The Taoist's Shoes

Finding the gate went faster than I'd expected. The moment I crossed into Hwaseong City, a gate opened right in front of my eyes.

Sorry about this, taxi driver...

The sudden appearance of the gate had forced the cab into a sharp turn, and the poor vehicle had broken down on the spot. After paying for the repairs, I stepped through the gate.

"So what kind of trial is this going to be?"

Along with the quest, the scenery around me shifted.

"The National Central Museum."

As if the gate had deliberately chosen a place I'd find familiar, the transformed space was one every Korean would recognize at a glance.

So the artifacts are inside here?

The moment I entered the museum, artifacts of every kind came into view. There were pieces that represented Korea itself, and others that looked like they'd been brought in from overseas.

"Huh? Excalibur?"

The relic of the Arthurian legend from Britain. A sword clearly superior even to Lanclot, the Legendary+ grade Sword of the Lake.

The tier above Legendary...

Of course I coveted it. But that artifact was of no use to me.

No matter what its effect might be, a sword just doesn't fit my hand.

Fighting with a weapon that doesn't suit you is nothing but dangerous.

I need to pick an artifact I can actually use.

A dagger, or armor — shoes, above all.

I'd been wandering the vast museum for about an hour when I came to a stop in front of a certain exhibition hall.

"This place..."

It was a shabby building, hardly deserving the name of an exhibition hall, its architecture entirely different from the others. And yet something pulled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at me.

What artifact could be inside...

I carefully pushed open the door and stepped inside. The lights, which had been off, flickered to life the moment I entered, flooding the interior with brightness.

Five artifacts — that was all the hall contained.

Why are only these out on display?

I stepped closer and read their names.

"The Turtle Ship, the Original Hunminjeongeum, the Clone Technique, Jumong's Bow... and the Taoist's Shoes?"

My heart began to pound as I read them. Four of the five were artifacts any Korean citizen could have predicted. Admiral Yi Sun-sin's Turtle Ship. King Sejong the Great's Hunminjeongeum. Hong Gil-dong's Clone Technique. Jumong's Bow.

But what's with this Taoist's Shoes at the end?

I'd never once heard of shoes being mentioned in any tale about a Taoist.

The Hunminjeongeum and the Clone Technique are probably skills, and the Turtle Ship a summoning item?

The bow and the shoes were exactly what their names implied — a bow, and shoes.

All five drew my eye, but it was the Taoist's Shoes that pulled at me most of all.

It's almost like they're telling me to choose them.

Even before my regression, I had never felt a pull this strong. In the end, I chose the Taoist's Shoes.

"Where am I?"

The place I'd been moved to was a mountain — and not just any mountain, but one made of jagged, uneven rock.

Bukhansan?

I had no idea why a place like this had been chosen as a trial ground.

I waited a short while before sensing movement behind me.

Who's there?

This was where I was supposed to be tested. Feeling someone else's presence here made no sense.

"Kuk!"

Without ever showing itself, the presence let out a laugh and tried to slip back into hiding.

Oh no you don't.

Shadow Footwork. Yeong-ap (Shadow Press).

Having pinned down the shadow of the presence, I moved straight to the spot where it had been. But there was no one there.

"What the...?"

Yeong-ap was still active. I could feel it holding the shadow down even now. And yet the very spot where I'd used it was empty.

What on earth—

Just then, a new presence appeared behind me — and immediately started running in the opposite direction.

"You think I'd let you go?"

Basic Footwork. Sok (Swiftness).

I poured everything into closing the distance, but I couldn't catch up at all. The gap only kept widening.

He's far faster than me.

This wasn't simply a matter of stats. The technique he was using was what created the difference between us.

My acceleration is definitely better.

But the technique my quarry used was specialized for the forest. It wasn't just a matter of raising speed — his stride was built to flow in harmony with nature itself.

I can't catch him like this.

That presence was probably the only clue this trial had to offer. I couldn't lose it.

Should I use Limit Break?

That would let me unleash Kwae (Rapid), but the recoil was far too severe. And yet losing sight of that infuriating presence was unthinkable.

I can't switch my footwork pattern either.

Higher footwork techniques had something called a flow. Once I stored a flow's pattern, I could draw it out and use it however I wished. The problem was that there was a limit to how many I could store — and overwriting a stored flow required deep concentration.

"Haaam!"

Then, from somewhere ahead, an enormous yawn rang out. Loud enough that it might as well have been meant for my ears alone.

Ha — he's taunting me...

By now, the word "trial" had long since drained out of my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head. There was only one thought left: catch that insufferable presence.

That said, I had no intention of overextending myself.

If I want to go faster from here...

I activated the Taeheo Heart Technique, now elevated to two stars. In daily life it sat quietly like a passive skill, but it was, in truth, an active one. And its real effect was amplification.

Boom!

The instant I kicked off, the ground beneath my feet caved in, leaving a crater in the shape of my footprint.

"Wee-hee~."

The presence must have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠noticed my surge in speed, because it let out a whistled taunt.

We're about even now, is that it?

The distance wasn't stretching any further like before — but it wasn't shrinking either. I immediately activated my lower dantian as well.

At first I'd assumed the lower dantian and the Taeheo Heart Technique were two halves of a single whole, but after using them together a few times, I'd learned that wasn't the case.

"Now you're finally keeping up."

As the distance between us shrank, I heard something new from the presence — a genuine voice, neither taunting laughter nor another yawn.

"Just wait a little longer. I'll catch you."

With that, I pushed my legs harder still. I changed the way I ran for the forest, changed how I drove my legs, adapting to the terrain. And at last I came within arm's reach of the presence.

"Got y—"

I reached out to seize it — and the figure vanished before my fingers could close.

"This time, try finding me."

If the first round had been pursuit, this one was detection.

Being tested by someone isn't exactly my idea of a good time.

Even Oman hadn't looked down on me. He had acknowledged me as a worthy opponent. And here I was, being toyed with by a mere artifact.

I'm a sorry sight, honestly.

I shut off the Taeheo Heart Technique at once and deactivated the lower dantian too. Neither was necessary for tracking a presence.

Detection Footwork. Saek (Seek).

Along with the footwork, my senses expanded — and I found the presence almost immediately. Except it wasn't one presence. It was many.

So it's not as simple as just searching.

I began sorting the fakes from the real one using my sharpened senses. First, I ruled out every presence that carried no life-force.

That cuts out about half.

Next, I studied the vibrations. Only three of the remaining presences gave off any.

The one I was looking for had to be among those three.

I can't distinguish them with what I have now.

Within the range of what I could perceive, there was no way to tell the real one apart. Presence, life-force, vibration — before my regression and even now, those three were the entirety of what I could sense. And all three of those presences possessed all three.

There has to be something else...

Something I was overlooking right now. This trial was designed to test me — and perhaps it was testing precisely the thing I couldn't yet do.

The Taoist's Shoes...

This was a trial to earn the shoes' recognition. And I'd arrived at one assumption: the power a Taoist wields is not mana. If that was true — if Taoist arts were something that drew on something other than mana—

I have to find it.

The power of the Taoist that I didn't yet know.

I brought my footwork to a complete stop and spread out my mana.

I search not with senses enhanced by footwork, but with my own senses alone.

A technique stacked from multiple layered arts only made classification harder. I had to rely purely on what was mine.

I shut out most of what my senses feed me.

As I throttled my perception down, the world around me went pitch dark.

It's in here somewhere.

There had to be a way to tell those three presences apart.

With my senses sealed away, I had no idea how much time had passed. Then something caught on my awareness — thin as a white thread.

Found it.

I activated that brand-new sense as hard as I could, and the thread began to come into sharp focus. Once I could feel it clearly, I released the senses I'd bound shut.

"Doryeok, huh."

A new power I hadn't even known existed before my regression.

It'd be nice if I could actually claim it for myself.

Now that I knew the exact sense to look for, finding him with footwork would be simple.

Search Footwork. Saek (Seek).

Once more, I sorted the world through my footwork. And sure enough, thin threads were attached to the final three presences — every one of them converging on a single point.

Behind me.

Clang!

I whipped out my dagger in a hurry. But my blade was parried with almost insulting ease.

"A... fan?"

What had blocked my dagger was a folding fan. My Legendary-grade dagger, stopped by a fan?

"You found me faster than I expected."

Clang!

I swung the shattered hilt at the presence — the handsome man — as he spoke. This time, he caught it in his hand.

"The speed with which you chased me. The sense with which you found me."

Clang! Clang! Clang!

No matter how I whirled my black dagger, it was effortlessly turned aside by that fan again and again. And through it all, the man was smiling, as if all of this were tremendous fun.

"Congratulations. You pass the first trial."

With the handsome man's words, the scenery around us changed once more. Parched earth without a single blade of grass — that was where I now stood.

"Now, the second trial begins."

With that, the man began walking up into the air itself. Perfectly, unnaturally naturally.

"Draw so much as a scratch on me."

The handsome man continued with a pleasant, kindly smile on his face.

"Do that, and I will acknowledge you."

Basic Footwork. Pa (Break).

My answer was to step into the footwork itself. Shards laden with Pa's mana tore through the air toward the man.

If I can draw a scratch on him?

A hollow laugh escaped me. This was a body that had fought Oman and lived.

Forget a scratch — I'll put him down in a single blow.

It was time to end this irritating trial.