s booth.

-Wind Sword’s Kael… damn
-Even so, Geomsin’s Kael is way stronger
-Are you serious? A gross top-lane ADC in a pro match? Is he out of his mind?
-Are top laners across the nation not scared at all!!!!
-Yeah, they’d get destroyed if they tried in real life
-lol fair point
-These brainless meatheads who only play sweaty muscle heroes have a lot to say

“Haha. I’m curious to see Hwang So’s reaction on the Rainbull side too.”
With Rainbull’s final champion pick, the game began loading.
And this was when the casters truly earned their pay.
“Folks, professional bans and picks are incredibly complex. Us stream-only commentators don’t understand all of it, but Penguin and Tae-yang do, right? Just how complex is it?”
Bang Ju opened his mouth.
“Yes.”
“There’s a lot to consider.”
The reason was the sheer number of possibilities—deciding which overpowered champions for each lane to ban or split between teams based on the current meta.
And it wasn’t just about dividing up the overpowered champions fairly between both teams, but also about champions that counter those OP picks during laning phase.
Champions that counter during the macro phase.
Champions that counter during teamfights—there’s an enormous amount to factor in.
“And when you add each team’s strategy on top of that?”
Penguin quickly explained this reality in detail.

-That sounds hellish
-No wonder coaches keep staring at their notepads ㅡㅡ
-It does seem incredibly complicated
-But isn’t it the players who contribute more?

“Rather than players contributing more, they coordinate and work it out together. They need to find the best answer as a team. So, Bang Ju? Why are professional bans and picks like that?”
Penguin moved on smoothly.
Explaining with examples would’ve gone on forever.
“I wanted to explain that Lios is different.”
Many people already know, but a caster’s duty is to consider everyone!
“For one, current overpowered champions? Even if a champion is OP, for stream players it’s stronger to stick with whatever champion they’re used to playing. You’d agree, right?”
“That’s true! Yes, practice is absolutely key! I think we saw that at the last tournament too.”
Arin nodded in agreement.

-Yeah
-lol right, only judge OP when you’re good on every champ
-Then why not just grind the OP champions for ten days?
-Info: There were actually teams that chose that strategy.

“And team strategy? How intricate and refined can your macro play really be? Team strategy only works when everyone’s on the same page and moving in sync. But Lios’s teams?”
That’s right.

-They’re all just operating on different levels lol
-Split between A, B, C, D, E lol
-From Bronze to Challenger! Wow!

“Just look at the match between Wealth Gap and Han Pun-man. The strategy itself was simple. Han Pun-man was making a comeback, and Wealth Gap was shutting it down in one go!”
“That seems like a simplification?”
“Of course, if you dig deeper, each ace was hiding or deceiving things to achieve their own goals, and the other teammates adjusted their play in detail to fit that strategy. But still, the macro strategy was simple.”
Penguin added clarification.
“That’s not a bad thing. The simpler the strategy, the more effective and powerful it can be.”
After all, it had to be built around the ace.
“So, for that reason, Seo Jun doesn’t bother preparing strategy, or so he claims.”
Because Seo Jun neither scrimmed nor researched opposing teams, people grew skeptical.
Seo Jun laughed it off and built the gimmick that strong players didn’t need such things.
But Bang Ju always said:
“If you believe everything Seo Jun says and get fooled, that’s your loss. I’ve made this clear before.”

-fair point
-Believing everything he says is stupid
-???: I remember my past life
-???: I’m the Heavenly Demon, you know
-? He actually says stuff like that?
-lololol

The real reason he didn’t prepare strategy was that seeing and responding in real-time was the best strategy.
His teammates could look at matchups with the opponent and pick a champion they were comfortable with rather than one they weren’t good at.
The opponent’s strategy was simple anyway, so it’d be readable, and then Seo Jun could just respond after confirming.
Lios’s success largely came down to the bans and picks.
Even if the opponent somehow drafted an absurd matchup where every other lane was a counter to everyone except Seo Jun, and they were all champions the team was familiar with—
“The biggest reason this is possible is that Seo Jun plays even champions he’s picking for the first time incredibly well.”
If you don’t shut down the ace, it’s all for nothing, and here Seo Jun plays even new picks well.

-If you’re good at everything, you just pick whatever last anyway
-Oh wow ㅡㅡ the right to pick last ㅡㅡ
-What even is that, you weeb
-Point is, if you throw rock-paper-scissors last, you always win

“What was the reason for building all this up!”
Arin asked.
“The champion Seo Jun picked. The one he’s picking for the first time, or rather, showing for the first time. I believe this entire ban-pick phase was designed. Exactly as Seo Jun intended.”
“Hmm… is that so?”

-Doesn’t seem like it lol
-So what was each team’s strategy, you weeb
-Probably wasn’t designed from the start. Though Hwang So’s blunder does seem right
-More like Hwang So might just struggle a bit
-But the champion is Gerrard… Hwang So might hold up okay?
-Can’t know till we see the game
-If you make bold claims like Bang Ju, wanna make a bet?

“Haha. The game is starting! By the time this match ends, you’ll understand. Seo Jun’s meticulous nature.”
“Got it! And the observer will start by showing the Blue team!”

[Fighting!]
[Ah… this familiar feeling.]
[Wind Sword, how many times have you said that?]

-Come on, cut Rumi some slack
-lol so you really love Kael
-Just a Kael fanatic! Shameless!
-I couldn’t hold back either

[Hmm. This familiar feeling is…?]
[Seo Jun, why again?]
[I’ll run through a quick tutorial.]
[…….]
[Come on, let’s head to lane. Rumi. I could go for a snack too, but we need to stop the invade first.]

“…….”
“…….”

-Control yourselves lol

* * *

The opponent’s strategy was to shut down Seo Jun by having Hwang So pick a counter to Kael. Simple.
Most strategies come down to shutting down the opposing team’s ace, and the opponent simply chose the most reliable route.
It was a given that if Kael got through, Seo Jun would play Kael.
Even though the opponent set a trap, it was one worth walking into—that was Seo Jun’s Kael.
But Seo Jun didn’t play along with the enemy’s expectations. Instead, he turned it around. By giving Kael to Wind Sword.
“Don’t worry. It’s a sword, like I said.”
So he ended up picking a champion he’d never played before, but at least he had something to rely on.

-Behold the bayonet attached to the gun lol
-A bayonet? That’s a sword?
-The commander’s living up to his Geomsin nickname right now!

[Gerrard, the Bullet Executor]

In the story, Gerrard is a direct executor of a municipal council in a technologically advanced city.
His weapon is a magitech gun-sword.
It’s a rifle with a dagger attached to the end.
Of course, he wasn’t relying on that alone.

[Good. I’ll tell you about myself especially. Listen well. My bullets are a product of cutting-edge magitech…….]

“Right, I’m aware of that. I didn’t mute him because he’s got an attitude.”
The tutorial thing was a joke. Really.
There’s no way he’d play a champion he didn’t properly know in the main event.

-ㅡㅡ
-Thought the old-man mode was coming back
-Stop it! You’re not even ten years old!
-How does this guy predict our chat? He reads us like a book?!
-This is why Eric needs to play lol

Seo Jun glanced toward the jungle while keeping watch in case the opponent came through, then raised his gun.
“Gerrard’s bullets reflect off surfaces like light,” he explained.
Except the ground.
Seo Jun braced the gun with his left hand and shouldered the stock.
Annoying, but that’s how you had to attack with this champion.
The picky executor’s traits were reflected in the mechanics.
Seo Jun aimed at a distant wall across the way, visualized mana gathering, and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
From the moment he began the visualization, he couldn’t move at all except to rotate the gun barrel.
The laser-like bullet hit the wall and scattered before it could reflect like Seo Jun said.
“Hmm…….”
Seo Jun smiled.

-lol talks about reflecting and can’t even hit it
-The bullets reflect so beautifully lol but he can’t land them lol
-The range is pretty short compared to other ADCs
-Of all things to pick, this one’s got slow attack speed and movement restrictions too

It wasn’t an embarrassed smile.
Rather, it was a smile as he adjusted his sense of the range he’d been thinking about.
What would it mean that it scattered before hitting?
Seo Jun already knew everything.
“I know it sucks. But that’s why there’s a sword attached, right?”
In the league, champions wielding guns or bows can’t block approaching attacks with their weapons.
More precisely, if they try to block, they lack the force and are judged to be helplessly pushed back.
Unless they blocked with bullets or arrows.
However, some special champions escape that restriction.
Gerrard, the champion Seo Jun picked, was one such example.
Gerrard could parry incoming attacks with the dagger attached to his gun.
It was the trade-off for the risk of being unable to move while attacking.

-There are so many other great ADCs though
-I’m relieved the commander picked Gerrard, a Top laner, so I’m 30% less stressed
-Though it’s still pretty rough, right?
-Yeah

Seo Jun took a step forward.
Then he aimed his gun at the wall again and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A reddish, slightly elongated bullet struck the wall and bounced back in the opposite direction.
Seo Jun turned his head to dodge the returning bullet and climbed onto the tower.
That was enough confirmation.
Once he’d climbed the tower, Hwang So greeted him from afar, shield and spear in hand.
“Haha… are you stalking me? You really came to the tower, huh?”
The moment Seo Jun moved forward, Hwang So backed off.
When he returned to his original position, Hwang So did the same.
Seo Jun trained his gun and gathered mana, but Hwang So stayed put—he knew Seo Jun couldn’t move any further from that position.
“Well, I’m a bit sad Seo Jun didn’t pick Kael, but it’s fine.”
Doesn’t sound like it at all.
The way he kept swallowing made anyone think he was nervous.

[Champion Gerrard]

Long-range basic attacks and skills using a spear, plus a round shield that lets him cover half his body—excellent matchup into Kael.
Against the champion Seo Jun had just picked, the matchup was—
Bang!
The moment Hwang So stepped forward, Seo Jun fired, but Hwang So simply swung his shield and deflected it.
‘Just as I thought.’
“You’ve fought a lot of ADCs in the top lane, haven’t you?”
Pretty solid. To be exact, one of the few champions that could actually survive the laning phase against an ADC.
Of course, Seo Jun was still favored in the laning phase overall.
Once laning ended, it would flip. That’s why top-lane ADCs usually go all-in before laning ends.
Hwang So swallowed again before speaking.
“Yes. I’ve faced it plenty of times. Fortunately for me, I picked Gerrard first. I was pretty shocked when you picked ADC at the very end.”
“So you wanted me to go mid?”
“Y-yes… I mean, no.”
Why did his tone suddenly change?
“Besides, you thought it’d be better for me to face you rather than your other teammates, didn’t you?”
Even if they’re up against a strong enemy, aces don’t back down—they think it’s better to be the ones facing them.
For someone like Hwang So, who went all-in on the masculine warrior concept as a streamer, he’d naturally think this way too.
If he were a different ace, he might’ve picked a moderate counter instead of an extreme one to bait Seo Jun to the top lane, but Hwang So picked such an extreme counter, so that was what he was saying.
Maybe.
There was a calculation lurking there—that even when Seo Jun picked Kael, he’d come top without caring about the hard counter.
But in the end, he came with a different champion instead.
“You didn’t pick such an extreme Kael counter just to tell me to go mid, did you?”
Not that he would’ve listened anyway.
“…….”
Hwang So just stared at Seo Jun.
Hmm.
Was he steeling himself?
“Well, try to hold on.”
“…… Possible.”
The conversation felt a bit disconnected. Seo Jun matched that tone in response.
“I’m pretty comfortable with Bullet Reflection.”
“?”

[Minions spawn.]

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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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