The roar of the crowd was deafening, but to Jin Ryeong, it sounded like the buzzing of flies around a rotting carcass.
He sat on a wooden crate in the tunnel leading back to the waiting rooms, his head between his knees. The world was spinning. His Qi was at zero. His stamina was scraping the bottom of the barrel. Every time Ma Goo slapped him on the back in celebration, Jin Ryeong felt like his spine was going to snap.
"Did you see his face, Ryeong?" Ma Goo was shadow-boxing in the tunnel, his movements still jerky and unnatural. "He folded! One punch! I am a god! I am the God of Speed!"
"Yes, Senior Brother," Jin Ryeong mumbled, clutching his stomach. He needed to eat. He needed sleep. He needed one of the two remaining Spirit Gathering Pills hidden in his sash, but he couldn't take one now. Not with so many eyes around.
"Ma Goo!"
A sharp voice cut through Ma Goo's victory dance.
A disciple wearing the azure robes of the Inner Sect stood at the tunnel entrance. His expression was one of utter boredom, as if speaking to Ma Goo was polluting his air.
"The Elders request your presence in the Viewing Pavilion," the disciple said. "Immediately."
Ma Goo froze. His eyes widened, and the twitch in his neck worsened. "The... The Elders? Me?"
"You won, didn't you?" The disciple sneered. "Elder Baek wishes to inspect the 'talent' of the Outer Sect. Move."
Ma Goo turned to Jin Ryeong, panic flashing in his eyes, but he masked it with a snarl. "Ryeong! Get up, you lazy dog. Bring my towel. Don't embarrass me."
Jin Ryeong forced himself to stand. His legs felt like lead. 'Elder Baek. The Medicine Hall Master. This is bad.'
A martial artist might be fooled by Ma Goo's sudden speed. A doctor would not.
"I am coming, Senior Brother," Jin Ryeong said, keeping his head low.
The Viewing Pavilion was a different world.
While the arena below smelled of sweat and dirt, the Pavilion smelled of jasmine tea and expensive sandalwood incense. The floor was polished marble, cool to the touch. The heat of the sun was blocked by silk awnings that fluttered in a breeze generated by a minor wind formation.
Ma Goo walked in like a bear entering a palace—clumsy, loud, and terrified. Jin Ryeong followed two steps behind, shrinking his presence until he was nothing more than a shadow.
Three Elders sat at a low table. Two were ignoring them, discussing the finer points of the upcoming harvest. The third, Elder Baek, was watching them with eyes that looked like crushed black obsidian.
Baek was old, but his skin was unwrinkled, a sign of high cultivation. His hands, resting on the table, were long and slender—the hands of a healer.
"Disciple Ma Goo," Elder Baek said. His voice was soft, melodic, and terrifying. "Kneel."
Ma Goo dropped to his knees so fast his kneecaps cracked against the marble. "Disciple greets the Elder! Long life to the Elder!"
"Stand up," Baek commanded. "Let me see your back."
Ma Goo hesitated. He shot a glare at Jin Ryeong—a silent threat: 'If this goes wrong, you pay.'
Ma Goo stood and turned around. The back of his combat robe was soaked through with sweat.
"Remove the robe," Baek said.
Ma Goo peeled off the fabric.
A gasp went through the room. The other two Elders looked up from their tea.
Ma Goo's back was a mess. The needle points were angry red welts. The skin was flushed a deep, unhealthy crimson from the Fire Ant Oil. The muscles were rippling and spasming on their own, like snakes trapped in a sack.
"Fascinating," Elder Baek stood up and walked over. He didn't ask permission. He placed two fingers on Ma Goo's spine.
Ma Goo winced. "Ah!"
"Quiet," Baek hissed. He pressed down.
Jin Ryeong held his breath. 'He knows. He has to know.'
"Fire Ant Oil," Elder Baek announced, his tone flat. "Harvested from the Volcanic Pits. Crude. Extremely painful. Usually used to wake up coma patients."
He traced a line down Ma Goo's spine.
"And silver needles. Thirty points of insertion. The 'Gate of Life', the 'Spirit Hall', the 'Heavenly Pillar'... You have created a forced circuit to overclock the nervous system."
Elder Baek removed his hand and wiped his fingers on a silk handkerchief, as if he had touched something filthy.
"Tell me, Disciple Ma Goo," Baek walked around to face the trembling brute. "Since when does a merchant's son know the ancient and forbidden acupuncture arts of the Southern Witch Doctors?"
Ma Goo's mouth opened and closed like a fish. Sweat dripped from his nose. "I... uh... I found a book! Yes! A secret manual! Under my bed!"
It was such a terrible lie that the other Elders chuckled.
Elder Baek didn't smile. He stared at Ma Goo for a long, uncomfortable moment. Then, his gaze shifted. It slid past Ma Goo and locked onto Jin Ryeong.
"You," Baek said. "The servant. Step forward."
Jin Ryeong's heart hammered against his ribs, but his face remained a mask of terrified obedience. He shuffled forward and bowed so low his nose touched the marble.
"This lowly one greets the Elder."
"Look at me."
Jin Ryeong straightened, keeping his eyes lowered to the Elder's chest level—a sign of submission.
"Your hands," Baek said. "Show them to me."
Jin Ryeong raised his hands. They were calloused from broom handles, stained with dirt, and smelled faintly of sulfur from the oil.
"Trembling," Baek noted. "Exhaustion? Or Qi depletion?"
"Fear, Elder," Jin Ryeong lied smoothly. "I am terrified of your greatness."
"Flattery is useless," Baek stepped closer. The pressure of his aura hit Jin Ryeong like a physical wave. It felt heavy, like standing at the bottom of the ocean. "Ma Goo is an idiot. He couldn't thread a needle if his life depended on it. You, however... you have the smell of herbs on you. And you have the eyes of a schemer."
Baek leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper that only Jin Ryeong could hear.
"Fire Ant Oil is dangerous. If you miss the insertion point by a millimeter, you paralyze the patient. You did thirty needles. No mistakes. Who taught you?"
Jin Ryeong's mind raced. He couldn't mention the System. He couldn't claim to be a genius. He had to be something Baek would accept—something useful but lowly.
"My father," Jin Ryeong whispered back. "He was a veterinarian in the countryside. He treated horses. When a horse had a broken leg but needed to race... he used this method."
Baek blinked. Then, a short, sharp laugh erupted from his throat.
"A veterinarian!" Baek laughed louder, turning to the other Elders. "Did you hear that? He treats the Outer Sect disciples like horses!"
The other Elders laughed. Ma Goo turned red, looking confused and deeply humiliated. He glared at Jin Ryeong, his fists clenching.
Baek stopped laughing. He looked at Jin Ryeong with a new glint in his eyes. Not suspicion, but amusement. And something colder. Curiosity.
"You treated him like livestock," Baek mused. "And it worked. He is fast. Unstable, twitchy, and likely to suffer nerve damage by tomorrow... but fast."
Baek walked back to his table and picked up a scroll.
"The Semi-Finals begin in one hour. Ma Goo, your opponent is 'Frost Palm' Yeo."
Jin Ryeong felt a chill that had nothing to do with the Elder's aura.
'Frost Palm' Yeo. A user of Ice Arts.
Ice freezes. Fire Ant Oil burns.
If Ma Goo fought an Ice user while his nerves were superheated... the thermal shock wouldn't just slow him down. It would shatter his nervous system. He wouldn't be paralyzed; he would go into shock and die.
"Elder," Jin Ryeong spoke up, his voice trembling. "That match-up... with his current condition..."
"Is fatal. Yes," Elder Baek smiled cruelly. "The thermal shock will likely stop his heart."
Baek sat down and took a sip of tea.
"If he dies, he was trash who relied on tricks. If he survives... then perhaps the 'Veterinarian' has some value to the Medicine Hall. We are always looking for... creative assistants."
He waved his hand.
"Get out. Prepare your horse for the slaughter."
Back in the tunnel, the silence was shattered.
SLAM.
Ma Goo shoved Jin Ryeong against the stone wall. His forearm pressed against Jin Ryeong's throat, choking him. The brute was vibrating with rage and terror.
"You trash!" Ma Goo screamed, spittle flying onto Jin Ryeong's face. "Did you hear him?! 'Stop my heart'? Is that your plan? Did you poison me?!"
"C-Can't... breathe..." Jin Ryeong clawed at the arm.
"I should kill you now!" Ma Goo tightened his grip. "You turned me into a bomb! If I go out there and fight the Ice guy, I die! You set me up!"
"Let... go..." Jin Ryeong gasped, his eyes cold. "Or you... definitely die."
Ma Goo hesitated, then shoved Jin Ryeong away. He paced the tunnel, clawing at his own arms. "I forfeit. I'm not doing it. I'll tell them you forced me. I'll tell them you drugged me!"
"If you forfeit," Jin Ryeong rasped, rubbing his bruised throat, "Elder Baek will execute you for wasting his time. And if you blame me? I'm just a servant. Who had the needles in his back? You."
Ma Goo froze. He turned to Jin Ryeong, his face twisted in ugly, desperate hatred. "Then fix it! You did this to me! You put this fire in my blood! Get it out!"
"I can't get it out," Jin Ryeong said, straightening his robes. "Whatever happens, you are going to hurt. But if you want to live, you have to listen to me."
Jin Ryeong checked his internal status.
[Status: Critical Exhaustion]
[Qi: 0/2]
[Inventory: Spirit Gathering Pill (x2)]
Ma Goo loomed over him, a fist raised. "Give me a solution, servant. Or I start breaking your bones until I feel better."
Jin Ryeong opened his eyes. He reached into his sash and pulled out one of the wax-sealed pills.
"Eat this," Jin Ryeong held out the Spirit Gathering Pill.
Ma Goo snatched it. "A pill? Will this stop the ice?"
"No," Jin Ryeong said. "It will refill your Qi. You're going to need every drop to finish the fight in ten seconds."
"Ten seconds?" Ma Goo scoffed. "Yeo has an Ice Shield! I can't break it in ten seconds!"
"You don't need to break it," Jin Ryeong said. He reached into his other sleeve. He remembered the Silver Needles. He had removed them from Ma Goo, but he hadn't thrown them away. They were currently sitting in a pouch at his waist, coated in Ma Goo's blood and the residue of the Fire Ant Oil.
"Give me your hand," Jin Ryeong commanded.
Ma Goo hesitated, then thrust his fist forward aggressively. "If this is another trick, I'll snap your neck before I die."
"No tricks," Jin Ryeong said, his voice dropping to a sinister whisper. He began to wrap Ma Goo's hand with bandages. "Ice is hard. But the throat is soft."
He slid three dirty silver needles between the layers of cloth over Ma Goo's knuckles. The tips barely protruded—invisible to the naked eye, but deadly.
"The oil makes you hot. The ice makes him cold. If you touch his shield, you die of shock," Jin Ryeong tightened the bandage until Ma Goo winced. "So don't punch the shield. Punch the man."
[Ding!]
[Quest Generated: Defy the Diagnosis.]
[Objective: Ma Goo must defeat 'Frost Palm' Yeo without dying of Thermal Shock.]
[Reward: Level Up (Guaranteed).]
[Failure Penalty: Death by Sect Execution.]
Jin Ryeong looked at Ma Goo's hateful, terrified face.
"One punch, Senior Brother," Jin Ryeong said. "Aim for the windpipe. Deflate him."
Ma Goo looked at the hidden needles, then at Jin Ryeong. A cruel grin spread across his face.
"Fine. I'll kill him. But if I feel even a little bit of pain..." Ma Goo leaned in close. "You're next."