The Sun and the Moon
The old man lifted his teacup inside the principal’s office of the Jungwon Martial Arts Academy, a space designed with traditional East Asian aesthetics. Well past the age of seventy, his gaze lingered with unusual intensity on the image of the young man and woman he had observed from the dais earlier.
The simultaneous appearance of the Sun Physique and Moon Yin Physique was already extraordinary. That they were drawn to each other only made it more so. It was far too coincidental to dismiss as mere chance.
“And that’s not all. There’s also the Taiji, the Overlord, the Divine Strength, the Five Elements, the Three Talents…”
Kneeling across from the old man, a middle-aged warrior recited the list of new students’ special traits one by one, his voice tinged with disbelief.
“Even the Heavenly Warrior and the Demon King are here. Bodies bestowed by the heavens—ones that rarely appear even once in a generation—are gathered in such numbers. This is impossible. I cannot fathom what kind of event is about to unfold.”
The old man slowly stroked his white beard. Those who live long enough develop an instinctive sense for such things. As the greatest martial artist who had crushed countless threats to humanity, Dokgopae, the Invincible War God, possessed senses that bordered on precognition.
“…It can’t be anything too serious,” said Jang Baekgeomgun Go Seungbin, the academy’s vice principal who served as Dokgopae’s aide. He spoke with careful restraint. “I can only hope it’s nothing more than an old man’s needless worry.”
“As for the Demon King Body… no, the Young Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Sect, what should we do? I never imagined the successor of the Demonic Cult would enroll here. Shouldn’t we keep him under surveillance?”
The anomalies were not limited to one. The fact that the Heavenly Demon Sect, which had been lying low, had secretly sent its heir was equally far from ordinary. The Murim Alliance and the Demonic Cult had been bitter enemies for centuries. Though they had signed a non-aggression pact after the Gate Incident, the old grudges could not easily be forgotten.
“Leave him be. Since they relocated their headquarters to Korea, the Heavenly Demon Sect has committed no evil deeds. We cannot remain shackled to the past forever.”
These days, the Heavenly Demon Sect functioned more like a force that restrained demonic practitioners from crossing the line. Any who did were dealt with by the sect itself first.
“…Understood.”
Tap.
Dokgopae set his teacup down. While the Young Heavenly Demon was certainly noteworthy, his true interest lay elsewhere.
“You said both the Sun and the Moon have no master?”
“…Yes. Their admission documents listed them as self-taught.”
“It is possible they come from a hidden sect.”
Besides the famous major factions, students from mysterious hidden sects occasionally enrolled in the academy. Most kept their origins secret, attended quietly, and graduated without drawing attention.
“A hidden sect, sir?”
“Indeed. They had learned martial arts. Their realms may be low, but they possess them nonetheless.”
“…At their age, if their realms are low, doesn’t that suggest a problem?”
Among the new students were already those who had reached the Peak realm, like the Sword Dragon and the Sword Flower. Raising one’s cultivation to any meaningful level at such a young age was no small feat.
“No. Have you forgotten why it is better to learn martial arts early?”
“Because the older one gets, the more turbid energy accumulates… Wait, could it be…?”
Go Seungbin’s eyes widened.
“Neither the Sun nor the Moon accumulates turbid energy in the first place. Their powerful yin and yang energies must be annihilating it. Their meridians are hardly different from when they were children. Both the Conception and Governing Vessels were already open.”
“Isn’t that an absurdly perfect physique? How is that even possible…?”
“I too had only heard of it in legends. Seeing it in person, I understand now. The legends didn’t do them justice.”
Dokgopae clicked his tongue. The two themselves seemed unaware, but to Dokgopae’s eyes, the internal state of Kim Mugong and Han Yeoreum was completely transparent. And just how ridiculous that state truly was.
Even the legendary Heavenly Warrior Body and Demon King Body did not reach this level of perfection.
“Haa… If only they had received proper support from a major sect. How regrettable.”
Go Seungbin let out a deep sigh. Most hidden sects practiced single-lineage succession. Even if they possessed outstanding techniques, their ability to support their disciples often fell far short of the great factions. That was precisely why many sects that had hidden themselves during the transition to the modern era had begun to reveal themselves and expand.
In the current age, raising disciples in small numbers had clear limitations.
“We can provide that support here. That is why this academy was created.”
“That is true, but…”
Dokgopae stroked his beard again. As he said, the reason for the Jungwon Martial Arts Academy’s founding was simple. To prepare for the unprecedented disaster known as the Gate Incident, relying solely on existing martial artists was woefully insufficient.
Though the academy now operated primarily around large organizations, its original purpose had been to discover and nurture talented martial artists who had been unable to receive proper support.
“There is an even greater problem. According to legend, those with the Sun and Moon physiques were not supposed to live past their early twenties.”
“…On the surface, both appeared perfectly healthy.”
“I saw the same. Their bodies seemed relatively stable for now.”
What would happen in the future was unknown, but after carefully observing the pair, Dokgopae saw no immediate danger.
“Perhaps the legends were wrong…”
Either the legends were mistaken, or they had found some special method. For now, it was impossible to tell.
“Just in case, make sure to instruct the professors thoroughly. We must not lose such precious talents for nothing.”
“…I will keep it in mind.”
Go Seungbin bowed deeply at Dokgopae’s command.
After the entrance ceremony, a simple orientation followed. They were given a tour of the school facilities, explanations about course registration, and room assignments. All the day’s schedule was completed before noon.
Thankfully, there were no cruel classes on the very first day.
“I’m hungry.”
Han Yeoreum tugged lightly at the hem of my shirt. Lunchtime had already come and gone.
“Want to go to the cadet cafeteria?”
“Yeah.”
I took the grinning Han Yeoreum with me to the cadet cafeteria. Perhaps because it was the first day, the entrance to the academy’s exclusive dining hall for students was completely empty.
“What do you want to eat?”
The cadet cafeteria was a multi-story building. Different floors offered different types of cuisine, so we stood in front of the elevator, staring blankly at the directory board.
“This place is no joke.”
Han Yeoreum looked around the luxurious lobby that rivaled a high-end hotel and opened her mouth in awe.
“The entrance ceremony hall was already ridiculously extravagant. The game really couldn’t do it justice.”
“It was like this in the game too?”
“Yeah. They just scaled it down a bit.”
“Hmm… I want tteokbokki.”
After pondering the directory for a while, Han Yeoreum finally made her decision.
“You always go for tteokbokki.”
“Tteokbokki is life for a Korean high school girl. It’s soul food, you know. You just don’t get it.”
“You’re not a high school girl anymore. You already graduated. What kind of high school girl are you?”
“I’m an honorary high school girl, obviously.”
Han Yeoreum puffed out her chest with pride.
“….”
Although she was clearly a legal adult, seeing her in the academy uniform made it hard to argue. I had nothing to say.
Since I wasn’t particularly picky about food, I followed Han Yeoreum to the Korean food section. It was a bit strange that such a fancy building served tteokbokki, but looking closer, every floor mainly offered dishes that appealed to late teens and early twenties—the exact demographic of the cadets.
“What should we take for classes?”
“We’ll probably end up taking almost the same ones, right? There aren’t that many electives anyway. Both Blood Demon Arts and Lesser Demon Arts are technique-based. Let’s focus on those.”
“Mmm.”
Han Yeoreum stuffed her mouth full of tteokbokki and chewed vigorously. Her puffed-out cheeks made her look exactly like a squirrel. I barely resisted the urge to poke them with my finger.
In truth, what classes we took was a minor issue. The truly important thing right now was securing the opportunities first.
To keep up with the monsters, the standard approach would never be enough. We needed to forcibly raise our realms and accumulate real combat experience as quickly as possible.
The biggest problem for both me and Han Yeoreum was our complete lack of real combat experience. Compared to the martial artists who saw blood every single day, we were still fragile civilians at heart.
“You done eating?”
Han Yeoreum was resting her chin on both hands like a flower bud. She looked at me with a bright, satisfied smile.
“Yeah. What are we doing now?”
“We’re going to get stronger.”
“Get stronger?”
“Follow me.”
I wasn’t sure if it would still be there, but if we had come to the Jungwon Martial Arts Academy from ten years ago, this was the very first thing we had to try.
On the outer edge of the academy’s vast grounds lay a wide forest connected to Namhan Mountain.
“Isn’t this a restricted area? Are we really allowed to sneak in?”
Han Yeoreum asked with a worried tone.
“It’s fine. They don’t even manage it properly anyway.”
We climbed for quite a while along a narrow, overgrown path that wound through the rugged mountain terrain.
“…Is there something here?”
“It’s a hidden piece, but I’m not sure. Since it’s ten years ago, I can’t be certain it’s still here.”
“If we go through all this trouble and there’s nothing, I’m gonna be pissed.”
“…Wait. Look over there.”
I jerked my chin toward the upper slope. There stood a stone statue with everything above the waist completely severed. Covered in thick moss, the statue was so heavily damaged that it was impossible to tell who it was meant to represent.
“Is this what you were looking for? It just looks like some old relic.”
Hidden among the grass, it would have been easy to miss if you weren’t paying attention.
“It’s not exactly a relic. It ended up like this because of deliberate neglect.”
“Who is this statue supposed to be?”
“The Martial God.”
I pushed through the grass and walked right up to the statue. It was exactly as the records had described.
“The Martial God?”
Han Yeoreum tilted her head.
“You don’t know who founded the Jungwon Academy?”
“…Wait, you mean that Martial God?”
I ruffled the hair of the shocked Han Yeoreum.
“That’s right. The ‘Martial God’ who always comes up whenever people play the ‘strongest of all time’ game alongside the Heavenly Demon and Bodhidharma.”
Unlike the other two, the Martial God was a relatively recent figure, but the impact he left behind was by no means small.
“Why is the Martial God’s statue in such bad shape?”
“It was like this from the beginning. It was intentionally made this way to avoid drawing people’s attention.”
Normally, one would have to find related secrets in the archives and go through a fairly complex chain of quests to reach this place. But I already knew the answer.
Besides, there was another reason I wanted to claim this first.
Contrary to the Martial God’s wishes, the one who had solved the puzzle was the worst possible man.
Hyeokri Ak.
The young leader of the Hyeokri family at the time, Hyeokri Ak had used his exceptional intellect to solve the puzzle and obtain the opportunity. The reason he was the worst was simple: the Hyeokri family itself was merely a disguise for the Blood Sect, an organization that committed every imaginable atrocity.
Being the young master of that family meant he was also the young leader of the Blood Sect.
He might even be attending the academy right now. He was the first person I needed to eliminate the moment I had the chance.
Because he had thoroughly hidden his name and identity until graduation, pretending to be a kind and gentle cadet, no one had realized his true nature.
Eventually, after obtaining the Martial God’s Supreme Treasure and successfully graduating, Hyeokri Ak revealed his true self and triggered every single major blood catastrophe possible.
There had even been a large-scale event connected to it.
It was horrific.
Even watching it in the game had been hard to stomach. Having to witness it in person? Absolutely not.
I slowly ran my hand over the statue. Following the records, I adjusted the statue’s orientation, then reached inside the severed torso. After groping around for a while, my fingers found something like a circular protrusion.
Click.
I grasped the circular knob and turned it slowly. A perfect fitting sound rang out. When I withdrew my hand, an altar-like structure rose up in front of the statue.
“What the hell is this?”
Han Yeoreum watched my actions with a completely confused expression.
“It’s basically telling me to worship it.”
“Huh?”
Ignoring Han Yeoreum, who still had question marks floating above her head, I lit the incense on the altar with the lighter I had brought in advance.
“Come here. Do you know the Nine Bow Ritual?”
“Yeah. I did it once in a quest.”
“It’s pretty much the same. First, three bows to the founding ancestor. This way.”
The Nine Bow Ritual in Murim Chronicles consisted of three bows to the founding ancestor, three to the master’s master, and finally three to one’s own master.
First, I performed three bows facing east from the statue. Han Yeoreum followed my lead without caring that her clothes were getting dirty with dirt and grass.
Next, three bows to the west. Finally, three bows toward the statue itself.
Rumble—
The moment we finished bowing and stood up, the altar sank with a heavy vibration, and the statue moved aside on its own.
“…Is this magic?”
Han Yeoreum stared with her mouth agape. Where the statue had stood, a staircase leading underground had appeared.
“It was a game, remember? Or maybe things work differently for candidates to be the strongest of all time. Let’s go in.”
To be honest, I had been half skeptical myself. The game had explained in detail how Hyeokri Ak had become so incredibly strong, but I hadn’t been sure whether such mechanics would still function now that the game had become reality.
Still, I had judged it worth attempting. And so far, the first step had succeeded.
Han Yeoreum grabbed my arm lightly. Together, we cautiously descended the stairs.