A hospital room in Medicine King Hall.
Hyuk Mujin, wound tight in bandages from head to toe, let out a groan.
“I’m dying.”
Han Yeop, lying beside him in much the same shape, answered,
“It’s a miracle we didn’t die.”
“Right?”
“Right.”
A brief silence followed. Both of them were remembering that day.
A single palm strike from Jopil. An attack you couldn’t block even if you knew it was coming. Whenever Hyuk Mujin closed his eyes, that bastard’s red-hot palm came back to him. It might become a nightmare that followed him for the rest of his life.
“That monster. How is something like that even possible?”
“He’s a Peak master.”
Unlike the dejected Hyuk Mujin, Han Yeop’s voice was calm.
“Hey, punk. Doesn’t it bother you at all?”
“What?”
“That…”
Hyuk Mujin found himself at a loss for words. Right. Maybe it didn’t have to bother him.
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“I know.”
“Huh?”
“I know what the deputy squad leader is thinking. I know what you want to say.”
“…”
“When I first came to, a lot of things went through my mind. The relief of being alive. The helplessness I felt that day. The despair over my own martial arts.”
Hyuk Mujin shut his mouth. Han Yeop had it right. Jopil’s Flame Divine Palm had broken bones and torn heart meridians, but the wound he’d taken was somewhere else.
One question had been circling through his head ever since that day.
Can I reach that realm?
Even overwhelming wasn’t enough to describe it. All his effort, all his pride in his own martial arts, had been ripped up by the roots.
“You’ve shaken all that off?”
Han Yeop shook his head.
“Then?”
“I admitted that I’m weak. It wasn’t even that hard. I’ve always known. But…”
“…”
“I’ll get stronger. As strong as Jopil. No—far stronger than Jopil.”
Han Yeop went on, his voice firm.
“Thinking about that made me happy. If I become a Peak master, I can get that strong too. Something like that.”
“A Peak master…”
The Peak realm was a domain granted to only a rare few. Coming from Han Yeop, who was barely second- or third-rate, the declaration was almost laughable.
But Hyuk Mujin didn’t sneer.
You’ve changed. You too.
So much had changed. The situation. The people.
Even the timid second-rate martial artist had, before anyone noticed, joined that current. Hyuk Mujin felt his heart suddenly surge. The next words burst out before he could stop them.
“I’ll get even stronger.”
Han Yeop’s eyes went round, then he flashed a grin.
“You will. First, though, we have to catch up to one person.”
They thought of the same person at the same time.
Jin Taekyung.
He was already running far ahead of them. What was he doing now?
Behind the two men, lost in thought, the door that had been left slightly ajar slid shut.
I closed the door and turned away, a shudder running through me.
“Ugh, shit.”
These idiots were filming a teen coming-of-age drama in a hospital room. I’d stood there quietly listening to hear what they were talking about, and it was quite a spectacle. A real spectacle.
If I’d gone in, I might’ve ended up swearing brotherhood with them.
Still, I have to admit it’s kind of admirable.
Hadn’t we gone through life and death together, in our own way? Besides, those two had risked their lives to help me. Saying I didn’t feel so much as a shred of affection for them would have been a lie.
Could this be the last time?
In two days I would set out in charge of the main force’s rear guard, while those two and the rest of the reconnaissance squad would stay behind at the family as wounded men. And probably…
By then, I’ll have logged out.
I was close to meeting the last condition of the Logout Quest: 500 Fame. Today’s visit to Medicine King Hall was a farewell of sorts.
You could call it the nostalgia filter of a sergeant in his last stretch before discharge.
Well, no need to announce anything. Seeing their faces is enough.
I’d already given the other reconnaissance-squad members a once-over. I’d seen Han Yeop and Hyuk Mujin too, so if I stopped by just one more place…
Huh?
“Oh!”
A rag doll in one hand. Snacks in the other.
A little girl with her hair tied in a cute ribbon shouted, her eyes round.
“It’s the mind-reading uncle!”
“…”
Couldn’t you call me Big Brother? I waved to Soyul, sadness in my eyes.
“Young Master Jin.”
“Benefactor!”
The moment I entered the room, the reactions came at once. Gong Yacheong, still pale, tried to rise, and I stopped him. Then I pulled Socheon, who had dropped into a full bow, back to his feet.
“Stay lying down. You too, punk. Get up. Do I look old enough to take a bow from you?”
“I’ve received a kindness a hundred bows couldn’t repay.”
Tears were already welling in both their eyes. Soyul, who didn’t understand any of it, hugged her rag doll tight and scampered over to cling to her brother.
“Big brother, did you put on the Benefactor’s kindness? Show me too. Is it pretty?”
Uh. That’s not something you wear.
Leaving the chattering Soyul behind, I spoke to Gong Yacheong.
“How are you feeling?”
“Couldn’t be better. I’ll need to recuperate for a while, though.”
A faint smile spread across Gong Yacheong’s lips.
“It’s all thanks to you, Young Master.”
“I didn’t do it for praise. I even left you behind once.”
“That was my choice. And you came back.”
I remembered that night Jopil had been chasing us. Gong Yacheong had been badly poisoned and had wanted to stay behind. Just as he had, I’d had to make a choice.
After a great deal of inner conflict, I decided to go back for him.
I regretted it like crazy.
It had been insane. Gambling my life for a mere NPC in a game. But now I thought I understood why I’d made that choice.
What had I seen in those young siblings who’d lost their parents? Who had Gong Yacheong and the reconnaissance squad reminded me of…?
“Young Master Jin?”
Gong Yacheong’s voice pulled me back.
“It’s nothing. I just—just had something on my mind.”
“Ah, I heard the news as well. Is that what this is about?”
“What news?”
“They say there will be a major battle soon.”
Wasn’t that military intelligence?
If Gong Yacheong, who never left his hospital room, knew about it, then anyone in the Jin Family of Taiyuan with eyes and ears must already know.
If there was even one spy among us, we wouldn’t need a loudspeaker aimed at North Korea.
Is this war really going to be all right like this?
I waved the thought away. What did it matter to me? Soon enough, it wouldn’t have anything to do with me anyway.
The System alerts ringing even now were proof.
Ding.
System
— Rumors about you continue to spread.
— Fame increases by 1.
They said a rumor traveled a thousand li without feet. After I’d taken Jopil down, my name seemed to have started spreading in earnest.
I cracked the Quest Window open for a look. About fifty Fame left to go.
Logout was practically a done deal.
“It will be a battle with our family’s fate at stake.”
Of course, they had no way of knowing my situation. I listened quietly to Gong Yacheong and Socheon for a while, then rose from my seat.
“I think I should be going.”
“Benefactor.”
Gong Yacheong was the one who stopped Socheon when the boy looked disappointed.
“Let him go.”
“But…”
“That’s enough.”
Socheon lowered his head glumly. Soyul, who had been playing with the doll by herself, looked up at me with huge eyes.
“You’re leaving already, mister?”
“I said Big Brother.”
“Okay. Mister.”
I gave her chubby cheek a light pinch and was about to turn away when Gong Yacheong called out to me.
“Young Master Jin. You may be leaving, but shouldn’t you take the thing you left behind?”
“The thing I left behind?”
I thought about it for a moment, but there was no way I’d left anything. Thanks to the cheat known as Inventory, my hands were always empty.
“There’s nothing like tha—what is this?”
Gong Yacheong was holding a long bundle.
“You were in no state to collect it at the time. Now that its owner is here, returning it is only right.”
What is it?
Still bewildered, I took the bundle. It was fairly heavy. Just as I was about to check what was inside, Gong Yacheong spoke.
“Unwrap it in your quarters. Don’t let anyone else see.”
Did he put a golden calf in here?
I unwrapped the bundle the moment I reached my quarters. Then I understood what Gong Yacheong’s last words had meant.
These really are the kind of things people would covet if they saw them.
An old booklet. A small box. And a familiar sword.
To someone in Murim, these were worth far more than any golden calf. And I had the ability to judge their value more accurately than anyone.
Check Item.
Ding.
System
Item Window
Flame Divine Palm
Type: Martial Arts Manual
Grade: Supreme Peak
Restriction: Holder of Scorching Yang Qi
Description: One of the Fire Gate Clan’s secret techniques. A martial art based on powerful fire qi.
Effect: Learn Flame Divine Palm
Item Window
Fire Divine Elixir
Type: Spiritual Elixir
Grade: Peak
Restriction: None
Description: A spiritual elixir made according to the Fire Gate Clan’s secret formula.
Effect: Grants thirty years of internal energy when consumed. However, if the user cannot control the powerful fire qi contained within the elixir, they may meet a horrific end.
Item Window
Nameless Sword
Type: Sword
Grade: None
Restriction: None
Description: Made of ten-thousand-year cold iron, this sword is exceptionally sharp and hard. After drinking countless amounts of blood over a long time, it changed on its own. Special conditions are required to draw out the sword’s power.
Effect: Unknown
“This is insane.”
It really was insane. A Supreme Peak martial arts manual. A spiritual elixir that granted thirty years of internal energy. And a sword I didn’t fully understand but that looked ridiculously good.
They said a tiger left its pelt behind when it died, but Jopil had left three things like these.
Shit. It always gives me the good stuff after everything’s over.
Goddamn trash game. If it was going to give me something, it should’ve done it sooner. Playing catch-up after everything was finished just spiked my blood pressure.
Still, these items are seriously good.
Reading the descriptions, I caught myself getting tempted. What if I absorbed the elixir and learned Flame Divine Palm? Fire shooting from my hands like Jopil…
That would be fucking cool.
But the thought lasted only a moment. They said that in your last stretch before discharge, you had to watch out even for falling leaves. I didn’t want to swallow the elixir wrong and hold a self-immolation ceremony.
Remember this. Safety first. Safety first.
Talking about safety at this point was pretty funny, but I wasn’t stupid enough to just gulp it down.
It’s almost over.
One slip and I’d be gone. I stuffed all the items into my Inventory. Somewhere in the dead of night, someone must have been talking about me over drinks, because a System alert rang out.
Ding.
System
— Fame has increased by 1.
At that hour, the Head Elder was walking through the garden. This was the appointed date and place. The man in the darkness was never late.
“The moon is very bright.”
“So it is.”
As he had said, tonight’s full moon was exceptionally bright.
“When I was young, I really loved the moon… but the older I got, the more I found myself thinking.”
“Thinking what?”
“That I wished there were no moon. Something like that.”
“A world without charm.”
“What’s wrong with a little less charm? I make my living at night, so I’d be delighted if the moon disappeared.”
Night life, huh.
He ran his mouth in a flippant, cheerful tone like a kept man, but the Head Elder knew the truth. He possessed formidable martial arts, and he was a superb assassin.
The wind seemed to carry the smell of blood.
“Ah, right. How is the work progressing?”
“Smoothly. Even the troop deployments are finished.”
“Don’t overdo it. If the clever Lesser Family Head catches a whiff of it, everything will go wrong.”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t even need to make a move.”
“Heaven is helping us.”
“And your side?”
“You’re asking the obvious.”
The light reproach in his words made the Head Elder fall silent.
As if it would be otherwise.
They were like sea fog. Their identities lay hidden under the mist, and even if you reached out and stirred it with your hand, there was no substance to grasp. All that remained was a damp palm and an unpleasant feeling.
But they have power.
The power to make him Family Head of the Jin Family of Taiyuan and the sole hegemon of Shanxi.
It was an ambition he had harbored for half his life. The Head Elder was prepared to do anything.
“All preparations are complete.”
“Mine as well.”
On the day the two great sects that divided Shanxi between them clashed…
Everything would end, and everything would begin anew.
Comments
Comments need a network connection.