Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 77

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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 77

A forest, then. This map was a forest.
Seo Jun found himself summoned inside a Wooden Cabin.
He looked around while waiting for the game to begin.
Through the window, he could see dense woodland and a clearing beyond.
‘They said matchmaking would be rough after four wins. I suppose it’s starting now.’
The first four matches could sometimes pair him with users who had far lower Prestige Points, but from the fifth match onward, the system guaranteed opponents of roughly comparable skill level.
This was a voluntary mode for those desperate to climb Prestige Points regardless of Contribution Points—and the reason was simple: facing someone vastly weaker meant the victor could essentially duplicate Contribution Points.
That was why, from the fifth match onward, players could find themselves waiting indefinitely if no one of similar skill tier queued up.
And this very mechanism could be weaponized against rival Rankers, preventing them from stacking consecutive wins and racking up more Contribution Points.
All by simply refusing to feed them a matchup.
But there were countermeasures too.
If matchmaking wouldn’t come to you, you could always hunt for worthy opponents yourself.
Of course, fighting peers didn’t guarantee victory every time.
Seo Jun was currently on a six-win streak.
And it had taken over ten minutes to get matched this time.
It was proof that the Rankers were either deliberately avoiding him or shutting him out.
Which was the truth? He had no idea.
He might find out by glancing at the faction chat rooms—both orthodox and demonic sides.
In any case, the opponent he’d finally matched after all that waiting was—

[Cheon Salseong]

Cheon Salseong—the very person who’d sparked this whole event and, in a way, made all this possible.
“At last we meet,” came the greeting.
He really did show up.
Didn’t take the advice.
What a shame.

-FINALLY!!!!
-Second place vs. first place
-It all started with his Duel Invitation
-Will Cheon Salseong show us something different!
-Let’s go!
-We betting lovers are counting on Cheon Salseong ㅠㅠㅠ
-Lose just once—six wins is already too much profit, kid

Right, there were Points too, wasn’t there?
Seo Jun raised his hand and touched the broadcast settings, scanning through the betting records.
“It’s literally split fifty-fifty. Not even any reverse bets? At this point…”
What caught his eye was a particular username among those who’d wagered the most Points on his victory.
Assassin of Joseon.
The richest Point holder in Travel history, she’d placed a maximum bet of 250,000 Points on this outcome.
It wasn’t something that happened only today.
With Points practically rotting on her hands, rumor had it she casually threw down 250,000 Points per match.
In other rooms too.

-The pro-betting side is doomed
-Pro-betting what lol
-Even now you don’t get it—Cheon Salseong or whoever will be utterly destroyed
-Honestly starting to think the host is more famous than the previous Strongest Under Heaven lmao
-If he wins this too he becomes the most popular after Jeop
-Pretty much locks in Strongest Under Heaven even without ranking first
-But why doesn’t the host use Heavenly Demon Stepping Force???

While the chat idle-gossiped, the game began.
“Heavenly Demon Stepping Force? Maybe I should try it once,” he mused aloud.
The Heavenly Demon Stepping Force was a skill that manifested when users with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art pooled more Internal Energy into their feet than they would for Light Movement.
Seo Jun immediately focused his spirit and gathered Internal Energy into his right foot.
Was it something about striking the exact acupoint?
As he lifted his knee, a deep green luminescence began pooling around his foot.
The longer he waited, the more Internal Energy it consumed, and the stronger the energy grew.
His foot grew heavier and heavier.
Then, at the moment the weight stopped increasing, he brought it down hard.
BOOM!
The wooden floorboards of the cabin split open with a deafening crash.
Had there been enemies nearby, this would have dealt damage and inflicted stun—a crowd-control tool.
This was what users called the Heavenly Demon Stepping Force.
The pooling speed for minimum activation was a bit slow, making it relatively easy to dodge, but its radius was so wide that, with proper use, it became an extraordinarily valuable technique.

-Lol that’s not when you’re supposed to use it
-Just spent all his Internal Energy
-Why are we attacking the innocent cabin lmao

The damage and radius scaled proportionally with Internal Energy expended.
“Hmm, looks like I accidentally burned most of it,” he admitted without shame.
Seo Jun remained composed.
“Still, I’ve won without Internal Energy before. Should be fine.”

-LMAOOO
-I believe
-Is this actually good news for the pro-betting crowd?
-If he can’t beat second place with no Internal Energy left…
-Constantly self-handicapping, always the same ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-At this point does he get off on suffering…?

There they went with the conspiracy theories again.
But Seo Jun didn’t bother correcting them—nobody believed him anyway.
As he exited the half-destroyed cabin, his tone shifted.
“Did you wait long?”
Cheon Salseong stood waiting in the clearing.
“No. But… what happened to that cabin?”
Seo Jun turned to look back.
The exterior was half-wrecked too.
It felt oddly familiar, like déjà vu from after an assassination.
“Just testing my strength a bit.”

-Testing his strength lmaooo
-Fair enough
-Why is this a comedy show and not a skill showcase

The chat loved it.
Seo Jun felt a pride befitting a streamer and refocused ahead.
“Surely you didn’t burn through all your Internal Energy?”
“Don’t worry. I don’t need it to beat you.”
“Ha. You think I’d struggle the way the Martial World did against you?”
Instead of answering, Seo Jun gave a soft smile.
“I’ll make you regret it.”
“Good. I was going easy on the others at first, but for you—I’ll go full strength from the start.”
Seo Jun raised the tip of his sword and aimed it at Cheon Salseong.

* * *

Gulp.
Cheon Salseong swallowed against an inexplicable pressure.
His enemy had merely pointed—just aimed—and yet his body automatically tensed, his legs bracing with sudden intensity.
‘Did I just… tense up? Why?’
He rarely lost in one-on-one duels. So why the sudden tension?
‘He’s beaten other players, sure, and well. But I also beat most opponents I face.’
His win rate was ninety percent.
That was his duel record from the last season.
‘So there’s no reason I can’t handle this.’
He’d burned through his first four matches as quickly as possible, then watched this opponent’s broadcast.
His assessment after viewing the combat footage: ‘Skilled. But if it were me?’
If it were me, I wouldn’t grip the sword that way.
If it were me, I’d dodge right in that moment.
If it were me, I’d create more distance.
If it were me, I could counter-attack.
Such thoughts weren’t unusual or exceptional for him.
‘I’ve always been like this.’
Whenever he watched others fight, such observations naturally surfaced in his mind.
It wasn’t something he worked at or studied.
It wasn’t from fighting since childhood.
‘Just… naturally.’
The instant he saw something, instinct kicked in.
This was precisely why he was called talented—a prodigy.
Yet even prodigies weren’t born flawless and overwhelming.
As experience accumulated, more and more flaws became visible to him.
And after last season—surviving countless assassination attempts and claiming first place—he’d achieved tremendous growth.
So Cheon Salseong had accepted it as natural that while other Rankers crumbled helplessly, he could spot this opponent’s weaknesses.
He’d even thought, ‘Has the skill gap widened even further?’
Thus, Cheon Salseong stood before Seo Jun with confidence.
“Full strength from the start? Fine by me then.”
He knew how to wield tension properly.
Too much and you throttle yourself; ease it with casual talk, like now.
Calibrated tension actually helped him perform at his true level.
This too was instinct.
“Understood. Then I’ll give you first strike.”
“I’ll take it.”
Yielding first strike meant admitting the opponent was inferior.
But Cheon Salseong didn’t mind.
Better to sacrifice petty pride and secure victory—that was the greater pride.
“Then I’ll also go all-out.”
Cheon Salseong twirled his sword in a lazy flourish, then gripped it properly and charged forward.
The sect he’d chosen was Mount Hua.
The technique he’d selected was the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
The Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique’s defining trait was that each individual strike became a distinct skill, and by chaining those strikes together, he could execute higher-powered techniques.
Additionally, through settings, he could either receive stat corrections to enhance his movements or manually execute the techniques himself.
While this applied to all techniques, the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique had exactly twenty-four strikes, making the choice feel uniquely momentous.
With corrections, the skills came naturally.
But.
Depending on the situation, certain techniques were better suited than others for specific applications.
Taking stat corrections meant the power inevitably halved, and vulnerabilities became exposed.
So those who sought true strength discarded the corrections.
And studied the techniques.
Incidentally, what helped most in this was the Demonic Cult’s Hundred Positions Strength, which was why the Mount Hua Sect had an unusually high concentration of top-tier players compared to other sects.
From the outset, Cheon Salseong unleashed his techniques.
Unlike Territory Battles, duels had no level mechanics. This was an honest fight to the death, conducted at maximum power.
This meant that if the combo started, he could chain directly to the final strike of the Plum Blossom sequence without interruption—once he got rolling, victory was assured.
His sword moved in the form most intimate to his body and spirit.
First strike.
Crimson energy tore loose, sweeping across the forward space.
The blade flashed with predatory hunger, his Internal Energy scattering in all directions as he sought to rend his enemy apart.
It was not an ideal choice.
Against the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, relying on Internal Energy as the deciding factor was pointless—the outcome was already determined.

[The Divine Art that stands above all Heart Methods.]

Though he avoided using it much due to penalties, that single description of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art could not be lightly dismissed.
The reason he unfolded the technique anyway was simple: as long as he didn’t let the enemy interrupt his combo—as long as he kept the chain flowing into higher strikes—he would win.
And crucially, his opponent had depleted almost all his Internal Energy.
Even if damage was exchanged now, he could accept it.
Once he linked into the higher techniques, victory was his.
As expected, a deep green line traced across, erasing the crimson aura and cutting into Seo Jun’s body.
He didn’t dodge or block.
His health ticked down slightly.
‘As expected, seeing it live is slower. And
did he burn through all his remaining Internal Energy?’
Thinking this duel would end far more easily than anticipated, he began to unfold his next strike—
Clang.
Something caught his blade before it could begin.
‘When did he—?’
Seo Jun had appeared mere inches away, his sword now blocking Cheon Salseong’s advance.

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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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