< Episode 14. The Owner of the Throne (2) >
In my head, a page of Ways of Survival turned.
With a rumbling sound, light surged through my mind, and strings of text radiating brilliance began to line themselves up. They were the words of Ways of Survival.
[Huh…?]
Kim Yusin's startled cry—having sensed something amiss—and the rapid fading of his presence happened almost simultaneously.
As expected, the old fox was sharp.
[The blessing of the constellation connected through the 'Echo of the Stars' has disappeared.]
At the very last moment, Kim Yusin's shocked true utterance echoed.
[Just who are you…?]
And then Kim Yusin's presence vanished completely.
Honestly, even I was surprised.
I'd expected it might be possible with [The Fourth Wall], but I hadn't thought I could sever a constellation connected through [Ganpyeongui] this easily.
What happened in the 'Theater Dungeon' last time had been a clue. Back then, the 'Theater Master,' who tried to peer into my mind, had been annihilated the moment he encountered [The Fourth Wall].
I'd wondered if it might be possible to send a constellation to the grave the same way—but unfortunately, the quick-witted Kim Yusin seemed to have fled first.
[The constellation 'King Heungmu' harbors doubts about your existence.]
[The constellation 'King Heungmu' will be watching you closely from now on.]
What a grudging old man.
"...Is it over now?"
"Yes. It's over. But…."
What is this now?
When I came to my senses, my limbs were tightly bound with threads of magic, like a cocoon. Yoo Sangah, her face flushed red, fumbled for words.
"Well… I couldn't just leave you behind and run, but if I stayed close, it seemed like I'd get attacked…"
I could roughly guess what had happened.
To think she'd used [Thread Binding] on me in that brief window.
I thought she'd frozen in shock—but she'd actually been using a skill.
"You've got amazing reflexes."
"...I'm sorry."
"That was a compliment. If I ever start doing something stupid again, please do exactly this to me."
"I-I'll undo it right away!"
Yoo Sangah looked flustered, but I was sincere. Maybe it had been my own misconception to think she would always remain an ordinary 'office worker.'
When I turned around, Queen of Charms Min Ji won was alternating her gaze between Yoo Sangah and me with a curious look.
"Well… I'll be on my way now. I came to help, but in the end, it looks like I was the one who got help."
I nodded.
"The next time we meet, we'll be enemies."
"...Weren't we on the same side now? In dramas, this is usually how people become friends."
"That's drama."
"Gyowooisin! 'By faith, one makes friends.' That's the banner of our Hwarang."
Saying that, Min Ji won walked away, wearing a smile whose sincerity was hard to read.
In this regression, would the Queen of Charms become a good king?
I didn't know.
Perhaps the Queen of Charms herself didn't know either.
"Let's go too. Lee Seong guk-ssi! Come out already."
At my shout, Lee Seong guk emerged awkwardly from behind a building, dragging Lee Gilyoung along with him.
This guy had boldly declared he'd stop Gyebaek—who knew he'd been hiding in a place like that?
I started moving north with the group.
The area swept by Kim Yusin's 'Great Hwarang Assembly' had been reduced to ruins.
The minor kings who'd been fighting chaotically lay sprawled along the main roads like discarded rags, their skulls smashed. This must be what the true authority of a proper constellation looks like. Kim Yusin might be cowardly, but he's a useful constellation.
I picked up the free flags scattered around one by one, steadily increasing my merit score.
[Your 'Brown Flag' absorbs the accumulated merit of another 'Brown Flag.']
[Your 'Brown Flag' has evolved into a 'Purple Flag.']
[You can now use the privileges of the 'Purple Flag.']
As expected, the best way to grow is without fighting.
Looking around, most of the decent flags had already been collected.
From purple onward, the merit gain from flags doesn't increase much.
In other words, from now on, capturing just any 'king' wouldn't be of much use.
"Jeong Minseop-ssi, are you there?"
The next moment, Jeong Minseop's figure appeared out of thin air.
The [Hermit's Cloak] I had given him in advance was draped over his body.
For this mission, Jeong Minseop had been assigned to recon the Royal Palace Museum.
"How many have gone in so far?"
"Nine kings in total, including the Tyrant and the True Reader."
Nine. A reasonable number.
"What about the flag types?"
"Seven purple and two brown. Among the purples, two were especially deep in color."
"That would be the Tyrant and the True Reader."
"Yes."
Jeong Minseop—he's more useful than I expected.
I opened my mouth.
"This time, only Yoo Sangah, Gilyoung, and I will go in. The other two of you stay outside and remain on standby. You can hide under the cloak if you want."
"...Is that all right?"
"Yes. For now, we only need the three of us."
"If you call for us at any time, we'll go in."
I appreciated the sentiment, but here they would only get in the way.
According to what I knew, the Seoul Royal Palace Museum had already become a [Dungeon].
[A new hidden scenario has arrived!]
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: F~A+
Clear Condition: Clear a 'Relic Dungeon' appropriate for the number of participants.
Time Limit: None
Reward: 500–5,000 coins
Failure: Death
The moment we entered the museum, a pure white marble lobby spread out before our eyes. There was no sign of anyone else in the lobby.
Yoo Sangah spoke in a tense voice.
"At this point, I'm too scared to enjoy cultural activities anymore. First it was a movie theater, and now even a museum…"
"Hyung, are we here to get that legendary sword or something?"
"No, not right now."
Of course, the Four Yin Slaughtering Disaster Sword can also be found in this dungeon.
After all, I was the one who spread that information.
[Select the type of dungeon to enter.]
Solo Dungeon — Hall of the Conch Shell
3-Person Dungeon — Hall of the Acupuncture Bronze Man
5-Person Dungeon — Hall of Dongui Bogam
7-Person Dungeon — Hall of the Dragon Jar
However, the dungeon that yields the Four Yin Slaughtering Disaster Sword cannot be entered in a normal way. It is a dungeon treated as hidden even among hidden scenarios—one that can only be accessed by collecting the Sangpyeong Tongbo coins obtained as rewards for clearing each dungeon.
"I'll choose the 3-person dungeon, the Hall of the Acupuncture Bronze Man."
[Entering the 3-person dungeon.]
Lee Gilyoung looked a little disappointed.
Well, he must have been expecting to obtain some incredible relic.
"Gilyoung. Relics aren't everything they appear to be on the surface."
"...Huh?"
"Things that look flashy are often hollow on the inside."
The Four Yin Slaughtering Disaster Sword is one of those overhyped items.
On the contrary, the truly good things in this dungeon are those you can obtain from the dungeons entered in the ordinary way.
One of them is the skill you can get from the 3-person dungeon, the Hall of the Acupuncture Bronze Man.
The moment we entered the dungeon, Yoo Sangah exclaimed in surprise.
"...It looks like other people have already come in."
Indeed, intermittent screams could be heard echoing throughout the dungeon.
"Waaah! Get away!"
Humanoid monsters with a dull, black sheen.
Filling the 3-person dungeon to the brim were those black bronze figures.
Grade-7 Replication Species: Acupuncture Bronze Men.
After a certain amount of time, these monsters self-replicate, and at this point, no proper strategy for dealing with them was known. The Acupuncture Bronze Men have hard bodies, no internal organs, and no nervous system—so they feel no pain.
"Aaaah! Help me!"
Some incarnations clumsily slashed at the bronze men, but the creatures only leaked a bit of mercury and took no real damage. Instead, the bronze men strode forward and grabbed the man's body, pulling it taut.
Bzzzzrrk!
The body of a man who looked close to fifty was torn apart like a sheet of paper in the grip of an Acupuncture Bronze Man.
"…Dokja-ssi, how do we deal with these things? They're taking no damage at all."
Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung were also swinging blunt weapons and using skills against the approaching Bronze Men, but with little effect.
Occasionally, the Bronze Men struck by Gilyoung's weapon did take damage, but he looked like he didn't understand the principle behind how he was hurting them.
"Look closely at their bodies."
All the monsters that appear in the 'Relic of Ordeal' scenario are modeled after artifacts housed in the [Seoul Royal Palace Museum].
For example, the Solo Dungeon's Conch Shell is literally a wind instrument made from a seashell, and the 5-person dungeon's Dongui Bogam… well, that one hardly needs an explanation. The point is that the Acupuncture Bronze Men of the 3-person dungeon are no different.
After staring intently at a Bronze Man for a while, Yoo Sangah spoke first.
"There's something engraved on their bodies."
"That's right."
In fact, the Acupuncture Bronze Man is an artifact used to mark the 354 acupuncture points across the human body—front, back, arms, legs, and head.
In other words, this artifact was a Joseon-era educational model for traditional Korean medicine.
['Blade of Conviction' is activated!]
I activated my blade and stabbed one of the Bronze Man's acupuncture points.
The writhing Bronze Man let out a crackling sound and then shattered into powder.
A pitiful end for a Grade-7 Replication Species.
[You have hunted the first Acupuncture Bronze Man!]
"If you look closely, each acupuncture point is subtly different in color. Some are paralysis points, some are death points, and some are mute points… Each Acupuncture Bronze Man was designed so that striking different points produces different effects."
"Ah…!"
The key is to find the minute acupuncture points and block or sever their flow.
After a few demonstrations, Lee Gilyoung and Yoo Sangah quickly got the hang of it.
Gilyoung used [Multispecies Sympathy], sending small insects to strike the meridian points, while Yoo Sangah applied [Thread Binding], inserting threads like tiny needles. Watching the Bronze Men shudder once and then collapse in place, I was honestly impressed.
Both of them are growing remarkably well.
[Your party has become the first to hunt 100 Acupuncture Bronze Men!]
[You have cleared the 3-person dungeon.]
[As a basic reward, each of you has obtained 4 Sangpyeong Tongbo.]
[As a special reward, you have obtained the exclusive skill 'Point Strike '.]
I got the skill I was aiming for.
Point Strike .
A signature technique of martial-arts returnees, used to subdue opponents by suppressing specific meridian points.
For someone like me, who needs to maintain the title of 'King of No Killing' for the time being, it was an essential skill.
Muttering in fascination, Yoo Sangah looked at the Sangpyeong Tongbo she'd received.
"Can we buy something with these?"
"You can exchange them for coins, or use them as dungeon entry tickets."
"Then…"
"Of course, we'll use them as entry tickets. Now, everyone put in three each. I'll put in four—let's make a total of ten."
"Ten? Wait, Dokja-ssi, don't tell me…"
"We're entering the hidden dungeon where you can obtain the Four Yin Slaughtering Disaster Sword."
Yoo Sangah asked in surprise.
"But didn't you say we weren't going to get the Four Yin Slaughtering Disaster Sword?"
I slowly shook my head.
"We're not going there to get the Four Yin Slaughtering Disaster Sword."
We're going there to hunt the kings who went in to get it.