Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: User Jiangshis and the Demon Race's Emergence
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"They're users, my lord."
Ilryeong, concealed in her translucent form to avoid drawing attention, spoke from Geon-woo's shoulder.
Sure enough, the people emerging from the alley were all users.
They had surrounded the live fish delivery driver and the sashimi restaurant owner in a semicircle.
"Huh? Huh?!"
The sashimi restaurant owner recoiled in fear.
The live fish delivery driver, Mr. Park, stepped forward to block him.
"What's this about?"
Mr. Park eyed the men warily.
"You're a user, right, old man?"
One of the men stepped forward and asked Mr. Park point-blank.
He was a burly guy radiating the vibe of a street thug in his sharp gaze and aggressive posture.
"What's that to you?"
Mr. Park dropped the polite tone in response to the man's rude familiarity.
"A user like you, and all you do is catch fish?"
"All I do? You call catching fish 'all I do'?"
Mr. Park's eyebrow twitched at the man's words.
"Listen, we're recruiting users, you know? Things are getting messy in Incheon. China Town up there, and those Southeast Asians in the industrial zone down below."
Even Geon-woo, who didn't know the full situation, could tell this was about turf wars between gangs.
Mr. Park, the live fish driver, responded with bored indifference.
"What does that have to do with me? All I know how to do is catch fish and drive. So leave me out of it."
"Old man, you gotta seize opportunities when they come. The world's changing. Don't you get it?"
"Changing or not, it's my business. I told you to back off."
Mr. Park shifted to climb onto his live fish truck, clearly not wanting to drag this out.
"Old man! We're not done talking. What's with the manners?"
The thug grabbed Mr. Park's shoulder and pressed down.
Thud!
A heavy clash echoed from the thug's hand and Mr. Park's shoulder.
"They're like puppies who don't know to fear the tiger, huh?"
'Puppies? More like hunting dogs that still fall short.'
In Geon-woo's eyes, the live fish truck driver's strength far outmatched the thugs'.
It was sigh-worthy how the thugs couldn't sense it, but then again, it was only natural.
'I never thought I'd be able to distinguish users and gauge their levels like this.'
"The heart technique you've mastered has effects even this girl didn't anticipate."
'Yeah. It's not much for building inner energy, but it's useful for sensing the aura users carry.'
'In OnVroad, everyone's a user, so we never noticed compared to normals.'
'That guy's got some real patience, though.'
Geon-woo watched the driver locked in a strength contest with the thug.
Despite being able to easily shake off the hand on his shoulder, the driver didn't overreact.
He simply overpowered it and smoothly hoisted himself onto the truck.
The thug's hand inevitably slipped off his shoulder.
"Huh?"
For a split second, the thug seemed to realize the driver possessed strength beyond his own, flashing a look of surprise.
But since the clash wasn't overt enough to lose face, he pretended otherwise and took a step back.
"You should think it over, old man. Lone wolves don't last long in this world."
The thug tossed one last line at the driver, who was now filleting sashimi with a knife, then led his crew away.
His underlings, having caught on to Mr. Park's power, followed silently.
'Ends anticlimactically.'
Geon-woo, who'd half-hoped for a brawl, felt deflated and resumed walking.
He thought of Mr. Park, using his user abilities passively to source big sashimi catches.
Mr. Park was the textbook example of someone with power but using it conservatively—just a boost to his livelihood.
But mild cases like him were rarer; most would be drunk on power.
Like those thugs just now.
"You're not following them?"
Ilryeong asked as Geon-woo's path diverged from the thugs'.
'I had a target in mind since coming to Incheon. No reason to switch midway.'
"Is that so?"
'Yeah. It was on the news yesterday.'
Geon-woo headed toward Gaegyeong-dong, home to China Town.
* * *
"How'd you get in here?"
Cheonyangwi, fresh from a shower, spotted Geon-woo in her room and asked.
Draped in a robe, she cautiously moved toward her vanity.
"Don't do anything stupid. You might lose your head."
Geon-woo warned her.
"Who are you?"
Cheonyangwi froze, masking her panic, and asked again.
"Isn't this nice? Avatar and vessel merged, so we communicate perfectly. You're speaking Chinese, I'm Korean, but no awkwardness. Right?"
Crunch! Crack!
"Urk!"
"I told you not to move. You die soon anyway, but you don't listen."
As Geon-woo spoke, Cheonyangwi's foot heading for the vanity sank into the cement floor.
Startled and off-balance, she tried to adjust but cried out from the pain shooting up her shin.
Her trapped leg wouldn't budge and only brought agony.
"Heard you caused a big scene in China? Tangled with the Public Security Bureau?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"And killed several people in the process."
"That has nothing to do with you."
"The problem is a criminal like you entering our country. And prepping for turf wars right away?"
"That's..."
"This ain't your turf. Even a mangy dog gets half a meal at home. You didn't know that?"
As she talked with Geon-woo, Cheonyangwi realized things were going south.
She'd been trying to use her strength, but her foot stayed stuck.
She had more than enough power to shatter concrete, yet she couldn't move.
That meant the guy before her outclassed her.
Her innate ability was physical enhancement, and he was pinning her with mere concrete.
"Quit messing around and come quietly. I don't want you hurt."
Geon-woo approached Cheonyangwi and reached for her head.
Instinctively, she grabbed his hand.
But.
Crunch!
"Argh!"
"I said stay still."
As she pushed back with force, bones twisted in her hand with a sickening sound.
Geon-woo then poured the contents of a small vial into her screaming mouth.
"Mmph! Ptui! Gah!"
Cheonyangwi tried to spit it out, but the drug absorbed instantly.
Her eyes widened as paralysis spread through her body in seconds.
"Works great, but force-feeding's a hassle."
Geon-woo muttered at the wide-eyed, unconscious Cheonyangwi.
Burying a paralyzed target in a coffin underground was simple.
Most real-world buildings were concrete, no match for his spirit control.
Wooden interior decor was actually more annoying at times.
Plus, these shady types preferred basements over ground level.
Cheonyangwi being one made handling her easy.
'This should do.'
With Cheonyangwi as the last, Geon-woo had kidnapped twenty criminal users. He loaded stone coffins into a 5-ton truck and headed to the island.
Drove to the causeway bridge, then boated the coffins to the nearest island with a tunnel.
The stone coffins looked like patterned boulders from outside, lids hidden, resembling unique decor.
Having transported twenty coffins, Geon-woo immediately began experiments creating user jiangshis.
"Seems jiangshi quality varies by user level. Key factor is how many souls they've fused."
After experiments with the kidnapped users, Ilryeong reached that conclusion.
Thus, she judged making living jiangshis wasn't ideal right now.
"Better to make corpse jiangshis—sijiangshi—for now."
"Due to completion rate?"
"Yes. Even top one like Cheonyangwi yields only mid-grade jiangshi at best."
"Her physical enhancement innate ability doesn't perform?"
"Refining into jiangshi boosts physical stats, but acceptance potential is too low."
"And that potential ties to soul fusion?"
"Yes."
"But there's reason to make living jiangshis over sijiangshi."
Sijiangshi from corpses had no difference between users and normals.
Users lost abilities upon death.
Living jiangshis made from live users varied by Ark Capsule soulstone.
If the soulstone broke, growth halted, and abilities faded over time.
Securing the target's Ark Capsule was crucial.
"Given jiangshi limits, living ones are the answer. Plus, user jiangshis can log into OnVroad via Ark Capsule."
"Right. Heavenly Brain Multi-Heart Spirit Control limits numbers, so ones crossing Earth and OnVroad freely are a huge plus. But making a user jiangshi here doesn't turn their OnVroad avatar into one."
"True, but with spirit suppression, you control the avatar as a limb in OnVroad, refining it into jiangshi bit by bit."
"User jiangshi on Earth, remake avatar as living jiangshi in OnVroad?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Ugh, tedious. Double the effort."
"Indeed."
"Tch. Still, have to use living jiangshis. Get caught with sijiangshi on Earth, and you're branded a villain instantly."
For various reasons, sijiangshi weren't viable on Earth.
Only user living jiangshis worked freely on both sides, leaving no real choice.
"For now, ditch a few sijiangshi in OnVroad and make user ones on Earth for use."
"Yeah, no choice."
Ultimately, all but Ilryeong would become user living jiangshis, but first, clear out OnVroad sijiangshi.
* * *
"Isn't it over a month of neglecting this side?"
Paeng, logging into OnVroad on time, voiced his discontent upon finding Geon-woo.
He'd been busy building hideouts on several islands and linking them via underground tunnels.
Plus three trips to Incheon kidnapping users and swiping their Ark Capsules.
No time for OnVroad.
Paeng was used to solo creature hunts, but felt miffed at the abandonment.
"I'm supplying your meds on schedule. Not like we have to hunt together every time."
Geon-woo found Paeng's complaints baffling.
Paeng always preferred solo.
Pay was prompt, yet this gripe.
"You checking surroundings lately?"
"Some issue?"
"Obviously. Demon Race spotted near hideout again recently."
"Demon Race? Wasn't that what you wanted?"
"When they're huntable numbers. Three or more, and even I say it's risky!"
Paeng's voice rose, unable to hide his frustration.
Prime prey like demonkin in sight, but untouchable—nerves frayed.
"How many?"
Geon-woo asked.
"Usually three or four in packs, one of which is..."
"Strong?"
"Yeah."
Paeng admitted straightforwardly, so the special one outmatched him.