I Have a Reason to Hate Streamers

The greatsword wielded by the hero is slightly longer than the user's height.
The grip is large enough to comfortably hold with both hands fully extended, and the blade's length and weight fit the name 'greatsword' perfectly.
The armor is a full plate, a proper symbol of a knight class.

On the outside, she looks like a female knight clad in grayscale armor.
At first glance, the impression she gives is one of elegance and formality.
If I had to find a flaw... perhaps her build is a little smaller than typical knights?

Even with her skill, she's still a bit smaller than Ga-wol, her body size just slightly larger.
Thanks to her youthful appearance, her face looks as if she could be a pretty young girl.
Now, she's recognized as a veteran pro gamer by everyone, but at least on the outside, that's what it appeared to be.

Because of this, people unfamiliar with Inbl’s esports often picked the "most different player from their first impression" and pointed to Hero.

The last match in the World Championship quarterfinals.
It was the first set between W Titans and Falcon.
The greatsword, which doesn't reflect light, collided with the katana.

[Passive: Martial Soul]
[The amount of damage that can be countered with parrying is increased. For physical attacks, beneficial effects are added to the judgment...]
[Target: Falcon Insane]

The clash between the slender katana and the heavy greatsword.
As expected, Insane's weapon was effortlessly deflected.
His arm, unable to withstand the shock, was forcefully pushed back, leaving his defense wide open.

Hero grinned, revealing her teeth.
With her armored right foot, she kicked Insane's torso, pushing him away.
The swordsman’s body flew several meters and crashed onto the ground.

In the World Championship quarterfinals, there are no players who show mercy to the enemy.
Even if you’re sent flying and rolling, if you can’t prepare a defense, death will come.

Insane vomited blood from his mouth.
As soon as he knelt down to regain his defense posture, the next attack came crashing in.

“You’re better than I heard!”
“Ugh...”

Wherever Hero's sword goes, there’s always wind that follows.
The overwhelming force and might. The air displaced by the huge greatsword returns to its original place.
So, when facing that beast-like female knight and her sword, it feels like both sword and storm are rushing toward you.

The swordplay is as rough as it gets.
Her supernatural strength creates an impossible speed and change of direction.
It didn’t feel like I was facing a well-trained swordswoman, but more like a ferocious wild beast.@@novelbin@@

Insane gritted his teeth, barely managing to retreat.
Neither his attack nor defense was properly executed.
What should I say... fighting Hero felt like a whole different genre altogether.

It’s not just about the sword, though.
Almost all martial arts are like playing chess with your body.
The higher the level, the more intense the psychological warfare and strategic battles in this game.

Especially, battles between swordsmen could truly be called art.
The position and angle of the blade, the direction and weight of the force, posture, and speed.

I can’t know what others think, but at least Insane thought so.

“But... that foolish woman!”

At first, I thought maybe I made a mistake.
But no matter how I think about it, there was no problem with the position or timing of the sword's collision.
Since the greatsword is a heavy weapon, I made sure to adjust the trajectory to deflect it.

This was a technique Ga-wol’s swordsman often used.
With Insane’s capabilities, performing such a fine-tuned technique like Ga-wol was impossible.
Nevertheless, I’m sure of it; that attack should have been blocked properly.

It was because the swordplay Ga-wol drew and mine were perfectly identical.
I had a perfect mental image of Ga-wol’s swordplay from the arena.
I couldn’t recreate it exactly, but I could at least compare it.

When artificial intelligence first defeated humans in Go,
it’s said that a strange wind blew through the Go world.
Even if they didn’t understand the principles, just copying the AI’s moves would shift the balance in their favor.

Understanding the meaning can come later.
For now, I just need to mimic Ga-wol's sword as closely as possible.
By slightly modifying it depending on the situation, I could see a noticeable improvement in my win rate.

But still, if it doesn’t work, it means only one thing.
No matter how artistic the technique, it means nothing in the face of that crazy woman's strength!
A simple, brute-force strike shattered the aesthetics of the sword.

《Insane player is suffering accumulated damage!》
《Hehehe... You really do make me laugh every time I see you, don’t you?》
《Even though that was a successful parry, he was still pushed back, huh?》
《The swordsman receives a large bonus for parrying, but the power was too strong to cover completely.》
《It would have been dangerous if he had taken a direct hit.》

Inbl’s parrying is never invincible.
Even if a player with inhuman reflexes shows up one day, parrying alone cannot lead to domination.
There are attacks where parrying is impossible without the "owner of the sword," and if the force is too strong, you still take damage even if the parry succeeds.

While the opponent freely swings that crazy power, I can’t even get my sword to meet theirs.
Even if I manage to parry with difficulty, I can’t fully block the damage.
And I don’t have the speed to outmatch them either.

I know.
That kind of power doesn’t come for free.
Yet, it feels unreasonable.

With two supporters, Hero herself is the vanguard and the main force.
In close combat, she has almost no match in the world.
Even if it shifts to ranged combat, W Titans’ sniper "Recoil" is notorious.

No matter how I advance or retreat, there’s no solution.
With a feeling of helplessness, Falcon experienced a crushing defeat.

[Author: Peropero]
[Title: Falcon Insane Post-match Interview]

Q. It was a highly anticipated season, but your journey ends here.

Q. It was your first encounter with Hero. If you had to pinpoint the reason for your defeat?
A. I don’t want to make excuses for my loss. I felt the match-up was quite bad... but there must have been another way. I humbly accept my defeat.

……

Q. In the next semifinals, Hero and Ga-wol’s swordsmen will face off.
A. Honestly, even Ga-wol would have a hard time. I’m not trying to undermine her skill. But I don’t think anyone can block Hero’s sword. Maybe I’ll approach it in a different way.

What the hell is this pathetic guy saying?
He’s blaming the match-up when it’s his fault he got destroyed, right?
From what I see, you just weren’t good enough.

I thought Hero and Insane’s match would be useful data for me.
But then I saw it, and what a mess.
Insane’s swordplay was so strange it didn’t even help me.

Who the hell taught him to fight like that?
The technique itself was decent, but the way he used it was odd.

If he has a teacher, I really want to see his face.
Did they have a bad relationship?
It felt like they intentionally taught him poorly.

I was curious and watched on the way to the arena,
but it seems I made a mistake.

“Daeun, you should start waking up now... You’ve been awake?”
“Huh? Oh, I didn’t sleep for that long.”
“You looked tired. Anyway, let’s go. A quick briefing and we’ll head up.”
“I’m fine. Just took a short nap.”
“Really? Then, I’m glad.”

A week passed by like a bullet.
We reinforced the weakened team synergy and made preparations for the enemy.
Even when we tried our best, it always felt like time wasn’t enough.

The voices of the excited commentators reached us.
The foreign language from far away was hard to understand,
but I could clearly distinguish the Korean commentary.

《Finally, today has arrived!》
《World Championship Semifinals! Sigma eSports vs. W Titans.》
《IKL’s hopes face North America’s giants. Only the true strongest teams remain.》
《But there’s no need to be intimidated. Sigma’s performance so far definitely deserves to be here.》

By the time we reached the semifinals, you could tell they were putting more effort into the match.
Some procedures had been added before the game,
like analyzing championship stats and identifying key points to watch for.

Thanks to that, we had more time to prepare.
I finished final adjustments with the team and gathered my thoughts calmly.

《...Ga-wol and Hero’s upcoming showdown is also drawing a lot of attention.》
《Ga-wol is considered the best in 1v1, but Hero becomes even stronger with support.》
《We’ll have to see how it plays out when they face each other at full strength.》
《At this point, it’s a battle between the swordsman who represents power and the one who represents technique.》
《The prediction at the analysis desk is 5-5. Expecting a fierce battle of blades.》

I can do it. I can win.
I won’t show weakness.
I’m no longer a child clinging to others.

It’s time to graduate.