Chapter 3

A young man’s reflection shimmered across the calm surface of the water.

Dark eyebrows. Sharp, well-defined features. When he lifted the corners of his mouth, deep dimples appeared. But the forced smile vanished as if washed away the very next moment.

Crash.

I hurled the basin of wash water to the floor, sending shards flying in every direction.

“Fuck! Fuuuck!”

What good was being handsome if I couldn’t log out?

I’d spent the past three days throwing every kind of tantrum imaginable, but the answer never changed.

System

Logout is impossible.

What kind of lunatics would make something like this?

As I continued hurling curses, I remembered the warnings.

Warning

• The player cannot log out at will.
• If the player dies during gameplay, resurrection is impossible.

In short, it was simple.

I was playing a martial-arts game called Murim, but I couldn’t log out whenever I wanted—and if my character died, so would I.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

What kind of bullshit is this?

And yet, it was really happening.

I couldn’t log out. I’d spent three days waiting for someone outside to come rescue me, but nothing had happened. I hadn’t tested the death part, but judging by the circumstances, there was a good chance it was true too.

But there is a way.

If “the player cannot log out at will” was the wording, that implied logging out might become possible after meeting certain conditions.

For example, completing a quest or leveling up.

That was the answer I’d deduced because this place, Murim, was a game.

In games, you received rewards whenever you completed a quest or leveled up. Completing Tutorial—Stage 1 had already proved that much.

For now, I’ll focus on quests and leveling up.

That was the conclusion I’d reached after three days of thinking. And it came with one essential requirement: survival.

I had to operate somewhere my life wouldn’t be in danger. If I could get someone’s help too, even better.

As it happens, I know exactly the right place.

Just then, Wolhwa’s voice drifted in from outside the door.

“Young Master Jin, the carriage is ready.”

It was a carriage to take Jin Taekyung of the Jin Family of Taiyuan home—not F-rank Hunter Jin Taekyung.

The four-horse carriage Wolhwa—or rather, Honghwaru—had provided was large and extravagant.

The coachman was a taciturn man who didn’t say a word to me, which suited me perfectly.

I didn’t want anyone bothering me right now.

Check the quest.

System

Would you like to begin Tutorial—Stage 2?

Accept / Decline

This was the quest window I’d opened dozens of times over the past three days, only to close it again. I’d been afraid of the unknown. But I wasn’t hesitating anymore.

Accept.

Ding.

System

Quest

Tutorial—Stage 2

You have familiarized yourself with the basic information and situation.

But Murim is an unpredictable place. From this point on, use the only power unique to you: the System.

Grade: Tutorial (Chain Quest)

Restriction: First-time player

Objective: Check and Distribute Status Window Points (Incomplete)

Check and Distribute Skill Window Points (Incomplete)

Check and Equip Inventory Items (Incomplete)

Reward: Sharp Spear

Chain Quest

If that was all it wanted, I could have finished it ages ago. Then again, maybe this was the obvious next step.

No matter how strange things were, this place was still a game at its core.

I thought back to the online games I’d played once in a blue moon.

Check the Status Window.

System

Status Window

LV. 10 Jin Taekyung

Occupation: Third Rate Martial Artist

Fame: 0

Titles: Scion of a Prestigious Family / Shame of the Family (Title effects active)

Strength: 10 Stamina: 10

Agility: 10 Intelligence: 10

Charm: 10 Internal Energy: 10 years

Unassigned Points: 100

• Distribute your unassigned points.
• Scion of a Prestigious Family (All stats +5, Fame +50)
• Shame of the Family (All stats -5, Fame -50)

What the hell is this?

I blinked. I felt completely blindsided.

The Jin Family of Taiyuan was a big deal in the area. And this guy was even from a prestigious Murim family…but he was only Level 10, a third-rate martial artist?

Is this for real?

My neck grew stiff as I read the special notes.

The effect of the Scion of a Prestigious Family title was completely canceled out by Shame of the Family.

I was an idiot for getting my hopes up.

A rich wastrel born into a good family, neglecting martial arts training while drowning in women and alcohol. No wonder they called him the shame of the family.

I’m screwed.

But there were no take-backs. I’d just have to suck it up and move on.

The one silver lining was that all my stats had been reset. Being able to raise the stats I wanted was a huge advantage.

I scrutinized the Status Window.

This isn’t just a game. Think. Think, think…

I couldn’t treat this place as an ordinary game.

My life was on the line. If I dumped everything into Strength or Agility like I had in the RPGs I played as a student, I’d be dead in no time.

Then something caught my eye.

Should I invest in Internal Energy?

Internal energy, or inner power.

It was another name for the kind of qi—mana or aura—that high-ranking Hunters used in the real world.

In most martial-arts novels, old geezers with one foot in the grave could chew up vigorous young masters and toy with them however they pleased—all because they possessed enormous internal energy.

Martial arts meant internal energy. And when you thought of a master, you thought of a master of internal energy. There was a reason people called internal energy the yardstick of a martial artist’s strength.

I’ll be cautious for now…one point into Internal Energy.

Beep.

System

Internal Energy can only be increased through training and items such as elixirs.

Right. I knew that would happen. I hadn’t gotten my hopes up at all.

…Damn this System.

Then Internal Energy is out.

That left five stats.

Strength, Stamina, Agility, Intelligence, and Charm.

I decided to exclude Intelligence and Charm.

They won’t help me.

My goal was survival and logging out—not taking the college entrance exam or dating.

Fortunately, I was a professional Hunter with seven years of experience, and I knew exactly what was needed to stay alive.

Thirty points each into Strength and Stamina. Forty into Agility.

That gave me decent strength and stamina, along with excellent evasiveness. It was also the fighting style I’d grown accustomed to over the past seven years.

System

Apply these settings?

Yes.

That was when it happened.

Ding.

System

You have changed class to Second Rate Martial Artist!

One hundred points in total.

As the number of unassigned points vanished, I felt the System’s power seep through me from head to toe, reaching even the unseen depths of my body. It connected. Gathered. Loosened.

For an instant, heat swept through my body as if I’d swallowed the sun. Only after the lingering warmth faded could I finally open my eyes.

And then I was stunned.

“Th-this…”

My voice trembled despite myself. Not from the shock of an unfamiliar sensation, but because a feeling I’d experienced only once long ago—one I could never forget—had come rushing back.

How could I forget? That day, seven years ago.

Awakening…!

The sensation had come without warning, leaving my twenty-year-old self completely helpless.

When I opened my eyes again, I realized that I had been chosen. The chosen 0.1 percent. I had become an Awakened.

Remembering the exhilaration I’d felt that day only made me more confused now.

“Why is this happening here?”

The System notification snapped me out of my turmoil.

Ding.

System

Check and Distribute Status Window Points complete.

I licked my parched lips and thought.

Right. Focus on the present for now. There are only two things left before Tutorial—Stage 2 is complete.

Check the Skill Window.

System

Skill Window

LV. 10 Jin Taekyung

Cultivation Technique: Jin Family’s Cultivation Technique (Unavailable)

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

Sinews: 10

Bones: 10

Unassigned Points: 100

• Distribute your unassigned points.
• Martial arts cannot be used.
• You have forgotten the formula because you have not trained in martial arts for a long time.

Opening the Skill Window had been a good idea. The moment I saw it, every stray thought vanished and post-nut clarity hit me.

One, two, three.

Had I counted wrong? Or were the letters too small for me to see? I widened my eyes and stared at the Skill Window.

One, two, three…and three.

The Jin Family’s Cultivation Technique, the Jin Family’s Spear Technique, and the Jin Family’s Manoeuvre Technique. Those were all the skills Jin Taekyung—or rather, I—had. And apparently, I’d forgotten every one of them.

This is driving me insane.

If I died, the cause would be pent-up rage. Pure pent-up rage.

Only after calming down somewhat could I look at the Skill Window with a clear head.

Right. I could always learn more martial arts later.

At least I have unassigned points.

Trying to comfort myself with that thought, I looked at the Skill Window again. Maybe because it was so empty, one word immediately caught my eye.

Sinews and Bones. I’ve seen those a lot in martial-arts novels.

Sinews referred to tendons and blood vessels, while Bones meant muscles and the skeletal frame.

In other words, Sinews were for an internal-energy-focused build, while Bones were for external martial arts. I decided to lean a little more toward Bones.

The reason was simple.

I’ll have a better chance of surviving if I choose what I’m already familiar with.

In the real world, I was an F-rank Hunter. In Murim terms, I was a third-rate martial artist, or maybe even worse.

Magic and aura… I’d seen them with my own eyes, but using them myself was out of the question. I couldn’t even dream of it.

You’re always better at something you’ve done before.

You had to have used internal energy before to know how to use it. The way I’d fought over the past seven years was closer to that of an external martial artist.

Sixty into Bones. Forty into Sinews.

System

Apply these settings?

Yes. Apply.

This time, what swept through me was nothing like the exhilaration I’d felt from the Status Window. If anything, it was pain. I could hear the bones deep inside my body twisting.

Urgh.

Seconds? Minutes? I had no idea. When the pain passed, all that remained was my ragged breathing—and the reward for enduring it.

My build…

It had changed. My shoulders had broadened by half a span, and muscle had hardened across my front and back. The silk clothes that had felt a little loose now felt constricting.

When I clenched my fists, I felt strength and springiness I hadn’t been able to sense before. I’d grown stronger. It was an experience I’d never had in the real world.

Because there’s no System there.

I could build strength, stamina, and flexibility through training in the real world, but until I underwent a measurement, I could only sense the changes vaguely.

But Murim was different.

I could see my abilities through the Status Window and improve the ones I needed. I didn’t know where the endpoint was, but I could keep moving forward.

I’ll get stronger. And I’ll survive.

I’d fought countless monsters over the past seven years. Some days I’d returned without a scratch; other days I’d barely escaped with my life.

F-rank Hunter Jin Taekyung had something Murim’s Jin Taekyung didn’t: experience. And desire.

Stronger, stronger, stronger. And survive.

Just as I clenched my fist and made that vow, another notification rang out.

Ding.

System

Check and Distribute Skill Window Points complete.

Only one thing remained.

Check the Inventory.

Ding.

System

Inventory

Sturdy Martial Uniform Set

Grade: Third Rate

Restriction: None

Effect: None

Description: Made from light, durable cloth. Suitable for beginners.

The description was simple, befitting a basic item.

Equip item.

A refreshing sensation swept over me, and I found myself dressed in a black martial uniform.

It wasn’t just my clothes that had changed. A headband—commonly called a hero’s headband in martial-arts novels—was tied firmly around my forehead, and I was wearing leather shoes instead of silk ones.

Did I at least look like a run-of-the-mill martial artist now?

Store item.

The moment I thought about storing the silk clothes I’d taken off, they vanished from my hands.

An Inventory. This is incredibly convenient. It might even be useful in combat, depending on how I used it.

Having an Inventory would make raids so much easier.

With one of these, I could hang back and collect Magic Gems without even fighting the monsters. I’d make enough in a year to put up a whole building.

But that’s not going to happen.

Because this was a game. Once I logged out, it would all be over.

…Though I wasn’t even sure I’d survive long enough to log out.

Ding.

System

Check and Equip Inventory Items complete.

Tutorial—Stage 2 complete. Rewards will be distributed.

Chain Quest Tutorial—Stage 3 created.

A new reward!

I immediately opened the Inventory to check the new item.

System

Inventory

Sharp Spear

Grade: Second Rate

Restriction: None

Effect: 5% chance to inflict Bleeding on hit

Description: A reasonably usable spear. It’s sharp, so be careful when handling it.

“…”

If my Status Window and Skill Window were going to be such a mess, couldn’t they at least give me a good item? Then again, considering everything that had happened so far, this was practically generous.

Equip item.

The moment the shaft of the spear appeared in my grasp—

Ding.

System

Tutorial—Stage 3 begins. Prepare yourself.

“…Huh?”

Prepare myself? For what?

I hadn’t even opened the quest window yet.

The answer came from an unexpected place.

The taciturn coachman spoke for the first time.

“Young Master.”

“Yes?”

“A minor problem has arisen.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden—”

Ding.

System

Quest

Tutorial—Stage 3

You have learned how to grow stronger through the System.

What you learn must produce results.

Defeat the bandits who have appeared without warning!

Grade: Tutorial (Chain Quest)

Restriction: First-time player

Objective: Defeat the bandits (Incomplete)

Reward: Recover from all injuries

Chain Quest

Failure: Death

Some minor problem. My ass.