Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

1.

As the Silent Swordsman’s sword energy sliced through the Flame Giant, cutting through its massive form, it eventually pushed the creature back with a wall of sword energy that seemed to cover the entire sky.

The attention of the remaining viewers in the Sensory Link chatroom immediately focused on the last survivor.

• "Who’s the last one standing?"
• "Who is the last person in the Sensory Link?"
• "Wow, that was intense, so many people dropped out almost at the same time near the end!"

The Sensory Link ranking board unfolded, displaying the rankings from 50th to 1st.

[Rank 50. Ma Dongtak, from the Changwon Guild, barely made it.]

• "Wow, lol."
• "Couldn’t even imagine Dongtak being 50th."
• "Dongtak’s not interesting at all, just get out of here."
• "Changwon Guild did well to last this long though, lol."

[Rank 47. Lee So-hye.]

• "Wow! The one with the poisonous snake eyes, Lee So-hye!"
• "Manager! Only 47th?!"
• "How did she do that?"
• "Dongtak is also a B-class Awakened, but a C-class beat her, wow."
• "Where’s the differentiation for Association ranks?"
• "Confucian girl Lee So-hye did well with 47th."

[Rank 42. Kira Kira, Leader of the Rhythm Team.]

• "Wait, this sister was ranked 42nd?"
• "No way, really?"
• "There are 41 people better than Kira Kira?"

[Rank 39. Prisoner Number 502.]

• "Wait, this guy is a top-tier player in Epic Fantasy’s duel arena."
• "Came for a visit and got knocked out by the aftereffects, lol."
• "Tsk, tsk, this guy should have stayed in normal viewer mode instead of being so arrogant and doing Sensory Link."
• "Not going far, lol. Good luck with that Sensory Link."
• "What’s wrong with his viewers, lol?"

[Rank 35. Cheol Daesan.]

• "Daesan Guild leader, lol."
• "Did this guy also learn swordsmanship from Silent Swordsman?"
• "Their guild’s martial arts instructor is Silent Swordsman."
• "Our guild leader isn’t even a B-class Awakened?"
• "He says he's a B-class, but no one believes him, lol."

Famous Awakened members.

Silent Swordsman’s chatroom manager.

Rhythm game top-ranker.

Epic Fantasy duel arena solo-ranker.

Daesan Guild leader and werewolf.

As viewers began to reveal their identities from ranks 50 to 30, the top 30 through 10 were filled with more anonymous names.

• "Why are there so many anonymous?"
• "Must be embarrassed."
• "There must be some big shots among them?"
• "With Silent Swordsman’s name value, they probably have a chance."

[Rank 27. Nina.]

[Rank 26. Nanase.]

• "Wow, Half-time!"
• "Strategy streamers did well, lol."
• "They’re promoting their Sensory Link records, lol."
• "Are they this cute in person?"
• "Search it up, they’re even cuter in real life."

Nina and Nanase, who had made their faces known to Silent Swordsman’s fans through Half-time streams, were followed by some unexpected powerhouses.

[Rank 22. Lee Changwon.]

• "Wow, Lee Changwon at 22nd!"
• "Lee Changwon in 22nd place, lol."
• "Right behind 2nd Dahye, lol."
• "How is Lee Changwon ranked exactly 22nd, lol?"

Although Lee Changwon’s rank felt a bit low for an A-rank guild leader, the viewers’ reactions weren’t too negative.

• "An A-rank at 22nd? Really?"
• "He’s better than those who ran away anonymously."
• "Agreed."
• "This isn’t about ranking by strength, it’s about how well they match Silent Swordsman’s playstyle."
• "Changwon Guild started their potential when An Chang-yoon sent the host flying in the martial arts tournament, lol."

The image of the Changwon Guild’s "fool trio" gained a favorable impression in the martial arts tournament, which carried over to the guild leader and management team, making it all the more welcoming.

[Rank 21. Anonymous.]

[Rank 20. Anonymous.]

[Rank 19. Anonymous.]

...

[Rank 14. Um Gil-dong's Secret Bodyguard.]

• "Not you guys again?"
• "He’s good at listening, but everything else about him is bad, lol."
• "Wow! A secret agent!"
• "This guy is 14th?"
• "Gil-dong is stronger than an A-rank guild leader, wow."
• "When did Gil-dong get so strong, lol?"

And then the much-anticipated Top 10 appeared.

[Rank 10. Dr. Johann II.]

• "Lol, seriously?"
• "The guy looking for Mark II was so fed up with Silent Swordsman, he’s been collecting data to take her out himself."
• "Don’t you think Johann II is stronger than Mark II?"
• "Agreed."
• "Mad scientist (physical attribute)."
• "Just take her out yourself!!"

[Rank 08. Lee Hae-chan.]

• "No way, Hae-chan is already out?"
• "Didn’t he place in the Top 3 in Silent Swordsman’s Sensory Link Survival last time?"
• "Nina was there too."
• "This is amazing."
• "I’ve been following Hae-chan since his first broadcast with less than a thousand viewers, but now he’s getting passed?"
• "He’s telling her to stream more, lol."

[Rank 07. Wanderer’s Guild Leader.]

• "Wow! Leader of the Wanderer’s Guild Fan Club!"
• "What the heck, lol."
• "Fan club leader getting started, lol."
• "I was wondering why he hadn’t shown up."
• "Did they make the fan club leader the martial arts tournament winner?"
• "Stronger than Hae-chan, lol."

[Rank 06. Face of the Demon-Faced Landlord.]

• "What’s with all these close races, lol?"
• "When did the demon-faced landlord make a comeback?"
• "Yeah, the trend is with Arakne, the sister."
• "Did Arakne also die?"
• "ㅠㅠ"
• "Why do we have to be the ones to suffer?"
• "Silent Swordsman, please kill the Wanderer’s Guild too, become the guardian of balance."
• "You’ll taste the bitter edge of Silent Swordsman’s slaughter!"
• "Please, stop! I... I’m scared! The Wanderer’s Guild is gonna die like this!"
• "We’ll show you the despair we faced!"

The fierce competition for 6th and 7th places between the fan clubs became so heated that the chat room nearly exploded.

Amid this tension, the next big names began to emerge.

[Rank 05. Eve.]

• "Eve? Who’s that?"
• "Isn’t Eve the saintess from the Eastern Bloc who uses divine arts?"
• "Wasn’t she involved in the territorial recovery war a few months ago?"
• "A war hero visiting personally??"
• "Is this Silent Swordsman’s class?"
• "This is insane."
• "But will Silent Swordsman actually watch this?"
• "Who knows, sometimes she reacts, so if we’re lucky, she might."

[Rank 04. Kang Tae-baek.]

• "Kang Tae-baek, the guild leader of the Taebaek Guild."
• "The leader of the teenage guild?"
• "Silent Swordsman really made it big."
• "At this point, isn’t she close to the top-tier streamers?"
• "Nah, she still doesn’t meet the top-tier streamer conditions."
• "What’s the condition?"
• "10 million concurrent viewers, more than 10 records."

[Rank 03. Dmitri Igorovich Belov.]

• "Dmitri? Isn’t he the national hero who cleaned up the Russian oligarchs?"
• "From Eastern European war hero to Russian national hero, wow."
• "Starting next year, foreign streamers will know Silent Swordsman’s name, lol."
• "Stop, please."
• "Stop! STOP!!!"
• "Why is all the embarrassment ours?"

[Rank 02. Zhang Noya.]

• "Is the translation tool broken?"
• "What is this, what does this even mean?"
• "It’s a poem from the ancient state of Chu by Qu Yuan, who said that even a young age doesn’t prevent one from being a teacher."
• "Oh, that guy! He’s the elderly martial artist who appeared on the Giyin Yeolsa broadcast?"
• "That’s him!"
• "He’s the guy who knocked out a fighter with his martial arts in that variety video? Was that fake?"
• "No, it’s real. He’s a legendary martial artist who can actually use Awakening power to manifest martial arts from novels!"

And then, finally, the moment came.

• "The only one left is the last person, right?"
• "I knew it!"
• [Rank 01. Speedmaster!]
• "Wow. Seriously, it’s Speedmaster?"
• "No surprise at all, lol."
• "Who else could take first place with Silent Swordsman here?"

As viewers celebrated the expected outcome with mixed joy and regret, a surprise post arrived.

[Rank 01. Wijecheon.]

• "What?"
• "What?!"
• "Whoa! Top-tier streamer!"
• "Wasn’t that guy retired?"
• "Where’s our Speedmaster?"
• "Wait, where did Speedmaster go?"
• "No way, he’s outside the rankings?"

Confusion swept through the chatroom as the last remaining survivor of the Sensory Link turned out to be an unexpected name.

Where was Speedmaster? Amid the chaos, a donation from Speedmaster arrived.

<Speedmaster donated 100,000 KRW!>

"I was busy watching a movie with you guys, when did Sensory Link even happen?"

• "Ahahaha."
• "So he was just enjoying himself instead of stressing out with Sensory Link."

While the others were scrambling in confusion, Speedmaster had been enjoying the broadcast in the general chat room, making him the true winner when it came to the enjoyment factor.