A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 29

“So, let’s start the game now.”

『Starting Assassin’s Dawn.』

A notification sound chimed.

The world was enveloped in darkness.

* * *

Sojun woke up in the marketplace.

“Alright, let’s go now.”

Where to?

To the headquarters of the Assassins.

“Hey, try this fresh fruit.”

“Move out of the way! I’m in a hurry.”

“Sir, please buy me a candy.”

As he navigated through the bustling market, Sojun headed towards the Sun Tavern.

It was a place he hadn’t visited before, ever since he cleared the tutorial and captured the owner of the Mage Tower. But in the past few days, it had become a daily stop for him.

– Yup, nothing different today.
– Those guys are so shady, LOL.
– They really suck at their job.

“I admit it. They really do a messy job.”

Entering the Sun Tavern, Sojun naturally made his way to the kitchen.

He opened a secret passageway on the floor and entered it.

This was the secret place of the Assassins, accessible only after earning a certain level of reputation from assassinations.

“Nameless, why have you come? Do you need a mission?”

– If you accept a mission, you can’t get the Fragment of Order, LOL. Just don’t accept missions.
– Seriously, for some reason, those who barely captured the Ruler cried.
– After barely capturing it, it didn’t appear, and they rage-quit, LOL.

Several choices appeared before Sojun.

He selected one among them.

“I want to take care of the Ruler now.”

“Sorry. It’s too early for that. We are not fully prepared yet.”

– Here we go again, LOL.
– They will never be ready.
– Honestly, if this were real life, the streamer would be heartless. How can one accomplish everything in just a few days?
– But hey, it’s just a game.
– Don’t tell me you’re not going to capture the Queen today because of this.

Christina, who had been giving the same reply for days.

“Well, nothing I can do about it.”

Sojun nodded.

– No way!
– You weren’t like this!
– Are you really following orders?

“The only option is to take them down. Did you really think I’d wait?”

He grinned and pulled out a sword from his inventory.

A sword he bought expensively from the special store of the Assassins.

– LOLOLOLOL.
– That’s our streamer.
– Then why haven’t you captured it till now?

“Why didn’t I capture it? Just because. When you all told me to capture it, I didn’t feel like it.”

Actually, it was because of a contract, but he didn’t mention it.

Though there wasn’t a confidentiality clause, he was asked to keep it a secret if possible.

Sojun generally kept his promises.

– What the heck? Are you a contrarian?

“Please don’t curse.”

– This streamer does the opposite of what he’s told, lOLOL.
– A streamer who isn’t swayed by his viewers!
– Communication? What’s that?

“Come on, where can you find a streamer who communicates as well as I do?”

Ignoring the numerous questions popping up, Sojun left the Sun Tavern and headed towards the city’s central area where the palace was located, glancing at the map.

He was bad with machines, but fortunately, he wasn’t bad with directions.

“So folks, please tell me more about the palace now.”

He asked his viewers for in-game information as he walked.

As if it was the most natural and obvious thing.

– Are you relying on us?
– Please, do your homework, LOL.
– This is all a part of Professor Sojun’s plan to help viewers revise.

“I’m just kidding. Actually, I looked up some information too.”

– Oh? How unusual.
– Dang, it’s more fun when you don’t know something and then cleverly get past it.
– And then you outsmarting it is cool.

Sojun moved across rooftops.

It was the easiest way.

In the distance, he saw the magnificent palace at the city center.

It measured 160 meters in front width, 32 meters in height, had four floors, 1,015 rooms, 2,038 doors, and 825 windows. It was the Albark Palace.

Surrounding Albark was the Queen’s outdoor gallery, a vast lake, and the largest garden in Altheon, all of which captured Sojun’s attention.

“… And there are over 1,000 employees working there and 300 guards known as the Royal Guard. It’s said a player counted all the windows and everything, and I’d say that player is more amazing than the palace itself.”

– LOL, for real.
– In more than one way, that’s amazing, LOL.
– Time billionaire.
– Time billgates, LOL.

Sojun came down from the rooftop of the tall building.

Then, he walked towards Albark.

As he got closer to the palace, it became evident that there were many guards around.

While exchanging casual chatters and moving around, a donation alert echoed.

『’Scammer Dice’-nim has donated 10,000 won!』
『Sojun-nim, do you take on challenges?』

Sojun stopped walking and said, “Thank you for your donation, Scammer Dice-nim. What’s the challenge?”

-The streamer’s inner thoughts) “Customer, how much are you willing to spend?”

-“I can’t refuse a challenge.”

-“Typical man: weak against capital.”

After a brief wait, another donation came in.

『’Scammer Dice’-nim has donated 300,000 won!』
『Please infiltrate and assassinate the queen! I want to see Sojun-nim do an infiltration!』

-Wow, 300 at once, amazing.

-Why does he donate first and think later, lol.

-“Donate first and the streamer will accept the mission.”

-But an assassination by the streamer? I might actually want to see that, haha.

-What are you talking about? If you assassinate, what happens to the Fragment of Order? You shouldn’t accept it.

There were various opinions on the mission content afterward. Infiltration and assassination.

It was a playstyle that Sojun had never done before.
‘It might be fun to try once.’

It seemed like the donator was the viewer who was contemplating whether to start Assassin’s Dawn before the game began. He probably wanted to see Sojun attempt an infiltration play.

『’Scammer Dice’-nim has donated 100,000 won!』
『Oh, come to think of it, there are Fragment of Order! I’ll cancel the mission. The refund is okay.』

-Wow, a big spender.

-Withdraws challenge with another 100,000 won donation.

-Wasn’t he the same guy from earlier? If it were me, I would have bought a game with that money, lol.

Sojun pondered for a moment and then spoke.
“I don’t know if it’s going to work, but let’s give it a try. I’ll just wake her up right before assassinating her.”

That should naturally lead to Musou, right?

There wasn’t much of a fundamental difference between waking up to an alarm or being woken by an intruder.

“We’ve got to do the work for the money received. If it doesn’t work, we’ll die and go Musou.”

-A true streamer.

-Who plays the game like that, lol.

-Oh! Thank you!

Sojun, after reading Scammer Dice’s chat, pondered over the assassination methods.

There were an infinite number of ways to infiltrate and assassinate in the game, so there were multiple ways to approach the queen in the palace.

One could sneak in avoiding the eyes of the royal guard, steal a ball invitation, or get close to a noble and receive an invitation to the palace.

For now, the possible option was, “Let’s just go in. Since we decided on the assassination, we should get hold of the palace blueprints.”

Sojun contacted Christina using the signal stone and then headed back to the nearest assassin’s base.

This base also took the form of a tavern.

Sojun entered the secret place on the kitchen floor and sat in front of a hooded man.

“Be careful not to get devoured by chaos. True chaos does not necessarily destroy order,” said the assassin in charge of that area.

“Brother, what brings you here? Haha.”

『–〉 Trade goods.』
『–〉 Chat.』

Options appeared.

Choosing the former would allow purchasing assassin gear, while the latter would lead to useless chitchat or sightseeing.

Sojun chose the former. “I want to trade goods.”

“Very well, brother. You’ve brought enough money, haven’t you?”

The interface appeared, and Sojun clicked on the blueprints in the categorized section.

The assassins had collected blueprints for most buildings in Altheon.

Sojun scrolled down and found the blueprint of the palace.

“This one’s the most expensive.”

To purchase it, he needed either reputation or money.

『Blueprint of Albark Palace』
『700 Assassin’s Reputation』 『Exchange』
『3,000 Gold』 『Exchange』

The palace blueprint was one of the most expensive items when compared to other items.

But Sojun had more than enough of both.

『Assassin’s Reputation – 3,427』
『Gold Held – 10,000』

The reputation was high because he had caught three Rulers. Even if Sojun had received less reward by playing without taking missions compared to the original way, it was still sufficient.

As for money…

-Rich…

-Should I start pickpocketing too?

-“In just 30 minutes a day, I can make you buy a building. By Sojun.”

Given that one could buy the most expensive weapon available in a shop with 1,000 gold, Sojun’s 10,000 gold was substantial.

And that gold wasn’t earned through pickpocketing.

Actually, earnings through mini-games and other elements were much higher.

“I’d appreciate it if false speculations stop. I’ll buy it with reputation.”

Sojun pressed the exchange button beside the reputation.

“Thank you, Nameless. Come again.”

The NPC seemed delighted to sell something so expensive.

Is this guy an assassin or a merchant?

Sojun gave the NPC a dubious look before heading outside.

“Alright then, let’s go.”

Sojun approached Albark.

A different scene unfolded.

Since he had obtained the blueprint, the outline of the palace was displayed like a radar.

“Oh, there’s such an item?”

-Streamer-nim who only found out about this function a week into the game LOLOLOL

-How does it feel to taste the new culture?

-If you buy the X-ray vision, you can also see enemy positions, how about it?

Sojun stood in front of the palace.

He saw the royal guards on sentry duty.

“X-ray vision? No, thanks. Sneaking in isn’t that hard.”

-LOLOLOL LOL Can you handle that statement?
-Karma stacking on
-He won’t be good at assassination too, right?
-Plan: getting caught several times, going dark, and then beating everyone up with Musou

“Alright, here we go.”

The moment the guard’s gaze shifted momentarily, Sojun effortlessly climbed over the iron bars.

The queen’s outdoor gallery appeared immediately after he crossed the bars.

It was the best choice to approach the palace interior since other areas had open parks or natural moat lakes.

Sojun focused on the sounds.

The royal guards called the Royal Guard patrolled everywhere in the palace.

Step, step, step.

Sojun moved forward, distancing himself from the source of the sound.

Since he knew the layout, he wouldn’t get lost.

Another thing to be wary of was the snipers on Alburke’s rooftop.

Sojun kept a low profile, climbed the outer wall to the second floor after leaving the gallery, and took a breather on a balcony.

“Hmm. This seems easy.”

-It’s just the beginningLOLOLOL

-Don’t get cocky

Alburke Palace was a maze-like structure with many buildings attached.

It had undergone multiple renovations and expansions.

The queen’s quarters were in the most central part of this maze-like palace, making it difficult for players to approach undetected.

Sojun pressed his ear to a window.

He heard the sound of someone sleeping.

“Not here.”

Sojun scaled the wall again.

He was searching for an empty guest room.

“This one is empty.”

Sojun cautiously opened the balcony door and stepped inside.

-LOLOLOL LOLOLOL LOLOLOL
-Haha
-That’s why assassination is difficult
-Even being cautious, the sound was too loud

Viewers were laughing.

Why?

Sojun quickly realized the reason.

“What’s that noise?”

A male voice came from behind the guest room door.

He had been detected by the royal guard.

Click.

He heard the sound of the doorknob turning from the other side.

-Get under the bed
-Get in the closet
-Even if you do all that, you’ll get caught. Do you think palace assassination is a joke?
-They’re already on alert. These NPCs get cautious at the slightest sound.

Being put on alert was a common system in infiltration games.

When a player made a noise, the NPCs would investigate, and if they couldn’t find the source, the alarm would go off.

That would mean failure.

Sojun quickly assessed the situation by checking the chat.

Hiding now would get him caught, and escaping wasn’t an option.

‘The difficulty is high, as expected.’

In that case…

Creak.

-You’re caught
-Is this your first failure? LOL
-Did you think assassination was easy?

Just as the door was about to open, Sojun pulled a dagger from his inventory.

He pinpointed the royal guard’s location before the door was fully opened.

The speed was almost instinctual.

When the door was half-open, he threw the dagger.

Thunk.

With a short groan, the royal guard collapsed.

“Well, that works. Assassination is easy.”

Sojun chuckled as if he had never been tense.

-Seriously, the thought of throwing a dagger in that moment is incredible LOLOLOL
-Again with the Musou
-Stop killing and sneak quietly LOLOLOL LOLOLOL
-Is this even assassination?

In the Assassin’s Dawn, there was an ambush judgment.

If an NPC was attacked in a vital spot before confirming the enemy’s presence, they died instantly.

This was also a common system in assassination games.

The important point was that the royal guard died in one hit.

This meant…

“But they didn’t see me, right?”

-Oh man LOLOLOL LOLOLOL
-But it was quick LOLOLOL
-If it’s an ambush, technically it’s assassination LOLOLOL LOL
-For real, how can it be Musou if the enemy didn’t know? It’s assassination
-Ah LOL If an NPC goes on alert, just hit the vital spot before they can react
-Info: It’s actually normal to assassinate enemies during stealth.
-But that’s not normal assassination LOL