Episode 100. The Spirit of Moorim (1)
The first thing I saw was a mysterious landscape.
The towering trees that did not fit in modern society, the rows of shacks, people wandering around in clothes that resembled the traditional Korean overcoat durumagi, and the language that resembled ‘Chinese’ they spoke in.
I felt like I was watching a movie. It was as if I had entered one of those Chinese martial arts films that were released every year, not a fantasy novel world.
[This is exactly the same as the ‘Moorim’ I know. What Kim Young-hwan saw was really Moorim.]
The scenes changed little by little as the Traveler spoke. The civilians walking the streets became blurred, and a few men standing among them became distinct. Those who became distinct were all carrying a sword on them.
[‘The Spirit of Moorim’ is influenced by the user of the ‘Akashic Records.’]
[The Characteristic transforms.]
[→You can see the memory of Moorim, the world of Kangho people who consider cooperation and righteousness as everything in their lives.]
[A new line is added to this Characteristic.]
[→You can see the memory of Moorim, the world of Kangho people.]
[→You can specify a person living in Moorim and look into their memory or story.]
[The Characteristic, -The Spirit of Moorim- evolves into -Moorim Library-.]
“……?”
What is this? I didn’t do anything, but my Characteristic changed on its own.
[Characteristics are bound to grow when they meet and link to ‘high-ranking Characteristics’. And there is no higher ranking Characteristic than the Akashic Records. You were lucky.]
“Oh, yes. That was fortunate.”
I scratched my head and answered him. It wasn’t bad. Actually, it was rather good. It would be much better if I could pick and choose what to see, instead of random Moorim scenes.
I surveyed each of the Moorim people walking along the street as if I was watching a movie.
[Name: Cheon Mu-gang]
[Well-known Warrior]
[Born with a strong physique, he earned success at a young age….]
Even ordinary-looking people had their own stories. It was interesting just to skim through their narratives. It felt like reading a novel every time I looked into a person.
Was it the influence of the Akashic Records? Or was it just my personality that always found other people interesting? I couldn’t tell. For now, I was just watching and watching.
“Hmm?”
Meanwhile, I saw something curious.
“What the hell is that?”
Unlike the people I saw, a man was shrouded in golden light and squatting in the corner of an alley. He was dirty as if he hadn’t washed for a few days, and his durumagi was stained black with dirt.
He looked like a beggar on the street. But he was clearer than anyone in my sight, and the glaring golden light was so bright that it was almost blinding.
“…….”
I couldn’t help but focus on him. Nothing changed even though nicely dressed or strongly-built warriors passed by. I was already captivated by the golden light.
[Will you look into the target, Baek Cheol-hyun?]
I found myself nodding at the notification window.
[You have chosen a person responsible for one axis in a narrative of Moorim.]
[You have fulfilled today’s quota for using the Moorim Library.]
.
.
[The Characteristic will be disabled in 10 minutes.]
[Reading the target ‘Baek Cheol-hyun’ for the remaining time.]
Along with numerous notification windows, memories poured into my mind.
『Baek Cheol-hyun was a beggar who survived day after day by begging until he was over 20 years old.』
A man who lived desperately, who could not overcome his hunger and gave up his pride, endured humiliation and begged. It was the memory of a human whose happiness depended on a single coin, and who could never dream of the future.
『Until he met the old man, who had been living hidden from the public under an old bridge. He was nothing.』
Bump.
Baek Cheol-hyun, who was laughing like a fool with a rice ball covered in sand, bumps into someone. Baek Cheol-hyun was born with a sturdy body and thick bones and had never lost a physical fight. But that moment, he fell loudly to the ground as if he had hit a wall.
The rice ball he was holding rolled over the floor, and he groaned, covered in filth.
『Nobody could have known.』
Baek Cheol-hyun grumbled as he picked up the grains of rice from the ground. The old man approached him.
『That the beggar who barely managed to live each day would become a disciple of Bangju, the head of the world’s largest underground organization called Gaebang(丐幇).』
[You have read the story of an individual who shook the Kangho world up and down.]
[Soul class rises.]
[User acquires part of the Mugong possessed by the target Baek Cheol-hyun.]
.
.
* * *
A week had passed since I started training with -The Spirit of Moorim-. I postponed all of my tightly packed hunting schedules and stayed inside my training facility.
“Whoo.”
The first thing that changed was my body. The size of my muscles, which used to be as hard as stone and bulging, had shrunk. But their density was different from before. My muscles were rock-hard before training, and they were like steel now.
Swing.
As my body changed, so did my movements. Since the volume of my muscles decreased, all of my rough and unnecessary movements disappeared. I could move smoothly like I was doing a dance, not practicing Mugong.
Pat, pa-pat.
My extended fists hit the sandbag. The noise was too light to sound like I was training for close combat. Anyone watching would think that I was only slightly touching the surface. But that wasn’t true at all.
Pffhht.
A hole burst open on one side of the sandbag I was hitting. At the same time, the contents of the bag exploded outwards.
It was a Mugong that didn’t harm the outside that much but tore up and destroyed the inside. It was perfectly suited to deal with high-grade monsters that had harder shells.
Mugong was very useful for hunting Monsters. I moved, feeling the ‘Ki’ flowing through my palm.
『You must be able to subdue your enemy in three steps.』
『A well-trained spear can overcome a hundred foes.』
『Your mind cuts the rock, not your sword.』
.
.
.
The voices of countless people rang out in my head. They were all famous people in the world of Moorim, or people who had made a mark.
Tap. Every time I took a step, numerous techniques and strengths concentrated. Many came together to become one.
I can see the sandbag pouring out its contents from the hole on its side. As I focus, the shape of the swinging sandbag changes.
From a warrior with a sword to a soldier wielding a spear, to an unidentified assailant throwing a punch.
And in the end, it always becomes a hideous Monster.
[‘Image Training (A)’ is activated.]
Thwack, Thwack, Thwack!
I kick the enemy on the side from the bottom up. The warrior holding a sword falls helplessly to his death. I barely keep my distance from the spear-wielding soldier. The tip of the spear grazes my skin, and as soon as the soldier loses balance, I dig in and punch into his chest.
Up to then, I took exactly three steps.
[Skill, Sambocheon(三步天) is activated.]
I couldn’t realize what the Danjeon, a body part located near the lower abdomen, was, no matter how many times the Traveler told me until I earned -The Spirit of Moorim-. My Danjeon boiled hot.
Along with it, something different than mana circled my entire body through my veins.
“Whewww.”
After the soldier, next comes the unidentified assailant. The imaginary enemy tried to grab me by the neck with his massive hand.
Pat.
I lightly moved my elbow and hit the assailant’s wrist away. I didn’t put any weight on my attack, but the assailant yelled and pulled away.
Mugong from Moorim was entirely different from this world’s martial arts. Mugong was so mysterious and powerful that if you mastered the technique and had enough Ki, even a child could overpower an adult.
And there were countless masters deep inside me.
Thump! Crack!
I kicked the man’s ankle and toppled him. Then I lifted my knee towards his falling head. Hit by my precise knee kick, the assailant faded away. The ‘Image Training’ had judged that the enemy had died from the kick.
[…Your training is speeding up. Your tempo has changed completely from a week ago.]
The next thing that appeared was a Monster. An unknown creature. The way to defeat it was to find out information by fighting it.
I place my hand on the large exoskeleton and let out my Ki. Without having to break the hard epidermis, its internal organs began to jolt.
Quaaacck.
The Monster lets out a high-pitched shriek and squirms. I take one step back and then dash forward, using my back foot as a stepping stone.
Two steps.
My airborne body rotates once. The Monster’s claws brush by my side. Thump. In the meantime, I land on the floor.
Three steps with this.
My Danjeon heated up again. This meant that ‘Sambochun’ was reactivated.
Thwaaack.
I extended my fist again. The moment it hit, the monster collapsed like a bursting water balloon. Sticky blood gushed out, and its flesh splattered.
The moment the monster died, my imaginary battle ended. The stink and sticky feeling disappeared, and all I had left in front of me was a shredded sandbag.
“Whewww…….”
Catching my breath, I looked down at the scene. I couldn’t count how many imaginary battles I’ve had since I earned -The Spirit of Moorim-. However, I could tell that I had grown exponentially since then.
[You’re a natural at growing stronger. I have never seen a man… or an individual of any species, that could become stronger so quickly. Haha.]
The Traveler looked down at me and burst into a big grin. I looked at him, tidying up my messy sleeves. The Traveler spoke up again before I could even open my mouth.
[But why don’t you pay some attention over there, instead of just training all the time? He’s been staring at you for a while, but you don’t even glance at him.]
“…What?”
What was he talking about? I turned my head. As the Traveler said, a man was standing at the entrance of the training facility.
“…….”
[After all, he is the man who gave you the Characteristic that allowed you to grow. It wouldn’t do good to ignore him.]
The man standing still, frozen in place with a hard face, was Kim Young-hwan.
* * *
He barely managed to empty his schedule and came to Jeong Si-woo’s training facility. Recently, Jeong Si-woo had shut himself in his private training place and could not be seen. But he had heard that Jeong Si-woo had recently come to the training facility near his home and rushed over to meet him.
‘I have a lot to ask.’
He needed to know if Jeong Si-woo was willing to learn his Mugong and also had a few things to ask about the guild coalition. And he also wanted to ask about the technique Jeong Si-woo used at -The War of the Stars-.
Because it was definitely a Moorim technique that Kim Young-hwan knew. He was very curious about how Jeong Si-woo, who had no clue about what Mugong was, used such an advanced technique and wondered whether it was due to his possessing Characteristic.
He knew it was rude to ask about one’s Characteristics, but Kim Young-hwan thought it would be okay to be a little rude if he could get answers. Kim Young-hwan was confident that he was more interested in this field than anyone else.
Creak.
Kim Young-hwan opened the creaking door and entered. He could smell rusty steel and hear the sound of hitting a sandbag. It was like any other training facility. Kim Young-hwan stepped forward with a small smile.
“……?”
But the next moment, he couldn’t step forward anymore. To be exact, his feet wouldn’t lift off from the ground.
“Whew…!”
It was because of the technique that Jeong Si-woo, the man punching the sandbag in the middle of the training facility, was using. As soon as he saw it, Kim Young-hwan froze in his place.
Was it because he wanted to know how Jeong Si-woo used Mugong? Did he suspect that Jeong Si-woo had sent a spy to the Four Guardian Gods guild to steal the technique? No.
‘What!’
It was because the technique and the essence of power within it were not lacking at all compared to what Kim Young-hwan had built up. It was perfect as if he had trained for decades. Some of the movements were so mysterious and exquisite that even Kim Young-hwan could not understand them fully. Kim Young-hwan couldn’t move.
“Ah…….”
Kim Young-hwan stared hard at Jeong Si-woo with his mouth open. The Mugong that Jeong Si-woo used for a short time had mesmerized the Hero at the world’s apex.
Kim Young-hwan felt as if the puzzles that had been scattered in his head were being rearranged.
‘Oh, it’s more efficient to use that kind of movement. You could release that kind of Ki in that situation.’
‘It feels like someone else was solving the problem that I couldn’t figure out for years instead of me. I feel relief and a sense of loss.’
Swoosh.
Dragging his foot, Jeong Si-woo stopped his Mugong. The sandbag rolled on the floor like a mop, and Jeong Si-woo was looking into the air until he slowly turned his eyes toward Kim Young-hwan.
Kim Young-hwan, who had been standing, only came to his senses once he made eye contact with Jeong Si-woo. He hastily spoke, looking at Jeong Si-woo’s indifferent face. After all, it was not polite to sneak a look at other people’s training. He needed to say something to settle the current situation.
“Uh…….”
“…….”
“Hunter Jeong Si-woo, could you… Can you teach me that Mugong? I mean… Aargh.”
Said Kim Young-hwan, who was clearly confused, before he covered his own mouth. Oops. He thought he had come back to his senses, but not yet. Kim Young-hwan had spoken aloud what he was just thinking.
“…What?”
Jeong Si-woo stared at Kim Young-hwan like he was looking at a strange person.
“…….”
And for a moment, there was a very uncomfortable silence.
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