Old Man Jang woke to the sound of a commotion.
What goddamn bastards are making all that noise?
He was already sleeping less and less with age, so he wasn’t happy about being woken.
Let’s see what these bastards’ faces look like.
Dragging his stiff body out of the thatched cottage, Old Man Jang immediately spotted a crowd gathered like clouds.
There were hundreds of them, by his rough estimate. It looked as if everything in the village with legs—human or animal—had gathered in one place.
“What’s all this about?”
It was a small, unremarkable village, so he knew most of the faces.
At Old Man Jang’s muttering, a market merchant he recognized greeted him.
“You’re awake, sir.”
“With this kind of racket, how could I stay asleep?”
“Ha-ha, please understand, sir. Everyone’s gathered because they heard an important guest was coming.”
Old Man Jang grunted.
“An important guest? Is the Emperor coming?”
“Oh, there you go again. Is the Emperor your friend?”
“Going by age, I’d be his father.”
“You’ll get arrested for treason talking like that. Can’t you see the government troops over there?”
“Government troops?”
Following the merchant’s nod, Old Man Jang spotted dozens of government troops and the county magistrate dressed in his official robes. His eyes narrowed.
“That fellow never showed his face when the mounted bandits were prowling around, but now he’s even put on his official robes? Is this important guest some high-ranking official?”
“Not a high-ranking official, but in Shanxi Province, they’re number one.”
The merchant raised his thumb.
At that very moment, excited shouts erupted from the assembled crowd.
“They’re coming!”
“They’re here!”
Old Man Jang turned to follow everyone’s gaze. When he saw fifty mounted riders galloping toward them in the distance, their flags snapping in the wind, he finally realized who the important guests were.
The Jin Family of Taiyuan.
Old Man Jang had little interest in the affairs of the world, but even he had heard the name of the Jin Family of Taiyuan until his ears rang.
A prestigious family that had maintained its lineage for three hundred years, and the hegemon that held Shanxi Province in its grasp.
As Old Man Jang watched the imposing procession, his brow suddenly furrowed.
Who was that fellow again? That… what was it? Shanxi, Shanxi… some kind of dragon?
Age had weakened his memory as well. As Old Man Jang lamented the passing years, one person caught his eye.
“Say, who’s that young man?”
“Ah, that Young Hero?”
There were dozens of martial artists from the Jin Family of Taiyuan alone, all clearly visible. Yet the merchant immediately understood whom he meant.
An awl in a pocket. The young man’s presence was like an awl tucked inside a pouch, bound to stand out wherever he went, so there was nothing strange about it.
“That’s the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi.”
Shing—
As if he had heard those words, the young man at the head of the procession drew the sword at his waist.
The transparent blade flashed in the sunlight, and a thunderous cheer erupted.
“Waaaaaah!”
“Jin Family of Taiyuan! Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi! Heaven Shaking Sword!”
“Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi! Jin Taekyung! Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi! Jin Taekyung!”
My epithet and name rang out from every direction. Even though I’d already experienced this several times over the past few days, it still filled me with pride.
Is this how idols feel?
This was that thing, wasn’t it? Milky-skinned Jin Taekyung. We love you, Jin Taekyung.
An idol fan club, the kind I’d only ever seen on music variety shows, was right in front of me. Smiling contentedly, I drew the [Unnamed Sword] from my waist.
Shhhng. Flash!
Maybe it was the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron brand, but nothing else came close when it came to visual effects.
“Waaaaaah!”
“Eeeeek! Young Master, take me!”
“Wah! Wah!”
A man for everyone, like something rated for all audiences—men and women, young and old.
That man was me.
Ding.
System
Fame rises by 19!
Fame rises by 26!
Fame rises by 31!
…
…
Fame rises significantly!
Due to the increase in Fame, the effect of the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi Title has been strengthened!
The Title effect has been strengthened?
That was an unexpected bonus. I opened my Status Window to check the changes.
Ding.
System
Status Window
Lv. 61 Jin Taekyung
Class: First Rate Martial Artist
Fame: 2,100 (+250)
Titles: 4 (Title effects active)
— Returnee (All stats +10)
— Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi (All stats +15, Fame +200)
— Scion of a Prestigious Family (All stats +5, Fame +50)
— Gambler (Combat-related stats +10% in one-on-one combat)
Strength: 196 (+30)
Stamina: 195 (+30)Agility: 192 (+30)
Intelligence: 35 (+30)Charm: 35 (+30)
Internal Energy: 45 yearsToughness: 155 (+30)
Remaining Points: 60
— Distribute your remaining points.
The Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi’s Title effect had definitely changed. Before, it had granted All stats +10 and Fame +100.
So my name carries more weight now?
Titles didn’t simply drop from the heavens.
In my case, rumors about me being some kind of sleeping dragon had gradually spread, and at some point, my Fame rose and I gained the Title Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi.
It seemed that a Title’s effect increased as Fame rose.
My Level has already passed sixty, too.
The Status Window, which I hadn’t checked in a while, had grown by leaps and bounds. My Fame had shot up, my combat-related stats were approaching 200, and I had a solid forty-five years of internal energy.
Now that’s the stuff! Innkeeper!
I shuddered with exhilaration, and Hyuk Mujin, who was carrying a flag to my right, looked at me as though I were mentally ill.
“Are you really that happy?”
I deliberately put on a serious face.
“Who said I was happy? The people were enjoying themselves, so I was just livening up the mood.”
“…I have a lot to say, but I won’t.”
“Wise choice.”
As we rode amid the crowd’s cheers, we pulled on the reins and slowed down.
Dozens of men had poured out into the street and blocked our path.
Among them, a fat man dressed in splendid red robes smiled broadly at me.
“Heh-heh, you’re every bit as dignified and handsome as I’d heard. I’ve long been familiar with the great reputation of the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi.”
“Ah, yes.”
Confused, I asked, “But who are you?”
Hyuk Mujin hurriedly whispered, “He’s the county magistrate. The county magistrate.”
“What’s a county magistrate?”
“What? You don’t even know what a county magistrate is?”
“Is he like a village head?”
“Wow, this is driving me crazy. Just think of him as an official.”
“An official. Then are the people behind him government troops?”
“…Why are you acting like you’ve never seen government troops before?”
“No, I just find it interesting.”
In fact, I really had never seen them before.
I studied the fat man—no, the county magistrate—and his subordinates carefully.
I knew that this world had a government, official offices, and law-enforcement agencies, but this was the first time I’d actually encountered them.
How could they never show even the tips of their noses?
Violent crimes happened dozens of times a day around here, yet I had never once seen government troops drag away a criminal.
Then again, considering the authorities hadn’t intervened in the Battle of Eight Spring Gorge, where roughly two thousand people had clashed, or in this latest incident involving the Red Wind Band, perhaps that was only natural.
It’s not as if they’re even beating up the mounted bandits who loiter around.
What exactly did these bastards do?
I was imagining that, if this were modern times, half the martial artists in the Murim would be locked in solitary confinement for murder when the county magistrate cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Ahem!”
His face flushed red as he coughed awkwardly.
He was an official of some standing, after all, and seemed offended that I had ignored him.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I injured my head a while ago, so I keep spacing out.”
I’d only offered a reasonable excuse, but the county magistrate’s expression finally relaxed a little.
“Ahem, no, no. You must have endured great hardship dealing with those vicious mounted bandits. Ah, I heard you killed more than five hundred of them?”
“Uh… five hundred?”
“That’s right. I was overjoyed to hear the tales of valor of the two heroes, the Heaven Shaking Sword and the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi. Ha-ha.”
I had no idea where that number had come from.
Even if you counted every mounted bandit who took part in the battle, there might have been three hundred at most. And by the time Jin Mukyung and I arrived, fewer than a hundred of them remained.
In reality, there was Pung Yang and maybe seventy mounted bandits who were already exhausted. Something like that.
Well, rumors were usually exaggerated.
“Come on, that’s too—”
Just as I was about to tell him the truth, murmurs spread through the people who had been listening to my conversation with the county magistrate.
“Five hundred? Didn’t the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi and the Heaven Shaking Sword go there alone?”
“Good heavens. The two of them defeated more than five hundred mounted bandits?”
“How can human beings be that strong?”
Ding.
System
People are looking at you with awe.
Fame rises by 40!
“Too what, did you say?”
I continued speaking to the bewildered county magistrate.
“That’s far too low. In reality, there were nearly six hundred.”
“Six hundred!”
“My second brother and I took half each.”
“Then three hundred each!”
“Hmm. More precisely, about 285?”
The county magistrate—and even the government troops—gaped at me.
“Ooh!”
“Two hundred and eighty-five! He even knows the exact number!”
Ding.
System
People are looking at you with awe.
Fame rises by 40!
This time, Hyuk Mujin whispered to me with an expression usually reserved for looking at a bug.
“Do you really want to take it this far?”
“Yep.”
“What are you going to do if you inflate your achievements for no reason and get caught lying?”
“You, Wolhwa, and the Mount Heng Sword Sect just have to keep your mouths shut. So hurry up and back me up.”
“I refuse. Hyuk Mujin may not look it, but I’ve lived a truthful life without a single shameful moment before the heavens.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“When Jin Mukyung destroyed my pavilion, weren’t you the one who fought assassins that didn’t even exist?”
“…”
“If you have nothing to say, shut up and watch your expression. My two hundred and eighty… How many was it?”
“Two hundred and eighty-five.”
“Right. I’ll say you took care of about thirty of them. If you were born with balls, you ought to become Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion in the Jin Family of Taiyuan at least once in your life. Don’t you think?”
“…!”
Hyuk Mujin, who had lived a truthful life without a single shameful moment before the heavens, used dazzling verbal footwork to completely win over the county magistrate.
The mounted bandits, most of whom had been Second Rate or Third Rate, became First Rate masters to a man—each a Lü Bu astride Red Hare. Pung Yang became an invincible master who could cleave mountains and seas with a single sword strike.
From now on, I’m filtering anything that comes out of this bastard’s mouth.
He was such a skilled liar that even I found myself wondering whether it was true. If even I, the person involved, was confused, there was no hope for anyone else.
“…and that was how Pung Yang, the absolute ruler of Gaoyuan, and the vicious Red Wind Band came to meet their end at the Mount Heng Sword Sect.”
The moment Hyuk Mujin finished his bullshit—his story, I mean—sighs of disappointment rose from all around us. The county magistrate’s reaction was the most enthusiastic of all.
“Whaaaat? How could such a thing happen? The Murim is truly a wondrous yet terrifying place.”
Hyuk Mujin swept his gaze over the crowd with melancholy eyes.
“A martial brute like me has no fear. Ever since I took up the sword, I’ve lived with death as my companion. But if I have one wish…”
“One wish?”
“To die by the sword of someone strong. That is all I could ask for.”
“…”
What a bumper crop of bullshit.
Suppressing the urge to smack Hyuk Mujin in the back of the head, I stepped forward.
I had already milked the Fame for all it was worth, and there was no reason to keep talking to a potbellied middle-aged man.
“Sorry to interrupt, but we’re in a hurry.”
The county magistrate, who had been gazing at Hyuk Mujin with dazed eyes as if hypnotized, suddenly came to his senses.
“Ah, my apologies. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“Then did you have some other business?”
“Could I meet Great Hero Jin? The Lesser Family Head, I mean.”
The county magistrate’s gaze shifted toward the carriage behind me.
They couldn’t be seen from outside, but Jin Wikyung, Jin Mukyung, and Wipeng were inside.
Because they were drunk out of their minds.
They were the losers who had been utterly crushed by me in our drinking contest over the past three days. But how could I tell him the truth? Without so much as changing my expression, I lied.
“I’m sorry, but he’s currently circulating his qi, so I don’t think he can see you. As you know, County Magistrate, it’s quite dangerous.”
“Ah, I see. Then it can’t be helped.”
The county magistrate clicked his tongue, then pulled a tightly rolled piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to me.
“What is this?”
“An invitation from the City Lord. After hearing about your recent exploits, Young Hero Jin, he seems to have been deeply impressed, so he arranged a gathering with several young prodigies.”
Ding.
System
A Quest has been created.
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