Chapter 77
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: That Was Incredible
"Isn't it too much not to tell us anything when we're fighting monsters like that?"
The words were thick with resentment.
"If you get beaten by one of those monsters, you could turn into one yourself..."
Dang Jin-san's entire body trembled.
"The first time I met you all, I told you clearly. That's why I said just go home. You chose not to."
Ha Mu-baek said calmly.
At those words, Dang Jin-san clamped his mouth shut. It wasn't wrong.
"Still... I didn't know they were monsters like that."
Dan Mok Un-roe's face had gone deathly pale.
"Didn't I say they were terrifying monsters? Don't you remember? You dimwits. Tsk."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue.
"This is a place where stiffened corpses keep appearing endlessly. A comrade who died yesterday blocks your path as a stiffened corpse the next day—it's a truly cursed land."
Yeon Ha-min spoke in a pallid voice devoid of inflection.
These were the words Ha Mu-baek had told the seven squad cadets when telling them to go home.
"So that's what you meant."
A comrade who died yesterday becomes a stiffened corpse the next day and blocks your path.
They hadn't understood the meaning back then.
"That's right. If you die from a stiffened corpse's poison, you turn into one yourself."
Han Seol-bing affirmed it.
That was the warning about turning into a stiffened corpse.
"And besides..."
Ha Mu-baek paused for a moment.
"Ha-min probably remembers. Among the monsters here, stiffened corpses are the weakest. Excluding the miscellaneous ones, that is."
At those words, the cadets' faces turned ashen once more.
Even Yeon Ha-min's face took on a look of dread.
"Blood stiffened corpses... poison stiffened corpses..."
Dan Mok Un-roe muttered, as if recalling that conversation.
"There are also dark blood stiffened corpses and jet-iron stiffened corpses."
Han Seol-bing added.
The seven cadets' shoulders slumped.
They had thought they were fully prepared for the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, but apparently not.
They had underestimated it.
Now they finally understood why Ha Mu-baek had so urgently told them to go home.
"Hearing about it is worlds apart from seeing and experiencing it. What can you do? You have to take responsibility for your decision."
Ha Mu-baek said flatly.
"And I share that responsibility too. That's why we're out here on this training exercise."
The cadets bore the responsibility of staying in the Fierce Dragon Corps; Ha Mu-baek bore the responsibility of having taught such cadets.
That's what he was saying now.
"If even basic stiffened corpses are this horrific, what are the others like?"
Baek Ri-pyeong asked, his expression somewhat recovered.
"Basic stiffened corpses are created solely by the stiffened corpse poison. The others are manipulated by the Blood Cult bastards using special sorcery. Dark blood and jet-iron stiffened corpses are now rare even here, so let's start with blood and poison ones."
Ha Mu-baek answered Baek Ri-pyeong's question in detail.
"Blood stiffened corpses are fast, tough, and strong. But getting bitten doesn't specially poison you. Poison stiffened corpses, on the other hand, have venom in their claws too. Any wound means poisoning."
"Ugh."
Just hearing it was terrifying.
Especially the poison ones.
Get hit, get poisoned, die, and become a stiffened corpse—who wouldn't be scared?
Han Seol-bing read the cadets' minds.
"Don't underestimate blood stiffened corpses just because they lack poison. Far more warriors have died to them than to poison ones."
Then what in the world were dark blood and jet-iron stiffened corpses like?
They had to survive five years in a place like this.
"Survival rate fifty percent. That was incredible..."
Baek Ri-pyeong muttered.
"Yeah. It was amazingly high."
Dang Jin-san nodded blankly in agreement.
"Tsk."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue.
"Over five years, most of what you'll face are basic stiffened corpses. You might encounter a blood or poison one once a year, if that. Don't give up before you start."
Despite Ha Mu-baek's words, the mood didn't improve.
The shock had been that great.
Ha Mu-baek shook his head and turned to Joo Woo-myeong.
"What do you think? Can you handle it?"
"I think I could take one. Maybe even two. But I'd have to be careful not to get bitten, so that might be my limit."
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
He had an objective grasp of his own abilities.
Ha Mu-baek's assessment matched.
The seven squad cadets flinched at those words.
They had faced it with a sword formation, and he could handle two alone?
They began to pull themselves together.
Competitive spirit ignited in their chests.
The reason was simple.
They had taken down Namgung Ji-hu, the pinnacle of late-stage disciples, with their sword formation.
So their formation was surely no less than Joo Woo-myeong's individual skill.
If he could handle two alone, sulking after barely one was a matter of pride.
Ha Mu-baek smirked at their reaction.
"You could handle two as well. If you stay cowering like frightened dogs with your tails tucked, no."
Ha Mu-baek poured oil on the small spark.
The seven cadets lifted their heads.
"Good. Joo Woo-myeong's turn now. Wait here."
Han Seol-bing stayed with the cadets as Ha Mu-baek vanished.
This time, Ha Mu-baek brought back one stiffened corpse.
Joo Woo-myeong drew his sword and engaged it. He had a shield but didn't use it.
He faced the stiffened corpse using only Wudang swordsmanship.
It took a bit more than half a mark to sever its head.
"Good."
"Well done."
Ha Mu-baek and Han Seol-bing gave brief praise.
Their gazes turned to Ha Seol-ran. Her situation was ambiguous.
She couldn't handle one alone, nor could she easily join the seven-squad sword formation.
She hadn't even learned it.
If she joined, it would disrupt the formation's harmony and weaken it.
"Seol-ran, pair with me."
Han Seol-bing stepped forward.
"Pardon?"
"I'll match your support. Try handling it alone first."
"Yes. I'll give it a go."
Ha Mu-baek nodded, stepped away briefly, then returned luring one stiffened corpse.
Ha Seol-ran gripped her sword tightly with a tense expression and faced it.
"Hm?"
Then Dang Jin-san noticed something and tilted his head.
"What?"
Dan Mok Un-roe asked.
"If I'm not seeing things... that stiffened corpse's mouth looks weird..."
At Dang Jin-san's words, Dan Mok Un-roe's gaze went to the stiffened corpse's mouth.
Indeed.
It was different. From the ones they had fought, and from the one Joo Woo-myeong had faced.
There wasn't a single tooth inside its mouth.
As if they had all been broken and pulled out—not a single one left.
"Doesn't that mean it can't bite even if it tries?"
Dan Mok Un-roe nodded at Dang Jin-san's question.
"Seems so. Even if it bites, no poisoning from stiffened corpse toxin."
"Right. So that's a method. Exists, huh."
Dang Jin-san muttered with a hollow expression.
How much had they cowered in fear fighting it, knowing a bite could turn them into one?
Yet the one Ha Seol-ran faced had no teeth at all.
No way he picked that one specially. For that instructor, smashing and pulling out all the teeth was far easier.
"Reminds me of when we took the pills."
Dang Jin-san muttered, feeling a sense of deprivation like he'd been unfairly treated.
With methods like that existing, why had they been forced to face those hideous, ugly teeth in terror?
Ha Seol-ran herself hadn't noticed her opponent's lack of teeth.
She was too tense to spot the difference.
Her sword path kept breaking as she fought.
There were several crises. Han Seol-bing intervened appropriately each time.
A full mark passed without resolution.
"That's enough for today."
As Ha Mu-baek spoke, white sword energy gathered on Han Seol-bing's blade.
In an instant, the stiffened corpse's head fell.
Frost formed like white rime where the sword had passed.
"Whoa..."
Dang Jin-san let out a low exclamation.
The others reacted the same. Especially Joo Woo-myeong and Baek Ri-pyeong, sword users, their eyes sparkled.
It was a clean, masterful sword strike.
How many swings had it taken to reach that level?
The two couldn't even imagine.
They just pictured the day they too could unleash such a strike.
"Th-thank you."
Ha Seol-ran bowed deeply to Han Seol-bing, then collapsed, breathing raggedly.
It had been a full mark of pouring out everything she had.
"Ah..."
Looking at the severed, rolling head of the stiffened corpse, Ha Seol-ran finally noticed the oddity.
A stiffened corpse head with no teeth.
Clearly different from the previous two.
Her gaze turned to Ha Mu-baek. Her face flushed red.
Unlike the other cadets, she felt embarrassed at receiving special treatment.
Ha Mu-baek couldn't be unaware of the mood among the cadets.
With a sigh,
"What a bunch of idiots. Tsk. I just matched your level. Not favoring anyone."
His voice was chilling.
Dang Jin-san quietly turned his head away.
"Now two at once. Seven squad, prepare."
With that, Ha Mu-baek vanished.
Off to lure more stiffened corpses.
Soon he returned with exactly two.
Amazing how he always found the perfect number.
"Huh?"
Dang Jin-san, holding sword and shield at the ready, let out a strange sound.
One of the two stiffened corpses had no teeth.
"Focus, Jin-san."
At Baek Ri-pyeong's words, Dang Jin-san hurriedly concentrated.
A fierce battle ensued, taking a mark and a half this time.
Thanks to one lacking teeth, they avoided lethal danger.
"Not bad. A few more at this level and you'll be set."
Simultaneously came pointers on their immature sword formation against stiffened corpses.
"You can't rely on formations forever. Ultimately, you must face them alone."
"Yes!"
The five cadets replied in unison.
"That's all for today."
"Already? There's still time..."
Joo Woo-myeong opened his mouth regretfully at Ha Mu-baek's declaration.
"Remaining time is for reviewing today's combat and training weak points. Begin now."
At that, each drew their sword and started reviewing and training.
Han Seol-bing gave Ha Seol-ran one-on-one instruction.
She was the weakest, and Han Seol-bing knew her sword style's paths to some extent.
Confirming they were immersed in training, Ha Mu-baek quietly vanished.
The real combat wasn't over.
But no one noticed Ha Mu-baek's absence.
Han Seol-bing knew but didn't show it. She understood his intent.
For half a shichen, the cadets trained with total focus, forgetting everything.
"Kraaaah."
"Kaaah."
"Urghhh."
Suddenly, eerie cries echoed.
Nearly ten stiffened corpses swarmed from all directions.
And they were fast.
At least fifty percent faster than the ones they'd faced today.
Many in number, and swift stiffened corpses.
The seven cadets fell into momentary chaos.