Chapter 05
The martial arts-style VR roguelike, Narak, is a game filled with unfairness. Like all roguelike games, it’s impossible to even see the first ending before you adapt to it. Sang-hyun, monitoring the broadcast, had also played Narak before. But his physical abilities were so hopeless that it took him over 100 hours just to clear the first run.
However, it was never not fun. Die, and try again. Die, and try again. Gathering information about enemies and terrain, collecting items, and challenging the ending. Isn’t that the essence of roguelike games?
‘But you don’t have that kind of time, Myeong-yun.’
Sang-hyun, monitoring the chat and broadcast from outside, looked at the rising concurrent viewer count and judged coldly. What he had shown through videos and his first broadcast was his overwhelming physical prowess. A record-breaking Tusin match that no one else had ever shown. Perhaps it was a record that would never be broken, so people were likely expecting even more from him.
While some had already become fans after seeing that, there were also many waiting to see when that mask would finally slip. Whether he could show the same performance in a game as he did against the AI mannequins. Myeong-yun had to prove it.
‘He has to be different from others.’
If he died and kept trying like everyone else, the Heavenly Demon’s majesty wouldn’t hold up. But soon, Sang-hyun’s worries melted away like snow. He remembered who was inside that avatar.
-Hm, I heard it was difficult, but it doesn’t seem so.
Myeong-yun, with both hands clasped behind his back, was lightly and leisurely navigating the trap section. Sang-hyun had needed over ten attempts just to get through that tutorial trap section. He had to memorize the location and timing of every single trap. He had a gut feeling that this broadcast would also be a success.
—
* * *
After watching Narak’s opening cinematic with the viewers, Myeong-yun’s review was simple.
“What fools. If you become strong by relying on a fortunate encounter, what use is that? Martial arts is something that must be built up steadily.”
▶What’s he talking about?
▶Breaking news) Heavenly Demon Myeong-yun says all martial arts novel ‘lucky encounter’ types are low-tier…
▶He’s saying don’t live relying on luck
Myeong-yun chuckled as he read the chat. It reminded him of the old days. The martial artists who challenged him, the greatest under heaven, claiming to be the strongest after obtaining a fortunate encounter. They boldly requested a life-or-death duel, saying they had become the greatest through their encounter. Myeong-yun had graciously accepted each time and sent them all to their end.
“Now, let’s go see how many fools are down there.”
To start the game, you have to jump into the endless hole, and this itself is a major wall in Narak. Most people hesitate, but Myeong-yun, with both hands behind his back, jumped into the black hole without a moment’s hesitation.
▶Let’s go~~!!
▶Let’s go~~~~~~~
▶Wow, he’s fearless, just jumping right in
▶I requested a refund there lol
Soon, he felt his body float slightly in the air before landing on the ground. What unfolded before him was a dark cave with only a few torches hanging here and there. The tutorial section. The first wall for newbies, filled with various traps. Floors suddenly opening up, spears falling from the ceiling. Arrows flying from across the darkness—traps that are hard to dodge even if you know about them. The trap locations are fixed, but it’s a section where any non-veteran will die at least once.
The viewers were curious how Myeong-yun would react to this wall of tears. Whether his physical prowess would shine through the traps, or if he would die a pathetic death.
But the moment Myeong-yun took a step, everyone fell silent.
He moved his feet as if flowing like water. One step to dodge an arrow, two steps to leap over a trap. Then, with light steps, he cleared the trap section in just five steps.
Simultaneously.
■Mission: Clear trap section with no deaths
Prize: 100,000 won
A mission was activated. During the short time it took for someone to top up funds, enter the text, and have it displayed, Myeong-yun had already cleanly cleared the trap section. He glanced back and muttered.
“Hm, I heard it was difficult, but it doesn’t seem so.”
▶Huh??? What????
▶He cleared it before the mission even went up???
▶No, what… I’m speechless;;
The time it took him was only a few seconds. Myeong-yun, noticing the mission belatedly, said.
“Is this the so-called challenge? I’ve already passed it. What now?”
Should he cancel it, or just accept it? While he was pondering, the person who set the mission marked it as cleared.
■Mission Success! ‘100,000 won’
Mission: Clear trap section with no deaths
▶TryItIfYouCan: I’ve never seen a case like this before;;
A crazy speed, clearing the mission before it was even activated. The viewers rewatched the time it took Myeong-yun to clear the traps and typed in disbelief.
▶He only took 8 seconds? To clear the traps?
▶He’s definitely inhuman;;
▶I was looking away for a sec and he’d already cleared it?
“Hmm, it wasn’t that difficult. Aren’t you all making too big a deal out of it? Anyway, thank you for the tithe.”
A reaction as if it was nothing. Myeong-yun smiled faintly and moved on. The first section was about understanding traps, and the second section was combat.
“Now, let’s continue.”
▶lol;; Now the real thing starts
▶Yeah, Narak’s unfairness isn’t the traps, it’s the enemies lol lol lol
The random encounters that appear in Narak are of three types. First, monster-type. Second, human-type. Third, human-type that is closer to a monster. Humans who have been corrupted by the miasma flowing through Narak, degenerating into monsters. These three types of random encounters appear in the beginning, with the third type being the most difficult. Enemies that are hard to deal with, using martial arts with superhuman power.
■Mission: Defeat enemies with no deaths
Prize: 100,000 won
This time, the mission was activated before he cleared it. Myeong-yun accepted the mission and stepped forward. An enemy immediately leaped out from the darkness.
It was a martial artist with joints twisted grotesquely, holding a sickle with a chain in one hand. The first enemy in the tutorial. The appearance of the most difficult encounter among the three types excited the viewers.
▶Let’s go~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!
▶I’m rooting for you!! Do your best!!
▶Now his skill will be exposed lol
Under the watchful eyes of the viewers, Myeong-yun slowly stepped forward. Ignoring the ‘Rusty Sword’ stuck in the ground, the first item obtainable in Narak, he walked toward the enemy.
▶Huh?? He’s not picking up the sword??
▶The sword is right next to him
▶The sword is right next to him
“It would be a pity to draw a sword just to deal with a single minnow.”
▶lol Wow, he really must be a first-timer
▶10 seconds until game refund lol lol lol
▶But if he catches this, isn’t he really number 1? Or not, whatever
▶I tried it too, got completely rekt lol
The viewers’ reactions were mixed. Since no one had ever succeeded in such a crazy feat before, no one expected him to succeed. But Myeong-yun stood before the martial artist with a confident expression.
The martial artist, corrupted by the miasma flowing through Narak and turned into a monster. The bastard swung his sickle straight at Myeong-yun. Myeong-yun merely pulled his head back slightly, dodging the deadly sickle blade by a paper-thin margin. What followed was Myeong-yun’s kick. No, it was too small a movement to even call a kick. With his right foot, he simply tapped the bastard’s foot, instantly breaking its balance. As the bastard stumbled and fell, Myeong-yun’s sole mercilessly crushed its head.
The time it took to deal with it was a mere 5 seconds. It was such a short time that people couldn’t even react, and Myeong-yun dispatched the other enemies that appeared successively in the next rooms in a similar fashion. Minimal movement, maximum efficiency. Movements that seemed to embody that very phrase.
Having swiftly dispatched five enemies and cleared the tutorial section, the viewers’ chat poured down like a waterfall.
▶No… what?
▶What just happened? I didn’t see it
▶Was he always that easy to kill? Without a weapon??
▶No way lol We get wrecked because of the range, just making eye contact gets you killed lol lol
▶More importantly, how long did it take to kill those five?
Myeong-yun cleared a tutorial section that would have taken others tens of minutes or even hours of struggle in just 5 minutes. With both hands clasped behind his back, no less.
▶Last time someone took an hour to clear this lol lol lol lol lol
▶Hey, what’s the fastest clear time for this? I think it was around 10 minutes
▶But that wasn’t on the first try. A first attempt in 5 minutes…?
The viewers, who had been chatting about Myeong-yun’s record, realized the gravity of it and started buzzing. It wasn’t certain whether Myeong-yun was on his first run or not. But even if it wasn’t his first run, clearing the tutorial section in 5 minutes was definitely a world record.
■Mission Success! ‘100,000 won’
Mission: Defeat enemies with no deaths
▶TryItIfYouCan: I guess it was too easy for you.. Not just no deaths, but no hits either
●10,000 won●
DrinkingStoneSoup : Wait, please explain what just happened?
●50,000 won●
KnifeThatDoesn’tComeBack : Was Narak always this easy? I’m going to try it too lol
Then came the subsequent donations. Moreover, there were so many 1,000-won donations that the donation notifications started to lag slightly.
‘I’ll have to suggest raising the minimum donation amount later. It’s endless.’
Since his goal wasn’t money, the flood of 1,000-won donations seemed like it would actually interfere with the broadcast. Myeong-yun expressed his gratitude for the pouring donations and focused back on the game.
“Hm, now I just choose one of these three?”
After clearing the tutorial section, three items appeared before Myeong-yun’s eyes. Two were a spear and a sword, and the third was a book of martial arts.
‘They said Narak is a roguelike game where builds are important.’
From what he’d studied beforehand, in Narak, the weapons and martial arts manuals you obtain determine hostile and friendly NPCs, and there are also set effects. Depending on the types of martial arts manuals and equipment, factions are also divided into orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic cult. Hearing there was a demonic cult initially piqued Myeong-yun’s interest. But he heard it only existed in the lore, and the location of Narak was too far from the demonic cult for it to appear without the martial arts, so his interest quickly waned.
Anyway. The ‘Sword King’ build, collecting sword-related martial arts manuals and weapons; the ‘Weapon Collector’ build, collecting only weapons without manuals; the ‘Heavenly Demon’ build, collecting only high-risk, high-return demonic arts… One of Narak’s fun aspects is the ability to create numerous builds based on the player’s choices.
▶Ah, this is a tough choice
▶What’s the martial art? Sam Bo Kwon? That’s trash, though? Mess up the first build and the game is ruined
▶Obviously the sword lol No need to think
▶For a newbie, the spear is easier? Go for the Spear King build go go go
Viewers who thought they knew started giving all sorts of advice. Since it wasn’t really a spoiler, it wasn’t banned, so they were loudly saying this build is good, that build is good. After watching the chat for a moment, Myeong-yun glanced at a private message from Sang-hyun.
-Do whatever you want. Whatever you do, it seems like the viewers will explode right now. Concurrent viewers are at 12,000.
‘It increased by 4,000 from the start. …That means.’
To make it more fun from here on out. No, to do it differently from others. No, to make it more fun, differently from others. Would that alone be enough? All these thoughts are pointless. He had said it himself. Wishing for a fortunate encounter is foolish. Only by proving it with one’s own abilities can one be called a martial artist.
And in the end, above all, he had to enjoy himself the most. Unbound by anything, to return to the martial arts world. To show everyone what a true ‘Heavenly Demon’ really is.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Myeong-yun made his choice.
“Your Sovereign will…”
