Chapter 46: Betting Broadcast (4)

After the commotion settled down, Choa and Scarlet each selected a suitable Spiritual Tonic and began proper Qi Circulation.

“Phew, I’m done. Since it wasn’t an internal energy-enhancing tonic, it absorbed way faster than I expected.”

“The Blood Sky Demon Technique has excellent base-level Qi Circulation, after all.”

The tonic Choa had chosen was Yeohodan.

Unlike typical tonics, it wasn’t much help for boosting internal energy, but as the name suggests, it was excellent for beauty and anti-aging, making it particularly beneficial for women.

Thanks to the Blood Absorption Great Art, Choa could build up internal energy just by taking in monster blood, so she didn’t need to rely on tonics for that purpose.

“Well then, this is the real focus.”

Leaving the content Choa behind, Cheon Hwi turned his gaze to Scarlet.

She sat in a cross-legged position, completely still, clearly focused on absorbing the tonic’s effects through Qi Circulation.

“Looks like a Constellation lives up to the name.”

Peering into Scarlet’s body, Cheon Hwi nodded in satisfaction.

The tonic, spread through her stomach, was being absorbed through her small intestine.

The absorbed energy was converted into internal energy through the gugyeol of the Samjae Technique.

That internal energy, now imbued with the principles of the gugyeol, was carried through her blood channels and stitched into the still-unformed danjeon in her lower abdomen.

Better results than expected.

Watching Scarlet skillfully form her danjeon, a smile appeared on Cheon Hwi’s lips.

“I should pick out some appropriate tonics for Seo Ye-rin too. She mentioned teaching me circle magic, but then that other Constellation suddenly popped out, and the whole thing just kind of got derailed.”

Originally, the Samjae Technique was considered a quintessential Third-rate martial art—common and unremarkable.

Like most Third-rate techniques, its Qi efficiency was terribly slow, and it had only a handful of incredibly simple moves.

But Scarlet had learned a modified version of the Samjae Technique—a version that Cheon Hwi had personally adjusted and improved to overcome that clumsiness.

“It’s refined enough to be called a true technique, and seeing her use it this well feels kinda rewarding.”

Despite having consumed quite a large amount of tonic, Scarlet absorbed it skillfully without any signs of instability.

Normally, when a martial artist consumes a tonic, they fail to absorb around 30% of its energy—but Scarlet’s absorption rate was exceptionally high.

“Let’s see… with the Fire Spirit Divine Pill, Mokryeongdan, and the Yeohodan Choa had, that should be enough.”

After selecting all the tonics he intended to deliver to Seo Ye-rin, Cheon Hwi neatly packed them into a plastic airtight container and thunk—set it down on the table with a snap of his fingers.

He then blocked off the inner and outer flow of qi around Scarlet using a barrier centered on her body.

“As expected of a flame-related Constellation, the moment she forms her danjeon, her internal energy turns to fire-aspect qi.”

Suddenly, Scarlet’s constellation symbol burst into a strong glow.

And then, the internal energy within her freshly formed danjeon was dyed deep crimson—fierce like blazing fire.

Most likely, because her core image was so deeply intertwined with fire, the otherwise neutral Samjae True Qi had been instantly transformed into her own elemental energy.

Even if her power had faded, a Constellation is still a Constellation, huh?

Cheon Hwi’s lips twitched slightly as he looked at Scarlet’s clearly manifested core image.

And five minutes later, having finished the entire process, Scarlet gathered her energy and opened her eyes.

“So this is a danjeon?”

“Feels kinda strange having a new organ pop up out of nowhere, right?”

Scarlet lightly smiled with a subtle expression as she touched her lower abdomen.

Of course, she couldn’t actually touch her danjeon, but the existence of a brand-new organ where there had been nothing before must have felt odd.

“Still, it’s refreshing to be able to use magic again like before.”

Whoosh!—A flick of Scarlet’s hand, and crimson flames rose up her arm.

The flames quickly disappeared, perhaps because she thought they might burn down the house, but they clearly resembled Avesta—the Trait originally belonging to Scarlet and now to Seo Ye-rin.

“Viewers are going to be shocked when they see this on the next stream, huh?
We know the context, but to everyone else, it’s going to look like a non-awakened person started using magic like an awakened in just a few days.”

Waving her hand through the lingering warmth of the flame, Choa commented in awe.

And it was true—as she said, the bet was already as good as won for Cheon Hwi.

Now, in the next broadcast, he’d have to deal with an exploding chat and a flood of cheering viewers, and as a seasoned streamer, Choa expressed some concern about that.

“And counting the break between broadcasts, it’s only been what—one or two days, right? From the viewers’ perspective, this all happened practically overnight.
Honestly, the entire country might flip over this time.”

A method for creating awakened individuals.

If word got out that such a thing existed, countries all over the world would be salivating at the opportunity.

It would obviously go far beyond ignoring or rejecting it like before—there would be limits to that kind of response.

And various attempts to exploit the method might emerge.

Just as Choa was voicing her concerns—not out of joy over the win, but out of worry for what would come next.

“Well, does it really matter?”

He already knew.

More than that, it wasn’t even a big deal to him.

The way Cheon Hwi answered made it sound as if it was nothing to be fussed over, causing Choa to tilt her head in confusion.

Then, as if stating the most natural thing in the world, Cheon Hwi murmured.

“If it’s annoying, I’ll just ignore it. If they cross the line, I’ll erase them.”

“Right. Nothing beats that. Usually, if you crush a few as an example, the rest crawl back real fast.”

Cheon Hwi casually spoke those chilling words as he began scooping the spilled tonics back into the container, and Scarlet nodded in agreement.

“Still, I doubt anything Choa is worried about will actually happen. I’ll have a word with the Association President. He’ll probably clean up most of the mess on that end.”

If someone really crosses the line and comes for me, I’ll just make an example out of them myself.

Saying that, Cheon Hwi finished putting away the tonics and dusted off his hands after returning the box to the wardrobe where he had first taken it out.

“More than anything, I don’t stop people from coming, and I don’t hold on to those who leave.”

He wasn’t trying to monopolize anything—if people were curious, they could just watch the stream.

Cheon Hwi’s indirect way of saying that made Choa let out a small chuckle.

“So like a master, through and through.”

Cheon Hwi’s stream didn’t have a set schedule.

Unlike other streamers who broadcast on specific days and times, he just turned it on whenever he felt like it.

They say the most agonizing kind of waiting is the kind without a promise.

With a rising-star streamer who could switch to the Hunter industry at any time running a completely unscheduled broadcast, Trizik fans felt like their blood was boiling from anxiety.

It had already been well over ten days since Cheon Hwi’s last broadcast.

The last stream had been the one where he introduced Scarlet and began teaching her martial arts—he hadn’t returned in over ten days since then.

Naturally, all kinds of rumors began to spread.

He ran away because he wasn’t confident he could win the bet.

He’s too focused on teaching martial arts to bother with streaming.

Maybe he quit broadcasting altogether and became a full-time Hunter?

Every possible theory and speculation filled Chobang Gallery with noise.

Nothing had been confirmed officially, but that only made the heat of the gallery’s discussions burn even hotter.

That is…

That is…

[Live / Song Cheon Hwi: Settling Karma]

Until the man at the center of it all finally returned—with a stream title no one could easily understand.

“Hm, it’s already been nearly fifteen days since the bet started.”

– It’s actually been twelve days, sir.

– So… what’s with the stream title exactly?

– Still, nice to see your face again after so long.

The deadline Cheon Hwi had agreed upon with his viewers for the bet was one month.

The wager: take an ordinary person with not a shred of magic in their body and raise them to the level of an awakened in a month.

Plenty of people, thinking they had nothing to lose, joined in to heat things up by contributing to the prize pool.

From individuals to entire organizations, wallets were opened wide—and now the total prize money was nearing ten million won.

Originally, the academic consensus—backed by decades of research—was that artificial awakening was impossible.

But the man who had already achieved multiple “impossible” feats now boldly claimed he could create an artificial awakened—and placed a bet on it.

Naturally, all eyes were on him.

“You’ve seen the title of this stream, haven’t you? Settling Karma. I trust no one here needs me to explain what that means.”

– Of course

– That phrase is everywhere in the streaming world

– I literally just watched someone hit pity on a gacha roll and said it was karma being settled

– Okay, that definitely counts as karma settlement ㅋㅋ…

Why bring up karma the moment the stream starts?

Curious viewers flooded the chat with questions directed at Cheon Hwi.

“Do I really need to explain it at length? The outcome of the bet has been decided—
now it’s time to confirm the results and brace yourselves for the cold reality.”

– Huh?

– Wait, right now?? LOL

– Isn’t there still like… two weeks left?

– He really hits you with it when you least expect it LOL

Cheon Hwi’s grin gleamed with an ominous energy, the corners of his mouth twisting wickedly.

The place where the stream was being broadcast from was the Association’s underground training hall.

By now, the Association President and the measurement team upstairs had likely finished preparing for Scarlet’s awakening level test.

Deciding it was about time to head up, Cheon Hwi struck a tone-setting pose, opened the training room door, and began walking.

“If you see every step of the measurement process with your own eyes, you’ll have no choice but to believe it—even if you don’t want to.”

It was the moment when everyone who had bet, assuming failure, felt a cold chill run down their spine.