The Talent of Transcendence
The girl gasped for breath, her eyes flicking back and forth between the two men.
Seok Yuha in front of her.
Lee Kang behind her.
"I'm going to kill you! Where did you go, you worthless bastards!"
From far off, Mak Daehan's shout rattled through the alley.
The girl's shoulders rose and fell hard. Her toes were digging into the ground as though she might bolt at any second. Lee Kang saw it plainly.
If she made up her mind, she could still run... but only for a little while.
There was a narrow gap between the alleys, just wide enough for the girl to slip through. With her small frame, she could worm her way inside. Seok Yuha and Lee Kang would have trouble following right away.
But that was all.
Even if she got through that opening, the end was obvious.
The girl was already exhausted. Her breathing was ragged, her legs trembling. She had not properly washed or eaten. No matter how well she knew how to run, she could not keep it up forever.
Even if she escaped for the moment, sooner or later she would be caught by a warrior of the Sadoryeon, or snared again by some bastard like Mak Daehan, or simply collapse from hunger.
That was the kind of world this was.
Lee Kang slowly lowered his hand. He put away the awl-sword as well.
"Can you trust me?"
The girl's eyes wavered.
Lee Kang did not take another step closer. If he pressed her now, she would run. What he needed was not force, but words.
"I'll give you freedom. And the strength you need."
Under the face smeared with mud, a clear emotion surfaced for the first time. Surprise. Suspicion. And a faint, almost fragile hope.
Seeing that reaction, Seok Yuha snorted.
"Hah."
He was leaning against the wall, his injured right arm hanging limp at his side. He had lost a fair amount of blood, and his face had gone a shade pale. But his mouth was still very much alive.
"Hey, kid. You really gonna believe that guy?"
The girl looked toward Seok Yuha. Seok Yuha jerked his chin at Lee Kang.
"Black clothes, black hood, awl-sword popping out of his sleeve. Looks shady as hell, doesn't he?"
Lee Kang stared at Seok Yuha with a look of utter disbelief.
Like you're one to talk.
But Seok Yuha was speaking in complete earnest.
"That guy's an evil bastard who kills people and robs them. Black Moon Sect? The name alone is suspicious. If you're coming with anyone, come with me. At least I'm openly a bad guy."
"Is that supposed to be something to brag about?"
"Shut up, Black Moon Sect Leader."
Seok Yuha raised his voice toward the girl.
"Come here. If you don't, I'll kill you."
The girl flinched at that. But she did not go to Seok Yuha.
Instead, she took a tiny step toward Lee Kang.
Seok Yuha's face twisted.
"Hey."
The girl did not answer.
Her heart had already begun leaning this way. But she could not trust him completely. That was only natural.
For a child dragged in as a slave from another world and then cast out into a place like this, it would be stranger to trust a suspicious modern stranger she had just met without hesitation.
The girl asked in a cracked voice, "Why...?"
It was a short question.
"Why should I trust you?"
Seok Yuha cut in at once.
"Don't! If you trust that bastard, you'll get sold off immediately!"
At that, Lee Kang could not help laughing. The laugh started small, then grew into something more substantial.
Seok Yuha's brow twitched.
"What's so funny?"
Ignoring him, Lee Kang looked at the girl.
"That's right. How are you supposed to trust someone you've just met?"
The girl said nothing.
"You don't know me, and I don't know you. Even if I say I'll save you, you can't know whether I mean it. And if you say you'll follow me, I can't know whether you mean that either."
Lee Kang continued slowly, "So let's think about it. There are two people who can't trust each other. But both of them need trust. Then what do we do?"
"That's impossible..."
"No."
While Seok Yuha was distracted for a brief moment, Lee Kang tossed the small awl-sword to the girl.
Startled, she caught it.
"You compromise with each other. Start with the small things, and keep compromising until they grow bigger."
The notifications did not end with one line. Semi-transparent text kept rising and fading away in a chain. Lee Kang found himself looking at the girl again.
Why?
From his perspective, it was nothing special.
He had only thrown her a small awl-sword. To him, it was just an extra tool; to her, it was merely the minimum she needed to survive right now.
But the girl was different.
She was staring down at the awl-sword in her hand. Her fingers, stained with mud and blood, clamped around the tiny grip. She did not swing it at once, nor did she throw it away. She only looked at it in disbelief.
"You're... too idealistic. And too sentimental."
Seok Yuha let out a dry laugh beside them.
"Hah. Even the kid knows."
The girl took a step back from Lee Kang.
"I can't trust someone like that."
Lee Kang was momentarily at a loss for words.
Seok Yuha did not waste the opening. Still leaning against the wall, he smirked.
"Hear that, Black Moon Sect Leader? The kid's got better judgment than you do."
The girl slowly walked toward Seok Yuha.
Lee Kang did not move right away. Instead, he watched the girl's hand.
The awl-sword was still in her grip.
"Fine. You made the right choice."
Seok Yuha laughed.
"What are you gonna do going around with a guy like that in a world like this? Freedom? Strength? Guys who talk like that are always the first ones to stab you in the back."
The girl lowered her head and approached Seok Yuha.
"I'll help you stand."
Seok Yuha's mouth curled upward.
"Forget it. Your clothes'll just get dirty. Just stay there—"
At that moment.
Lee Kang moved.
Black Moon Shadow Step.
The awl-sword sliced through the darkness.
Seok Yuha's eyes widened.
"You crazy bastard!"
He reflexively tried to raise his short sword. His injured right arm was useless. He drew with his healthy left arm to block, but the movement came a beat too late, slower than usual.
Seok Yuha's gaze locked onto Lee Kang. His body stiffened as he tried to stop the Black Moon dart flying for his neck.
And in that instant, the girl raised her head.
The small awl-sword clenched in her hand flashed.
Seok Yuha's eyes rolled back a fraction too late.
"You... "
Thud.
The girl's awl-sword stabbed into the side of Seok Yuha's neck.
"Kheh...!"
A breath tinged with blood burst from Seok Yuha's mouth. He looked down at the girl in utter disbelief.
Her hand was trembling.
But she did not let go.
Grinding her teeth, she shoved the awl-sword deeper.
"You, little... bitch..."
Before Seok Yuha could finish the curse, Lee Kang's Black Moon dart arrived.
Shhk.
The awl-sword bored into the other side of Seok Yuha's neck. Without hesitation, Lee Kang twisted his wrist.
He felt the flesh tear under his fingertips.
"Gaaaaah!"
Seok Yuha's scream ripped through the alley.
Blood sprayed. His body, braced against the wall, lurched hard. His healthy left hand flailed uselessly in the air, but it was already too late.
Lee Kang pulled the awl-sword free from Seok Yuha.
Fshk.
Blood splattered across the ground.
Seok Yuha's body slid down the wall. He tried to clamp both hands over his neck, but blood kept seeping between his fingers. Instead of words, only bloodied breaths burst from his mouth.
"Kh... khheh..."
The girl staggered back a step. The small awl-sword in her hand was trembling. Her face was caked in mud, but beneath it, her eyes were shaking with startling clarity.
Lee Kang moved immediately.
There was no time to admire anything.
He snatched the short sword from Seok Yuha's fallen hand, then rummaged at his waist and found a small pouch.
Qian Kun pouch.
Without hesitation, he stuffed it into his robes. There was no time to check what was inside. Surviving and getting out came first.
Heavy footsteps were drawing closer in the distance.
Probably Mak Daehan.
Or maybe another Murim warrior.
Either way, it was the worst possible outcome.
Lee Kang grabbed the girl's wrist at once.
She flinched, but she did not pull away. The body that had been wary of every touch from him just moments ago now followed obediently.
"Run."
Lee Kang spoke briefly.
The girl did not answer. Instead, she gritted her teeth and followed behind him.
Dark Shadow Night Walk.
Lee Kang did not force his speed too high. The girl's condition was too poor. If they moved too fast, she would collapse almost immediately.
Instead, he chose the alley's darkness, the collapsed vendor stalls, the fallen awnings, the shadows where the red lantern light could not reach.
Only after the trace of the two of them vanished beyond the alley did Mak Daehan appear.
He was covering one eye with his hand. Blood ran between his fingers. The eyes that had been squinting with laughter were now far removed from it. Only the other eye remained, bloodshot and red.
"Black Moon Sect Leader..."
His voice was low.
Seok Yuha lay collapsed on the ground.
Mak Daehan advanced slowly. Seok Yuha's body had gone slack. Blood pooled from the wounds on both sides of his neck and soaked into the ground.
Mak Daehan stared at the wounds for a moment.
Narrow, deep stab wounds.
Marks of a short awl-sword thrust in and twisted.
"Lee Kang."
The corner of Mak Daehan's mouth slowly rose.
"So it was you."
He looked down at Seok Yuha's corpse and laughed. It was not the same friendly laugh he had worn a moment ago. This one was thick with killing intent.
"You dare lay hands on the Hapjeong Station sects?"
Mak Daehan shifted his grip on the wooden club.
"Prepare yourself."
He dipped his head toward the dead Seok Yuha in mock reverence.
"Don't worry, Hiphop Sect Leader. I'll take care of the revenge for you."
On the surface, it almost sounded like loyalty.
But there was no sorrow in Mak Daehan's eyes, no rage. Only delight at what was about to come.
In the next instant, the massive wooden club rose high.
"So rest first."
Crack!
The club slammed down onto Seok Yuha's corpse.
The sound of flesh and bone being crushed spread through the alley.
Crack!
Once more.
Crack!
Again.
Mak Daehan vented his fury by pounding Seok Yuha's body into the ground. The already-dead corpse was mashed flat, and blood sprayed in every direction.
He laughed, panting hard.
"Heh heh."
Dragging the wooden club across the shattered remains, Mak Daehan stared into the alley where Lee Kang and the girl had disappeared.
His mouth twisted into something cruel.
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