I Became the Hidden Chapter 1

What kind of reaction would a person have if they opened their eyes one day to a world that wasn't the one they knew?

Baek Yoonjun realized the answer was 'to simply be dazed.'

The ancient Chinese-style clothing you'd only see in historical dramas, the dusty roads, and the horses pulling carts.

At first, he thought he had fallen onto a movie set. But as time passed, after piecing together the people's words and the world's atmosphere, he finally understood the identity of this world.

This place wasn't simply a world from the past, but a 'martial arts world.'

His only knowledge of martial arts consisted of a few words he'd heard from a friend who loved martial arts novels and a few panels of a webtoon he'd seen on social media, so everything was unfamiliar.

However, there was one thing he could be sure of.

-If I make one wrong move, I could actually die, huh?

He became certain after seeing a street performer break a rock with his bare hands. In a world where a street performer could smash a rock with his bare hands, what kind of monsters would real martial artists be?

According to what he heard from the actual villagers, 'martial artists' were those who had learned 'martial arts' and could shatter mountains with a single punch and split seas with a kick.

'The villagers called them martial artists, but martial artists and martial masters are probably the same thing, right?'

To make matters worse, he heard a story that a nearby village had been annihilated by a single martial artist.

"Tsk tsk. Those poor villagers."

"Indeed, I hope that fearsome demonic master is caught soon."

"Caught? What are you talking about? I heard it was the work of the Evil Ghost Sword, Jeokso. That's why the authorities are just hushing it up, not even pretending to try and catch him."

"Then what about those martial artist thugs who've been sticking together and acting all high and mighty lately? What are they doing?"

"Those guys are the type to puff out their chests after beating up people weaker than them. They won't even pretend to try and catch a notoriously demonic master like that."

My god, an entire village was wiped out, and no one is making an issue of it?

And that murderer is still alive and roaming around freely?

"Come to think of it, haven't there been a lot of missing person cases lately?"

"Yesterday at the tavern, some martial artists got into a fight and only the innocent customers ended up dead."

"I heard there's going to be a bloody battle in the plaza tomorrow. Let's not even go near there, lest we get caught up in it and see blood."

"..."

No matter how much this was like medieval China with no concept of human rights, weren't people's lives being treated like flies!

Baek Yoonjun made a decision right then and there.

'I'll go into the mountains and live as quietly as a dead mouse...!'

He gathered all the money he had saved up, bought a bundle of books titled Three Talents, and fled to the mountains.

And so, he began his seclusion, training in the bare minimum of martial arts to protect himself.

* * *

Three Talents Art.

It was a third-rate martial art among third-rate arts, one that even Baek Yoonjun, a complete novice to martial arts novels, knew of.

From what he knew, it was a martial art learned by low-level practitioners in the marketplace, but it was said that if you learned it, you could handle internal energy and build a foundation in martial arts.

'I have to learn at least this much to survive!'

Baek Yoonjun desperately learned the martial art.

He didn't encounter any wild martial artists in the mountains, but bears and tigers existed, so he underwent bloody training to survive.

The fortunate thing was that even a third-rate martial art was still a martial art.

As time passed, he too developed something called internal energy.

With the emergence of internal energy, his minor illnesses disappeared, and he no longer felt hunger or thirst. It even seemed as if his aging had stopped.

His hair had turned white, but his face looked even younger.

'This is martial arts...?'

While marveling at the strange phenomenon he had never seen before, a wave of fear washed over him at the same time.

'If a crappy art like the Three Talents Art can do this much, just how powerful are the martial arts of the prestigious sects and noble families?!'

Although he had become strong enough to hunt tigers and bears, when he thought about it, weren't martial artists monsters who could shatter mountains with a single punch and split seas with a kick?

Baek Yoonjun hardened his resolve even more firmly.

'You only live once. Let's not mistakenly think I've gotten strong, go down the mountain, and die a pointless death. Let's just live quietly in the mountains.'

Of course, he couldn't live completely cut off from the outside world, so he had occasionally gone down the mountain and gotten caught up in incidents.

Still, he was able to continue his life of seclusion without any threat to his life and without his whereabouts being discovered.

Although he lived alone deep in the mountains, perhaps due to his easygoing nature, he didn't feel particularly lonely or afraid.

He also liked that martial arts made life more convenient. The books titled Three Talents, which had the grand name of Celestial Records attached to them, contained not only cultivation methods but also a lot of information necessary for daily life, such as medicine and how to identify medicinal herbs. So, despite living deep in the mountains, he didn't feel any particular inconvenience.

'Still, since it has Three Talents in the name, it's probably third-rate.'

Just like any other day, he had gone down the mountain for a walk and was leisurely casting his fishing rod at a fishing spot he had found.

"Help me!! Please... is anyone there?!"

At the sound of a child's scream from somewhere, his shoulders flinched. At the same time, his grip on the fishing rod tightened unconsciously.

"Please... help... me!"

At the cry that followed, he spread his senses wide and felt a faint life force, as if it were about to be extinguished.

"......!"

Belying his vow to stay cooped up in the mountains and not interact with outsiders, he unconsciously grabbed his sword and started moving.

Swish!

As he quickly flew towards the source of the scream, he felt another presence besides the girl's, along with rough breathing.

"You're persistent. But your struggle ends here."

"Please, please spare me...!"

"Shut up. You must die here."

Men wearing black masks surrounded the girl.

Every single one of them was armed, spewing killing intent as if they had no intention of hiding it.

"Should I... save her?"

Baek Yoonjun agonized over it thousands of times.

'No matter how precious my own life is, if I let a young girl die right in front of my eyes, I'll regret it for the rest of my life.'

Baek Yoonjun examined the black-masked men with his senses.

'Hmm...'

The first thing he checked was their martial skill.

They were emitting killing intent, but the flow of their energy was crude beyond measure.

They were far from reaching the ranks of 'masters' as he knew them.

'Phew. Thank goodness. They're much weaker than me.'

Baek Yoonjun let out a sigh of relief.

What if they were second-rate masters or higher by his standards, or if their aura was even slightly more menacing?

He would have fled without a second glance.

'If they're stronger than me, it's a certain defeat.'

But now was different.

'If they're weaker than me, it's a different story.'

Baek Yoonjun's gaze instantly turned cold.

The 'certainty' that the opponents were weaker than him. And the justification that they were 'evil' trying to harm a child.

Once these two conditions were met, the words 'human treatment' disappeared from Baek Yoonjun's mind according to the law of the strong preying on the weak.

'Doesn't that mean they're trash I can dispose of safely?'

If so, there was no reason to hesitate.

With a light heart, Baek Yoonjun picked up a stone from the ground as if kicking a pebble on the roadside.

"Shall we begin the cleanup?"

Whoosh!

The stone Baek Yoonjun threw flew and hit the leg of one of the men surrounding the girl.

"Guh, gaaah!"

The man instantly collapsed to his knees.

'Phew, as I figured with my senses, they were weaklings of the third-rate or lower.'

Baek Yoonjun felt a slight sense of relief after assessing their level and seeing the opponent fall safely.

'No, wait, it could be because he was caught off guard! Seeing as his sword looks good, he might be a martial artist hiding his skills!'

His inherently introverted, homebody nature meant he couldn't let his guard down for a moment.

He immediately picked up another stone and shouted.

"You bastards! I don't know what the situation is, but for six men to gang up on one child... have you no shame!"

At his shout, the men surrounding the girl all turned their gazes towards him.

And they whispered softly among themselves.

-What was that? Number Three was taken down in one blow just now...

-He must have been careless.

-Even if he was careless, it makes no sense for Number Three to be taken down in one blow!

-It doesn't seem like a simple stone throw. It looks like an ordinary pebble, but there's a high possibility it's a specially treated hidden weapon.

-Then is he an assassin?

-Seeing as he took down Number Three in one blow, he's no ordinary assassin.

-Damn it... then what do we do?

No matter how careless he was, and even if a special hidden weapon was used, Number Three had fallen in a single blow.

It was clear that this was an opponent who could not be taken lightly.

-We have to try talking to him first.

One of the men turned towards Yoonjun and spoke.

"There seems to be some misunderstanding, but this child is a public enemy of the martial world with a bounty from the Alliance. It would be appreciated if the esteemed elder would please step back."

And Baek Yoonjun was flustered.

'Esteemed elder? Me? What's this all of a sudden?'

He had expected them to swing their swords, threatening to kill him without a word, but they were being cautious.

Baek Yoonjun gulped, but raised his voice anyway.

"I don't know what this Alliance is, but no matter what crime she has committed, it cannot be a reason to brutally kill such a young child. You are the ones who should back off!"

At his words, a look of bewilderment appeared on the men's faces.

-He doesn't back down even after hearing the Alliance's name. Is he a reclusive master?

-At best, he's just an assassin who uses hidden weapons. He won't be able to handle this many people at once. The brat won't be able to get far anyway, so let's eliminate him first.

-Understood!

Having finished their discussion, the men all raised their swords and began to charge towards Baek Yoonjun.

"Heok! What are these guys...!"

Startled, Baek Yoonjun threw the other stone he was holding.

"Keoheok!"

"Number One?!"

"Damn it! Charge! It's a charge! We must kill that bastard!"

Watching the men close the distance in an instant, Yoonjun drew his sword.

'I've been a bit lazy with my training lately because of fishing! I should have worked a little harder!'

Still, he had been training diligently with the Three Talents Art all this time, so Baek Yoonjun calmed his breathing and swung his sword at the men.

But then,

Slice.

"Kahaak!"

Slice.

"Keuk!"

Sliiice.

"Keoheok!!"

In an instant, three men met their end.

Not a single one of them had even managed to properly swing their sword.

In a brief moment that wasn't even a single breath, Yoonjun's sword had claimed their lives before their own swords could even be swung.

And the one at the very back had stopped in his tracks, his body trembling.

"What, what the hell are you! What are you!"

"......?"

Baek Yoonjun, who had been extremely tense, was momentarily flustered by the unexpectedly anticlimactic conclusion.

As he naturally tried to make sense of the situation, he thought.

'I thought they were martial artists because they were carrying decent swords. Seeing how weak they are, they must just be bandits, huh?'

He had heard about it occasionally.

Not all mountain bandits wore tattered clothes and had disheveled hair. Some of them pretended to be ordinary travelers or merchants before suddenly turning into bandits.

'They must be bandits from a mountain fortress called the 'Alliance'.'

Yoonjun organized his thoughts and approached the last remaining man.

"St-stop! D-do you have any idea who I am!"

"You're just a mountain bandit, aren't you?"

"Wh-what! I am the great Namgu...!!"

Slice.

Baek Yoonjun swung his sword without mercy, then approached the child who was trembling in the distance.

"Ah, ahh..."

The child's eyes were wide as she moved her mouth, agape. She seemed to be trying to say something, but no voice came out.

She must have witnessed the entire horrific scene before her.

He soothed the child, knelt down, and checked her condition.

"Rest assured. I am only checking the state of your body."

"Huh? Y-yes... yes..."

The child still seemed confused, her pupils trembling.

Baek Yoonjun immediately checked her pulse, just as he had learned from the medical texts.

'...The bleeding is more severe than I thought.'

She was still breathing, but her complexion was poor and her pulse was faint.

He had to stop the bleeding as an emergency measure.

He quickly pressed her acupoints.

He focused his senses on his fingertips, controlled the flow of her pulse, and minimized the bleeding.

The effect was immediate.

The flow of blood gradually subsided, and the child's breathing also seemed to stabilize little by little.

Of course, it still seemed that medicinal herbs were needed for a fundamental cure.

And all the herbs useful for treatment were at his residence.

"For now, let's go to my place."

Baek Yoonjun carefully lifted the child into his arms.

Small.

So light and frail.

So much so that the body heat touching his arm was faint.

Only then did Baek Yoonjun's eyes take in the child's appearance.

Black hair, distinct eyes, and delicate, neat features.

'No matter how grave the parents' sin, how could they try to kill even a child this young?'

As expected, the martial world was a heartless and terrifying place.

He shuddered anew at the cruelty of the martial world he already knew.

"Hold on to my neck tightly. I'm going to move a little fast."

At his words, the child nodded silently and wrapped her small, weak arms tightly around his neck.

Holding the child securely in his arms, Baek Yoonjun left the forest and flew towards his residence at the foot of the mountain.

As his toes lightly kicked off, the wind began to part.

Fwoosh!

As he soared into the sky and performed his lightness skill, the child was terrified.

"Vo-Void-Pacing Steps?!"

At the child's words, Baek Yoonjun tilted his head.

'Void-Pacing Steps? What's that?'

He didn't know what it was, but he figured she must have just blurted out whatever came to mind out of sheer surprise.

Thinking so, Baek Yoonjun reassured the child.

"I won't drop you, so rest assured."

"Ye-yes!"

The child nodded with a frightened face.

Arriving back at his shabby house, he immediately headed to the place where he had gathered his medicinal herbs.

Next to the main gate, in a place normally covered with vines to be inconspicuous. Beneath it was the storage where he kept his medicinal herbs.

He had covered it with a heavy, giant rock to prevent animals from approaching.

'Shall I take it out for the first time in a while?'

Baek Yoonjun familiarly lowered his body, placed his hands under the rock, bent his waist, and lifted it straight up.

Rumble—.

A dull sound vibrated up from the tips of his toes. It was heavy, but not impossible to lift. Slowly, gently, the rock rolled to the side as if falling from his hands.

At that moment, a small, surprised voice burst out from behind him.

"...That rock... you lifted it?"

Baek Yoonjun turned his head.

The girl was covering her mouth, her eyes wide.

"What's wrong? Is something strange?"

The girl couldn't speak for a while, then finally managed to say in a whisper.

"Isn't that... isn't that Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron...?"

"Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron?"

He tilted his head.

He didn't know what it was, but he thought it might be a term for a hard chunk of rock.

'Wasn't it just a rock as heavy as a lump of lead?'

Baek Yoonjun dusted off his palms and glanced at the rock again. It was a rock he had brought from the foot of the mountain because he thought its strangely smooth and cool surface would be good as a cover for the herb storage.

'Even the neighborhood street performer who said he learned a little martial arts could split a rock similar to that... but I couldn't even break it, I could only leave a sword mark on it.'

It was a story from a long time ago, but the memory was still fresh in Baek Yoonjun's mind.

Of course, since then, he too had cultivated internal energy, but there were undoubtedly many people in the world much stronger than him.

"It's not something to be so surprised about. People much more amazing than me can easily break things like that and more."

Baek Yoonjun said so and smiled, but the girl was still staring intently at him.

A gaze mixed with respect and mystery.

And a slightly relieved expression.

In front of the rock whose name Baek Yoonjun didn't know, the 'Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron', the child finally seemed to let her guard down and muttered softly.

"...Are you really not a divine immortal?"

"I told you I'm not."

He chuckled softly and waved his hands.

"I'm just an ordinary person who's learned a little martial arts for self-defense."

(End of Chapter)