Chapter 63: The Power of the Martial Arts Alliance Leader
Dan Jung-seon, who had been reading through the records, smiled for the first time.
"Is this not far too outlandish? There are countless martial arts with similar forms—why would it have to be the Heavenly Demon's, of all things? Yu-baek, I think you may be making too much of a leap here."
"I suppose……you're right?"
"There is no coincidence in this world quite like this one. A rising star who appeared out of nowhere just happens to share the name Mu-yeong with the First Young Lord of the Demonic Heaven Sect—and on top of that, the martial arts he uses resemble the Heavenly Demon Divine Art? This is impossible."
Several connecting dots that seemed to snap together like puzzle pieces.
The thought could it be? had crossed his mind, but it didn't hold up to common sense.
If he were truly the First Young Lord, he would have revealed his identity long ago. What those three characters mean within the Demonic Sect—he knows that better than anyone.
Then again—what if he was trying to hide it?
In that case, he would have changed his name and made sure not to show off his strength like this.
Not throwing around Sword Force and monstrous martial arts left and right the way he does now.
As though Yu-baek had arrived at the same conclusion, his dull expression gradually melted away.
"I see. I think I've been so consumed with uncovering Mu-yeong's identity lately that I lost my head for a moment."
"Make sure to rest as you go. It's only a matter of time, after all."
With the worse news resolved, smiles bloomed across both their faces.
"Hahaha! As expected, I simply cannot match your insight, Alliance Leader!"
"Not at all! Is it not worth something to pin down even the smallest possibility like this? I truly admire this meticulousness of yours."
"You flatter me."
"Well then, we've avoided the worst of the worst—so the most pressing fire right now is the matter of the Northern Sea Ice Palace Lord's daughter? See to it that she doesn't cause any trouble."
"Understood. Then I shall take my leave."
"You've worked hard."
In the blink of an eye, Yu-baek vanished.
Dan Jung-seon exhaled a long breath and opened the [Record of the 12th Orthodox-Demonic Great War] once more.
"The Heavenly Demon……"
The Demonic Sect's rampage.
A great war that broke out periodically throughout the history of the Martial World.
A clash that was, in a sense, inevitable—given their nature of worshipping martial force and their desire to flaunt their strength.
It was fortunate, in a way.
During the era Dan Jung-seon had lived in, the Orthodox-Demonic Great War had not occurred.
And yet that was precisely the problem now.
"Hmm……. I'd need to have seen the Heavenly Demon Divine Art with my own eyes to make any sort of judgment."
He had never crossed blades with Wi Ji-cheon, the Heavenly Demon of the present age—the closest he'd come was a staring contest.
Because of that, the abstract descriptions written in the texts gave him no image to work with whatsoever.
Frankly speaking, he himself could execute a swordsmanship technique that produced a whirlwind.
If told to do exactly what Mu-yeong did, it would take time—but in terms of outward form alone, it was possible.
"Is there no good way? If I could only see that fellow's martial arts just a little more, I could know for certain."
The information was lacking.
Nor did he have time to spare.
What if Mu-yeong grew tired of Monster World and switched to another game?
He had no idea what genre it would be, but if it was one where swords weren't used, the opportunity would fly far, far away.
Dan Jung-seon, who had been racking his brain, suddenly snapped his eyes wide open.
"That's it! What if I simply held a Sparring Tournament outright?"
If he put up a large prize and privately arranged a separate appearance fee so that Mu-yeong wouldn't feel slighted—
He would have no choice but to participate.
He had precedent for entering the Battle Attack Tournament specifically to win prize money, after all.
Thwack!
Dan Jung-seon slapped his knee and immediately picked up his phone.
The other party answered before even the third ring.
"Yes, Alliance Leader. What is it?"
"Yu-baek, do you happen to have any connections at the Monster World company?"
"I know a few people…… What level of seniority are you looking for?"
"As high as possible."
"I am acquainted with Division Head Choe Min-seok."
"Good, good—let him know I'd like to have a meal together as soon as possible. Tell him I have a rather brilliant business plan."
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Choe Min-seok, Division Head of the Monster World game company.
An elite among elites who had led the company for over thirty years, he was currently facing the greatest crisis of his life.
"Par—pardon!? Alliance Leader, what do you mean by that? You're saying you want to hold a tournament inside Monster World—just like that?"
"Indeed. Would that be difficult?"
"……May I ask why? I would at least like to know the reason."
"Well, you see—lately, there's a streamer I've been enjoying watching, and it turns out he plays Monster World. But recently I've been noticing signs that he's slowly starting to drift toward other games. I brought it up thinking a Sparring Tournament might be a way to keep him around."
Having heard Dan Jung-seon's words, Choe Min-seok screamed inwardly.
I carved time out of a packed schedule to come here, and all this amounts to is that he wants to keep watching a streamer!?
Of course, not a trace of that showed on his face.
Martial Alliance Leader Dan Jung-seon.
Getting on this man's bad side—there was no telling what sort of ugly situation that could lead to.
Of course, existing in the modern world as he did, even he was a person subject to the law. But was there not a saying?
[The fist is near, the law is far.]
But this man isn't just a fist—he's a one-man army!
Naturally, he wouldn't do anything openly to one's face.
The problem was what came after a refusal.
An assassin might start tailing him. Laxatives might find their way into his food without his knowledge. He might suddenly come down with an illness of unknown cause.
For now, as long as it's nothing unreasonable, I have to accommodate him even if it means pushing back my schedule.
His instincts warned him—this was the only way to survive.
Choe Min-seok put on a good-natured smile and asked.
"Haha, I see. Might I ask the name of that streamer you've been enjoying?"
"It's Mu-yeong."
"Mu-yeong? Ah, you mean the one who's been building quite a following recently? I watched him take down the Stone Golem myself."
"The way I see it—if we hold a Sparring Tournament with Mu-yeong at the center, wouldn't it be enormously popular? Of course, since I'm bringing this up out of nowhere, the Martial Alliance will provide ample support."
Choe Min-seok, having heard Dan Jung-seon out, began working the calculator in his head at full speed.
"As it happens, there was an external ad deal that I'd already given approval on……. Alliance Leader, one moment, if you'll excuse me."
Choe Min-seok tapped his phone screen several times.
He switched it to speaker mode and set it on the conference table.
A voice rang out loud and clear.
"Call received. Division Head!"
"Ah, right. Park Seong-jun, Marketing Team Leader. Has there been any change since we sent out the ads to the streamers?"
"It's only one day's worth of data so we'll need to look at it longer, but the effect has definitely been there. Returning and new users have come in droves, and yesterday's revenue saw a modest increase!"
"What do you think would happen if we extended the period to a week?"
"Probably…… at this rate, I'm estimating it'll grow by about 10% compared to the previous month."
"10%?"
Choe Min-seok was genuinely startled by the report.
He had approved the streamer ad deal without much expectation—and it had already grown by this much?
"It's all thanks to Mu-yeong. Even before, he'd been indirectly promoting us by sitting at number one on the Hot Clips, but this time he caused such an absolute scene that it spread all across every online community."
"……I see. Understood for now. I'll hear the full details in a report later."
Choe Min-seok ended the call.
At the same time, his mind's calculator began spinning rapidly.
As far as I know, there's never been a proper tournament for Martial World figures before. But if we partner with the Martial Alliance and really blow this thing wide open—
Not only would the declining game soar again, but the revenue would climb right alongside it.
As the problems that had been thorns in his side all smoothed away at once, Choe Min-seok clapped his hands together before he even realized it.
"Excellent. Alliance Leader. Then—what sort of timeframe and prize money were you thinking?"
"The details are for the company to figure out. What I can offer in return is bringing a large number of reputable martial artists together."
"Then let's start the prize at around 300 million won……"
"That's all?"
Dan Jung-seon's head tilted to one side.
Choe Min-seok broke into a cold sweat.
"500 million?"
"Hmm……"
The angle tilted further.
Choe Min-seok shut his eyes and named the highest amount he could manage.
"700 million. I think 500 million for first place and 100 million for second should be sufficient."
"Isn't 700 million a bit underwhelming? Considering the buzz it'll generate—how about a clean 1 billion?"
"1 billion……"
At his level as Division Head, it wasn't a particularly burdensome amount.
But that was 1 billion for the prize alone.
Add in setup costs, appearance fees, promotional costs, and everything else—it would balloon like a snowball.
Even so, if it's the cost of saving the game, it's getting off cheap.
"Very well. 1 billion it is."
"Ah, and one more thing while we're at it."
"Please, go ahead."
"No matter what—Mu-yeong absolutely must be secured. Whatever money needs to be stuffed in, make it happen—without fail!"
Dan Jung-seon fixed him with a sharp glare and extended his hand.
Choe Min-seok hurriedly shook it, moistening his parched lips.
If I remember correctly, the external ad deal was apparently 30 million won……
Then just how much was he going to have to give this time?
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Clunk.
Mu-yeong climbed out of the capsule after half a day and stretched.
He checked the stream stats window—his daily routine—and found a single towering bar rising as if it meant to pierce the sky.
[Donations: ₩17,287,000]
"Insane."
An astronomical sum earned not in a month, not in a week—but in a single day.
The most he'd ever received before was around 9 million won, and this had sailed right past that.
By nearly double, no less.
Mu-yeong smiled with pure happiness.
Going after Special Boss hunts really was the answer.
The spectacle of two Level 20 players taking down a Stone Golem had been truly explosive.
With so many viewers flooding in, small donations and mid-tier donations of tens of thousands of won each had poured in en masse.
He had no idea how many would stick around, but there was no question the stream had grown another level.
The rate at which money would accumulate would be far faster now.
"And then there's the external ad deal—I'd love to be the one they pick…… but who knows when the results will come out."
You can't be satisfied on your first bite, as they say—but 30 million won in additional income was a reward far too sweet to ignore.
Everything hinged on the game company's choice, but Mu-yeong was confident.
He had taken down the Stone Golem. He had even used Sword Force and the Heavenly Frenzy Gale—and he still didn't get picked?
That would be a level of offense that warranted grabbing the person in charge by the collar, and getting off scot-free.
Click.
Having enjoyed the graph that put him in a good mood just from looking at it, Mu-yeong opened his email inbox next.
There was a video from his editor—the kind that had become part of his daily routine.
Alongside it, uninvited letters from an unwanted guest, bundled together like a buy-one-get-one deal.
[Mu-yeong, I challenge you to a Sparring Match.]—Bing Ye-hwa.
[Mu-yeong, let's have a round.]—Bing Ye-hwa.
[Let's have a round.]—Bing Ye-hwa.
The owner of an increasingly rude tone with every message.
He understood the nature of a martial artist who wanted to test themselves against the strong—but wasn't this a bit too out of nowhere?
Honestly, at this point it was hard to even tell if it was genuine or just aggro.
Judging by the fact that she'd shown up in yesterday's stream and tossed money in, it seemed closer to the former—but this email inbox assault had crossed a line.
"Might as well block them all while I'm thinking of it."
Should've stopped at that 50,000 won donation when she had the chance.
Mu-yeong searched through the platform and tracked down the user in question.
Email block, donation block, stream block, Newtube block.
Just as he finished, a notification popped up saying the Newtube upload had completed.
—It's already up??
—Damn, I believed in you!!!
—Thankyouthankyouthankyou
—The editor is seriously good at their job lol, glad they got picked.
—For real, how long has it even been since the stream ended and they already got all this done lol
Comments flooding in one after another the moment the video went up.
Likes and views had begun climbing at a steep upward curve as well.
And this was in the early morning, no less.
Mu-yeong blinked in surprise and checked his subscriber count.
[Subscribers: 26,000]
"……When did this many pile up?"
Right before he'd gone live yesterday, the number had read exactly 10,000.
He remembered it precisely—it had carried a symbolic weight.
But while he slept, 16,000 people had suddenly joined?
He opened the channel analytics, and what greeted him was enough to make his jaw drop.
[Total Views: 530,000]
[Estimated Revenue: ₩5,650,420]
It felt like just yesterday that he'd been thrilled to finally hit the monetization threshold.
What on earth was this insane rate of growth?
Mu-yeong rubbed his eyes over and over at the dream-like turn of events.
He even pinched his thigh—but all it did was hurt.
"Haha……"
Money duplication.
Literally, word for word, money was being duplicated.
At this rate, paying off his debt might not be such a distant future after all.
Mu-yeong clapped his hands in delight.
He wanted to raise a glass just for today—but this was still only the beginning.
His top priority was naturally the growth of the stream.
And then, mastering the Fourth Form of the Heavenly Demon Three Swords, and keeping an eye on Yu Ye-rin's development as well.
There's a lot to do.
Bzzzzz!
The moment Mu-yeong clenched his fist, his phone rang.
When he checked it, the text was from someone he hadn't expected in the slightest.
[Hello. Mu-yeong-nim. This is Park Seong-jun, Marketing Team Leader at Monster World. I'd like to reach out separately regarding the ad deal—would you happen to have some time?]