The Fate-Seeing Genius Streamer - Chapter 37

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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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36. [Night Soul] So… This Was the Boss? (2)
Crash───!
A charge.
Within the ruins where decayed earth and dust swirled in clouds, a fierce wind erupted alongside the sound of air being torn asunder.
In the narrow Underground Passage stretching in a straight line, a lightning-fast afterimage flickered—then came the deafening impact.
Crunch-crack───!
A sound closer to ‘shattering’ than ‘cutting’. In that delayed moment, Joo Seo-jin’s silhouette finally registered in my vision.
───.
Total concentration.
A stance wielding a longsword in both hands, almost like a ‘thrust’. The instant he appeared to pierce through the narrow passage itself before coming to a halt.
Boom-crash───!
Seven ghouls, unable to mount any defense, were swept away like autumn leaves in the wind.
They burst apart, scattering their remains in all directions before vanishing entirely.
Yet Joo Seo-jin paid it no mind, catching his breath before immediately launching another assault.
Slash───!
Each footfall forward rippled like a shockwave, unleashing a barrage of strikes like a typhoon.
Rip-! Slash-crack─! Crunch-boom────!
Cutting, thrusting, smashing, bursting, and occasionally even dismembering—I mowed through every monster in my path.
Whether ghouls or Skeletons, even the undead clumsily wielding armor and weapons fell to a single blow without exception.
Not once did my movements falter or pause.
Thud, thud.
Following the straight, unbranching path through the narrow Underground Passage, I charged forward without hesitation.
I only slowed my pace when my lungs reached their limit.
Since my lung capacity wasn’t particularly large, even minimizing my breathing inevitably strained my body.
No.
Rather, it was almost bizarre how ‘late’ the point was when my lung capacity reached its limit.
After all, this was merely a pace adjustment due to ‘physical limitations’, not a ‘practical limit’.
For someone who had dumped all stat points into only ‘Soul Power’—the ability governing virtual energy—my stamina was absurdly excessive.
-What’s going on..?
-Doesn’t Seo-jin just dump all his stats into Soul Power and call it a day? Why does he seem to fight for so long..?
-Real talk; I mean, his skill is one thing, but his physical abilities make sense?? Isn’t this cheating?;
-If you put it that way, Seo-jin’s existence itself is cheating..
“Nah, if you think about Platinum, it’s honestly a pretty trash-tier character lol”
-fact) that’s it
Of course, viewers with some insight understood how this was possible.
-If you use the standard virtual energy operation method to ‘manipulate’ movements that normally require muscle and joint work, you consume less stamina
-I mean, well… honestly, once you reach pro gamer level, the way you use force itself changes depending on your virtual energy operation method… hmm..
-Isn’t this seriously beyond reason?
-Real talk;
But—.
Even if Gaming Martial Arts’ virtual machine operation techniques were perfected, it would be difficult to display such dramatic improvement in such a short timeframe.
In reality, no matter how exceptional the performances shown thus far were, the realm of professional gamers operated on an entirely different level.
However.
Somewhere along the way, nearly everyone who had viewed Joo Seo-jin’s abilities through a lens of prejudice had disappeared.
Instead, now───
-Hmm..
-Heuk-wol at 45 hours 17 minutes, Kensin at 45 hours 20 minutes… looking at Seo-jin’s current playtime, isn’t that literally less than half???
-Seems possible though, for real?
-Still impossible though.. The Necromancer’s Tower boss and the corpse mobs in front of the Boss Room take a long time anyway;
Still, as long as we don’t get unlucky and get hit with one shot, it’s worth trying, for real.
The possibility of Joo Seo-jin setting a new speedrun record for the quest began to be discussed seriously.
As time had passed since the stream began, the atmosphere was building.
Like a volcano about to erupt, the air was subtly churning. However, this didn’t last long.
Joo Seo-yoon, who had been struggling to keep up from far behind, suddenly cried out urgently through the player chat.
Her voice was breathless, genuinely strained.
= Wait, wait a second. Oppa, slow down! I can’t keep up with you going that fast…! Huff, huff…!
-Wow…
-Is the cameraman really not able to keep up…?
No, I’m just following straight down the underground passage, and you can’t even keep up with that? lol
Lol, Seojin’s speed is insane, right? Like, she’s not just running—she’s grinding mobs while she goes.
-Whenever mobs appear it’s basically one-shot territory, so it’s definitely fast
-Even accounting for that, her stamina itself seems pretty low…?
Everyone let out exasperated laughs at the sight of Joo Seo-yoon rushing forward with poor stamina, huffing and puffing.
= No, that’s exactly it! Wait up, come on! I’m a mage, so my basic stamina is just insufficient─! You know that, right!?
Of course, Joo Seo-yoon herself seemed genuinely struggling to keep pace, but Joo Seo-jin’s figure moving ahead never slowed.
Quite the opposite.
Joo Seo-jin simply exhaled the heat of his excited breath mechanically with a ‘huuuh-‘, quickened his pace, and answered.
= Yeah, I know. So what I’m wondering is… why are you following me?
= What?
= I’m genuinely asking why you’re following, is there a reason?
= …Hey. Are you teasing me right now? Ugh! Of course, if we’re going to progress the game, we have to progress the story together-
= Hmm, that’s not it. You could just broadcast from far away, right?
= ???
= Think about it.
Joo Seo-jin spoke ahead without a moment’s hesitation, his tone matter-of-fact.
= When I was fighting the marauders earlier, you were just broadcasting from far away anyway… so couldn’t you just follow slowly while broadcasting?
= Huh? That, no… even so, it wouldn’t be right to do that much……would it…?
= You did that before, but now I don’t understand what’s different about it.
= Huh, um…?
= No?
= ….
Silence.
Then, as Joo Seo-yoon’s footsteps behind me grew quieter, a burst of admiration erupted.
= Hey. Oppa, are you perhaps a genius…?
= ?
= This idea is absolutely brilliant!?
= ….
I was at a loss for words.
-???;
-Wait.. she just realized that now…?
-No, so the reason she trudged along after me was just because of the thought ‘let me follow slowly’ <<< that's why?;
-This isn't just a brilliant idea, the guild master's stat allocation is… a bit..
Come on, come on, come on
Hey there, young man~ be more considerate of the mood.
Do you want to see a massacre unfold, you little bastard??
Amid the flood of viewer chat bursting with exasperation, my mind grew hazy.
'…Let's just pretend I didn't hear that.'
If I paid attention to Joo Seo-yoon here, it would only disrupt the stamina distribution and pacing I'd carefully planned.
As I was exercising mental control, a voice pierced through my thoughts, shattering my concentration.
Mercilessly so.
= Phew-. Well then, I can catch my breath! I'll follow as fast as I can, so hang in there! Got it?
= ….
-Legend of task delegation;
-??..
-Now she's just gonna coast without even pretending to help..
-Translation) I'll be freeloading here, so go ahead and progress the content
Is this really a duo..? All you do is pick up items, give directions, collect loot, and cheer them on while they stream..? Like seriously??
In that moment, at how easily that streaming declaration(?) had slipped out, I felt a wry smile creep across my face.
'…Something feels off, like I'm shouldering all the work. But that can't be right?'
Hmm.
I wanted to believe that wasn't the case… but I couldn't shake the nagging feeling.
So—.
'…Don't think about it. That's better.'
I gave up on thinking.
…After all, sometimes it's better to pretend you didn't hear something, isn't it?
Probably.
* * *
Before more time could pass, I moved swiftly to the next section.
Compared to the undead mobs encountered earlier, the deeper I ventured, the noticeably fewer enemies appeared.
Well.
In truth, it was only natural when you thought about it.
From the start, there was no way so many enemies could exist in such a cramped space.
The undead mobs that had poured out frantically from the entrance were merely a preliminary defense against intruders.
Was that why?
Before long, a somewhat ominous black Spiral Staircase came into view.
-?? What, the path opens up this easily? What the heck, for real??
-Could this be the staircase leading to the upper levels of the Necromancer's Tower..? We can already go up? That's suspicious..?
-…We've only been inside the Necromancer's Tower for a bit and we're already exploring the Boss Room? Is this a trap??
-Look at the state of the mobs that appeared earlier, how could it be a trap lol
The path upward had opened far more easily than expected. I wondered if there might be traps or unexpected mechanisms, but there weren't any.
-Info) To say he 'easily' cleared the path, Seo-jin Teacher killed about 36 undead mobs in 11 minutes..
-?? 36 mobs in 11 minutes is insane lol what is this, a funeral director??????
I basically cleared it nonstop, so when I think about the time wasted on stamina management and pacing, it's like I didn't even do that lol
"If it's not Teacher Seojin, we'll fall behind in the early stages anyway, so this can't be a trap, for real;"
Just in case, I glanced at the chat window occasionally, but only contradictory opinions flooded in.
'…No, actually, it's not that difficult, is it?'
Joo Seo-jin tilted his head, but only for a moment.
'…Well, even so, it doesn't seem like there's anything unexpected.'
Before advancing further, I had already glimpsed ahead and grasped the answer.
In other words.
Even when I rapidly scanned the branching possibilities of the future using my foresight ability, there were no anomalies.
To conserve my foresight ability as much as possible, I didn't peer too far into the future, but it was sufficient.
The moment I made my decision, my body moved of its own accord.
Whoosh.
I bolted without hesitation beyond the Spiral Staircase.
Tap-tap-tap—!
'Wasting time is forbidden. Let's move fast.'
Up to this point had been genuinely easy, but I couldn't guarantee the same for what lay ahead.
Even if I didn't know how skilled individuals like Heuk-wol or Kensin were, they had apparently set new records separated by only a hair's breadth.
Therefore—.
I too faced a significant possibility that the mission's success or failure would hinge on how much time was consumed beyond this point.
Thinking rationally, I had to shorten the time as much as possible.
Relentlessly.
And———.
Rumble.
The moment I reached the single floor entrance at the top of the black-hued Spiral Staircase.
Rumble—.
As my body crossed the threshold in a single step, the wall of the entrance immediately slammed shut with a 'Clang—!'
'!'
The entrance sealed.
Within a single stage, to restrict the player's actions, nothing is permitted except moving forward.
Literally, retreat itself is completely forbidden—there's no backing away at all.
-?
-Wait, you're suddenly blocking the entrance??????
-Yeah yeah, that's right. Night Soul is the kind of game that blocks the entrance from the start so you can't pull off cheap hit-and-runs~
-That's brutal as hell, lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
-'Cage farming' on lololololololololol
-???: You've been kidnapped
'Ah.'
I was beginning to understand the pattern.
[Night Soul] is built as an open world, but when facing the main bosses of each stage, my freedom becomes restricted.
Before, my confrontation with Trinex was the same—I had no choice but to fight and either win or lose.
'…Though I suppose if they didn't narrow down the main stages like this, it would become too convoluted. It's only natural, isn't it?'
If I had kept my foresight ability constantly active, I could have known this beforehand, but it wouldn't have mattered much.
After all, knowing something like this in advance wouldn't change anything.
Elements close to the game system weren't something I needed to worry about.
Rather, what I really needed to focus on was elsewhere.
Whoooosh, whoosh—.
The moment I crossed the entrance of the staircase, a massive corridor lined with black stained glass appeared.
Mummy-like undead corpses stood in rows with their hands clasped together as if they were stone statues, creating a grotesque scene.
Whoooosh———.
The torches on the walls, which had been filled with nothing but ancient ash, began to ignite with blue flames, lighting up one after another.
As if announcing that beyond this point lay 'something' entirely different from any foe I'd encountered before.
A chilling wind echoed from beyond the Grand Corridor.
Huuuuh.
-Ohhh
-Kyaaaa
-What's this atmosphere oooooooooooo
-The horror theme is killing it, damn…
And then.
Creak, creak———.
From beyond the Grand Corridor, a harbinger of dread created by black stained glass and blue torches appeared.
'A knight?'
No.
It felt different from that. Rather than a living knight, it was closer to 'something that had once been one'.
Tattered dark armor, an ancient full plate adorned with a dragon's image. What wore it was none other than an undead.
〈 GREAT ENEMY / BOSS 〉
【 Fallen Death Knight: Cartmelion 】
Kuuuung—.
[ Huh, it's been a while since I've seen such an ignorant little bug. ]
-Oh
-Finally, at last!
-Now I'm getting a proper sense of battle lol
-Yeah, this is it, this is it lololololololololol
With the arrival of that overwhelming adversary, viewers erupted in real-time excitement.
Death Knight.
A Great Enemy doubling as a sub-boss, radiating eye-light through the brilliantly crimson full-plate armor.
A guardian-class mob of the Boss Room that had to be defeated without fail before reaching the Necromancer's Tower Master, one of the main bosses.
This was also the section where [Night Soul] began earnestly discussing matters related to 'knights' and revealing their formidable power.
With the arrival of that overwhelming adversary, the real-time excitement of viewers was inevitable.
Creak, cre-eak───.
As Cartmelion advanced with the weighty presence of full-plate armor, the chat exploded into fervor.
-Alright~ I'm all set to tear into some chicken, let's go oo
-Speedrun, gotta do it right????????
-About 2 hours? Maybe 3? Doesn't seem like it'll hit 4 though lol
Please, just take 2 hours, damn it; if it goes past 4 hours I'll be dead tired, for real.
That's just your opinion~ I can easily just lie down and watch for 4 hours, no problem.
"Yeah~ Heuk-wol and Kensin got their specs upgraded too, and it took over an hour~ Two hours is a given~"
Originally, the Necromancer's Tower Master, one of [Night Soul]'s main bosses, required an exceptionally long time to clear.
The same applied to the Death Knight─── Cartmelion.
Rather, he was one of the primary culprits behind those lengthy clear times.
A mob that waged prolonged combat through a combination of skilled offense and defense, bolstered by high defensive stats.
A formidable foe, without question.
It demanded not only stamina distribution and pace control, but also the battle intelligence to endure both offense and defense.
And so it was.
[ Hmm, for a mere insect to have come this far shows admirable courage. I shall commend you specially. ]
Cartmelion's granting of 'first strike' to the player at the very beginning was a handicap accounting for such factors.
[ Now then. Vermin, come at me with all your might. I shall yield one move, so struggle to your heart's content. ]
"One move?"
[ Yes, I shall wait until then. Come now, writhe about and entertain me. I wonder─── ]
"Sure, whatever."
Therefore───.
[ Kek. What is this half-hearted response? Being a mere insect, you still seem to lack proper understanding. Thus, I shall personally teach you manners…. ]
In that instant, Joo Seo-jin's form twisted and lurched, launching forward like a shell with a sound that tore the air─ 'Paa-aang───'.
Kwang-ik───!
The blade struck the thin iron plate in the seam connecting the helmet to the breastplate of the full-plate armor.
At maximum acceleration, delivering an unexpected strike that 'tore' against the weakest metal plate as if scraping it.
A blow aimed with precision at the neck, of all places.
The result created by this powerful strike, executed in a moment of carelessness, was singular.
Ping, grrr─── Tangurr, tu-uuk….
〈 GREAT ENEMY / BOSS 〉
【 Fallen Death Knight: Cartmelion 】
━[LEGENDARY VICTORY]
-?
-Huh..?
-No… what? What is this? What?? What am I…??
I cannot provide a translation for this text as it appears to be corrupted or contains encoding errors, making it unreadable in Korean.
A one-shot kill. In a single exchange, I had ended the Death Knight's life.
Thud.
"Hmm…."
And then I, the architect of this overwhelming and unexpected victory, landed on the ground and tilted my head slightly.
My brow furrowed as if something felt off. I revealed my bewilderment.
As though something wasn't right.
Regardless of what the vitality coefficient on the health bar reads, it's difficult to survive with your head severed.
At maximum acceleration, I had torn through the seam at the neck of the full plate armor with such force that it was inevitable.
Therefore—
If it had taken that blow as intended, death would naturally follow.
But.
I felt bewildered regardless, as if something else was amiss.
"Mm."
I squinted and muttered quietly to myself.
"So… this was the boss?"
I added, as if joking, 'You're kidding, right?' and swallowed, finding it even harder to comprehend.
"…But you couldn't block this? It wasn't psychological warfare, was it?"
It was simple.
"That's strange."
I had never actually believed that move was meant to be a finishing blow against my opponent.
"Ah—. Is that it? If that's the case, it kind of makes sense."
So it was natural that the conclusion I reached after a moment of contemplation would resolve into a rational hypothesis.
"After all, this is just some kind of scarecrow designed to let me win outright…?"
-?
-Huh..?
-What do you mean…?
-??????????????????????????????????
The innocent malice born from pure naivety set the stream ablaze.

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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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