Chapter 79: The Silent Pursuit

– Mindless Spicy Martial Arts Tournament

5.

While she used the nickname Hae Eung Eung even for her real name.

She couldn’t understand why AhyoungiJeompingRabbit would be embarrassed and want to change hers.

[The name carries the emotions and memories when it was chosen.]

At first, it was just a playful act.

She dressed it up with some fancy words, but the real sentiment was nothing but childish.

But then, Ahyoung sincerely spoke about her past.

‘It’s embarrassing.’

It wasn’t the origin of the name that was embarrassing.

It was the fact that even someone like Kang Ho-dong couldn’t change his name.

Born from petty jealousy,

Taking her seriously with that small and trivial emotion made Ahyoung feel embarrassed in front of her sincerity.

Perhaps that was why.

After the tournament began, and the Awakened fought fiercely, showcasing various abilities,

Hae Eung Eung’s gaze was fixed on Ahyoung.

‘What was it about JumpingRabbit that she liked so much?’

She couldn’t understand how someone could be so fond of a game played for so long.

Her own experiences in the Martial Arts Chronicle had been harsh.

[How many hours? Maybe about 600 hours. I wanted to play more, but the government took the capsule back.]

What kind of game was it?

A game that such a diligent person had been away from for almost a year.

JumpingRabbit, the game.

[JumpingRabbit map is intriguing.]

Curiosity grew.

She couldn’t resist it any longer.

6.

The recruitment announcement was for the Martial Arts Tournament.

This was all part of the process to create a guild.

Why create a guild?

It was all for the sake of supporting Ahyoung.

That’s right.

Ultimately, this tournament was started for Ahyoung.

Then, perhaps experiencing the JumpingRabbit map to understand her better wasn’t such a bad thing.

‘Ahyoung is so happy about it, after all.’

What was it that made her so happy?

Ahyoung, squatting down, hopping and flying around with joy.

Hae Eung Eung felt a strange tingling in her chest as she saw her innocent, pure joy.

It was a longing long forgotten.

Not for revenge or to become stronger than someone else,

But simply for the joy of wielding a sword, a joy so pure that she couldn’t put the sword down.

‘It feels like I’m rediscovering that feeling again.’

For the first time in a long time, Hae Eung Eung felt the joy of pure fun.

The feeling of pebbles underfoot.

The smell of the rocky mountain mixed with dust.

The wide-open view and the towering peaks of the high mountains.

The world Ahyoung must have challenged repeatedly, many times over, when she was young.

‘So, this was the world Ahyoung loved.’

Climbing up the long stone steps with brisk steps,

Crossing the steep cliff paths lightly,

Looking up at the sharp cliffs.

“Finally caught up, Silent Swordman.”

A man in a training uniform, standing at the edge of the cliff, confidently challenged her.

“I’ve had my eye on you since the Grand Valley of Half-Moon Ridge. Your sword technique… It’s no ordinary skill. The kind of skill that can only be learned in rare probability from the Gate, right?”

“?”

“It’s no use pretending you don’t know. I’ve learned a rare sword technique too. I’m not as fast as the Speedmaster, but I’m confident in my new sword technique.”

He turned his back and showed her his participant number and name.

“Participant number 222. Bumho Yang Gwiho. I’ll use the Ho-mok-sin-gong technique in this match. Will you accept this challenge?”

To think an opponent would ask for a sword technique duel during the tournament.

The Silent Swordman’s heart skipped a beat.

Would it even make sense for the host to duel with a participant in a technique battle during the tournament?

But in a tournament with no prize money, wasn’t this just an event match?

Those who gathered here were surely doing so to be chosen by her.

This challenge was actually a clever move.

[Host Silent Swordman. I will use the Wall Tiger Skill.]

“Wall Tiger Skill? I don’t know what kind of martial art that is, but it must be a good one. After all, it has ‘Ho’ in its name.”

“…”

“Well then, let’s start when this stone hits the ground.”

The stone Yang Gwiho threw soared high into the air, heading toward the spot where the sun rose.

‘Don’t call it cowardly. This is just the cold world of competition. It’s the careless one’s fault.’

The plan was to use the sunlight to blind her, then close the distance early on.

Instead of looking up at the stone, Yang Gwiho listened for the sound of it falling and started his move.

<Martial Arts Technique>

<Ho-mok-sin-gong>

Like a tiger climbing a tree, Yang Gwiho jumped up.

A smile crept across his lips.

He leapt 5 meters from the start and began climbing the cliff with relentless momentum.

Using the power of his forelegs and hind legs as if climbing a tree,

He expertly distributed his force, moving with all fours, climbing like a beast in the wild.

From below, Silent Swordman nodded.

‘Of all the Awakened abilities I’ve seen today, this is the best.’

Unlike the standardized, mass-produced abilities that followed a set pattern,

Yang Gwiho was creatively exploring and adapting the core of his Ho-mok-sin-gong, altering it with his own will.

‘A bit of a cheeky trick, but compared to the Martial World, it’s nothing. Just a playful level.’

There was a distant relative of the emperor who, despite being a practitioner of royal martial arts, had the nickname “Cheong Eung Gong” (Azure Eagle Master).

He raised falcons and had a nickname because of it.

Hae Eung Eung, having the character “Eung”  for eagle in her name, once had a curious encounter with him, where he challenged her to a duel.

• “If you win against me in this duel, you’ll be freed from my grasp. If you lose, I won’t ask for anything in return. Will you accept the challenge?”
• “Haha, there’s no reason not to accept a duel that won’t harm me. You’ve got guts.”
• “I admire that courage, so I’ll be lenient. There will be no outside interference and no time limit. We’ll fight freely, without restrictions.”
• “You’re offering me leniency? Fine. Let’s begin when this stone hits the ground.”

The stone tossed high into the air by Cheong Eung Gong had been something Hae Eung Eung was watching intently, waiting for it to fall, not anticipating what would follow.

Hae Eung Eung had dismissed the advice of a palace maid who said she shouldn’t accept the challenge, thinking it was just nonsense, but she soon found out why the maid had warned her.

Thwack!

A falcon spread its wings and swooped down to snatch the stone in its beak, then soared into the sky, beginning the duel.

Hae Eung Eung had never imagined that the stone, meant to signal the start of the duel, would be snatched away.

The absurdity was overwhelming.

• “Cheating? Didn’t we agree? The duel would start when that stone hit the ground. We never agreed when it would fall.”
• “Time limit? Outside interference? Tsk tsk, such a memory lapse at your age. Didn’t you agree to a duel with no time limit or outside interference?”

Cheong Eung Gong had planned to give Hae Eung Eung a taste of the harshness of the Martial World.

For ten hours, he made the falcon carry the stone while keeping her on edge, and every time she tried to take a break,

he would make her nervous by pretending to drop the stone.

By the time the stone finally touched the ground, Hae Eung Eung, completely worn out from the constant vigilance, was barely able to stand.

Only after giving up on guarding against the falcon did the stone finally fall.

By the time she staggered and raised her sword, Cheong Eung Gong, who had been prepared all along, easily subdued the exhausted Hae Eung Eung.

“Don’t forget today. No matter how great a sword you wield, the true power lies in deciding when to strike with it. The sword’s wielder controls the power.”

“Such is the terrifying nature of power, and the emperor you intend to make your enemy is a wielder of the sword of the world.”

Cheong Eung Gong conveyed the true fear of the emperor with that one duel.

The wisdom Hae Eung Eung received that day became the foundation of her strength, shaping her into the figure she was today.

‘Now, let’s begin.’

Though Hae Eung Eung had not learned the power of wielding a sword’s control, she had learned the art of breaking power.

The time to use the knowledge she gained in the Martial World had come.

Yang Gwiho had climbed a quarter of the way up the cliff.

He paused, shaking arms coming to a stop, breathing heavily, and glanced down at the abyss below.

‘Is this martial art ineffective on cliffs?

Even the world-renowned Silent Swordman isn’t perfect. He’ll lose, but it’s still disappointing.’

The distance between them was so great that the Silent Swordman was out of view.

The victory seemed inevitable now.

Reflecting on the solitude of being a winner, Yang Gwiho pressed on, making sure to manage his stamina.

Thud!

The sound was like that of a spider with multiple arms moving rapidly.

That strange noise grew closer from below, gnawing at Yang Gwiho’s nerves.

It unsettled him so much that he stopped resting and resumed his Ho-mok-sin-gong technique.

But no matter how hard he tried to climb, the noise never seemed to fade, only growing nearer.

‘Could it be the Silent Swordman? No… that’s impossible.

It can’t be. Unless it’s a spider with eight legs or a human-faced monster, there’s no way anyone could move like that on a cliff.’

Perhaps his nerves were playing tricks on him, or it was just his imagination.

No, it had to be.

If that sound was really a pursuit, then that martial skill… that technique… meant the opponent could wield an invincible skill, one that would make winning impossible.

Sweat dripped down his forehead and back.

His hands trembled, but the sound kept growing closer.

He couldn’t deny it any longer something was almost upon him.

‘It’s fast.’

Unlike the Ho-mok-sin-gong, which used strength to climb, the Wall Tiger Skill generated suction on the hands and feet, allowing for rapid ascension.

With long hair flowing behind her, the figure swiftly climbed the cliff with inhuman speed, sending Yang Gwiho’s heart plummeting.

The figure, resembling a ghost if wearing white robes, was terrifying enough to send a chill down anyone’s spine, her posture while climbing hauntingly eerie.

‘Oh my god, what is that?!’

Startled beyond measure, Yang Gwiho lost focus on his technique.

By the time he realized his mistake, it was already too late.

BAM!

The sound of the stone hitting the ground echoed.

[Player 222 Yang Gwiho has been devoured by the Earthworm and has died.]

The lesson Hae Eung Eung learned in the Martial World was not to wield the sword, but to instill fear in her opponent ensuring they would never even think of striking.

‘It feels good to teach the next generation…’

Without even moving a finger, Hae Eung Eung eliminated a top contender for first place in the martial arts competition.

Yang Gwiho, a strong competitor, had been scared into elimination during the climbing contest.

She didn’t feel guilty.

A serious battle with swords was for amateurs.

True martial arts were about mocking the novices.

‘Now, it’s time to pick up the pace and keep climbing.’

With her eyes fixed on the distant mountain clouds, Hae Eung Eung prepared for what lay ahead.