Chapter 36 - The Last Lecture (3)
Kim Sun-woo's eyes, leaping high into the sky, caught sight of a single rusted container and a wide-open clearing.
The moment he saw it, his instincts told him immediately.
'This is an artificially created space.'
After landing on the ground, he kicked off with explosive speed and charged forward.
Less than three minutes later, he arrived at the clearing he'd spotted from above. He stopped at the entrance and scanned the surroundings.
Thick weeds had overgrown the entire area, untouched by humans for a long time.
Even under the pouring sunlight, a chill pressed down on his shoulders, and an eerie pressure poked at his lungs.
"...No way."
Kim Sun-woo's sharp gaze swept the ground.
Faint marks lingered on the uneven earth.
Not recent, but within the last few months—someone had been here. But who?
For now, he'd look around more.
The container door was, of course, locked tight.
Crack!
With a burst of strength, he ripped off the hinges and the door itself, then cautiously stepped inside. A musty, stale smell and thick air greeted him.
"...So this is where the lectures were filmed."
The interior felt familiar.
A simple bed and desk stood alone, and the colors of the ceiling and walls felt welcoming despite it being his first time here.
But aside from that, it was completely empty.
If someone had lived here, there should have been everyday items scattered about, but not even a scrap of trash rolled on the floor.
No computer, no martial arts books, empty drawers, and even the space under the bed was spotless.
"Hm."
Even so, he didn't want to desecrate the dwelling of the deceased.
Kim Sun-woo scratched his head and stepped back outside.
The air inside was too murky to stay longer.
He planned to search again once it had aired out a bit.
Thud.
Standing at the threshold and looking toward the clearing, something he hadn't noticed before caught his eye.
Deep gouges beneath the lush weeds in the clearing formed a regular pattern.
These were completely different from the footprints he'd seen earlier.
After pondering them for a moment, Kim Sun-woo realized what they were.
"This must be where you demonstrated the techniques."
Drawing the Black Flow Sword and slicing away the weeds made it even clearer.
Near-perfect footprints of the White Flow Step were scattered chaotically across the clearing.
"Oh."
Kim Sun-woo's eyes sparkled as he took them in.
There were differences between what he'd learned from the lectures and the movements imprinted here.
Parts of the White Flow Step that felt awkward or off—he'd improvised fixes, and this seemed to be why.
"Yeah, doing it like this really changes the motion. Good thing I came."
Regardless of anything else, encountering the perfect original form of the White Flow Step was a stroke of fortune bordering on destiny.
The angle of the toes, the depth of the heels—even those tiny details drastically altered how the technique manifested.
Just correcting his past mistakes by studying the prints raised his mastery of the White Flow Step by a whole level.
Whoosh, swish, whoosh.
He repeated the steps until the sun set, only then realizing a full day had passed.
"Maybe I should just stay here a few days?"
It was the perfect spot for quiet training.
No need to book a separate lodging or scout another location.
Kim Sun-woo immediately dashed down the mountain and bought camping gear from a nearby large supermarket.
He returned to the clearing, pitched a tent next to the container, and set up a sleeping bag inside.
At the entrance, he built a campfire-like blaze to ward off the night chill.
With preparations complete, he trained late into the night before finally turning in for the next day.
"Cool."
Pulling the sleeping bag over his head and lying in the tent, he gazed up at the starry cluster embroidered across the night sky.
A sight impossible in the city—Kim Sun-woo let out a quiet sigh of admiration.
He snapped a few photos to send to others, but unfortunately, he was out of signal range and couldn't connect.
No messages while buying gear, so the guild was probably quiet too.
With the raid halted, everyone was enjoying a long-overdue break.
Kim Sun-woo decided to savor this moment as well.
It had been ages since he'd had such free time.
After sleeping the night and waking...
He started his morning running mountain paths at dawn.
A bit regrettable without training equipment, but sprinting these steep trails bare-bodied felt refreshingly invigorating.
On the way back to the clearing after an hour or two...
Kim Sun-woo spotted a large stone tower on the clearing's outer edge that he hadn't noticed before.
"...This is."
It was a crudely stacked tower of massive stones.
Easily three meters tall, and instinct told him its purpose immediately.
Kim Sun-woo approached slowly.
Sure enough, a broad rock in front of the tower served as a nameplate, conveying the deceased's final will.
"To bring closure to the flow."
Flow—likely referring to the White Flow.
Kim Sun-woo stood still for a moment, gazing at the tower.
His heart felt complicated.
He'd held a sliver of hope that maybe the master was still alive.
But as he let out a deep sigh, preparing to pay respects...
"...!"
A presence stirred from behind.
Kim Sun-woo instantly kicked off the ground, leaped onto a nearby tree, and suppressed his aura.
"...Whew, this place is always such a pain to climb."
Soon, a middle-aged man in hiking gear arrived, sweating profusely.
He stood before the stone tower, clasped his hands in prayer for a moment, then headed toward the container with natural steps.
"...Huh?"
Of course, he had to stop midway.
The shattered container door—and the boldly pitched tent beside it.
Traces of Kim Sun-woo's stay last night remained.
As the man gaped and looked up, Kim Sun-woo, who had silently flanked him, asked,
"Who are you?"
"...!"
The startled middle-aged man's body froze stiff.
He clearly hadn't expected anyone else here.
'No traces of martial arts training. Doesn't seem like a hunter either—civilian?'
Finding nothing suspicious, Kim Sun-woo narrowed his eyes and released the pressure he'd exerted.
"Why are you here?"
"...I-I'm the official in charge of this place. I was asked to manage it periodically..."
"Official? Asked by whom?"
"Y-Yes, my ID is in my pocket. May I take it out...?"
Kim Sun-woo nodded, and the man tremblingly pulled out the ID from around his neck.
The ID was genuine.
After confirming, Kim Sun-woo withdrew his pressure and gave a curt nod.
"Sorry for the intimidation. I didn't expect anyone else to come here."
"Who might you be...?"
"Kim Sun-woo, C-rank hunter from Mugung Guild. Here's my license."
He pulled out his hunter license from his wallet and handed it over. Seo In-hyuk's expression visibly relaxed.
Possessing a hunter license meant he wasn't a criminal, at least.
"Ah, Hunter Kim Sun-woo. Wait, Kim Sun-woo...?"
Then, Seo In-hyuk's eyes widened.
"No way—you watched the lectures?"
"...You know about them?"
"Of course! I uploaded them! Thank goodness, really. The elder worried every day... I never dreamed the connection would actually happen..."
Seo In-hyuk grabbed Kim Sun-woo's hand, mumbling with reddened eyes.
It seemed he truly had uploaded the lectures on Baek Ryuk Geom's behalf, so Kim Sun-woo dropped his guard.
"Let's have some tea and talk."
"...Ah, sorry. I just got so emotional knowing it wasn't all for nothing."
Kim Sun-woo gave him time to compose himself, then brought over some coffee.
Seo In-hyuk, who had been staring at the stone tower, began his story in a voice thick with emotion.
"I first met the elder six years ago."
The lectures were uploaded five years ago.
Meaning they'd known each other for about a year.
"He moved here from another region. Awakened beings and returnees have to register address changes, right? He came to the provincial office for that. Then, the moment he saw me, he yelled out of nowhere."
"These days, even corpses hire civil servants? What kind of work can a guy who can't even take care of himself do? Tsk tsk."
It was so sudden.
That kind of insult to a stranger?
But Seo In-hyuk realized the old man was no ordinary person.
Lately, his sleep had been restless, his body heavy, and nosebleeds frequent.
His wife bought tonics for his frail health, but there was no improvement.
Hospital tests found nothing wrong...
That's when Baek Ryuk Geom had shouted at him.
"I begged the elder for help. I really didn't want to die. My daughter had just started university—I had to keep earning money. Couldn't afford to collapse from illness."
"Did the elder help you?"
"Yes. We made a deal. I'd fulfill one request for him later. Looking back, it was heavenly luck. He must have been scouting someone to manage this place and found me."
Sipping his coffee, Seo In-hyuk glanced at the stone tower and continued.
"The elder was no good with computers, so I uploaded everything at once after he passed. I wanted to spend a bit more on promotions, but his dying wish was no—said if fate willed it, someone would come. And to think Hunter Kim Sun-woo would inherit his legacy..."
"At the end of the lectures, the elder asked to come here."
"Yes, I checked. That's why I've been maintaining the place whenever I could. He asked for just three years, but my stubbornness kept me going this long. It was getting too hard to visit, and I was about to give up—thank goodness you came."
Seo In-hyuk smiled faintly and pointed to the stone tower.
"The elder left two final instructions. One: if a successor comes here, delete all the uploaded lectures. And the other..."
"The other?"
"Break the stone, he said. Probably means to destroy this tower."
So something must be buried inside.
Kim Sun-woo let out a short breath and bowed to Seo In-hyuk.
Managing this place for five years couldn't have been easy.
"Thank you. You've helped me greatly."
"No, no. I'm relieved too. Contact me if you need anything."
They exchanged numbers, and Seo In-hyuk descended the mountain with light steps.
Kim Sun-woo wanted to hear more stories about the elder, but that could wait.
Right now, the towering stone tower before him was what mattered.
Break the stone—shatter the rock.
He wouldn't have left such a simple instruction.
How to do it...
"Huh?"
Kim Sun-woo's eyes widened as he examined the tower closely.