Cyberpunk in the Heavenly Demon (8)
Myeong-yun quietly sipped his green tea, then spoke again.
“The current Heavenly Demon is which generation?”
“The 32nd… Wait, why am I even telling you this?”
The manager shot up from his seat and struck an aggressive pose.
“The 8th generation? You’re a lunatic spouting absolute nonsense! The 8th Heavenly Demon entered eternal sleep thousands of years ago. There are no records left! Security! This bastard tricked me!”
“You are still so very young…”
Myeong-yun let out a small sigh.
These modern people truly had no fear. In the old days, the moment they sensed a gap in strength they would at least try a desperate strike and then beg for their lives.
“Young one, This Seat shall give you a chance. Who do you think rendered the guard captain unconscious and laid all his men low?”
“……”
“From what This Seat sees, your martial arts do not appear superior to the guard captain’s. Do you truly believe you can handle this?”
“…I was short-sighted.”
“Indeed.”
The manager knelt before Myeong-yun once more.
A lone expert who had subdued the entire security force without so much as a scratch would not casually claim to be the Heavenly Demon unless it was true. Anyone who falsely used that title would be immediately placed on the Heavenly Demon Cult’s extermination list and killed.
Thanks to that logic, the manager began to suspect that the man before him might truly be the 8th Heavenly Demon.
“…The 32nd Heavenly Demon has entered closed-door training. You will not be able to meet him.”
“Closed-door training for what? I heard that these days children simply download martial arts and learn them that way.”
“The Heavenly Demon Divine Art passed down only to the Cult Leader contains an enormous amount of martial theory. Simply downloading it takes a long time. It will probably require another week or so…”
“Tsk tsk… With such methods, I wonder if one can ever truly master the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. In This Seat’s time, without personal enlightenment one would be devoured by the demonic nature of the art.”
Myeong-yun openly displayed his displeasure at the idea that even the Heavenly Demon Divine Art could be learned with a single click.
He was the type to let most things slide with a casual “I see~,” but when it came to martial arts and the Heavenly Demon Cult, he could not overlook even the smallest slight.
“Then This Seat shall return in one week. Make sure the 32nd Heavenly Demon is summoned by then.”
“U-understood. However, I cannot guarantee it. I am merely the manager of one business establishment within the Cult. Someone like me cannot even reach the tip of the Heavenly Demon’s toes…”
“Simply sending the message will be enough. If you cannot do it, someone who can will come.”
Having said his piece, Myeong-yun rose from his seat.
He patted the still-kneeling manager on the shoulder twice, then strode confidently through the shattered lobby entrance without anyone daring to stop him.
Only then did the messages appear.
> You have successfully raided and seized the ‘Heavenly Demon Cult’ hotel.
> Your majesty spreads throughout Sleepless City.
> Favorability with the ‘Heavenly Demon Cult’ has dropped to ‘Worst’.
> The ‘Heavenly Demon Cult’ has begun to monitor you.
The messages were similar to what he had seen before.
But this time, it did not end there.
> Your favorability with the ‘Heavenly Demon Cult,’ ‘Namgung,’ and ‘Saro Heaven’ has all reached ‘Worst.’
> Normal gameplay may become impossible.
> Ensure you possess sufficient strength. Otherwise, you will be devoured by the night of Sleepless City.
It was a warning from the game itself.
A question of whether he could survive after turning every major faction in the game into his enemy.
Viewers flooded the chat saying it was their first time seeing it. Even people who had played the game for a while had never encountered this message before.
It was only natural.
According to the game’s system, once you entered the so-called “main story,” you were forced to choose a faction.
If you made one faction’s favorability reach its worst, extermination squads would pursue you day and night.
To remove those squads and play smoothly, you had no choice but to gain favor with another faction.
Earlier, squads from both Saro Heaven and the Namgung clan had chased him, but Myeong-yun’s mystical footwork and the speed of the Myeongwang Dragon had shaken off every last one of them.
Therefore, Myeong-yun had become the first player in the game to earn “Worst” favorability with all three major factions.
Donations poured in as well.
‘Public Enemy of the Murim World.’
A title acknowledged by both allies and enemies alike, akin to a calamity upon the martial world.
And not just any enemy, but one truly hated by the righteous, the demonic, and the unorthodox factions alike.
Myeong-yun laughed out loud and said,
“Have This Seat’s actions truly warranted such hatred? The Public Enemy of the Murim World, they say.”
It was something he had never experienced even in his previous life.
The fresh experience brought an involuntary smile to his face.
And the system’s warnings were not over yet.
> Until all grudges are resolved, they will not give up.
> The Murim of Sleepless City is an incomparably cruel place. If you also refuse to yield, then I wish you luck.
Why was the game giving so many warnings just because he had become the Public Enemy?
Myeong-yun smiled with genuine enjoyment at a sensation he had not felt in a long time and continued.
“It seems there is a misunderstanding.”
Many people still misunderstood. It was not that the Heavenly Demon was challenging them. They were the ones challenging the Heavenly Demon.
In his previous life, no one had been capable of standing in his way.
“Those called stars who once ruled the gangho, those who reached the apex of martial arts and were called immortals or gods.”
They had given him the title of ‘Dragon’ to signify that they could not reach him.
“Yet in the end, none of them could defeat This Seat.”
Only he had reached the realm beyond the heavens.
“It makes one truly curious. Just how strong are this world’s Heavenly Demon, the Lord of Saro Heaven, and the Supreme of the Namgung clan? Do they possess the qualification to challenge This Seat?”
Myeong-yun walked slowly into the darkness of Sleepless City with his hands clasped behind his back and spoke.
“That will be all for today’s Cyberpunk Murim stream. For the remaining time, let us talk about the backlog of donations.”
“If there is lingering regret, will you not come to watch again next time? Haha.”
Myeong-yun snapped his fingers, naturally returning from the world of cyberpunk to the white room.
He then read through the various donations that had come in during the game one by one and successfully concluded the broadcast.
“Murim Alliance Chopstick Thief? Why on earth would someone steal that?”
“Guest House Bamboo Leaf Green Thief… Do not steal that one. Is it not pitiful?”
“Volcano Sect Plum Blossom Thief? I cannot fathom why there are so many thieves.”
“This one turned out well too. We almost hit 47,000 viewers near the end. At this rate we’ll break 50,000 next stream. If the aggro keeps pulling in, we might even set a new peak.”
Sang-hyun spoke while watching Myeong-yun rise from the bed after exiting New World.
Myeong-yun’s exploits were currently spreading like wildfire across the community.
He had single-handedly wiped out a subordinate sect of the Namgung clan.
He had killed one of Saro Heaven’s executives by skewering him on a single wooden skewer.
And after perfectly controlling a motorcycle traveling over 900 kilometers per hour to crash through the front gate of the Heavenly Demon Cult hotel, he had forced the manager to his knees.
The most bizarre part was that all of this had happened in a single day.
In Cyberpunk Murim, the standard progression was to earn money according to your starting class, install a neidan storage unit, learn martial arts, and raise your specs.
Yet Myeong-yun had appeared in Sleepless City as a ‘Wanderer’ and shattered all three major factions, becoming the ‘Public Enemy of the Murim World.’
It was as if a hidden expert from the reclusive mountains had suddenly emerged.
Interest was also pouring in regarding the completely unexplored ‘new route’ he had taken.
“What was our previous peak again?”
“53,000 during the Narak stream. Wow, the growth rate is actually insane. It’s only been a week since the first stream.”
“Not bad.”
“Not bad? Dude, that’s not what you say! Look at this guy. Since it went well from the start he doesn’t even realize how crazy his own talent is. You see this person?”
Sang-hyun pulled up another VTuber’s stream on the monitor.
It was a male VTuber with blue hair using a Four Divine Beasts Azure Dragon concept. He had around a dozen viewers and roughly five hundred subscribers.
“Who is that?”
“A VTuber who debuted on the same day as you. This is the normal outcome. Unless you’re a corporate VTuber, this is what usually happens.”
From Sang-hyun’s perspective, it was rather pitiful.
Unfortunately for him, he had debuted on the same day as Myeong-yun, who had sucked up all the buzz and viewers.
Even the corporate VTubers who debuted the same day had their debut numbers cut in half compared to their same-agency peers.
Analysis showed that virtually every VTuber who debuted after Myeong-yun was recording terrible results.
The level of attention Myeong-yun had brought was nothing short of a disaster for the VTuber industry.
“The gangho has always been a place where those without talent or effort are weeded out.”
“Is the virtual world the gangho now? You’re insane. Anyway, whatever. Your YouTube subscriber count is about to pass 700,000, so start preparing your thank-you message.”
“Understood. Any other notable matters?”
“Ah, there is one.”
Sang-hyun closed the VTuber window and showed him another screen.
It was an email that began with ‘To the Virtual YouTuber Heavenly Demon Myeong-yun.’
“It’s an event match hosted by the game company, limited to domestic VTubers. There’s a cash prize too. What do you think? Want to try it?”
A battle royale game limited to one hundred participants in a brand-new title.
Only VTubers guaranteed to be entertaining were invited.
Those with good physicality or those who were funny.
“What is your opinion?”
“I’m all for it. We still have time in the schedule to solidify our foundation, and crushing every VTuber in a game we’ve never played before? The buzz from that would be insane!”
“Very well. Then let us do it.”
The tactical nuke of the VTuber world.
The deployment of the Heavenly Demon had been decided.