Before coming to Mount Hua’s hideout, Seol-Hwi used the Simulation.
To be precise, it was after meeting Cheol Gun-song and receiving information.
“On the evening of the third day, tell me about the people who need to be removed in advance to rescue Ma Taryong.”
In his last life, three old men stood in the way. There was a bit of advice from the AI too. Seol-Hwi wanted to find out if there was anything more he should prepare for.
The result was this.
There are three characters to be removed. <First, Gu Yeom.> - He is the first person to notice the defense circle around Ma Taryong breaking down. - Can be removed after the second day’s lunch. <Second, Gu Yang.> - A person in the secret passage after Ma Taryong is rescued. - Can be removed after the morning of the second day. <Third, Gu Mun.> - A person who responds to the call for help from Gu Yang. - Can be removed on the evening of the second day.
Fortunately, things weren’t much different from the past. At that time, Gu Yeom was there where Ma Taryong was hidden.
After the defense circle was released, Gu Yang and Gu Mun were in the room connected to the secret passage.
These three were the ones who had to be taken down.
Here it is.
Seol-Hwi arrived at the private house which Gu Yeom had spoken about.
He climbed up to the roof, cut a hole which his body could fit through, then slipped in.
In the middle of a room which looked like an office, an old man was sitting.
This old man was Gu Mun.
Let’s go for a surprise attack.
Seol-Hwi lowered his body, and crawled along the rafters.
Slowly but surely, he arrived at a spot above the old man’s head. Seol-Hwi slowed down time with his skill, jumped to the ground, and thrust his sword through Gu Mun’s back.
There wasn’t even a scream. In one move, the opponent was finished.
“Phew…”
The last of the three old men was had been eliminated.
Seol-Hwi breathed out, as if a heavy burden was lifted.
Taking advantage of the approaching nighttime, he climbed back up onto the roof.
Now let’s look around.
The Simulation told Seol-Hwi that his enemies could be removed a day in advance, but it wasn’t just for that reason he was here.
It would be good to examine the places he couldn’t remember from his previous life.
In the middle of the forest, Seol-Hwi’s subordinates were currently having a meeting.
“All done?”
“Yes. Let’s put them together.”
Everyone was ordered by Seol-Hwi to investigate the terrain, and they had all just finished.
“So this is how they’re connected…”
Each person submitted what they had drawn according to their investigations, and Yong Jin combined the four drawings together.
Then, a complete map of the area was revealed.
“There are a total of three places that serve as entryways to the Mount Hua hideout.”
As Jeok Song spoke, Yorim, who was next to him, asked,
“When the outside forces come in, will they be on this side?”
There were two places on the road leading to the hideout, with a big stream in the middle. If troops came in from the outside, they were most likely to meet from above.
“But will support really come?”
When Seol-Hwi had instructed them to investigate, they couldn’t help but wonder.
“Well, if we were simply running away, we wouldn’t have to survey the entire land. The Captain seems to think that troops will come to help us.”
Yorim rationalized. But Seo Ryeong had a frown on her face.
“What’s the matter?”
“…Something is strange. As far as I know, there is no reason for them to help a command unit like us.”
When he heard Seo Ryeong’s words, Yorim frowned too.
“Then what is this supposed to mean? Did the Captain get wrong information? He clearly said reinforcements would come.”
“Why would they? After all, there is no law that those who ‘help’ are always on our side.”
“What are you saying… if they don’t help us, who will?”
“That…”
Seo Ryeong hesitated to get her next words out.
“Yes…!”
Suddenly, Imugi came out of nowhere, running crazily towards the group.
“I did it! I finally did it!”
“…?”
When everyone looked at him, puzzled, he excitedly explained,
“The special ability of my weapon! The preceding action was unnecessary! It will trigger even if I don’t do the ‘frog’ movements!”
Imugi was thrilled. There was also a sense of pride in his voice from the discovery.
“…You didn’t tell him?”
Yorim asked Yong Jin in a low voice.
“Mhm.”
Yong Jin pretended not to know.
Seol-Hwi of course had told Yong Jin to exclude unnecessary movements when activating his Divine Weapon’s ability.
“I was going to tell him later, really.”
“Hahaha! Well, it looks like you don’t need to anymore.”
Imugi was too excited to even listen to the others’ conversation. Yorim and Jeok Song shook their heads when they saw him.
“Imugi.”
“Yes?”
“Give me your map.”
Seo Ryeong held out her hand, and Imugi glanced at it, before grabbing a piece of parchment that he had with him.
“…What is this?”
“Huh? It’s a map! Didn’t you all draw one too?”
Everyone’s eyes turned towards the supposed map.
“How…”
“Is it even possible to recognize anything?”
“You idiot. If the Captain comes, he will surely…”
“He’s coming!”
Seol-Hwi was walking up to them, along with Songhwa. Songhwa greeted everyone first.
“Have you all completed your investigations?”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
Seol-Hwi’s subordinates answered one after another.
“That’s great. I had time to spare, so I did my own survey.”
Seol-Hwi showed them his map, which he had drawn after sucessfully getting rid of the three Mount Hua Elders.
“Huh? This is…?”
Imugi, who noticed something, made a sound of recognition.
“Right. This is the hideout. Anyway, take a look at this.”
Seol-Hwi pointed towards a building.
“Presumedly, Ma Taryong is being kept here.”
“Is he locked up in a room?”
“Much deeper than that. When we enter the building, there is a hidden passage. We just have to open it up first.”
Everyone nodded at Seol-Hwi’s words. No one asked how he knew, because they had absolute confidence in the abilities of their Captain.
“There is one more thing. After we rescue him, there is another secret tunnel, and that way would be connected to this place here.”
Pointing to another building, Seol-Hwi’s subordinates nodded again.
Seol-Hwi turned his attention to Songhwa.
“Songhwa.”
“Yes, Captain!”
“How long will it take you until we can escape?”
“It takes at least half an hour, since I need to prepare it…”
“Understood. Until then, we’ll stay put.”
Everyone was nervous. If the defense circle was released, Mount Hua’s people would notice and come straight to them.
“Songhwa? Is it possible for you to do it faster…?”
Jeok Song asked.
It wasn’t easy to endure half an hour when their enemies would be flocking towards their position. Not to mention, they don’t know what skilled warriors or other dangers there might be.
Songhwa replied,
“Um, well… while I prepare for the spatial distortion, its unique energy will spread out. If someone was a strong member of the Mount Hua Sect, they would definitely feel it.”
“That…”
“Would it be possible to shorten the time, if it was activated right after taking down the defense circle?”
“Yes, that could work.”
Seol-Hwi agreed.
“Do you have any preparations for when they come?”
Imugi asked.
His master was someone who had discovered surprising things so far. Imugi wondered if he had an interesting method this time too.
“I’ll show you when we’re at that point.”
Seol-Hwi gave Imugi a mysterious smile.
His subordinates were resting to recover their stamina, before the battle later that evening.
Meanwhile, on this morning, Seol-Hwi was observing the leaves.
“Wrong again…”
Falling leaves were seldom easy to predict.
He made dozens of predictions, but he still couldn’t get them right.
Should I head back?
Half a day had passed, and so the Simulation was available to use again.
Seol-Hwi had been using Simulation to confirm recent questions.
But what about the weakness of Simulation?
While the past was read quite accurately, there was little to predict what would happen in the future.
Still, he asked, since he could never be too careful.
“When is the best time to save Ma Taryong?”
After the Simulation ran for a long time, it gave the result.
<Too many variables.>
The exact time wasn’t given. It was a statement that bothered Seol-Hwi.
“Variables…”
Even after Seol-Hwi got rid of obstacles in the way, the system didn’t know what would happen.
Early that evening, Seol-Hwi moved quickly with his subordinates.
Seo Ryeong, Yong Jin, and Imugi entered the room connected to the secret passage, and everyone else headed towards the place where Ma Taryong was being held.
They went through the roof, and as before, there were five Mount Hua disciples.
Seol-Hwi gave Songhwa the signal to wait, while he motioned towards Jeok Song and Yorim to attack. Seol-Hwi quickly cut down three disciples, and Jeok Song and Yorim dealt with the last two.
Then, Seol-Hwi touched the wall to activate the mechanical formation.
“Captain…!”
When Seol-Hwi looked up, his subordinates were shocked, despite having heard from him about it.
“Stay on alert. This is still the enemy’s base.”
“Yes, Captain.”
A doorway appeared, and stairs that descended down into the ground. Songhwa carefully took the first step, and the others followed.
They reach a huge wall that blocked their way, and Seol-Hwi activated the Simulation.
“Tell me how to destroy the defense circle.”
<Put your hand in the positions shown. Infuse a certain amount of internal energy calculated, in the following sequence.>
Seol-Hwi copied the Simulation, and soon,
<The circle has been cancelled.>
Ma Taryong was revealed, along with this phrase that Seol-Hwi had succeeded in beaking the circle.
<What kind of judgement will you make for the future?> ▶ Take him with you ▷ Leave him <You have selected ‘Take him with you’>
“Follow me!”
Seol-Hwi cut the man’s shackles, grabbed Ma Taryong, and shouted to his subordinates.
It was chaos by the time they left the secret passage.
Alarms were going off, and people were shouting and running everywhere outside.
“Captain!”
Yong Jin, Imugi, and Seo Ryeong were nervous as they called out to him. Jeok Song and Yorim were no different.
On the other hand, Songhwa was eagerly mumbling something.
He was a person who was deaf to the loud sounds and tension around them. It clearly showed how much he was concentrating on the ritual.
“This is…”
Seol-Hwi looked down at the floor.
He could see the outline that Songhwa drew. At the time of its activation, everyone had to be in there.
Otherwise, they would be left alone to fend for themselves against Mount Hua.
“Captain! The circle!”
Imugi hurriedly exclaimed, and Seol-Hwi remembered the question he had been asked.
-Do you have any preparations?
“Hold on.”
“Huh?”
In response to this unexpected answer, Imugi was bewildered.
Seol-Hwi stood in front of the door.
“I just need five minutes.”
Crash!
“It’s the enemy!”
“Attack!”
The door was bashed open, and countless warriors of Mount Hua rushed in.
