The Streamer From Another Dimension

Chapter 4 – Rookie, Day 1, Secondhand Streamer (3)

—–CROW—– 

Dying mid-game wasn’t particularly painful.  It seemed pain beyond a certain threshold was blocked.

When I came to, I was back where I’d started the game. Restarting meant I wasn’t supposed to die there.

Thinking back, the mob’s attack had a red effect. Was that a “no parry” indicator?

“This is unparryable, right? Should I block or dodge?”

– That’s not it. It’s parryable.

– Blocking wouldn’t have helped either.

– How do you explain this to a newbie?

– You use magic.

– How’s a newbie supposed to know what magic is, lol.

– Dodging works, but you’ll still die to the first boss.

Even after reading the chat, I couldn’t understand what they meant.

The mob clearly ignored my parry, so what did they mean by “parryable”? Was there some kind of more precise parry in this game?

– In Cube, there’s a type of control called magic.

– If you concentrate really hard and believe you can parry, it will happen.

– Sounds like BS, but it’s true.

“…I don’t understand, even after reading the chat.”

I couldn’t make heads or tails of what they were saying.

What even *was* magic? And believe? What, was this a religion?

[‘Demon King’s Magic Class’ donated 1,000 won!]

– (Switch clip)

“Oh, thank you for the first donation! What kind of clip is it?”

Switch had a donation feature where viewers could send money to streamers.

And they could include a message with their donation, not just text but also video or audio.

A Switch clip was a short video clip taken from a Switch broadcast.

– That won’t help her at all.

– Lol, that’s not a guide.

– Giving a Poka clip to a newbie, lol.

– Lol.

– Are they messing with her on purpose?

“How do I use magic?”

“Hmm… How should I explain this?”

“First, focus your mind and think about becoming stronger.”

“Then, an effect like this will appear, and it’ll activate.”

“What are you talking about? Why can’t you do it?”

“Huh? Nothing happens even if I focus.”

–  Why can’t you do it? (She actually said that.)

– Another Demon King clip.

– It’s true, though.

– True, but useless as a guide.

“What do you mean by ‘focus’?”

– It’s like self-hypnosis.

– Poka-nim’s explanation is correct.

– If you believe it yourself, it will happen.

– Imagine making your spear stronger.

“Hypnosis…”

I’d been into lucid dreaming and hypnosis before, so I’d studied them.  The most important thing about hypnosis was to deceive yourself.

I relaxed and held the spear still.

*This spear is strong. It won’t be cut by a mere sword.  That’s just how it is.*

– ??????

– She succeeded right away?

– No way, this talented freak.

– Why is she so good?

– Magical talent freak.

“Ah, is this how you do it? I’ve tried hypnosis before.”

– Ah, hypnosis…

– She’s a truly experienced newbie.

– What’s with this veteran rookie?

– I’ve seen people try hypnosis because of magic.

– This is the opposite, lol.

“I’ll continue for now.”

I went beyond parrying the first mob; I actually cut the enemy’s sword with my spear.

“Isn’t this a spear? You can cut a sword with a spear?”

– It’s possible with magic.

– Ah, so this is magic.

– Newbie is cute, lol.

– Common sense in our industry.

“But I have to kill them, right?”

– ????

– Huh?

– What are you talking about?

– This game has experience points.

– You absorb blood to increase your magic power.

– You want to do a pacifist run in Blood Emperor?

“Well, when I tried it earlier, I didn’t like the feeling of cutting something. It felt a bit… off, since it’s a humanoid mob…”

It wasn’t just that I disliked the feeling of cutting something; I thought it would be more interesting to play in a unique way.

Of course, I’d probably fail. I figured I could end the broadcast around then and try again next time.

– A Cube newbie might think that way.

– But how are you going to clear it without killing?

– You’ll be seriously short on magic power later on.

– Maintaining magic consumes magic power.

– Then try it, and if it’s too hard, come back and get the last hit.

“Oh, that’s a good idea. I’ll try incapacitating them for now.”

– There’s a broadcast where a newbie is doing a self-imposed hard mode!?

– Even Sword Saint didn’t think of that.

–  Who subdues mobs without killing them in a game with experience points?

– You need to kill them to get weapon upgrade materials.

–  It’s harder to incapacitate them without killing them anyway.

“Whoa, it’s getting harder from the second one.”

It was easy to incapacitate the first mob because only I was using magic.

But the second mob parried my attacks even when I used magic, making it tricky to subdue.

– They start using magic from there.

– But she’s parrying well.

– Sword confiscated for two weeks.

–  It’s hilarious how she takes their swords.

– Is this even possible?

“You’re right. I can progress without killing them?”

The path opened even if I only subdued the mobs without killing them.  So, it *was* possible to do a pacifist run in this game.

After that, the difficulty increased, with ranged mobs using crossbows appearing and multiple mobs attacking at the same time.

Of course, dealing with them wasn’t much different, so I handled them without any mistakes.

– Boss incoming.

– Was this the first boss?

– The boss entrance is cool.

– Blood Emperor is an indie game, but the directing is really good.

“No, from the boss onward… Ack!”

It wasn’t just a matter of subduing without killing.  I would lose even if I fought with all my might.

I had to abandon the idea of not killing and focus on stabbing and dodging.

Parrying worked, but it wasn’t very effective against the boss.

“Why is the first boss this difficult?!”

– It’s hard even if you’ve absorbed everyone’s blood.

– Look at how low her magic power is.

– She’ll die from lack of magic before she dies by mistake.

Still, I managed to block the incoming attacks pretty well.

Dodge, parry, and stab.  Simple actions, but the tension made it hard to even breathe.

After some time, the boss retreated, and the next phase began.

“The pattern is changing… Ack!”

I tried to retreat to observe the pattern, but a swarm of blood droplets suddenly erupted from the surroundings, piercing me.

– Lol.

–  My reaction when I first saw that, lol.

– That’s seriously messed up.

– It’s a boss pattern, but it’s so creepy.

“Ugh… What was that?”

– It’s a one-time pattern that occurs when entering Phase 2.

– You have to cover your entire body with magic to block it.

– It’s not easy because magic power is limited.

– It consumes a lot of magic, so you have to activate it efficiently.

I was starting to understand why Blood Emperor was called a crazy game.

An attack that came from the surroundings when you were focused on the boss…

And in this game, a direct hit from anything meant instant death.

After hearing the viewers’ explanation, I tested the defensive magic, and my magic power drained like crazy.

It seemed I had to give up on the pacifist run for this one.  I had no confidence in clearing this without more magic power.

[‘SnowFlowerMoonFlower’ hosted 712 viewers.]

“Huh?”

Switch had a hosting feature.  If streamer A, who was broadcasting, hosted streamer B, streamer B’s broadcast would be shown in streamer A’s slot.

In other words, it was a way to introduce other streamers to your viewers.

But this was happening on my first day?  And with 712 viewers, they must have been quite popular.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was a bit surprised. Thank you, SnowFlowerMoonFlower-nim, for the 712 viewer host.  Good work on your broadcast! Welcome, refugees. Hi hi.”

– Refugee hi~

– Refugee hi hi.

– Where am I?

– Wow, Cube newbie and Blood Emperor, lol.

– Talking about Blood Emperor makes me angry.

– Grrr… Grrr…

– Refugee hi, refugee hi.

Unlike before, the chat was scrolling at an incredible speed. It was hard to even read it all.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m WhiteStar, and I just started broadcasting. Today is my first time using the Cube, and I’m playing Blood Emperor for my first game.”

– She was doing a pacifist run and got wrecked by the boss.

– Blood Emperor, lol.

– A newbie doing a pacifist run?

– Wait, can you even do a pacifist run in Blood Emperor?

– You can’t progress in Blood Emperor if you don’t kill the mobs, right?

– How did she do that?

“Ah, I didn’t avoid them; I just subdued them without killing them. The path opened even if I subdued them. But I’m thinking of giving up after seeing the first boss. It’s too difficult.”

[‘SnowFlowerMoonFlower’ donated 1,000 won!]

– It’s the Goddess! 50,000 won if you clear the first boss with a pacifist run before ending the broadcast!

–  SnowFlower, what are you doing here?

– No way, lol.

– Even streamers are Soosus.

– She’s being way too obvious with her personal feelings, lol.

– Seems like a pretty safe investment.

– But can you even subdue the boss?

This was called a “mission,” where a condition was set, and the streamer would receive a donation if they fulfilled it.

If I kept failing without any particular goal, it would negatively affect the broadcast.  That’s why I was thinking of giving up on the pacifist run.

But a mission changed things.  Struggles with a purpose were entertaining.

And the person who set the mission was a streamer who had just hosted me.  Completing the mission would help me retain the viewers who came from the host.

“Thank you, SnowFlowerMoonFlower-nim, for the 1,000 won donation. I can’t refuse a mission. I’ll try a little longer.”

I fought the boss several more times, but magic power was always the problem.  Honestly, blocking the Phase 2 droplet attack wasn’t difficult. The problem was that I had no magic power left to fight afterward.

“Ugh, I’m getting used to the pattern, but magic power is the issue.”

– Those moans, oh la la.

– Normally, you’d replenish your magic power.

– But she can’t absorb blood with a pacifist run.

– At this rate, a pacifist run will be impossible from the next stage.

I couldn’t survive Phase 2 without magic power.  That meant I had to get through Phase 1 without using any magic.

But that was easier said than done.  Without magic, my attacks barely did any damage, and I couldn’t parry.

Of course, with enough practice, anything was possible.  But I couldn’t just practice endlessly.

“No, ack! I almost had it!”

Thanks to repeated practice, I started reaching Phase 2 more consistently, and it finally felt like I was fighting the boss on equal footing.

That’s why I’d almost cleared it just now.

– So close.

– But she can’t kill it.

– She’s almost there in terms of killing it.

– How’s she going to do it without killing it?

“Ah, right? I completely forgot.”

The problem was that my goal wasn’t to kill the boss.

Was this mission even possible?  It seemed like a sure thing for the donor.  I couldn’t see any way to clear it.

Even as I thought that, I kept trying.  As time passed, I reached the point where reaching Phase 2 was a given.

“Reducing its HP isn’t important.  Incapacitate, incapacitate…”

I had to disarm it, like the others.

But if I disarmed it in Phase 1, it would just pull out a new weapon when entering Phase 2. That would just be a waste of magic power.

“I have to disarm it in Phase 2?”

– Easier said than done.

– Still hasn’t cleared the first boss?

– Lol.

– Grrr… Grrr…

– Soosus, please take care of your dental health.

– She’s pretty good for a newbie.

– This pacifist run is giving me cancer.

“I’ll try a little longer. I’m getting greedy because I see a possibility.”

I focused on figuring out how to disarm the boss.

“Argh, damn it.”

Unlike Phase 1, the boss used a lot of magic in Phase 2.  That made magic consumption during the fight severe, and the complex patterns made dodging difficult.

So, it was extremely hard to disarm it without killing it.

As I fought the boss repeatedly, I suddenly had a realization.

“It has quite a lot of HP.”

Perhaps because it was a boss, it didn’t die from just any attack.

And if the enemy had a lot of HP, there was one thing I could try.

“Oh, that’s it!”

Since it was difficult to simply make it drop its weapon, I aimed to disable its hand, forcing it to drop the weapon.

Since it was a boss, it wouldn’t be significantly affected by losing a hand, so it was a viable strategy.

– Congrats congrats congrats.

– She did it.

– The severed hand is so creepy.

– Oh, the path is opening.

– It worked?

– Ah, lol, the boss’s sword is confiscated too.

[‘SnowFlowerMoonFlower’ donated 50,000 won!]

– Congrats! Same condition, 50,000 won for the next boss.

“Wow, thank you, SnowFlowerMoonFlower-nim, for the 50,000 won donation! Wow, I actually did it. Wait, the next boss…?”

– You’re really…

– Did you have to take it all!

– Why are we suffering from Blood Emperor even though we’re not watching SnowFlower’s broadcast?

– Guaaack, gyaaack.

– The next boss is seriously messed up.

– Lol, SnowFlower did 15 tries even after getting all the experience.

“Huh? Didn’t someone say there was a save point after beating the boss?”

– ? You’re right, where did it go?

– Usually, a pool of blood appears where you defeat the boss.

– Ah, right, you get it *after* defeating the boss.

– Lol, the save point vanished.

– What a god game.

– Lol.

What was going on?  I couldn’t save?

—–CROW—– 

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