Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 249

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

Chapter 249

80 Line.
The moment the sword vanished.
Frames that didn’t belong flickered across the viewers’ screens in an instant.
A span of less than a second.
It was as if the world’s greatest pro gamer of old had tapped a key and released it in 0.1 seconds—the screen blinked.
And then.
Seo Jun began walking at a leisurely pace, searching for his position.
The others scrambled to find their spots a beat too late.
Thick red lines overlapped again and again, consuming the map, while the narrow strip of white space—safe ground—could barely fit one person.
“Move!”
These gaps were scattered sparsely across the entire map.
Seo Jun, the only one to have walked calmly into position, turned to survey the whole field when the sword suddenly tore across the map at blinding speed.
Tae-woo and Dang So, caught in its path as they fled toward safety, crumpled the moment it passed.
“Let’s go again. Haha.”
Seo Jun laughed and hit retry. Four people would be too difficult.
The reason was simple: each hit dealt roughly seventy percent of their health, a threat so severe that the less experienced raid members couldn’t attack freely while dodging—damage output suffered.
“Nice and easy, everyone.”
Each attempt to the 80 Line consumed about seven minutes.
This was the third attempt now, so twenty-one minutes had passed.

-Other parties are struggling too lmaooo
-They’re all looking and trying to dodge but everyone except the leader looks so tight haha
-Compared to someone who can see and dodge in 0.1 seconds, anyone else would look relaxed lol

It was still relaxed, though.
And in Phase One, many people seemed to have turned on streams.
Not just streamers but regular viewers too.
They thought the real challenge was Phase Two.
Seo Jun agreed with that assessment.
The moment everyone agreed to retry, they returned to the moment just before the sword descended.
“Alright, let’s go!”
Tae-woo shouted with energy.
“This time let’s dodge properly. Heh.”
Ppoppi’s Dad was no different.
They poured skills into the falling sword, whittling away its health.
Seo Jun noticed his teammates’ movements loosening up.
It showed even to the eye—the health bar was disappearing faster.
If you were too busy evading, you couldn’t attack.
But once you recognized the telltale signs—the sword suddenly dropping flat and pulling back slightly—you could predict the arcing, semicircular path it would trace as it spun.
And if you understood that when it stood vertical and tilted back, it would plunge straight down from that position—
You could dodge with just a shuffle of your feet and pump in damage at the same time.
‘Good.’
Seo Jun had done exactly that after seeing it once, but there was no dramatic change in his performance.
He was a beginner, after all.
In the meantime, they’d whittled the boss down to 80 Line.
‘Five minutes gone.’

-Keep up the tempo!
-Nice combo!
-Starting to keep up the tempo now?
-Form’s improving
-But that’s only the first mechanic, right?

The sword vanished before Seo Jun’s eyes.
He scanned the map again and moved with ease.

-Lmao no seriously, it’s a flicker lol
-How the hell does this guy do it hahahaha
-This guy really seems like he’s living life at 0.25x speed lmaooo can’t possibly make sense no matter how you look at it
-For real lol
-All questions solved. He doesn’t remember his past life—he just lives at 0.25x speed!

He turned to look back.
This time Tae-woo and Dang So had secured positions.
But Ppoppi’s Dad, whose joints were weak, and Geomsin119 were still running.
“It’s fine, just take your time.”
The moment Seo Jun finished speaking, the sword moved swiftly and both of them fell.
Though the sword’s physical width didn’t cover the thickness of the red lines, people died without even touching it directly because of the mana radiating from it.
“Let’s go again.”
“Phew. I didn’t expect it to be this hard from here on.”
Ppoppi’s Dad reached behind his head, sheepish.
“Same here. Heh, it’s tough. Sorry about that.”
Geomsin119 apologized too.
The raid members all said it was fine in unison.
It wasn’t like one person kept making mistakes.
Tae-woo spoke up.
“Right now, except for Seo Jun, no one’s mastered the skill of understanding attacks purely through shared awareness. You just die if you’re unlucky and the safe zone ends up far away. The situation’s the same for everyone right now.”
“Fair point. Frustrating as it is, I have to admit it. Reading the attack is still hard for me.”
Dang So nodded in agreement.
“Seo Jun, you really are incredible. Mastering it on the first try and just strolling into position like that.”
Geomsin119’s praise came naturally.
“Haha. No matter how late we get, it’s fine. Let’s just master it piece by piece, nice and slow.”
“Sounds good!”
“The viewers keep telling me that no other raid party has managed to keep all members alive yet. Oh, looks like another team cleared it? And why are they cursing me?”
Must be another successful team that just cleared Phase One.
But the viewers were laughing.

-Hahahahaha
-You jerk of a leader hahahaha
-That’s hilarious
-The solution came up lol

“What is it?”
“What do you mean? Our viewers are laughing too.”
“Yeah? So what’s the solution?”
Ppoppi’s Dad asked Tae-woo, and Tae-woo’s expression darkened as he read the chat.
Somehow, in Seo Jun’s chat where their conversation was audible, no one held back on revealing the solution.
“Why do you look like that?”
“Well, Seo Jun.”
“Yeah?”
“It turns out dodging isn’t just about seeing it coming.”
Tae-woo’s voice was hollow.
“Huh?”
“Of course, seeing and dodging is the right approach, but there’s a specific pattern. You’re supposed to position yourself early and move only when it gets close. If you don’t do that, realistically half the group won’t make it unless they’re incredibly fast.”
“Really? Then why have we been doing it this way the whole time?”
“…….”
“…….”
“The viewers are saying that because someone keeps doing everything with insane speed and ease, they never bothered to look for a pattern. I wonder who that someone could be, Seo Jun.”
Everyone stared at Seo Jun.
“And that person was the first in the universe to clear the pattern and made it sound so easy while saying ‘just watch and dodge’ that they imprinted it on everyone’s minds.”
Ah, so that’s how it is.

-In other words? The leader poisoned the well!
-Honestly lol you can’t use him as a baseline lol
-Don’t try to dodge like someone—just get into position early and wait lol

“Alright, let’s see what the pattern actually is!”
Seo Jun ignored the quiet conversation between Geomsin119 and Siksik Corner happening behind him.
“Do you think we can get a Perfect Clear?”
“Impossible.”
Siksik Corner shook his head firmly.

* * *

The safe zones that could appear at the 80 Line seemed random but followed a certain pattern.
First, one spawned at the top (12 o’clock) and one at the bottom (6 o’clock). The exact position was truly random, but this principle never changed.
When split left and right, three zones spawned on each side, with one or two appearing near the center.
Usually, if one zone appeared near center, two zones clustered close together appeared in the far top or bottom. If two appeared near center, one was random.
So if they stationed one person top, one bottom, and two in the middle sides, then sprinted when they saw the pattern, the tight timing became far more manageable.
They decided on positions immediately.
In a raid, the boss continues to move wherever aggro pulls it.
So as they approached the 80 Line, it was crucial to keep their assigned spots in mind so they could react the instant the pattern started.
And once they understood the solution—
Their raid party found it easy enough to handle.
“Nice!”
“Finally, everyone’s alive!”
“Now we can burst damage!”
Whoosh.
The sword tore across the field at high speed, but no one died, and the raid continued with the sword that flew to the center. Damage kept pouring in steadily.
The boss’s health dropped fast.
The sword’s basic attack pattern shifted slightly—different trajectories and speeds.
“Nice and steady! We’ve got plenty of time!”
There was technically a time limit on the raid.
More precisely, if they exceeded a certain time threshold, the raid became harder.
This was due to Enrage—the industry standard boss mechanic in raiding games.
Enrage was a buff applied to the raid boss once the time limit passed.
Sometimes it made the boss faster or raised its damage output, and sometimes it was just a total wipe mechanic.
Going past the time limit would technically end the raid in failure, but it could feel a bit lazy.
The reason Enrage existed was multifaceted, but usually it was to prevent players from simply stalling—
Having inferior damage compared to similarly geared players while being unkillable through heavy survivability and defense.
If someone stacked defense and endurance so high they never died, the difficulty plummeted.
So the developers blocked that approach.
Right now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
They didn’t even know the mechanics coming up yet.
But still.
“Ouch! Hold on, I got hit again! Why does this hurt so much!”
Tae-woo took a hit from the sword as it rolled across the ground, lying on its side.
“I’m out of Potions. Heal me, would you? Heh.”
Tae-woo wasn’t alone.
“Heheheh. Embarrassing as it is, I’m down to my last Potion myself.”
Even with heals pouring in and the supporter’s Barriers cycling, they’d burned through almost all five Potions.
This wasn’t unique to Seo Jun’s raid party.
Seo Jun assessed the situation and spoke to Tae-woo.
“The difficulty’s pretty high. Want some Potions? I’ve got all five.”
“Hey, you said you were carrying us.”
‘Why does he insist on being difficult today?’
Tae-woo shot him a sharp look while dodging the sword’s attacks.

-Hahahaha can you even share potions?
-That’s character buildin lol
-Geomsin News: This guy hasn’t been hit even once since the beginning
-Wow that’s creepy lmaooo
-Does he get hit in Phase Two?

Still, the Dark Knight’s Great Sword’s health continued to drop, and without anyone dying, they succeeded in reaching the second mechanic.
Health at 40 Line.
The sword vanished again, and Seo Jun immediately shifted his perspective.
But this time, something was different.
Normally, straight lines would crisscross from all directions, overlapping to cover the map, leaving only clean open spaces—but now there were no gaps at all.
Instead, where there should have been empty space, only a faint red color remained.
Seo Jun immediately sensed danger and shifted the Observer’s viewpoint from directly overhead to a side angle across the map, while his teammates, startled, moved toward the lighter colored areas.
The Observer moved at a moderate speed, not incredibly fast.
The moment the sword began its attack, the Observer was about halfway there when it lit up the map—and Seo Jun, who hadn’t taken his eyes off it, ducked instantly.
The second mechanic required you to position yourself, then either duck or jump.
‘Would it have been clearer if I’d watched from a diagonal angle from the start?’
He’d need to check, but—
“Everyone’s down.”
Seo Jun hit retry.
Once again, he was alone.

* * *

-Seo Jun 0 Deaths (Attempt 4 Failed) lmao
-Seo Jun 0 Deaths. And 0 Hits lmaooo
-This bastard… he doesn’t take damage! Because he wasn’t hit!
-He didn’t drop focus even at the end, what a madman
-The second mechanic at least other parties managed to see
-But seriously, other teams were getting wrecked. Even burning all their Potions they barely survived, but Tae-woo executing it perfectly was seriously skilled
-The sword’s attack speed is too fast, the attack pattern is difficult
-Anyway, we figured out how to solve the second mechanic
-But why doesn’t this guy use Knockback?
-Counter works, but if you Counter the attacks just come right back at you differently, so you can’t keep doing it
-Doesn’t Knockback have the same issue?
-Seems like Knockback should work but no one’s tested it yet. We’d know if he tried it

For a brief moment.
While his teammates reviewed his replay to confirm how the second mechanic unfolded, Seo Jun replied to the chat.
“Knockback, huh. The topic shifted. The attack speed is just too fast. You know that if the boss is faster than me when I try to Knockback, it’s impossible, right?”

-Yeah
-Hmm
-So it’s impossible?

“No, not exactly impossible. Most of the time it is, but there are rare moments where it’s possible. Very subtle ones. I bet the reason they varied the attack speed is to tell you to Knockback at those moments.”

-Ah I see!
-So it does work?
-But how do you catch that subtle moment when the attack speed slows down!
-Skill!
-So that’s why it’s hard?

“It’ll be difficult, yeah.”

-Makes sense
-Right
-The creators did this on purpose
-It’s supposed to be record-breaking, they say
-Can’t help it if it’s that subtle

“Here’s what I always tell you all. Anyway, from now on…….”
Seo Jun was waiting.
Not until he grasped the speed difference—he’d caught onto that immediately.
He was waiting for his teammates to become familiar enough with the patterns.
So they could fight as efficiently as possible as a raid party.
“Things will get a lot easier. Ah, I hope the leader didn’t mess up.”

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