A Swordsman's Stream

Chapter 126

Initially, Wind Sword wasn’t fond of Kael. He simply wasn’t interested.

However, one day, a video with poor quality unexpectedly appeared in his algorithm.

The date of the video he checked was before he started the game. Intrigued, he clicked play.

But because of the poor quality, he skimmed through it. Then, by another chance, saw Kael briefly wielding a sword.

Kael swiftly struck without any delay in confirming the vital point.

He wondered if it was possible.

Surely, even if it was the pre-rework Kael where striking quickly wasn’t necessary, the vital point would still be the same, right?

Of course, since nobody knew the pattern, it wasn’t clear if it was the same now as it was then. Even when asked, the response was, “It must have been different.”

So he investigated it himself.

He was curious about how that person managed if the vital point remained the same.

Thus, he searched for other videos.

As he played and researched Kael, he unintentionally became a part of the Experts. It wasn’t intentional at all.

Eventually, he became the first to perform a two-person ultimate in the game.

After becoming adept with Kael, his rank often fell from Challenger to Master whenever he picked Kael, but it didn’t sadden him.

Finally, excited at the thought of meeting the owner of that old video as a fan with much to discuss, he opened the Travel window. Sojun’s streaming was playing as he watched as a viewer.

-If you don’t understand, both of you are lying
-Is it acting? LoL
-He probably learned in advance and had a special class all to himself
-Huh dd

It wasn’t like that.

Wind Sword really didn’t understand.

He thought he knew what they meant but had no idea how to grasp it in between.

He could reveal the chat history of the Travel message from the previous day if he wanted.

『Jin Sojun: Oh. And just say ‘I understand’ tomorrow.』
『Wind Sword: Huh?』
『Jin Sojun: Just say ‘I understand’ whenever I ask something. Don’t worry.』
『Wind Sword: Okay.』

Sojun asked again.

“Do you understand?”

He was full of mischief.

Wind Sword had no choice but to respond.

“Yes…”

He let fate decide.

“That’s what he says. My lecture isn’t a scam, everyone.”

-Then prove it
-Is that really the end?
-Tell us more
-Otherwise, it’s a scam

“That really is all. What reason would I have to hide? And that’s all you need. Just watch.”

Sojun adjusted the settings.

Then the relationship between Sojun and Wind Sword turned hostile, and Wind Sword looked at Kael’s vital points with despair.

“Can’t I just try it on a scarecrow?”

He somehow suspected what was going to come next.

“No. Just do it with me. It’s better to do it in a real situation.”

Like in a real situation.

It was originally a fierce word, but now, facing him and hearing it felt eerie for some reason.

Wind Sword looked at Sojun awkwardly.

He thought they weren’t close enough for a fight.

-Looking to beat him, as expected, hahahahaha
-The streamer doesn’t change
-Don’t know? Then keep hitting until you do
-Oh, it’s an educational moment!

The viewers seemed to think the same.

Seeing this, Sojun shook his head.

“Everyone, I’ll just defend. What are you thinking?”

-What?
-??
-Endure this?
-The best defense is a good offense, right? Isn’t that right, hyung?

Viewers didn’t seem to trust him, and neither did Wind Sword as he looked ahead with disbelief, but Sojun simply waited calmly, holding his sword vertically.

‘Sigh.’

Well, Sojun must have a plan.

Surely he wasn’t trying to toy with him using parrying.

Wind Sword slowly walked toward Sojun and suddenly increased his speed.

Swish!

From the start, he aimed for a relaxed defense.

However, there was no way Sojun would let his guard down.

Clang!

Yet he managed to break through Sojun’s defense and strike the horizontally drawn vital point.

It was evident Sojun didn’t defend properly on purpose.

He realized Sojun indeed had a plan.

“Why didn’t you immediately follow through?”

“Well…”

-Because he doesn’t know lol
-He really must not know
-Don’t force it on him

The viewers answered for him.

“Try again. Think carefully this time.”

“Understood.”

Sojun’s defense was as effortlessly shattered, and just before the shatter sound, the next vital point was about to appear.

Wind Sword pushed his mind to its limits in an attempt to predict where the next vital point would appear.

He felt as if his forehead was turning to stone.

‘Medium difficulty. Medium difficulty. Medium difficulty.’

It was late to slash by prediction. Not even close.

But at least he had to figure out something somehow, to at least get a feel.

A sense of urgency to grab even the slightest clue.

It wasn’t because of Sojun’s stream or public opinion.

He just wanted to know.

If this was indeed an opportunity, if there was a method, he didn’t want to miss it.

However, obviously, he couldn’t even catch the end of a clue, let alone predict.

Then.

‘Huh?’

The spot where the sword tip naturally stopped after slashing the vital point was right where a new one spawned.

‘What’s this?’

Was it a coincidence?

No way.

He attacked again, and Sojun blocked.

However, he could easily fend off the defense and strike the vital point.

And.

‘Again?’

This time too, a new vital point was generated where the sword naturally stopped.

The viewers felt something was off.

-What’s that?
-Why is his sword at the vital point? Did he catch on?
-The expression suggests Smurf is up to something haha
-Hands up if you remember the Dull Sword haha

Sojun spoke.

“Imagine a funnel with a hole that only one bead can pass through at a time. Do you know what happens when you try to push several beads in at once?”

Beads out of nowhere?

“They’d probably get stuck. Maybe some would fall through by chance.”

“Can you force them through by pushing them with force from above?”

“Uh, no. You’d have to gently shake it or spoon them one by one to avoid blocking the hole.”

He imagined beads piled at the hole, stopping each other from passing.

“Exactly. Epiphany works the same way. The more you obsess, the more you block it, but let it flow, and it unravels.”

“Epiphany?”

“Relax.”

Sojun’s playful eyes momentarily grew serious.

It was so brief that it seemed like a fleeting illusion when he returned to his usual demeanor, but Wind Sword felt an unfathomable depth in the couple of seconds.

“Got it. Let’s go again.”

-Talk of epiphany must mean he’s sincerely teaching him, right?
-He can’t formally teach in any other way, I guess
-How would just any streamer know the formula or whatever?
-If Wind Sword actually gets it, then respect is due
-No way, right? Haha

He put his mind at ease and followed where Sojun’s sword led.

As they exchanged blows, he realized Sojun, who seemed to be lightly blocking, was controlling him down to every step and strike.

But he did not resist that control.

And attacked each forming vital point with ease.

After all, no matter how often it hit, the stamina would stop at 1, preventing death.

He still couldn’t predict.

But the more he slashed vital points, and the more Sojun guided where his sword fell, the more he saw the results.

He felt as if something blocking his understanding was released.

His past experiences and the present ones began to align, forming new concepts in his mind.

Though he couldn’t explain it, he felt like he was onto something.

Then suddenly.

Sojun stopped, spreading his arms wide.

Even at this breaking point of intense concentration, Wind Sword continued to swing uninterrupted without Sojun’s assistance. For the first time, he moved before the vital point appeared.

First vital point.

He struck a diagonal line dropping gently from left to right.

Second vital point.

Recovering his sword immediately, he thrusted a span above the diagonal’s end.

Third vital point.

“The line.”

He inadvertently spoke. It wasn’t something consciously said.

Afterward.

Clang!

Unbeknownst to him, he slashed the forming vital point, and his concentration broke with a snap.

-???
-Insane
-What was that just now?
-?
-Did he really predict it before it formed?
-Can this even be done?

“Huh? Huh?”

While standing with his arms wide, Sojun smiled contentedly.

‘Got lucky.’

He had hoped Wind Sword would catch the sense, but to achieve something akin to a trance-like state?

‘If not, I’d have just hit him until he got it eventually.’

By ‘hit’, it went without needing to be explained further.

“Congratulations. You’ve got a sense.”

“Just now, that…that was real?”

“Yes.”

“I feel like I couldn’t do it again if I tried.”

“Well, at least you have a starting point now. Congratulations. Don’t lose it.”

With words that seemed to read his mind, Wind Sword flinched, then looked at Sojun with eyes full of gratitude.

Who would have thought this was possible!
-Did the streamer just do something again???
-Does proper teaching require one-on-one tutoring then haha
-Strong in practicals over theory, the professor haha
-Wow, even if they staged this together, it’s respectable
-How did he lead to enlightenment like a martial arts master? Is this actually possible? Haha

The viewers now had no choice but to acknowledge it.

Even if Sojun explained unsatisfactorily, they knew he couldn’t do much about it. But if no one understood, wouldn’t it be meaningless in the end?

Some might have suspected a slight scam.

But Sojun had demonstrated it while teaching another person.

-Streamer lol Now if you start tutoring Kael-noobs, you could earn a fortune
-This is it
-This was the play all along!

Naturally, the Kael Board went into a frenzy.

“Well then, try doing it for real now, Wind Sword-nim.”

Sojun twisted his shoulders and neck with a sinister grin. Stretching his arms, preparing like he was truly gearing up to move.

While most of it was over, Sojun was warming up.

“What are we going to do…?”

“After-service.”

That didn’t sound right.

“Wasn’t it over just now?”

“It’s still lacking.”

Something else is lacking, evidently.

The expression of Wind Sword, who had been displaying gratitude, suddenly turned to bewilderment.

His intuition was likely correct.

Sojun was the type to always repay a hit in kind, even if it was caused by himself.

* * *

“You’re saying that’s still a B?”

A strange meeting was underway with the management team of LoS.

“Now he’s predicting vital points and even teaching others. How can that be a B? Seriously.”

The meeting topic was about the streamer who had just done the unimaginable to ordinary people.

“Just considering that he’s instructing a Challenger should answer that.”

The woman across the conference room spoke harshly to the man.

“He’s no longer a Challenger but currently a Master.”

And the man countered without flinching.

“That’s because he’s playing Kael. That Wind Sword’s skill is at the Challenger level.”

“That’s fine and all, but anyway, Jin Sojun the streamer has no rank, right? No rank. And you want to put him in Group A with Challengers and Grand Masters? Does that even make sense?”

“He was top of ‘For Justice’. Who’s to say he isn’t among the top in the League either?”

“They’re different games, and if Kael gets banned, what hero could he play?”

“Whatever it is.”

“A B across Master to Diamond suits just fine.”

“It’s A. Without question.”

LoS assigns grades based on a participant’s skill level.

The purpose of grading isn’t to create disparity but to ensure that during auctions, a team can’t select more than two participants from the same grade so that the skill distribution among team members remains balanced.

Initially, they grouped by position, but the current method adds more chaos and excitement to the auctions, thus stabilizing it.

They were currently in a meeting to determine the grades of the streamers who had accepted their invitations.

This step was necessary to select and position applicants for the remaining spots.

But it had hit a snag right from the start.

TL’s Corner:
Sojun unknowingly messed up his own evaluation by showing Kael’s forbidden skill.