A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 73

High speed had its significant advantages.

Evading, parrying, blocking an enemy’s attacks, and executing, twisting, and concealing one’s attacks all became more advantageous as one’s speed increased.

However, in the game, if one gained, one also lost.

“Considering the speed, the damage is definitely lacking.”

The enemy’s next move was a thrust.

He retrieved his sword and, as he landed, regained balance, stepping forward with his front foot, aiming for Sojun’s chest.

The series of motions flowed naturally, like water, and such natural attacks were indeed threatening.

Instead of dodging, Sojun slightly turned his body to receive the attack on his left shoulder.

His stamina wasn’t significantly reduced.

However, just taking hits didn’t suit Sojun’s personality.

Simultaneously, as he absorbed the enemy’s momentum, he seized a favorable position.

Somehow, Sojun’s blade was already poised in front of the enemy’s throat.

The enemy’s pupils dilated momentarily.

He attempted to retreat, hastily employing his light skill and shifting his center of gravity backward.

Yet, he couldn’t avoid the blade that was already close by.

*Whoosh!*

He slashed the neck.

Though not fully powered, Sojun’s attack was sufficient to recover the lost stamina.

-The counterattack was insane
-The enemy practically brought his neck to where the sword was
-Ah, this is what swordsmanship is about
-Did we tense up for nothing? lol

Unrighteous Dignity retreated, biting his lip tight.

His eyes revealed an unmistakable expression of surprise.

“I conceded the first move, now it’s my turn.”

Due to his inability to feign composure.

Sojun approached while the enemy, trying to regain composure, retreated, but the map was narrow.

The current map was atop a canyon.

Below, a stream flowed, and the faint sound of a waterfall was slightly unnerving.

It seemed obvious one couldn’t afford to fall below.

A semi-transparent wall stood by the edge where Unrighteous Dignity was gradually approaching.

Sojun emitted sword ki.

The enemy, upon witnessing the effect around the blade, quickly came to his senses.

*Whoosh.*

He exerted strength and swung his arm broadly.

A feeble sense of weight was added.

A judgment was made—a heavy attack judgment, just like his enemy.

The enemy raised his sword, enveloped by sword ki, to block the attack.

Even with a fast body, one couldn’t accelerate the speed of thought and perception.

Thus, it was not easy to dominate by the difference in speed alone.

Of course, the characteristic of the concealed sword wasn’t fast enough to discuss perception speed, but it still required considerable skill to utilize.

And Unrighteous Dignity was a user with substantial accumulated skill.

Having quickly regained his senses, the enemy kept his eyes glued to the tip of the sword, intending to parry.

And finally, he smiled.

Seeing this, Sojun internally scoffed for a moment.

Cute.

*Clang!*

“What?”

To the bewildered enemy who failed the parry, Sojun kindly explained.

“It’s not only the fast speed that can deceive with a last twist.”

Ultimately, mixing changes into attacks to deceive the enemy was all about timing.

Sojun understood this well.

He also knew well on how to execute it.

If one had high speed, timing and execution became easier.

Even without that speed, it might not be simple, but it was possible.

Sojun retrieved his sword, preparing to thrust.

The situation unfolded precisely in reverse.

He lowered his stance and thrust his sword, stepping with his left foot next to the enemy.

Even trying to aim for his neck would be impossible.

He aimed precisely at the heart.

The enemy, realizing the situation, glared but couldn’t decide in an instant whether to attack or evade as Sojun had done.

Hesitation.

Normally, he would have naturally made the choice to avoid, but the memory of being caught in the exact same situation just moments before made him hesitate.

That hesitation led to the worst-case scenario—a sword piercing his heart.

His stamina decreased rapidly.

It was because Sojun’s sword possessed sword ki, and there was also a significant difference in basic attack power.

“Oh dear. You can’t even recover your stamina. That’s unfortunate!”

Sojun clicked his tongue, chuckling.

If only he had a long beard, he would have stroked it. A pity indeed.

“Now, let’s see if you can run away.”

Noticing the immediate change in strategy, Sojun looked down at his opponent and spoke.

There was a stark contrast between the halved stamina of the fifth-ranked and Sojun’s fully filled stamina.

* * *

“Oh, everyone! The fifth rank in the rankings! They’re caught in the game!”

Ark swallowed a bit of worry as he started narrating the second round from the match-up that was established from the second game.

-Crazy LOL
-It’s about to get exposed
-True veterans are a bit different in skill
-LOL really
-There’s betting going on in that room. It’s a fifty-fifty. Whether it’s possible to win all or not LOLLLLL

“The clan of Unrighteous Dignity is the Assassin Sect. As you know, Assassin Sect is known for its speed. It ranks Tier 1 in one-on-one battles.”

Tier refers to a rank or level, typically indicated by a number in front.

A Tier 1 means it belongs to the high ranks. Thus, Assassin Sect is on the good side.

Though, the optimal clan trait setup, which is almost flawless, is called op (overpowered), and Assassin Sect wasn’t at that level.

“It’s also popular in conquest battles, but speed brings high difficulty, and it has the disadvantage of low damage per attack.”

Ark quickly explained the basic information before the battle started.

“In contrast, Sojun-nim’s Absorption Technique is known for its powerful attack, but carries the risk of needing to defeat the opponent quickly, which I’m sure many of you are aware of now.”

The battle began.

“Now, Sojun-nim starts lightly, aiming below. Here comes the Heavenly Demon villain! While facing normal users earlier, he was polite. This fits the typical pattern of being strong against the weak!”

-Could he actually be kind?
-Only bullies those stronger than him
-Not really. He behaves that way even with NPCs LOL
-The dialogue is fierce from the start
-The intensity of the mind games is insane
-He’s articulate
-Bug warfare LOL

“Unrighteous Dignity’s attack first! It’s a strong attack, and Sojun-nim easily fends it off. However, it’s not a parry. As they land, Unrighteous Dignity regains his balance with a thrust! But wait! Sojun-nim’s sword is in front of Unrighteous Dignity’s neck! How did he move?”

Ark’s commentary turned into a rapid-fire explanation as the battle progressed.

-OMG
-He’s really skilled
-It became intense in seconds LOL

Exchanging moves, Unrighteous Dignity became flustered and retreated.

Ark didn’t miss the chance to slip in commentary.

“Here, let’s explain quickly. Sojun-nim tried to parry Unrighteous Dignity’s sword. The unique technique used by Assassin Sect players appeared here. It’s the twisting movement just before the sword connects. It’s similar to a Brazilian kick in terms of timing, but not as wide in arc. The aim is to execute a follow-up hit when the opponent fails a parry on an obvious strong attack and becomes flustered.”

While it’s quite famous, many are unaware. The reason being that most users can’t parry well enough to see such techniques.

-There’s such a technique? OMG
-As expected of a seasoned commentator
-My eyes are blessed from the first move
-Is it okay to spill industry secrets like this?
-Everyone who knows, knows. What industry secret?
-Ark isn’t part of the Unorthodox Faction. It’s fine to spill secrets
-Deceitful Orthodox people!

“Now, Unrighteous Dignity steps back, and Sojun-nim immediately follows. It’s clear that the typical Absorption Technique won’t allow any breathing room.”

The first match had nothing to comment on.

The opponent was so overwhelmingly beaten they lost the will to fight and left the game.

“And then, Oh?”

Sojun’s sword swung visibly.

Ark felt a sudden déjà vu as the sword sliced through the air and clashed with the enemy’s sword.

This?

『“It doesn’t have to be fast to twist at the last moment.”』

-????
-What’s this?

“Why the surprise?”

Sojun’s subsequent actions triggered a sense of déjà vu. He lowered his stance quietly, lifted his sword to aim at his opponent, and pushed his arm forward to stab.

– Wow!!!!

Unlike before, the thrust landed squarely on his opponent’s chest.

– Isn’t he just copying him? Haha, isn’t this a sort of trolling?
– Isn’t he just returning the attack he received?
– The skill gap is clear as day.
– This is insane, really.
– Ladies and gentlemen, if I didn’t see it wrong, Sojun-nim has returned the attack in the exact same manner, including the technique we mentioned earlier!
– ???? Was that the twist at the end?
– Could another player even use that?
– Is it possible they saw it wrong?
– Can that really be done?
– I don’t know if non-boss players can use it, but judging by what Sojun-nim said, it seems like they can.

Both he and the viewers felt uncertain, suggesting that they might need to rewatch the footage.

『“Oh dear. Without energy recovery, that’s unfortunate. Tsk tsk.”』
『“Now, let’s see if you can flee.”』

– Haha, his trash talk is legendary.
– Listen to him clicking his tongue, haha.
– But even the rank 5 seems to be getting beaten. Is that right?
– Lol, as Heavenly Demon said, he’s literally running away now.

Now, on to the commentary.

“Oh, it truly looks like Unrighteous Dignity is avoiding the fight now. It seems they’re trying to stall for time, but with their stamina at half from the start, it won’t be easy!”

There was nothing more to see for this round. However, regardless of the critical hits on the neck and chest, was the trait build, powerful enough to halve someone’s stamina in just two fights, that strong?

‘What if another ranker tried that…’

Still not convinced, Ark decided to reserve judgment for the time being.

“Oh, he’s dead. GG! Now let’s move on to the next round.”

Players were given time to modify their traits at the starting point and prepare for the next round.

“Should we proceed with the replay? Let’s check if Sojun-nim indeed used the special technique of the boss as I suspected.”

Ark skillfully maneuvered the replay system, and the viewers chatted among themselves.

– It doesn’t seem likely, haha.
– But there’s no ranker claiming so in the chat?
– It takes a long time for even boss players to learn that, ha.
– Are we sure that chat was from a legitimate ranker?
– Still, he won the first round with ease, unlike what Unrighteous Dignity couldn’t do.
– He was once a candidate for the World’s Greatest, yikes.

With ample experience reviewing and verifying through replays, Ark quickly pinpointed the timing and displayed the screen.

Crossing his arms, Ark said, “Alright then. Let’s take a look.”

The video played at a 0.25x speed. Just as the sword was about to hit, one could see Sojun subtly adjust the timing with a perfect reaction.

The angle, though less noticeable than usual, had indeed shifted.

– What? It looks like it’s on point.
– Ha, wow, haha.
– I’m getting goosebumps from his laugh.
– True expert, for real.
– Is that even possible?
– Indeed! One crucial part of this skill is to make the parry impossible, yet allow the opponent to knock away your sword. Cultivating the knack to adjust these minute details is hard… If this was his first time seeing it, it’s truly an impossible talent!

Ark rotated the video again and read through the comments.

“You’re saying it isn’t possible? Well, you never know. Haha. Now, we’ll see how Unrighteous Dignity plans to face Sojun-nim. Will they use stealth and speed to stall from the start? Or will they opt for a head-on clash with skill once again? They must be pondering this a lot.”

If Unrighteous Dignity chose to stall indefinitely, Sojun might find it quite challenging. Even on a narrow map, combining swift movement with several stealthy traits could work well together.

But then…

As Ark spun the footage, his eyes widened.

– Ah! What is this? That option… it’s gone?

Suddenly, Sojun began changing his traits.

– Why choose now to switch those traits, haha.
– Prolonging the time? Then wouldn’t it work not doing the Absorption technique?
– Haha, the game is getting real nonsensical, haha.