Episode 41

He spent the next three days eating and sleeping. Every morning, a healer would come to check on his condition and a young man—a servant or helper of some sort—would deliver his food.

On the fourth day his body was feeling lighter as he recovered.

On the fifth day, he was able to get out of bed. He’d devoted his time to studying combat and cultivation and the AI.

“The change in swordsmanship I saw… The combat power…” Seol-Hwi couldn’t get the memory of the AI fighting out of his head. It was more than inspiring, especially since the AI didn’t even use all of the techniques Seol-Hwi had.

- You hide in the land between the dead and just watch. You know what you really need right now?

It wasn’t something he could understand right then.

- You need greed.

Mad, desperate greed.

Maybe it would be different if he’d died in a better place, or had better martial arts. But now? It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime chance. He didn’t just want to get strong. Seol-Hwi wanted more.

“Combat power and martial arts aren’t important.”

Seol-Hwi examined himself in the mirror.

Paradoxically, his lives had increased but his desire to live had decreased. With so many lives, he felt like he could take risks; with one life, he had to make the best of what he had. His mental strength had weakened.

“He said three years.”

After three years of being a normal member, the Earth Demon had told him, he’d be made vice-leader.

“Before that, I’ll work with the AI and do well, even in areas no one is paying attention to.” He clenched his fists and looked down at the short sword lying at his side.

“But…” Seol-Hwi looked around. He could feel something outside.

To the right of the bed was a window. To the left was a mirror and a table. On the wall opposite to the window was a small table with a jade box under it, and there was a cupboard by the door.

Just as he pushed himself out of bed, a window popped up.

Usually, the save prompt appeared when he resolved some sort of situation; it was impossible to save otherwise.

Also, if he replaced one would it permanently disappear?

He chose the second slot; unlike the first and third, the second save wasn’t important.

I-it works?

Three years of rapid growth? It seemed this was a golden opportunity to grow his skills.

“Should I head out?” After spending a few days in bed, his body ached. Seol-Hwi wanted to clean up and practice. So he got up and went over to the door, but then he stopped again.

What is this? This window was both unexpected and too specific. He couldn’t just ignore it, either—time had stopped.

The 9th month of the 95th year… That sounded about right. And he had three years?

Seol-Hwi went back to examining his options.

That was fairly self-explanatory. Since he joined a new squad, he might be able to learn something brand-new.

Maybe there’d be a mission on the level of killing Shin Birant or similar. The rewards would be…

What does this mean? It said “training,” but that didn’t seem quite right. If it was, it would be like the martial arts option. So this wouldn’t be the sort of training you did in one place, but practicing something where he would have to move around.

Walk around? It looked so trivial—did it hold some secret? If he compared it to the other options, it surely couldn’t be so insignificant.

Seol-Hwi ended up going back to the first option.

Seol-Hwi’s eyes sparkled If I learn all of this… He didn’t know exactly what they were, but he had the feeling something great would happen. He’d be much stronger than before.

Also,

He wasn’t committed to learning martial arts yet.

First, I’ll look at all of them. He selected the second choice.

That was not an easy choice.

The third choice, this time.

Outside… That was fun. Two locations were outside the sect; the other was in Jianghu.

He went back to look at “Walk around.”

Well, now I get it.

He wound up choosing “Learn martial arts” like he was planning to do from the start.

Seol-Hwi chose the Iconic Martial Arts—he had to, in order to become a true member of the squad.

As soon as he made his choice, the door opened as if someone had been waiting for him to finish.

“Are you Seol-Hwi?”

“Yes…”

“I am Jeokpa,” the skinny middle-aged man told him. “I am the head of training and education here. Starting today, you will learn our iconic martial arts.” His face was flushed pink. “Follow me.”

As he left, Seol-Hwi took a peek around, checking to see if anyone else was there.

“What are you doing?”

Seol-Hwi followed Jeokpa out.

- How can he learn it all on the first day?

- I can’t believe it. How can you understand it so quickly?

- Are you saying you have the ability to imitate swordsmanship?

…

Seol-Hwi blinked and found himself in the hallroom. A month’s worth of training flooded into his head.

His abilities went up, and he got a new martial art.

This was no dream—he’d legitimately spent a month learning martial arts with Jeokpa.

(2/36) instead of (1/36); 10th month instead of 9th month. A month had passed in the blink of an eye.