"Ear Ghost?"
The voice of an uninvited guest.
Dong Bong-su, who had returned to his wooden house from the Eight Directions Armory, stopped in his tracks at the sound of someone's voice flowing from his home. Considering that no one here would carelessly enter his wooden house, the identity of the uninvited guest was likely not a Wanderer.
As Dong Bong-su thought, those who had invaded his wooden house without permission and were waiting for him were military officers and soldiers belonging to the Datong Military Command who had come to fetch Dong Bong-su on Li Zi-song's orders.
"You need to come with us to the Military Command. Ear Ghost."
Though they had occupied someone else's home without permission and then burst out to speak to the homeowner, it was extremely rude, but Dong Bong-su didn't particularly care. In Datong, military officers and other officials were employers, and Wanderers like himself were insignificant employees. Of course, that was only when they weren't swinging swords at Dong Bong-su. Since it wasn't a matter directly connected to his life anyway, he had no intention of making an issue of their small rudeness.
Dong Bong-su followed behind the military officer toward the Datong Military Command without saying much.
A short while later.
Dong Bong-su arrived at the Datong Military Command.
After a brief body search, he was able to enter the Military Command. Though he had been on Harvest dozens of times, this was the first time entering inside the Military Command.
The interior of the Military Command was as grand as its tall walls. After passing through the gate reaching over 10 meters, there lay a long path with square stone slabs that seemed carved from rock pressed tightly together. On both sides of that path, large halls were lined up in a row, and at the end stood a single three-story palace in ancient Chinese style.
The military officer led Dong Bong-su to that three-story palace.
Arriving at the palace entrance, there was a large plaque hanging from the beam.
'Bukdong Hall. Is this the building where the commander's office is located?'
As Dong Bong-su thought, Bukdong Hall was the core building of the Datong Military Command. The Northern Great Commander resided here and oversaw all affairs of the northern border.
Soon all the soldiers withdrew and only Li Zi-song's adjutant remained to lead Dong Bong-su inside Bukdong Hall.
'Why does the commander want to see me?'
It was obvious who had summoned him. The problem was the reason. Several things came to mind at once, but it was difficult to definitively determine which one. For now, it seemed he would have to meet the commander to find out.
Passing through the entrance and following the long corridor, stairs appeared at the end. Dong Bong-su followed the adjutant up to the third floor. Then a single large room appeared. In fact, rather than a room, the entire third floor was one commander's office.
In the middle of the office was a large, angular table about 15 meters long and 5 meters wide, probably for meetings.
Right in front of the stairs stood two lightly armored military officers who appeared to be the commander's guard warriors, wearing swords.
And along the left wall from the stairs, various weapons such as swords, spears, and halberds were hung at regular intervals, and on the opposite wall, helmets and armor were arranged in pairs.
At the end facing the stairs was a luxurious tiger-skin bed with silk curtains, and on the wall beside it hung a map large enough to cover all the remaining space.
The last thing that caught Dong Bong-su's eye was a handsome middle-aged man standing in front of the map. He was looking this way while smacking his lips as if out of habit.
Dong Bong-su could tell without difficulty that he was the commander.
'A new commander has arrived.'
It was a face he had never seen before. Dong Bong-su had seen the previous commander several times from afar during Harvest. He hadn't been that young, nor had he liked Dong Bong-su. So he had never assigned him bothersome tasks. Thanks to that, it had actually been comfortable...
The moment Dong Bong-su realized the commander was a new person, he thought he knew why he had been summoned.
He followed the adjutant and approached the new commander.
The two guard warriors who had been guarding the stairs followed closely behind Dong Bong-su, perhaps preparing for any contingency. They would probably draw their swords immediately if they saw any sign that Dong Bong-su was trying something suspicious.
But the contingency they were worried about would not occur. If Dong Bong-su had such intentions, everyone here would have already become sacrificial lambs of that contingency.
"Are you the Ear Ghost Kang Dal-hui?"
When Dong Bong-su came to stand at the end of the table positioned in the center, the newly arrived commander, Li Zi-song, spoke.
"That's right."
Dong Bong-su answered briefly. Too brief even for a brief answer. At this, the adjutant who had brought him frowned but did not step forward. Because Li Zi-song had raised his hand to stop him.
"Quite a stiff fellow."
"..."
Li Zi-song became even more interested when Dong Bong-su unexpectedly appeared young and ordinary.
He rose from his seat, crossed the table, and approached right in front of Dong Bong-su. Since their heights were similar, their eye levels were almost exactly the same.
However, Li Zi-song could not see Dong Bong-su's eyes. They were hidden by the hair hanging long below his forehead.
Li Zi-song raised his hand and brushed aside the bangs covering Dong Bong-su's forehead and eyes.
Then Dong Bong-su's emotionless eyes were revealed. Depending on how one looked, they could seem extremely languid, and depending on how else one looked, they could feel profoundly deep and empty. But that was purely a matter of interpretation; more precisely... they were just ordinary, nothing special, just those kinds of eyes.
Li Zi-song quietly examined Dong Bong-su's eyes for as long as one watch period. Even so, he could read nothing from them.
'What is this? Does such a person exist?'
Suddenly a chill came over his body. There was no reason for it. Just suddenly a thrill wrapped around his entire body.
Li Zi-song slowly lowered his hand and avoided Dong Bong-su's eyes.
Then he turned and went to sit in the chair at the end of the table.
He took one deep breath and spoke. Originally he had many things he wanted to ask, but now there was no need to ask any more.
"I'll speak directly. If I give you fifteen hundred soldiers, can you command them well?"
Dong Bong-su did not answer immediately but quietly looked at Li Zi-song.
A thrill flowed through Li Zi-song's body again. Clearly Dong Bong-su's eyes hidden by his hair were not even visible, yet his body was reacting.
Dong Bong-su stared at Li Zi-song's eyes for a moment before opening his mouth.
"I understand."
Yes or no. One of those two should have been the answer. "I understand" was an answer that could only be given when there was a decision to be commanded.
"I haven't told you yet what I'm commanding you to do. So why do you give such an answer?"
"I merely gave the answer you wanted."
At Dong Bong-su's answer, Li Zi-song leaned his waist back and opened his mouth once before closing it.
Then after a moment he opened it again.
"...A frightening fellow."
Li Zi-song's evaluation of Dong Bong-su had changed in a short time from a stiff person to a frightening fellow. However, his words were too quiet for anyone to hear.
Of course, Dong Bong-su could not hear his words either. But he knew what had been said. Because he could read lips even without hearing.
"..."
Dong Bong-su and Li Zi-song's eyes met again across the empty space. But Dong Bong-su's eyes were hidden by the hair that had fallen back down. This time too, the one who looked away first was Li Zi-song.
"You are the mercenary captain of this Harvest. Then let's meet the day after tomorrow. You may go."
As Li Zi-song's words fell, Dong Bong-su left Bukdong Hall immediately without a single word.
"He truly is an insolent fellow. I wonder if it's alright to make such a person the mercenary captain."
The adjutant spoke.
Then Li Zi-song returned his leaned-back waist to its original position and said.
"Is that all Adjutant Dang felt?"
"Pardon? What do you mean by that...?"
"Never mind. Then leave now."
"Yes, then. If you need me, please call me again anytime. Attention!"
The adjutant saluted and immediately went down the stairs.
After the adjutant left, Li Zi-song leaned his waist back again, raised his head, and repeatedly opened and closed his mouth with a smacking sound.
"Even though I just saw him... I can't remember..."
Li Zi-song muttered incomprehensible words and sat like that for quite a while.
***
Creeak.
Despite the quite late hour, the sound of the wooden house's old door welcomed Dong Bong-su's return home as always.
He lightly set up a table as usual and ate a late dinner.
Eating.
Eating rice.
Humans eat rice.
Humans must eat rice to live. For Dong Bong-su, the act of eating was the only thing that made him aware he was still human.
Dong Bong-su began organizing the day as he ate.
—Participate in new Harvest as mercenary captain
—Eight Directions Armory blacksmith finally succeeded in making the iron statue
Dong Bong-su treated all these matters as a kind of quest and drew them in his mind.
First, the rewards obtainable from participating in Harvest were experience points and proficiency. Whether mercenary captain or just mercenary didn't matter.
Click—
He opened his Status Window. The achievements of the past year were fully reflected in the changes to his stats.
The yellow gauge bars indicating basic abilities like Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and the dependent abilities that changed accordingly like Health, Accuracy, Evasion, Attack Power, Defense Power, Martial Arts Attack Power, Martial Arts Defense Power, Elemental Defense, and True Energy had dramatically lengthened.
His level had reached 29.
Whether there was a max level or not, and if so what it was, Dong Bong-su could not know, but he had become incomparably stronger than when he first came to this world—when he was level 1. His status was also that of a free Wanderer, much better than a servant.
His appearance had also changed drastically. When he first went on Harvest and leveled up, he had thought he might return to his original thin body...
That wasn't the case.
Leveling up only cured wounds and other status ailments, leaving the body that had changed through exercise, nutritional intake, and natural growth as it was.
A fairly tall height. Shaggy hair covering his eyes. A body with appropriate weight gain and full of lean muscles. And smooth skin with the various scars and marks that Sosam had possessed now gone.
No one would think that he, now a young man, was the Sosam who had been a groom before.
After scanning through various stats, Dong Bong-su finally checked the level gauge bar. The part that needed to be filled until the next level up was so small it was barely distinguishable to the naked eye. However, this was almost no different from when he had checked before leaving on the last Harvest. In other words, the experience points obtainable from Harvest had now reached their limit.
'Is it time to leave?'