5.
Despite using the nickname “Hae Eung” as her real name, Joo Ah-young, who only used her game nickname JumpingRabbitLoverAhyoung, was embarrassed and wanted to change it.
[Names carry the emotions and memories from when they were chosen.]
At first, it was nothing more than a childish tantrum. She dressed it up in a convincing way, but deep down, the truth was that it was a childish comment.
But Joo Ah-young spoke seriously about her past.
“It’s embarrassing.”
It wasn’t the origin of the name that was embarrassing. It was the fact that she had acted on a petty jealousy. She had taken the time to seriously value these small, insignificant feelings.
Standing before Joo Ah-young’s sincerity, Hae Eung felt embarrassed. Perhaps that was the reason. As the tournament began, and each Awakener fought and displayed their abilities, Hae Eung’s gaze never left Joo Ah-young.
“What was so great about JumpingRabbit?”
She couldn’t understand how someone could love a game for so long. The Jumping Rabbit game had lasted for years, but Hae Eung had been through much harsher trials in the Murim world, leaving her unable to relate.
[How many hours did I play? I think I did about 600 hours. I wanted to do more, but the government came and took the capsule away.]
What kind of game was it? Joo Ah-young had spent about a year on the Jumping Rabbit game, a game that seemed to be a part of her world.
[What’s the Jumping Rabbit map like?]
It had piqued her curiosity. She could no longer hold it in.
6.
The recruitment notice was for a martial arts tournament. Everything was part of a process to form a guild. The reason for creating the guild was simple: it was all to support Joo Ah-young.
That’s right. In the end, this tournament had started for Joo Ah-young’s sake. Perhaps experiencing the Jumping Rabbit map to understand her a bit more wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
‘Joo Ah-young is so happy...’
What was making her so happy? Sitting on the ground, jumping and soaring around with glee, her bright expression made Hae Eung’s heart twinge. It had been so long since she felt that pure longing.
Back then, she hadn’t wanted to swing her sword to take revenge or become stronger than someone else. She had simply enjoyed the act of swinging the sword itself, and the joy of never putting it down.
‘It feels like that time again.’
Hae Eung felt that pure joy for the first time in ages. The feeling of the gravel beneath her feet, the scent of the rocky mountain mixed with dust, the expansive view, and the towering mountain peaks. Joo Ah-young, in her youth, had repeatedly challenged her own world, again and again.
‘This is the world that Joo Ah-young loved.’
Climbing up the long staircase, crossing the steep cliff path, and gazing up at the sharp cliff face, Hae Eung felt something in her heart.
“Finally caught up, Silent Sword Master.”
A man dressed in a gi stood at the end of the cliff path, boldly challenging her.
“I’ve been watching you ever since the great forest of Banyo Valley. Your martial arts... they’re not ordinary skills. I’ve heard that you’ve mastered a rare martial technique, one that has an extremely low chance of appearing in the gates?”
“?”
“No use pretending, I’ve also learned a rare martial technique. It may not be as fast as the Speed Master, but I have confidence in my skill with the Wind Step technique.”
He turned and showed his participant number and name.
“Participant number 222. Bumho Yang Gwiho. In this match, I’ll be using the Ho Mok Shin Gong. Will you accept this challenge?”
To think someone would challenge her to a martial technique duel during the tournament. The Silent Sword Master’s heart raced.
The idea of a tournament host fighting a contestant never crossed her mind. But considering there were no prize rewards for the event, it felt more like an exhibition match. The people gathering were there to be chosen by her, after all.
Such a challenge was, in fact, quite clever.
[Host Silent Sword Master. I’ll use the Wall Tiger Palm.]
“Wall Tiger Palm? No matter the technique, I’m sure it’s a good one, especially with ‘Tiger’ in the name.”
“......”
“Let’s begin once this stone falls to the ground.”
Yang Gwiho tossed a stone into the air, and it soared high, heading toward the spot where the sun was rising.
‘Don’t call it cowardly. This is just the world of cold, calculated competition. The careless one is the one at fault.’
Using the sunlight to blind his opponent’s eyes, Yang Gwiho planned to widen the gap in the early moments. Instead of watching the stone fall, he listened for its sound to mark the start of the match.
<Martial Skill: Wind Step> <Ho Mok Shin Gong – Tiger Wood God Technique>
Yang Gwiho leapt like a tiger climbing a tree. A smile formed on his lips as he leaped a full 5 meters from the start and began to climb the cliff with powerful movements.
Using his front and back limbs like a tiger climbing a tree, he skillfully distributed his strength across all four limbs, managing to climb with precision.
Silent Sword Master nodded from below.
‘Among the Awakeners I’ve seen today, this is the best.’
Unlike the typical, repetitive abilities Awakeners often display, Yang Gwiho had devised his own unique version of Ho Mok Shin Gong, adapting and performing the technique according to his will.
‘It’s a bit cheeky, but compared to the Murim world, it’s no big deal.’
There had been an emperor, a distant relative of the royal family, who had learned martial arts and gained the nickname The Blue Falcon (Chang Eung Gong). This emperor had once challenged the Silent Sword Master. He bet that if she won, she would leave the emperor's protection; if she lost, he would take nothing from her. She had agreed to the challenge, thinking nothing of it. But, she would learn the true reason behind the challenge soon enough.
7.
Having climbed a quarter of the cliff, Yang Gwiho stopped his trembling arms and took a heavy breath as he looked down at the cliff below.
‘Is this martial art not effective on cliffs? The Silent Sword Master is supposed to be all-powerful, but she’s failing to make this interesting.’
The distance between him and the Silent Sword Master was now so vast that victory was practically guaranteed. Contemplating the loneliness of victory, Yang Gwiho continued to push himself, not neglecting his energy management.
Thud thud thud thud
The sound grew louder, as if a spider with many legs was charging up the cliff.
Startled by the strange sound, Yang Gwiho grew nervous and stopped to use Ho Mok Shin Gong again. However, despite his efforts to ascend the cliff, the sound grew closer and closer.
‘Could it be... Silent Sword Master? No... that can’t be right. Unless she’s some sort of spider monster, she can’t move like that.’
Perhaps the sound had gotten to him, or it was just his imagination. Either way, he had to believe it wasn’t the case. If that sound was really following him, then... that skill, that technique, was something that couldn’t be beaten by any means.
Thud
Sweat poured down his forehead and back. His hands trembled from the chilling fear. But soon, the sound seemed to appear right beside him.
‘Fast.’
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Unlike Yang Gwiho’s Ho Mok Shin Gong, which used force to climb, the Wall Tiger Palm generated a suction force from the hands and feet to climb. With long flowing hair and an inhuman speed, the Silent Sword Master swiftly ascended the cliff.
Yang Gwiho’s heart sank as he looked over at the ghostly figure climbing beside him.
‘Mommy, what the hell is that?!’
Startled, Yang Gwiho lost focus on his technique. He scrambled but was too late to correct himself.
[Participant 222, Yang Gwiho, has been eaten by the Earthworm and died.]
The realization from the Murim world was simple: the true power was not in the sword, but in the ability to control when to strike.
‘To teach the next generation, huh? This is more satisfying than I thought.’
Silent Sword Master, without hesitation, had used her own skill to knock out Yang Gwiho from the tournament in the climbing contest, where he had once been a strong contender for victory. She didn’t feel guilty at all.
After all, duels like that, with blades drawn, were the tricks of the lower-level fighters. True masters didn't waste time with such petty games. A duel was about mocking the inexperienced, not engaging in some drawn-out swordplay.
‘Now then, let’s speed up and get to the top, shall we?’
Her gaze turned towards the clouds resting halfway up the mountain and the world beyond, where the final challenge awaited.