Chapter 106
He had used Blood Demon Energy to clear and widen all of his Ki Meridians and Ki Vessels.
He had secured a network for circulating ki that was broader and smoother than the one he had built through long years of training in the Cloud Flow Sword Method in his past life.
On top of that, his Dantian was now filled to the brim with Blood Demon Energy.
‘If I can raise [Immortal Demon Art] perfectly to the fifth stage, I should be able to go toe-to-toe with those monsters.’
Just as he smiled in satisfaction at the state of his body and reached for the door to the main hall of Great Buddha Temple…
Twitch.
Hyuk-min’s eyebrow twitched.
His Ki Sense, now that of a complete martial artist, had detected the presence of a stranger.
A presence that was unfamiliar, yet familiar.
Clack!
The moment he opened the door, the owner of that presence, Wi Gwakdu, abruptly pulled out a jackknife and charged at him.
“Wi Gwakdu!”
Despite Chang-kyung’s shout, Wi Gwakdu rushed Hyuk-min at terrifying speed.
Tap!
It seemed Wi Gwakdu had not been idle during the past three months either.
He was faster than before, enough to force Hyuk-min back.
Swish! Swish!
Unlike before, there was no mercy in Wi Gwakdu’s hands.
The jackknife slashed viciously toward Hyuk-min’s neck.
But Hyuk-min’s upper body flowed backward like water, dodging every slash from the rapidly whipping blade.
“…!”
Then [Immortal Demon Sword] flashed so quickly it was impossible to tell when it had been drawn.
Sensing the power behind it, Wi Gwakdu flinched and tightened his whole body, twisting his jackknife sideways to block.
“Keuk!”
Clang!!
‘He’s different.’
Wi Gwakdu had blocked the powerful strike that had once sent Yaksha flying by pouring Mana into his jackknife and throwing his full body weight behind it.
He knew the instant their weapons collided.
Even though the strike had been launched from an unstable posture, the sheer weight behind it was in no way inferior to that of other top fighters.
Still, the impact was so overwhelming that even after blocking it perfectly, Wi Gwakdu’s body was launched into the air.
Click!
But who was Wi Gwakdu?
Was he not Nansan?
Even while being flung upward by the force of the blow, he had already drawn a pistol from who-knew-where and aimed it squarely at Hyuk-min.
It was a level of skill unimaginable to anyone unfamiliar with this kind of combat.
No, it was closer to a reflex. His body moved before his mind could even catch up, the result of living through the unpredictable chaos of war.
That was the main reason so many of South Korea’s powerful fighters were reluctant to face Wi Gwakdu, and also why they held him in such high regard.
Whoosh.
No matter how many battles he had fought, the sight of a pistol appearing at such an unexpected moment made Hyuk-min frown.
But he did not panic.
Hadn’t Hyuk-min also lived through war for a long time in his past life?
The moment he saw the pistol, he spread his palm wide and began drawing up the Blood Demon Energy filling his Dantian.
The tighter he clenched his hand into a fist, the more Blood Demon Energy gathered.
Bang! Bang-bang-bang!
Boom!!
The instant Wi Gwakdu’s pistol spat fire, Hyuk-min’s hand closed into a perfect fist, and with a tremendous explosion, he blasted away the entire surrounding area in a single instant.
“Kugh!”
It was something only Hyuk-min could do.
With the immense Blood Demon Energy filling his body and a physique sturdy enough to withstand it, he could unleash destructive force equivalent to several grenades exploding at once.
It not only neutralized every incoming bullet, but also knocked the pistol from Wi Gwakdu’s hand and hurled his body into the main hall of Great Buddha Temple.
Whoosh!
The shockwave from the Blood Demon Energy was powerful enough to leave him dazed, but only for a moment.
The instant he heard something cutting through the air, Wi Gwakdu’s jackknife moved on reflex.
And it was at that exact moment.
“Stop!”
Chang-kyung’s shout brought the whole situation to a halt.
As though time itself had frozen, both attacks stopped at once, and like a still image, the two ended up staring at each other from point-blank range.
Wi Gwakdu, who despite being half-stunned had still raised his jackknife precisely enough to aim at the neck of the approaching Hyuk-min.
And Hyuk-min, who had closed the distance so quickly it had split the air with a whistling sound, with his left hand wrapped around Wi Gwakdu’s throat and [Immortal Demon Sword] poised to pierce his heart.
“The guest named Wi Gwakdu came because of your promise. What he did was merely test how much you’ve grown, so you should be the one to endure it, Hyuk-min.”
Ssk.
“Yes, I understand.”
He put [Immortal Demon Sword] into his [Inventory] and released Wi Gwakdu’s throat.
Wi Gwakdu coughed lightly and rubbed at his neck.
“You were rude as well, guest. It would not have been too late to ask first before proceeding…”
“War doesn’t happen when you’re ready for it. I wanted to see your reflexes and how you’d react.”
“I’m sorry, but this is a place where the Buddha resides. Would you mind refraining from words like ‘war’?”
“My apologies.”
After retrieving his jackknife and pistol, Wi Gwakdu slapped Hyuk-min lightly on the arm and grinned.
“I don’t think I can beat you now. To counterattack like that even against a surprise attack.”
“Didn’t you say before that if you had to, you’d drag me away by force?”
“Well, if I really put my mind to it, it’s possible.”
“Hm. I don’t think that’s possible for you anymore.”
“Anything’s possible once I get permission from above. You wouldn’t understand now, but later, when you see me use my secret technique, you’ll go, ‘Ah~ so that’s what he meant back then.'”
“Were you always this talkative?”
“You’ll be my subordinate soon enough, so what do we need formalities for? Right?”
Now that he thought about it again, it really was a strange situation.
To have to go back into the military…
It was annoying, but the [Divine Power Unit] was another matter.
That was because among the plans he had written down in his notebook after waking up in this life, there was also a section dedicated to the [Divine Power Unit].
“I believe I still have some time left.”
“I know. Of course I know. I only stopped by in case you’d forgotten.”
“There’s someone I need to wait for, so I think I’ll stay a little longer before I go.”
“Ah~ that little kid?”
He nodded.
At that, Wi Gwakdu tilted his head as if he found it odd and said,
“You seem to be mistaken about something, but you’re the only one entering the [Divine Power Unit].”
“I know. That’s not why I said it, so don’t worry.”
Passing by Wi Gwakdu, he entered the main hall.
Then he approached Chang-kyung and bowed deeply.
“Thank you. This is all thanks to you.”
“I am grateful to you as well.”
Someone else might have wondered what Chang-kyung could possibly be grateful for, but both he and Hyuk-min knew exactly what the other meant.
“I hope it was of help.”
“It was a tremendous help.”
The ordeal and Gakyak.
The timing of those two things, fitting together as though by fate, had produced a mutually beneficial result for both sides.
Others might not know this, but Chang-kyung and Hyuk-min, smiling at one another, did.
“You must be hungry. You haven’t eaten properly for months, so hurry and eat first.”
“Thank you.”
He did not refuse.
He had not touched food for nearly three months.
The fact that he had survived in spite of that was still one of the most baffling and astonishing things to him.
But since he couldn’t exactly dissect Taebudong itself, and likely wouldn’t discover the answer even if he could, he had no choice but to leave it as an unsolved mystery.
“Hyuk-min.”
“Yes.”
“After you eat, let us talk. It is about that LIMITLESS.”
At the word LIMITLESS, Hyuk-min’s expression darkened for a moment, but he gave a firm nod.
= = =
Evening, after the sun had completely set.
Chang-kyung approached Hyuk-min, who was seated on the edge of the eaves beneath the moonlight.
“Would you like a drink after so long?”
It felt strange to see Chang-kyung, who had never touched alcohol in his life, bringing out liquor.
Jjoreureu.
As the alcohol was poured into the cup, a faint floral fragrance drifted on the wind and brushed past his nose.
“How was the Latent Dragon of LIMITLESS?”
A massive, blackish-purple Latent Dragon, large enough to engulf the entire jet-black world of nothingness.
The moment he recalled the Latent Dragon of LIMITLESS, the cup he had been about to raise stopped halfway.
“It was terrifying.”
In the end, he set the cup back down entirely.
“Did the ordeal take place in the Abyss?”
What was the Abyss?
It was a world located deep within one’s own mind, a realm of Selfless Void that even the self was unaware of.
Chang-kyung nodded and said,
“Where did you think your potential, your Latent Dragon, resided? If everyone could find it, then everyone would live achieving whatever they wished.”
It was not something he could deny.
There were people who prided themselves on knowing themselves very well.
But he could say with certainty that even they did not know their whole selves.
The world of Selfless Void.
An unknown space unseen not only by others, but even by the person themselves.
The Abyss was such a place.
But the Latent Dragon of LIMITLESS… even within that place, it had appeared in an especially abnormal form.
“It was so huge it nearly filled my entire Abyss.”
“…?!”
Chang-kyung’s eyes widened.
“It was that large?”
“Of course, it didn’t fill it completely, but it was incomparably larger than the Latent Dragon of [Immortal Demon Art] that I obtained.”
“It must be an exceedingly dangerous existence.”
“I was afraid.”
At the word afraid, Chang-kyung nodded as though he understood.
After all, he was the only other person who had ever seen and felt that LIMITLESS no one else knew.
“In my life, I have never seen anything so negative.”
“What was it like for you?”
“It felt like something that denied everything. In the first place, it isn’t a Skill or a class, is it? That thing is…”
A god.
“It isn’t something you can tame. But since it has settled in your Abyss as a Latent Dragon, you can’t simply ignore it either…”
As though countless thoughts were crossing his mind, Chang-kyung drank for the first time in his life.
After draining the cup neatly, he set it down.
“What do you plan to do?”
The LIMITLESS System…
It was the only variable absent from the countless plans Hyuk-min had laid out.
A being that had already become a fate he could no longer avoid.
He briefly lifted his gaze to the bright moon and spoke of the decision he had reached through this ordeal.
“I plan to use it.”
“Use it? That System?”
“For the first time, I think I understand what LIMITLESS is.”
“Oho, did you gain something from within it?”
He smiled.
“I gained something bigger than I expected.”
What it was, and what it wanted.
It was still far beyond anything he could fully grasp.
But by overcoming a near-death crisis in that ordeal, he had obtained one very important clue.
“What that thing wants.”
“Is that true?!”
“But it’s truly strange. What it wants… aligns perfectly with what I want.”
“What did you say?”
“That’s why I intend to use it.”
He lifted the cup and tossed the liquor into his mouth.
As the cold drink slid down his throat, it burned a path from his esophagus to his stomach, hotly announcing its presence.
“Haa.”
With a sigh, the lingering scent of alcohol scattered into the air.
Even the presence of the liquor vanished from his stomach.
Was this really what pain felt like? Or did it only seem so vivid because it was his first time drinking?
“Monk, do you think people who enjoy alcohol also feel this burning sensation?”
“Wouldn’t it be duller for them? I don’t enjoy alcohol myself, so I wouldn’t know, but I imagine people who like it drink because they enjoy that feeling.”
To enjoy this pain…
Pfft.
A small snort escaped him.
Knowing something is bad for you, yet enjoying even the pain because of the effect it gives you.
Then, gazing up at the bright moonlight, he muttered to himself,
“Isn’t it just like this thing? Hah.”
Before Hyuk-min’s eyes, both the white System window and the LIMITLESS System window appeared at the same time.
= = =
Deep in the night, when everyone was asleep.
He stood alone in the broad training grounds of Great Buddha Temple, drenched in moonlight.
There was a reason he had given up sleep and chosen this late hour.
He did not want to show anyone.
Clatter.
First, he took out [Death Knight’s Helmet].
And then he called out.
“LIMITLESS.”
[Did you call?]
“Godslayer.”
[You do not have the authority for that command.]
Unlike in the Abyss, here in the real world, LIMITLESS merely stated that he lacked authority and refused to answer, offering not a single piece of information.
“So the reason commands beyond my authority worked was because that was the Abyss. I should’ve asked about everything while it was running wild.”
There was some regret, but considering he had nearly died, he also thought this much was fortunate enough.
He picked up [Death Knight’s Helmet].
Now was the time to confirm the truth.
He pushed [Death Knight’s Helmet] straight toward the LIMITLESS System.
Then, as if by magic, the LIMITLESS System began absorbing [Death Knight’s Helmet].
“It was real.”
[Ting.]
[You have acquired the ‘Death Knight’s Helmet’.]
[This is an item that meets the qualification requirements.]
[Would you like to bind the ‘Death Knight’s Helmet’ to update your authority and upgrade the System? Y / N]
That settled it.
The LIMITLESS System.
What that thing wanted and what Hyuk-min himself wanted were the same.
Click.
Without hesitation, he pressed Y.
The LIMITLESS System window vanished, and a single message appeared.
[Upgrading the System.]
[The upgrade will take some time.]
A smile spread naturally across his face as he watched the progress bar slowly fill.
“Haha… Hahaha… Hahahahaha!”
This new variable, absent from every plan Hyuk-min had made…
Like the slowly filling upgrade bar, it had begun to seep into his plans little by little.
[Ting.]
[Qualification requirements have been updated.]
[A new Skill has been discovered.]
“Alright, let’s do this together.”
Whether it was poison or honey, he still did not know.
But right now, when he knew nothing and could do nothing…
‘Isn’t there a saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’
Their goals were the same.
With that alone, Hyuk-min decided to accept LIMITLESS.
Rustle.
From [Immortal Demon Sword] to the [Dark Ring] on his wrist.
And even [Immortal Demon Art], which existed only in the white System window.
“I’ll feed you everything.”
After confirming all five qualification requirements displayed in the LIMITLESS System, Hyuk-min began feeding them to LIMITLESS one by one.
Late at dawn, while everyone slept.
From the training grounds of Great Buddha Temple, along with an unknown light, strange noises could be heard, so bizarre that no one could tell whether someone was laughing or training.