“Aren’t these clothes quite interesting, though? You’d be nearly impossible to find in the mountains.” Elder Baekhon touched Seol-Hwi’s clothes.
“Oh, these are milit—uh, ‘camouflage.’”
“Camouflage? That’s a good name! Can you get me a set?”
“Uh, I’ll bring you one if I can find a spare one.” That was a lie, but Seol-Hwi couldn’t bring himself to burst his bubble. Elder Baekhon rambled on for a while before the conversation changed to something more serious.
“Right, captain Seol-Hwi. Can I ask you another favor, as an old man?”
“Me…?”
“Would you take my disciple, Imugi, as your subordinate?”
“Huh?!”
Seol-Hwi suddenly realized why Elder Baekhon had brought Imugi with him.
<Are you sure you want to take Imugi as your subordinate?> ▶ Agree ▷ Refuse
Seol-Hwi blinked at Imugi, struggling to wrap his head around the situation.
[Status] Imugi [First Disciple of Elder Baekhon] Health: 1.4 million/1.4 million Internal Energy: 1.2 million/1.2 million Master Power: 2.48 million<+Potential increase>
He’s way stronger! Only about a year ago, his combat power was only around one million, and his health was 40k. His training had to be quite something.
I’m sure it’ll be fine if it’s Elder Baekhon’s request. The Elder may speak roughly, but he didn’t forget his debts. No doubt Imugi would be very helpful; Seol-Hwi could learn something from Imugi’s abilities, on top of everything else he could do.
<You have selected “Agree.”>
“Thank you.” Baekhon’s face immediately brightened. He really wore his heart on his sleeves. Maybe he just wanted to be rid of a troublesome disciple, but the Elder seemed genuinely pleased to transfer Imugi. “As a sign of gratitude, I would like to give you a present. Is there anything you would like?”
<Elder Baekhon would like to give a gift to Seol-Hwi. What would you like?> ▶ Pills ▷ Weapon ▷ Armor ▷ Shoes
Oh, this is amazing! Seol-Hwi cheered as he examined his choices.
Pills, weapons, armor, or shoes. He liked the idea of pills; his stats were still low compared to his combat power. Fortunately, he had an amazing sword that could compensate, so he skipped the pills.
Shoes? What’s that going to do? It could be as simple as a comfortable pair of shoes to walk around in, but it was still tempting.
▶ Shoes
If shoes were presented alongside the other three options, that implied it would be just as valuable as them. Pills were rare—but a pair of shoes that were as valuable as a pill?
Even if he was wrong, he’d at least learn something new.
<You have selected “Shoes.”>
“I knew you would say that. Here, I brought you something good.”
<You have received the True Pepper Shoes.>
The shoes popped straight into his Toolbox, where he examined its details.
[True Pepper Shoes] Description: Shoes said to be made from the hides of mysterious animals found in the Dongyi tribe. Cloud patterns are drawn on the toes and heel. Effect: Eliminates one movement in a special skill.
Baekhon started speaking again before he could read it fully.
“Right, please don’t worry too much in the future.”
WIth that, Elder Baekhon turned around and walked out the door, leaving Imugi with Seol-Hwi and the Earth Demon.“
“Uh… I hope I do well, Earth Demon,” Imugi said.
“You shouldn’t be saying that. You’ve been sent by Elder Baekhon, so we’re glad to have you. Talk to Seol-Hwi.” The Earth Demon looked him up and down. “More importantly, you’ve made great progress while we weren’t looking. Good luck, Seol-Hwi.”
Seol-Hwi nodded warmly.
Yorim and Seo Ryeong vanished in a flash of light. Time was passing once again.
[24 days of recuperation.] [Day 7: Health and internal energy are restored.] [Day 8: Health and internal energy are restored.] [Day 9: Health and internal energy are restored.] … …
The month passed in a flurry of windows. Seol-Hwi thought he’d be back in his residence like usual, but something else popped up.
[Would you like to see the hidden story?] ▶ Yes ▷ No
Hidden story? It was rather vague, but he was curious nonetheless. What was it? I’ll just check it out… There was no harm in taking a look.
[You have selected “Yes.”]
He found himself somewhere familiar.
Is this the room where I was recovering? When he thought about it, it wasn’t surprising.
He was now in the 12th day of his rest.
A man came through the door.
“You’re here.”
“You…”
It was Bigun. He came up to Seol-Hwi wearing a bamboo hat and sat down.
“I heard people attacked the Earth Demon’s home and you were injured. I should have come earlier, but I barely managed to make time today.”
“Thank you. I’m sure you were just too busy.”
“Even if I’m busy, I should have come. We’re all walking down the same path, aren’t we?”
“But…”
Seol-Hwi was pleased. Despite their awful first meeting, he felt a strong camaraderie with this man.
“But how’s your body?”
“I got hit. It’ll take me a few more days to heal completely, but don’t worry.”
“Thank god. I heard that the intruders were the Supreme Pavilion Lord’s men. Is that true?”
“Well… I can’t say no.”
“Ugh.” Bigun scowled. Anyone in the Hidden Truth Corps would react similarly. Sama Gwi was proving a tough opponent for the Earth Demon. “Honestly, it wouldn’t be a huge problem to take him down if we all joined hands. The only problem is the other people he has with him.”
“Other people?”
“The ones siding with the Supreme Pavilion.”
There were other people who shared the Supreme Pavilion Lord’s way of thinking. Seol-Hwi recalled that there was another pavilion lord with Sama Gwi when he sent Seol-Hwi on the suicide mission. They were the End Demon’s loyalists.
“Take good care of yourself. I’ve instructed my men to be on alert as well.”
“You did well. Thank you.”
Bigun got up and glanced at Seol-Hwi again before turning around. It was a strange feeling, kind of warm and… nice.
“Wait, I have to ask you something.”
What?! Seol-Hwi was shocked. Something was taking over him!
Bigun looked back. “What about?”
“When I first met you. Can you tell me what I said?”
“When we first met?”
“Yeah. The words I used to provoke you. I said something…”
Bigun flushed.
“You—For real—?!”
“Ah, don’t get me wrong. I meant nothing by it, but I can’t remember what I said. I’m just asking so I don’t make the same mistake.”
“Ah, this brat…” Bigun clenched his fists. “You bastard! Why the hell would I grab your ass?! Ugh! So gross. I can’t believe you told me to grab it, you fucking bastard!”
“—Ah!” Seol-Hwi reeled.
Ass… He asked someone to touch his…
For once, he was glad for the time skip.
[Day 25: Health and internal energy are completely restored.] [Moving to Seol-Hwi’s residence.]
Life went on. His body was fine, but his head was pounding.
“Disgusting! I said that…?!”
He even said it to Seo Ryeong! “Touch my ass”? Not even he wanted to touch his ass. How embarrassing!
“How am I supposed to face her now…?” Seol-Hwi was tearing his hair out.
But after a while, he just gave up. Maybe everyone would forget if he never brought it up.
“Now, the pill… What was it?” Seol-Hwi dug into his Toolbox and pulled out the Jade Dragon Pill and the True Pepper Shoes.
“It’s cuter than I expected.” The finger-sized pill only had eyes and a mouth, despite what the description said. “Should I eat it?”
Seol-Hwi gulped it down. He was curious to see what a pill from the Earth Demon would do.
[Seol-Hwi’s health and internal energy increased significantly.] Seol-Hwi [Vice-Commander of the Hidden Truth Corps] Health: 920k(↑210k)/920k Internal Energy: 1.57 million(↑470k)/1.57 million
“Oh!” A whole 210k health and 360k internal energy.
He took out another one and downed it.
[Seol-Hwi’s health and internal energy increased significantly.] Seol-Hwi [Vice-Commander of the Hidden Truth Corps] Health: 1.2 million(↑280k)/1.2 million Internal Energy: 2.04 million(↑470k)/2.04 million
“I finally hit one million!” He’d had trouble raising his health; this felt like his big break.
“Now the shoes.”
He wasn’t satisfied with what his eyes could see. Just what power would these odd-looking shoes give him?
[Eliminates one movement in a special skill.]
So…
[Which movement would you like to delete?] Wind God ■ [→] [N(Neutral)] [↓] [↘] [A] [<4.5x Speed>]
This is—! Wind God was the most difficult skill he had, one he always failed at—but wasn’t it also the most effective skill he had?
No need to think about it. Of the six movements, there was one that was clearly the most difficult. Without it, using the Wind God would be easy.
[N(Neutral)] [Deleted]
He didn’t spare it another thought.
◆ Four Peaks Demonic Martial Arts Table ◆ Wind God: → ↓ ↘, A<4.5x Speed>
