Gwangmyeong Seungcheon-do
A few days had passed since I'd started helping Ha Seung-hee.
She and I spent nearly two weeks running dungeons together, putting HB-1 through its paces.
The results were positive. No fatal side effects. Using HB-1 inside a dungeon drained every nutrient from the soil and the surrounding plants—but only inside dungeons. The dungeon's peculiar environment seemed to be the culprit.
Hevil's Growth Accelerator doesn't do that.
Hevil's Growth Accelerator and its knockoff, HB-1, were similar yet different. Neither was dramatically superior to the other. In terms of pure efficiency, though, the original—Hevil's Growth Accelerator—held a slight edge.
"So all that's left is getting HB-1 into distribution?"
"No. Testing on HB-1 isn't finished. We still have to study the plants grown with it and make sure it doesn't affect anything else."
"Then when are you planning to put it on the market?"
"At least a month. Maybe two? We'll need that much time."
"…I trust you'll handle it well."
"How very kind of you to believe in me."
Ha Seung-hee answered with a thoroughly unimpressed look. She would only bring it to market once every preparation was complete. A month or two? Not a chance. More like the first quarter of next year, if I had to guess.
"Did you figure out who that guy was?"
Day one.
The man who'd ambushed us in the dungeon. The one who'd ended up killing himself.
"We looked into it, but there wasn't much useful information. We did manage to pin down his origins, at least."
"Where was he from?"
"A Chinese ethnic minority. That wooden flute of his was an artifact—it could amplify and manipulate sound. Objectively speaking, it wasn't a particularly high-value piece."
"…So China's behind this?"
"Just because the attacker was Chinese doesn't mean China is behind it. That's far too one-dimensional. Right now China is too busy dealing with its own domestic situation to spare the attention."
"In short, you've got nothing."
"For the moment. …We're tracking the artifact. It'll take time, but something will turn up."
"Alright. Let me know if you need my help."
I exchanged farewells with her and left.
Gwangmyeong Seungcheon-do selected.
Commencing amusement.
Back home, I entered the world of Gwangmyeong Seungcheon-do.
I'd been dropping in now and then, and I'd made frequent use of auto-progress as well. Time ran so generously in this world that auto-progress came with no real burden.
No—auto-progress was essential. Once you locked into training here, years could whip by in a blink.
Without auto-progress, I'd have spent endless dull stretches doing nothing but polishing my Dao.
I looked up toward the summit of Nakwol Mountain.
Compared to when I'd first arrived, a great deal had changed.
The shabby building once used by Wi-yu, the Nakwol Divine Maiden, was gone without a trace. In its place stood a lavish structure that called to mind the mansion of some American billionaire.
Mi-ryeong and I had built the place aggressively for our own convenience—but Wi-yu had fallen for it far harder than either of us. After living for centuries, at minimum, in a low-level civilization, one taste of a higher one and she simply couldn't let go.
I never planned on building a mansion this big…
Even with Mi-ryeong's requests and help, putting up a building and installing a pool had been a monumental pain—prefabricated or not. If it hadn't been for Wi-yu's command-disguised-as-a-request, I would have settled for living modestly and enjoying myself.
I approached the mansion.
Whooooom.
A sensation of passing through something. A special barrier Mi-ryeong had set up. Thanks to it, anyone looking at the summit of Nakwol Mountain from afar saw only an ordinary peak. The mansion would never be discovered unless someone came close—and if they did, Wi-yu would deal with them.
I had no idea what realm Wi-yu had reached. She never answered when asked. But in this world, age equaled strength. The higher your realm, the longer your lifespan.
The Human Realm was divided into seven stages total.
Ipsik → Chulji → Ogi → Samjeong → Johwa → Mansang → Deungseon.
Reaching the Mansang realm granted a full twelve hundred years of life. Wi-yu's exact age was unknown, but she was at least at the Johwa realm. Mi-ryeong and I both suspected she might already be at Mansang.
Either way, the current situation wasn't bad. It was peaceful, and I was learning a great deal from her as my master.
How the hell do I get Wi-yu into bed?
I kept turning over that stubbornly unsolvable problem as I walked on. I'd just come back up from the foot of Nakwol Mountain. I made regular trips down to the village below to buy what we needed. Food I could bring in from other worlds, but medicinal herbs were far better sourced here.
Before opening the mansion door, I looked up at the second-floor terrace.
Wi-yu, sunglasses on, was lounging on a sunbed. Astonishingly, she was wearing a blue bikini. Pale skin and a firm, toned body were on full display. Those G-cup—no, H-cup—breasts were so full I wanted to bury my face in them.
If I jumped her, I'd be dead in one second.
That stuffy, old-fashioned woman, corrupted by modern civilization into this…. Modern civilization was something else.
"Disciple. Your gaze is rather piercing."
Wi-yu spoke while lifting a glass of cocktail.
"I was momentarily blinded by Master's beauty."
Wi-yu snorted a laugh.
"You're a man—such instincts are inevitable. I understand."
She drained the cocktail in one go, then removed her sunglasses and looked at me.
"However. As they say, king, teacher, and father are one. I am a woman, so I am closer to your mother. Surely you aren't harboring lust toward your own mother?"
My mom's in Gangwon Province.
The words rose all the way to my throat, but I swallowed them hard and bowed my head.
"How could that be? Does Master find me uncomfortable?"
"The film I watched yesterday was about incest. Quite shocking. The movie left such an impression that I spoke without thinking—don't take it to heart."
"Of course I'm not taking it to heart."
According to Mi-ryeong, it had been a week since Wi-yu had taken an interest in Brazilian waxing. Which meant that right now, Wi-yu's—
I crushed the urge to activate Heavenly Eye and peek. Someone of Wi-yu's caliber would notice my gaze instantly.
"Anything of note in the village?"
"No. Same as always. Ah—there was talk of bandits appearing nearby."
"Bandits coming and going is only natural. Give it time and they'll vanish without a trace. Put the herbs in the storeroom."
"Yes, Master."
"And…"
Wi-yu picked up a smartphone from the table beside her and checked the time with practiced ease.
"Come to me in forty minutes. My research on the Shadow Heaven Style and Cheondanroegeol is finished."
"At last!"
"Indeed. Ah, and bring me a mojito when you come."
Wi-yu slipped her sunglasses back on and luxuriated in the sunlight. Not that her porcelain skin would ever tan. She was far too powerful to be bested by mere sunshine.
I opened the mansion door and went inside. The interior was vast. I removed my shoes at the entrance. Robot vacuums roaming the living room scattered in every direction to avoid my feet.
I opened the storeroom door—warded with techniques—and stepped in.
Namgung Seol was inside, examining the herbs. Lately she'd been learning elixir refinement from Wi-yu.
"Gaga! You're back?!"
Pat-pat-pat-pat-pat.
Namgung Seol came flying at me. Her petite frame was growing more mature by the day. I stroked her white hair.
"Just got here."
"I was so lonely without you, Gaga."
Namgung Seol looked up at me like she wanted something. Unfortunately, I was busy myself.
"Master called for me. I have to go train. These are the herbs I bought in the village."
"If Master called, then there's nothing for it."
"Where are Namgung Rin and Mi-ryeong?"
"Rin unnie is the same as always—training. Mi-ryeong unnie's in her room."
"Playing games, no doubt."
I wrapped an arm around Namgung Seol's waist and kissed her. Lips pressed together; tongues tangled.
"Ah—nn… Gaga…"
I groped her chest. Her breasts, which had started developing late, were bigger than before. I kneaded them for a while, then pulled away.
A few years back, Wi-yu had banned sex on Nakwol Mountain during daylight hours. You could sneak it, but if you got caught you were sentenced to a week of forced closed-door training. The line she'd delivered at the time had been something else.
—I can't tell whether this is my house or a brothel.
Ever since she'd started watching movies and dramas with Mi-ryeong, her tongue had grown thoroughly unrestrained.
Namgung Seol and I settled for a light kiss and parted.
I headed straight for the kitchen. To make the mojito Wi-yu had ordered… I didn't. Instead I slipped into the Baekhwan world and had a maid prepare it. Mojito in hand, I went up to the second-floor terrace where Wi-yu was waiting.
"Ten minutes. You must have run into Seol."
"Haha. We exchanged greetings."
"Normally you'd have cut it razor-close. I gave you forty minutes with that in mind, but… well, fine."
Wi-yu took the mojito with an elegant hand.
She barely moved her arm, yet the breasts wrapped in that bikini swimsuit swayed heavily. They were simply that large.
Sometimes I wondered: was Wi-yu pretending not to care while actually trying to seduce me? Moments like this made me desperately wish for mind-reading.
"Delicious."
She sipped the mojito while gazing out at a clearing. Namgung Rin was swinging a sword there. Two years ago, Wi-yu had taken Namgung Rin as a disciple. She claimed it was because she saw potential… but from where I stood, she'd simply grown fond of her.
As a result, the family tree was a mess. Namgung Seol—my official wife—was Wi-yu's first disciple, I was the second, and Namgung Rin, Seol's older sister, was the youngest.
"Looking forward to the Shadow Heaven Style and Cheondanroegeol, are you?"
"Yes. My heart is racing with anticipation. I've waited a long time for this."
I stole sidelong glances at Wi-yu's figure as she reclined halfway on the sunbed. Whether it was thanks to some acting trait of hers, she didn't seem to notice my stare.
"Don't expect too much."
"Pardon?"
"Great expectations breed great disappointment."
Wi-yu finished the entire mojito and rose from the sunbed. She headed inside as she spoke.
"Wait a moment."
About five minutes later she reappeared, wearing a green tracksuit. Her hair was tied in a ponytail. A whistle hung around her neck, and she had on a different pair of sunglasses. She seemed thoroughly taken with them.
"Let's go, disciple."
"Where to?"
"Where the starlight falls."
Wi-yu said it with deliberate mystique, but the place in question was a waterfall on Nakwol Mountain.
Sacred Light Falls.
An eighty-meter cascade. We came here often when the urge for a swim hit. The water beneath the falls had a flavor no swimming pool could match.