The Heavenly Demon Shoots a Gun (3)
“Hello, everyone! This is Enly!”
Every time the stream began, Enly would chat idly while waiting for viewers to trickle in. Today, she smiled at the donation that popped up on screen.
“Yeah. I heard she pulled off another round of ridiculous stunts yesterday?”
“Come on, this isn’t a murim game, it’s an FPS. Even at a hundred-to-one, I’d win.”
Enly had already heard from Ara that she was starting Epic, so the community buzzing about her wasn’t much of a surprise. This was the same Ara who had soloed an entire zombie horde in Dawn Escape. Even if she wasn’t used to FPS games, that absurd physical talent wasn’t going anywhere.
The clip that played showed Ara’s first time playing Epic the day before. She sprinted at an unnaturally fast pace, then stopped dead. Bullets immediately kicked up dirt and grass right where she had been. Ara was already staring toward the distant shooter.
“Everyone, calm down. This is just the beginning.”
Detecting an ambush with no warning was already impressive, but the next scene was something that would leave question marks floating in everyone’s heads.
Ara, caught in the surprise attack, charged straight at her attacker. Normally she should have taken cover or traded shots to force the opponent back, but she did none of that. She simply ran straight toward them. For an ordinary person, it would have been suicide—practically begging to be shot. But Ara was the exception.
The moment the opponent pulled the trigger, Ara moved. The bullet missed. It looked as if she had seen it coming and dodged.
Anyone seeing it for the first time would assume it was luck. Dodging a bullet after seeing the gun fire? That was impossible. It would be more believable that the shooter missed or Ara tripped and got lucky. But Ara proved it wasn’t luck—by dodging again.
By the time she had dodged all four shots from the slow-firing sniper rifle, Ara had already closed the distance. Realizing the ambush had failed, the opponent tried to flee, but Ara was far faster. In an instant she was right beside them, pressing her gun against their side.
“Doesn’t that look impossible?”
“In this case, since HwaRyeong is the weird one, there’s no need to feel inferior.”
How many people in the world could actually do the things they only talked about? Even professional FPS players said dodging bullets with your eyes was impossible. Yet here Ara was, proving it.
“HwaRyeong got twelve wins in a row?!”
Enly had seen some highlight clips but hadn’t known the full details. She blurted out a curse at the donation message.
“Seriously?”
A twelve-win streak. Was that even possible? Countless players logged off after grinding all day without a single first place, yet someone who had just started the game went undefeated for twelve matches? And she only stopped because she felt bad taking any more money from the viewers?
Ara might be a monster, and she might be playing in the beginner zone, but was this really possible? Logically it made sense, but emotionally it didn’t. It was just wrong. Was Epic Legend really a game where you could smurf like that?
While Enly was still blinking in disbelief, viewers sent more video donations—more of Ara’s absurd plays from yesterday’s stream. Charging into a four-person brawl with nothing but a knife and walking out without a scratch, throats slit. Casually catching a thrown grenade, holding it for a moment, then tossing it back right before it exploded. Staying in the middle of the shrinking zone and personally killing everyone who approached.
“But why is her aim so good?”
The most surprising part was that Ara never missed. Every time she pulled the trigger, a headshot effect bloomed on her target. It created an unfair dynamic where she could attack freely while her opponents couldn’t.
Wasn’t Ara supposed to be terrible with machines? Why was she so good with guns? Was it because it involved moving her body?!
“It sounds easy when you say it. The problem is we don’t have HwaRyeong’s physical talent.”
Enly spent a long time watching Ara’s clips, feeling an inexplicable sense of deprivation, before finally launching Epic Legend herself.
She had known Ara would improve quickly, but not this quickly. When she first heard about it, she thought she might finally have something to show off to Ara. Now it felt like she was about to be overtaken in an instant. Ugh. It was frustrating, but there was nothing she could do. It was Ara, after all.
She pushed Ara’s plays out of her mind for now. Today she would focus only on her own gameplay. She didn’t have far to go until Gold anyway. No matter how amazing Ara was, Enly just needed to reach her own goal.
“No. Absolutely not.”
Watching Ara’s plays grow more refined, it was clear she wasn’t just overpowering people with raw talent—she was learning how to play the game properly. Before long she would surpass Enly, and maybe she already had the skill to teach her.
“HwaRyeong is still below me for now!”
Her pride wouldn’t allow it. How many hours had Enly poured into FPS games? Hundreds, easily. And now she was supposed to take lessons from someone who had only touched the game yesterday?
“Apis is one thing, but FPS is still mine!”
If Ara eventually proved herself with her rank, that would be different. But not yet. Not yet. And if she accepted help from Ara, people would just say she reached Gold thanks to HwaRyeong’s carry!
*
Watching the clip of Enly that had been sent as a video donation made Ara smile. So this game was where her pride lay. This was the one thing she refused to yield. How amusing.
She should have noticed it when Enly became a ghost of a person, grinding only this game. Ara remembered they had started out just wanting to enjoy it lightly together. How had it come to this?
“So where is Enly at right now?”
“So you’re saying it’s practically impossible in one day.”
Still, she had climbed quite a bit. Last time Ara checked, Enly had been talking about dropping rank. Now she was right on the edge of her goal. She had worked hard.
“It does sound like a fun goal, but is it even possible?”
Ara had seen the rank point table for Epic Legend before. Everyone started at zero and needed 5,500 points to reach Gold. Enly was right on the verge, while Ara was starting from zero. Was that physically possible?
“Really?”
Each match took about twenty minutes, so three hours of play could theoretically get her there.
“Sounds fun.”
Even if Enly was lacking in many areas, she wouldn’t fail to gain 200 points in three hours. Ara might reach Gold today, but beating Enly to it would be impossible. In other words, defeat was physically guaranteed. Still, the viewers would enjoy it, and it would help protect Enly’s pride. Might as well give it a try.
“Then let’s queue up for some ranked games. It would be nice to run into someone who can actually threaten me soon.”
Ara pressed the ranked queue button. Moments later the game started, the scenery shifted, and her body lifted into the air.
“Come to think of it, the win-streak mission still isn’t over, is it?”
“Just kidding. Just kidding.”
She was more than satisfied with what she had received yesterday, so there was no need to worry.