Chapter 68

In the end, Jin Wikyung was the winner. He kept pleading with moist, puppy-dog eyes, saying, “Just half a month. No, just ten days. Can’t you two live together?” until Jin Mukyung and I threw up our hands and surrendered.

And that was how we ended up in this situation.

After Jin Wikyung left, the underground training ground fell silent, leaving just the two of us.

Jin Mukyung was the first to break the silence.

“I’ll tell you the rules.”

“Rules? What rules do two men living together need?”

“First. From now on, you will treat me with respect and use polite speech.”

“What if I refuse?”

Jin Mukyung struck the steel training dummy standing beside him.

Boom! Crack!

The steel dummy went flying and slammed into the wall. A distinct handprint had been stamped into its caved-in chest.

“What did I say the first rule was?”

I glared at Jin Mukyung. I had been through hell and back. If he thought something like this could break my spirit, he was sorely mistaken.

“You said I was to use polite speech, sir.”

…

But a mature member of society knew how to avoid unnecessary fights.

This was how adults fought. Heh.

Then why do I feel like crying?

Ah, I miss Mom.

“Good. Second. You will live as quietly as a dead mouse. If you make enough noise to wake me up or interfere with my training…”

Boom! Crack!

As the second steel dummy went flying, I nodded frantically.

“Last, the third rule. You may use the training ground freely, but if I tell you to move, you will do so without complaint. Understood?”

“Yes, yes.”

“You’re finally coming to your senses.”

Jin Mukyung nodded with satisfaction and pointed toward the exit.

“Now leave. Your room is on the third floor.”

As I hurried out of the underground training ground, his training shouts rang out behind me. Being treated like a piece of luggage made my competitive spirit flare. I turned around for a moment and made a vow.

Just you wait. I’ll catch up soon.

Whoosh! Slash!

Sword Energy cleaved through the third steel dummy. As I watched its head drop limply to the floor, I revised my vow slightly.

Just you wait. I’ll catch up someday.

The room was bleak. Unlike my old room, which had been decorated so lavishly that it bordered on gaudy, this one contained only a few essential pieces of furniture.

“This is a bit much, even for him.”

Or should I say it was just like Jin Mukyung?

We had only met the day before, but that had been enough for me to figure out his personality. He hated anything superfluous and valued efficiency. He was also a diligent man who never neglected his training.

“…”

What the hell? The more I thought about it, the more impressive the bastard seemed.

He had a violent side, beating his own little brother like a dog for failing to use polite speech, but when I thought about it carefully, that had been self-defense.

Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Wasn’t that the foundation of human relationships?

If I had a little brother like this, I would’ve beaten him too—and then some.

His older brothers were working their asses off to rebuild the family, while the youngest was neglecting martial arts and going crazy over alcohol and women.

Jin Wikyung only let it slide because he was a saint. Reacting with his fists like Jin Mukyung did was perfectly normal.

And he’s strong, too.

Who knew? Maybe once he saw that his younger brother had turned over a new leaf, he would personally teach me martial arts.

This is an opportunity.

My eyes lit up.

Unlike Jin Wikyung and Wipeng, whom I only occasionally saw because they were so busy, Jin Mukyung spent all day holed up in the training ground.

If I received one-on-one lessons from a Peak master during the ten days we lived together, wouldn’t my martial arts improve by leaps and bounds?

More than now. Much more.

Greed suddenly raised its head from deep inside me.

No, this wasn’t greed. It was hunger—the hunger for everything I had never been able to possess.

Wealth and fame? I wanted them. But they were only a part of what I truly sought.

I want to become stronger.

I had thought I was strong enough, but I wasn’t.

I was still nowhere near strong enough to protect the people who mattered to me. I had felt it when I faced Jopil, and again when I saw the Head Elder.

The overwhelming difference in power.

At my current level, I could barely protect my own life, let alone the people who mattered to me. I was nothing more than a frog that had only just poked its head out of a well.

I don’t know how long it’ll take, but I’ll catch up soon enough.

It had taken me only two months to rise from Third Rate to Supreme First Rate, and from F-rank to C-rank. My current resolve was no idle boast.

The war was over, and I had plenty of time now. I intended to raise my abilities as much as possible before logging out.

Should I get myself measured again as soon as I return?

If my internal energy could support it, I could probably reach B-rank without much trouble.

I was smiling contentedly as one happy thought led to another when—

“Huh?”

What was it?

I felt as though I had forgotten something important. As if I had overlooked something I absolutely could not afford to miss. It was the same sense of wrongness I had felt before meeting Jin Mukyung yesterday.

It did not take long to realize what it was.

“Q-Quest Window, open.”

Ding.

System

• There are no quests currently in progress.

No quests in progress?

The instant I saw the System message, my vision swam. I knew exactly what that meant.

…What about the Logout Quest?

The Logout Quest—the only way to travel between Murim and reality—was nowhere to be seen.

I was staring blankly at the System message, unable to process this unexpected situation, when—

Ding.

A new window unfolded in midair with a clear chime.

System

• Achievement Return achieved!
• Title Returnee acquired!
• A new feature has been activated!

“Returnee? A new feature?”

What was this?

I hurriedly opened my Status Window, and sure enough, the word Returnee was sparkling brightly.

“Check Title.”

Ding.

System

Item Window

Returnee

Description: Leaving is easy, but returning is difficult. Your sacrifice and courage deserve praise.

Effect: All Stats +10; Logout and Login functions activated.

At that moment—

Boom, boom, boom!

Fireworks exploded inside my head.

Jin Mukyung breathed.

He breathed through his nose, his mouth, and his wide-open body. The internal energy in his dantian mingled with the qi of heaven and earth flowing into him.

Whoosh.

Another name for the dantian was the qi sea—the sea of qi, where energy gathered and flowed. Jin Mukyung felt waves of qi coursing through the tiny meridians throughout his body.

And he rejoiced.

This is it.

He had first picked up a sword at the age of five. It had been a wooden sword Jin Wikyung carved with clumsy hands. He had liked the rough texture, and he had liked the sound of wind scattering every time he swung it. From that day onward, he had never taken even a single day off from training.

“He’s a genius. A true genius.”

“That boy was simply born with it. Otherwise…”

Some people had admired him. Others had envied him. Their intentions had been different, but they all said the same thing.

A genius of martial arts. A born talent.

Even while people chattered about him, Jin Mukyung remained shut away in the training ground, continuing his practice. To him, training was not painful. It was the process of becoming stronger, and it was a source of joy.

Whoosh.

What escaped with his breath was not only turbid qi. Jin Mukyung exhaled the distracting thoughts in his mind along with it.

From this point on, he had to focus solely on circulating his qi.

Can I do it today?

It was time to face the enemy he had fought every day for the past three years.

The enemy known as the Conception and Governor Vessels.¹

He had been forced to retreat every time until now, but Jin Mukyung had not yet given up. If he won just once, he could open the Conception and Governor Vessels¹ and set foot in a new realm.

Let’s give it a try.

Just as Jin Mukyung resolutely drew up his internal energy with all his might—

“Hoooooowuuuuuuuu!”

What was that? A Heart Demon?²

The howl was chilling enough to raise goose bumps just by hearing it. It sounded like a demon laughing in delight. Jin Mukyung hurriedly tried to calm his internal energy when the demon shouted again.

“Strip off your voice and scream your underwear! Hoooooowuuuuuuuu!”

It wasn’t a demon.

Only one person could spout such bullshit from a pavilion that was off-limits.

“Jin Taekyung, you fucking—urk!”

His internal energy scattered in all directions as fury surged through him.

“What? The Jin Family of Taiyuan?”

The Sect Leader of Song Sword Sect had just been about to lie down. It was the middle of the night, and the general steward’s unexpected report jolted him wide awake.

“A-Are you sure?”

“How would I know? I’m not even a martial artist.”

The general steward was a former scholar who had retired to the countryside, and his response made the Sect Leader clutch the back of his neck.

It had been a mistake to ask someone whose head contained nothing but ink and shit.

“Then how do you know they’re from the Jin Family of Taiyuan?”

“The gate guards came running and said people from the Jin Family of Taiyuan were outside. And, uh, what was his name? They said some fellow called Wi… Wi-something asked if he could meet you.”

Wi-something?

The Sect Leader swallowed.

“His name wasn’t Wipeng, was it?”

“Ah, yes. Wipeng.”

The Sect Leader nearly smashed the steward’s head with his wooden pillow.

Ghost Sword Wipeng came here in person?

He was the right hand of the Lesser Family Head, Jin Wikyung, and one of the core masters of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.

The thought of a Peak master who had distinguished himself in the recent war paying them a visit nearly scared the soul out of him.

“Wake everyone up! Right now!”

This was an emergency.

Even as the Sect Leader rushed outside, a thousand thoughts raced through his mind.

Is this retaliation?

Song Sword Sect was a small- to medium-sized sect in central Shanxi Province. It had fewer than fifty disciples, most of whom were only Second or Third Rate.

They had received various forms of assistance because of their close relationship with the Jin Family of Taiyuan, but when war had actually broken out, they had quietly withdrawn.

Perhaps this visit was only to be expected.

Even so, why did Ghost Sword come in person? And at this hour?

The Jin Family of Taiyuan was renowned for its fairness and integrity, so they were unlikely to do such a thing. But if they had come to annihilate Song Sword Sect, there was nothing he could do to stop them.

Even he, the strongest martial artist in the sect, might not last three moves against Wipeng.

“Sect Leader!”

The gate guards, who had been whimpering like puppies desperate to poop, brightened at the sight of their leader.

But the Sect Leader could not share their joy.

His face stiff, he politely clasped his hands³ toward the uninvited guests.

“I am Huang, the leader of Song Sword Sect.”

At the same time, the thirty uninvited guests in bamboo hats parted to either side. Beneath the hazy moonlight, one man stepped forward.

“Good to meet you. I’m Wipeng.”

He was young, just as the Sect Leader had heard, and ruder than expected.

Song Sword Sect might have been an insignificant sect, but how could he treat its Sect Leader like that?

Still, the Sect Leader did not dare show his displeasure. The rude young man was Ghost Sword, and behind him stood the name of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.

If this was the price of turning a blind eye to an ally’s crisis, then he was getting off cheap.

The Sect Leader licked his parched lips.

“I have long heard of Ghost Sword’s great reputation. If you had sent word in advance, I would have gone out to welcome you…”

“Please do not trouble yourself, Sect Leader. I only intended to deliver a letter from the Lesser Family Head and leave.”

“A letter?”

Wipeng nodded and handed him a sealed letter. The seal of the Jin Family of Taiyuan was clearly visible in the torchlight held by one of the gate guards.

“This is…”

“An invitation. The Lesser Family Head requests that you visit our family on New Year’s Day.”

The Sect Leader of Song Sword Sect had lived in Murim for many years. He immediately understood the hidden meaning.

What invitation?

This was both a summons and a warning.

It was a warning that if they failed to answer the summons, they would be pushed out of the future course of Shanxi Murim.

New Year’s Day would be the day the victorious lord accepted new vassals.

The Jin Family of Taiyuan has drawn its sword.

After a brief silence, the Sect Leader spoke.

“I have wanted to meet the Lesser Family Head for some time… This will be an excellent opportunity.”

“It is an honor that you are willing to visit.”

Wipeng politely clasped his hands.³ The abrupt change in his attitude made the Sect Leader bite his lip.

“You must be tired from your journey. Rather than standing out here, why don’t you come inside and rest?”

“Thank you for the kind offer, but I think we should be leaving. There is someone we need to catch.”

“The man Great Hero Wipeng is pursuing? He must be quite the villain.”

“A vicious assassin. He dared to try to harm the Third Young Master.”

“T-The Third Young Master? Who would dare attack the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

“Well, we assume the assassin was sent by someone hostile to our family.”

“Good heavens.”

“But…”

Wipeng’s eyes flashed.

His sharp gaze swept through the interior of Song Sword Sect.

“Wouldn’t you know it, our pursuit led us all the way to Song Sword Sect.”

“T-That’s impossible. Surely there has been some misunderstanding?”

The Sect Leader’s heart dropped. He was about to start making hurried excuses when Wipeng smiled and waved his hand.

“Haha. Of course it must be a mistake. The whole world knows of the deep friendship between the Jin Family of Taiyuan and Song Sword Sect. How could such a thing be true?”

“…!”

“Thank you for your hospitality. I’ll see you again on New Year’s Day. Hyah!”

Wipeng and his subordinates disappeared into the darkness.

The Sect Leader of Song Sword Sect remained standing there for a long time.