Chapter 36: The Anatomy of a Master (3)

Ep. 36—The Anatomy of a Master (III)

As soon as Lee Kyungbok signaled that he was ready, Kyungbok quickly started his commentary.

“Oh, yes! Purple’s Strength attribute! Will there be another unimaginable physical feat this time?”

Lee Kyungbok stood at the starting point marked on the training field, and fifteen dummies instantly materialized around him. They charged straight toward Kyungbok.

Just as I thought.

His reaction was immediate.

“Ah! Right now, Purple is smiling! He looks totally relaxed!” The host loudly began narrating the match, but to Lee Kyungbok, it sounded like a distant echo fading away.

That sensory gap was filled with other sounds: the clanking joints of the dummies, dirt scattering from under their feet, weapons slicing through the air.

His field of vision was limited to what lay directly ahead, but he could sense everything around him.

As long as I don’t get surrounded, I can handle this.

No matter how many dummies there were, they had only so many angles from which to attack. Lee Kyungbok avoided strikes coming at him head-on while searching for their weak spots.

“I’ve found its weakness! Maybe it’s that tiny dot over there?!”

His keen senses instantly pinpointed where the flaw was located inside his opponent’s mind. His fist struck precisely below the dummy’s shoulder with a dull thud, and the dummy disintegrated into particles.

“One hit! Just one hit! That attack gave me goose bumps!”

LMAO this makes no sense!

-Seriously OP AF

-Chosen by God himself…

-WTF? Purple is literally a god LMAO

-The difference between humans is just insane LOL

—He’s like a god up there! ^.^

Regardless of how others reacted, Lee Kyungbok was lost in his own world. He dodged incoming attacks with lightning speed and threw punches left and right.

“Oh, this is…! It’s footwork, boxing footwork! And not just weaving but jabs, hooks, even body blows—he looks very comfortable throwing them all! Have you boxed before, Purple?!”

Kyungbok observed Lee Kyungbok closely, filling the chat box with question marks.

—No;; Shouldn’t you know that?

—LMAO Did you do your research?!

—President Kim, are we doing this now?!

—Info: Gadfly used to be quite athletic when he was younger.

—Ah ha ha! So it was boxing, huh?

—I knew his movements looked unique somehow.

—That explains why he chose gauntlets! LOL

Meanwhile, the dummies were steadily dwindling. Despite their numerical advantage, they couldn’t surround him, as Lee Kyungbok didn’t give them any openings.

As the number of dummies dwindled, Lee Kyungbok cleared them at an even faster pace.

“Whew.” He exhaled briefly after taking care of the last one.

“S-success! Success! And he did it incredibly fast!”

The viewers’ reactions exploded as soon as Kyungbok announced this.

-Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

-I wonder where you trained! Where were you training?!

-Purple is God! I am invincible! Purple is God! I am invincible!

-Ah-ha-ha, why use weapons?

-Weapons (Purple)

-Maybe it’s not that Purple is amazing but rather we’re just terrible?

-PhysiqueDor! PhysiqueDor! PhysiqueDor!

Lee Kyungbok smiled at the chat window and returned to Kyungbok’s side.

“The movements of these dummies seem pretty good.”

“Aha-ha-ha, right?! It’s motion capture data from actual martial arts masters. I paid big bucks for this, and it’s what we sell to other companies.”

-Lame joke alert!

-Hyung? That’s just showing off!

-Here he goes again, bragging about nothing…

-La-ta-da-la-ta-da…

-Enough with the investment flexing already!

-How can you say martial arts experts are “okay” at best?!

-W-well, maybe they’re okay by God’s standards.

At the viewers’ playful reactions, Kyungbok pursed his lips and quickly changed the subject.

“All right, let’s talk about your outstanding performance during the test run. Honestly, my vocabulary is too limited to adequately describe how perfectly you did. So I have to ask: What’s your secret? Do you have any tips to share?”

“A tip?” Lee Kyungbok’s eyes shifted slightly.

“Yes, even something simple will do.”

“Well… Just observe and react accordingly.” Lee Kyungbok kept his explanation brief, as he couldn’t exactly describe intuition.

-LMAO, that’s right!

-OMG, I didn’t know this before…

-So that’s why geniuses…

-Please stop… You’ll suffocate from all these tricks…and die!

-Teacher! He’s acutely addicted to deception!

-“All right, everyone. Don’t forget what Purple said about being a master of one’s craft! Masters see things differently. Seriously, how can you not get it? Even I sometimes find myself unable to explain things any other way.”

The chat window’s mood changed with Kyungbok’s words.

-LOL, sneaky much?

-LNo way I’m buying that LOL

-Hyung? Being close to God doesn’t make you one either, ya know?

-Make lunch! Make lunch! Make lunch!

-If you say stuff like that next to Purple, you just look bad

“No, seriously, guys. Can’t you give me some respect? Is our relationship worth nothing?” Kyungbok pretended to be offended and raised his voice dramatically.

Lee Kyungbok shook his head as he watched him.

He’s deflecting criticism from the guest.

Most of what Kyungbok said was in jest, but there were times when viewers might perceive it as deception. Whenever such instances arose, Kyungbok would step forward to minimize controversy.

Lee Kyungbok took mental notes on Kyungbok’s hosting style throughout their interaction.

“I’ve been following you since Yami, and your skills have always been incredible. No wonder I lost even with five others helping me! But that’s not all Purple can do! Witness her amazing archery skills at Bark! Let’s head there now!”

Kyungbok briefly changed gears to lighten the mood before continuing his broadcast. The two of them promptly moved to the shooting range.

“As most of you know, this is modeled after Gunner Ground’s training facility. You’re familiar with it, right, Purple?”

“Oh, no, I haven’t done Gunner Ground yet.”

Lee Kyungbok’s response elicited some confusion from viewers.

-WTF?!

-LOL seriously?

-A streamer who hasn’t played Gunner before?

-LMFAO rooks don’t know shit

-INFO This is Purple’s second week of streaming

-OL Bark was his first-ever game LMFAO

-LOL OMG, he’s even more insane than we thought LMFAO

Kyungbok’s audience slowly began learning about Purple and grew increasingly amazed by him with each new revelation.

-“Oh, really? I find Gunner Ground quite fun, so maybe we can duo sometime later?”

-“Sure, sounds good.”

-LSMFAO they’re already making plans for future collabs

-Dude LOL it’s like my bro here just laid down the gauntlet!

-Huh? Tone and manners much?

LIs he talking about Straw World?!

-The streamer shamelessly leaned into the viewers’ teasing reactions.

“No, seriously, guys. Don’t I deserve at least one bus ride? You saw what happened to Mystic, right? A purple bus hit me and put me out of commission for ten weeks!”

Haha! He’s booking it like King Kong.

-Looks like he’s embarrassed himself.

-Purple Gunner Ground? Sign me up!

-Haha, just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

-Why “water”? LOL

-ee Kyungbok smiled as he read this exchange and responded accordingly.

-“Gunner’s Ground is indeed on my list of games to try later. I’ll reach out when that time comes.”

“Oh! Really?! Thank you, thank you so much…! Manager! Quick, get some footage of this!”

Kyungbok’s exaggerated reaction filled the chat with laughter emojis, but that was beside the point.

“All right, back to business. The objective of this test is simple: Shoot and hit your target. But mastering Yuyu won’t be so easy.” Kyungbok clapped his hands again to keep everyone focused.

“The targets will randomly spawn, and among them will be traps you must avoid shooting! If you shoot any traps, the test ends immediately! You have five minutes or three hundred seconds total! There’ll be one hundred targets, which means roughly one every three seconds.”

With that explanation, he displayed some records on the screen.

[Highest Shooting Score]

[Average Accuracy—96 percent]

[Average Dwell Time—0.894 sec]

“As you can see, the records measure accuracy and dwell time! The bare minimum is to defeat all one hundred targets within the allotted time! Surprisingly, the highest score was set by none other than Kyungbok Sung, our very own streamer! Who knew he had such impressive reflexes?”

Lmfao who do u think u r?!

-Looking at himself in the mirror again lolol

-Pleease stop talking about yourself in third person!

-His face is so thick lmao

-The ultimate master of shamelessness after being the king of trash talk!

-LMAO shameless AF

Kyungbok paid no mind to his audience’s reactions.

“There aren’t any additional settings for this mode. All you have to do is choose your weapon and start!”

“What gun did you use, Kyungbok?” Lee Kyungbok’s question caused a stir in the chat room.

-LMAOOOOOOOOOO

-Same gun, same determination!

-Fanboy mode activated!

-He wants to beat it under identical conditions!

-They say masters don’t blame their tools…

-Haha! No excuses for you this time

-If Purple uses his finger as a gun, he’ll still hit it, right?

-Purple can use anything as a weapon, so he could win with just his finger.

-Finger gun? LOLLLL

Kyungbok didn’t flinch at the challenge; he’d already made up his mind about this beforehand.

“Oh, but that gentleman chose the basic Glock 17 model. His objective isn’t to destroy the target anyway, and since it holds seventeen rounds, he won’t have to reload often.”

-He’s scared of losing, isn’t he?

-LOL, maybe they’re two different people?!

-I guess defeat is inevitable…

-But I get why Purple would agree… LOL

Lee Kyungbok casually took hold of the pistol. Some viewers recognized his stance immediately.

-Wait, isn’t that the same gun Bark used before?

-Yeah LOL It looks familiar.

-LMAO, his aim is all over the place.

-LOL, this is over before it even started.

-Huh?! Really? I was looking forward to this LOLLL

It just so happened that he already knew how to handle this particular model of pistol. Lee Kyungbok inspected the gun briefly and smiled.

“All right then. Let’s begin.”

“Yes! Purple has already demonstrated godlike skills in close combat, but what will he show us with ranged weapons? We’ll give him five minutes!”

WTF LMAO why did you say that?!

Huh?! Watch your tone!

Do you really think he can do anything in only five minutes?!

I believe in him! I believe in him! I believe in him!

Ahhh, maybe it’s time for John Ahjin to step up.

The timer started beeping as soon as the countdown ended. At the same time, Lee Kyungbok’s eyes rapidly scanned the area. Without hesitation, he aimed and pulled the trigger.

“Ohhh… Th-this is…!” Kyungbok was so surprised that he forgot his prepared commentary and even stumbled over his words, but no one pointed this out.

“What the hell?”

“He’s not aiming at all.”

“How accurate is that?”

“Wait, what is he looking at when shooting?”

Lee Kyungbok’s shots were relentless due to a feature of the system itself.

“A-as soon as he hits one target, he immediately moves on to another. Wait, they’re random targets, right? I can’t believe it!”

Once he hit one bullseye, another instantly appeared. An average person would need time between each shot to locate the next target, but Lee Kyungbok didn’t require any such delay. This was because he already knew instinctively where the new target would appear. The only reason he paused briefly was to reload his gun.

He instinctively knew where each target would appear. The only time he paused was to swap out his empty magazine for another.

“Oh! He’s reloading now! His clip is already empty! How fast is he?! That didn’t even take a second!”

It took him less than one second to reload with practiced ease and pull the trigger again.

—Ah! I missed one!

—Wait, that was a decoy!

—How could you tell at this speed?!

—Is he actually human or some kind of program?

—LOL, seriously, it must be an AI!

—Was all of this just a prank?!

—LOL, more likely.

The count of targets hit increased faster than the timer went down. Before two minutes had elapsed…

[Congratulations!]

[All targets have been hit.]

[Tallying results…]

The shooting test was over.

“Oh! The test is finished! And the resuuuuuults are…?!”

Kyungbok couldn’t even finish his prepared line as he drew out the last word. Numbers started rapidly scrolling on the screen floating in midair. Kyungbok snapped his fingers, and drum rolls heightened the tension. Emojis flooded the chat window.

Everyone else was excited except Lee Kyungbok, who stood calmly to one side for one reason:

He hit every single target dead-on. Should I have given them more time to move around?

Kyungbok already knew what the outcome would be.

[Highest Shooting Score]

[Average Accuracy: 99.9 percent]

[Average dwell time: 0.291 seconds.]

The numbers stopped ticking down, and for a brief moment, there was silence. Kyungbok’s jaw dropped, and he forgot to breathe.

“…Huh?”

And then came his famous gasp, which would later be used as a meme and edited into countless videos.

-“Huh…?”

-“Huh?”

-“Wha—?”

The reaction in the chat mirrored Kyungbok’s initial surprise but only momentarily.

-“Ninety-nine point nine percent at that speed?! Ninety-nine point nine percent?!”

-“LOL, dwell time is less than half a second LOL LOL”

-“The bullet must’ve been fired before the target even appeared, right?”

-“I-I get it now! The target actually sensed Purple coming!”

-“Target did well, LOL.”

-“Mom! I’m not good enough to be purple! Mom! I’m not good enough to be purple!”

-—Host: Ah, that’s difficult for me to answer as well.

-—Host: Another perfect score, right? Another perfect score, right? Another perfect score, right?

Over ten thousand viewers were going wild online.

Lee Kyungbok, however, was puzzled.

That’s strange. Shouldn’t it be exactly 100 percent?

According to his perception, every single bullet had pierced dead center of each target, and indeed, they did. But the program could only measure up to 99.9%.

“Wow… I’ve got goose bumps. How about you guys at home? Seriously, who would’ve thought Purple Hunter is from the same species as me?” Kyungbok continued speaking with shock on his face. Although he exaggerated slightly for show, most of what he said came straight from the heart.

The chat window filled with messages expressing agreement.

“Wow, shouldn’t you be declared some kind of national treasure or intangible cultural property at this point? This is insane!”

“Oh geez, stop flattering me so much. It’s actually quite easy once you try it yourself.”

Kyungbok chuckled as Lee Kyungbok bashfully laughed.

“So…I think I get how to do it now. Just aim and shoot, right?”

“Huh? You catch on quick.” Kyungbok couldn’t help but laugh at Lee Kyungbok’s innocent response. The chat window filled with “LOLs.”

“Haah, so this is what it feels like when people watch my stream. I admit it—I was wrong all this time! There really are talents out there beyond measure!”

-LMAO, he’s sneakily complimenting himself again, huh?

-Hey, dude, just take the praise already, will ya?!

-I’m gonna have purple abs from laughing so hard!

-LMFAO!

-WTF, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! LMAO

LOL, please watch your tone and manners!

Lee Kyungbok blinked rapidly at the chat window. Sometimes, it was hard to decipher what people were saying with their jokes, but he could easily tell when they were complimenting someone.

“All right! We can’t end things here! Purple has reached an untouchable level of mastery! But even artisans have human sides!”

As Kyungbok swiftly clapped his hands, the stage transformed once more. Walls shot up around him, and the floor changed to elegant marble. Underneath his feet lay a soft red carpet.

At the same time, Kyungbok’s appearance shifted into that of a gentleman wearing a tuxedo and top hat.

-LOL, this is mandatory.

-What’s going on?

-A casino?

-This is a special feature for those watching live ᄏᄏᄏ

-No craftsman can survive this!

The viewers were split between those flustered by this sudden change and those excited about it. To appease the former group, Kyungbok hastily explained:

“This is exclusive content for all you loyal live stream viewers of Craftsman’s Anatomy! It’s time for ‘Artisans Are People Too!’ The following segment will be deleted from the replay archives, so feel free to record it, but sharing without permission could lead to a fan meeting at court!”

Kyungbok had devised this content as an incentive for people to watch his streams live instead of relying on replays. This footage wouldn’t be available anywhere else, not even on Tri or YouTube.

This should definitely encourage more people to tune in.

During their previous meeting, he’d mentioned there would be three tests, but they hadn’t gone over what each one entailed. Lee Kyungbok was taken aback yet impressed with this innovative approach.

“I believe we need this test today especially. No matter how physically strong you may be, everyone is equal before luck! The final test will determine who has fortune on their side!” He turned to Lee Kyungbok. “Depending on the outcome of this challenge, either I or Hunter Purple will have to gift our viewers with subscriptions! Who will emerge victorious?!”

Despite the sudden proposal, Lee Kyungbok didn’t seem fazed.

Ah, so that’s why he brought up expenses earlier.

During their pre-meeting, Kyungbok had informed him that Zinwoo would cover all costs incurred during filming. At the time, Kyungbok hadn’t fully understood what Kyungbok meant, but now it made sense.

The outcome of this match was merely for show; regardless of who won, Kyungbok would cover the cost of subscriptions.

“No matter how strong you are physically, luck can still be on my side! Will you accept this challenge?!”

“I’m game,” Lee Kyungbok replied with a smile.

Kyungbok returned his grin as he checked the chat room. Purple’s fans were likely taken aback by this turn of events.

…Wait, what?

Strangely enough, their reaction was quite different from what Kyungbok expected.

-Lucky draw? That sounds good to me!

-Luck? Did he say luck?

-This’ll be a clean finish! LOL

-Maybe another Legend today?!

-Looks like we’re getting free subs today!

-Freebies incoming! LOL

Purple’s viewers had already experienced something similar once before. After all, everything about him, including drawing lots, was perfect.