Martial Arts Training (1)
Hyun Si-woon made time to sincerely review his members' martial arts.
Ha-wol's help played a part, but he also spoke without reservation about everything he perceived through his own eyes.
With the Mind's Eye, every shortcoming stood out in sharp relief.
In fact, he had more advice to offer than even Ha-wol, who stood so far above them.
How many days passed like that?
A guest arrived at Eden Camp.
It was Yoo Jin-hyeok.
Hyun Si-woon had simply mailed him the address.
I can trust Yoo Jin-hyeok now.
In the previous regression, whenever he had checked the community and watched Jin-hyeok and his members, nothing about them had seemed rotten. They had quietly held their place as the second-ranked party. Instead of jealousy or rivalry, they had followed the path Yoon Seo-a's party had blazed, leading other climber teams and working to raise the overall level of the entire server.
Heh. This part is good.
Ha-wol muttered.
The most terrifying thing is the human heart, yet without any need to probe or test him, you grasped the man's true nature over the course of three years. That strange power of yours is truly convenient at times like this.
Exactly.
Hyun Si-woon agreed. Building relationships one by one, digging into backgrounds, and assessing someone's character took considerable effort. In that regard, too, the regression ability was efficient.
"Whoa."
Yoo Jin-hyeok and his members, dismounting from Pungjo's back, could not find their words at the sight that unfolded before them.
Everyone who came here for the first time wore that same expression.
"So this is Hyun Si-woon's base camp. Incredible."
"Oh! Oracle! You made it!"
The one who welcomed them most warmly was Baek Yeon-ho.
"Baek Yeon-ho!"
Yoo Jin-hyeok recognized him as well.
"I've only ever seen you on stream. This is the first time meeting you in person. I knew you'd pull through. Good to see you."
"Likewise."
The two shook hands and shared an awkward smile.
Both former BJs who had once operated on the same platform. They had never met face-to-face, but they had watched each other's broadcasts and acknowledged each other's skill. Baek Yeon-ho, the former pro gamer; Yoo Jin-hyeok, the physical monster of survival-game streaming. Each had stood at the peak of his own domain.
"I'll show you around. Si-woon said to let you look over the camp before the meeting. Everyone, follow me."
Baek Yeon-ho took the lead and guided them—lodgings, training grounds, the core layout of the village, everything they needed to know. He did not forget the most important warning.
"Especially the area near that abandoned building over there is strictly off-limits. Pungjo is guarding it, so if you wander too close you'll make a perfect snack."
It was still too early to reveal Lumi.
"Understood."
"We'll be careful."
"We'll stay clear!"
Yoo Jin-hyeok's party members listened to Baek Yeon-ho's explanations while repeatedly looking around. Neatly divided farmland. Systematic livestock pens. Even a forge and workshops. Faced with a perfect self-sufficient system, they could not hide their astonishment.
After a rough tour, Baek Yeon-ho gave a bright smile.
"First, go wash up with some hot water. Then eat a warm meal the residents bring out. That right there is pure paradise."
It was the kind of remark that made smiles bloom on every face.
One day later.
A meeting of the climbers was held.
Participants: Hyun Si-woon and his party members. Yoo Jin-hyeok and his party members. From Midas's Hand—Park Du-shik, Seo Jun-yeong, and Hong Yu-ra. And from Owl, Yoon Tae-shik.
By that point, even Yoo Jin-hyeok would have had to be a fool not to understand.
Leaving aside Park Du-shik, the God of Market Price, there was not a single climber who did not know that the leader of Owl was named Yoon Tae-shik. The name was constantly plastered across the community.
…This can't be.
Yoo Jin-hyeok's mind reeled. How could the giants who controlled the Korean server be sitting here so casually?
The final puzzle piece clicked into place.
Midas's Hand held the exclusive distribution rights of the ★Wandering Merchant★. Owl maintained a close cooperative relationship with the ★Wandering Merchant★. And the leaders of both organizations were now gathered in one place around Hyun Si-woon—as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Like subordinates waiting for their superior.
Then…
Hyun Si-woon was the Wandering Merchant…
A hollow laugh escaped him before he could stop it. Every gaze in the conference room turned toward him. Yoo Jin-hyeok tried to manage his expression, but uncontainable shock still showed plainly on his face. With trembling eyes he looked at Hyun Si-woon.
Hyun Si-woon nodded.
Wow. He just set the board and sat on top of it, ruling the whole thing…
Yoo Jin-hyeok realized once again that his judgment had been correct.
I'm glad I gave him the book and came here.
If he had not come? He would still have believed himself the best, living at the bottom of a well.
But then—
Yoo Jin-hyeok's gaze drifted to one corner of the conference room. He had turned his eyes there almost without thinking, trying to settle his chaotic thoughts. Sitting quietly beside Owl's leader Yoon Tae-shik was a young girl who looked about ten years old. Far too young to be a climber.
Is it really okay to bring a child to a meeting like this?
Sensing the puzzled look, Hyun Si-woon offered a faint smile and explained.
"She's my disciple. She'll become a climber later."
Inwardly he added, And she'll become the Sword Emperor who will lead the Korean server from the very front.
Leaving Yoo Jin-hyeok's confused stare behind him, Hyun Si-woon spoke first.
"Since everyone's here, let's get to the point. Not long ago, Yoo Jin-hyeok brought me some interesting information."
Hyun Si-woon rested a hand on the table. Though nothing physical lay there, every eye focused as if something truly rested beneath his palm.
"It's a book called Whisper of the Spiral. A unique item that trades knowledge for Despair Stones. According to the book, the moment we clear the 10th floor, the first Selection begins."
"Selection?"
"What does that mean?"
Shocked by the news, the members stirred. Yoon Tae-shik's face also hardened in surprise. Hyun Si-woon explained simply and clearly.
The instant eight servers worldwide cleared the 10th floor, every other server's Tower would vanish. And the eight surviving servers would be forcibly dragged up onto the stage of the Server War.
"What!"
"Is that true?"
"Then we can't just sit here! We have to climb faster!"
That part was fine. Filling all eight servers would take another nine months anyway. There was no reason to rush. Hurrying only destroyed foundations.
Hyun Si-woon layered another spoonful of information onto their stunned faces—knowledge he had experienced firsthand in a previous regression, something even Yoo Jin-hyeok did not know.
"The Server War is divided into two events and scored on a points system. The first is the Champion's Arena. Six representatives selected from each server face off in an eight-server tournament format—a pure contest of individual combat power."
We're relatively strong here.
In the last regression, Yoon Seo-a and the members had taken first place in this portion and earned a great many points. Still, we can't take it lightly. He had heard that other nations also possessed a few irregulars—people who obtained rare opportunities or received help from Rankers. In a few matches they had barely scraped by with wins.
"The second is the Flag Capture War. A large-scale occupation battle in which every climber belonging to a server participates. One hundred fortresses scattered across a vast battlefield must be seized, and when the time limit ends, the server holding the most flags wins."
This is the real problem.
The Korean server's elite few were overwhelming, but their numbers were insufficient. The Chinese, Indian, and American servers possessed populations incomparable to theirs. They had far more Towers and an overwhelming number of climbers. When those people split into dozens or hundreds of units to seize fortresses, how could Korea possibly match them? In the previous regression, Korea had used a strategy of firmly holding a few fortresses and finished in the mid-tier. Thanks to the first event they had still taken overall first place, but to Hyun Si-woon it had been an unacceptable result.
Back then I just watched.
This regression was different. Having decided, through Ha-wol's counsel, to reclaim the weight of life, there would be no half-hearted observation.
"Hah…"
Yoo Jin-hyeok's mouth fell open. He had only spoken of the tuning and the existence of the Server War, yet far more information had come back to him.
Don't tell me… he poured even more Despair Stones into it?
The others were still reeling, but Hyun Si-woon's members were different.
"So, Hyeong-nim. What do we do now?"
"Blast through from the 10th floor as fast as possible?"
These were people who would believe him even if he claimed he had made soybean paste from red beans.
"No. First, each of you will further refine your martial arts."
…Martial arts!
That single word changed the air in the conference room. The eyes of Yoo Jin-hyeok's party members all flared at once.
They had rewatched and analyzed the Atla raid footage dozens, hundreds of times. The technique Jang Cha-yul had used in Incheon, where a dragon's form had erupted from her spear. Kang Si-a's divine skill that had overturned the community. Hwang Dae-un's destructive power that looked ready to trigger a landslide with a blunt weapon. It was a fundamental dimension of power that could never be explained by simple skills or item effects.
They had vaguely guessed it—that force was not something the system had granted, but another realm of power that humans themselves had polished and accumulated. And now that unknown power had revealed itself before their eyes under the name of martial arts.
Jeong Da-wit clenched his fists. Oh Jeong-min, formerly of the National Intelligence Service, sharpened his gaze. Everyone instinctively felt it: the key that could explode the potential of their own physiques lay precisely in that martial arts.
"I will teach each of you martial arts suited to you as well."
"R-really?!"
"…!"
Yoo Jin-hyeok's party members held their breath. Meeting their desperate eyes, Hyun Si-woon added quietly,
"Of course, it won't be free."
The air in the conference room stretched taut.
"Martial arts form the foundation of my party. Passing them on to outsiders means a corresponding price must be paid."
In a way, it was only natural. Yoo Jin-hyeok swallowed and asked,
"What kind of price do you want? TC, items… we're prepared to offer everything we have."
"I don't need any of that."
Hyun Si-woon shook his head. His gaze passed through Yoo Jin-hyeok and each of his party members as if piercing them.
"What I want is only one thing: absolute loyalty. From this moment on, Yoo Jin-hyeok's party will be absorbed under our party—effectively as a second team. You will follow my orders and continue to serve as my sword and shield from now on. That is the price I demand."
It was a proposal of de facto absorption that went far beyond simple cooperation. And it was exactly what Yoo Jin-hyeok had been hoping for in his heart.
"Of course. That is only natural."
At his answer the other party members nodded without dissent. They already understood. This proposal was no humiliation. It was the one and only chance to climb higher.
"Good. Then for the next half year we will perfectly solidify the foundations of martial arts. After that, we will clear up to the 10th floor without delay. Any questions?"
"About that martial arts…"
At that moment Park Du-shik raised his hand.
"Can we learn it too?"
"Of course."
Midas's Hand and Owl were family as well. That was why he had taught them in the previous regression. Unfortunately they had possessed no talent for martial arts. Still… It was genuinely beneficial for climbing the Tower and for health.
"If you wish, I will teach you something suitable whenever you want."
Hyun Si-woon himself felt restless. Teaching someone was not simply the act of transferring knowledge. In the process of watching others move, sensing their limits, and finding the path that suited them, he would be able to look at his own martial arts more objectively. It would certainly help him advance to the next realm to some degree.