[You want me to teach you martial arts?]
“There should be some right to learn martial arts even for a martial arts tournament champion like me.”
[It doesn’t really matter to me.]
Ha Eung Eung thought this was a good thing.
She had been feeling frustrated because the martial arts she had to teach others were all too basic.
To someone like Whisper, who openly walked around with danger, she could easily teach magic without hesitation.
[You’ll be learning the magic of the Mage Sect, not Haenampa’s martial arts. If you’re okay with that, I’ll teach you the techniques.]
Did she believe she would never lose, even with this much?
‘That arrogance will become poison, Sect Leader.’
Whisper’s weakness.
It was that her awakening ability couldn’t continue indefinitely.
Martial arts were the perfect technique to cover that weakness.
It provided time—ironically the most important thing for Whisper, who toyed with time as though mocking it.
“Cry. Louder, so your scream can reach Baek So-cheon’s ears!”
“Graaaaagh!”
“Oh! Whisper is going wild! She’s completely toying with the Haenampa executives! What would you do if you faced such an opponent, Eom Gil-dong?”
“You’d better run. It won’t hurt if you lower the morale rate, but it’s so scary, even before it hurts.”
While techniques designed to cover weaknesses were threatening, Whisper’s true strength lay elsewhere.
Her kill potential, honed through years of streaming, was at a level no beginner martial artist could ever catch up with.
<Battle Minesweeper>
“Cough!”
A mine exploded from an ambush behind the wall.
“Huh? Why isn’t there a platform here?”
“Were you looking for this?”
A throwing mine exploded as a block was thrown.
“Hasn’t it been a bit shady since earlier?”
“Up there!! The ground is coming down!!”
“Ha. That insane Whisper is ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) now even messing with the ground.”
Things escalated. To eliminate the agile executives in one go, Whisper lifted a 20x10 block and slammed it down from above, executing a guaranteed group wipe!
“Quite the ruckus you’ve caused.”
“Baek So-cheon. I’ve been waiting for you to show up. Today, I will settle this.”
“I’ve been hoping for this.”
Attracted by the chaos, Baek So-cheon and Whisper faced off.
The battle between two other-level combatants began.
While the martial artists were running amok like cheaters, the ultimate being, the Silent Swordsman, was engaging in a different kind of lonely battle.
Beep.
Bzz- bzz-.
[Failed to input the Minesweeper decoding code.]
[Endgame weapon activation failed.]
[You may try again in 1 minute.]
The Silent Swordsman.
She was blocked by a point-and-click-style Minesweeper, which couldn’t be bypassed with any shortcuts.
- Ha Eung Eung’s Battle Minesweeper.
It started off well.
‘I just have to jump before the mine explodes, is that too simple?’
If her light body technique was at the level of Chosangbi, running over grass blades, she couldn’t avoid the explosions completely but could certainly minimize damage.
If she reached the next level of Tapyukmuhun, walking without leaving footprints on snow, she could even avoid explosions entirely.
‘It would be hard for the martial arts teachers, though.’
However, such refined internal control required a certain purity in the qi.
Only with a clean flow of energy could one perform delicate maneuvers—impure energy could only result in destructive power, not delicate control.
‘But this doesn’t apply to me.’
With a light step, she dashed, skipping between objects as if she were flying.
- Is she a flying squirrel?
- Her feet don’t even touch the ground.
- Other executives at least pretended to step on the ground, but the Silent Swordsman doesn’t even touch it.
Mark 2, who had been running alongside, hurriedly performed a new technique but tripped and fell with a loud thud.
Mark 2’s figure, trailing behind, became distant!
- Aww, my baby fell!
- Crazy mom, take care of your baby first!
- Baby (same size, looks exactly like mom)
- But damn, she doesn’t even turn around to check.
- This is how you abandon the sword, huh.
After running for a while, Ha Eung Eung noticed something, stopped suddenly, and then began running in the opposite direction from the nearby tower.
- Where is she going?
- Haha, she’s chasing a bird.
- Another pigeon?
- The pigeon slayer is back in action.
- Gugu, run away!!
<Wildlife Expert donated 10,000 KRW!>
Cats like hunting birds. Their wild instincts are alive. Does that mean the Silent Swordsman is like a cat?
<Counterargument is also correct, donated 10,000 KRW!>
Cats are silent assassins that can run without making a sound. The Silent Swordsman doesn’t make a sound either.
- Using an unbeatable cheat code, huh.
- Seriously, not making a sound was intense.
While the viewers kept joking, Mark 2, who had tripped earlier, was spotted brushing the dust off her knees.
- Oh, what’s this?
- So she’s coming back to get her, right?
- ?
- Excuse me, but she passed by already?
- Mark 2 is rushing after her?
- Ah, she fell again.
- Is this real? Another fall?
- Seriously, she’s not stopping?!
- How is she still the mom?
- There’s no more Mommy Swordsman. Now it’s really just an Abusive Swordsman.
Ha Eung Eung did feel a bit sorry for Mark 2.
But still, the world of competition was merciless.
Once the endgame weapon was obtained, the game was practically decided, and there was no time for leisurely walks holding hands.
“Ah, when did you catch up to me?”
While climbing the mountain, Lee So-hye, startled to see Ha Eung Eung, tried to speak but quickly fell behind as Ha Eung Eung’s footwork outpaced even the boar’s speed.
- Seriously, she just passes everything by!!
- Wow, for the next round of Battle Minesweeper, no one will be able to reset it.
- Seriously, if you met an enemy like that, how would you win?
In the blink of an eye, Ha Eung Eung reached the top of the mountain field.
For some reason, she felt a bit nostalgic.
‘The mountaintop. It reminds me of the Jumping Rabbit’s high mountain field. That was a nice map.’
For a moment, she reminisced.
Then, she noticed a large device at the top of the mountain and saw a panel the size of a laptop.
[20x24 Blocks]
[Mines: 99]
[Time Limit: 5 Minutes]
In front of the panel stood a sign.
[Endgame Weapon – Earthquake Generator]
[Activating this weapon will trigger an earthquake, destroying all fields except the mountain.]
[Additionally, random avalanches will occur on any platform except the mountaintop in the mountain field.]
Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.
[Unlock Condition]
[Avoid the mines and open all platforms within 5 minutes.]
[Failure due to time exceeding or clicking on a mine will cause immediate failure, and retries will be impossible for 1 minute.]
Unlike the previous shortcuts, to activate the endgame weapon, Ha Eung Eung had to solve the Minesweeper puzzle!
‘This really brings back memories.’
Most of her previous life was a blur, but the memory of Minesweeper came back to her.
The thrill of being introduced to computers for the first time, clearing paths while avoiding mines.
The sense of achievement when all platforms were cleared and the fleeting passage of time.
‘This is nothing compared to memorizing complicated martial art manuals and circulating energy along the meridians.’
She clicked with confidence, but at some point, her hand stopped.
‘This is a bad situation.’
No matter how she combined the given conditions and clues, the situation became too hard to figure out, and she couldn’t be certain of the next move.
Her hand, which had been moving like lightning, was now lost.
‘No choice but to guess.’
Beep.
Bzz- bzz-.
[Failed to input the Minesweeper decoding code.]
[Endgame weapon activation failed.]
[You may try again in 1 minute.]
“...”
It was just bad luck.
She might succeed next time.
[1 minute has passed.]
Ha Eung Eung, reinvigorated, clicked again.
Beep.
Bzz- bzz-.
[Failed to input the Minesweeper decoding code.]
[Endgame weapon activation failed.]
[You may try again in 1 minute.]
- Hahaha
- She clicked the mine right from the first click, didn’t she?
- Time is slowly ticking away
- Normally, if they fail twice, players would swarm and fight, but nobody has come yet because she’s too fast. Real ‘Another Level’ status.
[Failed to input the Minesweeper decoding code.]
[Endgame weapon activation failed.]
[You may try again in 1 minute.]
- Meanwhile, Whisper has flipped a ton of platforms.
- Baek So-cheon is no slouch either.
- Those two are in a dead heat, huh?
[Failed to input the Minesweeper decoding code.]
[Endgame weapon activation failed.]
[You may try again in 1 minute.]
- Wait, Baek So-cheon is running away?
- Whisper’s going up, hahaha
- Is he really running away, not taking any bomb damage because of all the flipped platforms?
- Wow, that’s practically invincible, right?
- Who stopped him?
[Failed to input the Minesweeper decoding code.]
[Endgame weapon activation failed.]
[You may try again in 1 minute.]
- Dashman’s neck being grabbed and dragged away looks so sad.
- Seriously, are the others coming up too?
- Please, just match it already!!
After five failed attempts at clicking patterns over 12 minutes, the Silent Swordsman’s face, once full of confidence, had long since puffed up like a duck’s bill.