The Heavenly Demon Plays a Game (4)

Even after defeating the Third Elder, the tutorial continued. From what little I caught, it was explaining the game systems, but I skipped through all of it. Something far more important was waiting for me.

This game described my past with a chilling level of accuracy. If it contained even more details about my history, there were surely many things I could see. My mother’s face, which had grown faint in my memory. My master’s voice, which had only ever laughed right up until the day he died. Those were the things I wanted to witness.

Driven by that single thought, I had rushed forward, but the disappointment hit me just as quickly as I had run. Apis had no story mode. Did that even make sense? It had recreated my past so accurately it gave me goosebumps, yet it had no intention of showing me anything more? Irritation surged through me. I wanted to smash something just to vent.

Back in Murim, I would have shattered a mountain with my bare hands to relieve this frustration. That probably wouldn’t fly in the modern world. Right. This game called Apis was about characters fighting each other. Inside here, taking out my anger on someone else shouldn’t be a problem, should it?

For me, it was a pretty decent idea. Since I had skipped all the explanations, not much stuck in my head, but one phrase had remained. ‘In 1:1 mode, the first to reduce the opponent’s health to zero wins.’

1:1 mode was a format where people dueled one another. It was a contest of martial arts within a limited space. There probably weren’t any complicated rules. Good. Let’s try this 1:1 thing.

The body inside the game was far inferior to my real one, but wielding martial arts with this vessel might be entertaining in its own way. I selected [1:1 Casual Match] from the system window, and before even a few seconds had passed, a message appeared saying my opponent had been decided.

A sound similar to a drumbeat rang out, my consciousness flickered, and the scenery changed. The floor was rough, scarlet-colored earth, and white walls rose in a perfect circle like the spectator seats of a grand arena. This place resembled the Colosseum in the Western Kingdom.

“Aigoo. Matched with another newbie again.”

At the lighthearted voice, I turned my head. A man stood on the opposite side of me.

The opponent was a man who wielded a long sword. His white beard and the years etched into his face revealed he was middle-aged, yet his body was robust in a way that belied his age. How surprising. His entire physique was honed with a single focus—swinging a sword.

No long words were needed. That man was a sword. A madman who had swung the blade so relentlessly that he himself had become one. “And on top of that, he’s the Heavenly Demon.”

However, despite his appearance, the man’s behavior and tone were light. It was as if what lay inside and what showed on the outside were completely different. Come to think of it, the person currently possessing the Sword Saint’s body was just a modern person enjoying a game. The Sword Saint’s physique was merely borrowed; it wasn’t truly his. It was only natural that he would be different.

It was disappointing. If he had truly been the madman who had turned his own body into a sword, we could have joyfully exchanged martial ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠arts. But if he was just an ordinary modern person, there was no way he could properly handle that body, was there?

No. It was too early to jump to conclusions. Judging solely by appearances was never a good idea.

“Sorry about this. I’ll end it quickly.”

Even with me standing before him, the man was brimming with confidence. He must be hiding something.

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

If not, there was no way I could forgive such an arrogant statement.

“Who is going easy on whom?”

How dare he utter such rubbish in front of me? Not a single person in all of Murim—not even the Six Supremes of the world—had ever dared speak to me that way!

“Whoa! The role-playing is insane! Is this an alt account? Thank goodness.”

I had been about to release my killing intent but stopped short. His reaction was completely different from what I had expected. He was genuinely relieved that I had skill. And he was looking at me with fascination.

There was no fear, tension, anger, or contempt anywhere in the man’s demeanor. Only pure, innocent joy filled his voice. The sight of him grinning brightly even before a fight caused my anger to cool rapidly.

What on earth was that? It was the first time I had encountered such a type of person, and I was genuinely bewildered.

The mechanical voice filled the Colosseum, and at the same time, the Sword Saint moved. Infusing his sword with inner energy, he charged forward. The sight resembled a dragon opening its maw to swallow me whole.

Not bad at all. His movements were decent. The only flaw was that his attack’s intent was too obvious, but with that much power behind it, he probably didn’t need to worry about such things. It was the kind of strike that would shatter anyone who tried to clumsily counter it.

I considered dodging but shook my head. That wouldn’t be any fun. I stepped forward and checked my inner energy. Oh! The amount had increased compared to when I was doing the tutorial earlier. Upon closer inspection, my body’s condition had improved significantly as well. This was about the level I had been at when I was roaming Murim at my peak. I could unleash the Heavenly Demon Divine Art without any strain.

While observing the Sword Saint’s powerful strike and looking for a place to pierce, I noticed a gap on his right side. But that was obviously a deliberate opening. Aiming for the top seemed to be exactly what he wanted. Hmm. Since it was a technique modeled after a dragon’s charge, the spot I needed to break through was right in the center of the dragon’s maw. No complicated techniques were necessary. I just had to crush it from the front.

BOOM!

With the sound of air exploding, the Sword Saint’s body flew through the air. After rolling across the ground several times, he regained his balance with a decent recovery technique.

“Wait, how did you do that just now?”

“How? There is no how. You simply do it.”

“Wow. Your acting is seriously good. You really sound like the Heavenly Demon.”

Acting, my ass. I am the Heavenly Demon. When I said that, the Sword Saint laughed and replied, “Yes, of course.” As if I had told a joke.

Ha. This is so frustrating.

“I’ll learn a move from you!”

“Do as you wish.”

At this point, I no longer even felt like venting my anger. The Sword Saint was a fascinating individual in many ways. His posture, the way he executed his techniques—every fine detail was worthy of being called a master. The problem arose in other areas.

The way he coordinated his techniques was clumsy. There was some logic to it, but the overall form was far too crude. Instead of moving according to the opponent’s intent, he was trying to force the opponent into his own intentions. That wasn’t the arrogance of the strong. It was simply ignorance.

On top of that, he had several serious bad habits. Occasionally, bizarrely awkward movements would slip out. After playing along with him for a while, I came to a conclusion. Most of the movements and techniques were probably being supported by the system. The person inside the Sword Saint’s body was the one trying to coordinate them. That was why there was such a disconnect between the technique and its execution.

Fighting him was incredibly easy. What good were excellent techniques if they were so predictable? Not a single one of his moves could touch me, and gradually the Sword Saint’s movements grew even sloppier. How impatient. At some point, his goal had shifted from winning the battle to somehow landing just a single successful attack.

I had been toying with him, intending to give him some advice, when—

Hmm? I hadn’t done anything yet. I hadn’t even launched a proper attack. All I had done was lightly tap a few spots to show him where the openings were.

Of course I would. There were still many things I hadn’t taught him. How could I stand by and watch someone with such outstanding techniques use them so poorly?

I wondered if he would accept the message I sent. The Sword Saint, who had been lying on the ground catching his breath, suddenly coughed.

“Are you trying to torture me more?!”

“You’re a martial artist. You’re not thinking of running away after losing, are you?”

“...Fine. I’ll do it, okay?”

I liked his tenacity. Good. I would teach him many things. Very thoroughly.

* Dekay, whose real name is Lee Jong-woon, is a streamer who mainly plays Apis. He is a former pro gamer of the game. Although Jong-woon made a name for himself with various accomplishments as a pro, he is even more famous as a Turret streamer. His endless high energy and non-stop chatter during broadcasts, combined with skill that casually crushes most amateurs and vast knowledge of Apis that even pros acknowledge, make him one of the top skilled Apis streamers without question.

Right now, Jong-woon was carrying out a mission given by his viewers: achieve 20 consecutive wins in casual matches using only random characters. It was a mission that couldn’t be cleared without being able to handle all fifty-plus characters, but Jong-woon gladly accepted it. There were differences in how well he could play them, but he knew how to use every single character in Apis.

The process of completing the mission was full of ups and downs. People who sniped him because they wanted to play against him once. Former pros who came specifically to ruin his mission. Getting the worst character in Apis, the Whip Master, three times in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a row through random selection. There were countless crises of failure, but Jong-woon overcame every streak of bad luck.

At the end of it all, he had barely managed to reach 19 consecutive wins. Standing at the character selection screen, Jong-woon prayed to the heavens.

“Pleease give me a good character! Not trash like the Whip Master, please give me my main! Please!”

“Let’s gooooooo!”

The portrait that appeared the moment he chose random was a cheerful man holding a sword and shield.

“Yes!”

“It’s fun, right? Look at this big smile!”

Shield Knight. One of Jong-woon’s main characters. A character that even current pro second-string players found troublesome. In casual games full of ordinary players, very few could stand against Jong-woon’s Shield Knight. Unless a current or former pro was sniping him, the mission’s success was all but guaranteed.

Jong-woon took out all the frustration he had built up until now by teasing his viewers and stacking up bad karma. Then—

Tang!

The sound of matching completion rang out. The opponent decided was the Heavenly Demon. The nickname was Hwaryeong.