Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

Chapter 86

?Mute Swordsman?
[Legend Newbie Video] [Video Length: 00:19:12]
[Blood Tunnel Route Channel One Click] [Video Length: 00:33:01]
[Great Forest Hidden Route] [Video Length: 01:12:56]
[64-Hour Continuous Broadcast] [Video Length: 64:02:25]
[Mute Swordsman Broadcast Compilation Video] [Video Length: 66:07:32]

Ha Eun-eung’s eyes twitched as she opened the folder.
Her anxious hand repeatedly tapped the mousepad.
Her relaxed expression tightened, replaced with palpable tension.
Her hair, tied up to reveal her neck,
and a few stray strands of hair falling beside her face.
Seeing her like that, Jeong Yo-han and Seo Gyeong-seok felt uneasy, as if they had done something wrong, rather than the flutter of excitement.
Her atmosphere was far from ordinary.
The two men were wary, as if they had committed some grave sin.

Click.

The video began to play.
It was the first broadcast after creating the character and stepping into the Half-Demon Valley.
The stream started from there.
At that time, she never once thought someone might be watching her.
She roamed the game world unguarded,
hunting blood demons hidden in the ceiling and floor,
seeking stronger enemies, until she faced the Executioner,
smiling as she finally raised her sword.
Unlike before, now,
there were chat messages from viewers
that she hadn’t noticed before,
that she hadn’t realized.

"The strongest tutorial boss vs the strongest first-time player ????"
"Big match, confirmed"
"Please open the Toto so we can place nostalgic bets!!!"
"It’s gotten so bad, the addiction is almost therapeutic."
"No way? Wanna bet? I can bet 1000 points that I'm not addicted to gambling."
"You’re already at the terminal stage of addiction, you know."
Deep sorrow and frustration, beyond that, the bright, gleaming will of the Executioner.
Even though it was a different kind of spirit,
the viewers’ chat messages, filled with enthusiasm for every move she made, caught her eyes.

"Wow"
"This one?"
The slight tremor of her blade could decide life or death.
Someone’s death leading to anger, despair, or fear.
Piles of corpses stacking upon corpses.
The days in the martial world.
Things unthinkable in those days.
Were happening in the chat now.

"Mute Swordsman, is he a god? Mute Swordsman, is he a god? Mute Swordsman, is he a god?"
"That fedora looks so cool. I tossed it midway because it blocked my view."
"It’s just because the pro-look doesn’t fit a beginner, haha."
"Hurry up and grab it, lol. It makes you stronger."
"You don’t need to grab it. The wandering merchant suddenly appears, laying out a mat and selling it for 10 souls, lol."
The viewers, chatting and reminiscing,
shared emotions and memories about her.

‘It vaguely came back to me.’

In modern society, where those who use martial arts in games are seen as players, not martial artists.
Back when she was still that person.
He had a name that she no longer even remembered,
spending his days obsessed with the game.
‘Though I never watched other people’s games... I have heard of the stories.’

Why do people watch game streamers?
The analysis of that thought came to mind.

At first, the standardization of difficulty.
Players tired of easy games
no longer sought simpler ones.
Game developers started releasing more difficult games,
and by the 2030s,
all genres and games were standardized with increased difficulty.

Next, the shift in trends.
Rogue-like games and 2D retro games.
The nostalgia content of past generations was fully consumed.
When no one was interested in the past anymore,
people wanted new games.
Games that surpassed all previous stimuli,
more fun, richer, and better.
Longer playtimes.
Vast worlds.
Competitive elements.
Countless elements were added, and the game’s size ballooned.
Extreme high-end games could no longer fit in the hundreds of games on any list.
One computer, one game.
That slogan marked the arrival of a new era.

Next was the film adaptation of games.
In the late 2010s, as famous game developers predicted,
the future of the gaming industry was in film adaptations.
Games became much more of a spectacle.
Even without buying and playing,
watching someone else play felt like watching a movie.

Add to this the excellent skills of streamers.
Physical and mental skills.
Streamers with outstanding abilities showed swift game progress.
In difficult games, they smoothly moved through levels,
uncovering hidden routes.
By watching their broadcasts, viewers could skip the time-consuming trial and error.

Just before virtual reality games emerged,
such factors created the reason why viewers started watching game broadcasts.

‘That was far from my story, though.’

Ha Eun-eung, who had lost her entire family in an accident and lived alone,
chose gaming as something to ease her loneliness.
She played the game herself,
interacting with NPCs,
and enjoyed the time spent within the game world.
There was no room for broadcasting at that time.
She had moderate skill, but not enough to be considered outstanding.
And she didn’t even want to stream herself.
Then one day,
she found the game she had never installed before,
the “Martial Arts Chronicles,”
and after surviving for 20 years in the martial world, she returned.

‘Now, my priorities have changed.’

Unlike the time when gaming was the first reason to live,
now martial arts had taken the place of that void.

That’s why she felt anger.
Her martial arts,
her little world,
were now being observed and shared by an unspecified mass.
Such an experience could never be pleasant.

She definitely felt discomfort,
even resentment, as her martial arts were exposed.

But slowly,
her feelings settled,
and before long, she was silently watching the chat.

The factions, affiliations, residence, and status
that once divided the martial world,
where everyone had to be enemies of one another,
where the will of the rogue and hypocritical martial artists governed,
where unity was impossible.
But the viewers in the chat in front of her eyes were different.

"Wow, Executioner, it’s possible to want him?"
"I’ve seen the Half-Demon Valley ending 7 times, the Half-Demon ending 5 times, and I’ve never cleared the Executioner pattern in the 12th run."
"It’s beyond skill; it’s pure talent ??"
They were not constrained by factions, residence, or status.

"This is an insane legend, at this rate, King of the Dungeon is totally possible today."
"New story unlocked ????"
"Wait, if the Executioner dies here, what happens to the late-stage field?"
They became one, focusing intently on the broadcast.

"So, when’s the next field?"
"A true swordsman who doesn’t forget to mourn for the strong foes."
"Forget the mourning, this guy isn’t even moving, I think we’re in trouble."
They typed in unison, as one mind.

"Open the door!!!"
"No, it’s such a bad timing to stop."
"This is pure evil, right?"
Even after the video ended and the screen froze,
the martial artists who dreamed of one unified martial world,
the great sect leaders,
and the emperor who imposed more martial worlds,
those who died in between them,
and the commoners who were treated as property.
The Hae Nam Sect, which fell and was destroyed by the tides of time.

‘To think the wishes of the great martial artists, who had such mighty power, were being fulfilled so closely here…’

Jeong Yo-han hesitantly asked,
“Uh… Mute Swordsman? The video’s over. Should we play the second broadcast video?”

Ha Eun-eung nodded.
She wanted to watch all of the second broadcast,
and even the third, and then the fourth, which lasted 64 hours,
but Seo Gyeong-seok stopped her.

“I’m sorry, but that would take too long. If you really want to see it, how about just copying the video?”

Ha Eun-eung looked at Jeong Yo-han to ask if that was okay,
and he smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

“If it’s the Mute Swordsman’s request, I’ll gladly send it! Just let me know the email address, and I’ll send it right away!”

[Email?]

“Oh, right. Mute Swordsman, you’re a newbie to VR, aren’t you? If you click here, and then here, you’ll find your VR personal email.”

Following the method Jeong Yo-han taught her,
Ha Eun-eung accessed the email linked to her VR account.
Seo Gyeong-seok and Jeong Yo-han exchanged awkward smiles.

“Looks like this is your first time seeing the email.”
“Wow… no wonder none of the manager or editor candidates ever passed…”

999 unread emails filled with spam,
the dusty inbox finally opened.

“Now, if you click here to send me an email… Wait a moment, I’ll copy it. Then I’ll send the file.”

Jeong Yo-han attached the video to the email.
Just before he was about to send it,
Ha Eun-eung gently pulled on his training suit.
Jeong Yo-han turned his head, and when he looked into her eyes,
he was taken aback and his face turned red.
Her violet eyes, usually indifferent,
but now meeting his gaze with a strangely lonely intensity,
were too beautiful for him to endure.

“W-what is it?”

[Please send me the wooden sandal as well.]
“No, you can’t!”
[Why not?]
“Why, why do you ask? This is different!”
[Is it another streamer’s broadcast?]
“It’s different, but it’s much more different, I guess... it’s a broadcast, but it’s not the same, it’s... ah, never mind, no!”
[?]
“Mute Swordsman is a baby! I need to protect him!”

What in the world was that absurd nonsense?
Ha Eun-eung, bewildered,
but understanding the situation, Seo Gyeong-seok chuckled.

“How about we show it just once? There might be a video that the Guild Leader can’t see, like a baseball video or something.”

Baseball video? Porno? Ah.
It clicked.
In a martial world where everything was new to her,
this kind of content was once familiar back when she was a man.
To ask for it in front of her, how embarrassing and mortifying it must be for Jeong Yo-han.

‘Should I despise him? Ignore him as filthy? Surely he must hate it?’

Jeong Yo-han, feeling utterly humiliated,
Ha Eun-eung, instead of scolding him, treated him with the gentle attitude of a parent dealing with a child watching inappropriate content.
She quietly flipped open her notebook page.

[Try to work harder in training. That way, the lustful thoughts won’t come.]

With a bold air, as if she fully understood, Ha Eun-eung gave advice.
Jeong Yo-han bowed his head deeply,
and Seo Gyeong-seok covered his eyes with his hands, unable to bear the shameful scene.

‘Poor guy. He must feel like committing suicide. When I get home, I’ll make sure to delete all the dirty videos too.’