No Pain, No Gain
I let out a long sigh.
I was the idiot who’d turned the entire Tang Clan upside down, and it had taken me a full fifteen days to reach Guya-rim.
As I stretched my aching body, the entrance to the forest looked about as welcoming as an open grave. It felt a little different from the glimpse I’d caught of it as a kid.
This place is even more sinister than I remembered. The yin energy is so thick it’s practically choking me.
Dense, damp, and permanently shaded—it looked custom-built for venomous things to thrive.
If ghost wails started echoing through here it’d be the perfect haunted valley.
The forest itself was bad enough, but the terrain was outright malicious. The rocky mountains ringing Guya-rim looked every bit as brutal as the infamous Huashan.
Should I just turn around and run?
My instincts were screaming at me to bolt, but the guards watching the entrance were almost certainly observing me from somewhere. Turning tail wouldn’t be that simple. The second I spun around they’d probably pop out and block my path.
“Ack! You scared the crap out of me!”
“……”
And speak of the devil.
On the path where the carriage had vanished, a figure wrapped in dark, inverted robes stood as still as a stone statue.
After an awkward staring contest, I broke the silence first.
“Been a while since someone got exiled here, huh?”
It was a reasonable question. The punishment of exile to Guya-rim wasn’t handed out lightly.
Goddammit.
Aside from committing truly atrocious crimes, this was the harshest penalty a direct descendant could receive.
I have to survive no matter what.
Anyone sent here had two possible futures: forced to turn over a new leaf, or die an unlucky death. Every member of the family was probably rooting for the second option, but I had zero plans to die.
If anything, I was going to treat this as my golden opportunity.
“No pain! No gain!”
“……?”
The watcher—the guy whose job was to monitor everyone who visited the entrance—tilted his head at my sudden English.
“Ahem. Well then, take care.”
I left his piercing stare behind and slowly stepped into Guya-rim.
Cawww~ Weeeeeing~
The first thing to greet me was that eerie sound. Even though it was daytime, the thick canopy made everything pitch-black. The humidity was so bad that every breath felt like it was getting stuck in my throat.
Yeah. If I had to compare it to anything, this place was basically a poisonous tropical rainforest.
“Is it raining?”
As if welcoming its new guest, the sky opened up. Guya-rim was giving me a damp hello from the very first day.
Moving at night here would be suicide.
In a forest this dark even during the day, with rain falling on and off, walking around after sunset was just asking to slip and break your neck.
“Whoa!”
The ground was covered in slick moss. The moment my foot hit it I nearly ate dirt, and a chill shot down my spine.
“Holy… shit…”
Right where I’d almost fallen, a snake was flicking its tongue, waiting patiently. The triangular head made it obvious it was venomous.
First priority: find somewhere to rest.
When you get dropped in a place like this, the very first thing you do is secure a safe spot.
People don’t come through here often, so the grass has grown as tall as a man… I need higher ground.
At least somewhere elevated compared to the current terrain.
That spot looks perfect.
I turned my steps toward the rocky mountains that encircled Guya-rim.
“Don’t just walk normally! Be efficient!”
While moving I kept my eyes peeled for the poisonous herbs I’d studied in books.
“Is this one?”
I’d finally found a single poisonous plant.
Damn it… they all look the same.
To think a son of the Tang Clan couldn’t even tell medicinal herbs apart. Then again, the old me had been obsessed with becoming clan leader and joining a combat unit, so I’d never bothered learning about poisons.
I’d crammed from books later, but seeing them in person was completely different from pictures on a page.
They all look so alike… Screw it, just pick them! Time’s wasting!
Spending time on pure survival in Guya-rim was a luxury I couldn’t afford.
This place is overflowing with poisonous creatures and herbs. It’s the perfect environment to grow my Odok Shingong.
My plan was to absorb as much poison as possible, master Odok Shingong within six months, and even step into Shipdok Shingong.
Weeeeeing.
A strange buzzing reached my ear. I’d been so excited about finding the herb that I’d let my guard down. A chill ran down my spine—late, as usual.
As expected of Guya-rim. That snake earlier, and now this. Threats everywhere.
“Damn it!”
Should I run? Stay still?
An unidentified poisonous insect circled me, its sharp stinger raised and ready to punch through my thin skin.
I’d been inside Guya-rim for less than half a shichen and I was already facing my second crisis.
Think! Think! Think!
It wasn’t the type to spare me just because I stayed motionless, so I spun my brain at full speed.
That’s it!
Being in danger had jogged my memory from the books.
Mint! Mint!
Recalling the shape and scent, I scanned the area and luckily spotted a mint patch not too far away. Maybe because sunlight actually reached it? There were no bugs in sight, giving the spot an almost holy feeling.
Still crouched in the same digging posture, I started running on all fours.
I’m faster than I thought. Wait—is that a bee?
The thing flying at me looked ready to sting at any second. Its size made the wingbeats sound like a helicopter.
And the numbers were growing.
Weeeeeing! Weeeeeing!
They were easily twice the size of the wasps I remembered from my previous life. Instead of yellow they were nearly black with a faint golden sheen.
Heuk-dae-bong!
One of the more common creatures in Guya-rim, and one with seriously potent venom. If I wanted to adapt here, these were the first things I needed to get used to.
I’ll definitely collect your poison. Just not today.
Reminding myself I wasn’t running away because they looked terrifying and there were too many of them, I reached the mint patch safely on all fours.
Weeeeeing~
The swarm that had been charging aggressively vanished the instant I entered the mint.
“Wow, crap… My heart’s about to burst.”
It hadn’t even been that long since I entered Guya-rim, yet I was already reflexively scanning my surroundings.
The mint scent apparently repelled most insects, so I didn’t see many bugs, but the threats in this forest weren’t limited to them.
You never know when a venomous snake or poisonous toad might pop out.
That’s why you never stick your hand into thick vegetation without checking first.
I picked up a nearby branch and gently parted the mint plants.
“Son of a—!”
A small snake was coiled up waiting for prey. I quietly let the grass cover it again.
“I’m definitely going to master Odok Shingong no matter how dirty I have to play.”
That was why I’d agreed to stay here for six months. But after running into venomous wasps and now a poisonous snake in quick succession, a wave of regret was inevitable.
“Why did it have to be you?”
Eung-hyeol-sa.
A snake whose venom literally congealed blood. It had a bluish tint and was relatively small, but as the saying goes, small peppers are the spiciest. This thing packed terrifying poison.
Should I start with this one?
Since it was the most dangerous, it made sense to prepare for it first.
Of course it was risky, but wasn’t that exactly why I’d come here?
I quietly pulled a small bottle from my sleeve. Getting bitten could kill me, so my plan was to extract its venom and ingest it gradually while operating my Odok Shingong.
But the color… it’s way deeper than what I read about.
These snakes were supposed to be light blue. The one in front of me looked exceptionally vivid. Still, I didn’t dwell on it.
Must be a well-aged specimen.
It would be lethal to normal people, but for someone who had learned Odok Shingong it wasn’t an extreme threat.
Still, raw venom is scary as hell.
But a member of the Tang Clan couldn’t afford to fear poison. I slowly approached the snake.
It didn’t react much to my footsteps. It looked pretty comfortable coiled up and resting.
“Clear the surroundings a little…”
I pushed the grass aside for a better view and raised my hand.
Maybe it was the Tang blood in me, but I instinctively knew how to catch snakes. I extended my fingers like a hawk and took the starting stance for the clan’s basic capture technique, Dokpung-su.
“Hoo!”
Facing the snake and assuming the posture, I instantly understood why this martial art had been created.
It really was just a snake-catching technique.
They’d probably given it a cooler name because calling it “snake grabbing” sounded too lame. Most martial arts names were like that anyway—dragons in clouds, phoenixes, tigers, all that.
Hoo… one clean snatch.
Pushing random thoughts aside, I took a deep breath and thrust my hand forward like lightning.
It really was wind-like movement, worthy of the name Dokpung-su.
Thwack!
The Eung-hyeol-sa that had been peacefully coiled was now in my grip.
“Ugh!”
It didn’t want to go quietly. It wrapped itself around my arm.
The squeezing pain made me want to let go immediately, but I tightened my hold on its head instead. Its resistance was fierce, but that didn’t matter right now.
“Open your damn mouth!”
Forcing its jaws apart, I slowly extracted its venom.
If it had bitten me I’d be dead.
How much venom could such a small body hold? The little bottle was already a third full.
“Tonight’s dinner is you.”
Slice!
I pulled out the throwing knife my younger sibling had given me and severed its head in a flash.
Twitch! Twitch!
Even without a head, the body and severed head thrashed violently. It was grotesque, but as a C-rank hunter in my previous life I’d seen the same thing plenty of times while fighting snake-type monsters.
“Called it.”
The snake that had stopped producing venom began spitting out every last drop of what remained, fangs bared in revenge. Mixed with blood, it clearly wasn’t ordinary poison. Those final few drops were probably far more concentrated than everything I’d extracted earlier.
You have to stay cautious with these things until the bitter end.
What a waste, spraying precious venom on the ground. I hurriedly collected it.
“One collected, for now.”
I needed to gather venom from creatures and herbs one by one, introduce them into my body, and operate my cultivation method.
“It would be safer to dilute it here and lower the toxicity first, but…”
That would be less efficient. A dangerous but fast path, or a slow but safe one. My choice was obvious.
“Six months is shorter than it sounds.”
Sitting in the middle of the mint patch, I swallowed the Eung-hyeol-sa venom straight.
“Urgh!”
Maybe I was too hasty. Was it stupid to go all-in on the first try? Could I even operate Odok Shingong in this state? No—I had to.
Enduring pain that felt like my whole body was being ripped apart, I assumed the proper posture.
“If you don’t want to die, then do it!”
Tang Sanlong.
I didn’t have outstanding talent, so I just trained like an idiot and worked harder than anyone else. Effort alone doesn’t instantly change your life, but steady effort makes sure you can grab opportunity when it finally arrives.
Opportunities that come without effort pass by like the wind, and you never even realize what you missed.
And right now, I realized my first real opportunity had arrived.
My skin gradually turned darker. The burning, tearing pain consumed my entire body. Yet every time I circulated Odok Shingong, I could clearly feel my internal energy growing.
Was this not an ordinary Eung-hyeol-sa? Either way, to survive I had to keep operating the technique.
“…I will. No matter what.”
To live, I endlessly recited the formulas and controlled my breathing.
“Pain like this? I went through it like eating meals in my previous life.”
Life as a close-range dealer had been brutal. Of course the pain of being torn, bitten, and slashed had been different, but for someone who’d experienced countless agonies before, the Eung-hyeol-sa venom was simply a little more intense than usual.
Veins bulged across my body as if they would burst. Blood flowed from my seven orifices. Still, I kept reciting the incantations.