Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

Chapter 39

1.

The extermination of the pests lingering around her neighborhood was complete.
Her mastery of stealth techniques (???, Jamhaengsul) and projectile skills (???, Amgisul) had reached a satisfactory level.

[VTuber New BJ]
[Mugon Geomgyeok has started streaming.]
[Game - Half-Yokai Song (Similar Corp.)]
[Playtime - 02:05:07]
[Broadcast time - 00:00:01]

Ha Eun-eung had once again become Mugon Geomgyeok.

[Hidden Field Boss Yokai Immortal Defeated]

[Challenge Achievements]

• Defeat the Hidden Boss Yokai Immortal. (Achieved)
• Clear the field within the time limit. (Achieved)
• Prevent the swampification of the Great Forest. (Achieved)

[Extermination Rank: SSS]
[Defeat Rank: SSS]
[Challenge Rank: SSS]
[Overall Rank: 9?/3? (+600%)]

[MORE THAN PERFECT]

• The base difficulty of the next field has reached its maximum.
• The probability of random events occurring has increased.

The broadcast began with these clearance records.

As soon as the doors to the game reopened, viewers flooded into the chatroom.

• "Mom, is it warm now?"
• "LOL she maxed out a full month before coming back."
• "Monthly broadcast? This is infuriating."
• "Sensei, I think your audience needs discipline. Next time, take two months off."
• "Dude, that means you won’t get to watch either."
• "We, the Suicide Bomber Fan Squad, fully support Mugon Geomgyeok’s ant-clearing missions! Loyalty, loyalty! ^^"
• "The Suicide Bombers are detonating a whole month’s worth of damage at once, LOL."

Amid the chaos of viewers claiming allegiance to the "Suicide Bomber Squad" and causing mayhem due to the prolonged broadcast hiatus, Mugon Geomgyeok, as always, remained unaware of the chatroom's existence.

She briefly gazed at the spot where the Face-Stealing Spider had disappeared, then turned toward the branching paths leading to the next field.

However, beyond the melting Great Forest field, the options for the next destination seemed... unusual.

?Beyond the Great Forest?
[The landscape ahead of you is…]

1. An impassable dead end.
2. A hidden path leading to the rear of the crumbling fortress.

The options should have read:

?Beyond the Great Forest?
[The landscape ahead of you is…]

1. A collapsing cave.
2. A hidden path leading to the rear of the crumbling fortress.

For some reason, a dead-end path, previously thought inaccessible due to unfinished updates, appeared as the new option: a collapsing cave.

The viewers quickly figured out why.

• "Wait, did clearing the Great Forest within the time limit unlock a new field?"
• "Hold up, this field existed all along??"
• "WTF, a new map after 10 years?!"
• "The fact that the devs hid this for so long is insane."
• "A decade of secrecy, and she’s the one to find it. Mugon Geomgyeok is unbelievable."

Similar Corp., renowned for its masterpieces, was equally infamous for its secrecy.

The company was known for stuffing their games with hidden elements, boasting that even five years post-release, only 85% of the content had been discovered.

Much of the undiscovered content was tailored to Awakeners and hidden behind insanely difficult routes that regular players, despite their curiosity, lacked the ability to uncover.

But now, one of those unattainable "hidden treasures"—the dead end at the edge of the Great Forest—had been dragged out into the open by Mugon Geomgyeok.

• "True genius right here."
• "Yeah, except for her monthly streaming schedule, no communication, and the silent gimmick..."
• "Oh, and her sheer lack of reaction to anything."
• "When you list it out, she’s got a lot of downsides, huh?"
• "You chose this streamer. Deal with it!"

Despite starting the stream without any notice after a month-long break, with no reactions or comments, Mugon Geomgyeok dove straight into the gameplay as usual.

Her compelling progression, thrilling battles, and the promise of a moving story kept her viewers hooked.

• "?"
• "??"
• "What?"
• "Am I seeing things?"
• "Who are you, and what have you done with Mugon Geomgyeok?!"

Before entering the cave, Mugon Geomgyeok suddenly made a V-sign with her fingers—a reaction clearly directed at her viewers.

The abrupt, contextless gesture sent the chat into chaos.

• "Why the reaction?"
• "What’s with the shy, awkward V-sign?"
• "Is it a mission?"
• "No such mission exists."
• "Then why is she doing it??"
• "Nobody knows, LOL."

2.

A recent incident where passersby recognized her in public had left a lasting impression on Ha Eun-eung.
It wasn’t entirely accurate, but the incident had led her to believe that her competitive record content had been uploaded somewhere.

Though partially mistaken, it gave her an incomplete yet insightful realization.

‘If someone’s watching me play, won’t they see a silhouette of my performance?’

The thought of her first-place record casting its shadow on the challengers ignited a playful mischief within her.

‘The privilege of being number one is to irritate those trailing behind.’

In this one-sided relationship, where she couldn’t see her competitors but they could see her back, Ha Eun-eung remembered a lesson from the past:
A racing game from 20 years ago.

The memory of a top-ranking player stepping out of their car and mockingly taunting others by waving exaggerated gestures had left a deep mark, even after her harsh life in Murim and eventual return to modern times.

That infuriating experience had stayed with her, even two decades later.

‘If they see my relaxed attitude, those lagging behind will definitely lose their cool, won’t they?’

Walking forward—V-sign.
Turning back—V-sign.
Whenever the mood struck her—V-sign.

Her continuous gestures resembled a high school girl casually snapping photos wherever she went.

[Don-Many-Oppa donated 100,000 KRW!]
Mugon Geomgyeok’s V-sign—what a rare sight!

[SecretFriend donated 50,000 KRW!]
The first reaction on this stream, and it’s… this?

[Why-V-Everytime donated 50,000 KRW!]
Why does she keep making V-signs? It’s cute, but I don’t get it.

The sudden influx of donations and reactions created a buzz of excitement.

For a streamer who had never communicated with her audience before, this small gesture of interaction—making a V-sign—brought immeasurable joy to her fans.

[2Dahye donated 10,000 KRW!]
Apparently, I like this kind of thing.

• "No wonder she doesn’t do romantic content—2Dahye clearly likes women, LOL."
• "This little V-sign is bewitching so many people!"
• "The seductive V-sign, LOL."

Amid the lively atmosphere, the story mode for the new field began.

3.

[Story Mode]

The moment Mugon Geomgyeok crossed to the other side of the cave,
a loud crumbling sound echoed behind her as the cave collapsed.

[The cave nestled in the depths of the Great Forest…]
[Only through the Cave of Consciousness can one reach the mirrored world beyond.]

[A land where ash piles up instead of sand or soil.]
[Devoid of natural energy, no life can bloom in this realm of death and destruction.]
[The homeland of yokai and an abandoned sanctuary.]

[Indeed, this is the infamous Yokai Abyss.]
[The fastest route to the underworld—and possibly your final destination.]

A grim warning.

This field was unlike any other—far more dangerous and foreboding.

As Mugon Geomgyeok embarked on her journey into the fourth field, her viewers erupted:

• "This place existed??"
• "Where even is this?!"
• "It’s their homeland—the one yokai occasionally mention."
• "Holy sh*, why would you come here?!"*
• "Can’t she just turn back?"
• "Nope, the cave collapsed. No going back."
• "We’re so screwed."
• "Mugon Geomgyeok Mk. 2, your time has come. I thought we’d never need to use you again!"

The Yokai Abyss, a field more perilous than the Great Forest—a perfect place to die—had drawn Mugon Geomgyeok in.

For anyone familiar with Half-Yokai Song, the mere mention of the Yokai Abyss was enough to cause panic.

• "Yokai in Half-Yokai Song are all from the Abyss, right?"
• "Oh no, this is seriously bad."
• "Does that mean field bosses roam around here like regular mobs?"

Each step could summon a yokai, and bosses might appear like common enemies in this uncharted and supernatural wasteland.

Yet Mugon Geomgyeok, oblivious to fear, pressed forward without hesitation.

• "She’s not even fazed, LOL."
• "Our streamer is built different—13% human, 87% courage."
• "Unstoppable determination, OMG."
• "We’re scared for her character’s life, and she’s just vibing."
• "Everywhere else, streamers scream while viewers cheer. Here, it’s the opposite, LOL."
• "She probably doesn’t even know how to lower her sync rate after death."
• "Yup, if she dies, she’ll go on a six-month hiatus. And we wouldn’t blame her."
• "Wow. If she dies, the broadcast ends permanently. Is this what they call rogue-like streaming?"

As her boots disturbed the fine ash beneath her feet, she felt its strange, soft texture—
like a child experiencing sand for the first time.
Every step brought a fresh sense of wonder.

But soon, an odd noise reached her ears.

"Dyun dyu-dyun dyun…"

What was that sound?

Adjusting her footsteps and shifting her weight,
Mugon Geomgyeok silently tracked the source of the sound like a predator hunting its prey.

When she reached the top of the ash-covered hill, an unexpected sight unfolded before her.

"Dyu-dyu-dyun~ dyun-dyun dyun~"

A small, blue-skinned girl with two horns was digging through the ash,
muttering in a short-tongued rhythm.

She scooped up something shiny and stuffed it into a large sack.

Then, noticing Mugon Geomgyeok, she tilted her head curiously.

[Huh? Human. What are you doing here?]

Her reaction was different from the yokai or Half-Yokai Mugon Geomgyeok had encountered so far.

Rather than hostility, she exuded a curious and friendly demeanor, much like the non-aggressive monsters or the young Face-Stealing Spider she had met earlier.

• "Wait, isn’t that an NPC merchant?"
• "It’s the wandering merchant!"
• "Holy crap."
• "Isn’t she the one who scavenges for weapons near the collapsed fortress?"
• "Nope, she’s the NPC who combs through cleared fields for loot."
• "Dyun-dyun merchant is here, LOL."
• "She’s so freaking cute."

Indeed, this was one of the few player-friendly NPCs in Half-Yokai Song,
a wandering merchant essential for trading and acquiring rare items.