Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 73

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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 73

Speed is a tremendous advantage.
Dodging an enemy’s attacks, knocking them aside, blocking them, landing your own strikes, twisting them, concealing them—all of it becomes easier the faster you move.
But in a game, what you gain in one place, you lose in another.
‘The damage is definitely weaker compared to the speed,’ I noted.
The enemy’s next move was a thrust.
He recovered his blade and landed in one fluid motion, balanced himself, stepped forward with his front foot, and aimed for Seo Jun’s chest.
The sequence was smooth as water, and smooth attacks were inherently threatening.
Instead of dodging, Seo Jun twisted his body slightly and took the blow on his left shoulder.
His health didn’t drop by much.
But taking hits wasn’t in Seo Jun’s nature.
He drew the enemy in and seized the advantageous position in one motion.
Before anyone realized it, Seo Jun’s blade hung before the enemy’s throat.
The enemy’s pupils dilated in shock.
He tried to activate Light Movement urgently to retreat, shifting his center of gravity backward.
But at this distance, there was no escaping the blade.
Slash!
He drew the sword across the throat.
Though the power behind it wasn’t full, Seo Jun’s attack was enough to recover all the health he’d lost.

-That counter is insane
-The enemy just brought his own neck to the sword
-Ah. This is what swordsmanship is
-Was I nervous for nothing? lololol

Sapha’s Pride retreated and clenched his teeth.
His eyes laid bare the shock he felt.
“You ceded first strike, so this time I take the initiative.”
It wasn’t in his nature to go easy.
Seo Jun pressed forward, and the enemy retreated to recover—but the map was narrow.
Their current arena sat atop the Gorge.
Below, water cascaded down, and the sound of the falls gnawed at the edge of awareness.
It clearly looked like falling wasn’t possible.
There was a translucent barrier erected at the cliff where Sapha’s Pride was being driven back.
Seo Jun released Sword Qi.
Seeing the effect swirl around the blade, the enemy snapped back to focus.
Whoosh.
He poured power into his arm and swung it wide.
A subtle weight was added.
A judgment had been rendered.
Just like the enemy’s—a Heavy Attack.
To block the incoming strike, the enemy raised his sword with Sword Qi drawn.
No matter how fast your body moves, you can’t simultaneously accelerate your thoughts and perception.
Which is why maintaining an advantage purely through speed differential isn’t easy.
Though Salmak’s trait doesn’t accelerate perception to any remarkable degree, using it effectively still demands considerable skill.
And Sapha’s Pride was a user with plenty of that skill accumulated.
The enemy quickly recovered his senses and prepared to attempt a Parry, keeping his eyes fixed on the sword’s tip.
And at the end, he smiled.
Seeing this, Seo Jun stifled a chuckle.
Cute.
Clang!
“What?”
Panicked at the failed Parry, the enemy received Seo Jun’s explanation directly.
“You don’t need pure speed to twist it at the last moment, you know.”
Ultimately, every act of deceiving an opponent by mixing in variations is a matter of timing.
Seo Jun knew this well.
He knew just as well how to do it.
With high speed, timing becomes easy to catch and easy to execute.
But without that speed—it’s harder, sure, but still possible.
Seo Jun recovered his blade and prepared to thrust.
The previous situation unfolds in exact reverse.
He lowered his stance, stepped his left foot beside the enemy, and drove his blade forward.
Even aiming for the throat would be impossible now.
He was going straight for the heart instead.
Sensing how things were unfolding, the enemy widened his eyes—but in that instant, he couldn’t decide whether to attack like Seo Jun had or to dodge.
Hesitation.
Under normal circumstances, the choice would’ve been obvious: dodge. But the memory of what had just happened in an identical situation made him freeze.
That hesitation led to the worst-case scenario: a blade through the heart.
His health plummeted.
Partly because Seo Jun’s sword carried Sword Qi, but also because the gap in base attack power was immense.
“Too bad. Can’t recover that health now. Pity.”
Seo Jun laughed and clicked his tongue.
If only he had a long beard to stroke pensively—what a shame.
“Now then, let’s see if you can run away.”
Spotting the strategy shift, Seo Jun looked down at his opponent and spoke.
The ranking 5th player’s health, cut in half, stood in stark contrast to Seo Jun’s full bar.

* * *

“Ah, everyone! Ranking 5 is caught in a game!”
From the second match onwards, Bang Ju swallowed a twinge of concern about the pairing that had materialized and began his commentary on the second round.

-This is insane lololol
-Looks like he’s about to get exposed
-A true veteran is gonna show some serious skill difference
-Facts lol
-I saw betting in the other room—it was 50/50. Can win undefeated vs can’t lololololol

“Sapha’s Pride’s Martial School is Salmak. As you know, Salmak’s advantage is its speed. In one-on-one, it ranks as 1 Tier.”
Tier is an English word meaning rank or level, displayed with a number prefix.
1 Tier is 1st grade—meaning Salmak falls on the favorable side.
Of course, a perfectly flawless Martial School setup is called “overpowered,” and Salmak isn’t quite at that level.
“It’s also highly popular in Territorial Warfare thanks to its high tier status, but high speed comes with difficulty, and its damage per hit is low—that’s the weakness.”
Bang Ju delivered the basic information before combat began.
“By contrast, Seo Jun’s Absorption Grand Technique has powerful attack force, but carries the risk of needing to catch enemies quickly—something I’m sure you all know by now?”
The battle starts.
“So, Seo Jun starts with a light strike. The Heavenly Demon villain showed up again! Earlier against regular users he spoke formally, but now he’s speaking casually. That’s the classic strong-strong-weak-weak pattern!”

-Maybe he’s actually decent?
-Only acts like a jerk to the strong
-No way. I’ve seen him trash talk NPCs too lololol
-The opening dialogue is already brutal
-The mind games are insane
-He speaks well
-Bug battle lol

“Sapha’s opening strike! Heavy Attack, and Seo Jun blocks it lightly. But the Parry failed. A thrust from Sapha as he lands and regains balance! But wait! Seo Jun’s blade is before Sapha’s throat! How did he move like that?”
Bang Ju’s commentary transformed into rapid-fire as the battle progressed.

-Whoa whoa whoa
-He definitely fights well
-Brutal in seconds lol

They exchange moves, and Sapha’s Pride retreats in panic.
Bang Ju seized the moment and inserted his commentary.
“So to explain quickly—Seo Jun was trying to knock the enemy’s sword aside. Here’s a signature technique used by Salmak users: they twist just before blade contact. It’s like a Brazilian kick in trajectory, but not as wide an arc. The goal is to fail a Parry against an obvious Heavy Attack, throw the panicked opponent off balance, and land follow-up damage. It’s a well-known technique, but many don’t know it. The reason? Most users can’t even land a proper Parry, so you rarely see such techniques!”
It’s fairly famous, but many don’t know it.
Mostly because most users can’t even execute a Parry properly.

-Such a technique exists? Whoa
-As expected from a veteran commentator
-We got an eye-feast from the first exchange
-Can he even reveal industry secrets like that????
-Anyone worth knowing already knows this
-The broadcasting rights holder isn’t Sapha anyway. Spill away

“So Sapha retreats, and Seo Jun immediately follows. Since it’s clearly not a standard Absorption Grand Technique, he’s not giving any breathing room.”
The first round had little to comment on.
It was so one-sided, and the outmatched opponent quit the game.
“And, uh?”
Seo Jun’s blade swings plainly.
In the moment the blade cuts through air before clashing with the enemy’s sword, Bang Ju felt a strange sense of familiarity.

-????
-What is it

And the action that followed stirred that familiarity again.
Lowering his stance.
Raising the blade to target the enemy.
Driving his arm forward to thrust.
“Whoa!!!!”

-He’s copying the same move lol isn’t that personality abuse?
-Isn’t he just giving back the attack he received????
-Clearly demonstrating the skill gap

-???? That twisting move just now?
-Can other users even do that?
-Did I see that wrong?

“I’m not sure if users outside Salmak can do it, but based on what Seo Jun said, it seems like they might.”

[Too bad. Can’t recover that health now. Pity.]

-lololol this guy’s mouth is pure veteran trash-talk
-Listen to that “pity” laugh lololol
-But ranking 5 seems to be getting destroyed, is this right?

First, the commentary.
“Ah. Sapha really is starting to avoid the fight now. Looks like he’s trying to buy time, but if you’re going to run, you’d want to start from the beginning. With half your health gone, it’s rough!”
Round 1 has nothing left to see.
Still, even allowing fatal strikes to the throat and chest, can a build that halves an opponent’s health in just two fights really be that powerful?
‘If another ranker had picked this….’
Since it was still unclear, Bang Ju withheld his judgment for now.
“Ah, he’s dead. Good Game! Moving to the next round now.”
Now there’s a waiting period where competitors change their traits at the starting point before preparing for the next round.
“So shall we check the replay? Let me verify whether Seo Jun really used that signature Salmak technique.”

-Doubt it
-No ranker in chat is saying he did though?
-Takes a Salmak user quite a while to master that lol
-You sure that chat person is actually a ranker?
-Still, he won the first round super easily. Sapha isn’t some weak user either

With plenty of experience in autopsies and verification through replays, Bang Ju quickly found the timestamp and displayed it.
Bang Ju crossed his arms and spoke.
“So then. Let’s take a look.”
The video plays at 0.25 speed.
You could see the blade shift slightly at the perfect moment just before contact—a movement distinct and clear.

-? Looks like it hit though?
-Lololol wtf
-He’s smiling, gives me chills
-Legit veteran

“Exactly! One critical aspect of this technique is blocking Parries while simultaneously letting the enemy knock your blade aside. Developing the finesse to calibrate all of that microscopically is what makes it difficult… If he pulled this off seeing it for the first time today, that’s genuinely unbelievable talent!”
Bang Ju rewound the video, reading the chat.
“You’re saying that’s not the case? You just don’t know. Heh. Anyway, I’m curious what choice Sapha’s Pride will make against Seo Jun now. Will he intentionally play it safe from the start, using speed and invisibility to buy time? Or will he gamble on a straight-up rematch? He’s probably pretty torn on it.”
If he decides upfront to keep running, it could get genuinely difficult for Seo Jun.
No matter how narrow the map, combining high speed with multiple traits that allow going invisible mid-movement could work wonders.
But then—
Bang Ju opened his eyes wide as he flipped the screen.
“Ah! What’s this? That choice… it’s gone?”

-Why’s he changing it right now lololol
-To buy time? Then just don’t use Absorption Grand Technique lololol

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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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