Chapter 21

Ding.

System

• Practiced the Jin Family’s Cultivation Technique.

• As a result of repeated practice, Sinews and Meridians and Muscles and Bones each increase by 1.

“Whew.”

I opened my eyes with a deep exhale. In the predawn gloom, the candlelit room shimmered amber.

Failed again.

My fist clenched in the silence.

How many attempts had that been? Twenty? Thirty? The result was what mattered. Once again, I had failed to draw out the hardened mass of internal energy.

Should I take comfort in the fact that I’m getting better?

I was gradually getting used to handling internal energy. If I had been a C-rank Hunter instead of an F-rank—or at least a D-rank—I would have adapted much faster. But reality was cold and unforgiving.

The steady improvement in my Muscles and Bones and Sinews and Meridians must be helping too.

Internal energy flowed through the body’s meridians. The more I practiced my cultivation technique and improved those two attributes, the wider and sturdier the pathways became. Compared to when I had started, I could circulate far more internal energy at a much faster speed.

It’s all thanks to the Skill Points.

The ten Skill Points awarded with every level-up were doing their job. Nothing nourished my Muscles and Bones and Sinews and Meridians better.

Open Skill Window.

System

Skill Window

Lv. 17 Jin Taekyung

Cultivation Technique: Jin Family’s Cultivation Technique (Fourth Stage)

Martial Arts: Jin Family’s Spear Technique (Fifth Stage) / Jin Family’s Manoeuvre Technique (Fifth Stage)

Muscles and Bones: 105

Remaining Points: 0

I can see a chance.

The impregnable fortress was gradually shrinking and growing flimsier. If I kept hammering away at it, I felt as though the gate would soon open.

Fortunately, I might lack talent, but I had persistence.

I’ll keep trying until it works.

I was about to sit cross-legged again and circulate my qi when my senses, sharpened by the many earlier attempts, picked up an unusual sound.

This is…

A low, droning hum. At first, it sounded like a swarm of bees, but it was actually the murmur of many people.

What’s going on?

I channeled internal energy into my ears. Perhaps because of the distance, it still wasn’t nearly enough to make out everything clearly.

But it was enough.

One word stood out among the indistinct voices.

Battle!

The Mount Heng Sword Sect. The battle had finally begun.

I hurriedly uncrossed my legs and sprang to my feet. Then I leaped through the half-open window.

I landed like a cat. Before me, lights came on across the pavilions one by one.

So, in the end…

It had begun.

Twenty-five.

That was the number of corpses laid out in orderly rows.

When I saw them lying there like dead trees, every trace of life gone, I was left speechless.

“This is…”

I was a Hunter. I had fought countless battles and witnessed countless deaths.

Poisoned, cut apart, crushed, blown to pieces…

The manner of death varied wildly depending on the monster involved. But all those deaths had one thing in common.

Every victim had been an adult.

Adulthood was one of the basic conditions for awakening. No one knew what the exact standard was or why it existed. It was simply a rule accepted as naturally as the existence of Gates.

That was why none of the countless deaths I had witnessed had ever involved a child.

This is a game. It’s just a game.

I kept repeating the words to myself. But the sight before me was too horrific to dismiss so easily.

BLOOD

The character had been carved into their foreheads. Torchlight reflected off the dried blood.

More than ten children had gone cold like that.

The oldest could not have been more than middle-school age. Some looked even younger.

Every single one of them was dead.

“Urgh!”

One of the martial artists holding a torch in a trembling hand doubled over. Soon, the sound of retching rang out from all around us.

Then a hand reached down and picked up the torch he had dropped.

“Somi. Yes, that was her name. On the day I became acting Family Head, the Branch Leader of Eung-hyeon bragged about her until his mouth ran dry, calling her his treasure.”

It was Jin Wikyung. His eyes dim and lifeless, he raised the torch and shone it over the children’s faces.

One by one.

Each time another face was revealed, he spoke the child’s name without fail.

After naming the last child, Jin Wikyung looked at me.

“Do you know who these children are?”

“…No.”

“They were members of our family sent to the branches in Eung-hyeon, Saneum, and Sakju.”

I didn’t know where those places were. But I could guess what fate the children’s parents had met.

The Mount Heng Sword Sect’s intentions made me sick.

Fucking psychotic bastards.

Look. We can slaughter even children this young. Soon, you’ll end up the same way.

I could almost hear the voice of the Sect Leader of the Mount Heng Sword Sect, a man whose face I had never even seen.

“This is all my fault. Even children who knew no martial arts were slaughtered so cruelly…”

Jin Wikyung was blaming himself in a trembling voice when—

“That is the essence of war, Lesser Family Head.”

The Head Elder appeared, stroking his silver beard. His gaze remained calm as it swept over the corpses.

“Victory and defeat—neither comes without death. The Sect Leader of the Mount Heng Sword Sect… Blood Wolf Sword Lee Cheonbaek, was it? As one would expect of a former wandering martial artist, he understands war well. These children alone make that clear.”

The casual way he said it sent a chill through me.

What the hell is wrong with this AI?

This NPC was missing something. That made him seem all the more dangerous.

I kept my mouth shut. Jin Wikyung’s face twisted as he spoke.

“…Please choose your words carefully. They are members of our family.”

“No. Those children are casualties of war. Countless more will die from now on. Perhaps even at this very moment.”

“Head Elder. I told you to watch your words.”

Jin Wikyung growled. Had we been alone, he would have been ready to start something right then and there.

But the Head Elder remained calm.

“Did you not anticipate this?”

He had suddenly switched to informal speech, yet it came so naturally that neither Jin Wikyung nor I even registered the change.

“Saneum, Eung-hyeon, Sakju. All three lay within the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s reach. When you sent messenger pigeons to each branch the day before, did you truly never consider that something like this might happen?”

“That…”

“You knew harm would come to them. Sending those pigeons was nothing more than a way to ease your conscience.”

“Enough. Please, enough.”

“It was an excellent decision. If you had tried to save the branches, you would have had to run for seven days and nights without rest, then fight the enemy while utterly exhausted. Isn’t that right?”

Jin Wikyung stared at the Head Elder with a pale face. Fresh blood flowed between his tightly clenched fingers.

“I—I…”

“Everything comes with a sacrifice. Look at the bigger picture. You are the Lesser Family Head responsible for the hundreds of family members of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”

Jin Wikyung’s body trembled. The anger and sorrow drained from his face, leaving behind a strange emptiness.

“Sacrifice…”

“The war has only just begun. Isn’t that so, Lesser Family Head?”

The Head Elder offered a fist-and-palm salute.¹ I bit down hard on my lip.

What an impossible old man to figure out.

The Head Elder was clearly dangerous. His position in the family, his utterly unreadable motives, even the psychopathic way he could look at the corpses of children without twitching an eyebrow…

But…

He’s right.

From my perspective, Jin Wikyung was a good Lesser Family Head. He was deeply humane and sharp-minded.

But the moment he saw the corpses, he had been shaken more than anyone. Without the Head Elder’s cold rebuke, it would have taken him a long time to regain his composure.

He helped him. The Head Elder, of all people…

Are they enemies in peacetime but united during war?

If so, that’s a relief.

I was looking at the Head Elder with a mixture of suspicion and relief when he spoke.

“So the Third Young Master is here as well.”

My heart dropped at the sight of those shrewd gray eyes. It was the first time the Head Elder had spoken to me.

“Greetings, Head Elder.”

I did my best to hide my surprise, but the Head Elder regarded me with a strange smile.

“I’ve been hearing an interesting rumor within the family lately. Something about… the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

I never expected to hear that ridiculous nickname from the Head Elder.

“I’ve also heard that you are acquainted with Yama Whip.² They say you joined forces with him to defeat the Heavenly Axe.”

“Cough. Cough.”

“Are you ill?”

“N-no. I’m just feeling a little chilly.”

“Oh dear. That won’t do for someone who is about to accomplish great things.”

My awkward smile slowly froze.

“What do you mean?”

“Someone capable of helping eliminate a formidable fiend like the Heavenly Axe is a valuable asset in battle. Surely that rumor isn’t false.”

“…”

“Therefore, as a direct-line member of our family, I believe it is only natural that you fight at the forefront. What do you think, Lesser Family Head?”

The Head Elder smiled faintly. Jin Wikyung stared at that smile for a moment, then asked me, “What do you think?”

Checkmate.

The moment the word came to mind, a familiar notification rang out.

Ding.

System

Quest

Mission

You have been appointed captain of a White Tiger Hall reconnaissance squad.

From now on, lead the subordinates assigned to you on missions and build merit!

Grade: Repeatable Quest
Restriction: Jin Taekyung
Mission: Earn 100 Merit Points (0 / 100)
Reward: Changes according to the degree of success.
Failure: Changes according to the degree of failure.

I closed the Quest Window. I had already seen it several times, and besides, the White Tiger Hall martial artist who had stepped away earlier had just returned.

“These are the supplies issued to captains.”

A sword.

A black martial uniform with a crude white tiger embroidered on it.

And a smooth wooden plaque that smelled strongly of fresh wood.

That was everything.

“The newly assigned members are waiting at the reconnaissance squad’s quarters. The location is…”

Fortunately, I knew the place. A pavilion I had passed several times had been assigned as the reconnaissance squad’s quarters.

After leaving White Tiger Hall, I first ducked into an empty alley.

Open Inventory.

Ten seconds was enough to put on the entire uniform. I changed clothes, shoved the sword deep into my Inventory, then pulled out the Sharp Spear.

Until now, I had thoroughly enjoyed the privileges of being the Third Young Master in a lavish private pavilion.

But things were different from here on out.

It’s communal living, right?

We would eat together and sleep together. I couldn’t exactly perform the magic trick of making a two-meter³ iron spear pop out of thin air whenever I needed it.

Once I hung the wooden plaque engraved with Captain at my waist, I felt like I’d become Ordinary Martial Artist #1 of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.

Not just an ordinary martial artist. I’m a reconnaissance squad captain.

Captain of a White Tiger Hall reconnaissance squad.

I had never expected to receive a position like this.

Of course, there had been some fierce disagreement over it. The Head Elder wanted to place me in a combat unit aligned with the Council of Elders, while Jin Wikyung had vehemently opposed him.

In the end, they compromised.

I would serve as a reconnaissance captain, a position whose duties were not especially difficult—but under the command of the White Tiger Hall Master, who belonged to the Council of Elders’ faction.

Before I knew what was happening, the position was mine.

I never imagined this was how I’d get dragged into the war.

I could have just told them to do whatever the hell they wanted, but I held back. The first reason was the Head Elder’s eyes, which flashed every time Yama Whip was mentioned.

The second reason was…

The children.

It’s a game. It’s all graphics, nothing more than an illusion.

No matter how many times I repeated that to myself, the corpses and the character carved into their foreheads kept flickering before my eyes.

Part of my decision had been emotional.

This wasn’t good.

Don’t get too invested. I can’t confuse reality with the game.

Things like this had been happening more and more often lately. At first, I had treated the NPCs like people for fun. But these days, I was actually thinking of them as real people and forming relationships with them.

Every time I caught myself doing it, I was startled.

Maybe it was a side effect of playing the game for too long.

“Is this it?”

Before I knew it, I had reached the reconnaissance squad’s quarters. My mouth fell open.

Cracked wood and a musty smell.

Good lord, there was even a beehive under the eaves. I had never seen one that big before.

Just like a company that treats you like family…

Look at those benefits.

Or maybe this was a mean-spirited prank by the White Tiger Hall Master, who disliked me. Perhaps he couldn’t openly give me grief yet, so this was his way of telling me to eat shit.

All right. Let’s give it a shot.

I took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped inside.

Creeeak.

The old floor wailed beneath my foot, the sound especially ominous.