In the end, Jin Wi-gyeong emerged victorious. His persistent pleading with tearful eyes—”Just fifteen days. No, just ten days living together?”—made Jin Mu-gyeong and me throw up our hands in surrender.
And that’s how we ended up in this situation.
After Jin Wi-gyeong left, silence filled the underground training ground where only we two remained.
Jin Mu-gyeong was the first to break the silence.
“Let me lay down the rules.”
“Rules? What rules do guys living together need?”
“First. From now on, you will show respect and use honorifics when addressing me.”
“And if I don’t?”
Jin Mu-gyeong struck the steel training dummy beside him.
BANG! CRACK!
The steel dummy went flying into the training ground wall. His handprint was clearly imprinted in its dented chest.
“What was the first rule again?”
I glared at Jin Mu-gyeong. I’ve been through hell and back. If he thought he could break my spirit with just this, he was sorely mistaken.
“You said to use honorifics, sir.”
…But a mature member of society avoids unnecessary fights.
This is how adults battle. Hehe.
But why do I feel like crying?
Ah, I miss mom.
“Good. Second rule. Keep quiet as a dead mouse. If you make loud noises that wake me up or disturb my training…” BANG! CRACK!
Seeing the second steel dummy go flying, I nodded frantically.
“Final rule. You’re free to use the training ground, but when I tell you to clear out, do it without a word. Understood?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Finally getting some sense.”
Jin Mu-gyeong nodded with satisfaction and pointed to the exit.
“Now get out. Your room is on the third floor.”
Training shouts echoed behind me as I quickly escaped the underground training ground. Being treated like baggage made my competitive spirit surge. I turned back briefly and made a vow.
Just wait. I’ll catch up soon.
SWOOSH! SLICE!
A blade of qi cut through the third steel dummy. Watching its head fall limply, I slightly modified my thought.
Just wait. I’ll catch up someday.
The room was austere. Unlike my previous quarters which had been luxuriously decorated, this one contained only essential furniture.
“This is a bit harsh even so.”
Typical Jin Mu-gyeong, I suppose?
Though we’d only met a day ago, it was enough to grasp his personality. He despises unnecessary things and values efficiency. He’s also a hard worker who never neglects training—wait, the more I think about it, isn’t he pretty amazing?
Though he has an extreme side, beating his brother like a dog for not using honorifics, thinking about it carefully, it was self-defense.
Putting yourself in others’ shoes. Isn’t that the basis of human relationships?
If I had a brother like that, I’d beat him up too.
While his brothers are working their asses off to raise the clan, the youngest brother neglects martial arts and is obsessed with wine and women.
Jin Wi-gyeong must be a bodhisattva—it’s normal to throw hands like Jin Mu-gyeong.
And his martial arts are strong too.
Who knows? Maybe if he sees his brother reform, he’ll personally teach him martial arts.
This… is an opportunity.
My eyes lit up.
Unlike Jin Wi-gyeong and Wi-peng who are so busy I barely see their faces, Jin Mu-gyeong stays cooped up in the training ground.
If I can get one-on-one tutoring from a master during these ten days living together, couldn’t my martial arts make great progress?
Even more than now. Much more.
Deep in my heart, greed raised its head. No, this was hunger.
Hunger for everything I couldn’t have until now.
Wealth and fame? Tempting. But that’s only part of what I want.
I want to become strong.
I thought I’d become strong enough, but I was wrong.
Still far too weak to protect my people. I felt it when facing Jo Pil before, and now seeing the Grand Elder.
The overwhelming difference in power.
At my current level, I can barely protect my own life, let alone others. I was just a frog that had barely poked its head out of the well.
I don’t know how long it’ll take, but I’ll catch up soon.
From Third-Rate to Pinnacle of First-Rate. It only took two months to rise from F-rank to C-rank. My current determination isn’t empty words.
The war’s over, so now I have time. I planned to raise my abilities as much as possible before logging out.
Should I get re-evaluated as soon as I return?
I could probably easily reach B-rank if my internal energy supported it.
Just as I smiled contentedly at these happy thoughts—
“Huh?”
What is it?
Feels like I’m forgetting something very important.
A feeling of missing something I shouldn’t have missed. The same unease I felt before meeting Jin Mu-gyeong yesterday.
It didn’t take long to realize what that unease was about.
“Q-quest window open.”
Ding.
- No quests currently in progress.
No quests in progress?
My head spun when I saw the system message. I knew well what this meant.
…The logout quest?
The only way to move between the martial world and reality. The logout quest was nowhere to be seen.
As I stared blankly at the system message in this unexpected situation—
Ding.
A new window appeared in the air with a clear chime.
- -Achievement [Return] accomplished!
- -Title [Returner] acquired!
- -New function activated!
“Returner? New function?”
What’s this? Hurriedly opening my status window, sure enough, the three characters for “Returner” were glowing brightly.
“Show title.”
Ding.
[Returner]
- Description: Leaving is easy, but returning is difficult. We applaud your sacrifice and courage.
- Effect: All abilities +10,
- [Logout], [Login] functions activated.
At that moment.
BOOM.
Fireworks exploded in my head.
***
Jin Mu-gyeong breathed. A breath using his nose, mouth, and his wide-open entire body.
The internal energy in his danjeon mixed with the energy of heaven and earth.
Whoosh.
Another name for danjeon is qi sea[1]. The sea of qi, where energy gathers and flows. Jin Mu-gyeong felt the waves of qi flowing through his body’s meridians. And rejoiced.
This is it.
He first held a sword at age five. It was a wooden sword clumsily carved by Jin Wi-gyeong. He loved its rough texture and the sound of wind scattering with each swing. Since that day, he hadn’t skipped training for even one day.
He’s a genius, a genius.
That guy was just born with it. How else…
Some admired, others envied. Though their intentions differed, their words were the same. A martial arts genius. Born talented. Even as they all talked, Jin Mu-gyeong stayed cooped up in the training ground, continuing his practice. For him, training wasn’t pain but the process of becoming stronger, a joy.
Whoosh.
What left with his exhale wasn’t just turbid qi[2]. Jin Mu-gyeong expelled the scattered thoughts in his mind along with the turbid qi.
From now on, he needed to focus solely on circulation.
Can I do it today?
Time to meet the enemy he’d been fighting every day for the past three years. The enemy named Ren Du Yang meridian.
Though he’d been forced to retreat every time until now… Jin Mu-gyeong hadn’t given up yet. If he could win just once, he could break through the Ren Du Yang meridian and step into a new realm.
Let’s see what you’ve got.
Just as Jin Mu-gyeong, full of determination, drew up his internal energy—
“WOOHOOHOOHOO!”
What’s this? A heart demon[3]?
A horrifying howl that sent chills just hearing it. It sounded like a demon laughing with joy. Just as Jin Mu-gyeong hurriedly tried to calm his internal energy, the demon shouted again.
“Strip naked and yell! WOOHOOHOOHOO!”
Not a demon. In this pavilion where he’d forbidden all entry, there was only one person who could spout such bullshit.
“Jin Tae-kyung, you fucking turd… kagh!”
His surging fury scattered his internal energy.
“What? Taiyuan Jin Family?”
He was just about to lie down. In the dead of night, the sudden report from his steward made the Song Sword Sect[4] Leader‘s sleep flee completely.
“Are you certain?”
“How would I know? I’m not even a martial artist.”
The Song Sword Sect Leader grabbed his neck at the steward’s words, a retired scholar.
It was his mistake asking someone whose head contained nothing but ink and shit.
“Then how do you know it’s the Taiyuan Jin Family?”
“The gate guards came running in panicked, saying Taiyuan Jin Family people are outside. And someone called Wi-something asked if he could meet the sect leader.”
Wi-something?
The Song Sword Sect Leader swallowed hard.
“Surely it’s not Wi-peng?”
“Ah, yes. Wi-peng.”
The Song Sword Sect Leader nearly cracked the steward’s head with his pillow.
Ghost Sword Wi-peng came personally?
The right hand of Lesser Family Head Jin Wi-gyeong and a core master of the Taiyuan Jin Family.
His soul nearly left his body at the visit of this master who’d reportedly achieved great merit in the recent war.
“Wake everyone up right now!”
Emergency situation. Even as he rushed out in panic, the Song Sword Sect Leader’s mind raced with countless thoughts.
Is this revenge?
The Song Sword Sect is a minor sect located in central Shanxi Province. They barely have fifty disciples, most stuck at Second or Third-Rate level. Though they’d received various help for being close to the Taiyuan Jin Family, when the war broke out, they’d quietly stepped back.
Perhaps today’s visit was the natural consequence.
But still. Ghost Sword[5] coming personally? At this hour?
Though the Taiyuan Jin Family was famous for being righteous and probably wouldn’t, if their goal was sect extinction, he had no power to stop it.
Even he, the Song Sword Sect’s strongest, might not last three moves against Wi-peng.
“Sect Leader!”
The gate guards, who’d been whimpering like puppies needing to pee, brightened at their superior’s appearance.
But the Song Sword Sect Leader couldn’t share their joy.
With a stiff face, he respectfully made a fist-palm salute toward the uninvited guests.
“I am Hwang Mo, leading the Song Sword Sect.”
Simultaneously, thirty uninvited guests wearing bamboo hats parted left and right. Under the hazy moonlight, one figure emerged.
“Pleased to meet you. I am Wi-peng.”
Young as rumored, and ruder than expected. No matter how humble the Song Sword Sect might be, such attitude toward a sect leader?
But he dared not express displeasure. That rude young man was the Ghost Sword, with the name of Taiyuan Jin Family behind him.
If this was the price for ignoring an ally’s crisis, they were getting off lightly.
The Song Sword Sect Leader licked his parched lips.
“I’ve heard much of Ghost Sword’s reputation. If you’d sent word ahead, we could have welcomed you properly…”
“Please don’t concern yourself, Sect Leader. I only intended to deliver the Lesser Family Head’s letter and leave.”
“Letter, you say?”
Wi-peng nodded and handed over a sealed letter. Under the torchlight held by the gate guards, the Taiyuan Jin Family’s seal was clearly visible.
“This is…”
“An invitation. Requesting your presence at our main house for the coming New Year.”
Having lived in the martial world no short time, the Song Sword Sect Leader immediately grasped the implicit meaning.
What invitation?
This was both a summons and a warning. A warning that failing to accept this invitation would mean being pushed out of Shanxi’s martial world’s future flow.
New Year’s Day would become the day when the victorious ruler accepts new vassals.
The Taiyuan Jin Family has drawn its sword.
After a moment’s silence, the Song Sword Sect Leader spoke.
“I’ve been wanting to meet the Lesser Family Head… This will be a good opportunity.”
“We’re honored you’ll visit.”
Wi-peng made a respectful fist-palm salute.
The Song Sword Sect Leader bit his lip at this change in attitude from before.
“You must be tired from your journey. Why not come in and rest?”
“Though I appreciate the offer, I must leave. There’s someone I need to catch.”
“The one Ghost Sword is pursuing must be quite the villain.”
“A vicious assassin. One who dared try to harm our Third Young Master.”
“The Th-Third Young Master? What fool would dare attack the Hidden Dragon of Shanxi?”
“Well. We suspect an assassin sent by someone hostile to our main house.”
“My, my.”
“However…” Wi-peng’s eyes suddenly flashed. His sharp gaze thoroughly scanned the Song Sword Sect’s interior.
“The chase led us all the way to the Song Sword Sect.”
“Th-that can’t be. Isn’t there some misunderstanding?”
Just as the Song Sword Sect Leader, heart dropping, hurriedly tried to make excuses—Wi-peng waved his hand with a smile.
“Haha, surely a mistake. Everyone knows of the deep friendship between the Taiyuan Jin Family and Song Sword Sect. How could that be?”
“…”
“Thank you for your hospitality. We’ll meet again at New Year’s. Let’s go!”
Even after Wi-peng and his subordinates disappeared into the darkness, the Song Sword Sect Leader stood there for a long time.