Chapter 35

A hospital room in Medicine King Hall.

Hyuk Mujin, wound tight in bandages from head to toe, let out a groan.

“I’m dying.”

Han Yeop, lying beside him in much the same state, replied,

“It’s a miracle we didn’t die.”

“Right?”

“That’s right.”

A brief silence followed. Both of them were remembering that day.

Jopil’s palm strike. An attack they couldn’t have blocked even if they had known it was coming. Whenever Hyuk Mujin closed his eyes, he saw that bastard’s red-hot palm. It might haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life.

“That monster. How is something like that even possible?”

“He’s a Peak master.”

Unlike the dejected Hyuk Mujin, Han Yeop sounded calm.

“Hey, punk. Doesn’t any of that bother you?”

“What?”

“That…”

Hyuk Mujin found himself at a loss for words. Right. Maybe Han Yeop really was fine.

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

“I know.”

“Huh?”

“I know what you’re thinking, Deputy Squad Leader. I know what you want to say.”

“…”

“When I first came to, all kinds of things went through my mind. The relief of being alive. The helplessness I felt that day. The despair over my own martial arts.”

Hyuk Mujin fell silent. Han Yeop had it exactly right. Jopil’s Flame Divine Palm had broken his bones and torn his heart meridian, but his real wound lay elsewhere.

One question had been circling through his mind ever since that day.

Can I ever reach that realm?

Even “overwhelming” didn’t begin to describe it. All his hard work, all the pride he had taken in his martial arts, had been ripped up by the roots.

“You’ve shaken all that off?”

Han Yeop shook his head.

“Then?”

“I accepted that I’m weak. It wasn’t even that hard. I’ve always known it. But…”

“…”

“I’ll get stronger. As strong as Jopil. No—much stronger.”

Han Yeop continued, his voice firm.

“Once I started thinking that way, I felt happy. If I become a Peak master, I can be that strong too. That sort of thing.”

“A Peak master…”

The Peak realm was open to only a rare few. Coming from Han Yeop, who was barely second- or third-rate, the declaration was almost laughable.

But Hyuk Mujin didn’t sneer.

You’ve changed too.

So much had changed. Their circumstances. The people around him.

Even that timid second-rate martial artist had been swept up in the current before anyone noticed. Hyuk Mujin felt his heart swell, and the next words burst out before he could stop them.

“I’ll get even stronger.”

Han Yeop’s eyes widened, then he broke into a grin.

“You will. First, though, we have to catch up to one person.”

They both thought of the same man.

Jin Taekyung.

He was already running far ahead of them. What was he doing now?

Behind the two men, lost in thought, the door that had been left slightly ajar quietly slid shut.

I closed the door, turned away, and shuddered from head to toe.

“Ugh, shit.”

These idiots were shooting a teenage coming-of-age drama in a hospital room. I’d stood there listening to see what they were talking about, and what a sight it had been. Seriously.

If I’d gone in, I might’ve ended up swearing brotherhood with them.

Still, I have to admit it was kind of admirable.

We’d been through life and death together, after all. Besides, those two had risked their lives to help me. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel even a shred of affection for them.

Could this be the last time I see them?

In two days, I would set out in command of the main force’s rear guard, while those two and the rest of the injured reconnaissance squad stayed behind with the family. And probably…

By then, I’ll have logged out.

I was close to meeting the final condition of the Logout Quest: 500 Fame. Today’s visit to Medicine King Hall was a farewell of sorts.

You could call it the nostalgia filter of a sergeant in his last stretch before discharge.

Well, there’s no need to tell them. Seeing their faces is enough.

I’d already looked in on the other reconnaissance squad members. Now that I’d seen Han Yeop and Hyuk Mujin too, there was only one more place to visit…

Huh?

“Oh!”

A rag doll in one hand. Snacks in the other.

A little girl with her hair tied in a cute ribbon stared at me with round eyes and shouted,

“It’s the mind-reading mister!”¹

“…”

Couldn’t you call me Big Brother? I gave Soyul a sad little wave.

“Young Master Jin.”

“Benefactor!”

The moment I entered the room, they both reacted. I stopped the still-pale Gong Yacheong from rising, then hauled Socheon back to his feet after he dropped into a full bow.

“Stay lying down. And you, get up, punk. Am I old enough to have you bowing to me?”

“You have shown me a kindness a hundred bows could never repay.”

Tears were already welling in both their eyes. Soyul, who didn’t understand what was happening, hugged her rag doll tight and scampered over to cling to her brother.

“Big brother, did you put on the Benefactor’s kindness? Show me too. Is it pretty?”

Uh. That’s clothes, isn’t it?

Leaving the chattering Soyul behind, I turned to Gong Yacheong.

“How are you feeling?”

“Couldn’t be better. Though I’ll need to recuperate for a while.”

A faint smile spread across Gong Yacheong’s lips.

“It is all thanks to you, Young Master.”

“I didn’t do it for praise. I even left you behind once.”

“That was my choice. And you came back.”

I remembered that night Jopil had been chasing us. Gong Yacheong had been badly poisoned and had wanted to stay behind. Just as he had, I’d had to make a choice.

After a long struggle with myself, I had decided to go back for him.

And I regretted it like crazy.

It had been insane. Gambling my life for a mere NPC in a game. But now I thought I understood why I had made that choice.

What had I seen in those young siblings who had lost their parents? Who had Gong Yacheong and the reconnaissance squad reminded me of…?

“Young Master Jin?”

Gong Yacheong’s voice pulled me back.

“It’s nothing. I just—just had something on my mind.”

“Ah, I heard the news as well. Is that what this is about?”

“What news?”

“They say there will soon be a major battle.”

Wasn’t that military intelligence?

If Gong Yacheong, who never left his hospital room, knew about it, then everyone in the Jin Family of Taiyuan with eyes and ears must know.

If there was even one spy among us, we might as well have installed a loudspeaker aimed at North Korea.²

Is this war really going to be all right like this?

I shook off the thought. What did it matter to me? Soon enough, none of this would have anything to do with me anyway.

The System alerts ringing even now were proof.

Ding.

System

— Rumors about you continue to spread.

— Fame increases by 1.

As the saying went, words without feet could travel a thousand li.³ Ever since I’d taken Jopil down, my name seemed to have started spreading in earnest.

I opened the Quest Window for a quick look. I had only about fifty Fame left to go.

Logout was practically a foregone conclusion.

“It will be a battle with our family’s fate at stake.”

Of course, neither of them had any way of knowing my situation. I listened quietly to Gong Yacheong and Socheon for a while, then rose from my seat.

“I should get going.”

“Benefactor.”

Socheon looked disappointed, but Gong Yacheong stopped him.

“Let him go.”

“But…”

“That is enough.”

Socheon lowered his head glumly. Soyul, who had been playing alone with her doll, looked up at me with huge eyes.

“You’re leaving already, mister?”

“I said Big Brother.”

“Okay. Mister.”

I gave her chubby cheek a light pinch and was about to turn away when Gong Yacheong called out to me.

“Young Master Jin. Even if you must leave, should you not take what you left behind?”

“What I left behind?”

I thought about it for a moment, but there was no way I’d forgotten anything. Thanks to the cheat feature known as Inventory, I always traveled light.

“I didn’t leave anyth—what is this?”

Gong Yacheong was holding a long bundle.

“You were in no state to collect it at the time. Now that its owner has come, it is only right that I return it.”

What is it?

Still bewildered, I took the bundle. It was fairly heavy. Just as I was about to check what was inside, Gong Yacheong spoke.

“Unwrap it in your quarters. Do not let anyone else see.”

Did he put a golden calf in here?

I unwrapped the bundle the moment I reached my quarters. Then I understood what Gong Yacheong’s last words had meant.

These really are the sort of things people would covet if they saw them.

An old booklet. A small box. And a familiar sword.

To someone in Murim, these were beyond comparison to any golden calf. And I had the ability to judge that value more accurately than anyone.

Check Item.

Ding.

System

Item Window

Flame Divine Palm

Type: Martial Arts Manual

Grade: Supreme Peak

Restriction: Holder of Scorching Yang Qi

Description: One of the Fire Gate Clan’s secret techniques. A martial art based on powerful fire qi.

Effect: Acquired Flame Divine Palm

Item Window

Blazing Flame Divine Pill

Type: Spiritual Elixir

Grade: Peak

Restriction: None

Description: A spiritual elixir made according to the Fire Gate Clan’s secret formula.

Effect: Grants thirty years of internal energy when consumed. However, if the user cannot control the powerful fire qi contained within the elixir, they may meet a horrific end.

Item Window

Unnamed Sword

Type: Sword

Grade: None

Restriction: None

Description: Made of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, this sword is exceptionally sharp and durable. After drinking a great deal of blood over many years, it transformed on its own. Special conditions are required to draw out the sword’s power.

Effect: Unknown

“This is insane.”

It really was insane. A Supreme Peak martial arts manual. A spiritual elixir that granted thirty years of internal energy. And a sword I didn’t fully understand, but that looked ridiculously good.

They said a tiger left its pelt behind when it died, but Jopil had left three treasures behind.

Shit. It always gives me the good stuff after everything’s over.

Damn shitty game. If it was going to give me something, it should’ve done it sooner. Waiting until everything was finished to play catch-up just made my blood pressure spike.

Still, these items are seriously good.

Reading the descriptions, I couldn’t help feeling tempted. What if I took the elixir and learned Flame Divine Palm? If fire started shooting from my hands like Jopil’s…

That would be fucking cool.

But the thought lasted only a moment. They said a soldier nearing the end of his service had to watch out even for falling leaves. I had no intention of swallowing the elixir wrong and staging my own self-immolation ceremony.

Remember. Safety first. Safety first.

Talking about safety after everything I’d done was pretty funny, but I wasn’t stupid enough to gulp it down without thinking.

It’s almost over.

One wrong step and I was finished. I stuffed all the items into my Inventory. Somewhere in the dead of night, someone must have been talking about me over drinks, because a System alert rang out.

Ding.

System

— Fame has increased by 1.

At that hour, the Head Elder was strolling through the garden.

This was the agreed-upon date and place. The man waiting in the darkness was never late.

“The moon is very bright tonight.”

“So it is.”

As he had said, the full moon shone exceptionally brightly.

“When I was young, I loved the moon… but the older I got, the more I found myself thinking.”

“Thinking what?”

“That I wished the moon didn’t exist. Something like that.”

“A world without charm.”

“What’s wrong with a little less charm? I make my living at night, so I’d be delighted if the moon disappeared.”

Night life, huh.

The man prattled on in the flippant, cheerful tone of a kept man, but the Head Elder knew the truth. He possessed formidable martial arts and was a superb assassin.

The wind seemed to carry the smell of blood.

“Ah, right. How is the work progressing?”

“Smoothly. Even the troop deployments are complete.”

“Do not overdo it. If the clever Lesser Family Head catches the scent, everything will fall apart.”

“Do not worry. I did not even need to make a move.”

“Heaven is helping us.”

“And your side?”

“You are asking the obvious.”

The mild reproach in his voice silenced the Head Elder.

As if it could be otherwise.

They were like sea fog. Their identities lay hidden within the mist, and no matter how one reached out and stirred it, there was nothing solid to grasp. All that remained was a damp palm and an unpleasant feeling.

But they have power.

The power to make him Family Head of the Jin Family of Taiyuan and the sole hegemon of Shanxi Province.

It was an ambition he had harbored for half his life. The Head Elder was prepared to do anything.

“All preparations are complete.”

“Mine as well.”

On the day the two great sects that divided Shanxi between them clashed…

Everything would end, and everything would begin anew.