The Heavenly Demon's Ten Victories (4)
“Crazy.” A curse slipped out of Decai’s mouth. It couldn’t be helped. How on earth was it possible to clear every spirit before the Awakening Orb’s effect even ended?
Hwa-ryeong was a monster. How else could one describe a human who dispersed storms, erased hail with a single whip crack, and blew away waves of earth with one punch?
Even under the combined full-power assault of the spirits and Decai, Hwa-ryeong never lost her smile. Despite attacks that would have instantly killed any ordinary player, she simply walked forward with a leisurely grin, one step at a time.
It was a time attack. A desperate race to bring her down before she reached them. Only one chance. Failure meant defeat.
Yet before that calamity named Hwa-ryeong, mere mortals could only be weak. Before she even suffered a single scratch, the Wind Spirit scattered and returned to its original world.
Even together, the five spirits had failed to wound her. The moment one vanished, the balance collapsed completely. Ice, Flame, and finally Earth—all disappeared, leaving only Decai behind.
Hwa-ryeong stood before him without a single mark. She looked exactly the same as when the game began. Anyone who saw her would think she had just finished touching up her makeup.
“Is it over now?”
“...Yes.”
“That makes it 1-0.”
The whip came down.
Decai sighed as he scrolled through the map selection screen. There really was no way to win.
Losing all nine matches wasn’t strange in itself. Decai was only a Challenger-tier ghost after all. Losing ten or more in a row to active pros was just another day for him.
Still, failing to deal even a single point of damage across nine games was excessive.
One-versus-one in Apis was fundamentally a fighting game. Trading moves and fighting over damage was the core loop. Achieving a perfect game—where even luck had to align—was not something you could do every single match.
Especially not against a Challenger-tier player like Decai, who was using every map gimmick he could think of. The fact that Hwa-ryeong could still pull off perfect games spoke volumes about her skill.
Of course. If she wasn’t at that level, how could she have soloed an Outer God?
The fact that he’d even managed to land one hit on her the first day they met was nothing short of a miracle.
Nothing he did here would change the outcome. He’d already flailed to his heart’s content. Even the most toxic viewers were calling him pitiful. No one would blame him if he gave up now.
But since it was the Heavenly Demon… he wanted to end things with some flair.
While browsing maps, Decai suddenly thought of a spectacular way to finish.
“Hwa-ryeong.”
“What is it?”
“This is probably the last one. Could you pick the Heavenly Demon and go all out?”
Throughout the ten-win challenge, Hwa-ryeong had clearly been going easy on him—letting him flail as much as he wanted. If this were a manga, that arrogance would have led to a mistake and his victory. But this wasn’t a manga, and Decai wasn’t the protagonist.
After losing nine straight games, he was genuinely curious. What would Hwa-ryeong look like when she got serious? How long could he last against her full power?
“Are you sure?”
“It’s just a game.”
Decai answered casually, but Hwa-ryeong hesitated, looking somewhat reluctant.
“Have you ever made someone cry in Apis before?”
It was meant as a joke, but no answer came.
Wait, seriously? She’d actually made someone cry while playing?
“Hwa-ryeong. It’s fine. I’m used to getting beaten by strong players.”
One-versus-one in Apis wasn’t called the “come get beat” mode for nothing. Silver gets beaten by Gold, Gold by Platinum, Platinum by Diamond—even pros at the very top get bullied by other pros. Decai, who had stayed in the highest ranks for years, was used to losing.
“Then I shall give you my all.”
“Please do.”
Permission granted. Time to go be a punching bag.
He picked the Arena—a skill-based map. Let’s see how many of the Heavenly Demon’s serious punches he could tank. He had to last at least a minute if he wanted to save face.
Game ready.
Sword & Shield Knight VS Heavenly Demon
Decai had chosen Sword & Shield Knight. A pick made purely to survive, victory completely discarded.
Game starts in 20 seconds.
“Are you really sure you don’t mind if I don’t hold back?”
“I already said it’s fine.”
Hwa-ryeong asked again, but Decai only shook his head.
Just how strong was she planning to go? Was he going to die in under ten seconds?
“I will go all out, but don’t hold a grudge.”
“It’s just a game. Why would I hold a grudge?”
This wasn’t a tournament. It was just two people playing on stream. The missions tied to the ten-win challenge would hurt, but he could make up for it by uploading the VOD to MyTube.
3
2
1
Game Start
The moment the system announced the start, Hwa-ryeong’s figure vanished.
He couldn’t perceive anything. She simply disappeared as if magic had been cast right in front of him.
The instant he widened his eyes in surprise, Hwa-ryeong appeared directly in front of him. The distance between them was close enough to feel her breath.
She’d already closed the gap this much?
If he didn’t kick her away immediately—
The moment he tried to move his arm, something enormous pressed down on him from above.
It was fear given form. So terrifying that his hands trembled and his mind went blank. A nightmare that froze Decai’s movements.
The hesitation lasted barely a second, but that was more than enough for Hwa-ryeong.
Her fist flew straight toward his face.
Defeat!
Returning from death, Decai couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. The viewers seemed just as lost.
Three seconds? He’d lost in just three seconds?
“That’s bullshit! How does one punch kill you?”
“...Fair enough.”
Now that he thought about it, it made sense. That thing was basically an instant-kill move.
Decai collapsed under the crushing sense of futility.
How was anyone supposed to beat her?
No matter how he looked at it, Hwa-ryeong didn’t belong in a fighting game. She should’ve been a raid boss in a wuxia game.
“Are you alright?”
Hwa-ryeong looked at him with concern and offered her hand. Decai took it and stood up with a hollow laugh.
“I figured this would be better than dragging it out.”
“It was.”
At least the impact was spectacular. Someone had probably already clipped it and was spreading it around. “Decai Three-Second KO” sounded like a fitting title.
*
Gwon-jon, the most well-known Fist King one-trick in Apis, started his stream at 10 PM as usual after waking up.
With virtual reality so advanced, there was no need to prepare anything special before streaming. Viewers only saw his avatar anyway, so why bother washing up?
Yawning, he connected to VR, scratched his head vigorously, and started the broadcast.
“Hey guys.”
“I heard they were doing it, but today was the day, huh. How’d it go?”
“Really? Decai?”
Even if he’d retired a long time ago, someone who’d tasted pro water was different. Having participated in various amateur tournaments as a pro-league player himself, Gwon-jon knew this better than anyone.
Decai usually wore the mask of an entertainer in ranked games, but when he entered tournaments as a player, he was different. When serious, he was truly terrifying.
The way he perfectly controlled Apis maps filled with countless variables was practically the minimum standard required to become a pro gamer.
And that Decai had been completely unable to touch Hwa-ryeong and lost?