Orphan Evolves into a Female Orphan (2)
“Affiliated with a sect?”
Why is she asking that? Do I look like a murim warrior? Where?
“No, I’m not.”
“Not affiliated!?”
The girl gasped in shock.
“How can that be… How have the sects around here been slacking off…? How many years has it been?”
“Pardon?”
“How many years since the Black Spot Disease first appeared on your body?”
“Ten years.”
“Ten years!?”
The girl stared at me, then let out a series of heavy sighs before closing her eyes.
“Aigoo, aigooh…”
“Um, miss?”
I’ve got to get to work.
But her aura was too solemn to interrupt.
“…Aigooya.”
Finally, she opened her eyes again, filled with deep pity toward me.
“What a shame, such a waste… A great loss. You’ve missed the timing, it’s already too late…”
“Pardon?”
“Take this at least.”
The girl placed her fingers on my wrist.
A refreshing energy flowed from her body into mine, like the scent of fresh pine or a mint candy dissolving in my mouth.
“How does it feel?”
“…The pain has lessened a bit?”
I couldn’t believe it, so it came out as a question.
“Good. Now go on your way.”
Realizing she’d done something for me, I bowed my head.
“Thank you.”
“No need. This poor Daoist is the one who’s sorry for not being able to help more.”
The girl waved her hand dismissively.
After sending Cheon Do-yeon on his way, the girl let out a deep sigh from the bottom of her heart.
“Haa… What a pity, such a terrible shame. A talent that appears once every thousand years, only for his own body to drag it down into ruin…”
As Cheon Do-yeon had guessed, the girl was indeed a murim warrior.
Her title was Hyeon Song Cheon Nyeo. She was an elder of Bongrae-pa, one of the greatest Daoist sects.
If only this poor Daoist had met him a few years earlier, I could have helped that talent bloom.
Black Spot Disease arises from the foul qi leaking from otherworldly gates, accumulating in the body’s meridians.
But Bongrae-pa had recently discovered something crucial.
All those afflicted with Black Spot Disease possessed exceptional martial talent. And the longer and more severely they suffered, the greater their potential achievements.
Ten years, he said.
No one had endured the disease for ten years before.
If only that child could recover and learn martial arts…
Her imagination couldn’t even fathom how far he might rise. But.
What a shame—it’s already too late.
From grasping his wrist, she’d examined his condition, and it was beyond pathetic.
His meridians throughout his body were completely blocked and rotting.
It had surpassed the point of no return.
He was living on borrowed time. At most a week; at worst, today could be his last.
There was one way for the young man to survive.
But it was utterly unrealistic.
It required completely rebuilding his body from scratch—meridians to organs. Like the hwan-gol-tal-tae transformation of murim warriors.
If achieved, he could expel all the accumulated foul qi and gain a pristine body. But how could a non-murim warrior perform hwan-gol-tal-tae?
Thus, the young man’s death was all but certain.
Still, having met him at the end and eased his pain a little could be considered fate.
“Aigoo…”
Hyeon Song Cheon Nyeo pressed her palms together in prayer for his peace, then resumed her original path.
She had a meeting scheduled with the sect leader of Dobongpa.
Nam Yeon was her usual bitchy self today as well.
“Hey, porter! Can’t you move faster!?”
“Sorry, huff, I’m… trying…!”
We passed the area we’d cleared yesterday and pushed deeper inside.
Normally, by this depth, the gate’s clear condition would be clear. Usually, it was the boss monster.
But with no info popping up yet, the murim warriors checking the gate details via their status windows looked increasingly grim.
“Senior Sister, what’s the clear condition here?”
“Probably kill the boss?”
“We’ve come pretty far for that already…”
“Hmm.”
Nam Yeon glanced around.
“You have a point. Not like a C-grade gate will have anything impressive, but…”
She whipped around and glared at me again.
“Hey! Wanna get left behind!?”
“S-sor-ry! I’m… go—”
Something grabbed my ankle.
“Gah!?”
I fell. The ground rushed toward my face.
Splat!
But I didn’t stop at the ground—I tumbled further down.
Moaning as I sat up, I realized what happened.
I’d rolled into a hidden hole camouflaged in the dirt.
It felt like a hand grabbed my ankle…?
Maybe my foot just caught on the edge?
Something felt off.
Anyway, I looked around.
If I’d fallen into a special area inside the gate, there might be something valuable.
And what I found made me forget to breathe for a moment.
“What was that noise… Huh?”
Nam Yeon’s group came back.
“Hidden area entrance?”
“Looks like it!”
I heard them talking from above.
But my mind was fixed solely on what was before me.
The impact of the fall and my bruises felt distant.
A sword lay on red silk.
As if this entire space was built to enshrine it.
It’s an item!
The term for weapons or gear acquired inside gates.
And items were always top-tier, some even with special abilities.
Even I, no murim warrior, could tell this was a legendary blade.
My life’s fixed…!
How much would this fetch? A hundred million? A billion? Two? Ten?
My hands shook.
Even with hyperinflation, billions could buy anything.
Grill pork belly at a fancy spot, snag fast internet for comfy forum browsing.
I reached out.
Grabbed the sword. It burned hot.
“Hey, porter, what the hell are you doing?”
My heart dropped.
Nam Yeon loomed over me, glaring.
“…I found this.”
Industry rule: Items found by porters belonged to them.
Nam Yeon narrowed her eyes.
“So?”
“…”
“Why’s it yours?”
“I found—”
“Hey, porter.”
Her voice turned icy.
“Answer properly?”
…Ah. You fucking bitch.
I knew it. She’d have let me keep it if it was junk. That’s the rule.
It’s just too valuable.
“I found this sword.”
Nam Yeon jumped down and seized it.
“You’re just holding my find for me. Right, porter? That’s how it is, yeah?”
“You…”
“Huh?”
Mom, sorry.
“You fucking bitch.”
“Pfft.”
Nam Yeon burst out laughing.
“Hah… Forget it. My karma’s shot this life, thanks to you.”
She thrust her palm at my chest.
Crack. My ribs stabbed my heart and lungs.
A shockwave hit. My body flew back, slamming into the red silk where the sword had been.
But it didn’t stop.
A thin stone slab shattered, revealing a deeper pit beneath.
“!!”
Nam Yeon’s shocked face receded.
I was falling.
Plummeting. For a long time.
Finally, I hit cold water.
Splash!!!!!
The massive impact knocked me out.
But the place Cheon Do-yeon fell into wasn’t an ordinary spring.
It was the culmination of ancient research by a genius from another world who sought the pinnacle of Taiji.
Yeokgeukcheon
Yin turns to yang. Yang turns to yin.
Thus, man becomes woman.
Cheon Do-yeon’s submerged body shattered and reformed.
Her hair grew long, shifting from common black to peach-blossom pink.
Nose refined and upturned, eyes large and clear.
Irises dyed noble purple, brows sweeping like a goose in flight.
A slender waist. Breasts and hips swelling in voluptuous curves.
Slim limbs, flawless white skin, delicate hands and feet.
She transformed.
Into an otherworldly beauty of cheonhyang guksaek, where fish sink and geese fall in awe, where flowers and moon hide in shame—a peerless stunner.
But what Cheon Do-yeon gained wasn’t just beauty.
As her body fully remade itself, the black foul qi tormenting her for ten years poured out.
Long-blocked paths cleared.
Unknown meridians burst open, suppressed true qi resuming its natural flow.
Thus, it could finally begin.
(3654th attempt)
A tremendous power enveloped Cheon Do-yeon.
Target's karma limit: MAX
Perk grade: Transcendent
Disposition confirmed: Thirst for Comprehension
Transcendent Perk Granted: Simsang Dokja
Light enveloped her body.
Perk granted.
Awakening complete.
And in a place no one could see, a single message appeared and vanished.
“Blessings of the stars upon the one who reaches the end of the apocalypse’s dirge.”
Gluglug. Bubble bubble glubhack!
I flailed wildly underwater. My body surfaced.
“Ughack!! Cough, urk! Hack!!!”
My flailing hand hit something solid—the edge. I grabbed it and pulled myself out.
Crawling onto land, I coughed and gathered my wits.
“Cough, urk…”
Damn, nearly drowned!
Where am I?
“…Huh?”
Something felt off. I realized what soon enough.
My body felt light.
Since the Black Spot Disease, moving had grown harder each day, like swimming through sand.
That sensation was gone.
Moreover, a powerful energy danced through my entire body.
My heart pounded.
“No way… Did I awaken?”
But as I spoke, I noticed another anomaly.
“Wha-wha-what???”
Why does my voice sound like this!?