Investigating the Tae Young Sect

The surrounding sounds were utterly silent.

Not even the usual chirping of insects could be heard. There was no sound of wind either.

Sabeok- Sabeok-

Only my footsteps echoed clearly.

Recovering the stakes was proceeding smoothly.

Pulling the stakes out of the ground wasn’t difficult, and there were no monsters hindering me.

It was the moment I was about to pull out the 15th stake.

“Stop.”

A group appeared not far from the stake.

They all wore familiar yet strange attire.

A warrior with a sword and a shaman holding a wooden staff.

And a special named individual who seemed to be leading them.

[Tae Young Sect Elder Jin Yang]

“Do you even know what you’re doing?”

I didn’t know where this Tae Young Sect was, but I could tell from the story that those who had driven these stakes were members of that sect.

I nodded and finished pulling out the stake stuck in the ground.

“Pulling out the stakes.”

Ppok!

The stake that came out with a *ssuk* sound was wrapped in a blue aura.

When I shook off the dirt, the aura scattered along with it.

“You bastard! Didn’t I tell you to stop!”

Jin Yang seemed greatly insulted by my actions, his face reddening as he raised his voice.

He’s a man with a lot of anger. I tilted my head and asked him back.

“Why should I stop?”

“Of course…”

“Of course?”

“… You’re not from around here, are you…”

Jin Yang seemed to notice my attire only then, letting out a small groan and trailing off.

I threw the stake into my inventory and drew my sword.

Seureureung-

The enemies were greatly startled by the clearly audible sword’s cry and drew their weapons.

Jin Yang frowned as if displeased by my actions and said.

“Drawing your weapon in front of our Tae Young Sect. Are you out of your mind? Since you’re an outsider and don’t know the situation, I’ll give you a chance to beg for forgiveness.”

“Aren’t you here to fight? You talk too much.”

This situation was also part of the quest.

I took a low breath and glared at the enemies.

Jin Yang’s face became even redder. It was like looking at a bright red apple.

It was a forest where not even the wind blew.

But at this moment, the wind returned, albeit faintly.

Saak-

It was the moment the coolly flowing wind concealed its presence.

At Jin Yang’s gesture, the enemies began to move.

Warriors spreading out in all directions, and shamans taking their positions behind them.

And Jin Yang also drew his weapon.

His weapon was a folding fan called a Jeopseon.

The first attack was the warriors’ slash.

I twisted my body to deflect the attacks flying through the air.

The moment the blade that grazed my cheek flashed, I also swung my sword.

Deflect and cut. Retreat and cut again.

It was the moment I dealt with two warriors who had approached closely.

The moment Jin Yang waved his fan, a white wind poured out from within.

Fast and sharp. The widely sweeping attack was quite threatening.

I immediately retreated and jumped into the air.

The sharp wind that spread widely cut through the place where I had been standing.

This situation itself started to become enjoyable.

As expected, Wuxia is better than fantasy.

If I used skills, I could clear the situation more quickly, but right now, I wanted to fully enjoy this situation.

The moment my body, which had landed lightly on the ground, wobbled slightly, the next attack flew in.

A sword strike flying towards my neck, and a shaman’s barrage flying from the opposite side.

My body moves like flowing water, reacting to all those attacks.

My slightly twisted body dodged the sword by a hair’s breadth, and the sword that belatedly struck upwards cut through the shaman’s barrage.

The movement didn’t stop there. The sword, which soared into the sky, shook like a snake and began to move, aiming for its next prey.

Swish-!

It shoots out quickly. Like a snake aiming for its prey.

Kwajik!

The warrior’s head flies off from the attack that strikes down from above.

A disturbing pain begins to rise from inside my head.

My vision expands, and I begin to see the entire situation more broadly.

It was time to unleash movements different from the hunting methods I had relied on with skills.

The moment I recalled the memories of the arena tournament, the sword moved.

The sword, thrust forward, deflected the warrior’s attack outwards, breaking his stance.

Immediately after, my left foot extends out, penetrating the warrior’s body.

The opponent’s solar plexus touches my greatly extended shoulder.

The warrior cannot swing his sword. There wasn’t even enough time to recover it.

Because he had brushed the sword aside, his upper body was wide open.

I put strength into the hand holding the sword and pull it straight up.

The sword covered in dark magic pierced the warrior’s chest.

I felt it as I used the swordsmanship I had woven myself.

It wasn’t perfect yet. The more I used it, the more I felt that there were gaps between the movements.

This was because it was a swordsmanship created by lumping together things I had seen and copied.

I move and learn alone. This situation itself had become a place of learning.

“Hat!”

I even feel pleasure. The pure white pain stimulating my head began to make my movements more sharp and natural.

Hwiik-!

The wind that had stopped began to move.

There is only one person who can move the wind in this place.

It’s Jin Yang. He waved his fan.

Shwaaaak-!

Transparent blades of wind began to fly in, as if grinding the ground.

It’s the same attack as before. The moment I recognized that fact, my short legs were already kicking off the ground.

Pat-! My body, which jumped into the air, rotated slightly and landed on a distant tree.

The greatly swaying branch was precarious, as if it would break.

The enemies’ attacks did not stop. It was because I had not reduced the number of shamans because I was focused on the warriors.

The talismans flying towards me contained faint lightning.

I jump once again. The moment I kicked off the branch, a talisman stuck to that spot and unleashed a brilliant lightning strike.

Kwajijik-!

It’s light. It felt like I was flying through the sky.

It wasn’t actually different. My body, which was shot out quickly, flew straight towards Jin Yang.

The moment I landed on the ground, the warriors began to run towards me, and the shamans’ wooden staffs pointed towards me.

So did Jin Yang’s fan.

It’s a slow and awkward movement. The moment I recognized that fact, my eyebrows twitched greatly.

The spirit that had been immersed in the state awakens in an instant. I recognized this world itself as a game once again.

At that moment, my body was using skills familiarly without hesitation.

The moment faint lightning sparked from my arm stretched high into the sky, black lightning fell around me.

Kwareureureung!

The shamans who had surrounded me fell in an instant, and Jin Yang, who was holding the fan, was also staggering back as if twisting his body.

“W-wait a moment…”

Jin Yang began to spit black blood from his mouth.

But I didn’t stop attacking. I slammed the ground with my sword along with my left foot that moved forward greatly.

Kwang!

I use all the skills I hadn’t been using.

A long stream of magic spewed out from the sword, and the continuous sword strikes of the [Rampage] skill tore through the air.

Kwajajajak!

Jin Yang’s body fell to the ground along with the warriors who were running towards me.

I let out a low breath as I looked at that sight.

They are characters who only appear briefly in the main quest. This also meant that high-performance AI had not been set for these guys.

The immersion was broken. The fun was gone.

I felt a deep regret.

Of course, I had fun playing until the very last moment. The reason I woke up from this immersion must be because I didn’t concentrate.

I stop moving and exhale.

My spirit sinks heavily at the low breath.

I begin to immerse myself again.

The breath is cut short. The wind that had stopped began to blow again.

I could feel a vitality in that wind that hadn’t been there before.

Thanks to pulling out the stakes, the energy around here was returning.

I felt it instinctively. That I needed more information about the Tae Young Sect.

“Eureureung!”

At that moment, a wolf jumped out and showed off its presence.

Because I hadn’t performed a reverse summon, it was still wandering around this area.

I went around the village again with the wolf and collected the stakes that I hadn’t recovered yet.

I had achieved the conditions set by Old Man Heo. I immediately returned to the village.

Old Man Heo was standing where we had talked earlier.

As always, he would never move from this spot.

I approached Old Man Heo and held out the stakes.

“I’ve pulled them all out.”

“… Y-you mean, all of these?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you happen to meet anyone while pulling them out?”

“I did.”

“T-then…”

“And they’re all dead.”

Old Man Heo’s gaze shook greatly.

He didn’t seem to believe me.

Tuk- Ttadadang-!

I threw the stakes at Old Man Heo’s feet.

Whether he believed me or not, I had fulfilled all the conditions.

“I want to know about the Tae Young Sect.”

“T-this…”

After hesitating for a moment, Old Man Heo finally began to tell me all the information.

He, who had been active as a scholar in the Imperial Palace, knew many stories.

An unprecedented great famine had arrived. The rain did not fall, so the crops began to die, and the wide rivers and endless wells also began to dry up. It was a natural consequence that the people were starving to death.

A great misfortune had befallen the country itself.

Everyone thought so.

The emperor, who ruled the country, believed that the responsibility lay with him.

The emperor was a wise ruler who cared for his people. But he made the wrong choice.

He brought the Myeonggyo people into the Imperial Palace.

“Did those Myeonggyo bastards cloud the emperor’s eyes?”

“Yes, they were the ones who came saying they could make it rain. At first, they didn’t even have religious overtones.”

“So, did it really rain?”

“If it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have believed it. It really rained, it poured down a lot.”

How could you not believe it when they showed the miracle of making it rain.

The emperor began to cling to them. He brought them the sacrifices they needed and created a place for them in the Imperial Palace to stay.

As time passed, it was thought that the misfortune that had come to the country had been completely removed.

But that wasn’t the case. They had only covered the great misfortune that had come to the country with their hands.

The drought was still continuing in places that could not be seen.

The drought did not disappear because all the energy scattered throughout the world was being concentrated in the Imperial Palace.

“The emperor closed his ears and covered his eyes. He only saw what he wanted to see. As a result, the Myeonggyo people took control of the Imperial Palace, and by then, there was no one left to stop them.”

“What about you? Didn’t you do anything?”

“Me? What could I do? I’m just a powerless old man who writes or something.”

The moment Old Man Heo finished speaking, the quest was updated.

[Investigating the Tae Young Sect]

Go to the Tae Young Sect, which has a close relationship with Myeonggyo, and investigate. 0/1

The situation was serious. If left unchecked, this world itself might disappear.

It was the moment I was about to leave the village and run to the Tae Young Sect.

[Hey! Mom says dinner’s ready!]

“D-dinner…!”

[It’s chicken tonight!]

The voice heard from outside the capsule was Harang’s voice.

If I skip dinner, I’ll get scolded by Mom. Then I wouldn’t be able to play the game.

I quickly ended the game.