Walking Before Running

Order

"A pricier thing than I had imagined, it seems."

Three point eight million won was no small sum, yet there was nothing further to deliberate.

"It was by my own hand that I chose it, so there shall be no taking it back."

Ding—

"How swift... scarce a moment since I purchased it, and already it arrives this very day!"

So this was the modern world. Mm, now I understood why I had missed it so.

"All is well, I suppose. Although, hmm..."

What was I to do with myself until the thing arrived? Watching the simpleton fumble about had a certain wit to it, to be sure — amusing enough to observe — but it did little to ease the tedium.

"Yes. Loosening the body would be best."

Though it was a virtual body I moved, there could be no harm in limbering it. Adapting to this flesh without inner power, while turning over in my mind the framework of the martial arts I had once mastered — that would serve well enough.

"Ho, good."

Having realized that my old martial garb ill-suited the modern world, I had changed into its equivalent — a training suit, or "churining" as they called it. The stares upon me had lessened, and yet...

Unlike before, my face itched under their eyes something dreadful. Utterly unpleasant, it was.

"Have you some business with me?"

"N-no, not at all...!"

I stared blankly after the woman as she fled, then turned my gaze to the woman beside her.

"H-hey! Um... I'm so sorry!"

Exasperating, it was, watching her hurry off in hot pursuit of the one who had run.

"Do I truly look so fearsome..."

In all my time here I had met six women and one man, and each had reacted the same way. The man had glared at me with narrowed shrimp-eyes, while the women either went dumb, stammered their words, or — in the worst cases — bolted off just as that one had.

Never was it so in Murim.

"Bia."

So this is the day I come to miss you...

"Ahem. Is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that not a fearsome scowl you wear? A body that has lived as many years as mine ought to know better."

Unbefitting the name of Sword God, and unbefitting a man gazing upon the age of fifty as well.

"I came out to loosen this body of mine. I ought to act according to that purpose, ought I not?"

Following the map, I sought out an open lot — and what manner of trickery was this, that only a ramshackle corner greeted me?

"Perhaps it is all the better, in truth."

This was not Murim, but what I carried was, beyond any doubt, a sect's secret manual. There was need to keep its secrets well, was there not?

Ah — this was what I had meant to point to all along. Well, no matter either way.

"Let us begin by learning to walk."

I set my breathing in order with the flow of principle.

"The Three Powers."

Heaven, earth, and man.

"The Five Elements."

Fire and earth, metal and water, and wood.

"Yin and Yang."

Shadow and light.

Stepping in rhythm with the principles of nature itself — this, I decided, would be called the art of walking.

"Whew... even without inner power, it poses little difficulty."

Though whether that would hold true once I truly began, I could not say. Even without drawing on inner power, a body tempered by qi rivaling the heavens had once lain unharmed beneath a mountain's weight.

"Swift Step — Windless Stride."

Footwork so light that not even the wind stirred.

"Returning Step — Flowing Wind Stride."

The gathering wind became a mighty current.

"Fierce Step — Revolving Heaven Typhoon Stride."

A butterfly's wingbeat becomes the storm.

"Whew... it is truly a blessing that even bereft of inner power, nothing ails me."

Though far beneath what I had been in the days when qi flowed through me, I could still summon skill at the level of the Zenith realm.

"I've worked up a fair sweat."

Time to return, then. The hour was approaching when the thing was due to arrive.

So I quickened my pace toward home — only to find the delivery already waiting there.

The deliverywoman looked as though she had just scrolled past the terms of service. She stood at the door grumbling under her breath, dialing someone on her phone.

Pa-pa-bam, pa-bam-bam—

The ringtone blaring from the phone I'd carried with me announced that the woman was, in fact, my own delivery agent. The moment she heard it, her eyes turned toward me.

I met that gaze and offered my apology.

"My apologies. I stepped out for a brief drink of air while I waited..."

"O-oh, no... it's fine..."

Gracious of her to accept it — but she stammered so terribly, and kept glancing at me sideways, only to flinch like she'd seen a ghost the instant our eyes met.

"Am I truly so frightful to look upon?"

In Murim, I had been hailed as a beauty ranked among the finest under heaven, no less. Before the world knew me as the Sword God, they had called me the Jade-Faced Sword Prodigy. Thinking on it now, I should have met a woman back in those days.

But after that, the Demonic Cult rose in fury, and there was not a spare hour even to dream of romance.

"You are not!"

At the sudden cry — near a scream — I looked at the woman who had shouted it. Her ears burned scarlet, and she seemed entirely unaware of what she had just said.

"You're incredibly handsome!"

Watching her, I could not help but be reminded of Bia, on the day three months after I first took her in. Such was the feeling it gave me.

"I thank you."

Recalling the first smile ever to bloom on that child's perpetually gloomy face brightened my mood — enough that I could smile myself.

"Ah..."

"Now then, where is my parcel?"

"Oh! Right here — before I set anything up, I need you to sign for it."

"Sign?"

"Yes, if you could just sign here, please."

"Very well — here, then?"

I signed the papers the deliverywoman held out. She stared at the signature with eyes gone wide and round, then quickly collected herself, rolled up her sleeve, hoisted a box large enough to fit a grown person inside...

"I'll need you to open the door."

...and said it while looking straight at me.

"Forgive me..."

I opened the door, and followed the woman as she carried the box inside, making our way to the main room.

"We'll set it up here."

With practiced hands she broke down the box and began pulling out its contents, assembling piece after piece — a jumble of things entirely beyond my comprehension.

"Installation complete. When you use it, please make absolutely certain the capsule's lid is properly sealed, and also..."

I knew at least that much myself... Though no doubt it was all in the manual besides.

"Yes, thank you for your trouble."

At those parting words, her face — no longer merely her ears but her entire face — flushed crimson.

"U-um...! Have a good day!"

Bang—

I watched her flee out the door.

"One must not shut doors so forcefully."

It would hardly shatter so easily, of course — but one ought to treasure one's belongings.

"At last, I can play Mukgeomrok."

A stretch of time one could call long or short, depending. I had already spent it deciding how I meant to teach them.

Wheeeng—

I connected the plug and powered it on. A whirring noise rang out loudly before finally beginning to settle.

"What a racket."

Caught unprepared by a sound loud enough to make me squint, my ears rang dull for a while. Even so, I opened the capsule at once to inspect its interior.

"Cleaner inside than I expected."

It looked for all the world like a coffin capsule, so I had half expected dust to come drifting out. Mm. Even I admit that was a stretch.

I lay down inside the capsule and closed the lid, and strange contraptions began fastening themselves to my head, my arms and legs, my waist.

"A peculiar sensation..."

I stilled my heart and closed my eyes.

At the voice, I opened my eyes.

"A world apart entirely..."

In a world that looked nothing like my own, a winged boy came to greet me. After regarding him a while, I looked around — and something struck me as lacking.

Then I glanced down at my own body. It was translucent. At least it did not pass straight through things, so I suppose that was a mercy.

"No existing account found. Would you like to create one?"

"Yes."

"Please review and agree to the Personal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Information Consent Form and the Terms of Service."

The document the boy handed over was so thick it practically dared me not to read it.

"Is it not rather too thick...?"

"Would you like to review an abridged version? No content has been omitted, so there is no risk of future complications."

"Yes."

And so the gist of it was this:

"I agree."

Nothing in it posed a problem. Then again, no problem could possibly arise in the first place — but there was no harm in reading carefully.

"Do you consent to streaming?"

"Yes, I consent."

"Consent recorded. Related settings can be adjusted later in the lobby, or in-game."

"Yes."

Truly a talkative creature, this one... my ears were growing weary.

"We hope you have an enjoyable time."

With those words the boy vanished, and a hologram rose before me. Whether "hologram" was quite the word for it...

It resembled nothing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so much as a menu board, so I decided to call it the game board.

"Mm, Mukgeomrok... ah, here it is."

"A title, is it. I had one in mind already."

"This shall suit you all rather well."

Accept it gladly. It is absolutely not because I was ignored and grown cross over it. Absolutely not.