First Forum Frenzy (1)

*Ding. Ding ding. Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding—*

Comments started flooding in on my post like crazy.

And then, posts curious about me started popping up everywhere.

Whoa...

The entire gallery was buzzing about me alone.

And the members of this gallery? They were the top dogs of the murim world—the strongest and most renowned.

My heart pounded like crazy from this level of attention I'd never gotten before in my life. My hands shook. The corners of my mouth twitched upward on their own.

Geom Hu!?

Just those two characters as a nickname.

Exceptions exist, but generally, the shorter the nickname, the stronger and more famous its owner.

And Geom Hu was one of the strongest and most famous people in the entire murim—leader of the Murim Alliance, the union of all righteous sects.

What do I do?

Should I just come clean now? Say I just awakened, know zilch about martial arts?

...No, can't do that.

I can't afford misconceptions.

Who was really desperate and clueless here among the gallery users? Them. Not me—the other murim folks.

If you have what others want, don't give it away freely. Make them pay when you do.

That's how you survive.

Dopamine was surging from my brief forum antics, but I couldn't forget.

Right now, I was somewhere deep in a gate.

Nam Yeon from Dobongpa, who came in with me, tried to kill me to steal the item I found. If not for that bizarre coincidence dropping me here, I'd be dead for real.

In that sense... maybe it's a blessing my original body vanished.

What do I need to do now?

Escape this gate safely.

To achieve that, how? Can't count on rescue, so I have to get out myself.

For that, I needed power. Had to learn martial arts myself.

Honyeon Taeheo Muryang Jin-gyeong.

The name of the manual I picked up.

But this alone wouldn't ensure safe escape.

I'd lurked on Murim Gallery—the public internet one, not this True Murim Gallery—for ages and grasped how martial arts worked in broad strokes.

Martial arts divide into inner arts and outer arts.

Inner arts cultivate inside the body. Outer arts manifest outside.

Punching, kicking, sword strikes—all outer arts.

But no ordinary person can shatter rocks with punches, no matter how hard they swing.

Murim experts can. Because they accumulate qi inside via special breathing, turning it into their power.

That 'special breathing to build qi' is inner cultivation—inner arts.

The Honyeon Taeheo Muryang Jin-gyeong I found was an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inner art, or inner core method.

Now, the question: Is Honyeon Taeheo Muryang Jin-gyeong a good inner core method?

I didn't know.

But now I had a way to ask those who did.

Post.

Submit.

Comments cursing me poured in.

Ugh.

My heart hurt. Not just discomfort from being hated.

Fear.

In this half-destroyed world, hatred from others often turned straight into survival threats.

Once, because my Black Spot Disease made me look gross, they withheld survival rations everyone else got—shared equally otherwise.

Just a 500ml bottle of water and a pack of hardtack. Pre-gate apocalypse, people might've refused freebies like that.

But I nearly died without it.

Seoul's water purification center had collapsed back then—water was precious.

The distributor knew, but skipped me on purpose.

Because he hated me. Wanted me dead.

And I nearly was.

Such things happened constantly.

Being hated was a survival issue.

Terrifying.

But I endured.

Reminded myself: They're the desperate ones.

The vitriol kept coming, but I ignored it all.

Finally, answers to my question started appearing.

Oh yeah?

So it's a seriously top-notch inner core method?

I saw its heart image, but never others to compare.

Maybe learning another would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let me compare. Will that day come?

Anyway, next step: Get an outer art taught.

But then, a post in a totally different tone appeared.

Seom-myeol Hwa...!

Cold sweat poured down.

She was infamous for her fiery temper and brutal hands from Qingju Yeonga.

Rumor had it she once dueled another sect in a grudge match and slaughtered twenty whole there on the spot.

Hence, Seom-myeol Hwa—the flower that exterminates all.

Crisis spiking from her, more urgent posts followed.

"Heukcheonje...!?"

The man who ruled an entire region by slaughtering anyone who opposed him.

The most dangerous guy in murim—no, the whole Korean peninsula—said he'd watch me.

Basically, putting me on his hit list.

Geom Hu. Seom-myeol Hwa. And now Heukcheonje.

Ah, shit...!

Did I overdo it? Should've bowed out midway? Even if they were desperate, did I push too far?

Thump. Thump.

I gulped, about to draft an apology right then—

A new post appeared.

Question marks flooded the comments.

Starting with that post, totally different ones from the hate poured in.

The gallery's opinion flipped.