This Is a Huge Pinch
At the very moment Goat-jjang was trying to leave the Tower, Otto was live on stream in the Tower 1st Floor Safety Zone.
"Everyone! Today's a hunt stream! I heard Goat-jjang is on the fifth floor."
Otto let out a long, heavy sigh.
"You all saw the video, right? An S-rank hunter ended up fighting Goat-jjang because of me."
"Be quiet! I'll have you know I'm smart!"
One way or another, Otto couldn't sit easy with it. Goat-jjang had won, sure—but hadn't that whole situation started because she'd uploaded the video? A huge crowd of people must have swarmed in. Hadn't that been a hassle? Even if Goat-jjang wasn't human, wouldn't it have left a bad taste? Talking to her, Otto couldn't even tell the difference from a real person.
Guilt kept jabbing at a corner of her heart. Maybe that was why the thought occurred to her: if she just apologized, maybe this guilt would go away.
That was when a viewer tossed out a question.
"Oh, this? Goat-jjang might be hurt, so I raided the fridge to make her some recovery food."
"Hmm…. Our butcher shop's 1++ Hanwoo beef! Korean pork! Ox bone soup! Green onions! Salt! Lettuce! Shredded scallion! Ssamjang! Sesame oil! Instant rice! Mom's homemade kimchi! And just in case, a portable gas burner and butane canisters!"
Having expected this level of backlash, Otto moved to crush the rebellion.
"Hey! Don't you start going dark already! Of course I prepared gifts for my subscribers who've been through thick and thin with me!"
"I'm too embarrassed to shoot a photobook, so that's a no! More than that, I'd love to send something to everyone, but that wouldn't be fair."
"Nothing less than…. one kilogram of our butcher shop's 1++ Hanwoo beef, for each of you!"
Otto watched her viewers' reactions with a pleased little smile, then wagged a finger as if something had just occurred to her.
"Ah! Ah! No point subscribing right now! I already finished the list yesterday!"
"Ahh— thinking about it, wouldn't it be better to pull the cutoff forward by about a week? That way fewer people would feel cheated."
"Whaaat should I dooo?"
Thank you, Anonymous Patron, for the 10,000 won donation!
Thank you, Anonymous Patron, for the 10,000 won donation!
Thank you, Anonymous Patron, for the 10,000 won donation!
"Thinking about it, yesterday's cutoff is the right call after all!"
"Be quiet! Anyway, everyone send your addresses through the cafe DMs and watch the stream! We're starting!"
That was when a donation chat popped up.
"There's something my parents used to say every day. Nothing in this world comes easy."
"Easy? I looked into it. You have to sit through a whole month of theory classes and even take a test."
"Even to enter the Tower you have to submit a report, and if the higher-ups don't approve it, you can't go in."
"And honestly, if not me, who's gonna take all your trashy missions?"
Just as she was about to head out, another donation chat rolled in.
"Ah! Of course I have to go! They're screening the 50th floor highlight reel, and they said there are three hundred kinds of dishes."
"Be quiet! Both of my parents said they're not going. If I really can't find anyone, I'll just go by myself."
"Everyone be quiet. So, no more questions, right? I'm heading out to find Goat-jjang!"
And with that, Otto set off in search of Goat-jjang.
The instant Otto left, a man walked into the Tower 1st Floor Safety Zone.
That man was, of course, Baek Shin-hoo.
The moment he stepped inside the Tower, he bellowed in a voice thick with rapture.
"Heheheh! I'm in! I can enter again!"
Back when he'd lost his abilities, even trying to walk into the Tower had gotten him blocked at the entrance. Now he stood on the first floor without a single restriction.
Perhaps it was the sight of a man shouting for joy all by himself. Either way, the hunters nearby couldn't help but stare.
"Who's that guy? First time in the Tower?"
"Wait, isn't that Baek Shin-hoo?"
"No way. Baek Shin-hoo didn't look that old."
"Yeah. Plus that Mad Dog lost his abilities."
"But the features look weirdly similar, don't they?"
"No way it's actually Baek Shin-hoo, right?"
The muttering pricked at his ears. He didn't particularly care about them whispering among themselves—he'd been through this plenty of times before. What grated, however, was the Mad Dog comment.
Murderous intent flared in an instant.
"This bastard dares…."
He was just about to move, ready to kill that hunter on the spot, when a voice cut in.
"Stop."
"Why?"
"If you kill even a single person from this moment on, I will take your power from you."
"Kh…."
"Listen here, you. Do you think washing away the karma of slaughter is easy? It is not that I cannot do it—but it is a thing that only eats time."
"That's not my fucking problem!"
"Hear me well. If I so wished, I could snatch away that power you so desire in an instant."
"…."
"As for me, I need only slip out and take another body."
"Fuck, fine! I'll hold back, okay?!"
Baek Shin-hoo grumbled, but he obeyed the old Baek Shin-hoo all the same. Watching him, the old Baek Shin-hoo crowed inwardly.
Heheheh. This fool knows nothing of cultivation. If I could slip out whenever I pleased, I wouldn't be suffering through this in the first place.
The problem, if there was one, was Baek Shin-hoo's behavior. He'd flare up alone, freeze, mutter to himself, then his face would twist—the very picture of a madman. The hunters nearby edged away, putting distance between themselves and the dangerous-looking man.
Baek Shin-hoo didn't like that either, and he blew out a rough breath, but the old Baek Shin-hoo paid it no mind. His awareness, if anything, was turned toward the space itself.
"Incidentally, this spiritual land is truly remarkable. To think the spiritual qi could be this abundant."
"Spiritual qi? The hell is that?"
"A cultivator who does not know spiritual qi. Tsk tsk. Enough. Before we begin combat, I shall fill our spiritual power."
Baek Shin-hoo climbed onto a boulder off to one side, sat down on top of it, and folded his legs into a lotus position. The hunters around him started whispering again.
"What's with that old dude?"
"A new NPC? His pose is kinda like Goat-jjang's."
"Goat-jjang is cute though. That guy looks kinda scary."
"Just being near him makes my skin crawl."
Perhaps it was because people were afraid of him, watching him with wariness. Baek Shin-hoo's rage began to settle, little by little. That feeling he'd known for a long time.
Yeah. Them staring all scared like that—that's how it should be.
But the aura coming off the old Baek Shin-hoo, still sitting in lotus position, was anything but ordinary. His eyes snapped open, and he patted at his belly.
"What is this…. You had a false spiritual root?"
"False spiritual root? The hell is that?"
"No wonder you didn't know the first thing about cultivation! This is a false dantian—they crammed energy in by force!"
"And what the hell is cultivation? You gonna keep spitting words I can't understand?"
"Damn it all! It's like pouring a qi sea into a cheap bowl!"
"What the hell are you even saying? Explain it so I can understand!"
"It means the walls of your dantian are crude and thin, just like you—a vessel that shatters at the slightest damage!"
"As long as I can use my abilities, who cares?"
"It means advancing your realm is impossible like this!"
Having roughly grasped what that meant, Baek Shin-hoo promptly redirected the blame toward the lab.
"How should I know?! The lab did whatever they wanted!"
The old Baek Shin-hoo sank into despair.
A hundred years of enduring in a land of extreme yin. I couldn't see a thing, and then a vessel appeared before my eyes, so I entered. And now look—I'm a frog trapped in a well.
The old Baek Shin-hoo clicked his tongue, but he was already turning over the next move. As things stood, the ceiling was painfully clear, and if a stronger cultivator appeared, he would be finished with nowhere to run.
In that case, there was only one method.
Depending on how things go, I'll have to switch to that brat's body. If that doesn't work out, I'll look for another vessel.
Having settled the matter, the old Baek Shin-hoo rose from his seat.
"The situation has changed. Let us go find that brat you spoke of at once."
"Hell yeah! I've been waiting for you to say that!"
A short while later, on the 5th Floor Safety Zone, Baek Shin-hoo hurried his steps.
That was when the old Baek Shin-hoo smiled.
"There she is, up ahead."
Where he pointed, a small figure came into view, toddling along with quick little steps.
"Heh. Lucky us. Found her right away."
"Is that little one the child you mentioned?"
"That's her! If we can just kill that bitch, I'll even let you take the next turn."
The old Baek Shin-hoo took the measure of Goat-jjang's realm.
"Qi Condensation…. She's nearly reached the peak."
Anyone could see she was a child who hadn't even had her coming-of-age ceremony. A girl who didn't look fifteen, already at the end of Qi Condensation. Even in a grotto-heaven blessed land, that would be considerable—no, outstanding talent.
If I could only take that body…. The lifespan would decrease, but the foundation is excellent.
Greed boiled up. Baek Shin-hoo, oblivious to any of that, tossed out a single question.
"So? Can you beat her?"
"Heh. Losing to a child like that. Then again, I suppose that's only natural for ordinary folk."
"So you're saying we can definitely win."
"A hundred brats like that wouldn't be a problem."
With those words as the starting gun, Baek Shin-hoo closed the distance toward Goat-jjang.
The moment Goat-jjang saw his face, she went deathly pale, drew the Reversal Blood Sword, and hopped right onto it. Then she fled without so much as a backward glance.
A thick rush of pleasure surged up. The sight of an NPC fleeing in terror dumped dopamine into him without mercy.
Heheheh. Yeah. This is it!
Meanwhile, the old Baek Shin-hoo—who had been smiling with such confidence—went dark in an instant.
"That sword… it couldn't be…?"
"What's wrong?"
"Besides that brat, who else in this cultivation star are cultivators?"
"Cultivation star? Cultivators? You've been rambling about stuff only you know since earlier. I don't get a word of it."
"Ahem. Who is there that's stronger than that child?"
"Someone stronger? Never seen one. She's off the charts!"
That greatsword was unmistakably the Reversal Blood Sword.
A groundless fear, perhaps? This is the lower realm, after all. There's no way that sword would be in a backwater like this.
It was certainly still over there, even when I was around.
Still, one ought to tap the stone bridge before crossing it. A just-in-case thought occurred to him.
"How did that brat fight?"
"Well, she shot fireballs from her hands…."
"Fireballs?"
"That technique they used at the lab."
"Ah, you mean the Fireball Art. That's a basic technique. What else?"
"Daggers with red threads that fly around on their own."
"Red threads? Daggers? It couldn't be…. Bwahahaha!"
Baek Shin-hoo wore a baffled look, but the other side of him couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. The left half of the face bewildered, the right half grinning. A truly grotesque sight.
"What's so funny?"
"Bwahahaha! To think Jeokmyeongseong's fame has spread even to a backwater like this!"
"Forget that, what about the rest…."
"No need. Not even worth hearing the rest. None of it makes any sense."
"You gonna actually explain what the hell you're talking about or what?"
As Baek Shin-hoo grumbled, the old Baek Shin-hoo began to talk, as if soothing him.
"If what you say is true, that brat is carrying the Reversal Blood Sword and the Red Cloud Silk."
"Reversal Blood Sword? Red Cloud Silk? Those weapon names?"
"Indeed. Their fame is so great that among Qi Condensation cultivators, people who copy their appearance are everywhere."
"You mean knockoffs? Fakes?"
"That's right. Comparing their power, 'fake' would be the fitting word."
"So what about it?"
"First, the Reversal Blood Sword. That is a demonic sword over which Hyeolha Nojo's disciples slaughter one another in fratricidal strife, each trying to claim it."
"Then what about the Red Cloud Silk?"
"That is even harder to obtain. The only person known to possess it is Okhan Binghu. It is a Dharma treasure forged in the ancient era, and in terms of its mystical properties alone, it borders on a spirit treasure."
"I don't get any of that, but so what?"
"If what you say is true, that would mean great experts of both the demonic and orthodox sects came all the way to this backwater to give gifts to that little girl. Would it not?"
"So I'm asking, what about it?"
"The demonic and orthodox sects, who can't wait to kill each other, pooling their treasures to give away? Why? Shall we say Hyeolha Nojo and Okhan Binghu decided to raise a disciple together in harmony? Bwahahaha!"
"So you're saying they're fakes?"
"There is a type like that among Qi Condensation cultivators. Imitations, copying the form out of admiration. That would fit the logic."
Baek Shin-hoo couldn't fully understand what the old Baek Shin-hoo was saying, but boiled down, it was confidence that they could win. He asked again, as if wanting a firm answer.
"So basically, no problem, right?"
"Indeed. If anything, this is convenient. Even if they are fakes, she has Dharma treasures—which means she has a storage pouch as well."
"But she already flew off. How are we supposed to catch her?"
"Heheheh. This body is that of a cultivator with a wind-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root."
"Wind? I thought it was fire?"
"Wind aids fire. Wind assists flame. I merely learned it because the elemental affinity matched. This is my innate divine ability."
A violent gale erupted beneath his feet.
A moment later, his body launched into the air like a superhero, kicking off the ground, and tore after Goat-jjang's trail at tremendous speed.
"A Qi Condensation cultivator caught in a Foundation Establishment movement art has nowhere to flee."
"Holy fuck! That's sick as hell! If you had a technique like this you should've used it from the start! We walked here for nothing!"
"This is not an art one can use carelessly. The spiritual power consumption is extreme. Had this not been such a spiritually rich land, I would have thought twice."
"I get it already! Who cares about that!"
Baek Shin-hoo could barely keep his head on straight with the new ability. Far in the distance, a tiny dot entered his field of view. Confirming it, Baek Shin-hoo wore a vile smile.