Chapter 69 - Weapon Monster

Who had summoned him was obvious. The question was why. Several possibilities occurred to him at once, but he could not settle on any one of them. He would have to meet the commander first.

Beyond the entrance, a long corridor led to a staircase. Dong Bongsu followed the adjutant up to the third floor, where they emerged into a single large room. In fact, rather than a room, the entire third floor served as the commander's office.

A large rectangular table, perhaps fifteen meters long and five meters wide, stood in the middle of the office, presumably for conferences. Directly in front of the stairs stood two lightly armored officers with swords at their waists, apparently the commander's bodyguards. Along the wall to the left of the stairs, swords, spears, halberds, and assorted other weapons hung at regular intervals. Against the opposite wall, helmets and suits of armor stood in neatly aligned pairs. At the far end facing the staircase was an ornate tiger-skin couch hung with a screen of twisted silk cords. Beside it, a map large enough to cover all the remaining space hung on the wall.

The last thing Dong Bongsu noticed was a handsome middle-aged man standing before the map. He was looking their way, smacking his lips as though out of habit. Dong Bongsu had no difficulty recognizing him as the commander.

'So a new commander has arrived.'

It was an unfamiliar face. Dong Bongsu had seen the previous commander several times during ear hunts, albeit from a distance. That man had not been nearly so young, nor had he liked Dong Bongsu. As a result, he had never burdened him with troublesome tasks. That had actually made life easier...

The moment Dong Bongsu realized the commander was new, he thought he understood why he had been summoned. He followed the adjutant toward the new governor. The two bodyguard officers stationed by the stairs moved in close behind him, perhaps to guard against any eventuality. They would probably draw their swords the instant he showed any sign of doing something suspicious.

But the eventuality they feared would not come to pass. Had Dong Bongsu intended anything of the sort, everyone here would already have fallen victim to it.

"Are you Kang Dalhui, the Ear Ghost?"

The new governor, Lee Jasong, spoke as Dong Bongsu came to a stop at the end of the table in the center of the room.

"I am."

Dong Bongsu's answer was brief. Far too brief. The adjutant who had brought him frowned but did not intervene, for Lee Jasong raised a hand to stop him.

"Quite an unbending fellow, aren't you?"

Finding Dong Bongsu unexpectedly young and ordinary-looking only heightened Lee Jasong's interest. He rose from his seat, passed the table, and approached until he stood directly before him. They were much the same height, their eyes almost level. Yet Lee Jasong could not see Dong Bongsu's eyes. The long hair falling below his forehead concealed them.

Lee Jasong raised a hand and brushed aside the bangs covering Dong Bongsu's forehead and eyes, revealing an emotionless gaze. From one perspective, it looked utterly bored; from another, unfathomably deep and empty. But that depended entirely on interpretation. Strictly speaking... it was simply an ordinary, unremarkable look, nothing more.

Lee Jasong continued to study Dong Bongsu's eyes in silence for a full tea's time. Even then, he could read nothing in them.

'What is this? Can such a person really exist?'

A sudden chill ran through him. There was no reason for it. A shudder simply enveloped his entire body. Lee Jasong slowly lowered his hand and averted his eyes. Then he turned, returned to the chair at the end of the table, and sat down.

He took a deep breath before speaking. There had been many things he wanted to ask, but now there was no need.

"I'll get straight to the point. If I gave you fifteen hundred soldiers, could you command them well?"

Dong Bongsu did not answer immediately, merely looking at Lee Jasong in silence.

Another shudder passed through Lee Jasong. He could not even see Dong Bongsu's eyes behind his hair, yet his body was reacting.

After staring into Lee Jasong's eyes for a moment, Dong Bongsu spoke.

"Understood."

Yes or no. The answer should have been one of those two. “Understood” was an answer one could give only after a decision to issue an order.

"I haven't said I'm assigning you anything yet. Why answer that way?"

"I merely gave you the answer you wanted."

At Dong Bongsu's reply, Lee Jasong leaned back, opened his mouth once, then closed it. A moment later, he spoke again.

"... A frightening man."

In that brief span, Lee Jasong's assessment of Dong Bongsu had changed from an unbending fellow to a frightening man. But his voice was so faint that no one heard him.

Dong Bongsu, of course, could not hear him either. Yet he knew what he had said. He could read it without hearing it.

Their eyes met across the intervening space once more, though Dong Bongsu's were hidden again behind his fallen hair. Once again, Lee Jasong was the first to look away.

"You will be the mercenary captain for this ear hunt. I'll see you the day after tomorrow, then. You may go."

The moment Lee Jasong finished speaking, Dong Bongsu left Northern Unity Hall without another word.

"An insolent man, just as I thought. I don't know whether someone like that should be made mercenary captain."

The adjutant spoke. Lee Jasong straightened from his reclining posture and replied.

"Is that all you sensed, Adjutant Dang?"

"Sir? What do you mean...?"

"Never mind. You may leave now."

"Yes, sir. Please summon me again whenever you need me. Loyalty!"

The adjutant saluted and immediately went down the stairs.

Once the adjutant had gone, Lee Jasong leaned back again and tilted his head up, repeatedly opening and closing his mouth with audible smacks.

"I saw him just a moment ago... yet I can't remember..."

Muttering words of uncertain meaning, Lee Jasong remained seated in that position for a long time.

CREEEAK.

Despite the late hour, the old door of the wooden house welcomed Dong Bongsu home with its usual creak.

As always, he prepared a simple meal and ate his late dinner.

Eating.

Eating a meal.

Humans eat meals.

Humans must eat to live. Eating was the only act that still made Dong Bongsu aware that he was human.

As he ate, Dong Bongsu began reviewing his day.

· Join a new ear hunt as mercenary captain

· The smith at Eight Directions Armory finally succeeded in making the iron statue

Dong Bongsu laid it all out in his mind as though these events were a kind of Quest.

First, the rewards for participating in the ear hunt were experience and proficiency. Whether he was the mercenary captain or an ordinary mercenary made no difference.

CLICK.

He opened his Status window. His achievements over the past year were reflected in full in his changed stats.

The yellow gauge bars had grown dramatically longer: the base attributes such as Strength, Agility, and Intelligence, as well as the dependent attributes that changed with them—Vitality, Accuracy, Evasion, Attack Power, Defense, Offensive Mugong, Defensive Mugong, Elemental Defense, True Qi/Internal Energy, and the rest.

Most notably, he had reached level 29.

Dong Bongsu did not know whether a maximum level existed, or what it was if it did, but he had grown incomparably stronger than when he first arrived in this world at level 1. His status, too, was far better than that of a hired servant: he was now a free Vagabond.

His appearance had also changed drastically. When he leveled up on his first ear hunt, he had thought he might revert to his original skinny body...

He had not.

Leveling up only healed wounds and other status ailments. It left intact the changes brought about by exercise, nourishment, and natural growth.

He was quite tall, with shaggy hair concealing his eyes. His body had filled out appropriately and was covered in lean muscle. His skin was smooth, free of the various scars and moles Sosam had once possessed.

No one would look at the young man he had become and think him Sosam, the former horse handler.

After looking over his various stats, Dong Bongsu checked the level gauge last. So little remained to fill before his next level that it was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. Yet it was barely any different from when he had checked before departing on the previous ear hunt. In other words, he had reached the limit of the experience ear hunting could provide.

'Is it time to leave?'

Having grown stronger, he would go in search of stronger beasts. Unable to grow stronger here, he would leave to hunt stronger predators. To him, it was an obvious proposition, a natural instinct.

Perhaps this ear hunt would let him level up.

He could not be certain, but regardless, this would be his last ear hunt.

BEEP. CLICK.

He closed the Status window and opened the Skill window instead.

Once again, a succession of holographic results appeared in the air, revealing just how fiercely Dong Bongsu had lived over the past year.

First, the active Skills he had possessed before his class advancement had risen considerably in level.

[Qinggong Lv.8, Three Forces Sword Art First Form: Sweep Away a Thousand Armies Lv.9, Second Form: Direct Strike Yellow Dragon Lv.9, Third Form: Mount Tai Bears Down Lv.7, Qi Circulation Lv.3]

The changes to his passive Skills, however, were even more astonishing.

[Slash Lv.Max, Thrust Lv.Max, Throw Lv.Max, Block Lv.Max]

All his passive Skills had reached their maximum proficiency level (Max). He had grown strong enough to dispatch most enemies with ease using basic movements alone.

But this was nothing new to Dong Bongsu now, and naturally required no further examination. Lifting a clump of rice into his mouth with his chopsticks, he inspected the changes to the new Skills he had gained after his class advancement.

There were two new active Skills and four passives.

The two active Skills were:

[Sword Qi Lv.3 Proficiency: 1.68%]

A technique that coats the sword in qi to increase its destructive power. Dramatically increases Attack Power, but maintaining Sword Qi requires a large amount of internal energy.

The projection of Sword Qi slightly increases range.

Attack Power Bonus: 150%

Range Bonus: 3%

True Qi Consumption per Second: 50 JP

[Movement Art Lv.4 Proficiency: 15.77%]

An unusual gait devised to evade an opponent's attacks efficiently.

Upon activation, teleport once in one direction: forward, backward, left, or right.