The Long-Range Reconnaissance Mission
The agenda for the long-range reconnaissance mission seemed to be taken far more seriously—and with far greater perceived danger—than he had expected.
‘It just means they’ve failed that many times before.’
If an S-class hunter attempted reconnaissance, there was a chance of actual results this time. On the other hand, if something happened to such a precious S-class asset, it would be a catastrophe.
Korea already suffered from a severe shortage of S-class hunters compared to Japan and China. Each one was irreplaceable.
Of course, none of that was enough to change Han Yujin’s mind.
He was confident he could survive almost anything short of truly extreme peril. With the Monghwan Yusim divine ability alone, he could handle nearly every threat. As long as he moved carefully and avoided overextending, there shouldn’t be any major problems.
Beyond simply assessing danger, he also had expectations.
New mana stone mines, perhaps. Or the karma he might gain by discovering something particularly important.
In the end, Han Yujin’s special reconnaissance mission was approved.
And because of that very decision, another of Korea’s S-class hunters—Choi Kangbaek, who had been guarding the Great Rift forward base in the northeastern part of South Hwanghae Province—began to move.
In truth, their face-to-face meeting had come rather late. Even setting aside the still-young Lee Won-hee, there were only three S-class hunters in the entire country. It was almost impossible for them not to know one another.
Especially Choi Kangbaek. He was a living legend who had been active since the very beginning of the dimensional collision incidents. He was also the leader of the Great Rift Pioneer Corps stationed here.
‘Technically, I should have gone to see him first.’
He wondered if the man might already be offended.
Fortunately, that turned out not to be the case.
When they met in the forward base’s conference room, Choi Kangbaek was nothing like what he had feared.
“Hoho… Mr. Han Yujin, it is truly a pleasure.”
The warmth in his smile and handshake was so genuine that even without using the Six Paths of Reincarnation divine ability, anyone could have felt it.
His face was deeply tanned, and he stood barely 170 centimeters tall. Though his body was still sturdy, the clear marks of age made it obvious he had entered the twilight of his life.
It would not be an exaggeration to say his overall impression was the complete opposite of Park Seryong’s. Even so, as an S-class hunter, there was still undeniable strength in his every movement.
A single glance revealed that his weapon was a specially crafted halberd made from mana alloy. The front featured an axe blade, the rear a hammer, and the top a sharp spear point—a versatile cold weapon capable of attacking in countless ways.
He must have noticed Yujin’s gaze, because he explained without prompting.
“You need something like this to deal with monsters properly. Some only feel pain when you stab them, others are easier to handle with a hammer, and some have parts that need to be sliced cleanly off…”
“It certainly seems useful in many different situations.”
This was one area where the difference from the martial world of the strong and rivers was immediately apparent. The enemies here were rarely human.
As their conversation continued, it became clear that Choi Kangbaek had mistaken Han Yujin for an exceptionally patriotic man.
Right after receiving his S-class certification, Yujin had been thrown into stopping the Great Rift’s wave crises, and he had carried out extermination operations with relentless zeal. To outsiders, it looked as though he was utterly devoted to the Pioneer Corps’ missions. The fact that he had even postponed enjoying wealth and fame at his young age only reinforced the image of a man burning with patriotism.
Since there was no reason to shatter the man’s pleasant illusion, Yujin simply played along and strengthened their acquaintance.
At one point, however, an unexpected remark made him flinch.
“You’re not just thoughtful—you’re remarkably so. Talking with you feels like chatting with an old friend my own age. Hahaha…!”
After the pleasantries, the conversation naturally turned to the long-range reconnaissance mission. Choi Kangbaek had brought all the related documents stored at the base he guarded.
“There’s quite a lot… It would probably take several days to go through everything.”
The stack of papers he pulled from the hard case was indeed substantial. For an ordinary person, even “several days” might have been an understatement.
Fortunately, Han Yujin was no ordinary person.
Thud. Thud.
He moved dozens of documents at a time, setting them aside in neat piles. Park Seryong looked like he had guessed what was coming but still seemed doubtful. Choi Kangbaek simply wore a bewildered expression.
“The southern regions have seen quite a bit of reconnaissance, I see?”
“That’s right, but… did you just read all of that? How?”
“It’s one of my abilities. There’s no need to open each one individually.”
“Hoh…”
Choi Kangbaek looked astonished. Even Park Seryong seemed faintly awed.
Less than an hour later, after reviewing every document and asking detailed questions to confirm even the smallest pieces of information, Han Yujin announced without hesitation that he would depart for the mission immediately.
‘The northwest has the fewest reconnaissance results… and the highest number of missing persons.’
In that case, it was only logical to start there.
After discussing whether he needed support from the Special Affairs Team, any additional equipment, or other supplies, he left the conference room. He then retrieved Mu-yong from his quarters where she had been sleeping, held her in his arms, and departed the forward base.
He hoped for results, yet at the same time felt that no results would simply mean the area was that safe. It was a strangely mixed feeling.
Traveling long distances made him think of the Wind Cloud Spirit Tiger, whose ride quality had been far more comfortable than expected.
But this was not a pleasure trip. Stealth mattered more than mobility, so he used the Wind Concealment Technique himself while cloaking his presence with Monghwan Yusim.
It was a little cumbersome, but it allowed him to move both quickly and with enough secrecy to feel completely at ease.
Thanks to Yujin’s consideration—eliminating turbulence and blocking the biting headwinds—only Mu-yong enjoyed the luxury of yawning widely in his arms or even dozing off peacefully.
If she weren’t so cute, he would never have tolerated it.
Anyway.
Once he properly entered the zones that had never received proper reconnaissance, he felt as though he had become a great explorer or adventurer of the age.
There was a special thrill in being the first human from Earth to set foot in and witness places no one else had ever reached.
Of course, he did not simply enjoy himself.
In accordance with his reconnaissance mission, he recorded everything his divine sense detected that held any value and collected samples of several items, storing them in special containers he had brought.
When he thought of all of it as karma, the work was not particularly tiresome or difficult. Whenever monsters appeared, crushing them with the Origin Power Great Hand was also an excellent way to relieve stress.
Immersed in his duties like that, a week passed in the blink of an eye.
It might seem short at first glance, but considering his terrifying movement speed, it was anything but.
At the moment, he was resting in a suitable clearing as night fell.
Being a cultivator made this incredibly convenient. He needed no food, no sleep, no water for washing, and no warmth from flames. No matter where he went, he could truly live like an immortal—free and at ease.
Mu-yong was still only at the Qi Condensation stage, so she was the exception. But by carrying her in his arms and giving her spiritual nectar wine when needed, every problem was solved.
Even now, though the night was deep, she had slept soundly during the day’s travels and her eyes were bright and alert.
“Jjik! Jjik—!”
“…You want clothes?”
Ever since returning from the martial world of the strong and rivers to modern Earth, she had never once worn clothes. She had asked a few times before, but after Yujin told her they should be saved for special occasions, she had immediately agreed and never brought it up again…
Apparently today was a special occasion.
He willingly took out the clothes he had carefully stored away and helped her put them on. She twitched her nose repeatedly, clearly delighted. At the same time, as she gazed up at the star-filled night sky, her mood seemed to sink slightly.
Through the Tongmyeong Eosu-gyeol, he could feel her emotions. Yujin nodded silently in understanding.
“Of course I miss them too.”
“Jjijik…! Jjik!”
“In this world, every meeting is eventually followed by parting. If I continue walking the path of the vanguard, such moments will only become more frequent.”
Suddenly, he remembered something Eun Miryeong had once said. It was also something he had read in the miscellaneous texts obtained from the Ohaeng Sect ruins long before that.
“So this is what it means for a pioneer’s karma to be particularly heavy…”
Whether because he had been exploring the vast, empty wilderness of the Great Rift for so long, or because the starlight tonight was especially brilliant, countless memories rose unbidden, leaving him unexpectedly sentimental.
How long had he been resting like that, lost in longing?
Suddenly.
Han Yujin pulled Mu-yong, whom he had briefly set down, back into his arms using the Fish Drawing Art. At the same time, he pushed his divine sense and spiritual eyes to their absolute limits, scanning every corner of the sky.
In the darkness, only his pair of eyes glowed with a faint blue light—an eerie yet mystical sight.
‘…Was that my imagination?’
He thought he had felt a gaze from above.
If he had not been quietly resting and reflecting, he might have missed it entirely. It was difficult to tell whether he had truly sensed something or if he had simply been overly sensitive.
Still, he trusted his senses quite a bit. At the very least, in this situation, there was no downside to believing them.
With that conviction, he scanned the sky once more—only for his vastly extended divine sense, far beyond what should have been possible at the Dharma Soul stage, to finally catch something.
In that instant, Han Yujin’s figure vanished as if it had never been there, leaving only a single gust of wind behind.
Krivnak.
As one of the proud Watchers of the Maigbra tribe, she was once again patrolling the area around the settlement through her bonded ‘Nightshadow Thousand-Tentacled Beast.’
It was routine work. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, nothing happened and she simply handed over the shift. Even on that one meaningful occasion, most discoveries turned out to be trivial.
Still, no one in the tribe failed to understand how vitally important this duty was.
That was why the position of Watcher received considerable respect, and every Watcher strove to make no mistakes whatsoever.
Krivnak was the same. In fact, among the Watchers, she was particularly devoted to her duties.
And so, while faithfully carrying out her mission as usual today—
—she discovered something that forced her to tense up instinctively.
It had been quietly hidden in the dark forest; she had nearly missed it. But the target was standing in an open clearing where the sky was unobstructed, allowing her to spot it just in time.
‘A human…!’
The Maigbra had already learned that humans had built fortresses and settled in several locations throughout the vast Kachalika Great Forest.
Until now, those humans had remained unaware of the Maigbra’s existence…
Yet today, one of them had approached terrifyingly close to their settlement!
‘Did they come on purpose? Or was it coincidence?’
As far as she knew, similar incidents had occurred several times in the past.
Of course, none had come this close before. Still, the humans had attempted reconnaissance in this direction multiple times, and the Maigbra had quietly eliminated them on several occasions.
‘Should I eliminate this one quietly as well?’
No matter how things were handled, the fact that she had discovered the intruder first would earn her significant merit. She might even be granted a new bonded beast.
Her heart fluttered with excitement at the thought.
Then the target suddenly behaved strangely. She focused her attention again in alarm—
—and the opponent vanished. As if everything she had seen until now had been nothing more than a spirit’s prank.
But it could not possibly be a spirit’s prank.
‘Where did it go…?!’
In panic, she hurriedly moved her Nightshadow Thousand-Tentacled Beast to scan the surroundings—
—only for the human to suddenly appear right in front of her contracted beast, startling her badly. Before she could react, she thought she saw a violet light explode from the opponent’s eyes.
Immediately afterward.
“Huk…!”
She woke with a gasp, bolting upright in bed as if escaping a nightmare.
“…Ha.”
It had all been a dream.
She let out a sigh that could have been relief or disappointment, lay there a moment longer, then rose from the bed.
She had quite a lot to do today. She would probably need to make a full circuit of the entire settlement.
‘What was it for again…’
Her head felt slightly foggy, but she soon recalled the reason. Shaking her head to clear it, she left the room.