Chapter 15
As Geom Mujin had expected, Taehomun announced the monster demon hunt the very next day.
They dressed it up with all kinds of grand, pleasant-sounding reasons about rooting out the remnants of the Demonic Cult and setting the moral order of the jianghu straight, or protecting the safety of Gangseoseong by going beyond Gangneung, and so on. But what they really wanted to say was simple:
- Listen up, assholes. We’re going monster demon hunting, so if any freeloading parasites try to latch onto us, you’re dead.
And this wasn’t just empty posturing.
The neighboring sects, who had been licking their chops after hearing that Cheongsa Sect’s head had been smashed in, all went quiet.
What were they supposed to do when the fat bastard in the Gangneung area drew a line in the sand like that?
It wasn’t like they were going to move away after one monster demon hunt.
A few sects even tried nudging Sookgeomgak, the so-called arch-enemy of Taehomun’s noble and upright local rivals, to see if they’d step up and make a fuss for them.
- A true gentleman knows the difference between when he should act and when he should not.
So they went all “gentleman this, gentleman that” and stayed silent.
Arch-enemy my ass—Sookgeomgak was still a notch or two below Taehomun.
With the rivals around them dealt with, Taehomun put out a notice.
◈ [Property 1]
◈ [Property 2]
From long ago, expeditions had never been made up of combatants alone.
There were always people traveling with them to cook their meals, tend their bedding, carry their luggage, and otherwise serve them.
Hiring laborers for a hunt that wasn’t even an expedition?
It was a thoroughly flashy, overdone move, but the Taehomun lord said he was doing it to ease the burden on his sect’s disciples, so they decided to bring in hired hands.
- Waaaaah! Sect Lord!
- We’ll follow you for life!
Not a single disciple failed to shed tears at the lord’s boundless grace.
Of course, beneath that surface excuse of “for the disciples,” there was another reason entirely.
“I’m here for the open recruitment.”
And Geom Mujin was one of the people who showed up for that open recruitment.
* * *
“We’ll begin the open recruitment for laborers now!”
The examiner standing on the platform spoke with qi behind his voice.
His amplified words, as if broadcast through a megaphone, rang out across the training ground.
“There are three tests in all!”
There were plenty of black-haired Joseon folk in the training yard.
There were quite a few Zhongyuan people too, but in terms of numbers it looked more like a 7-to-3 split.
Surprisingly, seeing black-haired people like me in Zhongyuan wasn’t all that rare.
It was especially common in regions near rivers.
Where there were rivers, trade was active, and so were the goods that came and went.
And naturally, whenever goods were loaded and unloaded, the work of hauling and moving them flourished.
That just means there are a lot of jobs.
The door to employment in Zhongyuan was by no means narrow.
The downside was that the jobs were all dirty, dangerous, and underpaid, and workplace racism was rampant—but for black-haired people who had left home with nothing but the two little beads between their legs, even that was a blessing.
Gangseoseong here in Jiangxi was also connected to the Yangtze through a river called the Gan River, so trade was lively.
That’s why there were so many black-haired laborers in the loading and unloading business, and those were the people who had applied for this recruitment.
“The first test is a strength test, the second is an endurance test, and the last is a test of special skills. Failing the last one won’t especially hurt you, though.”
“What exactly do you mean by special skills for the last one?”
One of the applicants raised his hand.
It made sense to test strength and stamina for labor, but what the hell was a special-skills category?
“It means we’ll give preference to people with standout abilities like smelting or cooking.”
At the examiner’s explanation, the applicants’ faces soured all at once.
Damn it, they were scraping by one day at a time—what special skills?
If they had something like that, they wouldn’t be standing here in the first place.
What is this, a temp agency looking for coding experience?
Maybe they knew it too, because even the examiner looked like he wasn’t expecting much.
I’ll just stay here.
I wasn’t exactly lacking in specialties myself, but right now was the time for black hair’s specialty—swordsmanship—to stay hidden.
“Then we’ll begin the first test! Step forward in number order!”
At the examiner’s call, the applicant wearing number 1 on his chest stepped forward.
Broad-shouldered and black-haired, he looked like he’d have no trouble putting his strength to work.
In front of him sat a large wooden crate.
Inside the crate was fifty kilograms of rebar. This world uses kilograms, the international standard, apparently.
“If you lift the crate and reach the marked point and come back before this hourglass runs out, you pass.”
“Understood. Hrrrgh...!”
With a single breath, the applicant hoisted the crate effortlessly.
“Ooooh...”
“He lifted that in one go.”
“As expected of Joseon folk. They really are the kind of guys who lift crates by day and women by night.”
The applicants snickered.
Cut the sleazy jokes about Joseon folk!
The loading-and-unloading crews of Zhongyuan were stronger than modern delivery workers.
In the present day, we use light cardboard boxes. In this primitive era, they used wooden crates.
Because they prioritized the safety of the goods over the convenience of the workers, they used sturdy materials—heavy wooden crates.
The people who hauled those crates every day were roughly twice as strong as the delivery monsters from my homeland, the kingdom of shipping.
“Hup! Hup! Hup!”
The applicant carrying the crate returned after reaching the destination, sweat streaming down his face in thick beads.
The sand in the hourglass was just about to run out.
“Number 1, pass.”
The first test began with a pass.
After that, the test moved quickly.
“...Number 24, pass.”
“...Number 45, fail.”
“...Number 57, pass.”
Joseon folk generally passed, while Zhongyuan folk generally did not.
The burden of all the hard labor they’d normally dumped on others came back to bite them like a boomerang.
“Next, number 93.”
I lowered my head and looked at the badge on my chest, marked 93.
At last, it was my turn.
“Begin.”
“Got it.”
“What? What did you just say—”
Geom Mujin, who had unconsciously fired off a surprise casual remark, lifted the crate.
Stomp, stomp—
With the crate on his back, Geom Mujin headed toward the marked point.
He was clearly carrying fifty kilograms, but his steps were calm and easy.
Thud—!
He dropped the crate after reaching the destination and set it down.
...What?
I felt baffled by the suddenly quiet atmosphere.
“......”
“......”
The examiner and the applicants were all staring at the hourglass.
More than half the sand was still left.
“Ah.”
Only then did I realize my mistake.
...I did too well on the test.
And not just well—way too well.
I’d tried to keep my strength as restrained as possible, but apparently that hadn’t looked restrained at all to anyone else.
Someone please tell me what being weak feels like!
Fifty kilos? Honestly, it felt like carrying one small puppy on my back.
The other successful applicants had looked winded after reaching the destination and coming back, but he hadn’t.
His breathing was steady, and he hadn’t even sweated.
“Hey, you—”
Just as the examiner was about to say something, Geom Mujin’s face suddenly went pale, and he began to pant like he was about to collapse.
“H-haaah...! H-haaah...!!”
I considered quickly ramping up my metabolism and forcing sweat out, but it wasn’t necessary.
Cold sweat was already pouring from me at the thought that I’d nearly screwed this up.
“Th-this... haah... m-means 1... huff... first place, right...? F-first place gets... extra rewards, doesn’t it? That’s right, isn’t it?”
Geom Mujin asked, eyes shining with a desperate hunger for first place.
“What the hell, he was forcing himself through something hard?”
“Figures. No way his face wouldn’t change at all otherwise.”
“Still, does first place actually get something?”
At that sight, Geom Mujin became just another applicant showing off for first place.
“...Number 93. Pass.”
The examiner, wearing a sour expression, still gave him a passing mark, because a pass was a pass.
“Next. And I’ll say this now: there are no rankings in this test.”
* * *
Out of nearly a hundred applicants, almost half were eliminated in the first test.
“The next test will begin at midday after a rest period. If you’re not back by then, you’ll be eliminated, so remember that.”
They were given lunch and a break.
Unlike the other applicants, who went out to the market, Geom Mujin found a suitably shady, quiet place and sat down.
Everywhere else was packed to the brim at this hour.
So before coming to take the test, he’d packed lunch in advance.
Today’s lunch was a rice burger, chicken mayo style.
“Nom.”
The sweet teriyaki and savory mayonnaise mingled in his mouth.
After finishing the meal, I interlaced my fingers behind my head, lay back, and closed my eyes.
This isn’t sleeping.
I’m simply engaging in some deep, serious meditation for a moment.
What should the topic be?
Since I’m only sitting here because of the future of the martial world, that sounds good.
What will the future of the martial world be like?
......
......
Dark. I couldn’t see anything but darkness.
The future of the martial world was pitch black... and... zzz...
“Snoo... ore...”
Thwack—! Crash—!!
“!”
How much time had passed?
When the sound of a struggle reached him, his eyes opened.
He didn’t need to search for where it came from.
Right nearby, there were some bastards who had interrupted my nap—no, my meditation.
A group with some garishly colored heads was bullying a Joseon boy who had just barely become an adult.
The five surrounding him had pinned down the boy’s arms and legs as he struggled.
“Let go! You bastards!”
“You little punk! Stay still.”
“I told you, if you’d just listened when we were talking nicely, none of this would’ve gotten ugly. Or ugly-er, I guess.”
“Oi oi, if you get hurt and end up crippled, that’s your loss.”
One of the gang raised a rock and aimed for the boy’s knee.
I thought I knew exactly what was going on.
Eliminating the competition.
What the examiner had said before leaving.
If you weren’t there when the test resumed, you’d be eliminated.
These guys were planning to use that to take out rivals.
Come to think of it, those guys were the ones who barely passed the test.
By contrast, the boy had passed with relative ease.
Now I saw it—it wasn’t just eliminating competitors. It was pulling the ladder up behind them.
“Hold him tight. One shot—”
“Oi.”
Just as the orange-haired bastard with the rock was about to smash down on the knee—
“What’s the problem?”
“Look over there.”
Another of the gang pointed to one side.
Someone was lying in the shade beneath the eaves of a building—Geom Mujin.
“What? Since when was he there?”
“How should I know? More importantly, if we tattle to the examiner, that’ll just be a pain. Let’s deal with this bastard too.”
Seeing the other’s black hair, the orange-haired one nodded.
“Oi, why don’t you get up for a sec?”
The orange-haired bastard approached with a swagger and said it.
“I’m too lazy. Just leave.”
He’d planned to slip along without drawing attention, so he just waved a hand carelessly.
“Haah, has this stupid barbarian gone completely nuts!”
Veins bulging on his forehead, the orange-haired bastard kicked at Geom Mujin.
Crack—!
“Kyaaaah!”
As the foot met Geom Mujin’s wildly flailing hand, the ankle twisted in a direction ankles were not meant to twist.
The orange-haired one screamed as his toes and heel performed the miracle of swapping directions.
“W-what!?”
“You bastard! What the hell did you do—!”
The gang holding down the boy was shocked out of their minds.
“Ah.”
“Ooooh-mommm...!”
Geom Mujin winced at the orange-haired bastard now bawling for his mother, frothing at the mouth.
He’d made that same mistake earlier, and now again!
Without realizing it, he’d just unleashed the eleventh of the 108 Killing Arts.
The person himself didn’t know it, but his body had already reached the level where it reflexively rejected attacks from trash like them.
“Sorry, that must hurt like hell. I’ll put it back for you.”
Crack, crack—!
I set the orange-haired bastard’s ankle back into place.
In the process, the ankle bone, ligaments, and Achilles tendon were all wrecked even more.
“Grrrrr...”
“Now, take your friend and go.”
Geom Mujin shoved forward the orange-haired bastard, who was foaming at the mouth from inhuman pain.
First, calm them down with this and then shut them up.
“That crazy barbarian!”
“Run, everyone!”
“Wait—!”
But contrary to that plan, the colorful gang started bolting over one another to get away.
“No, if you’re going, at least take him with you.”
“......”
“Grrrrr...”
Geom Mujin, the boy, and the orange-haired one still foaming at the mouth.
Only three were left.
* * *
“Keeeeee...”
A deer with its throat bitten let out a weak cry and collapsed.
“......”
The thing that had bitten the deer’s throat opened its mouth.
Wrapped in red-black mist, the thing recalled what had happened earlier.
The people who had given off an unpleasant aura and tried to harm it.
It had clearly been stronger than them, and yet it had still been forced into a hard fight.
In the end, the prey had been them, and the one who ate them had been itself.
But it had failed to devour them all and let some escape.
Why?
It had been the stronger one.
The thing sank into thought, and then it found the answer.
Numbers.
The prey had made up for their weakness through numbers.
They gathered small forces, fought a stronger enemy with them, and then scattered and fled.
Even if it was strong, in the end it was alone.
If the prey ran off in ten different directions, it couldn’t chase them all.
The thing came to understand the importance of numbers.
It wanted to increase its own numbers too.
Then it could get much more prey.
As the thing desired it, the thing awakened a new ability.
The moment it awakened, the thing instinctively understood the ability and moved.
The awakened ability prevented blood from being sucked out when it bit the prey’s throat.
It seemed like a useless ability, but it wasn’t.
If it used the ability and bit its prey, then that prey would...
Wriggle— wriggle—
The deer that had been knocked down by the thing’s bite twitched and rose again.
The deer, its eyes faintly glowing red, lowered its head.
And it wasn’t just the deer.
One by one, the prey that had been lying in a row behind it began to stir and stand.
The thing was no longer alone.
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