Disaster-Level Player Is Too Good at Broadcasting-Chapter 48: « Kang Min Of The Mercenary Corp. [2] »

「Move.」

The word hadn’t even fully left Commander Kaelen’s lips before the air between them detonated.

The sound was not a clash, but a high-pitched, metallic shriek. Kaelen’s longsword had cleared its scabbard in a blur of silver, meeting Kang Min’s dull mercenary blade mid-air. The impact sent a shockwave through Min’s forearms, a vibration so violent it threatened to numb his grip.

Kang Min didn’t retreat. He pivoted on his heel, using the momentum of the block to spin into a low, sweeping strike aimed at the Commander’s lead leg. It was a 400th-floor transition—a movement designed to catch opponents who relied too heavily on upright, formal stances.

Kaelen didn’t hop or step back. He simply dropped the point of his sword, the blade vertical, catching Min’s edge centimeters from his shin. The friction threw off a cascade of orange sparks.

『He didn’t even look down,』 Min thought, his eyes narrowing behind the mask.

He surged upward, launching a flurry of thrusts. Each one was aimed at a vital point—throat, heart, liver—a sequence known in the Old World as the ’Thirteen Needles.’ It was a high-speed execution technique, one that usually ended fights before the audience could blink.

Kaelen moved like a shadow caught in a mirror. His blade danced in a tight, efficient circle, a ’vortex parry’ that shouldn’t have been possible with a sword of that weight. Clink-clink-clink-clink. Four thrusts, four perfect deflections. Kaelen wasn’t just blocking; he was redirecting Min’s kinetic energy back into the ground.

Min felt his heart hammer against his ribs. The blue mana trails from his mask were now jagged, glowing fiercely as he pushed his Agility to the absolute limit. He stepped into the Commander’s guard, abandoning the reach of the sword for a brutal, close-quarters hilt-smash.

Kaelen’s left hand shot out, catching Min’s wrist with the precision of a hawk. Simultaneously, the Commander’s blade swept upward in a rising moon arc.

Min’s head snapped back as he barely avoided the steel. He twisted his body mid-air, kicking off Kaelen’s chest to create distance. He skidded across the stone, his boots smoking from the friction.

「Not bad, traveller,」 Kaelen said, his voice undisturbed, his breathing as steady as if he were taking a stroll. 「But you’re fighting like a man who has memorized every move but has never felt the rhythm of the blade.」

Kang Min gritted his teeth. In the Old World, he had speedrun this floor. He had treated the Mercenary Knights as background noise, a means to an end. He’d never bothered to engage the Commander because the ’efficiency’ of the climb demanded he ignore NPCs who weren’t direct obstacles. He’d nuked the mobs, cleared the breach, and moved on.

『I was an idiot,』 Min realized, a cold sweat breaking out on his neck. 『This guy’s parry and counter skills are beyond crazy. I’ve never seen a simulation entity with this much technical depth. It’s like he isn’t reading my moves—he’s reading the space before I even move into it.』

He gripped his sword with both hands, the blue mana from his eyes bleeding down his arms and onto the steel. He couldn’t use a high-tier fable skill without tearing his current body apart, but he could use a ’Rhythm Breaker.’

Min vanished.

To the crowd, it looked like he had simply evaporated. He reappeared behind Kaelen, his blade already halfway through a horizontal decapitation strike.

Kaelen didn’t turn. He leaned forward, the sword passing over his head by a hair’s breadth, and in the same motion, he performed a reverse-grip stab behind his own back, tucking the sword under his armpit.

The point of the Commander’s blade stopped exactly one centimeter from Kang Min’s throat.

Min froze. His own blade was outstretched, missed by the smallest of margins. He could feel the cold hum of Kaelen’s steel against the skin of his neck, just above the edge of his mask.

The silence that followed was absolute. Even the birds in the palace eaves seemed to stop chirping.

「A close call,」 Kaelen whispered, his flint-colored eyes meeting the blue glow of Min’s mask over his shoulder. 「A fraction of a second faster, and you might have drawn blood. But a miss is a miss, traveller.」

Kaelen withdrew the blade and sheathed it in one fluid motion. He turned around, his expression unreadable. The crowd remained hushed, waiting for the verdict.

Kang Min lowered his sword, his shoulders slumped in a mixture of exhaustion and genuine respect. He had lost. For the first time since his regression, he had been purely out-techniqued in a fair duel.

「I didn’t land it,」 Min said, his voice raspy.

「No, you didn’t,」 Kaelen agreed. 「But I have lived in this capital for forty years, and I have never seen a man move like you. Your style is... foreign. Efficient. Merciless. It is the style of someone who has survived things that would turn my knights to ash.」

Kaelen stepped forward and extended a gauntleted hand.

「A deal is a deal. You didn’t land the strike, but you proved that you are no common thug. We need blades like yours if Valeria is to survive the coming night. I acknowledge your strength.」

The guards and the mercenaries erupted into a roar of cheers—a mix of relief and excitement. The tension that had nearly resulted in a massacre was gone, replaced by the thrill of a world-class duel.

『NOTIFICATION: FABLE BRANCH UPDATED.』

『YOU HAVE EARNED THE RESPECT OF COMMANDER KAELEN.』

『STATUS: OFFICIALLY INDUCTED INTO THE MERCENARY KNIGHTS CORP.』

Kang Min looked at the extended hand. He could still feel the phantom sensation of the blade at his throat—a reminder that his current stats were still a bottleneck for his Old World knowledge.

He reached out and grasped Kaelen’s hand. The grip was firm, grounded.

「What is your name, traveller?」 Kaelen asked.

「Kang Min,」 he replied.

「Kang Min...」 the Commander repeated the name as if tasting it. 「It’s a name from the Far Lands, I assume? Where do you come from? Your technique carries the weight of a thousand battles, yet you look... light.」

「I can’t say that,」 Min said, his gaze steady. 「Some stories are better left unread.」

Kaelen let out a short, dry chuckle. He looked at the black fabric obscuring Min’s features. 「Fair enough. Tell me, is it a custom where you come from? Does everyone wear a mask? Is it a mark of your people, or just your own shadow?」

Kang Min paused. He looked around the courtyard, at the cheering beastkin, the whispering mages, and the tired soldiers. For a moment, the simulation felt too real. He felt the weight of the Star-seed in his inventory and the 582k people watching through the invisible lens of the system.

He reached up, his fingers catching the edge of the black cloth. With a single, smooth motion, he pulled the mask down, letting it rest around his neck.

The air hit his face, cool and sharp.

「No,」 Kang Min answered simply. 「Just me.」

The Commander’s eyes widened. He stayed silent for several long seconds, his gaze sweeping over Kang Min’s sharp jawline, the intensity of his dark eyes, and the youthful, almost aristocratic symmetry of his features.

「I did not expect such a young and handsome face under there,」 Kaelen admitted, his voice carrying a rare note of genuine surprise. He smiled, a real one this time, and tightened his grip on Min’s hand before releasing it.

Kaelen turned to the surrounding soldiers, raising his arm high.

「Listen well!」 he shouted. 「The selection continues, but the vanguard has found its first member! Look at him! Remember this face!」

The Commander turned back to Min, gesturing toward the inner barracks where the elite troops were gathering.

「Come, Kang Min. There is much to do before the sun sets and the Dusk-Eaters return. Welcome to the frontline. Welcome... Kang Min of the Mercenary Knights Corp.」