Chapter 31: Monster Wave (4)

What Cheon Hwi meant by “blowing things up” was simple.

A roundup hunt.

He planned to wait for the monsters to pour out of the gate and then wipe them out all at once.

Once the viewers realized that, they frantically tried to stop him.

No matter how you looked at it, trying a roundup hunt during a Monster Wave—not a regular dungeon—was pure madness.

It was undeniably an efficient strategy, but the risk was far too great to justify using it for the sake of efficiency alone.

Unlike fighting inside a gate, the more monsters gathered in the outside world, the more unpredictable variables could appear.

And that wasn’t all.

There would be financial damage in the area where the monsters gathered, and if the roundup failed and the monsters scattered, it would be a full-scale disaster.

Viewers, united in concern, listed every reason why he shouldn’t attempt a roundup hunt.

But Cheon Hwi had considered all of that from the start—and he easily resolved the issue, silencing the growing outcry.

He deployed his domain, completely blocking any chance of those problems happening.

Wait, wasn’t the Grandmaster a martial arts expert?

Why is this guy using barriers now?

I’m just… speechless lol

“It’s more accurate to call it a ‘domain’ than a barrier, though the role it plays isn’t all that different.”

A harmonized martial artist could externalize their Intent, or mental image.

That Intent could be projected outward in strands like threads, but more often, it would expand outward in a wide circle around the user.

This was called a Consciousness Domain, or simply a Domain.

The natural energy inside the domain would become tied to the martial artist’s Intent, allowing it to move like their own internal energy.

The domain’s owner could then manipulate that energy and unleash all sorts of martial effects within its boundaries.

It was a martial technique that connected the philosophy of one’s martial art to their mental image, twisting reality itself.

And the reason such a thing was possible—was the domain.

Look at how packed it is, lol.

Why are the monsters swarming like bugs?

There really are this many monsters coming out of a Wave Gate, huh…

About ten minutes passed like that.

Eventually, the gate that had been endlessly spewing monsters went quiet, as if it had finally run out.

“Looks like I’ve gathered enough now.”

Standing in midair through the subtlety of Mastery Through Emptiness, Cheon Hwi descended toward the horde of hundreds of monsters.

The monsters, which had been running wild in all directions, all turned their attention toward him at once.

Hundreds of bloodthirsty gazes focused on Cheon Hwi in a single instant.

For an ordinary person, that alone would be enough to make them faint—and even high-ranking Hunters would be sweating bullets at the sight.

But for Cheon Hwi, who had already transcended the level of human, it wasn’t the slightest threat.

“The camera’s in position… guess it’s time to really get started.”

Cheon Hwi tilted his head up slightly, gazing at the sky, and smiled in satisfaction.

Then, lowering his gaze, he locked eyes with the charging mass of monsters directly ahead.

The camera, suspended high in the air, remained fixed in a top-down view—looking down on the battlefield from above.

Just like in a top-view game, the image of Cheon Hwi and the monster horde racing toward each other sent viewers into a frenzy.

Look at that shot, lol

That camera angle is pure art.

The Grandmaster’s badass martial arts demo is about to start in 3… 2… 1

The viewers had already predicted Cheon Hwi’s victory.

Based on everything he’d shown so far, most assumed that taking down this many monsters would be no challenge for him.

What they were really curious about was how he would wipe them all out.

Every time, he had delivered jaw-dropping spectacle—and this time, they were sure he’d do it again.

The viewers had no doubt.

And Cheon Hwi, fully aware of their expectations, lived up to them perfectly.

Simply crushing them with overwhelming force wouldn’t be very fun.

Plenty of Hunters had already shown that kind of scene—and even he himself had done so just moments ago with a strike from the Mugeuk Ilwon Divine Art.

So even if he pulled off another dominant display, while it might get a good reaction, it probably wouldn’t cause an explosion of hype.

I’ve decided.

Cheon Hwi twitched the corner of his mouth into a sly grin as he raised both arms and activated a technique that came to mind.

This time, he would focus not on brute force—but on spectacle and wonder.

Not a scene of inescapable violence, but one that felt incomprehensible—even as it was happening right before their eyes.

And the perfect technique for that had come to mind.

A divine martial art that was as fun to perform as it was fascinating to watch.

“There’s no reason for me to get my hands bloody myself.”

The moment he made up his mind, a martial art from Cheon Hwi’s memory unfolded into the world.

His left hand extended forward—not too fast, not too slow—gliding gently through the air.

While his outstretched left arm held steady, his right hand danced around it, fingers forming a sword seal, moving like a conductor’s baton.

At a glance, the movements seemed completely meaningless.

It looked like bizarre behavior, the kind that would make someone ask, “What could possibly be the point of that?”

But Cheon Hwi saw things differently.

Having mastered the essence and mysteries of all martial arts across the Central Plains, the world as he perceived it was beyond the understanding of ordinary eyes.

“By combining the subtlety of Taiji Wisdom Sword with the principle of Geon-Gon Daenai, and slipping Mount Hua’s Illusory Sword into the gaps between broken laws, I guide the flow toward collapse.”

The Taiji Wisdom Sword, the supreme divine art of the Wudang Sect, combined with Geon-Gon Daenai, the pinnacle of power manipulation.

Naturally, mixing two different divine arts meant the flow of martial energy couldn’t be perfectly seamless.

So in the awkward gaps that remained, he inserted the illusionary principles from Mount Hua’s sword art, sealing the flow with finesse.

“Come.”

The moment Cheon Hwi spoke that bold command, the monster horde clashed with him.

Or at least, it looked like a clash—yet not a single monster touched him.

“Yes, just like that. Come on in.”

Like water splitting to flow around a rock, the monster horde was swept into an irresistible current of force and split to Cheon Hwi’s left and right.

Once caught in that flow, there was no escape.

Though mindless, the monsters instinctively understood the truth—and thrashed about in panic, howling with pain and confusion.

Cheon Hwi, with calm control, guided the flow with his sword seal, orchestrating the panicked horde.

The two streams of monsters curved in a circle and met behind Cheon Hwi—colliding violently.

Crashing into one another, some monsters inadvertently attacked their own kind, while others were wounded by their own reflected strikes.

What the hell.

What even is that?

What did he do, lol

It was a martial art that fused the Taiji Wisdom Sword, unrivaled in defense and counter techniques, with Geon-Gon Daenai, which governed the direction of power.

And on top of that, the illusionary trick embedded from Mount Hua’s sword created subtle visual misdirection—causing monsters to fall helplessly into Cheon Hwi’s trap.

“The numbers have dropped quite a bit, but… as expected from a Wave, there are still quite a few left alive.”

The monsters that had recklessly charged toward Cheon Hwi were now either dead or fatally wounded—on the verge of death.

Cheon Hwi, stepping over the mountain of corpses he had created in an instant, gathered Water-Steel Qi around himself.

With both hands now dyed pitch-black, he thrust them forward and leapt into the air.

“–!.”

As Cheon Hwi soared upward, the skeleton mages completed spells in a language no one could understand and launched a bombardment at him.

Flames, gusts of wind, and bolts of lightning rained down all at once.

It might have seemed simple, but the power behind it was far from negligible.

These spells had enough force to casually level two or three entire blocks.

For a normal Hunter, this would’ve been a panic-inducing moment—they’d be forced to dodge and immediately prepare for the next attack.

“Such a pointless effort.”

But Cheon Hwi had long since left the realm of ordinary beings behind.

As the magical bombardment closed in, Cheon Hwi scoffed and stretched out his hand.

“Magic is merely a phenomenon created by shaping the natural energy of the world.
In the end, all things converge into the Mugeuk, returning to black and white—thus, it is meaningless.”

As the magic touched his Water-Steel Qi, it lost its original color, melted away, and crumbled into dust.

The magic, now tainted with black and white energy, didn’t harm Cheon Hwi in the slightest—instead, it was absorbed into him and became part of his strength.

Magic absorption, lol

Wait, give the skeletons their magic back! lol

He blocked that like it was nothing?!

I keep watching to see where this ends, but it just never does, lolol

“We’re not done yet.”

Cheon Hwi curled his lips into a smirk.

At that moment, the absorbed spells reappeared before his eyes, now cloaked in black and white energy—causing viewers to gasp in shock once again.

He was releasing the absorbed magic back?

How is that even possible?

Could Seo Ye-rin do something like this too?

Even magic-type Hunters usually can’t pull this off…

Black flames rained down, burning monsters like hellfire, while those who barely survived were struck by black lightning falling from the sky like divine punishment.

It was as if some absolute being had descended to judge the world.

Stunned speechless by the surreal spectacle, the viewers could only stare blankly at their screens.

“I suppose I should finish this myself.”

As Cheon Hwi murmured those words, the black flames and black lightning vanished as if they had never existed.

Hundreds of monster corpses lay strewn across the battlefield in brutal disarray—but the street itself, despite being the center of the devastation, was miraculously untouched by energy damage.

It was because Cheon Hwi had deliberately adjusted his domain to protect the area.

“So, you’re the final boss of this Wave?”

An orc, clearly drained after barely surviving the previous attack, knelt in place. Its entire body was scorched and covered in blood.

Is that a High Orc?

Looks like a High Orc Chieftain, but he just got wrecked lol

I think I’m starting to get scared of the Grandmaster now lolol

Seriously, is he even human at this point? lol

The High Orc, an upper-rank variant of orc known for its distinct red skin, was classified as a top-tier A-rank monster.

But now, after being shredded by Cheon Hwi’s assault, it was hard to tell whether its skin had always been red—or if it had simply been dyed that way by the blood pouring from its wounds.

“You endured until the end. At the very least, I’ll send you off without pain.”

Tap.

Cheon Hwi placed his hand on the High Orc Chieftain’s body.

The chieftain’s body, now a pitch-black husk, collapsed and disintegrated like it was melting—absorbed completely into Cheon Hwi.

The High Orc Chieftain vanished without leaving even a corpse behind.

Having taken care of the final boss monster cleanly, Cheon Hwi turned his gaze to what had been hidden behind the chieftain.

The gate, which had been pouring out Wave monsters, was slowly shrinking and beginning to close.

Seeing this, Cheon Hwi confirmed that the crisis was over, and with a broad smile and a booming voice, he declared.

“The Monster Wave is over.”

The viewer count displayed on-screen had quietly passed the 10,000 mark.

[Song Cheon Hwi / Broadcast has ended.]

Cheon Hwi’s incredible performance and bold declaration spread instantly, carried by ten thousand mouths the moment the stream ended.