Come Yourself
A dark night.
The flickering torches around him provided the only faint illumination.
But soon, pitch-black darkness descended, untouched by even a single ray of light.
Attackers charged from the front and the sides. Some even leaped into the air, striking from above.
The swarming Daewoongbang thugs blocked every last bit of light from reaching Woo-gang's face.
In that instant, Woo-gang's eyes blazed with fierce intensity.
“Hup!”
A sharp intake of breath echoed briefly, and then his spear flashed.
Shh-shh-shh-shh-shh-shh-shh!
Incredibly fast.
Channeling his qi, Woo-gang thrust his spear with such speed that the eye could scarcely follow.
With so many enemies rushing in, he wasn't stabbing wildly.
One strike, one foe.
His thrusts, blending blinding speed with pinpoint accuracy, felled the charging Daewoongbang thugs without mercy.
The spear's length gave him an unbeatable reach advantage.
Only a true master could breach that distance easily, but to these Daewoongbang rabble, it was an impenetrable wall.
“Gahk!”
The only sounds from the falling thugs were dying screams.
Yet the Daewoongbang thugs kept surging toward Woo-gang.
Did the darkness blind them?
Or were they so ruthless they ignored their comrades' falls?
Stumbling over the bodies of their downed allies, they still lunged to attack.
Shh-shh-shh-shh!Whoosh!
After relentless thrusts, Woo-gang swung his spear in a wide arc.
Slaash!
The razor-sharp blade carved a chilling crescent through the air, slicing several oncoming thugs.
That single sweep halted their mad-dog charge.
A tiny opening.
Woo-gang seized it.
Swish.
His foot shifted.
The Wind-Chasing Nine Illusions Step unfolded once more.
The thugs, who had hesitated after witnessing his moves earlier that day, now stared in wide-eyed terror.
His movements were invisible, as always.
Partly due to the enveloping darkness, but mostly because Woo-gang's footwork was ghostly elusive.
He knew better than anyone what happened when Woo-gang moved like this.
Even those watching from afar, hidden at a safe distance, wore expressions of disbelief.
To their eyes, it looked like the thugs were simply collapsing on their own.
Despite wielding a long spear, Woo-gang closed in without hesitation.
A spear could be a close-range weapon too, depending on the grip.
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack!
Gripping the midsection, Woo-gang wove through the thugs, swinging mercilessly.
Slicing, smashing.
Those struck crumpled swiftly.
The fallen bodies left little room to stand, but it didn't hinder Woo-gang in the slightest.
Using the Wind-Chasing Nine Illusions Step, he pressed right up against one thug and unleashed a brutal swing.
Crack!
The thug, hit with devastating force, flew through the air like a leaf in the wind.
In that moment, Woo-gang's eyes flashed again as he vanished from the spot.
Crack!
He reappeared directly in the thug's path, smashing him again with the spear.
Crash!
After two massive impacts, the unconscious thug slammed into the ground.
The first blow had already left him helpless—why strike twice?
Because the thug was hurtling toward the inn.
This mess had already caused enough damage to the innkeeper; Woo-gang wouldn't allow more.
Having safely(?) protected the inn, Woo-gang moved again.
Now, the standing thugs numbered far fewer than the fallen.
At this point, the Daewoongbang survivors had lost all will to fight.
But Woo-gang didn't stop.
As he'd declared, if they hadn't come, it might've been different—but attacking him late at night meant no mercy, per his promise.
He'd said he wouldn't let them leave alive, but he didn't plan to kill them all.
Still, he had no intention of letting them walk away unscathed.
Woo-gang advanced.
Even if their morale had crumbled, he wouldn't wait for them to charge.
The thugs couldn't flee either.
Paralyzed, they could only take the full brunt of Woo-gang's life-threatening spear.
Slaash! Slaash!
Severing sounds mingled with screams and groans everywhere.
“Gurk!”
The thug's eyes bulged as blood gushed from his mouth.
The spear's broad, wicked blade pierced through his abdomen and withdrew.
Thud!
Lifeless eyes dimming rapidly, the thug collapsed.
With that last one down, Woo-gang lowered his spear.
Only one remained intact: the thug he'd encountered earlier.
Trembling instinctively, weapon in hand, he stared at Woo-gang.
Woo-gang turned to face him.
Even in the dark, his piercing gaze seemed vividly clear.
That alone was enough to terrify the last Daewoongbang thug.
Woo-gang approached slowly.
The thug stumbled backward.
Fear locked his legs; he could barely move.
Woo-gang closed the gap faster.
Clang!
Up close, Woo-gang swung, knocking the thug's sword skyward.
The blade soared high, but the thug couldn't care.
Meeting Woo-gang's eyes froze his body solid.
“Fate's funny—you're the only one left unscathed again.”
Woo-gang eyed him coolly.
The thug couldn't speak, but Woo-gang didn't wait anyway.
“I said I'd keep my promise. No exceptions for you.”
“P-Ple… mercy! The gang leader's orders! I had no choice! Going back empty-handed means death anyway, so p-please… spare me! Please!”
The survivor ended in a desperate wail.
Woo-gang regarded him impassively.
Whoosh! Slaash!
“Gaaahhh!”
Splat!
No sooner had Woo-gang finished than the falling sword sliced cleanly through the thug's shoulder.
His arm dropped off. Woo-gang swiftly sealed several acupoints on the stump.
“Aaaarghhh!”
The thug screamed like a madman.
Pain unlike anything he'd ever known.
“Go tell them: don't send underlings. Come himself.”
Clutching his shoulder, drenched in cold sweat, the thug staggered away.
Bleeding wasn't severe, but the agony made walking a ordeal.
Still, escape consumed his thoughts.
Woo-gang watched him go, then scanned the surroundings.
He eyed the fallen thugs, then reentered the inn.
The terrified innkeeper dithered outside, unsure whether to go in.
By then, Woo-gang emerged, luggage from his room packed.
He looked at the innkeeper.
The man met his gaze—half fear, half relief.
Woo-gang said nothing.
Instead, he gave a slight bow toward the innkeeper and walked away.
Once Woo-gang was gone, villagers who'd witnessed the unbelievable scene crept out.
They knew exactly who these thugs were.
Daewoongbang's villainy had reached even this distant village, though not too severely.
Whenever the thugs visited, chaos ensued for days.
Some villagers had fled into the night, unable to endure it.
Now, they felt both fear and cathartic satisfaction.
“Wh-what do we do? Report to the authorities?”
“No to the authorities! It might bring trouble to that young hero!”
The innkeeper snapped at the suggestion, fully alert.
“Then what? Clean up these bodies ourselves?”
“The Murim Alliance. Report to the nearest branch. They're martial artists, so it's Alliance business. They'll handle it.”
“Y-yeah! Let's do that!”
The villagers sprang into action at the innkeeper's words.
“Hoo…”
The innkeeper sighed.
This was the least he could do for Woo-gang.
Tip-toeing through the fallen thugs, he returned to the inn.
Business would be impossible until the Alliance cleaned up.
Quite some time later, he found the one silver tael Woo-gang had left on the table.
Dawn was breaking.
Hwang Dae-ung, leader of Daewoongbang, sat on a chair positioned for a clear view of the gang's entrance. He still exuded a murderous aura, staring straight ahead.
The main gate stood wide open, affording him a perfect line of sight outside.
A minimal crew of thugs who'd stayed behind—those not sent after Woo-gang—stood rigidly tense around him.
They wished they could have gone hunting Woo-gang instead; it would ease their minds.
And they desperately hoped those hunters would drag him back.
Only then would the wrath spare them.
How much anxious time passed?
Hwang Dae-ung's eyes narrowed as he peered intently at the gate.
The telltale squint of someone spotting something distant.
Naturally, his subordinates' gazes followed.
They stared hopefully—but what entered their view was anything but.
A figure staggering forward, barely managing each step.
The perfect picture of a routed survivor.
And missing an arm, where one should have been.
Hwang Dae-ung's face twisted.
His men tensed in unison.
By then, the one-armed thug dragged himself through the gate, utterly spent.
Clatter!
Hwang Dae-ung shot to his feet; his chair tumbled carelessly across the floor.
“Where's that bastard?”
Ignoring his wounded subordinate, his first words were about Woo-gang.
As if the man's life meant nothing.
“That bastard!”
When the exhausted thug couldn't respond properly, Hwang Dae-ung barked again.
“Come… himself…”
Those were his last, halting words before his head slumped to the ground.
“What?”
Hwang Dae-ung's face contorted viciously.
Boom!
His massive sword cleaved the messenger in two and smashed the floor.
The thugs' faces drained of color.
Watching their leader slay a subordinate without hesitation filled them with pure terror.
They could be next.
“I won't say it twice. All of you, out—find that bastard! Bring his head if you have to! Fail, and you'll end up like this!”
Hwang Dae-ung roared, glaring as if to devour them.
The thugs bolted from the compound.
Whether to hunt Woo-gang or flee for their lives was unclear.
“As expected, no decent folk in a trash heap.”
A stranger's voice cut in.
Hwang Dae-ung turned slowly. An unfamiliar face now stood at the gate.
But he knew instantly.
“You're the bastard!”
Hwang Dae-ung bellowed, eyes bulging.
His expression mixed fury at Woo-gang with a flicker of glee.
Woo-gang's gaze, in contrast, was ice-cold.
Two stares—similar yet opposed—clashed fiercely in the air.