Samurai Hearts – Chapter 1: For Vengeance (9)
"Hey, little brother. Under the condition that we kill them quietly—how many can you take out at once?"
"Hmmm… maybe five? If I activate Sword Soul, maybe up to seven."
Dohyun answered while recalling the enemies he fought during the tutorial.
Seung-yeon tilted her head at his answer.
Then she suddenly let out a quiet "Ah."
She realized something Dohyun didn't know: the enemies in the tutorial had been deliberately weakened.
So she asked again:
"What if they're stronger than the ones from the tutorial?"
"That depends on how strong they are. But as long as they're not sword-master level, I can probably take out three without much trouble."
"Three, huh."
Her eyes gleamed.
Three wasn't bad.
From her earlier observation, enemy patrol squads consisted of four soldiers.
If Dohyun truly could handle three on his own, she only needed to deal with the last one.
"Okay. We'll go around the outer wall and thin them out slowly. If we bump into a squad of four, you take three, I take one."
"Got it."
"And after you finish your three, look at how I'm fighting, okay? Before I start 'learning,' I need you to figure out exactly what I'm messing up on."
"Sure. I'll finish quickly."
After forming a rough plan, the two approached the outer wall.
Since the soldiers didn't patrol far beyond the fortress perimeter, getting close wasn't difficult.
But once they slipped past the wall, they immediately encountered a patrolling squad head-on.
"Who are you?!"
A Nagamatsu soldier shouted and thrust his spear toward Dohyun.
Dohyun calmly assessed the enemies.
The first thing he noticed was their gear.
They wore sturdier armor than the tutorial soldiers.
Their spears looked sturdier too, made of proper metal—and each had a short dagger at their waist.
No wonder Seung-yeon said these were stronger.
The equipment alone was a clear upgrade.
"Answer! State your identity!"
Ignoring the spear being pushed in his face, Dohyun looked at Seung-yeon.
His eyes clearly asked, Do I kill them?
She nodded immediately.
"You suspicious—!"
Dohyun drew his sword—
—and swung at the soldier in the same motion.
The spear shaft the soldier had thrust forward split in half, and so did the soldier's throat.
Dohyun's blade sliced precisely through the gap the armor couldn't protect—the shouting soldier never even finished his sentence.
Blood gushed through the opened throat as he collapsed.
The remaining soldiers realized something was wrong and thrust their spears toward Dohyun.
CLANG!
Dohyun angled his blade, deflecting the two spears aimed at him.
The third spear never reached him—
—because Seung-yeon had jumped in from the side and blocked it.
"An intruder!!"
"I can at least beat a mob enemy!!"
While Seung-yeon held one soldier off, Dohyun looked at the two in front of him.
Thanks to his earlier parry, they had stumbled backward—regaining their stance just as Dohyun glanced sideways at Seung-yeon.
Not that regaining their stance would change the outcome.
Time to finish this fast.
Remembering Seung-yeon's request, Dohyun activated Sword Soul.
Wooooong—
The violent surge of power rose from deep within, filling his body.
His cloak snapped and billowed from the pressure bursting out of him.
Fast and efficient.
Dohyun narrowed his eyes.
Two soldiers stood before him.
One in the front, at a diagonal angle.
One slightly behind to the right, guarding the other's flank.
The optimal movement to kill both at once drew itself perfectly in his mind.
So he simply followed what his talent demanded.
"Die!"
The moment Dohyun stepped forward, the front soldier thrust his spear at Dohyun's chest.
An entirely predictable attack.
Dohyun leaned to the side, letting the spear glide past him—and then yanked the spear shaft.
The soldier stumbled forward with a startled sound—
—and Dohyun's blade plunged into his throat.
Instant kill.
The rear soldier panicked at how quickly his comrade died and reflexively thrust his spear.
That, too, was predicted.
Dohyun twisted his body—
—and the already-dying soldier, who was impaled on Dohyun's blade, fell directly into the spear's path.
PUCK!
The spear pierced straight through his comrade's back.
The soldier who had already been stabbed through the throat now had his heart skewered.
He died instantly.
The spear intended to kill Dohyun had instead killed a friend.
"Ah—!"
Horrified at accidentally killing his own ally, the surviving soldier froze—
—and Dohyun pounced.
Dohyun ripped his blade free from the corpse—
—and drove it straight toward the surviving soldier's heart.
The soldier tried to raise his spear to block—but his spear was still stuck through the corpse's body.
He couldn't even lift it halfway.
He was skewered through the heart.
Just as his ally had been.
The trembling in the man's body stopped.
Dohyun pulled out his blade.
The entire fight took barely 30 seconds.
The glowing motes of Will rose from the corpses and soaked into Dohyun.
That should count as fast, right?
Dohyun sheathed his blade with a satisfied smile and turned toward Seung-yeon.
While he had easily taken out two more soldiers in an instant—
Seung-yeon was still fighting her one soldier, and had only just started the actual exchange.
"Everyone, watch closely! You'll see how well I fight! That one-second loss was just because the opponent was too strong!"
- it's the return of CHUtorial Victoria- next up: 1-second loss 2.0- pathetic, excuses, can't do anything as usual
"HIIIIYAAAH!"
Seung-yeon let out a battle cry and swung her sword.
A perfectly straight — and perfectly predictable — downward slash.
Naturally, no matter how weak a mob enemy is, none of them would fall for something this obvious.
CLANG!
The soldier batted her sword aside with a horizontal sweep of his spear and immediately thrust forward.
The spear shot toward her neck—she yelped and leapt backward.
A thin cut ripped across her cheek.
If she had been even slightly slower, the spear would've gone straight through her skull.
"T-that was close…"
- LOL- how did she survive that- come on mob soldier you can do it!!- just a little more… just a bit more…
"Hey!! Whose side are you guys on?! You should be cheering for me, not him!!"
**- Of course we're on the soldiers' side ^^7
Loyalty, loyalty ^^7
We support the soldier ^^7
Hang in there, soldier ^^7**
The messages flying up the chat made Seung-yeon tremble with pure rage.
Anyone could see they weren't cheering for her—they were mocking her.
I should've finished him instantly…
If she had, she might've regained at least a shred of the dignity she lost after the back-to-back one-second defeats.
But her ambitious plan had crumbled from the start.
The mob soldier—who she assumed would be weak—was much stronger than expected.
If this were the tutorial, he wouldn't have been able to deflect her attack, and she would've overwhelmed him and won.
But these soldiers weren't weakened.
They were far too strong for her to crush quickly.
Can… I even win?
Even she couldn't confidently say she could beat this buffed-up mob enemy.
And if she lost to a mob enemy here?
Not only would the clip be immortalized online—it would be exported everywhere, plastered across streams and communities, raising her reputation as a "spicy streamer" to a legendary level.
Which was good as a streamer, yes…
But terrible as a person!! I absolutely cannot lose to a mob again!!
"Ssssss… haaah—"
With a long breath, she held her sword in the middle stance, trying to steady her mind.
To most players, this was just a common mob.
To her, it was effectively a boss.
If she didn't forget that—if she branded it into her heart—she could win.
No, she had to win.
I'm going to win!
She gritted her teeth and charged the soldier.
But gritting one's teeth doesn't make awful physical capability magically improve.
If that were possible, she wouldn't be known as the spicy streamer in the first place.
"Die, intruder!"
"You die—! Please! Just die already!!"
**- that scream came straight from the stomach;;
have we ever heard her speak so sincerely before…
I'm crying this is so moving
soldier, just a little more… we believe in you…**
Seung-yeon and the soldier engaged in a complete brawl.
Yes, they swung weapons at each other, deflected, dodged—but it was utterly pathetic.
There were no stylish moves. No elegant footwork.
They just swung their swords and spears like clubs, and hopped backward like frightened rabbits.
But after a scrappy, desperate struggle—victory finally went to Seung-yeon.
She managed to parry once—barely—startling the soldier.
Using that single moment, she practically dove onto him, knocked him over, and rammed her sword into his neck.
She stabbed him to death while half-falling onto him.
Panting hard on top of the corpse, she raised her trembling fist.
"I WON!!!"
**- …I can't believe she actually won
disappointing tbh
not entertaining
where's that old Victoria stream quality
honestly she should've lost for content**
Seung-yeon basked in her victory, ignoring chat entirely.
She was used to this by now.
After savoring her win for a moment, she turned to Dohyun with sparkling eyes full of anticipation.
"So? How was it, Master? We can make this 'turning Victoria into a human' project succeed, right? Right?"
"Well… uh, see… Sis."
"When you're my Master, you should call me 'disciple' and speak freely! It's fine, really!"
"…Alright. Just remember—you told me to. Don't complain later. And calling you 'disciple' is kinda weird…"
"Then just call me 'Sis'—now hurry and give feedback, Master! What did I do wrong?"
Dohyun took a deep breath.
Honestly, the truth would sting, so he hesitated.
But she insisted—and this was her own idea in the first place—so he had no choice but to say it.
This was the responsibility she brought upon herself.
"You want to know what the problem is? Sis, I'll be blunt."
His voice hardened.
"Everything. From start to finish. Every single thing is a problem. There are so many problems I'd rather you ask what ISN'T a problem. It's a complete catastrophe."
**- COMPLETE CATASTROPHE LMAOOOO
her physical stats really are from another dimension
fact) he's telling the truth**
Once he started talking, it became easy to continue.
Dohyun unloaded nonstop.
"Even the way you swung your sword at the start was full of issues. Why did you swing in a way that basically screamed 'please parry me'? You should've blocked first and counterattacked. And why do you jump backwards like that? Are you a grasshopper?"
"But I was scared I'd get stabbed!"
"Even if you're scared, you can't dodge like that! You have to think about the next attack! At least dodge properly! Next problem: aren't you holding a sword? Why are you swinging it like a club?"
"I did? Really? I swear it felt like a proper slash…"
"It wasn't. You smacked the soldier's shoulder with the flat of the blade. If you'd actually used the edge, the fight would've ended much sooner."
**- ahhh yes THIS is the truth we needed
so relatable I was grabbing my neck watching her use the blade WRONG
I saw her clubbing with the sword LMAO**
Dohyun listed everything wrong with her technique, one by one.
Honestly, it was just retelling the entire disastrous fight in words.
Because in his eyes—everything she did was wrong.
From the beginning, to the middle, to the end.
Everything.
"But now that you know the problems, you can fix them! Master! Let's fight again!"
Despite the brutal, truth-filled beatdown, Seung-yeon bounced back instantly.
She already knew she fought badly. She had prepared herself to be roasted.
If anything, she was excited to finally understand exactly what was wrong.
Because if she fixed even half of that, she could at least reach the level of a "barely functional human."
But Dohyun's expression as he searched for the next group of soldiers… was not enthusiastic.
Will this actually work…?
He wanted to be hopeful.
But her hopeless physical ability weighed heavily on his mind.
There was a chance… but…
Eventually, they found another squad.
They engaged again.
Dohyun, now even more familiar with the empowered body from Sword Soul, dispatched three soldiers instantly—and then looked to Seung-yeon.
She stood tense, sword in hand, repeating Dohyun's advice.
"Focus on defense, dodge properly, use the blade to cut…"
But if one pep talk were enough to fix her, she never would've earned her reputation as a "spicy streamer."
She started with a decent stance—
—but quickly regressed into another chaotic brawl.
Rolling, hopping away, clubbing with the flat of her blade, slapping spears with the side of her sword—
a complete trainwreck.
Dohyun covered his face with his hand.
He couldn't even bring himself to watch the rest.
He simply could not endure the sight of this catastrophic battle unfolding…