Chapter 6

From the hill above, the Jin Family of Taiyuan looked like a village unto itself.

Dozens of buildings, large and small, spread across the vast grounds, while high stone walls enclosed the entire estate without leaving a single gap.

And that wasn’t all. The cliff looming behind the Jin Family of Taiyuan was a spectacle in its own right.

Nature that had weathered the ages, and one family crouched beneath it.

The sight alone was imposing.

“Wow.”

Even the coachman was impressed. Wait a minute.

“Didn’t you say you’d been here often?”

“This is my second time.”

“…How long have you been working?”

“Not even a month.”

This guy had more layers than an onion.

He looked and carried himself like a twenty-year veteran, yet he was a new hire.

Then again, if he really had that much experience, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize this face.

I’d practically worn down Honghwaru’s threshold with all my visits. If he was new, it made sense that he might mistake me for Jin Mukyung.

Good thing everything worked out.

I had completed the final Tutorial Quest, and the Jin Family of Taiyuan was right in front of me. I could finally relax a little.

“Could you slow down a bit?”

“Ah, yes.”

As the carriage slowed, I opened my Skill Window.

System

Skill Window

Qi Sense

Grade: None

Restriction: None

Realm: 1st Mastery

Effect: Can identify targets at or below Lv. 30.

Description: Scans targets within a designated range. As the realm rises, the scan range and maximum target level increase.

When I finished reading the description, something occurred to me.

That’s exactly what it is. A power-level scanner.

In a famous manga, they used a mechanical device to measure an opponent’s power level.¹ I wondered how Qi Sense would work.

Curious, I called the command to mind.

Activate Qi Sense.

Was that right? The instant I hesitated, a blue circle appeared beneath my feet and a notification chimed.

Ding.

System

You used Qi Sense. Since your current realm is 1st Mastery, you can scan targets at or below Lv. 30 within 10 jang.²

Ten jang—that was thirty meters.²

Whoosh.

Blue concentric rings swept outward, catching someone within their radius. A System window popped up over the coachman’s round head.

System

You identified the target with Qi Sense.

Lv. 4 Jang Sam

Aha. So that was how it worked.

Easy, simple, and most of all…

It was an essential skill for survival. Whether an enemy was strong, weak, or roughly on my level—I could find out at once by using Qi Sense.

I picked up a good one.

I nodded and opened the Quest Window. The moment I checked the new Main Quest, my mouth fell open before I knew it.

“…Huh?”

The world seemed to brighten before my eyes. If Qi Sense was a single ray of light reflected in a sewer, this was the sun. My heart pounded, and my head grew hot.

System

Quest

Logout

Now you must make your way through this harsh Murim.

Grow stronger and become famous.

For that day, when it finally comes…

Grade: Main Quest

Restriction: Jin Taekyung

Objective: Reach the First Rate realm (Incomplete)

Reach Lv. 30 (Incomplete)

Reach 500 Fame (Incomplete)

Reward: Logout

The word I had been desperate to see.

Logout!

I was overjoyed, but dazed too. I had been determined to survive by any means necessary, yet a sliver of anxiety had always lingered in the back of my mind. Can I get out? What if I’m trapped here forever? Those dark suspicions had never quite left me.

I can get out.

But now things were different. I finally knew I could log out. It felt as though my mind had awakened anew.

Yeah, fuck it. It’s only a game.

A Quest? How hard could it be?

For seven years, I had crossed the line between life and death almost every day. A Hunter’s ability to survive—and sheer willpower—were beyond comparison with an ordinary person’s.

And then there’s this power.

My fist clenched on its own. All of this might be virtual, but the strength surging through my body felt real.

That was how I knew.

I was stronger in the game than I was in reality.

Only by the slightest margin, but there was no doubt about it.

It’s all thanks to the System.

Leveling up, Quests, distributing stats, and Skills. All of it came from the System. It was only possible because this was a game and I was a player.

With my experience as a Hunter and the System at my disposal, logging out was only a matter of time.

Once I get out, they’re all fucking dead.

I’d start by beating the shit out of the game’s developers. Fucking bastards. I was grinding my teeth when someone shouted in my ear.

“Stop!”

Matching uniforms. Disciplined postures. Clipped voices.

The moment I saw the martial artists guarding the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s main gate, the word Murim flashed through my mind.

So this is what a prestigious family is like.

They were clearly different. If the Heavenly Axe and the bandits I’d encountered earlier were a rabble, these men were trained regulars.

One of the NPCs approached the coachman. He was a young martial artist with a boyish face and thick caterpillar eyebrows.

“I am Hyuk Mujin, Captain of the Gatekeepers of the great Jin Family of Taiyuan. State your identity and purpose.”

Captain of the Gatekeepers. Come to think of it, he was the only one wearing a sash that resembled an armband. He barely looked twenty.

Then again, if you’re talented enough, that’s all that matters.

While I was thinking that, the coachman answered.

“We’re from Honghwaru.”

“Honghwaru? You mean the pleasure house?”

“Yes.”

Through the window, I saw the NPC’s face—or rather, Hyuk Mujin’s—twist into a frown. His previously courteous tone turned curt at once.

“What business could a pleasure house possibly have with our family?”

“Ah, well…”

No matter where you went, there were always people like that—the kind who worked for a conglomerate and thought that made them a chaebol,³ when the actual chaebol was someone else entirely.

I quietly opened the window and coughed.

“Ahem. Hmm-hmm.”

A very deliberate cough. The famous Don’t you know who I am? cough, reserved for those who had made it in life.

“Hmm.”

Sure enough, Hyuk Mujin recognized me at a glance. I gave him a mild smile and spoke.

It was a magic phrase used far and wide by high-ranking politicians, military officers, and businessmen.

“Hmm. Right. Good work.”

I was about to close the window when—

Clack. Rattle.

“Huh?”

It wouldn’t close. A hand had shot forward and caught it.

The hand belonged, of course, to Hyuk Mujin. Through the half-closed window, I saw his stiff expression.

“Get down.”

“Me?”

“Who else? Did you think I was talking to the air?”

What the hell? Why was this guy reacting like that?

He didn’t recognize me after all.

I put on a generous smile.

“You might not know this, but I live here.”

“So do I.”

“No, what I mean is…”

“You’re the Third Young Master of the Jin Family of Taiyuan. Is that what you’re trying to say?”

“…”

Exactly right. Hyuk Mujin continued.

“I know perfectly well who you are, Young Master. Now get down from the carriage. We’ll proceed according to protocol.”

What else could I do? He said it was protocol. But warning lights were flashing in my head as I climbed down from the carriage.

Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?

The other NPCs in the Jin Family of Taiyuan were giving me strangely chilly looks too. Just as their stares began to make my face burn, Hyuk Mujin took out paper and a brush and spoke.

“Name.”

“…”

“I’ll ask again. Name.”

What was this, a criminal interrogation?

I was in a foul mood, but I decided to wait and see what happened.

“…Jin Taekyung.”

“Affiliation.”

“Jin Family of Taiyuan.”

“Age and martial arts realm.”

“Twenty. Second Rate.”

Hyuk Mujin’s brush paused.

“Don’t let pointless pride get in the way. Answer honestly.”

Honestly?

Would you understand if I said I reached the Second Rate realm by distributing stats?

When I merely stared at him instead of answering, he shook his head.

“Well, if you insist, we’ll move on. Let’s see… You’ve been away for several days. Where did you go?”

“Honghwaru.”

“Several days at the famously expensive Honghwaru? Must have been nice. You must have spent a fortune. Or did you skim the family funds again?”

“Again?”

“Why pretend otherwise? Isn’t that something the Young Master has done now and then, time and time again, as a matter of course?”

The hostility in Hyuk Mujin’s eyes reminded me of something.

Jin Taekyung.

For a moment, I had forgotten what kind of person the character Jin Taekyung was in this game—especially within the Jin Family of Taiyuan.

The Shame of the Family.

There was no way the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s NPCs would like someone saddled with a title like that. As if to prove it, every ounce of their contempt was now directed at me.

In this game where nothing ever went my way.

Ah, for fuck’s sake…

Something surged up from deep in my chest. My head throbbed, and my eyes grew hot. Then a low voice reached me.

“Third Young Master, I may only be a low-ranking Captain, but let me say one thing.”

His expression said it all.

What a pathetic bastard.

“Stop tarnishing the family’s reputation. At least try to live like a human being. Understood?”

He tossed out the remark and turned away. I stared blankly at the back of his head, then let out a hollow laugh.

“Live like a human being?”

I knew Hyuk Mujin was nothing more than an NPC who knew nothing.

I knew he was saying it to Jin Taekyung, not to me.

But…

This is fucking bullshit.

The fact that this was a game and Hyuk Mujin was an NPC didn’t matter. No—I decided not to think about it.

All the stress that had built up erupted, shattering the last of my patience.

“Hey. You. Stop right there.”

Hyuk Mujin turned around, irritation written all over his face. I’d been wanting to punch that face for a while now.

I beamed like a child who had just seen Santa Claus.

“You’re… fucking dead.”

I sent my clenched fist flying toward his jaw.

The air hung heavy. A pile of documents towered over the desk. And, as always, a cold-looking escort stood beside his master like a shadow.

Scratch. Scratch.

The Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion swallowed. His mouth had been bone-dry from the moment he entered the office.

“Tell me.”

The calm voice from beyond the pile of documents was an oasis.

The Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion finally managed to speak.

“There is a promising young man among my subordinates. He’s quite loyal to our family and possesses considerable martial talent, but…”

“I’m listening.”

“Perhaps because he’s young, he’s arrogant and insolent. He never thinks before he acts.”

“Get to the point.”

“I hear he got into a fight with the Third Young Master.”

“…I can imagine. What about the youngest?”

“We moved him to Medicine King Hall immediately. He’s unconscious, with some bruising…”

Silence fell.

“It was all my fault. Please punish me severely!”

The Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion bowed deeply, his vision going dark. A long while passed before the voice came again.

“That’s enough. You may leave.”

The Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion raised his head, feeling as though he had narrowly escaped death.

“Ah, one more thing.”

“Your command, Lesser Family Head.”

“Could I see that young man? I’d like to speak with him for a moment.”

“Lesser Family Head, forgive me for saying so, but his treatment isn’t finished yet.”

“Treatment?”

“Yes. He’s at Medicine King Hall too. I hear one of his bones was cracked.”

“…Is that so? Then never mind.”

The silence continued even after the Master of the Gatekeeper Pavilion withdrew, until the precarious tower of documents came crashing down.

“Wipeng.”

Jin Wikyung, the thirty-five-year-old Lesser Family Head of the Jin Family of Taiyuan, called to his trusted retainer with a stiff expression.

“Yes.”

“I’m going to step out for a while.”

Here we go again.

Wipeng, Jin Wikyung’s escort, let out an inscrutable sigh as he watched his master walk away.