Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 94

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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 94

Han Pun Man.
It was past seven o’clock, and despite having already decided what to do with Shanxi, he kept Seo Jun’s stream running in another tab.
He felt he ought to.
While communication continued at an unhurried pace, he was curious what they were really after.
‘How will it unfold.’
Would they attack Gansu to shore up their rear?
But then they’d lose Shanxi in the end—a return to the starting position.
Losing Shanxi was already a foregone conclusion.
‘If only they’d increased the number of Rankers who could play in Shanxi to defend it.’
Yesterday.
If the Demon Sect had decided to invest in defending Shanxi rather than defending Gansu, things might’ve gotten a bit trickier.
They’d end up in a siege.
If they couldn’t reclaim it in a single day and the Demon Sect held the region, they’d be dragged along in the Demon Sect’s wake.
They could waste a day.
They could waste two days.
And in the process, they might lose Gansu and the whole thing could reconnect differently.
But today, with no additional Rankers arriving and Shanxi surrounded, it was safe to say it was over.
“They’re telling people not to defend on the stream right now, aren’t they.”
Quite a lot of people follow Seo Jun, they say.
That is to say.
Not hundreds of thousands of casual users, but a considerable number of Heavy Users who play without fail four matches a day—they say there are quite a few.
Those users have enough numbers that when they get matched, they encounter similarly-leveled players, so they can’t accumulate much Prestige Points through winning streaks.
However, their absolute numbers far exceeded the Rankers, and if they just banded together, they’d be a quite large and dangerous force.
‘Hmm.’
An inexplicable unease spread through his entire body.

-Demon Sect on the move?
-Trying to take back Gansu, looks like. Four people

News flew in and Han Pun Man’s focus shifted there.
Four people was nothing.
He sent four people too.
The reason was that if an opening appeared to defend Gansu, they were thinking of defending it.
There are usually two ways to counter when the opponent attacks.
Either get matched with them, or catch the next matching after they finish.
The former is much more profitable if you win.
The latter is just splitting it about even.
The reason he chose the former this time was because Gansu wasn’t an essential region, so if he won, he could damage the Demon Sect’s forces further or take them, which was good; if he lost, so be it.

-Demon Sect’s Unorthodox Sect clashing at a key position
-We’re rolling the next match after finishing one in Shanxi
-Check the marks for Jiangxi and Anhui

‘The Unorthodox Sect needs to be checked too.’
The Unorthodox Sect, which had seen its territory expand considerably through fisherman’s gains, was now the undisputed first place.
If that’s the case, they need the Demon Sect’s help.
Having second and third place join forces to bring down first place is an ancient tradition of the world!
But the Demon Sect seemed unusually fixated on targeting the Orthodox Sect.
Or rather, probing them.
‘As if they’re trying to wear down their forces as much as possible…….’
As the feeling grew stronger with each passing moment, Han Pun Man typed a message just as the people running the game finished about two rounds.

-Everyone, let’s preserve forces a bit

And he watched a little longer.
Then.
“Huh? Look at this?”
He could spot something strange.
Looking closely at the red marks appearing in the border regions between the Unorthodox Sect and the Demon Sect, he kept seeing names disappearing before the matching even started.
“Insane.”
You can cancel a matching.
But both the Unorthodox Sect and the Demon Sect were doing the same thing.
“Ah!”
He hurried to alert the group to this fact. It was urgent.
If the Unorthodox Sect and the Demon Sect had joined forces, he didn’t even need to think about what their target was.
The only remaining power was the Orthodox Sect!
“What are they thinking? Exactly!”
A scenario where two join hands to eliminate one doesn’t come about easily.
The reason? Because the ultimate goal wasn’t to make one side last place, but rather to secure first place for themselves.
Additionally, the time window being unexpectedly short was also an obstacle to maintaining an alliance.
To maintain an alliance, both sides need to pressure one force while dividing the spoils fairly enough that one side doesn’t get too much—but there wasn’t enough time to coordinate so carefully.
They had ten days left, and if the other side betrayed, they’d have no choice but to hand over the championship.
If that happened, the result would be second place.
Meaningless second place.
The Demon Sect’s old room title had been “At Least Second Place,” but still, they didn’t aim for second.
They’d rather come dead last!
So the fact that they’d been so obsessive about last place was a secret everyone knew.
This was precisely why the Demon Sect’s users were actually well-liked.
Wouldn’t everyone prefer a fool with a bit of romance to a calculating schemer?
Though that didn’t mean they weren’t teased about it.
But anyway.
“Is the Demon Sect out of their mind?”
Targeting them in this situation?
If the Orthodox Sect disappeared here, the Unorthodox Sect would start from an overwhelmingly advantageous position.
Then how many regions would the Demon Sect need to seize from the Unorthodox Sect to win?
And as they’d seen yesterday, if there were many regions, the Demon Sect with only fourteen members couldn’t disperse enough—making them even more disadvantaged.
Yet they’d still try to kill them.
“Is this just pure spite?”
Though it didn’t really seem like it.
Also.
“What makes the Unorthodox Sect so sure the Demon Sect would come after us…….”
Ah.
The Demon Sect, who’d been persistently probing the Orthodox Sect while draining their forces.
Having seen that, they’d gained their certainty.
Those bastards are serious!
They really are trying to take down the Orthodox Sect!
Because if the Demon Sect attacks the Orthodox Sect, it drains not just the Orthodox Sect’s power but their own as well.
Even here, the Unorthodox Sect could betray them.
‘That would be best.’
If that happened, the Orthodox Sect would get past one crisis, but the Demon Sect might face an elimination-level crisis from the race itself.
‘Will these Unorthodox Sect bastards save us?’
And it felt like there was something more to this than that.

-At least we found out in time…
-wtf Demon Sect why are you like this really possessed by madness?
-This is why demon magic is dangerous…
-Thank goodness our proud Orthodox Sect allies stopped their game too
-…they’re gone.

All the lights on the map went out at once.
The battlefield fell silent.
Like the sky before a storm—peaceful and still.
The Orthodox Sect’s chat room froze along with it.
The silence was absolute.
And while the Orthodox Sect’s members were on high alert,

-Leader lmaooo even venting your daily life isn’t sane lmaooooo
-How was such a guy ever antisocial??? He’s got the kind of personality guys would go crazy for lol
-Still, unlike us, he must’ve been popular with girls…
-You’re banned
-Wait. You guys check the battlefield map
-Huh??

“Haha. Everyone’s gone to rest, it seems?”
Seo Jun, who’d been communicating with viewers, smiled meaningfully.

[Unorthodox Sect]

-Orthodox Sect just caught on? Bailed on matchings, preserving forces now
-Teaming up with the Demon Sect today was fun
-This isn’t even martial world <–couldn't sync timing and game got frozen lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
-Can't cancel matching in 'Chaos' mode rip
-So should we go for it?
-The Demon Sect set up this round for us so it's a bit awkward but should we betray them?
-That's good too but wouldn't eating the Orthodox Sect's main base taste better? lmaooo
-Fair point
-fr fr
-We're just doing normal warfare but why does it look so evil?
-Because. We're the Unorthodox Sect? lol
-Then should we?
-Let's go

Red dots began appearing on the map again.
They were pointing, naturally, at Orthodox Sect territory.

* * *

-Oh
-Suddenly Unorthodox Sect vs Orthodox Sect all-out war lmao
-What's happening? What's going on?
-Why are there only two red dots!!!
-Demon Sect! You sided with the Unorthodox Sect! Feels like betrayal

Seo Jun watched the map with renewed interest. Spectating seemed even more fun.
"Soon, the Demon Sect will move too, everyone."
The Unorthodox Sect began attacking two regions similar to Shanxi—needing just one more region to reach the Orthodox Sect's main base.
They had room to spare.
No matter how well the Orthodox Sect coordinated, at least one position would inevitably break.
Seo Jun began explaining to viewers what had happened.
Someone would probably organize it on the community forums soon, but there seemed to be plenty of people curious right now.

-So Orthodox Sect is screwed now, right? lolololol
-Oh
-Let's gang up! Go!
-Unorthodox Sect, let's not betray each other

['Three Elders' donated 100,000 won!]
[Did you know? All of the Demon Sect's strategies are crafted by the Heavenly Demon. Today too, the Heavenly Demon was disgusted by what the Orthodox Sect was doing and came up with this on the spot!]

When did he ever say he was disgusted.
The strategy itself.
Frankly, it was a bit underwhelming.

-lololol
-Both scholar and warrior?
-The Orthodox Sect was pretty disgusting though lol

['Though' donated 30,000 won!]
[Isn't the Orthodox Sect doomed if the Demon Sect and Unorthodox Sect join forces????]

-You seen the one-two battlefield combo lol
-Where do you find friends in this world?
-Joining forces is hard in the first place

Right.
Even tomorrow, if it seemed like they'd lose more trying to take down the Orthodox Sect, the Unorthodox Sect would betray immediately.
For instance, say the Orthodox Sect gritted their teeth and rushed toward the main base no matter what, and the Unorthodox Sect spent a whole day trying to occupy their own territory?
The moment the Orthodox Sect's main base fell, all the regions they'd been occupying would become unclaimed.
In that situation, if the Demon Sect betrayed again, nobody knew what would happen, so the Unorthodox Sect would stop that day's attack.
They might rebuild trust, but why would the Unorthodox Sect follow their lead just to gain something?
'That's why a bigger bait is necessary.'
To summarize the current situation.
Over the past two days, the Demon Sect had paid a down payment to the Unorthodox Sect by draining the Orthodox Sect's forces, and the Unorthodox Sect had just sent a confirmation that they'd shipped the goods.
In secondhand deals, paying in advance is heavily disadvantageous to the buyer.
The seller could ghost them any day, and when the package arrives, they might find bricks inside instead of goods.
So even if they'd received the down payment, they had to remind the seller that completing the deal was in their interest too.
Both sides roughly understood the bigger picture.
"For now, just show the possibility."
Hold a blade to the Orthodox Sect's throat so they can't do anything else.
Let the Unorthodox Sect see they could look at the same board as the Demon Sect.
In that sense, there was still no room for comfort.
'Quite some time's passed.'
Time had flown while talking.

-What possibility?
-Let's defend Shanxi now
-Pouring everything on the Orthodox Sect side means we could succeed defending Shanxi!
-We're waiting. Sect Leader!
-Just give the order!

Defend was the last thing.
"No. We attack too. Toward Shanxi Province."
If they pushed right up to the edge of Hebei, they'd scare them a little.

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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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