Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Martial Artist
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Martial Artist
Kim Miri, who had become Park Chunja—an eighteen-year-old girl born during the Japanese occupation—sprang into action immediately.
[Our nation's fate has been stolen by the Japanese devils, and I cannot live in peace. For the greater good, I shall take the tonsure. Please do not search for me.]
First, she tidied herself up, left a single note behind, and departed the house.
If the problem had been "Make the Republic of Korea independently sovereign," it would have been impossible for one person alone. But she had grasped the conditions precisely.
'The condition is to become a member of the Korean Liberation Army and alter history.'
As long as the degree of alteration reached over 50%, it would count as correct.
It wasn't about actually liberating Joseon. She just needed to change history—even by 50% or more—and that alone made it worth trying.
'The Korean Liberation Army is founded in 1940. That's thirty more years from now.'
Acting alone might fulfill the condition, or it might not.
It was like needing to tap a stone bridge before crossing, except there was no stone bridge at all.
"Why don't I just found it myself? I don't even need to gather people—I can call myself a one-woman Liberation Army and go around like that. If the Liberation Army hasn't been founded yet, then the first one to do it is the rightful one!"
If that was the case, she would build the stone bridge herself.
Declaring herself a member of the Korean Liberation Army, she set out to alter history.
"How can I change it?"
Unfortunately, her knowledge of history was limited to what she'd learned in school and bits she'd picked up along the way.
Influenced by her master Kim Godok, she'd recently been reading wuxia novels, but she'd never touched alternate history stories, so she had no knowledge there either.
"I don't know."
So she chose a simple but reliable method.
"If I kill enough people indiscriminately, it'll change eventually!"
She headed to Japan. During agent training, she'd studied foreign languages, and with the entity's help, she'd learned them effortlessly, so communication was no issue.
"You're Tojo Hideki, right?"
"Who?"
"Heavenly Demon Phantom Art—Earth!"
Tojo Hideki.
Terauchi Masatake.
Yamagata Aritomo.
Even the Emperor—she assassinated numerous historical figures.
"Catch the fox demon!"
Whenever she assassinated, she wore a white fox mask, so the Japanese called her the Fox Demon.
"This isn't enough."
She needed to kill more people.
She said this, but she wasn't some psychopathic murderer.
"Ah, time for meditation."
She was simply a martial artist, acting without hesitation.
[For a martial artist, killing is an inescapable karma. But avoiding killing makes it impossible to uphold justice. Thus, one must tame killing and make it one's own.]
The meditation of the Five Elements Divine Art, 'Revere the Heavens—Wood,' cultivated not only internal energy circulation but also an unwavering mind.
[Do not fear in action, and do not hesitate in fear.]
She killed because it was necessary.
To protect the world from entities, to escape this place—she repeated the act of killing.
"Japan alone isn't enough."
She headed to Russia.
"You're Lenin, right?"
"Who are you?"
"Heavenly Demon Phantom Art—Earth!"
She killed Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, and other historical figures.
"Not enough."
Next, she went to Germany.
"You're Hitler, right?"
"Who are...?"
"Heavenly Demon Phantom Art—Earth!"
She killed Hitler, Goebbels, Goering, and other historical figures.
"If I'm doing this, I might as well go all out."
She went to France.
"You're de Gaulle, right?"
"Who are...?"
"Heavenly Demon Phantom Art—Earth!"
She set foot in England.
"You're Churchill, right?"
"Who...?"
"Heavenly Demon Phantom Art—Earth!"
While she was at it, she crossed over to America.
"You're Roosevelt, right?"
"You...?"
"Heavenly Demon Phantom Art—Earth!"
By then, thirty years had passed in the blink of an eye, and the world had become utterly different from the original history.
"Hmm, World War III, huh."
Had she killed too many?
She was briefly stunned by the changes triggered by the interlocking historical shifts.
[Alteration Level: 99%]
[Pass]
In the blink of an eye, she returned to the original classroom.
'Ugh!'
Aftereffects lingered. Memories of living through thirty years under Japanese occupation remained vividly etched in her mind.
"Ugh!"
"Wh-where is this!? Korean independence was right around the corner!"
"Uwaaa! Honey? Honey!? Where are we!?"
The other agents were in the same state.
Those assimilated over thirty years couldn't regain their senses.
'No helping it.'
Kim Miri swiftly struck the backs of their necks.
After knocking everyone out, she took the exam alone.
'If even one passes, the whole group passes. I can do this.'
She had confidence.
'It shook me for a bit, but it was manageable.'
For some reason, an inexplicable confidence welled up: 'It's not like it's looping billions of times—what's the big deal with this?'
'Surely there are no entities that horrific.'
She moved to the next problem.
[2. Prevent the appearance of the atomic bomb.]
She possessed a body in 1940s America.
"Oppenheimer?"
"Hm?"
"Heavenly Demon Phantom Art—Earth!"
She solved problems through pure offense.
[3. In place of your ancestors, become Joseon's monarch and resolve the Imjin War.]
"Konishi! The king of Joseon is here!"
"What!? Seize him!"
"Heavenly Demon Phantom Art—Earth!"
She didn't always succeed.
No matter how much martial arts she'd learned, individual power had limits. She couldn't stop massive wars alone.
[4. As a soldier in the Spanish Civil War, unify Spain.]
Especially in battlefields rife with modern weaponry—not assassination—any tiny mistake led straight to death.
Fortunately, death there wasn't real, but it counted as failure. She was ejected from that world.
[5. Participate in the Civil War and make the Confederacy victorious.]
Instead, as she progressed through the problems, she grew continuously stronger.
Her potential, acknowledged by Kim Godok, had been primed by Foundation elixirs—entities called spirit pills—ready to erupt at any moment.
[6. As a Wehrmacht soldier in World War II Germany, overthrow the Nazi Party and normalize everything.]
Time was the only thing lacking, and the trials provided it.
By conquering the sixth problem, she surpassed her master's power.
[7. As a warlord in the Warring States period, claim over half the realm as your territory.]
In the seventh, she advanced the Five Elements Divine Art to the next level.
[8. As a child of Nicholas II, restore the Russian imperial family.]
In the eighth, she opened her lower and middle dantians, reaching the transcendent realm her master had so desired.
[9. As a child of Emperor Gojong, restore the Joseon imperial family.]
In the ninth, she successfully recreated techniques from wuxia novels.
[10. In the Three Kingdoms era, after Wei, Shu, and Wu have solidified their bases, found your own state and unify the Central Plains.]
And now, the final tenth problem—the last one before passing.
Kim Miri, dropped into a wasteland, looked up at the clear blue sky.
"Not unification of the martial world, but the Central Plains, huh."
A cool breeze blew as she clasped her hands behind her back and smiled.
"I'll settle it with raw power."
She had the strength for it.
"Shall I name the state the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult? Better practice my self-introduction. Ahem."
As she walked the wasteland, an aura of hegemony infused her steps.
"I am the Heavenly Demon."
Yi Sun-sin's statue slashed through the air with its sword. Kim Godok barely escaped the gap, but his exhausted steps were a half-beat slow.
"Urgh!"
His right shoulder tore open. His ragged clothes were soaked in blood, and before he could recover even a sliver of stamina, another statue attacked from behind.
[Think!]
He dodged the Thinker and moved behind the main hall.
Finally spotting the girl reading a book, he activated his movement technique repeatedly through the horde.
No sooner had his fingertips brushed her than the reading girl vanished once more.
"Cough!"
Kim Godok vomited blood. His reckless internal energy use and the relentless combos without recovery time had long shredded his old guts.
"Whew, this is really tough."
With no time to stop, he ran again.
"Guess it's time to use that."
He recalled a lecture from Foundation training.
[Entities are generally indestructible by physical means, but using another entity or mysteries offers the highest success rate.]
Mysteries—the term for superpowers or abilities manifested by humans.
The Foundation had entities that artificially granted such mysteries, and agents had destroyed entities using powers gained that way.
[In my view, Agent Kim Godok's martial arts are one such mystery.]
His first attempt failed.
The Sejong the Great statue was unscratched, and martial arts didn't work.
"But what about this?"
He drew up energy from his lower dantian.
Chasing the internal energy racing through his body, another surge coursed through him.
"Mad Sound Storm Surge."
The final form of the Five Elements Divine Art.
"Fire."
The life-saving absolute technique that burned one's innate essence—the root of human life and vitality—to unleash all power at once. At the same time, it was a mutual destruction move.
"One minute makes it the life-saver; beyond that, mutual destruction. I won't arrogantly claim to end you all in one minute."
Power surged.
He casually unleashed a palm strike.
"Heavenly Demon Phantom Art—Earth."
The Thinker, struck directly by the palm wind, lost an arm.
"However, I will definitely go with you."
The Thinker asked, staring at its severed arm.
"I intend to die."
"Not at all."
Kim Godok smiled, planting his firm legs and clenching his fists into stance.
"I emerged into the world to practice justice, and I offer my life for it. That's what a martial artist is."
His movement shot forward.
His fist smashed the Thinker's chest.
The indestructible statue shattered in one blow, scattering across the ground.
"And I've passed my will to my disciple. All that's left is this old body—sacrificing it for the juniors is only natural for a senior, isn't it?"
Vivid crimson blood trickled from the old man's mouth.
"No time."
His gaze turned to Admiral Yi Sun-sin.
"I'll deal with you before it's too late."
'As expected of an entity.'
This was clearly just an ordinary gymnasium.
But each time an entity-prepared event began, the gymnasium's form kept changing.
'Manipulating space at will.'
Sometimes it became a swimming pool.
Sometimes a massive track, or a shot-put field.
"So, what was the result?"
He approached the weeping entity and asked.
The moment he passed the eighth event, the entity had thrown a tantrum, ranting that it was impossible. There'd been a brief scuffle, but it resolved well enough.
"I am human."
"Why do you think it's impossible? Just because you can't do it doesn't mean no human can. That's narrow-minded."
The PE teacher trembled, tears streaming, in some mix of pain and rage.
"Oh, to be fair, I didn't use just my own power. I ate this."
"Want one?"
"But in exchange, tell me where the clubroom is."
"Here you go."
The PE teacher swallowed the "Dry Friendship."
Stammering, he collapsed fully into convulsions.
"What a shame. Excluding Homini, is there truly no one who understands my art?"
Anyway, fifth floor of the main building.
'Right now, the Paranormal Club room is likely the eye of the storm.'
He smoked a cigarette, then left the gymnasium.
"Still, they're weak."
Judging by the entity's strength and reactions when hit, they were far weaker than the Hell Train judges.
'If they're this weak, no need to worry about the agents.'
'They'll kill us if we can't draw?'
The six trapped in the art room trembled in fear.
'Am I hallucinating?'
'This is a dream—has to be! If I close my eyes tight and open them, I'll be in my bedroom!'
'W-we have to draw. I-I want to live!'
'What should we even draw?'
'Ahh, I swear I'll never enter an abandoned school again! Please forgive us!'
Instinctual terror sealed their lips.
Except one.
"Tcha..."
Only one.
"Tchaa."
Lee Sohee aside.
She deftly gathered the brushes, palette, paints, and such arranged in the art room.
"Tcha."
Having directly experienced the monstrosity slumbering behind the world's veil, she recovered quickly.
This was her second time, and the gift from that monstrosity still lingered with her.
"Tcha!"
The TS bishoujo internet streamer was good at drawing.
She'd drawn viewers' attention on stream with her art up till now—and now she unleashed it.
"Tchaa!"
"Tcha!"
Her stream art had been limited to anime-style on a tablet.
She'd only done that because viewers liked it, but her skill went far beyond.
"Tchaa tcha tcha."
The talent from Dr. Janus was one for the history books.
Lee Sohee began to paint.
To completely move the art teacher and save her comrades too.
The art teacher's eyes widened gradually.
When her brush stopped, not just the art teacher but everyone was moved.
"Wow..."
"Insane..."
"Incredible..."
"No way..."
"Amazing..."
An immortal masterpiece worthy of history was born.