What the Hell Is This?
I barely held onto my sanity. Grinding my teeth so hard they might crack, I flipped the page.
The content that followed matched the original novel’s plot flow. But one thing was certain—there were clear differences in the details.
This… is the same time period, but a different story.
To be exact, the book contained the story from Choun-seong’s point of view. A record organized from birth all the way to the present, told through my eyes. It was both different from and yet similar to the Cheonryong Chronicle that unfolded from the protagonist’s perspective, with timelines that subtly overlapped in places.
Let’s see what we’ve got.
In the original, as a villain I had far less screen time than the protagonist, but I was still a fairly strong character. So I turned the pages full of dreams and hope.
The summary went something like this.
Born as the son of a concubine, Choun-seong was a loner from childhood. Moreover, his conduct was terrible and his nature so cruel that his position within the family grew narrow. Blinded by rage, he eventually attempts to poison the eldest son, Choun-hak. When the plot is discovered, he flees only to be kidnapped by someone. And that someone is none other than the Blood Sect…!
“Graaaaagh!”
What kind of cliffhanger bullshit is this? The Blood Sect? Why? Why the hell is the Blood Sect kidnapping me? At the very least it should describe the situation of how I get kidnapped. The original was so boring it was hard to read, but why does this version have to be a sloppy novel that also uses the worst possible cliffhangers!
This is my life on the line here, damn it. So depressing.
While feeling utterly gloomy, I racked my brain for a way to survive.
“This absolutely cannot happen. I can’t just sit still like this.”
Whether it was the author’s prank or some god’s scheme, there had to be a path to stay alive.
“First, I already know the general plot of the original.”
I knew about the fight with the Blood Sect and the later rebellion of the Tongcheon Cult.
“Moreover, I even know this guy’s future, short as it is.”
Whether I could really call one volume’s worth of content the future was debatable. Ah… I’m seriously going to lose my mind.
I pulled myself together and ground my teeth again.
“First, I must never learn demonic arts. That’s the only way I’ll survive. No, but why did this idiot learn demonic arts in the first place?”
The worst demonic arts had the advantage of letting you master techniques quickly, but they carried a massive risk of destroying your mind. It wasn’t like some insane high-schooler taking drugs or ADHD medicine just to rank first in class. Why demonic arts of all things!
“First priority is fixing this scoundrel personality of mine.”
I was not Choun-seong. Lee Seo-jin had lived diligently as an ordinary citizen. I couldn’t exactly claim I had never felt shame before the heavens… but compared to this trash, I had lived a pure-white life like 100% cotton.
If I played my cards right, I could survive. Of course, I would have to dodge the countless crises coming my way first.
“The balance in this thing is complete garbage. You call this writing, author?”
I jabbed a finger at the empty air and spun in place.
Should I run away? But could I even manage it? This world was full of blade-carrying thugs who called themselves martial artists and strutted around like they owned the place. I had zero confidence I could get along with people who carried massive swords and axes while laughing heartily. Besides, I didn’t have the strength to back it up.
Grinding my teeth, I muttered, “Even if I run, I’ll need martial arts first. Where can I get some techniques from, huh?”
As I gnashed my teeth, I tilted my head.
“There’s a next page?”
It had said end of volume one, yet there was more content after.
[Source: Literature]
What is this, some kind of Murim wiki?
Grumbling, I flipped the page, and my eyes suddenly flew wide open.
The ultimate internal cultivation method of the novel. It creates a Heavenly Altar in the dantian that purifies all poisons and absorbs natural energy.
“Huh? Why is this here?”
Cheondan Divine Art? Why the hell is this showing up now?
The Cheondan Divine Art was the strongest internal energy method that appeared in the story, wasn’t it? Internal energy methods formed the foundation for learning martial arts, dramatically increasing efficiency for both technique and body.
It was pathetic how the author had set things up, but the greatness of the Cheondan Divine Art operated on a completely different level from ordinary martial arts. In the novel it was called not mere martial arts but divine art—a peerless existence.
“In the original, Choun-seong only obtained it after being dragged off to the Blood Sect, right?”
If you were being precise, he had literally obtained it with his own two hands. But he couldn’t decipher the code, so when the protagonist killed him he handed it over intact. The so-called divine-art shuttle. Only after it fell into the protagonist’s hands did the art become known.
“A technique that appears in the mid-game of the original is already present in the early stages?”
“No way…”
I flipped the pages rapidly, and the full formulas for the Cheondan Divine Art poured out. No matter how I read them, I couldn’t understand a single thing. The characters were arranged in a strangely familiar yet incomprehensible way.
Since I already knew the original story, I immediately realized why.
This is paja encoding, isn’t it?
Paja was the method of breaking down the radicals and strokes of Chinese characters according to specific rules to create a cipher. For example, something that looked like “eight ox-horn blades” would, when the characters were disassembled and reassembled, become the phrase “to cut, split, and divide objects.” It was so complex that unless you examined it closely, you could never grasp the original meaning.
That was why the original Choun-seong had never been able to interpret it even after obtaining the art. To think I had gotten my hands on it at this early stage.
With rising expectation I kept turning pages. As my hand moved, more characters rose up on the blank paper of the following sheets.
The signature sword style of the Chogabo, characterized by flexible, willow-like movements.
A powerful fist technique that grows exponentially stronger with each consecutive strike up to nine hits.
A notorious demonic art of the Blood Sect that grants immense power by absorbing blood and toxic energy, but eventually drives the user insane.
“Jackpot!”
Sorry for all the cursing earlier, author. You know I love you, right?
I punched the air a few times and kept devouring the book. But several pages were completely blank. I pondered the reason while flipping through for a long time until I finally reached the very last page.
There, a single line was written.
Please look forward to the next volume! —Anonymous
“Goddamn it!”
Look forward to what? I really hated this author.
Anyway, I still couldn’t fully grasp the situation, but one thing was crystal clear.
“I have to survive the entire first volume.”
Surviving was genuinely difficult. There were already countless crises waiting for Choun-seong inside volume one.
With survival as my sole goal, I memorized the arts like a student cramming right before the college entrance exam. The first one I learned was the inconspicuous Cheondan Divine Art.
Even in this trash story, I could immediately feel why the Cheondan Divine Art was called legendary. Vitality slowly began returning to my whole body, whose senses had been dulled by the aftereffects of the spar.
There was something else strange.
Is this inner energy? Some kind of weird aura.
Even though I had been a scoundrel, I was still the youngest son of a fairly powerful house. Having trained in martial arts since childhood, I had already built a decent dantian.
As a five-year corporate veteran whose only experience with mysterious power was alcohol and caffeine, the force rising from my dantian left me genuinely impressed. Though faint, when I stimulated the energy in my dantian a hot power surged up, giving me the feeling I could exert the strength of a bear.
But it wasn’t easy.
“Ugh… uuuugh.”
Perhaps because of my internal injuries, every time I moved the energy my muscles would twist in agony. I struggled for a long time, but each attempt was met with Baek No’s scolding.
“Young Master, please endure even if it is uncomfortable. Moving your energy while suffering from internal injuries may instead lead you straight into qi deviation.”
I stopped immediately. Qi deviation? No thank you. I had no desire to have my muscles twisted and my meridians burst, turning me into a half-cripple.
“First, let’s avoid causing trouble and figure out the current situation.”
Besides memorizing the divine art, there were many things here that required my attention.
If I don’t want to get caught later, I need to memorize even the smallest details.
Corporate life had taught me that everything begins with reading the room. To read the room properly, I first had to burn into my mind exactly how the space around me operated—basic etiquette, speech patterns, mealtimes, all those little things.
There was a mountain of information to learn, and none of it was easy. Especially since I had no reference materials.
This guy caused so many incidents that he ended up locked away in the inner court.
Having achieved the triple crown of alcohol, women, and violence by the age of ten, there was literally no one who would approach me even when I tried to ask questions. He was the patriarch’s son, yet not even a single maid would come near? They had seizures just from looking at this perfect, cold, beautiful boy’s face!
I gained a face but lost the people’s hearts.
My father must truly be a Buddha.
Fortunately, I had one lifeline.
Baek No. The man respected by every worker in both the inner and outer courts. Unlike everyone else, he never ran away and always stayed by my side, chatting with me. Thanks to him I was gradually able to understand my current reality.
Baek No was always kind, and he seemed to regard me with approval as I began showing interest in the world.
“Hehe, just managing your internal injuries must be difficult, yet you are truly admirable, Young Master.”
“It’s nothing.”
Smacking my lips, I asked, “By the way, Baek No. Any other news?”
“What sort of matter are you inquiring about?”
“About what’s happening inside the family. Especially stories about my older brothers. I need those.”
I couldn’t just casually call a stranger “hyung.” The memory of calling some random woman “mom” when I was little had given me blanket-kicking trauma until I was twenty!
As if guessing my inner thoughts, Baek No’s eyes sharpened.
“That wicked Choun-hak continues to incite the foolish second young master and shows no sign of stopping his provocations.”
One of Baek No’s flaws was that, as a retainer, something inside him had become seriously twisted. It felt like, except for me, he refused to treat the patriarch or my older brothers as human beings at all.
Actually, the one who wasn’t human was me, Choun-seong. Anyway—provocation, huh.
According to the original story, Choun-hak wasn’t particularly sinister. On the contrary, he had tried to stop me while I rampaged like a madman and had even risked his own life.
So why was Baek No’s evaluation so different?
“The reason Young Master was confined to the inner court was also due to that man’s vile schemes.”
“…This is embarrassing to say myself, but wasn’t it because I did something terrible to a girl I met on the road?”
“The one who secretly prepared that pretty girl was also Choun-hak.”
Still, he hadn’t actually made me commit the act. I thought that this person Baek No was actually quite dangerous, but just to be sure I asked again.
“What about the time I beat up that worker?”
“All of it was Choun-hak’s doing! He deliberately hired a servant whose face alone makes one furious!”
“The time I caused a scene after drinking at the inn?”
“He drugged the alcohol!”
“Speaking of medicine, the one I took today tasted rather bitter…?”
“It was him! He put extra medicine in the medicine!”
This was just the “everything is Choun-hak’s fault” show. My trust in Baek No was hitting rock bottom at record speed.
When I stayed silent, Baek No’s face turned deathly serious as he continued.
“He is a truly black-hearted, scheming man. Our innocent and pure Young Master must be extremely cautious of him no matter what happens.”
Ah, yes. Of course. If the water tastes bland, that’s probably Choun-hak’s fault too, right?
“Anyway, since I caused an incident, I should at least go see them once.”
“Young Master!”
I calmed the shouting Baek No and added, “Baek No, think about it. I lost the spar. In a duel between martial artists I retreated like a beaten dog. At the very least I need to show a magnanimous attitude.”
“The reason Young Master lost was entirely because those scoundrels used dirty tricks.”
“And if I had won against him?”
“It would all be thanks to Young Master’s own skill, of course.”
Ah, this was hopeless. Conversation was impossible.
“No, that’s why I’m saying—!”
“It cannot be done!”
The quarrel between me, who was trying to meet Choun-hak somehow, and Baek No continued. But unexpectedly, our argument did not last long.
It was because there was a presence outside the door.