Episode 19
Heavenly Demon Arts (1)
[All participants have been matched.]
[Location: ‘Frozen Abandoned Mine’.]
Familiar system windows materialized.
The next message, however, was anything but ordinary.
[Regulations have been adjusted based on accumulated achievements and Player Kim Si-mun’s measured MMR.]
[Player Kim Si-mun’s rank placement period will conclude after this arena.]
‘What fresh hell is this?’
Si-mun tilted his head at the screen.
Ending placement matches after a single round?
Normally requiring 5–10 matches to assign ranks, this was unprecedented.
‘Then again, maybe not so strange.’
The mention of “achievements and MMR” made sense.
His absurd crafting speed, mythic-grade gear synthesis,
and surviving level 1 regular arenas—
(Embarrassing to admit) he was a walking disaster in low ranks.
‘They want to fast-track my ranking and growth.’
Galaxy Arena had clearly deemed further placements pointless.
‘Not that I object to climbing if I’m ready.’
Stuck at level 1 before regression, now restored with magic and power—
Any player would crave advancement.
“Should start streaming.”
Using Sung-sam’s cutting-edge private device (courtesy of Lee Yoo-jung) allowed broadcast functions.
Si-mun enabled the feature.
“No viewers yet, but…”
Consistent wins would naturally draw an audience.
Streaming achievements would follow,
‘And those sweet, sweet achievement points. Heh!’
What to craft next? Heavenly Demon Arts? The Obsidian Tablet’s secrets?
Then—
[Constellation Zeus has entered the stream.]
[Constellation Black Goat has entered the stream.]
[Constellation Heavenly Demon has entered the stream.]
A cascade of impossible notifications.
“Huh?”
Si-mun blinked. ‘Since when can Constellations join streams?’
Pre-regression, even sponsored streamers never had Constellation appearances.
Yet here they were—
“Bon appétit!”
With a mukbang-style quip,
WHOOSH!
A sonic boom fist hurtled toward his face.
‘Game over.’ Not that there’d ever been doubt.
Repeated losses had tanked his stats with penalties,
but a 90% penalty on max stat 10 versus 100 was worlds apart.
Once a Diamond-rank aspirant, smurfing was deliciously fun—
his experience, gear, and skills made him untouchable here.
Or so it should’ve been.
THUD!
“Hm?”
His custom knuckles (crafted by the Lifestyle Guild)
were effortlessly caught by Hoodie Guy, whose gaze remained steady.
“Fast,” Hoodie remarked, eyes sharpening.
Before Donking could process it—
THWACK!
A counterpunch launched him into the air.
‘This scrub blocked me?’ Donking backflipped to land, studying Hoodie (Si-mun) with mixed intrigue. “Folks, this guy’s decent.”
Chat exploded:
-?? Barehand block AND counter?
-Donkey’s faking for content again!
-“Bon appétit” is his kill catchphrase!
-That was a legit punch!
Donking cracked his neck. “Doesn’t look like much, but you can throw hands.”
Si-mun silently stared at Donking’s solar plexus.
‘He used Redirection mid-counter?’
A high-level technique to shift impact points.
Even for a martial artist, counter-redirection without trait assistance was implausible.
‘Pure skill in placement hell? With that gear…’
-Oppa! Enemies behind!
‘Already sensed them.’
Enhanced by potions (2 STR/AGI/CON) and Heavenly Demon Arts (8 MAG),
Si-mun easily detected three hidden presences—
their stealth laughable compared to Donking’s.
“Relax,” Donking said, unshaken. “Even scrubs climb sometimes.”
‘Got your number.’ Si-mun’s gaze turned frosty.
“You’re a booster.”
“Oho! How’d you know?”
“Obvious.”
“Cold, aren’t you?”
“Should I respect rank-sellers?”
Boosters—players who tanked MMR to sell carries—
were Si-mun’s most loathed.
‘They got players killed in regular arenas.’
Boosted “clients” couldn’t perform at their ranks,
dooming entire teams in cooperative content.
While clients were culpable,
‘The boosters are worse. Like drug dealers.’
“Wow! Low-ranks really have guts,” Donking laughed.
Chat:
-LMAO he’s insane
-Ape-brain can’t comprehend!
“Now now,” Donking chided, baiting rage.
‘Psychological warfare.’ Si-mun smirked.
“Smurfing with cheap taunts… Too obvious.”
“Ha! Says the one biting the bait. Mad?”
“Not mad.” Si-mun advanced.
“My viewer gave me a mission. Can’t back down.”
“PFFHAHA! Missions in Iron-Silver streams?”
Chat:
-If missions were for killing him, Donking’d be rich!
The laughter died as—
“Guess I’m… special!”
CRACK!
Donking’s eyes bulged as Si-mun’s fist shattered his counter-grip,
plowing into his chest with truck-like force.
THUD!
Donking cratered into the mine wall, buried in debris.
‘Clean hit.’ Si-mun relished the impact.
‘Tried countering my counter—ego cost him.’
Boosters’ psychology was pathetically transparent.
“Holy shit! D-Donking!” His hidden clients panicked.
Si-mun ignored them, bracing for round two.
‘No way a geared booster stays down.’
“You bastard!”
Donking erupted from rubble with a spinning kick—
SCREECH!—the sonic boom confirming his skill.
Si-mun channeled energy from the Philosopher’s Stone.
Black energy surged through his circuits into his fist:
Heavenly Demon Arts – Strike: Tyrant’s Shatter
SNAP!
Donking’s shin snapped like rotten wood despite shock-absorbent gear.
“DIE!!”
Donking twisted through pain, fists triggering air bursts (A-rank trait: Burst) at every joint.
‘Burst-enhanced strike.’
Though outclassed by Heavenly Demon Arts,
the attack surpassed low-tier standards.
BOOOOM!
The fist rocketed toward Si-mun—
too fast to dodge.
‘Can’t fail my mission.’
Muscles woven with Ogre Tissue flexed.
Si-mun’s counter-punch met Donking’s head-on,
dark energy galloping like a wild stallion.
CRUNCH!
The abandoned mine screamed.
