Chapter 178
The next day.
Contrary to worries, thankfully, Un Hyang was cheerful.
“He has said he isn’t interested, so get out quickly. We’re busy preparing for the stream right now.”
This marked the umpteenth visit from guild scouts seeking Lee Suhyuk.
Pushing them out the door, Un Hyang smiled while veins bulged on her clenched fist.
“Not leaving? One, two….”
The guild scouts were no pushovers; among them were a few who were either rankers or close to it.
However, this posed no real problem for Un Hyang.
Wham!
Regardless, she kicked the unmoving scouts out of the way with ease.
A player capable of overcoming her and reaching Lee Suhyuk wouldn’t be working as a mere scout.
From a step behind, Cheon Ryang, who observed the scene, asked,
“Did the Heavenly Demon really come yesterday?”
His expression was unusually serious.
Lee Suhyuk sensed that Cheon Ryang’s reaction was not solely due to the name ‘Heavenly Demon.’
“He seemed interested in me.”
“Is it because of the lightning?”
“That could be it. Plus, maybe I’m just remarkable.”
Although it sounded somewhat conceited, Lee Suhyuk believed this to be the truth. There was no other reason for the Heavenly Demon to seek him out.
Yet, Cheon Ryang’s next question was unexpected.
He lowered his voice, ensuring Un Hyang wouldn’t hear.
“…Are you sure he wasn’t looking for Un Hyang?”
Lee Suhyuk’s eyes narrowed at the question.
‘So that’s not the entire story from back then.’
He recalled Un Hyang’s past, which he learned after the Thunder Sword’s attack.
Despite Cheon Ryang insisting back then that it was the whole story, it became evident that it wasn’t.
But Suhyuk couldn’t hold it against him, especially since he too had decided to wait for her to bring it up first, just like yesterday.
“Yes. I’m certain.”
“Then… well…”
Cheon Ryang looked both confused and somewhat relieved.
Meanwhile, as Un Hyang dusted off her hands after dismissing the scouts, she returned to where Suhyuk and Cheon Ryang stood.
“There sure are a lot of pests around lately. Right?”
“Can’t be helped. It just shows how high Suhyuk’s value has become.”
Un Hyang gave Cheon Ryang a look that clearly said, ‘I wasn’t asking you.’
Despite the intimidating glare that would normally instill fear, Cheon Ryang appeared slightly disappointed.
“So, why’d you leave me out yesterday?”
“Why bring you to such an expensive place?”
“What about Suhyuk?”
“Do you think you’re the same as Suhyuk?”
“Hey! We’ve been friends for years, and now….”
“Stop gambling, you idiot.”
As they bickered, Un Hyang noticed Suhyuk putting on a mask and asked,
“Oh, come to think of it, are you okay?”
“About what?”
“Yesterday. You showed him your bare face.”
Un Hyang referred to the Heavenly Demon as ‘him’.
Guessing she was reluctant to even utter his name aloud, Suhyuk answered her question,
“He would recognize me with or without the mask. He’s that perceptive.”
‘Just like before.’
In his past life, Jin Haryung recognized him without a mask as well. Heavenly Demon had the innate ability to perceive people beyond their outward appearance or masks.
Such a feat was possible only because he was the Heavenly Demon.
Displaying his face to someone who can’t be deceived by a mask wasn’t an issue, to begin with.
“He’s not the type to go bragging about my face around anyway.”
“Do you know him well?”
“No, not exactly….”
Struggling to find the right words, Suhyuk quickly continued,
“He’s just that famous. The public enemy of all players. The strongest and the worst player.”
In reality, no one didn’t know the Heavenly Demon. He was notorious, drawing the hatred of all players on the tower, not just the martial artists.
It was the easiest answer he could think of spontaneously.
However, Un Hyang’s expression didn’t seem pleased with his answer.
“Is that… right?”
“……?”
Suhyuk looked puzzled by her reaction.
Sensing the sudden dip in mood, Un Hyang quickly regained her usual expression.
“Alright then, let’s start the stream. I’m sure the viewers have been waiting.”
After that, Lee Suhyuk left to take the trial.
Un Hyang and Cheon Ryang, left behind at the table for monitoring, sat facing each other.
Unlike when Suhyuk was present, Un Hyang’s face was shadowed. Cheon Ryang sighed at her expression.
“Why did you leave me out?”
“Is this really about that?”
“Oh wow. Still talking, huh.”
He tried to lighten her mood with a joke, but it wasn’t something that could easily be fixed.
Crunch, Cheon Ryang bit down on some sweets and asked.
“What about running away again now?”
Much time had passed since they had escaped from the Divine Dragon Group. Their current location was thoroughly known by the group.
If they stayed here, Un Cheon-guk would surely come looking for them again.
But,
“No.”
Despite knowing this, Un Hyang’s answer didn’t change.
“Because of Lee Suhyuk the streamer?”
“Of course.”
“You don’t have any sense of duty about this. Is it because you’re a fan? If it’s really that, you’re seriously crazy….”
Cheon Ryang quickly closed his mouth after blurting out those harsh words in anger.
“… I take that back. Anyway, stop being so stubborn.”
“Ryang-ah.”
When Un Hyang called his name, the corners of Cheon Ryang’s eyes twitched.
Again.
When she called his name so gently, he couldn’t push her any further.
“I swear, these days are the happiest of my life.”
“Happy?”
“Yeah. Really.”
He thought about it. Has Un Hyang ever said anything like that before?
There was no need to think long. It was the first time.
“Isn’t it? There’s a streamer who became an enemy of Murim because of me. A friend who cares about me more than himself. These days, I just can’t help but be really happy because I have so much.”
“… I’m anxious.”
“Don’t worry too much. I’m not going back.”
Un Hyang reassured Cheon Ryang. She made it clear that not running away wasn’t a sign of despair.
“And I’ll protect both. Definitely.”
At that moment, Cheon Ryang realized she had made up her mind.
In this instant, she was both a streamer’s manager and a martial artist.
A genius who had retired from Murim had returned.
‘I am….’
Ding-.
An alert from the kit in his hand popped up just then.
‘What can I do?’
『’Lee Suhyuk’ has started streaming.』
—
In front of the trial hall heading to the 8th floor.
Standing before a giant portal soaring into the sky, Suhyuk briefly thought of Un Hyang’s face.
‘Will she be okay?’
Her condition seemed precarious somehow.
Before meeting the Heavenly Demon, she seemed manageable, but her appearance had been quite a shock.
Un Cheon-guk and the Divine Dragon Group were already formidable opponents. But if the Heavenly Demon intervened, the situation would change completely.
He was a giant who dwarfed the Divine Dragon Group, making them seem like children.
‘… It’s not something that’ll change just by thinking about it.’
Suhyuk shook his head.
Most of the issues he was mulling over boiled down to matters of skill.
The Divine Dragon Group, Lee Hyomin, the Heavenly Demon, Kim Ilsoo, Blue Zone….
Most of these problems couldn’t be solved without sufficient skill.
Yes.
As Jin Harang had said, he was just a fledgling sparrow now.
『’Lee Suhyuk’ has started streaming.』
There was only one thing he needed to do now.
To go up as quickly as possible.
– First!
– 111111
– Su-hi~
– Here so fast, haha
– Thought I would die from missing you~
As soon as the stream started, viewers quickly gathered.
Now, with an increasing number of subscribers, the stream had grown to the scale of a large streamer.
From thousands to tens of thousands.
Within minutes, viewers flocked in, and he officially began the stream.
“It’s been a while, everyone.”
-You said it’s been a while last time too, didn’t you?
-Aren’t you going to stream regularly?
-ㅡ_ㅡ
-You’ve changed!!!
“Oh, right.”
Even on the day of the tournament, Lee Suhyuk appeared on the stream for the first time in a while. It wasn’t that he deliberately took a break, but the viewers were not the kind to be considerate of such things.
『’IloveSuhyuk’ has donated 1,000 points.』
『Why did you take a break this time?』
It was the first donation of today’s stream.
“I was a bit tired. I didn’t stop preparing for the Counter-Fight and kept pressing on. Fortunately, the results turned out well.”
-ㅇㅈ
-ㅇㅈㅇㅈ
-ㅆㅇㅈ
-That was awesome, lol
Everything is proven by results. This break was no exception.
If the preliminary round results had not been good, there would have been more complaints, but most viewers were satisfied with the results Lee Suhyuk had produced.
“Speaking of which…”
Ding-
A myriad of alarms popped up on the viewers’ screens.
“I forgot to settle the donations before I ended the last stream.”
He had hastily ended the stream while chasing Hwang Gyuseong, neglecting to settle the donations from various missions, including major ones.
-Wow, how much is this?
-How did Money Suhyuk forget this?
-SafeAsset, crying, lol
The amount was indeed huge. Looking at it now, it was hard to believe he had forgotten.
That showed how preoccupied he was at the time.
『Mission completed.』
『’SafeAsset’ has donated 1,000,000 points.』
『Mission completed.』
『’MissionVillain’ has donated…』
『…』
『…』
The message windows appeared incessantly.
And as soon as these alarms subsided, a familiar nickname popped up once more.
『’SafeAsset’ has donated 10 points.』
『Damn』
-Lol, just two characters
-A laughter bell, lol
Once again, he lost a bet to Lee Suhyuk. Despite never winning and the stakes of their bets getting higher, he continued to challenge.
Initially, he was just seen as a reckless person.
True to his name, ‘SafeAsset’ always set ridiculous missions, but it seemed like he should have given up by now.
‘What the hell does he do?’
However, given the amount, it was hard to dismiss him as just a ‘reckless person.’
One million points; who else could afford to throw around such a hefty sum for a single mission?
“Thank you for the 10 points, SafeAsset.”
Lee Suhyuk teased him playfully. SafeAsset responded with another donation laced with insults.
Despite his words, Lee Suhyuk was grateful to him. Not just him, but to all the viewers who took part in the missions and donated.
『Total points: 2,119,198』
Without them, accumulating such points would have been difficult. He would have eventually gathered them, but it would have taken much longer.
【 Selfish Sacrifice 】
# LV: 8
# Required points: 1,280,000p
The required points exponentially increased with each level.
And the more points it consumed, the greater the effect of the Selfish Sacrifice became.
‘With this, one more step closer.’
The more adeptly he mastered lightning, the stronger his supporting abilities needed to become. And with that, he would gradually take one step closer.
To Kim Ilsoo. And to Hyomin, whom he was holding captive.
『’1,280,000 points used’.』
『‘Selfish Sacrifice Lv8’ skill level has increased.』