Chapter 22

The smell of mold stabbed at my nose as soon as I entered the room. The place reminded me of a military barracks, and the members of the reconnaissance squad were waiting inside.

Ten people.

I activated my qi sense and looked them over one by one.

Every time my gaze passed over an unfamiliar face, a Level display popped up.

Level 14. Level 15. Level 14…

Most of them were around the same level. Then, as I moved on to the ninth person—

Lv. 22 Hyuk Mujin

The number jumped sharply. The face was familiar, too.

Hyuk Mujin?

It was the same Hyuk Mujin who had picked a fight with me when I first arrived at the Jin Family of Taiyuan a few days ago. When our eyes met, he curled his lips into a smirk.

“What a pleasure to see you again, Third. Young. Master.”

I stared at his openly hostile smile.

“From now on, call me Squad Leader.”

“…As you wish.”

Ignoring Hyuk Mujin’s piercing stare, I turned to the tenth member of the reconnaissance squad. The young man who had been beaming ever since I walked in shot to his feet.

“Young Master—no, Squad Leader! I look forward to working with you.”

Lv. 13 Han Yeop

It seemed some assignments had been changed because of the war. The White Tiger Hall clerk I had met earlier said that the reconnaissance squad itself was made up of martial artists drawn from several different places.

Hyuk Mujin originally belonged to the Gate Watch Office, too.

Maybe that was why the atmosphere in the room was so disorganized.

The squad members watched me with expressions that mixed the awkwardness of strangers with anxiety and anticipation about the war.

I spoke first.

“I’m Jin Taekyung, appointed leader of White Tiger Hall’s reconnaissance squad. I look forward to working with you.”

Clap, clap, clap.

Someone’s lonely applause died out within a few seconds, and Han Yeop lowered his hand with an embarrassed expression.

The atmosphere was stiffer than I had expected.

But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

We were at war. Better to keep them on edge than have everyone laughing and trying to make friends.

Of course, too much tension could become poisonous. Easing it at the right moment was one of my duties as squad leader.

That much, I’m used to.

Newbie Hunters froze the moment they entered a Gate for the first time. Real combat was different from practice. Everything they had learned and trained for at the Hunter training center flew off into outer space, and they were overwhelmed by the primal scent of death.

That was why Guild veterans helped the rookies keep their heads. I had been one of them.

Though I only handled F-ranks.

The levels were similar, too. From what I could tell, a Second Rate martial artist in Murim fell somewhere between an E-rank and an F-rank.

In other words, I had become the leader of a ten-person F-rank party. I had never actually been a party leader before, but I had watched other people do the job until I was sick of it.

“Raise your hand if you have combat experience.”

At my abrupt question, every member of the reconnaissance squad raised a hand. They all looked bewildered.

“Keep it raised if you’ve fought at least five times.”

Half the hands went down. Han Yeop’s was among them.

Five people with experience in at least five battles. That wasn’t bad. No, it was better than expected.

But the most important question remained.

“Keep it raised if you’ve killed someone.”

Four hands dropped weakly. I looked at the only member of the reconnaissance squad who still had his hand raised.

Lv. 22 Hyuk Mujin

“How many?”

He snorted.

“Five. During last year’s bandit suppression campaign. One of them was a deputy stronghold chief, and he was quite a strong bastard—”

I cut him off.

“Good. You’re the deputy squad leader from now on.”

Hyuk Mujin’s mouth snapped shut just as he was about to ramble on.

“Deputy squad leader?”

“Yeah. Speak up now if you don’t like it.”

With nothing but rookies gathered here, experience mattered more than anything.

Hyuk Mujin was the only one who could swing a weapon at the enemy without hesitation.

Black cat, white cat.

White cat, black cat, or even a rude cat—it didn’t matter as long as it caught mice.

Hyuk Mujin thought for a while with a complicated expression before answering.

“…Hmph. Since it’s an order, I suppose it can’t be helped.”

He sure had a difficult way of saying he wanted to be deputy squad leader.

“Then Hyuk Mujin is the deputy squad leader. From now on, we’ll call you Number One.”

“Number One? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Number order. From now on, everyone in the reconnaissance squad goes by a number instead of a name. Hyuk Mujin is Number One. Next, you sitting over there. Yes, you’re Number Two.”

I pointed them out one by one until I had assigned Numbers One through Ten.

Hyuk Mujin frowned.

“Why are you doing this?”

“It’s more convenient. We might be fighting today. Do you want to spend all day memorizing names?”

“That’s—”

“Then do as you’re told. It’s an order.”

Hyuk Mujin glared at me, his face rigid, but I didn’t look away.

Part of me even hoped he would get cocky like he had that day. A battle could break out within the next few days. If things continued as they were, that would be a problem.

If he challenged me, I would have to show him the difference in our strength.

Clearly.

“…I will follow your orders.”

“What did you say?”

“Number One. Number One, sir.”

Hyuk Mujin’s voice trembled. He was more perceptive than I had expected. Maybe it was because of the rumors about the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi.

The important thing was that Hyuk Mujin had submitted to me.

Without letting anything show on my face, I continued.

“What I’m about to say may sound strange and unfamiliar. But bear with it. It’s better than getting stabbed to death, isn’t it? Don’t you agree?”

The other reconnaissance squad members didn’t show their displeasure as openly as Hyuk Mujin, but they also looked at me anxiously.

Everyone except one.

“I’ll follow whatever the Squad Leader says!”

Han Yeop shouted like a fangirl. The only difference was that he was holding a spear instead of an idol light stick.

Oh, right.

I grinned at the reconnaissance squad.

“Now, raise your hand if you use a sword.”

The core of party hunting was dividing up positions.

Raid strategies in the real world had been standardized into manuals long ago.

Three tanks. Four damage dealers. Two mages and one healer. For a ten-person party, that was the ideal combination.

Of course, there are no mages or healers.

I had to balance the party as best I could using only tanks and damage dealers, but—

“…You’re telling me no one knows how to use a shield?”

My voice trembled at the shocking result. Good lord, all ten of them were damage dealers. Nine used swords, and Han Yeop was the only one with a spear.

What kind of horrifying single-species party is this?

A hybrid would be better. At least that would mean something had been mixed in.

Hyuk Mujin spoke with an expression that suggested he couldn’t understand what was wrong.

“A man ought to wield a sword.”

Seeing the others nod along left me speechless.

You’ve had it way too easy. Way too easy.

Try slamming your head into a pool of blood and see if you still talk like that.

Sword? Spear? There was no such distinction. You bashed people with whatever rock you happened to grab, threw dirt, climbed on top of them, and bit them with your teeth.

On the line between life and death, anything in your hand was a weapon and a lifeline.

These people had only ever fought bandits at best. They still didn’t understand that.

Do I need to start training them tomorrow?

Not for their sake. For my survival.

Even teaching them a few tricks would make a real difference in a melee.

I worked like a dog for seven years. I can’t die because of a bunch of rookies.

That was when it happened.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

A great bell tolled three times.

Here, where no one could tell the exact time, bells were rung at set intervals. The three tolls that had just sounded marked Mi-si, roughly one to three in the afternoon.¹

And—

“Get ready. This is our first deployment.”

They also signaled the reconnaissance squad’s first mission.

“He should be doing fine.”

Jin Wikyung looked up at Wipeng’s abrupt comment. Until a moment ago, he had been staring blankly at a teacup as it slowly cooled.

“What are you talking about?”

“The Third Young Master.”

A full day had passed since the reconnaissance squad led by Jin Taekyung departed from the Jin Family of Taiyuan. Their mission was to scout the county towns near the Jin Family.

“They left around noon yesterday, so they should arrive within two days.”

“Ah. Taekyung.”

Jin Wikyung let out a weak laugh. He looked exhausted.

“I thought you meant something else. That’s not it.”

“It’s not?”

“How long are you going to treat him like a child? He’s a grown man now. I’m sure he’ll manage on his own.”

“…I’m beginning to doubt my ears.”

“I did coddle him quite a bit. He was very young back then.”

“I agree, to some extent. He’s changed considerably over the past few days.”

“Heroes grow by overcoming adversity.”

“…”

“Anyway, I can stop worrying about the youngest now. I’ll be able to focus more on the main family.”

“You should rest for a while. You look tired.”

“Wipeng. Members of our family have died.”

Wipeng fell silent at the sorrow and determination in his voice, and Jin Wikyung returned to his work.

But the silence broke after a mere two hours.

“What is that…?”

A black dot in the sky was gradually drawing closer. The messenger hawk spread its enormous wings and landed by the office window.

It belonged to the Lower District Sect.

Jin Wikyung hurriedly stood and opened the tube fastened to the hawk’s leg. The moment he unfolded the letter, tiny writing caught his eye.

One Question, One Kill Jopil and twenty members of a special detachment have appeared in Jeongyang.

“Jeongyang…!”

Beyond Jeongyang lay Honju. Beyond Honju lay Taiyuan. Even for a special detachment, he had never expected them to cover hundreds of li in only a few days.

That wasn’t all.

There were still family members from the branches who had not returned to the main family. What if the enemy was tracking them?

Every moment counts.

It didn’t take Jin Wikyung long to decide.

“Select fifty martial artists immediately and send them to Jeongyang. One Question, One Kill Jopil is a brutal Peak master. Bring our family members—”

He thought of the children.

Their small limbs. Their faces twisted in pain. Their vacant eyes.

Jin Wikyung clenched his teeth.

“Bring our family members home safely.”

“My lord.”

Wipeng’s expression had hardened. Jin Wikyung stared blankly at him as though something had taken hold of him, then opened his mouth.

“Taekyung. Where did you say Taekyung went?”

His voice came out strained.

“…Jeongyang.”