Chapter 38
Chapter 38: Strange Neighbor (1)
The Alliance Leader's office, wrapped in three layers of Concealment Barrier.
Inside, Dan Jung-seon let out a loose laugh.
More precisely, it was closer to a hollow chuckle.
"Heh heh....... So he really destroyed the Punch Machine without using martial arts?"
"No doubt about it. I went to see the investigators myself, and they confirmed it."
"Who did you say the investigators were?"
"Jegal-won of the Jegal Family and Hwangso-cheol of the Hwangbo Family."
"If those two are vouching for it, then it must be so. They're both exceptionally meticulous and clear-headed."
Dan Jung-seon slowly nodded at Yu-baek's account.
The Jegal Family, famed for their cunning strategy, and the Hwangbo Family, renowned as the foremost house of fist techniques.
If the two had conducted a joint investigation, no ordinary deception would get past them.
And indeed, that had always been the case.
There had been a few past incidents of sabotage, but every single perpetrator had been caught and made to pay damages.
Since the machine's replacement cost was considerable, such tricks had eventually disappeared entirely.
And thanks to that, Jegal-won and Hwangso-cheol had even earned the nickname Ghost Investigators.
Even so, it was impossible to stop the seeds of suspicion from continuing to sprout.
"Did you also visit the company that manufactured the machine?"
"I only just received the results myself. They say it was a flawless product with no defects."
"Remarkable. Even the greatest of ordinary martial artists struggled to break 950 points, yet he shattered that limit in a single blow? Of course, I could manage it—but if that person is barely of age, that changes everything."
The Five Venerables, who look down upon the entire world.
For them, destroying it would naturally be easy.
No matter how sturdy or well-shock-absorbent the machine was, that was only by the standards of an 'ordinary martial artist,' after all.
"My thought is that whoever this is may have mastered External Cultivation."
"External Cultivation....... But you know as well as I do—it isn't something that can be done through sheer hardness alone."
How could he not know?
Yu-baek himself had once reached the Supreme Pinnacle Realm as a martial artist.
And the Alliance Leader, who was gazing toward the Transcendence Realm, would know it even better.
"......."
"......."
In the brief silence, Yu-baek brought Mu-yeong's video to mind.
To be honest, when he first saw it, his skin had crawled.
His form is too perfect.
No matter how many times he looked, there was absolutely nothing to fault.
If it had been himself standing in that spot, what would have happened?
He would probably have ended up in the same sorry state as the Punch Machine.
He couldn't be certain without actually trying, but that was what his instincts were telling him.
"What a headache. Where on earth did a young master of unknown identity like that come from? Surely it couldn't be Reversal of Age......"
"Shouldn't we keep that possibility open? His life story of having lived in the mountains, and that stiff way of speaking. It's a very slim chance, but it can't be ruled out."
"......It's not a completely unreasonable idea."
"When you consider everything he's done so far, the credibility only grows."
At Yu-baek's answer, Dan Jung-seon closed his eyes.
He stroked his beard as if turning something over in his mind, then began to murmur quietly.
"Mu-yeong....... Mu-yeong, you say......."
"Does something come to mind?"
"Not among the masters I know. But there is one thing that snags at me."
"And what would that be?"
"Mu-yeong, the First Young Lord of the Demonic Heaven Sect. Information more than fifteen years old, but those who saw him in person assessed him as a once-in-a-generation genius."
"But was that Mu-yeong not known to be dead? It's already been fifteen years since he vanished, and even after the Great Unification he never appeared, so......."
"The fact that he never appeared even when a new world was opened makes it certain, one could say."
A single possibility was eliminated from both Dan Jung-seon and Yu-baek's minds.
Instead, their curiosity only amplified further.
"No trace of internal energy, and the type of martial arts he uses is unknown......."
The only time Mu-yeong had shown swordsmanship so far was in Castle Defense.
They had wondered if they could identify him from that, but it hadn't been easy.
Clearly he seemed to have been properly trained from what they could see—yet the characteristics of any swordsmanship school were nowhere to be found.
Mutable—endlessly versatile.
Swift—fast.
Heavy—weighty.
Dominant—aggressive.
And yet his Sword Path was free, not bound to any set form.
As if swinging his blade differently each time in accordance with the situation.
No matter how hard they tried to analyze it, nothing resembling the traits of any particular school could be found.
"It does seem true that it's a Single-Lineage School. At the very least, knowing its name would be nice."
"It's only been two weeks, so it may be best to observe a little longer."
"You're right. There's still not enough information."
"Ah, and there is one more thing I need to report."
"What is it?"
"You know that group of assassins who broke into Mu-yeong's home the other time? After tracking them down, it turned out they were the Shadow Corps sent by the Daehwasan Sect."
"What?"
In that instant, Dan Jung-seon's aura flared to life.
In contrast, his expression went stone cold.
"That claim....... can you take responsibility for it?"
"I am certain. When I traced their trail, they had returned to the Daehwasan Sect, and among them was someone whose face I knew well."
"Heh heh heh....... So I put a tail on Mu-yeong to figure out whether he was villain or saint, and instead the Daehwasan Sect pulled something like that?"
The veins on Dan Jung-seon's fist stood out sharply.
Yu-baek continued with care.
"As you know, the Sect Leader does have something of an extreme fondness for his disciples, doesn't he? It seems the root cause was No Song-baek's crushing defeat at the Battle Attack Tournament."
"They sent the Shadow Corps for a reason that trivial?! If you lose, you should know how to accept it gracefully, and press harder for the next opportunity—isn't that the proper way?!"
Bang!
The desk rang out loudly.
A few sheets of documents fluttered and fell, but no one paid them any mind.
In the heavy atmosphere, Dan Jung-seon exhaled deeply.
"I'll have to meet the Sect Leader personally."
"Well....... there was word this morning that they had begun a sect lockdown."
"A lockdown? All of a sudden?"
"That's how they announced it publicly, but the extent is quite mild. There was no ban on members' external activities, and the duration was only about a year—fairly short."
"It's clear they have a guilty conscience about something. Huu, very well."
Dan Jung-seon's expression eased.
He rose from his seat and patted Yu-baek on the shoulder.
"You've worked hard traveling around all this time. For now, you can stop tailing Mu-yeong."
"Understood."
"If strange incidents occur around him, we can start again then. You may go."
"Please call on me whenever there is something you need."
Yu-baek vanished, leaving only a trace of wind behind.
Dan Jung-seon clasped his hands behind his back and moved to the window.
He gazed quietly at the spring scenery where fresh green shoots had begun to sprout.
"So he dealt with the ambushing Shadow Corps in an instant......."
Those called assassins or killers undergo training that is of an entirely different order from ordinary martial artists.
They hone only their ability to conceal their presence, gather intelligence, and kill people.
Yet someone had turned the tables on those specialists in ambush and subdued them?
It meant there was an overwhelming gap in martial prowess.
"Perhaps he's already caught on."
That Yu-baek had been digging into his past.
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Around the time Mu-yeong had gone out with Yu-na for an Outdoor Stream.
At the Iron Blood Witch's home, the top brass of the Demonic Sect were in the middle of a meeting.
"It's been a while, Chief Strategist."
"The Hao Family Head and U Ho-beop. Have you both been well?"
"We're always the same as ever. More importantly, you were out of sight again recently—where have you been?"
"I've been rather busy lately with groundwork behind the scenes."
Yang Mu-geuk smiled and produced a single book.
Seeing the words 'Ledger' written on it, the Iron Blood Witch immediately took an interest.
"What is that?"
"Call it a little hush money, or perhaps an investment in the future. Think of it however is comfortable."
"Might I take a look?"
"Of course."
The Iron Blood Witch took the ledger and skimmed through it rapidly.
Unfamiliar names and familiar faces were intermixed.
She, counted among the most sharp-minded even within the Demonic Sect, understood at once.
"It's related to the Young Lord."
"Flies always swarm around a flower. I simply played the role of swatting them in advance."
"You could have left this to me."
"Isn't the Hao Family Head busy enough? Managing the Sect's finances on top of running a personal enterprise."
Yang Mu-geuk gestured with his eyes toward the streaming room.
At that glance, the Iron Blood Witch smirked.
Then, at the very end of the ledger, she spotted the name Mae Han-gyeom and her expression hardened.
"......Were you aware that an unsavoury incident had taken place?"
"How could I not be? I had already reported it to the Heavenly Demon on a take-action-first-report-later basis."
"What did he say, by any chance?"
Instead of answering, Yang Mu-geuk took out his phone.
He switched it to speaker mode and played a recording.
No sooner had it started playing than a booming, hearty laugh burst out.
—Kuhahahat! I knew those Daehwasan Sect fools would cause trouble. On the outside they strut around acting righteous, but on the inside they're a devious lot without equal. Especially that old man Mae Han-gyeom!
—I personally went and delivered a warning, but if it is insufficient, I will take further measures.
—Right, I hear Mu-yeong wrung money out of them, but that's not enough. They dared bare their teeth at the Demonic Heaven Sect? Go and relay this. Tell them to lie low, not even a hair visible, for the time being.
—As you command.
That was where the recording ended.
Divine Dragon folded his arms and nodded.
"Actually, we too had considered storming in, but we held back out of concern that the Young Lord's identity might be exposed—so this works out well."
"Well, that's why I sent Mae Han-gyeom a second warning. There was about Half an Hour with no response, but he ultimately said they would initiate a lockdown."
"A lockdown....... That's a stiffer decision than I expected."
"Still, we decided to show some leniency. It seems a woman named Yu Ye-rin has some connection with the Young Lord. The first friend he's made—it wouldn't be right for her to simply disappear all of a sudden, would it?"
At Yang Mu-geuk's words, the Iron Blood Witch and Divine Dragon clapped in unison.
"As expected of the Chief Strategist. To have thought that far ahead."
"You flatter me."
"Not at all. It feels as though we've known each other for over thirty years now, and I am still surprised every single time."
"If I couldn't even manage this much, I'd have to step down from the Chief Strategist position."
Yang Mu-geuk smiled and took a slow sip of tea.
He let it roll across his tongue slowly, as if savoring it, then swallowed it smoothly down his throat.
"It also seemed the Martial Alliance had been taking an interest—but that side appeared to be aimed simply at identifying his identity."
"Certainly, one stray rat that had been following separately did drop away after the ambush incident."
"Indeed. However, it is too early to rest easy as things stand. The Young Lord is like an awl in a pocket. He is sure to achieve another remarkable feat in the near future, and when that happens, the world's gaze will converge on him once again."
Once someone becomes famous, movements to uncover their identity inevitably arise.
What they did in the past, how they grew up, who their teacher was.
For now they are concealing it through the passage of time, but eventually it is a structure in which the fact that he is the First Young Lord of the Demonic Heaven Sect will have to come out.
As the atmosphere suddenly grew heavier, the Iron Blood Witch tossed out a half-joking remark.
"Don't worry. As you know, the Alliance Leader is my absolutely devoted fan, isn't he? If I string him along a little more and keep his eyes from turning elsewhere, things should improve somewhat."
"Ah, that could work indeed. You make a fair point."
Everyone burst out laughing at the Iron Blood Witch's words.
Just then.
Ddi-ring!
Ddi-ring!
Ddi-ring!
Three notifications rang out from within each of their pockets.
Without exception, they immediately took out their phones.
And why wouldn't they—these were the very top of the Demonic Sect's upper brass.
Owing to their positions, where even the most trivial message had to be checked at once, it was only natural.
"......."
"......."
"......."
A brief silence.
Having seen the contents, Yang Mu-geuk spoke on behalf of the group.
"Shall we first watch the Young Lord's stream before we continue to the next item?"
Mu-yeong's stream, which took precedence over their meeting.
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Wiiiing!
The morning two days after the Punch Machine incident.
A vibration rang out, rousing Mu-yeong from his meditation.
When he checked, a text had arrived from someone he had been waiting to hear from.
[This is the Punch Machine shop owner.]
Hello, Mu-yeong.
You said you would compensate me for half the cost of the machine at the time, didn't you?
Fortunately, it seems that won't be necessary.
It appears that as the relevant video gained popularity, it also served as publicity for the company.
They reached out to say they would provide a new model machine free of charge.
So......
Mu-yeong let out a sigh of relief after reading through the lengthy message.
"What a relief. I heard that thing was worth quite a lot."
Good news—what a relief.
It feels as though I earned money without doing a thing.
He had already had a head full of thoughts about the stream, but things felt just a little cleaner now.
With one worry lifted, he felt a desire to move his body.
"Shall I swing a sword after a long while? I want to work up a sweat."
The apartment Mu-yeong currently lived in was known as the finest in the area.
Naturally, resident facilities and communal spaces were developed to an almost excessive degree.
Among them was a training hall—a space specifically for martial artists.
No use of martial arts allowed, of course.
[Floor 15.]
Mu-yeong stepped outside and got into the elevator.
When he pressed the button for basement level 2, a faint vibration came and it began to whoosh into motion.
This sensation of the body lifting—it really is fascinating.
That was the reason he took the elevator even though he could use the stairs.
A marvel of the new world that moves at high speed up and down.
No matter how many times he rode it, he never tired of it.
Just as he closed his eyes to properly savor the feeling, the elevator's speed suddenly slowed.
[Floor 12.]
With only two households per floor, the number of times he had encountered fellow residents could be counted on one hand.
Who would be getting on?
As he watched curiously, a woman with long black hair appeared.
Beneath her eyes were enormously dark shadows.
'She seems very tired. Did she pull an all-nighter?'
He was looking at her with concern when the woman scratched her head vigorously and stepped forward.
She then let out a wide yawn, and with tear-filled eyes, met Mu-yeong's gaze.
"Eh......? Eheh?"
The woman let out a dumbfounded sound and flinched.
Her expression froze as if she had seen a ghost.
Though her yawn had finished, her mouth remained hanging wide open.
......What a strange woman.
He had thought about greeting her, but it didn't seem like that would work.
The moment he withdrew his attention from the woman, his phone vibrated once.
When he checked, a welcome notification had arrived.
[Streamer Yu-na and Mu-yeong's Outdoor Stream Episode 2 has been uploaded.]