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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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I went with Jaemison to a nearby Inn to drink. As soon as we arrived, we ordered a bottle of hwaju and dumplings. Waiting for the food was hard, so we started drinking right away.
“Kahh!”
“Huu!”
Drinking after work felt great. My pockets were full, too. If it wasn’t enough later, I planned to order more food and drinks.
“You… You’re a pretty good guy,” Jaemison said as he offered me more hwaju.
“You recognized the true value of my secret weapon, and your skills weren’t bad either.”
“Hehehe, the same goes for you, Jaemison.”
He had a decent personality compared to the others, and when I saw him taking down the gobulins, his skills were pretty good, too.
The way he stabbed the gobulins to death with his strange spear was a masterpiece.
As expected, a strange guy who uses weird weapons is skilled. Jaemison seemed like a good killer.
“At first, I thought you were just a guy who used a strange weapon, but it’s excellent.”
“Kek… Indeed. I like the name Isangjego as well.”
“Develop it well. Well, let’s speak comfortably from now on.”
“Suit yourself…”
While we were talking, the dumplings arrived. I immediately picked up a well-steamed dumpling with my chopsticks. These dumplings were quite tasty.
Anyway.
This Jaemison guy seemed pretty decent. It wouldn’t hurt to build a rapport with him.
Even if you don’t know someone well, you can get close while drinking and chatting. Back on Earth, even if you build a rapport at a drinking party, contact naturally ceases the next day. But this is a martial arts world.
I can always meet and work with Jaemison.
“So, let me introduce myself again. I’m Kim Geun-hyeop. I’m from a village near the border of Henan and Anhui Provinces. I came to Anhui Province without a plan, to earn money. I worked a bit, bought a sword, and became a Martial artist. What about you, Jaemison?”
“I’m… Wind… I have no place of origin.”
What nonsense is this?
“Are you saying you’ve forgotten the past? Heh, I guess you have your reasons. Well, I suppose the owner of such a secret weapon would have a story.”
As I said that, Jaemison grinned and picked up a dumpling.
“Indeed… that’s right. Still, I’ve settled here and make a living hunting down japyos. We seem to get along well, so it would be nice to meet and work together often.”
“Hehehe, I agree. I was about to say the same thing.”
“But you followed Song.”
“Ah, but Song was stronger.”
“I admit it… decent skills. As expected of Muyeonyosal (The Silent Demon Slayer).”
“What? Muyeonyosal?”
Jaemison immediately explained about Song. He was a Martial artist with the nickname Muyeonyosal, famous in this area for silently killing demons.
“He’s a martial artist with a well known nickname! It’s only natural that I want to be friends with him!”
This way, I can’t stop worshipping Song…!
Just how much brighter are you going to shine, GOAT!
“Working with such a martial artist broadens one’s horizons…”
“Indeed!”
I certainly learned a lot while working with Song. But recklessly attempting to ‘dock’ with a nicknamed martial artist was something I should be careful about. I could get beaten to death if I make a mistake.
“Come, come. Let’s keep drinking, Jaemison.”
“Alright…”
So I shared drinks with Jaemisohn and talked about this and that. The conversation mostly consisted of me asking questions and Jaemison answering.
I was curious about this world, and Jaemison, being a local, knew a lot.
Any conversation works well at a drinking party.
“Jaemison, what kind of demon have you defeated to improve your skills?”
“Various… From Golgakgwi to Sigwi.”
Wow, this guy’s got quite the resume!
This guy’s experience is amazing!
“But what are those demons?”
“Golgakgwi are… you could say resurrected bones… Sigwi are dead humans raised by sorcery…”
“What.”
So there are undead?!
Skeletons and zombies too?!
“It’s… It’s amazing that such things exist.”
“Kek… They’re nothing but petty demons that don’t even reach the level of Baekpal Yokwae Gundo… To make a name for yourself as a demon hunter, you have to catch a demon of that level.”
“Really? But Baekpal, what? What is that?”
“What…?”
I’ve never heard of Baekpal Yokwae Gundo.
I offered him a drink and urged him to answer, and Jaemison said,
“Don’t you know? Baekpal Yokwae Gundo refers to those among the countless petty demons scattered throughout the Central Plains who are at least at the chieftain level.”
“Ah! Is that so?”
So the chieftain level of demons are called Baekpal Yokwae Gundo.
“So, you’re saying the chieftains of things like gobulins are called Baekpal Yokwae Gundo?”
“Yes…”
“Why that name?”
“Because they are widespread in the Central Plains…”
“So that’s why it’s called that. Ah, then what if they’re stronger than the Baekpal?”
“Jungwon Hyungsalsal… It refers to famous, vicious demon.”
“Jungwon Hyungsalsal!”
The demons called Jungwon Hyungsalsal apparently require at least a peak Martial artist level to face.
“Next is… Jiha Gwijang.”
“Jiha Gwijang!”
Just the name sounds like a boss!
So, are the Jiha Gwijang transcendent-level demons?
“And next are the famous Cheonha Sipdae Yoma…”
“T, Ten Great Demons of the World!”
Just the names sound like incredibly strong bosses!
“How strong are they? What kind of demons are there?”
“I’ve heard there’s a nine-tailed fox… a monkey with fiery golden eyes… a pig that built a kingdom of pleasure… but I don’t know for sure… The Gwijon above them are even more famous.”
“Gwijon…!”
What’s coming out, and what’s coming out next?!
This guy knows too much!
“Anyway, Jaemison. Then the Ten Great Demons are at least…!”
“They say you need to be at the Transcendent level to face them… They are terrifying demons, but their numbers are only ten in the world, so that’s why the country doesn’t perish.”
Wait. Listening to this, I remembered something I heard at the Martial Arts school the other day. Didn’t Big Brother say that Grand General Shang Yuchun fought a Bull Demon King?
“Then what about the Bull Demon King?”
“That Bull Demon King is a Gwijon…”
“The Bull Demon King is! So it is the strongest demon in the Central Plains?”
“Even if you include hell, that would be the case…”
I heard at the White Sword Martial Arts School the other day that Shang Yuchun, the founding contributor of the Ming Dynasty and General Commander, is an absolute master of the Transcendent Realm. They also called him the strongest in the Central Plains.
While I was fighting petty demons like the gobulin, absolute masters were fighting enormous demons far away.
“Jaemison! Tell me more about demons!”
“I need more alcohol…”
“Waiter! Another bottle of hwaju here!”
“Yes!”
Becoming friends with Jaemisohn seemed like a very good choice!
I had a good time drinking with Jaemison and then left.
“Kuu…! I’m getting tipsy!”
My head was spinning.
How long has it been since I’ve been this drunk?
After I became an adult, I got incredibly drunk once and got scolded severely by my aunt, so I haven’t overdrunk since then.
“Ah.”
My mind suddenly cleared up.
Thinking about my aunt’s cold face as she caught me, drunk and causing a ruckus, kneel, sitting with her legs crossed and arms folded on a chair in front of me, staring intently, made the alcohol wear off.
How long did I stay like that?
It was the first time I’d been scolded so harshly.
Cold sweat…!
“Keke! Me too!”
Jaemison’s loud laughter broke my reverie. This guy had a good sense of fun. It was enjoyable drinking with him. The information about the demons was also very useful. There were that many different demons in this world, huh.
But.
“Ah, but maybe it’s because I’m tipsy… the places I got hit hurt a bit.”
My forearm, where the gobulin had hit me, hurt quite a bit. It was only natural since it was grazed by a stone axe. I was going to go to a doctor for the bruises, but I drank first, so oh well.
“Kek… Go to the authorities and report it. Tell them you were hit by a gobulin.”
“What are you talking about?”
“And publicize it to the Martial artists… tell them you were hit by a gobulin.”
“Stop talking nonsense, hehehe.”
Anyway, let’s rest a bit.
“Huu, I should go to the doctor and rest soon. Hey, Jaemison. Let’s work together next time. Where do you usually stay?”
“I usually stay at Bangsam Inn… it’s around here.”
“Really? I’ll visit if I think of it. I’m staying at Chugok Inn.”
“Alright…”
I parted ways with Jaemison and went to find a doctor.
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In my dream, I was killing people and demons. Tears streamed down my face. As I sobbed, my surroundings were already covered in blood.
I turned around and saw my aunt looking at me.
I wanted to make some excuse, but I couldn’t speak.
“Gasp!”
Thump-thump!
My heart felt like it was about to explode.
“Ugh…! Shit, what a dream.”
Was it because I overdrank after so long?
I had a really bad night’s sleep.
“Huu.”
I stroked my forearm, but it didn’t hurt that much. The medicine I received from the doctor yesterday must have worked well.
I got up immediately and organized my belongings. A shiny half-silver coin shyly greeted me. This sexy bastard. I wanted to lick every nook and cranny of this silver, but that would be heavy metal poisoning.
I just gave it a kiss and put it in my coin pouch, tucking it into my bosom.
Now, shall we decide what to do today?
It’s too late to work, so I should rest. But I’m not lazy enough to just laze around on my day off.
“Good.”
I’ve decided.
Let’s go buy equipment!
It hurts my pride that I was injured by a mere gobulin. I lost all my face. If I had been wearing something like vambraces? Not only would I not have injured my forearm, but I could have also used them for active defense during combat.
“As always, it’s all about the gear.”
The difference between having equipment and not having it is enormous. Even experts are picky about their equipment. Isn’t it the standard to get armor after buying a weapon?
After preparing, I immediately headed to the Weapons Shop.
“Hello! I’ve come to look at some items!”
“Welcome. What are you looking for?”
“I’d like to buy some decent vambraces for a martial artist.”
“You’ve come to the right place.”
Currently, I have about half a silver coin and 200 copper coins. This should be enough to buy a pair of vambraces.
“This way.”
I followed the clerk, and
“Ooh!”
A space filled with all kinds of armor appeared. But aren’t these things used more by the military than martial artist?
After looking around for a bit, I shifted my gaze to the shelves where the vambraces were displayed.
“Hoo.”
There were leather ones, ones made of connected iron plates, and ones reinforced with chains. Even just vambraces came in a wide variety.
But they looked a bit expensive.
“How much is this?”
I pointed to a pair of vambraces reinforced with small iron plates.
“Just three silver coins.”
I almost fainted.
Fuck.
3,000 copper coins, seriously?
“Hmm, is there anything cheaper?”
“Then how about a leather one?”
“Specifically, I want something I can buy for about half a silver coin.”
“…How about this one, sir?”
The clerk pointed to a pair of vambraces made of greenish leather.
“Can I try them on?”
“Of course.”
I immediately put on the leather vambraces. The hard leather embraced my forearms. I pulled the strings on the inside of my arm tightly and tied them to secure the vambraces, tucking the ends inside.
“Ooh! I like these!”
The vambraces held my arms very firmly!
“These are Monster Hide Vambraces made from the hide of a Donjeogwi. They’re very popular among Martial artists. I’ll give them to you for half a silver coin.”
“What kind of demon is a Donjeogwi?”
“You know, the big demon with green skin.”
“Hmm…”
Something like an orc came to mind? Thinking of these as orc hide vambraces makes them seem like the kind of equipment a fantasy warrior would use in the early stages.
“I’ll buy them!”
I immediately bought the Monster Hide Vambraces!
“Khahaha!”
A sword and vambraces! I’m really living the martial arts life!
I didn’t know getting equipment would be so much fun. It’s incomparable to getting game items. Instead of hunting demons and selling items for money, I should be getting equipment.
In a good mood, I looked at other items.
But I saw a pair of nice boots.
“What are those…?”
“Ah, you have a good eye, sir. Those are high-quality boots made from the hide of a Pigaksa. They don’t get wet and are very durable, so they are quite useful.”
They felt like boots made of crocodile leather.
“The price?”
“Five silver coins.”
“Gasp!”
Five silver coins for a pair of boots!
But I really want them!
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