1.
The eliminated contestants sat in the designated waiting room for losers, their faces downcast.
“Has the crowd thinned out outside?”
“They said it increased by five hundred more.”
“Ugh. When can we go ho?”
As soon as they passed through the front gates, Bearman had been publicly ridiculed. The losers thought to themselves,
Let's just hang on until the tournant ends.
They figured if they waited until the winner was announced, they'd attract less attention when leaving. It was a sowhat reasonable thought.
“What ti is it now?”
“Six o'clock.”
The match that had started at 10 a.m. had dragged on until 6 p.m.
As the tournant extended, the number of injuries also increased due to the players' efforts.
But the fervor of the tournant showed no signs of cooling down.
“Ugh, don’t hold back!”
“Fight! Fight!”
“That guy’s totally awful. I knew he was bad from when his codena was Kimchi Man.”
“Tsk tsk. He’s a kimchi carrier, no wonder he’s being embarrassed in the tournant.”
“Kimchi Man should go back to making kimchi at his in-laws' house!”
“Go back!”
A single misstep or any sign of dissatisfaction was t with harsh public criticism!
The competition, which had started out as a friendly challenge, had quickly turned into an official event watched by the entire country. This shift led to unintended consequences.
“Finally, the preliminaries are over.”
“If the finals start at 16 players, then 8 matches in the quarter-finals, 4 in the semi-finals, and 2 in the finals, with 15 matches in total, the tournant will be finished, right?”
“Wow, those final 8 players are going to be miserable. I heard the broadcasting station is even flying in helicopters.”
“Public numbers are insane.”
“I an, even if you win, it’s not like you get the prize money or anything, it’s just for a job. Why are they making such a fuss?”
The players were filled with frustration, but once the atmosphere was set, it was difficult to change.
Before any trouble could escalate, the guild master had a straightforward mindset: as long as no one crossed the Haenam faction’s walls, no matter how many people gathered or where they ca from, it didn’t matter.
[Wasn't martial arts always an official event watched by hundreds of thousands of local residents?]
This odd, illogical belief, likely picked up from so unknown source, was being proudly presented as a “universal truth.”
Trying to suppress the issue backfired, only adding fuel to the fire.
Is the crowd too small? Is it boring?
Look at the scale of Haenam faction!
There are 80,000 people gathered right now, let’s try to get 120,000 more!
I’m calling my parents!
I heard there was a 40-person gathering at the chicken shop in the next neighborhood. If they co to our place, we’ll give them a 20% discount. Do you think I’m good at this?
That’s insane, lol
Where is that? If we go there, will they give us a 20% discount?
Yeah, but they don’t take non-group custors.
The guys at Haenam Dong businesses are making bank, wow.
Ugh, the food in this town is terrible, but there’s no place to sit, so I had to order anyway.
Wow, after the tournant ends, I should open a restaurant near the shopping center.
There were rare monts of positivity, however.
For instance, the addition of more dical staff was a welco change.
“We’ve reached maximum capacity!”
“Find so more doctors!”
“You think high-level dical staff are just going to show up here like a neighborhood part-ti job?”
Amid the rising stress and sharp tensions in the dical departnt, they tried hard to keep their tempers in check when a loud noise echoed through the building.
“What’s that sound?”
“It’s outside!”
“Everyone, look out the window!”
As they looked outside the dical ward, a dical helicopter marked with a cross was just landing.
“Excuse , is this the dical ward for the Silent Swordsman Martial Arts Tournant?”
“Yes... it is. Who are you?”
“We’re doctors from the Epic Fantasy Red Cross, currently working on a joint broadcast content.”
“Wait, what?! The sa weirdos who got dical licenses with virtual world money and built a private hospital? Why are you here?”
“We were asked to treat the contestants.”
“...What? Who asked? Did the guild master hire you?”
“No, we were donated to by the viewers.”
“……”
How much did they pay to get a helicopter?
The idea was so absurd that words failed them, but when considered as a promotional stunt, it made sense.
“We are Animal Guardians, a V-tuber with 200k subscribers. Are there any animal patients here?”
“We are Cursed V-tubers, 750k subscribers. Do you need any curses?”
“We are Interior Design V-tubers, Lego Tuck Tuck! Can you give us 50-pyeong (about 1650 sq ft) outside space for our broadcast?”
Ujiu, who was in charge of the dical staff, stood there, dumbfounded, staring in disbelief before finally coming to his senses.
“Lego Tuck Tuck, why are you here? You can’t provide dical treatnt.”
“We’re here as dical staff! We can set up an instant tent to expand space!”
“Then who is that guy with the guitar?”
“Electroman!”
“Who are you, exactly?!”
“If he plays the guitar, natural healing power increases by 200%! Let him stay!”
“Get out of here if you’re just going to keep causing trouble!”
They all had a plan, apparently.
Ujiu slouched his shoulders and was forced to leave.
After the 16 players were decided in the main event’s quarter-finals, the entry list for the semi-finals was announced.
Main Event Quarter-finals Bracket
[Match 1] - [The Thorn Man vs. Masked Thief]
[Match 2] - [Kim Jae-cheol vs. Whisper]
[Match 3] - [Lightning Man vs. Yang Gwi-ho]
[Match 4] - [Voice Girl vs. Dashman]
So players raised suspicions, but except for Whisper, most had been eliminated in the 16-player round.
‘Are the tournant participants stronger than expected? Is that why the organization can’t make a move?’
Five years ago.
Lee Jeong-woon, who had gone into hiding with the help of a villainous organization.
Before he left the tournant, he had warned:
“Give up the finals. The organization will make its move.”
Even in the 16-player round, the tension had been high.
Dashman seriously warned Eve and Haeung-eung.
“There may be a terrorist attack from the villain organization.”
“We should prepare, right?”
Eve took his concerns seriously.
But the other side was still safe.
[It’s fine.]
“You think it’s fine? If sothing happens in Haenam faction, Silent Swordsman will be the one in trouble. If there’s even a death in what’s basically my own ho, it’ll be impossible to clean up.”
[That will be tough. But watching the tournant, I’ve had so realizations.]
The normally uninterested observer spoke of realizations.
Rather than disbelief, fear took over first.
How could a woman this strong get multiple realizations by simply breathing?
‘Awakened individuals use different kinds of blood paths not only from what martial artists use. While you can’t mimic the elental internal energy, there’s a lot to learn in the techniques.’
Voice Girl’s combat style, in particular, fascinated Haeung-eung.
‘She temporarily expands pores in specific parts of the body to release sound waves. She needs additional equipnt to seal the gaps, but the concept itself is interesting.’
Haeung-eung was already excited to teach himself or learn the sound wave techniques through Voice Girl.
“Guild master, the broadcasting stations are asking if we could do a performance for the opening ceremony of the finals.”
[What did Chaerin say?]
“She told to ask you first...”
[The program schedule and filming were all handled by Chaerin. She’s done all the work. Just let her handle it.]
Haeung-eung’s unwavering trust in Chaerin showed.
She wasn’t interested in this area, so she felt Chaerin could handle it easily.
Haeung-eung’s growing popularity was a point of frustration for Chaerin.
“Why am I making money doing fandom work?”
Making Haeung-eung a star awakened her.
The first step was to bring her on the halfti dungeon broadcast to eliminate any aversion to the cara.
Special broadcasts were aid at reducing her aversion to the public eye.
“Boss, idol groups and singers have already lined up to participate in the special stage!”
Haeung-eung didn’t know, but her popularity was starting to spread among the public.
She had successfully cented her image as a fierce beauty, and now she was taking over Myeongho-dong.
Even entertainnt agencies who tried to push celebrities with heavy lobbying couldn’t get dia coverage, but Haeung-eung was rising on her own.
“My head’s spinning. What was Silent Swordsman’s brand score yesterday?”
“790 points.”
“So, it’s surpassed 1,000 today?”
Star brand scores, closer to 1,000, represent world stars.
For context, 100 points is typical for an unpopular idol group, and 300 points are for briefly popular stars.
Such a score was extraordinary.
“It’s still lower than halfti’s 1,500 points.”
“Are you kidding? We’ve spent money and ti; this should be expected.”
True, there weren’t many entertainers who rose to fa honestly.
Ultimately, stars without talent or skills quickly fade.
If they’re not exposed continuously, they get forgotten even if they have talent.
“This is the best value for money I’ve ever seen.”
Haenam faction, a newly founded guild, had been delaying their actions as the public’s attention grew.
If they were going to act, they needed to wait for more people to gather to make their disruption more impactful.
“Let’s wait a bit longer, the more people, the better. That way, Haenam faction will lose face, and we’ll beco famous.”
At first, they planned to start with just 10,000 people, but with the growing popularity of the tournant, they realized that they could go for more.
Soon, 100,000 people gathered at the site, and a large-scale live stage was set up with 16 spotlights lighting up the crowd.
“Boss, shouldn’t we start soon?”
“Wait a bit.”
“Boss, the sun is setting.”
“Just a little longer, just a little longer.”
With the boss’s eyes on the rising popularity, his patience seed unending until his high-ranking mber Whisper stepped in.
“This is going to drag on until the finals. Are you planning to abandon the organization and join Haenam faction?”
“Whisper, you’ve grown. You actually dared to cross .”
Until just now, the boss had been fooling around, waiting impatiently.
Just the smallest shift in his mood made all the lights in the Haenam faction’s building go out.
Pop pop pop
As the lights flickered back on, the audience sighed in relief, while the mbers of the organization breathed a sigh of relief, realizing how close they were to being wiped out.
“Don’t be so greedy. It’s ti to act.”
“Alright... it’s been a long wait, I’ll take the advice.”
As the outdoor concert proceeded before the main event, the atmosphere was building, and their plans were set in motion.
“Everyone, move to the operation positions.”
“What’s the timing for the operation?”
“Wait until the broadcast caras turn back to the venue after the concert ends.”
They didn’t know.
The fact that Chaerin had already sold stage access to 10 unknown idols and lesser-known singers for the event.
They would still have to wait another hour, crouching in the darkness.
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