Chapter 10 Samurai Hearts – Tutorial (10)

Seung-yeon, Dohyun, and even the viewers watching the broadcast were unaware, but Sword Saint Kato actually had a secret.

It was information that probably no one but the Samurai Hearts development team knew.

That was, the event of catching the tutorial boss, Sword Saint Hatsuragi Kato, was actually an event where the player’s defeat was already decided.

Not an event where ‘defeat is allowed,’ but an event where ‘defeat is necessary.’

This was a little different from when they were protecting Tatsuki and waiting for reinforcements.

At that time, whether they succeeded or failed, reinforcements would arrive and the event would proceed.

On the other hand, the event of catching Sword Saint Kato would only continue if the player was defeated.

So, the Samurai Hearts production team made sure that during the battle with Sword Saint Kato, the player would be put in a situation where they ‘couldn’t help but lose.’

Of course, it wasn’t too direct.

It didn’t mean that a sword would suddenly fly in an unblockable trajectory and pierce their heart.

At most, they would suddenly cut off the correction effect or trip them up.

However, the boss, Sword Saint Kato, was so outstanding that even that had never been revealed until now.

That’s right.

Until this moment, that was the case.

“Kuh?!”

When Dohyun first stumbled on a rock that suddenly appeared, he thought it was a coincidence.

He just thought there was a rock he hadn’t noticed.

He didn’t pay special attention to it.

Even though his balance was momentarily disturbed, he somehow managed to block the sword.

“Ugh?!”

But the second and third times followed.

The causes were various.

Flying sparks completely obscured his vision, or a deeply dug-out spot appeared where he stepped.

Even Dohyun, who initially thought it was a coincidence, couldn’t fail to notice after it happened so blatantly.

Dohyun was able to grasp everything within a 10-meter radius around him with his unbelievable cognitive abilities.

For him to suddenly trip on a rock and step into a pit without noticing?

Impossible!

‘Something intervened.’

Something unidentified was interfering and confusing Dohyun’s senses.

And its purpose was clear.

His defeat.

‘What the hell?’

Dohyun didn’t know, but it was the system.

Since Dohyun hadn’t been defeated even after Sword Saint Kato took out another sword and showed off the Two Heavens Style, the system hidden by the Samurai Hearts production team was activated.

If it weren’t for Dohyun, the player would have lost to Sword Saint Kato at this point and thought they had lost unfairly.

They would have gnashed their teeth, saying they lost because of bad luck, tripping on a rock, having their vision obscured by sparks, and stepping into a pit.

But Dohyun wasn’t a typical gamer.

A monster who had talent molded into human form!

That’s why he was able to notice the strange signs right away.

‘Do you think I’ll give in easily?’

Dohyun bared his teeth and smiled brightly.

No one knew that it was an expression of anger that had crossed the threshold.

Because no one had ever made Dohyun that angry before.

Dohyun was literally furious.

Since they were trying to arbitrarily suppress his righteous anger, it was only natural that even greater anger would surge.

Dohyun, who was filled with anger and stubbornness, decided to kill Sword Saint Kato no matter what.

“Try to receive this as well, warrior!”

Sword Saint Kato had no idea what Dohyun was feeling.

He shouted in an excited voice.

At the same time, his sword clearly drew two paths of swordsmanship under the moonlight.

Saa-

The sword in his left hand emitted a pure white light, drawing a circle that was split in half.

Shwiiik!

The sword in his right hand pierced out in an instant, like a beast lying in wait.

The two swords subtly intersected, trying to tear apart the opponent, Dohyun.

Until now, no one had ever survived while blocking the two paths of swordsmanship drawn by these two swords.

Only one person, only the Seii Taishogun, admired the technique after seeing it, saying, “It can truly be called the fangs of a dragon and the claws of a tiger.”

That’s why it was named.

Two Heavens Style Secret Technique.

Dragon Fang Tiger Claw.

Of course, it was a story in the setting.

‘To this extent…!’

Dohyun gritted his teeth.

Even in the face of the nearly miraculous swordsmanship of the dragon’s fangs and tiger’s claws being unleashed simultaneously, he didn’t stop.

His violent talent instantly came up with a way to block it, even amidst this dizzying skill.

And faster than he could think of it, his body was moving!

‘If I block here!’

There is an intersection in the paths drawn by the two swords.

If he preemptively blocks that spot, how could he not block this skill?

But Dohyun didn’t know.

That this was the moment the system wanted.

“Kuh…?!”

Dohyun, who was trying to block the two swords by raising his sword diagonally, let out a groan of astonishment.

Crack! Clang!

The first sword, Dohyun’s sword that blocked the dragon’s fangs drawing a semicircle, shattered as if screaming.

The broken blade scattered in all directions.

The worst situation.

He no longer had the means to block the tiger’s claws that would follow.

Sword Saint Kato grinned savagely and thrust the sword in his right hand.

A chilling shiver ran down his spine.

In the face of the clear premonition of defeat, Dohyun’s eyes shone faintly.

‘Lose? Like this? In this kind of way?’

He could have accepted it if he had lost because his abilities were lacking.

He wouldn’t have denied it if Sword Saint Kato’s sword could truly defeat him.

But not like this.

He couldn’t lose like this.

‘Don’t be ridiculous…!’

Dohyun’s concentration was rising endlessly.

Beyond the limit, and even further.

And again, to an even higher place than that.

Dohyun had entered a Zone he had never entered before in his life.

If there was someone who realized his condition, they would have called it a ‘Synchronization Rate Overload.’

‘───’

Momentarily.

Everything in the world that Dohyun saw slowed down.

Each and every scattering blade fragment was visible to his eyes, and the sword thrusting at him became infinitely slow.

He could move every muscle in his body as he pleased, and even a single strand of hair existed under his control.

All things in the universe were placed under Dohyun’s perception.

‘───’

What moved Dohyun in a world where even the speed of thought couldn’t reach was his talent.

He twisted his body to avoid the sword thrusting at him, and trapped the blade between his two palms.

He twisted it as if forcibly pressing down on the blade that was wriggling and trying to maintain its original trajectory.

The blade containing the Sword Saint’s will resisted, but Dohyun’s talent was stronger than that.

He made an impossible act possible with his violent talent.

‘───’

And at the same time, he took another action.

An action that anyone would think was crazy, but that was so naturally accomplished for him.

After that infinitely long moment, everything returned to normal.

Thwack-!

With a chilling sound, the blade plunged deep into the flesh.

Not Dohyun’s body, but Sword Saint Kato’s body.

“Kuh… Heok!”

Sword Saint Kato let out a rough breath at the sensation of the cold blade piercing his lungs.

His eyes were filled with deep confusion.

Let’s say he grabbed the sword with his bare hands and twisted its trajectory, which was an absurd action.

But what was this blade?

Dohyun’s sword had clearly shattered, so how could it stab him?

Looking down with trembling eyes, he saw Dohyun, like a demon, with a broken blade in his mouth.

His lips were torn and bleeding because he had a sharp piece of metal in his mouth, but the blue demon fire rising from his eyes did not go out.

Deep admiration appeared in Sword Saint Kato’s eyes.

“Truly… a paragon of warriors…!”

Sword Saint Kato staggered back and collapsed on the spot.

He dropped the sword he was holding and sprawled out as if collapsing.

Dohyun’s blade that he bit and stabbed was deeply embedded in his lungs, so he couldn’t stand.

If Sword Saint Kato had been wearing armor, the story would have been different, but he was wearing a light yukata.

Thanks to that, the piece of blade in Dohyun’s mouth was able to penetrate deep into the Sword Saint’s body.

“Cough…!”

The Sword Saint, with a blade fragment embedded in his lungs, coughed up blood roughly.

Dohyun looked down at Sword Saint Kato with a calm expression.

Victor and loser.

Who won and who lost.

The structure was so clear.

The first to react to the victory that no one had expected were the enemies.

“Protect the Sword Saint!”

The man standing behind the Sword Saint shouted as if screaming.

Then, three figures in black clothes emerged from the dark shadows and rushed towards Dohyun.

Those who looked like darkness itself, with their faces covered with black masks.

Ninjas!

Enemies who would originally appear in the middle of Chapter 1, let alone the tutorial, were now appearing in this place!

‘Did he win? He won?! My brother won! But what are those bastards! If my brother won against the Sword Saint, they should just disappear, why are those bastards popping out!’

-Wow, what a reward

-No, damn it! But he won against the Sword Saint? In the tutorial? The Sword Saint who wasn’t weakened?

-Aren’t those ninjas? Why are ninjas coming out now?

-★Kai : Ninja?! OMG! unbelievable!

-Wow, this broadcast is really legendary

Ninjas.

Along with samurai, they are the ones who represent the military power of the era.

If the samurai are the swords of the yang, the ninjas are the hidden swords of the yin.

However, to Dohyun, they were just annoying obstructors.

“……!”

As befitting well-trained ninjas, they thrust their swords while letting out silent shouts.

The ends of the ninjas’ swords, which they thrust while charging as if throwing their bodies, were black.

Even without a weapon in his hand, Dohyun’s reaction was quick.

He stepped back to create distance, and at the same time, he swung his right arm violently and knocked away the ninjas’ swords.

Clang-!

Surprisingly, it worked.

Whether it was because the act of knocking away with his hand was accepted as a parry, sparks flew and the ninjas fell backward.

It was easier than grabbing the Sword Saint’s sword with his bare hands and twisting its trajectory, but it had an even greater visual effect.

It goes without saying that Seung-yeon and the viewers who were watching this were shocked.

“Ugh…!”

But would ninjas be ninjas for nothing?

Dohyun, who felt his strength rapidly draining from his right arm that had knocked away the ninjas’ swords, glanced at his arm.

The tip of his hand, which was faintly exposed through the armor that had been scraped away by the ninjas’ swords, was turning black.

He couldn’t check the part covered by the armor, but he could guess that it was also rapidly changing color.

‘Is it poison?’

The reason why ninjas are difficult is because of the poison applied to the ninjas’ swords they carry.

A poison that will poison you even if you are cut only once.

Would they be ninjas for nothing?

If they had fought with swordsmanship, they would have been called samurai.

But they fearlessly used things other than swordsmanship, such as poison and traps.

Dohyun didn’t know that.

That was his miscalculation.

‘My right arm won’t move at all.’

In fact, Dohyun thought it might be poison when he saw the end of the ninjas’ swords were black.

However, the only way to escape the situation was to knock them away with his bare hands, so he had no choice but to choose that path.

He had a glimmer of hope that he might be able to prevent poisoning if it was a perfect parry…

‘It doesn’t work. Damn it.’

Cold sweat dripped down his spine.

Fortunately, he managed to pick up the sword that Sword Saint Kato was using with the time he bought by knocking away the ninjas.

But now that his right arm was paralyzed by the poison, did that really mean anything?

‘What should we do, everyone? Kratos is right-handed. But his right arm happened to be poisoned! If he lost, he should just disappear, why is he being so pathetic!’

-Ah… is this the end here?

-I was wondering what would come out after the Sword Saint and the ninjas, but it’s a shame

-More than that, is the number of viewers real right now?

-Trikey is going crazy right now. Victoria’s broadcast is rising in the rankings and they’re constantly promoting it. The number of people will continue to increase, right?