Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 23

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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 23

[Magic Tower Master Strategy Guide (Incomplete)]
[Thanks to a certain Streamer, there are a lot of people trying to catch the Ruler these days, so I’m sharing what I know about the Magic Tower Master. (Warning: using informal register. Also, I’ve never cleared it. This is barely worthy of being called a strategy guide.)
The setting is the top floor of the Magic Tower where the sky spreads across the ceiling—the 8th Floor, where the Magic Tower Master’s Office is located.
The Magic Tower Master has, as far as confirmed, two distinct Phases.
Phase 1 uses general magic.
Fireball, Ice Arrow, Forest Binding, Earth Barrier, Teleport, and so on.
If you love Musou games and have encountered a lot of magic while doing Quests in earlier floors or in the city, it’s difficult but avoidable.
Why is it somewhat difficult? Because the Magic Tower Master’s spells are either large in scale or cast at much faster speeds, and they come relentlessly without pause.
For reference, they occasionally do Multi-Casting as well.
I recommend gathering utility-type skills and high-defense equipment.
Anyway, if you’re a player confident enough in your control to enjoy Musou, you should be able to get past Phase 1.
But Phase 2 and beyond—that’s the problem.
Once you land a hit, it triggers Phase 2, and from there the Magic Tower Master puts up a Barrier.
What a pain.
Normal attacks don’t work anymore.
I tried using high-damage bombs, which can pierce the Barrier and deal just a tiny bit of damage.
But then they just cast the Barrier again right away.
So you’d think you could just stock up on tons of bombs and go in, right?
I mean, you could, but the problem is you can’t survive long enough to whittle down all that HP.
From Phase 2 onward, the Magic Tower Master fires Lightning.
This stuff is genuinely fast as hell.
(video)
As you can see, it’s really hard to dodge.
But it’s indiscriminate spray-and-pray.
How much Mana does this thing have?
I even called a friend to have them act as a lightning rod from the side, but there’s no winning against infinite Mana.
(By the way, don’t fight them together with a friend. They adjust the balance by doubling the power of the spells.)
I’m going to look for other special items or something. The game is so vast to begin with that there’s got to be multiple ways to clear this.
There might even be a Phase 3.
It’s only been a day, so I’ll keep experimenting with various strategies.]

* * *

“I see.”
Seo Jun opened his Inventory with an awkward expression.
All he had was a worn Guard’s Sword and a Basic Hood.
And some forty Machetes gathered from clearing out gangs.
It was rather meager.

-lololol he’s got nothing
-there’s no way to break through the Barrier even with Lightning
-just assassinate lol
-infiltration is whatever, the 8th Floor is the most fun anyway. It’s packed with all sorts of traps the Magic Tower Master set up themselves.

“Well, there must be some way. The Mission doesn’t seem to forbid assassination, but I do have a conscience, so I won’t do that.”

The Mission certainly hadn’t said anything against assassination.
Of course, if Seo Jun tried to assassinate the boss here, the viewers would riot without question.
“Anyway, I have no idea about the grain structure of magic, and hmm, I might actually die this time. Looking at the Barrier, it just seems circular, so I’m skeptical there’s any grain structure at all.”
Seo Jun played the video from the strategy guide.
It certainly wasn’t as fast as Lightning in the real world, but the difference was meaningless to humans.

-Honestly, even using Weak Point Detection wouldn’t let you block it. It’s too fast.
-This is looking like Mission failure.
-Safe Asset.

As Seo Jun finished speaking, a notification chimed.
And Seo Jun let out a small laugh.

[+Bounty 5,000 won added]
[+Bounty 7,000 won added]
[+Bounty 3,000 won added]
.
.
.

As the first notification rang out, the bounty climbed in a cascading chain reaction.
Trebal’s Mission system allowed anyone to freely add to the bounty once a Streamer had accepted the Mission and it appeared on the broadcast screen.
The viewers, believing Seo Jun’s words had raised the probability of Mission failure, were putting in their money.
After all, if they failed, it would be refunded—the so-called Safe Asset.

[Clear the Magic Tower Master without using Weak Point Detection — Mission Reward: 1,230,000 won]

-lololololol
-don’t fall for it everyone!
-The streamer totally said weak stuff on purpose. See how they played the video again to get more bounty money? They’ve obviously already figured out what to do.
-The familiar scent of capitalism wafts through the air.
-This is why sharp-witted brats like him are…

As Seo Jun smiled, the viewers began to catch on.
“I’m not. How would I know what to do? I’m not a game developer.”

-Whoa.
-Wait…??
-This feels like benevolent genius energy.
-No wonder they were so confident when they self-reported back then ㄷㄷ

Seo Jun closed the chat window and opened the door to the 8th Floor.
“I’m telling you it’s not… Sigh. Fine. Let’s go in.”

-lololololol

* * *

“Hmm? Who are you?”
A young man sat at a desk with his hands clasped together.
He had immaculate white hair swept back, angular formal attire, and white gloves on his hands—a neat appearance overall.
Duke, the Magic Tower Master.
The interior of his Office was surrounded by tall bookshelves packed densely with books, and the ceiling was open as if the sky itself were visible.
Behind the Magic Tower Master was a hallway where strange mechanical devices and ceremonial patterns could be glimpsed.
“I’m No Name.”
Seo Jun answered the Magic Tower Master.
“No Name, huh. What brings you here? Wait—how did you even get here?”
“Well…”
Whoosh!
Seo Jun drew his sword mid-answer and abruptly parried an incoming spell.
“You’ve got some skill. Pity. It could’ve ended cleanly.”
With a single gesture, Duke created three more Fireballs and sent them toward Seo Jun, then slowly rose from his seat.
Seo Jun moved only his arm, dissipating the Fireballs without shifting his body at all.
Thump.
Then he stepped forward with one foot.
“That’s rather rude, don’t you think?”
“Are you talking to me?”
Another gesture, and over ten Ice Arrows materialized.
His other hand was clasped behind his back—annoying of him.
“I’m not talking to you. Something else.”
Seo Jun dodged the arrows as he closed the distance toward Duke.
Thump.
“Is that so? Then how exactly did you get here?”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh.
Crunch-crunch-crunch-boom.
Vines came writhing to bind him, followed by jagged stone spikes erupting upward to assault him in sequence.
Seo Jun tore through the vines, drove his sword into the stone to shatter the spell, and advanced another step.
Thump.
“Just walked in, actually. The doors weren’t locked.”

-so cool
-facts
-ㅋㅋ should’ve locked the doors better ㅋㅋ
-this part’s easy

“Hmph… Can you dodge this as well?”
Another wave of magic crashed toward him.
But no matter how much faster or more powerful, the spells were fundamentally the same magic.
“Yep. Could do it with my eyes closed.”
Thump.

-facts 22222
-the streamer’s way with words ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-considering how he deceived the viewers, his character’s probably rotten ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

“Before I knew it, we’ve gotten closer.”
Seo Jun suddenly closed the distance and slashed horizontally from left to right.
Crack!
Duke quickly Teleported backward, but a thin line appeared across his neck and blood sprayed.
He’d been just a fraction too slow.
But Duke showed no sign of shock. Instead, he wore the same serene expression Seo Jun always had.
“Hmm. Good. I’ll go all out then.”
Duke removed his white gloves and brought his hands together.
Blue sparks began crackling around the Magic Tower Master.

-Phase 2
-get some distance first
-run!

Crackle!
Duke reached out toward Seo Jun.
Air tore apart and thunder roared.
Boom-crack-bang!
A brilliant, blue Lightning like what you’d see from a Tesla coil streaked past Seo Jun in an instant and struck the floor.
The spell hung briefly in the air before disappearing, leaving behind a floor charred black and split open.
‘Wow.’
It was faster than the speed of the supreme masters’ swift strikes that he’d experienced in his past life.
“How am I supposed to handle this?”
Seo Jun broke into a cold sweat.
Speed: 100,000 kilometers per second.
Even slowed down 10,000 times from its actual velocity, it was still 10 kilometers per second.
Lucky he’d watched that video beforehand.

-how did he dodge that lolol
-isn’t he pro-level at this point? why broadcast?
-the streamer’s addicted to broadcasting ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Reacting to what you see is impossible.
But by watching Duke and timing his movements, predicting and dodging was possible.
Crackle-crackle!
Sparks danced across Duke’s hands as electrical charge gathered again.
Seo Jun didn’t take his eyes off Duke’s hands.
Boom-crack-bang!
Lightning struck the floor again.
The spell grazed past Seo Jun’s right shoulder.
Seo Jun believed the most important thing in combat was observation.
Crackle!
Electrical charge gathered in Duke’s hands.
Boom-crack-bang!
Lightning crashed down again.
Crackle!
This time Seo Jun threw his body to the left to dodge.
Boom-crack-bang!
Unlike a bullet fired the moment you pull the trigger,
magic had a slight delay before activation, and Seo Jun exploited that window to dodge while continuing to observe.
After several exchanges that left the Office in ruins, Seo Jun had noticed a few things.
First, Duke.
‘For some reason, he doesn’t seem to want me getting any closer to the back area.’
When Seo Jun moved right, Duke fired magic further to the right, herding him back to his original position.
‘The same happens if I go left.’
Even when he dodged in a straight line, barely avoiding the Lightning and closing the gap, Duke didn’t retreat. Instead, he deployed a Shield to hold his ground and push Seo Jun back.
Seo Jun had no way to break through the Shield, so he was forced to retreat once more.
In such a case, the answer was obvious.
‘He must be protecting something important back there.’
Seo Jun looked at the wall behind Duke. There, floating inside a glass tube, was a Ring-Shaped Object about the size of a soccer ball.
‘I want to touch it.’
Seo Jun pulled a Machete from his Inventory and hurled it.
But it was blocked by Duke’s Shield, which stretched nearly three meters across.

-nope can’t do it
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ how long are you gonna dodge?
-no way, right? gotta retry?
-let’s go find some bombs first

‘As expected.’
He’d thought as much.
Crackle.
“There!”
Duke shouted and reached out.
He sounded excited.
Boom-crack-bang!
Seo Jun tilted his head to dodge the Lightning while he thought.
‘This is my second question.’
Seo Jun studied the blue Lightning lingering in the air for roughly a second.
Beautiful.
From a distance, it was just a single bolt of Lightning, but up close, multiple thin blue filaments bundled and split apart, forming a single shape.
‘Why did the Mission specifically forbid using Weak Point Detection?’
After all, Lightning was absolutely impossible to cut or dismantle.
Even with his past-life body and cultivation, it was impossible.
‘Was it just what a normal person would say?’
But then why bet 100,000 won on it?
Seo Jun had a hunch that whoever set the Mission was connected to the game developers.
And that hunch grew stronger the more he observed the lingering Lightning.
There’s something there.
Seo Jun steadied his mind and surrendered to instinct.
Boom-crack-bang!
The sound of air rupturing, and a fantastic stem of electrical charge blazes across Seo Jun’s vision in an instant.
Multiple thin Lightning filaments bundled and scattered like shattered glass.
The overlapping crossroads of small branches. The center point.
In a fraction of a second, Seo Jun followed his intuition and thrust his sword into that spot.

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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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