Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Back to Modern Times
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Choi Si-woo opened his eyes after spending a blissful time with Hwa Mu-rin—no, Dang Hwa-rin.
The surroundings were still dark.
Squish.
Something warm and soft was nestled against his chest.
When he looked down, he saw Dang Hwa-rin curled up asleep in his arms.
The massive breasts between them provided a fantastical sensation.
Si-woo smiled in satisfaction. He couldn't help but grin at the sight of this pure beauty sleeping peacefully in his embrace.
[Dang Hwa-rin's fate has begun to twist.]
- Acquired 512 Karma
The message he'd glossed over last night. He'd brushed it aside while focusing on his time with Dang Hwa-rin.
'Hmm...'
- Held Karma: 642
The Karma he'd accumulated from Martial Arts Earth added up to quite a hefty sum.
'Will this be enough?'
He checked the price of the Mixed Origin Qi Art in the [Shop].
- [Mixed Origin Qi Art ()]: 568 (-4,432) Karma
'Oh...!'
As Si-woo's proficiency had grown, the price of the Mixed Origin Qi Art had dropped significantly.
He'd finally saved up enough Karma to buy the Mixed Origin Qi Art.
'Purchase Mixed Origin Qi Art.'
As soon as he bought the Mixed Origin Qi Art from the [Shop], the complete incantation surfaced in his mind.
Circulating his energy accordingly, his Mixed Origin Qi began to change bit by bit.
The missing pieces of the Mixed Origin Qi Art were now filled in.
He'd thought he'd fully digested the 100-Year Hwasu Root, but that wasn't the case. The faint energies dormant in his meridians began to flow along with the Mixed Origin Qi.
'Incredible. And the efficiency has improved too.'
Si-woo realized this as he switched between various attributes.
The consumption of Mixed Origin Qi had decreased, while its power had increased.
'And...'
He noticed one major difference.
Si-woo drifted off to sleep, planning to test it on Cheol Gwang-o once the sun rose.
The next day.
Si-woo and Dang Hwa-rin approached Cheol Gwang-o.
Cheol Gwang-o's eyes were bloodshot red, drool dripping from his mouth.
Like a wild beast.
But due to the paralysis, he could only twitch feebly.
Si-woo tilted his head at the sight. He'd seen Dang Hwa-rin paralyze him with her needles, but he had no idea why he was like this.
"What's wrong with him?"
Dang Hwa-rin glanced at Cheol Gwang-o from behind and said,
"...Looks like he ingested some drugs?"
When Si-woo flipped the man's body over with his foot, he saw the rigid erection. It seemed this guy had also taken a bit of the aphrodisiac the leader had thrown.
"Grrrh...!"
Si-woo spoke as he watched Cheol Gwang-o groan in agony.
"Can you unparalyze him a bit?"
"No way... You're going to let him live?"
Si-woo shook his head as if that was absurd.
"As if. Even if I spared him, he'd just harbor resentment... I have something to test on him."
Dang Hwa-rin pulled out the steel needles embedded in his body and jabbed them into various points.
She grimaced as if touching something filthy.
Seeing her expression, Si-woo smirked a little.
'Even her cold face is pretty.'
Poke. Poke.
Cheol Gwang-o's paralysis wore off. He convulsed and lunged toward Dang Hwa-rin.
"Grrraaah...! Woman!!!"
Si-woo's face hardened. How dare he.
He tripped him with a foot sweep and pinned him down with his boot.
"Gaaaaah!"
Once subdued, Cheol Gwang-o bucked his hips wildly, thrusting against the ground.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Cheol Gwang-o shuddered violently as he bucked.
Squirt.
"Urgh...!"
Dang Hwa-rin stepped back a few paces with a look of disgust.
Not satisfied, Cheol Gwang-o began grinding his body against the dirt.
The telltale signs of someone addicted to aphrodisiacs.
"Eww...'
Si-woo clicked his tongue and thrust a long needle into the man's spine.
He intended to test the new ability of the Mixed Origin Qi Art.
Energy Absorption!
He sucked in Cheol Gwang-o's energy through the needle.
[Energy Absorption]
This was the greatest benefit from purchasing the Mixed Origin Qi Art in the [Shop]. What was once only possible through sexual intercourse could now be done manually.
Of course, there was the condition that the target couldn't resist. But subduing them like this made it simple enough.
Si-woo worried a bit. Dang Hwa-rin had felt pleasure when he absorbed her energy.
'Not this guy, right...?'
Fortunately, the man didn't tremble in ecstasy. Instead, he screamed in agony.
It seemed Pleasure Infusion only activated when Si-woo willed it.
Nodding, Si-woo examined Cheol Gwang-o's energy.
'Hmm... It's hot? Fire...?'
It felt like he'd trained in fire-related martial arts.
As he absorbed Cheol Gwang-o's energy, the image of fire grew clearer.
Si-woo couldn't freely handle every attribute. Fire and ice energies were particularly tricky.
'Now I get it.'
Analyzing the energy helped him grasp the fire attribute.
Si-woo concentrated his internal energy into his index finger.
Fwoosh—
A faint flame flickered to life.
"Wow...!"
Hearing Dang Hwa-rin's admiration, Si-woo lowered his head.
Cheol Gwang-o was no longer needed. Sparing him would just breed resentment.
Crack!
[You have acquired 17 Karma.]
Si-woo snapped Cheol Gwang-o's neck and stood up.
Corpses littered the area.
"Gotta clean this up."
"Hmm... About 2 gold taels?"
Excluding the junk, just the money alone amounted to that much. After splitting it with Dang Hwa-rin, he checked the horses.
A few of the bandits' horses hadn't fled and were grazing nearby.
Si-woo picked out the two healthiest-looking ones.
'They really gave without holding back.'
He was almost grateful to the Iron Martial Workshop thugs.
With horses, the trip to the Blue Bee Honey Temple would be much more leisurely.
Si-woo pulled Dang Hwa-rin into his arms and whispered,
"With horses... we'll have some extra time?"
At his suggestive words, Dang Hwa-rin's nape flushed red.
"Hoo...'
Si-woo opened his eyes in his one-room apartment.
Having spent so long in Martial Arts Earth, it felt a bit awkward being back.
He headed to the bathroom and took a shower.
'Ah... Modern life really is the most comfortable.'
The hot water pouring from the showerhead was pure bliss.
As the warm water cascaded over him, he thought.
His bank balance was starting to run dry.
'Gotta make some money... But grinding rifts non-stop feels off.'
He needed an easy way to earn cash.
Ding-a-ling!
The chime rang as he entered the convenience store.
"Welcome... You're here again?"
The pretty part-timer said with a pout.
Si-woo paused to recall.
Come to think of it, he'd been popping in and out of this store multiple times a day.
No wonder she found it weird.
In modern time alone, it'd only been a little over a week since his awakening.
As Si-woo remembered the date, the part-timer spoke curtly.
"Sigh... Men are so spineless. I'm off soon, so wait for me."
"Pardon?"
The part-timer looked at Si-woo haughtily and said,
"I'll eat with you, so wait."
Si-woo was a bit flustered but soon smiled.
He couldn't turn down free meat walking right to him.
"Sure."
"Hiiiick!! C-Cum inside me...! Hngh!"
[You have acquired 7 Karma.]
"What a lame one."
"Y-Yes, yes! I-I'm lame... Haaaang♥...!!"
The haughty part-timer writhed beneath Si-woo, moaning wantonly.
Even during dinner, she'd acted all prim and proper, but now she was a melted mess.
'Perfect for a quick snack now and then.'
Si-woo pulled out a new condom.
F-grade Rift.
A rift so easy now it barely excited him anymore. But he returned for an experiment.
Si-woo stepped into a lightness skill stance and burst out his internal energy.
A tree several meters ahead rushed toward him rapidly.
Crunch!
He forcibly stomped the ground to stop abruptly.
Running through the forest was harder than expected. Even a slight increase in speed led to collisions.
Especially with lightness skill using internal energy.
'Pretty tough.'
Butchering goblins was effortless.
Running was the real challenge.
Still, this was essential to master footwork techniques.
After running for a while, a large goblin appeared before Si-woo.
The rift's boss monster.
Thud thud.
Si-woo kicked off the ground with an explosive sound and charged.
The goblin's panicked expression grew massively in an instant.
Swoosh!
"Kieee—"
Slash!
One sword stroke decapitated the boss goblin. The nearby minions standing in shock met the same fate.
30 minutes.
The time it took Si-woo to clear the F-grade rift.
Most of that was spent searching for goblins.
'Held Karma.'
- Held Karma: 101
'It was 98 when I entered... Just 3?'
Si-woo was dumbfounded. It used to give 20 not long ago, but now down to 3.
His suspicion was confirmed.
You could earn Karma by killing monsters. But weak ones gave almost nothing.
He had no intention of grinding monsters for Karma anyway, but it soured his mood.
"Tch."
While handling the byproducts through the Association staff, he fell into thought.
'Rift-hopping is just too inefficient.'
Bringing various items to Martial Arts Earth had emptied his bank account.
He'd come to the rift to earn living expenses and run experiments.
While waiting for the staff's appraisal, he decided to shop.
[Shop]
'First... Show me skills related to internal energy and mana.'
Shwoosh—
Numerous items appeared, and one caught Si-woo's eye.
[Low-Grade Mana Core]: 100 Karma
- External spiritual engine usable as auxiliary mana. Applicable to all reincarnated bodies.
- Evolves to Mid-Grade Mana Core after 10 purchases.
'Not bad...'
It appealed to him the most. Especially the part about applying to all reincarnated bodies.
'Buy.'
[Low-Grade Mana Core has been applied.]
Something connected to Si-woo's soul. It felt like he had two dantians.
No sense of incongruity at all.
Moreover, he could fill the mana core from his own dantian.
'Quantity... 1 year? An auto-recharging pouch of internal energy for a year.'
Closing his eyes in focus, his Mixed Origin Qi began interacting with the mana core.
'Huh?'
Mixed Origin Qi fundamentally grew stronger the more it mixed. The basic circulation method involved mingling with natural ki.
After a brief hesitation, Si-woo let it be. It didn't seem harmful.
The Mixed Origin Qi resonated with the mana core, blending energies.
The mana in the mana core was identical to natural ki.
Si-woo gained the equivalent of 24/7 meditation.
'Insane. Jackpot.'
It felt like maximum value for 100 Karma.
Nodding in satisfaction, Si-woo pondered his next issue.
Money was the only thing left to solve.
'I can probably use the Mixed Origin Qi Art for that...'
After a moment's thought, Si-woo's head snapped up.