Chapter 46

"You are…"

-You are…???

-OHHHH LMAOOO

-Streamer, you're literally just swinging a sword, so why does it look so cool? LOL

-I can smell the aura of a master

-What's the result?!

[You are now a member of the Demonic Cult.]

"You seem to be someone I cannot judge carelessly."

Baek Wi-Gang, elder of the Demonic Cult, clasped his hands behind his back and turned to gaze into the distance.

Following his line of sight, Seo Jun saw the tallest pavilion in the sect.

"To think an outsider had already reached the rank of Grandmaster. This is a first."

The moment Baek Wi-Gang finished speaking—

[You have obtained the title: Grandmaster.]

[From now on, within the Demonic Cult, you will be treated as an equal to the elders. Those belonging to the Demonic Cult shall look up to you.]

[You have gained Trait Points.]

-Grandmaster? That exists???

-I'm a veteran player and this is my first time seeing it

-Not Peak Realm or Transcendent Realm, but Grandmaster? That's insane

-What even is Grandmaster?

-Grandmasters are people capable of creating entirely new martial arts. Like Bodhidharma of Shaolin or Zhang Sanfeng of Wudang

He's got a good eye.

Seo Jun read the title description with satisfaction.

It seemed to be a title granting treatment above all others within the Demonic Cult.

Judging from the description, lower ranks like third-rate or second-rate likely started with fewer resources and trait points, and even received worse treatment from NPCs within the cult.

Grandmaster was the exact opposite.

"Did you all see that? This is the sword of the Heavenly Demon."

-That's insane

-I've genuinely never seen that before

-No seriously, why is he good at martial arts too?!

-They used the exact same guide, so why does one person get Second-Rate and the other Grandmaster?? What's the difference??

-Something's obviously different. If you can't tell, you're minimum Bronze-tier lol

Seo Jun especially liked the fact that he started with all his available trait points already unlocked.

"Heavenly Demon-nim, what rank did you get?"

After Seo Jun stepped down from the platform, Swordmaster asked.

"They said Grandmaster. Doesn't it show next to my nickname?"

"Ah, the title? You have to enable it in the settings for it to display."

"Oh really? Then your title too, Swordmaster-nim?"

Seo Jun looked over Swordmaster's head.

"Yeah. I turned it on myself."

Wasn't he embarrassed about it earlier?

What a difficult person to predict.

"But Seo Jun-nim, how high is Grandmaster exactly? I don't think I saw it in any of the guides yesterday."

"Hm… apparently people are saying this is the first time the rank's ever appeared."

"Whoa… Is it above Transcendent Realm?"

Until today, the ranks Baek Wi-Gang could award were known to stop at Third-Rate, Second-Rate, First-Rate, Peak Realm, and Transcendent Realm.

At least, that had been the case until now.

"Didn't you do the exact same thing as me? How in the world did you pull that off?"

"Want me to teach you?"

There was still some time left anyway.

The Battlefield only opened from 7 PM to 10 PM—a strict three-hour window.

The current time was 6:30.

"Yes! I seriously at least want to become First-Rate."

-Professor! Please help us! LMAO

-Seriously though, how did he do it…

-The streamer is suspiciously good at martial arts

-And unexpectedly serious about wuxia too

-Does reading martial arts novels increase your martial arts skill or something?

-As if LOL

'If I spend thirty minutes correcting his posture… no, wait.'

Suddenly, a more entertaining idea came to mind.

"Actually, why don't I just teach you swordsmanship properly? A little every day."

"That'd be even better! I know how skilled you are, Heavenly Demon-nim. You even got a brand-new title."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Really really?"

"Yes!"

"One thing I can guarantee is that your skill will improve."

"Ooooooh!!!"

"But you absolutely must never run away."

"Yessir!"

Got him.

"You already agreed."

That settled it—he'd just secured a warm-up stream content series for the duration of playing For the Sake of Chivalry.

"…Huh?"

-???

-The atmosphere suddenly changed

-A chill runs down the spine…

-He said he'd teach him, so why does the streamer look evil? LOL

"U-um… Seo Jun-nim?"

It seemed Swordmaster had finally noticed something suspicious too.

"Yes?"

"How exactly are you planning to teach me…?"

"Ah, don't worry about that."

Every lesson had been carefully selected and thoroughly proven effective.

How many geniuses from the Orthodox Sect had once begged to receive his teachings?

Of course, after actually training under him, those same geniuses usually changed their attitudes completely and even attempted to secretly flee.

Still, the results had undeniably been effective.

"It's not going to be too hard… right?"

Even if it was hard, he should be grateful.

This was instruction from the Sword God himself!

Honestly, what a shame he couldn't reveal his true identity.

"First of all, Swordmaster-nim."

"...Yes."

"Do you really think your skill can improve while staying comfortable?"

"Well… no."

"Exactly, right?"

"Yes."

Right.

Nothing in this world came for free.

Even those who seemed to suddenly ascend to a higher realm through enlightenment had endured countless moments of frustration while trapped against walls they could not overcome.

No single sentence from him could magically change someone.

In the end, what mattered was effort.

And not just effort—greater effort!

"And think about it. Imagine becoming a master swordsman yourself. You defeat your enemy in a single strike, then look down at them and say…"

"What?"

Gulp.

Swordmaster swallowed nervously.

Watching him, Seo Jun slowly spoke.

"Your vessel is far too small to withstand this seat's sword."

-So cringe

-As if that'd actually work LOL

-He's using roleplay as bait now???

-Stop messing with the poor guy LMAO

Seo Jun's face, twisted into the most dramatic expression possible, finally returned to normal.

Then he looked at Swordmaster as if asking, Well?

And the result?

"That sounds incredibly cool!"

As expected, the guy was truly pure-hearted.

"Right? You saw me doing it yesterday."

"Honestly… I was jealous."

Swordmaster nodded.

-That actually worked??

-stay…

-Why are you acting like he can't teach him properly?

-As if. Have you not watched this stream until now? The most evil person here is the streamer himself.

-LMAOOO

Seo Jun let out a sigh internally.

Back in the old days, there hadn't even been a need for persuasion like this.

You just called them over and tossed them off a cliff like a lion training its cubs.

'Back then, whether they were the child of a prestigious family or a promising genius, everyone received equally fair education… but this time I'll have to make an exception.'

There wasn't even a suitable cliff nearby to throw him off immediately.

"First of all, Swordmaster-nim. You can spare three hours every day for training, right?"

"Yes! Midterms are over, so I'm free!"

"You're a college student?"

"Yes!"

Even better.

"Then I'll teach you with a long-term plan in mind. Sound good?"

"Sounds great!"

"Good. Then first, go onto the Surface website and complete all the recommended exercise courses. It should only take around two hours a day."

The exercises recommended by Surface for virtual reality mainly focused on body balance.

Squats, standing on one leg, weight shifting, yoga, pilates, and similar exercises.

"Huh? Why?"

Swordmaster looked confused.

"Obviously because of fundamentals. Didn't you hear what Baek Wi-Gang said earlier?"

"He said my fundamentals were lacking."

"Exactly. But fundamentals are both extremely important and actually very simple. They're just the basics."

And the way to improve those basics was easy—most people already knew how.

The problem was that they were obvious, boring, and showed little visible progress.

Yet skill only improved after building those tedious, repetitive foundations.

"Seo Jun-nim, aren't those exercises supposed to improve synchronization rate?"

"In virtual reality, that is the foundation."

"Ah… right."

Those foundations would eventually become true fundamentals.

-Ohhhh LMAO

-That actually makes sense

-We're learning another thing from a VR newbie somehow…

He'd heard it from Lee Dong-Soo.

Even professional players did Surface's recommended exercises every single day.

In virtual reality, the body's real sensory organs weren't actually being used.

'Which is why they train the real senses even harder to reduce the gap between reality and VR. It really was fascinating.'

To maximize synchronization rates, pros reduced the disparity between their real bodies and virtual sensations as much as possible, minimizing the brain's sense of dissonance.

After all, signals in virtual reality were usually far more extreme than real-world ones.

Of course, the synchronization increase itself was tiny.

Surface mainly recommended the exercises for health reasons.

Seo Jun was simply recommending them as a way to build fundamentals.

"Understood! I'll do them!"

"And make sure you do them in real life. Combat experience is best built in VR anyway—what are you going to fight in reality? But moving your body is different."

Truthfully, he wasn't entirely sure whether exercising in reality truly improved skill beyond just health.

It was more that athletes who moved well in real life—and especially Seo Jun himself—also moved well in VR.

That was why he told Swordmaster to exercise in reality for one simple reason.

Because it'd be harder that way.

Training was supposed to be difficult.

-Then where did the streamer gain combat experience from?

-Isn't he the heir of some organization?

-He's the heir of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

-Wait, was the Murim background actually real? LMAOOO

Well, the homework assignment was settled.

From now on, he'd just drag the guy into streams regularly to fill airtime.

"Hm. Alright, now let's set up traits."

Swordmaster had logged out to start the exercises Seo Jun assigned him.

Afterward, Seo Jun descended the mountain and returned to the center of the village to prepare for the game mode.

When he opened the trait window, a complex screen appeared, connected together like the branches of a tree.

And above it floated:

Trait Points: 30.

The maximum amount obtainable.

Now all he had to do was distribute them well and create a build.

"Ugh, this is complicated."

Even the other sub-factions required trait allocation, but because the Demonic Cult had no sub-factions, its trait system was especially massive and complicated.

From minor traits that slightly increased movement speed under specific conditions to core traits that enabled martial arts themselves—

Considering all the combinations, the possibilities seemed endless.

-I wanna see the Blood Cult meta

-Why would you recommend a tank build?

-The obvious fit for the Heavenly Demon is Heavenly Demon Divine Arts

-LOL clueless people. Demonic Cult is obviously heavy sword build only

-Heavy sword is trash

-LMAOOOO look at them fighting

Even though he never asked for recommendations, the viewers had already started arguing.

"You guys seriously think I came here without researching this stuff?"

-Yes

-Obviously

-<<< Guy who didn't even know what the Demonic Cult entrance exam was

The viewers' distrust toward the streamer was severe.

But Seo Jun genuinely had already planned out a build.

Build.

A term referring to the combination of equipment, traits, and setups in games.

In For the Sake of Chivalry, the core of building centered around whichever martial art formed the foundation of your setup.

Seo Jun started reading through the countless trait descriptions and selecting them one by one.

-You're REALLY doing that???

-Are you actually the Heavenly Demon? Are you? Are you? Are you?

-Why a tank build LOL

-Blood Cult meta WWWWW

As Seo Jun distributed his traits, the outline of the build gradually became clear, and the viewers began to realize what he was making.

But the reactions changed more and more as he started choosing the important traits.

-Wait what?

-Wasn't this supposed to be Blood Cult meta? Why are you taking that?

-That build exists???

-Streamer...

-That can't possibly function as a tank build LOL

-Here he goes trolling again

"Hoo."

Finally, Seo Jun selected the core trait.

Absorption Demonic Art.

Originally, Absorption Demonic Art was a martial art that absorbed an opponent's internal energy, so in For the Sake of Chivalry it was designed as a skill that restored health whenever attacking enemies.

That was why it was usually used in tank builds—because it allowed players to survive for long periods during battle by constantly healing themselves.

And because of the blood-sucking appearance of the healing effect, players nicknamed the build the "Blood Cult."

The reason the viewers were freaking out was simple.

-Uh… if you only take offensive sub-traits like that, you literally can't survive…

-Please stop doing this

-This feels wrong

-I knew he'd do this LMAOOOO

-(site link) Look at this guide and change it, streamer

The build Seo Jun had ultimately created was completely different from the conventional tank setup everyone used.

After all, changing traits optimized by veteran players over hundreds and thousands of matches was horribly inefficient.

But—

"I'm not changing it. This is way better. And you guys aren't Grandmasters."

-You guys aren't Grandmasters!

-LMAOOO

-Let the streamer do whatever he wants LOL

-Whatever Grandmaster says is right

And then—

"Looks like time's up. Nothing we can do."

7 PM.

Seo Jun stepped forward lightly to begin the game.

The Battlefield mode had been added to the game menu.

"Well, we'll find out who's right once the game starts."

As if he'd intentionally choose a losing setup.

If he failed, he'd become a Magical Girl.