The Gate in the Bathhouse
The hot water enveloped my body, and without realizing it, a sound like an old man’s groan escaped my lips.
“Uwaaa… I’m alive…”
“Kid. I thought you were my same age. Still a young one talking like that… uwaaa…”
Dad said that, but he seemed in a good mood.
After hard work, soaking in the bath, the fatigue seemed to disappear completely.
“Puuu- So, when is the reward for this request coming?”
“Um… Well, this is my first time taking on this request, so I’m not sure.”
Dad seemed curious about when the reward would come…
I didn’t know either.
Originally, since it was the first time receiving a request, I didn’t know how it would come.
Would it drop from the sky?
Or direct to my account?
No, I don’t even know my own account number.
Would it come to me?
…
No way. How did it come all the way from Murim.
The dimension is different, so it shouldn’t come.
Thinking that, I pushed the rest of my upper body into the bath.
“Haa~ This is life…”
“What a sight, old man…”
Dad saw my appearance and smiled, probably because it was funny.
It’s like this that I see him as a kid.
Since I sent all the conditions requested by the Sacheon Dang Family, the money would come…
But I don’t know when.
It would be good if it comes soon…
By the way, was the requester’s name Dang Bilyeong?
A woman’s name…
How does she look? I’m curious.
While supporting my body in the bath, looking up at the ceiling, my mood improved.
Since I had been hammering without sleeping to make weapons…
The dew on the bath ceiling dripped to the floor with “tuk tuk”.
In the quiet bath, the only sound was a few old men entering and exiting the bath.
And the dimensional gate opening in the air.
Indeed, the morning bath was rare, so it felt new.
…
Um? Wait a second. Dimensional gate?
Why is this popping out here?
“Uwaaaaaak!”
Dad, seeing the gate, jumped out of the bath in surprise.
A dimensional gate? Does a gate open inside the bath?
Do I have to fight?
Looking at the flickering green dimensional gate, countless thoughts filled my head.
“Ha… Hwan-ah, is that the gate or something?”
“Uwaaaaaak!”
The inside of the bath was suddenly thrown into chaos by the dimensional gate that appeared.
The few people inside were in a panic and rushed out of the bath.
I was about to run too, but I’m an awakened one.
Should I fight or report to the association? My thoughts were many.
Damn, what do I do in this situation…
Crack-!
“Eh…?”
At that moment, the green dimensional gate shook greatly, cracks appeared in the fissure, and a hand came out from inside.
“Mon… Monster?!”
“What? Monster?!”
Gate breaking. When a gate is left unattended for a long time, monsters inside come out…
This gate was definitely just born.
But it’s already breaking? What the hell is this…
Crash-!
Then, the fissure completely shattered, and from inside, the figure of a woman appeared.
“J… Damn!”
I grabbed the cleaning mop and pointed it at the thing coming out of the gate.
“Ah… Dad, run! Quickly!”
“Ha… Hwan-ah…”
I had to protect dad.
I didn’t know what was going on right now…
But I had to protect dad.
The figure hidden in the steam of the bath approached me one step.
Because of the tension, sweat poured down my whole body like rain.
Damn… Just when I thought I saw the light…
I gripped the mop tightly.
At that moment, the steam lifted, and the face of the thing from the gate appeared.
A peerless beauty with jet-black hair neatly tied back, and eyes like brilliant emerald green with cold frost.
“Excuse me… Is your name Seo Hwan?”
Her cool and dignified voice echoed in the bath.
I froze, still holding the mop tightly.
Dad next to me, who was about to pour hot water with a basin, also froze with mouth open.
“Yes… I am Seo Hwan, but…”
“Fortunately. It seems you came properly.”
The woman tried to maintain a cold expression, but in her slightly trembling eyes, relief was thickly layered.
“Bu… But who are you? You don’t seem to be a monster…”
“Moonstar? I don’t know what that is… My name is Dang Bilyeong. I am the So-gaju of the Dang family. I came because of the sword you made…”
As she continued to speak seriously, Bilyeong’s gaze went down.
I was standing there holding the wet mop and (??) confidently.
Behind me, dad was hurriedly covering his important parts with the bath.
Bilyeong’s clear emerald eyes shook uncontrollably.
Her cool and dignified white face instantly flushed red.
“Th… Th… S… Sorry! I… I didn’t intend to look at all!”
“St… Stop! Th… That! I’ll put on clothes, so wait!”
I shouted as if screaming, threw the mop, and ran madly to the changing room.
“I… I’ll take you too!!”
From behind, dad was screaming and chasing me fiercely.
“Ha… Hwan-ah! Cabinet! What kind of cabinet do we have!”
“This… This is it!”
Uddangtang-!
The sound was so loud that anyone would think a armed robber had entered the changing room.
I put on the clothes with my face drained of blood, and because it was shaking so much, it was hard to button them.
“Th… That woman, who is she, Hwan-ah?”
“Th… That person seems to be the one who commissioned the weapon for us.”
“What? The So-gaju of the Sacheon Dang Family?”
“Yes…”
That woman introduced herself as Dang Bilyeong.
Dang Bilyeong was the name of the person who entrusted the request to me, so she probably came directly…
How she came is secondary.
Of all places, to meet in the bath…
Showing my precious mop to a stranger woman was not a small embarrassment.
Without drying my hair, I roughly shook off the wet hair.
I took a deep breath, opened the door to the bath again.
“Um… Now I’m dressed.”
“Kyaa!”
The shoulder of Bilyeong, who was looking back at my voice, twitched.
Bilyeong slowly, very slowly turned her head.
The Dang family is a family that uses poison, so in the martial arts world, they are usually depicted as quite poisonous in appearance.
However, the girl in front of me couldn’t even raise her head in shame, blushing.
It was completely different from what I knew…
“Ex… Excuse me. It is my first time traveling to an unknown space, so I have committed a breach of etiquette.”
Still embarrassed, she was bowing her head with her hands trembling.
If she was like that, I felt even more embarrassed.
“It’s… It’s okay. First, let’s move to a seat. Since a gate-like thing appeared, the association will come soon.”
The government agency ‘Association’ that immediately deploys when a gate appears.
As a group that takes on the removal of gates, they will respond quickly to this situation.
But the Bilyeong who came out from the gate is not a monster… I don’t know how to explain what she is.
So, for now, it’s best to leave the place.
“Yes… Understood.”
“But Hwan-ah. Where are you going?”
…
“To the blacksmith shop.”
***
“Huh… huh…”
“Huh… huh… Aigoo, you kid… Think about my age too…”
We ran out of the bath and sprinted to the blacksmith shop.
The blacksmith shop was located in a high place, so we went to the bath to cool down, but our bodies got sweaty in no time.
On the other hand, Bilyeong who ran with us in the high place didn’t show any sign of fatigue, not even a drop of sweat.
Wow… Is that a martial artist…? Damn, really…
Bilyeong, entering the blacksmith shop, looked around every corner of the shop as if she had seen something strange.
“This place… Is this the place where you forged this sword?”
Bilyeong asked quietly, placing her hand on the sword sheath at her waist.
“Yes. That’s right. Hoo…”
I took a deep breath and looked straight at Bilyeong and brought out the main point.
“By the way… What is the reason you opened the dimensional gate and came all the way here?”
Bilyeong’s expression immediately sank seriously and heavily at my question.
“Please… Help the Dang family… Young master.”
Bilyeong tried to kneel, as if she was about to kneel right then.
“Eh… You don’t have to do that. What’s the matter…?”
I was startled and tried to stop her. After all, she’s the So-gaju… Why so much to me…?
Bilyeong immediately opened her mouth and told the situation of the Dang family without missing a beat.
The situation of the Dang family shaken after the war with the Demon Cult.
The relationship with the Haebuk Paeng Family.
She told all the stories quietly in front of me and dad.
“It’s over… If you help us, Young brother, we will give everything we can from the Dang family. So, please…”
Bilyeong bowed her head politely towards me in a tearful tone.
If I had a mind, I could have used force here and threatened them.
But Bilyeong didn’t do that.
Was she thinking that would make her similar to the Paeng family she resented so much…
The situation was too pitiful.
And it wasn’t just me who felt sorry for it.
“Huu… hic!”
Suddenly, a loud crying sound burst out from behind.
Startled, I turned around, and dad was wiping the flowing tears and snot, shaking his shoulders loudly.
“Ah… Dad?! Why are you like that?”
“How can this be a sad story…! The father who devoted his life for the world has become a ruin… A young daughter-in-law has to bear such a heavy burden alone… Hwan-ah! Help us right now! Especially those Paeng bastards, I can’t stand to see them!”
Dad was furious, hitting the anvil with his fist, shedding tears.
My reaction to dad’s mixed sympathy and anger came out as a chuckle.
“You didn’t have to say it, I was going to do that, dad.”
I turned my head towards Bilyeong.
Bilyeong raised her head, but her eyes were still shaking.
“Don’t worry, So-gaju. We will help.”
I said to Bilyeong with a gentle but firm voice full of conviction.
“So… So-hyup, really…?”
Looking at Bilyeong’s trembling eyes as if she couldn’t believe the situation, I smiled lightly.
“Since my dad is so excited like this, if I don’t help, I’ll be a filial son who disobeys. Don’t worry about the weapons of the Sacheon Dang Family. We will make them perfectly for you.”
I grabbed Bilyeong’s trembling shoulder and told the final story.
Bilyeong’s trembling shoulder finally relaxed as the tension eased.
Although there was still moisture in the corners of her eyes,
The shaking pupils seemed to have regained stability.
“Thank you… So-hyup… This grace will never… be forgotten.”
“What, this much grace. But there is one thing I promise you.”
“Promise…? What…”
I wanted Bilyeong not to fall apart over this matter.
I wanted her to overcome this and keep buying our products steadily.
Also, I had seen my dad falling apart with my own eyes.
I knew that pain well.
“You must defeat those Haebuk Paeng bastards or whatever. Can you keep that promise?”
Bilyeong listened to my words, closed her mouth for a moment, then opened it.
“Yes, So-hyup. I will never lose to those bastards.”
The girl who was only trembling until now showed the dignified spirit of the So-gaju.
“Good. So, what should we make?”
At my question, Bilyeong hurriedly wiped her eye corners and hurriedly listed her specific requests in a composed voice.
“First… The silver sword you made before. I would like to request about 50 more of those weapons.”
“50, it will take some time, but I’ll try somehow.”
“And…”
Bilyeong’s eyes became even more serious.
“I would like you to make three swords.”
“Um? Is it a different sword from before?”
“Yes…”
Bilyeong hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth.
“The swords I request… The sword I will use, the sword of the Poison Dragon Unit leader who leads the elite soldiers of the Dang family, and finally the signature sword for my father, the head of the family, who is lying here.”
At Bilyeong’s words, I nodded my head.
“The sword you made before is also excellent without a doubt. But the weapons we three will use must be better than this one.”
Probably because the rank is higher, they thought titanium alone would have limits.
“The materials needed to make the swords, we will somehow obtain them, so can you make them?”
Minerals coming out from the martial arts world…
I had seen them in the martial arts web novel before.
Black iron, white iron, ten thousand year iron, white lotus steel…
There were various ores in the martial arts novel, so I once thought I wanted to see the real thing someday…
Finally, my dream is coming true.
Hearing that, my hot passion as a blacksmith burned like wildfire.
“Great! I don’t know what the materials are, but I will pour all my skills into making the best swords for you!”
I told Bilyeong excitedly like a child.
Bilyeong also seemed to like the sight and smiled.
“Thank you, So-hyup! Ah, and this is… I added a little more sincerity from the cost of the previous request. Please accept it.”
Reward: 20,000,000 Won transferred to your account.
Quest fee: 15,000,000 Won + Additional: 5,000,000 Won
“The Dang family’s situation is not good, so I can only give this much, I’m sorry…”
Giving 20 million won casually and saying sorry…?
If the family that was declining gave 20 million won without batting an eye…
How much money is in that dimension…?
“If you complete this request safely, not only will you receive sufficient reward, but I will also tell you the secret manual and martial arts of the Dang family’s signature technique ‘Heavenly Poison Mind Method’, and provide the Dang family’s elixir.”
The secret manual and elixir…? I didn’t even expect this… jackpot.
The secret manual is a technique that allows you to accumulate internal energy in the body…
The elixir is a cheat item from the martial arts world that makes the internal energy several times stronger.
I will eventually go into the gate to obtain materials someday.
But I was troubled because I didn’t have a decent combat trait…
It’s good.
If I learn the Dang family’s secret manual and martial arts, the gate won’t be a problem either?
But… the family’s signature secret manual… isn’t that very important?
The Dang family’s signature secret manual and martial arts.
Even if it might be the family’s secret, I could see Bilyeong’s earnestness in readily offering it.
Leaving the Sacheon Dang family’s hundred-year future entirely in the hands of our two blacksmiths.
It was beyond drastic, a promise that threw everything away.