A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 54

Raid.

It was a nickname given by users, with its official name being 『Deathmatch (NPC)』.

The reason it was called a Deathmatch was that the game ended as soon as either the NPC commander or a user died.

However, this wasn’t simply a one-on-one duel.

Since the battle took place on a broad battlefield, one had to search for the enemy commander while dealing with various regular NPCs clashing at different locations.

“The most important thing in a raid is speed.”

Finding and killing the enemy commander quickly.

That was the method to earn more reputation points and contributions.

-It’s like a time attack mode
-Let’s wait a bit, and start after the info is out
-I bet all the rankers do that, haha
-Not jumping in right away
-This is what consulting is

Sojun understood what they were saying at once.

“It’s okay. Let’s go right away.”

Viewers were advising him to play the game after gathering information to set a faster record.

However, Sojun decided to just go ahead.

Anyway, the first round wouldn’t earn any reputation points.

It was a practice run designated by the game company.

Moreover, Sojun thought there was little difference between gathering information from others’ gameplay and acquiring it during his first run.

‘Rankers even manage to plan routes and traits in that short timeframe, using the first round as a kind of rehearsal, or so I’ve heard.’

Sojun didn’t have enough game knowledge to do that.

“Oh, and I heard that in raids, resources should be used efficiently.”

In Deathmatch, there were no means to recover like a base.

They had to rely on resources that naturally regenerated.

“Oh, so the Absorption Technique only applies to commanders? Thanks for the advice.”

Upon hearing the details, Sojun realized his trait wasn’t particularly advantageous. It might even be a disadvantage.

“For now, let’s go with the orthodox faction. We won’t run into that guy from the Tang family anyway.”

Defending was the plan for today as well.

* * *

Sojun chose the same area as the previous day.

The game began, and Sojun opened his eyes within a building.

He scanned his surroundings and tried to open the door, but he couldn’t exit.

Text appeared before his eyes.

『Deathmatch starts in 30 seconds.』

-I wonder which faction NPC we’ll be up against
-This building looks like a brothel, but not likely the Beggar Sect. Those Beggar Sect guys couldn’t afford to enter a brothel

‘Hmm.’

Sojun nodded, reading the chat as he waited.

That made sense.

『Deathmatch starts in 10 seconds.』

But aren’t there any allied soldiers?

In the situation where he was left alone in the room, Sojun wondered.

‘If it’s a solo fight, it would’ve been called Assassination, not Deathmatch.’

And without time to ponder his question further, as soon as the 10 seconds were up, an enemy wielding a sword kicked open the door and appeared.

“Demonic Cult commander! Die!”

Neat attire. Neither a Martial Sect uniform nor a vagabond. Then.

-It’s the Namgung clan, haha
-Does anyone know which Namgung clan NPC showed up?
-Can’t know yet; it’s been only a minute since it started, haha

The identity of the orthodox faction was confirmed as the Namgung clan.

As soon as the enemy NPCs spotted Sojun, they began charging toward him.

‘The location is a tall and wide building. The enemies are the Namgung clan. The target is the enemy commander.’

Sojun checked the martial artists’ health.

Though not as strong as the soldiers in capture battles, their health was certainly lower than a user’s.

Sojun gripped his sword in a reverse hold and drew a dagger from his waist with his left hand.

Thanks to the title Grandmaster, he possessed many weapons, and the dagger was one of them.

Carrying many weapons slowed him down, but for a dagger, the penalty was negligible.

However, ‘Since I haven’t selected any traits related to daggers, it’s probably inefficient.’

Nonetheless, since it was the first round, collecting as much information as possible was crucial.

‘The Absorption Technique isn’t active.’

This was certainly inconvenient.

It meant he couldn’t utilize his trait before spotting the enemy commander.

‘In that case, the damage…’

The enemy’s sword grew larger in his view, closing in.

Sojun sidestepped, slashing the enemy with his sword.

This took down half the health of the ordinary soldier.

“It takes two strikes with the sword.”

He swiftly threw a dagger at another enemy behind him.

He depleted about one-third of the enemy’s health.

As Sojun dealt with the enemy with his sword, he tucked the dagger away again.

“The dagger is not going to work.”

He needed to find the quickest and most efficient route. That was the key to today’s game.

– If he had a sleeping sword, the damage increase trait would have made it a one-hit kill.
– It’s a big problem if he doesn’t activate the Absorption Technique, he will continue in a no-trait state.
– Should he change his martial technique? Still, 3 hours left, lol. This is just the first round now.

Sojun exited through the door the enemy had burst in from and walked into the corridor.

The corridor of the building was quite spacious, and when he turned his head, the warriors of the Demonic Cult and Namgung were clashing.

Sojun passed by them, looking for stairs to grasp the structure.

Enemies spotted him, threw away their fights, and charged towards him.

*Swish!*

They were dispatched in just two strikes.

They were merely regular NPCs. No matter how many there were, they were only time-wasters, nothing more and nothing less.

“Let’s head out for now. I need to see how big the building is from outside.”

He encountered other warriors while descending the stairs and realized he had started on the third floor.

On the first floor of the cloister, a larger number of warriors were clashing.

As Sojun descended the stairs and made his presence known to them, the NPCs all turned their heads to look at him.

And then came the shouts.

“Capture the enemy commander!”

“Protect Heavenly Demon14-nim!”

With that shout as the cue, the formations of the warriors began to change.

The Demonic Cult approached Sojun, preparing a defensive stance, while Namgung moved in the opposite direction.

– Lol Heavenly Demon14
– Change your nickname, it’s messing the vibe
– It seems better to just use Sojun
– There’s already a Sojun

“Woaaaah!”

The NPCs resumed their melee combat.

Sojun navigated through the Demonic Cult members surrounding him, dealing with the enemies as necessary, heading for the main entrance.

“I’m not sure if I can get out.”

There was a concern that it might be blocked like at the start, but fortunately, there was a way out.

After Sojun went outside, he turned to check the height of the building.

It was tall.

Very tall.

“Well, if the enemy commander is at the very top, it’s going to be a hassle.”

It seemed to be about 13 floors high.

Since there weren’t any commanders on the first and third floors, he would have to search each floor one by one.

– Don’t worry, if another user finds the commander’s location, we’ll let you know
– This is what watching is about
– Lol, the thought of tricking makes me excited.

In case the commander was on the first floor, Sojun circled the outer garden before re-entering the building.

“There’s the commander! Capture that guy!”

Since he hadn’t dealt with everyone earlier, the same situation repeated itself. Sojun handled them without using internal art and returned to the stairs.

“It’s definitely taking more time to handle simple tasks since the Absorption Technique is missing, so I can’t use my internal art much.”

Sojun methodically explored the building as intended.

– Anyway, the longest time-taking task is fighting the commander
– Even if reaching takes time, since the damage is high, as long as he quickly takes down the commander, the reaching time can be compensated
– What if reaching time is quick too?
– Only assassins with flashy movement skills like Unorthodox techniques could do that

Eventually, Sojun began to search each floor systematically.

It didn’t take a long time.

Even without the Absorption Technique, Sojun’s basic attacks were quite powerful due to selecting traits related to attack power.

And frankly, just giving Sojun a sword was sufficient.

While searching one floor after another, when he reached the 11th floor, Sojun sensed a change in the atmosphere.

From the entrance of the stairs, Demonic Cult warriors lay lifeless like obstacles.

Sword marks scorched the walls.

Most importantly, the place was eerily quiet.

The clash of weapons, shouts, and screams, all existed only as faint noises rising from below.

“It seems like it might be here.”

Though it seemed obvious, considering the premise of a time attack game, it was probably okay.

Finding the commander wasn’t the issue; speed was the game’s crucial element.

Sojun entered the corridor to check the 11th floor.

He didn’t bother to tiptoe or slow his pace, but he remained vigilant.

‘They said the NPCs also use Martial Techniques similar to players.’

The Namgung family from “For Justice” possessed two Martial Techniques. One was the Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword, an attack utilizing the energy of lightning for a swift strike.

The other expressed the regal might of an emperor, known as the Dominance Sword, and its formation was called the Emperor’s Sword Form.

“Depending on which martial technique the enemy commander had learned…”

The battle would surely vary.

*Zzzzt.*

A faint sound was heard as he turned the corner. Sojun turned his head.

“You’re here,” he said just before the figure lunged at him.

* * *

The wall crumbled, and shallow sparks of static leaped across the floor. Dust settled, revealing the charred remnants and debris of the collapsed wall.

“Got him!”

Sojun remarked nonchalantly, looking down.

There, the enemy commander lay sprawled with Sojun’s sword embedded in him. The NPC’s name was Namgung Cheon, known to be an elder of the Namgung family.

That was not important.

– Much easier than the Ruler.
– You can’t compare it to the Ruler, lol. The Ruler was purposely made difficult to defeat, while this one had to be dealt with quickly.
– Quick capture, well done.

Sojun had finished the battle and was surveying the area when he noticed the chat.

“If I don’t defeat them quickly, I lose. A true time attack in every sense.”

While others might only lose contribution points if not quick enough, Sojun faced immediate defeat if he failed to act swiftly.

– Indeed, a true time attack, lol. It’s like he’s in a death game on his own, lol.
– Still, his capture time is good, so the record seems promising.

Sojun proceeded to explore the 12th and 13th floors. They were empty. Then he infused his sword with ample internal art and slashed the wall, testing himself after witnessing the walls collapse under Namgung Cheon’s sword ki.

*Quakkang!*

It was possible. Messages popped up in the chat, telling him to avoid vandalizing items, but Sojun ignored them and continued experimenting.

“Thankfully, they granted time for experiments. If they kicked you out immediately after the game ended, there’d be no chance to try such things.”

Having concluded his experiments, Sojun dusted off his pants, opened the game menu, and pressed ‘exit game.’

Once outside, he didn’t dive straight back into the game.

– So, what’s your plan?
– The record was 17 minutes. Not that it matters much since it’s the first round.
– Seasoned players aim to wrap it up in about 5 minutes.

Sojun scanned the chat, pondering an approach since nothing suitable occurred to him.

“Wow, under 5 minutes?”

– Yeah.
– Super fast.
– Optimal paths, traits, weapons, strategies.
– They spend two hours planning and start around 9 or 9:30.
– We regular players just want to find an NPC and battle at our own pace, lol.

Those who didn’t strategize heavily but enjoyed the game casually needed about 15 minutes. Lacking in skill might mean failure to clear it at all.

Sojun calculated the time from starting on the 3rd floor to reaching the 11th floor. Then, the time spent defeating Namgung Cheon.

‘I could probably clock in at around 6 minutes.’

The time spent capturing the enemy commander was quick, but reaching him was time-consuming due to intervening foes.

These enemies could be taken down with just two strikes, but they were numerous, and there were broken stairways on the 5th and 8th floors.

‘5 and 6 minutes, huh.’

A mere 1-minute gap but significant when considering competitors strategizing for 2 hours to shave seconds off their time.

‘Maybe I should observe others.’

Though not many seemed to be doing so among the current viewers, others might come up with methods he hadn’t thought of.

‘An unexpected idea.’

Sojun assessed his strengths: Attack power, his internal art recovery speeds, and his control skills.

And then— ‘Huh?’

A fun idea suddenly occurred to Sojun. He smirked and decided to go for it impulsively, unaware of the numerous eyes focused on him after the previous day’s issue and starting with a deathmatch game.

“Everyone, I think 4 minutes should be doable.”