Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 218

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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 218

The second match—the one commentators had predicted would be a defeat for Wealth Gap—unfolded smoothly.

[Nice cover. Thank you.]
[Top, you held it well.]
[Seo Jun! The bottom minions have stacked up again!]

While Wind Sword held off Dokkaebi’s ganks, the bottom and mid lanes minimized their farming, retreating under the tower and managing the lane so they wouldn’t lose it to the enemy.
After covering top, Seo Jun returned home and was able to purchase his first Rune—an extraordinarily early timing.
Most players wouldn’t have even half the gold needed for a Rune by this point.
The hundreds of thousands of viewers watching the match predicted that Seo Jun would use the early purchase to obtain something tactically advantageous.

[First Rune—what’ll he buy? Obviously something ridiculously efficient right now, yeah?]
[If it were me, I’d go all out and upgrade Blessing of Radiance. The invincibility window would be insane lol]
[If the goal really is to torment the opponent like Bang Ju says, skill upgrades are definitely the way to go lol]

But Seo Jun’s first Rune choice shattered their expectations.

[Basic Attack: Magical power infuses the blade, increasing damage. The magical power within the blade can be freely expanded or contracted.]

A Rune that allowed him to freely extend or contract Kael’s basic attack range.
It was a Rune that also enhanced damage as magical power accumulated, but—

[?????]
[Nah, that can’t be right lol]
[Damage is the problem right now—why buy THIS Rune?]

In any game, if you gain something, you lose something else. That’s how balance works.
The Rune Seo Jun purchased had the advantage of freely extending attack range, so its damage enhancement was weaker than other Runes.
It had to be.

[But like, if he has so many invincibility skills, can’t he just close the distance? Why extend his range?]
[That Rune wasn’t made for hitting distant targets in the first place]
[Looking for a Kael expert to explain this Rune]

So people demanded an explanation for Seo Jun’s choice.
Game players are creatures who find it amazing when engineering students memorize the entire periodic table, yet effortlessly memorize over a hundred heroes’ skills and the effects of commonly used Runes for each.
But even they couldn’t know about uncommonly used Runes, and that’s where commentators came in handy.
However, the commentators were gamers too.
If a Rune had appeared even once in normal games, they’d know it; if it hadn’t, how could they commentate on it?
Fortunately, Kael had plenty of devoted fans—people who studied even these useless Runes inside and out.
And when there are enough people, someone will always post about it.
This could never happen in the era of Eric.

[How to use this Rune.]
==
According to the research of Kael devotees, this Rune has two advantages:
1. Attack distant enemies. (Obviously)
2. When fighting Kael, some people don’t even bother blocking the sword—they just stand there with their weapon held passively in front of their body, thinking ‘let’s see him hit my vital point.’ They think the blade can’t pass through. Remember that?
There’s a technique for that moment—like turning off a lightsaber right before impact, slipping it past, then turning it back on.
Of course, since the blade itself doesn’t vanish when the magical power is switched off, range control has to be flawless.
So theoretically it’s possible, but practically? Questionable.
==

Anyway, aside from the extended range, the damage scaling is about 80% compared to other Runes, so it’s not terrible.
Just think of it as making vital points easier to hit.
Still, it was abandoned by Kael devotees.
==

-Point 2 is ridiculous lol—is that even possible?
└If it’s Seo Jun, maybe
└Did he really go for that lol
-Anyway, he can adjust his range, making vital points easier to hit
-80% damage compared to other Runes isn’t terrible though? Still weird though lol
-Damage deficit is real tho
-He’s just gonna spam invincibility every 7 seconds to torment them. Got it lol
└Real talk
└Scumbag move

[Kim Penguin, you were right]
[Yesss! Let’s see game 3!]
[Yeah. Tormenting Dokkaebi sounds fun too.]

Despite the mostly positive reception of this choice, the conclusion still pointed to Wealth Gap’s defeat.

[Why buy something like this at a timing when they need to get stronger?]
[Does he think this tournament is a joke?]
[Just doesn’t realize his team’s lacking in damage, I guess.]

-And you? How’d you know Wealth Gap has a damage problem? Isn’t it just because the casters keep saying it, so you assume they’re right?
└Idiot (Post author)

For those skeptics, defeat was inevitable.
The commentators thought the same way.
Penguin, who copied a post from the community word-for-word (though she credited it), predicted defeat one more time.

[With this Rune selection, the game is truly decided. Bang Ju’s only option now is to hold. Just hold! For how long? Until Bang Ju’s teammates scale up enough that the gap Seo Jun created alone naturally closes!]

Still, anything could happen, so the muscular Penguin laid down minimal insurance.

[Of course, if you’re careless against Zombie Seo Jun, you could still lose!]

The last remaining group—the twenty thousand devoted fans—fought hard despite being a minority against the whole.

[No way I lose faith!!!!]
[Bang Ju Squad, assemble!]
[What if he combines it with other Runes and it becomes broken? I believe in Bang Ju!]
[Handful of Bang Ju fans]
==
Bang Ju Squad
Firepower’s seriously lacking, huh? lol
Yeah lost game 2~
==

-Get destroyed and cry about where lol
-Dude lol—when there are hundreds of thousands of viewers, of course a few thousand would be sparse? That’s just math
-Is there a fandom that ISN’T a handful at those numbers? Even the President’s followers wouldn’t be
-These types’ specialty: act like Bang Ju fans the moment he wins
└Just win game 3 properly lol (Post author)
-Bang Ju has a million Kael devotees supporting him
└If Bang Ju loses while playing Kael, they won’t support him (Post author)

* * *

There was a combination from the old PC era.
A pairing of a hero with overwhelming carry potential under specific conditions, paired with a support hero who could perfectly enable them.
Like Seo Jun now, eating both jungle and lane simultaneously—but Seo Jun hadn’t experienced this himself.
He’d never played PC games.
And when transitioning to virtual reality, that combination didn’t reappear either.
Many had tried, but the reason it never materialized was simple.
There wasn’t a hero combination that generated the same synergy and carry potential as the PC-era combo.
So how did Seo Jun learn about this?
‘Honestly, it was all thanks to Alpaca.’
Alpaca had said something in the past.
Why not just eat all the minions and carry? And why not take a day off today?
It was a throwaway comment, but Seo Jun latched onto the first part.
He naturally ignored the second part.
Anyway, after researching, no such combination existed. Even Lee Dong-su, his advisor, downvoted the idea.
But if something doesn’t exist, can’t you just create it?
‘What if I just try and see how it goes?’
If it doesn’t work, so be it.
That was his thinking.

[Dokkaebi coming bottom! Yun-ho, snap out of it!]
[Lots of minions piling up mid—Seo Jun, hurry!]

Knowing Dokkaebi was coming, Seo Jun was already heading to the bottom lane.
The enemy’s gank came at exactly the timing he’d predicted. Right on schedule.

[Don’t hold back your ultimate.]

Instructions to the bottom lane. What mattered was holding out until he arrived. If they died first without holding, he wouldn’t be able to land his ultimate on them anyway.

[Alpaca, take that lane. Hat, try to grab the enemy’s pants leg if you can.]

Even while moving, Seo Jun watched the mid situation and issued orders. The minions currently stacked in mid couldn’t be farmed by Seo Jun, who was rushing to bottom.
Better to tell them now so the next lane phase would go smoothly.
He arrived at the bottom instantly. A fight was already in full swing—more precisely, a chase.
The one running was Ha Yun-ho.
The distance between him and Ha Yun-ho closed in seconds.
In that moment, Seo Jun extended his blade.
Where Kael’s sword had been slightly longer than a one-handed sword, it now stretched beyond a two-handed sword in length.
Of course, just extending it didn’t put more force behind it. His attack speed remained the same.
Only the awkwardness changed.
Handling it properly fell to the player.
And Seo Jun handled long weapons well.
“Seo Jun! Teach them a lesson!”
“Jandi and his trash team are done for.”
“Hey, we have Dokkaebi too, you know?”
In the chaos, Seo Jun’s blade moved. He slashed the incoming enemy support’s vital point diagonally.
While slashing the approaching enemy’s vital point, he naturally shortened his blade proportionally. As they closed in, appropriately.
Already, after playing with the new Rune, he’d grown accustomed to wielding it.
Next, another vital point.
Then another.
To him, who knew the patterns, a D-rank support’s movements meant nothing.
In those brief seconds, he adjusted their position and guided them where he wanted, hitting vital points from the optimal angle.
Shing!
Within seconds, the Heretic Mark symbolizing Judge’s Sword appeared above the enemy support’s head.
From the moment Seo Jun struck the sixth vital point, he turned his attention away from the support without hesitation.
Next target: the enemy ADC.
He ignored Dokkaebi, who was still hunting Ha Yun-ho.
Behind him, the support tried to grab and drag him back.
The enemy ADC, who’d been targeting Ha Yun-ho, retreated while unleashing arrows.

[Blessing of Radiance]

But from Seo Jun, who’d gained a movement speed buff from hitting that vital point, escape was futile.
The enemy ADC tried everything to stop Seo Jun as he closed the gap and began striking vital points again.
But those attempts crumbled, and Jandi quickly made the decision to retreat.
Shing!
Only, Seo Jun’s blade was faster. In seconds, his ultimate was nearly ready.
Seo Jun struck Jandi’s lateral vital point.
Jandi was moving away, but Seo Jun rotated through the impact.
Simultaneously, as he turned, he extended Geomsin.
This time too the vital point spawned laterally, and the blade, spinning smoothly without interruption, generated the Heretic Mark.

[Dokkaebi –> Ha Yun-ho]

By the time he’d finished rotating, Dokkaebi finally caught Ha Yun-ho.
“You didn’t catch Rumi though?”
“Unfortunately.”
Dokkaebi shrugged and withdrew backward and to the side.
He recognized that he couldn’t win just yet.

[Judge’s Sword]

Two blades were already descending from the sky.

[Double Kill!]

-Damn! This guy’s default is a 2-man ult just like that
-I’m genuinely jealous. Seriously, seriously jealous
-Bang Ju has every Kael devotee’s dream lol
-Think we’ll see a 3-man ult this game? If he plays well?
-That’d be a first, wouldn’t it? lol
-If that happens, I’ll become one body with Bang Ju and support him no matter what lol
-If you become one body with those losers, Bang Ju’s the one losing out lol
-Why didn’t the devs change the pattern?!!!!

“Double ult—wow, we’re actually seeing it live. Insane.”
“Rumi. Time to end the laning phase.”
Somehow, he’d already accumulated enough for a second Rune.
Then Dokkaebi, who’d farmed decently, should now be able to afford his first Rune too.
“Yeah. But when you say end the laning phase… did you get enough gold already?”
Seo Jun nodded and initiated his recall. Standing still, he’d teleport home in eight seconds.
“That’s fast.”
“I’ve been eating two lanes.”

-lol pig move lol
-Let’s go with this!!!
-If he plays well enough here to completely shut them down, winning is possible. Penguin said so too
-Will Dokkaebi really sit still? Dokkaebi’s ramping up too
-Bang Ju has to suppress through macro play, but that sounds impossible
-But watching that fight, he uses the first Rune really well—is damage really lacking?

Seo Jun thought while waiting.
The viewers were probably wondering.
The casters surely would’ve mentioned whether there could be a lack of a damage dealer in the fight.
So right now, not having seen a proper teamfight yet and just having seen him use the Rune well, they’d be questioning whether damage was really insufficient.
‘Damage is insufficient. That much is true.’
Even with two Runes to himself. Even at high level.
Seo Jun knew it well.
‘That’s probably why people said from the start that my purpose was tormenting the other team.’
He wasn’t sure about that.
No matter how much people on Travel misunderstood his nature, would they really distort it that far?
Anyway, this game’s objective was victory.
He wasn’t the type to abandon a current game for the next one.
And hadn’t he said last time that he wouldn’t lose even once?
So what was he thinking?
Not macro play. He’d pulled forward the future—was he really going to unfold it through macro?
Not enough damage if he just fights?
‘We’ll see.’
Seo Jun smiled, bought his second Rune at home, and returned to the jungle.

* * *

[Don’t you think right now, when he just bought his second Rune, is the widest gap in the match?]

Baek Do-yul, busy with his own affairs, had been missing from the pro chat since Heavy Mental was eliminated. At someone’s question in that chat, the pros all deliberated together.
Honestly, they’d know once they fought anyway—wasn’t it a bother to predict?

[Assuming both Dokkaebi and Seo Jun play well—Bang Ju wins.]
[I’ll vote for that.]
[Go Dokkaebi!]
[Taker, that’s ugly.]

Even at Seo Jun’s strongest timing, the pros agreed with the casters’ opinions.

[But……]

Except for one: Lee Dong-su.

[What is it, Dong-su?]
[Honestly, just admit you’re losing game 2. Just take the loss gracefully!]
[Right! Look at him hoarding such a cheat of a player. Getting all the perks.]
[Well, technically our coaches were the ones recruited away.]
[Anyway, he’s getting all the advantages. I can’t agree that Lee Dong-su is the best coach!]

Lee Dong-su wasn’t swept up in the idle chat.
For some reason, it felt like he’d glimpsed Seo Jun’s intention, and goosebumps covered his skin, leaving no room for other thoughts.

[You said damage was insufficient, but what if three Judge’s Swords fall in a teamfight—would it still be insufficient?]
[Probably?]
[Hmm… Yeah. Still seems like it’d be lacking?]
[Then what if four fall?]
[……?]

—————
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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