Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

Chapter 258

Gashigan.
A finalist in the 2nd Silent Swordsman Martial Arts Tournament and an executive member with special recruitment, Gashigan has one distinctive feature:
His appearance, which is notably unattractive.

‘It’s almost pitiful how unique his looks are.’

Moderately unattractive appearances can bring out laughter, but excessive unattractiveness induces disgust and fear.
Though it wasn’t Gashigan’s fault, discussing it with Woo Ji-woo and persistently requesting plastic surgery for himself was a bit much.

‘The difference between a miracle that happens once and a miracle that occurs regularly is that people’s desperation varies drastically.’

When rumors circulate that a priceless elixir, worth a hundred thousand gold, is hidden somewhere at the bottom of the Chang River, most people will scoff and say, ‘Do you believe that? Fool.’
But when rumors spread that the elixir was actually found, and the head of the Chang River company has changed, even the lowest of the low will start dreaming of their own fortune.
‘Maybe I could be lucky enough to find something at the river bottom?’
A miracle is called a miracle because it happens only once.
But what if two miracles were to occur?
What if people began to believe that even an unknown figure in the Martial Arts World like themselves could aim for it?
People would immediately quit their daily lives.
They’d pack up and run to the nearest river, scrambling through the riverbed, hoping to find something—how long could someone continue living a pointless life when they see no future ahead?
Those seeking their fortune would scavenge the riverbeds across the country, and a brutal knife fight between two would-be treasure hunters could break out at any time.

‘This is how the bloodshed over fortune began in the Martial Arts World.’

Once the riverbed fortune-seeking craze spreads in the Martial Arts World, specialized equipment-wielding practitioners will line up along every river.
Martial masters, capable of replacing breath with internal energy, will scour riverbeds, making all rivers in the country run yellow with their efforts.
After some time, or when a few promising spots are narrowed down, the river will be stained red with the corpses of those who couldn’t make it.

‘In modern Earth, it might not get this extreme, but if the second miracle happens, it’s going to be a real hassle.’

For the trend-followers in the real world, if a certain company’s product is hot, they simply buy it without question.
But in the Martial Arts World, there isn’t such a thing as a one-house-one-fortune supply.
Reverse alchemy is the same.
Ha Eung Eung would have to personally put in the effort to alter her face, and that’s no simple task.
She would rather everyone went for plastic surgery instead of learning martial arts—it would be much easier.

‘It’s laughable that the before-and-after photo of Woo Ji-woo’s face being fixed through modern medicine is trending on the internet. I underestimated modern Earth’s information power.’

The phone calls and visitors are endless, but what about the two of them?
Ha Eung Eung couldn’t imagine witnessing a flood of ugly people filling Haenampa every morning, all seeking plastic surgery.
For someone with an average appearance, being able to change their looks to fit within the realm of fortune would be seen as a miracle.
If future generations were to name it, perhaps it would be called the Haenampa Plastic Surgery Crisis.
Even if she were to grant an appearance-based miracle, she couldn’t let such an incident occur before a fully automated reverse alchemy system was set up by her disciples.

• A study by an expert shows that even the top authority in reverse alchemy, Ha Eung Eung, can change a person’s life with just 15 minutes of work.
• Guild Master. Is playing around with pigeons on a building rooftop more important than fixing someone’s miserable life?
• Did you know that in the hour that Silent Swordsman enjoys the game, four ugly people could be saved?

She imagined protests of people saying, ‘Can’t you just spend a little time doing this while you breathe?’
That’s why martial masters leave the mortal world and live in nature.
Ha Eung Eung thought, perhaps the desire to avoid people and retreat to nature was subconsciously revealed in their actions.

Perhaps Gashigan had reached such a level that he had begun to develop the sensibility of a martial master.
But then again, she couldn’t think of any reason why he would go all the way to a quiet countryside just to get beaten up.

“This bastard is pulling out his thorns again! Break them!”
“Ah! Please stop!”
“This guy’s thorns got harder. The more we break them, the tougher they get. His mental toughness is just as tough as that face he’s living with.”
“Stop! Please stop!!”

Was the pain from the body?
Was it from the heart?
Maybe it was both—Gashigan’s screams of pain seemed pitiful, but Ha Eung Eung didn’t rush to help.
Just like when Wise and Teresa showed growth while fighting Ron Berger and the ten failures from Helshesal, Gashigan showed potential.
For a martial artist, the sorrow of feeling weaker than others is greater than the sorrow of being beaten.
If the chance to become stronger came, then this kind of pain should be endured.

‘Please become a martial artist, Gashigan.’

Ha Eung Eung’s steps turned toward Dashman, a bit farther away from Gashigan.

Unlike Gashigan, Dashman’s combat took a much more dangerous turn.

<Awakened Ability - Air Bomb>
<Awakened Ability - Magnetic Manipulation>
<Awakened Ability - Hidden Force>

A large iron spear rushes forward, catching the eye.
As it swings, Dashman reflexively strikes a translucent air bomb coming toward him.

“Dashman, cover the deployment.”

Just as he barely reacted, the thin air of Dashman’s shield was breached by the iron particles just before they could infiltrate his nose.

‘Good thing I learned how to handle magic from the Guild Master.’

Using the shield in such a useful way, Dashman was able to block the surprise attack.
He slashed his arm like a sword, making blood flow, and as it splattered, the iron particles turned red.

‘Scary. If those iron particles had entered my body, I wouldn’t have lasted even a second. If I had been hit, I would’ve been dead for sure.’

If it hadn’t been for the techniques Ha Eung Eung had passed on,
If Min Woo-seong hadn’t warned him,
Dashman would have been dead by now.
Outwardly, it seemed like Dashman was protecting Min Woo-seong, but in reality, it was Min Woo-seong’s timely advice that kept Dashman alive.

The Hidden Force awakened user, who had been observing Min Woo-seong’s calm demeanor, frowned.

“The guy behind us read our attack timing. We need to take him out first.”
“That’s not hard.”
“From now on, we just need to target the one behind us.”

Surrounded by three B-rank awakened users, Dashman didn’t step back and continued to counterattack to protect Min Woo-seong.
However, unable to block everything, his clothes were torn to shreds.

The attack didn’t land a direct hit, but before he could even feel relief, intense dizziness overwhelmed Dashman.

“Ugh, blood...!”

The tiny trace of iron mixed in his blood.
Using that small amount of iron, Dashman’s shield was weakened, and the blood flow slowed toward his brain, making his consciousness fade.

To resist it, reinforcing the shield would consume more magic, lowering his focus, leading to more small bleeds, and increasing the threat of magnetic manipulation.

An inevitable vicious cycle.
An inescapable bad loop.

‘This is too much for Dashman right now.’

He couldn’t approach the enemy, who kept attacking from a distance, and even strengthening his defense only increased the damage.
If the blood loss reached a critical point, the iron circulating in his body would block blood flow to his brain, and his consciousness might be cut off.
Before that happened, he could collapse from exhaustion if he couldn’t stop the iron particles infiltrating his respiratory system.

‘Magnetic manipulation. If awakened abilities are trained to their peak, they could rival martial arts.’

It was a deadly technique with the same level of lethality as advanced martial arts techniques.
If used correctly, it could easily threaten even an A-rank awakened user.

‘If I could only use Tanji Gong at their level, I could take them all down right now.’

Of course, Ha Eung Eung could never be threatened.
Before a true master, they were nothing more than pitiful mushrooms.

‘The one stronger than these three is the man watching from behind. He must be their leader.’

The man with the dark circles under his eyes.
The only awakened person on the battlefield who wasn’t attacking, just watching the fight with a cold gaze.
Even he didn’t capture Ha Eung Eung’s full attention for long.

‘There’s a stronger opponent.’

The woman sitting atop the open food transport truck’s cargo compartment, gazing out at everyone below.
She wore a pristine white robe with large red flowers embroidered on it, looking as beautiful as a picture drawn on a blank canvas.

‘Is it her?’

A woman who looked so much like Ha Eung Eung that it was shocking.
The man with dark circles kept watching Dashman and Min Woo-seong cautiously, but this woman didn’t even seem to notice her own existence.
Ha Eung Eung watched her from afar, intrigued.

‘She’s copied the appearance, but how far can she follow in terms of skill?’

<Master Martial Arts> <Tanji Gong>

A light flick of the finger released an almost lethargic energy. A finger snap released a small pellet of energy.
This wasn’t the same as the Tanji Gong of street thugs flicking stones.
This was a master-level Tanji Gong, a type of transparent air bomb created by a martial artist’s skill.

‘It’s fast, but that doesn’t mean it’s strong. It’s slow, but that doesn’t make it weak. You can’t feel it when it moves, but you can’t ignore it when it stops either.’

The deep meaning behind the heavy strike was different from what it appeared on the surface.
The moment before it exploded, the man with the dark circles finally sensed it.

“Samho. Evade with full force.”
“Eh? What...”

The warning came too late.
Samho, the user of magnetic manipulation, only realized the anomaly after being caught in the explosion.

“Ahhh!!”

Though he lost an arm to the blast, he managed to save his life. But he couldn’t withstand the extreme pain and fainted, trembling.
The other two awakened users, surprised that they hadn’t noticed the dangerous attack until it exploded so close, stopped dead in their tracks.

“!”

The B-rank trio could only comprehend what had just happened.
The man with the dark circles had sensed the signs of the attack.
But compared to him, the woman was one step ahead.

‘She realized it.’

The speed of the attack was much slower than the awakened abilities, but its power was immense.
The enormous force contained within its slow movement was unlike anything they had expected.

As it exploded, the impersonator, who had been floating in the air, saw the trajectory of the Tanji Gong, which had been soaring through the air, and locked eyes with Ha Eung Eung.

The impersonator’s pupils shook uncontrollably, and it was clear she was agitated.

‘Only half of it.’

The impersonator had noticed the Tanji Gong’s trajectory as the vibration began to manifest.
Before that, she hadn’t even noticed the rotation of the projectile that had passed right above her head, silently flying through the air.
This meant that Ha Eung Eung could have struck at her unnoticed and killed her in that split second.