Chapter 73: 20-Quad. A Continuing Ill Fate
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 73: 20-Quad. A Continuing Ill Fate
“Has my sect’s mental art been leaked even to this godforsaken world?”
The man wasn't exactly asking Seo-un. It was more of a lamentation to himself.
Watching him, Seo-un shook his head.
“I didn't learn it from an item.”
At those words, the man’s eyes widened. If it wasn't through an item, he couldn't fathom how a complete stranger could possess the same energy as himself.
“I was personally taught by Master Jang Do-cheon.”
That revelation didn't just shock the man. Every Murim player in the squad snapped their heads toward Seo-un, their gazes sharp and piercing.
Under the weight of their collective stare, Seo-un spoke calmly.
“When I first arrived in this world, I happened to cross paths with the Master. Gratefully, he bestowed his mental art upon me.”
“But why?!”
Again, he wasn't really asking Seo-un for a reason. It was a primal question, blurted out instinctively upon witnessing something that should have been impossible.
“Well...”
Seo-un could have explained the situation at the time—the strange bond they formed, his own quick wit, or Jang Do-cheon’s tendency to appreciate raw talent. But he didn't feel like giving such a long-winded explanation.
The martial artist, whose face had been a mask of complex emotions, let his gaze settle into a deep, somber look.
“It might seem shameless of me to say this in a place like this, under these circumstances... but I swear on my Master’s name, I have no ulterior motives.”
The players’ gazes shifted back and forth between Seo-un and the man. Like an audience watching a gripping drama, they swallowed hard and held their breath, waiting to see what the man would say next. He did not disappoint.
“Junior Brother. Since the Master has passed his true martial arts to you, even if you were to take my head, we are still brothers of the same sect. Such is the law of our world. Even if you kill me, I shall hold no grudge.”
No one saw the slight twitch at the corner of Seo-un’s mouth.
“Perish the thought. I’m not that foolish. Senior Brother! May I call you that?”
To anyone listening, his tone was exaggerated and his manner over the top, but only Gi-chan noticed. The other players watched the two as if witnessing a touching reunion.
Of course, Kite and a few of the knights were exceptions.
The reason most of the team viewed this relationship favorably was simple: squad reinforcement.
Having reached the level of regular players, they knew all too well through countless games how much proper teamwork could help. And here was a disciple of Jang Do-cheon.
The Murim players knew there were only four disciples of Jang Do-cheon, and only one of them was this young.
‘The Yugok Prodigy, Jin Long.’
He was a man often compared to Ye Haoran, the strongest rising star of all time, and usually relegated to second place. However, he was the disciple Yugok Ipseon had taken in his later years and was the most promising talent after Ye Haoran.
If such a man joined them, their survival rate would naturally skyrocket.
The players from the fantasy worlds also instinctively felt that the man before them was no weakling, so they hoped the two would join forces.
“Since the Master taught you, you are my Junior Brother, whether I like it or not. Call me whatever you wish.”
The moment he gave his confirmation, a quick-witted mage began casting recovery magic on the martial artist. As the other two mages joined in, the man’s significant wounds healed in an instant.
“Now that you’ve joined us, let’s finish farming and then catch up properly,” Juriel said, subtly finalizing his recruitment.
Jin Long nodded and followed them into the village.
Once the farming and distribution were over, Seo-un, Jin Long, and Juriel sat down together inside a small house.
“The rest of your teammates...?”
“All annihilated.”
At his words, spoken with a dejected drop of his head, Juriel and Seo-un’s expressions shifted in opposite directions. A flash of regret crossed Juriel’s face, while a flicker of joy passed over Seo-un’s.
By the time the man lifted his head, their expressions had unified once more.
“You must have encountered a powerful foe.”
“Don't even get me started. He wasn't anyone known in our world. A boy who looked barely fifteen or sixteen came at us, manifesting Hand Aura. I never imagined such a young master would be hiding out there.”
Seo-un’s expression stiffened. At the mention of a "boy master" using Hand Aura, one person flashed through his mind.
‘No way.’
“I don't know if they're operating as guerrillas, but just four of them wiped out our squad in an instant. I’ve met many players in this game, but I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve faced enemies with such a massive power gap.”
“I-I see. Where did you encounter them?”
Jin Long opened his map and pointed to a forest not too far away.
“The Valley of Anguish. It was here.”
Juriel quickly activated her map and calculated the distance.
“Half a day’s journey...”
Ignoring her murmur, Seo-un asked again, “You were lucky to escape.”
“The moment I felt the power gap, my teammates did everything they could to help me get away...”
Jin Long trailed off, clearly ashamed of having fled alone to save his own life.
“I see.”
After a moment of silence, Seo-un spoke up to change the mood.
“Is the Master doing well?”
“The Master... entered seclusion recently.”
‘Did that old man really gain enlightenment here?’
After their conversation, the players set the watch rotation and decided to spend the first night of the game in the village.
In the middle of the night, Juriel and Seo-un, who happened to be on watch together, stepped outside. Seo-un, who had secretly hoped to be on watch with Gi-chan or Jin Long, looked at Juriel with a hint of disappointment.
“What do you think about the guerrillas who wiped out Jin Long’s squad?” she asked, looking up at the stars that seemed ready to spill from the sky.
Following her gaze, Seo-un answered immediately, without a second’s hesitation.
“They are targets we must avoid at all costs.”
She nodded at his definitive answer.
“Survivor List.”
1893/2000
.
.
.
Tanaka Yukio --> Mark Leonard (Killed with sword technique.)
Checking the survivors, Seo-un scrolled up and began verifying the names one by one.
Nam Sa-gwang --> Cowen Hartlen (Killed with Hand Aura.)
Confirming the name he had hoped not to see, Seo-un looked back up at the bright stars.
Just then, Li Lingwei, who wasn't on watch duty, slipped outside and approached them.
“Li Ling! You’re not on watch today, are you?”
“Just... couldn't sleep.”
Seeing Juriel call her by a nickname, Seo-un spoke up to clear his head.
“You two seem to have known each other for a while.”
“We were together in the last game and promoted together. After that, we registered as a regular squad and stayed in touch even back in reality. We live in different worlds, but our environments are strangely similar, so we get along well.”
Seo-un nodded. ‘They’re both daughters of wealthy families.’
Judging by their elegant clothes, which were different from typical martial artists, and the way even Kite showed them some respect, it was clear both Juriel and Li Lingwei came from powerful backgrounds.
Seo-un changed the subject.
“Let me ask you something. This place, Cloyd... it’s a place where people who were enemies yesterday can become friends tomorrow, right?”
The two thought for a moment before nodding.
“Generally, yes. Unless a specific grudge is formed, people don't usually carry things from this world back to reality or into the next game.”
“Then one more question. If someone was in a situation where they were so injured they couldn't even lift a finger... and they lost their life to another player... would they remember that player?”
They both nodded simultaneously.
“Even if it’s a game, it’s hard to forget the face of the player who killed you.”
“Then, final question. If someone was practically guaranteed the TOP 1 spot in that game and then experienced that... would they hold a grudge against the player who killed them?”
At the final question, their expressions diverged. Juriel looked genuinely thoughtful, while Li Lingwei furrowed her brows in displeasure.
Their answers differed as well.
“I don't think I’d hold much of a grudge. I’ve died countless times in this game, but I’ve also killed. It’s just a game.”
“If it were me, I would harbor a poisonous desire for revenge for the rest of my life.”
Seo-un sank into deep thought at their answers.
‘If it’s Nam Sa-gwang... he’s likely to have a temperament more like a fellow Murim person.’
“I think it would be best if we started moving a bit earlier tomorrow morning.”
Juriel nodded, guessing there was some ill fate between Seo-un and the boy master.
As Li Lingwei leaned against the fence next to Seo-un, Juriel’s eyes twitched as she tried to plan the next day’s route.
“Ahem!”
Clearing her throat, Juriel also stepped up next to Seo-un.
“Here.”
Li Lingwei held out a small bottle that fit perfectly in one hand from her subspace. Seo-un, having seen the great effects of the Blood Poison she had given him before, quickly took the bottle.
“It’s the same Blood Poison as last time.”
After speaking, she looked away. The fact that her face was flushed bright red was hidden by the dark sky. However, Juriel didn't miss the subtle tremor and lack of strength in her voice.
When the players for the next watch came out, the three of them returned to their quarters, each lost in their own thoughts.
The long first day of the 20-Squad game was coming to an end.
*
The moment a boy dressed in a blue palace robe swung the Hand Aura that protruded nearly three feet from his hands, the tree a player was hiding behind—and the player himself—were sliced clean through at the waist.
The player’s body, having shed blood and died without even knowing how, vanished instantly.
“Master. It seems the players around here have been wiped out.”
“That’s why I said we should have dropped near the big castle.”
At the boy’s grumbling, the knight who had called him "Master" shrugged.
“I didn't realize you’d be this strong, Master.”
Beside him, a man in a blue tracksuit and sneakers chimed in.
“Exactly. Who knew we’d be getting carried this hard?”
“Let’s call it a day here. From tomorrow... hmm... we can head toward Jugang Castle. We’ll clear out the surrounding players and take down the boss monster quickly.”
“With you here, Master, we might even be able to aim for an epic monster this game.”
“We’ll sweep up every monster worth killing.”
As he finished speaking, the man in the tracksuit threw a small cube from his subspace, which expanded into a large, comfortable tent.
“140 kills to go.”
The boy’s face was full of confidence as his eyes gleamed.
*
The players couldn't object to Juriel’s decision to completely scrap the route they had planned in the waiting room. The Murim players, in particular, nodded in support of her decision.
The story of someone slaughtering players with three feet of Hand Aura sent cold sweat down their spines.
“I’ve heard there are many masters in the Gangho, but I’ve never heard of someone like that.”
It wasn't that they didn't believe Jin Long.
“It was a sight I couldn't have imagined until I saw it with my own eyes,” Jin Long replied, and most of the players nodded.
It had been two days since they had turned and started circling the outskirts of the map. Since their only chance for item farming was the occasional village, Kite’s expression grew worse by the hour.
‘That greedy bastard is going to act up soon.’
If there was one thing Seo-un had learned from playing AOS games, it was that someone who acts up once will keep acting up until the end. Keyboard warriors who play politics usually show their true colors from the start. They speak harshly and are world-class at escalating small issues, as if they have a passive trait for a victim complex.
Seo-un’s assessment of Kite was quite accurate.
Kite hadn't spoken up yet because of the team atmosphere, but he couldn't understand why they had to give up farming and wander around just to avoid an enemy they might not even encounter. Furthermore, he couldn't understand why they had to accept a player like Jin Long, who only added strength to Seo-un’s side.
However, there was one difference between Kite and the players in the AOS games Seo-un played: trolling was impossible.
Seo-un was actually waiting for Kite to act up for that very reason.
‘Go ahead, act up all you want. I’ll crush you into the dirt.’
— Bang!
— Clang!
With a familiar gunshot, the shield of Kaien, who was moving at the front, shattered. Kaien quickly dodged and retreated as multiple layers of barriers were erected in front of him.
“Hyung!”
Seo-un nodded at Gi-chan’s call. As the players scanned their surroundings, Hamit spoke.
—1 o’clock, halfway up the mountain.—
Shifting his gaze quickly, Seo-un saw a glint of reflected sunlight about a kilometer away.
Already holding Hamit in Tonga form, Seo-un notched a Pyeonjeon and drew the string. As he poured internal energy into the bow and the arrow, he felt the bowstring grow heavy.
— Bang!
At the same time as another gunshot, the arrow left the bow. The moment a bullet dropped to the ground after cracking a barrier right in front of Seo-un, one of the mages shouted.
“An arrow just went right into the eye of the guy using that strange weapon!”
At the words of the mage, who had used magic to zoom in on his vision, Seo-un pulled out the high-magnification monocular he had brought from reality.
Seeing the bloodied, broken scope, he felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
‘What a fluke shot...’
They had no fewer than ten mages on their side. Since they could keep barriers up all day, he had fired a plain Pyeonjeon without any magic on it just to test the waters, and it had landed perfectly.
‘I guess this is what they call a critical hit.’
Unaware of the circumstances, the surrounding players looked at Seo-un with eyes full of respect. The gazes of the Murim players were especially intense.
“Junior Brother. That was incredible archery. Did you learn an archery skill as well?”
“I didn't exactly learn this through an item.”
At those words, the players once again looked at Seo-un with awe, unable to hide their shock.
Seo-un put his index finger to his lips to silence the players who were about to shower him with praise and notched another Pyeonjeon. Beside him, Gi-chan also pulled out a monocular and scanned the area where Seo-un was aiming.
‘Come on, hurry up.’
“He’s here.”
“He appeared.”
At the words of Gi-chan and the mages who could zoom their vision, Seo-un also spotted the tiny figure of the enemy.
‘Not yet.’
After waiting for about five minutes, the player scanned the surroundings for a long time before reaching out toward his fallen comrade.
That was when the arrow left Seo-un’s hand.
— Swoosh! Crash!
The shield shattered in one hit, and the player who had been trying to revive his comrade pulled his hand back in shock and flattened himself against the ground.
Seo-un pulled another arrow from his subspace, placed it in the Tonga, and fired once more. A small explosion appeared in Gi-chan’s view through the monocular.
“He’s running!”
Seo-un also saw the enemy zigzagging away and fired one more Pyeonjeon. However, when it was blocked by a shield again, he put the bow back into his subspace without regret.
“Survivor List.”
1814/2000
.
.
.
Jin Seo-un --> Kim Young-tae (Killed with magic arrow.)
Seeing the confirmed kill, he tilted his head.
‘Is he Korean?’
Just then, Gi-chan spoke up.
“They were wearing something like military uniforms. Those black ones, like the ones the S.W.A.T. teams wear.”
Gi-chan’s words confirmed it.
“Must be Koreans, then.”