A great war loomed.
The entire Daejeon was plunged into a darkness so profound that the numerous flower lanterns hung along the walls could barely hold it at bay.
Soft, measured footsteps echoed.
Someone crossed the center of the grand hall, their gait a careful balance of confidence and caution.
Sreuk.
The footsteps ceased. The man knelt, his movements slow and deliberate.
“May the Shin-ang be invincible, and fortune favor all demons. The Great Protector of Shingyo requests an audience with the Cheonma.”
A low voice sliced through the darkness.
After a moment’s silence, a presence stirred.
Wooooow.
From the deepest shadows of the Taesa’s dais, a pair of phosphorescent blue lights ignited. It was a gaze so unsettling, so alien, that a man of weak constitution might suffer a seizure just from meeting it.
“What is it?” The voice rumbled, a low growl that seemed to vibrate in the very stones of the hall.
Cold sweat trickled down the kneeling man’s neck. Just hearing that voice was enough to make his entire body tense. The presence radiating from the owner of those blue eyes was overwhelming.
The man bowed his head even lower.
“I have something to report.”
A soft, vaporous smoke began to rise from the floor around the dais. The displeasure of the Cheonma was palpable, a silent, chilling miasma.
The Great Protector understood. He could not presume to comprehend the Cheonma, but he understood the circumstances. The undisputed Martial God of Shingyo, the strongest of war gods, was on the cusp of ascending to an even higher realm. To be interrupted at such a critical juncture was infuriating.
“Speak.”
The man sighed inaudibly with relief.
“The Sam-wang has awakened.”
“The third one?”
“Yes. However…”
“…”
“He has lost all of his martial arts due to the strain of his cultivation.”
The ensuing silence was brief, but heavy.
“Great Protector.”
“Speak, Cheonma.”
“Do not bring me any more reports until my three months of seclusion have ended.”
“…As you command.”
“Leave.”
“Yes. But before I go, what is your will concerning the Sam-wang?”
The blue phosphorescence vanished. No answer came.
The man kept his head bowed to the empty darkness.
“I sincerely pray for your great success.”
How much time passed after the man departed?
Flash!
The phantom blue lights flared for a single, brilliant instant, like a bolt of lightning trapped within the hall.
Now, let’s recount the facts.
Three sword wounds to the stomach. Four spear thrusts in the back. Seven arrows embedded in my thighs and buttocks.
My left arm was torn off by the claws of some feral outcast, and my right leg was hacked away by a late-arriving leader of the Cheong-ui Dongmaeng. Countless lesser wounds riddled my body, and my spine had been shattered by a mace from an unknown assailant.
These were fatal injuries that not even a primordial celestial could survive. Even Daerasinseon would have declared me dead on sight.
After all, I am only human. It was only right that I died.
And I did. I even remember that crazy bitch tearing my head from my shoulders like a leg from a roasted chicken.
Yes. I am dead.
And yet.
“Seo-gongja, is your temperature acceptable?”
Pat, pat.
“Seo-gongja, it is time for your decoction.”
Gulp.
“Seo-gongja, it is time for your massage.”
Oh, that’s nice.
“Seo-gongja, it is time for your acupuncture.”
…
“Master Seo-gongja… Master Seo-gongja…”
“…Stop.”
“Yes?”
“Stop it. Now.”
“Yes?”
“Just… leave me alone.”
“Yes?”
“Ugh.”
“Seo-gongja?”
“…Please, just leave me alone!”
The startled maid fell to the floor, prostrating herself.
“I’m sorry! Please, kill this servant!”
“Why would I kill you?! Just get…”
“Please kill me!”
“Look, I’m not going to kill you, so stop this nonsense and get out! Out!”
“I’m sorry, Seo-gongja! I will serve you with all my heart, so please…!”
“Aaaah!”
“Hic… huh… huh…”
“…”
“…”
“Uh… I have some things to think about. Alone. Could you please give me some space?”
“Yes, yes!”
The maid scrambled out of the room. Even in her haste, she was so terrified that she bowed deeply before vanishing without another sound.
But Kang Min-hyuk felt no pity. His mind was too tangled in confusion and frayed with sensitivity to spare a thought for the feelings of a maid whose name he didn’t even know.
“What the fuck is going on?”
Since waking up in this new body, he had been in such a daze that he’d just passively accepted everyone’s help. In truth, his muscles and joints were so stiff he couldn’t have stood up on his own anyway.
But that wasn’t the point.
“Am I really alive?”
Kang Min-hyuk’s eyes fell upon a large mirror in the corner of the room. A pale, gaunt young man in his early twenties stared back from a bed.
‘…He’s handsome.’
Though his frame was thin, his facial features were distinct and well-defined. An impression of coexisting strength and gentleness.
Kang Min-hyuk flexed his new facial muscles, trying a smile, then a frown.
‘Hmm.’
Even scowling, he’s better looking than I was. I really like that… no!
“Dammit, now is not the time to be admiring my own face!”
Calm down. Get a grip.
‘First, where am I? This seems to be a high-ranking family’s home.’
Had the boy from this wealthy family been wasting away from some long illness?
Kang Min-hyuk closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them with a long sigh.
“A martial family?”
His eight meridians were a tangled mess, his acupressure points were in tatters, and his Dan Tian resembled a shriveled pig’s bladder. Yet, all these things proved one thing: this body had once cultivated internal energy. Since an ordinary person would never have been exposed to martial arts, this had to be a martial family.
‘It’s a miracle this wreck of a body is even alive.’
His physical condition was comparable to that of an eighty-year-old woman. It wouldn’t be surprising if he simply stopped breathing at any moment.
“I’d feel a lot better if I’d woken up as the son of some slash-and-burn farmer.”
Kang Min-hyuk stopped his own complaining.
“No. What am I saying? I’m alive. And I should be grateful I wasn’t reincarnated in a woman’s body.”
A male soul in a female body… the embarrassment would have been profound. He might have had a full-blown identity crisis.
Kang Min-hyuk clenched his fists.
Yes, be grateful for this reality. Accept it. Wasting time is the worst kind of waste, isn’t it?
“What matters is that I can live again.”
This body might be ruined, but he was alive. He could survive. He could forge his own future. For the first time in his life, he was faced with a moment where he could actually make a ‘choice’.
His heart pounded. His blood raced. The air was cool, but the back of his neck was damp with sweat.
‘Now…’
It was the secret, cherished wish that had kept him going through all those years of hell.
‘Can I really live freely now?’
Forced to train, forced to kill, forced to obey. He had lived his entire life under the thumb of the Lord of Cheong-ui, an old man he utterly despised.
But didn’t I make you strong? To be born a martial artist and rise to the rank of a great master, isn’t that an honor in itself?
What absolute, self-serving bullshit.
When his limbs were broken, no support was offered. Before he was fully healed, he was sent on another assassination mission. He’d lost count of his near-death experiences. He’d tried to meet a woman, but every one that caught his eye turned out to be a crazed killer. His only solace from the loneliness was cheap white liquor.
And what about a monthly salary? That miser, the Lord of Cheong-ui, had said this:
–We support you in all things, so why would you need money? It’s not like you know how to spend it.
That vicious bastard.
It had been a miserable life. Despite flashy titles like great master or the King of Sal, he had been nothing more than a tool.
“…Good.”
Kang Min-hyuk’s face slowly flushed with excitement.
Now, he would say goodbye to that past. It didn’t matter where this place was, what this body’s status was, or whether it had a family. None of it was needed.
He would find his freedom. He would try to live like a human being. A raw, unconcealed desire pulsed from his clenched fist.
Ten days had passed since he’d been reborn.
“Hmm.”
Kang Min-hyuk tapped the floor with his toe. His center of balance held. The degenerated muscles had been properly maintained, and his stiff joints now had a minimal range of motion.
‘It’s done.’
He felt a surge of inner delight.
His body was too far gone to be fixed by a few acupuncture needles and some light massage. His insides were a complete mess; conventional treatments were useless.
Freedom could only be enjoyed in a healthy body. So he had made a decision: he would perform his own radical treatment. He had to destroy the corrupted core. A Danjeon was a Danjeon, even one as twisted and ruined as this, but leaving it as it was meant he’d be living as a cripple for the rest of his life. Worse, the turbid energy rising from the rotten Danjeon would kill him soon enough. If it couldn't be used and was only a hindrance, it was better to remove it.
“Congratulations, Seo-gongja!”
The maid, who had been watching quietly, immediately prostrated herself.
“Your condition has improved so much! I will inform the physician at once…”
“Please leave us for a moment.”
“Yes!”
The maid scurried out.
Kang Min-hyuk, now alone, lay back down on the bed. His joints weren’t yet flexible enough to sit cross-legged. But that didn’t matter. His reputation—or notoriety—as the King of Sal didn’t come from nothing.
He closed his eyes and pursed his lips.
‘Guuiguyeon Bungongsaejin Yeompajetak Uwusangmun….’
Tssssss.
A faint haze began to rise from his body. The temperature in the room climbed, and though there was no odor, the air grew thick and stifling.
It was Takgi.
The vast amount of toxins that had ravaged Kang Min-hyuk’s body were being expelled.
‘Good. Now it will take care of itself.’
The technique he used was called Muai Shin-gong. It was a martial art he had created himself, referencing techniques from Gupa Ilbang, and it was exceptionally effective at purging toxins and promoting internal stability.
In his last life, Kang Min-hyuk had invested a tremendous amount of time into his martial arts. He’d had no support team whatsoever. No one to treat his injuries, no one to analyze his opponents, not even anyone to hand him a piece of beef jerky. For him, who had to do everything himself, Muai Shin-gong was a lifeline. His mastery of it was therefore profound. He could even perform it while lying down.
‘This body is a wreck. But thanks to it, I’m alive.’
His skin itched all over as damaged blood vessels slowly began to repair themselves.
Pusssss.
At some point, his skin turned pale. This was the turbidity that couldn’t be fully expelled, now circulating harmlessly within him.
‘Is this the limit for now?’
Kang Min-hyuk licked his lips and opened his eyes.
“My cultivation level is still too low. It can’t be helped.”
Still, he had achieved his immediate goal.
He sat up, stretching as much as his stiff body would allow.
“I can move a bit, but…”
Kang Min-hyuk tilted his head from side to side, then suddenly froze, his brow furrowed.
“Where on earth am I, anyway?”
He had a maid, and she called him ‘Seo-gongja.’ That suggested a high status, yet for the past ten days, no one had visited him except for a physician. He could have asked the maid, but he’d decided against it. If he couldn’t heal his body, being in paradise would have been pointless.
But now, he needed to know.
“Is anyone there?”
No response from outside the door.
“No one? Where did she go?”
Still, only silence.
“Tch. Where did she run off to?”
The process of circulating Muai Shin-gong had taken quite a long time. The maid was only human; she probably needed to eat or get a drink of water.
…Damn, I should have asked about my situation earlier. I’ve really been living with my nose to the grindstone.
Kang Min-hyuk clicked his tongue and closed his eyes, trying to sense his surroundings.
‘No. I’m in no condition to extend my senses.’
In his past life, he was a master who had forged his own unique style by combining the strengths of various martial arts. What set him apart from other experts was his superhuman perception. While others in the top echelons could perceive things at a distance of ten paces, he could perceive things thirty paces away. While they could sense dozens of people, he could sense hundreds. It was the decisive factor that had allowed him to break through the Cheollajimang of the Cheong-ui Dongmaeng and the Cheol-hyeol Fortress. His enemies must have gone mad with frustration as he struck only at their weakest points.
Right now, he couldn't access that extraordinary power.
“But I can’t just go out there blind.”
There was a time for boldness and a time for caution. He would wait for the girl to return.
Kang Min-hyuk’s gaze swept across the room.
‘It’s very ornate.’
The room was decorated with paintings, ceramics, and all kinds of expensive art. The bedding was woven from the highest quality silk.
‘This really is a great family… huh?’
He rubbed the blanket between his thumb and forefinger.
‘This isn’t ordinary silk.’
The texture was much softer, and the embroidered patterns were unlike any he had seen in the central or northern parts of the continent. He’d been so out of it that he was only now noticing the details.
‘And the red dye is incredibly vivid.’
He’d seen plenty of red silk, but never a color this deep, this rich…
Huh?
‘Hmm. I think I’ve seen this once before.’
Ah! Yes.
“Wasn’t it one of the seven magic families?”
Yes, when he had killed a high-ranking member of one of them, the bedding in the man’s room had been exactly like this.
Kang Min-hyuk nodded to himself.
“Was it the red family? That’s right, the red flag family. I remember. The bastard was sleeping naked, so I rolled him up in the blanket and beat him soundly.”
That had been a tough mission. Those persistent, snake-headed bastards had chased him all the way up the mountain…
“Huh?”
Kang Min-hyuk flinched.
No way.
“…It can’t be.”
He tried to force his frozen expression to relax.
“Oh, I’m sure it’s not that place. Not a chance in hell.”
The southern part of the Jungwon was home to the continent’s most vicious demons. In the martial arts world, ‘Southern Jungwon’ was synonymous with the ‘Gate of Hell.’ He refused to believe that his incredible luck at being reborn would be tainted by such a curse. It wasn’t just a taint; it was a disaster in itself. It would be like escaping death only to be thrown into a living hell.
“Probably not. Definitely not.”
A creeping sense of anxiety coiled in his gut. Unable to bear it any longer, Kang Min-hyuk threw open the door.
Slam!
“Hmm?”
“Uh?”
Stepping outside, he came face to face with three people who were approaching his room.
The maid he had seen for the past ten days, the physician he had seen occasionally, and a man in his thirties he had never seen before.
“…”
An awkward silence fell.
The man in his thirties broke it by dropping to one knee, his voice flat and formal.
“I pray for the recovery of the three princes. May the Shin-ang be invincible and its blessings fall on all.”
Kang Min-hyuk blinked.
The… what?