Spirit Valley (2)
A cool breeze drifted through the secluded training hall of the Sword Sect.
Baek Seo-ha, who had been swinging her sword for quite some time, wiped the sweat from her brow with a towel.
Training alone... it's been a while.
Lately, she hadn't been able to devote herself to solo practice like this. The reason, of course, was Lee Tae-hyun. The bizarre genius who had come to her demanding to learn the Seventh Form, then proceeded to master everything after barely a handful of lessons. And on top of that, he'd kept pushing his luck right to the end.
'I haven't learned all of it yet, you know? I'll be back, so brace yourself.'
A first-class pest, circling endlessly at her side.
"...Unbelievable."
The more she thought about him, the more absurd the man seemed. What was even more ridiculous was this:
"......"
The things she felt around him no longer grated on her the way they used to. Unlike the reputation she'd heard about, he was serious when it mattered and relentlessly diligent when he put his mind to something. The moment he completed every single one of the training courses she'd designed specifically to drive him away, even she had stood there with her mouth hanging open.
And above all—
'He's strong.'
The greatest proof of all: Lee Tae-hyun was strong. His skill wasn't something inflated by items and elixirs; it carried the weight of fundamentals built slowly from the very bottom.
Much like the Sect Master herself.
"Why on earth would someone like that play the fool all these years...?"
The world said Lee Tae-hyun had turned over a new leaf after nearly dying. Baek Seo-ha thought differently. That was strength that could only come from decades of honest, repeated discipline. There was a solidity to it that couldn't be forged in a short span of time.
"...I don't get him."
Whenever she tried to probe into it, Lee Tae-hyun would just grin foolishly and change the subject.
'At first I thought he was nothing but trash.'
Now she couldn't say. Her head grew tangled every time she thought of Lee Tae-hyun.
"Ugh."
Baek Seo-ha cut her sword through the air in a fit of pique. Right—what mattered now was her sword, not that man. She already had a mountain of personal training to make up for thanks to him.
But still.
Today was the day, wasn't it? The day Lee Tae-hyun had announced he would stream a B-rank gate raid.
"Hnnngh..."
She'd normally cut off all interest in the outside world, but for some strange reason, this kept nagging at her.
'No. Ignore it.'
If you let your gaze wander to such things, you can never advance. Hadn't the Sect Master always said the way of the sword is a lonely and noble path? Don't think about it... don't think about it...
Lee Tae-hyun has started streaming!
"...Argh!"
Biting her lip, Baek Seo-ha snatched up her phone.
Not everything that appears through a gate is a monster.
'A gate is a passage connecting to another world.'
Granted, most of the worlds on the other side, post-collapse, crawl with monsters. But there are also plenty of cases like this one, where the "original inhabitants" of the world still remain. In the hunter industry, these people are called NPCs.
"An outsider...? You, truly?"
The boy's gaze softened slightly.
"That's right."
"...I can't believe it."
"Yes he is! Big brother, I'm sure that person is an outsider!"
A girl with an adorably round face—Kang Yul—came to my defense.
"The chief said it, remember? Outsiders are suuuper strong! That mister just knocked that monster down in one hit!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
The boy cast a furtive glance at the Water Ghost Demon sprawled on the ground.
"That one is..."
"Do you know what it looked like in life?"
"...Yes, I do. He was an immortal named Cheonjin, the third disciple of Unseon. He was skilled at piercing and burning his enemies with Thunderclaw Art."
So that lightning-claw technique the Water Ghost Demon had used was called Thunderclaw Art.
"To think you reduced Cheonjin to this state without a single wound on him, even after he'd fallen into undeath..."
A trace of awe crept into the boy's eyes as he looked at me.
"You truly are an outsider. It is an honor to meet you. I am Kang Hwi, and this is my younger sister, Kang Yul."
"Nice to meet you, mister outsider!"
Kang Yul's little hands waved like a puppy's tail.
The chat's firepower surged once more.
'Figures. He can't resist anything cute.'
The chat was full of nothing but useless chatter, so I pushed it out of my field of view.
"Um."
Kang Hwi spoke up carefully.
"If you're an outsider... did you come here to help us?"
"Why do you think that?"
"There is a legend that has been passed down in our village since long ago."
He kept talking without pause.
"Whenever this place falls into crisis, a noble one will arrive from another world."
What an optimistic legend.
'Outsiders' presumably means hunters and awakened ones from other worlds.
Among them were plenty who slaughtered gate residents or indulged every criminal urge imaginable. Fortunately, it seemed none of those degenerates had ever visited this place. If they had, they'd have shunned me the moment they learned I was an outsider.
"It's not wrong. If I want to return to my own world, I do have to kill all of these monsters."
"Ah...!"
A faint glimmer of hope flickered in Kang Hwi's eyes.
"Then allow me to guide you to our village."
Guided by the siblings Kang Hwi and Kang Yul, I made my way deeper into the valley.
About ten minutes in, Kang Hwi hoisted Kang Yul onto his back and spoke.
"From here on, you must follow me closely. If you do not step exactly where I step, you will lose your way."
"Lose my way?"
"A formation protects our village. It banishes anyone who does not walk a precise path."
"Understood."
I nodded and followed carefully behind him, watching every place he set his feet.
Squish.
Damp leaves brushed against my legs as we pressed on, and then—
"We've arrived."
The scenery around us had changed before I knew it. The gloomy mist still hung over everything, but—
'A village.'
A tranquil settlement unfolded before me, evocative of the ancient Chinese countryside.
"Kang Hwi!"
An old man with a long white beard came rushing over and fussed over the siblings.
"Where on earth have you been?! Didn't I tell you it's dangerous outside the village?!"
"I'm sorry, Chief. Kang Yul went missing, so..."
"Whew... well. Are you hurt anywhere?"
Only after confirming both siblings were unharmed did the old man let out a sigh of relief. Recognizing my presence came afterward.
"And... who might you be?"
"I'll explain."
Kang Hwi stepped in front of the chief on my behalf.
"This person is..."
"An outsider!"
Kang Yul's cheerful voice cut in between them.
"This mister is an outsider!"
"Wh-what?! Is that true?!"
"...Yes, it is."
The moment both of them confirmed it, the chief's expression changed. The wrinkles around his eyes grew damp.
"The noble one has come!"
The chief seized my hand without warning.
"Welcome! I am Bong Sam, chief of this village!"
"Lee Tae-hyun."
"This is no time for formalities. Come inside at once!"
Half-dragged by the chief's hand, I walked toward the heart of the village.
A small house, shabby but neatly kept. The traces of diligent cleaning and care were plain to see. Inside, books were piled up like mountains.
'So this is where the chief lives.'
Befitting the man who represented an entire village, wisdom practically seeped from the walls. That said, there wasn't an inch of space to step—how exactly was I supposed to come in?
"There we go!"
The chief swept the books aside with his hands and laid out a cushion.
"Please, sit here!"
"......"
Well, if he was fine with it, then fine it was. Ignoring the graveyard of crumpled books, I took a seat on the cushion.
"Allow me to greet you once more. I am called Bong Sam."
The village chief. Bong Sam bowed his head again and again.
"So then... Lord Tae-hyun?"
"Tae-hyun is fine. Lee is the family name."
"Lord Tae-hyun, then. Understood."
A kindly smile spread across Bong Sam's face.
"If you are an outsider... I suppose there is no need for idle chatter."
I nodded silently. The reason gates open is simple: the world on the other side is a wreck. And what a hunter who enters must do is equally fixed—
'Defeat the boss monster and open the way back.'
Along the way, you acquire items and equipment for profit. Hunters and gates exist in a kind of symbiosis.
"I know what I need to do. As a hunter, all I have to do is kill this place's boss monster. But I do need some information—what kind of world this is, and what exactly I'm supposed to kill."
I already knew the general outline of this gate, but hearing it directly from a resident would be far more accurate.
Above all, I was a streamer running a live broadcast right now. I had a responsibility to clear up my viewers' curiosity.
"Ah! Of course. Very well."
The chief cleared his throat with a hearty cough and began his tale.
"This land was once the domain of immortals."
Lush peaches ripened on the boughs, and the land brimmed with mysterious energy. That was what this place once was.
"Immortals of many kinds descended here and taught power to the people. Those who learned martial arts competed with one another, and at times cooperated. Some used that power for evil, while others shielded the weak from them. Our village, too, received that protection."
The formation I'd passed through to enter this village must have been an immortal's work as well. Convinced, I listened on in silence.
"While we lived on beneath that protection... that immortal appeared."
"Which immortal?"
"One who wielded a wicked art that raised the dead. Those who fell victim to his schemes became corpses that used martial arts even in death, infecting others."
An infection-type curse. Uncommon, certainly, but not entirely unheard of.
"That immortal vanished without a trace one day, but the host of his art still sleeps on the mid-slopes of Mount Cheongun over there."
Bong Sam swallowed dryly.
"...And whenever the blue moon rises, it awakens from its slumber, swells the ranks of the dead, and falls asleep again—over and over."
"Doesn't the formation protect this village?"
"Its power is not eternal. Each time the host corpse runs rampant, the formation loses a little more of its strength."
Bitterness lingered in his eyes.
"I fear... the next time will be the last."
The blue moon would soon rise. The formation guarding the village would fail.
'And if that happens...'
Every Water Ghost Demon in this valley would come flooding in. Total slaughter, then game over.
"Lord Tae-hyun. I have a request."
Bong Sam's expression turned desperate.
"Please, kill that host... If you do, the formation will never be destroyed, and at least the village itself will remain safe."
"Understood."
"You... you mean it?!"
Yeah, obviously. The boss monster is that host.
"Ah, but one thing."
"Yes! Anything, ask away!"
"Do you know the name of the immortal who spread this art?"
When I'd first heard this story, I'd naturally assumed the immortal who created the art was the boss monster.
'But it turned out the host of these Water Ghost Demons was the boss all along.'
It was so anticlimactic, it almost counted as a twist in itself. Just who was that immortal, to have created a B-rank gate single-handedly?
"Ah... I'm sorry. Even we don't know his true name..."
Figured.
"That's fine. I only asked out of curiosity."
"However, a few of his epithets do remain."
Bong Sam plucked a single volume from the mountain of books he'd just swept aside.
"The Murder Immortal. The Man-Eating Immortal. The Crimson Sleeve. The Man Mad with Blood..."
Hm.
Not a single sane one in the bunch. Every epithet dripped with blood and murder.
'At this point, that's not an epithet. That's a slur.'
As I listened in silence, Bong Sam spoke again.
"And..."
He offered the last remaining name.
"The Specter Monarch."