Chapter 56
Chapter 56
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Friction
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friction
...
The guys from the Heavenly Origin Sect had left.
Only then did I let out a sigh of relief to the girls.
"Let's head inside."
"Yes..."
We gathered around the table in the break room.
"Hmph! Guys like that are no big deal."
Han Su-ji, who had been tense just moments ago, now spoke with full confidence as if it had never happened.
"All of them are Awakeners."
I poured cold water on her bravado.
"Wh-what? Uncle, is that for real?"
At my words, not just Su-ji, but Chae-won and Ji-ah looked flustered too.
"Th-then, doesn't that mean we're in big trouble?"
Ji-ah said anxiously.
It wasn't something to get that worried about.
But the girls didn't know I could handle them all on my own, so it was understandable.
I'd never openly bragged about my abilities.
"I don't think there's much to worry about
If what Uncle says is true, they could have subdued us right from the start, but they didn't." Chae-won said calmly. "C-come to think of it, maybe you're right?" Su-ji and Ji-ah's expressions eased a bit at Chae-won's words. "Chae-won's right. They don't seem like bad guys." If they were deranged, they would've lost it at the sight of these pretty girls. "Don't worry so much and just go about your day as usual. I'll stick around for a while and keep an eye on them too." ... In the original world, leaves were falling, but here, the fresh green plants signaled that summer was approaching. A clear blue sky. A drone took off into that sky. I wanted to see what the Heavenly Origin Sect guys were up to. It was just a bit of reconnaissance. I could've gone myself using invisibility. But why bother when there was an easier way? Plus, I planned to poke at them a little. Flying the drone was fun after such a long time. Inside the apartment complex, dozens of people were bustling about. And there were more of them than I'd thought. Seventy or eighty people, at least. The Heavenly Origin Sect seemed to be planning to clean up and live in the apartments. It looked like an entire small village had moved in. I saw women doing chores and kids playing around. And on one side, people lightly swinging swords. Then I spotted something unusual. In a shady spot, someone sat cross-legged, holding a mana stone in their hand. 'What the hell is that guy doing?' I'd have to go see for myself to get accurate info. From the way he was focusing, was he really practicing martial arts? 'Ridiculous.' There was no such thing in the original world, but it existed here. I'd seen that energy in his lower abdomen before, so I couldn't completely dismiss it. Did it exist in the original world too? If it did, it wouldn't have stayed hidden... Since I'd never seen it before, it probably didn't. As the drone circled the area, the feed suddenly went black. "Hm?" This meant the drone had been smashed. Someone must have found the flying drone annoying and taken it down, even from that distance. I'd been spying pretty openly without hiding it. And as expected... The annoyingly handsome guy who'd been behind the old Sect Leader showed up with two lackeys in tow. From his position and mana levels back then, he was probably number two or three, alongside that ponytail woman. "Spying on others' martial arts is rude." He said it firmly to me, face stiff, with his lackeys in tow. He seemed to be trying to intimidate me, but it didn't faze me. "I wasn't spying." "You weren't spying?" He scowled, his face saying 'What nonsense is this?' "The drone was on routine patrol and happened to see you
I do this periodically all the time. Can't just stop because you new guys moved in." Of course, it was a lie. No way I'd do that annoying chore regularly. But I had no reason to feel guilty either. If I wanted to spy properly, there were better ways. I could've gone invisibly and scouted quietly, but I used the drone instead. "What are you talking about? That drone was blatantly watching us!" "Routine patrol, like I said." "You think we'll believe that?" He got heated at my nonchalant reply. "If it's such a big secret, put up tents or do it indoors
Why expect me to control a drone flying in the sky?" "That's sophistry!" "What if I set up right in front of your turf and practice martial arts? You gonna close your eyes then?" He flinched at the word 'martial arts' and asked, "Are you saying you're practicing martial arts?" He seemed curious now that I'd mentioned it. "Yeah. Ever heard of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?" His face twisted, turning red and pale by turns. "Are you... mocking us?" Guilty as charged. The pretty boy looked ready to explode. "Wanna go at it?" I growled, and his lackeys tensed up, hands on their sword hilts around him. It was a good chance to see what this martial arts stuff was about. No intention to kill—just rough 'em up a bit. "Stand down." The Sect Leader old man appeared like the wind from somewhere. "M-Master..." They looked like kids caught red-handed. Seems they'd snuck off without telling the Sect Leader grandpa. "Discipline in the sect is a mess." *Zap.* My words made the trio glare at me, but I wasn't scared at all. "My apologies
These young ones can't control their hot blood yet... We may have overreacted." "No hard feelings." I accepted the apology cleanly. It would've been a chance to see how they used martial arts, but the old Sect Leader ruined it. A bit disappointing. The guys behind him looked pretty pissed. "Let's go." "Hold up!" I called them back, and they turned with puzzled looks. "You gotta pay for the busted drone..." "What?!" The trio nearly flipped out at my words. "Stand down." "Urgh! Master!" They looked so wronged. But it wasn't something to feel wronged about. It was only natural. They'd smashed a drone quietly flying in the sky. Even in the original world, compensation would've been expected. "How shall we make it up to you?" "One mana stone." "Mana stone?" The Sect Leader tilted his head, apparently not knowing the term. "The blue stones you get from killing those Corrupted Beings." One D-rank mana stone for a single drone. Insane profit margin. But what could they do? That was all I could squeeze from them. "You mean our inner cores..
Understood..." The old man looked pained by it. From what I'd seen earlier, those played a key role in their martial arts training. There was a minor clash, but overall, they seemed pretty decent folks. Freaking out over a drone was tame by this hellish world's standards. Especially the Sect Leader grandpa—I had to admire him. Was it immense patience? Or great magnanimity? Maybe that's what it takes to be a Sect Leader? I could never do it. ... "Master! You're just gonna let that guy off?" Cheon Su-ho was furious that the mighty Heavenly Origin Sect had come back empty-handed against one man. "He had a point
He's been living here before we arrived. We're the uninvited guests. The sky isn't ours either, as he said." The Heavenly Origin Art wasn't a technique that let you discern much from seeing your opponent. Cheon Su-ho knew that too. The drone hadn't revealed any huge secrets about the sect members anyway. "You were the one overreacting." He wasn't saying he'd done great, but smashing the drone was an overkill response. If it bothered him that much, he could've just come politely and talked it out. "But Master!" "Su-ho, enough
Don't keep dragging up reasons just because you don't like him." "........." ... After that, things stayed peacefully distant with the Heavenly Origin Sect—no further friction. The surprising part was how they built up their inner energy. Observing up close, they were extracting mana from mana stones and channeling it to their lower dantian to accumulate inner energy. And there were even more Awakeners than I'd first seen. Only some had come initially, it seemed. Of course, not ordinary Awakeners—all had mana gathered in their lower abdomen, like they'd trained in martial arts. 'That's why they're hunting Corrupted Beings so diligently...' The problem was our farming spots overlapped. They had to cross the bridge like me too. This side had few left since I'd cleared most Corrupted Beings already. In the end, they ran into the Awakener hunting teams on the other side of the bridge. I watched from afar, half-expecting a fight... But contrary to expectations, they just eyed each other warily and parted ways. No real clash. The Heavenly Origin Sect's skills were solid. Two or three could easily take down a low-grade Corrupted Being. If things continued smoothly like this, Sejong City would become livable pretty quickly. But sharing with those guys didn't sit right with me. 'Gotta find another route.' ... Baek Seol-hwa, sitting cross-legged in meditation, sensed that her Heavenly Origin Art had advanced to the fifth stage. The mana stone in her hand lost its glow, crumbled, and scattered. Opening her closed eyes, her pupils briefly shimmered with a mystical golden light before fading. "Hoo..." *Shing.* She drew her sword. *Fsssh.* A bluish, enchanting sword aura formed along the blade. Soon, the aura shifted to a golden hue. 'With this...' She felt confident. She had a weapon, and above all, inner energy. That Un-ho guy had overwhelming physical prowess just by looking at him. How could someone that tall sculpt such a perfect body? Even her grandfather was full of admiration. If the world hadn't changed, he would've claimed a world champion title in any martial art. No, not just fighting—he'd dominate any sport. But after the world changed, the once-faint inner energy began accumulating rapidly. Now, differences in build weren't a big obstacle anymore. Of course, she didn't think he only had brute strength. She'd seen people with unique abilities arriving here. But they were just unusual, not threatening. No special power could compare to the Heavenly Origin Art. A martial artist would overwhelmingly crush a non-practitioner. He hadn't learned proper martial arts. So naturally, she—with the Heavenly Origin Sect's supreme techniques—held the advantage. Her grandfather, responsible for many sect members, had grown cautious since being chased from Mt
Gyeryong by the Black Wolf Pack. She didn't think her grandfather was wrong. He was surely strong. But he'd exaggerated to keep the sect from acting rashly. 'Now that my Heavenly Origin Art has advanced...' Confidence filled Baek Seol-hwa's eyes.