Chapter 2185 - MP 40

Chapter 235: Three Eyes (1)

-x-X-x-

"An urgent report from the River Capital!"

The doors to the Formation Tower's Eight Trigrams Hall burst open.

It had been a long time since Dongmun Mutoe had left, and even longer for Yan Bilyeong and Myo Jinheo.

Days had passed with no new agenda or conclusion reached among the five Trigram Masters and the Yin-Yang Guard seated around the three empty seats.

The messenger knelt.

"Strange circumstances have been detected near the River Capital."

"Strange circumstances?"

"Yes! A report has come in stating that several mountain peaks have suddenly vanished."

"Vanished?"

"The terrain itself is said to have been completely altered. A Formation Master from a nearby base witnessed it directly, and the testimonies of numerous local residents also match."

"Did you say several peaks?"

"The exact number has not been confirmed. However, the report states that it would be appropriate to say the mountain range itself has been completely transformed."

Click.

Ga Myo-ryeon's abacus came to a halt.

Then her half-closed eyes opened fully.

"The River Capital..."

The Hero's Sect was in the River Capital.

The place where Yan Bilyeong and Myo Jinheo were said to be.

"Was it a battle?"

The Trigram Master of the Wind Formation Division leaned over the table and asked the messenger lightly.

"It is difficult to say for certain. However, there are rumors that at around the same time, the forces of the Dark Rakshasa Way, heading to a location not far from the River Capital, have lost contact."

"What was their scale?"

"That has not yet been confirmed."

Baek Jang-gyeong's gaze swept over the three empty seats.

"Have you sent a letter to Trigram Master Yan and Trigram Master Myo?"

"One was dispatched directly to the Hero's Sect in the River Capital two days ago, but there has been no reply thus far."

A brief silence followed.

Then, the Trigram Master of the Wind Formation Division broke the silence, uncrossing his arms.

"We must immediately dispatch personnel to the River Capital."

However, Ga Myo-ryeon picked up her abacus again and shook her head.

"Who would we send? We are already short three Trigram Masters."

Though she did not move the beads, her refusal was firm.

"What will you do if we lose the other Trigram Masters while trying to skimp on a few information personnel!"

Baek Jang-gyeong shot up from his seat.

Ga Myo-ryeon simply closed her eyes halfway again and remained silent.

Throughout all this, the Yin-Yang Guard, Jin Mugeuk, had only been fiddling with his teacup.

As the silence stretched on, the gazes of the Trigram Masters turned one by one toward the Yin-Yang Guard.

After all, the final decision-maker could only be him.

Soon, his teacup was placed on the table.

"For something that could make mountain peaks disappear."

His eyes, calmer than a tranquil lake, looked past the messenger and beyond the doors of the Eight Trigrams Hall.

"Do you think we are the only ones who noticed?"

No one could speak.

Ga Myo-ryeon's hand was frozen on her abacus, and Baek Jang-gyeong's gaze had shifted toward the door.

Jin Mugeuk rose from his seat.

After days of stalemate, the Yin-Yang Guard finally stood up.

"Check and mobilize all available personnel from the bases en route to the River Capital. Within half a quarter of an hour."

The messenger sprang to his feet and rushed out.

"As for the rest, draw out the maximum number of rapid response personnel from each division. The time for what we can do while sitting in here is now over."

The Trigram Masters all rose from their seats.

Only the three empty seats remained as they were.

...

At that very moment, when the Formation Tower was moving busily.

There was another place that had also begun to get busy.

Clack, clatter.

The Human Bone Wind Chimes at the edge of the eaves knocked against each other.

The dry sound of bone hitting bone filled the morning air of Nirvanic Extinction Mountain.

"So, you're saying that while everyone else was achieving Buddhahood, you alone survived and returned?"

Scent Wolf did not raise his head.

The human fat candles in the Rakshasa Hall emitted a fishy smoke.

On the Dharma Seat sat the statue of the Rakshasa Demonic Sovereign, its face a void in the darkness.

Below it, bone prayer beads turned slowly.

Click.

A nose that would have once been able to discern the state of the oil in every single candle in this room could now barely catch the scent of the nearest censer.

"I do not know if they all died. I only retreated before the Rakshasa Monk Corps arrived."

"Retreated? Retreated?"

Blood Rakshasa chewed on those two words.

The giant figure standing below the Dharma Seat stood with his arms crossed, not moving an inch.

"The Blood Scent Society retreated during a pursuit? Do you think that makes sense?"

He did not say 'fled'.

Not yet.

"It was a judgment made after making contact with the target."

"Contact?"

"Yes, Blood Rakshasa."

"Then, since you made contact, you must know well. What was the opponent like?"

Scent Wolf's fingers clenched on his thigh.

"It was not just one person."

"How many were there?"

"Three or four. One of them.."

He remembered the moment when nothing reached his nose.

The moment the grass vanished, the soil vanished, and everything the wind carried vanished.

"Killed my nose."

Blood Rakshasa's brow twitched.

The Blood Scent Society of the Dark Rakshasa Way were men who could read a battlefield hundreds of li away with just their noses.

To say there was someone who could kill that nose...

"I could not smell anything in that person's vicinity. It wasn't that there was no scent; it was being erased."

"..Continue."

"Formation Qi was detected from two of the others."

Blood Rakshasa's arms uncrossed.

"Formation Qi?"

"It was that of the Mountain Formation Division and the Thunder Formation Division."

The bone prayer beads in the Rakshasa Hall stopped.

And Scent Wolf's forehead lowered even further.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes."

"I will ask again. Are you certain?"

"Yes, Blood Rakshasa."

Blood Rakshasa asked repeatedly.

Because if the Mountain and Thunder Formation Divisions were detected at the same time, it would move from confirmation to certainty that the Formation Tower had sided with Vast Heaven.

"I detected it when my sense of smell was still intact. The Mountain Formation Division's Formation Qi smelled of a mix of metal and earth, and the Thunder Formation Division's smelled of air burnt by lightning. I cannot be mistaken."

Blood Rakshasa took a step forward.

"What happened after you left?"

Scent Wolf lifted his head for the first time.

"Because my nose was blocked... I saw."

"What did you see?"

"I looked back while fleeing."

The tremor in his voice was gone.

"After the Rakshasa Monk Corps pushed up the mountain, I watched from a southern ridge. I heard the sound first. The chanting stopped, and a roar followed. After that.."

Scent Wolf's gaze looked beyond the darkness of the Rakshasa Hall.

It was a memory not of that night, but of the day that followed.

"The mountain peaks disappeared. Not one, but several. They weren't cut off, but scattered and blown away."

Blood Rakshasa's eyes narrowed.

Scent Wolf's words continued.

"That was not the end."

Scent Wolf's voice was now extremely subdued, unlike before.

"From the spot where the peaks had vanished, a light, a terribly Immortal-like path of light, colored the surroundings and soared to the ends of the sky."

"Light?"

"It was golden. It was beyond covering a single mountain like the dawn; the sky was so colored that it could be seen from dozens of li away."

Scent Wolf's hand was trembling.

Only after realizing it himself did he clench his fist tightlv.

"Beneath that light, the chanting of the Rakshasa Monk Corps never returned."

The Rakshasa Hall fell silent.

Blood Rakshasa was wordless for a long time.

He wasn't crossing his arms or stroking his chin.

He just stood there.

His eyes were assembling Scent Wolf's report piece by piece in his mind.

A person who erases smells.

Two Formation Tower Trigram Masters.

A battle that blows away mountains.

A golden light that covers the sky.

And a completely silenced Rakshasa Monk Corps.

Blood Rakshasa was a man who had grown old on the battlefield.

Not wavering in the face of an unbelievable report was this man's strength, but the picture being assembled in his mind right now was absurd.

"Rise."

Scent Wolf stood up.

Blood Rakshasa was already turning away.

His steps toward the darkness beyond the Dharma Seat were quick.

Click.

The halted bone prayer beads began to turn again.

"You said it was the River Capital?"

It was a voice from atop the Dharma Seat.

A slow tone, as if delivering a sermon.

Not a merciful voice, but the voice of one who did not even need to feign mercy.

The smoke from the human fat candles wavered once in tune with his voice.

Scent Wolf's forehead touched the stone slab.

"That is correct, Great Venerate."

"What... how... why was it there?"

"A new sect called the Hero's Sect was establishing itself there. I do not know the reason."

Click.

Another bead of the prayer beads turned.

"How mercifully... how lovingly have six hundred beings failed to achieve liberation."

Blood Rakshasa bowed his waist.

"The Hero's Sect. I have not heard that name."

Below the half-closed eyes, it was impossible to tell if the expression on his lips was a smile or not.

"I shall have to find out."

Click.

The prayer beads slowly began to turn again.

The texture of the Qi flowing down from the Dharma Seat had changed ever so slightly.

Enough for even Scent Wolf's half-dead nose to read.

Now, whether it was Vast Heaven, the Formation Tower, or that unknown person who erases smells, they would have to bear the full brunt of this wrath.

...

At the same time.

A place shrouded not in silence, but in dismay.

Vast Heaven Mountain.

A peak rising at the very end of the layered mountain ranges of the Central Plains' north.

Jade-like stone steps stretched all the way up along the mountainside.

On either side of the steps stood sword racks, each holding a single sword, numbering in the thousands.

Each and every sword was the name of a swordsman who had passed through this place.

The training ground on the mountainside.

Over a hundred disciples drew their swords in perfect unison.

Their movements were precise.

The sword tips started from the same angle and stopped at the same height.

Even their breathing was synchronized.

A pillar of the Orthodox Murim.

From a distance, it was a magnificent sight.

However, few knew that the instructor watching from the edge of the training ground was looking not at the tips of the disciples' swords, but at the tips of their feet.

If a foot so much as stepped on the line by half an inch, the sword would be confiscated.

It would take three days to get it back.

A swordless disciple on this mountain was the same as a nameless one.

It was an order.

On this mountain, the sword was not a weapon.

It was the law.

The order in which one held the sword was the order in which one could speak, and the time to put down the sword was decided not by oneself, but by a single word from above.

It had been so for a long time.

The Main Hall.

A place reached by climbing another two hundred steps above the training ground.

The two characters 'Infinite' carved on the plaque under the eaves looked dark and subdued even in the daylight.

Inside.

A messenger knelt.

His mouth opened before his forehead could even touch the stone floor.

"Heaven Reflecting Sword Manor, annihilated. Clear Wind Sword Pavilion, annihilated. Four Swords Study, annihilated. Southern Sword Workshop, annihilated."

Four.

The gazes of the seven elders in the meeting hall all shot toward the messenger.

Beside them, close to the wall, sat a woman.

She was neither an elder nor a messenger, but no one found her presence strange.

No one spoke.

The messenger's breath was ragged, but his report did not stop.

"As of today, eight branch sects have been confirmed damaged. The locations where the defeated soldiers have gathered have not been identified."

Eight.

Ten days ago, it was three.

Before that, one.

The pace was quickening.

An elder set down his teacup.

The sound of the cup hitting the table was unusually loud.

"The Branch Sword Corps?"

"..There is no news."

Five hundred.

It had been a long time since the elite five-hundred-man wide-area search party, the pride of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, had lost contact.

No one had yet uttered the word 'annihilated', but the circumstances made it abundantly clear.

"The Patrol Sword Corps?"

The messenger's head lowered even further.

".....It is the same."

Not a single one of the elites, led personally by Corps Leader Sang Gwan, had returned.

"What are the enemy's movements?"

It was an elder holding a fan.

"The Dark Rakshasa Way's offensive is expanding from the east to the south. The forces at their Nirvanic Extinction Mountain headquarters have not decreased, and the formation of additional Rakshasa Monk Corps has been confirmed."

"Not decreased?"

"It appears the forces that annihilated the branch sects are heading directly to the next branch without returning to their main base. It is believed that the main force of their headquarters has not yet moved."

It meant they had destroyed eight branch sects without even deploying their main force.

One elder's jaw trembled slightly.

"The Formation Tower?"

"There has been no response."

It had been a long time since they had requested aid.

The Formation Tower had not yet taken a side.

It would be correct to read their neutrality as watching from the sidelines.

"What about the rumor that two of their Trigram Masters were dispatched somewhere?"

An elder from the opposite side interjected.

"There is a story that the Trigram Masters of the Mountain Formation Division and the Thunder Formation Division have gone south. However, their destination is said not to be our main sect."

"If not our main sect, then where?"

"I heard it has not... yet been confirmed."

Another blank space.

The number of unknowns was only increasing.

A long silence fell.

The elders' gazes went back and forth between each other.

Eyes that needed to speak but could not.

For they all knew that whoever spoke the next words in this place would have to take responsibility.

Just then.

"How many branches are left?"

The voice came from the inner part of the meeting hall.

The moment the words fell, every sound in the hall was cut off.

The breathing of the elders, the crackling of the candles.

A silence as if Sword Qi had passed through without a sword being drawn.

The messenger's forehead touched the stone floor completely.

"Thirty-two, Sword Venerate."

"Thirty-two."

The Sword Venerate repeated the number once.

"If the root is healthy, the branches will grow again. The Rakshasa dogs do not have the skill to fell the trunk."

There was no sign of him rising from his chair.

Only his voice flowed out from the darkness.

"When spring comes, we will do their presumptuous pruning ourselves."

After that, silence fell again, and the messenger, catching his breath, continued.

"There is one more thing to report. It concerns the whereabouts of Jin Hagyeong, the Manor Lord of Heaven Reflecting Sword Manor."

"Speak."

"It is said he fled south with about two hundred defeated soldiers. Based on the direction of his escape, it is certain to be towards the River Capital."

...And the pursuers?"

The elder who had placed his folded fan on the table asked.

"It has been determined that a Rakshasa pursuit squad followed them. I heard the scale is over several hundred, but the exact composition has not been confirmed."

The manpower of the Dark Rakshasa Way was that extraordinary.

To be able to operate that many Rakshasa monks while still pushing on all fronts.

"...Have you confirmed the information about that pursuit squad?"

"Regrettably... the entire Vast Heaven intelligence team that was tracking the Rakshasas has also lost contact, Elder."

Crack.

The hand of the elder who had broken the fan he had picked up again came down on the table.

"The River Capital. Wasn't that also where we sent the Patrol Sword Corps?"

No one answered.

The place where the entire Patrol Sword Corps had gone to gather as many allies as possible before the full-scale war with the Dark Rakshasa Way.

And.

The direction toward which the defeated soldiers of Vast Heaven's branch sects and many of Vast Heaven's allies had headed.

All of it was the River Capital.

"The River Capital."

It was the Sword Venerate's voice.

Even though it wasn't a question, at those two words, an elder immediately bowed his waist.

"The River Capital was originally a place divided by the Iron God Gang and the Seven Star Immortal Society. The dispatch of the Patrol Sword Corps was for the purpose of contacting those two powers."

"And?"

An elder from the opposite side spoke up.

"Those two are already gone."

"Gone?"

"They have been annihilated. I heard a new power appeared, defeated them both, and seized control of the River Capital."

The Sword Venerate's sharp voice followed without a moment's pause.

"The name of the power?"

"I heard they use a plaque that reads 'Hero's Sect"

Hero's Sect.

A short silence fell among the elders.

"Has the Sect Leader's name been confirmed?"

The very same elder who had broken his fan asked.

"He is called Kim Rae-won."

One elder's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Kim Rae-won... Somewhere."

But he fell silent, unable to grasp the thread of his memory.

Among the other elders, some tilted their heads or let their gazes wander into the air, but no one could fully recall the name.

However, the fingertips of the woman sitting by the wall folded and unfolded once on her lap.

Iron-Faced Lady, Yeop Bihwa.

An absolute sword born of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, but one who did not remain within Vast Heaven's mold.

Her fingertips came to rest on her lap again.

That was it.

Nothing appeared on her peerless beauty, which was hard to believe had reached middle age.

The title 'Iron-Faced' was not given for nothing.

The Sword Venerate did not ask again.

The seven elders held their breath and waited for what was next.

For a while, no sound came from the darkness, until at some point, the Sword Venerate's blade-like voice spread sharply among them.

"The winds of the Central Plains blow strangely these days."

An elder raised his head, but he did not understand his meaning.

The other elders were the same.

Whether he meant the current situation where their branch sects were being annihilated, or if there was some other deep meaning... it was a context only the Sword Venerate knew.

"Confirm it."

It was short.

"That is where our Patrol Sword Corps vanished, and where hundreds more of our disciples have vanished. Let me see with my own eyes what is there."

But its meaning was clear.

An order to sally forth.

At that, Yeop Bihwa spoke for the first time.

"I will go."

The gazes of the seven elders all turned toward the wall.

The woman who had been sitting in this place without saying a word had spoken for the first time.

"I can reach the River Capital in four days."

That was all.

She didn't add a reason, nor did she ask for permission.

There was no reply from the Sword Venerate.

However, a presence from within the darkness moved once and then returned.

Whether he had nodded or not.

And.

Yeop Bihwa was already rising from her seat.

The Iron-Faced Lady.

One of the three people who earned the name of the Three Monsters at the past Orthodox Assembly Gathering.

One of Vast Heaven's absolute sword masters had just departed for the River Capital.

-x-X-x-

Chapter 236: Three Eyes (2)

The morning at the Hero's Sect had changed.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump-.

The sound of hammers echoed even before the sun had risen above the fortress walls.

Especially to the west of the Main Hall.

It was a spot that had been left vacant and overgrown with weeds after the Iron God Gang disappeared.

Now, twelve pillars stood there.

Four sturdy men, with ropes slung to raise a crossbeam, were matching their breaths, while another person next to them hammered in wedges without rest.

"One, two!"

"Lift!"

The ropes tensed, and the crossbeam slowly began to rise.

This wasn't the only place.

Behind the Training Ground, sixteen barracks were being erected in neat rows, and the sound of footsteps moving between them was constant.

Beyond that, a stone wall was also being extended.

The stone wall was only half-finished.

From inside the wall, the faint sound of a whetstone sharpening a blade could be heard.

Scrape-.

Scrape-.

Before, such sounds had never overlapped like this.

On the Training Ground, the noise had started much earlier.

"Your backs! Straighten your backs! If you collapse, you die! Do you understand? The strong live, and the weak will die!"

Hoae's shouts echoed over the wall.

A rough, tireless voice.

In front of him stood three lines of men holding wooden swords.

The front line was perfectly synchronized.

The tips of their swords stopped at the same height, their feet landed in the same spots, and their breathing was well-matched.

They were the members of the Hero's Sect.

The second and third lines were different.

Their sword movements were erratic, and their footwork was constantly out of sync.

Next to someone who had just managed to get into position, another would drop their sword.

"Again!"

Hoae's wooden sword cut through the air.

A sturdy man in the third line flinched and corrected his posture.

They were the defeated soldiers from the Vast Heaven's branch families and sects.

They were the ones who had been cut, sliced, and slaughtered by the Rakshasa Monks, pushed back until they barely reached Colorful Lake, and managed to survive.

They naturally had nowhere else to go, but the Training Ground of the Hero's Sect was wide open to them.

At one end, away from the lines, Seok Gyeong was drawing his sword alone.

He wasn't following Hoae's commands.

He moved with his own breath, at his own pace.

He was repeating a single trajectory dozens of times.

No one spoke to him, Seok Gyeong looked at no one, and Hoae didn't pay him any mind.

He knew well that Seok Gyeong could-no, that only alone could he-carve his own path, the path of martial arts.

Rattle, rattle-.

The wheels of a cart scraped against the stone ground as it passed in front of the Main Hall.

It was carrying not lumber, but rice.

With more people, the amount of food needed had also increased.

And.

There was one pair of eyes looking down on it all.

The roof of the Main Hall, the highest point in the Hero's Sect.

Dong Bongsu stood right in the middle of it.

"..."

He silently surveyed the entire Hero's Sect and then the whole of the River Capital for a long time before stepping down from the roof.

Step, step.

He slowly walked past the construction area.

The smell of sawdust wafted between the pillars, and amidst the sounds of men moving materials, someone could be heard measurements. calling out

In front of the barracks area, Jin Hagyeong was visible.

He was squatting next to an injured man, personally wrapping his bandages.

Hearing the footsteps, his head turned toward Dong Bongsu.

His back bent in an excessively deep bow.

The meaning was obvious without asking.

Dong Bongsu gave a slight nod of his chin and walked past.

He could feel the presence of the man straightening his back only a long while later.

The Main Hall.

Upon entering, Jeon Rahwa was already seated.

Piles of letters and documents were stacked like a mountain on the table, and next to them lay a brush with its ink still wet.

She looked up at the sound of his footsteps and immediately pushed a teacup toward him.

"You're late?"

"The roof was nice."

"That damned roof. Why don't you just set up a house with the roof?"

"Now you're even jealous of a roof?"

"...Are you crazy? And besides, there has to be something to be jealous of in the first place, right?"

Pfft-.

Dong Bongsu chuckled lightly and, instead of answering, picked up the cup and took a sip.

At that, Jeon Rahwa sighed and unfolded a letter.

"The construction will be finished up to the west side in ten days. We have enough lumber, but we're short on stone, so I've opened a route with the Branch Leader of the Bae Dal-pae. We should be fine from the next shipment."

"Huh? Did I order that?"

"You didn't."

"Then why did you do it?"

"You were going to order it anyway, right?"

Grin.

Dong Bongsu, no, Kim Rae-won smiled.

"You know me well."

"That's a compliment, right?"

"Yeah, a compliment."

"I'm telling you in advance... don't pat my head."

Kim Rae-won's hand immediately came up.

As a natural consequence, Jeon Rahwa's hair was mercilessly ruffled.

"...Ah, really!"

Though she grumbled, her hand moved smoothly as she turned over the letters.

It was the handiwork of someone who had everything already organized in her head.

"Hoae has been running the training since dawn, so a system is taking shape."

"But?"

He put down his cup.

"They're not our people yet."

"Who?"

"Most of the people participating in the training."

"Ah, the people from Vast Heaven?"

"Yes"

"..."

"Will it work?"

"What?"

"Them becoming people of our Hero's Sect."

"You said you're running them through it every day, right?"

"Yes? Is that... all the basis you have?"

"If the Sect Leader says it, it's the basis."

"Ha. Ha. Ha. What a great line of reasoning."

As Kim Rae-won, he took another sip of tea and continued speaking while looking at the defeated soldiers outside the window

"Those people have nowhere to go, they eat with us, sleep with us, and train with us... Won't they eventually join us?"

"I wonder. Will it go that smoothly? They're people from the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, after all."

"Well, whether they do or not, that's their problem to figure out."

"Yes, that's true."

Then for a while, Jeon Rahwa's beautiful lips opened and closed several times.

It wasn't that she had nothing to say, but that she had too much to say and couldn't choose a single thing.

In the end, she turned a page of a letter and changed the subject.

"Did you hear that Trigram Master Yan and Trigram Master Myo have been watching Warrior Seok train from a distance all this time?"

"Ah? They haven't left yet?"

Jeon Rahwa smiled.

"Yes, both of them haven't gone back yet and are just eating our food."

"Well, I guess that's their way of earning their keep. Let them be."

"Yes. Oh, and a message came from Branch Leader Bae this morning. It's about the current trends and situation in the Jianghu, but I haven't opened it yet."

"Leave that too. I'll look at it later."

Jeon Rahwa pushed one letter to the edge of the table.

With that, her report was over.

It was quiet for a moment.

Jeon Rahwa was moving her hands as if organizing the letters, but Dong Bongsu knew very well that she had picked up the same letter for the second time.

Then, finally, Jeon Rahwa let out a long sigh, looked at him straight, and opened her mouth.

"...You."

"Yeah."

"I'm just curious."

"Yeah. Say it. Stop hesitating."

"...How can I become as strong as you?"

The hand on the letter had stopped.

That day, when the mountain split and the sky was dyed with color.

Jeon Rahwa had also been standing under that light.

Dong Bongsu put down his cup.

"You have to eat a lot of food."

"Ah, don't joke around... I'm serious."

"I am being serious."

Jeon Rahwa looked up.

The expression on Kim Rae-won's face was, as always, a roguish smile.

But Jeon Rahwa knew there was something behind it, even if she couldn't grasp it.

"Eat a lot, sleep well, and work hard. You know all that by now, don't you?"

"...That's something you say to a child."

"The things you say to a child are the truest, you know?"

Jeon Rahwa pouted.

But she didn't deny it.

Dong Bongsu pretended to scratch his temple and said.

"What are you going to do if you get stronger?"

Jeon Rahwa smiled.

The corners of her mouth went up, but her eyes didn't curve.

"I'm the milestone, aren't I? Yours."

"..."

"If I'm a hero's milestone, I have to become more hero-like."

"Well, I'm no hero. But let's say that's true... what is being hero-like?"

"Heroic..."

Her words broke off once.

The hand holding the letter paused for a very brief moment.

"Heroically... I will take revenge."

"..."

"Because I already have more than enough of a great cause."

Dong Bongsu, no, Kim Rae-won didn't answer.

Because he knew all too well what she meant.

He just picked up his cup again and took a sip of the now-cold tea.

Dong Bongsu remained seated silently for a while, not getting up.

Jeon Rahwa also didn't feel the need to leave.

Just then, the sound of footsteps approached and stopped outside.

"Next time... be sure to tell me properly."

"Alright. Because my great cause is you."

"...."

Jeon Rahwa blushed slightly and exited through the back door.

Dong Bongsu looked toward the door without putting down his teacup.

He had been waiting for a while, but the presence outside the door repeatedly took one step forward and one step back.

After this happened several times, Dong Bongsu spoke.

"Come in."

The presence stopped, and soon the door opened.

It was Jin Hagyeong.

The one-armed swordsman hesitated once more at the threshold before finally stepping inside.

"Have a seat."

Dong Bongsu indicated the seat across from him with his chin.

Jin Hagyeong's shoulder was raised on one side as he sat down.

His body must still remember the weight of the missing arm.

"...There is one thing I must ask, Sect Leader."

"Speak."

"I wish to send a message to the Main Sect."

""

"I feel I must report the fate of the two hundred."

"Why do you ask me for permission for that?"

Jin Hagyeong's eyes flickered up once.

"To be honest, I... don't know. Perhaps it's because the weight of our benefactor's grace is too heavy... or perhaps our hearts are deceitful."

Dong Bongsu smiled.

Outwardly and inwardly.

"Send it as you wish."

"...Thank you, Sect Leader."

"There's no need to thank me. And People are creatures who live by following their hearts."

For a moment, no one spoke.

Kim Rae-won fiddled with the cold cup.

"In any case, if you send a message, it seems the people from Vast Heaven will come to get you."

"..."

"When will you leave?"

It was quiet.

Jin Hagyeong's gaze swept over the table.

The pile of letters that Jeon Rahwa had organized.

The brush with dried ink.

The things that daily life here has built up.

"...I still don't know."

It was an honest answer.

Kim Rae-won didn't smile.

It was a face that held neither a roguish grin nor the dignity of a Sect Leader.

"Well, as I just said, if you don't have to go, you don't have to. If that's the direction your heart takes you."

Jin Hagyeong's gaze rose straight up and met his eyes strongly.

"What is that supposed to..."

"Exactly as it sounds. We have enough food here."

Jin Hagyeong took a breath in, then out.

That was the end of it.

His head bowed deeply.

The weight of it was different from his bow in front of the barracks earlier.

Kim Rae-won didn't answer.

He only fiddled with the empty cup.

Jin Hagyeong stood up.

The sound of his footsteps as he opened the door and left had none of the hesitation it had when he entered.

Dong Bongsu's gaze fell on the empty cup.

Whether they stayed or left.

For now, it will be up to Vast Heaven's will.'

The letter Jin Hagyeong was sending would be nothing more than a single dot on the picture Vast Heaven was already painting.

Having them all join the [Guild Window] at once was a very positive sign, but it was still too early to judge and act rashly.

Click.

He opened the System Window.

First, to organize the things he had been putting off.

[◉ Hero Stats

Hero History: 56

Rank: ★★First-Rate (50~99)

Fame: 47

Infamy: 0 '56' ]

He hadn't touched it since returning from Colorful Lake.

It was the value that had risen all at once after dealing with the Rakshasa Monk Corps and the cultivator.

Click.

He switched to the Quest Window.

[◉ Completed Quests

[Guild) Threshold of Growth

Complete (Guild Member Cap +25, Guild EXP +300)

[Sudden] Rakshasa of Slaughter

Complete (2/2)]

Click.

The Skill Window.

[◉ Skill List

『Faith Arrow Lv.1』

『Hero's Aura Lv.1』

『Shield of Faith Lv.2』

<

『Faith Sight』

『Faith Weight』

≪Unlockable Skill≫

『Faith Judgment Lv.1』

『Y/N』

『Hero's Blessing Lv.1』

『Y/N』 ]

Two lines were floating side by side.

Click

[『Faith Judgment Lv.1』

[Advanced Magic] [Area] [Holy Attribute]

— When the hearts of those who believe in the hero gather, that faith descends as a judgment from the heavens. The more believers there are, the heavier the judgment becomes. Rains down sacred light, condensed from the faith in the hero, to inflict Holy attribute damage on all enemies within range. Damage increases in proportion to the number of people who believe in the caster. One person's faith is but a single ray of light, but the faith of a hundred becomes the sun.

Mana Cost: 150 MP

Cast Time: 3 seconds

Cooldown: 300 seconds

Effect Range: 50m radius around the caster

Base Damage: 100 (+ Faith Bonus): Damage multiplier based on Trust +10~50% (cumulative): Additional damage to Unorthodox/Demonic type enemies × 200%: Casting is canceled upon being hit. ]

And also.

Click.

[『Hero's Blessing Lv.1』

[Advanced Magic] [Area] [Healing] [Holy Attribute]

— A hero's touch must reach the wounded. Bestow a warm light upon all those you wish to protect. Converts the hero's faith into light to restore the health of all allies within range. The amount of healing increases in proportion to the number of people who believe in the caster, and simultaneously purges status effects (poison, bleeding, energy exhaustion, etc.). It is a miracle unique to a hero, granting the strength to not fall even in the midst of a battlefield.

Mana Cost: 120 MP

Casting Time: 2 seconds

Cooldown: 180 seconds

Effect Range: 30m radius around the caster

Base Healing: 150 HP (+ Faith Bonus): Healing bonus based on Trust x 1.3 (Stacks): Purifies 1 status effect (Poison, Bleeding, Energy Drain, Internal Injury, etc.): Cannot move while casting, casting interrupted upon taking damage. ]

The choice was not difficult.: Damage bonus based on Trust +10~50% (Stacks)

A Trust relationship, meaning just considering him an object of 'faith', would grant a 10% damage increase.

Ten people would mean double, twenty people would mean quadruple.

If that deepened to the level of 'adoration', he could gain 50% damage per person.

With just two such people, the damage would double.

Even if the base damage was low.....

What if the members of the Hero's Sect increased to 50?

What if it became 100, or 1000?

After a careful examination, he couldn't see a 'ceiling' either.

'Headcount is firepower.

The second skill, an area-of-effect healing skill.

Honestly, it wasn't bad.

A technique to raise the health of allies all at once.

It might be more stable for maintaining presence on the battlefield or in a large-scale war.

However.

From Dong Bongsu's perspective, it wasn't even worth considering.

Because this was the Murim.

Even thinking back to the battle with the guy he fought recently, numbers didn't matter.

The fox monster he saw when he first fell, the 'certain place' in the sky he saw as he was falling, and the words of the guy who was 'disguised' as a Dark Rakshasa Way member.

— Kekekekekek! I finally caught you, you insignificant low-level bastard!

What all of this converged on and pointed to was all too clear.

'The Upper Realm.'

The higher region that Kim Rae-won had aimed for from the beginning.

He had no idea how powerful or how dangerous it was.

However, if the guy from before misunderstood him and called him an 'insignificant low-level,' then he definitely needed to prepare before going.

In that sense.

The only headcount that mattered to him now was the number of 'believers'.

Killing is faster.

Killing is more certain.

Becoming stronger and indiscriminately cutting down enemies is vastly more efficient than saving weak allies.

It was only natural.

Here, rather than saving the entire Central Plains.

'Enough to kill the entire Central Plains, the entire world...

Becoming that strong was overwhelmingly important.

That was the way of this body, and it was also closer to human nature.

The weak, he would make them believe in him, trust him, follow him, and revere him.

That was enough.

Moreover: Cannot move while casting

Perhaps because it was a healing-type skill, if he couldn't even use it while moving, [Hero's Blessing] was nearly useless in this Murim.

And so, he simply chose [Faith Judgment].

After that.

The written letter he had pushed to the end of the table caught his eye.

'He said it was from Bae Dal-pae.!'

About the state and movements of the Jianghu.

— Large numbers of personnel from Dark Rakshasa, Vast Heaven, and the Formation Tower are simultaneously moving toward the River Capital.

It was less a report on the movements and more a one-line warning.

He had to assume that various consecutive incidents and the many parts connected to them had been twisted and distorted to produce this result.

"Interesting."

An emotion he had never properly felt in his entire life, he was feeling it too often since coming here.

Of course, it was good for him, but in Murim terms, it was an emotion that would surely bring about unfavorable results.

Dong Bongsu folded the letter.

Then, he shifted his gaze out the window.

The sun had already set quite a bit, and the evening glow lay long over the roof of the Hero's Sect.

Just then.

He heard footsteps.

They were neither fast nor running, but each step carried a sense of cheerfulness.

It had been a while, but he could easily tell whose footsteps these belonged to.

Soon, the door opened.

"Yo-."

Dust-covered clothes, a face that showed he had run for days without rest, were revealed.

"Long time no see."

Dongmun Mutoe stood there, baring his teeth and giving a slight wave.

He was exhausted, but his eyes were certainly vivid.

"Yeah, it's been a while."

Dong Bongsu read Dongmun Mutoe's eyes.

What was inside them was not just fatigue.

A significant part of the reason the Formation Tower was on the move, as mentioned in Bae Dal-pae's letter, was likely orchestrated by Dongmun Mutoe.

"Hoh-."

Dongmun Mutoe's gaze went past Dong Bongsu and swept around the room.

The pile of letters on the table.

The ink-dried brush.

The new pillars to the west and the tents lined up in rows visible through the window.

"Ooh-."

The corners of his mouth went up first.

"What's all this? The sect has completely changed in just the few days I was gone?"

His head turned toward the window.

Twelve pillars.

Strong men raising the crossbeams.

Beyond them, the sound of people's footsteps moving between the lined-up tents.

Shouts could be heard from the training ground, and the faint sound of a whetstone seeped out from beyond the stone wall to the west.

"Looks like the number of people has grown a lot, too? Just how many more are there? Is this really that Hero's Sect?"

Instead of answering, Dong Bongsu took out a teacup.

He then immediately poured tea and pushed it toward him.

"Sit."

Dongmun Mutoe plopped down.

Dust rose faintly from his robes and settled.

Because of that, the scent of a man who had run for days without rest spread over the tea.

He lifted the cup and took a sip.

Putting it down, as if remembering something, his fingers tapped the table.

Tap, tap.

"Oh, right."

"What?"

"Quite a few days have passed while I was gone, right?"

Dong Bongsu drank his tea.

"The questions I've saved up, I can ask them for all the days I missed, right?"

"Retroactive application is prohibited."

"Wow."

Dongmun Mutoe's face crumpled.

"That's harsh, Sect Leader, you son of a..."

Dong Bongsu's eyes rose.

He had no expression.

"...Your Majesty, Sect Leader. This humble servant is content with one a day, you ba..."

His eyes didn't waver.

"..stard."

And then.

"I jest. Ha. Ha. Ha."

Pfft.

The corner of Dong Bongsu's mouth went up once and came back down.

Dongmun Mutoe swallowed a dry cough and picked up his cup again.

He took another sip and relaxed his shoulders.

"The Yin-Yang Guard said he would like to meet you."

'As expected.

Dong Bongsu's hand stopped over his cup.

"In what way?"

"He said he wants to meet, not that he wants to join hands. For now, it'll be a period of observation."

Dongmun Mutoe's fingers walked across the tabletop.

Tap, tap.

"The Yin-Yang Guard originally doesn't decide anything directly. He's the type to set the stage and watch."

"So he's setting the stage?"

"It would be more accurate to say he's started setting it."

Dong Bongsu tilted his head.

"But what about Trigram Master Myo and Trigram Master Yan? Did you hear anything from them?"

"Those people?"

Dongmun Mutoe grinned.

"Are they still here?"

"Just freeloading."

"На."

A laugh burst out.

It was a laugh of someone who didn't know whether to be surprised or amused that two Trigram Masters of the Formation Tower were staying in a new sect and freeloading.

"If those two came on their own and decided to stay, it's not something the Yin-Yang Guard would summon them for. The Formation Tower is originally like that. Even if they are Trigram Masters, each one is basically an independent Formation Master."

"..."

"The Yin-Yang Guard only gets directly involved when the entire Formation Tower moves."

Dong Bongsu just listened quietly.

But no matter how much they were considered individuals, counting Dongmun Mutoe, there were three of them in this Hero's Sect.

That had to have value in some sense.

The negotiating power would also be overwhelmingly superior on his side.

Not bad.!'

"And."

Dongmun Mutoe's eyes narrowed.

"The Yin-Yang Guard definitely hasn't taken a side. Not Dark Rakshasa, not Vast Heaven. The Formation Tower was never a place like that."

Dong Bongsu waited.

"However."

Dongmun Mutoe's fingers stopped.

"He seemed to want to take on a request from... the winning side."

He drank his tea without a word.

"Who do you think will win?"

Dong Bongsu put down his cup.

"Me."

"...What?"

"I will win."

Dongmun Mutoe's mouth fell shut.

He stared blankly at one spot, as if the world had stopped.

On Dong Bongsu's face was neither Kim Rae-won's sly smile nor the coldness of a Predator.

Only a man who had stated a fact sat there.

Heh-.

"You're a pain in the ass, but."

Something like a snort escaped.

"You're right."

It soon became quiet.

No one spoke.

The sunset was descending below the windowsill, and the ray of light that had cast itself into the room narrowed and then disappeared.

Dongmun Mutoe moved on to rumors.

Rumors of large and small clashes erupting in the area on the border between Vast Heaven and Dark Rakshasa.

Talk that Dark Rakshasa's reconnaissance range had widened.

Fragmentary pieces of information that several Vast Heaven branch sects had begun to redeploy their forces.

Dong Bongsu only listened while drinking his tea.

It felt like puzzle pieces were being placed on the table one by one, but he showed no sign of it.

The letter from Bae Dal-pae and the rumors from Dongmun Mutoe.

The pieces flying in from two directions were painting the same picture.

All the powers in this vicinity were on the move.

If a mass of this size were moving and clashing, there was a high possibility that other regions of the Central Plains were also in great turmoil right now.

Chaos.

It was a direction he extremely disliked in that it was unpredictable, but if it was in the Jianghu of Murim?

He would have to welcome it with open arms.

For now, slowly, only on the inside.

Soon, Dongmun Mutoe's voice stopped.

It seemed that bringing this guy to his side was a good choice.

Thanks to him, he had acquired a lot of information while sitting in one place.

The room had grown dark.

Even after the light disappeared, no one lit a candle.

Only the outlines of the two men remained in the darkness.

Dongmun Mutoe's hand came down to the table.

"Oh, oh, oh, one more thing."

The tone of his voice changed.

It was not the tone of someone who had just been reciting rumors as if whispering.

"I sensed something on my way here..."

Dong Bongsu turned his head and stared precisely at Dongmun Mutoe.

"There was a presence near the River Capital?"

Dong Bongsu's hand stopped.

"Judging by the feel of the Qi alone, it was almost identical to Dark Rakshasa's."

Silence.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm not certain."

Dongmun Mutoe continued.

He had only sensed it, not confirmed it head-on.

It was certain that the quality of the presence was not typical of the Murim.

It reeked of Evil Qi, but he didn't know the scale or its identity.

So he had avoided it and came here.

"I figured it was better to let you guys know first rather than trying to confirm it rashly."

Dong Bongsu's eyes and his pupils had changed.

Whether they had sharpened or were smiling softly.

Whether it was easier to see in the darkness or if he just felt that way because of the darkness.

It was the same face as the man who had been smirking and drinking tea just a moment ago, but it was not the same person.

"Roughly how many?"

"I don't know. I only caught the presence."

"Direction?"

"About a hundred li to the east?"

A hundred li.

That was a distance from which they could rush into the River Capital at any moment if they so chose.

Just then.

"...But you know."

Dongmun Mutoe scratched his neck.

"I don't think it was just Dark Rakshasa. There was one more thing, but it was too fast, so I couldn't catch it."

With those words, Dongmun Mutoe rose from his seat and dusted himself off.

"I should go see Trigram Master Myo and Trigram Master Yan for now. I don't know exactly what's going to happen, but..."

Kek.

"Anyway, this is going to be fun, isn't it?"

As he turned to leave, in the darkening sky outside the window.

A small dot was rising above it.

A signal flare.

It had been launched from behind the main hall.

It was a kind of message sent by Jin Hagyeong.

The thing he had given permission for earlier, he had been pondering it until now, and had finally shot it into the sky.

Toward the Vast Heaven branch.

Dongmun Mutoe also followed it with his eyes.

"...What's that?"

"Ah, a lot of things happened."

"Is that a Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect person?"

"Yeah. It turned out that way."

"Ah, that must have been a lot of fun. You guys were having all the fun here. While I was just made to use my lightness skills and my mouth!"

The small dot was sucked out of Dongmun Mutoe's grumbling sight and vanished.

...

The footsteps of the woman walking the mountain path were steady.

Swish, swish-.

Although she walked as if on a stroll, the surrounding scenery blurred into lines; she was that fast.

The night wind shook the hem of her clothes, but something as trivial as the wind could not affect her steps.

Yeop Bihwa.

A sword born of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, but one that did not remain within Vast Heaven's framework.

The Iron-Faced Lady, with a title unrelated to the beauty that once shook the world.

Swish-.

Even while moving so quickly, she kept one name drawn in her mind.

Kim Rae-won.

— Do you have a place to go back to?

She had not answered.

- I do. I just haven't been able to go back.

That man, as always, had been smiling.

— But if I keep walking, I'll eventually reach somewhere.

And then he had disappeared.

Whether he found his way back.

Or whether he never reached it.

However.

That name was heard again in the River Capital.

'Kim Rae-won.'

At that moment, as she once again carved that name into her mind.

A light rose in the sky.

In the direction of the River Capital.

The streak of light rose and then split once at the end, as if a sword had been drawn.

It was a unique trajectory signal flare that only the light of a flame carrying Vast Heaven's internal energy could leave.

"As I thought..."

There were Vast Heaven people in the River Capital.

Swish-pat, swish-pat-.

Yeop Bihwa's stride widened, now having more to confirm.

Swish-pat, swish-pat-

-x-X-x-

Dong Bongsu sat in the darkness.

He had not lit a candle; he was simply contemplating his inner self in silence.

He was meticulously reviewing the things that had happened, the things he had done, and the things he would do since coming here.

Even so, he did not turn off his awareness of the outside.

It was noisy outside.

The sun had not yet risen, but the sound of hammers had already begun.

From the western construction area, the shouts of strong men raising pillars followed, overlapped by the sound of ropes being pulled and the dull thud of wedges being driven in.

From the training ground, Hoae's commands burst forth.

One, two!

The clash of swords.

The sound of someone falling and getting back up.

In between, the ceaseless footsteps of people moving about the barracks area could be heard.

The voices of the defeated soldiers who had fled from Hocheon were also mixed in here and there.

They said the Sect Leader here might be a Cultivator... no, someone else said... he could even be an Immortal...

Baseless rumors were circulating, but that was actually a good thing.

Beneficial misunderstandings pile up layer by layer to become truth, and when that truth-that-is-not-truth becomes old and established, it becomes a 'religion'.

Naturally, for the current Dong Bongsu, 'faith' was power.

From another direction, the wheels of a cart scraped loudly across the stone floor.

It was likely a cart carrying rice.

As the number of people increased, it was only natural that the amount of food needed would also increase.

A few children ran around somewhere in the barracks area, shouting.

Over it all, the fine sound of a whetstone being sharpened was laid.

Scrape-.

Scrape-.

The entire Hero's Sect was awake, except for the room where Dong Bongsu sat.

And while all that commotion continued for quite a while, Dong Bongsu did not change his posture one bit.

Amidst the commotion, more urgent footsteps gathered in one direction.

The presence of two people following Dongmun Mutoe's steps.

They moved quickly toward the main gate and faded into the distance.

A short while later, the door opened.

"Trigram Master Dongmun took Trigram Master Myo and Trigram Master Yan and went somewhere in a hurry, talking about Formation Dao or something... Did you order them to do anything?"

It was Jeon Rahwa.

As if familiar with the pitch-black room, she entered without hesitation and placed a tray on the table.

The low sound of dishes clinking.

"They said it was to the east. Trigram Master Myo looked annoyed, but Trigram Master Yan seemed rather excited."

"..."

"They didn't say when they'd be back."

When Dong Bongsu didn't reply, Jeon Rahwa sat on the edge of the tray.

"It's food."

"I have eyes too."

"What's the use if you don't even look?"

Hmph, she let out a light snort.

"I'll eat later."

"Liar."

"...."

"I'm going to leave it anyway, so if it gets cold, just eat it cold. If you leave any, I'll eat it."

Soon, Jeon Rahwa stirred and stood up.

"I'm going. Looks like Hoae is holding onto some people again. I wonder if he changed his job to that after being an instructor for a bit last time... He's been shouting his head off since morning."

"That's just his normal voice."

"You've spoiled the kid. A kid should be a kid."

"He's becoming a hero. In this damn Jianghu, even a kid has to become a wandering hero, a master. It's normal for a kid not to be a kid."

"Well, you're right. It's a world without a speck of romance. At least you... No, never mind. See you later then."

The door soon closed.

Her footsteps receded down the corridor and melted into the clamor outside.

The room became quiet again.

Without changing his posture, Dong Bongsu sorted through what he had just heard.

Dongmun Mutoe, Myo Jinheo, Yan Bilyeong.

The three of them had gone east.

To check on the presence that Dongmun Mutoe had sensed last night.

Three Trigram Masters of the Formation Tower should be more than enough for reconnaissance.

It seemed they also planned to set up a formation near the River Capital, which wasn't a bad thing either.

More importantly.

The battle at Colorful Lake a few days ago.

All the events that happened then were accidental, and the 'encounter with that bastard' was entirely a coincidence.

Dong Bongsu's confrontation with 'that bastard' was purely a variable.

The problem wasn't that it was a coincidence, but rather because it was a coincidence.

If he had come intentionally, he could have prepared, but to encounter such a person by chance meant that he could run into a martial artist of that level again at any time.

'What if there isn't just one being like him, but many, and they all attack at once?'

It could be difficult to handle.

His life might even be in danger.

It was clearly a variable, and if a variable could be controlled-.

'It must be controlled as much as possible.'

Regarding all unexpected variables, presumed to have come down from the Upper Realm.

Regarding those things that surely exist somewhere in this Murim.

It seemed the time had come to grasp whatever he could in advance.

And after a night of contemplation, he had found a way.

'Kim Rae-won's memories.!'

The information scattered throughout the time he had walked in this Murim.

Those memories were fragmented, embedded here and there like pieces, and were dissolving into Dong Bongsu's brain irregularly.

'If I can properly dredge the very bottom of it...

Perhaps he could acquire the many things he had experienced and the information he had gathered all at once.

Dong Bongsu's eyes closed.

Meditation.

Meditation is a more scientific method of inner reflection than one might think.

If one were to classify it in the language of this place, it would be an area closer to an Internal Energy Cultivation Art or Immortal Arts.

Just as no one here considers Internal Energy Cultivation Arts or Immortal Arts to be nonexistent, meditation was the most specialized method for calming the surface of consciousness and descending into its depths.

The former Dong Bongsu, the original one who existed on Earth but no longer does, had once dived to the very bottom of his own consciousness and come back up.

It was incredibly difficult, and a task so hard that if he had made a mistake, he might not have woken up again, but he had done it.

Couldn't he reach Kim Rae-won's memories in the same way?

Defragmenting the fragmented data.

He had originally considered it unnecessary, but now was the time to perform that postponed task.

"Huuuuu-."

With a deep breath, all of Dong Bongsu's conscious flow slowed down.

The sound of hammers from outside, the commands, the sound of carts-they all began to recede one by one.

Consciousness sinks inward.

Swims inward.

And.

Sinks.

Endlessly, into the sea memories. of

...

He went down deep.

All the sounds coming from the outside thinned out as if pulling a thread, and eventually disappeared.

The sound of cartwheels, the sound of the whetstone, the voices of children.

One by one.

The last thing that remained was his own breathing, and at some point, even that was submerged.

The outline of his body blurred.

The sensation of his knees touching the floor disappeared first, then the tips of his fingers.

Shoulders, elbows... smell, touch, taste, hearing, and finally, even the weight of his skull and the flow of his thoughts vanished, leaving only the unconscious.

Thus, his senses as Dong Bongsu completely departed, and only his consciousness remained afloat.

The outside world did not exist.

Not the Hero's Sect, not the River Capital, not this Murim.

In a darkness deeper than the darkness of the room, only Dong Bongsu's consciousness had its eyes open.

A black void.

In the middle of the infinitely unfolding darkness, a single point floated.

It was neither light nor darkness.

Only the fact that something was there was transmitted through his senses.

It was similar to seeing a star, but it was closer than a star; it was similar to seeing a firefly, but it was colder than a firefly.

The point did not move.

Dong Bongsu stared at it.

And just looking was enough.

The point reacted.

Something like a tremor came first.

An invisible vibration spread through the darkness and reached Dong Bongsu's consciousness.

It was similar to when the Murim Online system first awakened, but it was a different kind of wave.

Thump-.

It wasn't a sound.

It hadn't been heard with his ears but had tapped on the surface of his consciousness.

Unlike the mechanical notification sounds of Murim Online, it was a resonance like the beating of a drum.

It was the sound he had heard when loading Kim Rae-won's play data before.

The unique interaction sound of the What is Hero system.

Text floated up in the darkness.

[Player Data Archive Previous User: Kim Rae-won]

[Access Authority: Successor (Limited)]

'Archive.

It was a menu he had never seen before.

When he loaded Kim Rae-won's play data, memories, language, and geographical information had all poured in at once, but he had never accessed such an organized repository.

'Did I reach a deeper layer of the system through meditation?'

Dong Bongsu read the text.

[Archive Status]

Surface Layer — Language • Identity • Relationships - Damage Rate 12%

Middle Layer — Combat Records Travel Routes

Damage Rate 47%

Deep Layer — Personal Memories Emotions • Basis for Judgment - Damage Rate 81%

A three-layer structure.

The damage rate increases from the surface to the deep layer.

This meant that Kim Rae-won's language and common sense remained almost intact, but eight out of ten of his personal memories and emotions were broken.

[Warning: Data Integrity Not Guaranteed]

Restorable Unit: Fragment. Continuous Playback Impossible Index Damaged

It was interesting.

That the system and the contemplation of the abyss of meditation could have such a synergy.

But now was not the time to be engrossed in this.

Contemplating the abyss was not a safe method.

He could accidentally fall into this 'sea of memories' of Kim Rae-won and drown.

He just kept the words 'Continuous Playback Impossible' in his head.

It probably meant he couldn't look through everything from beginning to end.

It didn't matter.

It should be enough to piece together the remaining fragments as best he could.

81%.

Almost nothing remained at the bottom.

He would have to use what he could from the top down.

'It's enough.

Dong Bongsu pushed his consciousness toward the point.

The point responded.

This time, it wasn't a tremor but an expansion.

From bottom to top, or from inside to outside.

He wasn't sure if it could be called a direction, but the sensation of something opening was clear.

Light spread out.

Like a panorama.

It wasn't that the darkness was clearing, but an image was rising as if layered on top of the darkness.

At first, it was blurry.

Like ink spread on water, only the outlines were visible, but gradually, color filled in and the form became clear.

Sound followed.

The sound of wind.

The sound of rustling grass.

The sound of insects.

It was as if a world was being born in the darkness.

Dong Bongsu was not standing inside it.

He was watching from the outside.

Like a spectator in a theater.

But there was one difference from a theater.

The sensations from beyond the screen were seeping into the audience's seats.

.....

....

....

..

.

A forest.

A boy in a school uniform was collapsed.

A navy blazer, a white shirt, and a school emblem on the left chest.

He was a high school student.

His lips were blue, and the hand he had placed on a mossy rock was trembling.

A chill spread inside his ribcage.

Something damp brushed against his palm.

The texture of moss.

Cold and sodden.

It was not Dong Bongsu's.

It was what the boy named Kim Rae-won must have felt at that moment, flowing across time.

There was no way to filter it.

He could only experience it as it flowed in.

Dong Bongsu... no, the boy Kim Rae-won, stood up.

-x-X-x-

The forest was an unknown forest, and the air had a density he had never breathed before.

A hologram floated before the boy's eyes.

A System UI of the same kind, Dong Bongsu already knew.

[Loading of the new map is complete.]

"..."

The boy took a step forward.

He did not stop his feet, but began to walk along the path that ran through the forest.

One step, two steps.

With each continuing step, the forest changed.

The trees changed, and the angle of the light changed.

As if a film was cutting and splicing, there were black gaps between scenes, but his feet did not stop, and each time he crossed a gap, the boy's height had changed.

His shoulders gradually broadened, the baby fat left his face, and his stride also lengthened.

The forest became a mountain path, the mountain path became a field, and the field again became a river.

The rising and setting of the sun overlapped rapidly.

Then, at some point, the tip of his nose tingled.

The smell of grass mixed with the unfamiliar night air, the kind one could only smell on a road with no one else around.

It was a sense that was not his own, so he could neither filter it out nor get used to it.

Kim Rae-won's sense of smell simply lingered at the tip of Dong Bongsu's nose.

It was the same for all his other five senses.

He could not sympathize with them, but they were engraved like a seal upon Dong Bongsu's consciousness as Kim Rae-won's own.

And beyond the five senses, a strange sensation.

No, should I call it an emotion?

'Is this what loneliness is?'

He did not know for sure.

He had never felt it in his entire life.

What was tied to this smell for the boy named Kim Rae-won?

Emotion, feeling, whatever it was, he could only surmise that it was something like that.

But beneath the loneliness, there was something deeper.

The center of his chest was pulled.

His body was being drawn somewhere, but he did not know the direction.

The desire to return.

The reason this boy walked was not for wandering.

It was to find a home.

It was to find the way back.

Longing.

It was a feeling Dong Bongsu did not have.

He could not process it.

He didn't know where to classify it or how to digest it.

It just remained, pooled in his chest.

His walking feet quickened.

Kim Rae-won, who had already become an adult, was charging towards someone.

A sword was in the man's hand, blood splattered, and the villagers wept.

He saved them.

He turned away.

He walked again.

The same scene, with subtly different faces, overlapped and rushed in.

The saved village was devoured, torn apart, and violated by another bastard...

Was that all?

A man whose life was saved turned around and did the same thing.

Each time, the man saved, turned away, and walked forward again.

No matter how many heroic deeds Kim Rae-won performed system-wise, the evil nature of people did not improve.

Yet, his feet did not stop.

That was what lay at the foundation of the human being named Kim Rae-won.

Then, those feet finally stopped.

For the first time.

It was a wide training ground.

The data was incomplete here and there, with blurry parts or sections filled with numbers, but it was clearly a practice area for martial artists.

From all sides, martial artists holding swords were looking up at one place.

Standing in the middle was a man in a school uniform.

His shoulders had broadened, and he had grown taller, but his clothes were still a navy blazer.

Bloodstains were soaked into it in places.

His skin was pressed down.

It was the weight of their gazes.

The eyes pouring from all directions pressed down on his shoulders, but within them was not just hostility.

A fair amount of awe was mixed in as well.

It was an unfamiliar sensation.

For Dong Bongsu, it was quite a familiar feeling, but for Kim Rae-won, this weight seemed to be a first.

Seeing as a part of his chest sank heavily.

'So this is the Orthodox Assembly Gathering.'

He already knew that name from the surface data of the archive.

A Murim martial arts tournament held irregularly by the Ten Great Sects of the Orthodox Faction.

It was there that this man first earned a title.

An alien power that did not belong to any martial arts system of the Orthodox Faction.

The awe and caution contained in the character 'Monster'.

Across the training ground, two others with an aura of a similar texture to his own were standing.

Their faces were not visible.

However, a gut feeling that they were of the same kind rushed in through Kim Rae-won's senses, and Dong Bongsu experienced it as it was.

The feeling that he might not be alone.

The two who had been standing across from him came to his side.

The color of the panorama changed.

It was the clearest segment so far.

Among the surface layers with only 12% damage, the light was exceptionally bright.

The most intact fragment remaining from the entire 21 years.

There were three sets of footsteps.

They were walking side by side.

Their strides were different, and their weights were different, but their speed was the same.

A gait that wasn't being matched, but was already in sync.

The area around his shoulder grew warm.

There was no one next to him, yet his body temperature rose.

Kim Rae-won's memory was fully conveying the physical sensation.

The temperature of the air changing just by having someone next to him.

The density of emotion, completely different from when he walked alone.

One set of footsteps was heavy and leisurely.

"This is a good day for a walk."

It was a meaningless comment.

Talk about the weather.

Those words were the clearest sound remaining in this panorama.

The fact that the brightest fragment from the entire 21 years was talk about the weather.

The name Ha Gyeong-un was in the surface data.

So was the name Yeop Bihwa.

'Are these the ones called the Three Monsters, including Kim Rae-won?'

The three of them were walking side by side.

There were no special scenes other than walking.

They weren't fighting, accomplishing anything. nor were they

They were just three people standing on the same path.

Dong Bongsu did not react.

He simply experienced the influx of sensations.

But he could clearly tell that this segment was different from the others.

What rushed in was not a coolness or a tingling.

It was not the longing that pulled at his insides either.

It was warmth.

There was no need to classify what it was.

It was enough to recognize that the area around his left shoulder was warm, and that this warmth was not his own.

The warmth in that area cooled down.

The footsteps beside him grew distant one by one.

Three became two, and two became one.

The color began to drain from the panorama...

He was alone again.

The cycle of being doubted or betrayed, even when he performed righteous deeds, returned.

It was the same pattern as before, but the quality was different.

It wasn't powerlessness but resignation, and within that resignation was mixed a resolve.

He knew that he couldn't get stronger through the system.

That there were no other Karma Root Tribe members, no matter how much he searched.

What remained after accepting the fact that he was alone.

Still, he had to go on.

He had to break through the Floating Island, even if it was alone.

A bitter taste spread in his mouth.

Dong Bongsu's tongue was experiencing what Kim Rae-won must have felt.

But his feet did not stop.

They were the same feet as before, but their texture was different.

At first, they were feet searching for a path, then they were feet jumping in to save others, then they stopped once at the training ground, then they walked side by side as three, and now, they were feet that walked even without a path.

His chest was pulled again.

That sensation, which had first rushed in during the time he only walked alone, came for a second time.

It had grown deeper.

It was something Dong Bongsu didn't have, so he still couldn't process or digest it.

It just continued to pool more and more.

His pace was quickening.

Scenes brushed past, overlapping like thin sheets of paper.

Then, the interface reacted.

Kim Rae-won was using something.

A scene of him using a skill.

Light stretched from his hand, but the scene itself was broken, so he couldn't see what skill it was.

[Previous User Skill Record Detected Restoration Impossible]

The skill name was partially broken, the letters smudged.

He tried to read it, but it couldn't be restored.

[◼️◼️'s ◼️◼️ (Hero's ◼️◼️◼️◼️) ]

He could tell the first word was 'Hero' by looking at the English part.

The latter part was black as if painted over with ink.

The scene was fragmented.

The before and after of the skill's use were missing, and only a piece from the middle remained.

Kim Rae-won was kneeling.

It seemed to be right after a battle.

His clothes were torn and soaked with blood, but his posture was not that of a fighter.

Both knees on the ground, head slightly bowed,

two hande clasned over his chast.

'A prayer...?'

Light formed over his hands.

It was a light of the same family as the Faith Arrow, but its form was completely different.

It didn't shoot out like an arrow.

It bloomed from his chest, enveloped Kim Rae-won, and within it, a light returned as if in response.

A structure of giving and receiving.

The texture of the light changed.

Kim Rae-won's lips were moving.

He was speaking.

The sound wasn't restored, so he couldn't hear what was said, but the shape of his mouth was clearly a conversation.

Not a monologue, but speaking to someone.

And in front of him.

The last remaining fragment just before the scene tore apart.

There was a form within the light.

The face was broken and couldn't be seen.

But he could make out the posture.

It was leaning slightly toward Kim Rae-won.

The posture of a person listening.

Dong Bongsu's consciousness stopped.

He tried to ponder the meaning of this memory, but the scene shattered into pieces.

[Previous User Skill Data — ◼️◼️]

[[Restorable

Information:

Classification

[Advanced] [Non-Combat] [Faith Type) / Unlock

Condition — ◼️◼️◼️]

Only the classification remained.

Advanced.

Non-combat.

Faith type.

He was just able to read a part of it by momentarily piecing together the already shattered fragments of text.: When the hero genuinely ◼️◼️◼️◼️, the goddess's

will-

Although most of the information was broken and shattered, making it unknowable, Dong Bongsu was certain by instinct.

That he had to remember this information.

While he was planting this part into his consciousness.

Kim Rae-won's steps blurred.

His feet became invisible.

The panorama cracked to the point where he couldn't tell if he was walking or standing.

[Warning: Data integrity below the middle layer not guaranteed]

The clear footsteps, the talk of weather, the warmth in his chest-all of it receded beyond the cracked glass.

The panorama of memory shattered.

Before he knew it, darkness became the default.

How much time had passed like that?

If he were to calculate backward based on Kim Rae-won's senses, he estimated that about 3 to 4 years had passed.

Something collided with him in the darkness.

A wind brushing his left cheek.

The kind left behind after a blade passes.

Followed by an impact on his right shoulder.

The sensation of being pushed by someone.

A shout pouring from behind his back.

It wasn't a language.

A fragment of a syllable cut off before he could even understand its meaning.

The ground split beneath his feet, the sky overturned, and the smell of blood pierced his nose before vanishing.

Immediately after, he was running on sand.

No, he was falling from a cliff.

No, was he underwater?

Fragments rushed in.

Without order, without context.

It was the deep layer of the archive.

A world with a damage rate of 81%.

Instead of much remaining, what did remain poured in from all directions at once, unorganized.

If he tried to grasp it, it shattered.

The moment he reached out his hand, it scattered like shards of glass, and only darkness remained in the place where it had scattered.

The moment he reached out his hand, it scattered like shards of glass, and only darkness remained in the place where it had scattered.

Dong Bongsu did not try to grasp it.

He left it as it brushed past.

Each time they collided and passed by, Kim Rae-won's senses briefly flared and disappeared.

Fear, anger, relief, emptiness, caution, pain.

He could name the emotions, but he couldn't know from what situations they arose.

Because the context was broken.

Only effects without causes brushed past his consciousness.

In the midst of that, one thing caught.

It lasted a little longer than the other fragments.

An image remained for a few seconds before completely shattering.

It was night.

Kim Rae-won was sprawled on the ground.

His breathing was ragged as if it would stop, and one of his arms was bent.

The aura of those standing before him was different from that of Murim.

The texture of qi was based on a Spiritual Root.

'It's a Cultivator.'

The sensation rushing from the back of the man crushed beneath that aura was frustration.

He had heard that he could ascend if he became stronger.

That he could reach the Upper Realm if he built up his realm like the Cultivators.

But those very Cultivators were stepping on him.

Those who knew the way back were stepping on the one who wanted to go back....He was still having such a vain delusion.

Something heavy settled inside Dong Bongsu's ribs and then disappeared.

It was an incomprehensible sensation.

If you are stepped on, you get up.

If you are strong, you won't be stepped on.

That is all.

But the dregs of the feeling that this was not all for Kim Rae-won overflowed.

And how could he know that there would be a way to return to Earth even if he went to the Upper Realm?

Dong Bongsu let it flow by without classifying it.

The fragment shattered.

Darkness.

A color brushed by.

It was a mountain summit.

Kim Rae-won was looking up at the sky.

The sky was different from usual.

The color of the light was vastly different.

Through the clouds, something... seemed to be visible...

It was cut off.

Only the recognition of 'strange' brushed past.

He couldn't even distinguish whether it was Kim Rae-won's or Dong Bongsu's own.

The fragment was too short.

In the place where nothing remained, a voice was heard.

It was a woman's voice.

Low and firm.

A voice that wasn't devoid of emotion, but one that suppressed it.

"You can't go up."

The area below his solar plexus was pressed down.

A force pulling down the body that was trying to ascend.

It wasn't weight, but will.

The owner of this voice was blocking him with all her might.

Yet, he went up.

Kim Rae-won broke through this refusal and went to the Boundary Realm.

Leaving the voice that pressed on his chest behind him.

Because he had to go back.

Because he had to go home.

Futile longing had won over reason and the affection he had built up in this place.

The thing that had been pooled in Dong Bongsu's chest moved for a third time.

That sensation, accumulated without being processed since the surface layer.

He still couldn't classify it.

But this time, it was a little clearer.

Darkness again.

Now he could be sure.

That Kim Rae-won's memories and recollections were mixed up in chaos without any chronological order, floating in this abyss.

A more intact piece floated up from among the fragments.

Unlike the other fragments, it endured without shattering.

Kim Rae-won was walking.

It was a mountain path.

Around the middle of the mountain, the aura changed.

The smell of something old.

A mix of moss, ink, and paper.

Before the building came into view, the aura reached him first.

Something closer to a mass of energy than a building occupied the mountainside.

He was in front of a door.

Dialogue was heard through the broken image.

Cut off and smudged.

"...Karma Root... I heard there are records..."

"Qualification..."

"Just to check..."

"...You cannot."

Kim Rae-won's voice and someone else's voice intersected.

A conversation with missing letters and cut-off syllables.

Nevertheless, he could read the meaning.

The records of the Karma Root Tribe are inside here.

I want to see them.

But I don't have the qualification.

The door did not open.

Kim Rae-won turned away.

In his departing back was the feeling of 'next time'.

A firm will to come again next time.

The next time did not come.

Dong Bongsu watched the turning back until the end.

Kim Rae-won was searching for the answer to his own identity.

And he had approached a place where the answer might have been.

Almost to the door.

But he could not open it.

[Unexplored Point Restoration]

Partial Coordinate

The interface reacted.

Dong Bongsu read the coordinates.

A part of it was broken, but it was at a level where he could get a general direction.

'I'll remember this place too.

The fragment disappeared.

Nothing more floated up.

Not even a fragment that could shatter remained.

The darkness became complete.

It was a different quality from the darkness until now.

If before it was a darkness where the light had gone out, now it was a darkness where light had never existed.

It was the very bottom, the foundation of the abyss of Kim Rae-won's memory.

There was no sensation beneath his feet.

He couldn't even tell if he was standing or floating.

There was only the feeling that if he went down one more step from here, he would not be able to come back up.

The bottom of consciousness.

The bottom of memory.

Below that is not memory but oblivion, and below oblivion is Nothingness.

If he fell in, he might not be able to wake up.

Dong Bongsu stopped.

The memory data restoration was more or less finished.

Now he just had to go up.

If he pulled his consciousness up to the surface layer and opened his eyes, the darkness of the room would greet him gladly.

He was about to return like that.

But.

Something was standing in the darkness.

It was a woman with her back turned.

Blonde hair flowed long down her back.

Her clothes were not of the Jianghu.

A form unlike any attire of this Murim, as if taken directly from a medieval European sacred painting.

The appearance of a goddess in a cleric's robes.

A fragment of memory that he should not be able to encounter in this Murim was standing here.

Dong Bongsu stopped.

The woman did not turn around.

Only her back was visible.

Through the blonde hair that poured down as if to pierce the floor beautifully, her shoulders were slender, and her posture was calm.

Dong Bongsu did not approach and just stood still watching.

At the edge of his vision, the afterglow of the interface floated.

Murim Online and What is Hero, an afterimage of the two systems' interfaces overlapped, faintly flickering.

The color of that afterglow changed subtly.

From white, just a little, towards a warmer tone.

The moment he perceived that, the woman's voice was heard.

"You are... quite different from that child."

The voice was not heard by his ears.

It was something that directly created ripples on the surface of Dong Bongsu's consciousness.

A sound wave that was familiar yet unfamiliar.

The woman still had not turned around.

But soon, Dong Bongsu's consciousness began to rise again.

It was not slow.

His consciousness soared as if his feet had bounced off the bottom.

The darkness of the abyss fell away beneath his feet, and the blonde figure standing within it grew distant.

Quickly.

Too quickly.

Broken fragments brushed past as he ascended.

The mountain path, the cliff, the sand, the smell of blood, the syllable fragments of a shout.

All the debris of the deep layer scraped past both sides of his consciousness like glass powder.

The pressure was changing.

The inside of his ears rang.

The physics of being pushed up from a deep place to a shallow one seemed to apply to memory as well.

He broke through the middle layer.

The path where the three walked side by side, the talk of weather, the warmth around his shoulder-all brushed past at once and disappeared.

The gazes of the training ground, the bloodstained navy blazer, the feet that saved, turned away, and walked again.

Everything sank below and grew distant.

The surface layer grew closer.

The light began to return.

Through that light, he raised his head and looked down.

The woman was still visible.

Her blonde hair remained like a single streak of light in the darkness, but even that was fading.

Soon it became a dot, and even that dot was swallowed by the darkness.