The Cheater starts from Demon Slayer

"Now we interrupt with an urgent news update. According to our sources, the famous adventurer and martial arts master, Mr. Daniel Park of South Korea, has been confirmed dead in the [Pirate World]. He was 53 years old..."

Yoo Jonghyuk suddenly stopped in his tracks, incredulously taking off his headphones. He quickly searched for related news on his phone. The browser page had already turned black and white, and a flood of related reports began to emerge.

"It's true... that old man... really is dead." Jonghyuk looked up, and within the surrounding crowd, faint cries could already be heard.

Ever since that day more than two hundred years ago, when countless massive portals abruptly appeared across the earth, this world had been thrust into an unavoidable [Game of Destiny].

Everyone was required to enter a portal precisely at the age of 18 to face their first [Game of Destiny].

They would be transported to bizarre and fantastical worlds to carry out various dangerous tasks. Success would bring rewards, while failure meant a tragic death.

Human life instantly became a fragile number. In just a few decades, the world's population decreased by 70%.

Even though governments around the globe began encouraging childbirth through various means, reforming education, and teaching children how to survive in different environments, humanity continued to die off in droves. The intense despair that accompanied these deadly tasks was an even greater disaster than the [Game of Destiny] itself. Many people no longer wished to have children or put in any effort.

Suicide, annihilation, self-imposed exile—if this continued, humanity would eventually face extinction.

But humans are paradoxical creatures, and from the deepest despair often emerge the brightest heroes.

In the past century, a group of brilliant heroes had risen.

They passionately faced the future, diligently honing their bodies, and gathered information from the various worlds of the [Game of Destiny].

Task after task, they became stronger step by step, showcasing their lives to the public through various media.

They recorded their adventures via live-streaming software, encouraging all of humanity to embrace hope, conquer the [Game of Destiny], and triumph over so-called fate.

And Mr. Daniel Park was the most dazzling hero South Korea had seen in nearly a century. From a young age, he practiced traditional martial arts, displaying extraordinary talent and quick thinking. Through the [Game of Destiny], he discovered even more possibilities, founding the renowned [Daniel Martial Arts].

Thanks to this, ordinary people could train in extraordinary martial arts from a young age, achieving physical fitness beyond that of normal humans, better equipping them to face the [Game of Destiny].

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the existence of such a person increased the probability of humanity's survival.

But now, this person had ultimately died in the [Game of Destiny]. Many Korean citizens felt as though a piece of their hearts was missing. The sorrow extended beyond Korea, enveloping neighboring countries like China and Japan, which were deeply influenced by Daniel Park.

Jonghyuk silently listened to music as he walked to J Academy. The campus was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere that evening. As a group about to face their first [Game of Destiny], the impact of Daniel Park's death was unparalleled.

The usually crowded training grounds were now empty, and most of the students Jonghyuk passed wore expressions of panic.

Standing nearly 1.9 meters tall, Jonghyuk, dressed in a brown trench coat, had an imposing, muscular physique. Usually, at this time, younger students would come to him for advice on how to train their bodies, but today, no one greeted him.

Jonghyuk began removing his coat, revealing muscles as chiseled as if carved from stone. Just as he was about to start his training for the day, his phone kept receiving notifications. Jonghyuk checked his phone, and the first message was from the bank.

"Dear esteemed user, you have received a transfer of 3,000,000 won to your account ending in 8823 from [Korean Destiny Group], with the note [Manuscript Royalties]. Your current balance is 4,520,800 won."

Jonghyuk sighed. He knew that the deposit was the profit share from the [Game of Destiny] guides he had posted on the forum. Given the current situation, with Mr. Daniel Park's passing, many people's sense of crisis had deepened, leading to increased profits from his guides.

But he couldn't feel happy about it.

At this moment, the app called "Destiny Forum" already showed 999+ unread messages, and the app icon kept flashing. Jonghyuk had a good idea of what was happening.

He opened the app, and the message box was already overflowing. People he knew and didn't know were sending him private messages, and many users were tagging him in posts. Jonghyuk set aside his clothes and found a corner to sit down.

A post titled "Korea's Hero Has Fallen, Where is the Sealer Cheatjong?" had been pushed to the top, with hundreds of thousands of replies, and the numbers were still rising. Jonghyuk clicked on it.

"Just now, Korea's hero, Mr. Daniel Park, passed away! After my initial pain, I suddenly realized something and wanted to ask everyone, and also ask someone specific!"

"As we all know, Mr. Daniel Park and the so-called Sealer Cheatjong were long-term trading partners. It is said that Mr. Daniel Park paid the price of personally teaching Sealer Cheatjong how to train, in exchange for the most comprehensive information support from Cheatjong. So why, with the Sealer Cheatjong's information support, was Mr. Daniel Park still unable to avoid the battle with that pirate?"

"Did the Sealer Cheatjong conceal some critical information, leading to Korea's hero's death?"

"If it wasn't concealment, then has the Sealer Cheatjong been excessively exaggerated? Is his intelligence on the various worlds of the [Game of Destiny] truly accurate?"

…

The replies in the thread were varied. Some people were angrily demanding that the Sealer Cheatjong be held responsible, while others who were fans of the Sealer argued that this was simply an unfortunate accident. Some even began spinning conspiracy theories, questioning whether the Sealer had ulterior motives.

This Cheat-Jong was none other than Jonghyuk, first noticed upon arriving in this world that the task worlds in the [Game of Destiny] were very similar to various anime episodes from his previous life.

The lonely young man began selling information on the forum under the ID "Cheatjong." Over time, because "Tongjong" always had unique insights and more secret knowledge, more and more people started calling him the [Sealer of the Game of Destiny], implying that he seemed as knowledgeable as a beta tester of the [Game of Destiny], and as powerful as someone with cheat-like abilities.

As a transmigrator, Jonghyuk used this business to accumulate vast wealth and connections. However, holding onto the cautious nature he carefully concealed his true identity, refusing to accept recruitment from the government or offers from powerful corporations.

All the enormous wealth he amassed was converted into various genetic serums to enhance himself. Jonghyuk's mind was always clear—one day, he too would have to enter this [Game of Destiny].

He wasn't afraid; in fact, he was somewhat excited. Because of this, he never indulged in a life of comfort. All his wealth was meant to be nourishment to strengthen his body and ability to survive.

But now, the immense attention that came with the [Sealer] title was bringing unprecedented backlash. His private messages were no longer filled with flattery and praise; instead, they were flooded with curses and vulgar insults. The more moderate messages hinted that they hoped Cheatjong would step forward to explain the situation.

Forum celebrities who were once familiar with him also fell silent. It was human nature to seek benefit and avoid harm—nothing more, nothing less.

Jonghyuk set the app notifications to silent and turned off his phone. He didn't have time to argue with these terrified people right now. At sunset tomorrow, he would face his first [Game of Destiny], known as the [Awakening Trial].

If he could pass this step, he could then sort out the public's opinions. If he couldn't, then it wouldn't matter—nothing people said would affect him in the slightest.

Jonghyuk walked into the training ground and began his stance training for the day.

Stance training has always been an indispensable part of ancient martial arts. After Daniel Park acquired the extraordinary martial arts techniques from worlds like [One Punch Man], the practice was further integrated with aspects of qi cultivation.

Jonghyuk assumed a horse stance, with his hands moving back and forth in the air, his muscles completely relaxed as he sought the union of body and mind, trying to feel every subtle tremor within his muscles.

In his mind, Jonghyuk envisioned a constantly flowing river, hoping to grasp the mysteries of qi from it. This was the only extraordinary power he might be able to obtain at the moment, but unfortunately, after many years, Jonghyuk still couldn't get the hang of it.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and Jonghyuk ended his practice with frustration. He still couldn't grasp that elusive sense of qi.

When Daniel Park was alive, they had discussed this issue, and Jiang speculated that it might be because the genetic serums Jonghyuk had taken had greatly strengthened his body, making it harder for him to sense qi. As a result, to grasp the feeling of qi, Jonghyuk would need to train his body to an even more extreme level than an ordinary person.

But with the ever-approaching [Game of Destiny], Jonghyuk, unable to master the sense of qi, could only continue buying more genetic serums to further strengthen his body, hoping to enhance his chances of survival—a vicious cycle was thus created.

Over the years, Jonghyuk gained a body of incredible strength, but he still hadn't been able to master the extraordinary martial arts.

Rationality, Jonghyuk believed, was the most important quality for survival, and he always maintained it.

Even though he knew from various anime that the path of qi and extraordinary martial arts ultimately led to the unparalleled power of the Warriors in the [Dragon Ball] world, his years of failure to grasp the sense of qi forced him to temporarily abandon that path. Fortunately, over the years, he had prepared multiple routes to handle unexpected situations.

For Jonghyuk, whose primary goal was survival, the most important thing was having a power system that provided excellent adaptability, could solve crises in various scenarios, and allowed him to survive in extreme environments.

Excluding abilities with uncertain acquisition methods, like those involving bloodlines or superpowers, physical enhancement abilities, taijutsu, and martial arts were the top choices. Among these, the cultivation of qi from [Dragon Ball] had the greatest potential, but there were many other options that suited Jonghyuk as well.

Taijutsu training from the [Naruto] world, the Six Powers and Haki training from the [One Piece] world, and the Enhancement-type Nen abilities from the [Hunter x Hunter] world were all excellent choices.

What Jonghyuk needed to do now was to synthesize various pieces of information and find the initial world that suited him best!