Even I Get a Stroke of Luck?!
My heart pounded like mad. A yodan! A yodan, just like the ones always popping up in wuxia novels! The kind you eat to boost your inner energy and power up your martial arts!
"Even a rat hole has its day under the stars!"
Fuck taekwondo and luhhequan—they were dogshit anyway! One strike to scatter them like fallen leaves! Samjae Swordsmanship? Screw that now! With this, I'd be a murim master!
"I'm losing my mind...!"
I'd killed a powerful yokai chieftain and scored the yodan straight out of a wuxia tale. What a stroke of luck! Such a sweet reward! Me, getting my hands on a yodan! Beyond joy, pure ecstasy—I danced around like an idiot, letting out wild cheers of delight. Had to feel just like winning the lottery jackpot.
Then, it hit me.
"Ah."
Do Sam-cheol's brutally murdered corpse caught my eye.
"...Do Sam-cheol."
My senses snapped back. What the hell was I doing? My comrade lay dead, and here I was, prancing around over a damn yodan.
"Classic psychopath shit."
I despised two types of people above all: psychopaths and sociopaths. What I'd just done? Textbook psycho behavior. Guess this murim world was driving me insane. My mental state was fucked.
Well, yeah. Not only had I slaughtered yokai, I'd even taken down a bandit. No wonder my head wasn't right. Probably why I'd been having nightmares lately.
"Rest easy, Do Sam-cheol."
I straightened his sprawled body, closed his eyes. O Geun-sik, Jang Yeo-min, those fucking bastards. If they hadn't run, Do Sam-cheol would've lived.
"We only fought together for a day, but... you were a fine warrior."
I recited a eulogy for him. Died in battle, so his soul must've gone to Valhalla. Had to be.
Handling the body could wait till I got back to the village. Anyway.
"A yodan, huh."
I pulled myself together and judged it more coolly.
"Gotta eat it."
I had to be the one to absorb it. Obviously couldn't do it here, though. Yodans needed careful absorption in a safe spot.
But what now? Didn't yodans dissipate right after extraction?
"Shit...!"
If that was true, every minute here was pure loss—muscle waste, no, yodan waste. Better hustle back to the village.
Spoils? Nothing worth shit. Chieftain's gear was just junk. Might fetch some coin, but I was in a rush. Ditch it. No point with everyone else fled anyway.
"Hah!"
I lopped off the chieftain's head, grabbed the bone ornaments he'd worn. Proof I'd killed the bastard. Then rifled Do Sam-cheol's pockets for his money pouch and Haengdo Sect plaque, snagged his sword too, and closed his eyes one last time.
"I'll avenge you, so I'll take the sword. Call it carrying on your legacy."
The pouch I'd deliver to Haengdo Sect. Couldn't steal from the dead, no matter what.
With that, I headed down to the village.
Back in the village, folks paced anxiously. Looking closer, O Geun-sik and Jang Yeo-min were in the mix.
Those fucking pricks...!
"H-hey! He's back!"
"He returned!"
"W-what's that in his hand?!"
"The Goburin chieftain's head!"
Villagers spotted me and shouted.
"Kim Geun-hyeop! You alright?!"
O Geun-sik approached next... What the fuck was this guy on? Fled and got a man killed, now strolling up like nothing?
Un-fucking-believable.
"O Geun-sik! Jang Yeo-min!"
"Gah!"
I bellowed at full volume, silencing everyone. Dead quiet in seconds.
"Fleeing mid-battle! Do Sam-cheol died because of you! He'd be alive if you'd stuck around!"
"Th-that's...!"
"I killed the Goburin chieftain!"
Thwack!
I hoisted the chieftain's hideous head high for all to see, bone ornaments dangling. Villagers screamed.
"If you hadn't run, I'd have taken him down easier! Do Sam-cheol would've lived, you fucking cowards!"
"B-but...!"
"We didn't mean to...!"
O Geun-sik and Jang Yeo-min yapped like idiots.
"Shut your mouths! Wanna die?!"
I hurled the head at them, roaring. They ducked heads and backed off.
"As agreed, no share for you! Reward goes to fallen Do Sam-cheol and me!"
"No way!"
Jang Yeo-min yelled—
Bam!
I solar-plexus kicked the bastard instantly.
"You fucking shit!"
"Gack!"
He convulsed, eyes rolling back. O Geun-sik yelped in shock.
"Wait!"
"Hey, O Geun-sik! You spewing bullshit too?!"
"No, I...!"
"Get lost with that prick! Unless you wanna die!"
"Guh!"
O Geun-sik dragged choking Jang Yeo-min away. Damn assholes...! Do Sam-cheol's corpse kept flashing in my mind!
"I... get the gist. Sorry. Never dreamed the chieftain would show... truly."
"...Village chief."
The chief approached, face grim. Did he know about the chieftain? Nah, probably not. No one'd expect a silver tael to handle a Goburin chieftain. This was an accident.
"Chieftain appeared, those guys fled, one died. So I claim the full reward. Remaining payout goes to Haengdo Sect after checking Do Sam-cheol's family."
"That settle it?"
"Write a confirmation stamped by you, stating I took the full reward for those reasons."
That'd shut up Haengdo Sect.
"Plus one more silver tael for killing the chieftain."
"Uh, well."
Chief swallowed hard at the extra silver. Nobody liked paying up.
"If we'd wiped, two silvers wouldn't fix it. You know that."
"F-fine. Two silvers it is. Confirmation shortly..."
Smooth resolution.
"Also, need to retrieve Do Sam-cheol's body."
"I'll gather folks."
Chief directed people right away.
"Whew."
Finally felt done.
"Chieftain's down early, so no threats for a bit. Hang that head at the entrance for extra effect."
"...Thanks."
"Planning a day's rest. Pay for a decent room and food."
"Got it."
Chief sent someone to guide me. "Inn" was just a village house—no real guesthouses in this backwater.
"Phew."
Settled in, rested. Villager brought food: carb-heavy staples and sides. Scarfed it down, lay back.
Pulled out the yodan.
"..."
Crystalline. Like jade. Green from the Goburin chieftain? Time passed since extraction, but no change.
This was mine, pure and simple. If we'd fought together, it'd be shared. But I soloed it. Mine.
"Heh...!"
A Jae Mi-son-style chuckle escaped. Heart raced again. Calmed with lotus position, deep belly breaths.
"Time to eat."
Down the hatch. Worried about qi deviation or whatever, but from a weaker yokai chieftain. That fucker was trash anyway. No big effects expected, minimal side effects. Trust myself and chow down.
"..."
Gripped the grape-sized, candy-like yodan.
Whoosh!
Popped it in.
"Hup?!"
Weird sensation—yodan melted smoothly. Like dry ice orb in your mouth?
"Hoo!"
Focused breaths to keep the mist in, drew it into my body. First time, but everyone's got a first. Concentrated on absorption.
Did the luck-building meditation from the martial hall.
"Heh heh heh...!"
Felt some energy sliding down my throat. Absorb it all, hit second-rate easy? More inner power, more strength. Skipping third-rate this fast—shivers at my own talent.
Imagined spreading the energy through my body, focused on meditation. Consciousness sank.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, darkness. I stood in some indefinable void. Dreamlike sight, fuzzy reality. Realized: yodan absorption blurred dream and reality—trance state.
What now? Stay calm like sleep paralysis?
Then, anomaly. Something appeared.
Ghosts. The bandit I'd killed, Do Sam-cheol, surrounded by Goburin, Little Blue Ghosts, Dae Seoseo trash yokai. Bonus: the chieftain.
They lunged at me.
"H-heart demon...!"
Was this a heart demon? Body frozen!
"No!"
Stay calm. Mess up, risk qi deviation. My skills too shallow, so this bullshit during absorption.
"Hup!"
Push through. Falter, and my qi and blood twist up. Not happening. I won't die. I'll win. Got a stroke of luck—too unfair to croak now.
Whoosh!
Ghosts tried invading. I straightened my mind, pictured Aunt. Aunt! Long black hair, expressionless face. Her icy aura froze and repelled ghosts that haunted us. My ma, my rock who raised me...!
Ghosts vanished. Peace returned. Felt my mind rising, opened eyes.
"Ahh."
Sensed a bit of inner power in my lower dantian.
"Just... I worship you, Song-ssi."
Habitually worshipped Song-ssi.