Chapter 1
Translator: True Detective
I Created Martial Arts (1)
Life is like navigating through a fierce storm.
It is the act of leaning on a single cane, slowly pushing through winds that could easily blow me far away.
Naturally, this is a metaphor.
It is a proverb that likens the hardships and adversities encountered in life to a storm, and the reasons and purposes of living to a cane.
Because of this, the proverb always ends with a single question.
“What is the cane of your life?”
The cane that supports you so you can navigate the fierce storm.
A support to lean on so as not to be broken by a hard and painful life, and a standard that determines the direction and goal of a storm-like life.
It asks what serves the role of that cane for you.
"Phew, I finally did it."
In fact, it's a question I can answer without much difficulty.
A personal hobby, or amusement. Something that brings joy and fulfillment.
Because there is nothing as suitable for the role of a cane as that.
"Now I can go around calling myself a martial artist."
At least, it was like that for me.
Humans are creatures that need rest, both mentally and physically.
Even machines running on iron and oil tend to break down if operated without rest, so how could a person moving with flesh and blood be sturdier than a machine?
Rest was especially necessary the harsher life got. For instance, growing up in an orphanage without parents, or being too busy trying to make a living without money or connections.
'After deducting rent, living expenses, and this and that...'
Just like me, with my empty bank account.
'There's nothing left, fuck.'
I, who had been crunching numbers in my head, soon stopped thinking and let out a sigh. It was because my balance was barely hanging on, even though I lived as frugally as possible.
Even when I lived in the orphanage as a child, I never once thought I was well-off. It was so bad that when I was in school, teachers who pitied me provided various accommodations.
However, now that I've become an adult and become independent from the orphanage, I miss those times. At least the days when I could get by without worrying about making a living feel relatively affluent.
'I really need to set a day to do some hard labor.'
With a bitter expression, I swallowed the bitter taste lingering in my mouth. I desperately felt that this wasn't enough to maintain a livelihood.
I need to earn money to pay rent and eat, but amidst all that, I am a college student, so I also have to study.
The only fortunate thing was that because I'm an orphan, a national scholarship was almost guaranteed. At least the country covers the expensive university tuition that costs millions of won.
The problem is that everything else in life is full of problems.
'Should I really cut back on my hobbies?'
Smacking my lips, I looked around.
A refreshing forest landscape unfolded, with green vegetation thriving everywhere and bright sunlight pouring down. It was the middle of Mother Nature, where anyone could take a deep breath and enjoy a refreshing feeling.
At the same time, it was also the place I visited whenever I partook in my usual hobby.
'It doesn't exactly cost money, but it's a hobby that eats up quite a bit of time.'
If I devoted the time spent on my hobby to a part-time job, my life could definitely become more comfortable than before.
Even if I didn't spend that time on economic activities to earn money, studying during that time would surely raise my grades.
The problem was that for me, this hobby was not simply a realm of rest.
'Now it feels like the goal of my life.'
As you live, everyone creates at least one method of relieving stress.
Eating delicious food. Playing games at home. Meeting friends to hang out. Traveling far away.
Either way, you take a step back from your grueling daily life and rest while doing what you love.
'That's how I started this at first, too.'
I smiled bitterly and looked at the wooden sword in my hand.
It was a gift from a senior in the kendo club I met at university. The wooden sword, frayed in places and covered in handprints, was almost like scrap wood.
It wasn't a particularly high-quality item to begin with, but it at least had the impression of a neat wooden sword. It just got worn out because I swung it without missing a single day for almost a year.
If one looked purely at the wooden sword itself, that would be the case.
"I've come too far."
The moment I said that, the wooden sword glowed blue.
"Since I've seen something like this, I can't quit now."
Even as I muttered to myself, I couldn't take my eyes off the miracle I had achieved.
A blue light flowed like a river along the brown blade of the wooden sword, much like the surrounding trees. Like gathered fog wrapping around it, like a flowing stream, a clear halo of light moved along the blade like a gentle breeze.
There was no need to explain what this was.
'Sword Qi.'
It is one of the arts that appear in martial arts novels. Furthermore, it is a power that enables one to cut even things that inherently cannot be cut by a sword.
Slicing through sheaves of rice and cutting down trees. Piercing boulders and cleaving iron.
It is the turning point where a martial artist essentially becomes superhuman. It is the minimum qualification needed to call oneself a master.
'That's how it was in martial arts novels.'
Crucially, it was a power that did not exist in reality.
'Am I not a full-fledged master now?'
A smile hung on the softly curved corners of my mouth.
Didn't something that started as a simple hobby produce a result that transcended common sense?
With this much, it seemed fine to introduce myself as a master wherever I went.
'Well, even if I boasted about it, no one would believe me. And if I showed Sword Qi to others, it would just cause a lot of troublesome things.'
As I swallowed those thoughts inwardly, it felt as if my past self was reflecting in the shimmering halo of light.
'...I've done this for a long time. And I've come far.'
The beginning was so simple it was childish. It was a hobby I started just because I thought the protagonist of a martial arts novel I read in elementary school was cool.
Feeling like an outcast among my friends because I had no parents, I read books alone in the library during every break. I could confidently say there wasn't a single book among the so-called recommended children's books that I hadn't read.
However, my gaze was always directed toward the librarian. I was curious about the book the teacher read, pulling it out of her own bag instead of the books scattered everywhere.
'So one day, I asked her directly.'
I asked what book she was reading and what it was about. Going a step further, I even begged her to let me see it.
Fortunately, the librarian willingly showed me the book. Rather, she smiled and started talking, seemingly pleased that I took an interest in her book.
'And that was the beginning.'
A story about a protagonist who practiced righteousness and chivalry, rushing forward unhesitatingly toward his goal, and the epic surrounding that protagonist.
I absolutely loved the story where the protagonist, who seemed pitiful even to an orphan like me, struggled desperately to reach higher realms, repay debts of gratitude and vengeance, and grow.
To the point where I would go around shouting that I would become someone like the masters in martial arts novels when I grew up.
'I spent my time breathing strangely for no reason, claiming to practice Inner Qi Cultivation Methods, and meditating when I was alone.'
I pestered a friend who attended a Taekwondo dojang and clumsily imitated a few Poomsae forms, and later, I picked up a reasonably long branch to practice swordsmanship.
'Because it was the only hobby I could afford in my circumstances.'
It was an activity I could do with just my body. Yet, it was as enjoyable as if I had the whole world.
Even after graduating from elementary school, going through middle school, and becoming a high school student, that didn't change.
'If anything, I worked harder at it as my body grew.'
It was difficult to even enjoy trending games with a cheap, budget smartphone. Games requiring an expensive desktop computer were completely out of the question.
Of course, the looks directed at me for having such a hobby weren't entirely kind.
My friends around me teased me, saying it was impossible in reality. School teachers and adults clicked their tongues and worried about my future. Even at the orphanage, I was often treated essentially as a weirdo or a lunatic.
Now that I've become independent after entering university, it was the quietest it had ever been.
'It wasn't that I didn't know martial arts were strictly stories inside novels from the very beginning, but...'
Perhaps the saying that the universe steps in to help if you wish for something desperately was true, because at some point, my daily life began to change very slowly.
The Inner Qi Cultivation Method, which had been nothing but a sham, actually began to absorb the energy of nature. When I meditated, I could peek into my own mindscape and roam within it.
I refined the natural energy into Inner Qi to form a Dantian, and learned how to operate the Inner Qi by studying the acupoints. Slowly but surely, I created techniques one by one that could be called martial arts.
Even thinking about it now, it was a joyful and rewarding task. Because a meaningless act became meaningful. I felt the saying 'time is gold' deep in my bones.
Thus, gradually raising my realm, I finally reached it.
'Peak Realm.'
A realm that was once considered the absolute strongest even in martial arts novels, but with the extreme power inflation nowadays, it's a realm one must reach to be called a master.
'Well, whatever. As long as I got the master title, that's enough.'
I still have a long life ahead. If I continue my training, I might someday surpass the Transcendent Peak and reach the Transformation Realm or even the Profound Realm.
'Should I just drop out of university and become an athlete?'
A chuckle escaped my lips at the realistic thought that suddenly popped up.
Certainly, my future wasn't very bright.
My university wasn't exactly considered prestigious, and my major happened to be in the liberal arts, practically guaranteeing I'd face a severe employment crisis.
'If I really have no other way to make a living, I should do that.'
I want to live keeping my conscience as much as possible, but human affairs don't always work out well, do they?
I was descending the mountain path, thinking that if my future truly became bleak and my life destitute, I would have no choice but to attempt an 'unpunishable cheat.'
"...What."
The path I usually went up and down without a thought had changed.
'There was no fork here, right?'
Contrary to my memory of a single cleanly laid path, I saw a junction that split off in a somewhat messy and rough manner.
The right side was the path I took when coming up. The left side was an unknown path I had never seen before.
At first, I wondered if I had taken the wrong path, but no matter how much I thought about it, there was no way I could have taken the wrong path.
'What in the world is this?'
Should I ignore it and continue on my way? Or should I satisfy my curiosity for a moment?
After pondering for a moment, I gripped my wooden sword and took a step toward the left path.
'Since I can easily take down a wild beast now.'
If I reinforce my body with Inner Qi and coat my wooden sword with Sword Qi, I could easily win even if a bear and a tiger teamed up to attack me.
Besides, if there's a danger I truly can't handle, I can just extend my Qi Sense to detect it in advance and avoid it.
It was the moment I was walking on the rough path with such thoughts, extending my Qi Sense and keeping my guard up so I could swing my wooden sword at any time.
"...Huh?"
Suddenly, the sun fell. It didn't physically plummet. It was just that day turned into night in the blink of an eye.
'This is unexpected.'
Something was wrong. It was the moment I gulped and a drop of cold sweat rolled down.
"...What?!"
Feeling a sudden presence lunging from my surroundings, I reflexively swung my sword.
—Slash!
The light of the Sword Qi flashed in the darkness.
[Mystic Management Bureau] [Field Agent - Park Hyunseok]
The Mystic Management Bureau, an organization designed to manage mysteries that deviate from common sense and maintain social order.
Park Hyunseok, working there as a field agent, checked the communicator plugged into his ear with a tense expression.
"Communication security check. This is dispatched field agent BHS." [Security check complete. Agent BHS, communication status confirmed good.]
Having confirmed the good communication status, he calmly let out a deep breath to soothe his pounding heart.
"Phew, I will now enter the Forked Path."
Concluding with a short report, Park Hyunseok slowly moved his steps.
He advanced toward the Forked Path of Mount Geumjeong, the notorious anomaly in Busan named as such.
'It's been quiet for decades, so why suddenly...'
Though he didn't open his mouth, Park Hyunseok's mind was complicated as he advanced into the dangerous domain of the anomaly.
The Forked Path, an anomaly that revealed itself to the people who frequently hiked Mount Geumjeong, the representative mountain of Geumjeong District in Busan.
Although it doesn't cause any particular mental effect, the never-before-seen forked path stimulated the curiosity of hikers who repeatedly climbed Mount Geumjeong.
And if one gave into that fleeting curiosity and entered the forked path, the victim would encounter the anomaly in earnest.
'A demon cave swarming with countless anomalies. An Otherworld where you have to climb a hiking trail not knowing when or what kind of anomaly will attack, and throw yourself into the Golden Well at the summit to return.'
If an ordinary person entered, there was practically no way to survive.
The Bureau had sacrificed many agents to establish a stele at the entrance of the path, inscribed with what could be considered 'safety rules,' but...
Knowing how to deal with a dangerous wild beast doesn't mean you can easily shake it off.
Let alone if it was an anomaly that transcended general common sense.
'The problem is that a civilian survivor emerged from there.'
However, a surprising event occurred yesterday. A case arose where a civilian male in his 40s entered the Forked Path and returned alive without a single scratch.
Naturally, the Bureau immediately requested cooperation from the survivor and secured his testimony, but bizarrely, the Otherworld described in the survivor's testimony was different from the place the Bureau knew.
"Oh man, I've never seen such a gruesome place even in my dreams in my entire life! Monster corpses were scattered all over the place, and the ground was completely soaked in blood!"
There was a possibility that the anomalies inside the Otherworld of Mount Geumjeong had died in massive numbers, or reached annihilation.
To confirm that fact, the Bureau promptly dispatched Park Hyunseok as a field agent.
Finally stepping into the entrance of the Forked Path, Park Hyunseok felt his heart thudding and recalled the survivor's words.
"Did you happen to see the stele our organization set up at the entrance of the Forked Path?" "A stele? I've never seen anything like that. Or maybe I couldn't see it because I was running away in fear."
The safety rules that the Bureau always placed near the entrance of the anomaly phenomenon.
At the Forked Path of Mount Geumjeong, out of concern for damage caused by the anomalies, it was installed by engraving the contents onto a stele.
"...Agent BHS, I have discovered the stele installed for the purpose of conveying the safety rules." [What is the condition of the stele?]
Walking to the location where the Bureau had erected the stele, Park Hyunseok reported briefly and clenched his fists.
Because he had seen a sight that vastly exceeded imagination, even by his standards as an agent tempered by countless experiences.
Licking his lips for a moment, Park Hyunseok answered the question asked over communication by the Field Support Department.
"The stele is covered in blood and is hard to distinguish from a regular rock. The surrounding soil and rocks are in a similar state, and the legibility of the engraved information is severely compromised due to being soaked in blood."
Even while continuing his report, his vision gradually became clear due to dark adaptation.
Thanks to this, the scenery of the Otherworld, which had only been faintly visible, gradually revealed itself starkly.
"And, and..." [Agent BHS? Respond. What's wrong?]
A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
The corpses of anomalies stretching endlessly along the hiking trail formed a mountain, and the spilled blood flowed like a river, forming a shallow sea beneath his feet.
Based on the horrific tragedy unfolding before his eyes and the experience he had built up until now.
"...The Forked Path of Mount Geumjeong is currently presumed to be completely neutralized."
Biting his lip tightly for a moment, Park Hyunseok finished his report.