episode_0042

*** ***

“Hey brother, please take care of me today as well.”

A whole day passed while I was worrying about it, and I finally faced Dangdogyeong and Yabawipan with open eyes.

All night long, I thought about several hypotheses that had not been passed down from yesterday’s realization.

The first premise to make clear was that enlightenment does not change.

In the 10 years I’ve been playing, there has never been a time when enlightenment didn’t work. After taking the Enlightenment Quiz and memorizing the enlightenments of useful characters, most of the characters I recruited as companions had enlightenment instilled in them right away. There was no character whose enlightenment changed.

The first hypothesis was that there was a change in the reality of the martial arts world.

However, this part was also persuasive, so I thought about it for quite a long time, but I could only shake my head.

For two years, I did everything I could to get beyond second-rate. I took elixirs, tried all kinds of tricks to create the phenomenon of prosperous energy… I tried to use everything imaginable that could be realized to try to make a hole in the world of martial arts that had become reality, but I never saw even that hope.

If the reality of the martial arts world had changed, I would have had no choice but to feel that change during those two years. Wasn’t the reason I wasted two years of nonsense because I invested the time with confidence in the thought that “now that it has become a reality, something has changed and I can take advantage of it?”

This is the result of two years of risk-taking. This law of martial arts world is so strong that Ho Cheon-an, a 10-year-old old man, failed even if he tried with all his might to circumvent it.

It was nonsense for enlightenment to change now.

So why? Didn’t Tang Dao-gyeong gain enlightenment after reading yesterday’s text?

‘It could be because of the writing.’

The second hypothesis is that yesterday’s delivery method was wrong.

[Hidden Piece] is the one that delivers enlightenment through chat.

The principle of martial arts, that is, the group cannot be considered to be understood simply by reading the sentences.

If one were to unconditionally acquire the principles of martial arts just by reading them, the greatest master of the martial arts world would become a martial arts leader or a Shaolin scholar.

Reading and understanding are different things.

Let’s think of it as a mathematical theory.

Could you solve the problem just by reading mathematical theory? It sounds absurd. I just read the text, but I don’t understand the meaning at all, and it’s a mathematical theory. If you solve problems and apply formulas, you may be able to [understand] the theory someday.

The same goes for martial arts.

This is because those who understand the principles of martial arts the moment they see them have laid the foundation for understanding these principles of martial arts underneath them. I understood it as soon as I heard it because I just happened to have all the pieces in place.

Could it be said that the definition of [Enlightenment delivered through chat] is that it allows each character to unconditionally acquire [The Principle of Martial Arts], which corresponds to [Enlightenment]?

Chatting in games is the voice of reality.

So, does this mean that Dang Do-gyeong can only be realized if it is conveyed orally?

“Hey, you look tired… How about skipping today’s Yabawi?”

“No, not really.”

Even if you do it, it’s okay if you don’t stop. Until yesterday.

Although there is a strong hypothesis that enlightenment cannot be achieved unless it is conveyed through voice, that too is nothing more than my prediction. In fact, the action of [delivering enlightenment through words] is an action that is not supported by the game’s interface.

Even though Murim World is a god game with a high degree of freedom, it is not possible to implement all actions possible in reality into the game.

Why would a character need to write their own sentences in a game? All you have to do is provide choices in the interface.

So, I also developed a third hypothesis.

If there was no problem with enlightenment, there must have been a problem with yourself.

Isn’t Tang Dao-gyeong currently in a state where he can’t accept something? So, would you say it is a state of half-listening? In situations where you can’t focus on something or anything else at all, you can’t tell what the person next to you is saying no matter how much they talk. If you think about something else, the words you lose do not remain as information in your brain.

Even if they look fine on the outside, they may be in a state of so much internal psychological conflict that they are unable to accept information. It is also an environment where such a situation can occur.

This rough board was a good opportunity to test it out.

This is an opportunity to find out right away if your sugar level is not in a normal state.

“This place.”

The cup pointed out by Dang Do-gyeong contained dice.

“Ho, are you finally winning?”

Tang Dao-gyeong’s eyes wavered. There was a hint of anger in the way Tang Do-gyeong looked at me, but I smiled shamelessly.

“Hey brother, we didn’t agree to do our best for each other.”

“Of course, I did my best. Isn’t that why you got it right?”

“This was not my skill.”

“Luck is also part of gambling.”

“You know very well that I am not saying that!”

“Dang hyung. How many rounds of Yabawi do you think we’ve played now? Haven’t you played hundreds of rounds? Why did you not win a single game in which you only had to choose one out of four?”

Of course, it was because Tang Dao-gyeong was focused until the end and was eventually deceived by me. If you repeat ignorance, you can’t get this result unless you’re really cheating, in which all the glasses don’t contain dice.

“It is…”

“I guess it’s because I focused on my hand at the gambling table rather than on the logic of gambling. In gambling, where the normal goal is to win one out of four rounds, Brother Dan, who had lost all of his games, now has a winning percentage of .255, so he has progressed as a gambler.”

Tang Dao-gyeong’s eyes wavered. It was because I handed over the blood jade rain.

“This is a fair game…”

“Is that something you decide?”

Dang Do-gyeong kept his mouth shut at my criticism.

“Aren’t we making a bet? On the first day, I took care of Brother Tang quite a bit. Every time, Danghyung noticed it like a ghost and got angry and didn’t pick the cup. So, the next day and the next day, I fought with all my might without paying attention to my brother, and it is the same today.”

“I didn’t show any attention to my brother. Nevertheless, the fact that you won today is probably because you won through luck rather than skill. Isn’t a game left to chance a game? I chose the cup myself and won, so how can I claim invalidity?”

Dang Do-gyeong was unable to concentrate on winning. I didn’t fall for the trick of my conversion and chose the empty glass, but I just missed it midway and couldn’t even guess where it was on the dice, so I just chose to take the shot and got caught.

It was evidence that his mind was being diverted elsewhere.

So I decided to try shock therapy. It gives you blood jade rain and makes you aware of your condition so you can recover…

After thinking about it, Tang Dao-gyeong silently took the blood jade monument back and put it back on the plate.

“Now that I think about it… Hey, since you’ve taken a look at me too, how about we start competing for real from now on?”

I thought for a moment. Which option should Tang Dao-gyeong return to normal? Gambling is surprisingly stressful. The more large amounts of money are exchanged, the more burdensome it becomes as well as the excitement.

“Good. Then how about this? Blood jade rain and 100 nyang of gold. Put that on the line and have a final match at the moment Brother Dong wants, and the winner takes it. I’m too shy to show my sincerity to a novice gambler, and you probably need time to grow.”

“Haha, you said the odds were 1/4 yourself, so why are you suggesting this kind of gamble?”

“It is an iron rule for a swindler not to do anything that will result in loss. Where would you like to respond?”

“Of course.”

“Then let’s start practicing.”

An hour of practice time has passed.

Tang Dao-gyeong has defeated me several times.

I felt like special measures would be needed.

*** ***

The inference that Hocheonan, a Sichuan nang, was somehow connected to [Gijinibo Hocheonan] made the black cat into a Sacheon nang.

Because that fact alone was exciting. However, if you dig a little deeper, there is nothing as ambiguous as the word enlightenment.

Can you give enlightenment to others? When you just heard it, it couldn’t have been a very tempting statement, but when you put it into reality, it was a different story.

The expectations that martial artists have for enlightenment are infinitely high. In just a single moment, one’s level rises, masters martial arts, and learns new principles of martial arts… However, there are not many such realizations in the world.

‘There is a special level of enlightenment, a level 1 level of enlightenment… There is no set level of enlightenment.’

Even though it wasn’t a big deal, I was literally walking down the street and suddenly realized the martial arts principle of turning my wrist, and that was another enlightenment.

When you realize such a small principle of martial arts, you humbly say that you have mastered the principles of martial arts, but people say, ‘Oh, you have achieved enlightenment and made progress in martial arts. ‘Congratulations!’ is bound to be said.

For Ho Cheon-an, who was hit by a truck, [enlightenment] and [the principles of martial arts] were conceptually separated, but not for the people of this world of martial arts. The law of martial arts was simply enlightenment, and enlightenment was the law of martial arts.

If you can see enlightenment, which is not a big deal, how is it any different from just being a master? When you learn martial arts from a master, you will naturally learn the principles of martial arts.

This ambiguity stimulated the curiosity of the black cat and was the reason why he stayed next to Hocheonan, pretending to become the best Sichuan ronin. There was also a calculation that if Ho Cheon-an could truly impart enlightenment, he might at least give enlightenment to his immediate junior.

‘I was wondering if you might have given enlightenment to a person named Kang Jun of Taegyeongmun…’

I thought that the small enlightenment that had been given to me without knowing it until now was so small that it was not noticeable. When I investigated Taegyeongmun, it wasn’t there at all. It is said that Kang-Jun has not achieved anything despite receiving all kinds of support from the clan due to his sudden rise in popularity.

‘It was fun so far, so I just watched.’

Life as a Sichuan ninja, who is dynamic every day, was very enjoyable for the black cat. To the black cat, Hocheonan was a skein of thread that showed a new appearance the more it rolled.

I knew from information that Ho Cheon-an frequented gambling dens. In the end, you lose everything and become penniless. I didn’t pay much attention because I thought I made a big bet and lost everything due to frequent mistakes in technique or poor judgment.

‘I thought I had tried to run away from fame after getting hit hard at Yeongsangru and failed.’

That’s what Black Cat thought when she heard about the commotion in Yeongyangru. Now that there’s a commotion, I guess I’ll have to gamble and run away. Then, I failed and thought I was stranded in Rongin Gaekjan.

A gambler who lost while trying to win. I thought it was just like that.

From what Black Cat saw for himself, Ho Cheon-an’s gambling skills were not at a level where it was possible to lose money at a gambling table.

Even though I watched from behind the closest during the shaman performance, I couldn’t properly understand how to use that move, and I was completely fooled in the Yabawi version.

What next? Didn’t Tang Do-gyeong play around for an entire hour even though he used his eye power to the point where the veins in his eyes burst?

A gambler who cuts off his nose loses money at a gambling table even though the ultimate expert has his eyes open? You must have lost it.

But why?

It made sense that I always lost money. Because there were many people who wanted to remain as experts in the outside world without revealing themselves. But what about Yeongyangru’s version? Why did he lose the game that made him a gambling legend? Wasn’t this a plan to make money to run away?

Why did you lose after setting the stakes so high? After witnessing Hu Tianan’s gambling skills, Black Cat was unbearably curious about the matter and conducted further investigation. A thorough investigation was conducted to the extent that they even found out the color of the underwear of the spectators at the gambling table that day.

‘In the end, I guess I saved the demon’s life.’

There were countless clues that could reveal the fate of Ho Cheon-an’s gambling defeat. Ho Cheon-an, who had been to the gambling table countless times, met a murderer at the door, a demon with the countenance of a dead man, and noticed the gaze of Young Yeong-ru-ju, who was looking at him with murderous eyes.

Above all, the ending of the game was so irrational and dramatic.

He felt weak and saved the demon’s life.

Black Cat had no choice but to come to that conclusion.

‘It’s Literature Day…’

Black Cat looked at the phrase that Ho Cheon-an had written. Is that the enlightenment that can be conveyed to Tang Do-gyeong? When Dang Do-gyeong heard that he had read all the words, he looked like the sky was falling, and he groaned all day…

Then, as if some kind of wind had blown again, the witchcraft performance began.

“Now, Tungso is perfect!”

“No?”

“How can it be Tungso again!”

It was Ho Cheon-an’s tearful effort to somehow relieve Dang Do-kyung’s stress.

“Now Jeongsam, I’m giving you a special opportunity! Even if others see it, don’t say anything! Now take a good look! In which hand are the dice or not?”

Hu Tianan put his hand into the pocket and separated it with a clever hand movement.

“This way.”

“Wrong. Once again.”

Once again, they were separated with clever hand movements, and Jeongsam was unable to guess them again.

“Now, take a really, really good look this time!”

He made exaggerated hand gestures and threw the dice behind Jeongsam. The magic helper, Black Cat, quietly took the dice.

“This way!”

“Haha, you’re wrong again. See you well.”

When Ho Cheon-an opened his hands, of course there were no dice.

“No it?!”

Unlike Jeongsam, who is jumping up and down in surprise, the Ronins are busy holding back their laughter. Ho Cheon-an was relieved to see Dang Do-gyeong smiling secretly, and then glared at Jeong-sam, who was persistently searching through his sleeves.

“Uh-huh! really. I’ll take it all away.”

“This can’t be happening.”

Ho Cheon-an, who had lifted his clothes up to his shoulders and exposed his entire forearms, muttered in a gloomy voice.

“Actually, I put the dice from earlier into your ear because you didn’t believe in magic. Uh huh! Don’t touch your ears! You could get hurt!”

“Oh, how can dice fit into a person’s ears! Even without your knowledge!”

“Huh, I guess I’ll believe it only if this person brings it up. Don’t move, because something could go wrong when you take out the dice.”

While Jeongsam was frozen in shock, Ho Cheon-an’s hand went behind his ear, and Black Cat quietly placed the dice in Ho Cheon-an’s hand.

“Ta-da! I see dice coming out of your ears.”

“Oh, how could this happen! There was nowhere to hide, but dice really came out of my ears!”

“Puhahahaha!!!”

“Wahahahahah!!”

The Ronins couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter at the sight of Jeongsam jumping up and down with his eyes popping out. Dang Do-kyung is also slapping his knees and smiling.

‘Once you laugh, talk, and have fun, most of your worries will disappear.’

Ho Cheon-an, who had planned a witchcraft performance to relieve Tang Dao-gyeong’s worries, breathed a sigh of relief. Humans are simple creatures, so no matter how fundamental the cause is, when the current emotion calms down, the mind is bound to empty accordingly.

‘Finishing the performance. Let’s just eat something delicious for lunch and then try to get him to look at the text again.’

With that in mind, I was about to end the performance.

“Brother!”

A person from the Tang family broke into the guest house.