1.
Though he had been greatly ridiculed, Eom Gil-dong felt much lighter now that the contract issue he had been worrying about was finally resolved.
A greedy desire crept in.
He thought, <em>If not today, when else will I see the real-life Silent Swordsman in person?</em> This thought gave him the courage to act.
“By any chance, have you decided who you’ll be coborating with next?”
Ha Eung Eung drew arge question mark in her notebook.
The curves, the sharp drops, the detached pointsmon marks for a question, but when drawn by the Silent Swordsman, they all seemed so irritating.
“If it''s alright, could we schedule a coboration too? You know, like you doing ‘Catching Up to the Silent Swordsman’ live, or maybe we could y a game together…”
<em>If it’s not too much of a bother...</em> he added hesitantly, not really as a condition, but more like a polite afterthought.
Would she ept? Would it be fun?
Eom Gil-dong couldn’t quite decide.
His thoughts were a mess, but his internal monologue was clear to see from his visible unease. Ha Eung Eung didn’t seem to care much either way.
“My stream is fairly popr with my viewers. If you join, it’ll definitely help the Silent Swordsman too.”
[Do you think I need that kind of thing?]
“I don’t think so, but... Ah, anyway! You’ll definitelye out ahead! The Silent Swordsman’s viewers are quite the troublemakers too!”
[And so?]
“My viewers are all part of the Eom Gil-dan, a bunch of mischievous troublemakers! I can give you lots of tips on handling troublesome people like them!”
Though it wasn’t really necessary, Ha Eung Eung, with her whip as a useful conversational tool, nodded slightly in acknowledgment of his earnestness.
[Alright.]
“Huh? Really?”
Eom Gil-dong, not expecting her to ept, waspletely surprised.
[You can do the <em>half-beast</em> return broadcastter.]
“...Huh?”
[The <em>half-beast</em> will be solo.]
What? Who doesn’t know that, you fool.
Eom Gil-dong’s embarrassment shot up to its maximum.
The <em>half-beast</em> mode, which he hadn’t touched in over six months, was now being dyed because of his coboration proposal.
“Are you nning to kill someone?”
With the furious bacsh from the Silent Swordsman’s fans, Eom Gil-dong’s stream was crushed into pieces.
[If you don’t want to, that’s fine.]
“...Well, it’s not that I don’t want to… but if you could just adjust the order a little... hehe.”
After the final edit of the Whip Simtor V-tube episode was uploaded, Ha Eung Eung started to feel the piercing stares of fear from those around her.
Eom Gil-dong’s humble attitude was no exception.
It was clear that he didn’t want to give up on the coboration, no matter what.
‘His courage is quite remarkable.’
Even Baek So-cheon, who had been trying to avoid her, couldn’t bring himself to ask for a duel.
Eom Gil-dong, a small, skinny boy who had no muscles, yet who was now gathering the courage to speak up, was quite admirable.
[Then I’ll contact youter.]
“Thank you, Demon King!”
She’d like him to stop calling her that, but his energetic attitude and how quickly he seemed to get excited made her chuckle, despite how trivial it was.
‘I think I understand why this person is popr.’
[Wait a moment. Before you go, let me show you a gift.]
Ha Eung Eung grabbed the teapot and raised it high, to head height.
“??”
With a feeling of being watched, she tilted the teapot, and the tea flowed, making a pleasant sound as it poured perfectly into the teacup.
“Wow! How did you do that? That’s so cool. The color is gorgeous, and the scent is amazing!”
Eom Gil-dong eximed in awe, lifting the teacup and admiring the color, sniffing it in excitement.
It wasn’t the first time he had reacted so dramatically, but this time it was different. As he marveled, he couldn’t help but feel once again that she was a streamer through and through.
Slurp.
“!!”
Eom Gil-dong immediately downed the entire cup.
<em>Chomp chomp.</em>
With a satisfied smile, he nced at the teapot, looking longingly for a refill.
Ha Eung Eung, feeling betrayed, couldn’t hide her shock.
“Why, why do you look at me like that after I gave it to you to drink?”
[If you drink it, I won’t be able to refill it.]
“Huh?? You have to empty the cup before refilling it.”
[It’s your fault for drinking it. You shouldn’t have drunk it.]
What was that supposed to mean? Was this some kind of punishment game?
Though he wanted toin, the sight of her sulking face made it impossible for him to do so.
Until he understood the reason, that is.
[It’s for disy purposes. I told you to look at it, not to drink it.]
“You weren’t pretending to be a fake viin, but a real one?!”
<ol start="2">
<li></li>
</ol>
After his visit to Haenampa, Eom Gil-dong went back with a souvenir.
He picked up the fallen paper nes and tidied up the disorganized meeting room, noticing Ujiwoo watching his feet shake back and forth while sitting.
‘Well, this is unexpected. To see her looking so happy.’
Normally, Ha Eung Eung’s movements were so slow, almost imperceptible, like a metronome ticking at 10 BPM. But today, she was tapping her feet with almost 100 BPM speed.
This was only the second time it had happened, the first being when Ahyoung had made great progress in her training.
‘Could it be that she’s feeling this good because she met a fellow streamer?’
Ujiwoo decided she would have to invite Eom Gil-dong to Haenampa more often as apanion.
‘I feel like I’m forgetting something...’
Ujiwoo, unaware of Ha Eung Eung’s thoughts, felt a subtle sense of difort.
There was something about Eom Gil-dong that triggered a memory, but it remained elusive in her mind.
She felt a mild frustration but wasn’t particrly obsessed with figuring it out.
If it was important, it woulde to her naturally.
Ha Eung Eung let go of the feeling of unease.
What neither Eom Gil-dong nor Ha Eung Eung realized was one critical fact.
In order to coborate, they would need to issue and ept an invitation within the virtual world, but a coboration invitation between them couldn’t be made.
That was because Eom Gil-dong’s ount was still blocked by Ha Eung Eung’s ount.
The day a coboration could happen still seemed far away.
<ol start="3">
<li></li>
</ol>
[Awakener Association Board Meeting and Emergency Session]
□ Date and Location
<ul>
<li>June 15, 2051, 04:40 (Board Meeting)</li>
<li>Avalon Gate B211, Association Headquarters</li>
</ul>
Ⅰ. Opening of the Meeting
<ol>
<li>Confirmation of Attendance and Opening Remarks
Attending Directors: Jang Dong-yun, Seo Mok-geum, Hon Il-young, and 7 others.
Delegated Directors: Lee Yu-gu, Kim Myung-su, Shi Du-mok, and 3 others.</li>
<li>President’s Opening Remarks</li>
</ol>
Ⅱ. Reports and Issues
<ol>
<li>Prediction of changes in the Teen Guild power structure
(1) Aftereffects of the Gate Expedition
(2) Aftereffects of the destruction of the Myung-ho Guild
(3) Spection on the disappearance of Lee Myung-ho
(4) Unpredictable movements of Haenampa</li>
<li>The greatest threat, Haenampa
(1) Suspiciously strong financial situation</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>Unknown sources of support</li>
<li>Suspected ties with the government
(2) Joining of nning Director Baek So-cheon</li>
<li>Potential existence of unique factions for Returnees</li>
<li>Investigation request into the <Martial Arts Chronicle></li>
</ul>
Ⅲ. Deliberation Topics
<ol>
<li>Response Strategy for Teen Guilds
(1) Baek So-cheon’s 10-Year n</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>Proceed with the original n A</li>
<li>Appoint Nam O-yoon as the new nning Director to rece Baek So-cheon
(2) Nam O-yoon’s Strategy</li>
<li>Intend to provoke conflict with the weakened Ahsan Guild and Myung-ho Guild through the Taebaek Guild</li>
<li>n to create a real-world entertainment industry sh to lead to full confrontation</li>
<li>Introducepetitive bidding among guilds for projects, encouraging capital rivalry</li>
</ul>
<ol start="2">
<li>Haenampa Response Strategy
(1) Background for Introducing the Topic</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>Need to curb the rapidly growing Haenampa, unlike the Teen Guilds</li>
<li>Intentional real estate maniption and fortification of surrounding areas</li>
<li>The “Demon King Swordsman” issue is now feasible in reality, necessitating preparations for a potential terrorist attack in coordination with the viinous organization, <ck Army></li>
</ul>
(2) Creation of a Special Investigation Team
<ul>
<li>Need for top-level intelligence team to prate the National Security Agency’s information concealment</li>
<li>Agents currently conducting operations in East Asia will be recalled to form the team</li>
<li>Use of previously avoided dangerous individuals for aggressive recruitment</li>
</ul>
<ol start="3">
<li>Revision of the Bws
(1) Discussion of the Target Regtions
○ Article 13 (Board of Directors)</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>Remove restrictions on board activities
○ Article 24 (Opus Organization)</li>
<li>Remove restrictions on the employment of personnel in the Opus Organization</li>
<li>Change in criteria for listing dangerous individuals</li>
<li>Remove criteria for listing high-risk individuals</li>
</ul>
(2) New and Old Comparison
(3) Deliberation Results
○ Article 13 (Board of Directors)@@novelbin@@
<ul>
<li>Change from "80% approval" to "50% approval" for quicker decision-making</li>
<li>The board may now intervene directly in issues other than special information ess restrictions</li>
</ul>
○ Article 24 (Opus Organization)
<ul>
<li>Allow aggressive employment of Opus Organization members, with additional regtion to assign dedicated supervisors to high-level awakened personnel</li>
</ul>
<ol start="4">
<li>Risk Assessment of Key Figures, Ha Eung Eung
(1) Strategic nning Department 2nd Room Revision</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>Unanimous agreement to establish a special 2nd Room for Ha Eung Eung and Haenampa</li>
<li>Creation of a special monitoring team to urately assess Ha Eung Eung’s risk level</li>
<li>A power analysis team to synchronize and analyze all broadcasts through sensory links</li>
</ul>
(2) Research Coboration with Opus Organization
<ul>
<li>Proposal for a replica study to artificially reproduce Ha Eung Eung’s power, but rejected due to excessive risk</li>
<li>Dr. Johan II to be sent by Opus Organization to analyze the power analysis results</li>
</ul>
(3) Silent Swordsman Mark Issue
<ul>
<li>Assign an A-level supervisor to prevent Dr. Johan II from creating Silent Swordsman Mark 3</li>
<li>Suspected that Dr. Johan II created Silent Swordsman Mark 2 and hid it; a dedicated search team will be formed to find and secure it</li>
</ul>
Ⅳ. Adjournment
【Top Secret Information ess Restricted Document】
[Awakener Association Board Meeting and Emergency Session]
[Strategic nning Department 2nd Room Members]
[Search Results for Silent Swordsman Mark 2]
[This document is restricted. Unauthorized disclosure may lead to deployment in the Gate Expedition Corps for up to 20 years.]
As Min Woo-seong examined the information provided by the National Security Agency, an uneasy expression spread across his face.
‘Did that guy really make Mark 2?’
A clone of that monstrous Ha Eung Eung?
Is that even possible?
Although it was a highly concerning matter, the National Security Agency had a reason for providing the information.
“Are you suggesting we stop broadcasting to prevent the Silent Swordsman’s information from leaking?”
<ul>
<li>“Yes. We’ve been managing it well, but we’d appreciate it if you could stop the broadcasts as much as possible.”
“Thank you for stealing the minutes, but the timing couldn’t be worse.”</li>
</ul>
Min Woo-seong muttered quietly to the screen phone, ncing at Ha Eung Eung’s personal room.
“She just started her <em>half-beast</em> stream.”