He ran. It was the only thing he could do.
Even as his father and the people of the Sakju Branch—people who had been like family to him—died one after another, there was only one thing a fourteen-year-old boy could do.
Run.
“Oppa,1 I’m cold.”
His little sister whimpered in his arms. The boy, Socheon, blew warm breath over her hands, stiff with cold.
“We’re almost there. Just hold on a little longer, okay?”
“When are we going home? Soyul wants to see Mom…”
“She came yesterday, too.”
“You’re lying. Did you see her?”
“Of course I did.”
In my dream.
Socheon swallowed the rest of the sentence.
His mother had appeared in his dream the night before, exactly as she had three days earlier. She had spent a long time stroking and gazing at Soyul, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion, before speaking.
“Survive. You must survive.”
Her voice still rang in his ears, and the sight of her back as she led the others away still hovered before his eyes.
What happened to Mother? Could she have…? No. That can’t be.
It was then, as he struggled to suppress his ominous feelings, that he heard something.
Rustle.
“Who’s there?”
The motion came naturally. He pulled his little sister close and drew the dagger concealed inside his clothes.
After the night his home had burned and he had witnessed countless deaths, the once-cheerful boy had acquired the eyes of a wild beast.
“I’ll count to three. One, two…”
“It’s me.”
The dagger slowly lowered when a face suddenly appeared from the darkness.
“Uncle Gong?”
“Shh. Keep your voice down.”
Uncle Gong was a weary-looking middle-aged man. An old friend of Socheon’s father, the Branch Leader of the Sakju Branch, he was now the young siblings’ guide and protector.
“I was worried. You were gone for more than half a shichen.2”
“I should have been more careful. We have a tail.”
“Already?”
“Yes. Every moment counts.”
Socheon rose without hesitation. Uncle Gong hoisted the bewildered Soyul onto his back and led the way through the brush.
“Where are we going?”
“Honju. No matter how vicious those bastards are, they won’t pursue us that far.”
Is that really true?
Socheon had his doubts.
The Sakju Branch had already fallen. The building had burned, and everyone was dead. He did not know who the attackers were, but their purpose was clear.
Extermination.
He blew the word away with his breath and started walking again.
How long had they been walking?
The white snow that had fluttered down like sleet was already up to their calves when—
“Quiet.”
Uncle Gong stopped. Socheon held his breath.
The howling wind. Bare branches clattering against one another…
Nothing else.
Yet Socheon knew instinctively.
“Is it them?”
Uncle Gong’s face went rigid.
“At least ten of them. They’ll catch up soon.”
The situation was bleak. Yet strangely, Socheon’s heart settled into a calm stillness.
“This is my fault. I should have hurried before the snow began… I curse the heavens.”
“You did everything you could, Uncle.”
Socheon drew the dagger from inside his clothes. It had been handed down to him by his father a year ago—the only trace his father had left behind.
“I’ve learned a little martial arts myself. I’ll fight and die like a martial artist.”
“…It’s too soon to give up.”
That was all Uncle Gong could say. They drew on what little strength they had left and set off again.
But their stamina, pushed to its limit by days and nights of nonstop flight, dragged at their feet. Their steps grew slower, and their breathing became labored.
“There they are!”
“We’ve almost caught them!”
Now Socheon could hear them, too. The pursuers’ voices and the glow of their torches were drawing closer.
At that moment, Uncle Gong handed the soundly sleeping Soyul to Socheon.
“I’ll follow behind you.”
“Uncle!”
“Don’t worry. I, Gong Yacheong, am not so easily dealt with.”
“But how can you…”
“Go!”
Socheon left Gong Yacheong behind and started up the mountain again. His stamina was at its limit, but he did not stop.
When he reached a hill on the snow-covered mountain, the clash of weapons and someone’s scream rang out.
Uncle Gong.
Socheon gritted his teeth. He wanted to draw his dagger and throw himself down the slope that very instant.
But…
Hold on. I have to hold on.
He had repeated those words hundreds, thousands of times over the past five days. He had sworn to survive, protect the little sister in his arms, and take revenge on the murderers.
From the hilltop, Socheon stared at the flickering torches with fire blazing in his eyes.
I will survive.
Then he turned and climbed over the hill.
The next moment, his body shook as if struck by lightning.
“A-ah…”
Ten men in navy martial uniforms stood in the broad clearing atop the hill, staring at him.
A single character had been embroidered prominently across each man’s chest in silk thread.
陳.
Jin.
I sensed something strange just as we were about to begin training.
A sound carried faintly through the howling wind. When I drew up my internal energy, it became clearer.
A human voice?
There had to be more than ten people. They were so close, I couldn’t believe I had only just noticed them.
That many people in this weather…
All right. Decision made.
“Pack your things.”
“Huh?”
The squad members had been standing ready with their weapons, but now they stared at me in confusion.
“Pack up, quickly. One of you, go inside and get Hyuk Mujin—”
“Captain. There’s a kid over there.”
Damn it. There really was one.
A little boy carrying an even smaller child on his back was staring blankly at us.
“Who’s that?”
“No idea. Does he own this cabin?”
Please let that be it.
But why did I find it so hard to believe that the men following him were members of one big, happy family?
“He’s crying.”
As someone had pointed out, the boy was crying. Sobbing his heart out as he ran.
The problem was the direction he was running in.
“Uh, he’s coming this way… Captain, where are you going?”
Suspicious gazes turned toward me. I had already backed well away from them.
“I’m going to ride a horse. We should be leaving soon.”
“In this weather? The horses won’t even be able to move.”
“Really? Then we’ll leave them behind.”
“What?”
“That’s how missions work. Snow or rain, we still have a job to do. Shut up and pack your things.”
“But still…”
“Pack your things! Wake Hyuk Mujin!”
The admiring looks they had given me barely fifteen minutes ago had turned into the sort reserved for a lunatic.
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
What’s gotten into me?
I had a really bad feeling about this.
By now, I knew the signs. The closer the kid came, the stronger the stench of a giant fuck-you grew.
I could already see exactly how this would play out. There was only one way out.
“Then I’ll head down first by my—”
At that moment, our uninvited guests appeared over the hill amid a chorus of shouts.
More than twenty men.
Oh, fuck.
Ding.
System
- A Sudden Quest has been created!
Quest
Survivors of the Sakju Branch
You have encountered survivors from the Sakju Branch of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.
Rescue the survivors from the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s merciless pursuers!
Grade: Sudden Quest
Limit: Jin Taekyung
Task: Rescue the survivors — Incomplete
Reward: Chain Quest
???
Failure: ???
“…”
“…”
We stared at them. They stared at us.
A deathly silence settled over the frozen clearing.
I knew it. I knew this was going to happen.
But it was too late for regrets. What could I do about my shitty luck?
I heaved a deep sigh and shouted.
“Attack formation! Form up!”
Clack-clack-clack.
Caught off guard, the squad members nevertheless moved as they had been taught. By the time they had formed up, the enemy had realized who we were and started shouting.
“They’re brats from the Jin Family of Taiyuan!”
“There aren’t many of them! Wipe them out!”
Brats. Outnumbered.
Those two facts hit me right in the chest.
I hadn’t even finished teaching these guys. Their martial arts were weak, they had no real combat experience, and they were complete rookies…
If this goes bad, should I run for it by myself?
With a growing sense of dread, I used Qi Sense. Blue waves of qi, visible only to me, swept over the enemies charging toward us with wild shrieks.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
System
- Level 12
- Level 11
- Level 12
“…Huh?”
The reconnaissance squad members shouted, their faces deathly pale.
“What do we do?”
“They’re coming! They’re coming!”
“Captaaaain!”
I watched the enemy close in at terrifying speed and opened my mouth.
“Don’t worry. The enemy is nothing but EXP… I mean, a rabble. But!”
“But?”
“Stop them with everything you have. Just hold them back.”
“What? What do you mean?”
What do I mean?
Don’t take the last hit.
“Defensive formation! Form up!”
Yep. All the EXP was mine.
“Captain!”
“No! Captaaaain!”
“The Captain’s trying to kill himself!”
That wasn’t what I was doing, you lunatics.
Leaving the reconnaissance squad members’ screams behind, I charged straight at the enemy.
Internal energy surged from my dantian and spread through my limbs and bones.
“You crazy bastard.”
The man at the front grinned, baring yellow teeth.
I grinned back.
“Pretty boy.”
“What?”
Slash.
He clutched his throat and collapsed. As I swept past him, the voice I had been waiting for rang out.
Ding.
System
- You gained EXP.
- You gained 50 Merit!
“What the—!”
“How dare this fucking bastard…”
The enemy was a magnificent sight. Facial scars came standard, and their hygiene was so atrocious that the stench stabbed at my nose.
And yet…
“Ah, this is great.”
I felt like I was standing in a flower garden.
Twenty flowers, each brimming with the sweet honey of EXP.
I charged into them with a blissful expression and sucked out the honey.
Stab. Stab. Stab.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
System
- You gained EXP.
- You gained 50 Merit…
- You gained EXP…
- You gained 50 Merit…
I tore through their ranks without pause.
Their front line collapsed in the blink of an eye, and the others instinctively faltered.
That works for me.
The Jin Family’s Manoeuvre Technique and Spear Technique were martial arts built around advancing.
I stepped forward with the Manoeuvre Technique, drove into their center, and swung my spear.
“Gaaah!”
“Aaaargh!”
A razor-sharp spear with crushing weight behind it, wielded with an overwhelmingly aggressive technique. Better yet, the enemy was steadily retreating.
It was time for the Jin Family’s Spear Technique to show its true worth.
First form.
I began swinging the spear in step with my footwork. Every swing and thrust brought forth someone’s scream and a burst of blood.
“Ghk.”
“Grrrgh.”
Second form. Third form. Fourth form.
At some point, I surrendered myself to the flow.
The ripples became waves, and the enemies were swept away by them. Every nerve in my body stood on end.
More. More. More…
“You fucking bastard!”
Stab. Stab-stab.
Throat. Chest. Abdomen.
I stabbed and cut them down one after another. The System alerts confirmed the fatalities for me.
How much time had passed?
Only one man remained standing.
“O-our boss will find you no matter—”
I didn’t wait.
A wave was all about flow.
And the final wave erupted from the tip of my spear.
The last form of the Jin Family’s Spear Technique.
Sky-Piercing Strike.
Splurt!
The last man—the one with the narrow, birdlike eyes—stared at the shattered pieces of his sword before dropping to his knees.
The center of his chest had burst open as if struck by a cannonball.
Ding.
System
- You defeated Level 32 Black Mountain Blade!
- You completed the Survivors of the Sakju Branch Quest!
- A Chain Quest has been created!
- You gain a large amount of EXP!
- You gain a large amount of Merit!
- You have leveled up!
- You have leveled up!
- You have leveled…
As the System alerts continued without pause, I rubbed my stomach.
“Buuurp.”
Ah, I’m stuffed.
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