The First Broadcast – Tutorial's Hidden Defeat!
“Kurhak!”
A crimson line of blood spilled from Ariandel’s lips.
Despite having shed the human yoke in so many ways, he remained human at heart. Thus, as Yujin’s sword pierced his heart, the wound could not be avoided.
“What… what is this?”
Ariandel stared at the sword embedded in his chest with bewildered eyes.
The strike he had swung moments ago had been on a scale beyond anything he had ever unleashed before.
This was the fatal technique he had poured every ounce of power into, drawing strength directly from the **Ruler** to kill his foe.
Yet a mere hunter, stuck at the peak of human limits, had somehow blocked his ultimate move?
If one compared Ariandel and Yujin, the gap was no longer an adult and a child, but an elephant and an ant.
Such a vast difference meant Yujin’s strength alone should have been powerless against Ariandel—how then?
“…Haha. So that’s what it was.”
In an instant, Ariandel saw the truth.
The arm gripping the sword had been severed beyond saving, reduced to nothing more than a bloody stump.
His previous attack had been a resonance-based ultimate strike, one that detected the opponent’s unique frequency through resonance and shattered everything.
If Yujin had truly blocked it with his blade, the weapon would have shattered and he would have died on the spot.
Yet in that fleeting moment, Yujin realized the danger and, instead of blocking, used both of his arms as shields to minimize the damage.
Then, the instant he closed the distance with those self-sacrificed arms as a shield, Yujin moved at a speed no one—not even Ariandel—could perceive, driving the sword straight into his heart.
Movement beyond human limits and poison itself!
“Truly magnificent…”
Yujin had seized the perfect opportunity and, driven by the will to end Ariandel once and for all, sacrificed his own arms to create the opening.
And the result was this.
Ariandel, the eternal powerhouse, fell as the loser, pierced through the heart by the weakling Yujin.
The man who had flaunted his strength and the man who had hidden his blade until the very end.
The difference between them had been small, yet the decisive factor at that moment was exactly this.
“To kill this body that has become the Apostle of the **Ruler**…!”
But there was no hatred in Ariandel’s gaze as he looked at Yujin.
Only admiration and reverence remained.
The only emotion the current Ariandel felt was awe for one who had transcended human limits in a human body.
“Magnificent. If anyone can do it, it is you. To hunt the nightmare surrounding this city and every **Ruler** who toys with humans!”
Kuuu-rung!
Blood poured from Ariandel’s mouth as the building they had been fighting in began to collapse.
Not only the building itself, but every element that composed the surrounding space started to fracture, then shattered like a jigsaw puzzle.
Finally, the very ground beneath their feet crumbled, and Yujin’s body was about to sink into the pitch-black darkness.
“I will place all my hopes in the one who killed me. I, the First Hunter, Ariandel, swear this. You are the final hunter who will end the nightmare of Arkham…!”
Paaat!
As those words left his lips, the screen darkened.
The long tutorial had come to an end.
**[Hidden Achievement Achieved]**
**[Achievement Name – The End of Youth]**
**[Description: The achievement granted to one who resolves to defeat the nightmare of Arkham using only the power of humanity, without borrowing the strength of an ancient Ruler.]**
****
- Hahaha, tutorial final boss Ariandel caught lmao lmao lmao lmao lmao lmao lmao lmao lmao lmao lmao lmao
- Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real?
- Mom I’m going out for lunch I’m going out for lunch I’m going out for lunch I’m going out for lunch I’m going out for lunch
- He beat Ariandel? Even though I leveled up and was almost fifty thousand levels short?
- What kind of hidden achievement is that lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
- At this rate, is YouTube going to hit one hundred thousand views or something???
- But some guy in another place probably just dropped a clip lol lol lol lol lol lol viewer influx is seriously what???
- Right now on Winter’s broadcast, one hundred new viewers every single second lol lol lol lol lol lol I wonder why the chat lag is so insane
- Breaking News) Winter has just entered the real-time streamer ranking!!! Currently sitting at 8th place!!!
- You did it, Winter! Even though this achievement wasn’t won with your own power, as your fan I feel so proud rn
- n-What about the fact that we literally summoned our official brother? That’s still Winter’s power lol lol lol
****
“Honestly, tell me. Bro, you weren’t secretly a spy for five years, right? You were actually a pro gamer the whole time?”
“…What kind of nonsense is that?”
After the tutorial ended, Yujin turned off the game and stepped out into the waiting room. The very first words Winter had thrown at him were exactly that.
“I honestly didn’t believe you were a secret agent or whatever, but from today I’m taking you at your word. Do you know how your face looked when you fought Ariandel? It was like a scene straight out of a movie!”
Winter’s fists clenched and he bounced on his toes, genuinely excited. The sight was almost identical to a girl spotting her idol.
“…So why are you so excited? Just calm down and let me explain—”
“Calm down? Am I supposed to calm down? Do I look calm right now? Don’t I, everyone?! If any of you were in my position, could you stay calm?”
- N-ani
- I get why she’s hyped, but bouncing around in front of her own brother is a bit much
- Honestly Winter’s bro fight looked kinda boring… I’m bringing extra panties for next broadcast just in case
- I already pre-ordered magic panties and from now on I’ll only wear those when Winter’s bro is on
- n-Magic panties O O K lmao lmao lmao
Every viewer brought their own flavor, yet the sentiment behind every comment was the same.
Not just Winter, but every viewer who had watched the broadcast live could not deny what had happened.
They had finally defeated the untouchable First Hunter Ariandel in the tutorial.
That alone would have been an achievement no gamer or streamer had ever achieved—yet they had also shattered Ariandel’s supposedly instant-kill ultimate move, “Doom Strike,” head-on.
According to Nightfall’s system, “Doom Strike” was both a one-hit kill and a technique no ordinary player could block or guard against.
To survive it, a player needed either a cursed doll that would take the damage for them, or a skill like Divine Barrier that granted temporary invulnerability.
Such methods were only obtainable in the game’s very late stages.
In other words, there had been no way to block “Doom Strike” during the tutorial, making Ariandel unbeatable.
Yes, at least until today.
But today, the very truth everyone had accepted as absolute had been shattered.
All these achievements belonged to a single private broadcast and a single person. Of course people were going wild over Yujin.
People may envy the superior, but when the superiority belongs to someone who is leagues beyond them, envy turns into admiration.
“…So you just beat the tutorial boss? What’s so great about that?”
Yujin, who still didn’t fully understand the world of internet broadcasting or VR games, blinked at the situation.
“Yeah? Then what do you call this?”
Winter pointed at the viewer-count window.
[Viewers: 4127]
[Viewers: 4258]
[Viewers: 4372]
…
Viewer numbers climbing at an insane rate, every single second!
“You remember? When we first started the broadcast, how many viewers did we have?”
Of course he remembered.
795, roughly 800.
“We only started broadcasting an hour ago. That means you alone, using your own strength, turned roughly 800 viewers into more than five times that number in just sixty minutes.”
Even right now, new viewers were still flooding in at a steady 100 to 200 every second.
‘If we keep going like this…’
Probably even without realizing it, today’s broadcast would easily surpass thirty thousand viewers.
‘Thirty thousand viewers for my broadcast?’
Compared to the “major corporations” that could pull thirty to fifty thousand viewers, this number was truly staggering.
Winter’s broadcast, which had only ever had around a thousand average viewers and sat between small businesses and hobbyists, had just shattered every record!
But even more unbelievable was the fact that the viewer explosion so far had barely scratched the surface.
- I just dropped an insane clip of Ariandel getting caught on my community site lol lol
- Just went to the Nightfall streamer room, donated, dropped the Winter link, and left lol lol lol lol lol all dead lol lol lol lol
Up until now, it had only been mouth-to-mouth, people gathering because of the hype. But the real promotional effect had only just begun—fans who had been watching Yujin’s stream for the first time were now spreading the word themselves.
At this point, Winter was sure of one thing.
By tonight or tomorrow at latest, not a single person who played Nightfall would be unaware of Yujin’s existence.
---
**[Achievement Unlocked]**
**[Achievement Name – The End of Youth]**
**[Description: The achievement granted to one who resolves to defeat the nightmare of Arkham using only the power of humanity, without borrowing the strength of an ancient Ruler.]**