Chapter 7
I Became The Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 7.
‘The points I have now are 700P.’
The book listed all sorts of skills that could be learned for 700P. There were good skills and bad ones.
Yoo Baek-jun began picking and learning the skills that made him wonder, ‘Why would anyone learn this?’
—You have learned the Three Disasters Fist Technique (D, 1★)!
—You have learned the Three Disasters Mind Technique (D, 1★)!
—You have learned Heavy Strike (D, 1★)!
Heavy Strike cost 100P, while the other two were 50P each.
Generally, the cost of a skill varies based on its value.
50P was the lowest tier—meaning the Three Disasters Fist Technique and Three Disasters Mind Technique were trash.
[Three Disasters Fist Technique (D, 1★)]
—A fist technique practiced by back-alley thugs. It teaches simple combat methods, including throwing a punch, striking with the elbow, and an uppercut.
[Three Disasters Mind Technique (D, 1★)]
—An utterly worthless mind technique. However, it allows one to learn how to manipulate magical power.
[Heavy Strike (D, 1★)]
—Channels magical power into a fist or weapon to deliver a powerful strike with all one’s strength.
The first two were literal garbage. Heavy Strike, at least, had some practical use.
— You spent money to learn that? Are you crazy?
Anyone would say that.
In truth, Yoo Baek-jun thought the same.
Well, even if it looks terrible, if you master it to the extreme, it might surpass even an A-rank skill…
“Yeah, right.”
It was just a third-rate martial art.
A skill that came from the martial world, something only back-alley vagrants would learn.
His reason for learning it was simple.
“For the upcoming event.”
Once he fully digested the Snow Ginseng, he planned to make an appearance at the family training grounds.
While practicing these cheap skills in front of a crowd, a certain instructor would approach him.
‘That instructor will give me a free skill.’
The cheapest and most efficient way.
The Three Disasters Fist Technique was the key to learning skills from that instructor.
But that wasn’t all.
There were events that required knowing a fist technique to meet certain conditions.
‘To receive teachings from that instructor, you have no choice but to learn a fist technique.’
One needed to have learned a fist technique of a certain grade, and the Three Disasters Fist Technique was the cheapest way to meet that requirement.
It had multiple uses.
‘I need to save as many points as possible for when the Book of the Martial God upgrades later.’
Yoo Baek-jun practiced the Three Disasters Mind Technique a few times.
Though he had just learned it, the knowledge of how to use it was already in his mind.
Even if it weren’t, he had used this skill thousands of times in the game.
“Let’s try it.”
He tossed an Extreme Yang Pill into his mouth.
From his mouth to his throat, it felt as if a scorching sun had entered his body.
He waited until the heat settled in his core before consuming the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.
“Hah!”
When he took the Extreme Yang Pill, his entire body felt like it was about to melt from the heat.
But now, his body grew so cold it felt like it would shatter.
No, it was freezing.
Ssshhhk!
The sensation of dry ice sliding down his throat.
The frigid energy spread throughout his body, and a chilling aura emanated from him.
‘Extreme Yin energy kills.’
The Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng was a potent elixir overflowing with Yin energy.
Without the proper mind technique and assistance, digesting it was impossible.
The problem was, he had no such means.
‘That’s why I made the Extreme Yang Pill.’
Using Yang energy to suppress Yin energy.
He had done this hundreds of times.
There was no room for error, no reason to fail.
Calmly, Yoo Baek-jun began guiding and controlling the energies within him.
“Uuung!”
His body alternated between scorching heat and freezing cold countless times.
Sweat drenched his body as he manipulated the mind technique.
Finally….
Fwoosh!
He tasted the fruits of his labor.
Yoo Baek-jun’s eyes snapped open.
A blue mist-like energy flowed from his pupils.
—You have successfully digested the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng!
—Thanks to the Extreme Yang Pill, you have suppressed the Yin energy of the Snow Ginseng and absorbed its pure magical power. Your Magic Power rank has increased by two stages!
—Due to the elixirs, all stats and skill proficiency will grow at an accelerated rate for a while!
The messages he had been waiting for appeared.
Yoo Baek-jun grinned. Even after countless repetitions, success still brought joy.
He immediately opened his status window.
[Yoo Baek-jun]
[Unique Ability: Book of the Martial God (EX, 1★)]
[Trait: Heavenly Martial Body (S)]
Skills:
He could feel powerful magical power flowing through him.
Unlike before, his body brimmed with vitality. Within his dantian, both Yang and Yin energy now resided.
Yoo Baek-jun exhaled deeply.
‘There’s a reason I prioritized raising my magical power to B-rank.’
He opened the Book of the Martial God again.
—Remaining points: 500P.
Countless skills he could learn appeared before him.
Without hesitation, Yoo Baek-jun selected one.
[Elemental Manifestation (A, 1★)]
A technique created by the (Named) Magic Swordsman, Yoon Song-ha, to channel her overflowing magical power into her sword.
Combines magical power and elemental energy to manifest and wield a powerful Aura.
However…
A skill that allowed the use of Aura.
By combining magical power and elemental energy, it manifested as a powerful aura, an A-rank skill, no less.
Yet it only cost 500P.
‘It makes sense.’
The magical power consumption is just too excessive.
Yoo Baek-jun clenched his fist tightly and activated the Elemental Manifestation skill.
The magical power of the ice element gathered around his fist, forming a sharp, solid force.
Huff!
Bang!
He slammed his fist into the wall.
The force enveloping his hand shattered, sending ice fragments flying everywhere, and the section of the wall his fist touched froze over.
It was a skill with outstanding power.
The problem is...
“Huff… Huff…”
The magical power consumption is, quite literally, insane.
Using it just once drained nearly half of the magical power in his body in an instant, and the same went for his Elemental power.
‘This is something only someone like Yoon Song-ha would use.’
Yoon Song-ha is one of the named characters appearing in Heroes Road.
In the story, she’s a fairly prominent and highly skilled hunter.
Her unique ability is the Dragon’s Heart.
Thanks to her special heart, she can produce magic power at an absurd rate.
‘She probably created this inefficient technique just to expel all that overflowing magical power.’
And he had learned it through the Book of the Martial God.
The Book of the Martial God assigns points to skills based on their value, higher grades add points, while drawbacks subtract them.
The Book had judged Elemental Manifestation to have such a significant drawback that it deducted 500P.
‘It literally contains every skill.’
Yoo Baek-jun chuckled as he closed the Book of the Martial God.
Named characters from the game, even skills used by enemy bosses, everything was in there.
With this book alone, he could learn them all.
"Yoon Song-ha… She’s probably in the U.S. by now, right? It’ll be fun when we meet later."
At any rate, it was a skill he could use effectively in his current situation.
He let out a long exhale.
‘Time to start the main event.’
He had finished all the preparations he could make.
Tomorrow was Sunday, the day the event he had been waiting for: Father’s Last Chance, would occur.
***
The next day, Yoo Baek-jun woke up early in the morning.
As soon as he got up and rang the bell, Choi Seung-min entered the room as if he had been waiting.
Yawn…
"Young Master, you’ve been waking up early lately. Thanks to you, I haven’t been able to sleep properly…"
"Is there something happening at the family this morning?"
"Huh? Oh, today’s Sunday, right? Then the family members will be observing the training session."
Choi Seung-min scratched his head.
"Well, they did ask if you’d be attending, but I told them you wouldn’t. You haven’t participated since you were a kid."
"No, I’ll be attending."
"Yes, attending—Wait, what?!"
Choi Seung-min was startled by the unexpected answer.
"If you’re part of the family’s bloodline, attending is only natural. Why are you so surprised?"
"No, but… You said it wasn’t for you after seeing it as a kid and never attended again. Because of that, the family head was furious…"
So he’d heard.
Yoo Baek-jun scoffed indifferently.
"It’s noisy. Tell them I’ll be attending. We’ve got about an hour left, right?"
"Y-Yes."
Choi Seung-min left with a bewildered expression, and Yoo Baek-jun hurriedly got up.
‘It’s inconvenient having only Choi Seung-min as an attendant.’
Normally, heirs would have instructors following them like secretaries, but Yoo Baek-jun only had Choi Seung-min.
It was because Yoo Baek-jun was an illegitimate child—someone the family wouldn’t even notice if he disappeared.
‘With no attendants and no one paying attention, there’s no way rumors would spread outside.’
On top of that, he was a reclusive loner who rarely left the Estate.
‘Honestly, no one’s visited me these past few days… How amusing.’
They must have all heard he’d been attacked by a monster and hospitalized.
Yet, no one came to visit.
‘Are they ignoring me?"’
Yoo Baek-jun smirked.
‘They won’t be able to ignore me anymore.’
It was time to make his debut.
***
If you were a trainee of the Sword Saint Family, you would gather every morning for group training.
And if you were a member of the Sword Saint Family, you were expected to observe that training.
It was a long-standing tradition.
‘What an outdated custom.’
Naturally, Yoo Baek-jun, who had no interest in martial arts, hadn’t attended since he was a child.
But today was different.
"Hey, that’s…"
The training grounds where the trainees had gathered for group practice buzzed as they whispered among themselves.
"...Isn’t that Yoo Baek-jun? Why is he here?"
"What’s he doing here alone? That guy can’t even perform a single martial arts move, acting all high and mighty…"
"He hasn’t attended since he was a kid. How many years has it been?"
On the platform of the training grounds were the family’s bloodline members, gathered once a week to observe the trainees’ progress.
Among them was an unexpected figure, none other than Yoo Baek-jun.
"......"
"......"
Even those on the platform looked at him with awkward expressions.
"Training begins! First stance of the Heaven Destruction Sword Art!"
"Ha!"
Unfazed by the stares, Yoo Baek-jun leisurely glanced around.
Meanwhile, the training had begun.
"Hmm, the one sitting at the highest seat must be…"
At the highest seat on the platform sat a middle-aged man with a dignified presence, his long, snow-white hair and a body hidden beneath his robes that was pure muscle.
"So that’s my father, huh?"
The head of the Sword Saint Family, Yoo Moo-hak.
The current family head, who would pass his position to Yoo Tae-rang in two years and retire.
After retirement, his whereabouts would become unknown.
"No matter when I see him, his aura is no joke."
The charisma he exuded was extraordinary.
Even when motionless, he overwhelmed those around him.
The pressure he gave off was even more intense than it had felt in the game.
"Baek-jun."
As Yoo Baek-jun observed Yoo Moo-hak, a woman spoke to him. She had long black hair and a gentle, beautiful face.
Though her appearance was pleasant, her true nature was far from it.
"I heard you were attacked by a monster. Are you alright?"
"Yes, Sister Jung-yeon. Thanks to Pharmacist Joo Jung-won ’s help, I’ve recovered."
"Oh my, that’s a relief."
"Ha, a relief? Hardly."
She was Yoo Jung-yeon, the eldest daughter of the Sword Saint Family.
Next to her, a man with a frivolous expression snorted dismissively.
"What a pathetic bastard. A member of the Sword Saint Family, nearly killed by a monster?"
"It can happen, Brother Kang-ho."
"It can happen? Hah! It’s embarrassing that trash like you is part of this family. Embarrassing!"
This was Yoo Kang-ho, the third son of the Sword Saint Family.
They had met before, but seeing him again was just as irritating.
"......"
And in the corner, maintaining silence, was a petite girl with short black hair, Yoo Min, the fourth daughter of the Sword Saint Family.
‘Well, they’re exactly like they were in the game.’
He’d worried someone might be missing, but it seemed nothing had changed.
"Hey, idiot. I heard you’ve been frequenting the pharmacy lately?"
"Yes, Brother Kang-ho. There’s a lot to learn there."
"So because you have no talent for swordsmanship, you’re interested in medicine? Fits you perfectly, a nerd who only reads books all day."
Yoo Kang-ho sneered.
"You got wrecked by a monster because you’re weak. I told you I’d teach you swordsmanship, didn’t I? Huh?"
"Ah, right, you did say that."
Yoo Baek-jun recalled the game’s story.
Under the pretext of teaching him swordsmanship, Yoo Kang-ho had once called him to the training grounds and beaten him to a pulp.
It was one of the reasons Yoo Baek-jun had grown to dislike swordsmanship even more.
"Do you really think you can earn this family’s recognition with something other than swordsmanship?"
"Hmm."
"Follow me later. This big brother will teach you… no, beat some swordsmanship into you."
Yoo Kang-ho growled lowly.
Yoo Baek-jun glanced around subtly. Not a single family member stepped in to stop their argument.
‘Should I just hit him now?’
He let out a deep sigh.
"Brother, could you shut your noisy mouth for once?"
"Wh—"
He said it calmly.
The surroundings fell silent. Yoo Kang-ho, who had been spewing insults, was left speechless, and the others stared in shock.
"And move your head away. Coffee and cigarettes? Can’t you smell your own breath? It’s disgusting."
"Y-You… How dare…."
"Ugh, is your stomach rotting or something?"
Yoo Kang-ho tried to retort, but Yoo Baek-jun ignored him and stood up.
He walked toward the highest seat on the platform, where Yoo Moo-hak sat.
"......"
"......"
Yoo Moo-hak didn’t look at him.
Smiling, Yoo Baek-jun knelt on one knee before him.
"Father, I have something to say."
Only then did Yoo Moo-hak’s gaze turn to him.
His eyes were hollow, devoid of any emotion.
Their eyes met in the air.
"I wish to learn martial arts."
"......"
A faint light flickered in those empty eyes.
The ‘Father’s Last Chance’ event had begun.