Chapter 38: The Warning of Hae Eung Eung

What Exactly Do You Think You Know About Me?

1.

When Hae Eung Eung began her stealth training at the park, she didn’t think much of it.

As she stood behind a woman leaning against a streetlight,

she thought only of the cigarette smell in the air, trying to figure out what kind of cigarette it was.

But when she got caught up in the association’s sudden security check, things started to change.

She realized the scanner could detect internal energy,

and every time she tried to either reveal or hide her power, her levels fluctuated wildly.

Even when she toyed with the scanner, she didn’t harbor any special ill will toward the association.

However, a few days later, everything changed.

She noticed that the people in her training routes and daily activities were being followed by observers disguised as passersby.

They looked just like the people she saw in the park, with only their clothing changed.

But their walk, build, and physical features matched perfectly.

It was then that anger surged within her.

If you’re going to watch me, at least be subtle about it. What’s the point of doing this so blatantly? Are they looking down on me?

If it had been an information organization like the Open Gate or Hao Moon, they would never have made such a ridiculous mistake.

When dealing with a master, they would normally use reverse facial reconstruction techniques, change their body shape with bone-shifting arts, and even disguise their scent.

But compared to the martial world, while their eavesdropping and technology might have advanced, their surveillance techniques were ridiculously outdated.

They should at least rotate their people. Are they really naïve enough to think I wouldn’t notice, using the same group of people within such a short time?

Hae Eung Eung quickly identified the members of the Association’s surveillance C-Team who were keeping watch over her.

Even their command vehicle got caught.

At this point, I’d say it’s a provocation.

She tried her best to remain patient.

She had no idea who was behind this whether it was the organization that Woo Jiwoo had helped her with,

people from the Myungho Guild, or some other group that had taken an interest in her.

With the lack of information, she had no idea who was watching her.

So, she decided to pretend she hadn’t noticed, and simply eavesdrop on their conversations through her wireless earphones.

• “So C1 got caught by this clueless b*tch?”
• “She doesn’t seem to know we’re watching her.”
• “Stay alert. Have you forgotten about C7 being exposed in the park?”
• “But C7 is a woman.”
• “Don’t give her too much attention, that’s not going to make her spread her legs.” [laughter]

Hae Eung Eung’s patience didn’t last much longer.

2.

The target disappeared.

In the brief moment when the monitoring team was distracted by the vulgar talk over the radio, the target had vanished.

It happened in less than a second, the very moment the team’s attention faltered.

“Emergency. Target has disappeared. Field surveillance team, commence immediate search.”

Unaware of the urgency, the surveillance team remained still—some were idly standing by a vending machine, others sitting on benches with their heads down,

and some with their hands on their ears adjusting their wireless earphones.

“Are you planning to ignore orders? I’ll say it again: Field surveillance team, start the target search immediately.”

Despite the repeated commands, none of them moved.

2.

Inside the vehicle, one of the agents monitoring the scene stopped his colleague from giving another order.

“Wait, something’s off.”

“Is the radio not working?”

“No, that’s not it. Turn the angle on CCTV 7.”

At the vending machine, a surveillance agent stood dumbfounded, as if deciding what drink to choose.

The surveillance camera, which had only been showing his side profile, adjusted its angle to capture his face.

The monitoring agent zoomed in on the screen to show his face.

“Damn it.”

“When did he get caught?”

The surveillance agent’s face turned unnaturally red, his body tensing as he groaned in place.

He wasn’t choosing a drink. He was standing frozen, unable to move from his spot.

“Move the car. Right now.”

“Isn’t it too much to interfere with the command just because the National Security Bureau gave you a car?”

“Can’t you see the situation? The target has disappeared from the monitor, and all the field agents have been neutralized. Where do you think they’re going next?”

The mission was to monitor foreign spies, and the National Security Bureau, which also handled counterintelligence, couldn’t afford to let such a large target slip into the Association’s hands.

With that in mind, the command vehicle was assigned, along with the surveillance mentor, Kim Cheolsoo.

Just as he was about to scold the careless idiots from the Association, the vehicle suddenly made a loud pop and collapsed.

“What… what’s happening?”

“Are we under attack?”

“Get out of the car!”

“Don’t open the door!”

The agents raised their voices in confusion as they rushed to exit the vehicle.

“The tire’s been punctured!”

“Damn it, where did it come from?”

The complaints were cut short as an unnatural silence fell.

The monitoring agent, who had been watching outside with a tense expression, quickly reached for his gun.

He didn’t seem ready to enter the vehicle, and a colleague behind him lightly tapped his shoulder.

It was a gentle nudge, a sign to ask him what he had seen.

The agent standing guard outside didn’t respond, and as if pushed forward, he collapsed, falling out of the vehicle.

He hit his forehead so hard that blood started to pour, yet he didn’t budge, remaining completely still—frozen like a statue in an unnatural, terrifying posture.

“They… they’re done for. It happened right in front of us.”

“Ahhh!”

The last monitoring agent, panicked by Kim Cheolsoo’s muttering, screamed and ran for the vehicle’s exit.

As he attempted to flee, a hand suddenly shot out from a tree and grabbed his head.

“!!”

Kim Cheolsoo witnessed it.

In just one second, the monitoring agent had frozen like the others, unable to move a muscle.

The target, Hae Eung Eung, stood before them with an expression so cold it sent chills through the air.

Even as she boarded the vehicle, Kim Cheolsoo couldn’t muster the courage to reach for his gun or radio.

[Why are you monitoring me?]

[Who ordered you to monitor me?]

[Where is that person now?]

The words in the notebook she showed him.

When Kim Cheolsoo shook his head and stayed silent, Hae Eung Eung didn’t raise her voice or draw her sword. Instead, she turned the page of her notebook.

[Do you know the term Bongolchakgeun?]

Kim Cheolsoo shook his head.

Hae Eung Eung turned another page in the notebook.

Kim Cheolsoo’s complexion turned pale.

[It’s okay if you don’t know. You’ll learn it from now on.]

3.

After ten minutes of Bongolchakgeun.

As she repeated the pages from the beginning again, the man revealed all the information he knew.

‘It’s a pain that’s hard to endure.’

The sensation of bones and muscles shifting from their proper places, muscles and nerves being compressed, and blood vessels becoming tangled—feeling one’s body dying—was something even a patient with the Guumjeolmaek condition, who suffers from such symptoms every day, would find difficult to adapt to.

For an ordinary person who’s never had such a condition, it was an excruciatingly harsh martial arts method of torture.

‘But, still, you didn’t kill me, did you?’

The blood and energy channels that would lead to permanent physical disability were not touched.

All of it was just temporary pain.

The man who had undergone Bongolchakgeun would naturally return to his original state once the energy that had been pressuring his body dissipated over time.

‘I don’t know why the Association was digging into my past, but I can’t just sit back and do nothing.’

Whether in the martial world or the modern world, someone who just endures after being targeted is treated as an easy mark.

At some point, an example must be set.

If you’re going to monitor, don’t get caught.

If you’re going to do it, do it without causing trouble.

The Association had failed to do even that basic job, and the officer who sent such incompetent agents was responsible for all this chaos.

“This is private property. Unauthorized persons are not allowed to enter…?!”

Before the suited men guarding the entrance to the secret hideout could react, Hae Eung Eung swiftly bypassed their wrist-holding guns, their radio devices on their waist, and the wireless earphones in their ears.

Before the blood even finished dripping from her sword, two suited men, who had their seven major pressure points struck, froze in pain with their faces turning red without even a scream.

Kiiying!

Drrr!

The sound of gunfire scraping the door echoed.

When the frightened gunfire finally stopped, Hae Eung Eung, who had already infiltrated using her stealth techniques,

pushed aside a bodyguard’s arm, blocked his fingers, and swung his useless gun like a club.

She swiftly incapacitated his wrist, elbow, thigh, legs, and vocal cords, taking complete control of his body.

“!!”

She struck the trembling bodyguard’s abdomen with the hilt of her sword, knocking him down.

Without any further interference, she made her way through the inner rooms to reach the office of the Association’s CO, who was shouting loudly.

“Hae Eung Eung, I already know who you are. Do you think you’ll get away with this?”

In the rough martial world, starting from Hanamjeilmi, to being recognized as the world’s best swordswoman, marked as a traitor in the external martial world, and later becoming known as the Shingyeomilhu—she had earned many titles.

But now, she was before the Association’s CO.

[What do you think you know about me?]

“You think I didn’t realize that you came from China?”

[Is that all?]

“That’s enough to detain you and gather information on your whereabouts.”

A returnee from the martial world and a spy sent by the Chinese Public Security.

The communication between these two conflicting entities had become strained due to the vague term ‘came from China.’

Naturally, Hae Eung Eung’s response was cold.

[If you had known anything about me in detail, you would never have dared to do something like this.]

“…Do you really think that kind of bravado will work?”

Her reaction exceeded anything he had anticipated.

4.

The truly startled officer, ignoring the cold sweat running down his back, tried to put on a brave front, but Hae Eung Eung’s heart grew even colder.

The fact that he knew anything about her, even at such a poor level, meant that a Gwimyeongbimangnok returnee had provided testimony about her.

‘I’m sure I wasn’t the only returnee from the Gwimyeongbimangnok, but not all returnees cleared it with the same difficulty as I did.’

In the martial world of Gwimyeongbimangnok,

Players who chose the [Normal] difficulty could purchase the Reality Return as a clear reward.

Excluding the lowest [Easy] and highest [Extreme] difficulties, returnees from Gwimyeongbimangnok were challengers ranging from [Normal] to [Hell] difficulty.

[Blood Curse Massacre. Great War of the Rightful. ]

“??”

[No need to go beyond that. I can already understand how peaceful the martial world your informant returned from was.]

A martial artist’s sharp perception was clear from the officer’s expression—he had never even heard of the Blood Curse Massacre.

‘The emperor died, the Demon King rose,

and all the top experts gathered to fight for the world’s strongest martial artist position, but not knowing about Blood Curse… This doesn’t add up.’

Though it was possible that a past grandmaster had returned to the real world before her time,

that period was when the Blood Curse organization held the most power.

To pass over such a significant event with a clueless face, without even an inkling of what it was, was unacceptable.

‘Even if I have to crush you with force, I’ll do it.’

Once she confirmed that fact, Hae Eung Eung grabbed the officer’s head tightly in her hand.

The difference this time was that, unlike others, who would have their blood pressure released naturally over time,

the officer who had directly instructed this surveillance would receive permanent distortion.

‘If he understands the meaning of this blood point, he’ll never try to touch me again.’

This was a warning Hae Eung Eung left for both the Association and the possible returnees from Gwimyeongbimangnok.

It was her first and last mercy, a warning to never again invade her territory with such sloppy surveillance.

Even a high-ranking officer of the Association couldn’t be more than a messenger for her warnings in her presence.

5.

Completely driven mad by the unresolved excruciating pain, the Association officer,

Sam Gwangtae, had become a fool who could no longer distinguish his excrement.

The miserable sight of him left the Association officers all with horrified faces.

“A-class awakened Min Yelan’s healing skills didn’t even work?”

“They said it wasn’t something that could be solved by healing since it wasn’t a disease, curse, or injury.”

“Whatever the cause, this monster is the one who turned that wicked Sam Gwangtae into a useless cripple. Let’s not provoke it further. Does everyone agree?”

The head of the Inspection Department, Kwak Hoon.

The officers immediately agreed unanimously, as though they had been waiting for his suggestion.

‘It’s good to eliminate the opposition without lifting a finger,

but… Silent Swordswoman Hae Eung Eung. What kind of person could accomplish such a feat in just one day?’

His doubts lasted only a moment.

Kwak Hoon quickly shifted his focus.

“I’ll take care of it. Remove the surveillance from Ujiwoo.

And one more thing, set an information access restriction. Target: Silent Swordswoman Hae Eung Eung. Restriction level: 1st grade.”

One shouldn’t touch a bomb they can’t defuse.

‘Until the person who can handle this bomb appears.’

“Good timing. This chaos happening while the Gate Expeditionary Force is out… How lucky.”

Since the Association and Guild’s top experts were gone on their expedition beyond the Gate,

it was a humiliation that could only happen now.

“An Chief, what’s the expected return date for the expeditionary force?”

“Two months.”

Kwak Hoon was confident.

Just two more months.

If he could last two months, that arrogant woman would be finished.

Among the top awakened from South Korea,

the returnee from Gwimyeongbimangnok who had revealed themselves, one of the Association’s greatest powers, was sure to return.

With a survivor from the [Very Hard] difficulty, they would be unstoppable.