Chapter 38

The first thing I felt was puzzlement.

“Set out?”

Gwak Jun answered.

“Yes. Our side needs to get moving too, or we won’t make it in time.”

At those cryptic words, Hyuk Mujin stepped forward.

“You there, from the Three Paths Sect. You seem to have the wrong idea. Our mission is to wait here in the rear with the Young Master.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Gwak Jun’s eyes went round. At that reaction, the reconnaissance-squad members nodded with looks that said, That figures.

“Looks like I had it wrong.”

“It happens. Sure it does.”

But I thought differently.

What do you mean, it happens?

Twenty Three Paths Sect martial artists remained with us in the rear, and Gwak Jun was their leader.

Would a guy like that mix up his orders?

He was unpleasant, no question, but he didn’t look that stupid.

A creeping dread rose and wound around my whole body.

“That’s a problem. The mission I received is a little different.”

“How is it different?”

As I spoke, I pressed down firmly on Hyuk Mujin’s foot. He horsed around dozens of times a day, but he wasn’t an idiot. His eyes widened as he caught my signal.

“Squad Leader, please move your foot. It hurts.”

“…”

For fuck’s sake.

Gwak Jun’s mouth curled as he watched me stare in disbelief.

“You catch on fast. Or are your subordinates just idiots? Well, anyway. I’ll tell you exactly what that person said.”

The next moment, the smile vanished from Gwak Jun’s face. A killer with cold, vacant eyes went on.

“Eliminate everyone and join the main force.”

Clang-clang-clang!

The instant the words left his mouth, dozens of sword flashes shot into the air. Killing intent and tension hung between the twenty martial artists Gwak Jun led and the reconnaissance-squad members, who drew their swords half a beat later.

“Have you bastards lost your minds…?”

Hyuk Mujin ground his teeth and glared at them.

“You dare betray our family? Are you itching to die?”

“Betray? Die? You’re badly mistaken.”

A sneer tugged at Gwak Jun’s mouth.

“There has been no betrayal, and we aren’t going to die. Least of all to trash like you.”

“You son of a—!”

Hyuk Mujin’s eyes went wild as he threw himself at Gwak Jun.

Or tried to.

“Don’t move.”

“Squad Leader?”

Hyuk Mujin’s eyes flew wide.

“They’re the Three Paths Sect! They’re nothing but dregs from a Second Rate sect! Let us smash them right now and—”

“No.”

“What?”

“They’re not dregs.”

Their razor-sharp aura and murderous eyes were nothing like those of the ordinary martial artists I’d seen from small and mid-sized sects. The System turned my suspicion into certainty.

System

Lv.30

That was the average Level I read through my Qi Sense.

Every last one of them was a First Rate martial artist. Damn it. I’d spent three days with these people and hadn’t noticed a thing.

I’d been too fixated on Logout.

That was what I got for letting my guard down. I bit my lip and looked at them—or, more precisely, at the thick grass behind them.

The movement was almost imperceptible, but it couldn’t escape my eyes.

Someone’s hiding.

They were outside the range of my Qi Sense, so I couldn’t confirm it. My instincts were certain, though. Spies, and an ambush on top of it. Thorough bastards.

“You lot. What are you really?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Where is the real Three Paths Sect?”

The Three Paths Sect was only a small or mid-sized sect. As Hyuk Mujin had said, they were dregs from a Second Rate sect. People like these couldn’t have been whipped up overnight.

Don’t tell me.

“Are you from the Mount Heng Sword Sect?”

Gwak Jun gave a short laugh.

“The Mount Heng Sword Sect? Well, I suppose you could think that.”

Damn it. A third faction.

Logout was right in front of me, and this had to happen now…

Shit. My luck is rotten.

I was scared shitless. The more I shrank back, the more triumphant Gwak Jun became.

“It’s too late for regret now. The grand plan began long ago.”

“Kh.”

Gwak Jun declared in a voice brimming with delight,

“Today… Shanxi Murim will welcome a new master.”

Ding.

System

— A Quest has been created.

Quest

Slay the Assassins

Someone who has waited a long time for the right moment has made their move. First, defeat the assassins sent by the traitor!

Grade: Peak

Restriction: Jin Taekyung

Objective: Slay the Assassins (0/20)

Reward: EXP and Fame

Chain Quest

Failure: Death

I blinked. Had I misread the Quest Window?

Twenty?

Why twenty? What about the enemies waiting in ambush?

Just as the question occurred to me, the grass shook and the hidden enemies charged us with a battle cry.

“Kweeeek!”

Strange, for a battle cry. No, wait. Wasn’t that an animal?

As I stood there blankly, an alert rang in my ears that Qi Sense had activated.

System

Lv.1 Water Deer

What the hell?

“A water deer?”

A herd of water deer brushed past us and vanished over the hill.

A sudden entrance. A quick exit.

Gwak Jun drew his sword, looking strangely deflated.

“Attack!”

The twenty enemies came on slowly. Still wearing the shock of the water deer, I called to Hyuk Mujin.

“Hey.”

“What.”

“They’re all First Rate, you know?”

“What? Really?”

Hyuk Mujin jumped.

“Yeah. You know Lee Seogeun, the second son of the Mount Heng Sword Sect? Imagine twenty of him.”

“Twenty Lee Seogeuns?”

This reaction was odd. Hyuk Mujin thought it over for a moment, then tossed out a single remark.

“They’re all going to die, aren’t they?”

Gwak Jun thought,

This isn’t how it was supposed to go.

His gaze remained fixed on one man.

Jin Taekyung. The third Young Master of the Jin Family of Taiyuan, known as a Super First Rate.

Every time his spear moved, blood spurted and Gwak Jun’s men fell.

Even if they weathered one blow, the second or third always finished them. Every one of them was a First Rate martial artist trained for at least ten years.

How is there a man like that?

He was clearly a spearman, but he didn’t care whether the gap closed or not. Whenever it looked like there wasn’t even room to swing the spear, daggers and axes popped out from somewhere and stabbed and jabbed at anything in reach.

It put an acrobat troupe’s stunts to shame.

Where the hell are all those weapons coming from?

Gwak Jun hadn’t even seen them appear. He had no idea what sort of technique it was. This wasn’t a matter of martial arts or internal energy.

Jin Taekyung himself just looked strong.

The information was wrong.

Twenty men weren’t nearly enough. They should have brought twice as many. According to the information Gwak Jun had received, Jin Taekyung was nothing more or less than a lucky greenhorn.

And what the hell are those people?

The nine said to be Jin Taekyung’s subordinates advanced slowly with their backs to one another, whether their leader was doing anything up ahead or not. Individually, their skill was far from enough, but once they bunched up, they were an iron wall.

Thud. Crack!

“Gaaah!”

“Stab them! Stab them!”

“Come in! Come in!”

Gwak Jun’s lips trembled.

They had no honor as martial artists. Three or four of them piled onto a single enemy in the middle of the melee and hacked away, leaving even Gwak Jun’s First Rate subordinates skewered like meat.

“You bastards…!”

Anger shoved aside the fear of Jin Taekyung. Just as Gwak Jun, livid, was about to hurl himself into the fight—

Whoooosh—

A violent gale whipped up at the center of the battle.

Jin Taekyung’s spear tore through the wind and shattered the swords. Hundreds of sword fragments rode the gale forward, sweeping toward the swords’ owners and everyone who failed to react in time.

Pupupupupup!

“…Urk.”

Thud.

A martial artist with sword fragments embedded all over his body crumpled forward. Of the ten or so subordinates caught in One Flash, he was the only one who even left a sound.

“…!”

Someone swallowed hard, their throat bobbing.

For that moment, friend and foe alike fell silent. No one dared even think of raising a sword to fight.

One person, of course, was the exception.

“One Flash. This thing is awesome.”

The instant Gwak Jun heard that mutter, he gave up on everything.

It’s all over.

Even if the grand plan succeeded, he had failed. All that remained was the meaningless choice between dying to Jin Taekyung and dying to that person.

I have to run. Far away, somewhere no one can find me.

But Gwak Jun couldn’t set out in search of a second life. Just as he was about to turn, a savage voice cut in.

“Stop right there. If you don’t want to die very painfully.”

Jin Taekyung added, his voice a little milder,

“If you answer well, I’ll kill you gently.”

Gwak Jun’s face went white.

Crunch!

“Ghk.”

I knew that feeling.

Two or three ribs had to have broken, and the wind would have been knocked clean out of him.

He held up pretty well for a Level 40, but that was his limit.

“I told you not to run.”

“If I were him, I would’ve run too.”

Covered in blood and dust, Hyuk Mujin stared at me like I was some kind of beast.

“If you’re going to kill him gently, you might as well say you’ll coat your spearhead with Golden Sore Medicine¹ and stab him.”

“Want me to stab you?”

“Now that I think about it, that’s true. A blade hurts less if it hits you gently, doesn’t it? You could die gently. Heh heh, heh heh heh.”

I smacked him once on the back of the head, then hauled Gwak Jun to his feet.

“Let’s try this again. Who are you?”

Ptooey.

I easily dodged the bloody phlegm. With a high Agility stat, you could even avoid spit flying at you from point-blank range.

That was a useful life hack.

Of course, I had a fitting life hack for Gwak Jun, too. For example:

“If you get hit in the solar plexus while your ribs are broken, it hurts a lot.”

Thump.

“Gaaaaah!”

“So? Your answer?”

“T-Three Paths Sect.”

As I raised my fist again, Gwak Jun shouted,

“The Three Paths Sect! We really are the Three Paths Sect! I’m telling you the truth!”

Hyuk Mujin frowned.

“He’s lying. The Three Paths Sect was founded thirty years ago. In truth, it’s closer to a martial arts school than a sect. They’re highly respected for taking in wandering orphans and teaching them.”

“So?”

“Couldn’t these bastards have killed all the Three Paths Sect’s disciples and impersonated them?”

“Fake? Puh-huh.”

A deflating sound escaped Gwak Jun’s mouth. He was laughing.

“You still don’t understand? The Three Paths Sect was established according to that person’s will. As if you could have guessed at a thirty-year grand plan. Heh heh.”

“Thirty years?”

It was an unimaginably long time. Only a handful of people could have lain low for that many years while plotting to seize Shanxi Province.

Only one person came to mind.

The Head Elder?

What possible reason could he have?

The Head Elder was the one who had pulled Jin Wikyung to his feet while he blamed himself in front of the children’s bodies. He was also the one who had halted every political maneuver and actively cooperated.

Thanks to him, the Jin Family of Taiyuan had united and made it this far…

Wait.

My head spun.

Could it be?

“Hyuk Mujin. How many martial artists from the newly joined small and mid-sized sects are there?”

“If you add the Three Paths Sect and Gunggwimun together, well over a hundred.”²

“And under the Head Elder?”

“If you mean the Head Elder’s faction, probably close to half the main force… Ah!”

Hyuk Mujin and the reconnaissance-squad members gaped as they grasped the situation.

If my guess was right and the Head Elder was a traitor, everything fit.

Helping Jin Wikyung had been nothing more than laying the groundwork for today.

To take everything in a single battle.

He had helped Jin Wikyung and united the family’s strength for this very day.

Suddenly I remembered what Gwak Jun had said before the fight.

That one line about Shanxi’s master changing. It no longer sounded like nonsense.

The main force is in danger.

I had to tell Jin Wikyung.

“We’re moving out. Right now!”

I shouted and was about to turn.

“Already too late.”

Gwak Jun grinned, baring his bloodstained teeth.

“Too late for me, too late for you bastards, and too late for the Jin Family of Taiyuan and the Mount Heng Sword Sect. The grand plan has already begun.”

At the same time, blood gushed out. From his eyes, nose, and mouth—from every opening.

Gwak Jun’s head slowly drooped.

Hyuk Mujin spoke with a sickened look on his face.

“He severed his own heart meridian.”

Gwak Jun’s death meant one thing.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

System

— Defeated Lv.40 Gwak Jun!

— Slay the Assassins (20/20)

— Quest Slay the Assassins complete!

— Level up!

— Fame increases by 50!

Quest complete, a level-up, and a Fame increase.

After all those notifications, a single message appeared.

System

— All conditions for Logout have been met.

— Logging out in 3 seconds. 3, 2…

Strength drained from my whole body. It felt as if I were floating.

Hyuk Mujin, startled, caught me.

“Squad Leader!”

His voice crackled with static. My vision blurred, and my body slipped beyond my control.

Not now. Not like this…

Of all times.

And then—

System

— 1.

Darkness crashed over me.