Chapter 1: This Isn't the Martial World I Knew
There are tis in this world when things happen that simply cannot be explained by common sense.
For Mu-yeong, First Young Lord of the Demonic Heaven Sect, this was no exception.
['WitchSlave1' has donated 1,000,000 Won.]
—One more minute of Zero-Two[1]
"Ah, WitchSlave1! Thank you so much for the million Won donation!"
That was the first thing he heard after completing ten years of Closed Door Training.
.
.
.
.
Drip…… drip…….
Inside a cave where only silence reigned.
Faintly embedded luminescent pearls cast their glow upon a single man sitting cross-legged.
His martial robe, filthy and tattered, gave one a sense of just how long he had been there.
How much ti had passed since then?
A dark, ominous energy began to emanate from the man's body, which had been rigid as stone.
It was so thick that rely being near it felt as though one might suffocate.
Soon, a blue light blood from his eyes.
"At last…… at last I have mastered the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to the tenth level……! And it is none other than I, Mu-yeong!"
How long had he yearned for this day to co?
mories of everything he had endured flashed through Mu-yeong's mind like a passing lantern.
The ti he nearly suffered Energy Deviation from learning the formulas incorrectly.
The ti he broke his leg from performing the footwork wrong.
The ti he spent an entire week in tears, blaming his own lack of talent.
The urge to leave the closed door cave surged within him countless tis each day, yet he had gritted his teeth and endured.
That perseverance had at last returned to him as sweet fruit.
Mu-yeong clenched his fists, tears of joy streaming down his face.
"Now at last, our Sect's long-cherished dream shall be realized……! To break free from these harsh mountain ranges, to rule the vast lands of the Central Plains, and to build a world where no one goes hungry!"
How many tis had he witnessed it over the years?
The Sect's people boiling of tree bark and roots to eat in every year the harvest fails.
And it was not uncommon for so to starve to death as a result.
Now was the ti to break that vicious cycle.
Thud.
Mu-yeong walked toward the cave wall.
It was covered in countless traces of training, and Positive Characters carved to count the days.
As he slowly scanned them, he spotted one section carved particularly deep.
It was a day he rembered precisely.
"Three years ago, wasn't it? There was a ti the cave shook like mad."
It had been such a trendous tremor he had thought the Ten Demon Mountains themselves were collapsing.
He had considered going outside to check, but steadied himself and treated it as part of his training.
Looking back now, it had been the right choice.
'This place grew on in its own way—and now it's over.'
Mu-yeong stroked the wall one last ti, then turned his back.
To cherish the mory of the closed door cave he would never return to, and to look forward to the bright future ahead.
He approached the entrance and pushed the door open with all his might.
Rumble.
Stone dust scattered through the air and light began to show.
One more step, and word would spread throughout the Demonic Heaven Sect.
That a once-in-a-generation prodigy had returned—one who had fully mastered the Heavenly Demon Divine Art before even reaching his peak vicenarian year.
But what greeted him was neither a guard's spirited salute nor a bow of reverence.
Ding!
['WitchSlave1' has donated 1,000,000 Won.]
—One more minute of Zero-Two
"Ah, WitchSlave1! Thank you so much for the million Won donation! That's already the third ti—is your wallet doing alright?"
What is that sound?
Have I lost my mind?
Words he had never heard in his life left Mu-yeong montarily dumbstruck.
He turned toward the source of the sound and saw U Ho-beop holding so kind of rectangular object. With a goofy grin plastered across his face.
'An object I've never seen before. Could it be sothing newly invented by the Sect?'
Focusing his Eye Focus Technique, he could see a woman inside the rectangular object dancing away with great enthusiasm.
A face and voice he found strangely familiar. Yet for so reason, the na would not co to him right away.
As he rummaged through his mory, the sa sound rang out again.
['WitchSlave1' has donated 1,000,000 Won.]
—Let's go all out today, one more minute gg
"I think you've forgotten who I am—I'm the Iron Blood Witch, the Iron Blood Witch. Don't co crying to later~"
In an instant, Mu-yeong shuddered as though struck by lightning.
Who was the Iron Blood Witch?
A master of the Transcendence Realm renowned for her rciless ruthlessness—neither blood nor tears—and the sharp-minded head of the Hao Clan, which handled intelligence for the Demonic Heaven Sect.
But then why……
Why was soone like her wearing clothes with her chest half exposed, swaying her hips?
And with a voice so coquettish and a smile so bewitching it could ensnare any man.
It was sothing utterly impossible given the image of her that Mu-yeong had known.
'Could she have fallen under so strange art? Because there's no other way she'd act like that……'
No matter how he thought about it, the likelihood of that was low.
Having given up on finding an answer, Mu-yeong approached U Ho-beop.
"Heh heh heh heh……"
"What are you doing?"
"Eeeek! W-who…… Ah! First Young Lord!"
"It has been a while. Divine Dragon, have you been well?"
"You have finally completed your Closed Door Training. Congratulations!"
Divine Dragon imdiately clasped his hands in a bow.
A decade had passed, yet there was no change in his appearance.
A warm feeling of fondness welled up, but right now Mu-yeong had sothing more pressing on his mind.
Giving only a perfunctory acknowledgnt of the greeting, Mu-yeong fixed his gaze on Divine Dragon's hand.
"More importantly, what is this? It seems to be an object I've never seen before."
"Ah, you an this? This is called a Smartphone."
"Sma…… Sma-what?"
"Ah! You wouldn't know, First Young Lord. A great many things happened during the ti you were in closed door training. Allow to explain everything—please, this way."
Half an hour later.
Having heard the full account, Mu-yeong rubbed his throbbing temples.
"So…… the Martial World and a world called Earth have rged, and it has now been three years since the people of both worlds have been living together?"
"That is correct."
"So that was why the cave shook so violently back then…… But I still can't quite wrap my head around it. Why did sothing like this happen?"
"Nothing has been uncovered yet. But seeing as things turned out this way, everyone is simply adapting and getting on with their lives."
"Like the Iron Blood Witch, you an?"
Divine Dragon flinched at Mu-yeong's words.
He rolled his eyes once, then offered an awkward smile.
"Was she not soone who handled intelligence to begin with? So she runs this Internet Broadcast while managing various duties on the side."
"The internet, was it…… You called it a real-ti ssenger Pigeon. I'll admit it has the advantage of gathering information quickly and accurately. But what on earth is that getup?"
A strange outfit that stirred the hearts of n, and a face overflowing with allure.
He had been watching since a little while ago, and simply could not get used to it.
['WitchILoveYou' has donated 100,000 Won.]
—Sis!!!! You're so pretty today too, I love you!!!
"Mm-mm, I love you too. Thank you for the hundred thousand Won donation!"
Even less so the winking while acting coy.
Mu-yeong's face twisted as he let out a deep sigh.
"Calling soone 'sis' when she was already a sixty-year-old crone before the Great Unification. The people around here have strong stomachs, I'll give them that."
"On the surface, though, she's nothing like that, is she? Her appearance is that of soone in their early twenties, and she was once counted among the Three Beauties of the Martial World, after all."
"So that's why you were standing there slack-jawed earlier."
"Ahem…… First Young Lord may find it hard to believe, but everyone has changed a great deal. Not only within our Sect, but even those old n from the Nine Sects and One Gang……"
Ding!
['Dan Jung-seon' has donated 100,000 Won.]
—Say my na too, would you!
['Shaolin Temple Captain' has donated 200,000 Won.]
—Amitabha, would that amount even be worth ntioning? Do first.
['Dan Jung-seon' has donated 300,000 Won.]
—Go do your prayers, you bald monk.
['Shaolin Temple Captain' has donated 500,000 Won.]
—Did them this morning, so no worries.
Donations going off one after another.
And all from nas he had heard sowhere before.
Mu-yeong's head began to throb even more.
"Divine Dragon. I'm only asking just to be sure."
"……Whatever you're thinking, you're probably right."
"Oh, is that so? Really?"
He asked again just to confirm, and Divine Dragon opened his mouth with great effort.
"As you well know, Dan Jung-seon—he is the Alliance Leader of the Martial Alliance, revered as the God of Martial Arts……"
"……"
"Shaolin Temple Captain. He is Hyeon-baek, the Head Abbot of Shaolin Temple, said to be the living incarnation of Bodhidharma. Both of them are incredibly well known for donating absolutely obscene amounts……"
Bang!
Having just learned a truth he felt he should never have known, Mu-yeong slamd the table with a crash.
His fists trembling, he cried out toward the heavens.
"This isn't the Martial World I kneeeeew!!"
.
.
.
.
"Let's get so food in you first. Aren't you famished?"
"I have no appetite."
"In that case, shall I take you on a tour of Seoul? There's so much I'd like to show you……"
"Divine Dragon."
"Yes, First Young Lord."
The smile faded from U Ho-beop's lips as Mu-yeong's mood turned serious.
"The last image I have of you is of a cold-blooded man who looked as though you wouldn't bleed a drop even if soone poked your finger. So what on earth changed you so much?"
"First Young Lord. Do you rember what life in our Sect was like?"
"As vividly as if it were yesterday."
"If it's not too much trouble, could you tell ?"
Mu-yeong gathered his thoughts briefly and began to speak.
"I rose at the Hour of the Tiger—three to five in the morning—and started each day with ditative Breathing Cultivation. Once that was done, I went straight into training and swung my sword until I was on the verge of collapse. Every single day, without a single day of rest."
"Were there no leisure activities or hobbies for you?"
"Growing stronger was my one and only leisure and hobby."
"Just as I thought……"
Divine Dragon nodded as though he had expected exactly that.
Then, with a resolute expression, he leaned his body forward.
"First Young Lord. As I ntioned, this is a world from another dinsion. A great many things—one could almost say everything—are different from the Central Plains. Especially in terms of culture."
"Culture?"
"Think about it. We people of the Martial World would train all day long, then unwind from the day's efforts with liquor or food, would we not? And on the rare occasion we had leisure ti, we'd enjoy ourselves at the pleasure houses."
"We did."
"Liquor, won, food. At most, those three things were the end of it. But this place is different. There are countless things to enjoy here—the internet, television, gas, and so on. In other words."
"……"
"This is an environnt where even a martial artist of the strongest will cannot help but succumb to temptation."
As much as he hated to admit it, it was an undeniable truth.
Had he not just witnessed those Orthodox Sect elders with his own eyes?
The Head Abbot of Shaolin Temple and the Alliance Leader of the Martial Alliance, both fell apart in a re three years.
If even those who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts had co to that—the rest would only be worse, never less so.
The Demonic Heaven Sect was no exception, of course.
Mu-yeong let out a long breath and stole a sideways glance at the Smartphone.
The Iron Blood Witch was cheerfully talking about sothing with a bright expression on her face.
It was a look he had never once seen from her in the Martial World.
"Truly, one never knows what lies even a single step ahead in this life……. How did those who once could not wait to kill each other end up changing like this……"
He felt dizzy.
And yet, in a way, he was also curious.
Just what kinds of things had turned them into what they were now?
Sitting here and rely pondering it would get him nowhere.
The surest thing was, as always, to experience it firsthand.
As Mu-yeong rose from his chair, Divine Dragon rose with him.
"I will escort you. Just na your destination."
"First, I should pay my respects to the Sect Leader. Do you happen to know where he is?"
"The Sect Leader is currently traveling around the world."
"……Traveling around the world?"
"To be more precise, he is on an expedition searching for teorites. Rocks that fell from beyond the sky—apparently they fetch quite a high price on the market? He actually struck it big once before, too."
"……He was always soone who loved adventure. But if he left even you behind, Divine Dragon, he must have gotten completely swept up in it."
"He does send photographs from ti to ti. Three months ago, from sowhere called the Amazon—a picture of the Sect Leader looking absolutely carefree, riding on top of a crocodile while crossing a river……"
"Stop."
Having barely preserved the Heavenly Demon's shattered image, Mu-yeong forced himself to forget what had just been said.
Instead, he stroked his chin and began thinking over who he should go et.
'Who was soone I was on good terms with……'
Just then, Divine Dragon's Smartphone caught his eye.
At the sa ti, he thought of soone who had just shown him the most changed side of themselves.
"Alright. Let's go to the Iron Blood Witch first."
"Understood. Then could you wait just three minutes for ?"
Divine Dragon tapped away at his Smartphone and glanced around.
A short while later.
Screech!
A hunk of tal on wheels pulled up in front of Mu-yeong.
Divine Dragon naturally opened the door and politely gestured toward the inside.
"Please, get in. This is called a Taxi."
Footnote:
Zero-Two refers to the famous dance from the ani Darl*ng in the Fr*nXX—specifically the iconic hip-swaying dance that Zero-Two (the main character) performs. It beca a hugely popular internet and dance trend.
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