Alright! Let's Send This One to Ruin Too!
Before long, a man who looked to be in his late thirties appeared on screen. Surprisingly, he had a neat, polished appearance.
"Hello. I'm Park Jincheon of the Superhuman Research Institute. Things have been heating up lately around Kim Sinhyeok, haven't they?"
Come to think of it, Park Jincheon of the Superhuman Research Institute hadn't offered me so much as a single word of apology. Instead, he'd quietly taken down his old hit-piece videos on me and locked down the comments. And yet here he was, already pumping out a video about me this fast.
I focused and watched.
If anything, I wanted him to come at me as hard as possible. That way I could snag him by the ankle the same way I had Geum Seongho.
So he's going to borrow an expert's mouth, is he?
Park Jincheon had brought on a professor from a well-known university and a video specialist for a discussion.
"So first of all — the video Kim Sinhyeok uploaded isn't fabricated, correct?"
"Yes. There's a high probability it isn't faked. He uploaded it raw, without a single edit."
"Hmm. But the reactions from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, the US, Europe, and so on have been different, haven't they?"
"Overseas, people are insisting the video is fake. But isn't that just them trying to keep a new S-rank superhuman from emerging in Korea?"
I'd checked that morning myself — comments from other countries had flooded in, and the vast majority were negative. China and Japan in particular had completely lost their minds.
"I see. So in short — it's absolutely not faked, and most of the people claiming it is are foreign users. Is that the right way to look at it?"
"Yes. That would be fair."
I must have looked surprised. I never expected Park Jincheon to put out a video that worked in my favor.
This isn't how it's supposed to go…
A flicker of unease crept in.
Park Jincheon was supposed to attack me no matter what. If he suddenly switched lanes and played nice, sending him to ruin got a lot harder.
Worse still was the type who pretended to be on your side while slipping in the occasional hit piece. That kind required the absolute last resort — the Heavenly Demon card.
Either way, Park Jincheon had just declared that my video had zero chance of being faked. Foreigners might not buy it, but Koreans absolutely would.
"Well then, let's speak with the professor. Professor — in your view, what do you make of Kim Sinhyeok's ability? Is he truly S-rank?"
"Hmm. I've watched the footage several times myself. The more I watch, the more astonished I am. I never imagined he could summon the Heavenly Demon."
"Has it been confirmed that it is the Heavenly Demon?"
"I wouldn't go so far as absolute confirmation, but the probability is very high. There's no reason someone with that level of skill would bother lying about it."
My anxiety kept climbing. Without realizing it, I clenched my fist.
"Ah — just from what you're saying, it sounds like S-rank is all but locked in."
"Yes. I believe S-rank is correct."
"There's talk he could even receive an S+."
"S+ is still unclear. But S-rank seems certain."
"Then are you saying he's stronger than the Wood King, Cheon Gangmok?"
"I would expect so, yes."
The Wood King, Cheon Gangmok, was the man called Korea's strongest. An A+-rank superhuman — the highest rank the country currently had.
"Wow! So Korea is finally getting an S-rank ability user?! This is truly moving!"
Disgustingly enough, Park Jincheon put on a thoroughly emotional performance. All of it acting. I was certain of that.
No! Just trash me like you always do!
Apparently the thumbnail had been a smokescreen. I never expected him to farm the outrage and then flip his whole stance.
But then again — they say you should always hear a person out to the end, don't they?
"That said…"
"Yes?"
"I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news to share."
My expression brightened on the spot. Finally — what I'd been waiting for.
Whew. That's more like it.
With a face considerably lighter than before, I went back to watching.
"Unfortunate news?"
"There's no question the raw power of the ability is extraordinary. Myself and many other scholars acknowledge that. But can he actually keep using it?"
"What do you mean by that?"
I was dying to know what he'd say next. I pulled my phone even closer to my face.
"As many of you know, Kim Sinhyeok has not entered a dungeon in a very long time."
"Yes, I've heard that."
"If he possessed the incredible ability to summon the Heavenly Demon — why has he been sitting still all this time?"
"Well…"
"If it were me, I would already have been clearing dungeons at full speed. I wouldn't have stayed silent this long."
"That's true, isn't it?"
The professor wore the face of a man about to reveal some grand secret. Even I found myself getting curious for no good reason.
"In my assessment, Kim Sinhyeok likely summoned the Heavenly Demon by pure chance this time."
"By chance?"
"Yes. He's probably been summoning various creatures all along. He simply never had a strong one. Then, by coincidence, he summoned the Heavenly Demon — and only now has he started entering dungeons."
It sounded plausible enough. Honestly, even I found myself half-sold.
"Meaning…?"
"Yes. Kim Sinhyeok is a classic random-summoner-type superhuman."
"Ah…"
Park Jincheon let out a pained little sound, gesturing as if he already knew exactly where the professor was going.
"As you all know, random-summoner superhumans have summons that constantly change. Sometimes it lasts a day, sometimes several months."
"So you're saying Kim Sinhyeok's summon could change soon as well?"
"Yes. There's a high probability it will. Once the summon period ends, it'll likely switch to something else."
In general terms, the professor wasn't wrong.
Most superhumans who summoned at random couldn't keep the same creature indefinitely. There was a duration, and once it expired, the summon swapped out.
There was just one thing they didn't know.
I hadn't summoned a creature. I'd summoned a clone.
But they had no idea, and they were having the time of their lives running their mouths.
"So even the Heavenly Demon is on a timer."
"I see. Then should we consider Kim Sinhyeok a temporary S-rank?"
"Yes. I believe that's the correct view. I'm sorry to pour cold water on a good mood, but I think the facts need to be stated clearly."
The more I listened, the more absurd it got.
And the wider the smile on my face grew.
"Hmm. Come to think of it, everyone who's reached S-rank before did it through bone-grinding effort. But Kim Sinhyeok simply lucked into power on par with S-rank."
"Exactly. That's why all he gets is temporary strength. There may even be a usage limit on the Heavenly Demon's power."
"What a shame. Just when it looked like Korea was finally getting an S-rank superhuman."
They'd already decided my power was temporary and locked it in.
Which only made things better. It made sending them to ruin that much easier.
Hmm. A professor really shouldn't be talking like that.
For all I knew, Park Jincheon had told him exactly what to say behind the scenes. Coming from the Superhuman Research Institute's Park Jincheon, that was entirely plausible.
Either way — this is a huge opportunity, isn't it?
The Superhuman Research Institute had uploaded another video tearing me down. That much was the same as before.
But there was one massive difference from the old days.
Back then, I was just a D-rank superhuman who streamed. That was all.
Now I was the superhuman the entire country was pinning its hopes on.
What if the Heavenly Demon still hadn't vanished after time passed?
What if a full year went by and she was still fine?
The Superhuman Research Institute would get absolutely destroyed. Quietly taking the video down and locking comments the way they used to wouldn't even begin to cut it.
They'd go straight to ruin, same as Geum Seongho. Guaranteed.
Sure, a year was a little long. But if I just waited one year, I'd have a card that could send him to hell for certain. That was a very strong hand.
Well, if I get the chance to bury him even sooner, all the better.
If Park Jincheon had kept riding my side the way the first half of the video suggested, sending him to ruin would have been hard.
But a wrecker was still a wrecker.
Without fabrication, distortion, and exaggeration, you couldn't call yourself a true wrecker channel. Park Jincheon was no different.
I turned off the Superhuman Research Institute video. I'd seen enough.
A pleasant thrill ran through me. I wanted time to hurry up and pass — because then I could send that institute straight to ruin too.
Whew. Calm down. Getting this worked up already won't help.
I forced myself to settle.
I deliberately put on other NewTube videos. Lately NewTube had no shortage of entertaining stuff.
Ahem.
Okay, fine — I did click on a video that looked like it would glaze me pretty hard.
But what was I supposed to do? Anyone who saw a title like that would click the same way I did.
"Behold Sinhyeok's astonishing power! Has the world ever seen an ability this strong from the very beginning? This is proof that Sinhyeok descended from the heavens itself…"
The content was wildly over the top, of course. But it was entertaining, so I watched anyway.
All because of one person — me — the whole country was in an uproar.
It came with plenty of headaches, but it was also pretty fascinating.
Not a bad feeling at all.
As a rule, superhuman streamers took at least three days of rest after a dungeon run. That was the unwritten law.
I had no intention of resting a full three days, though. Honestly, I hadn't done a single thing inside the dungeon.
Still, I took about two days off.
More precisely — I only rested from streaming.
The whole time, I kept drilling swordsmanship.
Come next week, I'd have to hunt monsters on my own. No more hiding behind the Heavenly Demon. Naturally, I had no choice but to train my martial arts hard.
Whoosh—!
Even now, I twisted my body sideways as far as it would go.
And still took a wooden sword straight to the ribs.
Thwack—!
"Agh!"
I clutched my side and dropped to the floor. Truthfully, it didn't hurt that badly. My clone had held back on purpose.
But I wanted even a little break, so I milked it for a moment.
"Are you all right?"
"Ugh…! That really hurts. I think you hit me wrong."
"Hmm. That shouldn't be possible."
Even as she said it couldn't be, the Heavenly Demon approached with a worried look.
"Does it hurt that much?"
"Yeah. It hurts a lot. Let's rest a bit, then go again."
"Very well. It can't be helped, then."
I was sparring with my clone.
The sword art I'd learned this time — the Lesser Demon Sword — was an extremely practical style. It was the kind of swordsmanship you improved through real combat and repeated sparring.
Which was why I was crossing blades with my clone like this.
Ah — of course, if we fought for real, I wouldn't stand a chance.
So my clone deliberately lowered her level. Internal energy, swordsmanship, strength, stamina, dynamic vision, agility, reaction speed — she matched most of her conditions to mine, then sparred.
And had I ever won even once?
Of course not. Not a single time.
The Heavenly Demon really is the Heavenly Demon.
No matter what tricks I pulled, I couldn't see an angle to win. If anything, the more we fought, the more she felt like a wall.
That said, her expression kept changing as the spars went on.
From faint expectation… to outright astonishment by the end.
Just now I'd clearly taken the hit. But my clone still looked rather surprised — as if she were seeing something I couldn't.
Anyway, I milked the "it hurts" excuse for a decent break.
Once I'd rested enough, I stood back up.
"All right. Let's go again."
"Yes."