Cyberpunk in Murim (5)
In the alley Myeong-yun slipped into, a shady transaction was underway.
A scrawny man stood before a burly one, who was handing over a bag filled with something suspicious. If this had been a simple secondhand deal on the neighborhood app, they wouldn’t have chosen such a sketchy back alley.
The moment Myeong-yun entered with deliberately loud footsteps, both men’s gazes snapped toward him.
The scrawny man glared with venomous eyes and shouted, “Who the hell are you?! If you’re just passing through, keep walking!”
“Logically speaking, one cannot simply pass through such a dead-end alley, can they?”
Myeong-yun looked back and forth between the two men with an expression that clearly said, Are you stupid?
At a glance, both appeared stronger than the leader of the Jeon Sword Gate.
Myeong-yun decided to generously share a secret from the martial world.
“Those who conduct shady deals in places like this are usually second-rate martial artists. Third-rates cannot protect their goods, and first-rates find the profit margin too low. This is a sweet piece of advice this seat learned during my days wandering the Jianghu.”
“Did you just call this body second-rate?”
Apparently stung by the remark, the scrawny man flew into a rage. He shoved the bag into the burly man’s hands, then pulled both arms from his ragged sleeves and clenched his fists. Three razor-sharp blades shot out from the backs of his hands.
Their shape reminded Myeong-yun of something from Ultraman. He tilted his head slightly and said, “Claw techniques? You practice a rather rare martial art.”
“Kekeke, are you scared now? Consider it an honor to die by this elder’s Heaven Rending Dragon Claw Art!”
“Heaven-rending dragon claws? Isn’t that a bit too grandiose? Very well. This seat shall face you with this.”
Myeong-yun held out the wooden skewer he had been eating from earlier.
Convinced he was being mocked, the scrawny man let out a bizarre shriek and leaped into the air.
“Kiyaaaaaaaaaah—!!”
The viewers laughed at the ridiculous sight of the scrawny man.
Yet just as Myeong-yun had said, the man was indeed a skilled fighter.
As he descended from the air, he slashed downward with both hands. Sharp orange-colored energy blades flew straight at Myeong-yun.
The instant Myeong-yun leaped backward to dodge, the scrawny man landed and charged, aiming for his chest.
His speed was twice that of the Jeon Sword Gate leader. Before the viewers could even type a reaction, the claws reached Myeong-yun’s chest.
But Myeong-yun did not fall.
The single wooden skewer in his hand had blocked all six deadly claws.
“What the—?!”
“Did you not call it the Heaven Rending Dragon Claw Art? Yet it cannot even cut a single stick of wood.”
Myeong-yun gently pushed the scrawny man—Weird Bird—away, clasped his hands behind his back, and spoke.
“Try again. Heaven Rending Earth Dragon Art.”
“I-it’s Heaven Rending Dragon Claw Art! Not Earth Dragon! You bastard, I’ll rip you to pieces!”
Weird Bird flew at Myeong-yun once more. Enraged, he poured intense internal energy from his chest and hands as he roared.
“Take this! Secret technique of the Heaven Rending Dragon Claw Art—Heaven Annihilating Rending Claws!”
The momentum pouring from his frail body was unbelievable. In an instant, dozens of claw strikes created countless blades of energy in front of Myeong-yun. There seemed to be no escape.
Just when the viewers thought he was done for, Myeong-yun calmly extended the wooden skewer in his hand.
“Hah! You really think that pathetic little skewer can block—?!”
Weird Bird was utterly convinced his secret technique would tear Myeong-yun apart. The result, however, was utterly miserable.
His ultimate technique vanished the moment it met the single wooden skewer.
No one understood what had just happened.
Weird Bird stared at his shattered technique with his mouth hanging open.
“H-how…?”
Both the viewers and Weird Bird were stunned, unable to comprehend what they had just witnessed.
In stark contrast, Myeong-yun remained perfectly calm. In a tranquil voice he said, “Your martial art carries no will. How could something without will possibly block one who possesses it?”
The viewers erupted in fierce protest.
Faced with their relentless demands to reveal his secret, Myeong-yun took a step forward and continued.
“Did I not say that martial arts are a discipline of learning? There is no such thing as a perfect martial art in this world. One simply needs to solve its weaknesses the same way one solves a math problem.”
One step. Two steps.
As Myeong-yun slowly advanced, Weird Bird could not move an inch.
The hyper-realistic AI had judged Myeong-yun a monster from Weird Bird’s perspective. Simply standing before him was enough to render the opponent completely immobile—a monster among monsters.
At least, that was how Weird Bird saw him.
“Go in peace to the Pure Land.”
Until the very moment the wooden skewer in Myeong-yun’s hand pierced his heart, Weird Bird did not take a single step. Even as his life slowly faded away.
Myeong-yun pulled the skewer from the corpse, clasped his hands behind his back once more, and looked toward the giant standing deeper in the alley.
“Well? Do you wish to test me as well?”
The fact that he had been trading with a Saro Heaven expert meant he was likely affiliated with them as well. The aura he gave off was equal to or greater than Weird Bird’s.
Myeong-yun sincerely hoped the man would attack.
However—
“…I must decline. If you can kill even the infamous Weird Bird so easily, then someone like me stands no chance.”
“How disappointing. Do you not feel the desire to avenge your comrade?”
“That drug-addled bastard was no comrade of mine. In the great Saro Path, he was nothing but trash that needed to be disposed of.”
In the dizzying whirlwind of events, Myeong-yun tossed the wooden skewer to the ground and clasped his hands behind his back again. The gesture clearly said, You may leave. The giant bowed deeply.
“I thank Senior for your mercy. However, the Heavenly Lord will not overlook this matter.”
“If he has any complaints, tell him to come find me personally.”
“…May I ask Senior’s honored name?”
“This seat is the 8th Heavenly Demon of the Great Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Myeong-yun.”
“……!”
At the words “Heavenly Demon,” the giant’s mind seemed to go blank. He stood speechless for a moment.
But he soon regained his senses, nodded, and barely managed to speak.
“I shall relay your words to the Heavenly Lord.”
“Good.”
The giant leaped high into the air. His movements were surprisingly agile for his massive frame. Myeong-yun watched the man’s back disappear into the darkness of Sleepless City. Then a message window appeared before his eyes.
The content was similar to what had appeared when he had destroyed the Jeon Sword Gate.
You have slain the vicious wanted criminal ‘Weird Bird.’ Reporting to the authorities will grant you a bounty reward.
Your mighty reputation has spread throughout Sleepless City.
Your relationship with ‘Saro Heaven’ has dropped to ‘Worst.’
The Lord of Saro Heaven has taken notice of you.
The relationship between ‘Demonic Cult’ and ‘Saro Heaven’ has changed to ‘Hostile.’
“How strange. All this fuss just because I cleaned up a piece of trash lying on the roadside.”
The overwhelming display of power Myeong-yun had just shown was instantly pushed out of the viewers’ minds.
It wasn’t as if he had done something like this only once or twice before. The viewers, having reached a state of enlightenment, decided it was better to simply focus on the game. After all, they wouldn’t understand even if they heard the explanation.
Those who had played Cyberpunk Murim before were busy discussing how serious the current situation was, but it had nothing to do with Myeong-yun. No matter what they did, he was certain it would not affect his playstyle.
Unless the final boss-level figures—the Chairman of Namgung, the Lord of Saro Heaven, and the Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult—all came at him at once…
That wouldn’t be so bad either.
He somehow felt like a wandering warrior seeking out strong opponents, but it was the perfect way to experience the flavor of the martial world. It reminded him of his days wandering the Jianghu in his previous life.
Since things had turned out this way, he pondered how to make it even more entertaining. His eyebrows twitched as he spoke.
“I had forgotten the first place I should have visited. As its owner, I should have gone to inspect it.”
Having earned the hatred of both Saro Heaven and the Namgung clan, only one major faction remained.
The place Myeong-yun had once belonged to. The place he still could not forget.
“There cannot be two suns in the sky, can there? Where the Heavenly Demon stands, that is the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. My dear children, follow this seat.”
After confirming the frenzied reaction of the Korean branch believers of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Myeong-yun smirked and declared,
“We head for the Demonic Cult.”