The Fate-Seeing Genius Streamer - Chapter 38
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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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37. [Night Soul] So… That Was the Boss…? (3)
‘Repetitive mastery’.
This was an indispensable form of training and practice in every field where technique and systems existed—the very foundation upon which results were built.
Gaming Martial Arts was no exception. The realm of professional gamers—becoming a ‘master of combat’—clearly demanded substantial practice.
Generally, anyone newly initiated into combat arts would spend months, or even years, simply mastering basic stances and breathing techniques, laying the unshakeable groundwork of fundamentals.
The application of force, the shift of one’s center of gravity, the dynamic vision to read an opponent’s movements, reflexes—imprinting all of these into the body required an arduous passage of time.
But Joo Seo-jin was different.
A mere instant. Only two exchanges with Crack, yet within that brief span, dozens, hundreds of offensive and defensive maneuvers flashed past—and I had already grasped the very essence of Lacrantz Style.
Within the world of possibilities revealed by my foresight, where line intertwined with line to create the ‘realm of technique’—I had glimpsed what lay beyond it.
It was never mere imitation.
To understand the core principle, to master the ‘intent (意)’ that existed beyond the ‘form (形)’ contained within it, and finally to digest it completely as one’s own.
The rigid, hollow movements that were mere shells disappeared, leaving only the action principles that touched upon essence.
Shedding the husk of formality, beginning to pursue meaning itself.
At last—
…my innate talent was approaching that critical threshold.
* * *
Defeating the Death Knight, Cartmelion, in a single exchange was no ordinary feat.
Even professional gamers known as Heuk-wol and Kensin only faced such opponents after raising their stats within [Night Soul].
In other words, even for professional gamers, this was an enemy they could defeat within an hour only after raising their stats and executing stable combat tactics.
Yet.
In a single exchange, Joo Seo-jin had lightly overcome the relative disadvantage in stats and emerged victorious.
The viewers quickly grasped what this meant.
It was a display of talent bordering on violence.
That innate talent possessed a purity that made any discussion of its height or depth utterly irrelevant.
Victory was not proven through mere elements of matchup or luck.
With talent alone, as if defying the very laws of the world, I had claimed victory effortlessly.
Viewers who had been casually watching the stream forgot to type in chat, struck speechless by that overwhelming display.
Of course, even amid this, some viewers managed to assess the situation with cold clarity.
-Wait… hold on, hold on. What does this even mean?
-Heuk-wol and Kensin took about an hour here too, so if this…?
-Literally… if we just stack the time cuts from here on, isn’t this already a new speedrun record on the platform?;
-lol;
Considering the speedrun records of those who had cleared the Necromancer, one of the main bosses in [Night Soul]… the possibility of Joo Seo-jin achieving a ‘new record’ became extraordinarily high.
Because he was already cutting tens of minutes of time before even entering the Boss Room.
If he simply cleared the mission without delay, executing flawlessly and methodically, the mission clear became guaranteed.
The viewers, realizing this, were about to express their excitement in chat once more, but only briefly.
Rumble—
At the end of the Grand Corridor, guided by black stained glass and blue lanterns—a ‘door’ opened.
Creak, creak, creak.
The door leading to the Boss Room opened, and the scene beyond was revealed.
Clang, clang—.
As chains dragged across the ground and something stirred to life, blue flames erupted across the domain where the Castle’s master dwelled.
Whoooosh, waaaaaaaaahhhhh───.
Throughout the master’s domain, the undead prostrated themselves in reverence, their arms raised toward a singular being as they wailed.
A Skeleton clad in formal robes sat upon a grotesque throne fashioned from bones that appeared to have come from some great beast, and it lifted its head.
Click—.
From the hollow eye sockets of the Skeleton, blue light flickered brilliantly.
〈 BOSS 〉
【 Sin of Avarice: Necromancer 】
The main boss of [Night Soul], commonly known as the ‘Necromancer’─── the Necromancer himself.
Shhhhh—.
Yet there was no grand introductory monologue befitting the main boss’s entrance.
Within movements so slow and deliberate they seemed tinged with ennui, the Necromancer’s finger twitched—’snap’—with minimal motion.
That was all it took, but it was enough.
Wheeeeeng—.
The swarms of dead flies scattered throughout the Boss Room suddenly levitated into the air and began rotating violently in place.
As if the dead flies themselves had become spinning projectiles.
And what followed was precisely the ominous outcome one might expect.
Wiiiiiiiiing───!!
Spinning in place, the swarms of flies now began emitting a ferocious roar—and were, quite literally, unleashed.
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bang───!
Corpse bullets rained down like a meteor shower.
* * *
The ‘Necromancer’.
Among gamers, it was known as the ‘Necromancer’─── a mob regarded as one of the most troublesome main bosses to face.
Unlike the conventional image of a Necromancer, this one did not command undead as extensions of itself.
The Necromancer of [Night Soul] was a heretic among Necromancers, wielding dead insects as projectiles and firing them like a machine gun.
When small insects were fired relentlessly at insane velocities from a distance, anyone would be left in shock.
The Necromancer’s corpse bullets, also called ‘fruit fly ammunition’, were a wall of despair for knights—mages could manage differently.
Quite literally, knights were forbidden from even approaching.
The corpse bullets decelerated rapidly in proportion to their ‘travel distance’ as projectiles.
If one maintained distance from the Necromancer and moved with sufficient speed, dodging the corpse bullets was not particularly difficult.
However, prolonging the battle this way made landing effective hits nearly impossible, and perfectly evading the corpse bullets was equally unrealistic.
As time passed, stamina management became impossible, and failures in health distribution or pace control meant only one thing: death.
Even for mages, unless they came equipped with excessive specifications, the outcome was scarcely different.
The orthodox strategy against the Necromancer was to drag the battle into a prolonged war of attrition, moving ceaselessly and accumulating damage like dots.
After a long race, the side that made more mistakes would lose.
This was also why clearing took such an extended period.
However───
—But..
—This is insane… What the hell is that?
—How is it that the corpse bullets… don’t seem to be landing at all?
—No. It’s not just a feeling. They’re genuinely not hitting…? Seriously, he’s dodging every single one;
—Damn, how is this possible…? Not a single hit, and he’s just… dodging everything?
But Joo Seo-jin was different.
The ability of foresight.
The moment my eyes that perceive fate activated and began illuminating the trajectories of possibility, my movements transformed.
As if time itself had slowed to a crawl, I moved with the advantage of seeing in advance exactly when, where, and how each attack would come.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud───…
I continued moving while observing from where, at what speed, and along what trajectory each corpse bullet flew toward me.
‘Seven shots from the right, three from the lower left… then next… varying speed with time delays, attacking erratically? Roughly like this.’
‘The closer I get, the more projectiles will increase. The erratic attacks will multiply too.’
‘And between these erratic attacks, as the distance gaps narrow, the projectile speed doesn’t decrease, so the burden keeps mounting…?’
Amid the barrage of corpse bullets pouring from all directions, I dodged them all without changing my expression, assessing the situation.
Even incorporating the operation of the virtual engine into my physical movements, I felt the limits approaching.
Since the movements between muscles and skeleton were forcibly linked, creaking sounds had begun to emerge.
Like holding my breath underwater, it grew increasingly difficult to endure.
‘The virtual engine… due to the stat limits within the game, my spirit power is gradually depleting.’
Just as the foresight ability required cooldown after reaching overheating and consuming all its power, this was similar.
‘The conditions for a prolonged battle simply don’t exist from the start.’
Coming here and facing the Necromancer’s Tower Lord in combat hadn’t taken long in-game.
The time actually spent honing my character’s stats was practically negligible.
The orthodox strategy was nothing more than a delayed defeat.
That was the reality.
Screeeee—.
Even measuring the shadows of possibility that stretched furthest within the branching points of the future, the conclusion didn’t change.
[You have died]
[You have die…]
[You…]
‘Roughly, if another two minutes or so pass… the closer I get, the faster I die.’
The longer time stretched on, the more completely health distribution and pacing vanished.
No matter how inspired my technique became, I couldn’t escape the inevitable consumption of strength.
Even with eyes that perceive fate, there was something I couldn’t change.
It showed me shadows of possibility, not an ability to forcibly reveal miracles themselves.
If I relied solely on the foresight ability, there was no answer beyond this.
But—.
‘Hmm….’
That was only true under the assumption of relying on the foresight ability alone.
‘I think I roughly understand how to win. I have a feeling.’
If it was pure innate talent rather than the foresight ability, the story would be different.
That’s right.
‘Certainly, if I do this—I can finish without any problems.’
If the distance between us determined life and death, then the power needed to win had already been decided from the start.
That was—
* * *
Because there existed the Lacrantz Style, a Gaming Martial Arts that dominated the very concept of distance itself.
* * *
The streaming viewers had already assessed the situation to some degree.
Not taking a single hit, continuously evading the barrage of corpse bullets, approaching the Necromancer—the sight was unmistakable.
Within Joo Seo-jin’s insane technique, his expression remained unchanged, yet his breathing grew visibly more ragged with each passing moment.
-His movements have been getting slightly slower since earlier
-Ah.. with the stat difference, there’s just no way to compete at all..
-Yeah, he’s a knight, not a mage, so there’s really nothing he can do about it
My stamina distribution is reaching its limit too, and it seems like the virtual machine cost is gradually hitting rock bottom.
-This is it then
Beads of sweat formed steadily, breathing grew increasingly ragged, movements slowed incrementally—the limit was visible.
I’d hoped otherwise, but attempting to clear a main boss confrontation as a speedrun quest without any preparation was simply impossible.
The viewers too unanimously predicted Joo Seo-jin’s imminent defeat, yet there was no real disappointment.
Quite the opposite.
Most viewers were in awe simply at what he’d accomplished thus far.
They never expected such insane skill to emerge from a mere streamer, not even a professional gamer.
-What a waste..
Even so, Seojin teacher really did do well at this level, though.
-The no-death clear of the Necromancer bosses is probably off the table now, but whatever..
Honestly, it was just fucking impossible, you know; to be real with you, the fact that I’m even doing this well is crazy.
He’s a textbook example of a loser, for real.
The phrase “skill broadcast” was not wasted on this performance—something everyone could agree with.
Yeah, you lost anyway~ You’re just a loudmouth fighter, what skill do you even have? lol
“I guess world records looked trivial to you, but you’re saying ‘skill broadcast’ only works at an amateur level, right?”
-The hype was legendary tier, that’s all
lol
Of course, some viewers were busy tearing Joo Seo-jin down viciously, but they were truly a minority.
Eventually, as time passed, his public reputation would rise and things would proceed without incident… it wasn’t a real problem.
What remained now was simply how to respond to the mission not being cleared.
But then—
Whoosh.
-?
-What, a backstep out of nowhere
-Closing distance, looks like he’s running out of stamina now
It’s about time a death message pops up, honestly.
In that instant, I halted my approach and abruptly retreated backward.
I withdrew so far that my back nearly pressed against the wall, maximizing the distance between us.
Most observers believed my energy had reached its limit.
But they were wrong.
Screeeech.
-?
-What’s this?
-Why the sprinting stance? Got something else to try?
-Uh… is he making a run for the Boss Room???????????????
I lowered my center of gravity without hesitation, bent my knees, and planted my feet firmly on the ground.
Like a sprinter in the final moment before launching forward, ready to explode off the earth at any second.
Most thought it was nothing worth noting—but only for a moment.
Boom-bababababababang───!!
In an instant, the corpse bullets accelerated and rained down like a meteor shower, and I responded immediately.
Crash───.
I executed an overwhelming charge that shattered the stone floor itself.
Nothing unusual so far, but the problem was—where I was running was different.
Amid the barrage of corpse bullets, I wasn’t running on the ground.
Rather—
-!?
-What is that?????????????????
-Damn, am I seeing this right? Could it be…?
-He’s gaining momentum and sliding along the wall to maneuver?
Along the outer wall, I operated my Imaginary Engine and sprinted up the smooth surface.
Or more precisely, through the Imaginary Engine, I refined the friction point beneath my feet itself, accelerating as if gliding on skis.
This unconventional path of movement produced one result.
Ratatatat-tang───!
The barrage of corpse bullets couldn’t keep pace with me as I sprinted along the Boss Room’s wall, scattering wide and missing entirely.
Then, as the momentum from my movement gradually diminished, I descended to the floor and ran up the wall once more.
I shifted my direction of movement freely, creating erratic chaos to confuse.
So the Necromancer couldn’t ‘keep up’ at all.
Wheeeeng───.
-Wow, damn; so dizzy;
-This is… somehow the Necromancer seems to be losing track? His vision?
-Real talk; I’m getting dizzy as hell, but… the Necromancer can’t even follow with his eyes anymore
The mobility technique of the Lacrantz Style derives its advantage from stripping the opponent’s sense of distance.
Therefore—
The moment the Necromancer’s vision failed to keep pace with me and his predictions began to fail catastrophically—what happened was inevitable.
Boom───!
Sudden acceleration.
A gunshot-like detonation rang out as my body slid in a jagged zigzag—then, abruptly, I shot forward in a straight line.
The Necromancer’s gaze and the corpse bullets had already miscalculated their trajectory, belatedly attempting to track my linear movement.
One beat, no—two beats too late, the projectiles were beneath any consideration.
And then.
Thud-CRASH───!
A second acceleration, charging straight at the Necromancer before I tore through the ground itself with a thrust of my legs—launching into the air, I ‘flew’.
To grant no opportunity for counterattack whatsoever, I shattered the limits of maximum acceleration.
Concentrating all focus on a single point, my posture for a precise thrust solidified mid-air—and then, the result manifested.
Whoosh.
The battle was already over.
SCREEEEEECH───!
Unmistakably.
* * *
Thud-thud-thud….
Inside the Boss Room, the corpse bullet that had been mere inches from the back of my head froze mid-air before dropping to the ground.
Tap, tap-tap-tap-.
And then───.
At that moment, my blade’s tip remained lodged through the Necromancer’s skull.
From a state of maximum acceleration, receiving a second acceleration while launching through the air to deliver that final strike—it had been impossible to even transition from an offensive stance to a defensive one.
-Wh…?
-What the…?
-That’s ridiculous..?
-How is this… possible? For real, this..??
In other words—.
〈 BOSS 〉
【 The Sin of Avarice: Necromancer 】
━[LEGENDARY VICTORY]
I had succeeded in the speedrun quest.
《 Achievement Unlocked 》
*’He who is swifter than all shall illuminate the path’
━Achievement Completion Rate: ‘One and Only’
━Description: ‘Successfully defeated the Necromancer in a speedrun quest on ‘Nightmare’ mode—the fastest clear in the entire world.’
“───Mission cleared.”
Cleanly, at that.
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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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