The Gu-gung Jin-gi Trap
The pitch-black night had fallen heavily over Jibuk Mountain.
Walking endlessly along a narrow path where only the chirping of grasshoppers echoed in the silence, we arrived at Ban Se-gun's hideout—a small cabin concealed by dense trees, bushes, and rocks.
Having navigated a labyrinthine route that could even confuse a mountain lord, the air around the cabin carried the pure scent of untouched nature, free from any human touch.
"Right there. That's where the Gu-gung Jin-gi is."
Ban Se-gun pointed at the small cabin with his finger. I opened the door first and stepped inside. Then, the voice of Ban Se-gun, who had been following, changed.
"Kukukuk! Foolish bastard! You've fallen for it! Blinded by greed, making such a foolish judgment!"
Suddenly, a massive flow of qi surged around us. It felt like a vast formation was unfolding with the cabin at its center. And it probably was.
"You knew the name of the Gu-gung Jin-gi, but you had no idea what kind of artifact it is! The Gu-gung Jin-gi is a mystical item that creates an illusory formation to bewilder people! A divine artifact I obtained by chance from a monk of Tianzhu! No matter how much you boast of your personal martial prowess, it's utterly useless against the Gu-gung Jin-gi!"
Ban Se-gun's voice, which had rung out clearly, now echoed faintly like a reverberation from the opposite side of the mountain. At the same time, the surrounding environment twisted grotesquely and began reshaping into something new.
It was just like shifting to another world line. In fact, I was being transferred to another space.
The small cabin had transformed into a prison surrounded by rusted iron bars and smoothly hewn stone walls. It was the kind of prison that would fit perfectly in the opening of a horror game. This was the power of the Gu-gung Jin-gi.
"Quite an interesting artifact."
Cheonhwa, coiled around my arm, spoke up. For someone versed in sorcery like her, this formation must be fascinating.
"What do you think? Can you dispel it?"
"It's a completely different system from my sorcery, so it'll take time to analyze. It's a well-crafted formation. Probably not right now."
With insufficient information, even Cheonhwa had no easy solution at the moment. Of course, she could gather intel and dismantle it without much trouble if given time.
For now, I needed to escape this prison.
The iron bars of the prison were spotted with red rust here and there. But their durability was impressive. Despite the dilapidated appearance, they fulfilled their function of restraining those trapped in the formation perfectly. A powerful skill could probably destroy them.
But forcing my way out like that would only make the formation bind me tighter. That's the terrifying part of the Gu-gung Jin-gi.
In the original novel, this artifact had cornered the protagonist Gong U-seon. It wasn't something you could brute-force open. Unless you grasped the formation's principles and dispelled it properly, trying to smash obstacles with raw power would just summon even stronger barriers.
The solution is to follow the actions the formation dictates. By its structure, the Gu-gung Jin-gi always has a path to survival.
Some formations were designed for total annihilation without escape, but those created by the Gu-gung Jin-gi always had a path to life. In other words, there was a model answer for escaping the formation.
There must be a key to get out of this prison somewhere.
The floor was empty. I tapped the stone walls, searching for hollow spots. This was how you typically picked up items in horror games.
As expected, one section of the wall was hollow. I retrieved a small key from inside. It was the key to the prison door. Fitting it into the lock opened the door smoothly, as if by magic. I stepped out into the prison corridor.
A 240cm-tall yokai wearing a hood over its face roamed the corridor. Without hesitation, I swung my Darkness Saber and killed it. The yokai itself wasn't particularly strong. But the problem wasn't its combat power.
"Kiiiiieeeek~!"
Killing one yokai made two appear. The more I killed, the more yokai multiplied. Combat wasn't the way to escape this prison.
The yokai ignored anyone inside the side cells. The answer here was to avoid them and slip out.
I dodged them and reached the end of the corridor. At the end was a staircase leading upward.
As I climbed the stairs, the surrounding space suddenly blurred. I had escaped the formation.
"Oh ho. You found the exact path to life."
I'd broken out of the formation before Cheonhwa could analyze and dismantle it. Ban Se-gun's power was too weak; the formation he'd made with the Gu-gung Jin-gi was laughably crude.
Of course, without knowing the strategy, charging ahead blindly would have left me wandering eternally, losing my sense of self.
Anyway, escape successful. The crude cabin was back in view around me.
Ban Se-gun was fiddling with a small jade-carved statue in the corner of the cabin. It was a grotesque, eyeball-shaped sculpture. That was the Gu-gung Jin-gi.
"Hey. Enjoy the prison tour?"
"H-How!?"
"Cute trick you pulled."
I sliced off Ban Se-gun's left arm with my Darkness Saber. His arm flew through the air, spurting blood. The Gu-gung Jin-gi clattered to the ground.
"Arghhh!"
"Don't be such a wuss. It's just one arm."
I picked up the fallen Gu-gung Jin-gi. The statue exuded an oppressive aura, as if glaring right at me.
"Please, not that!"
"Guess your right arm's not precious either?"
Threatening him with the Darkness Saber, Ban Se-gun quickly backed down. I spared him because he still had one last use.
◈ An artifact that allows direct creation of bewildering formations to ensnare people. Larger and more complex the formation, the more qi it consumes, and formations beyond a certain scale have a cooldown. Cannot create unreasonable formations. Consumes qi proportional to scale and complexity while active.
Reading the description confirmed it was an excellent item. I kicked the writhing Ban Se-gun's head lightly and said,
"You still have work to do. Tell me the shortcut to Hanam. As a bandit, you should know that much."
"Kuh...! My arm, my arm hurts too much..."
"What a pain in the ass."
I applied a potion to him. Of course, the severed arm wouldn't regrow. Holding the Darkness Saber to his throat, I said,
"Keep slacking, and I'll just kill you."
"Understood..."
He finally gave up everything. His only way to survive was to obey me fully. Of course, I'd kill him once he was no longer useful.
I followed Ban Se-gun. My current target was Hong Mi.
True to his bandit roots, Ban Se-gun knew Jibuk Mountain like the back of his hand. We traversed narrow paths, crossed waterfalls, and skirted cliffs, covering a hundred li in no time.
"This spot looks good. Stop."
We began our ambush on the road to Hanam. Even with Hong Mi's superior lightness skill, she probably hadn't passed here faster than us via a few shortcuts. Plus, it was night now, so even a martial artist like her wouldn't move at full speed.
If she'd already passed, I'd be in for a world of hurt...
I worried briefly, but regardless, Hong Mi appeared from down the road. If I'd been even a little late, I'd have missed her. What a stroke of luck. The heavens were on my side, after all.
"Good. Things are going according to plan."
"Th-then, you'll let me live?"
In response to Ban Se-gun's words, I slit his throat. He'd outlived his usefulness.
"Never said that."
Ban Se-gun
The stronghold leader of the scorching bandit troupe that ruled Jibuk Mountain.
His end evoked the phrase "what comes from the air returns to the air." The bandit who ambushed travelers for ill-gotten gains beyond his station departed the world empty-handed.
Isn't that just life?
I pulled out a Transformation Potion from my inventory and collected Ban Se-gun's blood.
◈ A potion that allows transformation into another person. Mix with the target's blood and consume to transform for 5 hours. Cannot transform into non-human or non-demi-human entities. Consuming another potion before duration ends extends it. Transformation can be canceled voluntarily, but requires a new potion to reactivate.
Since you piled up evil deeds in life, serve as my tool in death. Kukuku.
Using the Transformation Potion's power, I turned into Ban Se-gun and touched the Gu-gung Jin-gi.
I'd already decided what formation to create with it. Mine would be far grander in scale than his.
The qi drain is no joke. That's why he couldn't use it for banditry.
Creating a formation with the Gu-gung Jin-gi required substantial qi. Maintaining it demanded even more.
Once the scale grew even slightly, it overwhelmed a first-rate like Ban Se-gun. That was why his formation was so crude.
His was too small to even trigger a cooldown on the item. Using it, I'd probably face at least a month's cooldown. But I had no such worries.
I can just recover with jujubes.
I had various recovery items, but the jujubes from Solari World were the most versatile. They were potent enough to overcome the extreme costs of Time Pause.
As Hong Mi approached, I stepped onto the road. I aimed Ban Se-gun's axe at her. Spotting me, she halted.
"You're that bandit from before?"
"Kuhahat! You think you can mess with Lord Ban Se-gun and walk away unscathed!? Lucky day for me. I get to taste that tender flesh of yours!"
"Hah!? Even an uneducated brute like you has gone too far. Forgotten our difference already?"
Hong Mi gathered her qi, the ominous fluctuations hinting at her level. At minimum, peak realm expert.
Though her appearance was brief, as a character mentioned in the original work, she had real skill.
Of course, not every mentioned character was strong. Ban Se-gun was mentioned too—just not for his power, but the Gu-gung Jin-gi.
"Kuhahat~! No matter how strong a woman is, she can't defy nature's laws. A woman's duty is to moan under a man and play coy!"
"I was going to show mercy, but not anymore. Time to clean up some trash after a long while."
Hong Mi drew her sword from her waist. Matching the timing, I activated the Gu-gung Jin-gi. An enormous amount of inner energy drained from my body like an ebb tide.
Wooong!
The Gu-gung Jin-gi trembled faintly as it activated. In an instant, Hong Mi's body melted into the air and vanished.
"Oh ho. Success?"
Cheonhwa asked.
"Yes. Worked perfectly. Now then..."
I released the transformation, reverting to Jongchil. Then I gripped the Gu-gung Jin-gi. The user could enter and exit the formation at will—the administrator's privilege.
Wonder what Hong Mi's pussy is like?
I stepped into the formation.