Bullet Reflection Challenge Takes the Streamers by Storm
(Challenge Notice) Around 11 PM on 07/26, the final gallery section from the previous chapter 19 has been added. Just letting readers who might've missed it know. ***
The video uploaded to the community, (Bullet Deflection.mp4), went viral in an instant.
Videos of blocking bullets? Plenty out there. For rankers, bullets flying faster than sound were something they could react to without breaking a sweat.
But videos of reflecting those bullets straight back at the shooter? None. At least not until now.
Truth be told, there'd never been any real need for it. Why would rankers bother pulling off such a stunt? Avatars over level 200 could shatter the sound barrier themselves. Just close in and smash the enemy's face in—that was ranker life. To them, it was just a neat trick, nothing more, nothing less.
Meaning, they never even thought to try reflecting bullets on purpose.
Anyway. This fresh, never-before-seen feat lit the community ablaze—the eternal hotspot for any juicy bait.
Theories swirled around the video's star: the masked girl. Was she SwordStar, the one who'd cleared PT stage 99 just recently? They tied it all together—the unknown player (ranker or newbie?), the freakishly improbable feat echoing her prior buzz.
And there was one group that never missed a hot topic, thriving on attention alone.
Streamers, of course.
The skilled ones who could actually attempt "Bullet Deflection" lit up with excitement.
'This'd make killer content. Looks tough, though...'
'Oh, fun! Gotta try it myself!'
And so it began. Talented streamers—even some rankers—kicked off the [Bullet Reflection Challenge].
Bang! A gunshot echoed through the personal VR room assigned to players, fired from a training golem bought from the Magic Tower for 19 gold (19,000,000 won).
"Argh, ugh, gyaaah!"
Argon, the eternal aspiring ranker turned streamer, rolled across the floor with a bizarre scream. His enthusiasm to reflect it back overrode sense—he just took the bullet straight on.
"What're you doing? lolololol"
"A non-ranker trying this? lmao"
"Think it'll work?"
"No, fuck, you try it! This shit's insanely hard!"
"That's why we don't—'cause we know we can't."
"Know your place lol"
"I'll do it somehow..."
Fired up by the mockery, Argon gripped his sword again and reset his stance.
And then.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
An hour later. Amid the relentless gunfire, Argon toppled backward and hurled his sword away.
"Fuck this, I can't!"
Argon: Failed!
Bang! The bullet collided with a sword drawn without even an afterimage, ricocheting away.
A clear supersonic reaction, a thrust beyond human limits— a miracle born of the game's superhuman body.
The chat exploded in hype, but Oscar, who'd deflected the bullet, just shook his head.
"Nah, not happening. Reacting and batting it away with the sword is easy. Sending it straight back at the enemy? Totally different story."
"If you pre-set the sword angle and the enemy shoots right into it, maybe? But in real combat? Never happens. Totally different from that video."
Oscar sheathed his sword and shrugged.
"Other rankers probably same. High rankers might pull it off. Anyway, that masked girl? At least a high ranker."
Or maybe SwordStar.
Viewers clung to hope, but Oscar cleanly logged into Asteria Online and called it quits.
Oscar: Failed!
Oscar's words spread through the community soon enough.
This is tough even for rankers. High rankers might manage. That masked girl? Probably a high ranker in disguise. Or SwordStar.
Skeptics grumbled at first—Hmm, really?—but as challenger after challenger bowed out, reality sank in.
Oh, it really is that hard.
A rare few ranker streamers echoed the same: Impossible at ranker level. You might luck into it eventually, but that's just chance, not skill.
And so, as failures piled up and the masked girl's legend soared endlessly, one day...
A new stream notification hit, and Asteria Online communities erupted.
Korea Rank 1. World Rank 23. Swordsman Rank 7. PT Rank 3, one of only two (with SwordStar) to clear stage 80.
Lancelot had gone live with a title proclaiming bullet reflection success.
The stream had barely started, but viewers flooded in at terrifying speed, breaking hundreds of thousands and climbing live. Plenty of foreigners too.
Not surprising. In an era where over 5 billion players existed, sports like soccer, baseball, basketball—plus movies, dramas, music—had all been overshadowed by a game. Specifically swallowed by Asteria Online. Virtual reality gaming had devoured humanity's entertainment.
A world-top ranker outshone even old-school K-pop idols. And as one of just two PT 80 clearers alongside Heavenly Sword, his fame weighed heavy.
"I'm here, folks."
Lancelot's greeting sent the chat scrolling wildly.
Half a million viewers made the chat unreadable. But this was VR. His superhuman avatar, capable of reacting to supersonic bullets, plucked questions from the chaos.
"Title real? Damn right. Took about 7 hours to get the feel, though."
['NationalPrideDoggo' donated 10,000 won!]
[How's it compare to clearing PT 80?]
"...Dude, that's even a question? I dumped thousands of hours into PT alone for that."
Lancelot scowled, recalling the hellish grind. Not just time— he'd worn a blindfold in real life for ages to prep. Learned echolocation from scratch, bumped into everything getting bruises... First blind run? Died to arrows at stage 1, roasted by viewers endlessly.
Overcoming it all for that 80 clear? Peak human victory, if he said so himself.
"Anyway, today's the bullet deflection demo, title as promised. Saw it on the community and thought it'd be fun—practiced right away."
Lancelot shrugged at the gripes.
"Streaming's a hobby for me. Can't focus if it's on during practice."
"This wraps quick, so no stream. PT without? Would've been offline a year straight."
As Lancelot bantered, the training golem appeared clutching an AK-47 assault rifle—exact match to the video. Facing it, Lancelot slowly raised his sword. Setup complete.
And—
Bang!
Amid hyped reactions, gun met sword.
The ricochet missed the golem, slamming the wall. All that confidence, undone in anticlimax!
Ignoring the instant roast flood, Lancelot reset.
"Forgot to mention—not 100% success. Rate's decent, but..."
His eyes deepened, focus sharpening. Then—a flash.
Bang-crash!
Sword twisted just right; bullet reversed trajectory, punching the golem's chest. Magic metal sparked on impact.
Unlike the hyped chat denying AI fakes till now, Lancelot calmly sheathed his sword.
"Told you—success. Just angle the sword right on timing. Needs aura reinforcement, but any decent fighter can manage that."
"...Timing's the bitch. Gotta predict trajectory exactly. Anyway, high rankers could nail it with practice."
After a few more successes, Lancelot ended the short stream.
Raging viewers rioted at the abrupt close, but couldn't stop him. Untied to money (donated all earnings), Korea Rank 1 symbol—he was invincible.
Thud.
Lancelot—Lee Do-hyun—logged out, opening his eyes in the capsule.
'Fun after a while...'
Still lying there, he pondered the stream.
"Still weird, though."
He'd dodged firm answers on stream: Is the masked girl definitely a ranker? Same as the PT-famous SwordStar?
Rare community suspicions.
And he had convictions.
'Newbie, for sure.'
Movement gave it away. Still human limits. Max 30 or under. Pure prediction and incomprehensible swordplay made the miracle.
Even him—PT 80 clearer, swordsman second only to Heavenly Sword—couldn't.
So who was this girl casually pulling off the impossible?
One answer.
'SwordStar.'
PT 99 clearer. Beyond his stage-80-insane norms.
And also...
Fwoosh! Blue aura flickered like a candle on his raised finger.
This wasn't Asteria Online. Real-world miracle. Unlocked post-PT 80, proof the game wasn't "just" a game.
Aura filling his body, senses stretching kilometers. Superhero stuff, identical to in-game.
If he could... surely world #1 Heavenly Sword and SwordStar too.
'Maybe a real Sword Saint.'
Yeah, maybe.
Burying the secret he'd never shared, Lancelot—Lee Do-hyun—gave a wry smile.