Chapter 21

Ding.

System

• Practiced the Jin Family’s Cultivation Technique.

• As a result of repeated practice, Sinews and Bones each increase by 1.

“Whew.”

I opened my eyes with a deep exhale. In the dim light before dawn, the candlelit room swam in amber hues.

Failed again.

My fist clenched in the silence.

How many attempts had it been? Twenty? Thirty? The result was what mattered. Once again, I had failed to draw out the solidified internal energy.

Should I take comfort in the fact that I’m getting better?

I was gradually getting used to handling internal energy. If I had been a C-rank Hunter instead of an F-rank—or at least a D-rank—I would have adapted much faster. But reality was cold and unforgiving.

My Sinews and Bones improving steadily must be helping, too.

Internal energy flowed through the body’s meridians. The more I practiced a cultivation technique, and the more my Sinews and Bones improved, the wider and sturdier those pathways became. Compared to when I had started, I could circulate more internal energy at a much faster speed.

It’s all thanks to the Skill Points.

The ten Skill Points awarded with every level-up were doing their job well. Nothing could nourish my Sinews and Bones better.

Open Skill Window.

Skill Window

Lv. 17 Jin Taekyung

Cultivation Technique: Jin Family’s Cultivation Technique (Fourth Stage)

Martial Arts: Jin Family’s Spear Technique (Fifth Stage) / Jin Family’s Manoeuvre Technique (Fifth Stage)

Bones: 105

Remaining Points: 0

I can see the possibility.

The impregnable fortress was starting to look smaller and flimsier. If I kept pounding away at it, I felt like I would soon be able to open the gate.

Fortunately, I might lack talent, but I had persistence.

I’ll keep trying. Until it works.

I was just about to sit cross-legged and begin circulating my qi again when my senses, sharpened by the many earlier rounds of circulating my qi, picked up an unusual sound.

This is…

A low, droning hum. At first, it sounded like a swarm of bees, but it was actually the murmur of many people.

What’s going on?

I let internal energy flow to my ears. Perhaps because of the distance, I couldn’t make out everything clearly. But I heard enough.

One word stood out among the indistinct voices.

Battle!

The Mount Heng Sword Sect.

The battle had finally begun.

I hurriedly uncrossed my legs and stood. Then I leaped through the half-open window.

I landed like a cat. Before me, the pavilions lit up one after another.

In the end…

It had begun.

Twenty-five.

That was the number of corpses laid out in orderly rows.

When I saw them lying like dead trees, every trace of vitality gone, I was left speechless.

“This is…”

I was a Hunter. I had fought countless battles and witnessed countless deaths.

Poisoned, cut apart, crushed, blown apart…

The kinds of death varied wildly depending on the monster involved. But all those deaths had one thing in common.

They were all adults.

That was one of the basic conditions for awakening. No one knew what the standard was or why it existed. It was a law as naturally established as the existence of Gates.

That was why none of the countless deaths I had witnessed had involved a child.

This is a game. It’s just a game.

I kept repeating the words to myself. But the sight before me was too horrific to dismiss so simply.

BLOOD

The character had been carved into their foreheads. Torchlight glinted off the dried blood.

More than ten children had gone cold like that.

They were middle-school age at most. Some looked even younger. Every single one of them was dead.

“Urgh!”

One of the martial artists holding a torch in a trembling hand doubled over. Soon, the sound of retching rang out from all around us.

Then a hand reached down and picked up the torch he had dropped.

“Somi. That was definitely her name. The day I became acting Family Head, the Branch Leader of Eung-hyeon bragged about her until his mouth ran dry, calling her his treasure.”

It was Jin Wikyung. His eyes looked as though their light might go out at any moment as he raised the torch to illuminate the children’s faces.

One by one.

As each face was revealed, he unfailingly spoke its name.

After naming the last child, Jin Wikyung looked at me.

“Do you know who these children are?”

“…No.”

“They were members of our family sent to the branches in Eung-hyeon, Saneum, and Sakju.”

I didn’t know where those places were. But I could guess what kind of end the children’s parents had met.

And the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s intentions made me sick.

Those crazy fucking psychopaths.

Look. We can slaughter even children this young. Soon, you’ll end up the same way.

I could almost hear the voice of the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s Sect Leader, whose face I had never seen.

“This is all my fault. To slaughter even children who don’t know martial arts so cruelly…”

Jin Wikyung was blaming himself in a trembling voice when—

“That is the essence of war, Lesser Family Head.”

The Head Elder appeared, stroking his silver beard. His gaze was calm as he looked over the corpses.

“Victory and defeat—neither comes without death. The Mount Heng Sword Sect’s Leader—Blood Wolf Sword Lee Cheonbaek, was it? As one would expect of a former wandering martial artist, he understands war well. These children alone make that clear.”

The casual way he said it sent a chill through me.

What the hell is wrong with this AI?

Something was missing from this NPC. That made him feel even more dangerous.

I kept my mouth shut. Jin Wikyung spoke, his expression twisted.

“…Please choose your words carefully. They are members of our family.”

“No. Those children are casualties of war. Countless more will die from now on. Perhaps even at this very moment.”

“Head Elder. I told you to watch your words.”

Jin Wikyung growled. If no one else had been watching, he looked ready to start something right then and there.

But the Head Elder remained calm.

“Did you not anticipate this?”

He had abruptly dropped into the speech of a superior addressing an inferior, yet the shift was so natural that neither Jin Wikyung nor I even registered it.

“Saneum, Eung-hyeon, Sakju. All of them were places within the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s reach. When you sent messenger pigeons to the branches the day before, did you truly not consider that something like this might happen?”

“That…”

“You knew harm would come to them. Sending those pigeons was nothing more than a way to ease your conscience.”

“Enough. Please, enough.”

“It was an excellent decision. If you had wanted to save the branches, you would have had to run for seven days and nights without rest, then fight the enemy in a state of extreme exhaustion. Isn’t that right?”

Jin Wikyung stared at the Head Elder, his face deathly pale. Fresh blood ran between his tightly clenched fingers.

“I—I…”

“Everything comes with a sacrifice. Look at the bigger picture. You are the Lesser Family Head responsible for the hundreds of family members of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”

Jin Wikyung’s body trembled. The anger and sorrow had drained from his face, leaving it filled with a strange emptiness.

“Sacrifice…”

“The war has only just begun. Isn’t that so, Lesser Family Head?”

The Head Elder gave a fist-and-palm salute. I bit down hard on my lip.

What an impossible old man to figure out.

The Head Elder was clearly dangerous. His position within the family, his utterly unreadable motives, even his psychopathic side—he hadn’t so much as twitched an eyebrow at the sight of those children’s corpses.

But…

He was right.

From my perspective, Jin Wikyung was a good Lesser Family Head. He was deeply humane and sharp-minded.

But the moment he saw the corpses, he had been shaken more deeply than anyone. Without the Head Elder’s cold rebuke, it would have taken him a long time to regain his composure.

He helped him. The Head Elder, of all people…

Were they enemies in peacetime but closed ranks during war?

If so, that’s a relief.

I was looking at the Head Elder with a mixture of suspicion and relief when he spoke.

“So the Third Young Master is here as well.”

My heart dropped at the sight of those shrewd gray eyes. It was the first time the Head Elder had spoken to me.

“Greetings, Head Elder.”

The Head Elder looked at me with a strange smile as I did my best to hide my surprise.

“I’ve been hearing an interesting rumor within the family lately. Something about… the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

I never expected to hear that ridiculous nickname from the Head Elder.

“I’ve also heard that you are acquainted with Yama Whip. They say you joined forces with him to defeat the Heavenly Axe.”

“Cough. Cough.”

“Are you ill?”

“N-no. I’m just feeling a little chilly.”

“Oh dear. That won’t do for someone who is about to distinguish himself.”

My awkward smile slowly froze.

“What do you mean?”

“Someone capable of helping eliminate an exceptional demon like the Heavenly Axe is a valuable asset in battle. Surely that rumor isn’t false.”

“…”

“Therefore, as a direct-line member of our family, I believe it is only natural that you lead from the front. What do you think, Lesser Family Head?”

The Head Elder smiled faintly. Jin Wikyung, who had been gazing at that smile, asked me,

“What do you think?”

Checkmate.

The moment the word came to mind, a familiar notification rang out.

Ding.

System

Quest

Carry Out Missions

You have been appointed reconnaissance squad leader of White Tiger Hall.

From now on, lead the subordinates assigned under you, carry out missions, and build merit!

Grade: Repeating Quest
Restriction: Jin Taekyung
Mission: Achieve 100 Merit (0 / 100)
Reward: Changes according to the degree of success.
Failure: Changes according to the degree of failure.

I closed the Quest Window. I had already seen it several times, and besides, the White Tiger Hall martial artist who had briefly stepped away had just returned.

“These are the supplies issued to squad leaders.”

A sword.

A black martial uniform with a crudely embroidered white tiger.

And a smooth wooden plaque that smelled strongly of fresh wood.

That was everything.

“The newly assigned members are waiting at the reconnaissance squad’s quarters. The location is…”

Fortunately, I knew the place. The pavilion I had passed several times was the quarters assigned to the reconnaissance squad.

After leaving White Tiger Hall, I first ducked into a deserted alley.

Open Inventory.

Ten seconds was enough to put on the full uniform. I changed clothes, shoved the sword deep into my Inventory, then pulled out the Sharp Spear.

Until now, I had thoroughly enjoyed the privileges of being the Third Young Master in a lavish private pavilion.

But things were different from here on out.

It’s communal living, right?

We would eat together and sleep together. I couldn’t exactly perform a magic trick where a two-meter iron spear popped out of thin air whenever I needed it.

Once I hung the wooden plaque engraved with Squad Leader at my waist, I felt like I’d become Ordinary Martial Artist #1 of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.

Not just an ordinary martial artist. I’m a reconnaissance squad leader.

White Tiger Hall reconnaissance squad leader.

I had never expected to receive a position like this.

Of course, there had been some fierce disagreement over it. The Head Elder wanted to place me in a combat unit under the Elder Council faction, while Jin Wikyung had vehemently opposed him.

In the end, they compromised.

I received the relatively undemanding position of reconnaissance squad leader, but under the command of the White Tiger Hall Leader, who belonged to the Elder Council faction.

Before I could get a word in, the position was mine.

I never imagined this was how I’d get dragged into the war.

I could have dug in my heels and told them to do their worst, but I held back. The first reason was the Head Elder’s eyes, which flashed every time Yama Whip was mentioned.

The second reason was…

The children.

It’s a game. It’s all graphics. Nothing but an illusion.

No matter how many times I repeated that to myself, the corpses and the character carved into their foreheads with a knife kept flickering before my eyes.

Part of this decision had been emotional.

At this rate, things weren’t looking good.

Don’t get sucked in. I can’t confuse reality with the game.

Things like this had been happening more and more often lately. At first, I had treated the NPCs like people for fun. But these days, I was actually thinking of them as real people and forming relationships with them.

It startled me every time.

Maybe this was a side effect of playing the game for too long.

“Is this it?”

Before I knew it, I had arrived at the reconnaissance squad’s quarters. My mouth fell open.

Cracked wood and a musty smell.

Good lord, there was even a beehive under the eaves. I had never seen one that big before.

Just like a company that treats its employees like family…

Look at those benefits.

Or maybe it was a mean-spirited prank by the White Tiger Hall Leader, who disliked me. Perhaps he couldn’t openly give me grief yet, so this was his way of telling me to eat shit.

All right. Let’s give it a shot.

I took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped inside.

Creeeak.

The old floor wailed beneath my foot, and the sound felt especially ominous.