Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

[Turn 4]
[Silent Swordsman Phase (End)]
[Great Demon Phase (End)]
[Baek Ryeong Shin-Gun Phase (End)]
[All phases have ended.]
[The turn is ending.]

[Turn 5]
[Silent Swordsman Phase]
[Great Demon Phase]
[Baek Ryeong Shin-Gun Phase]
[Silent Swordsman Phase begins.]
 
[Silent Swordsman Phase]
[Select a faction strategy.]
[You can select one strategy this turn.]
[Remaining strategy selections: 1.]

[Faction Strategy]
Conference (Get advice, expand the map)
Investigation (Gain information, acquire items, discover talents)
Attack (Invade the field, expand the faction)
Station (Defend the field, recover from injuries, reinforce troops)
Scheme (Trigger event)
Diplomacy (Trigger event)
Special (Trigger event: Rebellion)
 
First, charging in and killing everything might work, but Ha Eung Eung had a different thought.

‘The great demon made a miscalculation of his forces. I can’t pass up this opportunity.’
The great demon is strong.
When recalling the strength of the Pillars of Ascension, the great demon’s strength must surpass even that.
Perhaps this is an opponent so strong that she must regain the strength of her prime.
‘I have a feeling I’m still too weak to settle things with the great demon right now.’

Ha Eung Eung considered the strength of the Pillars of Ascension to be transcendental, and the great demon’s power exceeded that, reaching the level of the Transcendent Realm!
She could overcome it at a lower level, so she must raise her level to transcendental.
However, the demon’s subordinates are different.
Most are between peak and transcendental levels.
With her current strength at the peak level, she could easily defeat and toy with them.
As long as the opportunity arises, it’s best to eliminate as many subordinates as possible.

Considering the great demon’s unique event where he uses demons within a certain range to increase his power, the fewer subordinates he has, the better.

‘So, I should draw them in.’
If she counterattacked, the enemies would immediately flee.
The more she rampaged, the better the future would be as they scattered in all directions.
But if she focused on defense?
She wouldn’t even need to step out—enemies would come to her, and all she would need to do is devour them, and the enemy’s large forces would collapse on their own.
‘Stress is gone. Since I have subordinates, it wouldn’t be bad to give them a chance to gain experience every now and then.’

For that reason, she thought.
For the first time, a defensive position had been set.
The Silent Swordsman of the half-demon valley.
A voluntary defense was beginning, a first in her game where she knew only offense.
[▶Special]
[The high-ranking officials, hearing of the carnage in the great demon's capital, spread this news to all the demons across the field, inciting a rebellion.]
If that tempting option hadn’t been blinking in front of her, she might have chosen differently.
 
“Hiik! The horns have grown!!”
“Still a baby, huh? The horns are so small!”
“Has the lord decided to throw off the guise of humanity and walk the path of demons?”

The cowardly Ttu-Dda’s always-surprised reactions.
The reaction of the boastful wandering merchant with his small horns, no different from others.
The traitor knight’s treacherous reaction as a symbol of loyalty.
It was hard to tell if these were the higher-ups or just professional reaction panels with how faithful their responses were, making Ha Eung Eung raise both hands to cover her horns, eyeing them warily.
“I really don’t want to touch them!! They’re so scary!!”
“You’re really a coward, huh? I wasn’t going to touch them either.”
“…Ahem.”
The traitor knight casually raised his hand and stretched his shoulder.

“When did they grow?”
“I’m curious too. Didn’t you not have horns before?”
Before Ttu-Dda and the porter could even ask, Ya Cheon Myeong Rang quickly ran over and warned.
“There’s a reason the mistress has been hiding her strength. If you offend her, you might end up dead like my subordinates with a Demon Death Beam.”
“Hiieeeek!!!”
“Demon Death Beam! That sounds like a terrifying technique!”
“……”

Totally on guard, hahaha.
Ttu-Dda is so scared!!
Taking a screenshot of scared Ttu-Dda, hahaha!!
Happy to see more Ttu-Dda juice memes!
Why are there so many of these Ttu-Dda humans?
At least they’re better than before.
Don’t you want to give a nice smack to those “dot dot” people?
Compared to when the Plague Demon just rampaged...
Ah...
The dark days in the Silent Swordsman’s chatroom, hahaha.
That was truly terrifying...
Everyone either became a lost space traveler or a Plague Demon back then... Don’t miss it...
Yeah, it was so hard and frustrating.
Let’s not go back to our roots...
 
The past may be glorified once it’s gone, but when it’s truly tough, even if you gain back your youth, there’s no desire to go back to it.
“Ttu-Dda, don’t you miss the days without horns?”

To the wandering merchant, it seemed like now, with the horns, was the time when those thoughts appeared.
“You were strong. You were called the strongest swordsman in the world. Even though you were the second strongest human, you quit being human.”
“?”
“Don’t you feel bad about doing all that, yet not feeling bad about it? It’s truly pitiful.”
Ha Eung Eung’s horns weren’t like the massive ones of demons such as the mountain goats or bison; they were more like goblins’ horns.
Small, cute horns that rose gently, not large and swollen, but more like a little lump.

“I won’t ask whose blood you’ve drunk or what half-demon you’ve become. It’s all your choice. But let me say this.”
The wandering merchant patted Ha Eung Eung’s head.
“Goblins grow by feeding on expectations. Wishing for a good harvest, desiring wealth, hoping no disasters come…”
“……”
“I’m sure you awakened the goblin’s blood by feeding on everyone’s expectations. But you know, expectations that are too big kill the goblin.”

The wandering merchant embraced Ha Eung Eung’s head into his chest.
His skin, much hotter than human body temperature, radiated heat that made the air feel scorching.
As she rested her head in his arms, Ha Eung Eung quietly surrendered herself.
“So, don’t try so hard on your own. Just like you passed the artifacts for my brother, I’ll do my best to help you too.”
The cute and innocent blue-skinned goblin demon.
Before the wandering merchant, who seemed so small and harmless, Ha Eung Eung felt a sense of awkwardness.
Like being in the embrace of the clouds of Azisahab, a soft feeling tickled her heart.

“Normally, smaller goblins follow bigger ones as their leaders!”
“!”
“You might be strong as a human, but as a goblin, I’m the senior?”
With a smug look, the wandering merchant rummaged through his infinite pouch and, with a jaja-jan, pulled something out.
“A gift! Take this and cheer up!”

[Wandering Merchant's Blessed Twig from the One-Bite Spirit]
“……”
Though she couldn’t bring herself to refuse, Ha Eung Eung wondered why the merchant was carrying such an item.
She hoped there might be some hidden effect in the name “Spirit,” but it turned out to be just a twig with no item effects listed.

‘I don’t know who’s worrying about whom. The one acting more childish is him.’
Innocence is like a plague.
It spreads unexpectedly.
It causes foolish judgments and twists facial muscles into forced smiles.
It’s a dreadful disease that even martial artists can’t avoid!
Still, sometimes, one thinks...
Wouldn’t it be okay to catch this disease?
‘Maybe I’ve already caught it.’

Even though stationing is obviously inferior to triggering the special Rebellion event...
[▶Station]
Yet, she fortified her defense.
She wanted to cherish this smile, this time, a little longer.

‘But it’s not my fault.’
It was definitely not a weakness of heart.
She hadn’t gone soft.
Maybe it was just a disease that would heal with time, and certainly, it would heal eventually.
So, there was nothing she could do.
It was the disease’s fault.
The one who unknowingly spread it was the one at fault.
 
[Strengthening field defense.]
[Healing wounded soldiers.]
[Reinforcing troops.]

There is an expected value in everything.
In a packed bag of snacks, you expect it to be full.
If you pay a high price, you expect delicious food.
What you anticipate in your heart.
Of course, reality is harsh.
Cold capitalism doesn’t fulfill expectations.
A bag of chips with nitrogen leaks might be only a third full,
and an unpleasant, tasteless dish can slap you in the face despite its fame.
Sometimes, those who do good deeds are repaid with evil actions,
and sometimes, you’re blamed by everyone for doing the right thing, making it impossible to do anything without others throwing stones at you.
Still, sometimes,
very rarely,
the expected value is not met,
and instead, luck brings more than expected.
[The Capital Defense Commander wishes to have a private audience.]
[▶Accepted the private audience.]

The great demon’s field boss, a general with a large catfish mustache and a massive face, came to find her.
“Silent Swordsman. I have something to confess.”
“?”
“I have an inherited skill for eavesdropping. I heard that in the last battle, you gave up being human for the sake of your subordinates and even abandoned your immortal nature.”
The catfish general lowered his head solemnly.

“I felt ashamed. As the general of the Capital Defense Force, born to protect the capital, I failed my mission and am now compared to you.”
Field defense. Wounded recovery, troop reinforcement.
If those were expected, then the catfish general’s change of heart was well beyond expected value, a stroke of luck.
Even if they had almost become sacrifices to the great demon, fleeing from him, their faction was not only the Silent Swordsman’s.
If they were to go anywhere, Baek Ryeong Shin-Gun’s forces would be many times better.
There is no more foolish choice than to entrust oneself to a faction with no future.
And yet, the catfish general chose that foolish path.
“Even without bearing responsibility, taking on the responsibility and turning the mighty great demon into an enemy has reminded me of my shame.”

The face was large, the catfish mustache grotesque, and his massive form was as unpleasant as the prickly demons, but in his eyes, determination burned.
“I request to be enlisted. Take in us, the lost ones, those who have failed in their mission to protect the capital.”