The Third Method
I realize once again that there are far too many dark GMs in China. Most of them ask why I never cover it. To answer my friends’ questions, there’s a reason I don’t touch the subject…
……
It’s completely different from the mainstream leagues of Korea, the United States, Japan, and the rest. China possesses such unique concepts that you start to wonder if it’s even the same game. The prime example is the “sect.” They refer to guilds as sects and view joining one as becoming family. Because of that, the moment you enter a guild your status window is completely restructured. Your name changes and the sect generates its own unique trait. These traits are called “martial arts.”
Confusing? That’s only the beginning.
……
The most troublesome aspect is the side effect of standardization that comes with martial arts. The arts directly influence the character, causing everyone within the same sect (guild) to grow similar. If it develops in a balanced manner like the Shaolin Temple or the Wudang Sect, there’s no problem. But when it becomes as extreme as the Dian Cang Sect or the Namgoong Sega, the situation turns serious. Beginners should avoid the Namgoong Sega at all costs.
……
There is no natural solution. It all requires the player’s deliberate intervention. The quickest method available is “recruitment”—filling the sect’s weaknesses with outside talent. The next is “items.” Powerful artifacts can serve as a control tower or even alter personalities.
And once you reach this point, you’ll understand why both of those options are realistically difficult…
“Ha, external recruitment? Does that even make sense in China?”
The door opened with a creak. Lee Shin stepped out, followed by Namgoong Min and the rest of the Namgoong Sega.
“To outsiders, a sect is just what the Chinese call their guilds. But it’s completely different. A sect is family. People who share the same surname, eat the same meals, and experience every joy and sorrow together.”
“Sharing joy and sorrow… Those are fine words indeed,” Namgoong Min murmured.
“So you want to bring in new family members? People who carried completely different names until yesterday—strangers’ family—seated at our own table? Are there any Chinese who would accept that? Lord, after how well the Namgoong Sega performed last season, could you truly look kindly on someone jumping over from another sect?”
“It would be difficult.”
“Exactly.”
To the Chinese, a transfer player is someone who betrayed the family that gave them their name. Conversely, the guild that recruits them is accepting a traitor.
Because that’s the foundation, both the transfer player and the sect shoulder enormous risk.
Then what about recruiting foreigners?
Could that possibly work?
“At best you could call it familial and deeply affectionate. At worst, it’s closed-off. People from most other countries can’t adapt to this culture.”
“I agree.”
“To summarize, the first method—external recruitment—is realistically impossible. Next, items.”
The Namgoong Sega members flinched at the word “items.” Their eyes naturally drifted toward Lee Shin, who was walking ahead, but he simply continued forward with a perfectly calm expression.
“Covering chronic weaknesses with items. It’s more realistic than recruitment. In fact, several sects actively utilize this approach.”
The Huashan Sect possesses flashy attacks and destructive area skills but constantly suffers from mana shortages. That’s why they have so many items related to mana. The Baekhwageom, which burns away an opponent’s mana, is the classic example.
“The Hebei Peng Clan stacks agility items, and the Zhuge Clan equips artifacts that compensate for their lacking physical abilities. However, only certain sects can manage this.”
That was right. What they all had in common was that their martial arts carried inherent stat weaknesses.
“The Dian Cang Sect’s martial art, ‘Hou Yi Shoots the Sun,’ is exactly as the name suggests—an extremely extreme one-hit-kill style. As a result, its warriors are hot-blooded and lack patience.”
Was there an item that could fix hot-bloodedness? No.
Was there an item that increased patience? No.
Well, to be precise, such items did exist. If there was an artifact that could interfere with the wearer’s mind, it could change their personality.
But.
“Items that interfere with the mind always come with side effects. In mild cases, strange habits develop, it becomes difficult to regulate condition, or illnesses like depression appear. The worst outcome is ‘loss of self.’”
“…Like us, you mean.”
Lee Shin gave a light nod instead of answering.
“Shall we talk about something else for a moment? Your Emperor’s Sword Form is truly a magnificent martial art. Like the Shaolin Temple’s Muscle Tendon Changing Classic, it is one of the few that can reach SSS-rank. Among all the sects, it should be the strongest.”
A supreme martial art capable of growing to SSS-rank depending on training.
Yet the art was incredibly difficult to comprehend.
“Comprehend the principles of heaviness, weight, power, and sword, and reach the ultimate state… Easy to say, but is it intuitive? No. There is no specific physical transformation, nor does it unlock incredible techniques. All it does is project mana into the swinging sword. Honestly, it can barely even be called a technique.”
The Namgoong Sega practiced the Emperor’s Sword Form by swinging their swords thousands of times every single day. They performed thousands of slashes, thousands of thrusts.
That was it.
Shockingly, that was the entirety of the Emperor’s Sword Form’s training method. The most basic movements every swordsman knew.
Downward slash. Horizontal cut. Thrust.
From the moment they received the name Namgoong, they trained these every day. For their entire lives!
Swinging a sword for more than twelve hours a day—any ordinary person would have gone insane long ago.
That was why they were so simple. They had no choice but to be, or they wouldn’t be able to endure it.
“Your simplicity is not a curse. It is the foundation that allows you to train the Emperor’s Sword Form, and the necessary condition. That is precisely why it is impossible to change it once you bear the name Namgoong.”
The explanation had grown long.
Time to return to the main point.
“So in this situation where neither recruitment nor items can be used, must you simply continue to suffer?”
Standing before the gate, Lee Shin’s taped glasses flashed.
“Of course not.”
If there was a path, he would find it.
If there was no path, he would create one.
This was not something the GM had hidden. It was the answer Lee Shin had discovered.
“The third method. Resonance using similar types of traits.”
At Lee Shin’s gesture, everyone stepped through the gate.
What Namgoong Min and the Namgoong Sega members saw next were three figures standing with their backs to them.
Three people standing in the middle of a vast plain, coats fluttering behind them. Beautifully written on the back of those coats were Chinese characters…
“Brother, hyung-je?”
“Labor, yong-yeok?”
“Brothers Outsourcing?!”
In the middle of the great plain, amid swaying grass, the three members of Brothers Outsourcing stood with arms crossed, magic herb sticks clenched in their teeth.
They looked as cool as gangsters posing for a movie poster…
“Cool my ass. Fuck this. I’m dying of embarrassment here,” Jang Ji-na growled, glaring at Jang Antonton with narrowed eyes.
“Boss, is this shit for real?”
“Heh heh. There she goes again. What, you got a better idea?”
“Just think about it, boss. We were running an errand service like some damn bounty hunters, then not long ago we went back to being retired mercenaries, and now we’re supposed to play circus clowns? Fuck this.”
Not long after returning from Brazil and hoping for some rest, Lee Shin had shown up at the three members’ doorstep with an absurd request. He said that since beastmen had a special connection, they should help him match some “waves.”
Thanks to that, the trio had spent all their time under Lee Shin’s guidance doing exactly that.
“Fuck… Boris, you got nothing to say?”
“It’s Jang Bo-ri.”
“Jang Bo-ri, barley rice, I’ll beat your ass either way.”
“I’m satisfied. I like this fashion.”
“Fuck…”
Jang Antonton gave a wry smile to the complaining Jang Ji-na.
“Why are you like this, kid? Weren’t you the one saying it was great to get stronger just the other day?”
“That’s that and this is this.”
“We finally succeeded and now you want to quit? Seems like a waste.”
“Agreed.”
“Ugh.”
“Focus. They’re coming.”
At Jang Antonton’s words, the two siblings looked forward. A flash of silver entered their vision.
It was the steel knight in plate armor—Hwarang, Kim Yu-shin.
Kim Yu-shin smiled warmly when he saw Anton.
“It’s been a while, Mr. Anton.”
“Been a while indeed. First time since Brazil, yeah?”
“I’ve been meaning to thank you for taking good care of my younger siblings, but never found the chance.”
“Aigoo, just hearing that is enough.”
Normally they would have had no reason to work together, but the recent South American incident had created a bond between the two men.
Thanks to that, the atmosphere was pleasant.
“Then let’s finish the remaining discussion over dinner tonight.”
“Heh heh, what a warm fellow. Let’s do that.”
“Shall we begin?”
“Let’s.”
At that moment, the warm smiles on both men’s faces vanished.
Fierce valor burned in Kim Yu-shin’s eyes, while wild savagery awakened in Jang Antonton’s.
Kim Yu-shin drew Pridwen out of respect for his opponent.
The instant he raised it in front of him, a crimson mantle appeared over his shoulders for the first time.
On the other side, Jang Antonton took his stance. His pupils narrowed to slits. Fur sprouted. A snout pushed forward and fangs gleamed.
A beast.
The massive black bear that was Jang Antonton rose to his full height. Behind him, the fiery bear that was Jang Ji-na and the werewolf that was Jang Bo-ri slowly stood as well.
The moment Kim Yu-shin entered their predatory gaze—
They charged!!
“Kwaaaaaah!”
Jang Antonton’s front paw swept forward. Jang Bo-ri’s claws flashed like blades. Jang Ji-na rammed her shoulder in from a blind angle. The three massive beastmen, bodies no human could match, unleashed attacks from every direction.
But their opponent was Kim Yu-shin.
The engine of the rampaging tank known as Hwarang—the man who had shaken the Asian league beyond Korea—roared to life.
He held his shield firmly with both hands and shifted his center of gravity. He defended with perfect forward and backward movement, rotation, and side steps.
The three beastmen’s ferocious assault.
Or Hwarang’s silver iron wall.
They clashed right here!
Clang clang clang clang clang clang—!
The three beastmen were clearly overwhelming. Their sheer violence sent chills down the spine, and the electrifying killing intent had already surpassed the human realm.
Yet.
All battles are relative. Hwarang Kim Yu-shin’s silver shield was perfectly neutralizing every single attack.
That was when it happened.
“Kids.”
“…!!”
“…!!”
The instant Jang Antonton’s eyes flicked across them, the other two nodded.
Jang Antonton spread his chest wide and howled.
“Kroaaaaah!”
Beside him, Jang Ji-na and Jang Bo-ri joined the howl.
“Awooooo!”
“Aaawoo!”
When the three beastmen’s howls collided, they formed a tangible field of mana.
But… something was strange. The colliding mana fields began to intertwine, mix, mix again, and finally merge into one.
Resonance.
The moment Jang Antonton, Jang Ji-na, and Jang Bo-ri’s eyes all turned the same blood-red color—
Jang Antonton’s front paw smashed into Kim Yu-shin’s shield.
Crack!
For the first time, Kim Yu-shin was pushed back by the power behind the blow.
A completely different level of strength!
Before he could even register his shock, sharp claws flashed in from the side. He barely managed a side step, but a black shadow loomed over him.
Jang Ji-na had already circled behind him. Both of her palms slammed into the ground.
“Fuuuuck—!!”
Boooom—!
The earth rippled. A wave of dirt exploded upward like a geyser.
In that instant, Kim Yu-shin’s retreat was completely cut off.
His expression turned deadly serious.
His thighs visibly swelled, and he leapt.
With godlike balance, Kim Yu-shin twisted his body in midair, stepped on the upturned ground, and launched himself backward.
He shot backward to create distance.
But waiting for him at the landing point was…
Jang Antonton with his chest massively inflated.
“Hooop—!”
The giant bear’s chest expelled the air, and a shockwave spread out in concentric circles with him at the center.
Kaaaaaaaaa—!
Anton’s ability to erase anything it touched.
Kim Yu-shin twisted his waist again in midair to regain posture, then blocked the shockwave with his shield.
Grrrrrrrrnd—!
While he was blocking the shockwave in the air, claws from the beasts flashed at his retreat path.
Kim Yu-shin threw himself backward once more to defend.
No room to breathe!
A relentless barrage that made the blood run cold!
Exquisite, perfect timing!
It was as if…
They’re moving as one body?
This went far beyond good breathing or teamwork.
There was something real connecting the three of them. It was as if they were linked!
“That’s…?”
“What the hell??”
The Namgoong Sega members watching the battle from across the plain couldn’t understand what they were seeing.
How… were the three people’s inner energy merging??
Everyone’s eyes turned to Lee Shin at the same time. He smiled softly.
“It began with the wave resonance method. If human mana and magic stone mana can resonate, why not other things as well?”
There had been plenty of hints.
Items had set items. Magic had group chanting.
And the common point among all of them was that they carried similar colors in their options or traits.
“As you can see, those three are beastmen. Moreover, they have spent nearly twenty years together.”
Whether innate or acquired.
The conditions for merging were more than sufficient.
Lee Shin had been certain he could transplant his theory.
“To put it simply, similar types of abilities—what I’ll call traits for convenience—can resonate with each other.”
“!!”
Namgoong Min’s eyes widened dramatically.
Did that mean… the Emperor’s Sword Form that his family possessed could also resonate like that?
“Yes. That is exactly what you are thinking. And that is the beginning of all change.”
“But… what does that…?”
“Think about it. Did you really reach the Asian finals just because of a mere Ego Sword that was on the verge of becoming a demonic blade?”
Guarding the strongest position in China for an entire year, then standing against Mir Guild at the peak of Asia—could all of that really be thanks to a single sword?
Lee Shin declared firmly.
“Absolutely not. That power was yours from the beginning.”
“!!”
For example, what was the main reason people said they couldn’t be managed?
That their field of vision was narrow and they all looked at different angles.
But what if every angle they saw was actually correct? What if each one was the ideal angle?
“You were never wrong. Every single one of those angles was close to the correct answer. The Ego Sword simply unified them.”
“Then…”
“The direction itself was correct.”
What they needed was not some high-level operation or order.
It was to gather the martial arts each of them had trained, the swords they had swung while sweating every day.
And that was connected to—
“The very simplicity you all despise so much.”
Simply.
Concise.
The determination to throw yourself down the path your comrade opened without the slightest doubt.
“It is called the Combined Strike Formation. This is the weapon that will change you.”
Lee Shin’s taped glasses flashed as he spoke.
“Remember it well. Throwing alone is just a throw. Throwing together is a game-changer.”