Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

Chapter 55

1.

The course of the Simultaneous Raid battle should not have gone this way.

The powerful dual bosses, the Youkai Queen and the Youkai General.
One by one, comrades were falling.
The two bosses were toying with the last player standing.
After being defeated by the overwhelming difference in strength, the player found themselves trapped in the palace’s underground sewer.
Before the player was trapped, the two bosses’ enemies, who were already trapped in the sewers, came into contact with each other. The player learned of information that could send the Youkai General out of the capital, used the Queen’s weakness to weaken her forces, and then, after weakening her, killed the Queen. Before the Youkai General could return, they planned to escape to the human realm!
Failure and revenge.
Ambush and escape.
This was the storyline prepared for the players who had first visited the Youkai Realm.

[A human who defeats the Youkai General in single combat... how could I possibly face them?]
[What is the use of continuing this pointless battle? I surrender.]

Defeating the Youkai General through sheer skill, and forcing the Youkai Queen’s surrender, was never the intended course of action for this storyline.

"Is this how it’s supposed to break?"
"I don’t know."
"There’s only one person who’s done it, this is the real route, lol."
Viewers expressed doubt if latecomers would be able to follow this strategy. But despite these doubts, the story continued.

2. [Story Mode]

The boss battle was over.
The once mighty Youkai Queen now knelt before the Prince, who stood, battered and broken.

[You killed my father and brought ruin to the Youkai Realm, and now you've lost even the power you fought so desperately to seize. Don't you think this is a just end?]
[Heh. No matter how much I beg for my life, you will not deceive my heart. Did you truly think that neither you nor your son were at fault in all of this?]

The Youkai Queen spoke.

[Oogama. Since awakening the lineage that consumes human energy, no living thing, not even beasts, could survive near me.]
[The cursed power of my blood, which causes all those around me to fall ill and die, brought me a lonely solitude.]

Despite her massive, grotesque form, the once feared, ruthless Queen revealed a side that had been unexpected—a sharp contrast to the image of the tyrant she projected.

[And yet, before me, a foolish fool appeared, claiming that with their own strength, they would not die by my side.]
[After years of loneliness, I finally understood what love was. That was my husband, the Youkai King.]
[Those were happy days. The joy of being a woman, the happiness of being a wife, the dignity of being a queen—things I never thought I would experience.]

She paused, as if questioning her right to relive her past, as an interaction prompt appeared before Ha Eun-eung’s eyes.

?Interaction Choice?
[1. Kill the Queen.]
[2. Cut off her words, claiming that you do not wish to listen to her pitiful excuses.]
[3. Hand the Queen over to the Youkai outside the palace.]
[4. (Remain silent.)]

Kill her, silence her, or hand her over to hostile forces—choices leading to an unfortunate end.

"111"
"22"
"111"
"She deserves to die after what she did."
"LOL"
"1111"
"People with brains are scarier than those with muscles."
"If she betrayed her subordinates, how much more cunning must the Queen be?"
As viewers expressed disbelief, the fighters also showed animosity.

[The treacherous betrayer should die.]
[For once, I agree with Wendygo. Look at all the atrocities the Queen has committed. There’s no reason to listen to her anymore.]
[… ]
[Even the Boogeyman is nodding in agreement.]

Despite his lack of action, the Prince was deeply troubled.

[What do you think, Mother? Do we really need to listen to the Queen any longer?]

The prompt blinked once more, urging a decision. Ha Eun-eung locked eyes with the kneeling Queen. The Queen's gaze, filled with resentment, was it due to the humiliation of defeat? Or the fury of lost power? Or perhaps, was she thinking of something else entirely?

[?(Remain silent.)]

Ha Eun-eung, now longer living as a man but a woman for a considerable time, became curious.
As a woman, a wife, and a Queen—how had this woman, who once knew such happiness, ended up in her current plight?
Upon signaling her intent to hear the Queen’s story, the Prince nodded, and the fighters suppressed their dissatisfaction.

[After the Youkai King united the Youkai Realm, instead of fighting among themselves, the Youkai began seeking expansion into the human realm. The Second Youkai War began, following the first.]
[They conquered vast territories, looted human treasures, and enslaved many humans for food or livestock.]
[Then, one day, the King of a small human nation sent his daughter as a tribute, pleading for mercy.]

The Prince asked:

[Was that daughter my mother?]

[Yes. She was so beautiful, a beauty beyond words. Even a servant could not ignore her charms.]
[It did not take long for the Youkai King to fall for her.]

The second Youkai war, the spread of Youkai blood in the human realm, and the many atrocities of the Youkai King were all the result of a single plea from a woman.

[Instead of fighting and dying, humans and Youkai would live together. When my husband spoke of that dream, I could not stop him.]
[No matter how foolish the dream, I knew it was the right path.]
[Though I lay alone for many nights, I knew that if I endured this suffering, peace would come.]

Even though peace was achieved, it cost a Youkai’s heart.

[Six years passed.]
[When you were five, I saw you for the first time when you came to visit me. At that moment, all my hatred was gone.]
[For the sake of the children, I thought peace wasn’t so bad.]

Unable to contain his anger, the Prince shouted.

[Then why, why did you kill my father?]

[That night, your mother came to me. She said that thanks to my sacrifice, thanks to my ignorance, she could enter the palace.]
[She said the Youkai King’s heart belonged to her, and it would not be hard for her to control him. She told me to leave or face a fate worse than this.]

[That’s impossible!]

[She didn’t love the Youkai King. She only sought vengeance for the death of the humans who were slain in the war.]

The Prince drew his assassination blade.

[Don’t you dare speak ill of my mother!]

[Yes, that was her expression. She, the woman who spoke of peace while ending the war, was driven by revenge.]

With the Prince’s sword drawn, the Queen closed her eyes and said:

[So, I killed him.]

After these words, a new interaction prompt appeared before Ha Eun-eung.

?Interaction Choices?
[1. Kill the Queen.]
[2. (Allow the Prince to kill her.)]
[3. (Stop the Prince.)]

The Prince’s rage consumed him as he attempted to strike down the Queen. Ha Eun-eung realized the true nature of the Youkai Queen and the Prince’s actions—they were both victims of circumstances beyond their control. Each one was trapped in the cycle of revenge.

3.
[Player Mode]

As her physical freedom returned,
and the sound of the sword embedding itself into flesh echoed again and again,
Ha Eun-eung's mouth remained tightly shut,
never once opening.
It wasn’t because she couldn’t speak.
She was simply caught in a deep inner conflict.
The decision the Prince had made—to wash away blood with more blood—was one that left her wondering
which blood was the cause of all this.
Was it because half of him was Youkai?
Or was it because he was also human?
What had caused both the Prince and her to suffer?

"Is this the artifact you were looking for?"

The creature, looking around cautiously, handed over the mirror.
Ha Eun-eung nodded slightly in acknowledgment,
expressing her gratitude.
Even when enduring attacks from powerful Youkai,
the Silent Swordswoman’s hands never trembled.
Yet, as she took the fragile mirror,
her hand shook so violently that she feared it might drop.

[You have acquired the Mirror of Clear Reflection.]

After opening the secret vault to obtain the mirror,
Ha Eun-eung stood still for a while.
She realized something.
With all the power players of the palace dead,
and the world on the brink of ruin,
the Prince’s thirst for revenge was born from either human blood or Youkai blood,
but it didn’t matter anymore.
The world he was determined to rule was now one she would never return to.
It was a world that no longer had anything to do with her.

Ha Eun-eung stepped out of the secret room,
and her hand no longer trembled.