The place where I currently found myself—the Murim—had neither the dazzling scientific civilization nor the mechanical engineering of the modern world. Nor did it have magic.
But extraordinary things were woven into this world—things no less remarkable than magic.
Murim people accumulated internal energy and wielded power beyond that of Hunters. There were countless martial arts unknown to the modern world, along with mysterious, bizarre spiritual creatures and elixirs.
And… tracking scent was one of those things.
Ding.
System
Quest
Yohi’s Tracking Scent
A new path has appeared before you as you flee from pursuit.
Now you must choose once again.
You cannot know what awaits at the end of either path. There will only be the consequences of your choice—and the responsibility that comes with it.
Grade: Supreme Peak
Restriction: Jin Taekyung
Mission: Choose a direction to travel (Incomplete)
Reward: Linked Quest
???
Failure: ???
System
A Sudden Quest, Yohi’s Tracking Scent, has been generated!
Would you like to open the Quest window and check its contents?
Y / N
The System notification caught me off guard. Almost entranced, I nodded.
Ding.
Goddamn it. What is this now?
A holographic window filled the air before me. At the same time, a memory from barely a day ago flashed through my mind.
“Looks like they really went at it.”
“By the time I received the report, everything was already over. All that remained at the Western Yao Estate was blood and corpses. And… those things.”
I remembered everything from that day clearly. It was the only clue left behind by Heugung and Yohi, the two Great Chieftains who had vanished without a trace.
Heugung left a severed wrist, and Yohi…
That was right. She had left a scent pouch.
But I had only just arrived at the Western Yao Estate, and I’d focused on Heugung’s wrist instead. The marks on the severed end might tell me something about his opponent’s martial arts and how skilled they were.
Yohi’s scent pouch didn’t seem nearly as important.
It wasn’t even intact. The silk had a long tear in it, and the scent seemed to have escaped, leaving the pouch almost odorless.
I hadn’t known. With everything that happened afterward, none of us had time to give it another thought.
It was the most important clue at the Western Yao Estate: tracking scent Yohi had left so someone could find her.
The scent hadn’t escaped. It was like that from the start.
As far as I knew, tracking scent was an unusual object made for following someone’s trail, just as its name suggested.
It wasn’t something you came across often, but that didn’t mean no one used it. Among the orthodox faction, there were the Lower District Sect and the Beggars’ Sect, for example.
And the fact that I had spent quite a lot of time with the Successor Beggar of the Beggars’ Sect—a man from an organization of truly enormous scale—and exchanged all kinds of stories with him had been an unexpected stroke of luck.
“Tracking scent, huh? It works, but it’s incredibly rare. The method of making it is a closely guarded secret, and only a handful of people in Murim can produce it.”
“Like the Ten-Thousand-Li1 Tracking Scent?”
“The Ten-Thousand-Li1 Tracking Scent? Hm. I suppose even you’ve picked up a thing or two.”
“About five of your teeth are going to fall out in a minute. Want me to pick those up for you, too?”
“Ah. Well…”
“Go on. Run your mouth some more.”
“Ahem. The truth is, I’ve never seen the Ten-Thousand-Li1 Tracking Scent myself. Ten thousand li1 sounds impressive, but would any scent really last over a journey that long?”
“What? So it was a scam after all?”
“Not necessarily. The Ten-Thousand-Li1 Tracking Scent you’ve heard rumors about aside, Murim uses quite a few kinds of tracking scent. The finest is commonly called the Thousand-Li1 Tracking Scent.”
“The Thousand-Li1 Tracking Scent?”
“It has several distinguishing features. First, the manufacturing process is disgustingly difficult. Second, the manufacturing cost is disgustingly high. Third, acquiring the Thousand-Li1 Tracking Scent made that way requires a disgustingly large amount of gold.”
“No mistaking you for a fucking beggar. You can’t get through a sentence without working ‘filthy’ in somewhere.”
“However filthy I am, your character is… Sorry. That was out of line. Anyway, tracking scent of that quality is worth dozens of times its weight in gold. Of course, it works just as well as you’d expect.”
“For example?”
“Unlike the unverified Ten-Thousand-Li1 Tracking Scent, its scent really does last for about a thousand li1. And it’s almost odorless—so faint that even some beasts with extraordinarily keen noses can’t detect it. Humans certainly can’t.”
“Then couldn’t you just put tracking scent on someone and call it a day?”
“The trade-off is that tracking scent lasts for seven days and nights at most. If the target burns their clothes or fully immerses themselves in water, for example, the duration will be shortened even if the scent doesn’t disappear entirely.”
“Even so, you’d have to know you’d been marked with tracking scent before you could try any of that. You said that even most beasts can’t smell it properly.”
“True. But spiritual creatures are different.”
“Ah.”
“So there are only two ways to follow a target marked with tracking scent. You need either someone trained in advanced tracking arts or a spiritual creature with a nose keen enough to smell it.”
Remembering that conversation with Gung Gibang, I had to admit he’d been right about all of it.
Grrr. Sniff, sniff.
A damp nose pressed against my palm, twitching with every sniff. I looked down at the White Tiger licking my fingers. Its rough tongue stung a little.
“……Right. You’re here.”
A spiritual creature capable of smelling tracking scent. Just as Gung Gibang had said.
This White Tiger—Muyaho—was even a spiritual creature intelligent enough to understand and communicate with humans from a young age.
The intelligence of a spiritual creature, and senses sharper than any ordinary beast’s.
Looking back, the nearly odorless scent pouch had probably contained Thousand-Li1 Tracking Scent: the finest kind, said to last seven days and nights as long as the target stayed within a thousand li1, barring unusual circumstances.
The two other tigers, standing there waiting blankly while Muyaho sniffed my hand, made the difference plain enough.
Grrr. Grrr.
Muyaho gave a low growl, as if asking me which way to go. His great snow-white head kept turning between two directions.
One was northwest, where the reconnaissance squad had gone.
The other—
…Southeast.
Crack.
I’d clenched my fist without realizing it. It trembled. Taishan watched me, blinking his huge eyes.
“Pavilion Master. What’s wrong?”
It’s nothing. Nothing’s wrong, so let’s just keep going.
My lips parted, but no words came out.
Fuck.
The curse I couldn’t bring myself to say hung in my mouth.
There was no reason to hesitate. Our route was already set, and the beasts were faster than I’d expected. Even if the net over heaven and earth went up right after dawn, in my current condition I thought I could find a way out of Nanman.
So why was I hesitating?
What happens if I leave Nanman with them now? What comes after that?
I already knew the answer. Maybe I’d known since the moment I climbed onto the White Tiger’s back.
Even if I come back… I’ll be too late.
Shaking off our pursuers and breaking through Baeksang’s net over heaven and earth would take days, even if we went as fast as we could. Add the journey back, and it would be seven days and nights.
Would the people who had set out to rescue us still be alive by then?
No. If this incident had even put the Beast Miao King in danger, would Dark Heaven have any reason to hesitate before carrying out its sinister scheme?
They’ll die. Dozens. Hundreds. Maybe even thousands of people.
I blinked slowly. Eyes closed or open, the world was still dark. There was no sign of dawn.
Fuck. It was like this when I first got to boot camp.
The sudden thought made me let out a hollow laugh.
Thinking back, boot camp might have been the easiest time of all. Back then, I could fuck up as badly as I liked and still be forgiven. Things had changed.
I’d come close to death more times than I could count. I’d survived after leaving dying comrades behind. I’d shut myself in my room for days and bawled like an idiot, swearing I’d never lose my people again.
Then one day, I gained the System. When I came to my senses and looked around, I found myself with a great deal to be responsible for.
Everything happening in the world felt like it was my fault, and I pitied the innocent people losing their lives in the process.
Each time, I thought the same thing.
What if I’d been there?
Now all I could do was laugh at myself. Those thoughts felt like a sham—like I’d been playing dress-up, trying to look like a hero.
That was right.
I wasn’t a heroic martial artist. I wasn’t the hero of some superhero movie.
But today, the people who had watched me flee until the very end were true heroic martial artists—true heroes.
“No need to thank us.”
Of course. Nanman was only repaying the debt it owed you.
“My hyung2 was on Ailao Mountain. Thanks to you, I’ll get to see him again.”
“Please look after the Young Palace Lord.”
Dozens of faces brushed through the darkness. Some belonged to young men, others to graying middle-aged men.
How skilled were they? If I set my mind to it, I could bring every one of them down within moments.
That only made what they’d done more remarkable. They hadn’t stayed to win. They’d stayed to die.
Even if it was an egg striking a stone, they wouldn’t retreat. They would hurl their bodies against the solid rock, even if they were ultimately smashed to pieces.
Maybe that’s happening right now.
And I… had left them behind. I’d sensed what awaited them, yet I’d gone anyway, clinging to an empty promise that I would return.
Haa.
The air had been muggy a moment ago. Now a deep breath sent a white cloud from my mouth.
Nanman really was a fucking awful place. Just like my mood.
System
- Select a Quest mission.
I stared silently at the holographic window. Then I spoke.
“Taishan.”
“Hm?”
“From now on…”
At what I said next, Taishan’s eyes widened.
The old man opened his eyes without warning.
How long had he been unconscious? His joints ached, and he was tied to the back of a huge beast that bounced beneath him without pause.
A tiger?
His gaze darted around. Namho realized Yayul Mok’s plan had succeeded. Then he noticed something strange.
“…Why? Why isn’t that bastard here?”
At the old man’s voice, filled with confusion, Taishan turned his head.
“Namho. You awake?”
Namho didn’t answer. A terrible feeling pressed against his chest.
“Where is he?”
“…Namho.”
“Where is he? Where’s Jin Taekyung, that bastard?”
The eastern sky was beginning to brighten, but Taishan’s expression darkened.
Namho knew then that his fear hadn’t been unfounded.
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