episode_0004

The water in the bathtub was cloudy and overflowing.

My body, which had not been washed properly for two years, screamed as if warm water was not suitable for my constitution. I made a bowl with my hands and rubbed it on my neck and chest.

Every time I roughly applied soap and rubbed, black dirt fell out, as if I was erasing brightly colored paper with an eraser. At the same time, my eyes were focused on the wanted badge I had brought from the previous guest room.

The wanted badges offering a bounty for catching the thieves included the amounts of 30 nyang and 50 nyang respectively. According to Jeomsoi, in order to join a well-known sect in this powerful lake, you need dozens of hermits, so if you can wipe out all of them, you can take 30 nyangs of hermits and run straight to any sect.

Then you learn martial arts from a clan, and from there, you step up the stairs one by one and finally reach the top?

“Write… .”

But I couldn’t help but frown and click my tongue at the thought I just had. Is it really that easy to go back? Is there not a single thief in this powerhouse where martial arts masters are rampant? Is it really okay to blindly join a group of thieves?

There is nothing noble about money.

30 nyang of eunja is also 30 nyang of eunja to a martial arts expert.

At best, if they were to be exterminated by a simpleton who only learned Geumnasu, other nearby sects would have already eaten them and eliminated them. 30 nyang of silver is quite a lot of money. The fact that they survived until it took 30 nyang for Eunja means that they are picky guys who can’t make ends meet even with 30 nyang for masters.

So I needed to change the direction of my thinking. Because you don’t have to kill all the thieves to make money. Looking at the wanted thieves, there were those who went on a rampage with three-digit numbers of people, while others operated in groups of dozens.

I didn’t know how the thieves’ income structure worked, but it was clear that the monthly operating expenses alone would be quite a lot to feed all of them.

If so, these guys must have some money piled up in their warehouses.

And I have Amwolbo, a light technique specialized for running away.

The nympho who gave me the secret didn’t just write down how to have sex. I also wrote down how to escape from a master, including how to hide your energy and how to hide.

The thieves are people who have enough sense to run rampant in the martial arts world, but on the other hand, they are people who make a living in this powerhouse by stealing. If he had real skills, he would have become a sect instead of a thief.

Still, just in case, I put away the thieves’ wanted notice worth 30 nyang. No matter what, it would be unreasonable for me to jump right into the lair of these guys with my current skills. Could it be that no one has ever thought like me?

It was right to aim low and prey on the weak first. My eyes turned to the other wanted books.

Is there anyone I can eat?

******

“Are you talking about Seokcheon? It’s quite far from here. You can just go straight towards Sacheon… . I’m also a native of this area, so I don’t know much about it. If you follow the road, you will probably know people.”

The wanted badge I am holding in my hand is worth 1 silver coin.

Jeomsoi didn’t show anything and was just telling me where I needed to go. Since I also had nothing to worry about, I listened to Jeomsoi’s explanation with a confident face.

I wasn’t scared.

I simply lowered my goal a little to prepare for any unexpected situation. 20 nyang of eunja is still a bit dangerous. Because the 10-nyang thieves seemed to be too far away from here.

Besides, I still don’t know the level of martial artists in this neighborhood. It was right to first select the weakest-looking bandit group, assess its level, and then move on in earnest.

I was never scared.

“Hey.”

Jeomsoy was startled when I called him and bowed his head and said,

“Oh my, why, why are you like that? Daehyup”

“Hmm. Yes.”

Yes, because I am Daehyup.

I nodded, satisfied with the title Jeomsoi called me.

I felt like I could sleep well tonight.

******

The next morning. I turned in the direction going down. I wore clothes that were provided separately by the guesthouse. It wasn’t luxurious because it was the clothes worn by the staff at the guest house, but there was no better way to dress to go to the thieves.

On the way down, I saw people walking towards the volcano. With faces full of anticipation, they were looking towards the peak that shined sharply even in the sea of clouds. I followed their gaze and looked at the looming peak of the volcano.

“Wow, it’s shining! Light!”

“Volcano, wait! Here we go!”

Contrary to people’s fuss, I didn’t feel anything.

I shrugged my shoulders and walked away.

The sun was rising in the direction I was walking.

I walked, thinking it was like walking into the light.

******

“Yeom disease.”

Going from near the volcano to Seokcheon (石泉) was not something that could be done just to get some fresh air, nor was it something that could be done in an instant.

I was sitting on the side of a mountain, lighting a bonfire, and sighing.

Since I couldn’t check the map in real time, my journey felt slow and frustrating, like a snail’s pace.

If you use the Cancer Month Walk, you can run straight in an instant. However, my internal strength is at a low level, so I cannot go that far. Moreover, if you waste your energy with dark moonwalking, you will have no choice but to die without being able to do anything when a ‘guest’ comes during the night.

Thanks to this, I had been moving very slowly on foot all this time, and there was no promise of reaching Seokcheon.

I looked at the stars in the sky and made a wish that I would arrive in Seokcheon or a nearby village tomorrow.

“Oh my.”

At that time, a rustling sound was heard nearby. I didn’t know where I had come, but I knew that I wasn’t anywhere near that damn Seokcheon.

However, the central plain is large and many animals live in the mountains.

Guests, captivated by the warmth of the bonfire, suddenly popped their heads in and greeted me, regardless of my will.

“Uhihihi… !”

“Oh my, I’ll be better. Are you alone?”

They were thieves.

The road seemed rough and deserted, but before I knew it, I had entered a forest where thieves roamed around. I tried to remember the faces of the thieves I saw from the wanted book, but in a world where even the faces of the leaders were drawn with ink, there was no way I could draw the faces of such lowly people in detail.

A bald man with a scar on his face and one eye missing.

And a skinny henchman stabbing the air with a dagger.

And another henchman standing quietly behind him holding a long sword.

When I looked out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the three people were strangely organized, so I wondered if they belonged to some organization.

“What are you guys?”

While stoking the bonfire, I picked up the poker that was next to me. The charred tip scattered sparks into the air, creating a red afterimage and erasing it.

The robber blinked at that sight and said with a smile. The light reflected on his face, making him look like a ghost from a late-night drama in the 90s.

“We are green forests.”

When he introduced himself like that, it sounded pretty cool.

Of course, Noklim is actually a bandit, so it was no different from introducing ourselves as ‘we are nothing special’.

I said, tilting the poker on the floor.

“Who is this bastard from Green Forest? I guess there isn’t just one creditor?”

The robber seemed offended by my remark, but surprisingly he responded obediently.

“This is Unho Chaeju, who is in charge of 68 seats in Noklip Seventy-Two Houses. The bounty on his head alone is five nyang! If you’re from this area, you’ve probably heard the name, right?”

There are 68 seats.

It’s a really difficult location to remember.

Even though I could remember the name Unho, I didn’t think I would remember how many seats Unho had in the future.

But when I say here that I don’t know such a bastard, I’m asking for a fight.

I have no weapons, and I have no money to offer if I get screwed.

Those guys are bandits that most ordinary people have dealt with, and they even know where their base is.

Besides, I was planning to rob the bandits’ stronghold and run away anyway, so wouldn’t it be nice if they came back on their own like this? The bounty on his head was five silver nyang. It was higher than the one-nyang price I was aiming for, but it seemed like there was enough room to squeeze in.

I decided to change my plan.

“Ah! Unho Chaeju! It’s so rewarding to follow his reputation!”

So I opened my mouth wide, looked really happy, and said that.

They were looking at each other with puzzled expressions, and I threw down the poker and said,

“I am a student of a small sect in front of here, and I was tired of living a life of only training, so I ran out to try some stealing. After hearing about the reputation of Unho Chaeju, who is here, I came here to study under him.”

“Do you steal?”

I stepped back, putting energy into my hands. The thieves flinched for a moment, but looked relieved when I widened the distance between them. I hit the tree with all my strength right in front of them.

bang!

As the fairly thick tree twisted with a cracking sound, the robber whistled and said,

“Oh.”

I said.

“Is this enough to be useful? I want to meet Chaeju.”

The Green Forest Islanders exchanged glances with each other.

I clenched my fists and waited for their next move.

Would they be happy to be visited by a stranger?

As much as I believe in fate, I wanted them to also have faith in coincidence and heaven.

If it doesn’t work out, it’s a disaster.