Chapter 8
Chapter 8: The Daehwasan Sect's Grand Sponsorship
"A mon……ster……."
Thud!
Three minutes into the battle.
When the one—sided performance came to an end, not a single enemy remained standing around Mu-yeong.
The viewers were completely taken aback when even their most trusted veteran soldier was knocked out cold.
—Why is everyone dying in one hit? Do they have 1 HP?
—A scarecrow would be sturdier than these guys lol
—He might actually win the 2,000,000 Won at this rate
—Went to the bathroom and the soldiers are gone?
With only a slight exaggeration, one blink and another soldier had vanished.
Even watching it live, it was a scene too unreal to believe.
But no matter how taken aback the viewers were, it was nothing compared to what Yu Ye-rin was feeling.
"This is a cheat!"
Thud!
The plum blossom red desk shook faintly.
And for good reason—she had spent a full ten minutes just dealing with the foot soldiers.
By rough estimate, that was three times as long, but she would have been grateful if that were the only issue.
"Kkyaaargh!"
"Kkheok!"
"Kkhheuk!"
With a single wave of his hand, the soldiers went soaring through the air.
This wasn't some movie extra performance, and even autumn leaves didn't flutter so easily.
"Where on earth does that body get that kind of strength? He shouldn't even be able to use internal energy."
Even the person currently sitting at the top of the rankings couldn't do this.
She'd rewatched the videos uploaded to NewTube more times than she could count, so she knew.
Yet no matter how she compared them, this man in front of her looked far stronger.
‘Could he be someone who trained in external energy rather than internal? If so, that would explain the current situation……’
Yu Ye-rin nodded to herself and clicked into the rankings tab.
But the moment she saw the standings, her barely—closed jaw dropped wide open again.
[Mu-yeong—Floor 7 Cleared.]
"……Floor 7?"
“What? What kind of absurd number is that? ….Am I reading this wrong right now?”
It had clearly been immortalized as 1st Place—Floor 5 Cleared (died with half HP on Floor 6).
A record locked in place for over a year, one she'd believed would never change.
Yet in the short time she hadn't been paying attention, it had leapt to an unbelievable height.
Yu Ye-rin blinked rapidly.
‘A bug? A hack? No, more importantly—who exactly is Mu-yeong?’
She prided herself on memorizing the names of notable figures, but none came to mind easily.
She went through them one by one—the Martial Alliance, the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Five Great Families—and still drew a blank.
Then she glanced at the man on her monitor and narrowed her eyes.
‘Could it be……it's not him, is it?’
A very plausible hypothesis.
A man she'd never seen before, wielding overwhelming power.
She quickly sent a donation.
['Yu Ye-rin' has donated 10,000 Won.]
—Wow! You're the strongest streamer I've ever seen! Did you have a title or nickname back in the martial world?
Mu-yeong, who had been catching his breath before the boss appeared, fell into thought.
‘In this world, there's no problem with revealing that I'm the First Young Lord of the Demonic Heaven Sect.’
There's no one to persecute him, no one to discriminate against him.
Besides, this title—one that only a single person in the entire world could hold—would only make Mu-yeong more famous.
But it wasn't all upsides.
‘If they find out I'm broadcasting, the sect members might push themselves to send donations.’
They haven't seen his face in ten years, and now he just pops up out of nowhere?
There was a strong chance they'd scrape together every last coin they had and come rushing to offer it.
After all, this was a group whose loyalty to the Heavenly Demon was second to none.
Mu-yeong exhaled slowly and quietly opened his mouth.
"I spent my life deep in the mountains, so I never had a title like that."
['ㅇㅇ' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Ohh, so that's why he talks like an old man lol
—For real, he looks like he's in his 20s but why does he sound like a grumpy elder
—Honestly it kind of suits him though?
—What do you expect if you spend that long in the mountains lol
['Yu Ye-rin' has donated 10,000 Won.]
—Then could I at least ask your sect name, or even your name?
"My sect is a single—lineage school, so I cannot reveal it. My name is……well, my master used to call me 'Mu-yeong.'"
He couldn't bring himself to lie about this much.
It was a common enough name you'd hear on any street corner, and besides—if he kept clearing Castle Defense, his identity was only a matter of time anyway.
—The name sounds cool
—Nice ring to it
—Wait, doesn't it sound kind of familiar though?
—I literally just thought the same thing
—Huh? Mu-yeong?
It was a game that only a select few played, so some had already caught on.
Yu Ye-rin was no different.
"Ranking 1st place, Mu-yeong……"
Her brown eyes gradually went blank.
She stared through the monitor, then without realizing it, moved her mouse.
"Ah……"
Yu Ye-rin had nearly clicked the mission success button—even though the boss hadn't appeared yet.
.
.
.
.
In the brief window before the boss appeared, Mu-yeong began stretching.
The moment he turned his head, a donation came in.
['SlowlyGettingHungry' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Hey, why are you still wearing the helmet? Isn't it super uncomfortable?
—Same, I've been wondering this whole time. Is it a handicap?
—Now that I think about it, he never took off the armor either
—How did he even get this far wearing all that lol
‘Wait, was I allowed to take this off?’
It had been uncomfortable, but he'd left it on assuming it was just how the game worked.
But judging by the reactions, people seemed to think it was strange that Mu-yeong wasn't removing it.
He'd been feeling stifled for a while, so he fell into thought.
What if someone recognized him after taking it off?
That would make hiding his identity completely pointless.
The concern surfaced—but was quickly suppressed.
Either way, the last time he'd appeared before the world was ten years ago.
Compared to those days, when he was still in the thick of his growth, he was practically a different person now.
His face, his bone structure, his build.
Anyone who looked at Mu-yeong now and thought of the First Young Lord of the Demonic Heaven Sect would have to be a fortune-teller.
So it should be fine.
He boldly lifted the helmet off.
—Wow……he's insanely handsome
—Put it back on. Please.
—Feeling genuine self-loathing right now
—Why do I even exist……
‘So chat can move this fast, huh.’
Mu-yeong stroked his chin and stared at the reactions with curiosity.
And for good reason—he'd spent ten years in the Closed-Door Training Chamber, so he had no idea what level his own face was at.
Of course there had been water that acted as a mirror, but with his hair disheveled and his martial robe in tatters, he'd never gotten a clear sense of it.
‘Not bad at all. In this world, appearance is a tremendous weapon and advantage.’
Just thinking about the Iron Blood Witch's age made that clear enough.
He'd confirmed firsthand that the moment a face was presentable, people fell head over heels.
—The idea that someone with these looks has been stuck in the mountains this whole time
—Lost half his life lol
—Half? Try 80%
—His master was sitting on a goldmine by himself
['ILoveYouOppa' has donated 10,000 Won.]
—I think I just fell in love……
['TurnOnTheBroadcast' has donated 10,000 Won.]
—You're going live tomorrow too, right? Please say yes. Actually, don't ever end the stream.
Donations and messages of adoration began pouring in all at once.
At the same moment, someone jumped down from the ladder.
It was the Floor 5 boss—muscles so massive they looked ready to burst.
Mu-yeong's expression brightened as he immediately went into explanation mode.
"As you can see, this one wields a two-handed axe the size of a man's torso. Predictably, his combat style involves overwhelming opponents with brute force. One wrong move and being split in two would happen in an instant."
['GiveMeAGift' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—The size difference is 2x, can you even win?
—Feels like watching David and Goliath lol
—But this guy doesn't even have a rock
—He'll just beat him down anyway
—Can you even get close?
"As I've said repeatedly, size is not what determines the outcome of a fight."
['SpineIsImportant' has sent a 500,000 Won mission.]
—That confidence is insane lol, if you actually kill the boss bare-handed you can have this
—Man just lost his money lol
—Shh.
—Even so, bare-handed is pushing it
—I somehow feel like he's going to do it though?
A few viewers had already caught on that Mu-yeong was ranked 1st.
But they weren't saying it outright.
They were passionate Castle Defense fans themselves—and rather than spoiling it, they wanted to witness this historic moment with their own eyes.
As the atmosphere grew charged, Mu-yeong glanced over at the mission window.
The total donations riding on this battle alone: 2,500,000 Won.
So then—how should he go about hunting this one?
What the viewers would want, naturally, was something overwhelmingly cool.
Mu-yeong painted a picture in his head and settled into his combat stance.
By contrast, the two-handed axe knight Bask burst into uproarious laughter.
"Puahahahaha! You little brat. Where'd you leave your weapon? Don't tell me you think I'll go easy on you just because of that?"
"……"
"Even your voice is frozen! You reckless little pup! Die!"
Thud thud thud!
Bask came charging with his axe raised above his head.
It looked like an utterly brainless lunge, but in both of his hands, Aura clung thick and dense.
—That thing hits and half his skull is gone
—Not half his skull, his whole body gets split
—Bro I would've already pissed myself
Mu-yeong looked up at Bask, who had closed to within arm's reach.
He'd considered himself fairly tall, but up close, this one was something else.
And that beard-covered face was absolutely ferocious.
He tossed out a brief impression and extended his hand.
"I noticed this before too—your movements are too large."
Thwack!
Mu-yeong struck the inside of Bask's forearm and knocked it outward.
The force made Bask's axe swing falter, creating a brief gap.
Mu-yeong slipped into that opening.
"What!?"
Taken off guard, Bask's face flashed with shock.
But he recovered quickly and swung the axe in a ferocious arc.
Fwoooosh!
"Die!!!"
Before the blade could connect, Mu-yeong drove his fist up into Bask's jaw first.
"Khheup!"
Whether he'd bitten his tongue, a pained groan came out alongside a trickle of blood.
A blow like that would certainly have rattled his brain.
Mu-yeong seized the moment and kicked.
"Kkhyak!"
—Holy sh*t lol
—Sommersault kick;
—That's so cool lol
Landing lightly, Mu-yeong dusted his hands off.
"The face is an area packed with vital points. Hit them right, just like that, and you can inflict serious damage."
The viewers were dumbfounded.
What he was saying was technically correct—but how in the world was anyone supposed to replicate that?
Even if someone could mimic the movement, actually landing the strike was an entirely different matter.
—And yet he's actually doing it, which is what makes it so infuriating
—I wouldn't be able to do that with 100 lives. I'd just run
—Me neither. I'd rather just flee
While the complaints were pouring out, Bask staggered backward.
"Kkhheuk! A runt like you pulling cheap tricks like that!"
He shook his head back and forth, then drove his axe into the ground.
Thud!
Stone dust flew as the ground shook.
At the same moment, Bask's entire body was enveloped in a reddish light.
It was faint—but more than enough to radiate menace.
—There it is! Berserk Mode!
—Doesn't that only come out when he's almost dead?
—Seems like he goes berserk when he's pissed off enough too lol
—It's over. You're supposed to finish him before that triggers
"Don't even think about dying easy! I'll make you howl and beg me to tear your limbs apart!"
Thud thud thud!
Bask charged like an enraged beast.
A full 1.5 times faster than before.
The moment Mu-yeong entered range, a terrifying gust of wind erupted from the two-handed axe.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
The vicious sound of wind and a relentless barrage of slashes that left no room to think.
The viewers were thrilled.
—Now we're talking. This is what a Floor 5 boss should be lol
—Even a graze from that and he's dead on the spot
—The longer this goes on the faster it gets, so if you're gonna go for it, now's the time
—He looks like he's on the edge, can he actually win?
Mu-yeong barely dodging each blow was enough to make everyone watching grip their seats.
Just as everyone had reached a state of complete uncertainty, Mu-yeong suddenly spoke.
"I said it earlier. Your movements are too large."
The hands that had been still this entire time finally moved.
Faster than the swinging axe.
Fast enough that Yu Ye-rin, watching with laser focus, almost missed it.
Crack!
The joints in Bask's fingers were bent backward.
Crunch crunch!
Bask's wrist was twisted.
Snap!
Some bone somewhere was shattered.
Even in Berserk Mode, there was no way Bask could grip an axe with a hand in that condition.
The hunk of iron fell from his body and flew through the air.
The kind of thing that would deal a fatal wound with even a graze—and Mu-yeong caught it, smooth as anything.
—????
—LMAO
—What even was that?
—He straight up STOLE it lol
"Not that heavy, actually."
Mu-yeong gave the axe a light spin and raised his arm high above his head.
Muscles and veins bulged as if ready to burst.
Eyes gleaming with a strange light, Mu-yeong grinned.
"This is how you use a two-handed axe. Go polish your technique in hell."
Fwooooosh—!
Shhkt!
All forty viewers witnessed it plainly.
Bask's neck—the Floor 5 boss's life—vanishing like a fly.
"……"
Chat went still again.
They'd had their doubts, but none of them expected it to end this easily.
And doing it by stealing the opponent's own weapon and turning it against him, no less.
But that silence was broken almost immediately.
"Ah!"
Mu-yeong clapped his hands together.
His expression was that of someone who had lost an entire kingdom.
"I forgot I was supposed to win bare-handed."
—LMAOOO
—He's right lol
—I totally forgot too lol
—Still looked cool though. Here's to you.
Before chat could even finish raising a toast, a clear chime rang out.
['SpineIsImportant' has pressed the Mission Success button for 500,000 Won!]
—Just take everything, man……
['Yu Ye-rin' has pressed the Mission Success button for 2,000,000 Won!]
—Agreed.
Mu-yeong's face brightened all over again.
Just like a child who had been given a gift.