Deep in the forest
The sound of weapons clashing was rampant.
Clang!
Swoosh!
A spear flew like a snake.
The spear shadow split into dozens of strands, tearing the flesh and spraying the blood of the enemies.
Slash!
“Argh!”
The ones who bled were wearing black clothes and emitting a sinister aura.
Whoosh.
Je Gal Woon Hyun, who retrieved his spear, wiped his sweat and shuddered.
“It’s already the third day. Do these bastards have no end?”
But he had no time to catch his breath.
A young man in blue clothes ran towards him. His name was Je Gal Geon.
“Uncle! More enemies have appeared at the rear of the front line.”
“Reinforcements?”
“Master Nam Goong is heading there. But…”
“It’s them again, I suppose.”
Whizz!
Je Gal Woon Hyun swiftly flew to the rear of the front line.
He was leading the first battalion of Cheok Ma Dan, which was currently trapped in Magyo’s encirclement.
[Sky and Earth Net]
It meant a net of heaven and earth that would prevent any enemy from escaping once surrounded. But normally, this kind of dense net could only be formed when the enemy’s strength was overwhelming.
That’s why the people of Cheok Ma Dan never thought that Magyo would reverse their situation and encircle them.
Je Gal Woon Hyun bit his lips as he ran.
‘Did I underestimate Magyo’s power?’
His speed as a superhuman was like the wind. He reached the rear in an instant and launched a lightning-like attack.
The enemies were mysterious men in black robes.
They were fiercely attacking Cheok Ma Dan’s experts, but they changed their stance when they saw Je Gal Woon Hyun.
“Superhuman…”
“It’s Je Gal Se Ga’s divine spear.”
“Form a net.”
Swoosh.
Five experts surrounded Je Gal Woon Hyun.
“Hah!”
His spear moved dazzlingly, creating dozens of shadows.
Any ordinary expert would not be able to block even one of them, but the men in black robes were different.
“Hup!”
They were all bare-handed, but they emitted a strange energy and stretched out their hands forward.
Whoosh.
The energy from their palms collided with Je Gal Woon Hyun’s spear.
Boom boom boom!
Rumble.
The men in black robes were pushed back by the explosion. But that was it.
“…”
Swoosh
“Huh…”
Je Gal Woon Hyun sighed anew.
The men in black robes who blocked his spear and approached him again as if nothing happened!
‘How did Magyo have such experts? What are these guys doing?’
Surprisingly, these five men who could stop a superhuman-level expert were more than thirty in number.
Far away, Nam Goong Il Cheon was struggling against their net.
The superhumans were tied up, let alone the other experts.
Wherever the men in black robes joined the battle, there were screams and a thick smell of blood.
“These bastards!”
“Aaargh!”
“Retreat! Get out of the encirclement!”
Jegal Unhyeon, who had shaken off the head-like creatures with a powerful attack, quickly broke through the siege.
It had been like this for three days.
There was no way to win in a frontal confrontation, so he had to escape somehow.
He was lucky that there were only two superhuman-level experts among the enemies.
Otherwise, the first squad of Cheokmadan would have been annihilated in an instant.
Crash!
His effort was not in vain, and a small gap appeared in the encirclement.
‘I have to break through quickly. I can regroup once I get out of here.’
He brightened his eyes and was about to leap forward.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Boom.
Along with someone’s sneer, something heavy and powerful fell on his head.
“…!?”
Bang!
He quickly dodged, and a large hole was dug where he had been.
And someone landed there.
“Hehe… You are as agile as I heard.”
“Who are you?”
The man who landed was also wearing a black robe, but the energy he felt was much heavier and intense. Feeling that, Jegal Unhyeon spat out a curse.
‘This guy is an expert… Did the Magyo have someone like that besides the leader?’
Anyway, thanks to the man’s intervention, the escape route that he had barely opened was blocked again.
Jegal Unhyeon had no choice but to look around with a gloomy expression.
He was quite exhausted from the repeated battles for three days.
‘Can I deal with him quickly and break through the siege again?’
He judged coldly that it was impossible.
No, even if he was in his prime, it would be doubtful.
The man in front of him was surprisingly a superhuman-level expert.
“…”
“Hehehe…”
The man let out an unpleasant laugh and opened his mouth again.
“My name is Bukgungpa. Have you heard of me?”
‘I think I’ve heard it somewhere before…’
Jegal Unhyeon shook his head.
“I haven’t heard of you.”
“You wouldn’t have. This is the first time I’ve come out of Shingyo.”
Jegal Unhyeon shrugged his shoulders at his words.
“Oh, is that so? Sorry for not knowing you. I thought some third-rate magician was pretending to know me.”
Snap!
His provocation worked well.
Bukgungpa, who called himself that, hardened his face and growled.
“How dare you, who are already dying…”
“You don’t look so impressive either, attacking me when I’m scared.”
“That will be your last words.”
Bukgungpa flew like lightning. And at that moment!
‘Got him.’
Swoosh.
“Damn!”
Bukgungpa, who was rushing in with an angry expression, was startled by the dozens of spearheads that sprang up from under his feet.
Jegal Unhyeon’s secret technique: space distortion! It was a surprise attack using its characteristics. He had provoked Bukgungpa to lure him into this trap.
“Ugh!”
But the opponent was not easy either.
He only panicked for a moment and then soared into the sky with his body as it was.
The height he jumped was astonishing.
Clang!
The spearheads only managed to scratch his ankle. And Bukgungpa fell from the sky like a tiger.
“You bastard!”
“Tsk!”
Jegal Unhyeon clicked his tongue and prepared to defend himself.The fact that he avoided his desperate surprise attack meant that he had been on guard all along.
‘The Magyo bastards are not easy.’
Although he did not show it outwardly, Je Gal Woon Hyun’s heart was filled with anxiety. Would they be able to escape safely?
Kwaaang!
The clash of Buk Gung Pa’s two hands and Je Gal Woon Hyun’s spear produced a deafening sound that was incomparable to anything before.
“Kuhuk!”
“Keeeuuuk…”
They both retreated, spitting blood from their mouths.
Je Gal Woon Hyun, who vomited black blood, seemed to have suffered a bit more damage, but considering that he had swung his spear for three days and nights and added the momentum of Buk Gung Pa’s fall to his attack, it was not a big loss.
However, given the current situation, Je Gal Woon Hyun’s injury was more fatal.
“Heh! Anyway, if I capture you, the leader will be pleased.”
Buk Gung Pa raised his two hands again, putting aside his wounded pride for a moment. If he continued to fight like this, his victory was likely.
“Why don’t you try?”
Je Gal Woon Hyun kept smiling amiably, but he could not completely hide his pale face. Buk Gung Pa sneered as he noticed that.
“Hehe… You are quite good at bluffing.”
But as he was about to launch himself again, something astonishing happened.
Swoosh.
A sword suddenly appeared near his neck.
“Uhek!”
Buk Gung Pa was startled enough to make his whole body hair stand on end. His neck was about to be sliced off. He quickly concentrated his energy on his neck to defend himself.
Clang!
Chwaaak!
Unfortunately, the sword was stealthy and swift, but slightly lacking in power. It only managed to inflict a fairly deep wound on Buk Gung Pa’s neck.
“Eing…”
A sigh of regret was heard as the owner of the sword moved to Je Gal Woon Hyun’s side.
“Are you alright, instructor?”
“Instructor?”
Je Gal Woon Hyun quickly looked at the man.
“Who are you?”
The man scratched his head.
“I’m sorry for being late. Please explain this to His Majesty.”
“…”
Je Gal Woon Hyun looked at the man with a mixture of relief and complexity. He was Cain, who had been out of touch since he came to the Eastern Continent.
And as he revealed his identity, a cheer erupted.
“Waaaaah!”
“Rescue the Chek Ma Dan!”
Suddenly, reinforcements appeared outside the encirclement.
“Who are they?”
Je Gal Woon Hyun calmly observed them. Their outfits were not uniform, and their martial arts skills varied widely.
‘In the martial world, such a group would be…’
“Beggars!”
“That’s right.”
“Were you among them? And those experts are?”
Surprisingly, there were quite a few skilled experts among the beggars. With them as the core of the attack, even though the beggars’ level was low, they temporarily pushed back the Demon Sect with their sudden raid.
“I only found out recently, but those guys are called the Beggars’ Ten Greats. They seem to have quite a reputation among themselves.”
Je Gal Woon Hyun could not help but be amazed by Cain’s words.
“The Beggars’ Ten Greats?”
[Beggars’ Ten Greats]
Generally speaking, even among the beggars who were considered lowly in the martial world, there were some oddballs who existed and among them were some outstanding experts.
“But I heard that they all have peculiar personalities and don’t stick together?”
Cains scratched the back of his head with a sheepish expression.
“It’s a long story. Let’s get out of here first.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
Jegal Unhyeon, who was momentarily surprised, lifted his spear again. The first priority was to break through this encirclement. Now was the opportunity, as the battlefield was disrupted by the participation of the Nangin.
***
“I think it’s time to go. I’ve learned enough by now.”
[Hey.]
“Hmm?”
Yellow Dragon looked at Eurius with a strange tone.
[I take back what I said about you having no talent.]
“What are you talking about?”
[I didn’t expect you to acquire this much knowledge in just a year. You’re definitely born in this world, right?]
‘Why is he suddenly acting like this?’
Eurius was slightly taken aback by the unexpected compliment, but soon burst into laughter.
“Isn’t there a saying among the players that everywhere people live is the same?”
[…]
Yellow Dragon looked at Eurius with an incredulous expression, then shook his head.
[Well… In a normal case, it would be a really useless talent. Anyway, I’ll give you some credit.]
“…”
Eurius shook his head in disbelief. He had gotten used to Yellow Dragon’s words in the past year.
‘If you’re going to praise me, just praise me. Why do you have to add a sour note?’
Ding!
[You have cleared the second stage of Yellow Dragon’s trial.]
[Your achievement increases.]
After spending a year in the virtual space, Eurius found himself standing in front of the people of Righteous Alliance.
“I’m really sorry. I was too late.”
“No, my lord.”
“We are glad that Your Majesty has returned safely.”
“Er… um… well, at least you’re back now…”
There were surprisingly no people who complained about his return.
The knights and subordinates were needless to say, and most of the others had seen Eurius’s power firsthand, so they were rather pale-faced from being caught badmouthing him behind his back.
Eurius knew their situation well and smiled brightly as he turned his face to Jegal Seongun.
“It seems like the situation is serious from what I heard briefly. Can you explain it to me?”
“Yes, I will.”
Jegal Seongun also hurriedly opened his mouth.
The current Cheokmadan was in a precarious situation where most of its forces were wiped out and the remaining ones could be annihilated at any time.
“…”
Eurius made a serious expression after hearing the explanation.
“So we’re screwed.”
“What?”
“No, I mean, I misspoke.”
‘Thank goodness no one understood me.’
Eurius broke out in a cold sweat. He had developed some side effects from trying to adapt to the knowledge of the other world for a year.
He used to only know the refined royal language, but now he had acquired some strange expressions.
“Anyway, we need urgent rescue, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. We already sent out a rescue team led by Nuada-nim, but they said it would take some time to arrive.”
Eurius’s judgment was quick.
“I’ll go myself.”
“I knew you would say that.”
Jegal Seongun also quickly followed up.
“We’ll form a rear guard with the remaining forces. Just wait for a moment…”
“No, that won’t be necessary. It’ll be too late then.”
“…!?”
Eurius turned on his heels and walked away coolly.
“I’m enough on my own.”
***
“Hmm…”
Behind the curtain, a satisfied sigh escaped.
Seeing that, Sa Yeo-han, the head of the intelligence department, hurriedly started the remaining report.
“The army that the Righteous Alliance has deployed is half-broken. They are barely holding on with the power of two superhumans, but according to Bukgung Hobeop, it’s only a matter of time before they are annihilated.”
“What about the other forces besides the Righteous Alliance?”
“The Huanggung and the West Continent are involved, but they are only elite minorities. They need the support of the Righteous Alliance’s forces to wage a large-scale frontal war like this. The situation is extremely favorable for our school.”
“I see.”
The leader seemed to agree with his detailed explanation, as the shadow behind the curtain nodded slightly.
“You did well to trust the military. You have worked hard.”
“Your Majesty, it’s all thanks to your grace.”Sa Yeo-han bowed his chest and felt relieved that his plan had succeeded.
To be honest, he was dizzy when he heard the report that a monster appeared in the Janggang River and swept away the experts of the school, including Cheonji Isal.
‘But I’m not going to be fooled so easily… Damn it! Of course not!’
However, even after repeated failures, the leader did not abandon him.
Eventually, he achieved a great feat by destroying half of the Cheokmadan.
Thud thud.
He walked out of the leader’s residence and thought about what was to come.
‘By the way, why is that prince of the West Continent so quiet?’
The one who had made him drink water several times was too silent. But Sa Yeo-han soon shook off his anxiety.
‘Well, whatever he does, it won’t matter now that the three great families of the school have joined.’
[The three great families of Magyo!]
They hardly move unless the school is in danger of extinction or something related to [Shintak]. But the leader decided that it was a crisis that required fighting against the entire East Continent and allowed them to use their power.
And the result was also a great victory.
‘The future is more important. The leader said he would send more people soon.’
Sa Yeo-han headed to his office with a slightly uplifted expression.
***
Within Magyo’s Cheonra Jimang, a fierce chase was still going on.
Zap!
A black shadow shot out like an arrow. The target of the shadow was Cain, who had brown hair.
“I’ll tear you apart and throw you to the dogs!”
“Eek!”
Cain dodged to the side with all his might. The attack barely missed him.
Crack!
A few alder trees next to him snapped. If that attack had hit Cain, his torso would have been in a similar state.
Cain wiped his cold sweat and quickly took a defensive stance. He had almost cut off Bukgungpa’s neck in their first encounter, so he was holding a grudge against him.
‘How can someone who is as strong as a superhuman be so resilient…? And so damn persistent?’
He muttered complaints in his mind as he faced Bukgungpa with his sword. It had been three days since Nangin joined them. Their strength had been somewhat replenished, so they were holding on well against the ironclad siege. But he didn’t know how long this balance would last.
“You bastard!”
Boom!
Bukgungpa’s palm and Cain’s sword grazed each other, creating a small explosion.
Twist.
Of course, Cain was at a disadvantage in terms of skill. But he wasn’t just being pushed around.
Slash
“…!?”
Bukgungpa quickly bent his waist.
He thought he had exposed a gap by breaking his posture, but suddenly a sharp slash came at his head.
Swish.
His sword grazed his opponent’s hair, cutting off a few strands. He was surprised by the unexpected counterattack from the novice he had looked down on.
The leader of the Northern Palace Clan lost his composure again.
‘No, this rat-like bastard!’
But his opponent was not easy to deal with.
He suppressed his anger, thinking that he might suffer an unexpected defeat. Cains was clearly a few levels below him. But whenever he tried to land a decisive blow, he would dodge like a ghost in this way.
He was one of the leaders of the three great clans, but he had failed to kill him for three days.
And while he was blocked by Cains, the other experts had time to break through the encirclement.
Whoosh.
“Ugh!”
“Aaah!”
A few experts around him screamed as holes were pierced through their chests.
The owner of that attack was Jegal Unhyeon.
“We broke through the encirclement! Let’s escape!”
“Thank you… Thank you very much!”
While he held off the enemy, Cains ran away through the opened exit as fast as he could.
“…”
The leader of the Northern Palace Clan was so dumbfounded by his hesitation-free escape that he became even more furious.
“Don’t you have any pride as a warrior!”
“Is that what you say when you surround me with hundreds of people?”
Jegal Unhyeon also pretended to fight him a few times while escaping. This time too, he failed to annihilate the Cheongma Clan.
“Grr… As expected of Righteous Alliance, huh? You’re more troublesome than I thought.”
But he only vented his anger for a moment. The leader of the Northern Palace Clan looked at him with a cold expression again.
‘Anyway, they can’t escape. If I have to, I can use my trump card.’
He didn’t achieve his goal of annihilating them, but the Cheongma Clan couldn’t get out of the Chilraji Net either. Escaping temporarily was their limit.
“Hehe… How long can you last?”
Before long, it was night time. The Cheongma Clan barely shook off their pursuers and managed to get some rest.
“Phew… It seems like we barely made it today.”
“You did especially well.”
Jegal Unhyeon looked at Cains with an expression of admiration. The leader of the Northern Palace Clan was an outstanding expert who was not much different from him. How could he, who had not even reached the level of superhuman, do such a thing?
‘And that’s not all.’
Surprisingly, Cains was improving day by day. On the first day, he almost died from the enraged leader of the Northern Palace Clan’s attack, but now he had increased his skills enough to barely block it.
I’ll try to translate the text into English and edit it for better readability. Here is my attempt:
He seemed to be unaware of it…
Of course, it was natural for his skills to improve quickly as he was fighting with his life on the line against outstanding experts. However, even considering that situation, Cains was growing at an astonishing rate.
“Instructor? Is there something on my face?”
“Huh? No, there isn’t.”
Jegal Unhyeon turned his gaze away from Cains, who he had been staring at blankly. By chance, his eyes met with the Nangin who were gathered there. Cains seemed to be chatting with them.
“Hmm…”
Jegal Unhyeon recalled the first day of his joining.
.
.
.
“So… you missed the timing and kept wandering around until you finally joined?”
“Yes…”
Cains explained the reason for his late joining with a sheepish expression. He was actually the first one to arrive in Nakyang among the group, but he had a reason to go somewhere else.
One day, Socheol ran in and delivered some information.
“Wow! I heard there’s a stranger from Saekmok in the area where Noklimsanjae is.”
“Really?”
The first thing he heard was the news of Noklimsanjae, where Nuada was. He had to hurry and pack his bags to go to the distant mountain range. But when he arrived there…
“Noklim people went to Janggang? Did you see the Saekmok person?”
After asking around, Cains found out that the Saekmok person who appeared in Noklim was Nuada.
‘I have to go to Janggang.’
It was good that he got the news, but Dongdaeryuk was too vast. It was inevitable that he would be late if he asked people along the way. When Cains arrived at Janggang, everything was over, from the battle to whatever else.
“What? They already left?”
The Surobang’s subordinate gave him some advice as he let out a sigh of exhaustion.
“How about going to Cheonsan?”
“Cheonsan?”
“I don’t know much either, but I heard that Murim people are gathering there.”
“Cheonsan is a place that takes at least a month by land…”
Socheol also muttered with a drained expression. Unfortunately, there was no one who could prove Cains’ identity, so he had to go by land. All the big and small boats on Janggang were collected by Cheokmadan.
“There’s no choice.”
Cains, who had already missed the person, was in a hurry and quickly set off for Cheonsan. This was the biggest reason why he was late. If he had stayed in Janggang and sent news to Righteous Alliance, he could have joined much earlier.
Coincidentally, only Shin Ja Seong knew that he had escorted Pyoguk in Nakyang, and he was lying down because of his injury.
A series of strange coincidences led him to meet the group only now.
“That’s…”
Jegal Unhyeon also listened to his story with a dumbfounded expression and suddenly thought of something else.
“Then where did you get those Nangin friends from? You said you were busy moving around…”
Cains suddenly rummaged through his chest and took out a gold badge.
“Well… as soon as I got a gold badge from Nangin Yeonhap, they kept coming to test my skills.”
The ranks of Nangin were divided into apprentice, wood, bronze, silver, and gold badges, and among them, those who received gold badges had to be at least Jeoljeonggosa, which meant master-level or above in Seodaeryuk.
Needless to say, there weren’t many people among Nangin who were Jeoljeonggosa.
Cains was a notable newcomer in the industry (?) who received a gold badge with only his skills and without any special achievements.
“A mysterious Saekmok person received a gold badge from Yeonhap?”
“You have to have some achievements even if you are Jeoljeonggosa…”
“That’s suspicious. Let me test you.”
That’s how Cains had to accept constant challenges while moving around to find the group.
“Hehe… I’m called Cheongsa (blue snake). I’m ranked fifth among the Nangin Shipgang.”
“This old man is called Norong (yellow dragon).”
.
.
.
.