The Pinnacle of Martial Arts (6)
The development team of Cyberpunk in Murim 2077, the studio known as Fighter’s Forest—or FF for short—had gathered in their main conference room. Every developer sat glued to the monitors, watching Myeong-yun’s stream live.
They wanted to see the true limits of the game they had poured their hearts into. They also wanted to know just how far this man’s absurd playstyle could go.
After all, what he was doing strayed dangerously close to bug-like, non-standard gameplay.
Who in their right mind would deliberately hunt for the hidden “flaws” in the martial arts they had designed and then dismantle them?
“So this is why OnTheRocks kept telling us to watch his friend’s stream.”
“Narak came back from the dead thanks to this guy too. But seriously, how does someone even play like that? His physical ability is straight-up superhuman.”
“He’s the Heavenly Demon. Of course he can do this much!”
“The Murim Alliance Leader couldn’t pull it off.”
“The Alliance Leader has always been weaker than the Heavenly Demon. Haven’t you even read basic wuxia?”
Myeong-yun’s broadcast was causing a genuine sensation among the very people who had built the game.
The next-generation AI they had implemented gave the characters of Sapa Murim and their martial arts an almost lifelike quality. The developers had hoped players would use those same systems to rise to the absolute peak.
Unfortunately, no user had come even close.
It was the fundamental limit of the game’s structure.
The AI of each faction’s leader was superior to any player. Even if a user somehow reached endgame specs, they would only be on par with those leaders. And even if, by some miracle, a player managed to defeat a leader in single combat, could that truly be called standing at the pinnacle?
Could they be called the strongest under heaven?
The pinnacle, they believed, had to be achieved through overwhelming dominance.
That was why they had hidden away the challenge called “The Strongest Under Heaven ,” which still sat at a pathetic 0% completion rate.
The same went for “Natural Body ,” the hidden ending that required beating the game without any cybernetic modifications or internal energy hard drives.
People had tried. No one had succeeded.
There had even been pressure from upper management and the player base to nerf the NPC AIs, but the developers had firmly refused.
The faction leaders were meant to carry the full weight of their titles. The title of “Strongest Under Heaven” was something that could only be earned by overcoming every unfair disadvantage.
Which was why, even now, no one had truly conquered Sleepless City.
The developers had assumed it would stay that way for years.
Until Myeong-yun appeared.
“He already crushed Heo Myeong and Namgung Seong. Without downloading any internal energy hard drives or martial arts at all!”
“This guy might actually be the one who fulfills our long-cherished wish.”
The live viewer count had already hit 51,000.
Under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of viewers and the entire development team, could Myeong-yun truly become the supreme ruler of Sleepless City?
Could he defeat every faction leader and claim the title of the one and only Strongest Under Heaven?
Watching him, the developers couldn’t help but feel like they were reading a living wuxia novel.
In a world where martial virtue and chivalry had vanished, leaving only capitalism behind, his quest to restore true meaning to martial arts made him the perfect protagonist.
If he really did reach the pinnacle, the story would end beautifully—at least for the people who had created the game.
Heo Myeong and Namgung Seong’s AI models have both acknowledged defeat.
“It’s honestly amazing that both of their pride-heavy AI models accepted loss so cleanly. And Red Sky too—she looks like she’s about to drop to her knees any second. But what’s even more insane is how he’s only destroying the internal energy hard drives!”
The developers kept throwing out comments one after another as they monitored the stream.
Myeong-yun was surpassing every function they had expected players to use.
They knew the game’s realism was off the charts because it ran on the New World OS, but this was something else entirely.
“He even fixed the Reverse Heavenly Demon Art that the Cult members were using. This isn’t just roleplay—is he actually the real Heavenly Demon?”
“That might be the funniest thing I’ve heard all year.”
“…For now, send an email to the VTuber side asking for permission to use the footage. Let’s make a promotional video.”
“Our PR team’s finally getting some work after so long?”
“And once we have the broadcast data, we’re starting DLC development. Let’s dust off that old scrapped project and try it again.”
“Wait, we actually have to work now? And by scrapped DLC, you mean ‘Absolute Dominion,’ right?”
“Exactly. We have to row while the tide is high. If this level of popularity keeps up, the higher-ups will approve it without hesitation.”
The once-stalled Cyberpunk in Murim 2077 project had just received a powerful second wind.
“Huh? You didn’t see anything at all?”
“That is correct.”
lmao lmao lmao lmao lmao
What the hell is this lololol
Why is big sis standing in the corner like she’s being punished? lolololol
Jeok-wol had completely abandoned her pride. She knelt before Myeong-yun with both hands raised in surrender.
Looking at her now, no one would ever believe she was the infamous Red Sky Demoness, leader of the Heavenly Fragrance Unit.
She looked exactly like a university student who had been personally demonstrated on by the professor, only to answer that she still understood nothing.
Of course, if it had been a real professor-student relationship, he probably wouldn’t have made her stand in the corner as punishment…
“With such meager skill, how have you managed to hold the position of Great Leader? This seat cannot comprehend it. Just how far has the Demonic Cult fallen?”
“……”
Bro she’s gonna cry for real
Look at that pout, why is it so cute?
Red Sky noona was always cute, it’s just that her usual behavior isn’t lol
I once had my tongue pulled out for saying the wrong thing to her
Have you ever had your spine folded in half for calling her pretty? lolololol
Oh sis...
Myeong-yun looked down at the punished Jeok-wol with clear disdain.
To her, his gaze felt like the stare of the King of Hell himself.
It was even more terrifying than the current Cult Leader’s. The fear slowly tightened around her like a noose.
“The world calls you the right hand of the Cult Leader.”
“……”
“Answer me.”
“Yes. This girl is indeed the leader of the Heavenly Fragrance Unit of the Demonic Cult…!”
“Heavenly Fragrance Unit or whatever nonsense, your understanding of martial arts is this pathetic. I don’t even know where to begin teaching you.”
“Ugh…! Just kill me then!”
I’ve heard that line somewhere before
Did she just call the Heavenly Demon an orc? You wanna die?
I’m reporting this
“And you have no manners. How long do you intend to keep speaking like that?”
“…This girl has not yet acknowledged you as the Heavenly Demon. You haven’t even shown any demonic arts—how dare you claim that title!”
Whether it was her last shred of pride or not, Jeok-wol still showed a rebellious attitude even while being punished.
To Myeong-yun and the viewers, it was simply hilarious.
“Must one learn demonic arts to be the Heavenly Demon? You are still very young. Truly. You have a long way to go.”
“Isn’t that obvious? The foundation of the Demonic Cult lies in demonic arts. How could someone who hasn’t even learned them be called the Heavenly Demon!”
“Demonic arts are the foundation of the Demonic Cult? And it is not the Demonic Cult. It is the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
There were so many things that left him speechless that Myeong-yun almost started explaining everything to her, but he quickly gave up.
This wasn’t a problem that could be solved with a simple explanation.
To change the current Cult, he would have to start by completely rebuilding it from the Cult Leader down.
“Because too much time has passed, everyone has forgotten the true roots of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. It seems only this seat and the children remember.”
We don’t know either tho
You should’ve taught us, Heavenly Demon-nim
GO OFF!!! You call yourself a follower but don’t even know the doctrine?!!!!
Aaaah just go already
Myeong-yun let out a deep sigh.
The chat window was no different from Jeok-wol herself.
“Just what have you all been learning until now?”
You never taught us anything!!!!!
How are we supposed to know if you haven’t even covered the material yet!!!!!
When are you doing the Q&A?
Did you see the arena match?
Come to think of it, there were quite a few things he had promised to do and then put off.
Myeong-yun decided he would hold a proper lecture explaining the doctrines of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult at the next opportunity.
Everyone proudly called themselves followers while watching his stream, yet none of them actually knew the teachings.
Not even Chief Strategist Sang-hyun.
After casually ignoring any questions unrelated to the game, Myeong-yun finally opened his mouth again after some thought.
“Since you clearly have no will to fight, I will not force a duel. I must at least acknowledge that sly brain of yours for not wanting to lose your internal energy.”
Had Jeok-wol actually attacked him, he would have destroyed her internal energy storage just like he had done to Heo Myeong and Namgung Seong.
But the moment she saw the other two fall, she had immediately surrendered.
All because she couldn’t afford to lose the Peak-level internal energy hard drive implanted in her heart.
Myeong-yun was not so cruel as to attack someone who had already surrendered, so he accepted her capitulation.
She was, after all, a member of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“You may lower your hands.”
At his words, Jeok-wol slowly lowered her trembling arms.
Most of her body had been replaced with machinery, so it wasn’t physically difficult, but the strange pressure still left her arms feeling numb.
“Stand up.”
She clumsily rose to her feet.
The hem of her red robes dragged across the floor, now completely ruined.
“Can you bring the current leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to me?”
“…The Cult Leader is currently in secluded training. He will not emerge until he has made some form of breakthrough.”
“All he’s doing is downloading martial arts. What breakthrough?”
Myeong-yun gave a small chuckle and continued.
“Guide me. To the place where this so-called secluded training is happening. This seat shall personally determine whether that fool is worthy of the title of Heavenly Demon.”
“…That is impossible. To reach the seclusion cave where the Cult Leader resides, you would have to break through two entire military units and multiple Peak-level experts!”
“I have already defeated three Peak-level experts in a row. Do you truly believe something of that scale would pose a problem for this seat? How did the Cult end up with such an idiot…”
Tsk tsk.
The sound of Myeong-yun clicking his tongue filled Jeok-wol with utter humiliation, yet she had no words to refute him.
After fighting three Peak experts consecutively, he hadn’t even broken a sweat.
Even if the entire military unit attacked together, she couldn’t imagine them winning.
“…Hm. In that case, it might be better to wait until he emerges from seclusion for a proper duel. Until then, you shall attend to this seat.”
“…Me?”
“Who else but you?”
Whoa treating Red Sky like this is actually refreshing
Has anyone ever broken noona this hard before…
lololol even if the real Cult Leader came he probably wouldn’t be groveling this hard
Myeong-yun pulled the Myeongwang Dragon from his pocket and enlarged it as he spoke.
“First, let us head to the Four Paths Heaven. This seat wishes to have a word with the Lord of the Four Paths Heaven.”
Jeok-wol could only feel an ominous premonition.