Chapter 140
Chapter 140: Today (5)
"Is it okay to deceive them like that and participate in the Heavenly Youth Martial Arts Tournament? If those people find out, you'll be immediately disqualified, won't you?"
Hwa Seon-hyang pointed to the Martial World Protection Corps members standing here and there.
Yeon Yeong-ha replied with a laugh.
"Ho, hohoho. Disqualified? Let them try. Everyone's going to die anyway. What use is something like that?"
"...What? What do you...?"
"Then shall I move a bit faster this time? If I want it to be more fun than today, it's better when everyone's as fresh as possible."
Hwa Seon-hyang couldn't understand what Yeon Yeong-ha was saying at all. But she didn't seem insane. Just... suddenly goosebumps rose all over her body.
"Don't worry. I don't play with boring people. Look, right there in front, there are so many things to play with."
Yeon Yeong-ha licked her lips while sweeping her gaze over the northern and southern platforms.
She stood up from her seat, leaving the trembling Hwa Seon-hyang alone.
"Play is only play when you really kill. What is that even doing? It's not even a joke. Right?"
Hwa Seon-hyang couldn't give any answer.
Yeon Yeong-ha playfully rotated her wrists and ankles in that spot, preparing for play.
Anyway, if she didn't go over there, if she didn't take the initiative to do something... this day too would flow as predetermined. It had to be that way, and it had been that way.
She had already witnessed the result once.
The fight taking place on the Arena right now would also end soon.
'Ghost Dong Guang-chuan,' who had been fighting while adjusting to Eul Ji-chu's skill level, would display just enough additional skill to break Eul Ji-chu's Heaven Without Dogs. Then Eul Ji-chu's declaration of surrender.
And just as decided, the next match too, the match after that too, and the match after that...
Thinking about it made it even more boring.
It's a fight I'll win anyway. Play where I know the result. Could there be anything more tedious in the world?
That's why she had to move even more now.
'That way, that ghost will at least make me a little more entertained.'
She had to change today, even just a little, from what was decided. Just as she was about to move—
Cla-aaaaa-ng!
Finally, Eul Ji-chu's staff and Dong Bong-soo's sword clashed again. The sound was strangely fragmented to be considered a single clash, but Yeon Yeong-ha knew well why.
Because Eul Ji-chu's staff was trembling tremendously finely, a single collision wasn't actually a single time.
Dong Bong-soo couldn't withstand the impact and was flung backward.
Eul Ji-chu immediately followed and attacked.
Dong Bong-soo was pushed backward smoothly again.
The attacks continued. Accordingly, Dong Bong-soo was swept about like duckweed. It was fortunate it was Dong Bong-soo; if it had been some street mutt, every bone in the body would already have been ground to powder.
However, Yeon Yeong-ha knew better than anyone that this was temporary superiority. Though she didn't know exactly why, that person became stronger the more attacks he made—it was because of Consecutive Strike's [Frenzied] effect, but she couldn't know that.
The Heaven Without Dogs technique inherently involved numerous rapid collisions. Naturally, Dong Bong-soo received multiple stacks of [Frenzied].
Above all, Dong Bong-soo hadn't even shown all his skill yet.
Crash!
Just as she remembered, Dong Bong-soo soon began to overwhelm Eul Ji-chu.
As expected, a loud explosion erupted, and Eul Ji-chu was rapidly forced back.
Now after a few more exchanges between the two, Eul Ji-chu would finally spew blood and fly backward. Then the match would be decided...!?
'Huh? What is it?'
Something was strange.
Somehow the explosion seemed louder than what she'd heard during the 'previous today,' and the radius of the explosion also seemed a bit larger.
Boom! Kaboom—!
That's right!
The red-green ray of light had grown considerably, no, quite considerably.
It differed from her memory. This wasn't right.
Before she had moved differently from before, at a different time!
Something already seemed to have changed differently from the 'earlier today.' No. It had already changed. Definitely.
"Huh? Uh! Uh-uh!!"
The range of red-green light caused by Dong Bong-soo and Eul Ji-chu's collision enveloped the entire Arena in an instant.
Soon it expanded its domain to ranges that shouldn't be crossed.
"D-dodge!"
"Gah—aaaah!"
"...!"
Most of those on the southern platform, including Hyeoncheon Jinin, all descended from the platform at once and urgently fled further south.
Except for a few, all the participants on the northern platform also retreated further north. Those who remained deployed Body Protection Rigid Energy or defensive techniques to endure the red-green Rigid Energy storm.
However, most of the crowd within a radius of about one fifty meters who couldn't dodge were scattered as powder. Blood, iron powder, lime, and such densely covered the venue.
And.
A single pure white ray of light piercing through that hazy dust. Terribly clear. So different from the surroundings of the Arena that had turned into an Asura field.
"...Ho, ohohohoho! You changed it? Without me even doing anything, you changed today yourself? Really?"
Yeon Yeong-ha definitely saw it. Exactly what had changed from before.
"...!"
Jong Ji-hang also clearly watched the match situation on the Arena—already destroyed to the point it was difficult to call it that—piercing through the dust.
Dong Bong-soo's crimson red sword precisely split Eul Ji-chu's Dog-Beating Staff in half—.
And was even splitting Eul Ji-chu's torso in half.
***
Side Story 3: The Psychopath's Death
Act as if you will die today, learn as if you will live forever.
***
Huff... huff...
JP had hit rock bottom. The minimum intrinsic internal power to operate the Super True Energy Field had also hit rock bottom. Spirit Creature Kaiji had already died too.
At least my less exhausted physical body still moved reasonably well.
I needed to level up. If only I could, I would be able to fight properly again.
I looked around for something that could become experience points.
There are some.
Still.
However, before long, only one thing would remain moving alive in this place. Of course, excluding 'those things' rampaging while dead. They weren't alive in the first place.
For some reason I didn't know, destroying 'those things' didn't give any experience points at all.
Lifesteal didn't work either. Not only that, but when I attacked those things while holding the Wanderer's Sword, my health dropped instead. Because of that, the Wanderer's Sword with its lifesteal ability was already useless.
Not that I had any complaints. When the system was like that, there was nothing to dispute, was there?
Then what should I do? The answer?
I simply put the Wanderer's Sword into the Equipment window.
"Grah—!"
The brief lull ended and their attacks resumed. Being walking corpses, they seemed not to tire either.
The fact that they came to me was good in some ways. At least I could save the stamina consumed in walking.
I picked up a sword rolling around randomly among the corpses. Then without delay, I struck down the center of the head of the creature charging from the front.
With a dull thud sound, the creature's skull split in half from the crown down to just above the bridge of its nose.
Nevertheless, the creature's sword still swung toward my ribs.
I immediately dropped the sword and retreated backward.
Unable to use both [Lightness Arts] and Lightness Arts, that speed was truly shabby. However, since the body's swiftness was still considerable, I could narrowly dodge the creature's sword.
But the enemy wasn't only in front.
Because I dodged backward, I was instead getting closer to those approaching from behind.
Whoosh—
I scraped together 500 JP that had naturally recovered and used [Circulating Energy].
[Circulating Energy Lv.Max Proficiency: 0%]
A training method that artificially guides energy through the meridians distributed in the body from the energy accumulated in the Dantian.
Upon activation, attack power and defense power temporarily increase.
Duration/Cooldown: 5/10 (minutes)
Energy Consumption per Use: 500 JP
Current Skill Bonus: Attack Power/Defense Power Increase 150%
While JP became 0 again, attack power and defense power each rose by 150%.
I used the momentum of retreating and the increased attack power to turn backward and swing my right fist.
Crunch. Thud-thud-thud.
All the ribs of the creature approaching from behind shattered and a huge hole formed in that spot.
Undeterred, as if nothing was wrong, the creature opened its mouth wide to bite my neck. The stench of rot and sewage flooded in.
Without caring, I strongly thrust my forehead into the creature's mouth.
Crack-crunch. Squelch.
All the creature's teeth broke. Some of them lodged in my head. Warm blood flowed down the tooth marks created on my forehead. That blood entered my eyes and stimulated the optic nerves.
Thwack.
I shoved my left fist into the mouth of the creature whose lower jaw was already completely crushed. The creature's face was completely shredded, and thanks to that impact, I could pull out my right hand that had pierced through the chest.
The moment my right hand came out.
I grabbed the creature's thickest rib and ruthlessly swung it in all directions.
It was an imitation of the Wind Dog Chaotic Mating technique I'd seen earlier when fighting Wine Star Eul Ji-chu.
Crack! Smash-crash!
The heads of 'those things' around me fell like autumn leaves.
But it didn't end.
"Gyaaah—!"
"You sons of bitches!"
Curses and screams ran rampant everywhere.
Like mad dogs mating indiscriminately anywhere, miserable deaths were everywhere.
Hell recreated on earth.
That place was precisely this Murim Alliance.
Far away, the chief deity of hell was rampaging madly.
Jong Ji-hang, Paeng Ho-ryu, Eul Ji-tae, Hyeoncheon Jinin, Ja Do-un, Lee Hyeon-gung, No Cheon, and others were engaged in a fierce battle with her.
Heaven was astonished and earth shook.
However, even in that earth-shaking battle, Yeon Yeong-ha had leisure. Each time her pitch-black Extreme Yin Heavenly Calamity Energy swept once, masters were mercilessly flung in all directions.
Each time, using the leisure created, she looked this way.
You, is this all you can do? Was this all? I'm disappointed. Hurry and come at me again. I gave you enough time and opportunity to recover, didn't I?
It felt exactly like she was saying this.
Regardless, I silently killed the creatures while advancing forward. Because in this state, I absolutely couldn't face her.
I pushed through 'those things' and barely found a group of survivors still alive. There was no time to delay. I jumped into that group and reaped their lives along with 'those things.'
Experience points accumulated bit by bit.
Some questioned what kind of act this was.
What kind? Did such a question have meaning?
To me already, you all were merely experience points.
I moved my body again to slaughter.
Consuming all the experience points gathered there didn't take long. But leveling up was still far off.
I finished dealing with the creatures that had been mob hunting with me. Then moved to the next hunting ground again.
Meanwhile, Murim Alliance Leader Hyeoncheon Jinin died to Yeon Yeong-ha. It was a miserable death where his entire body turned to blood from her Extreme Yin Heavenly Calamity Energy.
I moved even faster to find another prey. Because I knew well that there wasn't much time left now.
In preparation for emergencies, I refrained from using skills as much as possible. To gather as much JP as possible that recovered little by little naturally.
I dealt with the next group I encountered, collecting substantial experience points. However, the jiangshi hunting with me this time were very powerful, and I suffered a fatal wound to my right hand.
Snap.
Without hesitation, I cut off my right hand.
At that moment over there, Paeng Ho-ryu lost his life.
As my experience points accumulated, my body's wounds increased, and the number of masters also decreased exponentially.
If I'd known it would be like this, should I have killed the masters instead of fighting Yeon Yeong-ha when the battle first started? Each one of them would raise at least one level or more.
However, that option had already disappeared. With current combat power, I would lose against any of those masters over there. Even a surprise attack would be useless.
I simply caught Martial World Protection Corps members and martial artists scattered everywhere fighting and steadily accumulated experience points.
***
Now there's nothing. All killed and died.
The experience gauge bar wasn't filled yet...
My left hand didn't obey well. I cut off my right hand earlier. Looking carefully, it was rolling around randomly on the floor over there.
Feet, what about my feet?
Though staggering, they still seemed usable.
So much blood had splattered in my eyes that all objects looked bright red.
Grrrooowl.
Even in this situation, my stomach cried out.
Was I still human because of this?
Well, that monster over there was somehow human anyway, so I must be human too. Heh, heh, heh.
I laughed.
I walked again looking for prey, chuckling lightly. My body was as heavy as carrying six thousand kilograms of iron, but I kept moving.
Huff... huff...
I looked around.
Just a few hours ago, this place was the main base of Central Plains Murim, the Murim Alliance.
Though no one would call it that anymore.
The splendid halls had all collapsed and the subtle Purple Sandalwood fragrance and tea fragrance had completely disappeared.
With a feast of corpses, the stench of rot and blood scent vibrated.
Within that, I still moved alive.
Swish-thud.
My sword began moving again.
***
Thud.
Was there still one person left?
A crimson lump of meat flew and fell beside me.
I barely turned my creaking neck to look down at the lump of meat.
Hummm.
The sword the lump of meat was gripping cried out noisily even in this situation.
The Heavenly Rigid Sword?
Then the identity of the lump of meat must be Jong Ji-hang.
"Guh..."
Still alive.
I instinctively started walking toward Jong Ji-hang. All the bones in my body creaked and screamed to stop, but I didn't stop.
Until death, it's not dead. So I don't stop. That is my, Dong Bong-soo's, nature and identity.
Step.
"Fun. Fun. It's fun-!"
Over there, Yeon Yeong-ha lightly flew and sat on the collapsed Cheontong Hall beam.
I glanced once and took one step at a time toward Jong Ji-hang again.
Yeon Yeong-ha beamed, finding something amusing, and waited for my next action.
Tap. Tap. Tap...
I arrived.
Grip.
Jong Ji-hang's right hand grabbed my foot. Probably trying to stand up.
But you know.
What I need right now is...
Crunch.
Not a dying comrade...
"Experience points."
My sword lodged directly into Jong Ji-hang's mouth as he tried to say something.
Whoosh.
Finally, the experience gauge bar filled completely.
The sacred fire of leveling up spread throughout the collapsed Murim Alliance.
Jong Ji-hang glared with wide-open eyes as if he still had more to do.
I closed his eyes and said.
"Thanks to you, I can fight again. Rest in peace."
I clenched and opened my newly formed right hand.
Squeeze-release. Squeeze-release.
No problems.
I took out the Wanderer's Sword that had been equipped in the Equipment window again. Then I even re-summoned the revived Kaiji.
Grrr-woof! Woof-woof!
Kaiji barked vigorously. That direction was toward Cheontong Hall.
I turned my head that way.
Ruins. And Yeon Yeong-ha stood on top of them.
Whoosh.
Without a moment's hesitation or restraint, I rushed at her.
***
The word eternity is laughable.
I didn't think I would live forever either. Like all the people who died to me, I too would die someday.
All deaths come fairly and justly. Don't be surprised if it comes suddenly today. It's simply time.
Yeon Yeong-ha is approaching this way.
I will die soon now.
Nevertheless, I was still struggling not to die even now. Probably an instinct as a human.
I squeezed out my last remaining strength and opened the Inventory. Having swept up this and that during battle, the inside was a mess. There was hardly any weapon left worth using.
I curled my lips to smile. There was no sound.
Then Yeon Yeong-ha arrived before me.
"What are you doing?"
Friendly tone. A natural remark that, depending on how you heard it, could even feel like a morning greeting between lifelong friends.
I spoke in that sitting position. My voice was, as always, low and plain.
"Effort."
"It's already over."
"Not dead yet."
"I'm going to kill you now."
"Still not dead yet though."
"Ho, hohohoho. Yes, yes. That's why I like you. Anyway, since I won today, just die."
Pitch-black energy flowed from her body and wrapped around my entire body.
"Everything is innate. Nothing can transcend its innate fetters. Me too, and you too. You were fated to die today."
As a final struggle, I laboriously lifted things scattered around. But I no longer had the strength left to throw them. Merely against my will, only junk piled up inside the Inventory. Among that junk was my right hand I'd cut off earlier.
"Well, it's not completely over yet. The Heavenly Calamity Energy seems to have really liked today. And I also like you so much that I want to kill you one more time. Of course, that's not for me to decide. If it works, it works; if it doesn't work, you just die and that's it."
And so I...
Died today.
***
If, as you said, today isn't the last...
I'll eventually twist your neck, that bastard called fate's neck.
I am Dong Bong-soo.
One who absolutely never gives up until it's over.