Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Going Out into the World!
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Rumble!
“……!”
The violent shaking of my body woke me from my sleep.
Ruuuumble!
As the vibrations intensified, I shot up and reflexively grabbed the Fire Dragon Sword beside me.
‘What’s going on?’
Craaack!
I couldn't tell if it was an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, but the entire cave began to shake violently—left and right, up and down. The ceiling cracked, and stones rained down like hail.
“Whoa!”
Just then, the ceiling collapsed, burying me in an instant.
“Guh!”
I struggled desperately, but it was an irresistible force; I couldn’t even lift a finger.
‘Dammit! I was so close to making my debut in the martial world. What kind of rotten luck is this!’
I wasn’t suffocating, but I couldn’t move. All that was left was to die, trapped like this.
Rumble!
CRUUUUNCH!
The intense tremors continued, and more rocks—or were they boulders?—kept falling, making it feel as if a mountain was crushing me.
I didn't know the extent of my internal energy, but I pushed the power I'd gained from the Heavenly Elixir Heart Art to its absolute limit, cycling through the twenty-four divine arts I had learned, one by one.
“Nngh!”
But nothing budged. I was like an ant crushed under a giant rock.
The fact that there was nothing I could do in this situation made my stomach churn.
‘Ugh! There has to be a way! To be buried alive like this… it’s absurd!’
Thwump!
But just then, the ground beneath my back cracked open with a sharp sound, and I plummeted downward.
Whoooooosh!
“Aaaah!”
Another completely unexpected turn of events unfolded.
I fell straight down, feet first, at a terrifying speed.
I had dropped into a narrow, vertical cavern.
Whoooooosh!
I looked up, but no rocks or stones were falling after me.
It seemed the debris that had been crushing me had blocked the entrance to the cavern.
Whoooooosh!
I couldn't even begin to guess how far I was falling. Yet, the descent continued.
The place I had been in was about fifteen thousand feet above the ground, but it felt like I was falling even farther than that.
…Just as I had that thought, the cavern ended.
“Ah!”
Fwoosh!
Though the cavern ended, my body was still falling.
I had emerged through a hole in a ceiling.
Shuuuu!
I hastily looked around and below me.
This was some kind of natural cave, quite spacious, with stalactites hanging everywhere like ripe fruit.
And below…
An underground lake.
Before I could do anything, I plunged into it.
At that moment, I felt a strange sensation. Not cold, but a tingling jolt that ran through my body.
But there was something I didn't realize. Despite falling into a lake, not a single drop of water had splashed, and there had been no sound at all.
‘I’m alive!’
Falling into a lake was no big deal; I could just swim out. Then, I’d find my way out of this cave.
But the lake was quite deep.
‘Time to go up!’
I tried to flip my body over and stroke my arms with all my might.
“……”
But that was just a thought. It didn't translate into action.
‘Huh… what? Why can’t I move?’
I couldn’t even move a finger, let alone blink. It felt as if my body was bound tightly by invisible ropes.
And that wasn't all. My body felt as if it were being torn into thousands, tens of thousands of pieces—no, as if it were scattering.
‘Nngh! What in the world is…’
My descent stopped as my back touched the bottom.
From where I was, the surface seemed to be about thirty feet away.
The water was so still and transparently clear that I almost deluded myself into thinking I might not be in water at all.
But then, something bizarre happened.
Creeeak!
Suddenly, the surface of the lake began to turn white, and the whiteness spread downward.
‘Whoa! The lake is freezing! …Am I going to die like this?’
Before I could even bemoan my fate, the entire lake froze solid in an instant.
Crack! Creak! CRACK!
I was frozen solid, my eyes wide open, my right hand clutching the Fire Dragon Sword.
* * *
Ten years later.
Another powerful earthquake swept through the southwestern part of Gwalchang Mountain.
Rumble! CRUUUUNCH!
In truth, both the earthquake from ten years ago and the one happening now had the Yin Essence Abyss as their epicenter.
When the Yin Essence of the Abyss reached its peak, it would shudder every few years, and that manifested as an earthquake.
The lifespan of the Yin Essence Abyss was not eternal.
All things that reach an extreme must inevitably reverse. It is the law of the universe that when the progression of anything reaches its zenith, it must turn back.
As the extreme yin energy continuously gathered in the Yin Essence Abyss, forming the crystalline Yin Essence to its absolute limit, several earthquakes would occur before it finally collapsed.
That is the providence of all creation.
The pure white, frozen Yin Essence Abyss shattered into pieces. It was finally collapsing.
Cra-cra-cra-CRACK!
Simultaneously, the enormous natural cave crumbled entirely, and the bottom of the Yin Essence Abyss gave way.
KABOOOOOM!
I, Ak Bi-ryong, was swallowed up along with the chunks of ice from the Yin Essence Abyss.
* * *
CRACK!
KABOOOOOM!
The base of a sheer, thousand-foot-high cliff split wide open.
WHOOOOSH!
It was a tremendous sight.
And from that opening, chunks of ice poured out.
Thousands of pure white ice blocks, different from ordinary ice, came tumbling out in a massive heap.
The ice blocks fell into the river flowing at the base of the cliff.
KWOOSH!
The river, now carrying thousands of ice blocks, turned into a torrent and rushed downstream.
* * *
A fisherman from a small village found me lying collapsed on the riverbank.
Thinking I was a corpse, he was frightened at first, but then he cautiously turned my face-down body over.
“Gasp!”
The fisherman yelped in shock and fell back on his rear.
It was probably because of my bizarre appearance. For the three years and five months I spent learning martial arts, I hadn’t changed my clothes or cut my hair and beard, so I must have looked like a wild man.
“Umm…”
I let out a faint groan, letting him know I was alive.
“Whoa! He’s alive!”
Hearing his breathless cry, I lost consciousness again.
* * *
When I regained my senses, the first thing I smelled was the thick scent of herbal medicine.
‘A clinic?’
It seemed the person who found me had been kind enough to take me to a physician.
My last memory was of the cave where I was training collapsing, falling downward, landing in a strange underground lake, and then being frozen solid.
After that, there was only the brief moment of someone discovering me.
‘Did the ice melt? What happened?’
I couldn't even guess how I, who had been frozen in an underground cave, ended up in a clinic reeking of medicinal herbs.
I slowly opened my eyes and looked around at the ceiling when a voice came from the side.
“Are you awake?”
I turned my head toward the voice and saw a man with a white cloth tied around his head approaching me.
“How did you end up drifting in the river?”
‘Ah! So I was washed away by a river.’
“Were you caught in the earthquake that happened three days ago in the border region between Gwalchang and Daebun Mountains?”
So there was another earthquake. That must be why the lake I was frozen in was destroyed, and I was washed outside.
He was dressed in yellow and appeared to be in his mid-thirties, his face etched with concern.
“What is your affiliation?”
‘My affiliation? What’s he talking about, out of the blue?’
As I tried to sit up, he helped me.
“Can you get up?”
I realized I was holding something in my right hand. I lifted it and saw it was the pitch-black wooden sword, the Fire Dragon Sword.
“It looks like a wooden sword. The fisherman who first found you said you were clutching it tightly in your right hand.”
It’s a relief I didn’t lose the Fire Dragon Sword.
Looking around, I saw I was in a small, ordinary room, sitting on a bed.
“Where is this place?”
My voice came out raspy from my dry throat, as if it had been too long since I last spoke.
“The Dong-ro Branch.”
‘A branch?’
“The Dong-ro Branch of what?”
“What do you mean? It’s a Martial Alliance branch. Why else would we have brought you here?”
“Why was I…”
“The fisherman found a Martial Alliance bronze tablet in the pouch you were carrying and brought you here.”
The Martial Alliance, a name that didn't hold a single good memory for me, was something I shuddered to even think about. This was truly a persistent, ill-fated connection.
“What is your affiliation?”
“I don’t remember.”
I didn’t want to say, and I didn’t want to remember.
Seeing me shake my head, he looked startled.
“Oh dear! Have you lost your memory?”
“Ah! I think so.”
I feigned a pained expression.
“It will come back to you gradually. Don’t worry.”
He comforted me, then stood up.
“This branch doesn’t have a separate clinic. My name is Yang-rim. Call me if you need anything.”
He started to leave, then turned back.
“I can cut your hair and beard for you, if you’d like.”
“No, it’s alright. I’ll do it myself.”
Yang-rim’s words made me realize I was still covered in the hair and beard I hadn’t cut once in three years and five months.
* * *
According to Yang-rim, this place was called Dong-ro County, situated on the banks of the midstream Jeondang River.
I had been washed ashore on the banks of the Jeondang River, discovered by a fisherman, and sent to the Dong-ro Branch, which was under the jurisdiction of the Martial Alliance’s Hangzhou Regional Office.
I had forgotten to throw away the Alliance tablet and had kept it in my pouch, and now things had turned out this way.
Of course, I had no intention of staying here. Once I recovered and my thoughts were in order, I would leave without a second thought.
I was no longer the person I used to be; I had mastered one hundred eighty-nine different types of martial arts over three years and five months.
I will walk my own path with dignity.
The path of the strongest in real combat.
Together with my other self, the Fire Dragon Sword.
* * *
Sitting on the bed, I let go of the Fire Dragon Sword in my right hand.
My fingers wouldn’t straighten easily, so I had to use my left hand to forcefully pry them open and finally release the sword.
To think I had held onto the Fire Dragon Sword even while enduring a natural disaster—it truly was like a part of me.
I examined the Fire Dragon Sword; it hadn’t changed in the slightest.
I got off the bed. Feeling alright, I moved my body around and found that nothing particularly hurt.
When I walked, I wobbled slightly, but it seemed to be just from not having walked for a long time.
I went outside to look around. The place consisted of five single-story houses arranged around a wide central courtyard. It wasn’t quite a manor, but it was larger than a typical home.
The building I came from was a detached house in a secluded area at the back, and behind it, I could see a vegetable garden and the river.
The Dong-ro Branch of the Martial Alliance. Even for a regional branch, it was tiny. I had never seen such a shabby branch before.
Just then, Yang-rim came out of the house across the courtyard, saw me, and walked over.
“Do you want to wash your face and shave?”
“I should.”
* * *
As I cut my hair and shaved in the washroom, Yang-rim stood beside me, watching and talking.
“The Branch Master and the other members are away providing support to the Hangzhou Regional Office.”
Yang-rim explained kindly, assuming I would be curious.
“Including myself, there are a total of fifteen members at the Dong-ro Branch. The ones who left for support duty should be back tomorrow evening.”
‘Friend, I’m not curious.’
“I’m a branch member and also the steward here.”
“Is that so?”
When I finished cutting my hair and had cleanly shaved my beard, Yang-rim looked at me in astonishment.
“What is it? You’re so young!”
“Am I?”
“Not just young, but very handsome. How old are you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Oh, right! I forgot you lost your memory.”
Yang-rim’s gaze fell on my right cheek.
“That scar is the only flaw on an otherwise handsome face.”
It was the scar left by the hidden weapon thrown by Altar Lord Cheol Ryu-yeop when I fled from Requiem Valley.
Yang-rim kept chattering away at me, but I just nodded vaguely and returned to the room I had been in.