The Poison King's Legacy (4)

The glowstones lit the cave so brightly there was no reason to hold a Night-Illuminating Pearl in one hand while flipping pages with the other.

"I don't need the Night Pearl for now. This is way brighter anyway."

I opened the Lust God's Space and stowed the pearl back in my subspace. Once something went in there, no one could find it no matter how thoroughly they searched my body.

"Being stuck in a game instead of the real Murim is actually a huge help at times like this. I'm the only person in this entire world who can use a subspace."

The Lust God's Space was an incredibly useful skill for someone who wandered the world the way I did. It wasn't limited to jewels and valuables — I could store food in it too. No more hauling rations around on my back.

"Tch. I wish the space were a little bigger. One chi? Come on. If it were even two, I could fit cooking gear in there."

The subspace measured one chi on each side — barely a handspan and a half. At best I could squeeze in a small kitchen knife and a single pot or bowl. The Lust God's Space was a genuinely useful skill, but that cramped volume was a real shame.

I picked up the book.

"The Poison King's Secret Manual? So this is the martial arts text that holds the Poison King's techniques."

At last, the Poison King's legacy was in my hands.

— Flutter— thump—

The moment I opened the first page, a single sheet of paper slipped free and fell.

"What's this?"

I read the letter first. Thanks to the glowstones, reading was no trouble at all.

"If you take the inner core of the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake, you can wield every poison art of the Poison King? The Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake was a venomous creature the Poison King raised?"

According to the letter, the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake had been reared by the Poison King since his youth. That was why it had stayed behind to guard his corpse and his inheritance.

Inside the cave there ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were cave-born poison mosses the snake could feed on, along with all kinds of creatures that thrived in the poison springs, so the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake had no trouble living within the Poison King Cave. When it needed more, it could simply leave the cave and hunt fruit or animals elsewhere in the Poison King Valley.

To protect its master's remains and relics, the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake had killed every person or animal that entered the Poison King Cave.

"It's a good thing the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake never saw Dang Ducheon as food. It preferred the cave-born poison moss and wouldn't even glance at a human corpse — that's why Dang Ducheon's body was still intact."

In any case, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the letter said that anyone who managed to defeat the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake was a worthy successor to the Poison King's martial arts — and, being immune to its venom, would possess a body of absolute poison immunity. Taking the snake's inner core would allow that person to inherit the Poison King's arts in full.

"Hmm. As expected, the Poison King's Secret Manual contains the Poison King's martial arts."

I sat right where I was and memorized the entire manual. Time wasn't a real concern, so I stayed put and drilled every line into my head until I had it cold.

"Whew. Got it all. So does this mean I've finally learned an offensive martial art?"

It wasn't a sword art or anything that used a weapon — just bare-handed poison techniques — but having a real way to attack an enemy made me feel like I had finally stepped onto the path of a true martial artist.

Until now, everything I'd learned had been defensive: internal cultivation methods, lightness skills, stealth techniques. Through the Poison King's Secret Manual, I had finally acquired an offensive art.

"Alright. Now that I've learned the manual, time to take the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake's inner core."

I went back to where Dang Juju was waiting, slit open the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake's belly, and found the core.

"This is it. Eating this means I can freely use poison qi at the same level the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake was putting out. Then I'm eating it."

The Poison King had been clear: an ordinary person must never swallow the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake's inner core. The moment they did, that overwhelming poison would kill them on the spot. Only someone with absolute poison immunity — someone who had taken ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the snake's venom and walked away unharmed — could safely claim the core. He had stressed that point over and over.

"And that describes me perfectly. I took the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake's venom and came out fine. Absolute poison immunity. So I'm allowed to eat it."

The core looked like a slightly firm egg yolk. It looked almost appetizing — but this was the pure essence of absolute poison.

— Gulp—

It slid down my throat as smoothly as a raw egg yolk. The instant it began to dissolve in my stomach, I felt the poison qi spreading.

Following the instructions written in the Poison King's Secret Manual, I guided the poison qi and felt the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake's venomous energy accumulate inside me, piece by piece.

"Hooo—! Still fine."

Working the heart method, I absorbed every last drop of the absolute poison qi sealed in the core and stored it in my body. Thanks to my ten-star resistance, I had made the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake's poison entirely my own. As a bonus, I gained inner qi as well.

"They said eating the Red-Eyed Unicorn Snake's inner core boosts your inner qi by about half a cycle. So right now my inner qi is around the forty-year level. Incredible. Forty years of inner qi is First-Class territory."

The core had given me a poison-attuned body and half a cycle of additional inner qi. An outstanding reward.

"Hmm. I completed the Poison King Valley quest, so I should have leveled up, right? I've never leveled up once while playing Murim Noona. This'll be my first time."

I had run through Murim Noona dozens of times, but as a developer I'd always focused on prowling around looking for bugs. I'd never actually completed a quest — in fact, I'd deliberately avoided them to save time. So my level had never risen past one-star.

Not that being stuck at one-star had ever been a real problem. I had no offensive arts, but my speed was absolute — I could dodge anyone's attack, escape anyone's grasp, or vanish into stealth and hide.

Still, completing a quest in Murim Noona for the first time made my heart beat a little faster. I knew how sweet game rewards could be.

Command: Display Quest List!

Just as expected — the Poison King Valley Quest and the Level 1-Star Sub-Quest both showed as complete. Aside from the bonus quests, I had cleared all three.

I felt good.

"Hmm. Feels nice. First time I've ever completed a quest in Murim Noona."

Time to check the rewards. Checking rewards was always the most exciting part.

Command: Display Quest Rewards!

Ohhh. Level up to two-star, just like that.

Damn, that felt good.

Then a new line of text pushed up on the status window.

Huh? Wait. What did that just say?

I leveled up again?

...Why? Why did my level go up again?

But the status window wasn't finished. Another new message shoved its way onto the screen.

W-what? Level up again?

What the hell was going on? From one-star straight through two-star, three-star, all the way to four-star in a vertical climb? Why was this happening?

"Ahh. My martial arts rank just hit four-star."

In Murim Noona, Level 1-Star was the beginner tier — ten years of inner qi. Level 2-Star was third-rate, twenty years. Level 3-Star was second-rate, thirty years. Level 4-Star was First-Class, forty years of inner qi.

"Right now my martial arts are First-Class with forty years of inner qi. The Poison King's arts are superior techniques that sit at Peak or even Transcendental level, and with forty years of inner qi I can actually deploy them at a First-Class standard. So that's why I chain-leveled?"

No matter how I turned it over, that reasoning seemed right.

Before, with nothing but a lightness footwork and zero offensive arts, my martial skill hadn't even reached third-rate — pure beginner. That was why I'd been stuck at one-star. But now, having acquired the superior Poison King's Secret Manual and forty years of inner qi, the system judged me capable of First-Class-level combat. So it had slammed me all the way up to four-star in a single streak.

"Ha. Jumping three whole star ranks in an instant. Isn't that a little excessive for a first quest reward? Well — not that I'm complaining."

I was still riding the high of three consecutive level-ups when another message climbed onto the status window.

"What? There's more? Wait — what does that say?"

The moment I read the reward details, I couldn't help but be stunned.