episode_0065

“You extorted money from me.”

“Huh?”

“I cannot forgive you. Come at me.”

“……”

In an instant, the surroundings fell silent.

Rin Soye and Jeok Hwaryeon, who were behind him, were equally surprised by Cheongun’s sudden actions.

No, he gave the money himself, so how could he say it was extorted?

Everyone’s face clearly showed bewilderment at Cheongun’s completely unexpected outrageousness.

Gang Hocheon protested with a bewildered expression.

“No, extorted?! Didn’t you, Great Hero-nim, give it to me yourself?!”

“It wasn’t given. I yielded to your threats and handed it over to save my life.”

At those words, Gang Hocheon was startled and urgently offered the silver pouch back to Cheongun.

“I don’t need it! Please take it back!”

“No.”

“What, how can you say that?!”

“Here it is.”

“What nonsense…”

“It makes sense.”

“It doesn’t make sense! Didn’t I clearly tell you multiple times that it was fine?!”

“Be quiet. Shut up. Just get beaten.”

Gang Hocheon was slowly getting enraged.

This crazy bastard, seriously!

There’s no absurdity like this absurdity.

There’s a limit to how much you can insist!

He’s even letting him go without taking the money, so why on earth is he being so absurd?!

Watching the scene, Rin Soye and Jeok Hwaryeon exchanged words between themselves.

“Tsk tsk, looking at it this way, he truly is a madman.”

“What’s new? Has it just been a day or two that our Sect Leader has been like this?”

“That’s true. He just barged into the Haomun Sect and adamantly insisted he was the Haomun Sect Leader.”

“Was it just the Haomun Sect? The Black Forest Sect was like that too. Oh, wait a minute. He wouldn’t possibly be thinking of taking over the Green Forest like this, would he?”

Rin Soye stroked her chin at Jeok Hwaryeon’s question.

“I wonder. No matter how crazy he is, wouldn’t that be difficult? The Seventy-Two Strongholds of the Green Forest are not a force to easily make enemies with.”

“Even so, aren’t they just bandits?”

“The Green Forest King is not just a bandit. He’s an absolute master who has transcended the wall.”

“But our Sect Leader is a madman who has transcended the wall?”

“That’s also true.”

At Rin Soye and Jeok Hwaryeon’s nonchalant conversation, the bandits’ faces turned pale.

What on earth is this situation?

No matter what, is he really thinking of making the entire Green Forest his enemy?

“Alright, let’s die.”

Regardless, Cheongun’s hand shot up to the sky.

The sword tip glinted in the sunlight and fell downwards.

Watching the descending blade, Gang Hocheon cried out in horror.

“Why on earth are you doing this?! Is it right to persecute an innocent junior like this?!”

“You talk a lot for someone who extorted my innocent silver.”

“I never extorted it!”

“No, you did extort it.”

“Didn’t I clearly say I would return it?!”

“That’s because I’m stronger than you. If I were weak, would you really have thought of returning it? I guarantee you wouldn’t have. Instead, you would have tried to kill me to steal even a single coin more. That’s what a bandit is. Isn’t it your main job to forcibly take from the weak and fill your own stomachs?”

At those words, Gang Hocheon flared up unknowingly.

“Isn’t the Great Hero-nim the same?!”

“Me? I extort the weak? When?”

“Aren’t you trying to extort us by force right now?!”

Cheongun shook his head.

“This isn’t extortion. It’s merely a desperate blood revenge to reclaim my stolen money. It’s something you could have avoided if you hadn’t extorted my money.”

“No, you forcibly gave it to me, so who extorted what?!”

“I merely yielded to your threats to hand over the toll fee.”

“Then what would you have done if I hadn’t taken it?!”

“You dared to ignore my sincerity, so I would have taken revenge for that.”

“Damn it all…”

That was when it happened.

Crackling!

From Cheongun’s entire body, materialized blue lightning energy surged forth.

“Gah!”

As soon as Gang Hocheon, who was closest, touched the blue lightning energy, he let out a gasp and fell backward.

Cheongun spoke with apparent regret.

“It might be hard to believe, but I truly don’t want to kill you.”

*Then why not just let me live?*

Reading Gang Hocheon’s thoughts, Cheongun continued.

“Even if I usually live without my wits about me, how could killing people be pleasant? But why am I so intent on killing you?”

“…Why?”

“That’s because you’re a pain in the ass. Why are you a pain in the ass? There are several reasons. It could be because your appearance is annoying, or perhaps because you blabbered nonsense in front of me just when I was in a good mood. But those are only secondary reasons; the biggest reason is that you are a bandit.”

“…It’s unfair. We don’t do this because we like it. To make a living, somehow…”

Cheongun scoffed.

“Nonsense. There’s only one reason you became bandits: it’s the most convenient. Your pride wouldn’t allow you to live begging like a beggar, and you weren’t satisfied with earning an honest living under someone else. That’s why, among countless options, you chose banditry. There’s nothing as convenient as preying on others.”

“……”

“Many choose the easy path over the right path among the many available. But even such people usually have a minimum standard. However, among them, there are those like you, for whom no such standard exists.”

Cheongun pointed at Gang Hocheon with his fingertip.

“People like you live solely for your own convenience, disregarding any standards. For now, you might just be sticking to banditry, but humans are adaptable creatures, and if even trashy deeds become familiar, they’ll start to see them as natural. The distinction between right and wrong disappears. At that point, you truly become a monster wearing human skin.”

At those words, Gang Hocheon protested as if choked up.

“…What on earth do you know to speak so easily?”

“I know a lot. It’s obvious that someone who knows how to beg so abjectly for his life to survive would resort to banditry simply because he dislikes earning an honest living under others.”

Cheongun clicked his tongue.

“More than anything, I have a deep connection with the Green Forest in many ways.”

“What does that…?”

Indeed, Cheongun and the Green Forest had a deep connection in many ways.

The time was, to be precise, his fresh 20s.

At that time, Cheongun wasn’t a veteran player, but merely a gamer who had just entered a game called Cheongpungjeon.

Of course, that path wasn’t easy.

Cheongpungjeon had a notorious ‘new player stopper,’ and that was the Green Forest.

What was a characteristic of ancient China?

It was the vast, vast size of the continent and the endlessly rising mountain ranges.

Therefore, whenever one traveled to another region, crossing mountains was commonplace. The problem was that every time, bandits would pop out and commit plunder, often shattering the morale of new users, including Cheongun.

Thanks to them, he ‘table-slammed’ his desk more than once or twice.

It was the same no matter which route he took.

As soon as he crossed the mountains, they would rush out and commit all sorts of plunder.

If they only extorted toll fees, it would be a blessing, but most were villains who wouldn’t hesitate to murder.

There’s simply no answer for bandits who prey on others.

These fellows from Unbong Mountain Stronghold were also ones he encountered multiple times in the original work.

Naturally, he was robbed extensively every time he encountered them.

It wasn’t just being robbed; every single time he encountered them, he was killed.

Thus, Cheongun’s conclusion was one:

“The only good bandit is a dead bandit.”

“……”

Cheongun strode closer.

With each step, the vibrant blue lightning energy flashed and crackled in the air.

The pressure of the thoroughly insane man, emanating killing intent as he walked, made him feel as if he would faint.

Gang Hocheon fell into thought.

That bastard has no intention of letting him live.

After exchanging a few words, he could be certain.

In fact, he had already expected it.

That’s why Gang Hocheon had already prepared a move.

“…”

As Gang Hocheon subtly winked, the bandits who had been hiding in the surrounding bushes secretly nodded and exchanged signals.

At that moment, the bandits swiftly moved behind Jeok Hwaryeon and Rin Soye, pressing knives to their throats.

Although the women seemed like martial artists from their aura, their level didn’t seem particularly impressive, and anyway, if even this didn’t work, Gang Hocheon had no recourse.

Sure enough.

Cheongun, seeing the scene, also stopped dead in his tracks and blinked.

*Did it work? Did it succeed?*

Gang Hocheon glanced at Cheongun, and just as he was about to smile triumphantly…

“!!!”

Jeok Hwaryeon extended her palm, and *splat*—! With a sound like a watermelon bursting, the bandit’s head exploded.

“……”

“……”

Gang Hocheon met Cheongun’s gaze.

As Gang Hocheon awkwardly chuckled, Cheongun also chuckled.

Ha ha.

Ha ha ha ha.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha…

“Great Hero-nim, first, if you would just listen to me…”

“Truly. I didn’t want to kill him.”

“If you just spare me this once, I’ll quit banditry and immediately go down the mountain…”

“It’s hot. Why is it so hot? I’m sweating, it’s sticky, and I feel a burning rage inside. I feel like I’m going crazy from the heat.”

“Great Hero-nim! I have committed a sin worthy of death! I swear to Heaven…”

Before he could even finish speaking.

Cheongun extended his palm, and the moment it touched the man’s face, *splat*—! With that sound, his head burst open like a watermelon.

A moment later, Cheongun looked up at the sky and said.

Snow was falling from the sky.

“…It’s summer.”

It was the first snow.