The Heavenly Demon Gives Unsolicited Advice

The user with the nickname made of the number 1, the letter I, and a lowercase i was a spear-wielding player who had recently earned quite the reputation among Turret viewers. He was called the Spear Sniper, or more commonly, a malicious bastard or a complete psycho. Whenever a mid-tier Apis streamer started their broadcast, this guy would pop out of nowhere, freeze the entire chat in awkward silence, and somehow enjoy himself. Anyone watching could tell he had a few screws loose.

“The stream’s probably ruined now, huh?”

“That guy showed up. Nothing we can do about it.”

It was true that viewers loved watching streamers suffer. But only when it stayed within that delicate, thrilling line. Once it crossed into territory where even the audience felt uncomfortable, the fun died. No one could enjoy it anymore. No matter how vicious the viewers were, they came because they liked the streamer. Misfortune had to stay moderate. It couldn’t reach the point where the streamer actually became depressed.

The psycho spear user who had sold his humanity for scraps at the market floor had no idea where that line was. He was pure garbage.

“Ha. This is fucked. The clip looked so good too.”

Even if you cut out the sniping scene, once the flow was broken the flavor vanished. And some idiot had to come along and dump ashes all over it?

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Enry had immediately jumped into another match after losing to the sniper, trying to salvage the broadcast atmosphere. The one who stopped him was Hwaryong. She said she would make him win. That he needed to get revenge. She grabbed the hesitant Enry by the shoulder and forced him to stand in front of the sniper again.

“How is the boss supposed to beat that guy? He’s actually skilled, you know.”

Sky had seen Enry get sniped several times before, so he knew. The Spear Sniper was a skilled player regardless of his rotten personality. He wasn’t someone you could beat just by listening to a few pieces of advice.

What Hwaryong had given wasn’t simple advice. She had told Enry exactly what he needed to do from start to finish to win the match. She even pointed out multiple moments where he might make mistakes and explained precisely how to handle those situations.

“That actually worked?”

The sound of dry laughter coming through the phone made Sky’s feet move faster. Looked like he’d have to see this in person.

“So the boss actually won?”

So this was malicious sniper re-education (feat. Hwaryong). This alone would be enough clip material. Looked like his workload had increased again.

“Yeah.”

She had shown it clearly during the last interview.

“Why? What happened?”

Even without hearing the rest of the explanation, Sky could already see how the rest of the story went. The viewers definitely wouldn’t have missed the part where Hwaryong got angry and would have teased her endlessly about it. Hwaryong, who wasn’t used to broadcasting, would have taken the bait and seriously argued back, only to get teased even more. That scene probably continued until the boss returned.

Right. Their boss was one of the worst malicious bastards around. Instead of stopping it, he joined in teasing the guest. Even though he was only a few steps away from home, Sky felt a sudden urge to go back down and smoke a cigarette.

“So this was the main point all along?”

“Then say that from the beginning!”

“People who watch shorts don’t know the context either, you idiot.”

Irritated by his strangely stubborn little brother’s behavior, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he opened the video that had arrived through Coffee Talk on his smartphone.

The video began with Hwaryong standing still with her eyes closed. The moment she opened them, she suddenly stepped forward with one foot. Immediately after, she swept her hand through the empty air as if brushing something away.

Shadow boxing? No. It was a bit different from that. If he had to compare it to something, it looked more like mime?

It was strange. There was nothing in front of Hwaryong. Only air. Yet as he followed her movements, he could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clearly see someone standing before her. It was a well-built man. The weapon he held was a long spear. He looked composed, but he couldn’t completely hide his impatience.

Sky thought he recognized the person standing in front of Hwaryong.

The Spear Sniper. It was him! No doubt about it!

Hwaryong, holding a long pipe in one hand, faced the sniper. Before long, she grabbed his spear, yanked it forward to break his balance, and then threw a single punch. That was it. He could see the sniper’s head exploding.

Sky, who had been watching the video while holding his breath, finally realized again that what Hwaryong had been facing was nothing but an illusion. It felt like he had been possessed by a ghost.

“Hajin.”

“What are you waiting for? Upload it as a short right now!”

Background knowledge? Context? None of that mattered. This was something that inspired awe just by watching it. Just like the scene when Hwaryong had faced an Outer God before!

“What’s going on?”

What the hell did that mean? He wanted an explanation, but Hajin simply said he’d understand once he saw it and hung up the phone.

Ha. That little shit. Seriously. At least tell me what the situation is. How else am I supposed to know which parts are funny?

Once he got home, Sky closed the video editing program and opened Turret. The moment he turned on Enry’s stream, what he saw was Enry rolling around on the dirt floor.

“Well done. This time you lasted a whole three seconds.”

“Three seconds? I struggled like that and it was only three seconds?! That’s impossible!”

“Now now. Get up. We promised you would last ten seconds, didn’t we?”

“No! I don’t want to!”

Watching Enry throw a tantrum and roll on the floor like a child from an old cartoon made Sky’s brain freeze. What the hell was this situation? Hajin, you bastard. You said I’d understand the moment I saw it. How is anyone supposed to understand this?!

Grabbing his head, he found the person managing Enry’s chat from the manager list and sent a whisper.

This lesson hadn’t started that long ago. Right after the imaginary sparring video Hajin had sent ended, Hwaryong had dragged Enry to the arena map.

“What I will teach you today is how to shake off an opponent once they’ve closed in.”

The theory Hwaryong explained was simple. When the distance between you and your opponent became close range, a spear was no longer a helpful weapon. From that point on, you had to reduce how often you swung the spear and focus on minimizing damage. You had to block the small attacks, make the opponent impatient, and induce large movements. Then you had to strike at the opening that appeared and create distance again.

“Do you understand? First, you must endure the opponent’s attacks. Only then can you look for a chance to escape.”

“I understand!”

“There is theory behind enduring as well, but it’s faster to learn through real combat. I shall personally hammer the theory into your body.”

“...Yes?”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The lesson that began with those words was incredibly strict. Hwaryong never gave Enry any room to maintain distance from the start. The moment he blinked, she was already right in front of him, making the very concept of distance meaningless. Enry rolled across the floor countless times. It was so strict it looked like harassment.

The viewers who saw this asked what the hell she was doing. Was this really teaching? Hwaryong answered that it was. The proof appeared not long after. Enry’s skill was improving little by little.

At first, he was taken down in a single strike. But after being knocked down several times, a single strike became two strikes. After eating dirt several more times, two strikes became one second. One second became two seconds. Two seconds became three seconds.

Each time, Enry had to suffer dozens of defeats, but he didn’t give up. He grumbled with his mouth, but his eyes were filled with determination. His motivation was so high that after lasting three seconds, he even spouted nonsense about now being on the same level as Decay.

The problem was that the wall of four seconds after that was simply too high. No matter how much he rolled and got back up, no matter how many times he grabbed his spear, surpassing four seconds was incredibly difficult. By that point, even Enry had reached his limit.

This was exactly when Sky entered the broadcast. Enry was lying flat on the ground and had started throwing a tantrum, saying he couldn’t do it anymore.

“I’m really going to die at this rate!”

“Do not worry. In this place, even if you die you come back to life, don’t you?”

“Aaaack! I can’t hear you! Break time! Break tiiiiime! Just ten minutes! Only ten minutes!”

Sky knew it must have been hard, but this was just too pathetic. His face burned with secondhand embarrassment just watching. Even when Enry threw away all his dignity and begged desperately, Hwaryong didn’t waver. She simply shook her head with an expressionless face.

“Enry. Do you remember what you said to me not long ago?”

“...Don’t tell me you’re still holding onto that?! You petty person!”

“Correct. I am a narrow-minded and petty human. So get up.”

“No! Somebody save me!”

How was he supposed to edit this? Just how many YouTube clips was one broadcast generating? Sky stood up from his chair and took out an energy drink. He was starting to seriously hate his boss’s entertainment sense.

*

About an hour later, Enry had become a flounder living on the dirt. Lying flat on the ground and twitching her body to answer had gone far beyond looking human. Because Sky still had a conscience, he didn’t force the flounder-like Enry to stand up. There was plenty of time anyway. Even if Enry couldn’t surpass the standard today, there was tomorrow and the day after. He had the patience to teach her step by step until she learned.

“It is fine. I am teaching her while paying close attention to her condition.”

Even though it might look like he was teaching recklessly, he was actually distributing the lessons while observing Enry’s state. The memory of making Harin cry while teaching her still weighed on his mind. He didn’t want to create such a situation again.

She was throwing a tantrum right now, but in his eyes, Enry still had energy left. She was a person with a higher threshold than she herself thought. She hadn’t been born with talent, but she possessed tenacity. In the Murim, she would have been the type of child who trained desperately only to collapse before the wall of talent. Fortunately, this place was not the Murim, and Enry was not a martial artist. What she needed was simply skill that was a little better than others—enough to satisfy herself.

“You call this paying attention?!”

A voice flowed out from the flounder’s gills. How fascinating. Could fish that lived in dirt speak human words too?