If It's Different from Expectations, Just Make It Match Them
The crack-like entrance yawned open, and beyond it, white clouds billowed and churned. Baek Cheong pressed a hand to her small, swelling chest and swallowed hard. Her toes itched with the urge to dash inside right this second. Yet none of the gathered disciples made a reckless move. The Jinmun Peak Elder who had opened the entrance still hadn’t spoken.
At last, the old Taoist slowly swept his gaze across his promising juniors and opened his mouth.
“The Cloud Sea Secret Realm is a place our Biun Sect opens once every ten years.”
“We manage it with utmost care. Before you enter, we have made certain arrangements. Do not be frightened simply because it is a natural wonder. At the very least, your lives will not be in danger.”
Baek Cheong nodded inwardly as she listened to the Jinmun Peak Elder. The reason the senior disciples had come out in force to lead the group finally made sense. One of those arrangements must have been sending people in early to thin out the demonic beasts. So the eerie rumors about the beasts had some truth to them after all.
‘Good thing it’s not actually dangerous.’
But once the old Taoist finished speaking, his gaze lingered in a rather strange place. It slid right past the ones who had obtained Cloud Sea Maps, then paused briefly only on those who hadn’t. And when it reached her, it stayed even longer.
‘Why is he looking at me like that?’
She blinked in confusion, and right then—
The Jinmun Peak Elder continued as if comforting those without maps.
“Within the clouds, spiritual fruits called Cloud Spirit Fruits grow everywhere. If you miss out on a true opportunity, simply gather those fruits and exchange them for contribution points. There is no need to worry about returning empty-handed.”
The promise of a guaranteed reward brightened the faces of the juniors. Even if they failed to seize a true fortune, they could still walk away with contribution points. It was an enticing offer.
But Baek Cheong was thinking about something else entirely.
‘Even if you fail to obtain any great fortune…’
Every word had been directed solely at those without Cloud Sea Maps. In other words, the ones who possessed maps didn’t need comforting. Which meant—
‘It’s taken for granted that those with maps will obtain a fortune.’
The scattered puzzle pieces suddenly clicked together. A Cloud Sea Map wasn’t just a drawing of a path. At the end of every path it marked lay a guaranteed opportunity. In short, the maps were certified tickets that led straight to fortune.
‘So this was one of the arrangements too.’
The endless flood of maps from an unknown source. The fact that every path was different. It all made perfect sense now. The Biun Sect had discovered various opportunities in advance and secretly released maps leading to them.
‘I thought they were suspicious, but they were actually free fortunes. Damn.’
Now that she realized it, she felt a twinge of regret for not securing one. Nearly half the group was walking in with a guaranteed opportunity already in hand.
‘Well, I don’t need one anyway.’
Even so, Baek Cheong wasn’t bothered in the slightest. There was no way the map-marked fortunes were the only ones. She possessed a vast divine sense. And in a secret realm where the five senses were useless and divine sense was everything, that was all the more decisive.
While everyone else followed their maps to pick up a single predetermined fortune, she planned to scour the entire realm and sweep up every single valuable thing she could find.
‘Since I don’t have a map, I’ll just take everything else. Simple.’
Baek Cheong reached a very satisfied conclusion in her mind.
Suddenly the Jinmun Peak Elder flicked his sleeve, and a string of small jade tablets rose into the air. They flew one by one to each junior and settled neatly into their hands. A smooth tablet also floated gently toward her.
Jade Escape Tablet acquired.
Shatter it to be transported out of the secret realm immediately.
Use without hesitation if you encounter danger or become lost.
At the elder’s warning, the juniors carefully tucked the tablets away. Baek Cheong also picked hers up and examined it from every angle. It looked like an ordinary jade tablet, but knowing its purpose made it feel reassuring.
‘Now I can search to my heart’s content.’
Still, it never hurt to have a backup plan. She nodded to herself as she stored the tablet in her sleeve. With that, all preparations for entering the secret realm were complete.
“To avoid unnecessary competition, we will send you in starting with the top disciples of each division.”
Following the Jinmun Peak Elder’s words, the entry order was set. The first to step forward was the top disciple of the Qi Accumulation Division. Next in line was the top disciple of the Refining Division—herself.
As she moved toward the entrance, a familiar pair of hands suddenly cupped her cheeks from behind.
“Our little Cheong, make sure you bring back tons of fortune, okay?”
Mong Yo pinched and squished her soft cheeks with a bright, sisterly smile.
“If it feels dangerous, don’t hesitate—shatter that tablet right away. Got it?”
“Yes, sis.”
Baek Cheong rubbed her tingling cheeks as she answered. Her eldest brother, standing nearby, gave a gentle, pleased nod. Leaving their warm send-off behind, she stepped through the entrance.
The white clouds beyond the crack swallowed her whole.
Everything before her eyes turned pure white, then gradually cleared. The moment the view opened up, Baek Cheong couldn’t help but gasp.
“Whoa…”
A boundless sea of clouds stretched out beneath her feet. Peaks rising like islands poked through the clouds here and there. The cloud-drowned island-mountains were countless—scattered near and far in every direction. Each peak radiated a mysterious aura, with slow-moving clouds lazily wrapping around their midsections.
The legendary land of fortune she had only heard about in stories was now spread out before her eyes. Baek Cheong stood there, utterly captivated by the scenery for a long time. Her small chest swelled with excitement once more.
‘Somewhere in here, there are tons of fortunes just waiting to be found.’
Her entire body itched with the urge to dive straight into the clouds.
While she was lost in the view, the top Qi Accumulation disciple who had entered first pulled out his Cloud Sea Map. After a quick glance, he cast a movement technique without hesitation. Clouds gathered beneath his feet, lifted him up, and shot off into the distance. He was racing straight toward the fortune indicated on his map.
‘Oh right. I need to focus.’
Baek Cheong finally snapped out of it and looked around. There was still some time before the second-place disciple would arrive. Suddenly she remembered something she had wanted to test even before entering.
She had heard that a secret realm was a twisted, separate space. Now that she was inside, maybe her forum ID had changed. If this was an independent domain completely cut off from the outside world, perhaps the number that appeared in Mumeongbang would be different too.
‘I’ve been curious about it for a while.’
She stepped back a short distance from the entrance and casually extended her divine sense to connect to Mumeongbang. Checking was simple. All she had to do was post any random message and look at the ID attached to it.
Baek Cheong quickly typed up a short post on the chatter board.
The number attached to the post was still 913.14. Unfortunately, entering the secret realm hadn’t changed her ID.
‘Ugh, same as always.’
Even a secret realm was still part of the same lower world after all. Maybe because she had posted something so pointless, a few bored users jumped on it with replies.
Having gained nothing but wasted effort, Baek Cheong pouted. She had expected it, but she still felt a tiny bit disappointed.
She vented her frustration on the innocent users who had replied, then closed Mumeongbang.
After logging off, a mischievous idea suddenly reared its head. The people with Cloud Sea Maps were probably thinking they already had one fortune secured. All they had to do was stroll along the path and pick it up.
‘I wonder what their faces will look like if I snatch up the fortunes their maps are pointing to first?’
Just thinking about it made the corners of her mouth curl up on their own. After all, those fortunes had been deliberately planted in fixed locations. With her vast divine sense, she could scan the entire sea of clouds and find them without a map. While everyone else was wandering around following their maps, if she stole every single fortune… then the wild idea she had been toying with would become reality.
It was the perfect plan.
‘It’s not like the maps say there’s definitely a fortune at every spot, right?’
Wearing a grin full of mischief, Baek Cheong spread her divine sense wide. Her twenty-seven-jang divine sense surged outward without restraint. This was the first time she had ever unleashed it at full power, aside from when she broke through realms. The flood of incoming information made her head throb.
But with the single-minded determination to ruin everyone else’s opportunities, she endured the headache.
‘Alright then. Time to rob this place blind.’
Without the slightest hesitation, Baek Cheong stepped into the sea of clouds. The white mist rippled as if swallowing the little troublemaker whole.