Heavenly Demon's Descent (3)
The impact was far greater than he had anticipated.
It was the day before his first broadcast.
Sang-hyun could only click his tongue in disbelief at the results, which had far surpassed his expectations.
Though the Korean virtual market had grown larger than in the past, it still could not compare to its neighbors in Japan or the English-speaking world.
“I actually think it’s rather small,” Myeong-yun said.
In his previous life, he had been the god of the Heavenly Demon Cult, commanding millions of followers. Every evil in that world had knelt before him and bowed its head. A mere few tens of thousands was hardly enough to impress him.
But Sang-hyun shouted back, refusing to accept that assessment.
“Are you kidding me? What kind of Korean indie VTuber pulls these numbers before even debuting? This is unprecedented!”
Myeong-yun, unfamiliar with the industry, simply nodded quietly.
Of course, not every reaction was positive. The majority of people flooding his Twitter and YouTube were barking that the Apostle of War battle had been manipulated, calling the concept unbearably cringeworthy and desperate to tear it down.
In truth, most of the NewTube comments still refused to believe it.
They had come in truckloads, all screaming about manipulation. Yet neither Sang-hyun nor Myeong-yun paid them any mind. Any reaction was better than none at all.
“They’ll all quiet down by tomorrow anyway,” Sang-hyun said.
He knew Myeong-yun’s true skill better than anyone.
And so the day of the decisive battle arrived.
Live viewer count is breaking records.
Before the broadcast even began, Myeong-yun had already logged into New World while Sang-hyun assisted from the outside.
The stream had not started yet, but over three thousand people were already waiting. For a debut broadcast, that number was enormous, yet it continued climbing in real time.
The chat window refreshed at a terrifying speed.
All manner of people had gathered in this chaotic world, and the appointed time finally arrived.
“Nervous?” Sang-hyun asked.
“No.”
“Yeah, I figured. I’ve never seen you get nervous about anything. Ten seconds until start. Live viewers at eight thousand. I’ll push the PV now. Let me know when it ends.”
“You remember the flow, right? Normally the first broadcast is all about self-introduction… but for you, this is the self-introduction.”
“Understood.”
8 p.m. arrived.
The waiting screen switched to live, and the PV began to play.
When only three seconds remained in the PV—
“Standby. Three, two, one. Start!”
In a pure white space, a camera object floated before the solitary Myeong-yun and captured his image.
He slowly opened his previously closed eyes and declared in a low voice.
With those words, the live viewer count broke nine thousand. Hundreds of chat messages began flooding in every second.
Myeong-yun ignored them cleanly. Sang-hyun worked frantically to remove the worst spammers and keep the stream from crashing.
Myeong-yun continued, his voice calm and majestic.
He took slow, deliberate steps. The camera followed, capturing his sharp profile.
“Okay. Summoning them?”
Myeong-yun gave a small nod at Sang-hyun’s voice, audible only to him. A mannequin appeared before him.
This time Sang-hyun had changed the settings. The words “Apostle of War” difficulty floated above the wooden puppet, and a timer was now displayed on the broadcast screen. He clearly meant to show everything properly.
Yet Myeong-yun decided to take it one step further.
“You sure this will work? Fine, I trust you.”
When Myeong-yun reached out, a second mannequin appeared. It too bore the “Apostle of War” difficulty.
Two Apostle of War difficulty mannequins.
Myeong-yun had just declared that he would challenge the impossible.
Myeong-yun stood face-to-face with the two mannequins. A countdown began between them.
Just like before, he placed his left hand behind his back and extended his right.
The mannequins kicked off the ground violently and charged. One threw a punch. From the opposite side, the other attacked as well.
Everyone watching thought Myeong-yun would be thoroughly crushed in the next instant.
Instead, an unbelievable sight unfolded before their eyes.
Myeong-yun’s outstretched right hand wrapped around the first mannequin’s fist, gently redirecting it sideways before lightly pushing its solar plexus with his palm. In one flowing motion, he evaded the second mannequin’s attack by a hair’s breadth and pushed it away with his palm as well.
The mannequins that had been forced back regained their stance and unleashed a ferocious barrage like crashing waves.
Just as before, the countless martial techniques programmed into them pressed him hard. Every single movement belonged to a world champion. Their strength, agility, and flexibility had all reached a superhuman level.
Yet Myeong-yun toyed with both mannequins using only one hand, deflecting every attack as if mocking their very existence.
Each strike from the mannequins was sharp and deadly, aimed exclusively at vital points—the kind of attack only possible in virtual reality. The advanced AI mixed in feints and deliberately created openings to lure out Myeong-yun’s counters.
But he was not deceived.
On the contrary, he used the AI against itself. He deliberately showed openings to draw out attacks, tangled their movements together, and sent both crashing down at once.
I’ve grown quite used to this body as well.
Countless challengers had faced the Apostle of War mannequins, but right now the roles were reversed. The mannequins had become the challengers. It had been so long since he faced opponents of this caliber. The feeling was pure delight.
Had his inner energy been present, he might have unleashed his martial techniques immediately. But that would have ended this enjoyable time far too quickly.
Like a spar in the martial world, they exchanged moves, dancing across the space as they traded positions.
Myeong-yun was enjoying himself for the first time in ages. He wanted to play with the mannequins a little longer, but—
“Hey, it’s about time to wrap this up!”
“How regrettable.”
At Sang-hyun’s urging, Myeong-yun returned to reality. He caught the mannequin’s wrist as it brushed past his face, spun it powerfully through the air, then drove a straight punch into its abdomen. The second mannequin tried to exploit the opening, but without even looking he seized its wrist as well and redirected its force.
In midair, the two mannequins collided and shattered miserably.
The word “WIN” floated up.
Myeong-yun rose to his feet, removed his eyepatch, and gave a small smile.
Two Apostle of War mannequins defeated simultaneously.
The timer displayed on the broadcast screen read seven minutes and twenty-one seconds—one minute faster than his previous record.
In the global Apostle of War difficulty clear rankings, where fewer than fifty people had ever succeeded, both first and second place now bore the name Myeong-yun. Moreover, this new first-place record had been set against two mannequins at once. It was truly an unprecedented achievement.
“Current live viewers at twelve thousand… Want me to read some chat?”
“Hmm.”
Myeong-yun glanced at the chat window floating at the edge of his vision. Thousands of messages were rising every second, making them nearly impossible to read. Yet his transcendent dynamic vision accurately caught several of them.
“Hmm. Even after seeing the rankings update in real time, they still refuse to believe.”
“Such is the nature of the Heavenly Demon. Mortals of the mundane world cannot comprehend an existence beyond understanding. That is what it means to be the master of all demons.”
“The final technique used was the third stance of the Demon-Repelling Asura Fist—Supreme Demonic Hand.”
“So there are followers of the Heavenly Demon Cult here as well. Excellent. Continue your training.”
After reading a few more messages, Myeong-yun felt slightly drained. In his days as the Heavenly Demon, he had never needed to answer anyone individually. A mere gesture or glance had been enough to move the world.
Still, it was not entirely unpleasant.
He spoke once more.
Myeong-yun spun sharply. His long black robe fluttered dramatically as the screen faded to black. The two golden characters for “Heavenly Demon” appeared, followed by the words “Broadcast has ended.”
A short fifteen-minute debut broadcast. Brief yet intensely impactful, it was undoubtedly the signal flare announcing the beginning of a legend.
Even after the stream ended, people could not escape the image Myeong-yun had left behind.
“Hoo…”
Myeong-yun logged out of New World and sat up from his bed. Sang-hyun immediately leaped over and hugged him tightly, shouting.
“Wahaha! You crazy son of a bitch! You actually did it?! Wow, you’re seriously insane! In the best possible way!”
“Get off.”
Myeong-yun pried the clinging Sang-hyun away with raw strength and asked, “What are the reactions like?”
“They’ve completely lost their minds, obviously! You cleared Apostle of War difficulty live, and two of them at the same time! The rankings updated too, so even the doubters should be convinced now!”
Of course, not everyone believed it. Even though it had been a live broadcast, some were still claiming it was all CGI or that what they saw wasn’t real.
Sang-hyun immediately edited together the second round of the Apostle of War battle and uploaded it, adding Myeong-yun’s first-person perspective in the corner of the video.
“Peak live viewers hit fifteen thousand. NewTube subscribers and Twitter followers keep climbing too… We really caused a massive stir this time, didn’t we?”
“Hmm.”
“This is seriously the greatest debut of all time! The Apostle of War video views keep rising too… Oh! Monetization got approved!”
“Monetization?”
“On NewTube, once you meet the subscriber and watch-time requirements you can start earning from donations and views.”
“I see. To accomplish great things, one must first secure the necessary war funds.”
“You still can’t drop the character? Try distinguishing between reality and streaming. So, should we do the next broadcast tomorrow?”
“One must row when the tide comes in. I leave the game selection to you.”
“Perfect. We’ll focus on physical games, right? Something that can attract fans while staying true to your concept…”
Having watched countless VTubers, Sang-hyun was essentially a living database. It was obvious what kind of game would retain viewers in the current situation.
“All right, I’ll upload this week’s schedule first… Any content you want to do during the stream?”
“Hmm. It would be good if I could fight many strong opponents.”
“Nice. Then there’s only one choice.”
Sang-hyun smiled brightly. It was such a chilling smile that it reminded Myeong-yun of the infamous demons from his days in the Heavenly Demon Cult.