READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 18 - The Inevitable Encounter of the Mob
Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: ford53
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< Chapter 18: The Inevitable Encounter of the Mob (5) >
What exactly is talent?
As a child, Seti often pondered over the nature of talent. What was it about talent that made her and her sisters suffer so?
Even when she was hit hundreds of times with a stick to learn the art of flying kicks. Even when her grip tore learning the Thunder Sword Technique…
She could not understand.
Damn talent, what was it that her classmates were treated as defective for not being able to learn a simple kick?
What was it about talent that her sisters had to be whipped every day?
It wasn’t the vaunted government or the cruel shepherds who answered her question.
It was three individuals shining with talent, the real geniuses the government compared her and her sisters to.
The Vessel, the Saintess, and Jeon Yun-seong…
Only after being brutally defeated by them did she realize what talent was.
Talent is a light that attracts the soul.
It is the firewood of burning jealousy, the unreachable moonlight, and the constellation that leads to the future.
On the day she realized this… she cried all night.
She cried because she despised the government for comparing them, she cried for her sisters who faced the same defeat, and she cried out of pity for herself, born without talent.
And now, in the present, she wanted to cry for a different reason.
***
When Seti suggested verifying his talent, Dung Beetle agreed without much thought.
He too wanted to confirm his own talent.
“Shall we start with Shadow Skipping? I need to see how much you’ve mastered it.”
At a deserted clearing behind a motel, Seti spoke up as soon as they arrived.
Her expectations were not for a simple demonstration, as she began by explaining the basics of Shadow Skipping.
How to manage the flow of mana along the muscles, how to move the muscles to assume the correct posture, and where to channel the mana…
What she taught wasn’t much different from what Dung Beetle had figured out on his own.
If there was any difference, perhaps it was that not only the lower body but also the upper body’s mana needed to be organically mobilized?
Although minor, the instruction was greatly beneficial to Dung Beetle.
The more he understood how mana moved through his body, the more methods of application he discovered.
“First, show me the basic forms.”
“Basic forms?”
“The techniques. Please demonstrate the Shadow Skipping techniques you know.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Dung Beetle’s feet moved.
From the most fundamental kick, through the gliding footwork and flying kicks, to the move called True Strike.
A series of Shadow Skipping techniques unfolded at the tips of his feet, smoothly executing as if they were all part of one technique without any interruption.
“Uh…”
When the demonstration of Shadow Skipping ended, Seti looked at Dung Beetle with a face that said she had just seen something ridiculous.
After staring at Dung Beetle in silence for a while, she asked something unexpected.
“…Mr. Dung Beetle, have you ever thought about the true essence of Shadow Skipping?”
“The essence?”
“The fundamental, the meaning… To put it simply, what do you think were the intentions behind the creation of martial arts?”
‘Why are you asking me?’ Dung Beetle frowned slightly, but he knew Seti wouldn’t have asked without a reason.
After seriously pondering, he came up with his own answer.
“Connection… That’s what I think.”
“…Connection?”
“Connect the ground with my feet, leap up to connect with the sky. Once the sky, myself, and the ground are connected, the same principle allows the mana that started at my toes to connect all the way to the top of my head.”
“…”
“That’s the essence of Shadow Skipping as I feel it. I can’t think of a better way to put it.”
After giving his answer, Dung Beetle suddenly realized that Seti’s expression had turned to one of shock.
Curious as to why she was reacting this way, he asked.
“Is my interpretation that terrible?”
“…”
“I know my way with words is lacking. So tell me what you think, no holds barred.”
As if she had forgotten how to speak, Seti stared blankly at Dung Beetle. She chewed on her lower lip for a moment before suddenly asking another question.
“Tell me the truth. Have you ever learned another martial art before?”
“Never. I might have watched some documentaries about superhumans.”
“…This is cheating.”
She mumbled something about being furious with talent, then continued speaking.
“Mr. Dung Beetle, saying the essence of Shadow Skippings is ‘connection’… that’s the correct interpretation. It’s as precise as if you’ve read the secret manual.”
“Is that so?”
“That so…? Is that all you have to say about it? Speaking like it’s no big deal makes me feel a bit sad.”
Seti let out a sigh and walked to the center of the clearing where Dung Beetle had demonstrated Shadow Skipping.
“My original plan was to complete your Shadow Skipping training first… but it seems I’ll have to move on to the next step.”
“Next?”
“I’ll teach you a new martial art. Unlike Shadow Skipping, this one is unknown to the Korean government.”
Seti assumed a stance as she spoke, spreading her stance wide, with her right hand leading the left.
It looked more like a preparatory pose for a dance than a combat stance.
“The name of this martial art is… Pyangyeol. It’s a technique that China discovered during their dimensional explorations.”
Pyangyeol. For some reason, the unfamiliar name seemed to carry a faint scent of blood.
“The technique has fewer forms compared to the Shadow Skipping, so I’ll show you both at once.”
The moment Seti moved, Dung Beetle focused his attention. This was the first real martial art he was learning. He intended not to miss a single gesture of hers.
The martial art started with a light hand gesture. Her fingers outstretched, her hand slicing through the air, moving as smoothly as if scooping water.
“Pyangyeol is based on treating the mana inside your body like water. Just like water flowing along a river, mana flows along the body.”
After saying that, Seti folded her hand blade and clenched her fist.
“Once you’ve created the river flow, then comes the flood.”
Her muscles tensed, and the mana inside her body started moving violently. It was a turbulent change as if it would overflow at any moment.
“After the flood, comes the wave.”
Snap!
As Seti swung her fist, the overflowing mana converged into her hand. It was a force so immense that even Dung Beetle, who was watching, furrowed his brows.
“The height of a wave grows with the depth of the water, just like the limits of Pyangyeol depend solely on the user’s mana and proficiency. Just like this!”
As she struck down with her fist, the mana gathered within was unleashed into the air.
!!!
A silent shockwave spread from Seti’s fist, causing the grass around the clearing to collapse and leaves to fall en masse.
The power of her punch contained a force similar to—or even greater than—the Shadow Skipping’s True Strike.
‘This… is real martial arts.’
Dung Beetle, coated in the dust brought by the shockwave, narrowed his eyes and watched Seti’s fist.
“How about it? It’s a martial art centered on mana manipulation, so it’s a bit difficult, but it has endless applications.”
Dung Beetle did not respond. To be precise, he could not respond.
His mind was filled with thoughts about the mana application he had seen for the first time. The fervent ideas followed each other endlessly, making it impossible to think of anything else.
A state of no-mind.
A state often referred to as enlightenment by superhumans and awakening by mages.
Regrettably, Seti, who was unaware of his state, kept explaining.
“If you apply Pyangyeol to Shadow Skipping, even the government people won’t be able to recognize it easily.”
“…”
“After practicing to infuse mana into weapons, you can apply it to them as well, and once you can project it outward, you can embed explosions into each strike.”
“…”
“I didn’t have outstanding talent with mana, so I shelved it… But Mr. Dung Beetle is different from me… Huh?”
Only after saying that did Seti realize that Dung Beetle was unusually unresponsive.
“Excuse me?”
Seti tentatively inspected Dung Beetle’s face. His calm breathing, unfocused eyes, and mana that had stopped like a dead person.
To have fallen into a state of no-mind just from watching a single demonstration?
She quickly understood what state he was in. Admiration, jealousy, and absurdity sequentially crossed her mind.
“This is cheating…”
***
For the past few days, the Cleaner’s Guild had been in continuous chaos.
The team of work foremen known for being the most efficient had been entirely murdered, and the next day, the workshop manager went missing.
To make matters worse, ‘that warehouse’ everyone knew about was inexplicably burned down, and the branch chief, who was rarely seen, personally visited the scene, going back and forth between the fire and police stations.
The rank-and-file didn’t care and just went about their work, but the more experienced cleaners felt an ominous unease.
And that unease peaked while cleaning the closed Pier 13.
The dock was soaked in filth, piled with chunks of meat, and there were bodies of men in suits, clearly from the government side…
It was clear to anyone that something unusual had happened.
Moreover, the fact that there wasn’t even a single news broadcast on TV or the internet made it certain that the higher-ups were directly suppressing any news.
—Pretend you didn’t see, pretend you didn’t hear.
The cleaners unanimously turned away.
After an oblivious newbie asked what that disgusting stuff on the suits was and disappeared without a trace, no one even dared to open their mouths.
Of course, not all cleaners kept silent. There were always those who didn’t seem to value their lives.
Cleaner Park Gu-sik was a classic example of someone who didn’t seem to value his life.
True to his reputation as a drunk who spilled everything once inebriated, this time, as soon as he was drunk, he spewed out things he shouldn’t have.
“This city is crazy, crazy! A murderer is roaming around, and the police haven’t even started investigating!”
“Do you know how many people that crazy murderer killed? I’ve confirmed dozens myself! Do you think only people were killed? Even two elves were murdered!”
“Damn, it must have been that bastard who killed the work foreman who did that to Pier 13. I guarantee it!”
The bartender, used to the ramblings of drunkards, started with “Oh my, this person is really drunk” and naturally kicked him out of the bar.
“Ugh, this filthy city. MacArthur here, MacArthur there. Damn, is this an American colony or Korea?”
Thrown out into the streets of Incheon, completely intoxicated, Park Gu-sik staggered home.
His only sanctuary, a musty semi-basement.
Creak.
The moment he opened the door that screamed with rust, someone tapped his shoulder from behind.
“What the… Hup!”
He turned around in annoyance, and something cold poked his cheek.
A sword. It wasn’t a hand that had tapped his shoulder, but a sword held straight out.
As soon as he saw the sword, Park Gu-sik, now sober, raised his hands above his shoulders and pleaded pitifully.
“I-if it’s money you want, I’ll give you as much as you like. There’s a wallet in my right pocket, just spare my life…”
“We are not robbers.”
The person pointing the sword at him was a woman. Moreover, a woman with a chillingly beautiful voice.
“Then what do you want…”
“Do you remember what you were talking about in the bar earlier?”
“At the bar?”
Park Gu-sik desperately wracked his brain. And the moment he remembered what he had talked about, he felt a terror as if the sky was collapsing.
‘Is it from upstairs? Was someone from upstairs watching me?’
He was shivering and about to beg for his life, insisting he had no intention of defying the government, that it was just drunken nonsense.
But before he could open his mouth, the beautiful voice silenced him.
“The murdered elves.”
Elves? Park Gu-sik hadn’t expected this word and cautiously turned around. Behind him, the shadows of two women stretched long.
Both had figures that could easily be believed to be models. Park Gu-sik lifted his head, thinking he might take his chances.
Then, the next moment, he bowed his head again. Both women had long ears that couldn’t be seen on Earth.
“Tell me everything you know about those elves.”