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‘108 Arhat Formation,’ is the ultimate formation performed by 108 Shaolin Monks, and in the game, only Shinsong Il-ryong, who possesses the “Master of Shaolin” gift, can execute it.
Until now, players could only use the simplified form, “Sippalnahanjin (十八羅漢陣) or 18 Arhat formation,” but Shinsong Il-ryong became capable of using the ultimate formation at level 250.
“We decided to bring out this hidden card against the Sword King…”
“To think we have to use it on a mere Gold-ranked player. How embarrassing!”
The people gathered in the operations room couldn’t hide their disappointment.
The ultimate Shaolin formation, 108 Arhat, was being activated for someone as low as a Gold-ranked player.
“In the unlikely event that we lose to Korea this time, this season’s league champion will be out of our hands. We must do our best.”
“It may even be beneficial. Before using it against the Sword King, we can consider it as a test run by deploying 108 Arhat through Seong Jihan.”
“Hmm, that’s true… alright. Let’s use 108 Arhat on him then!”
China’s operations team designated Seong Jihan as the first target for the completed 108 Arhat formation.
“Understood. And… to enhance the effects of this 108 Arhat, we will need support from the National Security Department.”
The BattleNet operations director requested assistance from China’s information organization, the National Security Department.
“What do you need us to investigate?”
“We would like you to investigate any details about Seong Jihan’s martial arts lineage, however small they may be.”
The operations director spoke with a proud expression.
“Martial arts fundamentally belong to China. If you trace his skills back, they should be connected to our homeland.”
“Understood. We’ll start the investigation immediately and mobilize all our information organizations operating within Korea.”
Seong Jihan’s martial arts would ultimately trace back to China, and once they investigated, they’d quickly identify which region, which martial sect, and which individual was involved.
“If there’s anything that could be considered his weakness, please gather that as well.”
“Understood.”
Thus, China’s operations team concluded its strategy meeting regarding Seong Jihan. They didn’t seem concerned about the other Korean national team players.
***
After the Russia match, Seong Jihan’s BattleTube channel started receiving occasional donations. Some fans sent messages of pure support, along with donations of 10 million won.
[“I’m a Korean” donated 10,000 GP.]
-Seong Jihan, what’s your martial arts lineage?
‘Lineage?’ People began asking strange questions.
“There’s no lineage in BattleNet. What do you mean by martial arts lineage?”
Seong Jihan, who easily cleared undead creatures in the “One-Leg” map, initially answered these odd questions with composure. But then, more messages began requesting information about his martial arts.
[“Martial Arts Expert” donated 10,000 GP.]
-If you reveal the origins of your martial arts, you could become even stronger. If you tell me the name of your martial arts, I’ll look it up.
With these donations, the inquiries about his martial arts started to outnumber messages of support.
-What’s going on suddenly?
-Why do they keep asking about his martial arts?
Viewers were becoming confused and curious about why so many people were suddenly demanding information about Seong Jihan’s martial arts.
‘Oh, don’t tell me…’
Seong Jihan recalled memories from his past life.
Back when he was part of the United States national team in the World Championships and they faced China in the semi-finals, many people suddenly sent donations and asked about his martial arts.
“Are you Chinese?”
When Seong Jihan asked straightforwardly, messages flooded in.
[“Grand Shaolin Temple” donated 10,000 GP.]
“Seong Jihan is a true Banzu (Chinese martial artist). He asked if I’m Chinese when I inquired about his martial arts. If you’re that proud, reveal your lineage.”
-The manager blocked Great Shaolin Temple, who made derogatory remarks.
Now, Seong Jihan’s channel received care from his guild. The chat manager selected by Lee Hayeon immediately took action.
As a result, the chat was filled with messages demanding that Seong Jihan disclose his martial arts.
Some of the viewers with Chinese flags next to their names flooded the chat, and it wasn’t until then that Korean viewers understood the situation.
-What’s going on? When did the Chinese suddenly start watching our channel?
-They keep asking for the martial arts name; it’s weird, right?
-This seems so organized. They weren’t curious about martial arts before, but right after the Russia match ended, they started this.
-I’m from the Sword King family, and they did the same thing during the Sword King’s reign. They demanded the origins of dual swordsmanship and told us not to imitate Chinese martial arts. They tried to find out the skill names.
As the chat became chaotic, the manager was busy blocking comments that crossed the line.
On the other hand, Seong Jihan thought, ‘This could work to my advantage.’
Lately, donations were coming in very frequently despite the minimum donation limit being 10,000 GP. Seong Jihan decided to use this as an excuse to raise the limit.
“Well, this won’t do. I’m raising the donation message limit to 100,000 GP.” Seong Jihan said with a small smirk.
Whoa!
-100,000 GP, that’s the most expensive in the world…
-Is this because of the Chinese fans?
“To all those who have supported me so far, I am truly grateful. From now on, I will appreciate your kind thoughts only.”
In an instant, the minimum donation limit increased tenfold. Surprisingly, there were no more messages requesting the disclosure of Seong Jihan’s martial arts. Although the chat box became more chaotic with arguments between Korean and Chinese viewers, it didn’t matter to the person playing the game.
Seong Jihan quickly forgot about the recent events and focused on leveling up.
However, the Chinese intelligence organization didn’t give up easily. In particular…
“Hmm. There was such an incident at the Triad Association?”
As they collected all information related to Seong Jihan, a conspicuous piece of information came to light. It was related to Xin Youhwa, who died suddenly from a heart attack during the awards ceremony for Seong Jihan. Her Gift or rather the condition for developing it, was quite unusual.
“Did the Gift have such a condition? That one must die for it to upgrade?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any evidence for this?”
“Well, I don’t have any. But my daughter died from a heart attack.”
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“Is there no photograph of the Gift?”
“Yes…”
The head of the National Security Bureau met with Xin Youhwa’s father, a high-ranking member of the Triad Association, and collected information.
“She went to kill Yoon Seah but ended up dying from a heart attack…”
“Yes. But her father thinks it was just a coincidence. She died in the restroom while Seong Jihan was receiving the award, from a heart attack.”
The head of the National Security Bureau nodded.
No matter how exceptional Seong Jihan was, it would be impossible for him to kill someone who was in a completely different place.
“But it doesn’t matter. Just link it to Seong Jihan. No matter what.”
“It doesn’t seem to have much relevance to him, and we have no evidence.”
“Just link it. It’s just for making noise anyway.”
“Understood.”
***
“Wow, Uncle. This is crazy.”
“What?” Seong Jihan asked curiously.
“I went to the underground mart today, and as soon as I got off the elevator, I saw these flyers all over the wall.”
Seong Jihan, reveal your martial arts!
A bright red flyer with large letters.
Seeing that, Seong Jihan furrowed his brow.
“It’s not the work of an individual. They’re trying to find out the martial arts systematically, no matter what.”
“Yeah, it’s been strange since they started sponsoring with ten million won each. Plus, there’s this kind of content here too.”
Yoon Seah cautiously took out the second flyer.
-The truth about Xin Youhwa’s death?
-A woman with latent conditions meets her end in Korea!
Unlike the first one, it doesn’t demand revealing the martial arts but rather questions the unclear circumstances surrounding Xin Youhwa’s death.
In addition…
“Relatives of Xin Youhwa are protesting outside.”
Yoon Seah turned on the TV and tuned in to the news channel.
Just then, there was news covering people gathered at the scene.
Reveal the truth about Xin Youhwa’s death!
These people, who had gathered as relatives, were all rugged and formidable in appearance.
“It looks like they’ve gathered some Triad Society folks.”
“It seems so.”
Considering that only three days had passed since the end of the Russian competition and they were already taking action so quickly, it appeared that the government might have intervened.
“Most people are wondering why they’re linking a person who died of heart failure to you, but…”
Yoon Seah furrowed her brow as she looked at her smartphone.
“People keep spamming the comments, trying to bring up this news.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, they’re trying to link you to it one way or another.”
“Just leave it be.”
Seong Jihan chuckled softly.
Their intentions were quite apparent.
“They’re systematically publishing news about Xin Youhwa’s death, and later, they’ll say they won’t make it a public issue if I reveal the martial arts.”
“Uncle, you won’t accept that, right?”
“Of course not. Those are the folks who’ll get even more excited if we bow down.”
“But why are they so insistent on revealing the martial arts? What changes if you do?”
“Well… I’m not sure. They’re quite persistent.”
Seong Jihan pretended not to understand their intentions while having a hidden suspicion.
‘Is this about the 108 Arhat Formation?’
108 Arhat formation.
China’s formidable weapon that completely traps a single player.
To maximize the effect of the formation, you needed to know the target’s characteristics in detail, so it seemed like they were coming out like this for that reason.
‘In my previous life, I couldn’t escape from it…’
When Seong Jihan had just joined the U.S. national team.
In the World Champions League, the Chinese team he faced used 108 Arhat formation against him.
At that time, his skills were not yet mature, so he didn’t break the formation but struggled to survive inside it.
Later, after further growth, he wanted to challenge 108 Arhat formation again, but…
‘By then, Shinsong had already perished in the Space League, so it never happened.’
That’s why Seong Jihan had a lingering regret about not being able to defeat that pesky formation.
‘I should try again this time.”‘
To serve a blow to the annoying Chinese side that was asking for it.
It would be best to break their trust in the 108 Arhat formation that they believed in the most.
On the TV screen, protesters who had now taken off their shirts were facing off with the police.
“Seah, those people might bother you, and I can’t tell if they’ll be annoying to you. Akari is getting involved, don’t engage with them. Got it?”
“I got it, Uncle. Just so you know, on my BattleTube, weird people keep coming and spamming the chat.”
“Why don’t you just raise your donation limit to 100,000 GP? You don’t need donations, right?”
“I don’t need them, but… I guess I should do that temporarily until this situation calms down.”
For the past few days, the internet was abuzz with discussions about Seong Jihan’s martial arts and Xin Youhwa’s death.
-These guys are just like during the Sword King’s match.
-Last time, they were so annoying during the match, kept pestering the sword king with his skill name, Blah blah Blah?
-Their goal is to repeat what happened last time.
-We need to defend our motherland.
It was just a war between Korean and Chinese netizens.
Seong Jihan’s side remained indifferent to it.
And so, time passed.
The match between the Korean and Chinese national teams was approaching.
Shinsong Il-rong’s mansion.
A robust man with a shaved head got up from a large bed.
“Ah, Il-rong, you’re up?”
“You woke up early even though you used so much strength yesterday.”
Two women in the blankets looked at him with twinkling eyes.
“Oh, you two should sleep more. We have guests.”
Shinsong Il-rong.
Thanks to his gift, he appeared as a monk with a shaven head on the outside, but he enjoyed alcohol, women, and preferred meat more than anyone else. Originally, before his awakening, he was just an ordinary person with no connection to Buddhism. He only had to shave his head because of his gift; his inner self was nothing more than a greedy man.
“I’m sorry, Il-rong. I couldn’t get any response from that guy regarding Seong Jihan’s martial arts origins. He doesn’t seem to react at all.”
“It’s okay. What’s a kid like that gotta do with spreading the Buddha’s teachings to him?”
As he talked, emitting the smell of alcohol, Il-rong.
The government official from the National Security Agency sneaked a glance behind him.
Two Chinese female celebrities in gowns were coming out.
They came from here, for buddha’s teachings?
“Oh… yes…”
The government official nodded with an awkward expression.
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