Chapter 32

“There was a major battle two days ago. One hundred elite fighters from our family clashed with two hundred vanguard troops from the Mount Heng Sword Sect in Honju.”

“There was a battle?”

And a major one, no less—hundreds of people thrown in. My heart lurched for a moment, but then I remembered what Wipeng had said earlier.

Good news and even better news. He’d already given away the outcome.

“We won.”

“It was a great victory. Fewer than thirty of them escaped alive. That’s about the same as our family’s total casualties.”

Judging by the scar running from Wipeng’s forehead to his chin, it must have been a fierce battle.

Well, of course. They outnumbered us two to one.

Still, it was a relief we’d won. From the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s perspective, we’d poured in nearly half our strength. If we’d lost, the damage would have been enormous.

“It’s unfortunate that we let the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s Lesser Family Head escape, but taking down the Mount Heng Twin Devils was a major gain.”

“The Mount Heng Fucking Devils?”

“The Mount Heng Twin Devils. They were Peak masters under the Mount Heng Sword Sect, and their loyalty was something else… They kept throwing themselves at us without regard for their lives, so we had no choice but to kill them.”

Wipeng tapped the fresh scar on his face.

“If we’d captured them alive, we could have extracted valuable information.”

“Did you—I mean, did Great Hero Wipeng kill them?”

“My lord and I took one each. They were pretty good.”

“…”

I was left speechless as Wipeng slurped his tea.

For fuck’s sake… Are Peak masters a joke to him?

That had been the fiercest fight of my twenty-seven years. I’d suffered every kind of internal injury and been carved up like a steak. Then I’d been unconscious for five days, so I’d practically taken a half-bath in the River Jordan.¹

And after taking down Peak masters of that caliber, all he had to say was that they were pretty good?

This guy’s a complete monster.

I learned something for certain this time: even Peak masters came in different levels. It was a huge relief that people of that caliber were on my side.

“That aside…”

Clink.

Wipeng set down his teacup and regarded me with an unreadable look.

“You were remarkable.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m talking about Jopil, One Question, One Kill. Even calling it remarkable doesn’t do justice to what you accomplished by defeating him.”

“…”

You people seem a lot more remarkable to me.

It felt like being praised by an A-rank Hunter for being good at killing goblins.

“Ah. Right. Thanks, I guess.”

I wanted to end the discussion about Jopil there. I was in lousy shape, my mood wasn’t much better, and I wanted to check all the System Rewards waiting for me.

Let me rest already. I’m still a patient, damn it.

I tried to convey that with a wink. Wipeng frowned.

“Does your eye hurt? Shall I call a physician?”

“…No. I’m fine.”

“Your eye just spasmed.”

“That wasn’t a spasm.”

“It was. I saw it clearly.”

“No, what I just did was…”

Then Wipeng rolled his eyes back until only the whites showed and started to tremble.

The table shook, and tea sloshed over the rim of his cup. I cried out in alarm.

“My God, Great Hero Wipeng!”

This guy has epilepsy. No—how does a Peak master even get epilepsy?

Just as I hurriedly tried to stand, the convulsions stopped. Wipeng returned to normal and spoke with perfect calm.

“That’s what you did.”

“Are you all ri—wait, what?”

“That’s what you did just now, Third Young Master. Your eye spasmed.”

“So you were imitating me?”

“Yes.”

What kind of lunatic is this…?

I tried to explain the difference between a wink and an epileptic fit, but the words stuck. Wipeng was glaring at me like a pissed-off dictator.

“…Why don’t we just finish talking about Jopil?”

“Let’s.”

Wipeng nodded in satisfaction.

Crazy bastard.

In the end, I had to tell him everything about my fight with Jopil from beginning to end.

How Jopil had moved. What martial arts he’d used. Wipeng’s incisive questions had me tensing up more than once.

“You severed the sinews and meridians in Jopil’s legs with a dagger?”

“Yes. I’d hidden it beforehand.”

“There’s no way Jopil would have failed to notice it… Continue.”

When the long story finally ended, Wipeng released the breath he’d been holding. The complicated look in his eyes said more than words could.

“Third Young Master, you have accomplished a truly great deed.”

“Ah, thank you…”

“I hate to admit it, but I mean that.”

“…Ah. Right.”

“When I think of all the trouble you’ve caused until now, my blood boils, but I was genuinely impressed. I mean that.”

“…”

“Who could have imagined that the Third Young Master who stole family funds day after day and poured them into pleasure houses, then paraded through the streets dead drunk and smeared shit all over the family’s reputation, would become such a great man? I, Wipeng, am genuinely in awe.”

Just curse me out, you bastard…

I barely held back the torrent of abuse threatening to burst out.

“I got lucky. Jopil let his guard down too.”

Wipeng shook his head.

“No. It was all skill. It makes no difference who let their guard down or who hid a dagger in advance. If that alone had been enough to kill Jopil, he would never have been Jopil, One Question, One Kill. Murim is a place where only the strong survive.”

“Only the strong survive.”

I quietly rolled the words over my tongue. They tasted somehow bitter and sweet at once.

Murim—this game—had been that kind of place from the beginning. I had survived there, and I had grown stronger.

“Jopil used every martial art at his disposal to its fullest. In the end, he even drew upon his innate qi. A Peak master threw away his own life in an attempt to kill you. But what was the result?”

“I won.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“Then I was stronger than Jopil.”

Wipeng, who had looked vaguely displeased all this time, suddenly turned dead serious.

“What are you talking about? Jopil was stronger. Do Peak masters look like a joke to you?”

“…”

“You were only strong enough to kill Jopil with a surprise attack.”

Enough already. Seriously.

While I was debating whether to pull a weapon from my Inventory, Wipeng let out a short chuckle. It was the first time I had ever seen him laugh.

“Well done.”

I looked at Wipeng suspiciously.

“What are you going to add this time?”

His smile deepened.

“I mean it. It’s true I disliked you quite a lot, but… this time, I have no choice but to acknowledge you.”

When he put it that way, I had nothing to say. For some reason, I felt embarrassed and cleared my throat.

“Ahem. Well, I nearly died, but all I really did was take down Jopil and a few wandering martial artists. Ahem.”

“How many Peak masters do you think there are in a single city? Even across all of Shanxi, where our family is based, there are fewer than twenty.”

Twenty. Far fewer than I’d expected.

“The Mount Heng Sword Sect must have taken serious losses. They lost three Peak masters like that.”

“But the greatest blow lies elsewhere.”

“What is it?”

“That would be…”

The instant Wipeng opened his mouth, a trembling voice came from the doorway.

“Their pretext. They’ve lost the pretext they used to start this war. The Third Young Master of the Jin Family of Taiyuan is more than strong enough without resorting to poison. Yes, indeed.”

The enormous Jin Wikyung stood in the doorway, teary-eyed and holding both arms wide open.

“My youngest!”

“…”

Please, just leave me alone.

In the end, I had to replay the chase of the past several days and my battle with Jopil all over again.

“The wandering martial artists who pursued the survivors…”

“Those bastards! I’ll tear them apart!”

Boom!

“Jopil’s Flame Divine Palm left me with internal injuries…”

“I’ll kill him! How dare that vicious wandering martial artist bastard! Even if I ripped out his guts and chewed them to a pulp, it wouldn’t be enough!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“…”

I stared blankly at the ruins of my bedroom. This was what Jin Wikyung’s excessive immersion in the story had wrought.

Wipeng had already backed far away and was mouthing something.

—It would be best not to bring that story up again.

For the first time, the two of us were in complete agreement.

Jin Wikyung huffed and puffed for a long while before finally calming dow—

“If that bastard had still been alive, he wouldn’t have died peacefully.”

Crunch.

I watched with sad eyes as the corner of the bed crumbled into powder. Wipeng shook his head.

“My lord. Please calm down. The Young Master seems anxious.”

That one actually worked. Seeing me sitting there sadly, wrapped in bandages from head to toe, Jin Wikyung’s eyes reddened.

“Just look at my youngest. How much must this poor child have suffered to be sitting there so completely out of it?”

Grab!

A hand the size of a cauldron lid clamped onto my shoulder and pulled me in. I was a fairly big guy myself, but this man was practically a small ogre. Trapped against his broad chest, I trembled in fear.

“There, little brother. It’s all right now. It’s all right.”

After a heartfelt hug that only he found moving, Jin Wikyung sniffed.

“I thought you’d be a child forever… but you’ve grown up now. Wipeng, did you know?”

Wipeng answered without even pausing to breathe.

“Yes. You don’t need to tell me.”

Of course, Jin Wikyung pretended not to hear him.

“Rumors have spread throughout our family and even through the streets. The tale of the hero who led a death squad in a raid on the enemy camp, defeated Jopil, One Question, One Kill, and one hundred wandering martial artists, and rescued the Sakju Branch’s household.”

“Wow. That’s amaz—wait, what?”

I blinked.

Hold on. That was my story?

“Um, I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding.”

“That’s right, my lord. There seems to have been some misunder—”

Jin Wikyung smiled with satisfaction.

“Our little brother is modest, too. Wipeng, you shut your mouth.”

“No, it isn’t modesty. I think the rumor has been distorted a little.”

“That’s right. I know you care for the Young Master, my lord, but this is going too far. If the rumor gets too far-fetched, people won’t beli—”

“Rumor? Outlandish?”

BOOM!

Wipeng’s voice vanished beneath a thunderous crash. My mouth fell open as I stared at the gaping hole in my bedroom wall.

What the hell are you doing, you lunatic?

Jin Wikyung threw another punch. With a sound like compressed air bursting, what was left of the wall came down.

Wood and bricks poured from the two-story pavilion, sending the people outside into an uproar.

“It’s the Third Young Master! The Third Young Master’s residence is collapsing!”

“Get people over here! Hurry!”

While everyone was still reeling in shock, Jin Wikyung hoisted me into the air.

Put me down. Put me down, you crazy bastard!

I struggled with all my strength, but there was no fighting him off. One step. One step. Every step toward the gaping wall sent terror through me.

He’s going to drop me!

More than fifty people had gathered below. They called it a two-story building, but the pavilion was so large that we had to be a good ten meters² up. The wind gusting through the hole made me dizzy.

If I fall, that’s a fracture at the very least.

Even as a chill ran down my spine, more people kept crowding in. Over fifty of them craned their necks to stare up at us.

“Who’s that? Wasn’t there an accident?”

“Isn’t that the Lesser Family Head? Who’s he holding?”

“The Third Young Master! It’s the Third Young Master!”

Someone’s shout sent a stir through the crowd.

“The Third Young Master—no, the Third Young Master, sir?”

“The Third Young Master who defeated Jopil, One Question, One Kill, has awakened!”

What is this situation?

While my eyes and ears were still whipping around, a solemn voice rang out clearly.

“Can you see?”

“Ah, yes. I can see them. Could you put me down—”

“Can you hear?”

“I can hear them too, but first, could you—”

“What do you feel?”

“Embarrassment. And shame.”

“They believe in you. They’re calling your name!”

“No, you fucking bastard.”

My final curse vanished beneath the crowd’s shouts.

“Third Young Master! Third Young Master!”

Dozens more people had appeared in that brief span of time. Countless gazes flew toward me and pinned me in place.

No, what is this?

Then Jin Wikyung, his expression grave, slid his hands beneath my armpits and lifted me high.

Right on cue, a thunderous cheer erupted.

“Woooooo!”

“Third Young Master! Jin Taekyung!”

“Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi! Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi!”

And then…

Fuck. What is this, a baby lion?

The theme music from an old cartoon began playing in my head.