[Boomerang Guardian] So you were diligently training with throwing weapons, pretending not to be a newbie, huh?
“What, what? Is this a surprise?”
“How did you know I love surprise gifts?”
“I won’t get angry, so tell me honestly.”
“Is it a yo-yo? Or a boomerang?”
“Haha, just kidding, kidding. What does it matter if it’s a yo-yo or a boomerang?”
“What’s important is that you haven’t given up on throwing weapons yet.”
“Thanks to you, I broke through to a new realm! ^ㅁ^”
“If you need anything, just say the word! I’ll definitely get it for you!”
Chae Hyeon-jin could not bring herself to tell the Boomerang Guardian the truth.
She couldn’t confess that it was merely a technique she had devised by picking up a pebble while her inventory was locked, or that she wasn’t training with yo-yos or boomerangs at all.
She simply pretended otherwise.
Wasn’t there such an adage?
‘Silence is golden.’
And that post resonated in an entirely different way.
The Miscellaneous Weapons Gallery received almost no new traffic.
Few people frequented it.
Only the usual faces were ever seen.
As a result, everyone generally knew who everyone else was.
Even if a celebrity’s true identity and real name were exposed due to excessive digging into their personal information, it wouldn’t be considered strange here.
After all, wasn’t it a gathering of people who used ‘unusual weapons that almost no one else bothered with’?
Simultaneously, it was a gathering of ‘those who survived despite using trash weapons with inherent flaws.’
In essence, the average strength of the gallery members was remarkably high.
‘Crisella of the Biting Wind broke through to a new realm?’
Those who knew the Boomerang Guardian’s true identity were considerably shocked.
That powerful Crisella had broken through to a new realm after reading a few lines of advice from a Martial God Newbie?
How on earth was that even possible?
By what principle?
Among them was Bob Homet, also a practitioner of throwing weapons.
He was a practitioner of the chakram, a ring-shaped weapon with sharpened outer edges.
The chakram, a very rare cutting weapon among throwing armaments, was the undisputed hipster of the throwing weapon world, which typically emphasized striking and stabbing.
Isn’t there a reason why certain weapons don’t become popular?
After all, it wasn’t just any tool; it was a weapon upon which survival, victory in war, honor, wealth, plunder, protection, family, and faith all depended.
Wouldn’t there naturally be a reason why almost no one used such a weapon?
In any case, he couldn’t understand how Crisella had transcended her realm, so he tried to imitate her and ended up with a cut on his arm.
His training was insufficient to replicate the Heavenly Wheel Throw that Chae Hyeon-jin and Crisella had mastered.
Bob Homet, his arm cut by the spinning chakram, became furious.
So he rushed to the Throwing Weapons Gallery—the very place that had once driven him away—and posted this message.
[Anonymous) This is supposedly a trendy throwing technique these days, what do you all think of it?]
– If you throw from a standstill, you lack power, so you run and then throw.
– And if you only swing your arm, you’ll also lack power, so you spin your whole body around to throw.
– Someone supposedly broke through to a new realm with this. What do you think?
Countless critical comments immediately poured in.
Even in the Miscellaneous Weapons Gallery (TL Note: A common short name for the forum, ‘Gita Mugi Gallery’), where the average skill level was exceptionally high, this method had only garnered a flood of question marks.
In the Throwing Weapons Gallery, where a wide range of users, from complete newbies to experienced throwers, gathered, it was only natural for such a post to be met with insults.
– Another idiot trying to peddle nonsense, LOL.
– You do it yourself.
– LOLOLOLOLOLOL I’m out.
– Just ignore the troll.
– Sadomasochism: A mental illness where one deliberately provokes insults by saying idiotic things to achieve sexual gratification.
– Where on earth is this trendy? A mental hospital?
– Newbies, absolutely do not fall for this. Following this will seriously mess you up.
– Throwing absolutely requires building a foundation with strong lower body support. These amateur techniques will never work.
– But javelins are actually thrown while running.
– Spears are too heavy and large, so they hit well.
– You wouldn’t be able to defend the spinning part, either.
Everything unfolded exactly as Bob Homet had intended.
He disliked the idea that this throwing technique was something only the Martial God Newbie and the Boomerang Guardian could use.
He wanted everyone to agree that it was utterly ridiculous.
However, when he actually saw the method being condemned, a strange emotion surged within him.
‘I know the secrets of the world that you are unaware of!!!’
‘You ignorant fools!!!!!’
[Anonymous) Idiots, lol. This is the method Crisella used to break through to a new realm, taught by the Martial God Newbie.]
– The saying ‘you only see what you know’ was made for moments like this, wasn’t it?
– AMANBO (TL Note: A Korean slang acronym for ‘Ah-neun Man-keum Bo-in-da’, meaning ‘you only see what you know’, implying limited understanding.) LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Unable to restrain himself, he posted the message.
And immediately, his identity was exposed.
– Damn, it was a spy from the other gallery.
– GTFO
– GTFO
– GTFO
– Is a boomerang even a weapon???
– GTFO
– You’re Crisella herself, aren’t you?
The comment section was flooded with ‘GTFO’ (TL Note: Short for ‘Get out of the gallery/forum’), demanding he return to the Miscellaneous Weapons Gallery (TL Note: ‘Gita Mugi Gallery’, often shortened to ‘Gi-gal’ or ‘Gi-mu-gal’).
While it was true that Crisella was one of the powerful Ten Greats of the Continent, she was also a villain who had been banished from the Throwing Weapons Gallery (TL Note: ‘Tu-cheok Mugi Gallery’, often shortened to ‘Tu-gal’) for constantly trying to push boomerangs.
This was because if a newbie chose a boomerang, abandoning all sorts of excellent daggers—even javelins, one of the major throwing weapons—their chances of death would skyrocket.
The prevailing opinion in the Throwing Weapons Gallery was that throwing weapons were disposable.
If a weapon was recovered, it was merely good luck; the fundamental mindset was to abandon the weapon. (TL Note: Javelins are an exception; spears must be retrieved.)
Consequently, throwers often struggled with financial difficulties, always needing to prepare many spare throwing weapons.
A boomerang, which inherently encouraged retrieving the weapon, felt heretical from their perspective. (TL Note: But why are javelins still part of the Throwing Weapons Gallery? Because they are a super major weapon.)
Ultimately, Bob Homet was beaten like a dog and expelled from the gallery.
While Martial Arts Net, managed by the Demon God, rarely banned actions other than malicious trolling, it was nearly impossible for anyone without an incredibly thick skin to simply lay down a mat and enjoy a nap in front of countless people hurling insults at them.
Nevertheless, information contamination remained.
The rumor that Crisella had broken through to a new realm using Heavenly Wheel Throw (TL Note: colloquially known as the Spinning Cyclone Shot) spread.
As this rumor spread, throwing newbies and intermediate users alike ignored the warnings of the Throwing Weapons Gallery veterans and eagerly tried to ‘찍먹’ (TL Note: A Korean slang term meaning to try something out casually or without full commitment, literally ‘dip and eat’).
Forgetting the ‘hyung’ (TL Note: A formal martial arts form or sequence of movements) should only be done after one has completely internalized it, reaching a state where the body moves instinctively without conscious thought.
If those still in training forgot their ‘hyung’, they would lose their way, and even the realms they had painstakingly built would inevitably falter.
Thus, without even realizing it, Chae Hyeon-jin had successfully exacted revenge on the Throwing Weapons Gallery that had once driven her to the Miscellaneous Weapons Gallery.
“Argh! What even was throwing? I’ve completely forgotten the method!”
“Oh no! It’s ‘Juhwipma’ (TL Note: A martial arts term referring to qi deviation or internal energy backlash)!”
“The lack of talent truly cuts to the bone!”
****
[It’s truly chaotic, even reaching me.]
[They keep asking where I found this part-timer.]
[And where they can meet them.]
[Not only my old entertainment agencies but even unrelated ones have been asking around and contacting me.]
[They’re asking if I can give them your contact information, lol.]
Ju Si-hyeon.
A former member of a successful girl group that hit big about ten years ago.
Now a successful businesswoman, operating a dance practice studio as a hobby and running a shopping mall as her main profession.
I heard this news from a CEO with whom I had a slight connection.
She said that the most frequent inquiries she received these days were about this shopping mall model—meaning me—asking where and how she met me, if I could be scouted, and if she could share my contact information.
Even my Instagram, which I had neglected after posting just one video and one shopping mall promotion, was in an uproar.
It seemed like it would be quite difficult for a single post to accumulate over 10,000 comments, yet it had happened.
When I received the commendation, I had clearly refused all media coverage.
The reporters tried to persuade me, arguing that it was a good thing to become famous for, but my stance remained firm.
However, silencing reporters wasn’t enough to end it.
In this day and age, when even octogenarians used the internet, merely silencing reporters would never resolve the situation.
Eventually, rumors of a super beautiful high school girl hunter who received a commendation from the Hunter Association spread far and wide.
Somehow, this connected to the fact that if you visited Instagram, you could see a front-facing picture of a “WA! High School Girl!” and this spread across the entire internet.
Only the CEO who used me as a shopping mall model reaped immense profit.
Still, the CEO was a person full of conscience, so they didn’t hog all the immense profit themselves; instead, they invited me and treated me to Korean beef.
“As expected, having a pretty face in front of me makes the food go down easier.”
Correction: It seems they just called me to see my pretty face.
“Your comments sound like a middle-aged man.”
“Do only middle-aged men like pretty girls? Everyone, regardless of age or gender, loves them.”
“That’s true.”
“But you don’t have many friends, do you?”
“Huh?”
How did they know that I, at nineteen years old, only had Young-soo as a friend, to unleash such a brutal truth bomb?
The full-force fastball hit me squarely, making my head spin.
‘Where did it show?’
“Don’t you know about the compliment exchange (TL Note: ‘Pumasi’, a traditional Korean practice of reciprocal cooperation or exchange of labor, here used metaphorically)? Among women, there’s an unwritten rule that if you receive one compliment, you should return one.”
“Huh.”
“No, wait. If you’re as pretty as you are, even if you lack basic manners, there would be many who’d want to stick by your side.”
Suddenly, I had become someone utterly lacking in basic manners.
Yet, just a month ago, I was a proud son of Korea.
How could I possibly know the rules among women?
‘Yay, I don’t have to go to the military! Huge gain!’
“If you just kept your mouth shut, there truly wouldn’t be a more beautiful girl in the world.”
As I grinned to myself, pleased by the thought of not having to go to the military, the CEO looked at me with a fluttering gaze.
“I’m super pretty even when I open my mouth, though?”
I opened my mouth, said “Ah,” and showed my tongue.
“Why are you so desperate to crack those jokes every time you open your mouth?”
“Well, a fun person is better than a boring one, aren’t they?”
“Why ask such obvious questions?”
“Chae Hyeon-jin, have you ever had alcohol?”
“No.”
I wasn’t exactly a picture-perfect model student.
As I always said, my personality meant I got bored easily, so I wasn’t built for long hours of study.
But was I a delinquent? Not that either.
I attended school as much as possible.
I neither smoked nor drank.
Nor was I the type to get overly excited and drink just because it was January 1st.
On that particular day, having drawn the Martial God’s talent, a one-in-seven-hundred-billion chance, I had no time to think about such things for a while.
“Then, how about the CEO teaches you a bit about drinking? Shall we see Chae Hyeon-jin’s drinking habits?”
“Wow, how can all your comments be like that? Get out of our CEO’s body! You wicked fifty-year-old man’s specter!”
Then, the specter of the fifty-year-old man sprang out of the CEO’s body and spoke.
“Can you see me?”
‘Damn, I haven’t even had a single drink yet?’
