Chapter 104 - Reunion

There would now be few martial artists capable of catching him in a city.

But few still meant that some existed.

An expert on the level of the person hiding above Bright Cheer Tavern's entrance yesterday would be difficult to shake off or confront...

'It might not be easy.'

That person's concealment had been that flawless. Of course, he could not know without fighting them, but one thing was certain: they would be no pushover.

And if he added Yeon Youngha, an entirely unknown quantity, to the equation...

'I need to get stronger.'

He needed to grow stronger to become a hero of Murim. No, to pretend to be a hero, he would have to reach an entirely higher level still. Only then could he become the chief executive of this safari called Murim and feast on its predators whenever he needed to.

It would be all the more welcome if a few of them leaped out of the safari...

Above all, they would taste even better.

Exploiting.

It was not quite the same concept, but it was probably similar. Dong Bongsu did not know much about it, yet he instinctively understood that what he was aiming for closely resembled it.

Exploiting generally referred to gamers manipulating multiple accounts, including alternate accounts besides their main one, to reap unfair gains.

Here in New Murim Online, Dong Bongsu himself was the only gamer. Naturally, there could be no alternate accounts—there might be others, but for now, it was reasonable to assume there were not.

However, countless NPCs existed who acted with wills of their own, just like ordinary gamers. And under certain circumstances, he could make them do his bidding or steer them toward particular actions.

Viewed in that light...

An NPC ranch would certainly qualify as a form of exploiting.

If something like that were possible in an actual game, would it not be a truly novel concept?

NPCs that grew stronger. And leveling up by killing those NPCs...

It was an exceedingly unfair system, but one that greatly favored Dong Bongsu, the lone gamer. And now it had become his goal.

Exploiting, exploiting, exploiting...

As Dong Bongsu continued thinking about exploiting, his mind suddenly began working faster.

The word lodged deep in his mind, overlapping with yesterday's events.

Hunting, killers, assassins, exploiting, unfair gains...

Various keywords rose and sank throughout his mind, gradually coalescing into a concrete idea.

'I see. That could work too.'

Hunting.

Yes, did he really have to be the hunter?

Might becoming the prey, as he had yesterday, not be another good way to hunt?

'Become the prey, become the prey, become the prey...'

It had been a first for him, but it had not felt bad. Besides, what if he deliberately engineered such a situation?

What if he laid a trap and waited for his enemies instead?

Or if his enemies came to him and obligingly died, without his having to seek them out?

Dong Bongsu's lips parted slightly, exposing his white teeth to the air in an emotionless display of their sinister nature.

He...

Dong Bongsu had discovered a new loophole in New Murim Online.

With this method, prey would come to him in an endless stream and die for him. They would become experience and raise his Skill proficiency. And in the process, they would further cement his image as a fake hero.

He would only need to do a little research before putting it into practice.

Dong Bongsu set his chopsticks on the table, bringing his meal to an end. That also concluded his review of yesterday's battle. In the process, he had even gained a new insight.

Murim had become...

Even more precarious.

Dong Bongsu moved the table aside and stood. Then, as always, he practiced his Inventory Divine Art.

The things he wore changed in rapid succession.

Swords, sabers, axes, spears, shields, iron armor...

All manner of weapons and armor appeared and vanished at various points on his body.

He could now deploy and store Items quite naturally, but he was still not entirely satisfied. He could still only take out or put away an Item in its entirety. Partial deployment and storage—drawing out or putting away only part of an Item—remained impossible.

It felt so close, yet he could never quite manage it.

If he could do that, he would have access to a far greater variety of combat methods. He could draw a sword from any part of his body, just as he would draw one from its sheath...

Dong Bongsu kept practicing, even as his thoughts shifted to his plans and what lay ahead.

First, what new variables would his small connection with Eulji Tae bring?

He could not say for certain, but it would yield something positive. He had sensed unmistakable goodwill from the man. It was difficult to predict what that goodwill would produce, but it would certainly be nothing bad.

Then, too, what changes would his discovery of Jong Jihang and his encounter with Yeon Youngha bring?

In the former case, nothing much might happen unless he took action himself.

But his encounters, or confrontations, with Yeon Youngha would continue whether he liked it or not—though, in truth, he did not particularly dislike it. They had met only once, yet both had instinctively sensed that neither could tolerate the other's existence.

'Either I die...'

Or that thing died. Their encounter would only end when one of them vanished from the Central Plains.

Two hunters sharing one hunting ground meant trouble. All the more so if each considered the other the finest prey.

It would show itself here at the Murim Alliance, if only to catch him.

He had issued a warning to keep it from casually testing him, but it would certainly try to catch him in the end. Perhaps that would be... his final day, when he would have to bring New Murim Online to an end.

And so, its next move was obvious.

'The All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament.'

There was also a strong possibility that it had come here to enter in the first place. Otherwise, it was not the sort of monster that would have appeared here at all—that animal called Yeon Youngha.

And after yesterday, it would be more fixated on the All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament than ever.

It had seen the Murim Alliance badge on his—Dong Bongsu's—chest.

'It must be certain I'll enter the All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament.'

It would try to hunt him down at the tournament, whatever it took.

Dong Bongsu continued thinking as he expelled a dozen or so weapons from his body at once.

'If it can mobilize assassins of the caliber that attacked me yesterday...'

The power backing it would be formidable as well. However, it was overwhelmingly likely that this power did not belong to the Murim Alliance. If it belonged to an affiliated organization, there would have been no reason for it to spend the night in a tavern.

Why would a monster of that kind pass up an opportunity to scout for other prey inside the Murim Alliance?

Dong Bongsu analyzed Yeon Youngha methodically, one point at a time.

It was certainly a different kind of nonhuman from himself, but he continued considering its behavior in relation to his own. Yesterday's events had also given him some small understanding of what kind of creature it was and how it differed from him.

It... she had given him her name for no particular reason, and had even offered the unusual hint that this was their third meeting.

That alone showed how profoundly different she was from him.

For Dong Bongsu, hunting was an important hobby. To her, however, the thrill she felt during the process seemed far more important than the hunt itself. Otherwise, there would have been no need to tell him those things.

He suspected that she regarded everything that happened along the way as a kind of game.

From one brief, intense encounter, Dong Bongsu had learned a great deal about Yeon Youngha. That small difference might later prove crucial in determining the outcome of their contest.

Though no one yet knew how it would turn out...

At any rate, a staring contest—or a battle of wits—with the monster called Yeon Youngha had begun.

Neither could escape or avoid it until one of them died. When two predators locked eyes, the first to look away was reduced to prey. He had to find an opening in the other predator without averting his gaze. If there was none, he would have to create one and kill the other predator before moving on to anything else.

There was another way, but he saw no need to consider it yet.

Having reached that point, Dong Bongsu put his thoughts about Yeon Youngha aside for now. He also stopped practicing his Inventory art.

He was already wearing his original clothes again.

An unidentified expert had approached his room.

The distance steadily narrowed, until someone's shadow wavered just outside his door.

Naturally, Dong Bongsu was not at all surprised. It was obvious which expert might visit his room at this hour.

There were only two possibilities.

'Either Jong Jihang.'

Or else...

The door opened...

And a middle-aged man entered, his hair and beard so long and unkempt that it was impossible to guess when they had last been cut.

'The Weapon Monster.'

Just as expected.

Except that he wore clean blue clothes rather than filthy rags. That alone lay outside Dong Bongsu's expectations.

"Well, we finally meet again. You took so damn long to come looking for me, I was starting to think the divine iron was mine now."

"I told you I would recover it without fail."

"Yes, you did. If I ran, you'd find me, kill me, and take it from me, wasn't that it?"

"It was mine to begin with. 'Take it from you' is hardly an appropriate description."

"Picky little bastard. Well, anyway, working with it changed my mind."

As he spoke, the Weapon Monster reached into his clothes and pulled out his hand. It now held a claw hammer that looked to be a full two chi long.

"You see, I've decided I want it."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the Weapon Monster lunged at Dong Bongsu like lightning and brought the claw hammer down faster still. His speed truly befitted one of the Twenty Great Masters under Heaven.

The hammer's blunt face was pointed downward. If the blow landed as it was, Dong Bongsu's head would unquestionably be pulverized on the spot.