Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Intensive Training Period
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1.
Her second playthrough of Half-Demon Gorge.
The experience in the Blood Pool Waterweed Thicket
prompted some serious reflection from Hae Eung-eung.
'I actually struggled against enemies of that level.'
It was hard to believe she had once been a transcendent expert at the Flower Realm.
Such an unsightly display.
If the people from the martial world who remembered her saw this, they wouldn't have been able to hold back their laughter.
'Internal energy growth is great, but improving my actual skills comes first.'
At this rate, her lack of skill might lead to failure in clearing fields or defeating bosses.
To her, that wasn't something far off in the future.
Fourth attempt.
Maybe even third.
She could face that failure in the very next challenge.
Seclusion training.
Not quite to that extent.
But she resolved to enter an intensive training week for the time being. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Checking her status before a long training session
and comparing it afterward
was second nature as a player.
For her, who had decided on training, opening the status window
Nothing about her was strange.
⚔ STATUS WINDOW ⚔
👤 Name: Hae Eung-eung ??? (Female, 15)
🌟 Realm: Third-Rate (Lv27)
💼 Occupation: Wandering Swordmaster
🏆 Title: Executioner
💪 Muscles: 16 (+3P)
🦵 Meridians: 15 (-1P)
🎭 Talent: 10
🧠 Intellect: 35
👁️ Perception: 89
😍 Charm: 100
⚡ Internal Power: 5
📊 Remaining Points: 33
Special Conditions:
Meridian Weakness: Meridians weakened due to Nine Yin Vein Blockage.
Internal Energy Barren Land: Residing in an area with extremely low natural qi; internal power growth is severely hindered.
Executioner: The fallen gatekeeper of the Great Executioner, inheriting his legacy.
What was strange was the status window.
2. ⚔ TITLE: EXECUTIONER ⚔ The fallen gatekeeper of the Great Executioner. Inherited his legacy. 📍 Equip Effect: Muscles +3P 📍 Hold Effect: Muscles +1P The Murim Chronicle's status window
had granted her a new title—Executioner—based on her Half-Demon Gorge playthrough.
'It's messing with my head.'
Title.
Only one could be equipped at a time,
but there was no limit to how many could be held.
If she acquired 100 titles,
she could enjoy the hold effects from all 100.
'Of course, there's a limit to growth from titles.'
Stats required points in multiples of 10, doubling each tier.
1P for 0-9.
2P for 10-19.
4P for 20-29.
Under these conditions, a title's Muscles +5P only raised the stat by 2 points.
And at 10-point thresholds, the requirement ballooned tenfold.
10P from 9 to 10.
20P from 19 to 20.
40P from 29 to 30.
Blindly relying on title effects would hit an uncrossable wall.
The points needed to max a single stat to 100 purely through investment, without effort?
The formula: 19 × (2^10 - 1).
That came out to a whopping 19,437.
Not even 100 points of bonus effects could touch it.
Even just 9 to 100 required 5,120P for the final jump alone.
Murderous.
That's why effort held such value in the Murim Chronicle's status window.
A +6P bonus on a base 9 wouldn't hit 10P, stuck at 9.
But raise it to 10 through pure effort?
The +6P pushes it to 16.
Like breaking through enlightenment walls, crossing stat thresholds granted explosive growth.
The reverse held intrigue too.
Those 10-point walls unbreachable by effort alone?
Accumulate points through martial journeys or sparring for fame and titles,
and bonus points could shatter them.
Why fledgling martial artists explode in growth after leaving their sects to see the world.
That was the status window's stat growth mechanism.
Build fame, stack title bonuses, break walls.
Once at expert level, though, self-training outpaced bonuses in efficiency.
Thus, masters dove into seclusion.
Even NPCs without status windows instinctively grasped it.
How their world worked.
How to leap their walls to the next realm.
How much more so for player Hae Eung-eung, who understood the mechanism.
'What I need now is time.'
Raise base stats through effort.
That foundation unlocks the potential of mass bonuses.
'And one more thing.'
Free points, separate from bonuses.
Granted per realm level-up,
freely allocable to any stat.
How to raise realm level?
Not a tough concept. ⚔ MARTIAL ARTS WINDOW ⚔ 💨 Mind Technique: Three Mysteries Qi Technique (7 Stars) (Third-Rate) ⚔ Swordsmanship: Three Mysteries Sword Technique (10 Stars) (Great Completion) (Third-Rate) Haenam Sword Technique (3 Stars) (First-Rate) 🦵 Footwork: Three Mysteries Step (10 Stars) (Great Completion) (Third-Rate) ✨ Body Technique: Wall Tiger Technique (3 Stars) (Second-Rate) Raise martial art realms.
Total martial art levels sum to realm level. ⚔ REALM WINDOW ⚔ 🌟 Realm: Third-Rate (Lv27) 📈 Promotion Conditions: • Victory vs. Third-Rate Foes (37/100) • Victory vs. Second-Rate Foes (1/1) • Realm Level 50 (27/50) • Acquire Second-Rate Martial Art (1/1) Meet 2+ of the above to promote at will. • However, reaching 5 Stars in Second-Rate+ martial arts forces promotion. She already knew transcendent martial arts.
The second-rate wall was like a bedroom doorsill she could cross anytime.
Yet she didn't.
For good reason.
'Promote realms, and third-rate point gains end there.'
A third-rate warrior's growth cap was level 100.
Meaning,
up to 100 free points available.
'Second-rate arts past a threshold force promotion.'
Why she focused on third-rate arts.
There it was.
Haenam Sword Technique.
Handy in the shipboard battle,
its realm rose decently from brief use.
If it hit 5 Stars?
Forced second-rate promotion.
Same for Wall Tiger Technique used to scale the thicket's palisade.
Current free points: 33.
27 from third-rate arts.
73 third-rate achievements left.
Until filled,
first- and second-rate arts like Haenam Sword Technique and Wall Tiger Technique were sealed.
Fist Art — Six Harmonies Fist
Kick Art — Whirlwind Kick
Claw Art — Golden Claw Hand
Finger Art — Flicking Finger Technique
Concealed Weapon — Twin Lotus Whip
Third-rate arts abounded in the martial world.
But Hae Eung-eung had been lucky throughout her life there.
Not just enemies from Haenam Sect,
but ties to Imperial Palace, Mount Hua Sect Sect, Demonic Cult, North Sea Ice Palace—
first-rate arts were routine,
even rare pinnacle arts aplenty.
Third-rate? Scarce exposure.
Two third-rate slots left.
What to learn?
'Overthinking just stiffens the body.'
First, master the new five third-rate arts plus Three Mysteries Qi Technique to Great Completion.
Pause game until third-rate foundation solid.
Thus began the intensive training week, targeting one week.
But once immersed,
Hae Eung-eung extended it massively.
As some internet denizen once said,
the Silent Swordmaster's month-long dive became a riotous disaster.
Unaware, making it all the worse—
a grueling ant-bite torment lasting a full month commenced.
3. 📰 Breaking News [Mom, What's Falling from the Sky?][3] "That's the remains of viewers who turned into space trash waiting for Silent Swordmaster's stream." 💬 Comments — Anonymous You bastard — Anonymous — Anonymous Silent Swordmaster, please come back 📰 Breaking News [Silent Swordmaster Returns: 12-Hour Continuous Stream][8] "Instead, enjoy cute Kyaru's winning live^q^" 💬 Comments — Anonymous Butterfly soup you punk — Anonymous Die for real — Anonymous From today, kicking every cat that catches my eye ⭐ Top Comment — Anonymous Kyaru winning live is unbearable — Anonymous What's a winning live? — Anonymous Pingf bitch, search it — Anonymous What's pingf? — Anonymous Shit 📰 Breaking News [10 Billion Here and Silent Swordmaster][7] "Silent Swordmaster massacred all viewers to claim the 10 billion." 💬 Comments — Anonymous Kraaak — Anonymous Take the money, just come back!! — Anonymous Silent Swordmaster (No Neck) — Anonymous No, intensive training, that's not what it means — Anonymous Dullahan shit lololol — Anonymous At least substitutes exist — Anonymous Agreed, without Silent Swordmaster-like content I'd have died of despair Viewers deep in Silent Swordmaster fever.
Half-mad, but not fully— for good reason.
The so-called "Catch Up to Silent Swordmaster" challenge.
Streamers attempting her playstyle went viral on VTube.
It started post her second—and last—stream, the Blood Pool Waterweed Thicket clear,
amid chatter from 3,800 viewers abandoned in space chat. 📰 Breaking News [Glad I was born in this era. In any other century, how often could you spectate a badass beauty in third-person?] 💬 Comments — Wls Wls — Anonymous If you're doing it, do first- or second-person. What's third-person? — Anonymous Half-Demon Gorge NPCs and whatever, they die in 3 seconds, how the fuck do second-person shit — Anonymous Ah lol didn't think of that — Anonymous Bosses? — Anonymous Person switch impossible on them, capsule noob — Anonymous First-person scary af too, swords flying everywhere, dodging razor-thin on purpose? Heart attack imminent — Anonymous Changed my panties because of that — Anonymous You a girl? In the West panties are for girls and gays ⭐ Top Comment — Anonymous Jackpot, then I'll be a girl — Anonymous Girl ok lol — Anonymous Then guys go commando? — Anonymous They wear drawers — Anonymous Is that right? Not from that convo. 📰 Breaking News [Silent Swordmaster's skill is skill, but her raw toughness is insane, right?] 💬 Comments — Anonymous Agreed, dodges 0.2cm from cheek, like taunting on purpose — Anonymous Chased by aquatic boss, smashing walls/ceilings/stairs but clings outside, yells "crazy bitch" aloud — Anonymous Thought scare-first-person-only streams were racing/horror games Praised positively, but not the origin. 📰 Breaking News [Seriously, can top streamers challenge Silent Swordmaster's route?] 💬 Comments — Anonymous Below top-tier impossible — Anonymous No skills no blessings reality body clear? Almost no one — Anonymous Non-hellspawn sardines/pigs all impossible — Anonymous Gym monsters, Irion, Prof doable even reality body — Anonymous Silent Swordmaster that tier? — Anonymous Watch the live again This topic sparked it.
Who could mimic Silent Swordmaster's play?
Intriguing to viewers and streamers alike.
Could I do it?
Most laughed it off,
but some pondered seriously.
Especially brainjock streamer Phantom Thief Eom Gil-dong, rising fast— he felt real competitive fire.
'Honestly, no way.'
Few streamers had reality-jacked physiques. For a brainjock? Laughable.
But partial combat segments?
"Might pull off bits if I try hard?"
World full of wild physicality— nothing un-stealable with effort!
Phantom Thief Eom Gil-dong, infamous for pilfering top physical streamers' and rankers' tech under that slogan.
"I steal ranker tech— can't snag a newbie physical streamer's? Psh." — Anonymous Clip that statement ON — Anonymous Death flag stood — Anonymous Karma incoming Would that confidence stayed mere bravado,
but irked by viewer mockery, Eom Gil-dong flipped.
Driven to crush their noses and earn respect.
"Fine, spin up the simulator and set a record."
Eom Gil-dong, igniter of the Catch-Up craze.
This moment brimmed with overconfidence.
Regret and ground-pounding?
Days-later him, not this one. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇