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Who was Lee Seon-woo?

He was the Awakened widely regarded as the strongest in the Republic of Korea — the heir set to succeed the Sword Saint.

That was why his renown inside the country soared high enough to stand comparison with the Sword Saint herself. The difference lay in this: the Sword Saint lived in anonymity, while Lee Seon-woo operated with his face fully exposed.

And now someone had half-killed that Lee Seon-woo.

Not a pro gamer. Not a famous streamer. Not even a high-rank Awakened. Just a pretty girl no one had ever seen before.

Of course the people watching would catch fire.

The chat exploded. Even Lee Seon-woo couldn't properly follow the conversation without slow mode on.

And it wasn't just the chat that caught fire.

The first place to go up in flames was the Streamer Gallery. Viewers who had just watched Lee Seon-woo take a serious hit started ranting in their home turf.

From there the fire jumped gallery to gallery. Hunter Gallery. Awakened Gallery. Kendo Gallery. Streamer Lee Seon-woo Gallery...

In under ten minutes, talk of the unidentified woman who'd put Lee Seon-woo on the ground was spreading in every direction.

And so, at last, the spark reached even a backwater gallery no one ever paid attention to.

That was the moment life began to stir in the 3D Swordsmanship Gallery, a backwater gallery if there ever was one.

"If I may ask — what is the name of the sword technique you used?"

"Well... sure. By now the classification has probably been lifted anyway."

"Classification?"

At the word classification, Lee Seon-woo's expression hardened. Of course it did. An Awakened of his caliber would know exactly what that meant.

The invasion of otherworldly creatures — better known as the Dimensional Invasion War — had been a war for humanity's right to exist. Under the vast goal of human survival, secrecy had been a luxury no one could afford.

Monsters didn't use the internet, after all. To raise humanity's combat power even a little, countless pieces of information that had been buried deep were released into the open.

So if a sword technique was still marked classified even now...

"Is it a technique meant for fighting people?"

"Ding ding ding. As expected of the next Sword Saint — you're quick on the uptake. It's a technique used by Siberia's Execution Unit."

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Even in peacetime, villains still appeared. In the extreme environment of a battlefield, it was only natural that some people fell and became villains of their own.

In peacetime, Awakened called heroes dealt with them. On the battlefield, there were no heroes — there was the Execution Unit.

"Ah — so you were... from the Execution Unit?"

"I'll leave that to your imagination."

Ordinary people couldn't raise killing intent like this. Even if they managed to, they couldn't control it with the fine precision I could.

The only people who could swing a blade with the resolve to kill and still keep their minds intact... were people whose emotions had already broken.

That was why the Execution Unit was strong. In human-versus-human combat, they could brush against the domain of heroes.

Thanks to that, the viewers seemed to have more or less accepted my identity. I had no particular desire to correct the misunderstanding, so I left them to it and got to the point.

"That aside... I'm curious what the prize is supposed to be."

"Ah — about that..."

Watching Lee Seon-woo fidget, I couldn't help laughing. It was painfully obvious he hadn't prepared any prize at all.

Both of us — Lee Seon-woo and I — were people who had Awakened the Eyes. The nature of those Eyes was almost certainly tied to the Northern Supernatural Research Institute.

People who looked at the world through a different lens like us... ordinary swords simply couldn't reach us.

Naturally, he never would have imagined he'd be driven this far into a corner. I could practically hear the gears grinding in his head from over here.

"Heh. Stop wringing your brain. It's obvious you didn't think of anything."

I curled my hand into a fist and laughed under my breath, and his flustered expression stiffened another notch. For a next Sword Saint, he was surprisingly bad at hiding his feelings. It was fun.

I was starting to understand why the viewers liked teasing him so much. The hit feedback was better than expected, huh?

"It's fine. The fact that you haven't thought of one yet just means the prize is a blank check."

"W-what is it you want, then?"

I smiled, cool and thin, and Lee Seon-woo — sensing an instinctive unease — took a few steps back. His instincts weren't bad, unfortunately for him they weren't much use in a situation like this.

He was the one who hadn't prepared a prize. He should have lived with at least the thought that he might lose.

"Heheh. Why so scared~"

"Who wouldn't be scared when you're smiling like that?"

"Even if I smile like this?"

I deliberately put on a soft, gentle smile and took a step closer.

This avatar was a direct scan of my own face, with only the eye and hair color slightly altered. Objectively speaking, I knew it was pretty enough to be called a "beautiful girl."

Watching Lee Seon-woo's stiff, soldierly personality collide with the vicious viewers who couldn't stand to see him do well, I found myself wanting to stir the pot a little.

Maybe that was just my nature. Stirring the pot was, in the end, just another form of attention-seeking — a twisted desire to be noticed by other people.

I smiled, thinking that I really was a mess of a person — standing in front of forty thousand people, farming chaos, and feeling fulfillment rather than tension.

"Hahat. Don't worry. I don't plan on asking for anything too big."

"In my experience, people who say that almost never actually ask for something small..."

"Hmm..."

I made a soft little sound and thought for a moment. Lee Seon-woo's personal contact information... that wouldn't count as asking for too much, would it?

I liked him, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠personally. If he'd been from another country it might have been different, but he was at least a fellow Korean who spoke the same language.

And he was a fellow Sword Saint, after all. Once the title was handed over, we'd end up tangled up and traveling together in all kinds of ways — no harm in getting to know him in advance.

So, with the meaning of keeping in occasional contact, I asked.

"Could I have your number?"

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Unfortunately, not a single viewer seemed to have taken my words in the pure spirit I intended. The line landed far better than expected, and Lee Seon-woo's face flooded with pure dismay.

"Ah — wait, hang on, guys—"

The chat detonated all over again.

Sadly, even a professional broadcaster like Lee Seon-woo didn't have the power to control forty thousand viewers. It was still WWE for now, but there was a faint smell of something actually burning.

So I decided to pull the aggro back onto myself.

In a soft, coiling voice laced with laughter. Stepping toward the flustered Lee Seon-woo and pointing at myself with one hand.

"Hmm, you said you liked strong women, didn't you? I still remember Seon-woo-nim's gallant voice saying, 'I'll only date a woman stronger than me!'"

"...Kh—"

At that point, even I couldn't hold the laughter in. With my head bowed, chuckling under my breath, I could see Lee Seon-woo looking like he'd achieved enlightenment and left his body behind.

Still — at least I'd pulled the aggro properly. That was something, right?

Thinking that to myself, I lowered the ask by one step and tried again.

"If the number's too much... would you at least play a game with me?"