Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 286

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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 286

“I’ll say it again: your Synchronization Rate is abnormally low, Seo Jun. Truly unprecedented.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The method for calculating Synchronization Rate is too complex, so to put it simply—the Capsule is a nerve, or rather a pathway, that connects your real-world brain to virtual reality.”
Oh Ji-hye began from the basics again, something he’d heard seven years—no, eight years ago.
Seo Jun guessed it was because of Team Leader Lee that they were going over everything from scratch, and his guess was correct.
“When this pathway widens, even the most trivial commands from your brain are transmitted fully to the virtual reality server and reflected completely, and the information sent back from virtual reality reaches your brain accurately, letting you experience it vividly.”
That’s why expensive Capsules are worthwhile.
“0.3%. That’s the amount of signal loss that occurs slightly when the Synchronization Rate is 50. To be precise, under various conditions you lose about 0.3%, which is why it’s 50, so the cause-and-effect is reversed in my explanation, but anyway.”
Team Leader Lee listened intently from the side without interrupting.
When Oh Ji-hye had come here asking her permission, she hadn’t heard the details, so while she knew what had happened, she was curious about why.
“It means you experience reality as 99.7% convincingly real. Most people don’t deviate from this range. No matter how good a Capsule they use.”
At this level, there would be almost no sense of dissonance whatsoever.
“But your rate, Seo Jun, is 1%.”
“Gasp.”
Team Leader Lee drew in a sharp breath.
The difference was far greater than she’d expected.
“To 3%.”
“Oh my God.”
Oh Ji-hye glared at Team Leader Lee, and Team Leader Lee covered her mouth with her hand, her expression apologetic.
Team Leader Lee’s gasp hadn’t been playful. She was genuinely shocked.
“There are various causes. First, your brain itself simply doesn’t match well with the Capsule’s pathway. But even though this is unusual, it’s not unprecedented in history.”
That’s true.
The reasons for Seo Jun’s low Synchronization Rate are complex.
“The biggest cause is fundamentally the amount of information you transmit. This case is unique to you, which is surprising, but the quantity stands out as significantly higher than ordinary people. You know why that is, don’t you? I’m pretty sure you do—tell me.”
Oh Ji-hye trailed off and suddenly accelerated the conversation. It was to refresh the mood, and it was like an annual ritual question.
But Seo Jun couldn’t understand it.
Every time he answered honestly, didn’t he?
“Yes, I know. It’s because….”
“Anything other than the answer that you remember your past life, learned many things because of it, and can feel even the most minute movements of your body—that your senses are exceptional.”
“Hmm?”
Team Leader Lee clapped her hands, impressed.
Whether or not Seo Jun cooperated, Oh Ji-hye continued explaining.
“Anyway, so the reality you feel in virtual reality, Seo Jun, ranges from 97% to 99%. While the numbers are 1 to 3% of loss, the felt experience would surely far exceed what we imagine.”
When a person’s body aches even slightly, becoming a little heavy or uncomfortable, they feel it all.
But if there were a 1 to 3% loss…
No one could possibly imagine how severe the subjective experience would be.
Team Leader Lee, who could hardly be unaware of this, wore an expression of concern for Seo Jun.
The more she heard, the more serious it seemed.
“And with the old Capsule, it was even worse, wasn’t it?”
Team Leader Lee asked.
She knew she was having things explained for her benefit.
“Right. To make another analogy: the Capsule is a pathway. But you’re constantly forcing an enormous volume of signals into a poorly fitted Capsule. Normally it’s 1%, but in special situations requiring much more concentration, signal loss can reach as high as 4%.”
This was uncommon.
At most once a day. At the most extremely difficult moment.
“Wait. Now that I think about it—does that mean the harder you play, the higher the difficulty becomes for you because of the low Synchronization Rate?”
“Exactly.”
“When I think about it, even easy play is already more disadvantageous for you than others. But if the difficulty increases further… and 4% is…”
“Right. At that point, it’s beyond safe limits. Even though the premium Capsule is using the sturdiest and widest pathway available right now.”
When the pathway overheats, it needs to cool.
Within normal ranges, playing for four hours and resting for one hour before playing another four hours causes almost no strain, but once you cross a certain threshold, the load increases dramatically.
That threshold is 4%.
“And if something goes wrong with the pathway, the heat could even spread to your brain. The virtual reality server is so sturdy, has maintenance staff, and is so vast that a disconnected link causes no problems, but the human brain is different.”
That’s why Forced Logout is necessary.
The Mob Hunt moment on day three occurred once every hour, so it wasn’t urgent enough to require immediate Forced Logout.”
“This is certainly an unavoidable problem.”
“Right. Even if the Isekai Quest falls apart, even if we reach an unsatisfying ending, it’s better than a safety accident.”
Team Leader Lee nodded and spoke to Oh Ji-hye.
“Then, when I go to explain to the other team leaders shortly, could you come along and help?”
“Of course.”
“Understood. Then I’ll take my leave now, cheering for you, Seo Jun, and hoping no accidents occur.”
“Yes.”
Team Leader Lee left, and Seo Jun ordered room service and organized his thoughts once more.
‘Hmm.’
This wasn’t something he could do anything about.
If asked whether the Isekai Quest was more important than his health, the answer was absolutely no.
He simply distinguished between what was possible and what wasn’t.
Seo Jun asked Oh Ji-hye for a baseline.
“Is one hour of rest sufficient?”
“One hour outside the Capsule entirely is enough.”
She meant the pathway cooling down from the heat.
“What if I continuously maintained a Mob Hunt for about thirty minutes straight? Would that trigger Forced Logout?”
“It’s similar. Probably depending on today’s numbers and the combat situation, somewhere between ten and forty minutes? Without rest, I’d say forty minutes is roughly the limit.”
At the mention of today’s numbers, Seo Jun locked into memory the degree of concentration he’d maintained today.
He knows how intensely he’d concentrated.
‘Certainly, in another game this would’ve been a level of concentration lasting only a few seconds, but I sustained it for thirty seconds to over a minute.’
According to Oh Ji-hye, the Mob Hunt really did have difficulty far higher than expected.
“And after that, without exception, one hour of rest?”
“Yes, one hour is definitely safe. I mentioned this when we talked after seven years. If there’s any danger….”
“Yes, yes. I understand well. Don’t worry.”
Could he play without concentration?
‘If I move my body in a way that minimizes burden as much as possible…?’
He wasn’t sure.
The question wasn’t whether it was possible, but how much it would help him maintain a fight.
“Then I’ll be going, Seo Jun. Get plenty of rest, and I’ll be rooting for you on day four.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t worry too much. During the entire Isekai Quest period, there may never be a moment requiring the level of concentration you showed today.”
That was true.
The Mob Hunt was no longer necessary, and situations of that caliber weren’t frequent.
The odds he’d never need to rest were higher.
“But if I may offer unsolicited advice: if that moment comes and you push yourself only to get forced out, creating an awkward situation to explain, then losing might be an option too. Assuming that moment arrives at all, of course.”
It had become a complicated situation in many ways.

* * *

[LMAO The reason the boss suddenly logged out is here!]
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The AI is filthy and petty so he rage quit!LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
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-This is hilarious lmaooo can’t blame him though. When the AI keeps trying to cheese him and the content system hits you with a ban, you can’t help but get mad LOLOLOL
-Why can’t I ever be happy!!!!!
└At least he’s overwhelmingly in first place LOLOLOL
└The rich get richer, as they say, that cold bastard LOLOLOL
└Real talk, the boss is pretty ruthless LOLOLOL

[You know what?]
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What if the boss just never comes back LOLOLOL
Isekai Quest is done for!!!!
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-Maybe he’s actually trying to ruin the Isekai Quest LOLOLOLOLOL
-Best way to screw over the AI LOLOLOLOLOL
-What if the legendary participant who’s been putting on a historic performance suddenly rage quits and gives up? There’d be riots in Korea LOLOLOLOLOL
└Legend status
└Could cause riots worldwide too, not just Korea. The boss has a ton of fans right now
-How could he not have tons LOL

[Damn. The officials are probably hard at work persuading him at the hotel right now, right? LOLOLOLOLOL]
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If that’s really happening, upvote LOLOL
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[Is it really a rage quit?]

-What else would it be with his personality?
-Please come back (Bang Ju’s true feelings)
└Yon’s more screwed than Bang Ju LOLOLOLOLOL nearly died setting things up for him and the boss suddenly doesn’t show? LOLOLOLOLOL expecting achievement points or something to drop but nope LOLOLOLOLOL

[Current Material Tally]
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Shin Geom + Tae-san
After day 2 end.
95 pieces
After day 3 end.
149 pieces.

Boss.
Day 4 (his day 1)
150 pieces.

One piece difference, that’s crazy close.
And seeing this makes me reasonably suspect the AI deliberately cut it off here again.
Last time too, the prophecy ended right when we could barely afford it.

-If the boss left because of this, I think this sinister machine needs to be destroyed
└With an axe LOLOLOL

[The stupid Kael wandering the Village after the boss logged out and]
(Yon flustered in denial next to Kael photo)
LMAO LOLOLOL
==

==
Maybe I should just ask it to log out every fight?
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-Hope someone attacks that Kael AI LOLOLOL
-So is the boss coming back or not!
-If not, then… the last survivor fights that wandering Kael in the Village, loses, and the boss wins anyway even after giving up, right?
└Real talk that’s it
└Watched a whole episode of Isekai Quest
└You maniacs LOLOLOL there’s no way he loses to the AI LOLOLOL
└The boss just needs to come back! Hurry!

And fortunately, Seo Jun showed his face right as day four of the Isekai Quest began, announcing that the officials’ persuasion efforts had succeeded (?) in their way.

“Nothing like that. Now let’s go hunt.”
Seo Jun laughed playfully.
“Huh? Already?”
“Yeah. From Cresit’s reaction, I can pick up on some bad vibes. To rank first, you’ve got to kill off the competition—it’s obvious.”
“You mean actually kill them, right?”
Since he’d meant it figuratively, Bang Ju’s question put Seo Jun off slightly.
But he was intrigued nonetheless.

“Don’t you think we should take them out?”
They were gathering Materials as diversely as possible.
They were considering whether they should take all Materials in large quantities, or distribute them evenly in large quantities.
They’d chosen the balanced approach.
It seemed excessive to go this far, but small details had a way of making all the difference.
That’s how they discovered something.
Whenever they encountered a Monster while traveling, they’d catch it and take one Monster Material each time—until the NPC refused to accept any more on the last moment of day three.
“You sure those are the ones?”
Shin Geom asked Tae-san.
“Yeah. Quiet, but definitely them. I can guess what they’re up to, though.”
Meanwhile, having heard the rumors about the Quest, Participants continued to pour in.
In total, seventeen Participants had gathered here.
The number would continue to grow until the Quest ended.
But among all those people, if you had to name someone capable of causing a major upset…
“Yeah. We’ve gotta kill them. Let’s keep watch at the entrance until they arrive. That’s the priority.”
Tae-san acknowledged Seo Jun’s skill, and even if not at his level, he recognized his unexpectedness and his physical prowess in certain special situations.
He believed that no one but Seo Jun could trigger such a sudden variable.
‘Other Materials could get blocked too, but the odds are low. Since only Monster Material is blocked, they probably used some method for a Mob Hunt.’
They might have caught up.
As Tae-san felt the sense of crisis and, from a distance apart, gazed at the Rift’s entrance hoping to eliminate his competition…
Another gaze was watching the entrance from even farther away.
The climax.
A Chinese legend—a professional gamer and the true mastermind behind this event—had finally entered the Isekai Quest.
For the hunt.
The biggest variable Seo Jun had called forth on day four.

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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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