The Dawn of the Great Hunt
Seogeok.
Duseong’s sword traced a perfect arc and severed the earth fox’s neck. One strike. His skill was on an entirely different level from when we had first met.
“Next!”
Hwaung shouted in a booming voice, lifting his shield. Two earth foxes lunged at him at once, but his stance didn’t waver.
Thud! Thud!
“Duseong! Left!”
“Got it!”
Their coordination flowed naturally. Without my having to direct them anymore, the two of them had developed flawless timing.
Swoosh.
From the tree, I watched their hunt and gave a satisfied nod.
It’s time.
In the past half month, we had killed more than a hundred Livestock Class beasts. Duseong and Hwaung had grown tremendously, and Jinu had become adept at emergency treatment in the field and blending medicinal ingredients.
“Eldest Brother! Things are going smoothly today, too.”
Jinu smiled brightly as he gathered the Illusion Stones. The face of the fifteen-year-old boy now held a new confidence. He was no longer staying at the physician’s quarters; he lived with us at the Jigeom Sect now. Of course, he hadn’t officially joined the sect—he was here as my guest.
“Yes. Let’s stop here for today.”
When I jumped down from the tree, the three of them gathered around me.
“Eldest Brother, already? The sun’s still high up…”
Hwaung said regretfully. He seemed to have become addicted to the sense of achievement that came from hunting every day.
“Right. Let’s head back early today.”
We left Cheongimgok and returned to the village. Once back, we sold the byproducts we’d earned from hunting the earth foxes. After returning to the Jigeom Sect, Duseong emptied out a large sack. With a clattering sound, silver coins spilled out.
“Eldest Brother! We hit the jackpot again today!”
“Thirty earth fox hides, a hundred claws, about twenty Illusion Stones… After selling all that, we should be looking at more than fifty taels of silver!”
Hwaung chimed in, his face just as excited.
“If you add everything we’ve earned so far, we’ve already passed a thousand taels of silver, haven’t we?”
Our harvest over the last half month had been beyond imagination. People still didn’t truly understand the value of beast materials, so we were forced to sell them cheaply, but even so, for a small sect like the Jigeom Sect, it was an astonishing sum.
“Good. Then let’s go feed the junior brothers well again today.”
At my words, bright smiles spread across the two disciples’ faces. By then, the Jigeom Sect dining hall was already in an uproar.
“Eldest Brother is here!”
“Duseong Senior Brother! Hwaung Senior Brother!”
The younger disciples came pouring out to greet us. Their eyes were full of respect and gratitude when they looked at us.
“What have you prepared today?”
The cook grinned and answered,
“With the money Eldest Brother gave us, we bought two cows! Everyone can eat as much meat as they want today!”
“Good. Eat your fill, everyone.”
More than anything else, I believed in never being stingy when it came to food. Before long, the dining hall was thick with the smell of roasting meat. The disciples, who usually made do with gruel or rice cakes, were finally getting a proper meal for the first time in a while.
“Haa… Meat! Real meat!”
The disciples cheered and stuffed their mouths. One of them was so moved by the taste that he even shed tears. Watching them, Duseong and Hwaung wore pleased expressions.
“Eldest Brother, thank you. Because of you, the disciples can eat properly and focus on training.”
“Don’t mention it. I only did what any Eldest Brother should do.”
Then, from the corner of the dining hall, I felt a dissatisfied gaze. It was Jang Semin and Jang Sejun, the sect leader’s two sons.
“Hmph, and they’re making such a fuss over that little bit of money.”
Jang Semin sneered. As the eldest son of the sect leader, thirty years old this year, he believed it was only natural that he would inherit the position of sect master.
“Exactly, big brother. What’s so great about buying the disciples’ goodwill like that?”
Jang Sejun, the younger brother, echoed him.
“And what is this beast hunting nonsense anyway? He’s endangering the sect’s talent by dragging them into dangerous work.”
But their complaints died quickly under the stares of the surrounding disciples.
“What’s wrong with the young masters?”
“Seriously. Eldest Brother works so hard for us…”
At the murmuring around them, both men’s faces flushed red. In truth, Jang Semin and Jang Sejun knew perfectly well that the sect’s recent improvement in finances was entirely thanks to me and the two disciples.
“Damn it, ever since that bastard showed up…”
Jang Semin ground his teeth.
In the past, the most prominent figures in the Jigeom Sect had been the sect leader’s sons. Their martial talent had been ordinary, but they had still been respected by the disciples because of their status as heirs.
But after I appeared, everything changed.
Overwhelming martial skill.
Devotion to the disciples.
And now, economic strength as well.
“Big brother, if this keeps up, then really…”
Jang Sejun said anxiously.
“I know. But now isn’t the time.”
A sinister light flashed in Jang Semin’s eyes.
“Father still favors Hyeonseong for now. But one day, an opportunity will come.”
Meanwhile, I didn’t care, even as I felt their gazes.
It makes sense that the sect leader’s sons would keep an eye on me.
But they needn’t have worried. From the beginning, I had no interest whatsoever in the position of sect master. The Jigeom Sect was nothing more than a place I was staying for a time while I laid my foundation.
That night, I called Duseong and Hwaung aside.
“You’ve both improved a lot.”
At my praise, they smiled bashfully.
“It’s all thanks to Eldest Brother.”
“No. It’s the result of your own effort.”
I went on with a serious expression.
“Which is why I think it’s time for the next step.”
Their faces hardened with tension. They had an inkling of what I meant by the next step.
“The next step… you mean…”
“Yes. The beast den I told you I’d take you to.”
For a moment, silence fell.
“The beast den?”
Hwaung swallowed hard.
“Yes. The beasts we’ve been dealing with so far were only the ones roaming outside the den. Real hunting happens inside the den.”
Duseong asked cautiously,
“Won’t it be dangerous?”
“Of course it will be dangerous. But I finished preparing long ago, and you two are ready now.”
I patted both of them on the shoulder.
“Trust me. I won’t put you in danger.”
The two of them looked at each other, then nodded.
“Understood. We trust you, Eldest Brother.”
“Good. Then we leave at dawn tomorrow. Get some rest tonight.”
After the two left, I stood alone beneath the moonlight, lost in thought.
Black Shadow Cave… was it really as I remembered from my previous life?
This cave, located on the outskirts of Hubei, was supposed to be a place where Livestock Class beasts lived in large numbers. At least, that was how it had been in my memories of my previous life.
But variables always exist.
Especially now that I had regressed, there was no way to know how the future had changed. I had to be careful. A trace of unease brushed past me, but I had already made my decision.
Tomorrow, I would find out.
What this uneasiness really was.
The next morning at dawn.
Four shadows slipped out through the city gate in the pitch-black dark.
“Ugh… There’s something eerie about today.”
Jinu muttered, shivering. A sinister aura hung in the air with the cold predawn wind. After traveling nearly fifteen miles, we reached our destination.
Duseong drew in a sharp breath.
“That’s Black Shadow Cave?”
A black hole bored into the mountainside of a giant rock peak. Black Shadow Cave. I stared silently at the entrance. An ominous energy seeped from the mouth of the cave. It wasn’t merely gloom; it was the instinctive warning of living creatures sensing danger.
Rumble…
A sound like some giant beast breathing rolled from deep within.
“Th-this is the beast den…”
Hwaung’s face went pale. No matter how brave you were, anyone would feel fear when faced with genuine danger for the first time.
“If you’re scared, you can turn back now.”
I spoke calmly.
“But if you can’t cross this threshold, you’ll never grow any further. The choice is yours.”
The three of them looked at one another, then all but simultaneously nodded.
Duseong spoke first.
“I’m going.”
Hwaung answered with a voice full of resolve.
“Me too. We’ve come this far. We can’t quit now.”
Even Jinu found the courage to speak up.
“I-I’ll follow too!”
I smiled in satisfaction.
“Good. Then before we go in, I’ll tell you the rules.”
Based on my experience from my previous life, I explained the basics of clearing a den.
“First, never act alone. Second, don’t go deep inside without my orders. Third, if you judge something to be dangerous, retreat immediately.”
The three of them nodded seriously.
“And the most important thing…”
I raised the torch.
“Don’t lose your composure. Fear clouds judgment.”
Swoosh.
We slowly entered the cave.
The moment we crossed the entrance, the temperature dropped sharply. Strange patterns were carved into the walls, and unidentified bones were scattered across the floor.
“Hah…”
Jinu let out a small gasp. A human skull lay in the corner.
“Probably people hunted by the earth foxes.”
I said it calmly, but inside I was tense.
Something’s wrong.
This place was supposed to be a Livestock Class beast den. Yet we hadn’t seen a single Livestock Class beast so far.
It’s too quiet. Suspiciously quiet.
Then it happened.
Grrrrr…
A low growl echoed from deep inside the cave. It was much closer and clearer than the sound we’d heard outside.
And that sound…
It’s not something a Livestock Class beast can make.
Anxiety surged through me.
“Be careful. Something…”
Before I could finish, Duseong shouted.
“Eldest Brother! Look here!”
The place he pointed to was the cave wall. Deep claw marks had been gouged into it. Four parallel lines had torn into the stone as though trying to rip it apart, each trench deep enough to be well over an inch.
Hwaung’s voice trembled.
“This doesn’t look like something a Livestock Class beast could do.”
He was right.
These were marks no Livestock Class beast could have left.
At the very least, Human Class.
Maybe even higher. I gave a low command.
“Everyone stop. This is different from what we expected. This isn’t a Livestock Class den.”
Fear flickered across their faces. Jinu asked in a shaking voice,
“Then… should we go back?”
I hesitated for a moment. Turning back now might have been the wise choice. But…
If we retreat here, their growth stops.
And more than that, I was curious. Why was there a beast of Human Class or higher in a place that was supposed to be a Livestock Class den?
“Let’s go a little farther. But we need to be even more careful.”
We advanced more slowly. The cave was deeper than I’d expected. As the passage widened, a vast chamber finally appeared.
Hwaung let out an uncertain sound.
“Huh? There’s nothing… here?”
He was right; the huge chamber was empty. In a place like this, there should have been dozens of beasts.
Then I realized it.
The bones scattered across the floor.
The claw marks on the walls.
And the empty chamber.
Don’t tell me…
At that moment.
Shhhak!
A massive shadow moved within the darkness.
Two red eyes flashed in the gloom. And slowly stepping out into view was…
“W-what is that…”
Duseong muttered, dazed.
A huge black leopard.
No, it was too large to be called a leopard. At the shoulder alone it towered above the height of an adult man, and its body stretched longer than two cows laid end to end. More chilling than anything, however, was the black mist rising from it. It was as though darkness itself had taken physical form.
Dark Shadow Leopard…
A Human Class beast.
A lethal predator with the power to manipulate shadows.
The moment when an ominous feeling became reality.
Grrrrr…
The Dark Shadow Leopard growled low in its throat. Just that sound seemed to make the whole cave tremble.
“Back up… slowly.”
I gave the order quietly.
But it was already too late.
BOOM!
The Dark Shadow Leopard burst forward at an impossible speed.