Chapter 6 Samurai Hearts – Tutorial (6)

Seung-yeon and Dohyun, and Tatsuki immediately retraced their steps and returned to the castle.

Was it because they ran in a hurry, unlike when they walked leisurely before?

Not long after they arrived at the place they had departed from, they saw Atsuragi Castle ablaze.

Around the castle, soldiers wearing armor emblazoned with the Atsuragi Family crest lay dead.

It was a clear sign that something was wrong with the castle.

“The castle is on fire… How could this happen?”

Tatsuki shouted in dismay.

He gritted his teeth and spurred his horse on, shouting, “Iyah!” towards the castle.

Dohyun, who was watching from behind, widened his eyes.

The castle seemed to have already fallen, yet he was charging in there alone.

Was he crazy and trying to die?

He quickly tried to stop Tatsuki, but his body didn’t move as he wished.

Only then did Dohyun realize.

‘Ah, it’s an event in progress.’

He hadn’t noticed it because it was so natural, but he and Seung-yeon were already in an event cutscene.

If that weren’t the case, Seung-yeon, who already knew some of the story, wouldn’t have let Tatsuki’s sudden action go unchecked.

He guessed that the event cutscene probably started when they saw the burning castle.

“Young Lord! It’s dangerous!”

Seung-yeon shouted and chased after Tatsuki, and Dohyun did the same.

Of course, this was just an event cutscene following a predetermined route.

It meant that Dohyun didn’t need to control his running body, which meant he could do other things.

So, Dohyun rolled his eyes and surveyed the surroundings.

‘There are quite a few enemies. Is this okay?’

It wasn’t just the bodies of Atsuragi Family soldiers around the burning castle.

There was no result without a cause.

Those who appeared to have killed them were wandering around the castle.

They wore the same crest as the enemies they had faced in the forest, the symbol of the Nagamatsu Clan, and were seen everywhere.

Most of them were armed with spears, but some were equipped with bows and arquebuses.

If they recklessly charged in like this, it would be difficult to survive if they were surrounded.

‘Well, there must be a way to break through.’

It was a game after all.

Even in a difficult situation, there would definitely be a way to clear it.

Even if they failed, it would just be game over, so Dohyun decided to just watch.

“Who is that…?”

Tatsuki’s presence, madly spurring his horse, couldn’t remain hidden forever.

All the enemy soldiers were walking, while he was the only one riding a horse, making him even more conspicuous.

A samurai wearing armor, who seemed to be the leader of the enemy group wandering around the castle, noticed Tatsuki and spoke with a questioning voice.

Atsuragi Castle had already fallen.

All that was left for them to do was to deal with the remnants.

There was no reason for him to rush in like a madman.

Therefore, the leader samurai, who was carefully observing Tatsuki, suddenly widened his eyes.

He was in a relatively high position, so he could recognize who Tatsuki was.

“Atsuragi Tatsuki…! He’s one of the enemy leaders! Capture him!”

The enemy soldiers, hearing the leader samurai’s shout, rushed towards Tatsuki all at once.

Tatsuki, who was galloping, saw them and shouted back.

“Alright! I am Atsuragi Tatsuki! Come at me, you filthy invaders!”

However, unlike his lion-like roar, Tatsuki’s swordsmanship was not very good.

In the first place, Tatsuki was not a samurai but a young lord.

He had only learned the basics of swordsmanship and was learning how to govern his territory.

Naturally, he couldn’t possibly have the swordsmanship to defeat dozens of enemy soldiers single-handedly.

Moreover, Tatsuki had only just reached adulthood (16 years old).

He was too young to have developed advanced swordsmanship.

It was only fortunate that he was on horseback, or he would have been captured quickly.

“Ugh!”

Tatsuki was pushed into a corner and in danger amidst the rushing enemies.

His horse, entangled by the enemy soldiers, fell, and Tatsuki tumbled to the ground.

“Young Lord…!”

It was at that moment that Seung-yeon and Dohyun arrived at the battlefield.

They had finally caught up to the distance Tatsuki had created by riding alone.

“You bastards! Get away from the Young Lord!”

Seung-yeon and Dohyun, who had joined the battle, brandished their swords, and the enemy soldiers, overwhelmed by their momentum, hesitated and retreated.

However, they did not completely break the encirclement.

They merely created a little more distance and surrounded them.

They were ready to pounce at any moment if they saw an opening.

Seung-yeon and Dohyun stood their ground, as if protecting Tatsuki, who was groaning in pain.

And finally, the event cutscene ended.

‘No, it ends like this?’

Dohyun, who had regained control of his body, muttered in astonishment.

Enemies in front, enemies on the sides, enemies behind.

He was surrounded by enemies on all sides, and the event suddenly ended with a burden to protect.

Didn’t it seem like they were deliberately pushing the player to their death?

But why would a game deliberately push the player to game over?

Confused, he looked at Seung-yeon, who was also frowning.

“Ugh, even though I’ve seen this once, it’s still so frustrating. What was this kid thinking, coming here alone?”

-I totally agree

-He just ran in blindly

-Early frustrating developments are a cliché!

Dohyun asked Seung-yeon, who was chatting with the viewers.

“Is this okay?”

“Huh? Ah, it’s okay. It’s okay. You don’t get a game over even if you die here.”

“You don’t get a game over? Then what happens?”

“The event keeps going. Whether you keep holding out here or get defeated by the enemies, the event continues.”

Dohyun understood Seung-yeon’s explanation.

In short, this was an event where defeat was allowed.

You could win if you had the ability, but it was a format that continued even if you didn’t.

“Ah, is that so?”

“Yeah. What do you want to do? Should we just get defeated right away, or should we hold out until reinforcements arrive?”

“Hmm. Then—”

Dohyun, who had been pondering for a moment, suddenly swung his sword while speaking.

With a metallic clang, the spear blade that had been aiming for him from a blind spot was deflected.

He stabbed his sword into the enemy’s opening, which had been revealed as naturally as breathing, and continued speaking.

“—Let’s hold out. I don’t want to just die.”

“Okay. Let’s hold out. I’ll have to show off my improved skills here again!”

Seung-yeon shouted confidently and raised her sword.

It was a confident attitude.

However, there was a valid reason for her confidence.

As mentioned earlier, she had repeated the tutorial several times and practiced.

Naturally, she had become somewhat skilled, and she had even succeeded in holding out until reinforcements arrived during her practice.

‘Only once, though…’

Still, success was success.

If she made good use of her experience at that time, she would be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

Besides, she now had her reliable ally, her younger brother, didn’t she?

With Dohyun, an Overachiever, holding out would be much easier.

Everything was smiling on her.

It was no wonder she was so confident.

“No mic, full concentration!”

-Wow! A declaration of full concentration!

-‘That statement’

-I think you died right after saying that last time

-You’ll get banned if you bring up that story; be careful;

Seung-yeon suppressed the dark history that was trying to surface because of the viewers’ chat.

It was time to really concentrate from now on.

Gritting her teeth, she really focused on deflecting the enemy’s attacks without saying a word.

Perhaps it was because she had practiced several times and had a reliable ally.

She showed even better skills than when she was practicing and repelled the enemies’ attacks.

Although she couldn’t defeat the enemy soldiers, she also didn’t allow the opponent’s attacks even once.

It was clearly a skill that had surpassed her limits.

In fact, it was only something that anyone with normal physical abilities could do.

But who was Seung-yeon?

Wasn’t she the owner of disastrous, even terrible, physical abilities?

The fact that she had endured so easily was truly amazing.

‘The viewers must be surprised, right?’

Seung-yeon, who had some leeway after pushing back the attacking enemy, glanced at the viewers’ chat.

-Wow… This is crazy

-Is that skill real?

-That was possible, wow.

The viewers were definitely surprised.

However, unlike Seung-yeon’s expectations, it wasn’t her improved skills that surprised them.

It was her younger brother, Dohyun, who was fighting behind her, that shocked the viewers.

The viewers’ attention was only fixed on Dohyun.

It wasn’t that there were no viewers watching her, but they were in the extreme minority.

‘What’s so great about him?’

Seung-yeon, suddenly curious, stepped back slightly and turned around.

There, she saw as many as eight corpses and Dohyun naturally lowering his sword.

It was truly an overwhelming sight!

So much so that the enemy soldiers surrounding Dohyun seemed to be hesitating out of fear of him.

Although there was no way that artificial intelligence, which only acted as programmed, could feel such emotions.

‘He killed eight people in the meantime?’

He had killed eight enemies in less than a few minutes of fighting.

It was an incomparable result compared to Seung-yeon, who had only managed to deflect attacks.

It was no wonder that the viewers were doubting their eyes.

-Two sword strikes per person, so awesome

-I kept watching, and he didn’t fail to parry even once

-Is that the first time he’s playing VR? I feel so deprived…

The viewers were constantly talking about Dohyun’s performance just now.

It meant that Dohyun’s physical abilities had impressed them that much, and Seung-yeon herself was curious as she watched their conversation.

“Wow… I didn’t see it, but was it that good?”

-Yeah, it was crazy. Totally crazy

-It doesn’t look like there’s anyone among the people who play VR at game rooms who can compare

-Isn’t it even his first time today? If he optimizes the device settings, he’ll really go wild

‘I want to see how he did it.’

Just as Seung-yeon was thinking that, an enemy soldier bravely charged at Dohyun.

A charge with a spearhead.

It was the most common pattern shown by ordinary grunts, and it was an attack that even Seung-yeon could parry without much difficulty.

In a normal situation, it wouldn’t have been a threat at all.

‘But it’s different now.’

It wasn’t a 1-on-1 situation with an enemy soldier.

It was an extremely unfavorable situation where they were surrounded and attacked by dozens of enemies!

The surrounding enemy soldiers were waiting to pounce as soon as they saw even the slightest opening.

Even if the enemy soldier’s attack was easy to parry, if he tried to kill him after parrying it as usual, he would probably be pierced in the side by the spears of the enemy soldiers who were aiming for an opportunity.

That was why Seung-yeon had succeeded in parrying the attacks but had not been able to kill the enemies.

‘He killed eight people in this situation?’

While Seung-yeon was sending him expectant glances, Dohyun met the enemy soldier’s charge.

His actions were not great.

He raised the lowered sword to match the height, pulled it back, and stabbed it towards the spear blade.

That was all.

Clang!

That alone was enough to parry the enemy soldier’s charge.

“Ugh!”

The enemy soldier who had been parried by Dohyun dropped his spear, but he couldn’t kill the momentum of his charge.

Dohyun, who had turned the tip of his sword, cut off the neck of the enemy soldier who was rushing in with a surprised expression.

The sword blade drew a chilling straight line.

After the sound of cutting, the enemy soldier fell to the ground with a thud.