LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 37
Chapter 37
『Tip: Be careful as penalties will occur if you engage in consecutive team kills.』
Sojun read the tip and the chat window as he returned to the respawn location.
“Ah. That makes sense.”
– Yeah, it’s unavoidable to hit team members sometimes.
– With multiple people fighting, no, hitting the same team members could lead to strange meat shield strategies.
– But still, team killing is a bit… excessive.
– Anyone can see the enemy team is red and our team is blue.
It seemed like “The League” did not allow team kills. This was likely for more practical reasons rather than an ideal approach. In “The League,” battles primarily involved wide-area skills, so hitting an ally would significantly restrict actions. However, “For Justice” included fictional martial arts, but the majority of the combat followed realistic elements, thereby allowing team hits to add more realism.
“How do you revive someone?”
– Just get close and perform a hand-reaching motion.
– There will be an effect. Then they revive.
– But what if they get executed?
What was an execution, anyway? Sojun realized he had much to learn.
“Should I just go and apologize first?”
He was almost back at the respawn location when it happened.
“Hey, you crazy jerk! Come here and die just once!”
Someone leapt out from the overgrown bushes and tackled Sojun.
The player’s ID was “No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven”.
It was the player Sojun had team-killed.
No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven swung his blade from left to right, narrowly missing Sojun’s nose. Sojun quickly infused internal energy into his feet, increasing his speed to maintain a delicate distance. This required meticulous control.
“How dare you dodge the sword of the great me?”
Of course, No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven couldn’t grasp the intricacies or recognize the basic skill difference. After all, he had only been playing “For Justice” for two weeks, making him a newbie.
“I must punish you.”
Moreover, he was enjoying one of the ways to have fun in “For Justice” – role-playing.
Role-playing typically involves adopting a different personality and setting in a virtual world for fun. “For Justice” was the perfect game for such role-play.
*Whoosh!*
Sojun bit his lips and ducked to dodge the opponent’s sword. Was it difficult to dodge, hence the lip-biting?
No.
Just.
“Arrogant! Heavenly Demon14! Offer your neck to my sword peacefully! Hurry!”
It was funny. His awkward speech and word choices.
‘The Great Me.’
A term not even heard often in previous lives.
“Pfft.”
– Hmm. That newbie is really enjoying “For Justice”, right? (sniff)
– A properly enjoying newbie!
– LOL. This is my first time seeing “For Justice”, and these martial artists have been having such fun all along? LOL. Only they knew about this fun.
*Whoosh!*
All the enemy’s strikes narrowly missed, causing the opponent to tilt his head in confusion.
“Huh? Why isn’t he getting hit?”
The role-play was breaking. Sojun couldn’t hold back his laughter.
This made No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven finally recognize the skill difference and blush in embarrassment. The role he’d been maintaining became embarrassing!
Winning a fight brought satisfaction in role-play, but losing badly meant dealing with the embarrassment.
“Ha, you’re good. Just kill me or whatever. The game is almost over anyway, so I should just rest. You team-killed for that reason, right?”
No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven looked at Sojun with a dejected face.
Sojun stopped laughing and explained the truth.
“Sorry. It was my first match, and I didn’t know. Same with reviving.”
“Ah.”
No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven sighed in disbelief.
Lost to a newbie’s first match?
“You’re really good at fighting. You must have a reputation in other games.”
He thought he had some talent. He maintained an 80% win rate in the beginner zone. That’s why role-playing was so fun for him.
But a true pro was different, he thought.
“Well, it’s my job to fight.”
Knowing that Sojun had team-killed by mistake and seeing his friendly reaction, No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven resumed his role-play.
“Indeed, the Heavenly Demon is special. I am moved. Shall we go together and turn this game around?”
Sojun almost laughed again.
And he revealed a secret to No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven.
“Oh, by the way, just so you know, I’m streaming right now..”
He mimicked his manner of speaking.
No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven froze for a moment.
He asked in a quiet voice.
“Out of curiosity, how many viewers do you have…?”
“Let’s see. The number of viewers who have come to see me is a total of eight thousand.”
Sojun grinned broadly.
The number had dropped a bit.
But it was still quite a lot.
Mostly foreign users had left.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake. Should I just quit?”
He hit his forehead with a ‘thud’.
– Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
– Forced embarrassing moment lol
– His comedic sense is insane
– Was he booked as a guest? lol
Just when Sojun was enjoying teasing him, a team chat was sent.
『What are you guys doing? Stop messing around and play the game!』
『Is your ID No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven and Heavenly Demon? You’re something else. Are you a duo?』
Since team chat was visible to all team members, No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven saw it too and spoke to Sojun.
“Let’s head to the center together for now. Heavenly Demon-nim, do you know the game rules? But if you didn’t even know how to revive… I guess you didn’t do the tutorial?”
Sojun and he set off again toward the center where the soldiers clashed.
“I, well…”
“Ack!”
“I didn’t do the tutorial, to be honest.”
“Sigh.”
“But just a moment ago, you were playing excitedly.”
“Well, that was before I knew that eight thousand people were watching.”
Judging by his words, he didn’t seem like someone who got embarrassed easily.
“By the way, how much do you know about the capture war?”
“Not much.”
“At all?”
“No.”
No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven didn’t get angry at Sojun but calmly started to explain.
“The goal of a capture war is to kill all enemies.”
“But they’ll revive, won’t they?”
“Yes, that’s why you need to destroy the enemy fortress. If it’s destroyed, they can’t resurrect.”
Ah.
So that’s why the fortress’s HP was decreasing.
Sojun checked the current fortress’s HP.
『Blue: 183』 vs 『Red: 441』
Both had taken damage, but Sojun’s team’s HP was much lower.
“To reduce the enemy’s fortress’s HP, capturing strategic points is the most efficient way. Capturing significantly reduces it, and maintaining control continues to decrease it over time. Also, defeating enemy soldiers or users can decrease the fortress’s HP.”
“I see.”
“Yeah, and look at those markers on the far points. Red indicates the enemy’s control. Blue means it’s ours. Purple means the point is currently being contested. The central point is crucial because it’s the only one with soldiers.”
Sojun checked the status of the points.
All three were red.
– Thank you, teacher!
– He explains well
– What a difference from playing Assassin’s Dawn; this comfort is overwhelming lol. Is this multi?
– If it was single play, he probably wouldn’t understand the streamer’s rule even after ten rounds. Or rather, he wouldn’t have done it, lol
“Oh, people say you explain well?”
“Oh, really? Probably because the beginner zone has many clueless players that I’m used to explaining.”
“I see. So, to summarize, it’s simple: just kill everyone without dying, right?”
“Uh…”
– Hahahahaha
– I’m feeling existential despair and agony over why I even bothered to explain
– This guy wwww doesn’t listen wwww at all
“Then let’s go.”
Sojun adjusted the streaming window, stepped forward, and put his weight behind his right leg. Summoning his strength, he launched himself toward the strategic point, no. the battlefield, using all his might.
“Sigh…”
No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven followed with a sigh.
『Channel points prediction is starting.』
『Is a comeback possible in this game?』
『Possible』 vs 『Impossible』
– Boss! Are you finally opening Toto?
– Let’s go!
– Joas, bet everything here too, got it?
– This is absolutely impossible, lol. Maybe if it wasn’t an intrusion.
– But it’s the streamer.
– The fortress will be destroyed soon. After that, it’ll practically be sudden death.
– Yeah, he hasn’t died even once in the Assassin’s Dawn.
『Point predictions will close in 1 minute.』
The central base next to where the soldiers were fighting was just an ordinary pavilion. As Sojun entered, the red border marking the base turned purple. Then, the gauge resembling a loading bar in the center of the base began to fill up.
“Heavenly Demon-nim. Just wait a little longer, and we will capture it…”
The loading bar, which had been steadily moving, suddenly stopped.
“They’re here.”
Sojun immediately understood what it meant and turned around. An enemy was charging at him from behind. The enemy’s speed suggested that they were also using lightness skill.
*Clang!*
Swords met, and their gazes locked. Sojun parried as he would in the Assassin’s Dawn, but it had no effect. Instead, Sojun experienced a momentary stiffness.
‘Is there some different system here?’
In that brief moment of stiffness, another user’s sword stabbed Sojun from the side.
– Lolololol
– If you don’t know about strong attacks, you deserve to die.
– That’s why I bet on the impossible~ You patriotic bettors feeling nervous?
“Hey, take him down quickly!!”
Another user appeared from the side to help Sojun, but yet another user emerged to hinder him.
“Heavenly Demon-nim, be careful!”
Three enemies had appeared at the central base. The moment Sojun broke free from the stiffness, he subtly shifted his stance.
‘From now on, I’ll avoid everything without parrying.’
A swordsman named Man-nyang slashed downward, barely missing the front of Sojun’s hair. As Man-nyang saw the ends of Sojun’s short hair fall away and their eyes met, Man-nyang felt a fleeting but unrecognizable chill.
There was no trace of panic or fear in Sojun’s expression, not any emotion that one might typically show in such a situation.
“I can’t afford to lose from the start.”
Sojun’s lips parted. Then, in a swift motion, he thrust his blade at Man-nyang’s neck.
*Swish!*
Just as Sojun had barely dodged their blade, the enemy was now within his reach. Though Man-nyang, who hadn’t yet ventured beyond beginner level, got hit, he renewed his resolve. He still had plenty of health left!
Man-nyang’s partner Chun-nyang formed a pincer attack with Sojun in the center and assisted him.
“Let’s take him down quickly and handle that other guy afterward.”
“Yeah, once we deal with these two, it’ll be easy to finish this round!”
*Clang! Clang!*
But why wasn’t he going down?
Man-nyang saw his teammate biting his lips in frustration across from him. In just a minute, over half of his partner’s HP had been depleted. Meanwhile, Sojun had not taken another hit since the initial attack.
“We don’t have much time.”
“Do better!”
“You do better!”
The real issue was that if a little more time passed, the berserk state would be triggered. Rampage state activates when a gauge fills up while facing multiple opponents alone, granting temporary bonuses: a shield, increased movement speed, and unlimited stamina and internal energy required for lightness skill.
If Sojun entered the berserk state while just barely dodging now…
“Damn it! Attack now! Everyone!”
“I’m sorry, Heavenly Demon-nim! I lost!”
– It’s almost fully charged lololol
– Once in berserk state, he’ll take them all down instantly. Unlimited stamina, after all.
– Comeback time! Patriotic bets for the win!
Sojun dodged the two-on-one attacks while glancing at the chat and sensed the reason for the enemies’ impatience. He glanced behind him and saw that the No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven had lost a one-on-one and was down. The enemy who defeated the No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven was joining the battle against Sojun.
In the desperate 3-on-1 situation, Sojun diverted his mind to irrelevant thoughts.
‘What’s with this patriotic betting?’
Judging by the atmosphere, those betting on his victory were patriots, and those betting against him were traitors.
‘Whatever. Does this mean I have unlimited internal energy?’
As the gauge filled up, he felt his movements quicken. Sojun grinned and declared, “Now, I’ll show you why they call me Heavenly Demon.”
From behind, he heard the fallen No. 1 Swordsman Under Heaven sighing.
“Aaaah…”
It was not a sigh of relief.