Samurai Hearts – Chapter 1: For Vengeance (2)
"Oh, right. Before we start—hey, little brother."
"Hm? What's up?"
"You know you cleared a hidden challenge last night in Samurai Hearts—Wait. You don't know, huh. Yeah, you actually completed a challenge yesterday."
"Challenge? I mean, I can guess what that means. So I cleared it. And?"
"There's a reward for clearing it. This right here."
When Seungyeon moved her hand across the system window only she could see, shimmering light gathered—and an item descended into the air.
A cloak.
Pitch-black, with luxurious black fur lining the neck. The overall design screamed prestige.
She snatched the cloak mid-air and handed it to Dohyeon.
"There's no actual gameplay effect. It's just a cosmetic item. But since it's from a hidden challenge, it looks seriously badass. Wear it."
"A cosmetic item, huh…"
"It's basically bragging rights—'Hey, I cleared that challenge!'"
Dohyeon chuckled lightly and draped the cloak over his armor.
Before the cloak, he looked like a simple warrior.After the cloak—he looked like a commanding general leading an entire battalion.
That's how imposing and cool the cloak was.
-Cloak looks insane…-How do we get that cloak??-Hidden challenge. Yep.
"And the challenge was this: Defeat twenty enemies in a single spot. Oh—and apparently there's a condition. No healing items allowed. I only found out later too."
-So you have to kill 20 enemies with NO heals to get that?!-Yeah, you got it-Yeah, no thanks, screw that
Seungyeon giggled as chat filled with "nope nope nope" reactions.
"Alright, let's gather some info first. There's an NPC literally standing here begging us to talk to him. Ugh, and God, that face was so grotesque. You guys thought so too, right?"
-Yeah true, honestly kinda scary-If I met that IRL I'd kneel before he even looked at me-Not gonna lie, I flinched when he appeared
Seungyeon approached the Tengu.
She had played plenty of games like this before, including previous titles from the same studio that made Samurai Hearts.
So she'd already memorized all the keywords from the cutscene she thought might be relevant for conversation.
'What should I ask first?'
After thinking briefly, she spoke.
"Let's start with something small. Let's see… ninja?"
The Tengu had mentioned earlier that he used to be a ninja.
Which clearly meant he was intentionally dropping lore breadcrumbs.
As expected, the Tengu responded immediately.
"Ninja… yes. Once, in my younger days. Hrrh. Yes, I earned this face during that time. I was captured and tortured by the enemy."
"But I do not regret that life. The lord I served was worthy of it. But of course, you know I cannot tell you who that was, yes?"
"That's all I can say about my past. Do not pry further."
Seungyeon sorted the information mentally.
"So: he was a ninja, the scars came from torture, and he had a lord. Hm… Then since he says he's no longer a ninja, does that mean he no longer has a lord? I'll need to look into that."
But no matter how many different angles she used to ask about the lord, the Tengu refused.
If the word "lord" appeared anywhere in the keyword, he shut it down with:
"I cannot speak of that."
She even tried a ridiculous keyword like "my lord's secret personal life," but he still refused, making her scratch her head.
"Looks like he's not giving us anything about the lord right now."
-lmao-"Secret personal life" I'm dying-Why would you even ask that lol
"He just wouldn't answer, and it irritated me! Hehe. Anyway—now we need to find out why we're here, where this place is, and who Tengu actually is, right?"
-Big brain mode activated-I thought she'd be terrible at the game since she's a 'spicy content' streamer but nope-Victoria sucks only at mechanics, not thinking lol
"Thank you for the compliment. Anyway, the cutscene dropped a very obvious keyword, so let's use that. Something about the 'truth behind the Nagamatsu Clan's attack,' right?"
When Seungyeon spoke the designated keyword, the Tengu reacted immediately.
"As you know, the Nagamatsu and Atsuragi clans were allies. Yet Nagamatsu broke this alliance, launching an attack on Atsuragi without warning."
"They betrayed the trust between clans—and sought to annihilate them entirely. If their deeds are revealed, the Great General of Justice will surely punish them severely."
"Curious why they'd risk such consequences? Why they'd take such extreme measures?"
Seungyeon pouted.
"I'm not curious."
Of course, the NPC couldn't respond to an unregistered line.
He paused, coughed, and continued anyway.
"Apologies. My health is poor. Ahem. Anyway—the reason they took such a reckless path is because 'the Dark' was involved. Nagamatsu is merely a pawn of the Dark."
He fell silent.
That was the entire response for that keyword.
But the new information gave Seungyeon another keyword easily:
He had clearly hinted she should ask about the Dark.
So she did.
"What is the Dark? They are our great enemies—the shadows lurking in this land. We call them the Dark, but ordinary people use other names."
"Chimei-mouryo. Yokai. Kaiji. Hyakki Yagyō… Ghosts and monsters who feast on humans. That is the Dark. Can you believe such creatures exist?"
"I understand your skepticism. I was the same. But now you may see where this is going. Yes—our group exists to oppose the Dark. We are called the Tenhwadan."
Tenhwadan.
That was another new keyword.
Seungyeon immediately asked about the Tenhwadan.
"The Tenhwadan is an organization created to oppose the Dark. We have long fought and pursued them. And that was how we discovered that the Nagamatsu Clan was connected to the Dark."
"So we kept watch over the Nagamatsu. Thus, we witnessed them destroy the Atsuragi Clan. We saved you because your goals may align with ours."
"You wish to avenge your lord, do you not? Then we shall aid you. In return, you shall aid us—confirm the Dark's influence that has seeped into the Nagamatsu Clan."
And with that, Tengu finished his explanation.
Seungyeon frowned after hearing everything.
So basically—they saved them because they needed someone to fight in their place?
Sure, the Tenhwadan obviously had their own reasons for saving them. But still, being used by someone never felt particularly good.
But that was only her personal feeling.
Inside the game's narrative, the red fox and black wolf—who burned for vengeance—would find Tengu's words quite appealing.
'Well, as long as the stream goes well, who cares.'
Seungyeon shrugged and said:
"This NPC talks WAY too much."
-Agreed-He never shuts up;;;-Yo old man, ever heard of summarizing in THREE LINES?
"He added a bunch of unnecessary explanations, but to summarize:
The Dark is a shadow force pulling the strings behind Nagamatsu. Nagamatsu wiped out Atsuragi because of them. And the Tenhwadan, who oppose the Dark, saved us because they want to use us against Nagamatsu."
-Damn. Clean summary, thanks-So basically the NPC rambled for 10 minutes just to say that? lol-He's an NPC lol blame the dev for making him a paragraph machine
While everyone was laughing, a viewer sent a message:
–But why isn't Kratos saying anything?
'Oh right…'
Seungyeon looked at Dohyeon.
Dohyeon had woken up in-game a while ago, yet hadn't spoken a single word.
Not for any particular reason—it was simply because…
He had zero experience with games or streaming.
He had no idea what he was supposed to do, so he just decided to watch and learn.
If he stayed still, Seungyeon would handle the progression anyway.
And when enemies showed up—he'd just beat them. That was his whole plan.
Reading his expression, Seungyeon chuckled.
"Some viewers are wondering why Kratos hasn't said anything. The reason is simple: this is literally his first time playing a game."
-Oh yeah;; I forgot;;-If it's your first game ever, fair enough-I was exactly like that too when I started lol
"Oh. Yes, that's correct. For now, please assume I'm basically not here. I've never done anything like this before, so I don't know what to do. I'm watching my sister and learning."
Responding to Seungyeon's hint, Dohyeon spoke.
Viewers accepted that explanation easily.
-Yeah he didn't even know you have to talk to NPCs with keywords so it tracks-Have you even played 3 hours of games total?-Probably only if you combine ALL his stream time lol
"Anyway, I'll handle things while Kratos stays quiet for now. This Tengu NPC said he'll help us, so let's see what kind of help that is. Maybe he gives us an item?"
When Seungyeon spoke the "help" keyword, Tengu began explaining again.
"There are three forms of aid we can offer. First: information. To pursue the Dark, we needed many eyes and ears. We have placed informants everywhere. They will aid your vengeance."
"Second: Muhon—the Martial Soul. A power we discovered to allow humans to fight monsters who devour people. We shall pass this power to you."
"Third: swordsmanship. Hmm… teaching swordsmanship to those who defeated the Sword Saint—it feels odd. Yet our Sword Schools have masters of great skill. You may learn something."
"That is all the aid we can provide. Will you accept our offer?"
Information, Martial Soul, and swordsmanship.
Hearing the list, Seungyeon clapped.
She suddenly remembered one of the unique systems she'd discovered while researching Samurai Hearts.
"Oh! So they are the ones who teach Muhon! I wondered where we were supposed to learn that."
"What's Muhon?"
"It's like… a skill set. You know what 'skills' are, right?"
"I know that much. I've played hyperphone games a few times."