Chapter 15

With his eyes closed, Seojun stepped forward, seized control of the space, and slowly brought his sword down.

Among those watching, not a single person understood how much calculation was hidden within that single step.

Scrrrk.

The tip of Seojun's sword touched the shield.

Then it began scraping across the surface.

It definitely wasn't slow, but it still seemed like a speed the AI should have been able to react to.

Yet for some reason, the AI failed to respond properly.

Scrrrk—

The sword traced a line across the shield's surface, then suddenly accelerated.

Slaaash!

Seojun retrieved the sword as if it had fulfilled its purpose.

And then—

CRACK!

The shield shattered, fragments exploding outward.

The whole thing had happened in barely two seconds.

"Wooooow! Holy shit!"

Alpaca shouted.

-??????

-That actually works?

-He did it in one try?

-What the hell did we just witness?

"We found it! And he even did it with his eyes closed! What is this? Is he actually an alien?"

Alpaca clapped instinctively as he spoke.

His mouth was stretched so wide it looked like it physically couldn't open any further.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-No seriously, what's he seeing?

-This is what a genius looks like!

-Now he finally looks like a real master lol

-This is staged. They checked it yesterday, didn't they?

"No way it's staged! Absolutely not. Up until just now, I seriously thought Seojun-nim was bluffing. But he wasn't. Wow. Can he actually see something? I seriously can't tell at all."

-lol the safe bettors are MAD

-Then why'd you bet safe? Then why'd you bet safe? Then why'd you bet safe?

-Are you awake now? Are you awake now? Are you awake now?

The moment Seojun effectively destroyed the shield, the 55% who bet that he wouldn't find any weak points were guaranteed to lose all their points.

And the chatroom began descending into madness.

-Give me back my life savings! Give me back my life savings! Give me back my life savings!

-This is a scam! This is a scam! This is a scam!

-Streamer! That was my college tuition! Please spare me just once…

-Our memories together are getting deleted!!!!!!!!

From viewers who had lost their minds—

-The safe bettors look hilarious lololol

-Safe bettors = cowards

-You should've trusted the Nameless King!

—to viewers mocking the losing side, the chat had become complete chaos.

A very common sight.

This was the true joy of Channel Point Predictions.

Before anyone noticed, Seojun walked over to Alpaca.

Seeing the guards behind him in a groggy state, Alpaca understood the situation.

For the sake of interacting with the stream, Seojun had only incapacitated them temporarily before coming back over.

But the moment he returned, Seojun cast an AoE taunt.

"Ahem. Seriously though, why did you all bet on the safe option? Wow, one person even bet 250,000 points. Username… 'SafeAssets'? Your username really doesn't fit you."

For reference, the Channel Point Prediction system publicly displayed the nickname and wager amount of the person who had bet the most on each option.

And 250,000 points was the maximum amount you could bet at once.

-He lost 250k points in one go lol

-How does someone called SafeAssets go bankrupt? lol

"And this is strange too. Why are so many people celebrating? It's not like only the safe bettors are in danger here."

Seojun looked over the betting status.

"Let's see… only 1% of people bet on me finding four or more weak points. So are all of you typing in chat right now part of that 1%?"

What Seojun was really asking was—

Are you guys safe?

-Oof!

-Wait, true?

-lolololol If he already succeeded once that easily, doesn't it mean he actually knows something? The other 99% are doomed lol

-At least we're all going down together.

Seojun's words revived the spirits of the safe bettors who had been spiraling.

The people mocking them suddenly realized they were probably doomed too, turning the whole thing into a festival atmosphere.

Ah, they're screwed too? Even better!

That was the mindset.

"I told you guys to trust me and bet."

-You said it too late TTTT

[Honestly, couldn't that still have been luck? He might only find one more at best.]

['Hopium Circuit' donated 10,000 won with a big donation!]

-Doesn't matter, I'm already guaranteed to lose everything anyway

-You think THAT looked like luck? lol

-He's breaking shields with his eyes closed. If he opens them he'll probably find a hundred lol

Seojun chuckled after reading the donation and turned back toward the guards with his sword in hand.

"Haha. Maybe it was luck. Sure. Absolutely."

Watching the entire exchange, Alpaca quietly admired him.

He teased the viewers while naturally keeping the stream flowing without becoming unlikable.

"Damn…"

It felt like he had talent not just for games, but for streaming too.

Honestly, Alpaca had assumed he would have to carry this collab himself.

But he had been wrong.

[Viewers: 30,000]

A huge crowd was watching now.

Seojun would probably make a lasting impression through this opportunity.

"You bastard! Not only did you dare trespass into this estate, but you even destroyed the shield of a Neville family soldier!"

The previously groggy guard rose and pointed his sword at Seojun.

The other fallen guard also stood up beside him.

It looked like they intended to coordinate their attacks together.

That was one of the soldiers' characteristics from the tutorial.

'Come to think of it, the Drake's mobs didn't coordinate attacks.'

Probably the difference between barely organized gang members and elite soldiers.

The more Seojun played, the more he felt himself getting absorbed into the game's charm.

'The detail is incredible.'

The developers had clearly put care into creating systems like parrying and weak points so that even players like Seojun, who excelled at combat, could enjoy the game.

And the bizarre assassination methods he had seen on the forums felt like proof that this game's freedom had no limits.

The guard who had lost his shield moved behind the other guard who still had one remaining.

'If I used parrying, this would be ridiculously easy.'

But what the viewers wanted was to see him destroy both the shield and the guard's sword as well.

Honestly, earlier had been pure luck.

He hadn't managed to narrow the shield's weak point down to a single candidate.

So he had simply chosen one out of three possibilities and slashed first.

Fortunately, he picked the right one, which made the scene look incredible.

The sword was the same.

Inside his mind—

Four curved lines appeared across the blade of the guard's longsword.

One of those curves would destroy the weapon if traced correctly.

At least, Seojun's intuition told him so.

Intuition was merely another sense people failed to consciously recognize.

The subconscious processed information and sent signals.

Which was why intuition became more accurate as experience accumulated.

People often entered a state of selflessness.

When studying, gaming, or playing an instrument, there were moments when they became so deeply focused that they even forgot themselves—and in those moments, people surpassed their normal limits.

That state of selflessness occurred when the subconscious overtook conscious thought and controlled the body.

The subconscious wasn't something lacking.

It was something to be utilized.

Especially during chaotic combat situations.

'Right now I'm only facing two guards.'

Seojun focused as much as possible on the tip of his sword.

Then he stepped forward.

"Block and attack—!"

The moment the shield-bearing guard shouted as Seojun approached, Seojun targeted the slight opening and traced along the shield's weak point he had identified earlier.

It was a swift sword strike.

Crack!

The wooden shield split apart and shattered, splinters scattering through the air.

Up to this point, things were easy.

The soldier whose shield had broken panicked, while the soldier standing a step behind seized the opening and brought his sword down at Seojun.

'No.'

Seojun intended to target all four curves at once.

And the sword currently descending toward his forehead was positioned at an angle that made finishing it in one move difficult.

So Seojun deflected the soldier's blade.

No parry notification appeared.

That was intentional.

As the recoil knocked Seojun's sword away as well, the soldier whose shield had shattered thrust his sword toward Seojun's waist from the right.

'Now.'

In that instant, Seojun unleashed terrifying concentration, raising his sword and pressing its edge directly against the enemy blade as it shot forward in a straight line.

"Hm."

Then, keeping his blade tightly against the enemy sword, he traced the curves like connecting constellations in the night sky.

He couldn't rely on luck again.

This was a trick that only Seojun could pull off—destroying the sword in a single strike by testing every possibility at once.

First line. Wrong.

Second line. Also wrong.

Third line. Bad luck.

The tip of the soldier's sword nearly reached Seojun.

But Seojun had calculated even this timing, so he didn't panic and continued moving.

Finally, right before the blade reached his waist—

Seojun narrowly traced the last curve.

Claaang!

The soldier's sword shattered.

He had found the weak point.

Patter.

Fragments of the broken blade split apart like shattered glass and rained onto the grass.

'The last one, huh. Guess my luck wasn't great.'

Hoooo—

Seojun let out a deep breath.

No matter how skilled he was, such delicate and inefficient movements demanded immense concentration.

-Wow holy shit

-?????

-Is this real???

-This is absurd. How the hell did he do that???

The hooks flooded in instantly.

-Another one-shot!

-That looked like a scene from a movie lololol

-This one actually looked insanely hard

-Damn you're so cool oppa, I fell for you. (sway sway)

Seojun swatted aside the second soldier's descending sword like he was brushing away a flying insect, successfully triggering a parry.

Then he cleaned up both soldiers.

-His control skills are actually insane lol

-Alpaca's expression right now = my expression

-No, OUR expression

"Wooooow! Seojun-nim! I think I fell for you too."

Alpaca ran over to Seojun, who was catching his breath.

"No seriously, how are you seeing that stuff and moving like that?"

Alpaca was completely fired up after witnessing such an incredible scene.

The overwhelming difficulty.

The dramatic execution.

'So THIS is what it takes to beat Shin Hayeon!'

Alpaca nearly blurted out the thought and exposed the secret.

"That's a trade secret."

Seojun gave a sly grin.

-I'm seriously curious though lol

-No really, I can accept him seeing weak points because he's an alien, but I wanna know how he built THAT level of skill

Then Seojun glanced at the chat and let out a dumbfounded laugh.

Why was being an alien the acceptable part?

-Reminder: this guy's only played for 3 days

-What the hell does he do in real life?

-I'm genuinely curious what his actual job is lol

"In real life… um. Just an ordinary guy in his twenties…"

"No way! You're definitely not ordinary."

Alpaca interrupted and immediately objected.

"Huh? Why not?"

"No, saying you're ordinary with that face is deception."

-?

-Seojun-nim is handsome?

-Probably just streamer exaggeration lol

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-You can't exactly call another streamer ugly

"Everyone, you know the avatar Seojun-nim is using right now? That's his real face."

-??

-??

-No way lolololol

-Ah, being handsome on top of those skills is actually unfair ;;

-Where's the balance patch?

-What's the Earth admin even doing…

-He probably edited it at least a little…

"He didn't edit the avatar. I saw him in person."

-Ah, I refuse to believe it.

-I'll just choose to believe it's edited

-Cap

"We're doing an after-party at the studio later with Seojun-nim, so why would I lie? You can check for yourselves then."

-Oh?

-Damn, maybe it's actually true lol

-The after-party sounds fun

Watching Alpaca naturally create a reason for viewers to stay until the end of the stream, Seojun was genuinely impressed by his streaming skill.

Then another donation came in.

['That' donated 10,000 won with a big donation!]

[It's small! I saw it!]

"Tsk."

As Alpaca clicked his tongue and moved his hand toward the chat window, another donation immediately popped up.

['That' donated 100,000 won with a big donation!]

[It's big. Big.]

Alpaca turned toward Seojun, and Seojun simply shrugged as if to say "let it slide."

Nodding, Alpaca replied:

"I'll let it pass just this once."

-The manager just walked past holding a knife lololol

-He almost got banned

-That instant bailout reflex lol

-You should become a master too lololol