Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Breaking a New Record
"Phew, I'm kind of nervous. This is my first time doing something like this with someone else."
When he opened his eyes, Yu Ye-rin was beside him dressed as a soldier.
Even wearing armor stained with grime and rust, her appearance couldn't be hidden.
If anything, it highlighted her face, making it shine all the more—He even had the illusion that a halo was radiating from her.
—How is she still pretty wearing that?
—Please, take off the helmet……
—Can't we just chat like this?
"Come on, that would be rude to Mu-yeong. It's a collab stream, after all….. How could I do that?"
Yu Ye-rin smiled and removed her helmet as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Her long black hair fluttered in the wind, stealing everyone's gaze.
He quietly watched the scene as Yu Ye-rin began to tie her hair back, very slowly.
Her movements were so unhurried that every motion of her fingers was visible.
'Is she doing that on purpose?'
No sooner had Mu-yeong formed that thought than a fanfare rang out.
['Yu Ye-rin's Sasaeng Fan' has submitted a 100,000 Won mission.][1]
—Pretty face, one hundred thousand Won.
['Yu Ye-rin's Sasaeng Fan' has pressed the Mission Success button!]
—Success.
Two donations in a row.
Yu Ye-rin finished tying her hair in an instant and broke into a bright smile.
"Sasaeng Fan-nim! Thank you so much for the 100,000 Won donation! I'll put it to good use!"
Mu-yeong slapped his forehead.
‘Ah, so that's how you make money.’
‘A streamer with more experience really is something else.’
Having learned a thing or two, Mu-yeong deeply reflected on his own complacency.
Then he casually took off his own helmet to match.
—Damn, he's seriously good-looking
—You, put it back on, please……
—Now I get why Yu Ye-rin was the first one to suggest the collab.
No donation came.
Just as he was swallowing his disappointment, the same sound effect pierced his ears.
['Mu-yeong's Sasaeng Fan' has donated 100,000 Won.]
—Keep showing your face and I'll donate once more before the stream ends.
‘Now we're talking.’
Mu-yeong grinned.
"Thanks for the donation."
—Oh.
—My heart fluttered when you smiled……
—The best-looking streamer I've seen recently……
—Pfft.
He had the feeling that some strange chat had slipped in, but he let it go without a second thought.
Either way, he'd gotten 100,000 Won.
"Right then, we'll get started soon. But playing it straight seems boring—how about we make a bet?"
"A bet?"
"Whoever gets more kill score—that is, whoever kills more!"
Apparently realizing Mu-yeong wasn't used to this kind of thing, Yu Ye-rin quickly softened her phrasing.
Thoughtful as she was, she really had sharp instincts.
When he nodded, Yu Ye-rin immediately flashed a capitalist smile.
"Then let's take a quick prep break. I still need to take off my shoes and armor……"
"Go ahead."
"Ngh…… Ugh, why is this so tight?"
Suddenly dropping to one knee to untie her shoelaces.
Watching those fingers move slowly again, Mu-yeong narrowed his eyes.
'Could this also be a donation prompt?'
‘No way.’
‘How could a person pull that kind of thing twice in a row?’
But Mu-yeong's innocence was soon shattered.
['I'm Conflicted' has donated 10,000 Won.]
—How about 50,000 Won per soldier kill, 200,000 Won per boss? We'll tally individually and pay out in bulk at the end of the game.
Before the donation message had even finished, Yu Ye-rin sprang to her feet.
"Oh! Thank you so much for the mission donation! That sounds absolutely perfect to me! What do you think, Mu-yeong?"
"……I'm in."
"Then I'll hit accept!"
She's nothing short of a monster.
Behind that cheerful smile, there's definitely a large fox living inside her.
One with a great many tails.
As Mu-yeong matched her shamelessness in equal measure, the game began.
.
.
.
.
Stage 1 was easy.
Both Mu-yeong and Yu Ye-rin were busy slicing through enemies' throats the moment they appeared.
Their speed was practically identical.
—Pretty much as expected, but it's way too one-sided.
—For real, we need to get to the higher stages for it to get interesting.
—This place is just free real estate.
"How dare you……!"
Swish—
Gallien dealt with as well.
Yu Ye-rin shook off her blade and smiled.
"I was faster, right?"
"Nonsense."
"Then let's call it a draw. And split the boss fifty-fifty."
"……Fine."
Splitting the soldiers evenly at 5 each and sharing the boss came out to 450,000 Won per stage.
But monopolizing everything alone would be 700,000 Won.
A calculation that said he could pocket a full fifty percent more.
Mu-yeong smiled and picked up a weapon that had been dropped by an enemy.
Stage 2.
Tak.
Mu-yeong crouched on top of the castle wall.
Looking down, there were clumps of money working their way up.
'If I knock down the one at the top, the rest below will be taken out in a chain.'
There's no human alive who could survive a fall from this height.
That made it not just killing two birds with one stone, but ten birds with one stone.
Mu-yeong glanced back at Yu Ye-rin waiting behind him, then gripped a blade in each hand.
"W-wait!"
A flustered voice came through—she'd figured out what he was about to do.
It was already too late.
The two blades that had left Mu-yeong's hands were already flying toward the enemies' heads.
"Aaaaargh!"
"Gguh-ack!"
The screams grew more distant and echoed away.
They overlapped more and more, until at some point they could no longer be heard.
Ending with the sound of a wet thud far below.
—Lmaooo
—Is this even allowed?? lol
—Just straight-up stealing someone's rice bowl lmaooo
"No, no, no! How could you do that! The national rule is to split evenly on walls like this!"
"Didn't we say it was a bet to begin with? Then whoever kills first, it's theirs."
"That's technically true……! Ugh, so that's how you want to play it?"
Yu Ye-rin suddenly shifted her energy and crouched down beside Mu-yeong.
With an extremely serious expression, she scanned the ladder and spotted the Stage 2 boss climbing up.
Then she performed the exact same motion Mu-yeong had done.
With a very grand declaration to go with it.
"Twenty-Four-Form Plum Blossom Sword Art!"
Fwheeeee!
—Here we go lmao
—Can't believe she's using a special move already lmaooo
—Twenty-Four-Form Plum Blossom Sword Art (just throwing it)
—Twenty-Four-Form Plum Blossom Sword Art (in name only)
Mu-yeong was genuinely baffled.
He'd never personally seen that technique used, but he at least knew it wasn't used like that.
But the effect was extraordinary.
"Kgh!"
The Stage 2 boss, hit in the shoulder, began trembling violently.
His grip on the ladder slowly weakened—until he finally let go entirely.
Having confirmed he'd fallen, Yu Ye-rin said brightly,
"This boss's life belongs to me. You started it, so no complaints, right?"
"……Do as you please."
['I'm Conflicted' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Running tally through Stage 2: Mu-yeong 850,000 Won, Yu Ye-rin 550,000 Won.
Now that she'd learned the trick, monopolizing everything would be tough.
Just throwing blades from above was enough to kill any soldier before they could take it.
Mu-yeong looked at Yu Ye-rin, who was standing with her hands on her hips, radiating smugness.
‘Not bad yourself, are you?’ That was the posture.
—A competition's finally born lol
—Well, if you just split everything evenly on the wall, what's the fun in that lol
—For real, they should be going at each other like this.
'Then I can't just stand here, either.'
Mu-yeong picked up a sword lying on the ground.
Right on cue, a great war cry rang out from the enemy.
A sign that the next stage was about to begin.
His mind made up, Mu-yeong extended his right foot out beyond the castle wall.
He stayed still, as if gauging the flow of the air, then channeled his strength into his other leg.
"I'm going ahead."
"……What? Where to?"
Instead of answering, Mu-yeong scoffed and leaped into the open air.
For a brief moment came the sensation of floating, followed by a cool gust of wind slamming into his body.
And then he began plummeting downward.
Fwheeeeeee!
—Where's he going lmaooo
—Insaneeee lmao
—Wait, you could go outside the wall?? lmao
—Isn't this a game over???
The chat scrolled faster than it had all day.
The reaction was explosive, but none of it was visible to Yu Ye-rin.
"Wh-what is that!"
This was something she'd never seen or heard of in her life.
Defending from above was barely enough—and here he was, leaping off the castle wall to the outside.
Yu Ye-rin ran over frantically and thrust her head out.
Her eyes went as wide as they could go the moment she found Mu-yeong.
Dududududu!
He was traversing the castle wall as if skating across it.
No—that wasn't skating.
"He's running!"
He was moving his legs in time with the speed of his fall.
That alone would have been stunning enough, but when he encountered enemies, he did something even more extraordinary.
Clang! Clang! Claaang!
"Ggaaaargh!"
"Gkh!"
"Kgh! How can a person……!"
He was cutting down every soldier he came across.
Yu Ye-rin was left speechless by the sheer magnitude of it.
'Is this actually something a human can do?'
Whether it was hacking or anything else—it was beyond that level entirely.
This kind of play could only emerge from someone with deep self-confidence and faith in their own abilities.
Forgetting even to manage her expression, Yu Ye-rin clenched her fist.
'Could I…… do that?'
She shook her head immediately.
Maybe if she were just falling and controlling her speed—but fighting enemies while running like that? Absolutely impossible.
Even more so without internal energy.
—He really is the number one, looks like lol
—There's no way there's another Mu-yeong out there lol
—Okay, but he's genuinely incredible. Just a completely different class.
—So you have to be this good to clear Stage 7.
By the time the chat had caught up, Mu-yeong had landed on the ground.
Thud!
Thud-thud-thud!
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
No sooner had he set foot down than bodies began dropping around him in succession.
For a brief moment, silence fell over the noisy battlefield.
Someone burst through the crowd.
"How dare you……!"
Swish—
What had been the Stage 3 boss crumpled onto the dirt-covered ground.
Mu-yeong shook out his disheveled hair and held up two fingers.
"200,000 Won added. And—"
He looked toward ten soldiers who were more heavily armed.
Their faces had already lost the will to fight.
"500,000 Won incoming."
He licked his lips and leaped toward his next prey.
In the heart of the enemy army, a proper sword dance began.
.
.
.
.
Stage 4 cleared: 1 minute. Stage 5 cleared: 1 minute 20 seconds. Stage 6 cleared: 2 minutes. Stage 7 cleared: 3 minutes 10 seconds.
Records that Mu-yeong was writing down in real time.
The Castle Defense Gallery had erupted into absolute chaos.
[Stage 6 Berserker survival time: a whole 30 seconds lmaooo]
—Did you see that guy's pants get wet just now? Looks like he pissed himself lmaooo
[Stage 7 boss had a face like he swallowed something nasty even from the moment he appeared lol]
—Right arm gone while I was typing this, lmao is he actually human?
[Breaking: Yu Ye-rin returns with lost-her-country expression lol]
—Looks like she forgot she was even streaming lmaooo
Rumors spread fast.
Alongside them, Mu-yeong's viewership numbers grew exponentially.
1,300 viewers.
A figure unbelievable for a streamer on their second day.
Naturally, the donations didn't stop either.
['LoveLoveYou' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Wait, he's using hacks this blatantly and hasn't been banned?
['Sometimes Lonely' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—What hacks. Hacks can't even do this lmao
['Passionate Person' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Even after watching this over and over, it just doesn't make sense; plus this isn't even the easier solo mode, right?
The exact figures had never been publicly disclosed, but conventional wisdom held that it was approximately 20% harder than solo play.
Yet here he was mowing through all of it and on top of that, breaking records.
A truly unprecedented event.
—There really is no other God of Martial Arts.
—Can't even laugh anymore. It's just awe.
—A Stage 7 clear in multiplayer……
—Is this guy actually unsealed or something?
It was only natural for that kind of suspicion to arise.
Because short of that, there was no reason he'd be pulling off something like this jumping off castle walls.
Yu Ye-rin, who had been watching Mu-yeong's battle without blinking, felt the same.
"A Single-Lineage School? Just…… what are you?"
The more she watched, the deeper she sank into a maze with no exit.
Having forgotten entirely that she was broadcasting, she stared blankly ahead.
Bang!
The Stage 8 boss fell to its knees.
Clear time: 5 minutes.
Stage 9 soldiers emerged.
No—at this point, they were beyond the level of soldiers.
The Order had arrived.
And even they were cut down in under 4 minutes.
"Impressive. It's rare to find someone who kills our Order's knights so easily."
The Order Commander clad in golden armor drew his sword.
Swish—
The head of the Stage 9 boss hit the ground.
Before even a hundred exchanges had been made.
—Wow, so this is really the last one……
—I wonder what shows up?
—My palms are drenched;
—Mine too lol
The blood-drenched Mu-yeong let out a long breath.
To be honest, he hadn't planned on going this far.
Since the current record was Stage 7, he'd intended to wrap things up around there.
But how long had it been since he'd let himself run wild like this?
A soaring elation—as if the blood throughout his body were boiling—kept driving him forward.
'I wonder who'll come at the end? The Stage 9 boss wasn't bad, either.'
Kugugung!
Before he'd finished the thought, an immense energy swept across the battlefield.
He looked over to see a middle-aged man in light clothing striding out.
"Interesting. I hadn't received any reports that someone like this existed."
With his arrival, the morale of the enemy soldiers who had been shrinking suddenly surged back to life.
"It's—it's Duke Marcus! A Sword Master has appeared!"
"Our kingdom's greatest force is here……!"
"That bastard is as good as dead now!"
A Sword Master.
He was indeed on an entirely different level from every opponent so far.
The fighting spirit and pressure radiating from his entire body, even his very gait—everything reeked of a true master.
'Transcendence Realm at minimum.'
His hands and feet tingled.
A chill ran down his spine.
His nerves sharpened even further.
He was focused on Marcus's every movement when the man opened his mouth.
"Watching you has been curious. Fighting solely with swordsmanship, without the use of aura whatsoever. Are you perhaps in the middle of training?"
"Something like that."
"You don't seem to be all talk. Very well."
Marcus lifted the scabbard hanging at his hip entirely off his belt.
Then he let it drop onto the ground with a thud.
"You've piqued my interest. Let us see—between you and me, who understands swordsmanship more deeply."
He took a sword from a soldier standing nearby.
He turned it over, examining it, then leveled it precisely at Mu-yeong.
Come. I'll show you that above the heavens, there is another heaven.
Footnote:
- In South Korean culture, a sasaeng fan (Korean: 사생팬; sasaengpaen) is an obsessive fan who repeatedly invades the privacy of Korean idols, actors, or other public figures. The term is a combination of the Korean words sa (private) and saeng (life), referring to their intrusion into a celebrity's personal life.