The Heavenly Demon Offers Advice (2)
“Are you going to grind ranked games again when you get home today?”
“That’s the plan.”
“How far are you trying to go?”
“For now, I’m aiming for the Pro League.”
Since I had reached the Diamond rank right before turning off the game yesterday, all that remained were Master, Grand Master, Challenger, and then the Pro League above them. My immediate goal was simply to establish my authority, but that wasn’t the only thing I had in mind.
The Pro League wasn’t just a gathering of domestic Apis rankers. It was a place reserved exclusively for the top three thousand players in the entire world. In other words, it was a sanctuary where only the absolute best at Apis could reside. The people who lived there had proven their skill beyond doubt.
Fighting Dekay hadn’t been all that boring. Surely the ones who stood above him would entertain me even more.
“I’m honestly jealous. It looks like you could hit that rank whenever you have the time.”
Well. I suppose so. After all, most of the people I would run into on my way up were bound to be weaker than Dekay. It didn’t feel tedious at all.
“Aren’t you doing ranked, Enri?”
“I am! I already hit Gold 2, you know!”
What remarkable progress. Before I taught her, she had clearly been floundering in Silver. I was glad my teachings hadn’t been in vain.
Enri had been telling me lately how much fun she was having playing the game, and that it was all thanks to me. I politely declined the credit. How could it be thanks to me? It was all because she had absorbed the lessons so well.
“Are you stuck on anything?”
“Hmm. Yeah, there is something. As I start facing higher-ranked players, it’s getting harder to keep up.”
That was only natural. What I had taught Enri was nothing more than the absolute basics. Against opponents who hadn’t even built a proper foundation, she might be able to put up a decent fight, but against anyone above a certain level, it was bound to feel overwhelming. Quite a bit of time had passed since that day, so she should have grown used to maintaining distance by now. Maybe it was time to move on to the next step.
“Would it be alright if I watched you play today, Enri?”
“Of course! Please watch your disciple’s growth!”
Disciple, she said. I almost corrected her but stopped myself. She probably didn’t understand the weight that word carried for a martial artist and had said it lightly. There was no reason to make a fuss about it.
“If I think you’ve improved enough after watching you today, I’ll teach you the next part.”
“Really?!”
“Only if I think you’re ready.”
“I’ve improved so much! You can trust me!”
The sight of Enri clenching both fists and shouting made me chuckle. There was no word harder to believe than “improvement” coming from a child still clumsy with the martial arts, but I’d let it slide for now.
“By the way, Miss Ara. Would it be okay if I streamed while you teach me today? If I do it after the broadcast ends, the timing might get awkward.”
“I don’t mind.”
It was actually a welcome suggestion. My teachings could reach many people through Enri’s stream. From my perspective—someone who wanted to pass on their knowledge to as many as possible—there was no reason to refuse Enri’s proposal.
So today, we’re going to have a lesson where I learn about Apis from the Heavenly Demon!
As soon as I appeared on Enri’s stream, the viewers greeted me warmly. Some spouted things they must have heard from the Divine Cult, while others poured out their grudges from losing to me in ranked games. Most of it was playful, but whenever people gathered, there were always a few who soured the mood.
Probably one of the people I had beaten. I didn’t know who it was, but they seemed extremely angry. Spending money just to curse at me—there was nothing I could say to that. Still, wouldn’t it be better to channel that passion somewhere else? If they trained in the martial arts with that kind of fury, a miracle might happen and they could one day surpass me.
I was used to hearing people’s curses—it wasn’t something that happened just once or twice—so I remained indifferent. The others, however, reacted differently. The chat exploded immediately.
Before I could even say anything, the viewers were already throwing stones at the person who had sent the message. Each one was a small pebble, but when hundreds and thousands gathered, they became more threatening than a single boulder. Quite the spectacle.
I didn’t know who had sent the insult, but they must have been flustered. When I glanced sideways, Enri was watching my reaction carefully.
What? Did you think something like that would offend me?
“It’s fine.”
“No, that…”
“What of it? If a strong person gets upset over the barking of the defeated, they don’t deserve to be called strong.”
Did she really think I would get upset over such petty insults? Back when I was the public enemy of the Murim world, the young ones from the righteous sects would shower me with all sorts of creative curses whenever they saw me. Because I was in a woman’s body, sexual insults were the baseline, and insulting my father, the previous Heavenly Demon, was practically a greeting. I had heard every insult imaginable about the mother who gave birth to me and about the Ice Palace that had once protected me until my ears grew calluses.
Compared to that, this was downright cute. Of course, back then I was a person who knew no mercy, and I had killed every single person who dared insult me. That was why I had gone around destroying sects with such glee. I wanted to make sure no one could ever look down on me.
Looking back now, maybe annihilating an entire sect just because one of the Three Great Disciples said a single word had been a bit excessive.
“Really?”
“I told you it’s fine.”
To me, the goodwill you and Harin show is far more burdensome than that kind of hostility. I simply don’t know how to respond to it.
“Just get on with the stream.”
When I waved my hand dismissively, Enri lightly patted her own cheeks and smiled again.
“Before we start the lesson, Heavenly Demon said she wants to check my current level first. So I’m going to queue for a ranked game.”
“Stop with the hate comments! Honestly, I’ve been doing well lately!”
The public sentiment was brutal. Enri. Just what exactly have you been doing all this time?
When I looked at her with that question in my eyes, Enri let out an awkward laugh. The way her eyes were wandering made it clear she didn’t really want to answer. It was a sad thing for her, but her viewers were being mischievous. Someone immediately revealed the very thing Enri wanted to hide.
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In the video, Enri was fighting against another spear user. Her opponent was a muscular man with a long ponytail, and what he wielded wasn’t mana but inner energy. A spear versus spear fight was never easy. Once two people fought with weapons of the same reach, everything came down to their proficiency with the spear.
Even at a glance, the opponent’s spear proficiency looked higher. He would probe with the tip of his spear, and whenever Enri tried to attack, he would retreat and steal distance. As a result, Enri’s attacks never landed while she continued to take hits. I didn’t know who the opponent was, but he was quite skilled. His fundamentals with the spear were solid.
How strange. Someone at the same rank as Enri could fight like this? Even when I had met the people in my Diamond tier, it was rare to find anyone with such well-honed basics. The gap in skill was clear, so Enri inevitably grew impatient. She ignored the basics I had taught her and chose to charge in.
Up to that point, I could understand. In a situation where staying passive would clearly lead to defeat, trying to create variables wasn’t a bad choice. The problem was the method.
Enri looked like she had reverted to how she was before I taught her. There wasn’t a trace of composure in the way she swung her spear wildly. She had already been at a disadvantage. Mindless attacks only hastened her defeat and brought her no chance of victory. Eventually, the word “Defeat” floated up in front of Enri.
“Why did you send this?!”
“It’s fine, Enri. That can happen.”
This was simply the result of not knowing how to navigate such a situation. Ignorance is not a sin, so she could simply learn from now on. I was about to move on after saying that, but another video was donated and I had to stop.
The next one was another clip of Enri charging in recklessly like in the past. She swung her spear thoughtlessly, as if she had completely forgotten the concept of spear range. When I turned to look at her, her cheeks were bright red. So this was recent. Probably right after she lost to that spear user earlier.
“That… I got angry because I kept losing.”
The fact that she was making excuses before I could even speak meant she knew she had done wrong. That was enough. Humans could never be perfect in the face of their own emotions. Even skilled martial artists often ruined themselves because they couldn’t control their feelings. How could someone who hadn’t trained in the martial arts possibly master their emotions completely? If that were possible, you wouldn’t be streaming—you would have joined a Buddhist temple.
It’s understandable. Just don’t do it next time.
“For now, Enri, let me see how you fight first.”
“Yes! I’ll start the Apis match.”
“Oh, and while you’re fighting, don’t look at my voice or the chat at all. Focus solely on your opponent. That’s the only way I can see your true ability.”
“Huh? But the broadcast…”
“I’ll just ramble on about something.”
I wasn’t exactly the most entertaining person, so if the viewers got bored, we could think of something else then.
“Alright. Go ahead and queue for ranked.”
“Heavenly Demon, you’re not going to roast me too hard, right?”
“Don’t worry. Why would I have any personal grudge to criticize you with?”
I would only point out your problems fairly, so there was no need to worry. Enri didn’t seem to find my words very trustworthy and made me promise several times. How unfair. It’s not like I would team up with others to curse at you.
It didn’t take long for the game to start. The map was the arena, and the opponent was the Heavenly Demon. Seeing a character with my face standing across from Enri felt strangely unsettling.
The player who had picked the Heavenly Demon smiled brightly the moment they entered the match and saw Enri.
“Enha!”
“Hello. Are you watching the stream right now?”
“Yes! I’m a fan of Heavenly Demon!”
She jumped up and down, waving her hands toward the space beyond Enri. It seemed like she was greeting me.
“There have been a lot of people claiming to be my fans lately.”
“Even so, it seems like half the people who meet me in-game are happy while the other half curse at me.”
Is that how it was? I hadn’t realized people were that desperate about their points since I wasn’t particularly sensitive about my own score.