NoveLight ™
1.
Dried bloodstains.
A chilly wind.
A narrow path.
As soon as Hae Eung Eung set foot on the ominously foreboding land,
Thud
Thud
A disheveled creature with a staggering gait appeared.
[Blood Demon]
[There is no information on this half-demon.]
A common type of mob often seen in tutorials.
The most lowly of beings.
There was no need to measure the distance.
The blood demon couldn’t even react to the sword drawn by Hae Eung Eung before its head flew off with one strike.
[Critical Hit!]
[Body Severance]
[You have severed the neck.]
Thick bushes lined the narrow path.
With a rustling sound, two more blood demons appeared.
One had a wounded arm,
the other had a wounded leg—
they looked like defeated soldiers.
The standard strategy is to lure the enemy and make the one with the wounded leg lag behind before taking them out one by one.
Thud
Hae Eung Eung, on the other hand, gripped her sword and charged head-on first.
From left to right,
from right to left,
she swiftly swung her sword like lightning, severing the two blood demons.
With the final swing of her sword, she made a gesture to shake off the blood clinging to it.
All of this happened in an instant.
Before she could even see with her own eyes that the demons’ heads had fallen to the ground, Hae Eung Eung pressed on.
[Critical Hit! (x2)]
[Body Severance (x2)]
[You have severed the neck. (x2)]
A moment too late, the corpses fell, followed by the kill confirmation.
A hint of warmth returned to Hae Eung Eung’s cold eyes.
‘I never thought I’d feel this sensation again in the real world…’
What is right and what is wrong?
Is this revenge truly justified?
Questions she had to ask herself repeatedly.
Unlike the miserable and brutal fights in the martial world,
these were merely data within a game.
Targets that could be killed without any guilt,
without any hesitation—
they were simply subjects of a license to kill that she had honed her skills to take down.
‘A fight where my head isn’t spinning. A fight freed from the cycle of vengeance… is indeed enjoyable.’
Piercing through flesh,
splitting bones…
The so-called taste of the sword.
In the face of that vivid sensation, ordinary people tremble and feel guilt.
The thought of having taken a life elicits a strong rejection, leading some to abandon further game progression altogether.
The backlash results in a drop in assimilation rate.
[Initial Assimilation Rate: 10%]
[Combat Assimilation Rate: 33%]
[Current Assimilation Rate: 25%]
Hae Eung Eung was different.
Martial World Hero
Royal Bounty
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the entire martial world was her enemy in this extreme situation.
Having returned as a vengeful spirit, a fugitive from the outer martial world, she achieved the level of mastery of the three realms and the flow of energy.
Even if her heart harbored sympathy,
there was no hesitation in her sword.
While others would experience a drop in their assimilation rate,
the moment she felt alive,
her combat assimilation rate was even higher than the normal rate.
Swish, thud
Swish, thud
One slash upon encounter.
Even if the blood demons charged in, striking down their weapons and beheading them within two strikes was routine.
It didn’t matter if a few appeared simultaneously or if they erupted from the ground; they were not threatening at all.
They fell in order before her as they emerged, their heads pierced simultaneously as they launched their ambush.
Whether it was a horde attack
or a surprise assault,
it meant nothing to her.
‘This would certainly be a difficult game for an ordinary person.’
Beyond the narrow path, a ruined village appeared.
Inside the crumbling thatched houses, a treasure chest sat prominently, and from above, she could hear the sound of breathing.
When the chest was opened, a blood demon would drop down from above.
A trap deliberately designed by the game developers.
If you didn’t know, you’d inevitably fall into the trap of instant death.
‘With traces, smells, and sounds. If I open my senses, there’s no way I could miss it.’
The horrific screams or the disgusting stench.
The sight that made one squint.
When faced with elements that are hard to bear, ordinary people would usually dull their senses.
While it might soothe their minds temporarily,
it would disrupt game progress.
But where had Hae Eung Eung lived for the past twenty years?
In a world overflowing with people,
where water was scarce,
and most didn’t care about hygiene,
where beggars on the streets could boast about their profession in the martial world.
‘This level of threat cannot deceive my senses.’
Bloodstains climbed the wall.
The stench pierced her nose.
The breath anticipating the prey drew near.
Nothing was hidden—
a pathetic and shoddy ambush.
Thwack!
The rusted sword she hurled pierced the head of a blood demon.
The corpse landed heavily atop the treasure chest.
The chest jolted open from the impact.
From within, thorns sprang forth.
Without casting a glance at the chest or the corpse, Hae Eung Eung sought out and killed all the blood demons in the village.
‘Just a bit more. I’m still not satisfied. Is there no one who can fulfill my desire other than these trivial beings?’
[Critical Hit!]
A deadly struggle against strong opponents.
A life-or-death battle to test her skills.
The only response to her cravings came from the system notifications.
While critical hits that bring joy to the ordinary
and kill confirmations
were mere hindrances to her immersion.
[Game Settings]
[Disables all notification functions except for required choices.]
The tens place had long been surpassed,
over a hundred kills.
Hearing the kill confirmations time and again tired her ears first.
Adapting to the game through continuous slaughter,
and having turned off the notifications, her steps became much lighter.
‘The talent of a player might not be much different from that of a martial artist.’
She relaxed the excessive tension in her body while keeping one eye and ear open, alternating to rest her senses.
If her eyes got tired from using them too much, she would open her ears, and when she became accustomed to the sounds, she would then open her nose in a natural cycle.
With her skilled control over strength and senses,
the mobs were annihilated in an instant.
Average playtime: 2 hours.
Refund time easily surpassed in the tutorial field.
The time taken to clear the One Hit Cleanse was merely 1 Dakyung (15 minutes).
[You have cleared all the blood demon hordes in the Corpse Hill.]
[The executioner awaits you at the summit of Corpse Hill.]
She sensed an unusually strong energy.
The tutorial boss was making its appearance.
This time, it might be worth looking forward to.
Steadily, Hae Eung Eung walked with the same pace as before.
Beneath her conical hat,
the corners of her mouth lifted slightly, revealing her anticipation.
2.
When Hae Eung Eung had just started the game,
after the character selection was completed and the main story began.
[Current Viewers – 5]
Is this a supply capsule for beginners? Assimilation rate too.
Viewers who specialized in low-tier broadcasts flooded the chat.
In this world, there is such a thing as a standard.
A shortcut paved by pioneers where simply following along brings benefits.
The Silent Swordsman broke every standard.
They did not choose the basic character.
They did not select a bloodline either.
They didn’t even follow the bait-and-fight method of luring blood demons one by one for elimination.
Unlike those hapless types who were rotten from the start,
the Silent Swordsman was different.
Most hapless players who did not follow the standards could not fight like that.
With a low assimilation rate akin to that of slow blood demons,
their movements were terrible,
clumsy flailing and vomiting,
and battles that were embarrassingly ugly.
There was not a trace of the typical clumsy feel characteristic of new streamers.
Quick kill.
One sword, one kill.
Even a second-time player would find it hard to pull off.
Every simple slash oozed immense skill.
With a little more knowledge of virtual reality games than the hapless streamers struggling even to walk,
the viewers entered the chatroom, feeling like they could become the ultimate “mother” in a neighborhood without spending a dime.
It took less than a minute for them to realize that this streamer was different.
People were coming in, but none were leaving.
The broadcast boasted an incredible pulling power, like an antlion trap.
Relaxing at the thought that with this skill, death was absolutely not an option, one viewer asked a question.
That’s just insane!
A physical master streamer with ridiculous skills had appeared.
Even if they can’t beat the boss, who cares?
That was the general sentiment in the chatroom.
[Story Mode]
At the top of the hill,
the tutorial boss, the Executioner, awaited in the boss battle field.
If the viewers’ memories weren’t failing them,
the Executioner that appears at the top of that hill would unleash a brutal line upon seeing the player.
[Another fool who doesn’t know their place has appeared.]
[Instead of continuing a futile existence, meet your miserable end here.]
It was definitely something like that.
But then,
[Not a loser who can no longer survive, nor a half-demon merely living a miserable life, but a strong being has stepped into the Half-Demon Valley.]
[What is the reason for annihilating all those pathetic creatures that couldn’t even withstand a handful of demon blood?]
[Do you seek revenge? Or is it merely pity? Or perhaps… …]
[Are you here to announce the end of this cursed gorge, Executioner?]
Among the hapless viewers, one with notably sharp insight grasped the situation and gasped.
If the conditions are met, the story changes little by little; it seems our leader has triggered a hidden route!
It’s been ten years since the release.
The Half-Demon Valley is a gate that countless physical masters have passed through.
And yet, a hapless streamer is pioneering a new route in their first broadcast.
If they’re doing this well in mob-clearing, how well will the boss battle go?
Anticipation surged in the hearts of all the viewers that something incredible might unfold.