Chapter 12
'Sae-jin…!'
JiHan, who'd been acting so far, gritted his teeth after he listened to the call.
Sae-jin was a cruel bastard who'd abandoned his daughter using love as an excuse; hearing his notice to Sae-ah made him furious.
'I didn't know he said this before.'
JiHan was busy trying to get hold of himself back then, so he didn't know the call was recorded since he couldn't pay attention to Sae-ah.
- Woah… What a crazy bastard.
- Sword King, you son of a bitch.
- He ran away to Japan because of a girl?
Most people were furious after hearing the call, but…
- No. This is fake!
- There's no way. Sword King. Would. Do this.
- The Sword King Fan Club guarantees this is fake!
The members of the Sword King Fan Club were desperately trying to deny reality.
'These Sword King Fan Club idiots.'
JiHan, who acted as if he didn't know much about Battle Tube, was quickly scanning through the chat window.
Most of the people who were shouting that there was no way the recording was real were members of the Sword King Fan Club.
'Those bastards ended up hurting Sae-ah…'
JiHan briefly remembered the terrible incidents that happened in the past, then quickly recalled the current situation and controlled the expression on his face.
"As you see, the Sword King has clearly expressed his intentions."
"Yes…" Sae-ah replied after a moment of silence.
She was doing her best to control her emotions, which ended up shaking the viewers' hearts.
- The daughter is innocent.
- Be more respectful. Sae-ah is innocent.
- You crazy bastards…
- Is her face important at the moment?
The chat window was divided over opinions on Sae-ah's appearance.
JiHan, who had been observing the chaos for a brief moment, finally brought up the main purpose of the broadcast. "As you see, we've received a unilateral notification from my brother-in-law."
"As a daughter, I want to take responsibility for my dad's erratic behavior… It's my fault for not doing my best as a daughter…" Sae-ah's voice stopped for a moment, and she turned her face away from the camera.
It seemed that her emotions were overwhelming her.
No one blamed her for that.
JiHan looked at her with a troubled heart. Was she acting, or were those her real emotions?
"Sae-ah…"
Yoon Sae-ah turned her face toward the camera again. While tearing up, she opened her mouth. "Although my dad… said that he'd leave the Sword Palace to me, I simply cannot accept it, so we want to make an announcement here. This building that Sword King Yoon Sae-jin left to me… I'm going to donate it to the government."
- Woah…
- The Sword Palace…?
The announcement that the Sword Palace would be donated surprised the people in the chat window.
The Sword Palace was a 67-story mixed-use building located in the middle of Gangnam. Its value was tremendous, and 10 generations could live there extravagantly.
Donating such a thing to the government?
- Has she gone mad?
- Maybe she's pretending to be the Sword King's daughter.
- Donating the Sword Palace…
- Isn't its value in the billions?
- I'm saying this as a member of the Sword King Fan Club. Ms. Yoon, be careful of the man standing next to you. You're being deceived. He's a scammer.
People's reactions were understandable.
The building by itself was really valuable, but donating it was as if they were making it clear that the Sword King would never return to Korea.
The Sword King Fan Club members were cursing JiHan because they just couldn't dare attack Yoon Sae-ah.
'Those bastards are a religious group.'
To be more precise, they were like a cult; JiHan decided to ignore them for the moment. After all, they weren't a group that would change their beliefs, so there was no need to try to please them.
His top priority was to eliminate people's hostility toward his niece, Yoon Sae-ah.
'The government will take it over anyway, so it's better to give it away to the country.'
Although people might think it was a pity, things would worsen once Sword King Yoon Sae-jin began working as a member of the Japanese team.
Once that happened, the hate wouldn't be directed only toward the Sword King but also toward Yoon Sae-ah, his daughter, so it was important to prevent such a thing from happening in advance.
'If I succeed as a player, I can buy a building like this again.'
JiHan, who'd worked as a hunting dog until the end, had bought and lived in a building bigger than it in New York.
Even though people from America First treated him like a second-class citizen, he received a lot of material benefits, and…
'I'll take the animosity of the Sword King Fan Club.'
Most people quit the fan club after the Sword King participated in a match as Japan's representative, but a minority remained and became even crazier. At first, they supported Yoon Sae-ah, but then their attitude toward her changed.
- The daughter's misconduct is what made the Sword King abandon his country.
- The Sword King will only return if Yoon Sae-ah dies!
They'd said all sorts of cruel things about her.
There was nothing he could do about it in his previous life, but that wasn't the case anymore.
'Yes. I should definitely direct their hostility toward me.'
Tap, tap.
JiHan walked toward the camera and picked it up.
"Uncle…?" Sae-ah was surprised by what JiHan was doing.
- Huh?
- Where's he going?
The viewers also became curious.
Without replying to their questions, JiHan kept walking to a place with a huge golden sculpture of two swords.
"Uncle? Why…"
"Sae-ah, and everyone, do you know what this is?"
"It's the Dual Sword Statue… The symbol of the Sword Palace."
- Every time I see it, I can't help but be surprised by its majestic appearance.
- Woah! He knows the Dual Sword Statue! As a member of the Sword King Fan Club, I'll explain. This is a statue that the Sword King designed when the Sword Palace was built! It's made of stainless steel, but part of it was made of 18K gold. Some say that it's Nordic gold, but in reality, it is gold recognized by the World Gold Association…
- Boring.
- Whenever something they know is brought up, they go crazy.
- Anyway, continue.
The Sword King himself had designed the Sword Palace's symbol.
JiHan looked at the statue with sad eyes. "This… was our family's pride. It was Gangnam's, no, Seoul's symbol."
- Yes! It's Korea's symbol!
- As a member of the Sword King Fan Club, I'm warning you… Don't talk in the past tense.
- Don't say nonsense. That Ito guy left for Japan, so this is now just an eyesore.
- Oh, here comes the sentimental sales pitch.
"But…" JiHan gave the camera to Sae-ah.
"Uncle…?"
He took a stance that made it clear that he was preparing to punch something.
- Huh??
- What's going on??
- Is he going to punch it?
- As a member of the Sword King Fan Club, I'm warning you! Stop this blasphemous act!
JiHan looked at the camera in Sae-ah's hands, and he then declared to the entire nation, "It isn't anymore."
BOOM!
JiHan's fist made contact with the Dual Sword Statue.
Not just once…
BOOM!
- Y… You…!
- What are you doing?!
- $%^&/ Stop it right now!
- How dare you try to destroy it!
The chat window fell into chaos.
The Sword King's fans in particular went wild.
That reaction was what JiHan was after.
BOOM! BOOM!
Despite their warnings, his fists didn't stop. His Martial Power had reached 12, so even if the statue was made of stainless steel, he was strong enough to make dents in it.
It didn't take long for the Dual Sword Statue to deform under his assault, and then…
Creak-
The huge statue began falling toward his side, about to crush him.
"Uncle!" Sae-ah tried to rush over in surprise, but…
Tap.
JiHan easily held it up.
"Sae-jin… No, Ito Ryuhei…" JiHan looked at the camera.
The JiHan on screen was completely different from the one that had appeared until then. He had a relaxed smile and was overflowing with confidence.
"I never liked this thing. It's a bit cringy, but it seems like I've fixed it."
The smile on JiHan's face deepened, and at the same time, his hand was covered with white light.
- What's that…
- Is it Ki?
- No. It's white. Is it Divine Power?
- What! It's impossible. How could a Bronze use that?
Ki Manifestation was a technique that only Warriors that were in Gold or above could use, and that technique was being used in front of the camera by a Bronze who had just finished the tutorial.
Moreover, he was using that technique with Divine Power.
'Only the starting points of Divine Power and Ki are different. They're used in a similar way.'
Paf!
The white light entered what used to be the Dual Sword Statue and quickly spread through its interior.
WHOOM-
It crumbled to pieces.
"If you're upset, come at me."
After completely destroying the Sword King's symbol, he flicked his hands while looking at the camera.
- He did it.
- That's a Bronze's strength…?
- Well done!
Some people cheered him on.
- Crazy…
- You son of a bitch!
- Blasphemy! The Sword King Fan Club won't forgive you!
Some people also criticized him.
'Good.'
Everything went as JiHan had intended. Public interest, cheering and cursing, shock and disbelief—he had decided to take all of those emotions upon himself.
As if answering his resolve, numerous messages popped up before JiHan.
[50,000 active viewers have gathered.]
[You've cleared the normal achievement 'Gather Viewers (3)'.]
[You've earned 5,000 achievement points.]
[100,000 active viewers have gathered.]
[You've cleared the normal achievement 'Gather Viewers (4)'.]
[You've earned 10,000 achievement points.]
[You've obtained 30,000 dislikes.]
[You've cleared the normal achievement 'Even If The World Hates You (2)'.]
[You've earned 3,000 achievement points.]
[You've obtained 10,000 likes.]
[You've cleared the normal achievement 'I… I Love You (1)'.]
[You've earned 1,000 achievement points.]
[You've obtained 30,000 likes.]
[You've cleared the normal achievement 'I… I Love You (2)'.]
[You've earned 3,000 achievement points.]
They were achievements that should've been impossible to clear at his level, but JiHan's attention was focused elsewhere.
What he cared about was people's reactions and who their reactions were directed to. That's what mattered.
- Nice spirit. Take a like.
- JiHan…! How dare you break the Dual Sword Statue!
As expected, the chat room was completely filled with his name.
JiHan smiled.
It was great.
'Pour all of your emotions on me.'
A memory he wanted to forget came back to him.
- Sae-ah, you're impressive. Uncle… feels like he's living in hell…
He'd said such nonsense to Yoon Sae-ah in the past after receiving hostility from the public.
- Uncle… It's okay. I'm here for you. I'll protect you.
He'd been consoled by his young niece, who'd received 10 times more criticism than him. He'd had no idea how much pain lay beneath her seemingly cheerful smile and healthy appearance.
'That's not the case anymore.'
Right, things would be different.
JiHan looked at the camera. "As you can see, it seems like I'll have to exclude the Dual Sword Statue from the donation list."
- AAH! THE DUAL SWORD STATUE!
- The symbol of the Sword King!
- What… Did… You… Do?!
- What will you do if the Sword King gets angry and doesn't return?!
At those words, the chat window was inundated with insults.
He was having fun when he saw that their hatred wasn't directed at Sae-ah but at him, and he bowed to the camera.
"Well, that's it for today's stream."
As soon as the broadcast ended…
The entire nation was thrown into chaos again.