Chapter 06
“Crazy bastard! Ahahahaha!!”
Watching from outside, Sang-hyeon burst out laughing at Myung-yoon’s choice.
He’d known Myung-yoon was crazy for a long time, but he never expected him to go *that* far.
Because he’d made a decision so insane you couldn’t help but laugh.
A path no one walks.
He thought, *Maybe this is what they mean by the ‘Demonic Path’ – belonging to neither the Orthodox nor the Unorthodox factions.*
“It’d be a shame if he fails, but if he succeeds, this is definitely going to be huge.”
Sang-hyeon checked the viewers’ reactions and the steadily rising real-time viewer count.
Whether someone had posted about it on a Narak community forum or what, people were flooding in at an incredible speed.
Plus, he could see foreign languages slowly appearing in the chat, so it seemed international viewers were starting to tune in too.
YouTube is a global platform.
With luck, it could easily get picked up by foreign algorithms too.
Both domestically and internationally, the internet was in the middle of a full-blown VTuber boom!
*’Thanks to some genius perfecting that real-time translation system, the VTuber market has grown this big, after all.’*
Sang-hyeon grinned happily and focused back on the broadcast screen.
Having declared himself Myung-yoon’s supporter, he had to do it perfectly.
“Do whatever you want! Hyung’s got your back!”
After much deliberation, what Myung-yoon chose was ‘not choosing.’
No weapon, no martial art manual. In a sense, he was willingly giving up on ‘deck-building,’ the very flower of any roguelike game.
But what he gained by giving up that advantage was a topic of discussion that far surpassed it.
If a first-time player clears the game by being good at deck-building, people will just say they got lucky.
But if they clear it *without* deck-building?
From that point on, they become a monster through sheer ‘skill.’
Myung-yoon passed by the three choices and spoke.
“If it’s not something you’ve built yourself, it has no meaning. As a new soldier, how could I become a master by relying on fortuitous encounters?”
Some might say, “What the hell is he talking about?” but Myung-yoon meant it sincerely.
What fun is there in using cheats or hacks in a game, after all?
Power easily accumulated is just empty.
—
▶ Whoa, he’s skipping that?
▶ ? Can you even clear it without weapons or martial arts manuals? Narak
▶ Doesn’t seem like anyone’s ever done it before;
▶ Go!!!!!!!! Do not doubt the Heavenly Demon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
—
“Children, do not worry.”
Up until now hadn’t even been a warm-up.
From the moment he entered the virtual world, up until now.
He hadn’t yet shown his true seriousness even once.
“I shall pick up the pace a little.”
Myung-yoon lightly kicked off the ground.
Narak’s structure is basically: pass through five trap or encounter zones, then defeat a boss in the sixth room.
Repeating this five times is one cycle.
The further down you go, the stronger the enemies get, highlighting the roguelike’s brutal charm.
*’Kill enemies to gain inner energy, and your stats go up.’*
Even if he skips weapons and martial arts manuals, if an elixir that boosts stats appears as a reward, he takes it.
Since you’re giving up weapons, equipment, or manuals, it’s a choice you wouldn’t pick unless you’ve completed your build.
If there’s no elixir among the choices, he just skips it.
A type of perverted playstyle no one has ever succeeded at – the ‘naked’ build. That was roughly what Myung-yoon had heard from Sang-hyeon.
But isn’t that just how games are?
Kill everything, and you win.
For Myung-yoon, it was the most familiar method and the easiest.
—
▶ Whoa… he’s *really* skipping it?
▶ An S-rank item appeared, for real?
▶ Wait, wasn’t that just the Imperial Sword, essential for the Sword King build? ;;
▶ Go!!!!!!!! There’s no way the Heavenly Demon would learn the Namgung Clan’s swordsmanship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
▶ Ugh, these boomer gamers…
—
Myung-yoon passed through three more rooms in an instant.
Traps flowed like water, enemies were dealt with tyrannically.
The sight of him crushing heads with his feet without even using his hands was truly ‘demonic.’
—
▶ The pace is too fast, teacher!!!!!
▶ Go!!!!!!! It’s the Heavenly Demon!!!!!!
▶ He said he’d pick up the pace a little…
▶ The difference is, we’re bicycles and he’s a Ferrari.
—
The incredible speed left viewers dazed.
Even watching Myung-yoon from a third-person perspective, it was hard to track his movements with their eyes.
It was vastly different from how other streamers played.
—
▶ Wait, already the fourth room? ;;
▶ Looks like we’ll see the first boss soon.
▶ Ah… can he catch it with bare hands? He has no equipment, and only one elixir appeared…
—
The viewers hoping for Myung-yoon’s downfall were starting to get nervous.
Myung-yoon, clearing rooms at an incredible speed.
The average time taken to clear one room was under three minutes.
Considering regular players take over ten minutes on average, simple math showed he was over three times faster.
And that was without equipment or martial arts manuals!
“So this is the last room of the first floor.”
Without hesitation, he stepped inside, and there stood a single martial artist, holding a sword in each hand.
Dripping with a green aura and killing intent, it was clear at a glance that this was no ordinary opponent.
—
▶ Huh?? Why is *he* appearing already?
▶ Uh…? That’s not a boss that appears on the first floor, what is it?
▶ Dokgo Gudok? He’s a boss that shouldn’t appear until past the 3rd floor…
—
The chat fell into chaos.
Because the boss before Myung-yoon was something impossible to see on the first floor.
‘Dokgo Gudok’ – one of the bosses that randomly appears from the 3rd floor onward.
A martial artist boss who uses twin swords, with the lore that he hunts down anyone who approaches, blinded by greed for gold and treasure.
“Hm, looking at the chat, it seems this one is not supposed to be here.”
—
▶ W… what is it? A bug?
▶ Probably not a bug, but seriously, what? First time seeing this.
▶ It didn’t appear when others played either, right?
—
“Which means, this one is the first to see this man on the first floor.”
—
▶ But seriously, why is he appearing?? You can’t beat him with 1st-floor specs.
▶ Maybe it appeared *because* he can beat it?
—
Keeping up the back-and-forth with the chat that Sang-hyeon valued, Myung-yoon focused on Dokgo Gudok before him.
“A martial artist with the Dokgo surname… brings back old memories.”
Myung-yoon dredged up an old memory.
A martial artist of the Dokgo clan who had challenged him.
That one was also a twin-sword user. A man who had unleashed a flashy yet heavy twin-sword technique with his murderous blades.
“The one I met back then couldn’t last five exchanges. Can you entertain me more than he did?”
“…I cannot let anyone take my gold and treasure!”
—
▶ What to do? He’s really gonna get wrecked now. His 1st-floor stats are garbage anyway, how’s he gonna beat Gudok lol
▶ What have you been watching up till now? lol
▶ Season 15 getting wrecked, incoming lol
▶ Go!!!!!! The Heavenly Demon is different!!!!!!!
—
Because of what he’d shown so far, the viewers’ reactions were flowing in Myung-yoon’s favor.
What he’d shown created an expectation of ‘this time too…’
The atmosphere was heading in the direction Myung-yoon and Sang-hyeon wanted.
And just before the battle with Dokgo Gudok began, a mission appeared.
—
■ Mission: Defeat Dokgo Gudok with No Hits
Prize: 300,000 won
Time Limit: 15:00
●10,000 won●
**TryItIfYouCan:** Not late this time, am I? Go ahead, try it if you can.
—
Perfect timing.
Myung-yoon accepted the mission and engaged in battle with Dokgo Gudok.
Dokgo Gudok charged forward with his twin swords, unleashing a bold swordsmanship as if to pierce his throat in one go.
True to a boss appearing from the 3rd floor or higher, a trajectory visible to the eye that would fluster players not yet adapted to the game.
Myung-yoon twisted his body towards the approaching Dokgo Gudok and took a single step.
With just that, he deviated from the man’s intended sword path by the thickness of a sheet of paper.
As Dokgo Gudok’s sword cleaved empty air, Myung-yoon’s knee struck the man’s abdomen.
However, judging that the damage wasn’t significant, Dokgo Gudok’s AI continued its assault.
The twin swords swung multiple times, pressing Myung-yoon back.
Seeing him cornered in the room’s dead end in an instant, the viewers got excited.
▶ Hang in there!!!!1 Dokgo Gudok!!1!!
▶ You can do it, Gudok!!!!!!
▶ Dokgo!! Defeat the Heavenly Demon and become a martial arts hero!!!
▶ Don’t lose, Heavenly Demon!!!!!!!!!
But, despite the viewers’ cheers, Dokgo Gudok’s swords never touched Myung-yoon.
Using the back wall as a springboard, Myung-yoon lightly leaped and vaulted over Dokgo Gudok, who had thrust his twin swords forward.
In an instant, Myung-yoon’s right hand moved, now positioned behind him.
He struck from the back of the head down through the cervical and thoracic vertebrae in a flash.
All attacks landed as critical hits due to the vital weak points.
In an instant, Dokgo Gudok’s health dropped by more than half, and he fell into a stunned state.
▶ Huh? He only hit him once, didn’t he? Why’d his health suddenly drop half?
▶ What is this?
▶ Wait, he went straight into stagger?
▶ It’s over… how long did that take? 2 minutes?
As if the viewers saw Myung-yoon’s attack as a single blow, the chat was filled with confusion.
And since he’d put Dokgo Gudok into a stun with just one move, they expected the boss fight to end soon.
However, Myung-yoon put some distance between them, stepping back and waiting for Dokgo Gudok to recover from the stun.
▶ What’s he doing? Why isn’t he finishing him?
▶ ?? Heavenly Demon?
▶ ????
Myung-yoon’s sudden action filled the chat with question marks from viewers.
The moment the enemy was stunned was the best time to deal damage, so why did he step back?
Myung-yoon spoke.
“Shouldn’t one give a lesser opponent three chances? Though I walk the Demonic Path, I am not so cruel.”
Whether this was showing the dignity of a master or not, the viewers seemed persuaded by the plausible-sounding words.
▶ Right, that makes sense…?
▶ ? What nonsense
▶ His face is so convincing I almost believed it for a sec;; Why are you talking about lesser and greater opponents here, Heavenly Demon
▶ Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes the Heavenly Demon’s words are wrong too!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Meanwhile, the one who recovered from the stun charged at Myung-yoon once more.
Having transitioned to phase two, the green aura overflowing from the twin swords swirled, forming sword energies.
Myung-yoon dodged the incoming sword energies with light steps and closed his eyes.
*’Pitiful.’*
Truly pitiful.
Because it was a martial arts-styled game, he thought he might be able to reminisce about his previous life.
But a game is a game.
The Dokgo Gudok before him and the master of the Dokgo clan he’d faced in his past life were as different as heaven and earth.
*’As expected, the martial artists in this game are mere imitations.’*
The strong energy Dokgo Gudok mustered, his movements… it was all just a product of human imagination.
A swordsmanship that doesn’t consider efficiency, merely a flashy show for appearance’s sake.
That’s all it was.
Just as Dokgo Gudok’s twin swords were about to reach him, Myung-yoon pivoted half a turn on his right foot and reached out his hand.
Naturally, Dokgo Gudok’s head was caught in Myung-yoon’s grasp.
Myung-yoon then shoved the man’s head, slamming it back-first onto the floor.
The health bar dropped rapidly, and soon hit zero.
The fallen Dokgo Gudok turned into a black liquid and was absorbed into the ground.
Lore states that those who die within Narak become one with Narak.
Confirming the man’s death, Myung-yoon straightened his bent back and said.
“Hm, a lesser man than the Dokgo of old. To think he’d be this weak.”
■ Mission Success! ‘300,000 won’
Mission: Defeat Dokgo Gudok with No Hits
▶ **TryItIfYouCan:** Sigh… Gudok, you…
