A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 63

A Sense of Disharmony.

It referred to the awkward feeling when things don’t seem to fit together properly.

Like the image of a shark appearing in the Han River or a hippopotamus in the middle of a desert, this sense of disharmony was inevitable for anyone with basic knowledge, even during a battle.

It was precisely at a moment like this when the enemy’s attack did not align with what one thought the opponent intended, just as Sojun intuitively sensed a feeling of disharmony.

The feeling started from the very first attack.

The dagger that was thrown seemed ordinary, but to him, it didn’t seem like it was aimed at hitting him at all.

The reason for this was in the speed.

In “For Justice”, the damage and speed of a projectile increased in proportion to the inner ki infused into the weapon. The first attack from Baekho was just adequately executed, neither more nor less than what should appear as an appropriate first attack.

It was a subtlety that seemed to masquerade as normalcy.

The next two daggers seemed aimed at causing maximum confusion.

Were they laying the groundwork for the following dagger?

However, despite the next dagger flying in at a faster speed, it showed no change in trajectory.

If that’s the case, it negated the very reason for laying groundwork.

“If the target was truly me.”

In that brief moment, Sojun organized his thoughts, drew a conclusion, and identified the target the sharp blade was aiming for.

The targets that Baekho could aim for were limited.

And all of this took place within just a second.

The tip of the dagger subtly altered its direction.

If he had ignored the sense of disharmony, he would have been taken aback and unable to respond.

Sojun had already infused his sword with inner ki.

“The target is the protection item.”

The teammates who were fighting were not it.

If Baekho were attempting such a shot, he would already understand Sojun’s skills.

He wouldn’t believe they could win the game just by capturing team members.

Surely, Baekho wasn’t that foolish.

And it wasn’t any other NPC either.

Targeting an NPC was even more meaningless than targeting team members.

So, there was only one possible target left to aim for.

The carriage located to Sojun’s right rear and the protection item inside that carriage.

“It might be a close call.”

Sojun calculated the speed of the dagger and prepared to launch his sword.

Given his trait and weapon were tailored for throwing, they would be more powerful; however, with the dagger’s trajectory bending close to 90 degrees, its power would diminish.

This all occurred up to two seconds in.

But he needed to wait longer.

If he launched now, the sword would have a power similar to the dagger, incapable of perfectly deflecting it, potentially damaging the protection item.

Three seconds.

With the time passed, Sojun adjusted the point of deflection closer to the protection item.

It was close but…

“Now?”

Sojun judged his inner ki to be sufficient and threw his sword with all his might.

The dagger, which had flown towards Sojun, completely changed its direction, while the sword spun rapidly and flew sideways.

-????
-LOL, why did the dagger turn like that? Is it supposed to bend that much?
-If it returns to the streamer now, then the physics engine is broken LOL
-For real LOL
-Why did Baekho even try that? He really sucks LOL
-Anyone could see it was thrown incorrectly, right?
-But why is the streamer throwing his sword?
-Bare-handed combat possible LOL
-Seriously?

Sojun smiled leisurely and gestured to Baekho with his eyes.

With the sword having left his fingertips, there was no way to alter the outcome, and he believed in himself.

*Swaaang!*

The dagger, now properly directed, flew fiercely.

It was only then that the viewers realized the destination of the dagger was unusual.

-???
-Isn’t that where the protection item is?
-It wasn’t thrown incorrectly!
-Then the streamer is!

Just a bit further and it would have pierced the box, causing damage to its contents.

But then.

Spinning and flying through the air, the sword intervened just in the nick of time.

*Clang!*

The dagger collided with the sword and got knocked outwards.

He had succeeded.

– Wow LOL

– Insane!!!!
– Wow!
– How far ahead are you looking?
– Is this the Heavenly Demon?
– Did they aim for that? Did they block that?
– I live for this, lololol.
– What on earth!
– The streamer said they’d be number one, right? The streamer said they’d be number one, right? The streamer said they’d be number one, right?
– Let’s go for the Demonic Cult’s victory! Let’s go for the Demonic Cult’s victory! Let’s go for the Demonic Cult’s victory! Let’s go for the Demonic Cult’s victory! Let’s go for the Demonic Cult’s victory!
– That’s a bit too much…

“Crazy…”

Baekho wore a fatigued expression, and Sojun immediately turned to seize (steal) a weapon from the nearest NPC. Then he looked back.

“Did you think it would work?”

“Of course…”

Baekho briefly wondered who could think of failing at this but had no chance to argue further.

“I suppose you found the artifact’s location through a friend. You can’t watch the stream in the game.”

Sojun had figured him out completely.

For a moment, Baekho pondered if his friend had betrayed him and informed Sojun in advance.

Sojun was drawing near, closing the distance.

Feeling the oppressive atmosphere stifling him, Baekho abruptly regained his senses and, with a final desperate motion, threw a dagger toward the artifact.

*Clang.*

Yet, the dagger did not travel even 1 meter before it was intercepted by the sword Sojun had just drawn, which was now alarmingly close.

The dagger fell to the ground weakly.

His attack rendered futile, the Heavenly Demon villain motioned mockingly with his sword, inviting him to try again.

Damn.

Baekho felt on the brink of a PTSD episode.

This round was not over yet.

Even if he died now, there’d be another chance later on.

He could cooperate with team members or lie in wait to seize the artifact.

However, no matter what method he employed, Baekho felt that penetrating Sojun’s defense was an impossibility.

Could someone really deflect a dagger thrown right in front of their eyes?

“Hey… How did you know?”

Realizing his defeat early, Baekho asked the one question gnawing at him.

“What do you mean?”

“That I was targeting the artifact. Did you know ahead of time?”

If not, deflecting a dagger that changed direction midway wouldn’t make sense.

Unless one prepared in advance.

He was truly curious.

So he asked.

“I am the Heavenly Demon.”

“You bastard…”

『Baekho7 eliminated』

“Shall I clean up the rest now?”

After dealing with Baekho, Sojun went to assist where the battle was ongoing.

– This is definitely a villain, lololololol.
– Do they even know? That the game almost ended moments ago?
– No way they know.
– Lololol.
– How are they going to win when the streamer will pay extra attention from now on?
– Even knowing what the artifact is, you can’t win!

* * *

『Today’s Battlefield. Moments Like Phoenix』

==

Hello, I am Ark, wanting to excel at battling but seriously lacking in skill.

Are any of you familiar with the newbie terminator, beginner slayer, Baekho?

Baekho is a user notorious for preying on beginners without ever leaving the newbie zone, and I believe many of the hyungs at No Justice are aware of him.

This notoriety partly comes from his earlier public duel with ranker ‘NamgungClanStoreOwner’, who calls for justice as a self-proclaimed great hero. Baekho narrowly won that duel.

Ever since NamgungClanStoreOwner’s defeat, Baekho’s fame rose, yet he continued his predatory behavior.

Nevertheless, since newbies are not required to stay in the newbie zone for long, and Baekho did not play the game extensively, the game company had not imposed any sanctions on him till now.

When one thinks about the multitude of newbies who almost lost interest in the game upon encountering him, this was a mistake.

Yet, a week ago, this user finally received a permanent account ban.

This was the ill-fated result of crossing a streamer who happened to be advertising For Justice at the time.

(Clip)

This streamer, with overwhelming skill, crushed Baekho.

(Clip) (Clip) (Clip)

Introducing himself thrice as the Heavenly Demon.

(Clip)

Reached a state of reading non-existent support messages.

(Clip)

And finally, pressuring the production team as a finishing move.

(Clip)

Eventually, Baekho ascended like a mythical creature and departed, and Streamer Sojun-nim demonstrated the true dignity of Heavenly Demon.

You might wonder why I brought up a story from the past instead of a Battlefield scene.

Don’t be upset. Their connection didn’t end here; it finally continued today.

(Clip)

Today, Sojun-nim chose the Unorthodox Faction region and encountered a user named Baekho7.

Yes, as you guessed, it was that Baekho.

It was obvious from the likes of the avatar’s face and the nickname.

Even the first words he said after they met were,

“Did you miss me, you bastard?”

Fortunately, our Sojun-nim ignored him.

(Clip)

Anyone could tell Baekho was targeting him out of a desire for revenge.

Such incredible audacity!

Here, we should take a look at this screenshot.

It’s a post on the incidents and accidents board from the day the user, suspected to be Baekho, was banned.

(Screenshot)

Even if he felt it was too shameless and deleted it, posting it on the rage board meant he had to be ready for backlash.

In any case, this is the moment of today.

Baekho meticulously prepared his revenge.

For several years, he didn’t escape the beginner zone for the sake of revenge, and in a single day, he ventured out to the Tang Family.

He played the Battlefield without missing a single day to build up his reputation.

Finally, today.

The Battlefield event was Escort mode, and the target of his revenge, Sojun-nim, chose the Unorthodox Faction region.

The perfect opportunity had arrived!

He made a plan.

Baekho intended to meet Sojun-nim directly through targeting, while his helper would watch Sojun-nim’s stream to inform them of the target’s location.

(This is speculation because Baekho knew the target’s location.)

With this perfect plan, Baekho finally met Sojun-nim and launched his attack.

The first attack was ordinary.

The second was the same.

For the third, he threw two daggers to scatter attention.

After launching the third attack, Baekho prepared the final move.

It was a powerful, decisive strike pretending to aim at Sojun-nim, then changing course towards the target.

No viewer expected this move.

However, Sojun-nim knew everything.

(Clip)

In this critical moment, as a dagger threatened to slice his nose, Sojun-nim threw his sword to block the daggers.

Baekho’s mouth dropped open, and he asked Sojun-nim how he knew, but wasn’t it a needless question?

(Clip)

He was the Heavenly Demon!

(Picture)

I’ll cite the expression of Baekho, who was exasperated after hearing “I am the Heavenly Demon” as today’s Battlefield highlight.

==

– Hahahahahahahaha
– Epic lesson taught
– Wow, this was a fun read hahaha
– So this happened
└ So many bizarre things happen hahahahahaha
– How do you wrap Heavenly Demon like this? Reporting you as a traitor to the righteous path.
└ Definitely a spy
└ Please correct to agent, not a spy
– I’m the one who took Baekho’s ID, is it normal to get insults in whispers?
└ Guys, read the posts properly lol It’s Baekho7.
– But that bastard’s so shameless hahaha how can he snipe so cheaply
– Heavenly Demon’s humor hahaha Amazing trash talk
– It was him, right? That Grandmaster. I regretted suspecting he was a scam artist. He did something so great. His skill was amazing too.
└ Were you part of the 3-minute curry?
└ Hyung didn’t even comment.
└ Then you’re not part of the curry group hahaha

The post uploaded by the Ark received countless recommendations instantly, securing a spot on the right-side real-time TOP10 in the No Justice community.

Though Ark’s posts usually made it to the TOP10, they had never ascended this rapidly.

“Oh, the reaction is good, isn’t it? It might even become number 1 like this.”

Ark, a former professional card game streamer, used his excellent analytical skills to mainly cover amateur tournaments as a commentator.

Additionally, in ‘For Justice’, he created the currently highly popular content ‘For the Battlefield’, which analyzes Battlefield and introduces important events.

“Hehe, I knew stories about the Streamer Sojun-nim would be popular!”

Despite being busy taking notes on every issue arising in the Battlefield, the reason he made time for Sojun’s live stream was simply because it was entertaining.

After discovering a new streamer portraying the ‘Assassin’s Dawn’ game by chance, he couldn’t tear himself away from that stream.

“I need to contact Sojun-nim to ask if I can use the story for ‘For the Battlefield.'”

It’s fine for the community, but for iTube, he couldn’t just use stories recklessly.