Chapter 48: Demon King Song Cheon Hwi (1)

As Cheon Hwi ended the broadcast, thousands of viewers were instantly kicked out of the chat.

But those ejected viewers quickly gathered once again.

A literal world-shaking event had just taken place on Cheon Hwi’s stream—one that broke all common sense.

Naturally, the gathering place was Chobang Gallery, the viewers’ main hub.

The once-quiet community was now blazing with activity as thousands of users rapidly flooded it with posts.

[ThinkAboutIt: Wait, that actually worked? Artificial awakening is real? Didn’t the world’s top scholars say it was impossible?]

[Comments]

– I don’t know either, I’m scared

– The Great Hero’s actions keep getting bigger and bigger LOL

– But… he did pull it off, right?

As expected, the bulk of the new posts focused on the artificial awakened.

Yes, there were other topics too—like the Association’s latest measurement tech or the relationship between the Association President and Cheon Hwi—but those were only a fraction.

They said artificial awakening wasn’t possible.

No matter how extraordinary Cheon Hwi had been so far, this time, it just couldn’t be done.

It was supposed to be impossible.

But as if raising a middle finger to those who doubted, Cheon Hwi boldly proved—right in front of everyone—that artificial awakened individuals could exist.

[AllMeleeNoBrain: Wait, is it real that she got a high rank too?]

Isn’t C-rank good enough to get into a decent guild and live a good life?

Choa was originally D-rank too, right? And she became C-rank after learning from Song Cheon Hwi.

Song Cheon Hwi ← What the hell is this guy, really?

[Comments]

– “This guy”? You better watch your mouth.

– Choose your words more carefully from now on.

– But it is seriously fascinating.

– LOL honestly I thought it’d just be E or D at best, but C-rank??

That really worked? How did he even do it?

While reactions like that continued to flood in, the noise wasn’t limited to Chobang Gallery.

“Hey! Grab a screenshot of the stream footage right now!”

“Are we giving the scoop about the artificial awakened to another outlet?!”

“We’re running out of time! Type faster, we need this article out!”

The press—always thirsty for exclusives—had gone into a frenzy.

There were always stories to write about, but lately, there hadn’t been any real scoops that could capture the public’s full attention.

And now, out of nowhere, Cheon Hwi—who had been quiet for a while—had stirred up another massive event.

[The World’s First Artificial Awakened! A Successful Case Emerges Despite Academic Claims!]

[Artificial Awakened Scarlet—How Did She Become One?]

[Cheon Hwi Again? The True Mastermind Behind the Artificial Awakened Revealed.]

Just like Chobang Gallery was buzzing with posts, media outlets that caught wind of the news raced to publish their own articles.

Thanks to that, the internet was quickly flooded with stories about the artificial awakened, and upon seeing these reports, the academic world exploded in shock.

It was a full-on chain reaction.

From Trizik to Chobang Gallery, from Chobang Gallery to the press, and from the press to academia, the fuse of this chain explosion showed no signs of stopping.

“An artificial awakened has been born?!”

“That was actually possible?!”

“Well, clearly it worked, otherwise the entire country wouldn’t be in an uproar like this!”

From different places, people reacted in all kinds of ways.

But the one question they all had in common was this.

How in the world did he manage to create an artificial awakened?

He had boldly placed a public bet, and he secured victory even before the one-month deadline.

In other words, from the moment he made the bet, he already had a method in mind to create an artificial awakened.

And the timeframe he had proudly declared was a month, but in reality, he pulled it off in just two weeks.

If that technique could be uncovered?

Nations that had once waited for heaven-blessed geniuses to awaken naturally could now train them themselves, securing an army of new Hunters every month.

“Contact him—now!”

“He might say something if we ask during a stream!”

“Doesn’t matter how much it costs, just get him!”

From private organizations to major guilds and corporations—even government ministries, all of them, nervously and desperately, tried to contact Cheon Hwi.

But no replies came.

And as they all spent anxious days waiting for any response.

[Live / Song Cheon Hwi: Martial Arts Basics for Beginners]

Cheon Hwi’s stream suddenly went live—completely out of nowhere.

At a time when interest in artificial awakened individuals was at its peak, this was the kind of stream title anyone would click on at least once.

Martial arts—especially internal techniques, are generally taught through memorization and imitation.

A beginner first memorizes the gugyeol of a martial arts manual, then follows the specified energy pathways (hyeoldo) to perform Qi Circulation.

Of course, it’s not an easy task.

Memorizing an entire book’s worth of text word-for-word and following it exactly is no simple feat.

If the gugyeol is memorized incorrectly or parts are forgotten, it can become the root cause of possession deviation, and later, if the practitioner falls into deviation for any reason, it could put their life in danger.

And even if you somehow manage to memorize it correctly, that’s not the end.

The hyeoldo—the body’s internal energy pathways—are incredibly sensitive and delicate.

A single misstep could genuinely break someone beyond repair.

That’s why martial arts are almost never self-taught.

Third-rate techniques might be studied solo from time to time, but more complex arts—those considered true techniques, are always learned under a master.

Just finding the proper Qi Circulation route is already an enormous challenge.

There are dozens, even hundreds, of hyeoldo in the human body, and most martial manuals either mention only the names or provide vague descriptions of their location.

So how do people learn?

Simple.

They jab their internal energy around randomly until they find a spot that doesn’t hurt.

And what if they hit a spot they shouldn’t have?

Not much to do. Just accept your unfortunate fate, writhe in agony, and maybe cough up some nice, clean blood.

‘If I taught that recklessly, people would start dropping dead left and right.’

In this already broken world, where common sense is scarce, people’s starry-eyed admiration for awakened individuals is through the roof.

Someone might not even realize they’re doing something wrong—or they might realize and keep pushing forward anyway, and end up dying.

That’s why before teaching martial arts, he needed to establish at least a foundation of common sense.

And since there might be people more suited to magic than martial arts, Cheon Hwi figured he might as well include lessons on magic alongside the martial arts training.

“Miss Seo Ye-rin?”

“Yes?”

“…Just what did she do to her circles?”

That thought didn’t leave his mind—at least, not until he personally brought Seo Ye-rin, who had asked for guidance on circle magic.

“Um, so… was I not supposed to do it this way…?”

Seo Ye-rin’s gaze faltered as she started to grow hesitant, a bit deflated.

Her eyes shifted awkwardly to the side, occasionally twitching as she peeked at Cheon Hwi.

If he’d known it was this bad, he would’ve made time to check on her sooner.

Looking through Seo Ye-rin’s body, Cheon Hwi observed the magic circles centered around her heart, and let out a disbelieving chuckle at the absurd situation unfolding before him.

“You made four first-tier circles?”

There were four circles revolving around Seo Ye-rin’s heart as their axis.

Under normal circumstances, this would be the moment to ask if she had reached the Four-Ring Realm, and offer sincere congratulations.

Unfortunately, Seo Ye-rin’s circles weren’t part of any proper Four-Ring Realm.

“In a way, the fact that you managed to do it is impressive in itself.”

Each circle level is supposed to contain progressively more complex embedded spell formulas.

The first circle is made with very simple formulas, but as the number of circles increases, the embedded spells must become increasingly sophisticated and refined.

Seo Ye-rin, however, had done things differently.

Usually, when describing a “unique case,” you want to focus on what makes it special in a good way.

But this time—even Cheon Hwi had to hold back a sigh.

This was a special case in all the worst ways.

“Did you, at any point while forming those circles, feel like something was off? Like the new circles wouldn’t sync with the old ones, or kept collapsing or fusing on their own?”

“N-no… nothing like that happened.”

“…Nothing?”

What in the world is going on here?

Cheon Hwi, momentarily speechless, closed his mouth.

He had always taken pride in having reached a high level in the field of magic as well.

But Seo Ye-rin’s circles… even with ten rings under his belt, Cheon Hwi couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was seeing.

Still, one thing was clear: this wasn’t a proper advancement.

If left alone, it might seem fine for now, but could become catastrophic later on.

Sighing deeply, Cheon Hwi began fiddling with his smartphone.

[Live / Song Cheon Hwi: On Magic—About Circles]

Originally, he had planned to talk about the basics of martial arts and their differences across cultivation realms…

Swallowing those thoughts, Cheon Hwi changed the title of the stream and gave a sideways glance to Seo Ye-rin, who still looked nervously uncertain.

He let out a soft chuckle.

“Well, it’s not entirely bad. If nothing else, I’ve come to fully realize just how exceptional Miss Seo Ye-rin’s talent is.”

The realm Seo Ye-rin had “pioneered” was extremely inefficient.

If First Ring is addition, and Second Ring is multiplication, then what Seo Ye-rin did—creating four separate First Rings—was like trying to perform multiplication using four calculators that only do addition.

The math still works.

The answer is still correct.

But the process is wildly inefficient and unstable.

And yet, with her unique talent for controlling magic power, she managed to keep all four of the same circles coexisting.

Normally, having more than one of the same type of circle would cause them to clash, collapse, or fuse into one, but Seo Ye-rin somehow succeeded in running four identical circles independently.

“Well, in a way, this works out perfectly.”

After that Constellation appeared out of nowhere, the magic lessons had been delayed over and over.

Cheon Hwi—someone who can’t rest easy without repaying his debts—had been quietly stewing over it too.

Now, by sheer luck, the timing and the setup were just right.

“Starting today, I’ll teach Miss Seo Ye-rin proper magic as well.”

The first goal?

Let’s say… S-rank should be good enough, right?

As he said that and turned to glance at the stream chat, the first message he saw was short and to the point, speechless