Chapter 5 - 4: Quiet Coins
The bronze coin felt heavier than it should have.
Jinmu rolled it between his fingers again, thumb rubbing over the faded characters. One side bore a stylized flower with four petals, the mark of the Jeonghwa Mint. The other side was stamped with the symbol for "ten," though this was misleading. A single coin like this was worth one — not ten — and everyone knew it. The "ten" simply meant it was the tenth revision since the founding of the current dynasty.
He stared at it in silence.
It’s just a coin. Just metal. Weight. Shape. Carved value.
He held it up against the moonlight, watching its shadow fall across his palm.
So if I can copy a martial art...
He brought it down. Pressed it to his chest.
Why not this?
He took a slow breath.
And with no one watching, no words spoken, he activated the command.
COPY.
A soft pulse echoed in his core. His skin tingled faintly, like warm mist brushing his chest. A strange kind of echo lingered in his hand — the sensation of the coin’s existence, now separated from the physical item.