Flesh that had been a person a moment ago was splattered all over the room.
The bed.
The walls.
The furniture.
All of it was smeared with flesh and blood, and instead of the smell of herbal medicine, the room reeked of blood.
The sight before my eyes.
The raw, metallic stench brushing my nose.
"Hurk......!"
I couldn't hold back the retching.
It was too horrible.
A sight I had never seen in my life.
"Hurk! Hurrrrk......!"
No matter how much I threw up, the retching kept coming. That was how shocking the scene in front of me was.
It was the kind of sight an ordinary person might never see in a lifetime.
So for a long while, all I did was retch.
How long did it go on like that?
"Haah...... haah......"
Only after I had emptied my stomach and dry-heaved a few more times did I finally manage to stop.
"......"
But even so, I couldn't get used to the scene in front of me.
And what's more......
"......I did this?"
The fact that I was the one who had made this scene made it even worse.
Shudder, shudder—!
Tremble, tremble— my whole body was shaking.
But only for a moment.
"......Calm down."
I decided to think calmly.
I couldn't keep shaking like this forever. It was already done.
'......From now on, from now on this is something I'll go through countless times.'
That was the kind of world I would be living in from now on. One that thought nothing of a death like this.
A world that heartless.
One where only strength could keep you safe.
That was the world I would be living in from now on.
So I had to adapt.
I forced my shaking body and mind to settle. Making up my mind to it, even by force, made me feel a little better.
"Whew—"
Letting out a deep breath, I calmly took stock of the situation.
"......First things first."
The first thing to check was the reward.
[ You have safely completed the Sudden Trial. ]
[ Accordingly, you will be rewarded. ]
[ The reward will be chosen at random from among the things you need most right now. ]
[ Reward: Location of the Fallen Vermilion Bird ]
It was the reward I had expected.
As I said once before.
I had already cleared this Trial once.
And the reward I got back then was the same one I got now.
"......The location of the Fallen Vermilion Bird."
The Fallen Vermilion Bird's location was essential knowledge for curing the Nine Yang Severed Meridians.
'Curing the Nine Yang Severed Meridians takes two things, no exceptions.'
One of those two was the Fallen Vermilion Bird's inner core. To get it, you had to find the Fallen Vermilion Bird.
There was just one thing.
"The problem is, finding the bastard doesn't mean you can catch it."
I had tried to take down the Fallen Vermilion Bird a few times, but it was as if the developers had never meant for it to be caught. It couldn't be done.
A single beat of its wings turned even a master of the Transformation Realm to ash.
So, honestly, calling this a reward was a stretch.
"......"
But now I saw it a little differently.
'......Could it work?'
Say this Authority.
[ Authority ]
[ Instant Kill ]
If it worked on that thing too, catching it might not be so far-fetched after all.
But having used this power, I had realized something.
'I must never use it recklessly.'
This Authority, sure.
It was an incredible power, no question.
But the risk was way too big.
[ The price of using the Authority comes due. ]
1. Lifespan: ten days
2. Faint killing intent
I had used it only once, and ten days of my lifespan were gone.
That might not seem like much, but if I kept spamming it, I'd be dead before long.
Besides......
Throb—!
Maybe it was because of that line about killing intent accumulating, but a migraine had been tormenting me for a while now.
'......This is only because it's faint. If I keep spamming it......'
There was no telling what would happen. So I had to hold back from using it as much as possible.
And even if I could spam it, whether I could actually bring myself to was another question.
'......'
The image of the assassin bursting into pieces was still vivid in my head. It had settled in like a kind of trauma.
So if I could help it, I didn't want to use it.
Of course, if things went so that I had no choice but to use it, that couldn't be helped.
To survive in this cold, heartless martial world, the time to use it would surely come.
But even so, I wanted to avoid it as much as I possibly could. Which meant I had to become strong enough that I wouldn't need this power.
And to get there.
[ Trait ]
[ Nine Yang Severed Meridians ]
[ Grade: Lowest / ??? ]
Curing this came first.
I began slowly sorting out my plans in my head.
No.
I tried to.
"......I don't think I can do it here."
One look at the scene in front of me, and the thoughts fled.
No matter how firmly I resolved to steel myself, I had no wish to stay any longer in a place strewn with blood and flesh.
"Hasn't it been 10 minutes yet?"
My helper should be coming back any time now.
That was when it happened.
"Your Highness!!"
Right on time, my helper's voice came from far off. I thought to myself.
'Speak of the tiger, and it shows up......'
The old sayings were never wrong.
Whoosh— the tension drained out of my body.
Was that why?
BANG—!!
Someone threw open the door to my room in a hurry.
"......Took you long enough."
My helper, rushing toward me.
Thump—!
That was my last memory of that day.
***
I had a dream.
A strange dream.
'......This place—'
I was standing blankly in a space where nothing existed. A space for which the only word was nothingness.
I really couldn't see anything at all.
All there was to see was pitch-black darkness.
[ A brilliant move indeed. ]
That, and this voice echoing low through the space.
[ Born with the blood of Heaven thicker than anyone's. Yet so thick was that power that you bore a body fated to die young. A destiny of crumbling away without ever bringing your gift to bloom. ]
Whether it was a man.
Or a woman.
The voice was too ambiguous to tell which.
[ It was the only move that could overturn that destiny. A marvelous move that even Heaven would not have dared imagine, one that deceived even Heaven's Design.]
I wanted to ask who it was.
But I couldn't.
'......My voice—'
I couldn't open my mouth.
[ It was nothing but a desperate struggle to survive. Yet it may be the one move that saves the world. Now is the time to gather in that seed. ]
It felt as though something I couldn't identify was clamping my mouth shut.
[ And so, I shall watch. ]
But even if I could have opened my mouth, it wouldn't have changed much.
Because with those last words, I woke from the dream.
No.
To be exact.
"Your Highness."
It was this low voice in my ear that woke me from the dream.
Four days ago, the voice had been a stranger's. Now it was one I had grown somewhat used to.
"Are you all right?"
I eased my eyes open and saw Baek-no looking down at me with a grave, heavy gaze.
"......Did I collapse?"
I said it quietly, looking up at him.
"Yes. But there is no need to worry. The Divine Physician says it was only because the tension left you."
Baek-no nodded as he examined me. Past him, I slowly looked around.
'It's all clean.'
Until I collapsed, the room had been awash in blood and flesh. But now that I was awake, every trace of it had been wiped away.
Yet the scene was still vivid in my head.
'Urp—!'
Vivid enough that just remembering it made me gag like this.
'......Can I ever get used to this?'
No.
'Will I get used to even this?'
I didn't know.
The truth was, I didn't want to get used to it.
Getting used to something like that.
It would mean going through it countless times.
I didn't want to keep living through something so horrible.
But that wasn't an option. It was nothing but a child's wish.
'I have to get used to it.'
Only then could I survive.
In this cold, heartless place.
'The Murim.'
As it was called.
So I reminded myself once more.
'Ju Muk-rin.'
'My' name.
'Third Prince of the Ming Imperial Family.'
And my status.
At first, it felt foreign.
But maybe because I had admitted and accepted reality, it no longer did.
That was strange in itself. I wondered if something like this could sink in so easily.
But humans are creatures of adaptation.
'Fair enough.'
I let it go.
Just then.
"Your Highness."
Baek-no's low voice pierced my ears again. I turned my head to look at him.
But there was something odd about the way he looked at me. Something meaningful in it, maybe?
"There is something I wish to ask you."
"What is it?"
"In this attack, every one of those who raided the Medical Pavilion had reached at least first-rate. Which means the assassin sent after Your Highness was also first-rate or better."
"......"
"It is a great blessing that Your Highness is unharmed, but no matter how I think on it, this humble servant cannot understand."
"......"
"How Your Highness, as you are now, was able to kill that assassin."
A reasonable question.
To put it bluntly, my body right now was such a wreck that I would struggle to squash a single ant.
Beating a first-rate assassin with this body made about as much sense as breaking a boulder with an egg.
But he had the order wrong.
'Before asking something like that, isn't he supposed to say the guard failed and he deserves death, or that he'll find out who's behind it?'
Even if I flew into a rage, he would have had nothing to say for himself.
And yet the Baek-no in front of me did not look like a man who had done anything wrong.
In fact, I didn't think he had done anything wrong either.
'Because this is how it's supposed to be.'
That was simply how the imperial clan was.
The Murim might be a world where the strong ate the weak, but the Imperial Family was worse.
A place where the weak were weeded out.
A place where you had to prove yourself every single moment.
That was the Imperial Family as I had read it in the memories of the former 'me.'
Of course, if I had truly been on the verge of death, Baek-no would have stepped in.
It was only a hunch, but Baek-no seemed to have dealt with the raiders long before he came here.
How do I know, you ask?
Look at those eyes.
"......"
The look in Baek-no's eyes wasn't worry for me. It was a look full of expectation.
'Those are the eyes of someone who knows exactly what happened here.'
A look I really couldn't get used to.
If I hadn't gotten through this on my own strength, those eyes would have turned cold.
It struck me as coldhearted.
'......This is the world I have to live in from now on.'
I steeled my heart once again. Then I answered calmly.
"Because I awakened."
"......Awakened, you say."
At my answer, Baek-no's eyes gleamed.
"Could it truly be......?"
Among the game's lore on the imperial clan, there was this.
-The imperial clan bears unique traits.
-Hair as white as snow and dazzling golden eyes are traits unique to the imperial clan.
-Along with these, they possess powers that defy the laws of the world. That is why those who have actually faced the imperial clan say this.
-That they truly deserve to be called the Sons of Heaven.
Until I became one of the imperial clan in this world myself.
I didn't know much about what those law-defying powers were. Not just me: no one who played the game knew.
But now I knew. What those law-defying powers were.
"......Truly, an Authority?"
Those powers were the Authorities.
Going by the memories of the former 'me,' the imperial clan had unique Authorities.
That didn't mean every one of them had one, though.
Only the chosen among the imperial clan could awaken an Authority.
Until now, I had been one of those who were not chosen.
Of course.
Not anymore.
"Yes."
"My heartfelt congratulations!"
Baek-no threw himself flat on the floor in a full prostration to pay his respects.
But I wasn't fooled.
'Oh, please. You knew all along.'
Behold, a great actor graces us.
Graces us indeed.
"Rise."
But I spoke to him as if nothing were amiss. He rose at my word and asked me.
"Might I ask, by any chance?"
For a moment, I almost answered him without thinking. Fortunately, I didn't.
"Find out for yourself."
I could never tell him.
The game had a saying.
-In the martial world, show seven parts of your skill and hide three.
Especially now, when I didn't even know what kind of place the Imperial Family was. There was no need to reveal everything I had.
"Ho ho, it was merely this humble servant's curiosity. As you wish."
And so the subject ended there. Baek-no asked no further.
"The target of those who raided the Medical Pavilion was Your Highness. A report has already gone up to the Imperial Family, so we should learn before long who stands behind them."
Was it because he had heard what he wanted?
Baek-no readily told me how things stood.
Hm.
For some reason, that got on my nerves.
So I didn't say anything.
In truth, I already knew who was behind it. But I didn't tell Baek-no.
It was absolutely not because he got on my nerves.
Nor was it out of spite, to give him a taste of his own medicine.
Really.
Then why, you ask?
Simple.
'I'm curious.'
Just how strong was the Imperial Family whose power the users had argued about endlessly?
And.
"Also, His Majesty has issued an imperial decree."
The Imperial Family that had been kept so secret.
What kind of place it was.
"A decree that I escort Your Highness back to the Imperial Palace at once."
Right now, I was dying to find out.
***
[ You have surpassed your own limits and triumphed over a powerful enemy. ]
[ Hundred-Duel Journey ]
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