Chapter 18: Echoes of the Past

– Catching Up with the Silent Swordsman

4.

With a stiff expression, Lee Da-hye stared at the ranking window.

Realizing how serious she looked, she couldn’t help but smile faintly.

‘I’m not a kid, yet here I am, getting excited over this. This isn’t like me at all.’

It stung her pride that her fated rival, who had always defeated her in competitions, was once again at the top, but after all, this wasn’t even an official competition.

【Overall Ranking】

[RANK01. National Pride Swordsman Lee Hae-chan] (View Record)

[RANK02. Lee Da-hye] (View Record)

[RANK03. Eom Gil-dong’s Libido] (View Record)

[RANK04. Eom Gil-dong1496tr] (View Record)

[RANK05. Gil-dong, Go Smash the Tree] (View Record)

[RANK06. Eom Gil-dong’s Right Arm] (View Record)

[RANK07. Gil-dong, Go Do Speedrun 2] (View Record)

[RANK08. Eom Gil-dong888tr] (View Record)

[RANK09. Third-rate Swordsman] (View Record)

[RANK10. 30-Year-Old Survivor from the Demon World] (View Record)

As she relaxed and scrolled down to see the top 10 rankings, a smile escaped her lips.

“What? I lost to Eom Gil-dong’s libido?”

ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ

ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ

– Eom Gil-dong’s fans are something else,

– Why are the viewers so high-level?

Wow, this is really scary

“Stop laughing and do your best too. Since it’s full of Eom Gil-dong fans, I feel lonely all by myself.”

-TF

– Unnie, just wait a bit!! I’ll catch up soon!!!

– Day 1 of swordsmanship training starts today

– Starting again from day one?

– Da-hye, always going back to the beginning (lacking perseverance)

Just seeing these kind and cute viewers warmed her heart.

With such good people watching over her, it felt wrong to get angry and sulk alone.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to first place, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Lee Hae-chan always dominates in swordsmanship content.”

– Unnie, we’re so poor

– We’re always second

– That’s why she’s called Lee Da-hye

– That’s why she’s called Lee Da-hye

– Ah, stop it, you immature kids

“Don’t tease me. Just wait before you get banned for the second time.”

– Well then, the ban would be lifted right away

– ?

– The atmosphere in this chat room is so warm and friendly!

But she had to admit that Lee Hae-chan’s skills were superior to hers.

As she was about to end the Catching Up with the Silent Swordsman challenge, she received a video donation.

<National Pride Swordsman Lee Hae-chan donated 10,000 won!>

“Didn’t Lee Da-hye come in second again? Didn’t Lee Da-hye come in second again?”

“…….”

It was a blatant provocation, prepared with a video clip to taunt her.

Lee Hae-chan’s shameless intrusion made Da-hye’s eyebrows twitch.

Despite her cool personality and mature charm,

Lee Da-hye wanted to maintain her dignified demeanor, but if she was looked down upon like this, her pride as a swordsman would not allow it.

“I will finish with a higher record than that person.”

The craze for catching up with the Silent Swordsman, ignited by Eom Gil-dong, began to flare up again with the record competition between Lee Da-hye and Lee Hae-chan.

Even without broadcasting, the Silent Swordsman continued to be mentioned, and the buzz grew.

It was during the two-week intensive training period of the Silent Swordsman.

5.

Even amidst the fervor of the Silent Swordsman challenge,

there was someone who was completely oblivious to the world.

Hae Eung Eung, who was dedicated to long hours of training, referred to it as a period of intensive training but considered it a retreat.

In the second week, she achieved her goal.

【Skill Level Window】

[Level] Third-rate (Lv80)

[Level-Up Conditions]

– Defeat Third-rate enemies (37/100)

– Defeat Second-rate enemies (1/1)

– Reach Level 50 in Skills (80/50)

– Learn Second-rate Martial Arts (1/1)

– If two or more of the above conditions are met, you can level up whenever you wish.

– However, once Second-rate martial arts reach the 5-star level, leveling up will occur automatically.

Third-rate martial arts proficiency level 80.

She had only 20 left until reaching the pinnacle of level 100.

All that was left was to choose two more Third-rate martial arts and quickly reach level 100.

At first, it was difficult to select candidates, but she didn’t have no martial arts in mind at all.

‘If it’s from Hao Moon, I can definitely fill in the Third-rate martial arts.’

However, the reason she hadn’t learned their martial arts was that she did not harbor good feelings toward Hao Moon.

Hae-nam Faction.

The sect of her enemy shared the same surname, and for that reason alone, Hae Eung Eung was taken in.

It was a sect filled with kind and good-hearted elders, yet

the faction was financially unstable, and they fell into a debt trap due to the schemes of Hao Moon.

– Ah, we want to protect the sect’s signboard, so come with us.

– No! Hae Eung Eung, you shouldn’t listen to those people!

– Hahaha, you should never have shown off a treasure you couldn’t protect. It’s too late to regret now.

A little girl, who could now smile innocently as she welcomed a new family,

saw her joyful smile come to an end due to a pure goodwill to show her a world beyond the narrow Hae-nam Island.

The days when I first enjoyed the martial world outside the continent.

When her martial arts debut was over,

Her beauty was known throughout the Southern Eight Houses.

The Hao Clan sought to acquire Hae Eung Eung, known as the “Most Beautiful of the Southern Yellow River,” and imposed extensive financial pressure on the Hae Nam Sect.

‘At that time, the Hae Nam Sect was my second family. That fact hasn’t changed even now.’

Just as the Hae Nam Sect reached out to Hae Eung Eung, who had suddenly become an orphan overnight.

Hae Eung Eung also chose to willingly sell herself to the Hao Clan to save her sect.

‘That’s when it began. Those days of living desperately while reminiscing about past happiness.’

The girl who became a topic of conversation in the Southern Eight Houses.

The Hao Clan aimed to refine her beauty to raise her as the best courtesan.

Many powerful figures coveted her.

There were also many in the Hao Clan who envied her.

She was beautiful.

Everyone wanted to break her,

But no one wished to become family.

‘It was a desperate time.’

Hae Eung Eung picked up a sword.

If she didn’t grow stronger, there were those who were stronger than her

who could violate or threaten her at any moment.

The sword technique she practiced was always the same.

The Hae Nam Swordsmanship.

It was the strongest swordsmanship she knew.

Thus, the Sanjae Sword Technique vanished from her life.

‘I’ve regained that Sanjae Sword Technique, but if I learn the martial arts of the Hao Clan again………?’

Over the past two weeks,

Did she regain the realm of martial arts?

Or the original intention of enjoying martial arts?

Before she could find the answer,

Her heart grew cold.

Thieves, gamblers, fortune tellers, courtesans.

The martial arts of the Hao Clan, composed of the lower social class,

were far from clean.

The origins of their martial arts,

and the purpose of learning,

all stemmed from the ugly greed of the weak,

who sought to take from those weaker than themselves or deceive the strong to steal from them.

Naturally, the hearts of those teaching were not pure either.

– Tsk. If I hadn’t just been good-looking, I’d have starved on the streets at this age.

– I despise you. The beauty not allowed to this ugly woman. If only I could steal it.

– Rest? Don’t make me laugh. Do you know how many courtesans are pouring drinks and selling smiles to men right now to cover your training expenses?

The best courtesan.

The secret informant of the Hao Clan.

Raised as a tool to win the favor of the powerful.

Days spent enduring without a single memory.

– You were lucky, Aha.

– …?

– The Emperor is keeping an eye on you.

The end came suddenly.

The elderly matriarch of the Hao Clan, who always pressured her with a fearful expression,

On the day before she left the Hao Clan,

She expressed her true feelings for the first and last time.

– To grasp an opportunity to escape the pain of the Nine Conduits and Six Meridians without relying on a man’s affections. It was a chance denied to me.

I envy you.

The matriarch of the Hao Clan, whose life direction was forcibly set without even a chance to choose.

Even the bitter expression on the old woman’s face was just seen as hypocritical at that time.

As time passed, and her heart grew at ease,

Hae Eung Eung could understand a fact she hadn’t realized before.

‘It doesn’t make sense that the Hao Clan, once called one of the two major organizations in the intelligence world, couldn’t stop my information from reaching the Imperial Court.’

The Hao Clan, which had merely been her enemy.

To think they sent the child raised as a high-class courtesan to the best marketplace, the Imperial Court,

it was highly likely that she, who had won the Emperor’s favor, would seek revenge.

It was best to remain undisclosed.

The Hao Clan, which could imprison her in a cage for a lifetime if they desired.

Someone opened the door to that cage.

The only person capable of that was

the matriarch of the Hao Clan.

‘Could it be that the fact she was also suffering from the Nine Conduits and Six Meridians weighed heavily on her heart?’

If she had any humanity,

she should have displayed it before laying hands on the Hae Nam Sect.

But it was too late.

The matriarch’s act of kindness,

and Hae Eung Eung’s realization of that fact

all happened after many events had transpired.

‘I won’t say you forgive what you’ve done to me and the Hae Nam Sect.’

But now that all grudges have been tied,

I thought that perhaps I could learn at least the Yin arts she directly imparted.

[Ordered a flute.]

[Ordered a pipa.]

In 2050, traditional Chinese instruments were rarely seen.

As soon as the delivery arrived, she played the notes while recalling old memories.

Unbeknownst to her, the neighbors living above and beside her

were all ears, as Hae Eung Eung tried to recall her old feelings while playing.

‘I thought I had forgotten everything, but surprisingly, I still remember some of these.’

Feeling a momentary languor that made her want to drift into sleep with the comfortable and tranquil sound,

Kiiik!

– Ah, shit!

– My ears!

– You play terribly!

The neighbors cursed at her.

Wondering how her once normal performance turned out this way,

but for Hae Eung Eung, this was normal.

Yin arts, after all, were martial arts.

Meant to face an enemy.

Disrupting the sense of balance with dissonance was

an appropriate training method for achieving the accomplishments of Yin arts.

Kiiik!

Kiiik!

The tearing sound that wouldn’t stop.

Noise pollution that drove her to madness.

[This is a notice from the management office. Complaints have arisen due to noise from instrument playing, so we kindly ask for your consideration, residents.]

‘Ah. This isn’t the martial world, is it?’

The outcome, unsurprisingly, was a pile of complaints.