Gwanjongcheonma’s Game Broadcast - Chapter 161

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 161
Just seven seconds.
A brief span of time,
yet more than enough to leave a searing impression on everyone present.
“He’s lost it.”
“Insane……!”
“H-how is that even……”
“Cough, cough!”
Someone choked on their drink mid-sip,
“Hic.”
and Ye Da-hong, who rarely hiccupped, began to do so uncontrollably.
The scene had been that shocking.
Not some ordinary user, but Singularity.
And not just anyone—a former National Representative assigned to Team One—
‘Defeated in seven seconds……?!’
Even if you stood there deliberately taking hits, seven seconds is no easy knockout.
Full Phoenix’s techniques hit hard, certainly,
but what struck her most was the relentless torrent of Hae-rang’s assault.
It was almost pitiful watching Park Je-young absorb it all.
“Wait.”
Ye Da-hong’s slender fingers pressed against her forehead.
As she lowered her head, lost in thought,
Ma Hyeon-bin approached and asked,
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve had a similar experience before. When was it……?”
“A similar experience?”
Hyeon-bin probably wouldn’t remember.
He’d competed for the National Team far more often in other events than in Iron Fist.
But for her, who’d gone overseas year after year only to return bruised, this scene felt oddly familiar.
“Ah!”
She finally recalled it.
That nightmare of a day.
“Eight seconds…….”
“Yes?”
“It was eight seconds then. When Alberto defeated our teammate.”
“Huh? That actually happened?”
Why had it taken her this long to remember?
It was shameful enough to want to bury.
The day she’d worn the Taegeuk mark as an Iron Fist National Representative under Dahong’s banner.
Singularity Im Byeong-hun had crumbled against Alberto’s Wave Chain Attack, suffering a perfect defeat in mere eight seconds.
She remembered it all too clearly.
The roaring applause of the crowd.
The mockery and contempt directed at the Korean National Team.
Perhaps it was a memory she’d forced down so deep it hadn’t surfaced until now.
“But…….”
Hae-rang had done it in seven seconds.
Against someone from ‘Singularity One,’
someone who would have been a National Representative if not for the Heavenly Demon Cult.
“Could it be…….”
Da-hong recalled the question Hae-rang had asked before the match.
[If the Italian team faces ‘Singularity One,’ what would the record look like?]
Da-hong had answered that she would secure an all-kill against whoever Italy sent.
And Hae-rang had said this.
[Watch carefully. The enemy we must break.]
“Ah……!”
Now it became perfectly clear.
The meaning behind what Hae-rang had said.
“It wasn’t Singularity.”
“Yes?”
“The enemy he told me to watch for. It wasn’t Singularity—it was…….”
Cheon Hae-rang.
It was a command to witness his own power.
Stringing together consecutive victories against Singularity 1,
subduing the opponent in merely seven seconds—
this was precisely what Da-hong had encountered in the strong international teams.
“Hae-rang’s gaze has already turned toward the world.”
What an audacious mindset this was.
Even before obtaining his national representative credentials, he was already conducting virtual matches against overseas teams.
This was a Korean gamer who hadn’t managed a single victory in international competitions until now.
‘No. It’s different now.’
All the humiliation accumulated by the national representative team up to this point—
that had been when Hae-rang wasn’t there.
No one could be certain what transformation would unfold in this Capsule Cup.
Thump-thump.
Da-hong’s heart hammered as though it might burst from her chest.
Everything she’d held as mere vague hope until now
had become a distinct, tangible possibility.
An international victory for the South Korean national representative team.
Not just Da-hong, but countless gamers had yearned for this—and now it was finally peeking above the horizon.

Whoosh!
The moment the second round began, Park Je-young created significant distance between them.
Clearly, that seven-second knockout had left quite an impression.
But Hae-rang merely lowered his eyes and took stock of his own condition.
‘Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Only one more use left?’
Ever since reaching the finals, he’d unleashed the Heavenly Demon Divine Art every round.
The Capsule’s performance was excellent, so heat generation wasn’t a problem,
but now his martial reserves were beginning to deplete.
He’d never pushed the Heavenly Demon Divine Art this far in actual combat before, so the fatigue was creeping in.
Conversely, thanks to that, he’d been able to create overwhelming gaps in every match.
‘There’s no need to worry about what comes after. One final push and it’s over.’
His capable teammates had his back,
but this time, he wanted to finish it himself.
A powerful message to the Heavenly Demon Cult team.
Our goal isn’t merely winning the national team selection.
If we’re satisfied with just advancing to the Capsule Cup, what makes us different from Singularity?
We must not settle here—we must aim directly at the world’s strongest teams.
That was Hae-rang’s will, and the fierce leadership that had forged the Heavenly Demon Cult into the Central Plains’ mightiest force.
Screeeech!
Heavenly Demon Divine Art—Third Achievement.
Hae-rang’s Full Phoenix, unleashing his full strength, advanced with relentless strides as though it would tear the opponent asunder.
For Park Je-young, who’d just suffered a seven-second knockout in the previous round, this was pure horror.
“Damn it!”
Crash!
Park Je-young, unable to bear the crushing pressure any longer, activated Blood Burst.
A precious ultimate technique that could be used only once per match.
It was a skill to be hoarded and used sparingly, yet almost every opponent facing Hae-rang deployed Blood Burst at the wrong moment.
They simply couldn’t endure the suffocating pressure he exerted.
“Hah!”
In the first round, he’d been overwhelmed by momentum,
but Park Je-young’s actual skill level wasn’t poor enough to warrant a seven-second defeat.
Blood Burst created a window of advantage for anyone who used it.
An ominous crimson aura trailing across the stage, Yoshimitsu swung his long blade with devastating force.
Scrape!
For once, even Hae-rang’s distance control faltered.
For the first time in this match, Full Phoenix’s health bar took damage.
The first successful attack.
To Park Je-young, that fact felt deeply encouraging.
“Hiyah!”
“Ha!”
Fist and blade, offense and defense.
In reach, Yoshimitsu held the advantage,
but Full Phoenix dominated in raw power.
As they traded blows back and forth, both their health bars had dwindled to a third or less.
A glance.
Yoshimitsu checked their respective health bars, then abruptly retreated several steps.
And then he broke into a triumphant smile.
“Fool. You gave me distance.”
Whoosh!
With both palms pressed together, he gripped the sword’s handle,
then raised the blade vertically as if in prayer.
He chanted as if reciting a mantra, nodding his head slowly.
“That’s……!”
Da-hong, watching from the sidelines, bit her lip hard.
The skill Park Je-young had activated was Revival.
A technique to rapidly recover health while standing in place.
Among Iron Fist characters, those capable of self-healing were exceedingly rare.
And among them, Yoshimitsu’s recovery rate was absurdly high—
even a few seconds of hesitation could restore more than half his health.
One of the reasons Park Je-young had chosen Iron Fist for the National Team Selection Tournament in the first place
was precisely this outrageous buff to the Revival skill.
If this went on for just a few more seconds, the health gap between Hae-rang and him would widen catastrophically.
“Sweep his legs! His legs!”
Da-hong’s voice rang out across the arena.
There was no way Hae-rang inside the Capsule could hear her,
but the urgency of the moment had driven her to shout without thinking.
‘Striking won’t work. He has to be knocked down.’
While using Revival, Yoshimitsu became defenseless.
On the surface, it seemed like you could just pummel him relentlessly,
but the damage Yoshimitsu took during Revival was drastically reduced.
Even if you struck with sweat pouring from your palms, his recovery would outpace the damage.
It was better to follow Da-hong’s instinct and force Yoshimitsu to the ground, interrupting Revival altogether.
Thud-thud-thud!
Full Phoenix surged toward Yoshimitsu like a tempest.
“That’s it!”
Da-hong clenched her pale fists so tight they trembled.
Seeing him close the distance so swiftly, she thought he’d figured out the strategy.
But then.
Upon reaching Yoshimitsu, Hae-rang chose a different approach instead of attacking low.
Rumble!
“Blood…… Burst?”
Hae-rang unleashed Blood Burst right in front of Yoshimitsu.
The intent was clear.
Strike faster than he can recover health.
“It won’t work…….”
Da-hong shook her head.
There had been many attempts before to overwhelm Revival through raw damage output.
But ultimately, knocking him down before he could fully recover had become the established strategy.
Given that Hae-rang didn’t have much experience with Iron Fist, she thought he was simply going through the same trial and error that professional players had endured in the past.
“Ha! Activating Blood Burst won’t do you any good! Go ahead and try hitting me if you dare!”
Park Je-young’s confident demeanor was proof of this.
The damage boost from Blood Burst could not overcome the health recovery of Revival.
The more this guy struck, the more the advantage swung in his favor.
Yet Hae-rang paid no mind to Park Je-young’s taunts
and assumed his distinctive stance.
Crunch.
He loaded his tightly clenched fist against his flank.
Whether from the crimson aura generated by Blood Burst,
his red martial arts uniform seemed to breathe as if alive.
“Try to endure if you can.”
Contrary to the heat of his fist,
a cold voice poured forth.
Thunder and lightning erupted from his clenched straight punch.
“Ooh-ah!”
Crash!
A brutal strike drove deep into Yoshimitsu’s abdomen as he held his guard.
A massive exclamation mark appeared above Yoshimitsu’s head.
A bizarre Bung-ta, combining Hyper Motion with Blood Burst!
And yet, despite it all, the damage applied was far from overwhelming.
“This is completely broken.”
Ma Hyeon-bin, watching the screen, furrowed his brow.
It was an attack compounding Hae-rang’s fierce momentum, Hyper Motion, and Blood Burst all at once.
Even Ma Hyeon-bin, who knew about Resurrection’s damage reduction, felt a flicker of doubt.
But Yoshimitsu’s health barely crept below ten percent.
Even that was recovering painfully slowly due to Resurrection.
“Krahaha! Strike away till the cows come home! Let’s see who tires first…….”
Throb.
Park Je-young burst into wild laughter before Hae-rang.
Then he suddenly stopped mid-word and drew a breath.
‘This… actually hurts?’
In Capsule Games, impact damage is only partially reflected, transmitted as vibration.
But even so,
his lower abdomen throbbed where the Bung-ta had connected.
He’d played countless games before, but never had he felt vibrations of this intensity.
Gurgle.
His stomach groaned from the violent tremor.
The raw beef he’d eaten at lunch seemed to be staging a rebellion, demanding to know what it was doing out here.
‘How much health did he recover?’
There had been impact, but Resurrection was Resurrection.
His health bar barely differed from before the Bung-ta hit.
If he could just buy a little more time…….
“Ooh-ah!”
A rough, dull voice that cut short Park Je-young’s thought,
harsh and blunt.
Another Bung-ta, enhanced by Hyper Motion, drove into his lower abdomen.
Crash!
Zing!
“Ugh…….”
Park Je-young almost broke his guard.
The vibration rippling through his abdomen was one thing,
but the sheer momentum of the Bung-ta visible before his eyes was genuinely terrifying.
To make matters worse,
Gurgle!
The raw beef’s rebellion was intensifying.
‘Damn it. When does this Blood Burst end?’
Park Je-young checked the Attention-Seeking Heavenly Demon’s Burst gauge.
His face went pale in an instant.
‘Why is there still so much left?’
It was simple.
Blood Burst doesn’t deplete its gauge while attacking.
If Hae-rang continued driving Bung-ta into him relentlessly,
‘I’ll be taking hits until the game ends?’
The moment that realization struck,
a cold voice echoed in Park Je-young’s mind.
[Endure it if you can.]
Surely not.
Was this bastard’s intention really this?
As if answering that thought,
a thunderous battle cry tore from Hae-rang’s mouth.
“Ooh-ah!”
Crash!
“Ughh!”
Park Je-young’s hands trembled as he held the guard position.
The sword in his grip felt impossibly heavy, as though weighted down by stone.
Cold sweat streamed down his back in rivulets.
It was a Capsule Game.
Just simple vibration feedback.
So why did it hurt so much?
“Oooh-aaah!”
Bang!
His health bar remained intact.
Yet Park Je-young could no longer enjoy this.
The vibrations, the fear—and worse, the very real danger of serious injury inside the Capsule itself.
On another level, it was infuriating.
How was that guy landing Bung-ta with Hyper Motion every single time?
Surely even a human player should occasionally get a normal hit detection, shouldn’t they?
“Oooh-aaah!”
Hae-rang’s answer was a resounding no.
[!]
Another exclamation mark appeared above Yoshimitsu’s head,
and before it could even fade, Bung-ta was loaded fresh and ready.
Snap.
Something inside Park Je-young’s mind seemed to break.
Whether it was real or imagined, his gut made a similar sound.
“You son of a bitch!”
“Oooh-aaah!”
Crash!
At last, the iron door that had held firm burst open.
Yoshimitsu could endure no longer and dropped the guard.
His torso lay exposed, and Hae-rang’s fist carved a blood-red seal across his chest.
Blood Burst combined with Hyper Motion—damage without the damage reduction of Revival.
It was powerful enough to eclipse the 3-Hit Collapse Curry by far.

As Yoshimitsu flew backward into the distance,
a long fluorescent blade danced through the air.
Hae-rang extended his arm and caught Yoshimitsu’s sword in his hand.
Tap.
‘From now on, we take the world stage.’
Solo and team competitions both.
The Heavenly Demon Cult, not Singularity, had secured the National Team qualification.
The sword passed down from Park Je-young,
seemed to speak volumes about the present moment.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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