Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Are You a Monster?
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"What's this now?"
Heavenly Time Realm.
A new special trait added to Yin-Yang Incarnation—not the Heavenly Martial Body.
Sin Bihyeong immediately clicked on the Heavenly Time Realm entry.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 【Heavenly Time Realm】 Category: Yin-Yang Incarnation ─ Special Trait The boundary that governs the heavens' time. He clutched the back of his neck at that vague description.
"Ah..."
"...Boss? Boss!"
Eoduk sensed something had gone wrong from Sin Bihyeong's reaction.
He hurriedly threw himself forward to catch the collapsing man.
"Are you alright? What happened..."
"...It's nothing."
No. It was definitely something.
'I thought the Heavenly Martial Body would slot in as a special trait within Yin-Yang Incarnation, so why did this random thing pop up out of nowhere?'
The Heavenly Martial Body was a top-tier constitution for close-combat characters, perfectly suited to a goblin like Sin Bihyeong.
'It amplified martial arts and melee damage by 1.3 times.'
It even buffed skill proficiency gains.
Considering all that, it was a constitution he desperately needed.
But what the hell was Heavenly Time Realm?
'First, let's check the dantian.'
Sin Bihyeong immediately turned his awareness inward to inspect his dantian.
He spotted the anomaly right away.
'...The barrier's gone.'
The membrane that had formed around his dantian after achieving Yin-Yang Incarnation—it was gone now.
Plus, there were changes inside the dantian itself.
'The heavens.'
A clear blue sky had replaced where the sun once hung.
What did that mean?
'The boundary that governs the heavens' time... boundary?'
Sin Bihyeong focused on the word "boundary."
'The sky shifts gradually with time—from blue, to red, and finally to dark.'
How do humans perceive that boundary?
The horizon.
Or the sea level.
They observe the rising sun or the faintly glowing moon.
That's how they track the changing sky.
But there was no horizon or sea level in his dantian.
'...I need a different approach. Step outside human perspective.'
It's called the 'heavens,' so can it really be gauged by human standards?
Sin Bihyeong didn't think so.
'Horizons and sea levels don't even exist. The Earth is round.'
Fixing on that, he poured his awareness into his lower dantian.
The field of his vision expanded.
'...The boundary between demonic power and exorcist power. What was once clearly divided is gradually blurring.'
The fading boundary eventually merged into one.
Dark night below, clear blue above.
'...So?'
That was as far as it went.
The disappearance of the boundary between exorcist power and demonic power was good.
But he couldn't see why it was worth a Great Transformation Pill.
'Should've just fed it to the club and broken it down.'
'...No. There has to be something hidden here.'
What was it?
He pondered deeply, racking his brain.
Then he recalled the concept of "time" that had floated through his mind earlier.
'In the real world, the sky changes naturally as time passes. But not in the dantian.'
It was stagnant, frozen.
The agent to set it in motion was himself.
The moment Sin Bihyeong realized that, he stirred his demonic power.
Ku-gu-gu-gung—!
A fierce vibration surged from his abdomen.
The demonic power flipped positions, filling the sky with black clouds.
Before long, the lower dantian's landscape had become a night sky.
"...Boss?"
Eoduk couldn't hide his shock at Sin Bihyeong's transformation.
'His presence was already immense before, but now he feels like an entirely different being.'
The presence had grown even more eerie and oppressive.
Sin Bihyeong also sensed his own presence deepening.
Because yin energy coursed through every meridian, dyeing them black like the night sky.
'This is the night sky.'
Following the landscape, he dubbed this midnight.
'Then what about noon, the opposite of midnight?'
To test it, he turned back the Heavenly Time Realm's clock.
Druk.
A sound like clock hands turning echoed inside his dantian.
At the same time, the night sky sank below while the clear blue soared above once more.
In that instant, something Sin Bihyeong hadn't anticipated occurred.
"...Huh?"
"Boss?"
The burst of yang energy spreading from Sin Bihyeong's body was no joke.
Far more abundant and violent than the yang energy in his lower dantian.
It manifested as an aura, heating the air around him.
'This... it's devouring the traces left by the yin energy.'
The remnants of yin energy clinging to every meridian from the midnight activation moments ago.
The yang energy followed, greedily consuming them to swell in size and power.
'Yang remnants linger too. So it won't tip fully to one side.'
The yin would devour the yang in turn.
That seemed to be the true value of Heavenly Time Realm.
Sin Bihyeong thought so.
'Huh?'
Until he noticed the change in his dantian moments later.
The dantian began to writhe and shed its membrane like a snake molting.
'Not Marrow Cleansing... molting?'
But why was his dantian molting instead of his body?
'...Wait. The energy it holds... it's purer.'
An extremely subtle shift—one he'd miss without intense focus.
But the energy's purity had undeniably increased.
'...Boosting energy purity is a mid-to-late game element.'
One that required pouring in every treasure imaginable just to attempt.
Yet Heavenly Time Realm granted it definitively.
'First-use bonus?'
Suspicious, he cycled the Heavenly Time Realm again, turning night back to day.
And then.
'...It worked.'
It really did.
Not some one-time bonus—every cycle between night and day purified his energy!
'This... eclipses the Heavenly Martial Body entirely!'
Heavenly Martial Body?
A top-tier mortal constitution until Heavenly Time Realm came along.
'Energy amplification alone surpasses its buffs.'
And as a bonus, the dantian purifies itself.
Ah.
The ultimate all-purpose G.O.A.T: Great. Time. Realm.
Sin Bihyeong was reveling in ecstasy over his evolution when.
Mina came dashing over from afar—tatata-!
"Bihyeong!"
Something was clutched in her hand.
Up close, it was another spiritual pill, just like his.
"Hm? That's..."
He recognized it well.
"It's the one with pure water qi, right?"
"Yeah! The goblins guided me!"
Mina pointed behind her, and the three goblins who'd escorted him bowed awkwardly with grins.
"...They picked a pretty strong one, huh?"
That spiritual medicine wasn't easy to obtain.
'You need Hierarchy Rank 4 to even challenge it, I think?'
Yet she'd brought back something like that so easily.
Were the goblins stronger than he thought?
'Nah. Eoduk said they were below him.'
Not that he was downplaying Eoduk.
Reality was reality.
Eoduk still couldn't take on a solo Rank 4 exorcist.
Hell, he'd get one-shot by a Rank 3.
As Sin Bihyeong eyed the goblins and Eoduk in confusion,
Eoduk praised his subordinates with a smug expression.
"These guys have always been clever with tricks. Looks like they skipped the qualifications or whatever this time too."
"...And you?"
Why didn't you do that?
That was the implication, but Eoduk declared proudly.
"When the body's weak, the brain has to work overtime. That's the way of the world."
Sin Bihyeong decided to end the conversation there.
Eoduk was more of a musclehead than he'd realized.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ All business at the treasure vault was concluded.
Mina had acquired a spiritual pill to boost her water affinity,
while Sin Bihyeong's Great Transformation Pill had already dissolved into his body.
"Everyone, into the shadow."
He stored Eoduk, Mina, the three new goblins, and even Eoduk back in his shadow,
then prepared to exit the treasure vault.
A door appeared alongside.
Deolkeong—!
A massive wooden bolt slid aside, and the gate creaked open on rusty hinges.
Beyond it lay the academy grounds.
'...They take guarding the forbidden zone seriously.'
Even importing "magic" like this.
Sin Bihyeong crossed the gate with a hollow chuckle, returning to the academy premises.
"Ugh... Let's call it here for today and head out?"
He slipped into a blind spot of the security system, released Mina from the shadow, and bid her farewell.
Back at the dorm in a flash, Sin Bihyeong unpacked nothing before heading straight to the training ground and releasing Eoduk.
"Is this where you live, Boss?"
"Yeah. Nice, right?"
"The energy density here is high."
Eoduk marveled softly at human technological prowess, then took position at a distance.
"As discussed, let's begin sparring."
"Sure. Let's have a good one."
"This spar's goal is for you to get used to Qi Sense. And to familiarize yourself with the Five Great Yokai Arts you just learned."
"Add one more: getting used to Heavenly Time Realm."
And.
'If possible, see if I can manifest 'that' from before using Heavenly Time Realm.'
Sin Bihyeong's eyes sparkled.
Eoduk nodded firmly at the gaze.
"...Understood."
Eoduk slowly assumed his stance.
Front paws planted straight ahead, rear legs splayed slightly at an angle.
His body leaned forward unsteadily, as if poised to charge at any moment.
"Here I come."
With those words,
Thud-boom!
It sounded like a cannon firing.
When Sin Bihyeong came to, his body was soaring through the air, slamming into the training ground wall.
"Kuhk!"
A speed he couldn't react to—an attack beyond perception.
"Are you alright?"
Eoduk asked his boss that.
Sin Bihyeong rose on trembling legs, flashing a grin.
"Yeah. I'm good. Keep going."
Soon, a blue hue frosted his irises.
"Understood."
Pang!
Another explosive burst of compressing air, and Eoduk vanished.
Sin Bihyeong focused his awareness on Qi Sense immediately.
The Qi Sense extending outward.
Layered with the Root.
'...I saw it.'
The instant Sin Bihyeong crossed his arms to block, his body lifted off again, tumbling across the ground.
A one-sided beatdown.
A scene of merciless violence.
Yet the participants, Sin Bihyeong and Eoduk, didn't see it that way.
'He's already adapting after just a couple glimpses of my movements?'
Only two attacks so far.
Yet the young boss before him was already tracking his motions.
His Qi Sense was attuning rapidly.
If someone with such talent kept growing?
Those earlier words wouldn't be mere bravado.
Eoduk anticipated that future as he kicked off the ground again.
"Here I go!"
Thud-boom!
Amid the onrushing pressure wave, Sin Bihyeong fixed Eoduk with sunken eyes.
'Today is Saturday.'
Midnight and noon cycled repeatedly, elevating Sin Bihyeong's energy ever higher.
'Regular classes start next Monday... Polish myself into something usable by then.'
For the story he'd twisted.
To prepare for it.
'Also brace for the villain derived from that yokai spot Mina and I hit before.'
So.
"Let's give it our all, Eoduk."
"Yes!"
Kwa-aang!
Eoduk and Sin Bihyeong clashed, filling the training ground with thunderous roars once more.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Huaam..."
Class A's homeroom professor, Shin Hu, stretched a massive yawn as he strolled the hallway.
The endless weapon selection ordeal had finally ended.
Having woken from a brief, sweet nap, he was right back to work—enough to bring tears to his eyes.
'I wonder how far those kids have grown.'
Yet his steps showed no fatigue, thanks to the disciples etched in his mind.
'They grow differently every day when I'm not looking.'
A cut above the rest.
No. Thinking back to the entrance ceremony, they didn't seem the type to tuck themselves humbly in a pouch,
so "a crane among chickens" fit better.
Shin Hu whistled, imagining his marked disciple's progress, as he opened Class A's door.
"Kids. Take your sea—"
He saw it.
Everyone dead silent, lips sealed, eyes fixed warily on one person.
And naturally, Shin Hu's gaze was drawn to him too.
'...Heh.'
A hollow laugh escaped him.
Unable to hold back, he barked at Sin Bihyeong.
"What are you, some kind of monster?"