Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

Chapter 229

4.

Broadcast donations in the hundreds of billions.
In 2051, a world where resources like oil and Bitcoin were as valuable as the legendary demon stones, such amounts weren’t entirely impossible.
In a society where the gap between the rich and poor had grown even wider, some could easily burn hundreds of millions every month.

"That's incredible."

There were three high-level awakeners or tycoons who had so much wealth it seemed to be overflowing.
Lee So-hye couldn’t stop her mouth from hanging open.
Indeed, the Silent Swordsman was also extraordinarily beautiful.
Everyone who saw her asked if she was a former model.
“Are you a celebrity?”
Many were curious about her true profession.
Some suggested she open a private broadcast for them or meet in real life.
Dozens of such emails filled the mailbox she had entrusted to Lee So-hye.
There were even offers through Lee So-hye to pay a certain amount to spend a night with her.
Though after the truth about her being the guild leader of the Haenam Faction, who secretly was a monster equivalent to an S-Class Awakener, became known, these offers had almost disappeared.

"People don’t want anything in return, and they’re willing to burn such amounts just for pure enjoyment?"

For a moment, Lee So-hye felt a sense of inferiority.
She envied her.
The fact that Ha Eung Eung was loved that much by people.
Of course, that envy lasted only briefly.
A greater sympathy followed.
The attention people gave wasn’t always positive.
Just like the naive guild leader, Lee So-hye, a lone dungeon-running female awakener, had nearly faced dangerous situations with others trying to do awful things to her.
Thieves who targeted her equipment.
Creeps who took advantage of the fact that modern laws didn’t apply within the gate to attempt disgusting things like attempted rape.
Assassins sent by jealous freelancers trying to stab her just because she was successful.

‘There are a lot of crazy people in the world.’

Even someone like Lee So-hye, whose looks were nowhere near as exceptional as Ha Eung Eung’s, had gone through such things.
If Ha Eung Eung were to go out on her own, it wouldn’t be strange for her to be attacked by guilds or high-level awakeners.
Even during broadcasts, it was clear that, with no manager by her side, the chat room must have been flooded with twisted messages.
She could only imagine how many horrible attempts had been made against her.
Even if Ha Eung Eung had the strength to reject them, constantly being exposed to such attempts was a deeply traumatic experience that would wound anyone’s heart.

‘If it were me, I’d have been caught too. Mistrust of humanity.’

Still, the Silent Swordsman continues to broadcast.
She keeps communicating in her own way.
Her determined attitude, her calmness—
Lee So-hye found herself starting to admire her.
A woman who faced greater adversity than herself but still walked her path without faltering.
How could she not admire her?

‘No wonder Ayeong is so smitten.’

For a moment, she wandered off in thought.
Lee So-hye shook her head to snap herself out of it.

"Anyway, it worked out well. The more points you have, the more things you can do. We could create a device to forcibly return malicious viewers to a prison in space."

[That’s great.]
“Try entering the conditions you want into the shop window. How much is it going to cost?”
[5 trillion points.]
"Why is it so expensive?!"

It would cost as much as constructing a large-scale space station or launching a new model battleship.

[Streamer - Silent Swordsman]
[Asset details - Approximately 50 trillion, 825.5 billion points]

A massive amount of points, seemingly endless, disappeared in an instant.

[Once installed, reinstalling will cost an additional 10 trillion.]
“That much? I might as well just build it from scratch then. Ugh. It’s all about doing things right the first time.”

Although the price seemed unreasonable, it was actually fairly justifiable.
If items that could be abused to restrict other viewers’ freedoms were sold for low points, viewers would face great damage while enjoying the ES.
If someone used the escape privilege to flee from danger, that was one thing, but having others forcibly returned and trapped was something no one would want.
If viewers could simply escape and go back to their real lives, they’d leave in droves.
Fortunately, the ES development team had carefully considered this and made sure that fun features and the forced return tool were placed on the same level with the same price.
Thanks to this, no point-rich viewers had yet used the forced return tool.
At least, not until the Silent Swordsman set his sights on it today.

[To increase the number of people to be sent back and reduce the cooldown, additional costs are required.]
“How much?”
[An additional 20 trillion.]
“Crazy.”
[To make the return device unbreakable, an additional 10 trillion is required to buy an option.]
“So, what’s the full option?”
[50 trillion.]

50 trillion points. This was practically most of the points Ha Eung Eung had earned from donations.

"Malicious viewers aren’t just going to sit there and take it. If we want to prevent escapes or damage, we’ll need extra costs."
[Escapes and damage can be prevented with the full option.]
“Are you seriously just selling unnecessary options and marking them up? It’s too expensive.”

Ha Eung Eung didn’t agree with that.

[The punishment dungeon requires stronger measures, such as cutting off key energy points and severing limbs. These options will have a similar effect.]
“Sever limbs... I get it, but don’t actually cut tendons, okay? That’s a crime.”
[Why not?]
“Why? Because the aftereffects will be terrible. If you make someone feel pain by cutting tendons, and it’s done in response to hate speech or sexual harassment, not only will the broadcast and the Haenam Faction fail, but it’s a crime in real life too!”

For the first time in a while, Ha Eung Eung found herself missing the Martial Arts Chronicles.
In the martial world, there was a proper culture where outsiders could not interfere with a faction’s internal events.
Though it exposed them to violence easily,
it was also a world where revenge was easier through force.
Wasn’t the martial world a kind of paradise for the powerful, even more so than South Korea?
But this wasn’t the martial world. This was modern Earth.
She had to adapt to the changing world.
Reluctantly, Ha Eung Eung changed the topic.

[The problem is the installation location.]

Indeed.
Even with 50 trillion, she felt uncomfortable about spending so much just to set up the punishment dungeon at a cliff.
Spending hundreds of billions to construct a facility that could easily be destroyed by an external attack or a mass breakout of prisoners seemed reckless.

“People around here are nuts. A facility built with hundreds of billions will be destroyed by a single external bombardment, and all the prisoners will escape.”
[We’ll make sure the interior is sturdy, but the exterior should also be reinforced.]
“Money-wise, we could ask for help from other wealthy individuals. People who donate in the hundreds of billions, like the guild leaders, should be able to help.”

It was a reasonable argument.
The leader of the Wandering Merchant Guild had donated 150 billion.
The leader of the Human-Faced Demon Guild had donated 98.2 billion.
The leader of the Tuttak’s Guild had donated 98 billion.
Whoever she allied with, the punishment dungeon would be safe from external attacks.

[Streamer Silent Swordsman has posted a new public announcement.]

A public announcement appeared in the Space Zone.

[Looking for a location to install the full-option forced return device for malicious viewers.]
[It would be ideal if the cliff was strong enough to withstand external bombardment or battleship charges.]
[We need a facility sturdy enough to imprison prisoners, something worth at least 10 trillion points.]

The three fan club presidents, vying for control over the Space Zone, saw the announcement and immediately shouted:

• "If we get picked by the Silent Swordsman, we’ll become the ultimate official fan club."
• "We can’t lose this battle. We’ll outbid them and bring the forced return device to our fan club facility!"
• "But do we really need to build a facility more expensive than theirs? We could just destroy their 10 trillion-point facilities."

Unlike the Tuttak’s Guild and Wandering Merchant Guild leaders who were thinking about buying with money, the leader of the Human-Faced Demon Guild saw the situation differently, focusing on destructive solutions.
Their motto seemed to match their actions—showing the pain and loss of a guild mascot who had been taken away.

“Uh... there’s a bit of a problem.”
“?”
“The fan clubs are arguing about who gets to host the facility. The Human-Faced Demon Guild has already attacked first.”
[And?]
“The Wandering Merchant Guild took a hit, and now the Human-Faced Demon Guild is attacking, saying they’ll take back the number one fan club position.”

Lee So-hye, nervously checking the information panel, felt beads of cold sweat forming on her forehead.
Ha Eung Eung sighed, highlighting the situation with a highlighter.

[Summarize in one line.]

“A space war has broken out.”

Trying to build a single space prison had led to a full-fledged war among the three fan clubs vying for control of the Space Zone.