Chapter 2: Everyone is Gone (2)
Chapter 2: Everyone is Gone (2)
Deep down, he thought.
No, he hoped.
Could I meet them again?
In any form at all, could I see them just one more time?
He had harbored that small hope.
But the passage of two hundred years had utterly shattered Patrick’s expectations.
In the Martial World, it wasn't unheard of for masters to live past a hundred. There were even precedents of those who, by perfectly balancing their Essence, Qi, and Spirit and focusing on the Longevity Art, lived past a hundred and fifty. But two hundred years...
‘It’s impossible. Utterly impossible.’
That number far exceeded the limits of extending one's lifespan through martial arts.
Chewing on the weight of those two hundred years, Patrick turned back to the bandits and asked, “Where exactly are we?”
“Huh? Why are you asking th—Gah!”
Thwack!
Another man collapsed, steam practically rising from his head.
Patrick tapped his shoulder with the sheathed Black Dragon sword, his posture casual and irreverent.
“Why do you insist on earning a beating when you could just answer? Is getting hit the latest trend in the Martial World these days?”
Naturally, no such trend existed.
One of the Green Forest bandits quickly raised his hand and spoke.
“Our current location is the Daeryeong Mountain Range in Liaoning Province.”
“Liaoning? We’re quite far off.”
To reach Gansu Province, where the Twin Dragon Sect was located, he would have to travel a considerable distance.
Would the Twin Dragon Sect even still be there?
At the very least, he should probably give up on any grand visions of them still ruling the Martial World. After all, these Green Forest thugs didn't even recognize the name.
But if the lineage had somehow survived...
If it had...
“I’ll have to go see for myself.”
Reaching a conclusion, Patrick stood up. He pulled a gold coin from his pocket, set it on the table, and spoke.
“Innkeeper, I wish you a prosperous business.”
With that, Patrick turned his back to leave quietly—
“You can’t do this, Great Hero!”
—or he tried to, but he couldn't.
The innkeeper had desperately lunged forward and was now clinging to Patrick’s feet.
“Hey, old man... Why? Why are you getting so clingy all of a sudden?”
“How can you just leave like this? As a fair and just Great Hero of the Martial World, you must take pity on a commoner like me and deal with these atrocious bandits!”
“Oh, that?”
Patrick spoke as if he had only just remembered they were there.
“Yes, that! What will become of me if you leave? Do you think these cruel and violent bandits will just let me be?”
“Probably not. Especially since you’re calling them cruel and violent right to their faces. Why would they let that slide?”
“Wait... what?”
A look of realization dawned on the innkeeper’s face.
His head slowly turned.
There, he saw the bandits glaring at him with murderous intent.
“Tsk, tsk. You should watch your mouth. I mean, everything you said is true, but those Green Forest types have a habit of wanting to skin people alive and pickle them in salt when they hear the truth to their faces.”
“Hieeeek!”
The innkeeper shuddered at the mere thought.
He clung to Patrick even tighter.
“Please help me, Great Hero. If you help me, I will repay this debt through three lifetimes—”
“Yeah, no thanks. I’m off...”
“Great Heroooo!”
“Good grief, man. I said I’m not doing it, so stop being a nuisance.”
Watching Patrick haggle with the innkeeper, Persona let out a sigh.
“Just help him. It’s not exactly a difficult task, is it?”
It was true. For Patrick, wiping out a small bandit group harassing an innkeeper was child's play.
However...
“Sona. Do you know what I find most annoying in life?”
“I wonder...”
There were far too many things this man found annoying.
Once, he had urgently summoned her while she was in the middle of intense training just to say, ‘My feet are cold. Pull the blanket over them.’
Just thinking about it made her blood boil. She had been so tempted to blast him with a Breath right then and there.
Regardless, Patrick continued.
“It’s wasting energy on other people’s business when there’s no money in it.”
Ah, I see.
So that’s what he hated.
The disciple could only feel despair at hearing such words come from the mouth of a hero who had saved a world and ascended to a Divine Rank.
Unfazed, Patrick went on.
“I spent so much time dealing with other people’s crap for no pay because of my Master... because of my father... Ugh, just thinking about it pisses me off.”
From Patrick’s perspective, those had been days of long-suffering.
Whenever his pushover Master or his pushover father caused trouble, he was the one who had to clean up the mess. But...
“Now, neither my Master nor my father is here. So why should I volunteer to be a pushover?”
“Ah, I see.”
“Exactly. From this moment on, I solemnly declare that our Twin Dragon Sect will reject all forms of pushover behavior.”
“...Right. I see.”
The look in his disciple’s eyes was one of pure pity.
Yes, she had expected this to some extent. Persona knew that letting this rogue run loose without a leash was a recipe for disaster.
And because she knew...
‘I’ve already prepared a countermeasure.’
“Then let’s go. It’s a long way from here to Gansu—Huh? What’s this?”
It happened then.
A blue window suddenly appeared before Patrick’s eyes.
[Quest]
You heartless, good-for-nothing bastard.
Save the poor innkeeper from the bandit threat UN-CON-DI-TION-AL-LY while I’m still being nice.
Success Reward: +50 Causality.
Conditional Success: +0 Causality.
Failure Penalty: -50 Causality.
Patrick’s eyes widened as he stared at the blue rectangular window floating in front of him.
“...Uh, this is... what...”
“What is it, Master?”
“No, it’s just...”
“Why? Do you see something strange?”
“......”
Persona was smiling.
*
Two years ago.
While Patrick was focused on his rehabilitation, Persona had been summoned by Kalaron and Yupinel.
“You called for me?”
“Yes. We have something to say, so take a seat.”
“Thank you.”
Once Persona was seated, Yupinel and Kalaron got straight to the point.
“Patrick Schneider has been granted permission to return to World 3524, the world of his previous life.”
“I see.”
“We didn't think it would be allowed so easily, but it seems that world is suffering from some serious bugs as well.”
World 3524.
In other words, the world where the Radiant Dragon Hero Jincheon had lived was also in a bad state.
The Blood Demon, who had been sealed alongside the Heavenly Demon, remained sealed, but he was clearly plotting something from the shadows.
Whatever his scheme was, the axis of that world was shaking violently, and order was on the verge of collapse.
To rectify this, sending Patrick—who already had a deep connection to that world—was a move welcomed by the authorities there.
And from Yupinel and Kalaron’s perspective, it wasn't a bad deal either.
“If Patrick Schneider is dispatched there and earns Causality, we can finally catch our breath.”
“We want to pay off our debts and live in peace, too.”
When Patrick defeated the Heavenly Demon, Yupinel and Kalaron had collected a significant portion of the Causality he had accumulated in this world.
But what good was that?
The amount they had borrowed from various places over the years was astronomical.
They were still pathetic debtors. However...
“Do not worry. Once Master achieves great deeds and accumulates Causality in that world, we will be able to write off our world’s debt as well.”
Persona spoke with confidence.
Indeed, that was the primary reason they were sending Patrick back. However...
“About that...”
“Yes, please go on.”
“Will he actually bother to accumulate Causality?”
“That’s...”
To accumulate Causality, Patrick had to perform great deeds, gain fame, and bestow grace upon countless people.
Of course, he might do well.
He was, after all, a man who had been called a Great Hero while active in the Orthodox Faction for decades. He was a Great Hero who had already achieved the feat of saving one world and ascending to a Divine Rank. But...
“That Patrick...?”
“We can’t be sure.”
Yupinel and Kalaron were extremely uneasy.
“Well, that’s... um.”
And Persona couldn't find a single word to defend her master.
A natural disaster that could strike anywhere, anytime, without warning.
Wasn't that exactly who her master, Patrick Schneider, was?
So, Yupinel and Kalaron put their heads together and came to a single conclusion.
“We need a forcing function to guide that man’s actions.”
“And we might as well gain a bit more Causality while we’re at it.”
Persona asked them, “What are you planning to do?”
“We purchased a system that has been proven effective in other worlds.”
“A system?”
At Persona’s question, Yupinel and Kalaron nodded.
“It’s essentially a guide designed to raise someone blessed by the gods into a hero.”
“Just so you know, it wasn't cheap.”
“Actually, it was damn expensive.”
“If we don't make our money back, we’re really...”
As the two fretted, Persona asked, “Wait, what exactly did you buy?”
“It goes by many names... but usually, it’s called a Quest, a System, or a Guide.”
“What is that?”
“We’ll explain it to you first.”
“You can explain it to Patrick later.”
Kalaron and Yupinel gave Persona a detailed explanation.
*
And now.
Persona spoke to Patrick.
“If you don't do as it says, you won't be able to accumulate Causality. In fact, you’ll lose the Causality you already have.”
“What... what kind of nonsense is this...”
“What will you do, Master?”
At Persona’s words, Patrick looked dizzy.
“No, wait. Causality or whatever—isn't that just currency used in the world of gods? It has nothing to do with me...”
“Just existing in this world consumes Causality.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Wait, then if I run out of Causality...”
“You’ll be forcibly returned to your original world.”
Patrick clutched the back of his neck.
So, what they were saying was that in this world where he had no Master and no father, he had to follow these 'Quests' to the letter?
Is that it?
If it tells him to help people, he has to help them; if it tells him to punish villains, he has to punish them?
Which means...
“I’m... I’m a pushover. I’m a...”
Patrick collapsed, still clutching his neck.
Persona watched her master and shook her head.
*
Im Dal, Chief of the Black Snake Bandits.
He was originally a soldier in the Northern Defense Force, fighting constant battles against foreign tribes on the northern steppes.
One day, he killed his superior and deserted the army. From his dead superior’s belongings, he managed to steal a secret manual for the Six Harmonies Spear Technique and a spiritual medicine kept in a wooden box.
Fleeing the army’s pursuit, he hid in the mountains, consumed the medicine, and trained in the secret manual.
Ten years passed.
He emerged into the world having mastered the Six Harmonies Spear Technique to the 6-Star level. By subjugating and gathering local bandit groups one by one, he finally established his own stronghold, the Black Snake Sect.
His martial arts were quite impressive for a bandit.
Thanks to that, he was able to expand smoothly, and the number of Black Snake bandits now exceeded three hundred.
“Heh heh heh. If I keep expanding like this, I might even make a name for myself among the 72 Strongholds of the Green Forest. Perhaps I might even receive a single line of teaching from the Heaven-Shattering Martial Emperor himself.”
Born into a poor family and struggling as a low-ranking soldier never knowing when he might die, he had now become the leader of a great host.
He was truly moved.
If his past life had been a harsh, grueling winter, his present was like a warm spring day. But then...
“Chief!”
“What is it?”
Im Dal frowned at the subordinate who came running in, shouting urgently.
“An enemy... an enemy has invaded!”
“An enemy? Is it the government troops? Or did those bastards from the Murong Clan attack?”
Im Dal tensed up instantly.
Both were opponents he wasn't yet ready to face.
But his subordinate said, “There are only two invaders.”
Im Dal’s brow furrowed as he shouted, “Only two? Then why the hell are you making such a fuss?”
“They aren't ordinary—”
BOOM!
It happened then.
A wall on one side shattered into pieces, and a man and a woman walked in.
One was a peerless beauty whose looks could make one lose their senses even in such a dire situation, and the other was a brown-haired foreigner.
He approached slowly, a pair of black and white twin swords mounted on his shoulders.
“Are you the Chief?”
The foreigner’s eyes overflowed with a terrifying killing intent and a desperate madness.
Im Dal reacted instinctively to that horrific aura.
“Hah!”
His spear split into three paths, simultaneously targeting the enemy’s heart, Dantian, and throat.
It was a perfectly executed finishing move.
However...
Clang!
“What the? Why is a bandit bastard using military martial arts?”
The opponent had parried his attack with effortless ease.
“Urgh...”
Though he had only been blocked, Im Dal couldn't withstand the shock and was forced back three steps.
And he realized.
‘He’s... he’s a master.’
The opponent was a master he couldn't hope to defeat. But he couldn't just back down like this.
Shouldn't he at least try to reason with him?
“Birds... birds of a feather should stick together...”
“Huh?”
“We’re both from the Unorthodox Faction, so why this violence—Gah!”
WHAM!
He should have known he’d get hit.