Chapter 38

"From now on, I shall show you why this exalted one is called the Heavenly Demon."

Just hearing the phrase "this exalted one" reminded him of the speech pattern his old friend from his previous life, Do-ol, used to enjoy.

In a way, it meant Na Yong Gojun had stayed true to himself.

"Is now really the time for that?"

The Heavenly Number One Swordsman shouted.

Even being insane had its limits!

"Watch your back—… huh?"

While staring blankly at Seojun, his eyes suddenly widened.

And his hand clenched automatically.

"Oh—… wh-what?"

The same went for the enemies who had rushed toward Seojun after defeating them.

Six blades flashed toward a single point from different directions.

So why was the enemy suddenly behind him?

"How did he dodge and get over there?"

"Be careful! Berserk State! The time's up!"

Ban-nam urgently shouted.

"I know that too! But I couldn't see him!"

Since he had completely lost track of Seojun's movements, there was no way for him to respond.

And after exhausting a huge amount of stamina fighting the Heavenly Number One Swordsman, he was struck by Seojun's sword the moment Seojun appeared behind him and died instantly.

[Defeated Babjwo]

[Enemy Fortress HP -20]

"Damn it! Why's he so fast?!"

Man-nam activated his movement technique and tried to escape the pavilion that served as the base.

The way to deal with enemies in Berserk State was simple: endure until the Berserk State ended.

However—

They didn't know.

That Seojun was predicting their movements and moving ahead of them.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Seojun overtook Man-nam and blocked the path ahead.

It was only natural. His speed was already faster. And he had started moving first.

Seojun's robe fluttered violently in the wind.

Man-nam swallowed dryly.

He had no confidence in escaping while carrying Seojun along.

And while facing Ban-nam, Seojun thought:

'They said the enhanced movement speed in Berserk State also applies when using movement techniques, right?'

He suddenly became curious.

"Everyone, how fast do you get if you use movement techniques during Berserk State?"

-Ordinary people can't control their bodies at that speed and end up crashing into walls lol

-Most people only use movement techniques in Berserk State when chasing someone down in a wide-open area

-I heard experts even use it during actual combat

After checking the chat, Seojun adjusted his grip on his sword and spoke.

"I see."

Berserk State didn't just increase movement speed.

The speed of every bodily movement increased overall.

To explain it in gaming terms—

Even attack speed increased together with it. And not just that.

"Trying to save him?"

Behind Man, who was facing Seojun, Cheonnam reached toward the enemy Seojun had killed first and began reviving him.

The moment Seojun saw it, he exerted force into the foot touching the ground.

Thud!

He stomped hard against the wooden floor of the pavilion.

His speed became absurdly fast.

In an instant, he passed Man-nam and slashed Cheonnam's body with his sword.

Since the enemy's HP had already been greatly reduced, he died in a single hit.

[Cheonnam defeated]

[Enemy Fortress HP -20]

But even after cutting down the enemy, Seojun's body didn't stop.

Rather, he shot forward as if he were about to crash into the wall.

'I expected this much.'

While suspended in midair, Seojun twisted his body.

Then he stabbed his sword into the wooden floor, using the resistance to forcibly reduce his speed.

Screeeech.

'Good thing the map allows environmental interaction. That's why I tried it.'

Just as expected.

Once his speed dropped enough to regain control, Seojun used his movement technique again and cut down Man-nam.

[Man-nam defeated]

[Enemy Fortress HP -20]

The battle ended in an instant.

There were few viewers who accurately understood the techniques Seojun had just displayed.

Still, everyone realized he had shown off an incredibly high-level play.

-I leave for a second and two people are already dead

-LMAO

-Is this Lightning Flash or something lol

-Why does this guy never play the game normally and keep doing stunt shows instead? Hahahahahaha

-I've spent 8,000 hours playing for the sake of martial arts and he's controlling movement technique acceleration during Berserk Mode like THAT? I learned something today

-I cannot forgive those who doubted Seojun and committed treason. What should we do?

-This is patriotism! This is the nation!

-It's not a nation, you idiot

"What the hell is this…"

The dead user Man-nam looked upward.

At some point, there were now two corpses beside his own.

"Y-you a smurf or something?"

"Smurfing" was slang for high-level players crushing beginners.

He suspected Seojun was one of those bad-faith players who never joined any sect and kept matching against newbies in the beginner zone.

Hearing the question, Seojun wondered how his old friend would've answered in this situation.

"Lower your eyes, mortals."

…Yeah.

He really was insane.

Seojun just answered with nonsense.

"This exalted one is the Heavenly Demon."

Ban-nam thought:

This lunatic bastard.

"Haah… still, we lost the game. You guys destroy the fortress."

Hearing that, Seojun looked toward the chat window.

Just in case there was someone who misunderstood.

-As expected?

-The fortress HP really isn't that high

-What does it matter? They still have to kill everyone directly to end the game

-Though honestly, I can understand why they mistook him for a smurf lol

Thankfully, it didn't seem like there was a problem.

"Anyway… let's revive him once."

The occupation gauge of the base they had stopped capturing began filling again.

Seojun approached the Heavenly Number One Swordsman and started reviving him.

"Wow, Heavenly Demon-nim. That was insane. Amazing. This exalted one has been moved!"

-Jun Daegam, if you're gonna admire him then at least stop roleplaying too lol

-Please, just one of you stop already hahaha

"-Someone who lost even in a 1v1 dares to act like the Heavenly Number One Swordsman?! Punishment: ten minutes of roleplaying!"

Hahahahahaha.

A pale blue light spread through the surroundings before gathering around the Heavenly Number One Swordsman.

Then his body and the revive timer began filling with blue light.

"But Heavenly Demon-nim, is this really your first match?"

"Yes."

"…Then you might actually be able to win this."

[Base Eul (乙) has been captured]

[Enemy Fortress HP -100]

Seojun realized that the bases inside the game were referred to as Gap, Eul, and Byeong.

Then bad news arrived.

[Cheong: 0] vs [Jeok: 281]

[The Demonic Army's Fortress has been destroyed]

[Players can no longer revive from this point onward]

"If the fortress gets destroyed while someone's being revived, I guess the revive still goes through."

The Heavenly Number One Swordsman added an explanation.

"When the fortress is destroyed, people can survive one last time. It's only because you were reviving me, Heavenly Demon-nim. Otherwise I would've respawned at the fortress. But… there's one enemy who's pretty skilled, so he'll probably try to end this quickly and wait near our fortress…"

[White Tiger --> Dilla]

[White Tiger --> The Church Is Ruins]

More bad news followed.

"See? I told you."

"So… the teammates who just died can't revive anymore now, right?"

"That's right. Honestly, from what I've seen, that White Tiger guy's a real smurf. I watched him fight three of our teammates by himself."

-You really aren't in a position to say that though lol

-<<< Person who just fought 1v3 himself

-But honestly, our streamer's worse than a smurf. He keeps saying it's his first game and giving people inferiority complexes

-Wait, it was White Tiger?

-Seojun-nim, that guy's more famous than you think

-He's still playing like that? lol

-I'm jealous of that nickname

Apparently the user named White Tiger really was a notorious smurf.

From reading the chat, fortunately smurfing wasn't considered a huge issue in For the Martial Arts.

The reason was simple: you could leave the beginner zone fairly quickly just by playing the game.

If people had to remain in the beginner zone for a long time, smurfs probably would've ruined the game entirely.

'Even so, smurfing still isn't a good thing.'

['That Person' donated 10,000 won!]

[He became kind of famous by beating streamers in private 1v1 matches. People even call him the Newbie Reaper.]

Hahahahahaha so he's a named player?

-Smurfing is basically part of the culture in For the Martial Arts

-I heard he's actually high tier in other games too

"Thank you for the donation. I see."

Seojun casually thanked them without thinking much of it, but the Heavenly Number One Swordsman, who had been watching from beside him, hurriedly urged him on.

"Heavenly Demon-nim, let's quickly capture another base now."

After being revived by Seojun, he immediately gripped his sword again.

But Seojun didn't move at all.

"Why?"

He looked at the Heavenly Number One Swordsman with genuine confusion.

"Well… because this game is about capturing bases?"

"But as long as we keep holding the base, the enemy fortress keeps taking damage, right?"

"That's true, but…"

"Then can't we just stay here?"

"If we stay here, the four enemies are going to attack us together."

"So what?"

"…What?"

-Please move already, streamer!

-This is why gamers are hopeless

"Seriously…"

If you're at a numerical disadvantage, shouldn't you at least move around and wage guerrilla warfare or something to create variables?!

"It's fine. Do you really think we'll lose because of that?"

-He's literally just confident he'll win no matter what lol

-As expected, when your body (skill) is good enough, your brain doesn't need to suffer!

-Named smurf? The greatest GOAT in Assassin history!

-LMAO can some smurf really beat Hector, Drave, the Tower Master, the Knight Commander, and the Queen? lololol

-Add the Assassin Guild too

The viewers who had watched Seojun's gameplay until now didn't doubt his victory.

Even if the opponent was a famous player known for defeating streamers.

Someone leapt out from the bushes.

An ID appeared above his head.

It was another player.

[White Tiger]

He prepared to slash diagonally.

An enemy who had respawned at the ruined fortress spotted White Tiger and took a stance to counter his attack.

In For the Martial Arts, if your timing and strength weren't sufficient when parrying, the defender would be staggered.

That was why the enemy made a large, committed movement.

"Tch. Wrong move."

But White Tiger was a smurf who had played For the Martial Arts since the early days.

To him, this game was just a toy for killing boredom.

Whenever he got tired of other games and felt like casually crushing people, he came to For the Martial Arts.

White Tiger smoothly pulled back his sword midway through the swing.

"Oh— huh?"

It was a feint.

He had never intended to strike in the first place.

It was merely a setup.

The enemy's sword lost balance and overcommitted to the parry.

White Tiger immediately took advantage of the opening and pierced the defenseless enemy's neck.

Using sword aura.

The enemy's shocked expression was visible.

"Too slow."

[Dilla defeated]

And even when another attack came from behind, White Tiger had already known from the start.

He activated his movement technique and used martial arts again.

Though calling it "martial arts" was a stretch.

In Occupation War mode, your level rose naturally as you played, unlocking more skills as it increased.

But in the beginner zone, the usable skills were extremely limited.

Using sword aura was basically the end of it.

Of course, once you joined a sect and learned builds, your combat style diversified more and more.

But that was bothersome.

There was only one reason he stayed here.

Complex games were already covered by other games.

Here, he just wanted to smurf mindlessly without thinking.

"Out."

Without even turning around, he launched sword aura guided purely by sound, piercing the enemy's stomach.

[The Church Is Ruins defeated]

"Let's finish this quickly."

He checked the game interface.

All three teammates on his side were dead.

Looking at the kill log, it seemed one person had taken down all three.

'Hmm. An intruding player? Another smurf? Or just luck?'

Using his movement technique, he rapidly sprinted toward the center.

As levels increased, stats rose steadily as well.

Many games emphasized growth, but in battles between experts, even tiny differences couldn't be ignored.

The same went for skills.

"Well, I don't really care… but if possible, I hope it's another smurf."

Because something too easy wasn't fun either.

"Hmm?"