Dong Bong-su tried to grab the skills with his hand and place them in the skill shortcut bar, but it didn't work. These three techniques were all passives that automatically applied even without special use. Rather than not knowing this, he had done it just to confirm.
Whoosh, swish, thwack.
He immediately picked up the sword and swung it, thrust it, threw it, and blocked with it.
Then he immediately checked the proficiency. All had increased by 0.1%. In other words, if he repeated each action a thousand times, the proficiency level would reach Lv.2. After that, it was an obvious fact that leveling up would gradually become more difficult.
Thus he had discovered another way to become stronger. He wouldn't know how effective it was until the level went up, but this would definitely have its own advantages. Being able to grow stronger without necessarily hunting would bring great benefits in performing the game.
After swinging the sword around a few more times, he closed the Skill Window.
Now there was only one blinking window left.
"Quest"
It was the part Dong Bong-su had paid the least attention to since starting New Murim Online. Not only had the Quest Window not been activated until now, but it also seemed unlikely that quests would appear.
Click.
Hoping this time would be different, he pressed the Quest Window, the last in turn.
That moment.
Beep—.
[Critical ERROR occurred! Critical ERROR occurred! Critical ERROR occurred! NPC for quest progression does not exist! Since there are no NPCs, quests cannot be progressed!]
A red flashing light appeared along with a loud warning sound, and the error message rampaged wildly through his head.
'No NPCs.'
Now it was clear.
The fact that various errors occurred due to the discrepancy between reality and the system. Strictly speaking, only the Murim Online system and the character Dong Bong-su had been implemented under the physical laws of this reality or the martial laws unique to this place.
Interpreting it in that sense.
The reason the Quest Window showed an especially severe critical error message was obvious. Unlike skills or stats, it was happening because the NPCs, which were the prototypes that could modify the system, didn't exist in this 'Martial World' in the first place.
Dong Bong-su didn't know much about games, but he knew that quests were the core thread running through the entire game. Since there was a problem with that important thing, naturally the system had no choice but to make a fuss like this. Probably this problem wouldn't be resolved unless beings called NPCs spontaneously generated in this Martial World in the future.
He immediately closed the Quest Window to block the mechanical sounds from chattering even more noisily. He glimpsed several activated quests, but judging by the X marks in front of all of them, it was certain all those quests were impossible to progress. They were only activated, but without NPCs they would have no practical effect.
No matter how severely the warning sounds rang, since it was all happening within his interface, no one in the Danri Family could hear it, but the noise was certainly not welcome.
When hearing is overly activated, other senses naturally weaken.
Things like the five senses or instinct must always manifest in balance. Because that's much more advantageous for survival.
Thus he abandoned his attachment to quests without any concern.
Only then did the world become quiet again.
That silent space was his world alone, New Murim Online. In reality it was a real world where the expression "online" didn't fit at all, but seeing that the system was implemented, one could say it partially was.
"Whew—."
Even that brief ringing just now made his head throb. Dong Bong-su took a deep breath once and collected himself.
He had finally finished, at least roughly, confirming what he had gained from his first level-up. Now it was time to organize them in his head.
Ding-a-ling—.
Just as he was about to organize today's gains.
A strange bell sound rang in his head.
[Spirit Eyes activation conditions have been met, and Spirit Eyes is automatically cast.]
[An enemy with a level difference of 10 or more from you has approached within 20 meters. 19, 18, 17...]
Ding-a-ling-a-ling, ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling...
As the numbers decreased, the bell sound became increasingly urgent.
'This is...? Some kind of early warning system?'
From the message that appeared as a hologram and the urgent bell sound, Dong Bong-su could deduce the efficacy of Spirit Eyes.
To bring out the realism of the game, Murim Online made all monsters and enemies as similar to reality as possible to create a sense of substance. Like existing 3D online games, it was programmed so that one couldn't know an NPC's level or health just by looking. Naturally, all information about NPCs was also controlled. By doing so, it attempted to differentiate itself from existing 3D online games.
Experience, attempt, clash and break to find out. Find enjoyment within that.
That was Murim Online's motto.
By now, much about Murim Online had been uncovered and information was being shared through the internet, but because of this 'differentiation policy,' people first accessing Murim Online often died from rushing at enemies recklessly without any information about them.
This policy had always been maintained, and it was still the same now.
It was the same for testers. They too, like regular players, struggled and were exposed defenseless to monsters or enemies they faced for the first time. That's why tester-exclusive skills were needed. Skills that dramatically reduced testing time while making testing efficient and realistic.
Among them, the one that maintained a middle ground between the realism and efficiency of testing was the skill Spirit Eyes.
Spirit Eyes was a skill that induced more practical testing by giving testers only minimal warning about danger instead of complete information about opponents. With this skill, testers could approach and observe enemies without information more carefully and in detail. Also, this Spirit Eyes was what played the role of reducing the time needed for testing by reducing unprofitable character deaths.
Seventh Sense.
The moment Dong Bong-su knew the effect of Spirit Eyes, that term came to mind. The sixth sense was a sensation based on uncertain premonitions or omens, but Spirit Eyes went beyond that, scanning all enemies within 20 meters and giving warnings—wasn't that truly remarkable?
He had an incomparable sixth sense, and now he had gained a seventh sense.
The five senses, the sixth sense, and the seventh sense.
He, Dong Bong-su, was gradually becoming a monster.
[14, 13, 12, 11...]
Meanwhile, time continued to flow, and the 'enemy' detected by Spirit Eyes kept approaching the stable.
However, Dong Bong-su wasn't particularly worried about it.
Spirit Eyes would be programmed to scan whoever was approaching. Also, the original target of the scan would probably be Murim Online NPCs, not users.
Monsters, bosses, and so on.
But there was only him as a user here, and actual Murim Online NPCs didn't even exist. No, perhaps there were some implemented things, but if so, the system would inform him. Through systematic methods like quest alarms.
Then.
That was 'an NPC of this place.'
The people here. Moreover, if accompanied by a warning sound of danger, nine times out of ten it would be a martial artist.
And if it was a martial artist approaching now,
'They can't be an enemy.'
Dong Bong-su judged the approaching 'enemy' was not an enemy.
[10...]
The count was passing 10. Meaning they had approached within 10 meters. Dong Bong-su remained calm. He was merely slowly rising from his seat.
The reason Dong Bong-su judged the approaching 'enemy' was not an enemy lay in the 'enemy's' movement speed.
Setting aside that there weren't many people bold enough to infiltrate the Danri Family in the first place, if they were an enemy who had secretly infiltrated the Danri Family, they wouldn't move so slowly.
That meant the one currently approaching was a master within the Danri Family. And probably a higher and stronger one than expected.
He didn't yet know precisely how much a level 10 difference was. But considering the effort and lives sacrificed to reach level 2, he could infer it was considerable.
If one killed only ordinary people until reaching level 10, how many would one have to kill? Thousands? Tens of thousands?
Perhaps...
'Hundreds of thousands?'
The calculation didn't even work out, and he couldn't imagine it.
Someone who had become strong through training equivalent to that much difference in life value. Such a person was approaching.
His mind was quickly narrowing down the candidates.
Meanwhile, Dong Bong-su immediately put all the basic equipment he was wearing into his Inventory and took out and wore his original clothes. It seemed possible to spray them directly from the Inventory onto his body, but he couldn't yet control the Inventory delicately enough for that.
[5, 4, 3...]
Dong Bong-su had already returned to being the original Mute Sam.
Dim eyes, ordinary face, slightly open mouth and shabby clothes. Even if Sosam came back to life, he wouldn't be able to distinguish which of him and Dong Bong-su was the real Sosam.
Creeeeak—
The old door tilted back and moonlight seeped in, and two long shadows were cast inside the stable. A middle-aged man with his hands clasped behind his back and a man in his twenties with a solid build entered the stable one after another.
They were precisely Gi Dae-hyo and Gi Man-ji. The two had been investigating the Suicide epidemic all day long and had only now returned to the Danri Family.
They had come to this shabby stable for their final investigation.
As soon as Gi Dae-hyo entered the stable, he didn't say much and went straight to the point.
"Are you Sosam?"
"..."
Because Dong Bong-su was faithful to his mute role, he gave no answer and just blinked his eyes while making a surprised expression. In reality he wasn't very surprised, but outwardly he was the very picture of being startled.
Dong Bong-su knew Gi Dae-hyo and Gi Man-ji well. During the past few months, he had not only prepared for leveling up but also studied every corner of the Danri Family. The core of that was investigation into the people.
The moment he saw Gi Dae-hyo, he realized he had come looking for him because of the Suicide epidemic matter. His current face was just one of several fake faces he had prepared.
The candidates for the 'enemy' he had narrowed down in that brief moment were three people.
The Danri Family Head, the Black Five Group Leader, and the Cross Heaven Sword Group Leader.
He had finished preparing to act for any of those three. And he was simultaneously thinking of reasons they might come.
Ultimately, the one who entered the stable was Black Five Group Leader Gi Dae-hyo, and he was performing his facial expressions accordingly.
And.
There was only one reason Black Five Group Leader Gi Dae-hyo would come here now.
"Did you kill Machil?"
Machil's death.
That was all.
-x-X-x-
"Did you kill Machil?"
When Dong Bong-su gave no answer, Gi Dae-hyo spoke again.
Looking to the side, he saw Gi Man-ji wearing an expression of surprise at Gi Dae-hyo's unexpected question. If this were an ordinary murderer, there would have been some change in his expression—something that said 'I'm a killer.'
Of course, Dong Bong-su's expression remained unchanged.
Gi Dae-hyo quietly stared into Dong Bong-su's cloudy eyes.
Those vacant eyes with unfocused pupils, darting everywhere as if terrified by his appearance. Nevertheless, Gi Dae-hyo persistently peered into Dong Bong-su's eyes.
Gi Dae-hyo's eyes, glaring at Dong Bong-su as if to pluck them out, seemed to say this:
'You are the culprit. No, you must be the culprit!'
Gi Dae-hyo had worked in law enforcement and intelligence gathering his entire life, and in this field, he had lived confident that he was superior even to the Beggar Sect, the Haomun, and the government. Today, all day long, he had visited every location where the suicide epidemic had occurred.
The harvest was...
Nothing.
His son Gi Man-ji had told him that perhaps all of this really was caused by an epidemic, but Gi Dae-hyo asserted that couldn't be the case.
If it were a epidemic, shouldn't there be traces of the epidemic? Black spots, the stench of decay—weren't there no signs of any epidemic whatsoever?
It couldn't be an epidemic.
Then if it wasn't an epidemic.
'Who was the culprit? Who should it be?'
He had examined every location, and each crime scene was a locked room just like that room at Bongyang Inn. No signs of intrusion anywhere, just the suicide victim left alone. It was contrived. Too perfect to be perfect. As if, were there a god, that god had committed the murders.
He stared into Dong Bong-su's pupils once more. Those same vacant eyes, impossible to tell what they were looking at.
'No. That bastard can't have eyes like these.'
Gi Dae-hyo had come to find Dong Bong-su to confirm one last possibility.
Not only had he meticulously examined the scenes, but he had met with everyone who had been in the rooms adjacent to the locked rooms where the suicide victims were found. Everyone except Dong Bong-su.
Before coming here, the only remaining suspect had already been Dong Bong-su.
And now.
Even that last suspect had been cleared.
"Hoo—. Let's go."
"What? Ah, yes. Father."
Upon hearing Gi Dae-hyo's words, Gi Man-ji wore an expression showing he had no idea what was going on, then left the stable.
Before leaving the stable, Gi Dae-hyo turned his head to look at Dong Bong-su once more.
'As I thought, it's not him...'
Hands and feet that looked like they'd break if stepped on, a chest that seemed like it would shatter if touched wrong. That body absolutely was not one that had trained in the Bone Shrinking Arts. No, there was no way he could be a hidden expert of the unorthodox faction to begin with.
A body far weaker than even the average neighborhood thugs. That was Gi Dae-hyo's assessment of Dong Bong-su.
"Hoo—."
Leaving one final sigh, Gi Dae-hyo disappeared.
He would probably not fall asleep easily tonight. Conversely, Dong Bong-su, the 'suicide epidemic carrier' and the very person who had massacred groups of thugs, would sleep soundly under the same roof.
Dong Bong-su's eyes watched his back until Gi Dae-hyo had completely left the stable. Through the open door, thick moonlight entered and licked across Dong Bong-su's clear and eerie eyes.
A pity. Gi Dae-hyo should have seen those eyes.
Those eyes of Dong Bong-su that cast brilliant shadows even in the moonlight.
Creeeak. Thud.
The stable once again became a world of quiet darkness.
Dong Bong-su's shadowed eyes could now hide their light in that pitch-black space.
For a while, he remained in that position, mentally organizing the new law he'd been working on earlier. Then, as always, he lay down in his nest of spread straw.
"It looks like things will get busier starting tomorrow."
Many new prey had appeared.
On the night when the moonlight shone mysteriously.
The suicide epidemic vanished without a trace from Bongyang.
And starting tomorrow, a new wind of slaughter would sweep through Bongyang.
***
New Murim Online 4th Law: When taking items out of the Inventory, they can be extracted from any part of Dong Bong-su's body.
New Murim Online 5th Law: When leveling up, white light bursts from the body, and all wounds on the body are completely healed. At the same time, all stats increase slightly.
New Murim Online 6th Law: A proficiency system applies to skills. That is, the more a skill is used, the more proficient one becomes.
New Murim Online 7th Law: The Passive Skill Spirit Eyes identifies risk factors that approach within a 20-meter radius of Dong Bong-su and alerts him.
***
Not long after the suicide epidemic disappeared.
This rumor began to spread throughout Bongyang.
— A nameless vigilante has appeared and is executing Black Agents!
Black Agents referred to members of the Black Group organizations. Ordinary people commonly also called them by another name: Chunap.
No matter how much they praised each other among themselves as back-alley vigilantes or Dark Guardians, garbage was garbage.
According to the Black Agents: Illegal activities are our way of survival!
Human scum who spouted such fine-sounding bullshit that even a dog suffering from heat wouldn't bark at, while dominating Bongyang's back alleys and markets. That's what the Black Agents were.
People in the markets continued their livelihoods, and to avoid starving to death, they had no choice but to pay money to the Black Group under the guise of protection fees and continue their businesses. Though dissatisfaction overflowed inside them, threatening to spill from their mouths at any moment, what could they do?
Poverty was a crime. Being weak was a crime. Having no choice but to endure and live despite it all was the greatest crime.
However,
Starting one day, Black Agents had suddenly begun dying. When the first one or two died, people simply thought it was a power struggle among the Black Groups themselves. But then one became two, two became four, four became eight...
And eventually.
The White Tiger Group and Red Wolf Gate of the Three Color Black Groups that had ruled Bongyang's back alleys were annihilated, leaving only the Black Snake Society.
People didn't hesitate to call him a vigilante. They praised him as a true vigilante who performed righteous acts from where he couldn't be seen.
The rumors spread like wildfire, and eventually rumors even circulated that the nameless vigilante had also eliminated the suicide epidemic.
Going further, before long, all righteous acts occurring within Bongyang City had become his achievements.
Now whether the rumors were true or not no longer mattered. He had already become a perfect hero of righteousness in the hearts of Bongyang's people.
People remained curious about him, but no one knew his true identity and no one had seen even his shadow.
Thus, people called him.
The Nameless Vigilante.
***
The Nameless Vigilante set out on the night streets again today to perform righteous acts.
He headed toward Nakwon Village, the last remaining crime-ridden area in Bongyang. Nakwon Village was located at the northern edge of Bongyang, a place where dilapidated houses clung together like an anthill. It was called a village in name only—it was a breeding ground for all manner of evil and was practically the core of the Black Snake Society's lair.
This place was so frightening that even during the day, no one except the Black Snake Society's Black Agents frequented it, so what more need be said about a night like this?
A desolate atmosphere pressed down on the entire village.
Was it an illusion?
The suffocatingly dense atmosphere flowing through seemed somehow even more bleak than usual.
The Nameless Vigilante secretly infiltrated that sinister Nakwon Village.
At one moment.
"Urk!"
A short scream signaling the beginning of righteous acts echoed through Nakwon Village.
"He's here! Attack! Attack! Kill him!"
As if they'd been waiting for that very moment, black shadows emerged from all over Nakwon Village simultaneously, creating a commotion. They were the Black Snake Society's Black Agents. They had been waiting for the Nameless Vigilante to appear.
Now that the Nameless Vigilante had appeared, they had to do their utmost to kill him just to survive.
"Uwaaa!"
"Kill him!"
"You son of a bitch! Die!"
Befitting Black Agents, they spewed all manner of profanity as they rushed like lightning toward where the initial scream had been heard.
There was indeed one masked figure in different attire from them, lean in build. That must be the Nameless Vigilante.
The Nameless Vigilante seemed to have anticipated their appearance, for as soon as they emerged, he leaped toward the Black Agents.
Shuk! Sak! Puk!
Slashing, cutting, stabbing.
With a few concise movements, over ten Black Snake Society Black Agents sprayed blood and collapsed to the ground. The corpses lying under the moonlight soon grew cold.
The Nameless Vigilante didn't stop there but continued running forward, slaughtering all the Black Agents in his path. Following behind him, dozens of remaining Black Agents pursued, brandishing swords, sabers, and spears.
"Die!"
Puk.
The tall man who had been following closest at the front thrust his spear toward the Nameless Vigilante's back. The light sound of air escaping—had he pierced the Nameless Vigilante's heart?
"...Huh?"
He hadn't.
That was merely his wishful thinking. The one who actually died was the one who had thrust the spear. In his eyes floated a light showing he had no idea what had happened.
"Grrk..."
A low groan escaped from his mouth, but it couldn't be fully expelled. Because a sword deeply embedded in his mouth was tearing through his uvula.
Before departing for the afterlife, he suddenly had this thought:
'How did a sword come out of the back of my head...'
But even such idle thoughts couldn't continue to the end. The sword embedded in his throat split his brain in half.
His comrades were still at a slightly distant distance, so they hadn't seen at all how he died. That was their fatal mistake. Perhaps if they could have seen it, they would have known the opponent was attacking using strange irregularities rather than normal methods.
Thud.
The remaining Black Agents leaped toward the Nameless Vigilante over the head of the tall man falling to the ground as a corpse.
"Uwaaaaaa!"
Did they think if they just shouted loudly, the opponent would obligingly submit? They rushed at the Nameless Vigilante while screaming madly.
Shuk! Sak! Puk!
The same concise sounds the Nameless Vigilante's sword had made earlier rang out in the area. The difference was that this time, the sounds were made by the Black Agents' weapons rather than the Nameless Vigilante.
"We, we did it! We caught the Nameless Vigilante!"
They were excited.
They definitely felt it in their hands, and before them was someone wearing a mask. The Black Agents' weapons that had been swung and thrust were embedded all over that person's body. Blood gushed out of the masked person's body like a waterfall. With that level of blood loss, there was absolutely no way to survive.
"Did, did we kill him!?"
Someone among them said so. Most around agreed. But one with sharp eyes discovered something different.
"N-no! Th-there's a Black Snake Society marking on his shoulder!"
At that, the rest of the Black Agents also focused on the masked man's shoulder.
Indeed, through the masked man's torn sleeve, a black snake tattoo was visible. It was the initiation tattoo engraved when first entering the Black Snake Society.
Which meant!
"Sh-shit!"
Without anyone going first, profanity burst from the Black Agents' mouths. And that became the collective last words of them all.
Sarak.
A flashing sword light swiftly swept across all their necks.
Tuk.
In the lower body of the corpse the Black Agents had thought was the Nameless Vigilante, a crack suddenly formed, and soon the space between the crack slowly widened. And eventually, the masked man's head left his neck and embarked on a journey to the ground.
Tudududududuk...
At the same time, all the Black Agents' heads also fell to the ground in identical fashion.
Having had their necks cut so instantaneously, they were still alive after hitting the ground. Their eyes were still trembling.
Tororororor.
The head of the masked man they had thought was the Nameless Vigilante rolled into the very center where all their heads were gathered. Perhaps due to the impact of hitting the ground, the masked man's mask had already come off.
That head seemed to mock them all, sticking its tongue slightly out of its mouth while glaring at them. Even with their heads severed, the Black Agents recognized the masked man's face.
That face was one they all knew well.
He was their gang leader Kang Hae, who had guarded the entrance to Nakwon Village, and was the first one to scream.
How...
They all closed their lives with that question buried in their hearts.
After hosting a heads' neighborhood meeting, the Nameless Vigilante quietly moved toward his next target.
-x-X-x-
Jo Pyeong was the Senior Gang Leader of the Black Snake Society. He was entrusting his body to the darkness while receiving the dim light of the crescent moon.
"Kyaaaack!"
"Kuk..."
Endless screams heard from a distance. Every single one was the sound of his subordinates dying. Even those had now diminished in frequency to the point where they were barely audible. It was proof that not many subordinates remained.
Dongpal, who had attended with him, Nadal, and Kang Hae's screams must all be mixed in somewhere over there. Perhaps he was now the only Gang Leader left alive?
Now the Nameless Vigilante would come to him. He was approaching while slaughtering all the others. Nothing, no means, no countermeasures could protect them. Even though they had anticipated and prepared in advance.
Soon it would be his turn.
He still didn't want to die...
He'd just extorted a bit from people, done human trafficking a few times, done some women trading and liquor trading... killed some things that weren't even human. Losing his precious life over just that.
It was unfair. Where was there such unfair karmic retribution? There were still so many worse people than him in the world, and people who had killed dozens or hundreds were living well and eating well! Having to be killed just for doing this level of bad deeds.
The world was unfair.
The weak were easy targets. Those strong ones—the Nameless Vigilante must be leaving them alone because they were strong.
Jo Pyeong endlessly spouted fallacies in his head while cursing the Nameless Vigilante. But he didn't realize that it made no sense. As most evildoers do.
'Should I run?'
For a moment, such a thought occurred to him, but Jo Pyeong soon shook his head.
'Run?'
Running would be no different from losing his life.
How much time had it taken to build up this foundation! He couldn't do that.
He reaffirmed his determination to defend the Black Snake Society's final stronghold to the end with the last remaining Black Agents. Wasn't this a place with only one passage open at the front and back?
Due to the geographical features, it couldn't be attacked, nor could anyone sneak in secretly. The back road was the path leading to Nakwon Manor, the estate of Black Snake Society's leader Bang Po-yeom. In other words, the only approach to this place was that one alley ahead. If they could properly defend just that spot, they could block the Nameless Vigilante, or even go further and capture or kill him.
"Uwaaaaaaaack!"
At that moment, a scream as large and terrible as all the previous screams combined reached the location where Jo Pyeong was hiding.
With that as the end, the death throes finally ceased.
Now 'he' would come. He who had violated the Black Agents as he pleased in the name of righteousness, that Nameless Slaughter Demon would come here.
Yes! Come! You son of a bitch!
"I'll kill you!"
Fighting in the dark was advantageous for the Black Group.
The Nameless Vigilante must have chosen the dark night to easily catch the Black Group members, but the Black Agents were born in darkness and had lived in dark places all along. He was confident even against a martial arts expert.
Was that all?
Those who remained here now were on a different level from the trash that died earlier. Though they were low-level, they were all people who had learned martial arts to some degree in martial sects.
The White Tiger Group and Red Wolf Gate had fallen to unexpected attacks. He would show that the Black Snake Society was different... Huh!? Already?
The very moment Jo Pyeong was steeling his resolve.
One black shadow that appeared to be a person came flying through the passage.
In an instant!
Swaswaswaswaswaswa!
With a sound of tearing air like a school of salmon cutting through water, dozens of arrows flew.
The promised arrow strings had all been released simultaneously.
Pububuububuk!
The shadow became a honeycomb as it was and fell to the ground.
Seeing that, Jo Pyeong realized it wasn't the Nameless Vigilante. It couldn't be this easy.
Hwik.
At that moment, another black shadow came flying through the alley toward them.
This time too, dozens of arrows flew and turned the shadow into shredded rags. Of course, this time too it wasn't the real one, but a corpse.
'Is he hoping the arrows will run out?'
Pik, a sneer escaped involuntarily at the absurdity.
'What should I do, I'm so sorry? We have enough arrows prepared that we couldn't use them all even shooting all night. What will you do now? Nameless Vigilante.'
Right at the moment he wore a triumphant smile!
"Kuk, kuaaack!"
One of the Black Agents hiding in the abandoned house screamed. He was dead.
'How!?'
They had been watching the only passage leading here. He could come over the roof, but moving that way would be more dangerous. Wouldn't he be immediately visible in the moonlight?
Black Agents were definitely deployed on the rooftops as well, constantly watching. If he had moved that way, there was no way the Black Agents wouldn't have seen him.
'Exactly where did he enter from!?'
While Jo Pyeong was flustered, the final Black Agents continued to die.
"Kuack!"
"Urk!"
"Kuk!"
...
....
..
.
The cries of death were gradually approaching him. There was no time now to think about how.
Jo Pyeong immediately emerged from his hiding place and entrusted his body to the moonlight. Even during that time, the Black Agents' final cries continued to ring through the area.
But even that soon died down.
"Damn... Did everyone die except me...?"
Originally, that was supposed to be the signal. When he emerged from his hiding place, all the Black Agents were supposed to simultaneously come out to the clearing in the center and form a formation for a frontal confrontation with the Nameless Vigilante.
"Is anyone there?"
Complete silence.
No one emerged.
No,
Tabak tabak.
There was one. A masked man with a lean build.
It was 'him' revealing himself under the moonlight with a leisurely gait.
"Are... you the Nameless Vigilante?"
"..."
He simply approached Jo Pyeong quietly, with no answer from the Nameless Vigilante.
"Wha, what exactly do you want?"
"..."
Again, no answer came back.
Jo Pyeong tried to say something else, but could no longer say anything. It was because he had met the Nameless Vigilante's eyes directly from the front.
Since throwing himself into the Black Snake Society, he had seen many people's eyes, but eyes so 'empty' were a first. It wasn't something like emotionlessness.
Nothing.
There was just nothing. Nothing that could be considered human was contained in the Nameless Vigilante's eyes.
"Shit..."
Slice, Split.
Jo Pyeong's body was split exactly in half starting from the head. The blood, intestines, and brain matter flowing from his corpse defiled Nakwon Village.
At the same time.
Flash!
A pure white purifying fire rose from the Nameless Vigilante's body, purifying Nakwon Village.
In that bright light, the Nameless Vigilante's appearance was revealed in broad daylight, though only very briefly.
The Nameless Vigilante.
The Danri Family's Groom Sosam.
More precisely.
It was Dong Bong-su, who had now become Level 7.
***
After targeting the Black Group.
Dong Bong-su was truly busy.
Because there were far too many things to prepare.
Though he had killed Jang Ho and leveled up, he was still in a situation where he was much weaker than the Black Agents. Naturally, just as on Earth, the preparation process took much time and effort.
He had to thoroughly grasp the movements of the Black Group and individual Black Agents, and determine hunting priority among them. Even after that, he had to meticulously plan various surrounding circumstances and hunting scenarios. Only when not even a hair's breadth of failure probability remained. Only then would Dong Bong-su actually set out to hunt.
He diligently roamed Bongyang's markets gathering information. Among that information was what he'd obtained from the thugs he'd killed last time about the Black Snake Society, but those pieces of information were already widely known and weren't very helpful.
He spent about a week concentrating on collecting information about the Black Groups.
However,
With the identity of the mute Sosam and a body working alone, there were limits to information gathering. The few things he discovered were either too miscellaneous to be of any use, or too general to be meaningful.
What could barely be used was at most roughly where the streets the Black Agents mainly operated and where their lairs were located.
Knowing these things didn't mean much. Perhaps if he had the ability to attack those places alone, but it was impossible at Level 2.
But he couldn't endlessly fixate only on information investigation. At this rate, it seemed like half a year, or perhaps even several years, would pass with just investigation.
Eventually, he changed his method.
'Striking the Grass to Startle the Snake.'
Beat the grass to startle the snake.
It's commonly used to mean failing by rashly committing to something in an unprepared situation. But the original meaning of this idiom was completely different.
One of the foundations of ancient Chinese military strategy. It was a military tactic recorded in the Thirty-Six Stratagems.
To catch a hiding snake, beat the grass to make the snake crawl out of its hole and catch it. In other words, it wasn't a negative proverb, but a tactic.
Dong Bong-su stopped investigating the hard-to-spot 'snakes.' Instead, he beat the 'grass' where many snakes seemed to live.
One day.
Thoroughly disguised, he visited a gambling den operated secretly underground. And he swept that table clean. Once or twice might go unnoticed, but when such things repeated, the snakes finally bared their fangs.
One Black Agent attacked him as he left the gambling den. Without even knowing Dong Bong-su was a 'land mine.' The first snake to be sacrificed that way was a low-ranking Black Agent of the White Tiger Group. In fact, Dong Bong-su hadn't even known that gambling den was operated by the White Tiger Group. What he had known was just one thing. That there was a gambling den there.
Due to that incident, Dong Bong-su ended up on the White Tiger Group's Black Book under the name Gambling Demon and was pursued, achieving his intended purpose.
That's how it began. The bloody reverse-hunting slaughter.
-x-X-x-
The season had begun.
Hunting season.
Dong Bong-su began to reversely slaughter those who were searching for him.
As always, he proceeded with everything very carefully, but the process was not entirely smooth.
Dong Bong-su was well aware that he was still quite weak. Frontal confrontations were dangerous, so he ended everything with ambushes whenever possible.
He applied the Inventory technique he'd used extensively during the suicide epidemic to shake off pursuing Black Agents before secretly attacking from behind to kill them, and sometimes lured them to secluded places before setting fires. Whatever method he used, Dong Bong-su played several moves ahead of the Black Agents.
If the body is weak, compete with brains and patience.
In that manner, members of the White Tiger Group, one of Bongyang's three major Black Groups, died one by one.
By the time White Tiger, the leader of the White Tiger Group, belatedly became alarmed, more than half of the White Tiger Group's members had already been killed.
Through this process, Dong Bong-su was able to raise his level from 2 to 4. Moreover, he obtained an unintended side effect. He gained a quite useful new mask called the Nameless Vigilante.
Thanks to that, he could deal with the Black Groups even more easily. The government and citizens had transformed his murder spree into heroic conduct. So when operating as the Nameless Vigilante, he no longer needed to worry about others' eyes.
Even so, he continued the killings as carefully as possible. He knew better than anyone that a single moment's mistake could lead to failure. In any moment, any situation, carelessness was absolutely forbidden.
Wolf packs never attack the front when hunting large animals. They circle around and around, and when they spot an opening, they take bites to exhaust their prey.
Sometimes a bite of the leg, sometimes a bite of the rump, and sometimes a bite of the testicles.
Eventually, the exhausted animal falls.
Dong Bong-su continued attacking the White Tiger Group in such a manner, relying on luring, guiding, ambushes, arson, and disguises. More carefully. Because he was alone, not a pack.
Thus, the White Tiger Group slowly disintegrated.
Nevertheless, the most important figure, White Tiger, the leader of the White Tiger Group, still remained intact. As Dong Bong-su continued fighting them, he realized that White Tiger was the White Tiger Group itself. Unless he was eliminated, the White Tiger Group could be considered fine.
From the point he recognized that fact, Dong Bong-su began torturing the White Tiger Group's Black Agents rather than killing them immediately. It was to collect as much information as possible about White Tiger before killing them. As a result, he was able to obtain much information about White Tiger.
However,
All that information only led to the conclusion that White Tiger was a man without openings. Moreover, the martial prowess of White Tiger, measured indirectly based on the Black Agents' testimonies, was too much for Dong Bong-su, who was only Level 4 now, to handle even with an ambush.
To make matters worse, White Tiger had become extremely reluctant to go out due to his subordinates' repeated deaths. Now it became even harder to catch White Tiger, and the White Tiger Group's lair, which he'd barely discovered, was becoming a kind of fortress.
In a situation where victory was uncertain even with an ambush, with him holed up like that, there was absolutely no way to kill White Tiger. Nor could he enter the lair.
Even in such a situation.
Dong Bong-su discovered one very small opening in White Tiger. Though rare, there were times when White Tiger came out of his lair.
He carefully observed White Tiger's outings.
White Tiger only went out to do exactly two things.
Collection and philandering. Those two things.
Even then, White Tiger didn't just go out—he traveled with dozens of Black Agents.
Looking only at martial arts prowess, the power difference was so vast that Dong Bong-su could do nothing more against White Tiger and the White Tiger Group even if he died and came back to life.
However, Dong Bong-su had been wearing a triumphant smile inside since White Tiger's very first outing. He had finally found a way to catch White Tiger.
No matter how thoroughly meticulous a person is, they tend to let their guard down under certain circumstances. Dong Bong-su aimed for that primordial moment of carelessness, the very best moment among them.
He secretly snuck into the house where the concubine lived, timing it to the day White Tiger came to meet his concubine. For Dong Bong-su, who could remove pillars using the Inventory, this was a piece of cake.
He infiltrated the latrine. There, without any hesitation, he hid inside the human feces with only a bamboo leaf breathing tube in his mouth.
The first few times failed because White Tiger didn't come to the latrine. Then, the next few times, White Tiger's concubine came and only discharged liquid mixed with semen, vaginal fluids, and urine. But Dong Bong-su was a patient person. Without missing a single day, he infiltrated the concubine's house, timing it to White Tiger's outings.
Eventually.
After finishing hot intercourse with his concubine, he succeeded in stabbing a sword into White Tiger's anus as he came with a relaxed mind to pour out the ultimate purification and feces. The bastard departed for the Yellow Springs without properly screaming even once due to the sword that pierced through from below to his throat.
He would have no regrets. He would have properly felt his final orgasm before departing.
Dong Bong-su thus became Level 5 and acquired two new skills.
Lightness Arts and Three Talents Sword Technique First Form Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers.
[Lightness Arts Lv.1 Proficiency: 0%]
Martial arts that lighten the body. By learning Lightness Arts, you can jump higher and run faster.
Currently Applied Level: Lv.0 (Player can adjust the level tier of this skill.)
Jump Power Bonus: 0%
Movement Power Bonus: 0%
Energy Consumption per Second: 0 JP
[Three Talents Sword Technique - First Form Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers Lv.1 Proficiency: 0%]
An extremely common sword technique in the Martial World. Even ordinary people without internal energy can learn it.
Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers is an enhanced version of a horizontal slash.
All action bonuses of this skill are related to proficiency in related skills and whether Sword Energy is activated.
Currently Applied Level: Lv.1 (Player can adjust the level tier of this skill.)
Horizontal Slash Range Bonus: 1%
Horizontal Slash Attack Power Bonus: 1%
Horizontal Slash Casting Speed Bonus: 0%
Energy Consumption per Use: 30 JP
These were the two.
***
Lightness Arts and Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers—these two skills were the first Active Skills given to Dong Bong-su. By obtaining them, he finally became able to engage in frontal confrontations with the Black Agents.
Dong Bong-su easily finished off the White Tiger Group after White Tiger disappeared and was scheduled to begin hunting his next target.
The remaining Red Wolf Gate and Black Snake Society. Which Black Group should he strike first?
The deliberation wasn't very long.
While the Black Snake Society held back due to the White Tiger Group's annihilation, Red Wolf Gate actively came forward to absorb the White Tiger Group's territory. They attempted to expand their influence by exploiting the fact that the Nameless Vigilante had eliminated the White Tiger Group.
The next target was determined.
Red Wolf Gate.
They had underestimated the Nameless Vigilante—no, Dong Bong-su—too much. Or perhaps their greed was too excessive.
Dong Bong-su dealt with Red Wolf Gate's Black Agents relatively easily by utilizing his newly created skills and Inventory divine arts. Unlike when facing the White Tiger Group, he not only ambushed but sometimes boldly attempted frontal breakthroughs.
Bi Gyu-seo, the gate leader of Red Wolf Gate, was flustered. The Nameless Vigilante was much stronger and more aggressive than he had expected. He had thought there would be no major problems if they just were careful of ambushes, but it was a complete miscalculation.
It couldn't be helped because Dong Bong-su was evolving day by day. Not to mention leveling up, his Inventory usage technique was becoming increasingly proficient, and his understanding and proficiency with skills were also rising exponentially.
Red Wolf Gate's influence diminished much faster than the White Tiger Group's, and the more it did, the more Bongyang's citizens went wild. The faster and more he killed, the higher the Nameless Vigilante's heroic reputation rose.
"Nameless Vigilante! Nameless Vigilante! Mysterious great hero! I'm calling out too!"
Hero play imitating the Nameless Vigilante and songs appeared among children.
Finally, even Bi Gyu-seo bought a ticket to the Yellow Springs due to Dong Bong-su's ambush.
Red Wolf Gate was erased from the world, and for that achievement, Dong Bong-su was able to obtain experience points that exceeded Level 6 and approached nearly Level 7.
Around this time, he was aware that he had become much stronger.
And he was realizing that the time to move to the next stage was approaching.
Now the experience points he could obtain from Black Agents had become very limited, as limited as the amount he'd gained when killing ordinary people at Level 1.
It was still fairly useful for now, but he predicted that by the time he finished off the Black Snake Society entirely, the experience points obtained from killing them would become insignificant.
In fact, even though he had completely swept through Nakwon Village, the Black Snake Society's stronghold, today, his experience points hadn't increased much. Before coming here, Level 7 was already not far off, yet he barely became Level 7.
Nevertheless, Dong Bong-su was satisfied with today's results.
The 'Inventory Divine Arts' he'd become quite familiar with had shown great effect this time as well. It was used when striking down enemies coming from behind, and was also utilized when putting the beams of abandoned houses into the Inventory after stealing the attention of hiding enemies with deception tactics using corpses.
His ability to apply Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers, the newly acquired skill, had also increased greatly. He lured enemies to one place using corpse shields, then massacred them all with Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers. If it had been just slashing, he wouldn't have achieved such an effect.
Lightness Arts had now reached Level 3, to the point where jump power and movement power increased by a whopping 100%. Since Energy Points (JP) consumption was large, he usually kept it off and could adjust and use it as needed when necessary.
'How strong am I now?'
Dong Bong-su suddenly posed such a question. Though it wasn't a question he could answer himself, he could define it with one short and powerful word.
"Pretty."
Pretty strong now.
Compared to when he existed in Seoul, there was a difference equivalent to that between a firefly and moonlight.
Then...
Was it now time to kill martial artists?
-x-X-x-
That question was also still difficult for him to answer fully.
'To move to the next stage...'
He needed to be strong enough to face the enemies of the next stage. If he wasn't confident of that, even if it meant leveling up extremely slowly, he would have to continue hunting Black Agents. Since he had swept through the Black Agents here, even if it meant going to another city, the natural course would be to hunt Black Agents.
First, after confirming the abilities gained from reaching level 7, he should provide an answer to that problem.
[Critical ERROR...]
As expected.
Simultaneously with the level-up, the now quite familiar Critical ERROR message window appeared and disturbed his mind.
Critical error.
It would be nice if they would stop telling him already, but once again without fail, the system informed him that he was a product of a critical error.
Click.
Dong Bong-su closed the error window that was noisily chattering.
He calmly checked the benefits brought by the level-up.
The stat window showed the usual steady increase with nothing more. The Quest Window was still rife with X marks, and there were no new gifts in the Inventory.
Just like when rising from level 2 to 6, the only window with distinctive changes was the Skill Window.
First, the proficiency of the two Active Skills gained at level 5 had increased slightly. He already knew this and it was expected.
What was important was that with this level 7, two new skills had been added.
[Circulating Energy Lv.1 Proficiency: 0%]
A training method that artificially guides the energy accumulated in the dantian through the meridians distributed throughout the body.
Upon activation, attack power and defense power temporarily increase.
Duration/Cooldown: 5/10 (minutes)
Energy Consumption per Use: 100 JP
Current Skill Bonus: Attack Power/Defense Power increased by 30%
[Three Talents Sword Technique - 2nd Form Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon Lv.1 Proficiency: 0%]
A sword technique common throughout the Martial World. Even ordinary people without internal energy can learn it.
Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon is an enhanced version of thrust.
All action bonus values of this skill are related to the proficiency of related skills and whether Sword Energy/Sword Aura is activated.
Currently Applied Level: Lv.1 (The player can adjust the level of this skill.)
Thrust Range Bonus: 1%
Thrust Attack Power Bonus: 1%
Thrust Activation Speed Bonus: -0%
Energy Consumption per Use: 30 JP
[Lightness Arts], [Circulating Energy], [Three Talents Sword Technique 1st and 2nd Forms]
Dong Bong-su carefully examined the abilities of the skills gained at level 5 together with those just obtained.
Lightness Arts could be used like a Passive Skill as long as JP was infinite, and Three Talents Sword Technique was literally an attack skill called a 'sword technique.'
On the other hand, Circulating Energy was the first 'Buff'-type skill he had acquired. The energy consumption seemed quite large, but the ability gained was quite good.
Attack power and defense power increased by 30%.
Even without trying it, he could guess how tremendous it was.
Although it had the disadvantage of a 5-minute duration with a 10-minute cooldown, if used only when needed, that disadvantage didn't seem very significant.
Next.
Swoosh— slash—
He consecutively executed Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers and Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon, the 1st and 2nd forms of Three Talents Sword Technique. They connected very smoothly, but there didn't seem to be any special bonus. He then tried using them in reverse order, but again the two movements flowed together as if they had originally been one. That was all. He realized that no special benefit arose from consecutively using forms of the same sword technique.
Having finished confirming the new skills, he put Jo Pyeong's horribly dead corpse into his Inventory and advanced forward.
Splash, splash.
The road through Nakwon Village that had turned into a sea of blood soon ended. Behind Nakwon Village, wide rice paddies and fields spread out, and in the middle of them stood a fairly large manor.
Nakwon Manor.
"Paradise."
An unsuitable name.
Ah, from my perspective it's a sufficiently suitable romantic name.
For me, that is.
Now if I just topple that place, all the Black Groups in Bongyang will disappear.
After trying out the newly acquired skills there, I'll decide.
Whether to advance forward, or stay in this position a bit longer.
***
Dong Bong-su entered Nakwon Manor.
Thinking Black Agents might be hiding in the paddies and fields, he approached slowly and cautiously. However, there was no one to obstruct his advance.
Rather, the gate of Nakwon Manor was wide open.
Seeing the open gate, he thought of two military strategies that Black Snake Society leader Bang Po-yeom could choose.
Empty Fort Strategy? Or Flight is Best?
If it was Empty Fort Strategy, he should stop advancing for now, and if it was Flight is Best, he should also stop here. Either way, there would be no one inside if he entered.
Nevertheless, Dong Bong-su entered Nakwon Manor.
Because aside from those two military strategies, there was one more thing a person could choose.
That was.
Giving up.
When humans face difficulties they absolutely cannot cope with or are on the verge of losing everything, they choose one of two options. Either fight to the death or just die.
Dong Bong-su was certain Bang Po-yeom had chosen the latter. The entire atmosphere of Nakwon Manor was enveloped in such a feeling.
The fight in Nakwon Village must have been merely a last stand before dying.
"Are you the Nameless Vigilante?"
As Dong Bong-su stepped inside Nakwon Manor, an aged and hollow voice reached him from the darkness.
A gaunt old man with white hair was looking at Dong Bong-su. Dong Bong-su instinctively knew the old man was Bang Po-yeom.
Even to Bang Po-yeom's words, Dong Bong-su said nothing. He merely slowly approached Bang Po-yeom.
"If you're a vigilante, why are you wrapped up so tightly?"
"Because I'm not a vigilante."
A brief statement.
"Heh heh. Not a vigilante? Then why have you been killing Black Group members?"
"Because I'm not a vigilante."
The answer was the same. And both were correct. Because he wasn't a vigilante, he covered his face, and because he wasn't a vigilante, he went around killing Black Agents.
"Heh heh. You've deceived all the people of Bongyang."
"I never deceived anyone. They just believed it themselves."
Dong Bong-su again spoke the truth. He had merely hidden himself within the belief people wanted to believe.
There's a saying that you see as much as you know. Similarly to that, people believe as they want to believe or as they want to see. As suits their convenience. The truth behind it doesn't matter.
"...An interesting fellow. Even if I cross the Sanzu River today, I won't have any regrets."
Clang!
A clear sword cry rang throughout Nakwon Manor. Bang Po-yeom had drawn his sword.
"Come. Whether you're the Nameless Vigilante or not, you came to kill me anyway. Let's have a match."
Dong Bong-su also slowly drew his sword. It was the Novice's Sword. And he even used Circulating Energy, the skill gained today. Fierce energy instantly burst from his body.
"A fine sword and fine momentum."
Bang Po-yeom admired and extended his sword toward Dong Bong-su. It was a kind of courtesy taken between each other when crossing swords. However, Dong Bong-su didn't know such things. Even if he had known, he wouldn't have observed them.
Sring—
The merciless cry of a sword.
To him, a sword was merely a weapon to kill opponents.
Dong Bong-su rushed at Bang Po-yeom without a moment's hesitation.
***
How strong am I now? Am I strong enough to leap into the real Martial World?
Tap, tap, tap.
Dong Bong-su asked himself once more as he left Nakwon Manor.
Drip, drip, drip.
The answer was being given by the blood flowing down from his sword tip.
That it was time to advance to the next stage.
***
Martial World.
A world of life-and-death contests and a land of ambition where desires are realized. Where revenge and grudges are tangled like threads, where everyday laws are ignored and the laws of the Martial World take priority.
Gain power and you reign over the world, but fall behind and you must lie down bleeding on the cold earth.
Hence terms like "heartless Martial World" and "merciless Martial World" came into being.
People classified martial artists with terms like Orthodox Faction, Unorthodox Faction, and Demonic Path, but to ordinary people, it was all nonsense. In their view, martial artists were all the same 'lawless ones.'
The current Martial World was in a state where three great forces maintained balance. The so-called Three-Legged Tripod. The shape of a three-legged cauldron standing upright. Here, if even one of the legs collapsed, the world's situation would change drastically.
People called each force forming the three legs of the cauldron the Three Hegemons, and accordingly called the current Martial World the World of Three Hegemons.
Murim Alliance.
A collective formed by the Nine Sects and One Society, the Five Great Families of the Central Plains, and numerous small and medium Orthodox Factions of the Martial World. Since it was Shaolin that originally led to the birth of the Murim Alliance, its headquarters was also located in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, close to Mount Song where Shaolin was located.
When all Orthodox Factions belonging to the Murim Alliance united, the Murim Alliance was undoubtedly the greatest force in the Martial World. However, under the Murim Alliance's laws, the Alliance Leader had very limited authority, so the giant organization called the Murim Alliance was not privatized by him. Therefore, the ordinary Murim Alliance was merely a symbolic organization of the Orthodox Factions.
However, there were times when all Orthodox Factions of the Martial World united under the banner of the Murim Alliance and Alliance Leader—that was when the Central Plains was invaded by foreign powers. Except for those times, in normal periods it was merely a loosely connected federation, and sometimes fierce secret struggles and conflicts occurred among the Orthodox Factions within it.
Heavenly Demon Castle.
A group of those who worshipped the Heavenly Demon who unified the Martial World a thousand years ago, located in Xinjiang. Their influence actually reached everywhere in the world without exception, but the openly revealed forces were concentrated in Xinjiang and Tibet.
In fact, it was the greatest single force in the Martial World, and the Heavenly Demon Castle Lord possessed absolute power within it. If he so wished, the masters of Heavenly Demon Castle could cross Qinghai and storm into the Central Plains tomorrow. However, in that case, the Murim Alliance Leader would circulate the martial decree and immediately counterattack, so they couldn't easily make a move.
Hall of Gathering Evil.
The weakest of the Three Hegemons, a force despised as heretical. However, if they sided with the Murim Alliance, the world would immediately become the world of the Orthodox Faction, and if they sided with Heavenly Demon Castle, Heavenly Demon Castle would immediately take over the world—in fact, Hall of Gathering Evil was the force playing the most crucial role in the Three-Legged Tripod.
They weren't fearsome merely because they were masters of tightrope walking. They controlled the underworld of the realm, and with their enormous financial power, they were the only force that could move even the government to a limited extent from the shadows.
For the past hundred years, there had been no fatal clashes among these three forces. It was a so-called period of peace.
However, the Three-Legged Tripod was an unstable situation that started creaking with even the slightest imbalance on one side.
In fact, this cauldron called the Martial World had been constantly creaking for the past hundred years. Hall of Gathering Evil's dangerous tightrope walking had simply maintained that equilibrium well.
What if.
What if this cauldron had not three legs but four? Moreover, what if that leg was in the center of the cauldron where it wasn't easily visible from outside?
What if that center leg had been maintaining the balance from the shadows?
The three legs might have been mistaken into thinking the balance was maintained by them alone. At a glance, the center leg wasn't easily visible, and one might have the illusion that it didn't matter whether it existed or not.
Was that really the case?
If the center leg was much larger and sturdier than the other three legs combined, the cauldron could stand even without the other three legs.
Invisible...
If such a leg truly existed, and that leg was larger and sturdier than the other three legs combined.
-x-X-x-
Somewhere in the Central Plains.
An underground cavern that reeked of darkness and sinister atmosphere.
In the middle of the cavern stood a large platform with a red curtain hanging over it. Someone was clearly inside, but it was arranged so no one could see them.
Though it was unknown who they were, one could tell without confirming their face that the person behind the curtain was the master of this place.
Around the platform, a hundred people dressed in black were prostrating themselves, all with their heads bowed so their faces couldn't be confirmed.
Nevertheless, it was crystal clear that they were masters. The intangible energy emanating from the black-clothed figures covered the entire underground cavern as if to suffocate it.
Just where was this place?
Who was the figure behind the curtain?
Who on earth were they to command a hundred such remarkable masters?
Did Shaolin, said to be the peak of the Martial World, have this many supreme masters? Or could Heavenly Demon Castle, the strongest single organization in the Martial World, have them?
No, even if both were combined, it seemed impossible. To that extent, the aura of those gathered here was extraordinary, and their number was tremendous.
About one tea's time after they had prostrated themselves.
"How much time remains until the Righteous-Demonic Confrontation?"
Finally, a voice flowed from behind the curtain. It was a bizarre voice, impossible to tell whether it was a woman or man, young or old.
"Two years remain."
One of the prostrated figures answered his voice.
"Two years. It's about time to begin the Grand Plan. Gwang-un."
The voice behind the curtain called the one who answered Gwang-un.
"Yes. Please speak. Mubon."
Gwang-un addressed the one behind the curtain as Mubon.
"Begin the First Stratagem. Right now."
First Stratagem. Since the Grand Plan had been mentioned earlier, this First Stratagem must mean the first step of that Grand Plan.
"Yes, Mubon. I will implement it right away."
With his answer, Gwang-un disappeared from that spot as if extinguished. It was a truly thrilling body technique.
And.
There were ninety-nine more figures in the same attire as Gwang-un at this place. They still hadn't raised their heads.
Lastly,
There was the supreme one behind the curtain who commanded them, Mubon.
Mubon.
The Root of Martial Arts.
What an audacious name this was.
Since the Martial World began its history, there had been those who used grand titles like Martial Emperor, Heavenly Demon, or Supreme of the Martial World, but no one had ever called themselves the Root.
Just how remarkable was this person? It would be nice if it were merely the groundless delusion of a madman, but seeing the ninety-nine peerless masters with their heads bowed here, they surely possessed skills befitting that audacious name.
Right now, a secret organization unknown to anyone in the Martial World had begun moving in utmost secrecy.
What was their purpose?
It couldn't be known yet.
However, there was something even they didn't know.
That was...
The existence of Dong Bong-su, the greatest 'bug' in this Martial World, no, New Murim Online.
A cauldron stands with three legs, stands with four legs, and even stands with one leg.
But when a cauldron stands best is...
When it has no legs—that's when it stands best.
A cauldron with no legs never falls over.
What Dong Bong-su needed was a cauldron that wouldn't fall, not legs or such things.
If they didn't fit in length and creaked, just cut them off.
That was Dong Bong-su's Tripod.
***
Thud, swoosh, thud, swoosh.
Someone was shoveling in a deep mountain valley of Bongyang Mountain.
Someone? Just who was there wielding a shovel so skillfully? A carpenter, a potter, or perhaps a gravedigger?
None of those.
He was precisely Dong Bong-su out for a walk. Beside him, as always, Yeoro was nickering softly with an indifferent gaze, cheering him on.
Thud, swoosh, thud, swoosh.
The shoveling sounds echoing regularly through the mountains were as mechanical and merciless as Dong Bong-su himself.
Even while digging the grave of someone whose name he didn't know, his mind was spinning rapidly. How much thrust proficiency increased with each shovel strike into the ground. Also, how much throw proficiency increased when throwing the dug earth to the side.
His brain never rested for a moment.
Thud.
The shovel plunges deep into the ground. Thrust proficiency increased by 0.031%.
Swoosh.
Earth leaves the shovel and flies to the artificial mountain piled high beside it, making the mountain that much taller. Throw proficiency increased by 0.031%.
Thud, swoosh, thud, swoosh...
Dong Bong-su's motions continued in that exact posture for a long time.
Then at some point, the seemingly endless shoveling finally stopped.
Dong Bong-su's gaze turned downward to the deeply dug pit. The culprit that made him stop shoveling was disgustingly revealing its body outside the earth.
White and hard, with no flesh no matter how hard you looked—that body. It was a bone fragment.
It was a kind of 'milestone' indicating the depth was now suitable for burying corpses. Beside that milestone, in the invisible soil, dozens of corpses must be rotting in that same way, white and disgusting.
This was a cemetery Dong Bong-su had created. Though there were no tombstones or burial mounds, it was the burial ground for the experience points that had made him the Nameless Vigilante, especially those who had died more miserably than others.
Corpses burned to death, corpses torn in half with all their entrails spilled out, corpses with limbs torn off and killed, and so on.
The reason he had come here to bury them was simple. Though it was a mask obtained by chance, it was a plausible mask he could take out and wear again anytime. To protect that mask, the name Nameless Vigilante. Wouldn't it be wrong for someone called a vigilante to kill enemies too cruelly? So Dong Bong-su began burying the corpses of Black Agents who had died messily here. Of course, the first ones buried here had been Jang Ho and the thugs.
Thud thud thud.
About ten more corpses were added to the cemetery. These were grateful fellows who had helped Dong Bong-su level up from 6 to 7. On the face of the last one thrown in, which had only half its bulk remaining, a bizarre expression still lingered.
Perhaps even quite some time after death, he was still considerably aggrieved.
That face seemed to be saying this:
[It's unfair. Fuck! It's unfair!]
Dong Bong-su didn't know what was unfair. To him, such an outcry was nothing more than empty nonsense.
In Dong Bong-su's thinking, this world was very fair. The world he had lived in before was like that, and this Martial World he was living in now was fair.
That person feeling it was unfair even after death must be mistaken.
This world being fair was.
Because it was unfair to everyone.
To you, to me, to everyone.
Death was the same.
Death came fairly to everyone. Fairly to all.
That person feeling it was unfair must be because they felt death had come to them a bit earlier. But ultimately, death came fairly to all people.
The world was therefore always fair.
That was the reason he could view the world fairly, and the fundamental reason he could ravage the world freely without guilt.
Thud, swoosh, thud, swoosh.
Earth piled up on the faces of the dead. The regular shoveling sounds faintly echoed through the mountains once more.
One by one, traces of the Nameless Vigilante's 'last chivalrous act' were being erased.
Thud, swoosh, thud, swoosh...
Now with this finished, the Nameless Vigilante would hide his traces from the world for a while.
***
Dong Bong-su finished his walk and descended Bongyang Mountain.
When he and Yeoro entered the marketplace, no one paid them any attention. He was like an invisible person on this street. Even if he suddenly disappeared from this spot, no one would care about him.
"The Nameless Vigilante finally completely swept away even the Black Snake Society yesterday, right?"
These days, the marketplace people's interest was all focused on the Nameless Vigilante. Whenever two or more gathered, everyone praised the bloody deeds the Nameless Vigilante had committed.
The three gathered on the roadside that Dong Bong-su was now passing were the same.
"Don't even mention it. The merchants and courtesans who had been extorted by the Black Snake Society are in an uproar with joy."
"But they couldn't find the society leader Bang Po-yeom, right? Did he run away?"
Of course, Bang Po-yeom was now rotting with a stench on Bongyang Mountain.
"Who knows. Either he fled and completely left Anhui Province, or he was so thoroughly destroyed his corpse can't even be found—one of the two."
Then the man who had been listening to their conversation with a somewhat unpleasant expression joined in.
"But you know. I find it a bit much. Should someone calling themselves a vigilante kill people so recklessly like that? No matter how much they're Black Agents, people are still people."
"Hey. Look at this person. Think about what those bastards have done to us until now. Aren't they bastards who wouldn't be enough even if eaten alive? Bastards like that deserve to die. I wouldn't care even if the Nameless Vigilante actually ate them as food."
"Right, right."
The two who had been talking from the beginning even glared at the expressionless man as they came to the Nameless Vigilante's defense.
"Honestly, when has the government ever properly cared about nobodies like us? If not that, those calling themselves Orthodox Faction or whatever just went around with their shoulders all puffed up—when were they ever truly righteous? To them, whether nobodies like us suffered or not was outside their concern, wasn't it?"
Under their attack, the expressionless man finally surrendered and affirmed their opinion.
"Well, that is true. Who would stand up for bottom-of-the-barrel lives like us?"
"His methods are a bit excessive, but hasn't it been said since ancient times: Evil Must Be Slain."
"Indeed, indeed."
Thus ultimately, even here the flow went toward praising the Nameless Vigilante's chivalrous acts.
Was this what they called 'the interpretation being better than the dream'?
The dream was murder. The interpretation was chivalrous acts.
A world where murder too easily transformed into chivalrous acts. Just that alone made this Central Plains truly a beautiful world, didn't it?
Dong Bong-su continued walking, paying no heed to their conversation.
As he moved away from those three, this time another two people's conversation reached his ears.
"Hey, did you hear that story?"
"What?"
"The Namgung Family's second daughter is getting married this time."
"Ah, I heard. That's why all of Anhui Province has been in an uproar lately, isn't it?"
"Right. You can be sure the sects in Bongyang here are also racking their brains about sending congratulatory gifts, right?"
"Nah, that's not it. When a place like the Namgung Family holds a wedding, they can't accept gifts from ordinary folks. Probably the only one racking his brains is the Danri Family Head."
"Hmm. Hearing you say it, that makes sense. Then what do you think the Danri Family Head will bring as a congratulatory gift?"
-x-X-x-
"Who knows. Whatever it is, he must have prepared something quite good. According to the rumors I've heard, the Danri Family Head is making tremendous efforts to form a marriage alliance with the Namgung Family. So wouldn't he have prepared a gift befitting that?"
The conversation between the two continued afterward, but it was unrelated to Dong Bong-su anyway. He was completely immersed in his role as Sosam and indifferently passed by those chattering about the Nameless Vigilante or the Namgung Family's wedding.
For him, rather than such trivial matters, the immediate challenge of how and in what manner he should hunt martial artists next was far more important.
While thinking about that, he arrived at the Family's main gate before he knew it.
After entering the Danri Family estate, Dong Bong-su headed straight to his quarters, the eastern stables.
Even while walking to the stables, various thoughts came to mind, but he hadn't yet decided on any single one. That decision would be made after arriving at the stables, carefully reconsidering everything one by one.
It was when he and Yeoro had passed through several halls of the Danri Family estate and nearly reached the stables.
[An enemy with a level difference of 10 or more has approached within 20 meters. 20.]
'Spirit Eyes activated?'
Thud.
His steps instinctively stopped.
Dong Bong-su's gaze naturally fixed on his home, the stables.
Since the eastern stables were located in a particularly isolated area within the Danri Family estate, if someone had come here, it was obvious without even looking that they would be inside the stables.
'Why?'
Such a question suddenly arose in his mind.
The reason the question 'Why?' rather than 'Who?' came to mind first was because the answer to 'who' was already apparent. If it had been a little while ago, there would have been three options, but now that he had reached Level 7, there was only one answer.
[7, 6, 5....]
Dong Bong-su didn't find the answer to 'why,' but he continued approaching the stables. This was because he was confident that the 'enemy' inside the stables had come looking for him for something non-threatening. If they had come to kill or capture him, they wouldn't be waiting here.
Even so, he continued contemplating in his mind the reason the other party had come.
Eventually, he found one reason.
The other topic people had mentioned in the marketplace earlier besides the story about the Nameless Vigilante.
For a very brief moment, Dong Bong-su's teeth showed before disappearing. It seemed his next move had been decided by an unexpected turn of events.
He very carefully grasped Yeoro's reins and entered the stables.
Creeeeak. Thud.
Inside the stables.
As expected, an elderly man with a splendid white beard draped down to his chest stood there. With both hands clasped behind his back, he was watching Dong Bong-su and Yeoro entering the stables.
He was none other than.
Danri Cheon-u, the Danri Family Head and Flying Heaven Beautiful Sword.
"So you are Sosam."
As soon as their eyes met, Dong Bong-su prostrated himself flat on the ground. As a servant of the Family, it was naturally what he had to do.
Swoosh.
Danri Cheon-u approached Dong Bong-su and Yeoro as if gliding. Since Dong Bong-su was prostrated with his head slightly raised, he could naturally see Danri Cheon-u's feet.
'That is...!'
Danri Cheon-u's movement was only for a brief moment. But a tingling current flowed through Dong Bong-su's brain as he watched it. From what he saw, Danri Cheon-u's movement completely defied the laws of physics.
'Could something like that even be called walking?'
Humans can move forward because of the friction between their feet and the ground. If friction were zero, one couldn't walk forward or backward. No matter how small the value, there must be friction to advance or retreat.
However, when the coefficient of friction of the floor material is very small, walking forward is not easy. Because one slips. So in such cases, humans wear shoes that increase the coefficient of friction to move forward well, or reduce the surface area in contact with the ground to allow forward sliding. Mountaineering shoes and ice skating boots are such examples.
But the shoes Danri Cheon-u was currently wearing were ordinary shoes made of silk. Above all, the floor here was just ordinary dirt. Though he hadn't measured it, the coefficient of friction would be high.
However,
Right now, Danri Cheon-u was moving 'as if flying' across the ground, as if ignoring the laws of gravity and friction.
"...."
Dong Bong-su had seen several people with martial arts until now, but he had never seen anything like that.
'Is that what real Lightness Arts are?'
The Lightness Arts he had seen so far—those of the Black Agents and ordinary martial artists—were truly inferior Lightness Arts and body techniques.
Moreover, the Lightness Arts he was using as a skill were completely different from that in another sense. That too defied the laws of physics and operated according to game rules, but that was merely making the body faster and more agile as a 'skill,' incomparable in dimension to this.
That.
In other words, Lightness Arts as a martial art was nothing less than a unique enlightenment that moved specially using this place's natural laws. A new world different from the laws of physics. Dong Bong-su could feel and see its actual existence in that single step of Danri Cheon-u.
At that moment.
'I must learn it.'
For the first time since coming to this place, Dong Bong-su made a proper resolution to learn martial arts. Until now, he had felt that raising his level was sufficient, but right at this moment, a change came to that thought.
One small step of Danri Cheon-u brought great change to Dong Bong-su. Though no one knew except Dong Bong-su himself, the murderer was once again approaching evolution.
Meanwhile, Danri Cheon-u reached Dong Bong-su's side.
Dong Bong-su was still watching Danri Cheon-u's feet, and Danri Cheon-u simply raised his hand and stroked Yeoro's nose.
"So this is farewell to you as well."
Hee-hee-hing.
Yeoro whinnied softly, welcoming his master's gentle touch.
At this, Dong Bong-su knew that his prediction made in front of the stables had been correct. The reason Danri Cheon-u had appeared here was to see the wedding gift to be sent to the Namgung Family.
While Danri Cheon-u was stroking Yeoro's mane.
A shadow cast long over his head.
"You're here."
"Yes, Family Head."
Dong Bong-su never forgets a voice he's heard once. He had heard the voice of the person who just appeared before.
'Is it Gi Dae-hyo?'
As he expected, the person who appeared was Black Five Group Leader Gi Dae-hyo.
Gi Dae-hyo actually still didn't know what wind had blown to make the Family Head call him to such a place. If he wanted to ride Yeoro, he could just have servants prepare it in front of the estate, so why had the Family Head personally come to this smelly place, and moreover, why had he called him here?
As if sensing his mind, Danri Cheon-u said with a subtle smile.
"No need to make that expression. I simply wanted to see Yeoro one last time."
"...!"
Gi Dae-hyo was greatly surprised. It was because of Danri Cheon-u's word 'last.' Of course, for Dong Bong-su, who was listening to their conversation with his head bowed, these were words he had already anticipated.
"Hehe. I tell you not to be surprised, yet you are anyway."
"But...."
"On the coming full moon day, the second daughter of the Namgung Family Head is getting married."
"Ah!"
Namgung Byeok, the Namgung Family Head and Sword Immortal.
The head of the Namgung Family, which currently has the most powerful influence among the Five Great Families of the Central Plains, and one of the greatest swordsmen in the Martial World.
Above all, the authority of Namgung Byeok, or rather the Namgung Family, was absolute in Anhui Province. It might have been a bit better if there were competitors, but in Anhui Province, aside from the Namgung Family, there were no Nine Sects and One Society or other Five Great Families of the Central Plains. There were no restraining forces at all. Even large heretical sects were completely absent.
In other words, the wedding of the second daughter of the Namgung Family Head meant an event that could shake all of Anhui Province.
The fact that Danri Cheon-u had personally come to this place meant he had made the decision to send Yeoro as a wedding gift to the Namgung Family's wedding.
"Will you be alright?"
Gi Dae-hyo knew well how much Danri Cheon-u cherished Yeoro.
However, despite having made the decision to send Yeoro, Danri Cheon-u's face overflowed with composure. Rather, a faint smile was spread across his entire face.
"Of course I'm alright. If I can send one of our children to the Namgung Family, I could send even more than this, couldn't I?"
"...!"
Only then did Gi Dae-hyo realize what Danri Cheon-u was truly aiming for. Sending Yeoro as a wedding gift was an expression of will to establish a connection with the Namgung Family in some way, using this wedding as an excuse.
That was certain.
Indeed, to establish a foundation in Anhui Province, entering under the Namgung Family's shadow was the best option.
Of course, there would be various methods for that, but the two most certain methods were clear.
"A hundred-year marriage vow? Or the nine prostrations ceremony?"
Hundred-year marriage vow. A promise to be together for a hundred years, meaning marriage.
Nine prostrations ceremony. A ritual of nine bows. The ceremony is performed when a disciple forms a relationship with a master.
Those two were marriage alliance and master-disciple relationship.
While listening to Gi Dae-hyo's words, Dong Bong-su once again predicted Danri Cheon-u's answer. And this time too, it hit the mark without fail.
"Didn't I just say it? One of our children. Isn't it more convenient to cross a stream with two logs rather than one?"
"But... the Namgung Family might not want either."
At Gi Dae-hyo's words, Danri Cheon-u smiled while stroking his long white beard.
"Hehehe. That's why I called you, isn't it?"
"...."
"I don't care what methods you use, but make it happen without fail."
"Who do you have in mind as the target?"
Target. Gi Dae-hyo didn't specify what target he was referring to. Nevertheless, Danri Cheon-u seemed to understand and said while stroking Yeoro's nose once more.
"Thunder Hegemon Sword."
"Understood, Family Head."
Thunder Hegemon Sword.
It was the epithet of Namgung Hu, the third younger brother of the current Namgung Family Head and the youngest son of the previous Namgung Family Head.
With that, the main point of why Danri Cheon-u had called Gi Dae-hyo to this place was concluded. And with that, Gi Dae-hyo understood everything Danri Cheon-u was saying.
What Danri Cheon-u wanted was simply a small thread connecting to the Namgung Family. It wasn't something grandiose like aiming for the great power of the next generation's Namgung Family.
His son Danri Jiang-hae entering as Namgung Hu's disciple, or if not that, his second daughter Danri Hui becoming the primary wife or concubine of either Namgung Hu or one of Namgung Hu's sons.
That was it. He had chosen a stable foundation establishment over dangerous radicalism.
"When should I depart?"
"Leave tomorrow immediately. You'll have much to do there."
"Yes, Family Head."
Thinking the conversation was over, Gi Dae-hyo bowed his head once toward Danri Cheon-u and turned around.
Then, Danri Cheon-u's final words reached his back.
"Before leaving for the Namgung Family, be sure to take this child with you when you depart. This child will be absolutely necessary for managing Yeoro."
With the hand that had been caressing Yeoro's nose, Danri Cheon-u pointed to Sosam, Dong Bong-su, who was quietly bowing his head beside them.
Dong Bong-su was listening quietly to their conversation with his head bowed, his eyes gleaming.
"Yes, Family Head."
Gi Dae-hyo's short answer. With that, Dong Bong-su's departure from the estate was decided.