The Carrot
So I couldn’t go back.
Then what was I supposed to do? I had spent all this time waiting for the day I could see her again.
What had everything I’d done up to now been for? Had it all just been a pointless struggle?
At that moment, the old man standing before me came into focus. Though he was unmistakably a demon, I couldn’t sense any demonic energy from him.
So there was a way. He was just hiding it.
“Then what are you? If you really want a trade, you shouldn’t be keeping secrets.”
“...Well, if this is a method, then I suppose it is one. Reach Talma.”
“Talma?”
“The realm referred to in the Central Plains as Hwakyung.”
Hwakyung. It wasn’t an impossible realm. If I kept training for another few decades, it would be within reach.
But that was too slow.
Decades. At that rate, not only would I fail to keep my promise to Yiryeong, she might forget me altogether.
“If you achieve Banbakgujin, to a lesser martial artist you’ll feel no different from an ordinary person. That would be another matter if they were of the same realm.”
“Is that all there is? That would take far too long.”
“That is everything.”
So this was the end. There was nowhere else to go.
Just as I was about to sink into despair, the old man hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
“But there is a faster way to reach Talma. Yes, I suppose I should tell you everything. It is a trade, after all.”
“Kill the remaining six and take the position of Young Leader.”
Young Leader? What did that have to do with reaching Talma?
When I looked at him with open disbelief, the old man went on.
“Hear me out to the end. The Boundless Mind Acceleration Ritual is a great art the Sungmu Cult performs upon the Young Leader. It is the legacy of the Blood Cult—an art that accelerates the mind, making an instant feel like decades.”
It seemed to be a method in which only the mind experienced time while the world outside remained unchanged.
“That should be enough for the mind to reach Talma. Then why use something like that on the Young Leader?”
“The Young Leader is supposed to become the strongest person after the Cult Leader. But by common sense, it makes no sense for a young Young Leader to be stronger than the elderly elders. It is to bridge that gap in time.”
“But enlightenment of the mind doesn’t automatically raise one’s realm, does it? If the body and inner power can’t keep up, it hardly seems meaningful.”
“Correct. That is why, once the great art is complete, the elders transfer their cultivation through combined effort to bring the balance of essence, energy, and spirit into harmony.”
Then it was possible. No—more than possible, it was enough.
The wait until I could reunite with Yiryeong would grow longer, but at least I could keep my promise.
“That is everything I know. If there were some way even I did not know, then this would not be all of it. Now that you’ve heard this, I won’t accept you claiming you’re refusing my offer.”
An offer from the old man, then. The condition was that I not throw away the position and bring the demonic sect to ruin.
Without question, it would become a shackle that bound me to the demonic sect for the rest of my life.
If I could not escape the demonic sect, then sooner or later Yiryeong would surely notice.
But if I could see her again, then something like that meant nothing.
“Fine. I’ll do as you want.”
“I’ll be watching. If you break your promise, then I’ll slaughter you, child of the Cult Leader or not.”
As a vicious aura rolled off the old man’s body in warning, the entire room shook. The objects on the table rattled and rolled off in every direction.
Truly overwhelming. He’d hidden that sort of demonic energy inside such a small frame?
If I reached Talma, I could do it too. At that level, there would be no problem meeting Yiryeong.
As I thought that and showed no particular agitation, the old man made a sickened face and waved me away.
“Well. You don’t even bother pretending to be frightened, do you? Go on, get out. That attendant will show you where you’re staying.”
“Then I’ll be going.”
The maid he pointed out led me into the dense forest.
“This is it.”
In a clearing between the thickly packed trees stood a pavilion—not large, but lavishly decorated.
“This will be the place where you stay from now on, Young Master.”
“Young Master?”
I repeated the unfamiliar title, but the answer that came back was even more ridiculous.
“Yes. Since you’ve become the Cult Leader’s child, of course you must be addressed accordingly.”
What a joke. I almost laughed at the absurdity of it all.
They had locked us in a cave and made us kill one another only a few years ago, and now they were turning the whole thing upside down with a flick of the hand.
“What am I supposed to do here?”
“We’ve been ordered to have you wait here until the Cult Leader calls for you.”
“So I really am being treated like the Cult Leader’s son.”
Just lounging around here like some pampered noble.
It seemed the Cult Leader had no intention of rushing the selection of the Young Leader. Unlike me, he could afford to be patient.
I didn’t have much time. If I accounted for the period needed to adapt to a new realm, I had at most three years. Within that span, I had to secure the position of Young Leader.
As the old man said, killing the others would be the most certain method. But the Danri siblings kept getting in the way of my thoughts.
I hadn’t wanted to get close to anyone because of this. Yet the one moment of comfort and advice I’d received during that difficult time had dulled my edge.
Still, it had to be done. I shook my head and threw off the thoughts gnawing at me.
When I stepped inside the pavilion, several servants were waiting.
“Young Master, we’ve prepared warm water. Please wash yourself.”
Only then, hearing those words, did I realize I had been walking around covered in blood. My clothes, my hair—everything was stained red.
Perhaps I had simply grown accustomed to the smell of blood, because I hadn’t noticed anything strange.
The attendant, seeing me lost in thought, seemed to misread my silence and blushed as she said, “If you would like assistance...”
“No. That isn’t what I meant. Just prepare some new clothes.”
I waved her off to clear up the misunderstanding and went into the bath. Pushing through the thick steam, I found fragrant water waiting for me, even strewn with flower petals.
After bathing and coming back out, the servants approached and rubbed oil and perfume into my skin. Before long, I found myself dressed in fresh clothes as well.
I stayed still, curious to see how far they would go, and then the same attendant from before came over.
She applied some herbs to my long hair and combed it as she asked, “Young Master, do you perhaps have a style you’d prefer?”
“...No. Leave it as it is.”
After they finished dressing me up, I looked into the mirror and saw a stranger staring back.
Neatly groomed hair that fell to my waist, and a face whose lines had softened into something almost androgynous.
Fortunately, my height and build still made it obvious I was a man.
So this was me. It was hard to get used to at all, and I ran a hand through my hair in disarray.
Through the tangled strands, the face that emerged was still awkward to my eyes, but at least familiar enough to reassure me.
Yiryeong would probably prefer this look too.
After dismissing the servants and stepping outside the pavilion, I spotted a pair of familiar faces in the distance.
“Lee Hyun! I knew you’d show up.”
“You’ve become even more of a monster since I last saw you. Sister, if you’re thinking about killing him, give it up.”
“Myeong, stop saying useless things.”
A petite woman and a broad-shouldered man.
Their shabby former appearance was gone, but the Danri siblings themselves hadn’t changed all that much.
“...It’s been a while. Are the two of you staying around here?”
“That’s right. They gathered all seven of us in this forest. I suppose that makes us siblings in name, if nothing else.”
“So now I’ve suddenly acquired a father and seven siblings. I’m quite shocked, Sister.”
Danri Yeon walked up and gave my back a light smack.
“More importantly, I almost didn’t recognize you. Why is your hair like this?”
“Sister, be honest. You wouldn’t have known him from his face alone either. There can’t be two freaks like this, so that’s how you figured it out.”
“What did you do while you were gone? Five years of it, too. We thought you were dead.”
Nothing had changed at all since Maryeongwan. That familiarity was, strangely enough, a little satisfying.
“Let’s talk while we walk. You must have gotten here before me, so I’d appreciate it if you showed me around.”
“Sure, let’s go.”
The Danri siblings showed me the whole forest. According to them, no one lived around here, so the place was almost completely cut off from the outside world. In its heart, only we existed.
As I memorized the locations of the other pavilions and considered the situation, Danri Yeon spoke up.
“So, are you ever planning to tell us what you were doing all this time?”
“Ah... right.”
It seemed I’d been too absorbed in my own thoughts.
“I got caught in an old man’s scheme and imprisoned in some archive. I kept training inside until I got out.”
“That sounds like you left out quite a lot.”
“That really is all there is. I did pick up a few minor things in there.”
“So you spent all five years holed up in there?”
“Yes. It was better than I expected.”
Danri Yeon gave me a strange look and said, “You’re talking like you just went on a stroll around the neighborhood. You do know that isn’t a normal situation, right?”
“He was already half-mad to begin with, and now he’s gone completely crazy, Sister.”
“You really do seem like it.”
Uncomfortable under their gazes, I changed the subject.
“How was the cave?”
“How was it? What do you mean?”
“There must have been quite a lot of people if you included the others besides Maryeongwan, but only seven of you remained.”
At that, the Danri siblings stopped walking. Their faces had hardened.
Something must have happened.
“They all died. No, we killed them. One another, until only seven were left.”
Speaking in place of his sister, Danri Myeong answered.
“For about three years after you disappeared, nothing much happened. We’d learn a martial manual, then have our progress checked. That sort of thing repeated itself.”
“Well, Maryeongwan only had the two of us, if nothing else. Thanks to you.”
As I frowned slightly at a memory that had long since become the past, Danri Yeon added, “I’m not blaming you. We did it together to begin with. We got to live in relative peace for a while, so I suppose we should even thank you.”
“The problem was after that. Once only about a hundred people remained in the whole place, the old man shoved everyone into one cave. Then he sealed the entrance without saying a word to any of us. Sister, it really was hell in there.”
“...Yeah. We fought over the little food we had, and when we finally came to our senses, everyone except the seven of us was dead. Then two years passed, and the old man came in, and we met you.”
It seemed my question had unintentionally dragged up memories they’d rather have left buried.
The old man really had treated them like livestock. And the accommodations he’d given them now were probably just the carrot after the whip.
The decision I’d made that day had been the right one. If I had resisted, he would have tamed me too. I wouldn’t have been able to dream of a trade like today’s.
Since the Danri siblings didn’t want to say anything more, the three of us walked in silence through the forest after that and eventually split off toward our own lodgings.
After receiving unfamiliar service and lying down on the bed, the map of this forest had already been drawn in my mind.
The locations of the pavilions, and where each person was staying.
A secluded place. I didn’t know whether someone’s design had been involved in creating it, but for me, it was a good opportunity.
First, I’d hunt the four others besides the Danri siblings.
As for Danri Yeon and Danri Myeong... it would be best to think about them after that.
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