The Truth Revealed (2)
The Truth Revealed (2)
-Spiritual Master: Do you remember a program called 'Finding the Real Deal' from back in the day?
Finding the Real Deal.
It was a TV program that found and interviewed true masters in any field.
Was it when I was in middle school?
I remember watching it with my grandmother.
-Occult Newbie: Yes, I know it.
-Spiritual Master: Fire Fist-nim was the person who appeared on that program and made the profession of Occultist known.
I remember.
The kind-looking man who appeared under the name of a male shaman.
-Spiritual Master: Fire Fist-nim was a person with quite a lot of drive. He was the one who started writing guides for newbies, and he was also the first to show his face in the real world.
And Fire Fist-nim died. Less than a week after appearing on the broadcast.
A person who revealed their face in reality died.
At that fact, the sentence the Gallery Admin said came to mind.
That whether it's a gallery or a site, you must unconditionally maintain anonymity.
-Occult Newbie: Don't tell me, the reason to keep anonymity is...
-Spiritual Master: That's right. There are forces in reality that want to kill us Occultists. We collectively call them Curse Users. Bastards who kill Occultists and covet their spiritual energy.
Curse Users.
They say they are deeply hidden within human society.
Some as politicians.
Some live as ordinary members of society.
-Spiritual Master: The one at the very top of those bastards is the Dragon.
-Occult Newbie: A dragon? That dragon?
-Spiritual Master: Yes, they use Occultists as their staple food. For eternal life and power.
It was a series of shocks, as if I had been hit in the head.
The gallery that had looked peaceful now looked like a scene of the wild.
-Occult Newbie: Then the people in the gallery...
-Spiritual Master: They are all either people who survived against the Curse Users... or they are being chased. It's one of the two. Especially that person, Back Mountain Mountain Spirit, is continuing a life on the run.
-Occult Newbie: Why haven't you told me until now?
Spiritual Master explained.
That when a newbie enters, they don't talk about dark topics at all.
It's just because I'm unique; usually, when people are dragged into the Spiritual World, their mentality breaks immediately.
'Come to think of it...'
When I first entered and was verified as a newbie, the Gallery Admin had asked me to be careful about what I mentioned.
Was this the reason?
-Spiritual Master: It's only because everyone has gotten stronger now. The atmosphere of the early gallery was indescribable.
Just coming to the Spiritual World breaks people's mentality, and if you bring up the story of Curse Users, there were even situations where they really couldn't endure it and took their own lives....
Listening to the story, a question arose.
These people were tied to the gallery anyway. Didn't they think of helping each other?
-Spiritual Master: We did think of helping each other at first... until the fixed-nickname users who stepped up to take revenge and all their families were killed...
-Occult Newbie: All of them?
-Spiritual Master: Even though they went in disguise for fear of exposing their identities, the Dragons somehow identified the fixed-nickname users...
You cannot avoid the eyes of the Dragon.
The moment you are marked by them, even your own family becomes endangered.
Because of that fact, the gallery users were only posting tips about the Spiritual World without being able to help each other.
"Exposure of identity..."
Perhaps the lives of oneself and one's family in reality are the most important after all.
-Occult Newbie: Then the people in the Korean Occultist Association...?
-Spiritual Master: Fortunately, the Association is still okay for now, but it's not like they don't have the Dragon's eyes on them.
Everywhere was a threat.
-Occult Newbie: Then, it's simple. The Dragon is the biggest threat, right? And we've never won?
-Spiritual Master: There is, but... according to records, there was only one shaman 30 years ago. There was a woman called the Dragon Slayer, but she is currently missing.
A shaman from 30 years ago?
It was something meaningful, but I soon erased it from my mind.
Because in the end, what I had to do was clear.
"I just need to get strong enough to beat the Dragon, right?"
It was simple and clear.
Deep in the mountains where there are few people.
"Ugh... seriously, what the hell..."
The man holding a large staff, Baek Cheol-su, tapped his waist.
"Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but my body isn't what it used to be."
As he passed his mid-30s, he could feel his body gradually slowing down.
[ What's with the talk about age when you're only thirty? ]
He answered with a laugh to the goblin's voice that pierced his ears.
"Yeah... still, I'm not old yet."
Baek Cheol-su stood up.
'At least I can't die before that woman Bu-pal-i.'
[ They're coming. Twenty in total. ]
He said at the goblin's words.
"I didn't know so many guests would come right after the raid ended."
Dozens of people appeared around him.
"Baek Cheol-su... 1st-grade Occultist. Is that right?"
"Aren't you sick of asking every time?"
"Correct... The Heavens have commanded us to take your body."
"Bullshit. You just want to eat me, you Curse User bastards."
Baek Cheol-su raised his middle finger at them.
"The body must not be damaged. Subdue him."
The ones at the front rushed in.
One guy's arm grew and became as large as that of a reptile.
"That's disgusting."
Baek Cheol-su gripped his ancient tree staff, which was as tall as he was, with both hands and swung it horizontally.
Several people were hit by the staff and flew far away beyond his field of vision.
"Phew~"
Baek Cheol-su was, in a way, an oddball similar to Kim Yong-tae.
Spiritual ability obtained solely through training.
With that, he inscribed spells all over his body to gain superhuman power that transcends humans.
For an ordinary person, the act of inscribing spells all over the body was tantamount to suicide. However, for him, who had continued ignorant-level training in the mountains since he was 10, it was no different from a basic implant.
On top of that, the goblin Myoryeong that dwelled in his spiritual tool, the century-old ancient tree staff.
With this combination, Baek Cheol-su was able to rise to a 1st-grade Occultist.
[ You're sending them flying nicely. ]
The Curse Users who had boldly attacked Baek Cheol-su were all either turned into pulp by the staff or lying on the ground.
Baek Cheol-su wiped his sweat while finishing off the Curse Users one by one.
[ Cheol-su! Behind you!! ]
One guy who had been dead behind him suddenly jumped up.
Stab—!
A moment of carelessness.
The Curse User's dagger, which had seized that moment, dug into Baek Cheol-su's body.
"Fucking hell!!"
Baek Cheol-su grabbed the guy's head and slammed it into the ground.
"He was clearly dead... don't tell me you! Did you offer your heart to the Dragon?!"
"Ke... Kehahahaha!! This is the punishment for defying the great Heavens!!"
"Ugh..."
Baek Cheol-su gagged at the nauseating feeling.
"That is a spiritual tool containing flesh!! It makes the flesh rot and contaminates the soul... Never!! Humans cannot defeat Him—"
Thud.
Baek Cheol-su's foot crushed the Curse User's head.
[ Cheol-su... ]
"It's okay. Myoryeong, I've overcome crises like this several times, haven't I?"
Baek Cheol-su said while enduring his stomach turning.
He was enduring the pain with superhuman endurance.
For an Occultist sensitive to the spiritual, flesh was practically poison.
The pain was like being stabbed all over the body with heated needles.
"I'm fine."
Even in that pain, Baek Cheol-su reassured Myoryeong.
After dealing with the remaining Curse Users, Baek Cheol-su entered the cave he had spotted.
'This... I need at least a Noble-grade antidote potion.'
Noble-grade antidote potion.
It was a high-grade potion that couldn't be made without materials dropped by a boss.
'Is this the end...'
Sitting in the corner of the cave, Baek Cheol-su poured a Commoner-grade antidote potion onto the wound.
"Ugh.."
With this, he could at least delay death for a few hours.
It wasn't completely resolved.
"Phew.... By now, they must have told the newbie everything, right?"
He logged into the gallery and started writing a post.
Title) I got hit by a spiritual tool containing flesh... Fucking hell... Curse User bastards....
'Back Mountain Mountain Spirit'
Title says it all.
My flesh feels like it's burning.
If I don't have a Noble-grade antidote potion for this, I'll die, right?
It feels like the Curse User bastards will swarm in again soon.
All I have left is my body. Bu-pal-i, it looks like I'm going to die before you.
ㄴGumi Miho: Don't die~.... There's no user with reactions as fun as Back Mountain Mountain Spirit's~....
ㄴTalisman-selling Girl: I told you I'd curse you if you died before me, didn't I?!
ㄴMonk No. 24: Lamentable.... Amitabha.
ㄴJack the Ripper: Don't die.
ㄴTalisman-selling Girl: I'm joking. Live, just like you have until now.
While the users were cheering him on.
The chat from the hot topic, Occult Newbie, came up.
ㄴOccult Newbie: There's something I want to try. Please send me Back Mountain Mountain Spirit-nim's location via private message.
ㄴSpiritual Master: Disclosure of personal information between users is strictly prohibited. Do you want to get banned?
ㄴOccult Newbie: No. I'm not going there myself. We won't even see each other's faces.
ㄴBack Mountain Mountain Spirit: Then...?
ㄴOccult Newbie: I'm going to send a mercenary. A very pretty and scary mercenary.