kscans

Chapter 1 - 1

"Good evening. It’s time for the Hayate-Style Four-Sword Style Promotion Office."

After finishing my stream setup, I started reading out the names of the listeners who had greeted me in the comments.

"Tanapi-san, Hajime-san, Ryuji-san, Lena-san, Hina-san, Karl Kleiber-san, Tamanyan-san, The Customer Next Door Eats Customers Well-san, Haruka-san, good evening everyone!"

These were the people who always came to my streams. There were a few first-timers as well.

Several more people commented after that, but I decided to stop with the greetings for now. I would read more comments later when I had a moment.

"Alright, I’m going to start playing FWO. And for the record, today’s stream is, well. It’s a corporate sponsorship."

In the video streaming app’s comment section, things were getting lively.






Things like that were popping up.

A corporate sponsorship is when a game’s management company pays a streamer like me to introduce the game or announce a new event.

I started streaming games when I was in middle school, and now I have 300,000 subscribers. In the game I was about to play, FWO (Farum World Online), I had become a fairly high-ranking streamer.

"Do you all remember last month when I defeated the Varg of Destruction by myself?"








It seemed some viewers didn’t believe me. The Varg of Destruction is content that normally requires a four-person party. I had succeeded in defeating it solo after a two-hour battle. That was seriously exhausting.

"Apparently, my soloing the Varg was unexpected for the management, so I received this sponsorship request to help them check if they need to adjust the game’s balance."





It was the kind of positive reaction I had expected.

"So, for this request, they’ve obviously prepared a quest that’s more difficult than the Varg of Destruction. If I manage to defeat it solo, it seems they’ll adjust the boss monster’s strength."






Just as the comments section was buzzing with excitement, I too wanted to complete the request on my own.

I wanted more FWO players to understand that the four-sword style was the strongest. And I hoped that the number of four-sword style users would increase.

I came to have a strong admiration for the four-sword style because of a certain movie.

It was the ultimate sword art, perfectly balancing offense and defense by freely wielding four blades. But it was a feat impossible for any ordinary human.

Then, Farum World Online was released. It was a full-dive MMORPG, a game where a massive number of players could play simultaneously in a virtual reality, and it let you use the four-sword style.

In this game, you can use the four-sword style by choosing the "Multi-Sword User" job. The mainstream style for Multi-Sword Users is dual-wielding. On rare occasions, you might see a player who equips swords on their feet as well to achieve a four-sword style.

I realize my four-sword style by growing mechanical arms called Manipulators from behind my shoulder blades and having them hold swords. Even in FWO, with over 100 million players, only about 800 people use the extra arms style.

It was a popular style when the game first launched, but...

The controls for a two-armed human to move a third and fourth arm that shouldn't exist were just too complex.

Furthermore, with the introduction of the Gambit System, which fights for you automatically, the number of Manipulator users plummeted. The Multi-Sword User is now an endangered species.

Even in that situation, I mastered the four-sword style and became one of FWO’s top players.

Becoming strong with the four-sword style required spending money on equipment and skills. As a high school student, it was pretty tough for me to compete with world rankers on a part-time job salary alone, so I started streaming to help make ends meet. Unexpectedly, it blew up.

Because there are so few four-sword style users, there were almost no famous streamers for it.

I think I got noticed because of the novelty and because, at the time I started streaming, I was a player who had cleared all the latest content.

As a result, I started earning enough that I had to ask a tax accountant to handle my final tax return.

My parents got a little upset with me about dependency status for taxes and stuff, but they said I could continue streaming on the conditions that I graduate high school, soundproof my streaming room at my own expense, and give my mother money for electricity and food.

"Alright, it’s about time I get going!"

I was ready.

Time to clear this letter of challenge from the management.

──＊＊＊──

Before me stood Gadil, the area boss the management had assigned for the solo challenge. It unleashed a barrage of countless fireballs.

"This attack is magical. I can block it with the Magic Sealing Sword on my right."

I sliced through the fireballs with the sword held by my right Manipulator. At the same time, I sent out slashes with the swords in my hands to deal damage to Gadil.

"Ah, the next attack is a physical-type flame. This is a flame that’s hard to extinguish with wind or the like, and I don’t have a way to block it, so I’ll dodge."

In the comment section at the edge of my vision, I saw posts like...






I’ll be honest, I can tell from the feel of it after fighting it so many times, there’s no real basis for it. It’s impossible to explain even if you ask me to. And I’ll ignore the abusive comments.

This was my first time attempting to solo Gadil on a live stream, but I had defeated it several times offline. My solo success rate is probably about 60 percent. As long as I stay focused and don’t make any serious mistakes, I should be able to win.

I even had enough composure to reply to a comment from a viewer.

"Lena-san’s question, please tell us your equipment for this fight, is it? Okay, I’ll introduce it. First, my main weapon is the ice twin swords, Keraf-Valsarg. Then the right Manipulator has the Magic Sealing Sword, and the left has the Mechanical Power Sword."

This was my strongest setup, primarily using magical slashes, which allowed me to handle enemies with magic resistance if they suddenly appeared. I chose this equipment because this boss is weak to the ice attribute. Changing weapons to match the enemy’s weakness is how we Multi-Sword Users, with our many attacks, operate.

"Gadil is called a hidden area boss, but it’s treated differently from a dungeon boss, so you can’t use zombie attacks. Besides, my equipment’s enhancement levels would drop, so I wouldn’t do it anyway."

This enemy is multiplayer content recommended for an eight-person party. It has more health than the Varg I defeated before, and its attack power is about twice as high. It basically felt like an enemy that was twice as strong as the Varg.

It seemed the management thought there was no way I could do this and gave me the sponsorship deal.

Yeah. I’d appreciate it if they didn’t underestimate me so much.

I’ll teach them that for me, who has mastered the four-sword style in FWO, nothing is impossible.

"For my equipment’s R-Crystals, all nine slots on each piece are filled with red attack crystals. All four swords also have max-level Orbs equipped."

Things like R-Crystals and Orbs are auxiliary items used to enhance weapon performance. I have the best of the best in this game equipped. You can’t get these just by paying money, they are an element that requires luck and a lot of grinding.









That’s right. I poured my heart and soul into creating this set of equipment.

In addition, I could now operate the mind-bogglingly complex Manipulators as if they were my own arms.

"Everyone! Today, I’m going to surpass the management’s expectations again!!"

Each and every one of my swords dealt massive damage to Gadil.

Parry the enemy’s attacks, dodge them, and for the rest of the time, keep attacking constantly.

Fifteen minutes had passed since the battle began.

I might have spent a little too much time looking at the comment section.

I have to go all out from here.

"I’m switching my equipment for a moment. I’ll briefly equip an ice dagger, then switch right back to my twin swords. This will trigger the mid-combat weapon switch bonus, giving me a plus 8 percent attack power."

While switching weapons, I can neither attack nor defend. I need to perfectly see through the enemy’s opening, but if I can do that, my attack power gets a buff.

"Whoops, a big move is coming. This is a full-area attack, so I can’t dodge it."

Normally, a party member with a tank job would block this attack, but for a solo player like me, no such ally exists.

"So, I’ll get through this using the invincibility frames when I activate a skill."

I timed the activation of an attack skill just right and negated Gadil’s area-of-effect attack.

This is a technique that any serious FWO player uses. It’s difficult, but it’s something you absolutely have to learn if you’re aiming to solo an area boss.

"Since it used its ultimate move, the enemy’s health should be running low. Time for the final spurt, here I go!!"

I slash and slash and slash and slash. A furious storm of attacks.

Come on, will I make it?

I heard the sound of something shattering.

The sound of Gadil’s core breaking.

It’s my... victory!!

"Shaaaaah! I have successfully completed the solo defeat of Gadil!!"

Even if I had won many times before, there was always a chance of losing.

I was genuinely happy that I managed to defeat it safely on a live stream.



<88888888>






The comment section was filled with praise. I had also accumulated several tens of thousands of yen in Super Tips. There were still many things I could do to aim for even greater heights, so the financial support was extremely appreciated.

"Thanks for all the support, everyone! This has been Hayate from the Hayate-Style Four-Sword Style Promotion Office, bringing you the solo defeat of FWO area boss, Gadil. If you got interested in the four-sword style from today’s stream, please give it a try! I’ll leave a link to my ‘Intro to Four-Sword Style’ video in the description box. Also, please subscribe and hit that like button. See you next time~"

I ended the stream.

The final concurrent viewership had exceeded two thousand people. I expected the view count to keep climbing now that it was in the archives.

"These Super Tips are a lifesaver."

I was earning not just the funds to get stronger in the game, but also enough for my living expenses. I was starting to think that I might be able to continue as a professional streamer.

I was grinning as I looked at my steadily growing video views and was about to contact the FWO management to report the mission complete.

"Hm? There’s an announcement from management."

In the corner of my vision, a notification for all players had appeared from the FWO management.

Is it an announcement for a new map implementation?

I checked the message, filled with excitement.

"...Huh?"

It contained unbelievable information. I couldn’t believe it, so I read it over and over again.

"A-Abolition of Manipulators for Multi-Sword Users?"

For me, that was a death sentence.