A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 23

『Guide to the Tower Lord (Unfinished Version)』
『Thanks to one streamer, there are now more people trying to tackle the Ruler, so I’m sharing what I know about the Tower Lord. (Beware of informal language. And I haven’t cleared it either. To call this a guide is a bit of a stretch.)

The setting is the top floor of the tower where the sky unfolds on the ceiling, specifically the 8th floor where the Tower Lord’s office is located.

The Tower Lord is divided into two confirmed phases.

Phase 1 involves general magic.

This includes Fireball, Ice Arrow, Forest Bind, Earth Wall, teleport, and so on.

If you enjoy Musou and have encountered a lot of magic through previous quests in the city or on lower floors, it’s tough but avoidable.

The challenge lies in the fact that the Tower Lord’s magic is much larger in scale, cast much faster, and is relentless.

Occasionally, he will engage in multi-casting as well.

I recommend bringing utility-related skills and high-defense gear.

Anyway, if you have enough control to enjoy Musou, you should be able to pass Phase 1.

But Phase 2 is the real issue.

Once you hit him, you enter Phase 2, where the Tower Lord puts up a barrier.

Crikey.

Normal attacks don’t work.

I used a high-damage bomb, and it barely penetrated the barrier, doing very minimal damage.

But he immediately put up the barrier again.

So, you might be thinking, “Why not just bring a ton of bombs?”

Sure, but the problem is surviving long enough to deplete all his health.

In Phase 2, the Tower Lord also starts throwing lightning.

It’s insanely fast.

(Video)

As you can see, it’s super hard to dodge.

And it’s a barrage of lightning.

How much mana does he even have?

I tried using a friend as a lightning rod, but nothing works against endless mana.

(Don’t try this with a friend. They balanced it so the magic becomes twice as strong.)

I’m off to look for some special items now. Given how vast the game is, there could be various ways to clear it for sure.

There might even be a Phase 3.

It’s only been a day since launch, so I’ll keep researching.』

* * *

“I see.”

Sojun opened his item inventory with an embarrassed expression.

All he had were an old guard’s sword and a basic hood.

And about 40 machetes he collected while cleansing the gang hideout.

He felt a bit shabby.

-LOL, he has nothing
-Even if he somehow gets through the lightning, he can’t break the barrier
-Just go for an assassination now
-Sneaking to the 8th floor is the most fun. It’s filled with traps set by the Tower Lord himself.

“Well, there’s always a way. Judging by the mission content, assassination might work, but I have a conscience, so I won’t do that.”

〈Mission: Clear without using Weakpoint Perception against the Tower Lord.〉

The mission didn’t expressly forbid assassination.

Of course, if Sojun tried to assassinate in this way, his viewers would likely riot.

“Besides, I really don’t get the logic of the magic barrier. I might die for the first time here. The barrier seems circular, and I wonder if there’s a pattern.”

Sojun played the video from the guide.

Though it wasn’t as fast as real lightning, it was quick enough that the speed difference was negligible for humans.
-Honestly, Weakpoint Perception won’t help with that speed. It’s too fast
-He’s going to fail the mission
-It’s safe capital

As Sojun finished talking, an alert sounded.

He smiled broadly.

『+5,000 won added to the prize pool』
『+7,000 won added to the prize pool』
『+3,000 won added to the prize pool』

.

.

.

As the first alert went off, the prize amount began to rise continuously like a chain reaction.

Travel’s mission system allowed anyone to freely add to the prize pool once a streamer accepted a mission and it appeared on the stream screen.

Sojun’s comment about the possibility of failing the mission prompted viewers to increase the prize pool, thinking that they stood to gain their money back on failure, the so-called “safe capital.”

〈Clear without using Weakpoint Perception against the Tower Lord — Mission Prize: 1,230,000 won〉

-LOL
-Don’t fall for it!
-“Streamer-nim’s soft tone was clearly calculated. You can tell they ran the video again just to grab a bigger prize. They’ve probably thought through everything already.”
-“The familiar scent of capitalism.”
-“Tsk, that’s why quick-witted kids…”

Sojun laughed, and viewers who saw this started to catch on.

“No, no. How could I know what to do? It’s not like I’m the game developer.”

-What?
-Could it be??
-I’m getting a God-like intuition.
-No wonder they were so confident when they reported themselves.

Sojun closed the chat window and opened the door to the 8th floor. “I’m telling you, no… never mind. Let’s just go in.”

-Hahahahahaha

* * *

“Hmm? Who might you be?”

A young man sat with his hands intertwined over the desk. He had neatly combed-back white hair, a sharp uniform, and wore white gloves, presenting a tidy appearance.

It was Duke, the Tower Lord.

The office was surrounded by tall bookshelves filled with books, and the ceiling appeared open to the sky.

Behind Duke, the Tower Lord, was a corridor with strange mechanical devices and magical artifacts in view.

“Nameless!”

Sojun answered Duke’s question plainly.

“Nameless, is it? Why are you here? No, how did you get here?”

“Well…”

Whoosh!

Before he could finish his sentence, Sojun drew his sword, slicing through an incoming spell.

“I see you have skill. What a pity. This could have ended easily.”

With a single gesture, duke generated three fireballs and hurled them at Sojun while slowly rising from his seat.

Sojun, without moving a muscle except his arms, extinguished the fireballs.

Step.

And then he took a step forward.

“You have no manners. Don’t you agree?”

“Are you talking to me?”

More than ten ice arrows appeared with another gesture from Duke’s free hand, while his other hand remained clasped behind his back, an irritating posture.

“I wasn’t talking to you. Certain people lack it.”

Sojun weaved through the arrows, advancing towards Duke.

Step.

“Really? So how did you get here?”

Crunching and rumbling sounds ensued.

Vines that first tried to bind him and then rising pointed rocks attempting to impale the bound him came at him in succession.

Sojun slashed through the vines and plunged his sword into the rock, dispelling the magic, then took another step forward.

Step.

“I just walked in. The doors weren’t all locked.”

-So cool.
-Fact.) True
-Ah, they should’ve managed the doors properly haha
-It’s easy up to here.

“Hmm… Can you avoid this too?”

Yet another wave of magic surged forward. Although faster and more powerful, the essence of the spell remained unchanged.

“Yeah. I can dodge with my eyes closed.”

Step.

-Fact.) True 2222
-Streamer-nim’s banter hahaha
-Considering how they deceived the viewers, they can’t have a good personality, haha.

“So, we’ve grown closer, haven’t we?”

Sojun swiftly closed the distance and swung his sword from left to right.

Slashing!

Duke quickly teleported backward, but a thin line appeared on his neck, followed by blood.

He was a bit too slow.

But Duke did not display any signs of surprise. Instead, he wore the same calm expression Sojun usually had.

“Hmm. Good. I will now engage you with full strength.”

Duke removed his white gloves and clasped his hands together.

Blue sparks began to crackle around Duke.

-Phase 2.
-Get back for now.
-Run away!

Crackle!

The Tower Lord reached out towards Sojun.

The air split, causing a thunderous boom.

Boom!

A bright blue lightning bolt, like those seen from a Tesla coil, streaked past Sojun in an instant and struck the ground.

The spell lingered briefly in the air before dissipating, leaving behind a scorched and damaged floor.

‘Huh.’ Sojun thought.

The speed surpassed even that of an absolute master’s swift sword from his past life.

“What should I do about this?!”

Sojun broke out into a cold sweat.

A speed of 100,000 km per second.

Even slowed down by 10,000 times, it was 10 km per second.

Luckily, he watched the video.

– How did he dodge that? LOL
– Isn’t this guy at a pro level? Why is he streaming?
– Streamer-nim is addicted to streaming, LOL

It was impossible to dodge by just seeing it coming.

Instead, he observed the Tower Lord and predicted the timing to evade.

Crackle!

Sparks flew from the Tower Lord’s hand as the electric current converged again.

Sojun did not take his eyes off the Tower Lord’s hand.

Boom!

Another lightning bolt struck the ground.

The spell grazed past Sojun’s right shoulder.

Sojun believed that the most important thing in a fight was observation.

Crackle!

Electric charges gathered in the Tower Lord’s hand.

Boom!

And again, the lightning spell descended.

Crackle!

This time, Sojun evaded to the left.

Boom!

Unlike a bullet fired immediately upon pulling the trigger, magic had a slight delay in activation, and Sojun used this delay to dodge and continued observing.

From several chaotic exchanges in the office, Sojun discerned a few things.

First, about the Tower Lord.

‘For some reason, he doesn’t want me to get close to that back area.’

When he moved to the right, the Tower Lord cast a spell even further right, guiding Sojun back to his original position.

‘The same goes for the left.’

Even when Sojun narrowly dodged the lightning and closed the distance, the Tower Lord didn’t retreat but instead used a shield to push Sojun back while holding the position.

Without a way to break the shield, Sojun had to withdraw again.

Naturally, something else was evident.

‘They must be protecting something important behind them.’

Sojun looked at the wall behind the Tower Lord. There floated a soccer ball-sized ring enclosed in glass.

‘I want to mess with that.’

Sojun drew a machete from his inventory and hurled it.

But the Tower Lord’s shield, nearly 3 meters in size, blocked it.

– Nope, not happening.
– LOL, how long will he keep dodging?
– No choice, it’s retry time, right?
– Let’s come back with some explosives.

‘As expected.’

Sojun knew it would be like this.

Crackle.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

The Tower Lord shouted, extending a hand.

He seemed agitated.

Boom!

Tilting his head aside to dodge the lightning, Sojun pondered.

‘This is the second mystery.’

He captured in his sight the blue lightning that lingered for about a second in midair.

It was beautiful.

From afar, it appeared as a single bolt of lightning, but up close, it was a collection of thin blue streaks intertwining and separating to form a single entity.

‘Why did they specifically tell me not to use the weak spot detection during the mission?’

After all, lightning couldn’t be cut or destroyed.

This was impossible even if Sojun brought over the body and techniques from his past life.

‘Just a casual comment from an ordinary person?’

Would someone spend 1 million won for this?

Sojun sensed that the person who issued the mission was somehow related to the game, not just an ordinary player.

His intuition grew stronger as he observed the lingering lightning.

There was something there.

Sojun steadied himself and entrusted his body to his instincts.

Boom!

There was the sound of air bursting, and the fantastical streaks created by the blue electric charge flashed by Sojun’s eyes.

Like shattered glass, the multiple streaks of lightning converged and scattered.

At the intersection of the small branches. The central point.

In that fleeting moment, Sojun followed his intuition and plunged his sword into it.