Second Game Preparations (4)
Willpower Domain.
A power that went beyond merely distorting the laws of this world through Willpower, reaching the point of transforming the world itself.
One of the advanced applications of Willpower: first constructing a personal domain that overlaid reality, then realizing one’s own mental image within it to wield entirely personal laws.
Among the countless powerhouses who had existed in the other world, only a scant few had ever been able to use it. It had also been one of the trump cards Yujin held during his final battle against the Demon King.
The Demon King’s power was essentially a natural disaster given form, yet inside the domain Yujin deployed, the two of them had been able to fight on nearly equal footing.
Over the course of twenty years Yujin had built up his mental image, and through Willpower he had succeeded in perfectly realizing it.
In truth, the amount of Willpower the present-day Yujin could handle made a complete domain manifestation difficult. Even so, he had forced the deployment anyway—simply to show a bit of a teacher’s dignity in front of Sia.
And then—
“…Huh?”
“…Oppa, what did you just do?”
Nothing happened.
Or rather, more precisely: his Willpower had successfully seized the surrounding space and begun overwriting the world—yet it advanced no further than that.
Sia, at least, could sense and somewhat handle Willpower, so she seemed to have felt a faint sense of wrongness. Winter, however, had clearly felt nothing at all.
“Did you finally lose it? Or maybe after five years of getting your skull bashed in too many times, the aftereffects are kicking in?”
If she had sensed even a fraction of it, she never would have dared spout something like that at Yujin.
Normally he would have smacked the insolent girl upside the head for such cheek, but this was not the time.
…Why isn’t the domain manifesting?
No matter how he racked his brain, Yujin could find no mistake in the process. This was not his first time deploying a domain; he had done it countless times in the other world. There was no way he would fumble something like this now.
“Um… Teacher? Just now, were you trying to deploy a Willpower Domain?”
When Sia directed the question at him, Yujin nodded.
“I thought so… A moment ago I felt something strangely familiar. Like the sensation I had when I experienced a Willpower Domain before.”
Hearing that, Yujin realized he had not made any mistake. If he had, Sia never would have received that impression from him.
Yet if the domain still refused to form, it meant he was overlooking something right now…
Just what, exactly, was he misunderstanding?
While Yujin clutched his head and groaned, Sia watched him with an expression of pure disbelief.
…What a monster.
As far as Sia knew, Yujin had only started playing virtual-reality games about ten days ago—a complete beginner. An ordinary person at this stage would only just be getting used to the medium.
Yet Yujin had, on his very first day of logging in, defeated the tutorial boss that no player had ever managed to take down. On top of that, every time he went live he displayed movements that ordinary people—no, even most pro gamers—could never hope to imitate, whipping the audience into a frenzy.
Even that alone had already struck Sia as an unbroken string of the unreal. The world was wide and people of monstrous talent existed; if she simply filed Yujin under that category, she could more or less accept it.
But this… this was far beyond anything she could reasonably accept.
Not only copying Willpower after seeing it once, but constructing a domain after nothing more than my explanation—is that even possible for a human being?
Well, even Yujin had apparently found fully constructing a domain in a single try too much; he had ultimately failed. At the same time, Sia knew the truth: failure or not, he had come within a single step of completing it.
Some people spent years grinding just to awaken Willpower at all. This man had built a domain after hearing the explanation once.
It went past mere absurdity into something so detached from reality that even fairy tales or biographies of great men felt more grounded by comparison.
And yet.
This… isn’t bad.
No—it was better than “not bad.” It was excellent.
Whatever else might be said, Sia was certain of one thing: Yujin’s talent was the real deal. And that certainty brought another conviction with it.
Someone like him would surely climb past her—past the heights her own skill could never reach.
“Teacher. Instead of just groaning by yourself, why don’t you watch some videos of how other people deploy their domains?”
“…Videos?”
“I told you, didn’t I? Even if they’re extremely rare, there are people in this world who can use domains. If you look through pro-match footage, you’ll occasionally see players deploying them right out in the open.”
With that, Sia connected to MuTube and pulled up a video.
On the screen, a silver-haired woman was unleashing transcendent magic, incinerating her enemies.
“Huh? That’s Cheonhwa!”
Winter, watching beside them, spoke up as if she knew something.
“Cheonhwa?”
“You don’t know her, Oppa? She’s a super-famous pro gamer and streamer here in Korea.”
Yujin merely shrugged at Winter’s words. Honestly, just the other day he had still been fumbling with a smartphone like a primitive; whatever she was talking about now went right over his head.
Brushing her comment aside, he refocused on the video.
In the footage, Cheonhwa dealt with her foes through a barrage of magic until a formidable opponent appeared before her. She frowned as if troubled—then, only a moment later, pure-white lines began racing across the ground with her at the center.
The colorless lines rose into walls, drawing a boundary, and in the next instant the surroundings transformed into a domain governed by absolute law.
Before anyone realized it, Cheonhwa’s back was filled with white flower buds that vividly recalled a lotus.
“Ohh…”
Yujin watched the spectacle with genuine interest and let out a soft exclamation of admiration.
So this was a Willpower Domain as it could be used inside a virtual-reality game.
“…That was the ‘domain’ or whatever Unnie keeps talking about?”
Winter muttered, sounding thoroughly unimpressed.
“Everyone thinks that’s just an evolved form of Cheonhwa’s unique skill…”
“Ordinary viewers don’t even really understand what Willpower is. Can’t be helped.”
While Winter and Sia chatted quietly, Yujin stared at the Willpower Domain Cheonhwa had deployed and felt a distinct sense of dissonance.
What he was looking at was definitely the technique called a Willpower Domain. Of that he was certain.
And at the same time… it was somehow different from the Willpower Domain he knew.
Yet he could not pin down exactly what the difference was. Through a screen he could neither properly see the Willpower nor clearly perceive its flow.
In the end, if he wanted to solve this riddle, he would have to go find Cheonhwa herself…
“…Is there any way I can meet this Cheonhwa woman?”
Winter answered with pure incredulity.
“Of course not. You think Cheonhwa’s some neighborhood NEET? She’s just gonna drop everything and meet you because you feel like it?”
“You said she’s a streamer too. Could I propose a collab or something?”
“Cheonhwa barely does collabs. And when she does, it’s only with other pro gamers. Even if you send a collab request, she’ll probably just ignore it.”
“…Hmm.”
Meeting Cheonhwa through normal channels looked extremely difficult. Yet to grasp the clue he needed for properly realizing a Willpower Domain, fighting her head-on would be ideal…
While Yujin was racking his brains for a good method, Sia spoke up with a distinctly reluctant expression.
“Teacher. Actually, you don’t have to worry that much. There is one official way to fight Cheonhwa.”
“There is? What is it?”
Sia let out a resigned sigh and showed him something.
“…Twipie Bay of Thousand League?”
Reading the notice, he saw it was a sort of event tournament hosted by the personal-broadcasting platform Twipie, aimed at streamers. It was not an official pro league, yet among amateur competitions it boasted considerable scale.
What on earth did this tournament have to do with meeting Cheonhwa?
“Is Cheonhwa entering this too?”
“No. That girl doesn’t enter tournaments like this. It’s an amateur event to begin with.”
“Then?”
“If you win this tournament… you get the chance to fight Cheonhwa in an exhibition match.”
Yujin’s eyes went round. If that was true, there was no need to twist himself into knots trying to arrange a meeting with her.
He continued reading the notice, then suddenly frowned.
“…It says three people have to form a team of three?”
This was not a solo tournament; participation required a team.
Even if I fill one slot with Sia… who do I get for the other?
Yujin glanced at Winter, but her face had gone pale and she was already shaking her head hard—a crystal-clear declaration that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with this tournament.
That left him in a bind. Yujin did not know a single other streamer. Even if he did, he had no desire to team up with anyone whose skill was lacking.
So what now…
At that moment, an idea so devilish it startled even him flashed through Yujin’s mind—an idea so insane he half-wondered if he had lost it.
…But would the organizers even allow it?
Just in case, he re-read the notice carefully. The only eligibility requirement listed was the word “streamer.” Nowhere did it say participants had to be human.
Having convinced himself, Yujin activated the unique skill that belonged to him alone in this world.
Master of Swords
Woooom—
A moment later, Yuria materialized once more in front of him.
“Yuria. Do one job with me.”
“…Excuse me? You summon me out of nowhere and then say something like that—”
“You interested in trying out streaming?”
“…What?”
It looked like this broadcast would not feature Yuria merely as Yujin’s supporter. BJ Yuria was going to make her official debut.