The Fate-Seeing Genius Streamer - Chapter 56

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

55. [Blood Born] An Excellent Means of Communication, Isn’t It? (4)
Conjoined Twins.
Among the boss monsters of [Blood Born], they belonged to a considerably formidable tier.
They didn’t appear in the early story stages, only surfacing in the mid to late game as the gatekeeper.
In a situation where you encountered them for the first time without any strategy guide, they were virtually impossible to defeat.
Their combat style.
Simply put, it stemmed from a fundamental difference in fighting technique—a natural predator relationship against players.
They commanded combat prowess spanning long-range, close-range, and mid-range attacks, and their signature abilities were equally troublesome.
‘They manipulated flocks of ravens as projectiles while simultaneously wielding flesh whips to unleash area-of-effect attacks.’
Double constraint.
The moment these two attack patterns intertwined, the boss battle’s difficulty reached an entirely different dimension.
The raven flocks were deployed to tighten an encirclement, while the simultaneous barrage of area attacks became nearly impossible to evade.
This was no monster that raw skill could simply overwhelm.
Moreover, attack timings shifted unpredictably with each battle phase, and irregular dual assaults from all directions occurred frequently.
Given their near-unreachable positioning, approaching them proved extraordinarily difficult.
Dealing high-damage short-range firearms or striking with close-quarters blunt weapons to kill them was nothing but a pipe dream.
But then───.
That wasn’t all.
Screeeee───….
-Wow, their durability is insane;
-Look at how hard they are lol;
-No seriously, they’re ridiculously tough? That damage barely went through??
-We’ve been hitting them nonstop and we’re only just entering phase 2 lol
Offense and defense unified.
With Geom-hu leading the charge and Joo Seo-jin providing support from behind, they landed effective hits in fair play, yet significant damage remained elusive.
The double-barrel shotgun had limited range, and even when hitting distant targets, the pellets scattered too much to connect properly.
Since the in-game opponent was a near-mutant monstrosity, bullets merely grazing it would barely tickle rather than cause any real harm.
It lived up to its title as the gatekeeper.
The greatest barrier dividing the branching paths of the action-horror game [Blood Born].
If encountered in early stages, there exists no method to overcome it head-on.
Even if a canonical strategy existed, it was far from simple.
The only approach involved circling the stage’s perimeter, repeatedly engaging and disengaging, accumulating effective hits one by one through attrition.
That was the sole strategy, and without proficiency in hit-and-run tactics, a game over was inevitable.
Therefore───.
-Hmm…
-Even so, isn’t it basically impossible to kill it with just a shotgun?
-Ugh.. even with perfect positioning, I don’t think you can beat it if you keep switching positions with the shotgun;
The viewers themselves couldn’t help but remain skeptical.
-This is crazy
-The shotgun… yeah, it has great firepower up close, but this boss doesn’t allow close approaches
-In the end, even if you shoot, the bullets barely stick, and if you get close, you just get beaten by the whip and the raven. That’s the shotgun’s fate lol
-Is there really no hope with a shotgun?
-Yeah; the shotgun itself has such a short range that you’d need sniper-level accuracy to land a proper hit.. it’s tough
-And even if you get close, can you even land an effective hit on the Conjoined Twins who’ve hardened their defense?
-It’s not easy
It was the truth.
The advantages and disadvantages of a double-barrel shotgun were crystal clear.
If you fired it at close range, the pellets would concentrate in one spot, allowing you to enjoy enhanced firepower through concentrated impact—an item with that potential.
In terms of pure destructive power alone, it ranked among the top five firearms within Blood Born.
However───
Conversely, that meant the range was short, and firing from a distance would only result in metal fragments grazing skin.
-But since you just switched positions, doesn’t that make Seo-jin the main dealer? You’d have to carry the damage yourself;
-That’s why I’m curious how you’re planning to take them down with that shotgun lol;
-I can’t really see how it’ll work either. And with Geom-hu stepping back to support… hmm;
The chat erupted with divided opinions.
Yet even amid the disagreement, there was one thing everyone agreed on.
-Seo-jin’s good at pushing through with pure physicality, but isn’t this more of a matchup problem than a physical one?;
Joo Seo-jin specialized in overwhelming opponents through sheer physicality, but his situational adaptability wasn’t particularly strong.
Deploying Geom-hu as the primary attacker was merely a methodology for clearing the mission without engaging in direct combat.
Of course, that was also a valid strategy and a rational decision.
However───.
What the viewers wanted to see wasn’t that.
Joo Seo-jin knew this as well, which is why he switched to an offensive position.
There was no taking back what had already been said.
The same applied here.
Whoosh.
Position change.
The moment we decided to swap roles—offense and defense—Geom-hu quietly stepped back without a word.
Shifting from the front line to the rear, he simply asked for confirmation.
“Then… I take it there’s no further plan to this position change, Master Joo?”
“Yes. I’ve gotten a feel for fair play by now. I’d like to be a bit more aggressive.”
“Mm-hmm. I think I understand the gist of it. I’ll handle support on my end then—is that acceptable?”
“It is.”
In the brief exchange, Geom-hu smiled faintly and licked his lips.
“Should anything become urgent, I myself will join in as well. Other than that───…”
Whoosh.
Geom-hu tilted his head slightly to the side, gazing at the flock of ravens gliding through the night sky as he continued.
“…Well. Unfortunately, I’ll handle everything that happens from behind.”
“That’s sufficient.”
Joo Seo-jin nodded and calmly switched positions.
“That alone expands what I’m capable of quite considerably.”
I meant every word.
The flock of ravens were projectiles controlled by Conjoined Twins, but those that missed after each attack would circle back and rejoin the formation.
If I eliminated them from behind during that regrouping window, the sheer number of projectiles would decrease.
Simply by cutting off variables from blind spots, the possibilities for what I could accomplish expanded exponentially.
Click-clack───.
Reloading.
I cracked open the barrels of the double-barrel shotgun, slid two fresh rounds in, and snapped it shut.
As the heavy metallic sound rang out, my sense of time warped and my sensory domain flared to life.
Keeeeen───.
My foresight ability was activating at maximum capacity.
What once required me to read through possibilities one by one now revealed itself as a complete spatial panorama.
Where my attacks would reach, which direction my body would lean—the probability space became crystalline and clear.
‘Definitely. Resource waste has decreased, and this isn’t bad at all.’
With this new ability inscribed, what I could accomplish skyrocketed.
Without needing to peer far into the future, I could now grasp shorter-term probability branches and anticipate movements.
In other words, the concentration I’d poured into foresight until now could be redirected elsewhere.
‘If I can peer even further into the future, I could accomplish something far more interesting.’
With surplus resources to allocate, my combat capabilities would surge dramatically.
‘I’m looking forward to this.’
In other words───.
‘I can finally test just how precise and intricate my combat can become.’
A testing ground.
I would use Conjoined Twins, the infamous gatekeeper of [Blood Born], like litmus paper to validate my approach.
Now it was time to test this combat technique I’d entered into a new realm with.
* * *
The moment Joo Seo-jin stepped forward with the position change.
Crack, craaaaaack───!!
A burst of sound.
Amid the nauseating clarity of flesh tearing, bones twisting, and joints bending in reverse—Conjoined Twins’ body deformed.
Squelch-ugh, squelch-ughhhhh───…!
Spines erupted from the flesh whips extending from both arms, and from the grotesque protrusions that tore through his spine, ravens poured out in torrents.
– ───Yesss! Wait, I—waited again! Time for pest extermination…! Ahahaha!!
Phase 2.
The moment Conjoined Twins entered this new phase, his attacks erupted with even greater ferocity.
One arm clawed at the ground, scattering debris, while the other swung down to seal off the upper space.
Shwaaaaaang───….
Crimson intent.
The red outline flowing from his left arm traced through the lower section into a ground strike, while the red outline from his right arm carved a wide sweeping arc across the upper space—I could ‘see’ it all.
Once I could visually perceive the spatial probability of where attacks and defenses could land, evasion became remarkably simple.
Tsssshhh───.
Every movement flowed without a single millimeter of deviation.
I twisted my upper body to the right, launching myself into the air just before ground debris could scatter.
Moving with mechanical precision, yet retaining elasticity as my body sprang upward like a coiled spring.
Kwaaaaaaaaang───…!!
The ground where I’d stood moments before cracked open with a sharp snap, earth and stone erupting like a fountain─── and behind that veil of dust, a cascade of follow-up attacks rained down from above.
Paaang───.
Air-rending strike.
With the sound of air being torn asunder, the tips of my hair scattered, severed clean.
Within a margin narrower than a handspan, the end of the flesh whip had grazed past my nose.
By the barest of margins, watching the flesh whip undulate through the air as it tore the atmosphere, I felt genuine admiration.
‘Fascinating. Without any unnecessary process, I can see the attacks coming… and I instinctively sense where they’ll emerge.’
Operating my foresight ability at its maximum threshold, yet without exerting meticulous focus, my techniques unfolded naturally.
As the range of possibilities became visible, I could intuitively grasp exactly how far I needed to evade.
Whether I dodged by 1mm or 1m, the result converged identically: ‘I escaped.’
───-.
Even the movements where I’d been wasting energy each interval to ensure certain evasion began to vanish.
Leverage.
Evade minimally, counterattack maximally.
The theoretically optimal movement—what I’d believed possible only in principle—became reality.
──────.
The moment I evaded all the flesh whips—bursting with air-rending strikes and pummeling even the earth’s surface—by the width of a single sheet of paper.
Taaak-.
I began closing the distance rapidly.
Was that why?
Caw-awk, caw-awk, caw-aaaaaaawk───…!!
A murder of ravens.
Anticipating the flesh whip might miss, the suppressive projectiles laid in reserve activated faster than expected.
They descended at high speed, forming an encircling pattern that spiraled inward and sealed off my movement path.
As the ravens that had been circling above Conjoined Twins’ head flipped their bodies in unison and shot downward like darts───.
Moving casually through the air, I aimed at empty space and pulled the trigger.
Taa-ang───!
Gunshot.
While maneuvering mid-air, I unleashed the first round from my double-barrel shotgun at an oblique angle.
Buckshot spread in a fan pattern, shattering the ravens at the vanguard of the spiral trajectory.
Pabawk, pababak───!
Black feathers rained down like a downpour, yet projectiles that still evaded the buckshot plunged downward.
Two rounds.
Since the double-barrel shotgun could only load and fire two rounds at once, I couldn’t waste the opportunity.
Instead of using the shotgun to swat away the remaining ravens─── I deployed my prepared countermeasure.
Whoosh—ping, whirrrr───!
A fire axe.
I drew the fire axe from my waist and hurled it in a curved arc with a snap of my wrist.
Paba—babababak───!
Not just one—I threw every single fire axe hanging from my waist without reservation.
Angled upward—the fire axes traced elegant arcs, their dull weight cleaving through the air as they flew.
But.
Pabak, pak─── whoooosh───…!
I can’t translate that as it’s not a valid Korean word or phrase – it appears to be random Korean consonants and punctuation without proper vowels or meaning.
-Wow, he actually missed that one;
-Humanity me ㄷㄷ
-Wait, Seo-jin actually whiffed here…?????????
-Wow, look how narrowly the fire ax missed it haha.
My flawless technique crumbled to nothing.
Of the four ravens, I struck three—but one slipped past by the narrowest of margins.
As the fire axe soared skyward toward the apex of its parabolic arc, I shifted tactics instantly.
Pabaat.
The moment I folded my upper body forward, the raven’s razor-sharp talons scraped past my head with terrifying proximity.
Ser-ack───.
Beyond a few severed strands of hair, nothing else connected.
The instant I miraculously evaded the raven and touched ground, I pushed off and sprinted forward.
And then───.
Click-clack───….
The next moment.
Taaaa-ang───!
Final shot.
While charging, I fired my last reserved round directly at the Conjoined Twins’ torso.
However, the problem was simple: for the Conjoined Twins, it amounted to trivial damage at best.
Chiiing-. Tudududuk───.
The deformed pellets bounced off the hide and scattered across the ground.
Buckshot dispersing, barely grazing the skin—damage so negligible it was embarrassing to even call it that.
The Conjoined Twins, fully aware, erupted in cackling laughter from both heads, their mockery dripping with contempt.
– Hah, so you fancy yourself a tickler, do you, insect───!!
But.
This outcome was precisely what I had orchestrated.
A momentary hesitation—the Conjoined Twins’ whip-like flesh appendages retracting with infinitesimal delay.
Exploiting the opening created by suppressive fire, I began closing the distance relentlessly.
Of course, the raven swarm existed precisely for such contingencies, so as I narrowed the gap, projectiles should have been raining down.
Ideally───
That would have been the plan.
-!
-Oh..
-Insane.. the ravens are… practically gone?? Wait, projectile misfire or something????;
I’ve had a feeling you’ve been focused on reducing the crows since earlier, and it seems like it was true lol
-Whoa, was this intentional? Damn clever, for real;; the guy’s sharp??
The flock of ravens.
The very number of ravens that could be deployed for the next projectile attack had dwindled to mere handfuls.
From the rear, Geom-hu was likewise sweeping away the raven flock, so now there were no obstacles impeding my approach.
Home ground drew closer.
The distance gap was roughly fifteen meters.
Still beyond the effective range of the double-barrel shotgun, yet—— within the Conjoined Twins’ range.
– Excellent, excellent!! A pathetic insect who doesn’t know his place, thinking he can crawl forward!? I’ll crush you to death as much as I please!!
The Conjoined Twins’ waist contorted grotesquely, and both arms swelled with a ‘squelch-ugh’ sound.
Ugh, ugh───…!!
Casting motion.
Both arms trembled violently, blood beading on the barbed flesh-whips.
The dwindling flock of ravens still circled overhead—— entering the motion of imminent attack.
Standoff.
My foresight ability clearly read the rippling outline enveloping the Conjoined Twins’ entire form within my vision.
The whip’s trajectory, the ravens’ projectile angles, the areas that would harden for defense—— all of it.
The sight before my eyes revealed much.
The deciding factor in victory or defeat had narrowed down to a single element.
‘Two seconds’.
The double-barrel shotgun’s most fatal weakness, ‘reloading’—— the brief moment it consumed was the problem.
After firing both shots, I had to open the barrel to eject the casings, insert new rounds, and close it.
Whether I could survive until the reload finished in roughly two seconds was uncertain.
Yet despite this, I had to reload right now.
Because I had already expended both shots loaded in the double-barrel shotgun.
I had to reload while advancing, but during the reload, I’d be completely defenseless.
And the Conjoined Twins wouldn’t miss such an utterly defenseless moment.
A killing blow.
Along with the remaining raven flock, he’d cast an area skill to deliver the final strike.
Despite knowing this, Joo Seo-jin continued his next action without hesitation.
Thud-.
I immediately stopped in my tracks and opened the barrel of the double-barrel shotgun.
Ting-. Tiding───.
The sound of shell casings falling from the double-barrel shotgun echoed out.
-??
-No, insane????????????
-Is he choosing death?
-?? What the hell? Why are you reloading out of nowhere?;
-Hmm.. The distance hasn’t closed yet, so if I stop, won’t I get caught..?
While the chat window expressed confusion, Joo Seo-jin pushed a fresh round into the chamber.
He stopped with the barrel still open, the reload incomplete.
And…
The price for that was far too certain.
Tsssk, BA-AAAAAAANG───!
Flesh whips.
Both arms stained crimson twisted violently, and two strands of flesh whips scissored across each other in a devastating strike.
The remaining ravens plummeted simultaneously, and a barrage of area attacks erupted in a dual onslaught───.
SPLOOOOOSH───…!
Scarlet blood erupted into the air, announcing the end of the battle.
* * *
The next instant.
* * *
Suddenly, a tearing scream burst from both heads of the Conjoined Twins.
– ───~!!?
Ugh-crack───…!
A beat too late, a dull explosive sound thundered forth, and an unexpected object came into view.
-!?
I’m trembling/shaking uncontrollably.
-This is insane…?
-?!!?!?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????
-Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?????????
A single-handed blunt weapon item was now embedded in the Conjoined Twins’ upper body.
-Don’t tell me… that’s the fire axe from before that missed???????
The fire axe that had vanished through the air moments ago had now plummeted down, having reached the apex of its parabolic arc and accelerated under gravity.
Precisely, as if it had been targeting the Conjoined Twins’ upper body all along.
-Wait. Then… could the reason the fire axe missed before be…?
The truth was───.
-It was designed from the start as a predictive shot to guide it into this trajectory..??
At last.
The grand design that Joo Seo-jin had orchestrated was finally coming to completion.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————