The Immortal Hero (2)
In the 21st century, Gates where monsters roamed had appeared across the world, and those who hunted them were called Hunters. But even in the past, Gates had been observed on rare occasions, and both monsters and awakened individuals had existed then as well.
In 15th-century Joseon, awakened individuals were known as goeryeoknansin—those who possessed monstrous strength and disturbed the gods—and were objects of avoidance. As Confucius said: “The Master did not speak of monstrous strength, disorder, or the supernatural.”
Those who wielded the power of the monstrous that even Confucius had turned away from were not treated as ordinary people in Joseon. They were not quite human, yet not quite monsters either—fearful existences that defied easy classification.
In Joseon, such goeryeoknansin were gathered together to form a single unit. The Chakyo Gapsa. Their assigned mission was singular.
—Chakyo. Exterminate the yokai.
Yi Sun-sin was a natural-born Chakyo Gapsa. Yet he was also an exceptional figure who had earned recognition for his abilities and risen all the way to the rank of general. Therefore, it was only natural that he would pursue Bae Seol, who had become a monster.
From Yi Sun-sin’s perspective, he would want to capture the traitor who had betrayed the nation, deserted, and turned into a monster in order to restore the honor he had lost through demotion. The problem was that An Wi was accompanying him.
It was something I had dismissed as insignificant at first, but upon reflection, it was an impossibility.
‘According to the official history, Yi Sun-sin receives the order for reinstatement the day after encountering An Wi.’
Yet even though he was with An Wi, Yi Sun-sin was still serving in his white-clad exile. That could only mean he had not yet received King Seonjo’s royal decree because he had been busy chasing Bae Seol. If he had received it, he would not still be wearing the white robes of disgrace.
“How many days have the two of you been traveling together?”
“Let me see… I met the general at Noryang Strait, so it has been fifteen days and two more.”
“And you have been searching for Bae Seol all this time?”
“That is correct.”
At An Wi’s answer, I let out a quiet groan inside. If that was true, it meant Yi Sun-sin had delayed his reinstatement for more than fifteen days. From the perspective of someone who needed to prepare for the Battle of Myeongnyang, this was a fatal waste of time.
‘I need to catch Bae Seol quickly.’
If we wasted any more time here, the Battle of Myeongnyang might end in defeat. I had to take Yi Sun-sin to Hoeryongpo in Jangheung as soon as possible, where the twelve warships awaited. To do that, I first needed to capture Bae Seol, who had become a Geusundae.
“Let’s begin the search from the valley.”
“But is it truly true that Bae Seol has become a Geusundae?”
“I once happened to witness a Geusundae wandering in the mountains. Since that is the only yokai in this area, it must be him.”
“Meeting you, Sir Choi, was truly a stroke of heavenly fortune.”
I headed into the valley with Yi Sun-sin and An Wi, searching for the kind of shade that a Geusundae would favor. After all, shadow monsters like the Geusundae preferred cool, dark places.
“Still, ‘shade’ is far too vague,” Yi Sun-sin said quietly as we walked.
He was right. In such a vast mountain range, cool shade was everywhere—valleys, rocks, caves, beneath refreshing trees, and so on. There were countless shadows scattered throughout the mountains. If Bae Seol had crossed over to another mountain, we would have to search the shades there as well.
“As Your Excellency said, searching for Bae Seol with only the information of ‘shade’ would be nearly impossible no matter how much time we had.”
“Then do you have another method?”
“Yes. We just need to find the crows.”
“Crows?”
“The Geusundae is a yokai that hates all life. It would have undoubtedly killed the animals nearby. That means there would be corpses, and where there are corpses, wild beasts drawn by the scent of blood would gather.”
And the wild beast most commonly found near corpses was the crow.
“So there was such a way!” Yi Sun-sin exclaimed in admiration.
“This is the first time I’ve heard that the Geusundae is a yokai that despises life. You seem to know a great deal about monsters, Sir Choi.”
The fact that the Geusundae hated life was something that had only been discovered in the 21st century. It wasn’t easy to learn the habits of a Geusundae that hid from awakened individuals. It was not information that could have been known in the 15th century, when research on monsters had barely begun.
“I simply have a lot of interest in them, so I studied a bit.”
I roughly glossed over the source of my information, but neither An Wi nor Yi Sun-sin seemed to find it suspicious. It was as if they thought it was only natural for a seonin to know such things.
And so we wandered in search of cool shade—particularly places where crows might gather. During that time, it was An Wi who dealt with the beasts we encountered. After all, he too was a warrior who had once served as a Chakyo Gapsa while attending Yi Sun-sin.
Swoosh—!
When his ridiculously large greatsword swung, the charging leopard was sliced clean in half. It was a display of power rarely seen even in the modern era.
‘He’s at least an A-rank awakened individual.’
An A-rank Hunter could serve as a team leader in even the largest guilds. An Wi was clearly a veteran among them. It was truly the astonishing martial prowess befitting one of Joseon’s greatest warriors.
While traveling with An Wi, I received various pieces of advice from him.
“Sir Choi, perhaps because you have not ventured into the secular world, you seem somewhat clumsy in battle.”
“What part do you mean?”
“You must not reveal your energy so recklessly.”
He pointed at my Napoleon’s Rifle. I had been using it to hunt the wolves that charged at me, and each time, mana had flowed over the barrel. An Wi clearly disapproved of that.
“Hide your energy.”
As if demonstrating, he channeled mana into his own greatsword.
Ssssss…
Blue mana bloomed vividly over the blade. Then An Wi pushed that mana back inside the sword. Suddenly, the greatsword looked like an ordinary blade with no mana at all. From the naked eye, it was impossible to tell that it contained any power.
“Revealing one’s energy is something only the foolish Ming people, who love to show off, would do.”
According to An Wi, releasing your energy was a stupid act that revealed your level to the enemy.
“In our Joseon, we use inner energy, not outer energy.”
In short, he was telling me to keep my power hidden. To be honest, I hadn’t even realized at first that An Wi was an awakened individual. I had simply marveled at how a sword with no visible mana could be so sharp.
‘It really is different from the modern era.’
Unlike An Wi, 21st-century Hunters released their mana freely. Since they only faced monsters and not humans, there had been no need to hide their power. In fact, the question of who could display more brilliant and abundant mana had even become a measure of skill in modern combat.
An Wi called that a suicidal act of begging the enemy to kill you.
There were bound to be differences in perception given the era, but in my view, An Wi’s thinking seemed correct. When it came to facing human opponents, modern Hunters could not compare to the warriors of Joseon who had endured the Imjin War.
After wandering the mountains for some time while receiving An Wi’s practical combat lessons, Yi Sun-sin, who had been walking silently, suddenly murmured.
“Found him.”
Right after those words, the cawing of crows reached our ears.
“Caw! Caw!”
“Ugh.”
I pinched my nose at the horrific stench of blood. In the middle of a cool valley, a mountain of animal corpses was piled high, completely covered by a flock of crows.
“So you were hiding there.”
Yi Sun-sin’s eyes emitted a chilling glow. That cold gaze was fixed on a dark cave located beyond the mountain of corpses.
A cave shrouded in deep darkness. Inside it was something distinctly different from the cave’s natural gloom.
“Bae Seol.”
The darkness that had been called by name twitched.
It was none other than Bae Seol, who had fallen and become a monster—the Geusundae.
‘But this is no ordinary Geusundae.’
Although he was a deserter, Bae Seol had once been an outstanding warrior among the goeryeoknansin. He had been a third-rank general commanding the naval forces of Gyeongsang Province. A general of that caliber who had fallen into corruption would not possess ordinary power as a monster.
Yet Yi Sun-sin strode toward the cave as if none of that mattered. It was a dangerous act, but neither I nor An Wi—nor anyone else—tried to stop him.
The reason was simple.
Yi Sun-sin was stronger than any goeryeoknansin that had ever existed.
‘Joseon’s strongest goeryeoknansin.’
In the modern era, no Hunter disputed the fact that Yi Sun-sin had been Joseon’s strongest awakened individual. However, the true extent of his martial prowess had never been properly revealed.
It wasn’t because there were no records. There were more than enough records. But every single one of them contained such absurd content that their credibility was extremely low.
The general sliced a warship in two. A three-jang-long blade of energy erupted from the general’s sword…
If one took the books at face value, Yi Sun-sin would have been a monster surpassing even S-rank.
Srrrng—
And it was here that I witnessed the truth for the first time.