Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

Chapter 176

1.

The villain organization Black Army was now tied down until they paid back the debt they owed to the Haenam faction, despite their ambitious debut.
"Our organization’s name has become the disgrace of the villain world… How do you plan to take responsibility for this…?"
Whisper showed his anger. In the villain network, they were mocked for ambitiously making an appearance, only to get utterly beaten by Haenampa. The boss, sitting with his hands clasped behind his head, lay down.

"What else can we do? If we were to fight that monster of a woman, we should’ve gone all in and finished it. If we truly wanted to win, we’d have to push beyond the ‘limit’ of ability control."
"Was that how strong the Haenam faction leader was?"
Whisper couldn’t hide his surprise. Though the boss had his own clumsy side, his strength was real. If it had been any other organization than Black Army, Whisper, capable of claiming the top spot, would have had that position. It was the boss he acknowledged, which kept him in his current high-ranking position.

"Why didn’t we just run away? It's not even difficult to escape from here right now."
"You're thinking too short-term, Whisper."

The boss, who looked pitiful, suddenly spoke in a grave tone.

"Haenampa is one of the few guilds that are not hostile to villain organizations. Their guild leader might be a scoundrel, but she hasn’t committed any major evils."
"Are you planning to use them?"
"Isn’t she using us? To go against the existing teen guilds and large guilds, there’s no better ally than us."

Haenampa, a new guild that replaced one of the major guilds after bringing it down, couldn’t survive amidst other large guilds and teen guilds without a national-level alliance. And Black Army was here to fulfill that need.

"Too much trust is dangerous."
"After what happened last night, you still say that? Haenampa will never betray us."

Whisper recalled what had happened the previous night.

[Please go back.]
"No, are you really going to refuse the recruitment of new members?"
[While our guild is falling apart, you haven’t exactly done anything to help us.]

At Haeung-eung’s words, even the association executives who had come on-site lost their words. The scene had been lucky for them due to the barrier, but they couldn’t escape how pitiful they had looked. The awakened members of the association, who had watched the fierce battle along with the audience, had looked completely insignificant.
And to make matters worse, over a million people watched the live stream. They couldn’t even pretend it hadn’t happened.

"I will step back for now, but know this: if Black Army commits any criminal acts in the future, the Haenam faction may face disadvantages for not cooperating in the recruitment of the main members."

Haeung-eung, with a frown, boldly stared at the association worker who dared to threaten her. She swiftly poked his arm with her finger.

"Ugh. Wh-what are you doing?"
[Etiquette training.]
"Ah! My arm, my arm, what have you done to me?"

His arm swelled visibly.
The association worker panicked, his arm now inflating like an overinflated balloon, as though it might burst any second.
He quickly regretted his actions. Threatening a woman who had just beaten a villain boss in a real fight, a true vicious fight—what had he been thinking? Even if it was an order from above, this was a line you couldn’t cross.

"Alright, I’m sorry. I won’t say anything disrespectful again. Please forgive me!"

The boss, holding a crystal ball, murmured.

<Truth>

Haeung-eung scoffed and poked the association worker's arm again.
As she let go of the pressure point, the swelling in his arm gradually went down.
Afraid of what might happen next, the worker bolted without looking back.

Whisper understood. Considering what had happened last night, there was no way she would turn on them, especially not in a sneaky manner. She wouldn’t betray them after setting up such a public confrontation.

"I understood up to that point. It’s something I can accept. But still… Why the hell did it have to be through a broadcast to pay off that damn debt?"

Even now, Whisper's view was clouded by the chat messages from viewers.

• "Ha ha, if you don’t want us to watch, just work hard and earn donations."
• "The villain bastard has to watch his back at the debt party, huh? Got humiliated by a scoundrel?"
• "Sing a song, 10,000 won^^"
• "What does a villain do in their free time? Tell us!"
• "Reveal your ability name and I’ll donate 100,000 won lol"

[Amount needed for Haenampa’s slave liberation]
[1,300,000 won / 300,000,000 won]

That's right. The method Haeung-eung had proposed for paying back the debt was donations.

"What else can we do? We can't leave Haenampa, but the debt’s too big to pay off with random labor. Now, it’s really only donations."
"Do we really have to do it this way? Honestly, I think it’d be better to just pay it with the organization’s funds, even if we waste time."
"Are you an idiot? If we pay it all at once, we won’t have an excuse to stay with Haenampa."

The boss’s true goal was to solidify an official alliance with Haeung-eung, the leader of Haenampa.
The debt and the broadcast activities were just an excuse to strengthen the alliance, nothing more.

"How long are you planning to keep doing this?"
"If necessary, I’m prepared for more than a month."
"Then for the next month, we’ll have to listen to things like ‘We’re doomed, I’m going to die, how many times have you been in a relationship’?"
"Wow, you really gathered nothing but scoundrels?"

The boss chuckled and pointed under the roof.

"If you don’t want to do it via donations, then go help with that down there."

2nd day of the Martial Arts Tournament.
Over a hundred gunner participants were taking part in the shooting competition for the martial arts event.
The Black Army members were running around frantically like event staff, organizing everything.

"I’m losing my mind."

At that moment, they should’ve run away, like that Gwang-o-geom person did when it felt shady.
Late regret and frustration started to rush in.

In conclusion, the first day of the martial arts tournament was a mess from the quarterfinals onwards, so all the contestants made it to the semifinals.
There were a few competitors who managed to stay conscious enough to continue, but...

[Match 2] - [Kim Je-cheol VS Whisper]

"Disqualified."

Kim Je-cheol, in his hanbok, disqualified without a second thought.
Against those monsters like Gashu-in, Yang Gwi-ho, and Dash Man, who could wipe out several powerful contenders at once, fighting them was too frightening.
Thus, the semifinalists were decided as follows:

[Quarterfinals Matchup]
[Match 1] - [Gashu-in VS Masked Thief (By Default)]
[Match 2] - [Kim Je-cheol VS Whisper (Default Win)]
[Match 3] - [Lightning Man (By Default) VS Yang Gwi-ho]
[Match 4] - [Voice Girl (By Default) VS Dash Man]

All four matches were decided by either disqualification or default wins. The quarterfinals, which were supposed to be an exciting 90-minute concert, ended up being an utter failure.

[Semifinal Matchup]
[Match 1] - [Masked Thief VS Whisper (Default Win)]
[Match 2] - [Lightning Man (Default Win) VS Voice Girl]

In the semifinals, the two major contenders, Whisper and Lightning Man, advanced to the final without a fight.

[Final Matchup]
[Lightning Man VS Whisper]

Lightning Man, at least, gathered the courage to fight.
He didn’t want to just get disqualified without even fighting after coming this far.
He courageously faced Whisper, but got wiped out in 3 seconds.

• "Is this seriously a tournament level?? Lmao"
• "Is this real?"
• "The tournament winner is a Black Army member lol"
• "Lock"
• "Lock"
• "Wow, this was a total failure"
• "So now if you join Haenampa, does a villain teach martial arts?"
• "1st Period Villain Combat Skills ??"
• "2nd Period Murder Techniques ??"
• "3rd Period Bank Robbery 101"
• "4th Period Steal 200 Items from a Convenience Store without Paying ??"
• "Wait, aren’t these just their own list of things they want to do?? Lmao"

Of course, Whisper, being a Black Army member, was more focused on his own personal stream to earn donations than teaching martial arts at Haenampa.
Though he was curious about Haeung-eung’s martial arts, it still felt awkward to receive teachings from a villain organization.

[This is how you incorporate the discordant plot for the Bipa Geumlan 3-second style.]
"Be honest. You’re really a villain, right?"
"Hehe. From my perspective, Sister Haeung-eung seems like a villain too."

But Voice Girl didn’t want to take the easy path. After the first day of the martial arts tournament ended, she stayed at Haenampa, joining Haeung-eung’s music training, and became deeply involved in playing with sound waves.

‘Why is this? Why am I adjusting so well to life here?’

Voice Girl fell into confusion, feeling a sense of irrationality.
But despite her dilemma, time continued to pass.

"Boss, can you spare some time?"
"What is it? I’m busy with Jumping Rabbit King."
"What’s your actual job?"

The boss reluctantly stopped the broadcast and stepped out of his capsule.

"What is it?"
"If we’re going to be like this, shouldn’t we do something else?"

Voice Girl earnestly asked for advice.
Having spent time training diligently at Haenampa every day, her music abilities grew rapidly.
Her achievement in Bipa Geumlan had reached a whopping 7 stars!
That was the problem.

"At this rate, we’re not just villains. We’re martial arts instructors and streamers."

Voice Girl was struck with confusion about her identity.
The season had shifted; winter had passed, and spring was fully upon them.
Three months had passed since the Haenampa attack.