The first to display an exceptional level of mastery was Dashman.
“Dashman! I’ve never liked you, slinking around the Holy Lady’s side just to earn points!”
“You’re the one who made senior Gwang-A-Geom Lee Jeong-woon fail in the tournament. I’ll show you the real deal!”
“What kind of pathetic martial art is Dashman using? That’s not traditional martial arts!”
Bang Ji-chul shouted urgently.
“Whoa, Dashman, who suddenly ran into three high-ranking Black Faction members, is in trouble! Eom Gil-dong!!!”
“Uh, yes?”
“Since you’re a streamer famous for your brainpower, Eom Gil-dong, how would you respond in this situation?”
Without hesitation, Eom Gil-dong replied.
“Run away.”
“....”
“Right, it’s 1 vs 3! Of course, you should run away.”
“Ah... I see...”
“But if you can’t run away, the most important thing is not to move. You have to hide the information, so you don’t know where the mines or platforms are.”
Eom Gil-dong’s strategy was the very definition of textbook.
Staying still is half the battle.
This concept applied perfectly in Battle Minesweeper.
You could easily lead the explosion by simply pushing approaching enemies from your position!
“Jessica! It’s time to show that!”
“Got it. I’ll send the tornado.”
Jessica, pulling out three sickles from her waist, threw them into the air with a sharp twist of her wrist.
“Ha!”
“Ha!”
Two members leaped while kicking their sickles.
<Black Faction Army Improved Spear Technique>
<Joint Attack Form>
<Clear Sky, Sudden Rain>
The spears they simultaneously unleashed created a storm of spear strikes, as if a local downpour was falling from the clear sky.
<Awakening Ability - Dash>
Dashman lightly dodged the many spear strikes using his Dash ability.
The high-ranking members, watching where Dashman stepped, chased after him fiercely.
Their martial arts intuition and memory of secret techniques helped them remember the path between the mines, plotting out an escape route in their minds.
<Black Faction Army Improved Footwork Technique>
<Limitless Step>
“I’ll step on the ground. Come up on my shoulder!”
“Alright.”
There was barely enough room for two people to land on the same platform.
But the two members quickly agreed that one would land on top of the other, successfully executing the move.
“Ah! Look, the synchronization is incredible! The Black Faction members weren’t just hanging around and partying, huh?”
“Well, that was too rushed, though...”
While Bang Ji-chul marveled, Eom Gil-dong was contemplating Dashman’s abilities.
Dashman’s Dash ability, revealed in the martial arts tournament, had a weakness—its cooldown. However, he had also worked on improving his ability to overcome this weakness.
“Dashman’s Dash has a shorter cooldown if the distance is short. If it’s within 3 meters, he can use it continuously with no delay.”
As expected, Dashman, who had retreated a short distance, surged forward again and shoulder-butted one of the members.
<Haenampa’s Elite Martial Arts - Haenampa Eight Extremes Fist>
<Iron Mountain Crash>
Bang!
“Ugh!”
“The balance...!”
The member below was sent flying by a sudden charge that carried the full weight of Dashman’s body, causing him to step on the platform.
Bang!
[Haenampa Twin Spears 1 has exploded.]
[Remaining players: 49]
The spear-wielder, having lost his teammate beneath him, lost his balance.
He had to leap onto Dashman to create a gap that Dashman couldn’t catch up to, retreating to a safe platform.
But no matter where he looked below, Dashman’s figure was nowhere to be found.
Swooosh
A shadow loomed above.
The member’s eyes widened in shock.
‘How...!’
‘Who said you couldn’t use Dash vertically?’
Dashman’s foot trampled the stunned member!
Bang!
[Haenampa Twin Spears 2 has exploded.]
[Remaining players: 48]
“W-Wait!”
“You! You called Gwang-A-Geom a senior. What’s your relationship with him?”
“Senior gave me the courage to oppose the association. I can’t forgive you for defeating him!”
Jessica.
While I don’t know if there’s some special reason for the European-Korean, right now, he’s an enemy targeting him.
In the past, Dashman would have recalled his younger sister and pulled back his deadly strikes. But now, he had someone new to protect—Eve.
“I’ll evaluate whether Lee Jeong-woon’s teachings were worth it. I’ll give you one attack. Come at me!”
“Ugh, you’ll regret underestimating me!!”
With both arms crossing inside his coat, Dashman blocked the sickles that were thrown at him.
<Awakening Ability - Knife Holder>
<Evolutionary Trait - High-Speed Generation (D)>
<Evolutionary Trait - Regen (C)>
<Black Faction Army Sickle Technique>
The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.
<Earth Dragon’s Treasure>
All the sickles were thrown and immediately dug into the earth, disappearing from sight.
‘Even with his precious Dash, there’s no way he can avoid the surprise from underground!’
Boom!
The sickles shot up from the ground.
Incredibly unconventional attacks overwhelmed Dashman.
No matter which direction he dodged, the sickles were positioned to leave holes in his body!
Cling cling cling!
“No?!
The sickles that burrow into the ground. I’m surprised, but that’s it. A weakened attack like that doesn’t even deserve Dash’s worth!”
“Tch... You’ve done enough bragging. The combined attack from both above and below is my strongest combo!”
“It’s too late. Regret not pouring everything you had into one strike.”
<Awakening Technique - Dash>
<Unconventional Technique - Long Wide>
“Ugh!”
In an instant, Dashman leaped over 10 blocks, landing a blow to Jessica’s solar plexus.
While Jessica was focusing on controlling her sickles, she was caught off guard by the sudden attack, stumbling back and ultimately exploding.
[Jessica has exploded.]
[Remaining players: 47]
Dashman glanced at the tournament camera and quickly turned his head.
‘Lee Jeong-woon. I won’t be bound by the past anymore. Follow me. I will reach the heights beyond there!’
Another level.
The first player to show a completely different level of strength, Dashman’s fierce performance.
A perfect opening to the Haenampa Internal Civil War.
- While Dashman was dominating in the 1 vs 3 battle, Whisper confidently stepped on the platforms, searching for enemies.
Strategies, objectives—none of that mattered.
In «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» a game where the goal was simply to defeat all the enemies, those things were useless.
What was needed was overwhelming force.
Bang!
<Awakening Ability - Call Whisper>
<Evolutionary Trait - Redial (C)>
Every time a mine exploded, the blurry new form returned, nullifying the damage.
With incredible speed, his progress on the platforms increased, causing all nearby Haenampa high-ranking members to feel a serious sense of crisis.
“That guy, hasn’t he already stepped on a ton?”
“His HP, attack power, and defense must have skyrocketed by now. At this pace, he’ll have monster-level stats.”
“If there’s a chance to stop him, it’s now, while he’s still early in the game.”
In this game, HP increased by the number of tiles flipped, attack power increased by the number of tiles stepped on, and defense increased by the number of mines found.
To stop Whisper, who feared nothing from mines, the early phase was the critical moment when his stat increases were still manageable.
“Let’s go, Yang Gwi-ho.”
“It’s been a while since we joined forces, Thorn Man.”
“Kim Je-cheol from the Andong sword house. I’ll show you the loyalty of a scholar.”
Yang Gwi-ho, Thorn Man, and Kim Je-cheol, the three special invitees to the martial arts tournament, charged at Whisper.
“You’ve saved me the trouble of finding you.”
Three strong members, who would usually be intimidating for ordinary officers, were charging at Whisper. But with Whisper, it was a different story.
The three charging at him were enough to make them tremble in fear!
“Don’t be afraid! As long as there’s a combat and defense system, I won’t fall with one hit from his attack!”
“Take this, Thorn Throw!!”
“I’ll bind his feet!”
Viewers of Whisper’s broadcast often wonder.
High-ranking officer of the Black Faction, Whisper.
They know he’s strong.
But just how strong is he?
Though he sometimes streams games, most of his enemies don’t even last a second.
Evasion first.
Counterattack.
Damage recovery.
Armed with abilities that were anything but ordinary, Whisper was able to dominate even without game functions—his Awakening ability alone made him a fearsome force.
- Is he going to destroy the city again?
- Stop with the GTA10 already!
- Is he really obsessed with destroying attack helicopters?
- Can’t he stop the terror or something, jeez?
- How does a high-ranking villain officer stand playing terrorist simulator?
- Stop promoting terrorism, please!
The problem was that the game he played with such amazing power was the same game over and over again.
Thanks to that, viewers imagining matchups like Whisper vs Ban Yo-gok or Whisper vs Hell-Slayer Wagner were disappointed with mass deaths.
But now, Whisper, not helicopters or tanks, was facing human opponents.
In fact, he was becoming the strongest adversary to Haenampa in this internal civil war.
Everyone’s attention was now focused on his strength.