Samurai Hearts – Chapter 1: For Vengeance (4)
"What the hell is this?"
Dohyeon muttered instinctively—because he assumed he wouldn't be able to speak during a cutscene anyway.
But he immediately flinched.
The game was paused, and for that brief moment he'd regained control of his body—so the mutter actually came out loud.
"What? What's happening? Why did it freeze? What kind of choice pops up and pauses the whole game?!"
-???-What's going on now??-Why are we already at a freeze-choice???
It seemed Seungyeon had also regained control, because she practically machine-gunned words as she rushed over, face flushed with excitement.
And honestly, she had every right to be worked up.
Samurai Hearts had plenty of choices, sure—but choices that freeze the entire game were on a different level.
Freeze-choices were the type that affected the entire game, including future story branches—and even the ending.
The developers had already said publicly that there were many endings players hadn't discovered yet.
And now, a never-before-seen freeze-choice suddenly appeared…in freaking Chapter 1.
This was unheard of.
"Let me see!"
Seungyeon demanded aggressively.
Dohyeon stepped aside and showed her the options.
A brand new sword style vs. inheriting an existing style.
Two completely opposite paths.
"No way… What is this? You can CREATE a new sword style?!"
-lmao what am I LOOKING AT right now-Sword style CREATION????????-This is insane. Legendary moment. Clip it LOL-We are witnessing history
Instead of choosing one of the three preset sword styles, the game was offering an option to create an entirely new style.
Of course the viewers went feral.
The "gamer theorycrafters" were already developing full dissertations in chat, and the casual viewers were spamming clips and memes.
Seungyeon didn't even need to check chat to know exactly what everyone wanted.
Because it was obvious.
She shouted decisively:
"Option one! We're choosing option one! We're creating a new sword style!"
-1 LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-NEW ROUTE UNLOCK POG-This is 100% a first-option moment, agree?-AGREE-AGREEEEEEEEE
Seungyeon and the viewers were beyond enthusiastic—borderline unhinged.
Dohyeon shrugged.
He didn't know enough about the game to make a meaningful choice anyway.His plan had always been: If you don't know something, let your sister decide.
And when both she and chat were screaming for option one… well, sure.
"So… I just pick the first one?"
"Yes! Absolutely the first one!"
"But then we have to do this 'Trial of the Three Swordmasters' thing?"
"So what? You scared you'll lose?"
Her flat, casual jab made Dohyeon shake his head.
He wasn't unconfident.But he wasn't exactly confident either.
"Well then what's there to think about? First option! No hesitation!"
-1111111111111-222222… SIKE, 111111-NEW ROUTE NEW ROUTE NEW ROUTE-This is the canon genius path LET'S GOOOO-1 is destiny
With viewers and Seungyeon united, Dohyeon selected:
□ Accept
The frozen world resumed.
"Hah! You accept? Good!"
The massive bearskin-wearing man grinned—but the grin looked vicious, more like a beast baring its fangs.
With a harsh metallic sound—
Srrrng—
He drew the enormous 2-meter tachi from his back.
"I am Yatsugyu Kanbei of Jakye-Seomho-Ryu!Show me the sword that felled the Sword Saint—I'll see it with my own eyes!"
Dohyeon drew his sword in response.
It was Sword Saint Kato's own blade.
Only then did the viewers notice—and immediately combust.
-??????-ISN'T THAT THE SWORD SAINT'S SWORD???-lmfao he robbed the Sword Saint clean-Sword Saint: BRO GIVE MY SWORD BACK-This is felony-level loot theft LOL
'SwordSaint' has donated 10,000 won!
["Hey. Give me my sword back."]
Of course, the chaos lasted only a moment.
Because something far more important was happening:
The duel was starting.
Finally.
The cutscene had ended at the choice screen, so Dohyeon had full control again.
He took a refreshing breath and readied his stance.
At the same moment—Kanbei charged.
"UWOOOOOOOOH!"
Wind tore apart as the tachi swung down.
The sheer pressure—the mass—the reach—
It was overwhelming.
Whoosh!
It wasn't the sound of air being sliced.
It was the sound of air being crushed.
Any normal person would have frozen in terror.
But Dohyeon was not normal.
As the massive downward strike fell toward him, he simply stepped aside.
He shifted right and slipped past the blow.
"You can't run!!"
Kanbei roared.
And shockingly—the tachi suddenly bent its path at a right angle, tracking Dohyeon's movement.
He had forcibly redirected his blade mid-swing using brute strength.
And the momentum didn't drop.Not even a little.
Do I block it? Or dodge?
Even though the blade looked like it could bisect him with a graze, Dohyeon remained calm.
He considered—
Then decided.
Dodge.
Thought and action were nearly simultaneous.
He kicked off the ground and launched backward.
The tachi carved through the space where he'd been standing a split second earlier.
But the assault didn't end.
"HNGH!"
Swish!!
Kanbei wrenched the massive blade back toward himself and thrust it at Dohyeon in one continuous motion.
A lightning-fast stab.
Even after Dohyeon retreated a considerable distance, the tip tracked him precisely.
Kanbei's tachi was over two meters long.
With a weapon over two meters long, a simple forward thrust alone gave Kanbei lethal reach.
CLANG!
This time, Dohyeon didn't dodge the blade flying straight at his heart.
Instead—his sword slammed into the tip of Kanbei's tachi with pinpoint precision.
A heavy metallic crash rang out.Kanbei winced and stopped for a split second.
A perfectly executed Great Success Parry.
Despite how flawlessly it landed, Dohyeon frowned.
My hand… tingles.
A shockwave had traveled through the sword and bruised his palm—a sensation he had never once felt during any parry before.
Why…?
But he realized it immediately.
It was the sword style's innate effect.
Jakye-Seomho-Ryu's signature trait:When the user attacks, their strikes carry additional shock force, punishing the opponent's weapon on impact.
The weight he'd felt wasn't ordinary—it was that.
"You think you can stop me with just that?!"
Kanbei roared and lunged again.
Swaaash—!
Strike after strike, with no hesitation, no breath, no pause.
A relentless forward assault.
His blade wasn't just fierce—it was violent, predatory, ripping forward like the claws of a beast hunting prey.
And yet, it wasn't wild.
Kanbei's attacks were backed by meticulous calculation—because Jakye-Seomho-Ryu was such a style.
Only true sword masters could read that hidden precision.
Seungyeon was not one of them.
To her eyes, Kanbei's swings simply looked terrifying.
"Wow… Jakye-Seomho-Ryu is way more brutal than I thought. Like, downright vicious? Is it actually supposed to be like that? What do you guys think?"
-Agreed. That's straight-up savage-It's basically "you die, I die, we ALL die" lmao-I didn't know the style was like this. It never looked this wild when I used it-Same LOL-Probably because a Swordmaster is using it
Dohyeon, unaware of the chat, focused entirely on the blade pursuing him.
So this is Jakye-Seomho-Ryu…
Cut — Reap — Annihilate — and Roar.
Just as the name implied, the sword style was monstrous.
If Sword Saint Kato's style had been elegant and refined,Kanbei's was simply… brutal.
Anyone else would've been torn apart instantly.
The innate effect of Jakye-Seomho-Ryu would've overwhelmed their hand with shock, made them drop their sword, and ended the fight on the spot.
But that was for "anyone else."
"DIE!"
Shhk!
A murderous diagonal slash whipped toward Dohyeon's neck.
A beast's killing claw—relentless until the prey stopped moving.
But no matter how fierce a blade was, it meant nothing if it failed to land.
Savage.Dohyeon thought calmly.
But that's all.
The ferocity was worth studying.
But only that.
To someone who had defeated the Sword Saint himself, Jakye-Seomho-Ryu was nothing more than another technique to learn from.
Dohyeon twisted his body—and his sword shot upward like lightning.
He aimed directly for Kanbei's blade.
CLANG!
He predicted Kanbei's sword path precisely and struck the crossing point.Not even a hair of deviation.
To dissect a strike that chaotic mid-motion—it meant Dohyeon had already grasped every line of Kanbei's swordplay.
It was nothing short of artistry.
"Guh?!"
Kanbei staggered, frozen.
The Great Success Parry had forced him into a momentary stun.
In that instant, Dohyeon stepped forward and slashed diagonally.
CHANG!
Kanbei barely lifted the back of his blade with his free hand to block.
But Dohyeon was only getting started.
His counterattack finally burst forth—the stored pressure firing all at once.
A flurry of blows rained down.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Steel rang endlessly.
Kanbei stumbled backward, unable to retaliate, overwhelmed by Dohyeon's momentum.
Watching, Seungyeon let out an involuntary:
"Huh?"
Because—Dohyeon's sword… looked familiar.
Too familiar.
She recognized the movements.
"Wait—Jakye-Seomho-Ryu! He's copying Jakye-Seomho-Ryu, right?!"
-lmfao YES that's Jakye-Seomho-Ryu-As expected of SwordSaintSlayer-I wondered why he wasn't counterattacking… HE WAS DOWNLOADING IT-"I kneeled only to gain momentum" LMAO
The chat exploded.
Their earlier question—"Why isn't he attacking back?"—was suddenly answered.
They'd seen this before.
During the legendary Sword Saint duel.
That bizarre, incomprehensible ability that even a professional gamer like Kang Yeonwoo couldn't explain:
The ability to absorb an opponent's swordsmanship simply by watching it.
The ability most responsible for Dohyeon's "Genius" reputation.
He couldn't use the innate style effect yet, but the form—the sword patterns—were enough.
"Kuh…!"
CLANG!
Unlike Dohyeon, who remained steady, Kanbei couldn't withstand the barrage.
He couldn't initiate his own attacks, so he couldn't activate his style's effects.That alone crippled him.
Eventually, his stance collapsed.
Kanbei fell to one knee.
Dohyeon raised his sword for the finishing blow—
—but stopped when he heard the whispered words:
"I… lost…"
Kanbei admitted defeat.
And just like that—
the first trial ended.
Next is…