Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Catching Up to the Silent Swordmaster
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1.
Um Gil-dong's viewers asked.
The Silent Swordmaster's insane physical prowess had been on display from the blood ghost extermination onward, moment after moment.
It was impossible to find a moment where her physicality didn't shine.
"Still, if we're doing this, we might as well go for the hardest one."
"That's impossible."
"That's impossible too."
Um Gil-dong's chat exploded.
With his competitive fire already lit, Um Gil-dong didn't back down.
"Boss is too much, but a sweep battle should be doable."
"Fighting water ghosts on the raft."
"Same time limit, same number of enemies as the Silent Swordmaster, defending the raft."
"If I succeed, I get an exemption ticket to skip penalty roulette number 1. If I fail, I spin the penalty roulette. Deal?"
And so, after a full day of effort, the result was born.
A simulation of shipboard combat in "Catching Up to the Silent Swordmaster," where you defend a low-durability raft for 100 seconds, protect the boat from water ghosts, or eliminate all of them.
64 water ghosts appear.
The boat is a rickety raft.
The character has minimal spec adjustments.
Challenge yourself to match the Silent Swordmaster's feats in the same situation.
Thus, the Catching Up to the Silent Swordmaster simulation was born.
2.
Feeling proud of its high quality, Um Gil-dong set out for the first test run.
He staggered from the impact as the raft collided with a water ghost, then smashed his head into the raft's edge and died.
"It's just a test run! Think you wouldn't trip?"
Um Gil-dong lashed out awkwardly, but deep down, he knew he was screwed.
The shaking from the water ghosts colliding with the raft was way worse than expected.
"Does this guy have magnets on his feet or what? How did he endure this?"
Attempts quickly surpassed 10, but even after the first collision hurdle, records didn't exceed 20 seconds.
Sudden spears surging from underwater.
Losing footing to water ghost attacks or getting pierced even once restricted movement, leading to falls off the raft or death.
"Don't come, you bastards!!"
Um Gil-dong clung his legs to the raft railing, lowered his center of gravity, and entered a cowardly survival play, only deflecting incoming spears.
"Uwaaaaa!!"
"Kyaaak"
"Kee yaak"
Countless spears from water ghosts flew at him.
He gave up on leg strength endurance and killing water ghosts.
Pure desperate resistance for survival.
Despite a personal best of 40 seconds, the raft cracked with a loud snap and split from below.
"Kuaaaaa!! How the hell do you survive 100 seconds!!"
It looked insane on video, but he never imagined it'd be this hard.
As tough as stealing a ranker's mirror shield technique and blocking 1000 archers' arrows for a minute.
Fueled by spite to humble his mocking viewers, Um Gil-dong pressed on.
"Just surviving breaks the raft. Gotta reduce water ghost numbers somehow."
Risking attacks led to quicker deaths than pure survival at first.
Dozens of instant deaths from blind spots or spears bursting from under the raft.
Attempts hit 100 in no time.
"Aaaaaaaa!! 50 seconds, 50 seconds, 50 seconds, 50 secondssss!!"
Much better than the 1st try's 3-second accident death.
But dying to a slip even after 100 tries wasn't a good sign.
It proved how disadvantaged fighting on the cramped, rickety raft was.
"Argh, too pissed, can't think. Gonna cool off."
Um Gil-dong played a song and took a break.
Exiting the VR capsule, he stretched his sore body with a drink, but his dark expression didn't improve.
"Damn, bad idea. Three days? Couldn't clear in a month."
Without picking up a few tricks, clearing seemed impossible no matter how many tries.
"So freaking hard. How did the Silent Swordmaster do this?"
Two hours into challenges.
No success in sight.
Balance, footwork, aiming to pierce underwater water ghost heads in one strike, deflection defense.
Nothing easy.
Honestly, subjectively harder than learning mirror shield.
"Seriously a rhythmic gymnast?"
Corona had resurfaced in 2050 with new variants after quiet years.
Forcing athletes to retire and turn to gaming?
The challenge felt convincing enough for such speculation.
"Screw it. Let's smash it hard today."
Catching Up to the Silent Swordmaster Day 1.
502 attempts.
12 hours 15 minutes challenge time.
Breaking past the cursed 50 seconds led only to a destroyed raft and merciless water ghost lynching.
12 hours of effort, yet no clear in sight.
Um Gil-dong and his viewers only grew to appreciate the Silent Swordmaster's greatness as time passed.
3.
Um Gil-dong ultimately failed the challenge.
However, his Catching Up to the Silent Swordmaster simulation spread wildly among streamers.
"You guys try it too. Mock me after you do. Looked fun watching, right? Won't go as planned when you try."
I can't suffer alone.
Streamers must share the bad!
The simulation, passed to fellow streamers who laughed at Um Gil-dong's clips, spread like a chain letter.
"Ida-hye, come try this."
"What's this?"
"Catching Up to the Silent Swordmaster."
Ida-hye, with striking looks and runner-up in the women's league of the streamer swordsmanship tournament.
She took strong interest in the simulation from fellow streamer Water Buffalo.
"That trending VTube thing lately?"
"Yeah. Tried it and wanted to die."
"Speak properly. Not 'wanted to die,' you've died plenty."
"Stop! Don't!! Don't torment me!!! Don't wanna remember!!!"
"Anyway, got it. Was curious, perfect. I'll try."
Cool beauty with a chic personality.
Popular female swordswoman with top-tier skills.
Few streamers dared give haughty Ida-hye a game that could embarrass her, but infamous pushy Water Buffalo made it happen.
"Heard that, guys? Today, Catching Up to the Silent Swordmaster simulation."
Clean chat with high female viewer ratio.
A faint smile crept on Ida-hye's lips from the fresh cheers.
"Alright, here we go?"
Ida-hye's first challenge.
Unlike her confident start, the result left much to be desired.
"Not easy. Thought so watching live, but offense-defense switches are really tough."
Unlike brute-force Um Gil-dong.
With her polished physicality, Ida-hye adapted to shipboard combat quickly.
Breaking 50 seconds.
Killed half the water ghosts.
A record showing clear potential.
Viewers went wild, but she shook her head.
"This is it. With technique, know-how, shipboard sense, some improvement possible. Possible, but no dramatic gains."
Unlike Um Gil-dong's ugly three-day extended to a week failure.
Ida-hye coolly quit at a reasonable point.
"Overall ranking? Can't ignore that."
Even without urging, she was curious about her standing.
Wondering if she could be #1.
Her face hardened as she checked.
Gukppong Swordsman Yi Hye-chan.
First streamer to catch the Silent Swordmaster's broadcast.
Winner of the 2049 second-half streamer swordsmanship tournament.
The immovable #1 who always made her #2.
That name blocked her path.