The Perfect Crime
Having hit the sudden indulgence button, I confirmed the magic drone's connection was completely severed. I dialed my internal energy back down to the peak level. It was a flawless crime(?) that slyly fooled the Tower's administrator system.
The cool air of the Tower's 3rd floor goblin zone was already thick with the metallic stench of blood. The goblins within a 20-meter radius of my mimicked slash had been turned into ground meat by a literal blender, piled up into a red mountain. But to Lee Gyu-yeon, the pinnacle sword master of the modern era who had ascended to the Mugyeok realm, this blood-soaked hellscape was nothing more than child's play compared to the great war against the Cheonma Singyo in the past.
"Heehee, as expected of me. The vibe of the greatest of all time doesn't fade after 20 years."
I flashed a satisfied smile and trotted out through the Tower gate. My silver hair swayed with each step, making me look every bit the teenage beauty, but every footfall carried the subtle aura of one who resonated with the world's will—heaven and earth under my sole dominion. My left sleeve flapped empty, but my mood was at an all-time high.
Slipping into a deserted alley, I lightly blended earth-shrinking steps and lightness arts, zipping home in an instant. My place was a top-tier 300-pyeong luxury residential penthouse perched at the highest point in Gangnam, the heart of Seoul, South Korea. What reason did I, once the Republic's greatest sword and the savior at the pinnacle of the World Murim Alliance, have to live in some musty one-room or basement?
Back when I subjugated the Heavenly Demon 20 years ago, the alliance leader had gifted me a reward matching the national budget—and this penthouse worth hundreds of billions of won. I'd been holed up here for 20 years now, using closed-door training as an excuse.
"Ahh, the world outside is way too dangerous."
I vaulted over the premium Italian leather sofa and flopped onto the super king-size bed in the center of the room. Using Void Grasping, I pulled over a 1.5-liter Coke PET bottle and a bag of potato chips from the fridge. As I crunched into the salty chips with a satisfying rustle, I turned on my smartphone screen, heart racing. My destination, naturally, was my main stage and sole social outlet: the World Murim Gallery.
(Attachment: Goblin_Mixer.gif)
ㄴ OP: Looks insanely strong just from a glance
ㄴ OP: (Contemptuous sword fairy emote)
ㄴ OP: I worship you, GOAT
"Pffft!" I nearly spat out my Coke but barely held it in. Reading through the gallery dwellers' primal, ecstatic reactions one by one melted away the boredom of the past 20 years. Even the horrific despair of turning from man to woman was drowned out right now by a dopamine rush.
"Hyeon-gyeong? EX-rank hunter? These idiots think I'm some punk-ass rookie? Gallery noobs still got a long way to go~"
I puffed out my chest proudly—well, my flat, girlish chest—and thumped it with my remaining right hand. The firm pecs of my male days were gone, replaced by a petite girl's body. But I was the one who felled even the Heavenly Demon Cheon Mu-hyeok and reached the Mugyeok realm.
"Heehee—hey, Sword Master me~. I beat the Heavenly Demon, after all."
Rolling around on the bed cackling, my gaze drifted to one corner. There, shoved carelessly into an umbrella stand in the vast penthouse living room, was my partner sword, the Mugyeok True Sword.
Vmmm—
Sensing my gaze, the Mugyeok True Sword quivered in resonance, like a pitiful whine scolding its owner's laziness: 'Please stop cosplaying as some weeb protag and use me already!'
"Ah, shut up..."
I waved it off lazily. To me now, the sword was just cumbersome jewelry. With the world itself as my dantian, bending its will at my whim, rote sword practice was pointless busywork. But maybe the viewers' reactions were too sweet? A mischievous itch stirred in my heart again.
"What concept for next time?"
I sprang up and struck a pose in front of the full-length mirror. The one-armed silver-haired girl in the reflection stared back. I thrust out my right hand, seriously mimicking an anime character.
The moment my lips moved in a mutter, the air in the penthouse warped unnaturally.
Kraka-kaka!
The thick floor-to-ceiling windows rattled, and manga volumes, the Coke bottle, even the premium Italian marble table lifted into zero gravity, floating lazily. The living room churned as if space itself might tear.
"Shit! Dangerous, dangerous!"
I panicked and yanked back my Intent Qi. Thud! Crash! The floating objects crashed down, turning the living room into a wreck in seconds.
Even at the Mugyeok realm, casually unleashing high-dimensional physics-bending attacks without focus could've blown this pricey place sky-high—a total suicide move.
"Haa... Close call. Save that for Tower 5F boss next time. Make the gallery noobs change their undies multiple times."
I patted my pounding chest and plopped back onto the fluffy bed, grinning like an idiot. Screw the honor of the greatest—to hell with it. Nothing beat the thrill of streaming and trolling from this cozy home.
Meanwhile, at the same time.
Korean Hunter Association HQ. Intelligence Management Office.
"Team Leader Choi, you need to see this footage. It's the recording from an hour ago, live-streamed on World Murim Gallery and Pababat TV."
A sharp-eyed man buried in paperwork looked up at the analyst's urgent voice. The monitor replayed a one-armed girl smirking arrogantly amid a goblin horde, turning the surroundings to ruin with invisible slashes.
Choi Team Leader's brow furrowed deeply.
"No traces of a mage's mana waves or a murim master's qi, yet that level of physical force? Is this girl a registered awakener with the Association?"
"No."
"The Tower's admin system didn't even raise a warning."
"All we've got so far is the streaming alias 'Gyu-ring'."
"Claims to be 20, but identity search turned up zilch. Either an unregistered awakener or a hidden master who's perfectly laundered their background."
Choi Team Leader stared piercingly at the girl's blue eyes on screen. Her lighthearted anime lines aside, that alien glint when massacring monsters—it wasn't the gaze of a mere S-rank hunter or Hyeon-gyeong powerhouse. It eerily matched the ennui of an absolute being who viewed the world from on high.
"Cast the widest net possible. We contact her before the EX-rank guilds' intel nets snag her."
"But the leads are too thin..."
"Analyze the background in the footage! Pinpoint the exact 3F zone, trace the magic drone's unique serial number and every IP crumb. This girl 'Gyu-ring' might herald a new world-shaking era in our divided hunter-murim age."
Choi's eyes swirled with fierce wariness and possessiveness. Blissfully unaware of the tightening noose, Gyu-yeon lounged in her billion-won penthouse corner, buying the next episode of her anime. The greatest of all time's fun, tumultuous second life was now hurtling onto an uncontrollable storm's path.