The Heavenly Demon Descends: Narak
“Hey, isn’t this insane?”
“What is?”
“Everyone at school is only talking about you. It’s all because of what you did.”
“Not just me. We did it together.”
“Is that so? Hahaha!”
It was lunchtime, and they were heading home after eating.
Even after debuting as a VTuber, Myeong-yun still had to attend school as a student.
Yet something strange was happening. Every idle high school senior was buzzing about the VTuber “Heavenly Demon Myeong-yun.”
They were all watching the footage of the God-Slaying Tournament together.
It was an unusual phenomenon.
VTuber culture itself had never been considered mainstream.
In fact, it was closer to the shadows, born from internet broadcasting culture.
The older generations of VTubers—fully 3D first-generation ones and the live 2D second-generation that followed—had been filled with all sorts of risqué characters.
Pink-haired shrine maidens, blue rabbits, perverted pirates, cat yokai, demons… and so on.
Of course, there were wholesome ones like the fictional Korean Empire officials, monks, curators, and the Namgung Clan, but to ordinary people, the entire genre was clearly “that kind of thing.”
However, the advent of virtual reality had propelled the VTuber industry into the spotlight.
Countless internet broadcasters had switched to VR, using avatars, while ordinary people also encountered avatars through VR games.
As a result, the number of broadcasters grew, and their exposure increased, making even distinctive VTubers known to the general public.
And the video of the “Heavenly Demon Myeong-yun,” who appeared like a comet, had ridden the algorithm and surpassed eight hundred thousand views.
The God-Slaying Tournament shorts edited by Sang-hyun had exceeded two million views, enough to briefly dominate the conversation among core viewers.
“There are kids who keep glancing at you because your name is the same. They don’t think it’s actually you, though. Well, they probably never imagined anyone else would stream under their real name.”
Virtual streamers presented another version of themselves.
They changed their names and appearances.
Most VTubers avoided revealing their true identities to prevent being identified.
Myeong-yun’s case was unusual.
He had altered his appearance but kept his name the same.
Even so, his aura, usual voice, and broadcast voice were completely different, so no one suspected he was the same person in reality.
‘…Another self, huh.’
Myeong-yun smiled faintly.
His past-life self was real, and his present-life self was real.
Unlike others, Myeong-yun saw no need to distinguish between real and fake.
“I’ll head to your place before the stream tonight. Get ready.”
“Got it.”
The two parted at the apartment entrance. Myeong-yun entered his home alone, turned on his smartphone, and checked his earnings from the past two days.
His Tsweeter followers had exceeded forty thousand, and his Nutube subscribers had surpassed eighty thousand.
Only a day had passed since his debut, yet the numbers were staggering.
Countless VTubers debuted only to fail to reach even ten thousand—or even one thousand—subscribers before graduating and vanishing.
Compared to them, Myeong-yun was what people called a “major rookie.”
However.
The numbers were still far from surpassing his past records.
Sang-hyun had mentioned that some corporate-backed young lady VTuber had revealed her own intestines during her debut stream, causing such a stir that she reached one million Nutube subscribers in just two weeks.
Myeong-yun wasn’t backed by a corporation—he was independent—but since he was doing this anyway, he wanted to aim for the top.
‘This reminds me of the Young Cult Leader Selection Tournament.’
The time when he had to kill other candidates to claim the position of Young Cult Leader.
The situation now was similar.
He was absorbing all the attention that should have been spread among other VTubers.
His appearance had even overshadowed the debuts of domestic corporate VTuber groups.
‘Sang-hyun said the key is how long we can maintain this momentum.’
If he kept this pace, surpassing his past glory wouldn’t be impossible.
Today would be the critical juncture.
If he failed to generate the same level of buzz as yesterday, he would remain just another VTuber who sparkled briefly at the start.
“To achieve what I want, it would be better to become famous.”
In his past life, he had reached the Ascension realm and cast aside all worldly desires and emotions.
Yet upon becoming human again, desires welled up within him. Myeong-yun smiled as he once more realized he had become human.
Longing and desire—how delightful they were.
“Let us enjoy ourselves today as well.”
◎[Heavenly Demon Cult User Manual]◎
-Standby, 3, 2, 1… Start!
At Sang-hyun’s signal, the stream began.
Myeong-yun slowly opened his eyes and greeted the viewers.
“Children, welcome to the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
The current live viewer count was eight thousand.
It had dropped significantly from yesterday, but the fact that eight thousand people had come to watch his second stream meant the numbers could grow even further.
“First, rewards and punishments must be clear. I shall commend your efforts. Thanks to you, we have been approved for Nutube monetization and can now collect cult offerings.”
The moment Myeong-yun spoke, UltraChat donations exploded.
One hundred thousand won.
It was his first earnings from streaming.
People waited to see how Myeong-yun would react to such a large sudden donation.
Myeong-yun shattered their expectations.
Smiling faintly, he said,
“I thank you for your offering.”
That was all.
As if such an amount meant nothing.
Yet his avatar’s gentle smile stirred something in several viewers’ hearts.
Large donations poured in one after another.
It was an unusual form of donation.
Donating such a large sum right at the start of a stream was rare.
Myeong-yun thanked both for their offerings and said he would express gratitude for the smaller donations after the stream ended.
If he kept responding to donations, the broadcast itself would become impossible to continue—the numbers were simply overwhelming.
“Before we begin the game, I shall share some simple information. These were also among the questions asked.”
Myeong-yun snapped his fingers, and a screen with text appeared.
It contained details needed for future fan activities.
Faction Name (Fandom Name): Heavenly Demon Cult
Live Streams: #Heavenly_Demon_Stream
Broadcast Clips: #Heavenly_Demon_Recollection
Heavenly Demon Path (Fanart): #Heavenly_Demon_Propagation
All Related Content: #Heavenly_Demon_All
“From now on, I shall refer to you as Heavenly Demon Cultists. I will post this on Tsweeter and Nutube as well, so take note.”
A fundamental virtue of VTubers.
Providing a space for fans to engage in their fandom activities.
Even though fanart had been pouring out like bamboo shoots after rain since yesterday, searching under the name “Heavenly Demon” had been difficult.
In this world, there were all sorts of “Heavenly Demons”—masseuses, chefs, BJ streamers…
Sang-hyun had said,
-Fandoms are extremely important. They’re the ones who’ll stand by you and expand the scene. So we need to do our part for them too.
Myeong-yun didn’t know much about the unspoken rules of the VTuber industry.
If he had the skill, they would follow on their own.
But his opinion aligned with Sang-hyun’s insistence that it had to be done, and with his own understanding of the importance of a support base.
After all, it was thanks to his followers’ faith that he had been able to reach Ascension in his past life.
And now, it was finally time to proceed with the stream.
“I’ve also updated the stream rules, so check those… And I’ve given careful thought to today’s game.”
In truth, Sang-hyun had chosen it for him.
Numerous game titles floated around Myeong-yun.
Most were games that could showcase Myeong-yun’s physical abilities and served as spoilers for future streams.
Myeong-yun reached out and grabbed one of the circling titles.
He held it forward so everyone could see.
“This is the only one that fits. Something both this seat and you all can enjoy.”
The game title Myeong-yun had seized was Narak.
Along with the game’s title image, massive letters appeared.
The title image depicted a vast black hole with countless people leaping into it.
Narak was a famous murim-style roguelike virtual game.
A popular title that anyone who enjoyed VR had tried at least once.
With its inherently high difficulty, it was a game with a massive dedicated fanbase.
Moreover, it offered the convenience of using the avatar registered in New World without needing to set up a separate one.
“The Chief Strategist assisted with the decision. He is the second-in-command of the Heavenly Demon Cult who will help with future streams, so all of you should support him well.”
After introducing Sang-hyun, who had taken on the role of stream manager as Chief Strategist, Myeong-yun immediately launched the game.
He didn’t forget to comment on the chat messages as he read them. He also valued communication with viewers, something Sang-hyun had repeatedly emphasized.
“This is my first time playing a proper virtual game. The ones I enjoyed in the past lacked too much realism to spark any interest.”
Even after witnessing Myeong-yun’s skills through the AI doll, viewers were still betting on his defeat.
That was how renowned Narak was as a notoriously difficult yet polished game.
Unlike fighting dolls in an environment-agnostic single-entity battle, Narak was filled with all sorts of unfair elements.
A game packed with rich branching points that made multiple playthroughs essential!
That was Narak.
Before Myeong-yun’s eyes—and the viewers’ eyes—the opening cinematic of Narak appeared.
A grand BGM played as a low, deep narration flowed gently.
What unfolded next was the sight of murim warriors heading toward a hole and an endless black abyss.
-A massive black hole that appeared in the middle of the Central Plains.
Those sucked into the hole returned with treasures beyond what one could spend in a lifetime.
-The murim warrior who returned with treasures and martial arts manuals said that inside was filled with danger, but also overflowing with gold, silver, jewels, rare artifacts, and martial arts texts…….
Thus, murim warriors from all factions began leaping into the black hole to become the greatest under heaven.
Yet only a tiny fraction ever returned.
-And so people named the black hole—the hell from which none return—Narak.
When the opening cinematic ended and the title screen of Narak appeared,
Myeong-yun smiled faintly and said,
“Now then, let us go.”