Episode 10
Seo-jun stood before Drake, his opponent's face reflected in his eyes.
A black beard, deep-set eyes, tightly pursed lips—he resembled a handsome middle-aged man.
“Hmm. What’s your name?”
Drake kept stroking his beard.
-Drake looks kinda shook lololol
-He never asks names! Must be panicking hard hahaha
“No Name.”
“A good name. No Name. The strong deserve respect.”
-Whoa
-You’re shocked after blocking all those attacks? Same lol
-Some idiots died without dodging the FIRST swing smh
“Then I’ll give this my all.”
From Seo-jun’s knowledge, Drake always fought seriously against those who dodged his blades through gear or skills.
Shrrrk!
Two chains tipped with jagged blades began floating behind Drake, locking onto Seo-jun.
Then he drew the twin swords at his waist.
Unlike the tutorial’s Etohr, there were no restrictions when fighting Drake.
Any equipment, skills, or stat boosts could be used.
Yet no one had defeated him so far.
The reason lay in those unique floating weapons.
The chains moved through the air without restraint, leaving no blind spots.
Combined seamlessly with Drake’s twin swords, they overwhelmed players.
The chains’ free movement entered Seo-jun’s vision.
“This is an assassination game, but you’re oddly serious about combat.”
-Maybe the devs wanted Musou-style battles? lmao
-But just inflating HP bars would’ve been lazy. I dig this approach though.
-Combat’s always been core to Assassin’s Dawn anyway.
Seo-jun glanced at the chat window, smiled, and gripped his pipe like a sword.
“Keh heh. I’ll strike first!”
A raspy voice echoed as—
CLANG!!
Drake’s twin swords met Seo-jun’s pipe.
Chains immediately shot from behind Drake.
CLANG! CLANG!
Seo-jun retreated while deflecting them, but Drake charged again with his swords.
Drake seized control, forcing Seo-jun into helpless retreat.
-No Name-san’s getting wrecked too huh
-That combo’s literally unbeatable
-Bro brought a PIPE? Peak arrogance lol
At least, that’s how viewers saw it.
‘Harder than fighting thirteen at once.’
But then—
Seo-jun’s gaze sharpened. His thoughts accelerated.
Memories surfaced—being surrounded in enemy territory during his past life.
‘Back then… dozens of blades, not four.’
He’d not only survived but pushed forward.
Seo-jun suddenly dropped low and lunged into Drake’s guard.
CRASH!
The chain blade struck where he’d stood as—
Ting!—he parried the descending sword.
Against mobs, this would cause instant death.
Against Drake, it only created a brief opening—
normally protected by chains,
but now they’d missed.
Decades of muscle memory let him move instinctively,
power surging from his rooted stance through his core—
High stance—
CRASH!!
A strike to the head made Drake roar “GWAAAAH!”
Chat erupted:
-?? Since when’s Drake this easy?
-Literally effortless
-Fact: If it looks stupid easy, they’re probably a god.
Pure joy—this clash of steel was his only proof of a past life.
When Drake attacked again, Seo-jun parried,
deflected both chains smoothly,
and gripped his weapon two-handed in high stance.
Every motion flowed like decades of training yet was improvised,
followed by the fundamental vertical slash—
Head strike—
CRASH!!
One might expect discrepancies from his new body or VR...
Reality proved quite the opposite.
He isn't bound by form or technique.
With just a single swing.
Footwork, leg stance, torso twist, arm motion—all adjusted to perfection in every moment.
Even in another body.
Kwaaaaang!
He relentlessly repeated the motion of breaking chains and smashing Drake's head.
Kwaaaaang!
Kwaaaaang!
Before he knew it, Drake's HP was completely depleted.
[Boss Drake of the Disassembler has been defeated.]
[Fragment of Order (1/4) acquired.]
As the notification popped up and Drake collapsed, the adrenaline from battle gradually subsided.
He then glanced at the chat window.
-NoName is a god! NoName is a god! NoName is a god! NoName is a god!
-Mom, I saw Perkl again! Mom, I saw Perkl again! Mom, I saw Perkl again!
-Damn, that looks easy. Didn’t even get hit once. Drake got wrecked today LOL
[‘Assassin of Joseon’ donated 100,000 KRW!]
[This is the hope of Musou!]
“Thank you for the 100,000 KRW donation, Assassin of Joseon. Wait, was this also a first clear?”
-Yep
-Yes
-You’re proving your skills like this? Insane.
-Bro’s playing a whole different game LOL
[‘Spoon Murderer’ donated 10,000 KRW!]
[I got chills seeing you whack him with a pipe instead LOL. What if you didn’t have that damage buff?]
-Pipe Murderer got wrecked LOLOLOL
-What else could he do? Still got him though. That’s even creepier LOL
“Thank you for the 10,000 KRW donation, Spoon Murderer.”
Seo-jun chuckled and checked the viewer count.
[Viewers: 447]
His eyes widened seeing the increased number—slightly more than his follower count.
While it’s best not to obsess over viewers during streams, he couldn’t help feeling good about the growth since the start. It meant more people were joining than leaving.
“Alright, but… no guards coming?”
-Yep
-This world’s guards are like cops straight out of a K-webtoon LOL. Never show up when needed.
-But they’ll pop up for pickpockets.
-K-webtoon LOLOLOL
“Got it. Guess it’s time to leave the theater.”
Seo-jun passed through the half-destroyed stage, stairs littered with corpses, and an entrance strewn with broken glass.
As he stepped outside, a hooded figure waited for him. At first glance, it seemed hostile—until he spotted the golden hair swaying beneath the hood. The figure removed it immediately: Christina, as expected.
“NoName. You took down Drake? Good work.”
“Thanks to you, we’re one step closer to liberation. Thank you.”
[Money acquired.]
[Reputation increased.]
A notification appeared as he accepted the pouch she handed him.
“You’re giving rewards even though this wasn’t a quest. Not like I need money anyway.”
-Yep, they reward you regardless.
-I mean, pipes are everywhere—why bother with cash LOL
-Drake must be so pissed rn
Seo-jun shrugged it off and stared at the half-ruined theater from the street.
“So… assassination successful?”
Despite the scene looking more like a brawl than stealth, his expression didn’t flicker.
-???
-?????
-We never agreed to call this an assassination.
-LOL his face didn’t even twitch
-That shamelessness is kinda charming.
[‘Assassin of Joseon’ donated 1,000 KRW!]
[No witnesses = assassination confirmed. Yep.]
“I agree. Just followed the game’s instructions for assassinations.”
The chat flooded with question marks (?) and “LOL”s in equal measure.
-Hey! That counts as an assassination!
-Perkl-sect leader LOLOLOL
Seo-jun sensed perfect timing.
“Alrighty then—stream’s over. Wrapped up everything for today.”
-Wait hold on....
-Just a bit longer
-Why so short TT_TT
-I thought we had 10 hours today....
-Stop ending so fast!
“Tba!”
“Phew.”
Feeling slightly dizzy, Seo-jun removed his headgear.
He clenched and unclenched his hands while sitting, stretched his legs with a yawn to loosen up his body, then stood up.
'What's that?'
As he emerged from the capsule, he locked eyes with his friend lying on the bed scrolling through his phone.
"Hey, what're you doing in my room?"
"Oh, I'm off today so I was watching your stream. Pretty entertaining stuff."
Tae-woo spun his phone around and waved it at Seo-jun.
"Now I'm browsing community posts."
"Any reactions?"
Having witnessed communities' influence firsthand, Seo-jun couldn't help his curiosity.
"Well, the buzz is intense for 440 viewers."
Thud.
Seo-jun caught the tossed phone and scanned its screen:
[New Drake Location Guide]
A clip showed Seo-jun interrogating gang members while sparing one - a highlight feature trimming stream segments.
-Oh. That method looks way easier.
└ Parrying's still brutal tho
-Absolute menace lololol
-Whos this guy?
└Yesterday's NoName
[What's Fragment of Order? Never saw this ingame?]
-Played beta + saw ending post-launch. Never this.
└??? Explain
-Dont u get it beating Drake?
└Nope. Maybe no-hit run only? WTF is this thing...
These info posts came first.
[Just watched NoName's stream]
TLDR: The No-Hit Era begins!
-No-Hit Era begins! (Got stomped by Etor yesterday)
└ + Drake stomping scheduled today
└ Yall hacked my capsule? WTF HAHA (OP) -Doubt NoName = my enemy now
-Tested Etor's perfect blocks so tried Drake too. Problem?
└Sounds like LN title lololol
Users chattered about stream content.
Another post "accurately" summarized Seo-jun's broadcast:
[Current noir plot: Gang provokes pipe-wielding hermit ex-pickpocket, gets wiped]
-Facts✓
-Author leveled up lol
-Movie softies should take notes
Posts about Seo-jun gained traction.
"Damn, so this is how communities roll."
[STOP TALKING STREAMERS U PESTS!]
[Real ones hype inside jokes = +1]
As posts hit 30+ upvotes, hate threads erupted like yesterday's.
"Haters follow fans. Miss when it was just hype?"
"What do we do?"
"What CAN we do? 400 viewers vs 10k lurkers."
Meaning: Get famous enough that everyone's heard of you. The question was how.
Then a post caught his eye:
[Alpaca shivering after Drake capture - lift ur hoof plz HAHA]
Seo-jun's eyes lit up as he clicked. A mid-tier streamer's clip boasted about "claiming the crown." He followed the link to their live broadcast. Watching silently, Seo-jun's mouth curved into a smile.
Maybe...this situation could work.
"Hey, know streamer Alpaca?"
"Alpaca-hyung? We've collabed, why?"
Even dogshit has its uses.
Seo-jun eyed Tae-woo crumbling snacks on his bed with newfound interest.
"Good. Need a favor."
