Chapter 29

Some people never hesitate once they’ve made a decision. Jopil was one of them.

“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

With that casual remark, Jopil kicked off the ground. More than ten zhang vanished in two steps.¹ A flash burst from his waist.

Whoosh!

What the…?

My body moved before I could think. The instant my outstretched spear shaft met that flash—

Boom!

The impact hurled me backward with a thunderous crash. I flew toward the reconnaissance squad like a cannonball. Shields be damned—the three or four men at the front went down in a heap.

“Argh!”

“Captain! Are you all right?”

…Would I be all right?

Holy shit.

I gripped the spear shaft, which was still trembling from the impact.

The flash had been Jopil’s sword. It was the fastest, strongest attack I had faced in all twenty-seven years of my life.

It hit that hard even though I blocked it?

If I’d reacted even a moment later, I would have been hiking up Mount Beimang by now.² I steadied my pounding heart and rose to my feet.

Jopil was smiling.

“I’m disappointed. Is that all you’ve got?”

The only reason I had been able to block it was because it was merely “that much.” If I hadn’t leveled up after mowing down those twenty men, I might already have been dead.

Fuck. Wrong opponent.

My realm was Second Rate. Even so, I had easily beaten two First Rate masters so far—with the martial arts and stats I’d gained through the System, and with the combat experience I’d accumulated.

But I could tell from that one attack.

This guy is different.

I felt outmatched in every way. Jopil was on a completely different level from Lee Seogeun or Black Mountain Blade.

So different that the word death came to mind.

“You’re afraid.”

Afraid? Me?

I looked at my hand. The spear had stopped vibrating, but the hand gripping it was shaking like an aspen leaf. My heartbeat was so loud it felt as though everyone could hear it.

“How do you expect to survive the storms of the martial world with such a timid heart?”

Jopil clicked his tongue.

“This won’t do. Let me give you a little encouragement.”

“What?”

“Anger always overcomes fear.”

Before I could understand what he meant, Jopil flicked his sleeve. Several streaks of light shot out at once.

Danger!

The instant a red alert blared in my head, I swung my spear.

Clang!

Several throwing knives ricocheted away with a sharp ring.

But I couldn’t stop them all.

“Guh.”

One of the reconnaissance squad clutched his throat. Blood fountained between his fingers, and I saw a throwing knife buried there.

“Grrk. Cap… Captain. Grrk.”

He dropped to his knees, gurgling on blood. His still-boyish face was twisted with the terror of dying.

“P-please, save me…”

Whoosh! Thunk!

No one survived throwing knives to the throat and between the eyes.

Neither did he.

Splat.

He fell face-first onto the ground, which had only just begun to thaw, and never rose again.

It had all happened in an instant.

“I chose him because he looked the youngest… Was he a cherished subordinate?”

I shook my head.

“No.”

“That’s a shame.”

“I don’t even know his name.”

“And you call him your subordinate?”

“He’s an NPC. I don’t need to know his name or his age.”

“What?”

I rolled the corpse onto his back. After brushing the dirt and snow from his face, I closed his staring eyes.

Then, as if making a confession, I told the still-bewildered Jopil the truth.

“We only met three days ago.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

“Then…”

Jopil smiled as he continued.

“Why are you angry?”

He was right. Something was boiling up from the pit of my stomach. My head and chest burned so hot that I had to say something.

What was that kid’s name again?

He was Number Seven in the reconnaissance squad. I’d forced him to carry a shield even though he hadn’t wanted to, and I’d trained him whenever I got the chance. He was young enough that a few words of praise always made him grin from ear to ear.

What was his name?

I couldn’t remember.

I didn’t even know the names of everyone who lived in my goshiwon.³ Why would I remember some NPC I’d only known for a few days? I had no reason to. No need.

But…

I was annoyed.

I was furious.

I’d thought things would be different in a game, but even here, I had failed to protect one of my teammates.

The whole reason I had trained him so hard, all the effort of the past few days—it had vanished like foam. I opened my mouth and breathed out hot air.

“You son of a bitch. You’re dead.”

I chewed and swallowed my last fasting pill.

A System message announced that my energy had recovered.

Boom!

I kicked off the ground and launched myself forward.

Jopil knocked aside the spearhead surging up from his blind spot.

Clang! Skrrratch!

Fast and powerful. His fundamentals were solid, and he had a keen sense for combat.

He was beyond the likes of that brat from the Mount Heng Sword Sect or a rootless wandering martial artist like Black Mountain Blade.

The Jin Family of Taiyuan… Even rotten, a Chinese herring is still a Chinese herring, is that it?

Jopil leisurely slipped past the spearhead as he considered the young man before him.

The Jin Family of Taiyuan’s decline was nothing new. The prestige that had once dominated Shanxi Province had long since faded. All that remained was the dim glory of the past and the rare talent that appeared once in a blue moon.

Someone like Jin Taekyung.

They’ve raised an interesting one.

Such skill at twenty. He was not yet a match for the Heaven Shaking Sword, who was already hailed as the greatest master in Shanxi Province, but he was certainly intriguing.

Age aside, his internal energy and martial arts were both middling… but he knew how to fight. He knew exactly when to retreat and when to advance, and whenever an opportunity appeared, he charged in like a fighting demon.

Just as he was doing now.

“Ha!”

Whoosh—Boom!

The spearhead flashed toward Jopil’s face and pierced empty air. The explosive crack sent his hair flying.

Well, look at this.

Every motion from gripping the spear to thrusting it was compact and flowed seamlessly into the next. More striking still was the way Jin Taekyung smoothly twisted his entire body before releasing an explosive burst of force.

Silk-reeling force.⁴

It was still clumsy, but there was no mistaking it.

Silk-reeling force at twenty?

An innate feel for combat. Experience reminiscent of an old veteran of the martial world. And talent.

His potential was frightening.

Just as Jopil reached that conclusion, Jin Taekyung muttered with a stiff expression,

“Fuck, what the hell is this?”

“…”

Jopil stumbled over his own feet.

The instant he thought ah, shit, Jin Taekyung’s spear slid in like a snake. He hopped back and opened the distance, but the internal energy on that spear was no joke.

Riiip!

It was the first attack Jopil had allowed through. His robe split open in a long gash, baring his chest.

“Ah, so close. I could’ve finished it.”

“…”

So close? Finished it? Against me—Jopil, One Question, One Kill?

As Jin Taekyung smacked his lips in disappointment, Jopil felt rage surge through him.

“Youuu bastard!”

His shout, laden with internal energy, shook the forest. His eyes rolled back as he charged at Jin Taekyung.

The instant I sliced open Jopil’s robe, a System notification rang.

Ding.

System

Lv.??? Jopil enters Berserk!

Strength and Agility increase for the duration!

Damn it. Even more?

“Graaaaah!”

Boom! Boom!

Blow after blow crashed down with a thunderous roar. The ground erupted, and trees were torn out by the roots.

With his eyes rolled completely white, Jopil rampaged like a madman.

The problem is, he’s no ordinary madman.

He was a madman who also happened to be a Peak master. If not for the Gambler Title, which increased my combat stats by ten percent in a one-on-one fight, I wouldn’t have lasted this long.

Boom!

That wasn’t martial arts.

It was a bombardment.

But Jopil’s attacks had lost all precision. His movements were normally compact and fast, but the excessive strength from Berserk made them wider and left him full of openings.

I only need him to show me one…

The problem was, I couldn’t find it.

He had completely lost his mind and was laying waste to everything around him. Dodging was all I could manage. Blocking was out of the question.

Step into range and I would be shredded. That much was obvious.

“Captain!”

“We’re coming!”

I hurriedly waved off the reconnaissance squad members charging toward me.

“Hey, don’t come over here! Don’t come! Fall back!”

Had they lost their minds? Coming here?

We had already lost one man for nothing. I didn’t want the entire reconnaissance squad wiped out.

Besides…

If those guys come over here, the Gambler Title’s effect disappears!

Gambler only worked in a one-on-one fight.

I was barely hanging on as it was. If I lost the Title’s effect too, I had no idea how much longer I could last.

“Get back, you bastards!”

I shouted and hurled myself sideways. Right on cue, Jopil’s sword smashed the ground apart.

Crunch!

“Captain!”

Hyuk Mujin’s shout came a beat too late. Despite my warning, he was already charging in. Behind him, I saw Han Yeop’s grim, determined face.

“Hey, don’t—!”

“Jopil, you vicious bastard!”

“Get away from the Captain!”

But they were already too late. Hyuk Mujin and Han Yeop, who had sprinted over with everything they had, thrust their weapons at Jopil while his attention was still on me.

“Die!”

Sword and spear. Spear and sword.

Their timing was excellent, and their attacks worked together as if they had practiced them beforehand.

There was only one problem.

They had the wrong opponent.

“How dare you, you rats!”

Jopil reacted instantly. He planted his sword in the ground, spun around, and struck both weapons with his bare hands.

Facing a sword and spear empty-handed was suicide.

But this was Murim.

More precisely, Jopil was a Peak master.

Crack—Crunch!

His palm merely brushed the side of Hyuk Mujin’s blade, yet the sword shattered before it could even reach him. Han Yeop stared in horror at his own spear, its head sliced clean off.

That was the result of Jopil’s rigid knife-hand.

“What the…”

“That’s impossi—”

Before they could finish, Jopil slammed both hands into their chests.

They smashed into trees, spraying fountains of blood.

“I’ll kill you.”

The whites of his eyes had vanished from his chillingly smiling face.

Berserk had worn off. He had regained his senses.

“Fuck…”

One disaster after another. Mountains beyond mountains. Enemies on every side.

Jopil, you son of a bitch.

The situation kept spiraling toward the worst possible outcome. If anyone was going to stop him, it had to be me.

“Jopil—!”

The internal energy I drew up with all my strength raced through my body. I kicked off the ground and shot toward him.

Jopil grinned broadly.

“Right. I’ll kill you first.”

But I had one thing to count on.

He’s empty-handed right now.

That was the mistake he’d made while Berserk. And I was certain I could end this before he pulled the sword from behind him and swung it.

In the next instant, I dragged up every last bit of internal energy in my dantian. I focused all of it into a single point—the tip of my spear—and thrust.

“Die!”

The final form of the Jin Family’s Spear Technique.

Sky-Piercing Strike.

If it could pierce the heavens, why couldn’t it pierce Jopil’s heart?

I was certain.

This is… the end.

The world slowed, and I saw Jopil’s face.

He was smiling.

The instant I saw that smile, I realized it.

Something was wrong.

Skrrrng!

Jopil’s sword was faster than my spear.

The blood-soaked crimson blade shoved the spear shaft aside and drove inward. The instant my spearhead, laden with internal energy, pierced empty air—

Slash!

A chilling sound rang out, and my chest suddenly felt cool.

Then came the searing pain and a burst of blood.

Fortunately, I had jerked back at the last instant and avoided a fatal wound.

Damn it.

What the hell had just happened?

As I staggered backward, Jopil rushed me.

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!

Crimson sword-light poured down. Every flash was so fast and strong I could barely see it.

I gritted my teeth and swung my spear, but Jopil surpassed me in both momentum and martial arts.

Slash! Thunk! Splurt!

Lightning tore across my body. The blade stabbed my shoulder, slashed my knee, and pierced my side before pulling free in a spray of blood.

“Guh.”

“You still haven’t dropped your weapon. I’ll give you that.”

Jopil added,

“If you survive this too.”

The next instant, his hand slammed into my chest.