Chapter 46

“You are…”

-You are???

-Oh? LOL

-Streamer, you’re just swinging a sword but why does it look so cool? Lmao

-For real, has the aura of a master

-What will the result be?

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

“You are someone I cannot evaluate carelessly.”

Demonic Cult Elder Baek Wigang put his hands behind his back, turned around, and gazed into the distance.

When Seo-jun followed his gaze, he could see the highest pavilion building.

“To think there would be someone among outsiders who has already reached the rank of Grand Master. This is a first.”

Baek Wigang finished speaking.

[You have obtained the Grand Master title.]

[From now on, you will receive treatment equal to the elders in the Demonic Cult. Those belonging to the Demonic Cult will look up to you.]

[You have gained trait points.]

.

.

.

-Holy shit

-Grand Master? There’s something like that?

-I’m a veteran and this is my first time seeing this

-Not even Transcendent or transcendent, but Grand Master? That’s insane

-What’s Grand Master?

-Grand Master is a level where you can create new martial arts. People like Bodhidharma of Shaolin or Jang Sambong of Wudang

This guy have good eyes.

Seo-jun was satisfied as he read the title description.

It seemed like a title that would grant the highest treatment possible within the Demonic Cult.

From the content, it appeared that if you were judged as low grades like third-rate or second-rate, you’d start with fewer resources and trait points from the game, and the NPCs’ treatment in the Demonic Cult would be poor.

Grand Master was exactly the opposite of that.

“Did you see that? This is the Heavenly Demon’s sword.”

-Insane

-Seriously first time seeing that

-But why are you so good at martial arts too?!

-I followed that same guide but why is someone second-rate while someone else is Grand Master? What’s the difference?

-Something’s definitely different anyway. If you can’t feel it, you’re at least bronze level lol

-Damn straight

Seo-jun liked that he was starting with all the trait points he could obtain.

“Heavenly Demon-nim, what grade did you get?”

When he came down from the martial arts stage, Swordsman asked.

“Grand Master, apparently. Doesn’t it show up next to my nickname?”

“Ah, the title? You have to set that to display yourself.”

“Really? Then your title too, Swordsman-nim?”

Seo-jun looked up above Swordsman’s head.

“Yes. I set it myself.”

So he wasn’t being embarrassed about it.

What an unpredictable person.

“But Seo-jun-nim. How high is Grand Master? I don’t think I saw it in the guides I looked at yesterday.”

“Um… People are saying it’s the first time this grade has appeared.”

“Wow… Is it above Transcendent?”

The titles Baek Wigang gave out were known to go up to third-rate, second-rate, first-rate, Transcendent, and transcendent.

That was until today, anyway.

“Did you do the exact same thing as me? How did you manage that?”

“Should I tell you?”

He had some time left anyway.

The battlefield opened from 7 PM to 10 PM for exactly 3 hours.

The current time was 6:30.

“Yes! I want to at least become first-rate. Really.”

-Master! Please help! Lol

-Seriously, how did he do it…

-The streamer is suspiciously good at martial arts

-And surprisingly, he’s also serious about martial arts

-Does reading martial arts novels improve your martial arts skills?

-As if lol

‘If I correct his form for 30 minutes… no, wait.’

A fun idea suddenly occurred to him.

“Or rather, how about I teach you swordsmanship? A little bit every day.”

“That would be even better! I know Heavenly Demon-nim’s skills. Plus you received a new title.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“Seriously?”

“Yes!”

“One thing I can promise is that your skills will improve.”

“Awesome!”

“But you absolutely cannot run away.”

“Yes! …What?”

Hooked.

“You already answered.”

With this, he secured one piece of content to warm up his broadcast while playing For the Murim.

-???

-Suddenly the atmosphere got weird.

-It’s chilling. A dagger in the chest…

-He said he’d teach but why does the streamer’s expression look evil lol

“Um… Seo-jun-nim?”

Swordsman seemed to notice something was off too.

“Yes?”

“How are you planning to teach…”

“Ah. Don’t worry about that.”

It’s all carefully selected and verified teaching.

How many talented individuals from the orthodox factions had wanted to receive his guidance.

Of course, those same talented individuals changed their attitudes completely after training and even attempted secret escapes, but the effects were definite, weren’t they?

“It won’t be difficult, right?”

Even if it’s difficult, you have to endure it.

It’s teaching from the Sword God himself!

What a shame. He couldn’t reveal his identity.

“First of all, Swordsman-nim.”

“…Yes.”

“Do you think skills can improve if it’s easy?”

“No, that’s not right.”

“Right?”

“Yes.”

Right.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Even those who seemed to have their realm rise in an instant through enlightenment had passed through countless hours of frustration blocked by walls.

One word from him couldn’t change anything.

What’s needed in the end is effort.

And even greater effort at that!

“And think about it. After Swordsman-nim becomes a master and defeats an enemy with just one move, then looks down and says.”

“Says what?”

Gulp.

Swordsman’s Adam’s apple moved.

Seo-jun watched this and slowly spoke.

“Your bowl is far too small to receive this master’s sword.”

-Cringe cringe

-That’s not going to work LOL

-How is role-playing the bait LMAOOO

-Don’t mess with that poor guy lmao

Seo-jun’s face, which had the most serious expression possible, returned to normal.

Then he sent a questioning look to Swordsman.

The result was.

“That would be totally cool!”

As expected, what a pure person.

“Right? You saw what I did yesterday.”

“Honestly, I was envious.”

Swordsman nodded.

-That actually worked??

-Stay…

-Well, he might teach well

-Yeah right. Don’t you know after watching broadcasts until now? The most vicious one here is the streamer

-For real lol

Sigh.

Seo-jun sighed inwardly.

Originally, there was no need to persuade like this.

He would have just said “Come out” and immediately dropped them off a cliff like a lion.

‘In the old days, whether it was a noble family’s child or a promising talent, I provided equally fair education to everyone. But this time I’ll have to make an exception.’

He couldn’t see any suitable cliff to drop someone off right now.

“First, Swordsman-nim. You can use three hours a day for training, right?”

“Yes, well. Finals are over. I’m free!”

“You’re a college student?”

“Yes!”

Then even better.

“Then I’ll teach you with a long-term perspective. How about it?”

“Sounds good!”

“Then first, go to the Surface site and do all the recommended exercise courses. It should take about 2 hours a day.”

The exercises Surface recommended for virtual reality were balance-related exercises.

Squats, single-leg stands, weight shifting, yoga and Pilates, etc.

“Huh? Why that?”

Swordsman showed a puzzled expression.

“Obviously for fundamentals. Didn’t you hear what Baek Wigang said earlier?”

“He said my fundamentals were lacking.”

“Right. But fundamentals are important while also being nothing special. They’re basics.”

And the way to build basics is simple and mostly well-known.

The problem is it’s obvious and boring.

You have to build those obvious, boring basics that show no achievement to actually improve your skills.

“Seo-jun-nim, aren’t those exercises the ones they say are good for raising synchronization rate?”

“In virtual reality, that’s the foundation.”

“Ah, right.”

Those basics would soon become fundamentals.

-Ah lmao

-Makes sense

-As expected, learning another thing from a newbie who’s only done VR for a short time…

He heard it from Lee Dong-soo.

Even pros do the exercises Surface recommends every day.

In virtual reality, the body’s sensory organs aren’t used.

‘So conversely, you have to train your real sensory organs. How fascinating.’

Pros maximize their synchronization rate by reducing the gap between their body and virtual reality sensations, minimizing the disconnect with the brain even slightly.

Of course, virtual reality signals are mostly more extreme than real signals.

Of course, synchronization rate only increases a little.

Surface recommends those exercises for health reasons.

Seo-jun was only recommending them for building basics.

“Got it. I’ll do them!”

“Make sure to do them in reality. Combat experience is better gained in virtual reality. What would you fight in reality anyway? But moving your body is different.”

Actually, he wasn’t sure if exercising in reality was better than health in terms of actual skill improvement.

It was just that athletes who moved their bodies well in reality, especially Seo-jun himself, moved just as well in virtual reality.

So the reason he told Swordsman to exercise in reality was just one thing.

That way it would be difficult.

Training should naturally be difficult.

-But where did the streamer gain combat experience?

-Isn’t he an organization heir?

-He’s the heir to the Heavenly Demonic Cult.

-So he really was from the martial world lmao

The homework was set with this.

He’d call him out every broadcast to kill some time.

* * *

“Hmm, now let’s set up traits.”

Swordsman left the game saying he’d exercise according to the homework Seo-jun gave him.

After that, Seo-jun came down from the mountain and went to the village center to settle down, preparing to join the game.

When he opened the trait window, a complicated-looking screen connected like a tree appeared.

And the trait points displayed at the top: 30.

This was the maximum trait points he could obtain.

Now he just had to distribute these well to create a build.

“Whew, this is complicated.”

Other sub-factions also had to pick traits, but since the Demonic Cult had no sub-factions, the traits were especially numerous and complex.

From minor traits that slightly increased movement speed in special situations to core traits that allowed the use of martial arts.

Considering combinations, countless variations seemed possible.

-Blood cult meta let’s go, I want to see that.

-Who recommends tank

-What suits Heavenly Demon is obviously the Heavenly Demon Divine Art

-For real, noobs lol Demonic Cult is definitely heavy sword

-Heavy sword agree

-Lmao it’s so funny watching the kids fight

People started making recommendations even though he didn’t ask for them.

“You all think I came here without researching things like this?”

-Yes

-Yes

-Of course

-<<<The person who didn’t even know what the Demonic Cult entrance exam was

The viewers’ distrust of their streamer was serious.

However, Seo-jun really did have traits he’d thought about.

Build.

A word referring to combinations of various equipment and trait settings in games.

In For the Murim, the core of this build was organizing traits around the most central martial art.

Seo-jun began selecting traits while reading through the descriptions of numerous traits.

-Are you really doing that???

-Heavenly Demon, right? Heavenly Demon, right? Heavenly Demon, right? Heavenly Demon, right?

-Of all things, tank lol

-Blood cult meta please

As Seo-jun picked traits, the outline he was drawing became clear and viewers caught on.

But as he picked increasingly important traits, the reactions changed.

-What is this?

-Wasn’t it blood cult meta? Why are you picking that?

-Was there a build like that?

-Streamer…

-If you do that, you can’t be a tank LOL

-Here we go with the nonsense again

“Phew.”

Seo-jun finally picked the core trait.

Absorption Technique.

Since the original Absorption Technique was a martial art that absorbed opponents’ internal energy, it was designed in For the Murim as a martial art that could restore health by attacking enemies.

Therefore, it could endure long battles and was used as a tank build, earning the nickname “blood cult” from the sight of restoring health with blood.

But the reason viewers were reacting like this was.

-You… picked all sub-traits related only to damage, so you can’t survive…

-Please don’t do this

-Uncomfortable haha

-I knew this would happen LOL

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

The build he finally completed was completely different from the existing tank build.

Changing the traits that veterans had optimized through hundreds and thousands of matches was inherently inefficient.

But.

“I’m not changing it. This will be much better. You’re not Grand Master.”

-You’re not Grand Master!

-For real lol

-Streamer does whatever he wants lol

-Grand Master-nim is right about everything.

And.

“Time’s up. Can’t help it.”

It was 7 o’clock.

Seo-jun walked inside with light steps to start the game.

Battlefield had been added to the game modes.

“Well, we’ll find out who’s right when we play the game.”

As if he would do this intending to lose.

If he failed, he’d be a magical girl.