Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

Chapter 130

6.
The chatroom erupted into cheers from the underdogs.

Woohoo!
The funds for the Silent Swordmaster statue have been raised. Thank you, underdog supporters!
Where did my memories go? :(
I don't know who this is, but they're really pretty. Huh? Why am I... tearing up...?
Are the underdogs awake? Are the underdogs awake? Are the underdogs awake?
Wait, wasn't the underdog group just made up of space station workers, and now it's all messed up?
Our space station has been replaced by the wild and inventive personal works of space villains.
The waiting space is already terrifying.
Hae Eung-eung watched the chatroom in confusion.

[Are you saying you made my statue?]

Wow! The Silent Swordmaster is reading the chat!
What the heck, a million-won donation was ignored, but this free chat is getting attention.
Is this real value for money? Hahaha.
Are you watching, Speedmaster? I beat you…
Hahahahaha.
Best achievement of my life hahaha.
From now on, I’ll only use free donations, hahahaha.
<Really? You donated 10,000 won!>
Are you sure it's not because you're broke? Did you fail at housing contracts? Did you fail with coins? Did you fail at stocks? Did you fail at getting a job?

Who’s the jerk messing with him?
Damn it, the cooldown for the demon ghosts is over.
Spicy mode ON.
Even when the Silent Swordmaster finally paid attention, the viewers’ interests veered off track.
Since it was rare for the Silent Swordmaster to engage, the viewers had become accustomed to talking among themselves.
Naturally, Hae Eung-eung’s interest waned.

‘I completed the mission, but I didn’t gain any martial arts.’

Mission 20 gave Hae Eung-eung insight into whip techniques, but she still hadn’t mastered a martial art.

‘Martial arts are not just about one technique.’

Martial arts are made up of several basic moves.
These basic moves are sequential actions for a common goal.
To truly claim to have mastered a martial art, you must perform all the connected actions, all the fundamental moves that form the martial art, from start to finish.

That is the entry condition for martial arts.
It’s the standard for entering the first level.

‘Is this why the legendary Heavenly Demon’s Art has such a steep learning curve?’

The better the martial arts theory and insight, the harder the entry becomes.
Some martial arts require special internal energy management and profound insight to perform even the most basic moves.
Naturally, beginners can’t even attempt these.
This is why split martial arts were created.
In common practice, martial arts are taught in parts – the first half first, then the latter half after some progress.

‘When the level is low, you learn only the first part, and only after leveling up do you master the latter part.’

In a real martial arts world, learning from what’s available and taking a step-by-step approach is practical.
The problem is, this Martial Arts Compendium is a martial arts game.
Games have systems.
To benefit from the system, you must meet the conditions for your technique to be recognized as a true martial art.
If you’ve mastered only the first half of the technique but cannot perform the entire sequence from start to finish, then you haven’t met the conditions to reach the first level.
The Martial Arts Compendium is difficult in that respect, and progressing to higher martial arts is even harder.

‘This is why there are stories of people learning the Heavenly Demon’s Art for over ten years and only reaching the first level or learning it for 20 years to reach the second.’

The Heavenly Demon’s Art.
A martial art name that resonates deeply with martial artists.
Many have fallen under its spell, and there are probably over a hundred people who have tried to learn the Heavenly Demon’s Art through possession.
But how many have actually reached even the first level?
It’s safe to say no more than 1%.
Not a single person has reached level 5 without help from a master or secret texts.
At least, no one Hae Eung-eung knew has done so.

‘The true Heavenly Demon was always the real Heavenly Demon.’

Those who impersonated the Heavenly Demon were never able to reach level 5.
You can’t replace a master with just a secret text.
The only person who could teach them was the legitimate heir of the Heavenly Demon – the Heavenly Demon of the time.
She killed those fake demons, but she wasn’t there to teach anyone.

"Ah, Hae Eung-eung. If it were you, maybe you could teach the Heavenly Demon’s Art. What do you think?"
Even the Heavenly Demon seemed to admire her.
But whether she approached Hae Eung-eung with the intent of teaching her the Heavenly Demon’s Art or not, she had no way of knowing.

‘What if I had learned that martial art back then? What kind of life would I be living now?’

Would she have died before reaching the realm of Hwa Gyeong at the age of 30?
Would she have overcome the Guumjeolmaek faster with the Heavenly Demon’s Art?
Would she have become the new Heavenly Demon, continuing the legacy of the late Heavenly Demon Pa Cheon-rin and fighting in the Devil’s World from the Demon King’s stronghold at Sibman Daesan?

A future that passed.
A path that was not chosen.
A version of herself who could have become the Heavenly Demon.

‘I have no regrets.’

Hae Eung-eung lightly shook off her idle thoughts.

‘Even an inferior martial art like this is not so difficult to see through.’

Lee So-hye’s whip lesson as a guest instructor was nearing its end.
Hae Eung-eung took the whip again.

7.
Mission 20 came with another variation.
If the 10th mission added a [rotation] element,
Mission 20 added an element of [height differences].

The distance between shelves increased,
and the central shelf (1) and surrounding shelves (8) and the next 14 shelves, etc.,
all began to rotate in different directions, changing height as they did.

Where did the whip simulator go? Hahaha
Isn’t this a circus simulator? Hahaha
No, no, it's a spinning top simulator.
While the viewers were confused by the bizarre concept, Hae Eung-eung watched with great interest as the shelves rotated in three dimensions.

‘These missions test your ability to calculate distances.’

If you put too much force into the whip, it’ll hit the edges of the shelf, causing everything to crash.
On the other hand, if you use too little force, you won’t hit the target and you’ll have to retract the whip.

‘This is a practical training exercise.’

The force required to swing the whip depends on the situation:
If you’re saving a child about to be hit by a truck, using too much force will hurt the child, and too little will fail to save them.

“Ah, you’re really good at this. Is that because you used to work with spacing in swordplay?”

Mission 20 was completed in no time.
If you could freely move through the spacing with just a sword, there was no reason to struggle with a whip.

[Special Task Completed]
[Mission 30]
[Target - F2: Knight Miniature]

Mission 30’s boss was a Knight Miniature.
The miniature, armed in full armor with a large shield, blocked the entire F2 shelf.

Is this a turtle ship meta?
Wow! You know about the turtle ship!
This game is such a mix.
The bosses are so small, yet why do they piss me off so much? Hahaha
Clearly looks solid.
“Do you want me to show you first?”
[I want to try it first.]

Looking at Lee So-hye’s whip, the counter was clear.
She was sure it would work.
But the reason she insisted on trying it herself was her desire to solve it herself as a martial artist.

‘The principles here are the same as before.’

Applying the mission of hitting the target, she aimed for the opening with a counter-strike.
The mission of reading the timing was applied to disrupting the timing with a sound-wave strike.
If she followed the same sequence, it would be easy to predict the strategy for this mission.

‘The strategy for the 20th mission was spacing. So, now we need a technique that messes with the spacing and disrupts it.’

When Hae Eung-eung swung the whip, it bounced off the shield.
The miniature knight, tilting the shield slightly, peeked out.

Thunk

When she feigned an attack with the whip, the knight quickly closed the shield and braced for defense.
This gave Hae Eung-eung the clue.

‘I can take advantage of that habit.’

She planned to deceive the spacing and strike the knight miniatures from an unexpected angle.

‘Before I grab the whip with my hand, I can swing it from out of sight.’

Without hesitation, Hae Eung-eung took the whip and prepared to strike.
Just as she was about to swing, a video donation popped up in her vision.

<10000 won video donation from Baekhapjo and Yong!>

(Watch as the pitiful manager grows red from frustration, fearing that the Silent Swordmaster might beat her in the Whip Simulator)

She had worked so hard to hone her skills,
but how could she ever match up so quickly?
Her cheeks puffed from the wind,
tears welled up in her eyes,
and her fists shook pitifully.
It was a heart-rending sight that viewers couldn’t help but feel sorry for.

‘Ah, I almost made a mistake.’

Seeing Lee So-hye’s appearance, Hae Eung-eung snapped back to focus.
She had almost misunderstood and mixed in too many techniques from the Rising Martial Art, which would make it an entirely different technique from Lee So-hye’s original.
That would be her own version, not Lee So-hye’s martial art.

‘Even if I follow the instructions and learn it, it might barely qualify as a secondary martial art, but if I modify the techniques, it’ll definitely be a primary martial art.’

She had been too absorbed in the miniatures, forgetting that her real goal was to learn the martial art.
She hadn’t started the stream to beat the whip simulator.
After swinging the whip a few times, she shook her head and positioned herself in front of the camera.

[It’s difficult. I guess I really need to watch a master’s demonstration.]

“Right?! Just following along after seeing it once is already cheating, but doing it without even watching is really crazy, right? All thanks to me, your guest instructor!”

Lee So-hye barely managed to recover her pride.
As Hae Eung-eung listened to her shout, she thought:
Next time I learn something from someone, I’ll pretend I can’t do it, so I don’t embarrass the guest instructors.