***
“Ua-a-a-ak! It’s over!”
I stepped down onto the ground, almost falling from the tree.
Even though two months had already passed, this one-hour sprint showed no signs of becoming familiar.
Of course, it might have been because I kept increasing the weight of the steel vest.
When I arrived at the clearing, the other squad members had already entered a state of internal energy regulation.
Except for Squad Leader Seol Poong, who must have departed again, and Bae Jong-gwan, who would arrive later than me, it seemed I was the latest.
“You’re a bit late today. You worked hard.”
Young Lady Na Seo-yu, the deputy leader of our squad, greeted me with her characteristic bright smile just as she was about to enter energy regulation.
Young Lady Na Seo-yu, who always had a smiling face with slightly drooping eyes, was kind and beautiful today as well.
I felt happy just being able to see her again.
“Ah, yes, I increased the weight again, so I couldn't get my speed up. It's probably because my training is still insufficient. Hahaha!”
When I answered with an awkward laugh, she smiled brightly and praised me again.
“They say training is for becoming better than yesterday, right? You are truly amazing, Young Master Sunwoo.”
“Ah, no. It's really nothing. Compared to the squad leader, it's just a drop in the bucket. Hahahaha!”
Young Lady Na Seo-yu had warmly protected me even in my past life when I was ostracized by everyone as a pig.
At that time, I had fallen in love with her.
Even though I could neither convey my feelings nor prevent her death.
“Then rest a bit before you start. I'll start my regulation first.”
“Ah, yes! Please do! I understand!”
I stole a glance at her face as she entered energy regulation, then quickly turned my head and entered regulation myself before anyone could see.
It had already been two months since I came to the front. From about a month ago, the female squad members—Young Lady Cheong-yeon, Young Lady Na Seo-yu, and Young Lady Cheon Ju-eun—also began participating in the training.
From what I heard, Young Lady Cheong-yeon had wanted to participate from the beginning, but the other ladies had held her back, telling her to wait a bit longer.
In the early days of coming to the front, she had asked me seriously.
“Don't you think there are too many masters here?”
“Pardon?”
“Among only seventy people, there are five peak-level masters in their twenties. The ratio is too high. Even the Murim Alliance, where geniuses are said to gather, is not like this.”
I had answered her with a smile.
“Isn't it because the people here are more desperate than those in the Murim Alliance? If your skills fall behind, you truly die.”
“Hmm.”
After that, she seemed to have developed a competitive spirit and began to immerse herself relentlessly in training.
It was the same after she joined our training.
Among the women, she was the only one who did the sprint training while wearing a steel vest.
I knew she had a strong curiosity, but it seemed her competitive spirit was also significant.
She even said she would participate in the external art training, which made us aghast.
Slapping her bare skin with bamboo as a woman—it was something even Bae Jong-gwan, the external art pervert, couldn't do.
In the end, she had no choice but to back down when told that she would have to take off her top and apply medicine for the external art training, but even then, the way she looked disappointed made me think, "As expected of Young Lady Cheong-yeon."
Everything else was going smoothly.
The Primordial Limitless Internal Art was indeed the best internal art, and my growth rate now that I had mastered the Thirteen Swords of Sunwoo was incomparable to my previous life.
I was looking forward to the duel with Ju Tae-gyeong, which was a month away.
The growth of Bi Sa-yeong and Bae Jong-gwan, the friends I desperately wanted to save, was also smooth.
Bi Sa-yeong followed the training well without giving up due to his characteristic stubbornness, despite always grumbling, and the newly learned Internal Art of Pleasant Intent was giving him wings.
Bae Jong-gwan was also focusing on the lightness art and his newly learned internal art, unlike his past life where he only dug into one external art.
His obsession with external arts had been close to stubbornness.
A stubbornness to be recognized for the external arts that everyone ignored.
It seemed to be because of his late father's last words, but that stubbornness made him throw away all other training and only dig into external arts.
I had said to him.
“I happen to have the internal art of a sect called the Indestructible Vajra Sect, which pursued an indestructible body; would you like to learn it?”
“…The Indestructible Vajra Sect?”
The word 'indestructible' was like a dream to those who practiced external arts.
He couldn't help but be interested.
“Yes, it was a sect that held the desire to achieve true indestructibility by training both the inside and the outside. I also have the medicinal formula from that place, and if you reconcile it with your formula, you will be able to get a better effect.”
“You... you're going to give me such a thing? You truly are...”
I firmly held his hand as he was on the verge of tears and said to him.
“I'm not giving it to you. We are learning it together. We are becoming indestructible together. How about it?”
“Together... indestructible... Ugh! Thank you so much, Jin!”
While comforting him as he finally burst into tears, I apologized to him inwardly.
In truth, there was no such thing as the Indestructible Vajra Sect.
Well, maybe there was, but at least I didn't know of it.
What I had was the Iron Arhat Internal Art I read in my father's library, which originated from Shaolin, and a medicinal formula.
Since it was a training method originating from Shaolin that emphasized both external and internal arts, it was suitable for Bae Jong-gwan, and I had added some flavor to it for motivation.
My conscience pricked a bit, but isn't it all good if the motive and result are good?
Rationalizing it like that, I continued to learn external arts with him.
It seemed the only thing I could do for now was to keep growing myself and my surrounding comrades like this.
Two months after arriving here, if my memory was correct, a major incident was about to happen soon. A major incident incomparable to the duel with Ju Tae-gyeong...
And my memory was almost never wrong.
Looking back at the memories of my past life, one day, about fifty Wild Dog Ghosts suddenly rushed in like a tidal wave.
We, who had never faced more than five or six Wild Dog Ghosts at once until then, suffered a tragedy where one squad was almost annihilated by that unprecedented disaster.
That wasn't all.
I didn't know the exact causal relationship, but in my past life, life at the front became one level more difficult starting from that incident.
It was as if we weren't climbing a continuous slope, but suddenly stepping up onto a higher step.
The frustrating thing was that with my status and martial arts in the 13th Unit right now, even if I knew that fact, I couldn't tell anyone or prepare for it directly.
Like a fist that I could clearly see coming but still had to take, it was just frustrating.
Won Cheong-won, the leader of the 6th Squad of the 13th Unit, was patrolling the dense jungle with his squad members.
Patrolling was carried out four times—morning, afternoon, evening, and night—and seven squads took turns, so they usually patrolled about once every two days.
Won Cheong-won, who was leading and making a path by cutting through the thicket with his sword, was waving one hand that didn't have a sword to chase away the swarms of mosquitoes that kept lunging at him.
The Yunnan region, being a tropical rainforest, was originally teeming with mosquitoes, but Won Cheong-won was bitten by mosquitoes unusually often.
Perhaps his blood was delicious, or he had an appearance that was popular with mosquitoes.
“I should have been popular with women, not mosquitoes.”
Muttering that, Won Cheong-won suddenly grew annoyed and performed a sword form.
“Take this!”
Shu-hak!
In an instant, the area around Won Cheong-won was filled with sharp sword-images like a hedgehog.
It was the Seventy-Two Wave Swords, a secret technique of the Cheongseong Sect, and specifically the defensive form, Dense Sword Rain.
Won Cheong-won smiled satisfiedly as the mosquitoes crowded around him were slaughtered en masse.
Other mosquitoes would surely swarm in again in a moment, but he was quite satisfied just being able to not hear the buzzing for a short while.
Then, his squad members behind him burst into exclamations of admiration.
“Wow, as expected of the squad leader! It's amazing every time I see it!”
“That was the Dense Sword Rain of the Seventy-Two Wave Swords, wasn't it?!”
Won Cheong-won, feeling proud, lifted his head and answered.
“It's nothing. This much is basic for a disciple of the Cheongseong Sect.”
But Won Cheong-won's squad members did not let him show off.
“Our squad leader is at this level, so how amazing must the 1st Squad Leader be, who is called a genius even in the Cheongseong Sect?”
“The Blue Wind Sword Style of the 1st Squad Leader Han Kyo-seong is incomparable to our squad leader. Even his nickname is the Blue Wind Sword Dragon, right? Our squad leader is the Swift Ape; how can a dragon and an ape be compared?”
“Ugh!”
Won Cheong-won, whose face crumpled at the squad members' words, shouted out.
“Shut up, you rascals! That guy who reached the peak realm in his twenties is the strange one! He's a fellow without any human touch!”
“Ah, by the way, squad leader! Now that I think about it, they say Squad Leader Seol Poong of the 7th Squad catches mosquitoes while running with his eyes closed? They say his senses are so accurate that he doesn't get bitten by a single mosquito whether he's running or walking.”
“Ugh! That... if that fellow were as popular with mosquitoes as I am, he would have been bitten at least once!”
Unlike a disciple of the prestigious Cheongseong Sect, Won Cheong-won was very cheerful and lived without formality with his squad members, so he was always teased by them like this.
However, because of that, the unity of the 6th Squad was tighter than any other squad.
The deputy squad leader, Gong Jong-hwa, said to the squad members.
“Don't be like that. Where else is there a squad leader with as good a personality as ours? And his arms are long, too.”
“That's right, that's right. As expected, the deputy leader knows a thing or two.”
When Won Cheong-won nodded satisfiedly at the deputy leader's words, the squad members jeered.
“Hey, if he's that good, why don't you date him, deputy leader?”
“That's right. Please save our squad leader. Don't leave him alone in his loneliness.”
“Hmm, about that... His arms are too long, so it's a bit burdensome.”
“Pardon? Puhahaha! You just said having long arms was an advantage!”
“Wahahaha! Squad leader, you've been rejected again!”
“Shut up, you rascals! I don't like the deputy leader either!”
It was while they were entering the latter half of the patrol and were now relaxing their tension and chatting boisterously.
A certain sound reached the ears of Won Cheong-won, who was at the highest level of the first-class realm.
“Everyone, be quiet!”
When Won Cheong-won spoke seriously, all the members of the 6th Squad immediately lowered their posture with tense eyes as if they had never been chatting.
S-s-s-s-shuk!
In Won Cheong-won's ears, from which the surrounding noise had vanished, the sound of something pushing through the thicket and approaching was being heard.
Won Cheong-won muttered lowly.
“Something is coming. Quite a lot. Into defensive formation!”
The members of the 6th Squad immediately formed a defensive formation with Won Cheong-won as the apex.
It was a formation where a lot of the burden was placed on Won Cheong-won, whose martial strength was overwhelmingly superior to the other squad members.
The rustling sound was getting closer and closer.
Won Cheong-won swallowed hard and muttered.
“This... seems like a bit too many.”
In the next moment, they sprang out from the thicket.
“Kya-a-a-a-a!”
“Kkia-a-a-a-a!”
They were Wild Dog Ghosts.
Furthermore, about ten Wild Dog Ghosts were lunging at once.
Won Cheong-won immediately realized that things had gone wrong.
Until now, even when Wild Dog Ghosts swarmed at once, five or six had been the maximum, but the ten in front of him were not the end.
Even after those, Wild Dog Ghosts continued to lunge.
Won Cheong-won shouted like a scream and swung his sword at the Wild Dog Ghosts at the front.
“Deputy leader! Send the signal!”
Shu-ha-a-ak!
The Dense Sword Rain that had caught the mosquitoes earlier was performed once more. This time, unlike before, it was a strike performed with all his might, emitting a dense, misty Sword Qi.
But it didn't work.
Teong! Te-te-te-teong! Te-teong!
The Sword Qi bounced off the bodies of the three Wild Dog Ghosts that lunged at the lead.
They were mid-level Wild Dog Ghosts that could not be pierced by Sword Qi.
Won Cheong-won shouted urgently.
“There are at least three mid-level ones! Everyone, run! Retreat!”
Peo-eong!
Along with Won Cheong-won's shout, a red firework sent up by Deputy Leader Gong Jong-hwa soared into the sky.
It was a distress signal.
Dang-dang-dang-dang!
An urgent bell was ringing in the 13th Unit's barracks.
An emergency deployment order, heard for the first time in a while; all squad members immediately gathered at the parade ground.
There, while the 13th Unit Leader Pung Yang had already finished preparations for departure, Deputy Leader Heon Yeong-bo quickly conveyed the situation on behalf of the taciturn leader.
“Three red fireworks went up. First one, then two at once. Each squad leader will depart first with the Unit Leader, and the squad members will follow under the lead of the deputy squad leaders!”
Red fireworks meant an enemy that could not be handled had appeared. Furthermore, if one fell into a crisis situation, one more was to be fired.
But firing two more after one was a clear indication of a dangerous situation never seen before.
“Let's go!”
When Pung Yang spoke briefly and vaulted his body, those among the squad leaders who were in the peak realm followed him and vaulted his body.
Han Kyo-seong of the 1st Squad, Sa Gun-il of the 2nd Squad, Dang Yeo-eun of the 3rd Squad, Ma Yu-gyeom of the 4th Squad, and Seol Poong of the 7th Squad.
As the peak-level masters vanished from sight in an instant, the deputy squad leaders of each squad also began to move, leading their members.
Na Seo-yu, the deputy leader of the 7th Squad, also hesitated for a moment and said.
“Let's go too. I don't think we can wait for the members who aren't here.”
In that way, all the members of the 13th Unit who were at the headquarters began to move.
It was the first time such a thing had happened since the Seven Evil Brothers incident.
Won Cheong-won, the leader of the 6th Squad, immediately let go of his sword when the three mid-level Wild Dog Ghosts pushed in while deflecting his Sword Qi.
To swordsmen, it would have been an act directly linked to death, but fortunately, Won Cheong-won was not a swordsman.
“U-hya-a-a-ap!”
With a shout, he spun his body and swung his long arms like whips, striking the surrounding Wild Dog Ghosts.
Peo-peo-peo-peo-peok!
The Wild Dog Ghosts struck by his arms were being sent flying into the surroundings.
Even if he couldn't pierce or break the skin of the Wild Dog Ghosts, he could sufficiently push and throw them back.
He was originally a practitioner of fist arts, not a swordsman.
The direct successor of the Ape Fist—that was Won Cheong-won's true identity.
He had only held a sword to use Sword Qi since he couldn't use Astral Qi as he hadn't yet reached the peak realm.
But even after escaping the crisis, Won Cheong-won still turned back with a frantic expression.
Because while he, a fist artist, could at least push back the Wild Dog Ghosts, it would be impossible for his squad members whose specialty was weapon techniques.
A sight of his squad members being swarmed by numerous Wild Dog Ghosts entered Won Cheong-won's eyes.
Rushing in frantically, he shouted.
“No!”
The basic method of facing a Wild Dog Ghost was for two people to form a team so that while one distracted the Wild Dog Ghost, the other would attack.
It was a strategy that struck at the weakness of the Wild Dog Ghost, which cannot pay attention to other things once it focuses on one, but the members of the 6th Squad were currently in a state where they had to face a larger number of Wild Dog Ghosts than themselves for the first time.
Far from two people to one, they each had to face two or more.
When a Wild Dog Ghost firmly bit a squad member's saber with its teeth, the member's face turned pale.
While unable to move the saber, other Wild Dog Ghosts pounced from both sides.
“N-no! Ua-a-a-ak!”
It was only a single moment before his arm was torn and his neck was bitten.
Three Wild Dog Ghosts lunged at him and were eating him alive.
Deputy Leader Gong Jong-hwa was also in a state of crisis.
She had emitted Sword Qi and sliced the chest of one low-level Wild Dog Ghost, but the fellow had lunged just as it was, with its chest split wide open.
The startled Gong Jong-hwa thrust her sword and drove it into the Wild Dog Ghost's heart.
Pu-uk!
But that was something she shouldn't have done.
Her sword was stuck in the fellow's heart, and while she hadn't yet pulled it out, two other Wild Dog Ghosts were lunging at her.
“Kya-a-a-a-a!”
“Kkia-a-a-a-a!”
Realizing that she could neither block nor avoid them, Gong Jong-hwa closed her eyes and screamed.
“Kya-a-a-ak!”
But it seemed her time had not yet ended.
Peo-peo-peong!
Won Cheong-won, who had rushed over just in time, struck with both arms and sent the Wild Dog Ghosts flying to both sides.
“Deputy leader! Run!”
Even in the moment Won Cheong-won saved her, another squad member was screaming as he was being eaten by Wild Dog Ghosts.
“Help me! Ua-a-a-a-ak!”
In the moment Won Cheong-won's pained gaze lingered on him for a moment, the mid-level Wild Dog Ghosts he had just thrown back were lunging at him again.
There was no end in sight.
Just as Won Cheong-won was about to reach out his hands toward them again with a despairing gaze, suddenly, massive masses flew in from somewhere.
“Hi-ya-ap! Iron God Meteor!”
“U-ha-ap! It's the Vajra Flying Star!”
Peo-peo-peo-peo-peong!
It was two men.
Unlike their grandiose shouts, the two men were charging recklessly like wild boars and sending the Wild Dog Ghosts flying in heaps with body slams; they were Bae Jong-gwan and Sunwoo Jin of the 7th Squad.
It was the dramatic appearance of those who had been mocked as medicine sellers by everyone in the 13th Unit.