Episode 14 – Master of the Throne (2)

The pages of Ways of Destruction flashed in my head. A light streamed through my head and the strings of light started to line up. They were the text of Ways of Survival.

[Heok…?]

Kim Yushin discovered something was wrong and his presence became noticeably thinner. The old fox noticed quickly.

[The echo of the constellation connected through Echo of the Stars has disappeared.]

At the last moment, Kim Yushin’s astounded voice was heard.

[What are you…?]

Then Kim Yushin was gone.

I was surprised as well. I expected it to be possible with Fourth Wall, but I didn’t think the Ganpyeongui connection to the constellation could be broken so easily.

The encounter in the Theater Dungeon was a hint. The Fourth Wall had destroyed the theatre master the moment he tried to look inside my head.

I was hoping the same thing would happen to the constellation but Kim Yushin noticed quickly and ran away.

[The constellation ‘King Heungmu the Great’ has doubts about your existence.]

[The constellation ‘King Heungmu the Great’ will be watching you closely in the future.]

In any case, I was still being followed by the old geezer.

“…Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine. But…”

What was this? I looked up and found that my limbs were tied up with magic power. It was a chrysalis-like appearance. Yoo Sangah’s face was completely red.

“That… I couldn’t run away but I couldn’t let you attack me.”

I roughly understood what was going on. She used Binding Thread on me during that short interval. I thought she was frozen with surprise but she was actually using a skill.

“Your improvisation is amazing.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“It is a compliment. If I start acting strange in the future, act like you did now.”

“I-I will release you!”

Yoo Sangah looked embarrassed but I was serious. It was my mistake when I thought of her as an ordinary office worker.

I looked back and saw Min Jiwon looking between me and Yoo Sangah with curious eyes. “Well…it turned out like this. I came to help only to end up being helped.”

I nodded. “We will be enemies the next time we meet.”

“…Why don’t you join us now? It is a common proceeding in dramas.”

“This isn’t a drama.”

“My friend! Make friends with faith. It is the banner of our Hwarang.” Min Jiwon said with a smile before moving away.

Could she be a good king? I don’t know. Perhaps even the King of Beauty didn’t know.

“We will go as well. Lee Sungkook-ssi! Come on.”

Lee Sungkook emerged from behind the building with Lee Gilyoung. This bastard, when did he hide in such a place?

I took my companions and started to move north.

The place that Kim Yushin’s Gather the Hwarang swept through was devastated.

The armed forces of the small kings were lying all over the place. This was the dignity of a proper constellation. Kim Yushin was a cowardly but useful constellation.

I picked up three flags and built up my achievements.

[Your brown flag has absorbed the cumulative achievements of the brown flag.]

[Your brown flag has evolved into a purple flag.]

[You are able to use the perks of the purple flag.]

Indeed, the best thing was to grow without a fight. I looked around and saw that most flags had already been collected.

From the purple flag onwards, the achievement values of the flag wouldn’t rise well. In other words, it was useless to grab a small king from now on.

“Jung Minseob-ssi, are you there?”

The next moment, Jung Minseob appeared out of thin air. The Recluse’s Cloak that I handed him in advance was covering his body. Jung Minseob’s mission was to scout the National Palace Museum.

“How many have gone inside so far?”

“A total of nine kings have entered, including the Tyrant King and True Reader.”

Nine. It was a reasonable number.

“What are the flag types?”

“There are seven purple and two brown flags. In particular, there are two with really a really deep purple colour.”

“I guess they are the Tyrant and True Reader.”

“That’s right.”

Jung Minseob, wasn’t his talent quite useful?

I opened my mouth. “This time, I will only go with Yoo Sangah-ssi and Gilyoung. Both of you wait outside. Stay hidden using the cloak.”

“…Will it be okay?”

“Yes, I only need three people right now.”

“I will enter if you call us.”

I appreciated the thought but it would just be a disruption. It was because the current Seoul Palace Museum was a dungeon.

[A new hidden scenario has arrived!]

+

[Hidden Scenario – Artifact Trials]

Category: Hidden

Difficulty: F ~ A+

Clear Conditions: Clear the right ‘artifact dungeon’ with the proper personnel.

Time Limit: None

Compensation: 500 ~ 5,000 coins

Failure: Death

+

A white marble lobby appeared before us as we entered the museum. There were no signs of anyone else in the lobby.

Yoo Sangah spoke in a soft voice.

“I can’t like culture now without feeling scared. There was the previous theatre and now this museum…”

“Hyung, are we going to get the legendary sword?”

“No, not right now.”

Of course, I could find the Four Yin Demonic Beheading Sword in this dungeon. That’s why I sowed the information.

[Please select the type of dungeon you want to enter.]

* Single player dungeon – Nagak (Large seashell played as a horn in Korean traditional music)

* Three person dungeon – Acupuncture Copper Man

* Five person dungeon – Dongui Bogam (Korean book compiled by a royal physician, considered as one of the classics of Oriental medicine)

* Seven person dungeon – Dragon Jar

However, the dungeon with the Four Yin Demonic Beheading Sword couldn’t be entered in a normal manner. It was because the dungeon was only accessible using the Sang Pyong Tong Bo coin which was given as a reward when clearing a dungeon.

I will choose the three person dungeon, the Acupuncture Copper Man.”

[You have entered the three person dungeon.]

Lee Gilyoung looked a bit disappointed. He had been expecting to get a great artifact.

“Gilyoung. An artifact isn’t about the outward appearance.”

“…Huh?”

“There are many impressive looking things that have no substance.”

The Four Yin Demonic Beheading Sword was one such item. Rather, the good things in this dungeon could be obtained from the commonplace dungeons.

An example was the skill that could be obtained the Acupuncture Copper Man dungeon.

Yoo Sangah was amazed and surprised as soon as we entered the dungeon.

“…There are other people besides us.”

Intermittent screams could be heard from the dungeon.

“Uwaaaaack! Go away!”

It was a monster in human form with a matte colour. The three person dungeon was filled with these copper people.

It was the 7th grade species, the Acupuncture Copper Man.

After a certain amount of time, these guys would self-proliferate unless the method to attack them was known. The Acupuncture Copper Man didn’t suffer because they had a strong body, no internal organs and no neural networks.

“Aaaah! Save me!”

Some of the incarnations’ swords cut at copper men but they didn’t receive much damage. Rather, they pulled the incarnations’ bodies down.

The body of a man in his 50s was torn to pieces in the hands of the copper men.

“…Dokja-ssi, how do we deal with these guys? They don’t receive damage at all.”

Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung aimed their weapons or skills at the incoming copper men but there was hardly any effect.

Sometimes Lee Gilyoung’s blunt attack would damage them but he didn’t have any idea of what he did.

“Look at their bodies.”

The monsters that appeared in the ‘artifacts trials’ were based on relics kept in Seoul Palace Museum.

For example, the monsters in the one player dungeon was literally a musical instrument made of a seashell and as for the Dongui Bogam five person dungeon… there was no need to explain anything. It was the same for the Acupuncture Copper Man in the three person dungeon.

Yoo Sangah stared closely at a copper man and opened her mouth.

“Is there something etched on the body?”

“That’s right.”

In fact, the Acupuncture Copper Man was a relic that displayed 354 acupuncture points on the human body, including the front, back, arms, legs and head.

It was an artifact used to study acupuncture in the Joseon Dynasty.

[Blade of Faith is activated!]

I stabbed one of the acupuncture points on the copper man. Then I twisted it and the body scattered into powder. It was a meaningless end for a 7th grade reproduction species.

[You have hunted the first Acupuncture Copper Man!]

“If you look closely, the colour for each acupuncture point was subtly different. Some are devoid of blood and some are deadly. Some of the points… there is a different effect every time an acupuncture point is hit.”

“Ah…!”

The important thing was to find the acupuncture point that didn’t break the flow.

I demonstrated a few times and Lee Gilyoung and Yoo Sangah got the knack for it very quickly.

Lee Gilyoung used Diverse Communication to shock the points with small insects, while Yoo Sangah applied Binding Thread. I honestly admired what I saw.

These two people, they really had excellent growth.

[Your party is the first to hunt 100 Acupuncture Copper Men!]

[You have cleared the three person dungeon.]

[Four Sang Pyong Tong Bo coins are obtained as a basic reward.]

[The exclusive skill ‘Hit a Pressure Point’ has been acquired.]

I got the skill I aimed for.

Hit a Pressure Point. It was a unique technique to use the pressure points to subdue the enemy. It was an essential skill for me to maintain the ‘King of No Killing.’

Yoo Sangah looked at the Sang Pyong Tong Bo coins curiously and muttered, “Can we buy something with this?”

“It can be exchanged for coins or a dungeon ticket.”

“Then…”

“Of course, we will use it for the dungeon admission ticket. Now we have three of them. Let’s obtain 10 of them.”

“10? Wait a minute, Dokja-ssi…?”

“We will enter the hidden dungeon where we can get the Four Yin Demonic Beheading Sword.”

Yoo Sangah asked with surprise.

“But didn’t you say we wouldn’t get the Four Yin Demonic Beheading Sword?”

“We aren’t going after the Four Yin Demonic Beheading Sword.”

We were going to ‘hunt’ the kings.