Chapter 516

The closer you get to your destination, the harder the last stretch feels. That’s human nature. After ten days and nights of pushing my body to its limits, I had nothing left to squeeze out.

Dad, I’m coming.

Was this really how a father and son were going to reunite after so long? That was the moment the strength drained from my flailing limbs.

Grab!

My fading vision snapped back into focus.

Someone had caught my wrist. Through my ears, muffled by all the water that had gotten in, I heard a voice.

“Trying to go before this old man? What a rotten little punk.”

When had he gotten here? Jeok Cheongang had closed the distance from the ferry landing in an instant. He looked down at me with a grin.

The moment I saw his face, all the tension left my body.

“…Hah.”

As I exhaled the breath I had been holding, Jeok Cheongang’s grin deepened.

“You’re still breathing, at least.”

“That’s amazing. Am I still alive?”

“Listen to this fool. Yes, you’re alive.”

“Then stop looking at me and pull me up. I think I’m actually about to die.”

“Such an exaggeration. You’re a hundred years too early for that.”

Whoosh. Drip.

He hauled me up by the wrist. River water poured off my swollen body, taking the weeds clinging to it along.

“Do you see them?”

“Who? God?”

“The people waiting for you.”

Exhausted, I blinked. The crowd gathered like clouds at the distant ferry landing was rapidly drawing closer, and I could make out several familiar faces among them.

Cheongpung, waving both arms frantically. Gung Gibang and Hyuk Mujin, their eyes opened wide. Jin Wikyung, who was practically bawling his eyes out.

And… Mungyeong was quietly watching us.

—Welcome to Henan.

With that brief Sound Transmission, Jeok Cheongang landed, holding me in his arms.

At the same time, a clear ringing sounded in my ears.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

System

Fake Murim Practitioner, Stage 2 completed successfully!

You have achieved the rare achievement Single Reed Crossing the River¹!

You will receive a fitting reward for your remarkable persistence and effort!

Your control over internal energy has become freer! The power and efficiency of your martial arts have increased!

All attributes have increased slightly!

You have acquired 50 bonus points!

You have acquired a massive amount of EXP!

Level Up!

System notifications rang out one after another, and holographic windows filled the air.

The Level Up message came with a welcome lightness in my body. Then a wave of sleepiness washed over me.

“…Old Master.”

“Hm?”

“Don’t wake me.”

Those were my last words before my eyelids grew heavy and the sleep demon took me.

Where am I?

That was my first thought when I opened my eyes.

I blinked slowly and looked around. Pitch-black darkness surrounded me. As my eyes adjusted, I finally made out where I was.

A swamp.

Yes, this was a swamp.

White bones of uncertain origin—human or beast—were scattered everywhere, and a horrific stench filled the air, strong enough to make me gag.

Worse, my body was moving on its own.

Splosh.

My bare foot, without even a shoe on it, stepped into the sticky mud. I struggled with all my might to stop, but my body had already escaped my control.

One step. Then another.

I was slowly sinking deeper into the swamp when—

Whoooosh.

A wind blew from somewhere, making the skeletal trees that filled the swamp shudder.

Beyond the darkness, an unidentified red light rose.

…What’s that?

It wasn’t a flame. It looked more like someone’s eyes.

The chilling gaze held not a trace of warmth. It stared at me as if to say, Come closer if you can.

If this were an ordinary protagonist from a movie or novel, he would struggle and crawl toward it…

You come here, asshole.

Fuck the cliché.

I’d already sized up the situation. After everything I’d been through lately, I was apparently having a nightmare. I didn’t need to play along.

An ordinary person would have felt the urge to piss himself the moment he saw those red eyes, but I was the kind of person who felt the urge to use Flame Divine Palm.

There was just one tiny problem…

Splosh. Splosh.

Ah, fuck.

My body kept moving forward whether I wanted it to or not.

Slowly, steadily, as though trying to swim with my lower half sunk deep in the swamp.

But I knew I’d never reach those eyes. I would sink out of sight before I met whatever they belonged to.

Fine. Let’s get this over with.

I’d almost resigned myself to it when—

Crack!

Gasp!

Something tightened around my neck.

My eyes flew wide. A huge body covered in smooth scales filled my vision, and a low hiss sounded in my ears.

A snake?

No, it was too big to call a snake. A python was more like it.

Its thick body coiled around my neck, then bound both my arms.

Hngh.

Damn it. Had dreams gotten a graphics patch? Why was this so vivid?

The rotten mud had reached my neck. The stench in my nostrils made me gag.

Unable to move, I sank farther into the swamp—and met that red gaze.

…!

A chill shot up my spine.

A vivid fear, sharp enough to jolt my mind fully awake, swept over me. This couldn’t be an ordinary nightmare. It couldn’t be.

At the same time, a horrifying sense of incongruity enveloped me.

This feeling… Why do I know it?

When had I felt it? Where? I searched through memories I didn’t want to revisit, and my whole body began to tremble.

Flash!

A blinding light burst forth from somewhere.

The red gaze and the ominous, clammy presence around it broke apart. So did the darkness that had swallowed everything. The chill vanished.

Warmth wrapped around my body. I reached toward the light now right in front of me.

Grab!

…Huh?

Thoughts raced through my head.

Why could I grab the light? Why did it feel so good? I had definitely woken up from the dream, so why could I still feel it?

Rub, rub.

What the hell was this?

After thinking for a moment, I opened my eyes, which I had closed slightly.

The bright light was someone’s smooth, shiny head.

A Buddhist precept seal marked his forehead.

“Krillin?”²

The monk, whom I had never seen before—not Krillin—opened his mouth with an awkward expression.

“You have finally awakened, Benefactor Jin.”

“Excuse me, but who…?”

“This humble monk is Jung Ho.”

Who was Jung Ho?

After a moment’s thought, I asked haltingly, my voice thick with sleep.

“Were you perhaps Park Jung Ho from Class 6, Grade 3 at Garam Middle School…?”

“Pardon?”

“When did you become a monk?”

“A good forty years, at least… No, wait. Could you please listen to me, Benefactor?”

“Oh, right, you bastard. Didn’t you say you were going to become a priest? When did you switch? Apostate. Apostate. Did the Full Gospel Church³ Crusaders beat you up? Look how much your face has aged. Which temple hired you?”

My old classmate answered with a half-resigned expression.

“…I am the Discipline Hall Master at Shaolin.”

“Shaolin?”

“Yes. Shaolin Temple.”

“Wait. If you’re at Shaolin Temple…”

Oh. Fuck. What?

Only then did my mind fully clear. I hurriedly shook my head to dispel the sleep and cautiously opened my mouth.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I wasn’t fully awake.”

“I understand.”

Jung Ho, the middle-aged monk, looked as though he understood nothing of the sort. He continued.

“Could you take your hand off my head now? You’ve been touching it this whole time…”

“Whoops. Sorry.”

“It’s all right.”

His expression said otherwise. He plainly wanted to give me a piece of his mind, but he seemed to be holding back because of the help I’d given him.

Why was Shaolin’s Discipline Hall Master beside me when I woke up, anyway?

Only then did it strike me as strange. I looked around to get my bearings.

The room was big enough to sleep ten people. Sunlight came through a half-open window and gleamed off Jung Ho’s forehead. As for the familiar faces…

They were sprawled all around me.

So it was a dream, but half of it was real.

No wonder it had felt so vivid.

I let out a deep sigh, then first kicked the lump curled up asleep at my feet.

Thump!

“Ah! Meat dumplings for lunch today!”

“…”

What kind of wake-up cry was that?

Cheongpung sprang awake from the sudden impact and opened his sleepy eyes.

“Ah, Benefactor. Did you sleep well?”

“I slept. I wouldn’t call it well.”

“Why not? Then sleep some more.”

“…Are you kidding me? Stop talking nonsense and get this thing off me.”

“Oh! Mimi! Come here!”

Cheongpung finally noticed the pet snake coiled around my neck. At his call, its thick body slid down across my chest.

Wait. Thick?

I stared open-mouthed at the Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake, which looked practically like a python now.

“Cheongpung. Was it always that big?”

“No. It has grown a lot lately. It’s right in the middle of its growth period.”

“How old is it?”

“Grandpa Tang says it isn’t even a hundred years old yet.”

“…Oh. I see.”

“It might get bigger than me. Ah, I need to hurry up and grow more too.”

“You’re already grown. Waiting won’t make you any taller.”

“No, I’m not. Mimi keeps getting bigger as she gets older. I’ll keep growing too.”

“…?”

Then shouldn’t Jeok Cheongang and Mungyeong be at least three zhang tall by now?⁴

I gave Cheongpung a troubled look and gave up trying to convince him. Instead, I smacked the mouth beside me that was giving off a horrific stench.

Smack!

“Urgh!”

“I told you to brush your teeth before bed. You damn beggar, your mouth is a swamp. A goddamn swamp.”

“Guh. Guhhh.”

Gung Gibang woke up and glared at me, his eyes watering.

“Why do you always pick on me?”

“I don’t pick on only you. I’m going to deal with this guy the same way.”

People had to be treated equally.

A moment later, Hyuk Mujin, who had been sleeping soundly with one of my legs clutched in his arms, met the same fate.

Whack!

“Argh! Why do you always pick on me?”

“Did you two rehearse that? Or are you brothers separated when you were little?”

“Don’t just hit me. Gung Gibang too—oh, he’s awake.”

“…Hah. You hateful bastards.”

I kicked Hyuk Mujin hard enough to send him tumbling beneath the bed while he muttered under his breath.

Because of these idiots, I’d even had a dream when I hardly ever dreamed at all—and an incredibly unsettling nightmare at that.

That gaze.

The red light still sent a chill through me. I was trying to recall that strange feeling from the dream when Jung Ho, who had slipped out during the commotion, came back through the door.

“Benefactor Jin. Could you spare me a moment?”

“Ah, yes.”

I sat up straight. After rubbing his head like a bowling ball, I’d have had to make time for him even if I didn’t have any.

“Please, speak, Monk.”

“My Martial Uncle⁵ wishes to see you, Benefactor.”

“Your Martial Uncle? Is he the person waiting outside?”

“Yes. He says he would like to speak with you again after so long…”

So that was it. I’d wondered why I could sense two presences.

Jung Ho’s Martial Uncle had to be a senior monk of Shaolin. But someone who wanted to speak with me again?

Who is it? The way he put it, we’ve definitely met before.

Besides the Dharma King, was there anyone at Shaolin with whom I had formed that kind of connection?

I nodded readily enough.

“Of course.”

No sooner had I spoken than someone came through the door. I frowned.

“Excuse me, but who…?”

He had a slender build, and every inch of exposed skin was covered in scars. A rough voice came from the lips of the fierce-looking monk I had never seen before.

“I’m glad. Though the heavens have grown dim, the Morning Star that rose in the north seems to shine even brighter.”

“…!”

“How have you been, Benefactor?”

Only then did I recognize the monk before me. His appearance and the air about him had changed so much that it had taken me a moment to find his name.

“Unnamed.”