Chapter 2: Instant Death

"Q-quickly, take the pill out of my robe and put it in my mouth."

The man in the purple robes—no, Gal Sa-ryang of the Blood World Mara Sect—urged Cheon Woo-jin on.

But Cheon Woo-jin held his distance and did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not move.

'I can see a status window!'

Right now, all kinds of information about Gal Sa-ryang were displayed before Cheon Woo-jin's eyes.

Just like a game.

It didn't show concrete stats the way a game would.

But the basic character information was displayed in a format that was completely identical to the game.

Cheon Woo-jin bit his lip as he studied Gal Sa-ryang's status window.

'I need to get my head straight. I can't just blindly help him.'

Right now, there was a gravely wounded man dying in front of him.

Even if there were no reward to be gained, helping was simply the human thing to do.

But that was, at most, a rule of the real world.

'This is a xianxia world, full of betrayal and schemes.'

Xianxia was, by nature, far more cutthroat than wuxia, its closest genre relative.

Unlike wuxia, which prizes chivalry and righteousness, xianxia tells the stories of cultivators who will use any means necessary for the sake of their own immortality.

That's why tales of cultivators betraying one another and weaving plots against each other abound.

In the game, if you saved a wounded cultivator at the start, they would help you later on.

But cultivators with a vicious disposition sometimes repaid kindness with enmity.

They might pretend to be grateful, stab you through, and stroll away.

They might promise a reward, lead you to a market, and sell you off to a slave merchant instead.

'And this cultivator is by no means a good person.'

His status window displayed chilling words like Demonic Dao, Blood World Mara Sect, and Utter Evil.

That meant this man was, without question, a wicked existence.

If he helped such a being... he would surely be stabbed in the back.

'Right. This is a xianxia world.'

Gal Sa-ryang, standing before him now, was a cultivator who had lived for hundreds of years.

So he had to remain thoroughly cold-blooded.

A careless attitude could cost him his life.

'Even against a cultivator who's lived for centuries, if I keep my wits about me, I can get what I want from him.'Yeongro Suseonjeon was a game that progressed through interactions and competition with all manner of cultivators.

Without grasping how the people of a xianxia world thought and behaved, clearing it was simply impossible.

Cheon Woo-jin had encountered countless cultivators within the game.

Not only the named characters tied to the main story, but he had ground his way through the game colliding with the innumerable NPCs randomly generated in every playthrough.

Drawing on that experience... he would get what he wanted from the cultivator before him.

"Before I save your life, I have a few questions."

"......!"

He posed the question to Gal Sa-ryang, whose eyes had flown wide open.

"Where exactly is this place?"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Answer me."

He deliberately kept his voice cold and level.

At that, Gal Sa-ryang hesitated before replying.

"Naturally, Mount Goeyu in western Weijin Country. You came all the way here without even knowing that?"

Mount Goeyu.

The same starting point as the game.

"Why did you come to Mount Goeyu?"

"That is......"

"Mount Goeyu is Heukha-ryong's domain. Set foot here carelessly and the moment he detects you, you lose your head. You can't possibly be unaware of that, so why did you approach Mount Goeyu?"

Gal Sa-ryang wavered for a moment, then answered.

"There are rumors that a Great War will soon break out. I came to gather resources in preparation for the fighting. Mount Goeyu is rich in rare treasures, you see......"

A Great War.

That referred to the great conflict over hegemony in Weijin Country.

It was one of the major events that occurred in the early stages of the game.

'Not only the location, but the timing matches the start of the game exactly.'

That settled it.

Cheon Woo-jin was now in a situation completely identical to the game.

Which meant the game knowledge he possessed could be put to use exactly as it was.

"Pl-please, hurry. Take out the pill and put it in my mouth."

"......"

His condition looked very bad.

His voice had grown fainter than before, and his breathing was weakening.

Left as he was, he would meet his end before long.

"Forgive me, but might I ask your name and affiliation? I can hardly help a man whose identity I don't know."

"I am......"

Gal Sa-ryang's eyes flickered, ever so slightly.

"A man of the Jongni Clan, a great house of Weijin Country. My name is Jongni Hwan."

"......"

I'll leave him to die after all.

So Cheon Woo-jin decided.

The status window showed that this man was Gal Sa-ryang of the demonic Blood World Mara Sect.

Yet right now, he was lying and claiming to be Jongni Hwan of the prestigious Jongni Clan.

How could anyone trust a creature like that?

"Please, feed me the Salvation Pill quickly. My cultivation power is on the verge of being severed entirely, so......"

"I'm afraid that will be difficult."

Cheon Woo-jin declared coolly.

"Because if I keep you alive, you'll do me harm. The Blood World Mara Sect repays kindness with enmity, does it not?"

The instant the Blood World Mara Sect left Cheon Woo-jin's lips, Gal Sa-ryang's expression changed.

He had realized that Cheon Woo-jin saw through everything.

"I could tear you apart and it still wouldn't satisfy me...... Heal me, now!"

Gal Sa-ryang's speech suddenly turned coarse.

The feigned courtesy fell away, revealing his vicious true nature.

"A mundane without even a Spiritual Root—how dare you presume to insult me!"

But it was nothing more than a hollow roar.

Gal Sa-ryang had already reached his limit.

His tattered body ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had crumbled into powder without his even noticing.

By rights, Gal Sa-ryang should have been utterly obliterated when Heukha-ryong's attack struck him. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ He had been holding himself together with his own spiritual power, and now that he could no longer sustain it, his body had begun to collapse.

"Feed me the Salvation Pill, quickly! Before my Golden ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Core collapses entirely......!"

Gal Sa-ryang squeezed out his final strength and tried to raise his hand.

But that hand was already crumbling into dust.

"Damn it all......"

With that single curse.

Gal Sa-ryang fell completely silent.

Just then, a fierce wind swept through.

Gal Sa-ryang's body was already powder, and the wind scattered him to nothing.

And so Gal Sa-ryang vanished from the world entirely, without even leaving a corpse behind.

And yet, Gal Sa-ryang had not left without a trace.

Like a monster dropping items in a game, he had left his belongings behind.

'This is the Salvation Pill... and most of these other pills look like healing medicine too.'

Hidden inside Gal Sa-ryang's sleeve were several emergency pills.

They looked exactly like their in-game counterparts, so it was easy to tell which was which.

'I'll keep them for emergencies.'

With that thought, Cheon Woo-jin tucked the pouch inside his robe.

Since he wasn't wearing his usual clothes, there were no trouser pockets to put them in.

'Come to think of it, my outfit has completely changed too.'

Cheon Woo-jin was now dressed like an in-game character.

Even his face and physique were different.

'Did I become the last character I created?'

If he'd known this was coming, he would have set up the character in far more detail.

He was still ruefully thinking that when—

"......!"

Goosebumps erupted across his whole body.

Because thunder rumbled once again.

'No way—!'BOOOOM!

With a deafening roar, Heukha-ryong flew in once more.

He tried desperately to flee, but he couldn't move a muscle, as though pinned by some waking nightmare.

Heukha-ryong was bearing down on him, its gaze locked directly onto this spot.

"I thought I'd wiped out every last stray of the Blood World Mara Sect, but here's one more hiding."

"......!"

I am not Gal Sa-ryang's comrade.

He wanted to protest, but his mouth wouldn't move.

Some unknown force seemed to bind his entire body.

All he could do was steal a glance at Heukha-ryong's status window.

Nascent Soul Realm, Middle Stage.

That meant this was a monster far more powerful than Gal Sa-ryang had been.

Not something a protagonist who had just started the game could stand against.

'Of all events, it had to be this one...!'

A rare event with less than a one percent chance of occurring.

If the event triggered where Heukha-ryong flew back in to attack the protagonist, you had to start with a body wrecked like a war orphan's.

It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, since there was a fortuitous encounter only obtainable with a body in that state... but that applied only when it was an event inside a game.

'There's no guarantee I'll pull through like I would in a game. More likely, I'll lose my life, just like Gal Sa-ryang did.'

This wasn't a game.

If he died, that was the end.

'No, wait.'

At that very moment.

A single thought flashed through Cheon Woo-jin's mind.

'Right. When I created the character, I definitely...'

Cheon Woo-jin had entered the game as the last character he created.

Which meant the character's innate talents should be available to him as well.

That transcendent authority— the one that had made him doubt his own eyes the first time he'd seen it.

"This Mount Goeyu is the site where I will conduct my ascension ritual when I reach the Soul Formation Realm in the days to come. It is no playground for vermin like you to scurry about in."

Heukha-ryong opened its enormous maw.

It was about to unleash a jet-black aura of destruction.

There was no time to deliberate.

Cheon Woo-jin fixed his glare on Heukha-ryong and concentrated his mind.

The terror that had crushed his entire body, he had already shaken off.

'If I truly have become the character I created, then that authority should answer.'

His two eyes gleamed, locking precisely onto Heukha-ryong's existence.

And a heartbeat before the dragon's breath of annihilation erupted from its maw—

'Instant Death.'BANG!

The colossal dragon plummeted from the sky, blood bursting from every part of its body.