New Member Welcome Party (3)
Paeng Ju-hyeok let out a soft sigh of admiration. It seemed my reasoning had been correct.
“According to what the senior said about the star, this was indeed the case.”
“Those who lack insight die young, as the saying goes.”
Paeng Ju-hyeok turned his head sharply. He shifted his gaze to the people visible at the end of the corridor and shouted energetically.
“It’s over already! Prepare a real, proper welcome party!”
I slowly exited the corridor leading to the side room. Now, I could truly move with peace of mind.
***
“Alright, now let’s introduce the other seniors comfortably. Besides Record Keeper Ok Rin, who are the others?”
He was speaking while looking at the other three people still wearing hoods.
Thanks to the institution array that the Murim Alliance had devoted its heart to, fresh air was periodically introduced into this underground chamber, so breathing was not difficult.
However, it was underground, so there was an oddly damp and musty smell that couldn’t be helped.
Moreover, in a suffocating place, wearing thick hoods that covered the entire face would be quite stuffy.
“…Indeed, exactly as the old man said.”
Ok Rin’s eyes, which were jade-green like her name, sparkled. She lightly snapped her fingers.
Then the people wearing hoods all moved at once. Their movements were so precise, as if copying a single person’s actions.
The sight of them raising their right hands and removing the hoods they were wearing was…
“Dolls?”
They were wooden dolls.
I blinked several times. I found it hard to understand what was going on.
“What is this?”
“If this is to test your eye for the situation where an anomaly has invaded the Records Bureau, then these dolls here are a means to test your qi perception.”
Ok Rin began explaining in a light voice. If one had the martial skill level of a first-class expert or the beginning of a peak expert, excluding Ok Rin, the Record Keepers in hoods would be able to realize that they were not human.
“Of course, the Management Records Bureau has those who tread a bit into the area of not being human, like me and you. So, even if they have qi that is somewhat different from humans, it’s hard to simply call them anomalies. One might say it’s an element to make the test more difficult.”
“If I look into their faces, won’t I immediately see through it?”
I threw out a commonsense remark. When a person is pushed to the extreme, they would bite their lip and try to lift the hood, but Ok Rin shook her head.
“The reason their appearance is so clear right now is because you have completely understood the soul-capturing art and the influence has naturally faded. If I had been under the soul-capturing art the whole time, you would have felt it as my set appearance.”
It was a very frightening statement. I knew that soul-capturing art was a concept that included hypnosis and illusion techniques, but seeing it like this, it really seemed like an ability that could slap a hypnosis app.
When I swallowed my saliva, Paeng Ju-hyeok laughed heartily.
“You don’t have to be that afraid. Once broken, it’s hard to reapply, and to use that old hag’s soul-capturing art, it requires quite a bit of preparation in various ways. It’s a bit of a different meaning, but be careful only in front of the chief.”
“…What? Behind you, Record Keeper Ok Rin is staring at me.”
“It’s fine. It won’t kill you.”
Paeng Ju-hyeok, who uttered a ominous remark that sounded like he was about to die at any moment, waved his hand lightly.
“So, really, introduce them properly. Paeng Ju-hyeok. Branch of the Paeng Clan. Among the Record Keepers, he has the least seniority after you. He’s my partner.”
He poked Ok Rin’s side with his elbow. Ok Rin, who pushed Paeng Ju-hyeok away irritably, introduced herself.
“Because of that little star, I’m stuck here. In terms of Record Keeper experience, the thunderous bastard from the Paeng Clan is right above me.”
I calculated the work experience of the Record Keepers in my mind. Baek Sam-byeol-ui, Ok Rin, and Paeng Ju-hyeok. Then the youngest is me…
“Eh? There aren’t too many people?”
No matter how secret the organization, there shouldn’t be this few people. I recalled the countless rules written in the void on the first day I came here led by Baek Sam-byeol-ui.
“‘At least twenty or so should be there, right?’”
“Ah. Besides the people gathered now, there are a few more. But even if I add up all the active personnel, it’s not enough to fill two hands.”
“Then how do you handle all the anomalies and incidents across the jianghu?”
“Our Ok Senior also commands dolls, but most of it is the chief’s doing.”
“Dolls?”
Ok Rin gave Paeng Ju-hyeok a displeased look and stepped on his foot firmly. With a ‘Yow!’ sound, Paeng Ju-hyeok bounced up and clicked his tongue.
“Stop there. Our Ok Senior doesn’t like too many words.”
“Control your mouth, you.”
Ok Rin snapped her fingers. The three wooden dolls sitting in place stood up and began to tidy up the surroundings.
And she took out an old book. Unlike the notebook containing the rules draft, the pages of the book she took out were already densely filled with something.
At first glance, it seemed like personal information including names. However, no matter how hard I tried to focus, my eyes wouldn’t focus properly.
It seemed like some special measure had been taken, as if diluting the presence of the rules. Ok Rin flipped through the pages without paying attention to my gaze until empty pages came out.
“Alright, sign here. Then you’ll be able to hear the voice of the Management Records Bureau as well.”
“Do I not need to draw blood?”
“Just write with a brush. The Records Bureau is smart, so it doesn’t need to tell your existence with blood.”
Saying that the Records Bureau is smart is a strange remark.
I wrote the three characters “Yeok Cheon-myeong” in the blank. When I put down the brush, Ok Rin immediately slammed the record keeper’s registry shut with a thud.
“Alright. Now you are truly a Record Keeper. Welcome.”
Paeng Ju-hyeok clapped with exaggerated gestures, saying “Ooooh!”
I looked at the two of them, then eventually cautiously spoke.
“By the way, are we eating lunch in this musty underground place?”
I had emptied my stomach following the star’s advice. But in this underground Records Bureau building, the only smell I could detect was the underground humidity. There was no food smell at all.
Moreover, since I had used my head too much and was hungry, my stomach was empty.
“Impossible. How could that be. Let’s go to Mangwol Pavilion.”
“No, what are you talking about, Ok Senior? Where would we get the money to go to such an expensive place.”
Mangwol Pavilion was a teahouse I had heard of. It was an expensive pavilion that occasionally entertained high officials from the government who came to the Murim Alliance.
“The chief gave me a silver pouch to stuff the new recruit full.”
“Oh.”
I nodded my head. Aside from that, seeing that he was taking care of the lower ranks’ meals, it seemed I wouldn’t go hungry here.
I didn’t know who the chief was, but I liked it.
“Huh. I didn’t know our chief would care about such places.... Wait. Why was it just a bowl of noodles back then?”
“Because you noticed there were only dolls around and cried and ran to the star? This guy figured out the entire back of the test.”
“There’s no way that generous person would discriminate so much just because he didn’t meet expectations in the test. Surely some old woman must have embezzled the money.”
The two were grumbling while cleaning up the place. It really felt like the test was over.
I recalled dishes I could order at a restaurant. Maybe start with Dongpo pork.
In the original world, it was famous that Dongpo was made by Su Dongpo, but whether it would be the same in this world where ‘historical dilution’ is applied is uncertain.
What was certain was that Dongpo pork existed. I had heard the voices of wanderers boasting that it tasted amazing.
I wrote a list of meat dishes in my mind while stepping on the stairs.
***
The black stones were placed on the jujube board. The war situation on the board was a white middle game.
“So, how was it?”
The Murim Alliance Leader Xu Yu asked the Records Bureau Chief. He smiled and asked back.
“Aigo, this person. I haven’t properly faced him yet, how can I evaluate him as what?”
Thud. A black stone was placed on the board. However, no hand touched the stone. It was moved only by will and internal energy.
Xu Yu looked at the Records Bureau Chief, his long-time confidant. On the chief’s old, wrinkled face, an uncontrollable mischievousness was evident.
“He seems like quite an interesting person.”
“Of course it’s interesting. How can there be no fun in eating anomalies?”
It wasn’t a conservative measure like sealing, but a report that the anomaly had been completely eradicated, which was hard to believe. It was something that even the chief or the leader wouldn’t do, but a second-class wanderer had accomplished it.
It was a talent that fit the Management Records Bureau perfectly.
“What about the possibility of falling to the demonic path?”
The Records Bureau Chief knew what the leader was saying. There was a reason the number of Record Keepers had become so small.
A being that comes to a martial artist at a critical moment and asks ‘Do you need strength?’ and bestows power.
However, the power it gives is neither righteous nor demonic. It’s the demonic path that humans should not tread.
Many Record Keepers had encountered it, and many accepted the fall to the demonic path.
The current Records Bureau was extremely reduced in size compared to its prime, and the reason they were cautious with dispatching Record Keepers was also because of that.
“Well, it comes when it wants to come, and goes when it wants to go. It may or may not come to Yeok Cheon-myeong.”
“It will come. It dislikes those who try to reveal the secrets of the demonic path.”
The chief shook his head. In his thinking, that existence would not upset anything in this world. Since the entire world was under its shadow, it was like that.
It only showed a slight interest in the Record Keepers. Since it couldn’t be fully accepted by human reason, it was twisted.
The chief denied its hostility, but at the same time affirmed the leader’s concern. The existence of this peculiar wanderer named Yeok Cheon-myeong would naturally make its interest aroused.
“Be careful. Make sure that the talent to drive out the demonic path doesn’t fall into that person’s hands.”
The hand of the Heavenly Demon.