Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 288
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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 288
The sudden appearance of the attacker sent the official broadcasts into chaos.
Something unthinkable had happened.
Penguin, Arin, and Kapil, sporting a cat-ear headband, all poured out commentary in their excitement.
“Could it be a participant?”
Arin spoke.
“Looking at the form, it’s giving off a green glow, so I think it’s safe to say it’s a Divine Hero on the chaos side!”
Kapil didn’t respond to her but offered his own thoughts.
“It could also just be a Boss-class NPC rather than a Divine Hero.”
Arin answered again.
“The movements were too fluid to overlook. A Named NPC or a participant. But the way it cornered the participant Taesan from China really suggests it’s….”
The back-and-forth between Penguin and Arin continued.
“Does anyone come to mind?”
“Too many.”
“Aah! That comment! Are you disrespecting Taesan?”
“Haha! That’s a misunderstanding! But it’s certain that a major Unusual Event has appeared! Even professional players now face a hidden danger from this sudden attack!”
Arin summed it up.
“Chaos! What exactly is this Other World trying to accomplish for something like this to happen? What’s the truth? Is it a hidden mastermind? Or just an entity that blocks quests? And what was that thing absorbing power from the corpse earlier?”
The appearance of the attacker had left far too many questions unanswered.
* * *
Meanwhile, casters on the American side, where the most viewers had gathered, were also generating countless questions.
But they leaned toward analysis.
“First of all, the chances it’s a participant are high.”
If you were to name the best analyst in the world, a female commentator would always make the top three.
Sara.
After gathering her thoughts for a moment, she opened her mouth.
“Why is that?”
To the main caster’s question, Sara explained what she’d been thinking.
“First, this quest isn’t meant to go on for a very long time.”
“Why?”
The main caster grasped the point instantly after hearing Sara’s words, but asked the reasons in detail for smooth flow.
“Well, if it were meant to last long, the material supply from the Other World’s monsters wouldn’t have been cut off this soon.”
“Ah? But wasn’t that for balance?”
“If it were, they would have just blocked that one participant from giving more materials. But other participants are also blocked from submitting more monster byproducts. It’s likely this quest period itself isn’t designed to last long-term.”
“I see.”
“And blocking other participants is also an act of picking up the pace.”
“You mean intensifying competition between participants?”
“Yes. But then an Unusual Event broke out immediately. An attacker as an Unusual Event.”
“Hmm….”
“Putting it all together, I don’t think the story in that Other World is meant to drag on with participants having to deal with the attacker. If the main story were progressing in the Other World, there’d be no reason to open it from day one and let people freely come and go.”
Moreover, the quest wouldn’t have been placed only near the Train where less than half the participants could enter.
“Hmm…. Does that become a reason for that attacker to be a participant?”
“It does.”
“Why?”
“The Other World isn’t the setting and the quest isn’t persistent. So what more could such a skilled character do?”
“Hmm….”
“It would be a waste to have them merely as an attacker who disrupts the quest and creates tension. There’s a higher chance they’re crossing over to this side.”
“Right?”
“Looking at the skill composition, there are similarities to a Champion.”
“I see. So what would that attacker’s goal be? Massacre in the real world? Kill participants and escape the Other World? Power theft?”
All were plausible.
It would take more observation to know for sure, but all these theories could be overturned.
Still, the act of deduction was always tremendously fun.
Sara mulled over the goal and suddenly frowned.
“Goal, huh…. Ah, honestly, Kael.”
“Haha.”
The main caster laughed.
The people around laughed too.
The viewers laughed too.
The reason was that Sara kept complaining.
-Hahaha!
-That guy torturing Sara lol
-(laughing emoji)
-That Korean’s got my support
“If Kael had just looked at the History even once, things would be clearer!!! I’m dying to know!!”
Sara shouted.
* * *
“Anyone come to mind?”
John Peto, one of the world’s three greatest analysts, was the pinnacle of ability analysis.
“Yeah, I think I know who the attacker is. A participant for sure! A hidden mastermind! Mastermind! Hahahaha.”
-Oh really?
-Tell us
-Curious
“Nope, not telling. Only I’ll know.”
And he was famous for not revealing his predictions when it came to the History.
He said it’d be too boring if he did.
That’s why his viewership was only in the low thousands.
Fortunately, his reputation was high.
“So if that attacker fights Kael, who wins?”
Kael.
Kael.
Kael again.
The most watched figure in the History right now.
Because they’d displayed the finest performance so far.
Regardless of previous gameplay or actual skill or tier or whatever, they were simply the most-exposed Champion.
And they were famous for possibly being better than professionals.
-Once Peto recognizes them, that Korean is completely legitimate
-But we don’t even know who that attacker is
-So who wins!
“I think it’s fifty-fifty, but for now I’ll say the attacker. That much I’ll tell you about who the main character is.”
In truth, Peto was thinking of Kael internally.
But the attacker had their own standing, and since they were the unknown quantity, he mentioned the attacker.
‘Most importantly, will Shin-geom relay information properly?’
That would also be an important point to watch.
* * *
When the fourth day had passed forty minutes, Seo Jun had collected everything from Shin-geom’s Storage.
A half-collapsed Building.
“Assassination successful.”
Memories from the past naturally surfaced.
He felt an urge to check the chat.
Instead, Seo Jun checked his Inventory.
The pouch in the third slot looked stuffed. The icon had changed.
Inside were seventy-three Material Items that Shin-geom had collected.
After gathering those, Seo Jun quickly stepped into the nearby Alley and removed his Mask.
Perfect crime complete.
That Mask was certainly useful.
This kind of item was far better kept in hand rather than left at some other Storage or personal warehouse.
It would be inconvenient to carry during the material-gathering quest, but that wasn’t a concern anymore.
He’d taken Shin-geom’s.
Seo Jun met with Cresheit, then headed toward the Central Square. In ten minutes it would be Rest Time, and then all the participants would gather at the square to share information.
“Hmm.”
Yon was spending time idly.
Yon was in a precarious position.
Due to the sudden change in the NPC who stopped accepting monster byproducts, they had become persons of interest under surveillance.
The famous participant who’d arrived on day three was Seo Jun, and the one who’d do something was also Seo Jun.
If a chance arose, they might rush in to kill him immediately, so for Yon to gather materials alone was dangerous.
‘They probably won’t form an alliance.’
It was plausible that competitors would try to eliminate them when the opportunity came, but not enough to form an alliance.
“You must have been bored waiting, I thought I’d die of boredom.”
“Yeah? What did you do in the meantime?”
“I looked into other quests and explored the city in more detail.”
After exchanging various comments, Yon quietly asked the main point.
“Did you succeed?”
“Yeah.”
“How many were there?”
“Seventy-three. But one was from the Monster, so I turned in sixty-seven.”
“Did you turn in all of them?”
“I did.”
“So you’re guaranteed first place?”
“Unless someone else duplicates like we’re doing?”
If there’s no Reward, it could still be considered a total loss by Yon’s standards.
But Seo Jun had nothing to lose.
Though Yon seemed to be forgetting that fact and chuckling.
“Hey, Yon.”
“Yes?”
“Someone’s about to come, so block them.”
“Someone…. Ah!”
Forty-five minutes.
A participant appeared at the Central Square, huffing and puffing.
Upon spotting Seo Jun, they hurried over, but seeing Yon beside him, they hesitated for a moment before resuming their sprint.
It was Shin-geom.
“Hey there.”
Seo Jun was sitting at an outdoor table at the Cafe and greeted him with ease.
Without a word, Shin-geom drew his Greatsword and brought it down. Yon hadn’t expected this and failed to block; Seo Jun stood and dodged.
“Seems you’re quite worked up. Technically speaking, you were the first heretic—”
“Shut it, Korean! You steal my stuff? The attack was something you did too, wasn’t it! Huh!”
Attack?
He wasn’t sure what attack Shin-geom meant, but fighting in the city would get them both expelled.
Fortunately.
“If you block or get hit, it counts as a fight, but if you only dodge, it’s fine, so listen, Shin-geom—you’d be good at not landing hits, yeah?”
“Shut up and take it! Get hit already!”
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Shin-geom’s Greatsword didn’t reach Seo Jun.
By exactly a hair’s breadth.
Surrounding objects were destroyed.
At this rate, only Shin-geom would be caught for property damage.
Seo Jun grinned.
Yon watched the scene while scratching his nose.
Shin-geom’s agitation gradually began to subside.
Because the blade didn’t land, and because Seo Jun didn’t fight back.
Seo Jun dodged, then noticed the change in mood and asked.
“What attack are you talking about?”
“Ha! Playing dumb?”
“No. I really don’t know.”
“Then what about the Storage being robbed? You’re going to play dumb about that too, Korean?”
“No, I did that.”
Seo Jun opened his Inventory and used the Mask.
The Mask covering only the lower face settled on Seo Jun’s face, and Shin-geom lost his composure again.
“You bastard!”
Whoosh!
But still the blade didn’t connect.
Due to this incident, Shin-geom was continuously mocked by viewers in real time.
-Shame of the continent lmao
-KKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
-Room Master is seriously bad
-But Shin-geom started it first
-Even if he provoked first, getting beaten that badly… isn’t Room Master basically guilty? KKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
It became fifty minutes.
Shin-geom stopped moving and let out a deep sigh.
“Hah.”
“Looks like you’ve finally cooled down.”
“You damn bastard.”
“You thought I wouldn’t steal?”
“I thought you’d steal, but not this soon! You had 100 Points or something?”
“Then you thought I wouldn’t?”
“….”
Shin-geom actually had almost no Points.
His main source of income was gathering materials, but he only accumulated them without collecting the Rewards.
The Achievement Points he’d scraped together from other minor Side Quests were already being eaten up by storage fees.
“Ha.”
“So what was that attack?”
“Do you think I’d give you information? I’m leaving the Train anyway, so figure it out yourself.”
“Taesan still hasn’t shown up, so he got attacked and died?”
“….”
“Right. And the attack happened in the Other World. If it happened on the Train, it’d all come out anyway.”
“….”
“That’s right too. So a powerful enough person appeared to kill a pro gamer as an Unusual Event—is there any other information I should be careful about?”
“….”
“From the look in your eyes, doesn’t seem like it, and you probably don’t know either. You were ambushed, right? So you’re thinking Taesan died? Well done and goodbye.”
“You son of a—”
“Yes?”
“What.”
“What are you doing?”
“Attention Technique.”
“Huh?”
“Anyway, what we need to do is simple.”
Seo Jun removed the Mask.
“What’s that, exactly?”
“Not to let Shin-geom’s sacrifice go to waste—to keep gathering materials, diligently and continuously.”
Mm-mm.
As Seo Jun nodded, recommitting to not wasting anyone’s sacrifice, another attack came flying.
“Who said sacrifice, you damn demon!”
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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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