Chapter 6
Translator: True Detective
I Became a Martial God (3)
"If there is anyone whose name hasn't been called for attendance, please raise your hand."
1 PM. The sun hit the center of the sky and slowly began to descend, a time when people feel lethargic from the food coma of a hearty lunch.
At the same time, it was also the general education class notorious for being the most boring in my weekly schedule.
'If only the internet speed hadn't been slow...'
The nightmare of course registration from about a month ago came to mind. The dream of taking an easy, top-tier class, which was thwarted by the limits of internet speed despite having the reflexes and hand movements of a Peak Realm master, flickered before my eyes.
Of course, this lecture wasn't that bad either. It was a class I chose after looking at course evaluations in my own way. No group projects, few assignments, and easy exams meant it had all the virtues a general education course should possess.
There was just one problem.
'People kept saying it was boring, so I wondered just how boring it could be, but it's really boring.'
The fact that this lecture was really, very, incredibly, tremendously boring.
'The average anonymous rating from students was 4.5, but even the few harsh reviews were all strictly about how boring it was.'
I felt my mind becoming hazy while listening to the lecture. Should I say the letters seemed to shake and blur? I almost let out a hollow laugh at the sensation that was hard to describe.
At the same time, nonsense squeezed out by my brain to shake off the boredom came to mind. If just listening to that voice is making a Peak Realm master's mind faint, what else could that be but a Sound Arts attack?
The funny thing was that I couldn't bring myself to deny it. Even if it couldn't directly burst my eardrums and inflict internal injuries, it really felt like I would fall asleep if I just buried my head in the desk and closed my eyes like this.
'Then my grades and reputation would close their eyes along with me.'
To get a merit-based scholarship, I have to pay careful attention to general education courses too.
Didn't I also sleep soundly before coming? I can easily withstand a little boredom.
Shouting that inwardly, I moved my pen.
—Scribble, scribble.
"As an example of this, countries around the world are taking environmental—"
In the quiet classroom, only the professor's voice and the sound of taking notes echoed softly. Glancing around out of the corner of my eye, there were already many students nodding off nearby.
"Ugh..."
Most were simply nodding their heads up and down while somehow struggling to hold onto their sanity, but some had completely succumbed to the professor's masterful level of boredom and fallen asleep.
'Really, at this point, isn't the professor an anomaly too?'
Was it because I had been swept up in anomalous phenomena twice recently? My thoughts suddenly bounced in a strange direction.
I didn't often experience things that could be called anomalous phenomena in the past, but recently it felt like I was suddenly getting entangled with them frequently.
It's so bad that even after clearing out two anomalous phenomena, instead of feeling like it's over now, I'm at the point of wondering what will come out next.
'Still, since nothing happened for a week after Yeongshin Elementary School, maybe I won't get entangled anymore?'
I forced the ominous thoughts away and focused on the lecture again.
Isn't there a saying that "what if" catches people, and that words become seeds? I didn't want to bring disaster upon myself with useless thoughts or words for no reason.
'Right, it's a needless worry.'
The number of times I've experienced anomalous phenomena in my life up to now is only two, after all. Statistically, the probability of not encountering an anomalous phenomenon was higher than the probability of encountering one.
"Sihyeon, come to think of it, did you hear that story?" "What story?"
After reaching that conclusion inwardly and listening to the entire general education lecture.
"There's a ghost story called Monkey Dream that's suddenly spread like wildfire lately, you know?" "..."
To the story brought up by the club president senior in the club room I entered to wait a bit before the next lecture time.
"But, I don't think it's a simple ghost story. I had the Monkey Dream yesterday too, and I seriously thought I was going to die of fear."
I had no choice but to scream internally.
'What is the Mystic Management Bureau doing...! Is a secret society a joke?!'
These bastards might be far more incompetent than I thought.
Honestly, I had been vaguely feeling it since escaping Yeongshin Elementary School.
'What exactly is the Mystic Management Bureau doing?'
I can vaguely guess very rough information.
Aren't they placing rulebooks for people swept up in anomalous phenomena? It's probably an organization that studies and manages anomalous phenomena for the survival and return of those swept up in them.
While they're at it, they conceal the information so society doesn't fall into chaos due to anomalous phenomena, and if an accident happens, they probably clean it up by attaching various plausible reasons.
Looking only up to this point, there is no problem. Rather, they seem like a great organization working hard for a cause no one acknowledges.
The problem is that every single one of those things is missing a screw.
'There was no rulebook at all at the Mount Geumjeong Forked Path, and come to think of it, I definitely didn't receive a rulebook at Yeongshin Elementary School either.'
Of course, there was a possibility that I just couldn't see the rulebook at the Mount Geumjeong Forked Path.
Because the sun suddenly fell, turning the surroundings pitch black, and an anomaly lunged at me the moment I noticed the abnormality.
It was highly probable that I failed to discover the prepared rulebook because my attention was caught up in the battle.
The problem was Yeongshin Elementary School. Even though I clearly entered Yeongshin Elementary School, unlike Han Sungyoon, I didn't receive a rulebook, nor did I discover one.
'There is a possibility that there is only one rulebook per anomalous phenomenon, but...'
Then, when two or more people enter, the rest who practically couldn't obtain the rulebook have no choice but to die.
I didn't have a problem thanks to the special circumstance of having learned martial arts, but if an ordinary person had gotten swept up like me, they definitely would have died to the anomalies while wandering around cluelessly.
In other words, either way leads to the conclusion that the Bureau's work process is somewhat sloppy.
'If I had it my way, I'd want to call the contact number I saw in the rulebook.'
At the end of the Yeongshin Elementary School rulebook, a contact number connecting to the Mystic Management Bureau was written down. I memorized it too, so I can contact the Mystic Management Bureau whenever I want if I set my mind to it.
'If I contact the Bureau now, extremely troublesome things will definitely happen.'
It's a guess, but there was a high probability that Han Sungyoon had called the Mystic Management Bureau. Having gone through an incident of that magnitude, he probably contacted them out of pure curiosity.
Actually, there is no problem with that. Didn't the rulebook state right away that they would help with physical and mental treatment? Just as the contents of the rulebook were true in reality, those words probably weren't mere empty promises either.
However, I cannot seek out the Mystic Management Bureau with a carefree mind like Han Sungyoon. To be exact, it's more that I shouldn't do it rather than I can't.
Unlike him, who is an ordinary college freshman, I possess a kind of supernatural power called martial arts. It wouldn't be strange at all if I were practically treated as an esper.
'There's no certainty that the Mystic Management Bureau only manages anomalous phenomena.'
What if the scope of 'mysteries' managed by the Mystic Management Bureau includes humans? Putting aside anomalous phenomena and anomalies, what if they manage all supernatural phenomena that deviate from the general common sense of the world?
If that happens, I will definitely experience troublesome things as a 'subject of management' by the Bureau. It means an organization backed by national power could somehow capture me and torment me, whether by isolating me or studying me through experiments.
'I'll pass on that.'
I need to know my place. Although I am cultivating martial arts and seeking transcendence with a human body, I must at least distinguish between when to resist and when to bow my head.
If I ascend to the Profound Realm or go beyond it and reach the Life and Death Realm, there will be no problems to hesitate about. The Mystic Management Bureau? Rather, I might be able to toy with them from a position of power.
However, my current realm is merely at the Peak level. The realm I achieved through about 10 years of self-study is Peak.
'Would the Bureau really not know about the existence of martial arts?'
That is absolutely not the case. Since it's a place that manages all sorts of anomalous phenomena, they definitely know about the existence of martial arts too.
'And, seeing as they control dangerous anomalous phenomena, there must be many outstanding martial artists as well.'
Just the number of masters active in the field right now would be enormous, and the level of talents they are cherishing and raising with elixirs and secret manuals would also be extremely outstanding.
It's the same logic as up-and-coming stars from prestigious backgrounds like the Nine Great Sects and One Union or the Five Great Families in martial arts novels always achieving tremendous accomplishments at a young age.
'They are fed elixirs scraped together by mobilizing national power, taught the divine arts and supreme techniques of verified masters, and undergo systematic training.'
It's a method that guarantees a minimum baseline while simultaneously strictly breaking through the ceiling of talented martial artists.
'What exactly is this organization doing, really?'
Ultimately, looking at all the possibilities considered so far to draw a conclusion, a rather bizarre conclusion emerges.
'The Mystic Management Bureau has sufficient ability to suppress and manage anomalies, but their actual cleanup work is clumsy.'
It's not like it's a company running by rule of thumb, does this even make sense?
I swallowed those thoughts inwardly and let out a sigh.
"Phew, how did things end up like this."
The thoughts about the Mystic Management Bureau that had been swirling complicatedly in my head slipped out mixed with my exhale.
'Right, the Bureau won't get entangled with me unless I contact them first anyway, right?'
Right now, there is a problem that needs to be solved before the Mystic Management Bureau.
'Monkey Dream.'
The anomalous phenomenon that the kendo club president senior also experienced... strictly speaking, it's a dream suspected to be an anomalous phenomenon, but anyway.
If it were in the past, I would have just laughed it off saying it appeared in a dream because he watched too many ghost stories, but not now, having experienced anomalous phenomena twice and even learned of the Bureau's existence.
Hypotheses like "perhaps," "by any chance," and "what if" stick together, making me consider the possibility that the club president senior was truly swept up in an anomalous phenomenon.
'He's a senior who cares a lot about this and that, and treats me well normally too.'
If I were to divide the shares in my very enjoyable college life, about 70% belongs to the club president senior.
Whenever there were activities or events that typically come up when discussing campus life or college romance, the club president almost ghost-like brought the news and told me.
Without the club president senior, it was highly likely that I wouldn't have been able to enjoy college life and would have spent my time just repeating lectures and martial arts.
'Even excluding such grace, I can't just stand by and watch someone I know die.'
I researched on the internet to find out exactly what kind of anomalous phenomenon the Monkey Dream was.
As it's information widely spread on the internet, I'll have to filter it out well on my own, but if there was at least a commonly matching context, it wouldn't hurt to memorize it.
Because the difference between knowing even a little bit of information and knowing nothing at all was truly immense.
'The difference between 0 and 1 is greater than the difference between 1 and 100.'
As a result of rummaging through the internet for a long while like that, I found a few quite meaningful pieces of information.
First, the Monkey Dream basically starts with boarding a certain train at a train station.
Second, once you board the inside of the train, passengers are killed one by one by monkeys.
Third, if you desperately try to escape the dream before your turn comes, you can wake up from the dream and run away. However, this method is strictly possible only twice.
Fourth, if you dream the Monkey Dream for the third time, the escape method of the third item is neutralized, and just like the second item, your turn approaches and you are killed by a monkey.
'The structure is a simple anomalous phenomenon.'
It's not an anomalous phenomenon that is very difficult to break through in itself. Like the Mount Geumjeong Forked Path and Yeongshin Elementary School, it's an anomalous phenomenon that can be easily broken if I conversely slaughter all the monkeys trying to kill me.
'The key is two things.'
Will I be able to use martial arts inside the dream? Will the monkeys appearing in the dream be weaker than me?
If these two problems are solved, the Monkey Dream is nothing to fear. But on the contrary, if even one of the two problems is not solved, I become the one in danger.
Pondering for a moment, I eventually stopped thinking and lay down on the bed.
'I can't intentionally enter the Monkey Dream anyway.'
Among the researched contents, I haven't seen any cases of intentionally dreaming the Monkey Dream. All cases were situations where a train suddenly appeared in a dream one day and they ended up having the Monkey Dream.
In other words, there was no point in me worrying about the Monkey Dream right now.
If I end up dreaming the Monkey Dream, I have to fight back to live no matter what, and if I don't dream the Monkey Dream, I wouldn't be able to do anything even if I wanted to.
'For now, let's just sleep.'
I have to go to the abandoned school night guard part-time job for about 3 more weeks. If I sleep 3 hours now and go to work, the timing is perfect.
So, let's fold my thoughts about a problem I can't do anything about and just get some sleep.
Utilizing the knack I built up through years of meditation and Energy Circulation, I closed my eyes to fall asleep.
〈In a moment, the train will arrive. If you board the train, you are going to suffer a very terrifying fate!〉
"Wow, fuck. Am I seriously possessed by a demon or something?"
I had my doubts, but I never knew I would actually dream it.