Chapter 1: I Wanted to Become a Martial Arts Practitioner.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1: I Wanted to Become a Martial Arts Practitioner.
I wanted to become a Martial Arts Practitioner.
I remember it was when I was nine years old.
Watching the <World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament> on TV with my father, I felt my heart pound.
"Wow..."
To me, it was the most magnificent sight in the world.
Every movement of the Martial Arts Practitioners on the dueling stage felt like magic, and I wanted to be like them.
It was the first time I'd felt such admiration.
Secretly, against my mother's wishes, I pestered my father until he bought me a wooden sword.
Every morning, I'd wake up and swing the sword, and after school, I'd rush home and swing it again.
Eventually, my mother found out and confiscated the sword, but when I held out for three days without eating anything, she relented, pretending she couldn't win.
"What if he gets a silly idea about becoming a Martial Arts Practitioner and it all goes to his head...?"
"This is all just a phase. He'll get bored and toss it aside soon enough, won't he?"
However, contrary to my parents' hopes, the pounding in my heart didn't disappear; it only grew stronger.
I wanted to become a Martial Arts Practitioner.
From a young age, I was always first in P.E. class, and I was tall with long limbs.
Relatives and friends often told me I should become a Martial Arts Practitioner when I grew up.
But reality wasn't so easy.
They said raising a child to become a proper Martial Arts Practitioner cost as much as a decent apartment in Seoul.
It was an unbearable expense for our family, who were ambiguously middle-class.
But reality wasn't so easy.
They said raising a child to become a proper Martial Arts Practitioner cost as much as a decent apartment in Seoul.
It was an unbearable expense for our family, who were ambiguously middle-class.
After a long discussion, my parents took my hand and visited an entrance exam academy.
"To learn martial arts, Musculature and Constitution are the most important. And from what I see, your son has natural Musculature."
The director, whose sales pitch made my father's lips twitch, subtly added.
"However, his Constitution also needs to support it. You know that you have to be nineteen to get a precise Constitution Grade evaluation, right? This is where luck plays a big part..."
To become a Martial Arts Practitioner, one had to be born with a Constitution capable of accepting and wielding Internal Energy.
It was divided into Grade 1 to Grade 10, and the higher the grade, the better one could gather Internal Energy.
The director explained that, on average, Grade 7 Constitution was the most common, and anything lower meant clear limits to one's growth as a Martial Arts Practitioner.
"Martial Arts Practitioners who have achieved worldwide fame were born with at least a Grade 3 Constitution. That's about a one in a thousand chance. From Grade 1, which appears once in a hundred thousand people, it's divided into Extreme Yin Constitution or Extreme Yang Constitution, but you don't need to know about that yet. Oh, and..."
He said that, though extremely rare, there were also Constitutions that couldn't cultivate Internal Energy at all.
"The precise test results might not be good. That's something we absolutely must make clear beforehand..."
It was forbidden by world Martial law to begin cultivating Internal Energy before the age of nineteen, when the body was fully developed.
This was because there was a high probability of death if one mishandled Internal Energy.
The director also added that even if the precise test results were the worst, the academy could not be held responsible.
"Teacher. We've done our research. We know there are risks. But they say if the Musculature is excellent, the Constitution is also likely to be excellent. Is that true?"
"Statistically, that's certainly true... but it's not a guarantee."
"That's enough."
My father nodded, relieved, and my mother gently squeezed my hand and said.
"We'll register him."
My mother was a realistic person.
She knew that even if he didn't become a great Martial Arts Practitioner, just being able to register as one with the Korean Martial Alliance would open up countless career paths.
Monster Hunters who hunt Monstrous Beings.
Special Police specializing in heinous criminals.
Professional Soldiers who receive much better treatment than regular officers, and so on.
My mother decided that even if her son couldn't become a Peak Master, there would be plenty of ways for him to make a living, and she made a big decision.
However, my father was a bit more of a doting romantic.
"Teacher. Our son will go to the World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament and win someday. Mu-hyeok. Right?"
"Dear. Stop being such a doting fool."
Their thoughts differed, but they agreed on the difficult decision to raise their child as a Martial Arts Practitioner.
The academy fees were astronomically expensive, but my parents said they would manage somehow.
They sold our house and moved into a jeonse home, and stopped going on the overseas trip they took once a year.
The remaining costs were covered by both of them working on weekends.
"You just focus on your training, don't worry about anything. Your father looked into it, and they say good Musculature helps Internal Energy absorb quickly into the Dantian. Don't forget to take your red ginseng!"
"If you get injured, it'll all be for nothing. Be careful, be very careful when you train. Understand?"
"Both of you, stop nagging."
...As time passed, how I missed their nagging.
I was twelve then, and my parents supported me for seven years.
I, too, worked myself to death so as not to disappoint my parents.
After school, I was the first to run to the training hall, and the last to leave, swinging my sword.
"Ki Mu-hyeok got first place in the practical evaluation again?"
"He won the gold prize in the Competition too?"
"Wow, this 'talent' makes me not want to try anymore..."
Many dismissed my achievements as mere talent, but I didn't care about such words.
Because even when my hands and feet blistered daily and my body ached from muscle soreness, swinging the sword brought me joy.
'I'm going to the World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament.'
The pounding that began with a small admiration had grown so immense that now, if I didn't swing my sword for even a day, my heart felt like it would burst.
And after my nineteenth birthday, I finally received the precise Constitution Test at the hospital.
[Martial Arts Practitioner Unsuitable Constitution Diagnosis]
They said I had a Constitution that couldn't form a Dantian within my body.
I was the protagonist of that rare probability, the one who couldn't become a Martial Arts Practitioner no matter how hard I tried.
No matter how many days and nights I cried, raged, and denied reality, nothing changed.
Plunged into despair, I didn't go to school and spent several months like a recluse.
Then I entered a Martial Arts Practitioner community, which I hadn't even glanced at before, and there I discovered a possibility.
It was the 'Illegal Artificial Dantian Procedure'.
Hope surged through me, like someone who had found a lifeline.
Details like the survival rate being less than 50% after the procedure didn't even register.
For the first time in months, I burst out of my room and clung to my parents.
"Mom! Dad! There's a procedure to implant an Artificial Dantian! It's a bit expensive, but if you just trust me this one time and support me..."
That day, for the first time, my father slapped me.
-Smack!
"Uh..."
I could have easily dodged it, but I didn't because I saw the tears streaming down my father's face.
"You, you know how dangerous that is?! Do you think your father didn't look into it? They said you could die! If the procedure goes wrong, how are your mother and I supposed to live, you unfilial brat!"
"..."
Seeing my father sobbing and holding me, I suddenly came to my senses.
My mother, her eyes brimming with tears, also grabbed my arm and pleaded.
"My son. You're strong and healthy, so you can do anything. So please, let's not think bad thoughts. It's your mother's wish."
"...I'm sorry."
It was the moment I realized what was truly important.
I hugged them both and swore.
That I would surely make my parents happy, who must have suffered so much because of me for years.
"I won't have bad thoughts again. It's okay if I don't become a Martial Arts Practitioner anymore. Mom, Dad. I'm truly sorry..."
My parents stopped their weekend side jobs, and I gave up on the Korean Martial Alliance exam I had planned to take right after high school graduation, and instead prepared for college entrance exams for physical education.
Slowly, our family began to regain ordinary happiness.
Until a few months later.
Until my parents died in an accident during their trip to Jeju Island, which they had taken alone for the first time in seven years.
"..."
All that was left to me was the jeonse deposit and 300 million won from my parents' life insurance.
At the time, I had no friends to confide in, and my relatives were utterly untrustworthy.
Having lost my purpose in life twice, I squandered the money my parents left me, wasting over a year.
Most of my time was spent watching <World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament> videos on YouTube or idling away on online communities.
And around that time, a theory passionately advocated by Man Bak-ja, a famous martial arts scholar and Spellcaster, on his YouTube channel became a hot topic.
"Through extensive research, I have confirmed the possibility that even those who have undergone Artificial Dantian implantation can, through training, reach a high enough level for a real Dantian to form within their bodies! The problem is that currently, Artificial Dantian procedures are considered dangerous and can only be obtained through illegal channels. But when unsanitary and unqualified personnel perform the procedure, isn't it natural for the success rate to be low?"
Man Bak-ja strongly argued that Artificial Dantian procedures should be legalized and supported by governments worldwide.
Naturally, the video was heavily criticized and eventually deleted, but it left a very strong impression on my mind.
'If I get an Artificial Dantian implanted, a real Dantian might form later?'
My deliberation didn't last long.
"...I didn't have anything else I wanted to do anyway."
Man Bak-ja disappeared, but there were plenty of Spellcasters who performed illegal procedures if you had the money.
Half-resigned to 'whatever happens, happens,' I withdrew the jeonse deposit and sought out a Spellcaster said to be quite skilled, undergoing the illegal procedure.
And, perhaps I was lucky this time, I was able to open my eyes after the procedure.
Even if it was to a half-blind world.
When I regained consciousness, the quack who performed the procedure grinned and poked my lower abdomen.
"The Dantian has settled well. In a day or two, you'll feel a heavy sensation in your lower abdomen."
"I can't see out of one eye..."
"You're lucky if it's just one eye. You're better off than the guys who ended up in a coffin, aren't you?"
"..."
It goes without saying, but with a body that underwent an illegal procedure, I couldn't register as a Martial Arts Practitioner with the Korean Martial Alliance.
There were only two things I could do.
'Join a criminal organization or become a Freelance Vagrant.'
Another problem was money.
Most of the money my parents left me was used for the illegal procedure.
"You need money, right? Want me to introduce you to a job?"
Ultimately, to make a living, I got my first job at a private security firm introduced by the quack.
It was a company that paid well but often did things that slightly bent the law.
In my free time after work, I mostly trained in martial arts.
I just lived life as it came.
I was severely injured many times, and almost died a few times, but I stubbornly survived.
"Hey, One-Eyed. Did you hear the news? That research Man Bak-ja was spouting was all a lie, they say?"
Unfeeling time flowed relentlessly.
Living busily, whenever I looked back, years had flown by.
"Please teach me the sword! I will serve you as my Master!"
During that time, I sometimes gave my trust to someone.
"It's all your fault! You said we'd come back alive together...!"
And I received much resentment from those who lost loved ones.
"You've heard of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, right? Try to avoid anything related to them as much as possible. Things are really unsettling these days."
Occasionally, I made friends, but they all died before me.
Before I knew it, I looked back and had no family, no friends, no one I could call a colleague.
Taking on dangerous jobs left my body battered and broken.
However, as time passed, my sword grew sharper.
In the Underworld, I built up quite a network, and even earned a respectable alias.
Lone Noble (獨孤鬼).
The meaning, 'a ghost who always returns alive alone wherever he goes,' wasn't exactly pleasant.
But I became accustomed to surviving alone.
To the point where trusting or caring for others felt like a luxury.
Thus, twenty years passed since the Artificial Dantian was implanted in my belly, and the world had changed greatly.
-Breaking News!
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, a Martial Arts Practitioner religious organization, has attacked governments worldwide!
In these simultaneous terrorist attacks, the deaths of President ○○○ and numerous members of parliament have been confirmed, and currently, unidentified Martial Arts Practitioners have sealed off the National Assembly, while...
One day, a group of fanatics called the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult seized control of the world.
Violence, theft, and murder occurred everywhere, and the world quickly descended into pandemonium.
But whether the world ended or not was irrelevant to me.
Because my body, battered and broken from twenty years of abuse, was now nearing death.
However, only one thing piqued my interest.
-To the entire world.
The Absolute Master who had won the <World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament> for twenty consecutive years and then retired, the very tournament that had made me dream of becoming a Martial Arts Practitioner.
It was revealed that the mysterious leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was none other than him, and surprisingly, he issued a Martial Arts Challenge Letter to the entire world via television.
-Those who are dissatisfied with my rule, seek me out here. I will accept a duel from anyone who is qualified.
Right on the final dueling stage where the <World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament> was held every year.
"...World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament."
At that moment, I set the final goal of my life.
I decided that before I died, I would stand on that dueling stage just once.