Chapter 80: The Hero Keeps Moving Forward (Final)

(▶Breaking News) Shihyun’s First Defeat

Fell while playing The Climber lol

-What?
└Fell while climbing the wall
└What’s The Climber, you nerd?
-Isn’t she the Arfellium top player? But she lost to The Climber? lol
└What’s with the lol? Are you a?
└Why does she have so many fanboys
└She’s pretty, cheers~
-So why did she fall?
└Fell during Infinite Mode
└Climbed 2.7 kilometers and fell.
└???

▶Sung Shihyun, this girl is a real monster

2.7 kilometers of climbing, what the
lol. She’s playing a different genre in a climbing game

-How can a person climb 2.7 kilometers? There are no stat boosts in that game
└Don’t know
└The Hero can do it
└Cheater… Hacker…
-Just watching her play Arfellium, she’s already playing a different game
└While others are playing a fighting game with swords, she’s playing hack and slash
└Hack and slash? What era are you from… Old man?

▶Reaction video from a professional climber

https://www.mewtube.com/watch?v=………
I’m a professional climber, and it’s hilarious how dumbfounded I am just watching this video lol

-“Who is this person? She’s better than me?”
└Lol
└Why is she better than a pro!
-‘She’s too good at the game’
-‘She’s gorgeous’
-‘You…have to…watch it…right?’
-Stop with the
viral marketing
-Lol

▶Shihyun’s unlikeable point

Honestly, she’s likeable, but her fanboys make her unlikeable. I wish she would cut down her fanboys like she cuts down people in Arfellium

-That would be
sexy, agree?
└Noona, I’m dying
└Actually die
-It can’t be helped that she’s popular because of her face
└What are you talking about? She’s popular because of her god-tier gaming skills, you know nothing, stop talking nonsense
└Girl streamer fanboys are hopeless
└Would you like some of the goddess’s holy water?
└Please kill yourself

After The Climber incident, I slowly transitioned into a variety streamer. Reaching the top of the Arfellium rankings was the biggest turning point.

▶Shihyun is transitioning to variety streaming

Arfellium is the top game, but it gets boring watching the same thing all the time. I’m so glad that Shihyun, like other top streamers, is moving to variety content and settling down

-No? Arfellium is fun? She’s a goddess?
└Stop the
└True, but there’s nothing more to see now that she’s reached No. 1 in Arfellium. The skill gap is too wide, it feels like she’s smurfing even in the highest tier.
-Variety streaming is better in the long run. There are a lot of good VR games coming out these days.
└Seriously, the ones saying she should stick to Arfellium are just haters
└Disgusting how they pretend to be fans

I continued streaming and taught Ji-eun the swordsmanship I honed in ‘that world,’ bit by bit.

Ji-eun essentially became my true disciple.

Of course, it wasn’t a one-way street.

I also learned about streaming from her. Since she had been a streamer for longer than me, her knowledge was very helpful.

Thanks to that, I was finally able to establish myself as a professional streamer. I had reached a level where I could confidently call myself a streamer, even without showing off my superhuman skills in Arfellium.

And Ji-eun finally reached Diamond.

▶Someone is happy after reaching a new tier

[Picture]
[Picture]
[Picture]
Euning, finally reaching Diamond and ascending.
Her crying face is so cute.
[Picture]
The current rank 1 player looking at her with a strange expression.

-Lol
└She finally did it…
└Demon of effort…
└I thought she would never make it
└She grew through the Hero’s training~
-Shihyun’s expression is like she’s looking at an idiot lol
└‘Crying over this?’
└Master… you must reach it… right…?
-Euning worked really hard though.
└Her willpower is admirable
└I wish Shihyun would train me like that
└Noona…

Ji-eun cried so much the day she reached Diamond tier. That day, I learned that she had a habit of repeating herself when she was drunk.

I didn’t play much Arfellium these days, though. The environment for playing Arfellium comfortably wasn’t there anymore.

Because…

▶Just now, smiling lol
That’s slander, you crazy
lol

-What slander?
└Shihyun’s Arfellium rating is so high that she can’t find a match. She’s
off lol
└????
└No
lol
└How can you be so good that you can’t find a match lol
└It’s frustrating when you want to play but can’t find a match

Because I won too much, my rating became so ridiculously high that I couldn’t find a match!

After queuing for over an hour without finding a game, I just gave up on ranked matches. I occasionally queued when I was bored, but my rating was still too high.

Of course, my hands itched to hold a sword.

So, I found another way.

▶Didn’t they say Shihyun can’t find a match because of her high rating?

I saw her playing Arfellium today, how is she doing it?

-She’s playing in private matches. Making a smurf account is pointless, and even then, the rating would skyrocket because of the complex calculation system, making ranked matches boring
└The skill gap is so wide that ranked is boring? Even in the top ranks, don’t smurf, you crazy
lol
└Top rank? They are mere mortals…
-So she’s basically playing friendly matches with pro players. Especially with Choi Sangcheol.
└Fact) Joseon’s Best Swordsman has a 99 losses and 1 draw record against Shihyun.
└Lol

▶Choi Sangcheol’s form is
GOAT these days

He was already the best player in Arfellium pro scene history, but he keeps surpassing his peak
His swordsmanship patterns have changed, and other players can’t react at all
The one who made Choi Sangcheol this strong
[Picture]
Saint Shihyun……
We…… must worship her…… right?

I have to upvote this
-He received guidance from the Hero, so it’s natural that he’s crushing other pros. This is such an easy karma farm
└Seriously
└The fanboys are here
└Well, it’s true though lol
-But Choi Sangcheol’s swordsmanship has become so aggressive that the games are more exciting now. More kills and skirmishes than before
└Compared to the old days when they just stared each other down, it’s a feast for the eyes
-Overseas pros are frustrated. They can’t have friendly matches with Saint Shihyun, so the skill gap with Korean pros keeps widening
└Korea…is…the land of Saint Shihyun…

I contacted Coach Kang Seunghyun from ML Masterpiece and arranged a system for friendly matches, like scrimmages, with Korean Arfellium esports teams.

Thanks to this, Korean pro players could improve their skills by sparring… getting beaten up… by me, and I could enjoy the game by playing against proven professional players.

In the process, I also became acquainted with Choi Sangcheol, the Joseon’s Best Swordsman. He was more talented than I thought. He had the potential to become a 0.3 Hero with enough training.

So, I appointed Choi Sangcheol as my second disciple.

He became Ji-eun’s junior.

So, I introduced them.

“N-nice to meet you! Choi Sangcheol! I’ve been a huge, huge fan! C-can I get your autograph…!”

“Of course. Ji-eun, you’re my senior, having received Master’s teachings before me.”

“…Huh?”

“Haha. I look forward to working with you, Senior Ji-eun.”

“W-what! What are you talking about, Choi Sangcheol! Please don’t call me that!”

“Well, you’re Master Shihyun’s first disciple, so you’re my senior. I must treat you with respect.”

“Stop joking! Shihyun! Tell him to stop! I’ll be posted all over the Arfellium forums!”

Ji-eun, shaking me with a tearful face, and Choi Sangcheol, subtly smiling. He was more amusing than I thought.

Well, that’s what happened.

Playing games, streaming, a relatively uneventful, ordinary, and peaceful daily life returned.

No Demon King trying to burn down the world, no endless hordes of demon soldiers pouring in from beyond the horizon.

No despicable people shifting blame for the apocalypse, no comrades dying after sharing laughter just yesterday.

And then one day.

“Ah.”

As I was about to leave for Ji-eun’s birthday party, I noticed my trusty kitchen knife by the door.

There was a time when I couldn’t live without it.

But.

‘Not anymore.’

I took the kitchen knife and gently placed it in the sink.

Finally, everything was back in its place.

-The End-