“That was truly dangerous.”
Il-hyang sweated profusely, pressed his right palm firmly over his heart, and smiled.
He did not know exactly why it was not a horizontally rotating Circle.
But it no longer mattered.
Now that one stable Circle had been completed.
Even without conscious effort, the Circle would grow in size on its own.
It would grow naturally up to the limit allowed by Il-hyang’s enlightenment.
Of course, if he consciously gathered energy, it would be faster.
But having inner arts accumulate even while he slept was certainly a great merit.
“Still, this place doesn’t apply the rules I know exactly as they are. Growth might get blocked at some point.”
Well, that was a problem for later.
Il-hyang rose from his seat in high spirits, opened the window, and looked outside.
Today, though only in a very small part, he felt as if he had glimpsed one of this world’s rules.
‘Horizontal Circles and vertical Circles, huh.’
What rule caused such a phenomenon?
Like the theory of the Hero and Demon King’s natural occurrence in the past.
It seemed this world also possessed some unknown rule.
“In any case, creating a Circle without help is huge.”
As Il-hyang felt the bright sunlight and gentle breeze and checked the flow of time.
It seemed roughly a full day had passed since he had prepared to create the Circle.
The problem was.
“Sniff, sniff. Ugh……! This smell is serious. I should bathe first.”
The moment the Circle was completed.
The waste that had built up in his body had left all at once, so the smell currently pouring from him was quite severe.
An unmistakable foul tang that stabbed the tip of his nose.
This was an odor on almost the same level as when he had looked like a beggar in the early days.
It was enough to make his head spin.
TAP TAP TAP—
When Il-hyang opened the door and hurried down the stairs.
The Server, who had been humming as he wiped an empty table on the first floor, tried to approach with delighted eyes, almost as if wagging his tail.
“Young Master Il-hyang, you’ve finally come out!”
“Mm. I’ll go wash at the well for a moment.”
“Oh! No, sir! I’ll bring hot water up immediately!”
“No, no. It’s fine. I just feel too grimy right now. And…… I’d rather you didn’t come too close right now.”
“What do you mean by…… Ugh! What in the world! Where is this sour stink of spoiled dog food coming from……?”
The Server’s face instantly crumpled, and he took two steps back.
At that sight, Il-hyang scratched the back of his head with an awkward expression and said.
“Sorry. I sweated too much. The smell is a bit bad, isn’t it?”
Seeing Il-hyang look embarrassed like that, the Server suddenly came to his senses and immediately slapped his own cheek hard once.
SMACK—
“You fool! I apologize, Young Master! How dare I speak of your fragrance! Huuup! Hup! Huaaah~ Young Master, your bodily scent is truly fragrant!”
“…….”
The Server came right up before Il-hyang’s nose, then puffed up his upper body and inhaled as deeply as possible.
And with sparkling eyes, he splendidly displayed his loyalty.
From the Server’s perspective, it was the highest flattery he could express at that moment.
But Il-hyang’s face rotted as he watched that behavior.
‘He’s even crazier than I thought, this one…….’
He understood well enough that the Server was going this far because Il-hyang had given him a large tip last time.
But for the first time in several decades, even including his previous life, Il-hyang felt the shameful emotions called embarrassment and humiliation.
“Huuup! Hup! This lowly one will go out at once and bring hot water. Please wait in your room. Huuup!”
“……No, enough. Somehow, I feel even worse now. And would you stop inhaling like that?”
“No, why? When your bodily scent is so fragrant…….”
“I said that’s enough, you bastard.”
Il-hyang simply wore a distorted expression.
And forcibly pushed away the Server, who was clinging to him in a disgusting manner.
“Ahh! Young Master! This lowly one will bring hot water truly quickly!”
“I feel grimy right now! Right now!”
Leaving behind the Server, who kept clinging to him persistently.
Il-hyang hurriedly ran to the large well behind the alley.
However.
“Oh no…….”
The well was larger than he had expected.
When he actually got there, far too many people were washing laundry along the waterway flowing from the well.
For an instant, maybe he should have just listened to the Server.
Regret briefly crossed his mind.
But honestly, if he did not wash right away, he felt so grimy he might faint.
“This really can’t be helped.”
It was an emergency.
After watching the atmosphere for a moment, Il-hyang.
Moved as far away from the people as possible, waited for an opportunity, and then dashed to the least populated part of the well’s channel. Then he used a gourd dipper to scoop a ladleful of well water.
SPLASH— SPLAAASH—!
He stripped off his upper garment in one motion.
And refreshingly poured well water over himself.
He could not bring himself to take off his pants, so his lower clothes were soaked through. But that could not be helped.
“Goodness, what is he doing?”
“Exactly. Judging by his clothes, he looks like a Young Master from some noble household, but there he is, perfectly fine-looking and shamelessly rinsing himself here.”
“But whose family’s Young Master is he, acting like that?”
“Who knows? His face is unfamiliar.”
Whether the women who looked like aunties and maidservants whispered among themselves a little distance away or not.
Because of the maddening griminess, Il-hyang desperately closed his eyes and ears and hurried into his next action.
SCRUB, SCRUB, SCRUB—
Using the soap powder he had brought from his room when he came out, he scrubbed his upper body hard.
“Oh my!”
“Excuse me! Go wash in the corner over there!”
“My, my. This is the first time I’ve seen such a shameless Young Master.”
“But his body is truly pretty. Isn’t it?”
Even amid the scolding and nagging of the women, Il-hyang maintained an expressionless face and steadfastly accomplished his purpose.
Then he scooped up another ladleful of water and poured it over his body.
SPLASH—
‘Ah…… Now I can finally live a little.’
Certainly, until just a moment ago, his body had been itching all over. After washing, even clumsily, he felt refreshed.
Only then did Il-hyang realize that the gazes looking at him from around him were not gentle, and he paused for a moment.
“Um…… I apologize. I felt too grimy…….”
“Sigh~ Still, it seems you do know you should be sorry?”
“Well, we got a rare sight after a long time. Your body is as white as tofu and truly pleasant to look at, Young Master.”
“…….”
Even before he had grown old.
Il-hyang’s original personality had belonged to the rather shameless side.
But perhaps because his body had become young.
Even this much teasing brought a rush of embarrassment.
Of course, he had not caused these people any particular harm.
But he was no barbarian, and openly stripping off his top in public and washing himself by pouring water over his body was, even on second thought, a nuisance.
“I apologize.”
When Il-hyang politely lowered his head and apologized.
The women giggled among themselves and waved their hands.
“It’s fine. Hurry back and change your pants.”
“Exactly. If you were going to strip, you should have properly stripped below too, Young Master.”
“Oh my! Then we wouldn’t have gotten angry.”
“It’s such a shame. We could have seen something nice for once.”
Leaving behind the women’s mischievous replies from behind.
Il-hyang hurriedly picked up the upper garment he had taken off and quickly returned to the inn.
Then.
“Ahh! Young Master! If you hand over the laundry, I will wash it for you at once and bring it back!”
“Enough. Do your work.”
The Server tried flattering him once again, but Il-hyang refused and entered his room.
Then he cleanly blew away the moisture from his entire body with fire-attribute magic, sat on the bed seriously, and sank into thought.
‘Haah, I shouldn’t be pleased just because I finally completed the 1st Circle. I need to reach the 3rd Circle as quickly as possible.’
Once he reached the 3rd Circle, he could use Clean Magic and Laundry Magic.
After all, household magic was more high-level than one might think.
Still, to think he would ever long this desperately for a mere 3rd Circle spell.
Thinking back on what he had just experienced, Il-hyang let out a light sigh.
Then he slowly rose from his seat, opened the door, and went down the stairs.
“Young Master! What do you neeeeed?”
Seeing the Server approach in the same low posture, as if wagging his tail, Il-hyang asked him to bring a simple meal to his room.
Of course, he paid in advance at the same time as he ordered.
Together with a tip.
“Just leave it to me, Young Master!”
As expected, money was good.
The Server dashed all the way to the kitchen, tossed out the order at once, and raised his voice to tell the cook to pay special attention to it.
Listening to that commotion as background noise.
Il-hyang closed the door again and quietly sat on the bed.
Was it because he had washed, even roughly?
His mind turned smoothly.
Thanks to that, he was able to give a little more concrete form to the thoughts that kept surfacing abruptly.
“The Spirit Realm definitely exists in this world, but there is no response. A Circle can also be created, but its form is different.”
Those were the rules of this world he had figured out so far.
At the very least, he had clearly learned two things.
‘What else might there be?’
Come to think of it, he recalled the Heavenly Wolf Energy Art , the Pyeong Family’s inner arts cultivation method, taught to him by the now-departed, kind Pyeong So-byeok.
The Heavenly Wolf Energy Art was treated in the martial world as an upper-middle-grade inner arts cultivation method.
And it was said that when one fully mastered it, one could reach the Transcendent Expert level.
“Since the flow of inner arts follows the Governing and Conception Meridians…….”
A strand of inner arts flowing out from the qi center.
Passed through the back side of the body, from the Hundred Meetings Acupoint at the crown of the head to the Perineum Acupoint at the buttocks.
Then again from the Perineum Acupoint at the buttocks to the Hundred Meetings Acupoint at the head.
It made a large one full heavenly circuit up and down the human body.
Amazingly, if one drew a single line following that flow, it ultimately drew a great circle.
“Ha…… Come to think of it, if you look at an inner arts cultivation method broadly, it’s also a kind of Circle.”
This was quite an interesting fact.
Perhaps the basic flow of mana in this world took a vertical form.
And thinking about it now, structurally, the human body could draw a larger circle in the vertical form.
The same was true of the heart.
‘The heart is larger vertically.’
Naturally, the Circle of the heart created now would be able to make a far larger Circle than in the lower dimension.
“Interesting. So this is the Higher Dimension?”
The corners of Il-hyang’s mouth rose ever so slightly.
He felt good, as if he had interpreted a small part of this world’s truth.
At that moment.
KNOCK, KNOCK—
“I brought your meal, Young Master!”
When he opened the door.
The Server, who now felt fairly familiar, stood there bowing and scraping with a wooden tray and a small wooden rice tub in his hands.
Il-hyang casually gave him a few more copper coins as a tip, took the tray, and was about to turn around.
But the Server hesitated and opened his mouth.
“Um, Young Master.”
“Mm. Speak.”
“Recently, they say kidnapping incidents have been happening outside the town. I’m sure nothing will happen to you, but I thought I should tell you to be careful just in case.”
“Kidnapping incidents?”
Suddenly?
Looking at Il-hyang’s expression of incomprehension.
The Server lowered his voice as much as possible and explained the matter.
“Yes. Not long ago, there was quite a commotion because the third son of Butcher Jang disappeared. The government troops were dispatched, but in the end, they could not catch the culprit. They say only children roughly around ten years old have been disappearing intensively. So this lowly one is worried that perhaps our Young Master might suffer harm as well.”
“Hmm…….”
It was probably because of money.
Still, the warm thoughtfulness of the Server, who at least pretended to worry about him like this, was quite commendable.
A few days ago, Il-hyang had asked him in passing to tell him if any strange rumors spread outside. This fellow had somehow not forgotten and was carrying it out very faithfully.
So naturally, he had to be rewarded.
CLINK—
Il-hyang gladly bestowed a reward upon the commendable Server.
Aside from the tip.
When he took out his coin pouch once again and tossed him a few copper coins.
A broad smile rose on the Server’s face, full of loyalty.
“Young Master! Thank you!”
“You be careful too. You said it’s dangerous.”
“Of course, Young Master! Thank you! At last, you understand my loyalty!”
“Yes, yes. Good work. Go do your job.”
“Understood!”
Once the Server disappeared while stepping backward, his face full of delight.
Il-hyang calmly brought the wooden tray over, set the rice tub and soup container resting on it neatly on the table, and organized his thoughts.
‘But kidnapping incidents, all of a sudden?’
Moreover, the fact that the age range of the disappearing children happened to be around ten years old bothered him for no particular reason.
Somehow, it strongly gave off the feeling of the Mansi Sect or the Thousand Blood Sect.
Something of that lineage.
In truth, this body too had been abducted by the Mansi Sect not long ago.
‘I should be careful.’
But aside from the kidnapping incidents, he felt as if there was something else he was missing.
What was it?
An extremely uneasy feeling.
“……What am I missing?”
Il-hyang thought for a moment, but nothing came to mind immediately, so he let it pass for now.
For the moment, he began urgently eating the warm food set before his eyes.
As he drank the hot broth of the dumpling soup.
Il-hyang began minutely adjusting the distance between himself and the Blood Jiangshi connected to him by threads of consciousness.