Chapter 72: 20-Man Squad. Lingering Ties
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 72: 20-Man Squad. Lingering Ties
As an unnervingly artificial fog rolled in and began to spread, the players—who had been busy dividing the loot—grew tense and turned their gaze toward the Scouter.
The Scouter, an outer disciple of the Sanghwa Gate, stared at the alien mist and identified it decisively. "It’s Simu."
"What is Simu?" one player asked, watching the fog spread with alarming speed.
With a grim expression, the Scouter explained. "When you gather natural Jiangshi, bind them with chains, and force them into a formation using ink threads—special threads treated with medicinal ink to suppress them—the resentment of those Jiangshi seeps out and mixes with the formation's mist. That is what we call Simu."
Even the players from the same world tilted their heads at the unfamiliar term.
"I've heard stories about Jiangshi before, but I've never heard of anything like that..."
"I belong to the Baekcheon branch, even among the outer disciples of the Sanghwa Gate. Trust me on this."
At the mention of the Baekcheon branch, the players from the Murim nodded in acknowledgment.
"So, the bottom line is that there are monsters called Jiangshi inside that fog, right? If they're just monsters, we can just kill them..."
"Jiangshi are not simple monsters you can just 'deal with.' If you don't know how to handle them—"
"Aren't they just monsters roaming a normal map anyway? It's not like they're special boss monsters. We just kill them and move on," Kite interrupted, causing the Scouter from the Baekcheon branch to fall silent.
The Simu had already completely surrounded the squad. Realizing there was no choice but to fight, the Scouter felt that further words were useless. The players watched the Simu close in like a siege, yet they didn't seem particularly nervous.
Seo-un approached the Scouter quietly. "Is there a specific way to suppress Jiangshi?"
"Natural Jiangshi are corpses with deep-seated grudges that were buried in places with strong yin energy and rose naturally. Usually, they die if you decapitate them or burn them, but..."
Hearing that, Kite twisted his lips into a smirk, as if it were nothing. However, his expression hardened at the words that followed.
"Inside the Simu, it is virtually impossible to cut a Jiangshi's neck with a blade. Furthermore, within the mist, a living person's energy is greatly depleted, making it difficult to exert even half of one's usual strength. A Simu of this scale must contain at least a hundred of them... There is no way other than breaking through one side and escaping."
The Scouter directed his final words toward Juriel. Reading his intent for her to make a wise command, she nodded and made her decision.
"There's no need to take unnecessary risks. We'll break through."
"The martial artists should use their sword qi without sparing their internal power," the Scouter added. "It's hard to see even an inch ahead in the Simu, so do not get separated from your teammates. For magic, fire-based spells will be the most effective."
Juriel, surveying the Simu that had now closed in enough to feel oppressive, pointed in one direction. "We break through this way and move toward the slash-and-burn village behind the forest."
The moment everyone nodded, the Scouter took the lead and dashed forward. Everyone followed close behind.
"Ugh!"
"Ngh..."
"Hah!"
As they entered the Simu, the players instinctively groaned at the unfamiliar sensation of their strength suddenly draining away. Amidst them, only Seo-un tilted his head, looking around at the groaning players.
"This... feels worse than I thought," Gi-chan said, sticking close behind him.
"What does it feel like?" Seo-un asked.
"Like having a bad flu and getting the chills... Are you okay, Hyung?"
"I don't feel anything—"
Clang... Rattle.
Before he could finish his sentence, the sound of chains clashing and dragging across the ground reached them. In the Simu, where visibility was barely a meter, the sounds coming from all directions heightened the players' tension.
Even the confident Kite cast a barrier, which emitted a faint glow within the mist. Not only him, but the presence of others casting their own barriers could be felt here and there.
"Krrrraaaaagh!"
"Aaaah!"
Crunch!
The moment a Jiangshi with disheveled hair and sharp teeth suddenly appeared, Gi-chan screamed in terror. Its dark blue skin and glaring eyes filled with resentment were enough to make anyone's blood run cold.
If Seo-un hadn't extended his Blood Bone Claw and crushed the creature's face, the panicked Gi-chan might have been done for.
"Get a grip," Seo-un whispered. Gi-chan, his face pale, nodded.
Grrrr! Clank!
Grrrr! Clank! Clank! Clank!
Krah!
The sounds grew louder and closer from all sides, causing the players to hunch their shoulders. The voice of the Scouter at the front, though invisible, echoed through the area.
"They're coming!"
Clang! Boom!
Whoosh!
Clash!
Simultaneous with the Scouter's warning, the sounds of battle erupted everywhere. Seo-un and Gi-chan also moved busily, fending off the Jiangshi attacking from the sides.
Screech!
Seo-un blocked the arms of a creature that came hopping toward him with both arms raised—just like in the movies—using his Blood Bone Claw. The sound was like metal scraping against rock.
He tore off the Jiangshi's arms—which could hardly be called human flesh anymore—and as he was about to rip its head off, Juriel and several mages combined their strength to unleash area-of-effect magic.
Fwaaaaaaaa!
A tornado surged toward the sky, and flames dyed it crimson. As the fiery vortex moved toward the charging Jiangshi, the surrounding Simu cleared momentarily, securing their vision.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The sight revealed for that brief moment increased the players' agitation. The Jiangshi, charging like madmen, were held back by the chains connecting them to one another. They looked like fighting dogs on leashes, ready to snap their chains and pounce at any second.
As the temporarily cleared Simu began to envelop them again, the players grew frantic.
"H-hurry up and move!"
"W-wait! Up ahead—"
"Just go, damn it!"
It wasn't a matter of how strong the Jiangshi were. Fear was spreading like a contagion.
"GET! A! GRIP!"
Seo-un's shout, infused with his internal power, quelled the commotion. Just then, the Scouter's voice rang out from the front.
"It's the influence of the Simu! Do not waver!"
As the chaos subsided, the battle with the encroaching Jiangshi resumed. Fighting the chained Jiangshi wasn't as difficult as expected. However, after every skirmish, their energy was sapped, and a wave of anxiety washed over the players.
"Why haven't we made it out yet!"
"A-are we lost?"
"N-no!"
Every time anxiety spread, a great wave of unrest hit the squad.
"DAN! SANG! GU! BANG! Open the path!"
The Scouter pulled a wooden sword from his subspace, pinned a talisman to its tip, shouted, and threw the sword upward. Amazingly, the wooden sword burst into flames and flew forward, cutting through the Simu.
"Look, everyone! We haven't lost our way. If we keep going like this, we'll be out in no time!"
Having quelled everyone's unrest, the Scouter quickened his pace. As they repeated the cycle of fighting Jiangshi and moving forward, the back Seo-un was following suddenly seemed to double.
When another figure in a white martial robe appeared, Seo-un tilted his head and checked the person who was falling behind and coming up beside him.
"Are you okay?!"
Li Lingwei's eyes were half-unfocused as she looked up at him, her face pale and drenched in cold sweat. With her steps slowing down, she grabbed Seo-un's arm tightly. She bit her lip, unable to bring herself to ask for help, so Seo-un simply hoisted her onto his back.
"I-I..."
"Stay still."
Her hands, gripping Seo-un's shoulders, trembled violently.
In the end, it took just over thirty minutes to escape the Simu. However, to the players, it felt dozens of times longer.
"Phew!"
"Hah... Haaah..."
The players who escaped the Simu gasped for air as if they had been underwater for a long time, putting distance between themselves and the mist.
Juriel's expression grew increasingly urgent as she accounted for the players emerging one by one. When the Scouter, who should have been at the very back, came out as the seventeenth person, her face hardened further.
"I'll go back in."
Juriel shook her head at the Scouter's words as he pulled two talismans from his subspace. Not just her, but every player wore a look of revulsion. The mere thought of re-entering that Simu was something they didn't even want to imagine.
"Let's wait... five minutes."
It was a wise order. If someone had lost their way inside, she shouldn't send more players in to search. If they ended up crossing paths, it could lead to an even greater disaster.
Just as the five minutes she proposed were almost up, two figures burst through the Simu.
"Uwaaaaaagh!"
Gi-chan emerged screaming, swinging flames from both hands in all directions, followed by Seo-un with Li Lingwei on his back. The players let out sighs of relief and slumped to the ground.
Feeling their gazes, Gi-chan cleared his throat and threw the flames he had conjured into the Simu, while Seo-un set Li Lingwei down on the ground. As soon as they were out, Li Lingwei's complexion returned to normal as if nothing had happened. She quickly walked to a corner, avoiding Seo-un's gaze.
"I was worried something might have happened."
The Scouter approached and spoke, his eyes filled with genuine concern.
"We were delayed because the Jiangshi attacked from behind and caught our feet."
Looking at Seo-un, who seemed perfectly fine compared to the other players, the Scouter asked, "By any chance, have you mastered the sorcery of Mount Ma?"
"No. I haven't learned any particular sorcery."
"Hmm... That's impressive. Even a master is bound to be flustered inside the Simu."
"I'm not sure. It's probably a characteristic of the mental method I've mastered."
At the mention of a mental method, the martial artist players pricked up their ears. The Scouter also looked curious but couldn't bring himself to ask directly what the mental method was.
Seo-un whispered very softly into the Scouter's ear. "It's because I mastered the Baekmu Juyeongong."
"...!!!"
Seeing him wide-eyed with shock, the other players' curiosity grew even more.
Juriel, who had been checking on Li Lingwei and stabilizing her, finally approached Seo-un and Gi-chan. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yes. No particular injuries."
"Then let's move. The sun is already setting."
Seo-un tilted his head as he watched her turn away with a strangely chilly aura.
"Ah, my name is Kaien. I am a disciple of the Baekcheon branch, an outer sect of the Sanghwa Gate."
Seo-un followed closely behind Kaien as he introduced himself again and took the lead. While everyone else moved while maintaining their positions, Seo-un, Gi-chan, and Juriel were free to move around. In particular, Juriel did not restrain Seo-un or assign him a position, no matter where he was or who he talked to.
Though they had only been through two battles, those who had seen his performance considered this only natural. As Seo-un kept Kaien company at the front while scouting the surroundings, the usually taciturn man began to open up.
"The Baekmu Juyeongong of Yugok Ipseon... That's incredible. Was it an item you obtained in Cloyd?"
"It's a bit different. I was personally tutored by him."
"Y-Yugok Ipseon himself?!"
"Well, our fates crossed."
"Does that mean he has come to Cloyd as well?"
"Yes, well. He doesn't seem particularly interested in playing the game, though. He really is a famous figure, I see."
"He is the founder of the Yugok Sect and the greatest elder of the Murim, a living immortal..."
"I don't know much about his personal history. But about that sorcery you used earlier..."
As Seo-un trailed off, Kaien answered with a smile. "Our Baekcheon Sect inherited the sorcery and spirit of the Sanghwa Gate. While we have our martial arts, our primary goal is to suppress evil and prioritize the peace of the people. Because of that, all the sorceries of Mount Ma were passed down to our Baekcheon branch."
"Ah... You do good work."
At those words, Kaien nodded with a face full of pride. "That is why our fellow martial artists in the Murim tend to show us respect. Our martial arts may be meager, but they highly value our chivalry."
After listening to various stories about sorcery, Seo-un casually brought up the Scouter guarding the rear. "The Scouter back there..."
"That fellow and I have been friends for a long time. He's a friend from the Unorthodox Faction, but unlike most, he understands chivalry."
After talking more, Seo-un moved to the back and approached the other Scouter.
"Oh, Jin Seo-un."
As the man greeted him warmly, Seo-un played it off casually. "I just thought I'd keep you company."
At the mention of company, the man, who also seemed taciturn, began to chatter excitedly. "Kaien and I go way back. When that guy asked for help, saying he was chasing some wicked Taoist, I thought he'd lost his mind. The Baekcheon Sect is strictly of the Righteous Faction, so asking for help from someone like me from the Unorthodox Faction?"
"I suppose the rift between the Righteous and Unorthodox is deep?"
"Well, since our paths are different... Anyway, I ended up chasing that Taoist bastard on a whim, and it turned out to be more fun than I thought. Helping people regardless of the level of one's martial arts is quite rewarding. I guess you could say I gained a small realization then—that chivalry doesn't care about status, age, or ability."
Watching him chatter excitedly, Seo-un chimed in, his eyes gleaming.
I've definitely won these two over.
It was worth giving up the items and braving the danger. Making allies of these two, who were shy and rarely spoke to others, was a significant achievement.
Before long, darkness began to fall, and just then, a vegetable garden cultivated by slash-and-burn farmers appeared ahead. When Kaien at the front raised his hand and stopped, all the players halted in their tracks.
Recalling the memory of being caught in a trap last time, he hopped over the village's low fence to check for any presence. After he nodded and gave the signal, only then did all the players enter the village.
Now accustomed to it, they began farming the village in pairs. But at Kaien's shout from outside as he scouted the perimeter, all the players rushed out of the houses and entered a combat stance.
"Enemy!"
The person the players discovered upon rushing out was a man bleeding, clutching a sword with a nicked blade. Seeing the swarm of players pouring out, a look of despair crossed the man's face.
Just as the players were about to pounce on him, Seo-un shouted.
"Stop!"
Coming from him and no one else, the players halted in their tracks and remained on guard. Passing through his teammates, Seo-un approached the man.
The expression of the man, who had been clutching his sword in a defensive stance, began to change strangely. Seo-un also looked at his face, sensing that his intuition had not been wrong.