Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 325

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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 325

Seo Jun had been baffled when the meeting began.
It was because Baek Do-yul appeared.
At first, he’d thought there was no way a Korean would show up. It was a foreign broadcast, after all. Still, if it had to be someone Korean, Baek Do-yul was respectable.
Like Seo Jun, casual foreign viewers would recognize him too.
There was a synergy in being from the same country, so if he had any recognition at all, this worked in their favor.
Right. It was possible, sure.
But having someone he’d been watching as a rival—someone who seemed to follow him around—show up as a contestant left Seo Jun somewhat rattled, no matter how he looked at it.
Still, Seo Jun took some comfort in the fact that it wasn’t Shin-geom.
Baek Do-yul had also been thrown off when the meeting started.
Because Seo Jun had surrendered an advantage from the very beginning.
Why would someone who wasn’t even a survival expert do that?
And when Baek Do-yul tried to convince him to reconsider, Seo Jun hit him with a “Scared?” for good measure.
That was two strikes.
The binoculars thing he could accept—that made sense. But there was no mention of a Longsword!
Three strikes.
Baek Do-yul already knew the man wasn’t in his right mind, but realizing this was actually going to be his team left him at a loss for words.
One face came to mind.
A rough, manly face that would definitely inspire fear if he stood before it—and yet somehow, it looked pitiful.
‘Jon…….’
So this was what that felt like.
Bear and Ryan had been equally baffled.
‘A Longsword? Is that the one we’re thinking of?’
‘Seems like it?’
They exchanged glances and conducted their opinion-sharing in silence.
Then they nodded and reached the same conclusion.
‘He’s serious.’
They already knew he was that kind of person, so they didn’t add any further comment.
When someone you thought was normal suddenly does something bizarre, you’re taken aback. But if you never expected them to be normal in the first place, you can’t be disappointed.
They were viewers who had watched every single history book up to now, and this one would be no exception.
Just as befitted survival professionals, they remained composed.
Producer Oliver, who had looked into Seo Jun in detail before this, came to a realization.
‘In all the meetings so far, we discussed Seo Jun’s unexpected behavior, but something I couldn’t have predicted from the start just came out. I shouldn’t try to predict him at all. I need to remember that.’
The criminal should never be understood or predicted in the first place.
The man was a Gamer who had reached the highest position even among the most talented people in the world.
Not even the top 0.1% of his field.
A talent that appears once in seven billion.
There’s no way such a person thinks normally.
To say “normal” is just another way of saying “ordinary.”
I’ll just stop trying to think about it.
Anyway.
‘How am I supposed to clean this up?’

* * *

Fortunately, the Seo Jun that Oliver saw today wasn’t too eccentric.
He cleaned up the situation himself.
“Yes. Bear and Ryan, you’ll receive Machetes. I’m fine with anything. The Longsword is just genuinely more convenient. Instead, I’d really appreciate it if the Longsword were very sturdy.”
“Of course. I’ll prepare something sturdy. Really sturdy.”
Just not too heavy.
The equipment was settled without further incident.
Baek Do-yul still looked unconvinced about something, but he did his best to hide it and acted as though nothing was wrong—whatever he’d heard just now.
Oliver thought he should point the camera at this, while Seo Jun nodded with satisfaction.
“So, about the Advantage—actually, it doesn’t end there?”
“Really?”
“Yes. The Streamer team gets to reach the island a day earlier, and while Bear and Ryan will be filming with cameras mounted on their heads, you’ll have a cameraman, so you won’t have to worry about filming at all.”
Getting to the location a day early was clearly an immense benefit, needless to say.
And for Seo Jun, not having to pay attention to filming was definitely a significant advantage as well.
‘I don’t like it, though.’
Seo Jun was confident he could win even under identical conditions.
It wasn’t that he worried people would say he only won because of the Advantage.
He was simply confident in victory.
But.
‘I can’t stand anything tedious.’
It seemed he should definitely take the camera Advantage.
As for the rest—arriving on the island a day early.
Glancing over slyly, he could see Baek Do-yul doing his best to look unbothered, all while remaining vigilant about whether Seo Jun might pull off another stunt.
And then he thought about it.
‘That could turn into a serious liability on a deserted island.’
If so, wouldn’t those two cancel each other out?
“Understood.”
“No objections?”
Ryan asked with wide eyes and a laugh.
He had clear eyes. His head was clear too.
“Yes.”
“I see. That’s good—it means we’ll still have grounds to claim an Advantage when we move to the game phase. Haha!”
That was true enough.
“Understood. Keep that in mind for now, and let me explain the safety training schedule….”
After listening to thirty minutes of explanation, the conversation moved on to the game itself.

* * *

After the meeting ended, Seo Jun called Baek Do-yul aside.
Baek Do-yul readily accepted and invited Seo Jun to the Lobby.
The Lobby was just a large space—nothing particularly noteworthy about it, really….
Except there was. A lot, in fact.
For one, there was a banner on the wall with calligraphy that read something like “Defeat Shin Ha-yeon,” and above it hung a photo of the moment Baek Do-yul won.
And then.
Seo Jun was forcibly ejected the instant he walked in.
It was extremely fast.
As for why he didn’t pick up on it before the invitation—I won’t comment. Humans are just like that, after all.
The thing is.
‘I think there was one too?’
Seo Jun had a habit of quickly assessing any space he entered for the first time.
And that habit, which always served him well, worked against him here.
Though Baek Do-yul’s reaction speed was fast, Seo Jun’s speed at reading his surroundings was faster still.

[Baek Do-yul: Please invite me, Seo Jun. Haha.]

Let’s pretend we didn’t notice.
Some things are better left alone.
Without saying much, Seo Jun invited Baek Do-yul to his own Lobby.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“Did you see it?”
He was the one who ended up speaking first, after all.
“Yes.”
“…….”
Then why did you say anything?
“Let’s move past it.”
“Thank you…. So why did you want to meet separately?”
He had plenty to say.
Why did he decide to appear on such a dangerous program, no matter how thorough he was?
Did he know he would be here and come anyway?
Did he have something to say?
‘Why did he make that room that way……. Ah, skip that too.’
And so on.
Of course, all of that was secondary.
What mattered most to Seo Jun right now was that Baek Do-yul was his teammate.
And Seo Jun wanted one thing from his team members.
“Thought we could exercise together.”
To accept orders without fussing and follow through on them, even if they seemed strange by their own judgment.
And what was needed for that was discipline.
Yes, that was it.
He’d long abandoned the barbaric philosophy from his wandering martial arts days—that you could just beat someone into submission.
So he would establish discipline.
“Oh! That sounds great! Let’s do it!”
And so Baek Do-yul found himself at the entrance to that famous Gymnasium the next day.
“Hey, look! It’s Baek Do-yul.”
“So even Baek Do-yul now has been….”
“Hey, keep it down. The Gym Manager hears everything, no matter where he is.”
“Right. If we say something careless and the prey gets away….”
Two large, muscular men working hard on their triceps, sweat pouring down their faces, spoke in moderate tones.
Their words weren’t swallowed by the machine noise and reached Baek Do-yul’s ears as well.
The Gym Manager?
‘Are they talking about Seo Jun? No. They said the building owner handles the Gym Manager position too, but that wouldn’t be Seo Jun.’
Baek Do-yul quickly stopped paying attention.
Gossip like this came up everywhere he went—it had long since become routine. If he paid attention to every rumor, he wouldn’t be able to live his life at all.
“You’re here?”
Seo Jun, already dressed in workout clothes, welcomed him.
Early morning exercise with a rival he’d be cooperating with for the time being.
Baek Do-yul thought to himself with a mix of excitement.
‘This is a competition.’
He wouldn’t say it outright, but he’d come here to assess Seo Jun.
To understand what he could beat him on and where he fell short, and to gauge how big that difference was if one existed.
‘I’m unlikely to lose.’
Though his technique might be impressive, Baek Do-yul had been working out for over ten years and had long since surpassed ordinary fitness levels.
“Let’s get started right away. I’ll go change.”
When Baek Do-yul emerged from the Changing Room, he could see Seo Jun warming up in front of a Treadmill.
‘Starting with the Treadmill? Good.’
He was confident in strength training, and equally confident in stamina.
Whatever one does, physical capacity must support it to reach great heights, and he was a man who had driven his effort all the way to the top.
“Let’s stretch and warm up a bit. Do-yul.”
“Yes.”
Judging that it was better to seize the initiative first, Baek Do-yul stretched, then climbed onto the machine and began walking slowly before gradually increasing his speed.
Seo Jun matched his pace increase.
A silent battle of wills between men had begun.
‘Hah.’
Thirteen kilometers per hour.
Not extremely fast, but a pace that would be difficult for an ordinary person to maintain for more than a few minutes.
Since they were running.
Normally, when Baek Do-yul ran, he’d run fast for a while, then walk for a bit to recover, then run again.
But now that pride was on the line, he was going all-out from the start.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Having done this every day, he started running without strain, and Baek Do-yul spoke to Seo Jun.
“Do you work out here every day?”
“No, just sometimes when I feel like it.”
“When you feel like it?”
“You know, when I’m bored.”
“Ah….”
Exercise relieves boredom?
Absolutely not.
He didn’t understand it, but he accepted that it was possible and probed for more information.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
And two minutes later.
“Alright, let’s really warm up now.”
Seo Jun increased his speed.
From thirteen to twenty kilometers per hour.
Baek Do-yul scoffed internally and didn’t ease up his pace.
To truly win a battle of pride, you had to keep going like that—if he tired out and had to stop, then he’d be the one without nerve, neither wise nor victorious.
It was childish thinking, but that’s how the world of men worked.
Always conscious of each other, always showing off pride, losers backing down in defeat.
Friends engaged in passionate competition.
And then.
Ten minutes passed.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
‘Wait, what?’
Five more minutes went by.
“What? What?”
The opponent showed no sign of faltering, but Baek Do-yul’s breathing had already become ragged.
Seo Jun glanced over at him and spoke.
“I’m getting tired now.”
Even though he clearly wasn’t.
Was this victory?
“Your body’s warmed up enough now, so let’s move on to the Stairway to Heaven. Unless….”
“Yes.”
“Are you struggling?”
In that moment, Baek Do-yul had a flash of intuition.
Something had gone very, very wrong.

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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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