The Monster
Just in case, I got the exact location from the innkeeper, then finally set my course for where the monster was said to be.
He seemed quite worried on my behalf; the innkeeper asked me again and again.
"Um, young hero. Are you truly set on going?"
"Just in case."
I could hardly bring up the Blood Cult Leader, so I brushed it off like that—and the innkeeper pressed a bundle into my hands.
Inside were rice balls wrapped in lotus leaves.
"Something to nibble on along the way."
"Aigoo, you didn't have to go this far."
"Please be careful."
So I headed for the neighboring village where the monster had appeared, provisions in hand—and all the while, the Blood Cult Leader kept posting apology after apology on the gallery.
I should've raised my kid better… really got nothing to say…
A disciple's sin is the master's sin. I'm sorry…
Thankfully, most of the gallery crowd seemed never to have been hurt by any of it—but of course the worst of the worst, Anonymous 1, was a different story.
Did they drag perfectly fine people off to use as ingredients for sorcery?
And when that wasn't enough, turn those people into jiangshi and desecrate their corpses?
Then go and invent living jiangshi that turn living people into jiangshi?
Then make those living jiangshi explode and deal massive damage to multiple sects?
Then complete the most demonic unorthodox art under heaven, the Heaven-Absorbing Great Technique?
…
…
…
And then, every time their cooldown comes off, reincarnate the Blood Cult Leader via samsara so he can go completely insane all over again?
And keep mass-producing victims generation after generation because of that sorcery?
Seriously, why the hate? I genuinely don't get it
If I left him alone, Anonymous 1 looked ready to dogpile Grandpa Blood Cult Leader all day, so I finally stepped in.
If it looks uncatchable I'm bailing, but is there a method for fighting monsters?
Anyway, I was walking and chatting with the gallery crowd when—
"Juddak. Hold up a second."
"Yes?"
"There."
At the sudden, grim voice of the Spirit of Seeking Justice, I lifted my head—and what filled my eyes was…
"What the hell is that…"
Something in the shape of a person.
A bizarre form, like a pitch-black mannequin walking around, billowing black smoke from its entire body.
The one thing I was sure of: the vitality, the human presence you feel when looking at a person—there was none of it.
If there had been any human presence, I would have noticed the moment it appeared.
Even now, that something was slowly dragging its feet toward me.
The sight of it—something human-shaped, mimicking a person—radiated pure wrongness.
Panicking, I looked to the Spirit of Seeking Justice for an answer.
None came.
And the gallery was no different.
What the hell is that for real?
Never saw anything like that in my era
An unknown monster-lifeform even the gallery had never seen.
The decision came quick.
"Juddak, this time we run—"
"So how do I fight that thing?"
"Huh?"
Confusion colored the Spirit of Seeking Justice's voice.
"You're going to try?"
"Wasn't that the whole point?"
"With your skill level, how do you plan to fight that?"
"That's for you guys to figure out."
"?"
"If I leave it, it'll wander around and wreck other villages too—so isn't it better if I somehow take it down? I've got so many reliable teachers right here."
The innkeeper had said the neighboring village was already a wasteland.
But I hadn't even reached that village yet and I'd already run into this monster—which meant the direction it was heading was back toward the inn I'd left.
It had taken me about an hour to walk from the inn to here.
Not that far. Leave this thing alone and by tomorrow morning it would probably reach the village with the inn.
He even packed me rice balls when I said I was going to hunt a monster. If I ignore this and the innkeeper dies because of it…
I'd rather stop it right here than live with that foul, guilty feeling.
A little scary, sure—but I had the gallery.
"You said you had a secret trump card just in case."
"Juddak. If this goes wrong, you die. You know that, right?"
"Scared?"
For a second, hearing me, the Spirit of Seeking Justice tilted his head.
"Didn't you all say you were the greatest under heaven in your eras? You can't even take down one monster like this?"
"I'm the greatest under heaven, not you, you little—"
"Last time your coaching let me take out those Black Fiend Hall guys easy enough. Or are your skills lacking? Then I guess it can't be helped."
The gallery members must have heard me too—they all started losing it.
"So can we actually do this or not?"
The Spirit of Seeking Justice, present as a ghostly form representing the rest, stared down at me for a moment—then set his hand on top of my head.
The hand didn't touch, but the intent came through clear.
"Fine. Let's try."
He was smiling now, like he was enjoying himself.
"If you measure every front and back and left and right and sit there weighing whether you can or can't, how the hell do you become the greatest under heaven? There are always thousands of reasons to quit. There's always only one reason to succeed."
"Huh? I have to become the greatest under heaven?"
"You're the disciple of the greatest under heaven. Naturally that result follows, you punk."
Saying so, the Spirit of Seeking Justice called for the Blood Cult Leader.
"Blood-Puddle. If it comes down to it, we pull that secret art today."
"Your disciple is asking like this—we throw everything we can at it. We try as hard as we can first, and if it really looks dangerous, we pull it out."
"What are you talking about without me?"
"Juddak, focus on the monster in front of you. Who looks away with the enemy right there?"
With that, the Spirit of Seeking Justice laid out everything he'd observed and felt.
"When you face something of unknown identity, the first thing to watch for is poison—but we can rest easy on that front."
"Why?"
"Look at its feet."
I looked where it walked. Everywhere it passed, tiny green shoots were sprouting bit by bit.
"A thing that carries poison usually leaks that toxic qi just by walking past. This one's the opposite. Beyond that we don't know a damn thing, so first we poke it and learn how it reacts."
"You said a first strike is always best if possible—so we hit it first from our side."
"Everything else is a pile of unknowns, so assume you take zero hits. It's ultimately human-shaped, so it won't wildly exceed your imagination. Still—be careful."
"And if attacks don't work?"
"Then even if you want to keep fighting, you grit your teeth and run. Trying everything you can and then quitting isn't failure."
When he put it that far, I had no more stubbornness left to force.
If that situation really came, it would just mean my skill wasn't enough.
I took a deep breath and looked at the monster in front of me.
About my size.
Even as I closed the distance little by little, it still gave no reaction for now.
What I wanted was the first strike—the strongest opening attack I could land.
In that case, I should hit with the most familiar, most destructive form I knew.
My mind set, I drove force into the tip of my foot and kicked off the ground.
Then I poured everything into a brutal kick aimed at where a human's solar plexus would be.
Among the bare-handed techniques of Gunryeo Gwonhak I'd learned from the Spirit of Seeking Justice, it was the most powerful finishing form I used most often: Enemy-Crushing Bone Burial.
Normally, the moment this form landed, I imagined the enemy tumbling away.
"Ugh?!"
What came back was a sinking sensation—a strange elastic rebound, like kicking a springy rubber ball.
And at the same time the monster reacted to my attack, letting out a grotesque howl.
"$(%#$(%)!!!!"
It raised its right hand high and brought it crashing down.
Like hell I'm taking that.
Tracking the descending arc with my eyes, I moved my hands.
Weapon-Seizing Scorching Hand.
Using the seizing technique of Gunryeo Gwonhak meant for snatching an enemy's weapon, I grabbed it and at the same time rolled a stomp into the ground, aiming for its head.
But once again—squelch. My foot sank straight into the monster's skull and then bounced right back out.
Rubber? Or jelly? What a weird feeling.
That bizarre sensation, like stomping a soft tire, had me reeling when—
"What are you doing not finishing it, Juddak!"
The Spirit of Seeking Justice's shout snapped me back, and I launched into the attack again.
Strikes aren't working? Then switch forms for now.
In nearly a month, the Spirit of Seeking Justice had taught me eight forms total.
And the Gunryeo Gwonhak I'd learned was a martial art specialized for chaotic brawls—smashing, toppling, throwing.
Without giving the monster a chance to get up from the ground, I kept collapsing its balance and slamming it down again and again—and as I did, something registered.
It's not as threatening as I thought?
Its attacks were easier to dodge than expected.
The problem was that mine weren't landing either.
I was wondering what to do about that when—
"This is the perfect sparring partner, Juddak!"
"Huh?"
"It's an enemy that won't go down no matter how hard you beat it—so just think of this as drilling every form you've learned and keep hammering it to the end! Kill it until it dies!"
The Spirit of Seeking Justice's words lit the path forward.
Right. So what if attacks weren't working.
"If I beat it until it dies, it'll die!"