Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 219

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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 219

[So we’re actually seeing a 2v9 court.]
[Indeed.]
[Weren’t there only a few of them who couldn’t do it? In real combat?]
[For what it’s worth, they seemed to have quite a lot of time…….]
[Was it really the right call to let Kael live?]

Dokkaebi heard his team’s voice chat and offered encouragement.

[It was the right call to spare Kael. That’s why they’re bringing such a reckless combination.]

He’d already explained the combination thoroughly while they were playing the game.

[I see.]
[We ought to beat that remarkable person one more time, don’t you think? And it was Kael back then too.]
[Understood.]

One more time.
Of course, the Wealth Gap now was different from what it had been then.
And the opposing Ace was said to not have been in earnest mode at that time.
But the fact that they’d won once before still gave them some comfort.
‘Alright, let’s focus again.’
They needed to understand their opponent.
It was too early to say for certain, but if they won here, the possibility of championship victory would open up.
They’d won once—why couldn’t they win again?
He read the enemy’s movement patterns.
And as he did, he thought about their first rune.
Details like damage increase rates and maximum attack range—all of it was already lodged in his mind.
Most likely, any team that had appeared in Rios would have been the same as Dokkaebi.
‘They’ve looked up every rune Kael has, just like I have.’
There was no way they’d release Kael without that level of preparation.
In any case, the first rune the opponent chose would always serve as the most important clue.
‘They didn’t seem particularly keen on hiding which rune they picked.’
In his previous match against Spoon, he’d seen them carefully conceal their runes. This time was different.

[Let’s probe the bottom lane once more.]

Did a skirmish or two really cost that much?
Could the enemy just mindlessly push in and end the game?
The answer to all of this was no.
So he checked the second rune as well.

* * *

[Dokkaebi –> not Rumi]
[Double kill!]

This time too, Dokkaebi—who’d meant to sacrifice the bottom lane to gather information—felt his thoughts growing muddled.
The enemy hadn’t taken the bait. He hadn’t shown himself at all in the bottom lane where Dokkaebi had appeared.
Were they trying to hide the second rune?
He couldn’t concentrate. His skill missed a minion that hadn’t even moved.
After the enemy destroyed the bottom lane, Dokkaebi pushed the minions into the tower and headed back to the jungle to continue farming.
‘The strategy gets locked in the moment you pick your champion. So why are they hiding it? Or did he just not predict this gank?’
That couldn’t be it.

[Wait, dive here!]
[Geomsin –> Mocha]

A notification appeared: Seo Jun had entered the tower and killed Mocha mid-lane.
Dokkaebi, whose thoughts had grown complicated, suddenly snapped back to attention—he’d missed covering the dive.
Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered even if he’d run over quickly; it was a mid-lane gank timed for when he was in the bottom lane.

[Did you happen to check what Kael’s second rune was?]

Mocha, like Dokkaebi, was a player who’d learned all of Kael’s runes.
He didn’t demand that level from other teammates, but Mocha had a different position—he had to face the enemy directly.
And his skill level was high besides.

[No, I couldn’t confirm it.]
[By the damage?]
[It was just strong. The level gap was so big I’m not even sure if it was just damage increase or if the invulnerability duration was longer. But—the mid first tower, it’s going down, right?]
[Yes. Right now I can’t do anything alone.]

So the second rune was probably something orthodox. He decided it wasn’t important.
What mattered was this:
Mocha was level 9, and Seo Jun was level 13.
Mocha wasn’t even a support—he was a proper laner taking farm, and yet there was a 4-level gap.
Dokkaebi himself had just hit level 10.
‘It’s incredible.’
As levels increased, heroes gained base stats: armor, magic resistance, attack power, attack speed, health.
These alone made the level difference impossible to ignore. But skills strengthened with each level too.
Everything from modest damage boosts to special rune options was unlocked by leveling.
In other words, Seo Jun was at his strongest right now.
Wasn’t he?
While farming in the jungle, Dokkaebi questioned the obvious. Was he really strongest right now?
If not—if that’s why Seo Jun wasn’t making his move now—
‘Is he waiting for the late-game window where he can end it all in one blow, like against Ha-Hanin?]

[Tower has been destroyed.]

The notification for the mid first tower’s destruction appeared.
The higher your level, the harder it becomes to gain more—and the stronger you get as a result.
Considering this, the most powerful timing would be—
the levels where skills explode with power: 5, 10, 15.
‘That’s it.’
When Seo Jun reached level 15, they would be hitting level 13.
If they won the fight—if they played it right—they could end it all at once. Right before they’d buy the second rune.
That was the window where victory was most likely, where the insufficient damage from the Wealth Gap could be made up for.
So was that when he’d force a teamfight?
Until then, he’d keep whittling them down.
It was likely.
Once he understood this, he could just avoid that window—
‘But I need to set a trap of my own instead.’
To secure a more certain teamfight victory.
Dokkaebi’s expression brightened, then—

[Top lane help! Kael’s about to dive!]

darkened again.
‘I have to defend first.’
And then, when Seo Jun turned level 15—
in his moment of greatest carelessness, Dokkaebi forced a sudden ambush, creating the stepping stone to the next game.
And he could see it: Seo Jun’s lips curled upward.

* * *

Seo Jun’s opponent was dragged along in his wake.
When he took the initiative to dive another lane, Dokkaebi would follow and defend however he could.
Dokkaebi failed to stop many of the dives.
That’s what the growth gap was for.
Yet even so, the opponent didn’t initiate a teamfight.
Was it because they were afraid of losing?
‘Well, they could lose.’
Seo Jun could hide in a good position and ambush them, or—a low-probability scenario—all their ultimates could be down while his enemy engages, opening up a teamfight.
But Dokkaebi had the skill to prevent these things.
The jungle position had the best grasp of the game’s flow.
The commentators agreed: if Dokkaebi lost due to carelessness, it wouldn’t be from skillshots or mechanical mistakes—it would be from operational errors like this.
Seo Jun thought the same.
And in that sense—
‘This appearance now is a mistake.’
Even if the level gap narrowed to 2 at level 15—even though higher levels are harder to gain and Seo Jun’s advantage grew less linear—
in relative terms, it was still one of his most powerful windows.
It wasn’t as if the enemy had bought the second rune yet.
But this—this was exactly Dokkaebi’s fatal error, as he’d said before.
The enemy had lain in ambush.
Waiting for the moment when Seo Jun would stride around most confidently.
Because Seo Jun would think this was the timing the enemy dreaded most—when they’d avoided teamfights up to now.
And people who think that way, as always, grow careless. They rule out the possibility of ambush.
Then skills came flying from the front and both flanks.
He’d been ambushed while roaming the jungle without caution in a non-combat situation, so he couldn’t even use Blessing of Radiance.
The perfect ambush.
But then—
a bright light wrapped around Seo Jun’s body.

[Holy Blessing]

It was Ha Yun-ho’s ultimate, waiting in the unseen shadows behind him.
The incoming skills bounced off, and the enemies panicked. Seo Jun wasted no time, forcing his way through the opening.

-Dokkaebi did mess up
-But Seo Jun doesn’t get careless
-Even the commentators are sighing
-But the fight’s still unknown!
-Seo Jun’s in danger

The teamfight had begun. They had the advantage from blocking the initial assault.
But behind him now was Ha Yun-ho, whose role was spent, and Rumi, who could provide heals.
Coming from the side was Alpaca, and further back was Wind Sword.
Against them, all five enemies were gathered.
And the one facing them directly was—

-Seo Jun alone ㅈㄴ
-He’s really fighting them
-Come on, Wind Sword!

only Seo Jun.
But Seo Jun’s smile deepened.
As if the difficult situation was exactly what he wanted.
Pael’s Invulnerability lasts quite long.
Seo Jun dove in and immediately swung his blade at the first target.
At maximum extension, the blade’s tip pierced Dokkaebi’s vital point. Then the distance closed and the blade length shortened.
He kept adjusting to the optimal state for the next attack, eliminating even the smallest movement needed to close the distance.
He had to take down all five opponents without dying. How?
Shwiiing!
The moment he’d slashed Dokkaebi’s vital point five times at high speed, Pael’s Invulnerability faded.
The suspended attacks came pouring down.
Seo Jun shifted his center of gravity freely, discerning the incoming strikes.
Distinguishing between attacks he had to take and ones he must avoid.

[Health – 87%]

Many attacks he couldn’t dodge cost him health, but he pressed deeper, marking the enemy leader’s head.
The moment the Idan mark appeared above Dokkaebi’s head—the most difficult opponent—a timer began in Seo Jun’s mind.
30 seconds.
He had to place as many marks as possible within that window. That was the only way to win.

[Health – 63%]

Health reduced by arrows and incoming skills—

[Sacrifice]

was restored by Rumi’s skill.

[Health – 80%]

-Can they win if the teamfight keeps going like this?
-They need kills instead of just chipping damage
-They might hold out lol
-I can do this all day!

[Health – 54%]

When critical skills seemed unavoidable—

[Blessing of Radiance]

he used the skill to endure.
Shwiiing!
He carved through vital points with mechanical precision at even greater speed.

[Blessing of Radiance: Skill duration extends, and activation greatly increases attack and movement speed.]

The second rune.
Kael’s standard choice.
One second after using the skill, a mark appeared above Mocha’s head.
‘Two down now.’
Seo Jun immediately moved to the next target.
Had the enemy figured it out by now?
Dokkaebi’s face, glanced at for just a moment, was filled with confusion. Then he shouted urgently, without even time to switch to team voice.
“Everyone pull back!”
He’d figured it out.
The attacks aimed at Seo Jun stopped for a moment, but—
“I’ve arrived!”
“Me too!”
Wind Sword appeared, circling around the back, and Alpaca closed in from the side, dragging the fight into chaos.
Perfect timing.
Dokkaebi’s expression grew desperate.
It didn’t matter.
He just had to do what he needed to do.

-Wow! Wind Sword!
-But they’re not getting kills…
-Should’ve gotten 2 kills using invulnerability
-Still one invulnerability left
-Two invulnerabilities left if you count the Blessing skill cooldown

Dokkaebi seemed to have figured it out, but did the others?
A chaotic melee. The attacks that had focused on Seo Jun scattered to the sides, but the visual still felt overwhelming.
And in that situation, steadily—

[Idan: Mocha]

the marks accumulated. Could anyone notice?
It would be impossible without paying careful attention.
Even Wind Sword, who knew, was asking right now—

[How many left?]
[Almost done.]

Seo Jun gritted his teeth.
At the fastest speed, he placed a mark above Penguin’s head before answering.
That’s right. Lasting long wasn’t the goal. Not from the start.
Creating 30 free seconds was the goal.

[Bastion]

The moment the invulnerability faded—
perfectly timed, Alpaca’s ultimate came through. Invulnerability again.
Two marks left.
Top lane.
Support.
He moved to the remaining two in sequence, in order of proximity, stacking marks.

[Idan: Spoon]

“Stop!”
When one mark remained, Dokkaebi pressed in, trying to block the vital point strike.
A wise choice, but—
8 seconds left.
‘About 7 seconds per person so far, right?’
That’s enough.

-Crap
-Can’t get the kills, can’t get them
-Looks like constantly attacking different enemies is tough for Seo Jun too
-Focusing on one would’ve been better
-Man, he’s fighting incredibly well

Dokkaebi gritted his teeth, but Seo Jun was at peak concentration in the fight.
Dokkaebi’s hands and feet tried to catch Seo Jun’s blade, but it moved like a phantom, slipping away.
And the moment Seo Jun felt the sensation of the sixth vital point being cut for the final time, his blade stopped against the enemy’s body in sync with the timer in his mind.
’28 seconds? If he’d blocked even once more, I’d have failed narrowly.’
Seo Jun and Dokkaebi’s eyes met. Their pupils were trembling.
Judgment Sword is an ultimate with area of effect. The damage to non-marked targets is less than for marked ones, and since most are single-target ultimates, it’s not usually a critical factor.
But five marks?
“Scatter! Now!”
“Too late.”
Seo Jun withdrew his blade and looked up at the sky.
“Wow. No. This isn’t even real.”
Dokkaebi, looking up at the sky to assess the situation, abandoned his orders.
Yeah, he should’ve just given up on the last one and let them all scatter.
They wouldn’t have survived anyway.

-????
-What’s happening
-Why’s Dokkaebi panicking
-Wait, what’s that in the sky?
-Wait, what?

It was working out.

* * *

“Ah! He didn’t finish off even one of them! All five of Wealth Gap’s members are at 30-40% health, but so are Seo Jun and Wind Sword!”
“…….”
“With this, the match goes to game three…….”
Why wasn’t there a response?
What were they staring at like that?
Penguin, who’d been rambling on, also froze when his focus returned to the screen in front.
The game.
No—the sky was tearing open.

—————
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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