Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

Chapter 132

A week.
That was the time it took for Lee So-hye’s whip technique to reach perfection.

‘With this, I’m officially a top-tier swordswoman now.’

Finally, she was able to properly use the first-tier martial art.
No longer relying on a single miraculous move.
Now, she could freely execute numerous <O-ui> techniques.
If the second-tier martial arts were just a taste,
the first-tier was the true martial art.
The difference between having <O-ui> or not was the distinction between them.

‘Great martial arts force the opponent into difficult choices.’

Lee So-hye’s whip technique had several fundamental moves to counter different situations.
However, there were no techniques that truly forced difficult decisions on the opponent.

That’s why it was second-tier martial arts,
and why it was possible to master in just a week.
It was a martial art with a clear limit.

‘I like that roughness.’

Lee So-hye’s martial art contained a pure desire.
Although there wasn’t a single grand, unified image,
the crude changes she attempted,
the delicate transformations,
the faint possibilities,
all still lived on, raw and vivid.

[You will become a great warrior.]
“What… what are you saying all of a sudden? What would a awakener like me need to be a warrior for?”

Despite her grumbling, Hae Eung-eung smiled faintly, as if she were dealing with the complaints of a young disciple, and nodded her head.
In front of her mature response, Lee So-hye couldn’t help but feel increasingly embarrassed.

“I-I don’t want to be a warrior or anything! You can’t trick me!”

With a sharp, playful tone, Lee So-hye walked away.
Watching her retreating figure, Hae Eung-eung thought to herself.

‘I’ve been too focused on martial arts recently. I haven’t been paying attention to how others are doing.’

Today, she decided to take a light walk around, maybe solve some worries of the disciples while she was at it.
With a more carefree step, she began to walk as though taking a stroll.

As Lee So-hye walked away with a slight hum,
after walking for a while, her steps began to slow down, and then she stopped suddenly.

‘What is it with her? Why does she keep making me feel embarrassed?’

As an awakener, raising her level was all that mattered.
Martial arts were something basic—just the fundamentals were enough, right?

“Hmph.”

Annoyed, Lee So-hye snorted through her nose.
Her gaze shifted toward the training ground where the disciples were shouting their battle cries.
She tried to act uninterested, but her steps gradually led her closer to the wall, where she found herself standing right behind it.

“Yah!”
“Yah!”
“Eik!”
“Eik!”
“Urrah!”
“Urrah!”
“Urratcha!”
“Urratcha!”

...What kind of training are they doing?
She was about to peek around the corner of the wall, but her pride quickly held her back.
If anyone saw her acting like this, she would be really embarrassed.
Shaking her head, Lee So-hye took a few more steps.
Then, suddenly, a branch fell in front of her.

“?”

She looked up, only to awkwardly lock eyes with Ujiwoo, who was perched on a tree above.

“You... why are you here?”
“I was pruning the trees. Isn’t it a waste to hire a gardener?”

Indeed, Ujiwoo was holding a large pair of garden shears in his right hand.

“Never mind about that. When did you get here?”
“About 10 minutes ago...”
“Did you see anything?”
“What?”

Whew, he hadn’t seen it.

“You mean the sound of training that started 5 minutes ago when I was lingering by the wall?”
“Ahh! I’ve seen everything from the start!”
“Ahh, don’t hit the tree with the whip! Don’t wrap it around and shake it! It’ll fall!”

Finally, Lee So-hye managed to calm herself.
Ujiwoo tried to console her.

“You don’t have to be so embarrassed. I understand how you feel.”
“Really?”
“Of course. It’s embarrassing to go back to the training you did when you were an E-class awakener, right? You’re not an ace from a big guild, so it might feel a bit silly.”

Ujiwoo, an E-class awakener like Lee So-hye, had anticipated her feelings.
For the first time, Lee So-hye saw Ujiwoo in a new light.

‘This person, who usually seems so quiet and always out doing fieldwork, turns out to be rather decent when talking to him directly.’

In comparison to Seong Gye-seok, who helped with administrative tasks and asked questions nonstop, or Min Woo-seong, who occasionally made a big splash with a bold move, Ujiwoo had always been relatively invisible, even though he was one of the founding members of the guild.
His lack of presence wasn’t because of a bad personality or being a loner.
He was simply the most diligent and hardworking member, consistently earning guild points through tasks that didn’t get him noticed, and he never had the chance to build closer relationships.

“The training methods of the big guilds aren’t something they’ve patented, so there’s no need to worry too much about it. If you want to try it, just go ahead.”

“That’s a shame.”
“Hmm?”
“If you were a bit more handsome, you might have been popular with the ladies.”

Ujiwoo stared blankly at her sudden remark.
What was this? A confession?
The fire in his chest was lit, but Lee So-hye turned around nonchalantly.

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying I like you. I just wanted to say you’re an okay person. I’ll think about your suggestion for the training.”

With that, Lee So-hye, satisfied with solving her dilemma, left the scene, leaving Ujiwoo alone.
He held his dizzying head, recalling what had just happened.

“Wait, what… what just happened?”

Was it a confession or not?
If she was trying to show her feelings, why not just say I’m ugly?
Or was she really just indifferent?

‘No, this can’t be happening. I have Hae Eung-eung!’

Thinking it over, there were some strange parts.
It wasn’t like she had asked him to date her, but suddenly lit a fire in his chest and then left.
And the fact that she complimented him, yet called it a ‘flirt’ was confusing.

No confession, yet still feeling rejected!
A mix of strange emotions flooded him!

With garden shears in hand, he tried to immerse himself in his work,
but for a moment, his focus was lost.
The thoughts were still swirling in his head.
Finally, he climbed down from the tree, trying to shake off the confusion.

“Ugh.”

With his mind in a mess, he began picking up fallen branches.
His slumped back seemed even more pitiful than usual.

“Sigh.”

After gathering the branches and finishing up, he let out a deep sigh.

“Maybe surgery is the answer?”

At that moment, he felt a soft touch on his back.
Ujiwoo’s heart sank as a chill ran through him.
How had someone snuck up on him without him noticing?
If he had been on a mission or in a dungeon, this could have been a life-threatening situation!

“Ah, you scared me. Couldn’t you make some noise when you come up behind me?”

The one who lightly tapped his back wasn’t a mysterious attacker or a sneaky enemy.

[You seem to have a lot on your mind.]

It was none other than Hae Eung-eung,
the guild leader of the newly founded Haenampa,
and the one who had captured Ujiwoo’s heart.
She had a beauty that made it difficult to look her in the eye.

At the old mansion grounds of the Sacred Fortress.
This was now the headquarters of Haenampa and was used as the training hall.

‘It would be nice if the annoying tasks were handled outside.’

Hae Eung-eung, who just wanted to quietly watch the disciples train, do her own personal practice, and maybe play some games,
didn’t want to get involved in troublesome business or guild matters.
Such issues were a headache she wanted to stay far away from.

Fortunately, with the increase in work that needs to be managed, I was thinking of finding a new office with the help of Ha Che-rin.
Seong Gye-seok had understood her mindset and set up an external office to handle external duties.
Unlike the office workers and Haenampa disciples who paid for their own meals and accommodation, the employees at the external office worked for a salary.
They didn’t need Hae Eung-eung’s teachings and were outside her concerns.

We’ll leave security matters to our Daesan Guild.
With the administrative name change from Myeongho-dong to Haenam-dong, security had deteriorated.
Cheol Dae-san, the guild leader of Daesan Guild, had promised to improve the situation, and had focused on patrols with his guild members.

Didn’t you say the gate’s contamination needs to be periodically reduced? Leave that to me. I’ll get the kids from Myeongho Guild to help out.
The guild members from the Sacred Fortress and Myeongho Guild took on dungeon security and contamination management tasks.
They were mostly out of the training hall and too far away to be of immediate help.

‘Arakne can’t really assist either.’

Hae Eung-eung thought about it.
There wasn’t really anything to help with at the moment.
In fact, wasn’t she already doing her role as a chief administrator?
If the higher-ups didn’t have work, there was no need to force tasks.
The lessons she learned from the martial world started to resurface.

A true ruler must practice Wu Wei. The emperor of this era is not someone I can call a great person, in that sense.
Her mentor, the scholar Sama Taesa, who had been the emperor's teacher, had taught her through the Dao De Jing.

Abandoning human intent and aligning with the Dao is an attitude needed not only for rulers but for all martial artists.
Human intentions.
The greed to achieve something.
When you let go of that desire.
The Dao and Wu Wei.
Letting things be as they are, with no desires.
In that detachment, harmony is found.

‘If everything falls into harmonious peace without me doing anything, that’s the best… Am I following that teaching now?’

With a sense of satisfaction at having become a great administrator, Hae Eung-eung was lost in her thoughts.
But then, she heard a sigh.

“!!”

A sigh?
That didn’t quite fit with the image of a perfect administrator and a smooth-running guild.

<New Law>
<Shinpoong Parang>

With a few big strides like a crashing wave, Hae Eung-eung headed toward the source of the sigh.
And there she found the owner of the sigh.

“Is plastic surgery the answer?”

Ujiwoo, who had been climbing up and down trees and working in dirty work clothes,
now sat hunched, painfully picking up branches and putting them into a cart.
He looked so pathetic as he self-deprecated about his appearance.

Tap-tap.

Hae Eung-eung lightly tapped his back, her notebook full of pity.

[You seem to have a lot on your mind.]
“Did you hear?”
[Do you want to get plastic surgery?]

There was a martial art in the world of martial arts known as Reverse Use Technique.
It changed the face by manipulating facial muscles and bones,
performing surgery-like facial adjustments without cutting.
It was exactly the technique Ujiwoo needed right now.