Nope.
This is happening faster than expected.
Just before.
While the sun was setting, a guy named Bu-maeng-ju from the O-ak faction was eagerly experimenting with the Makya Sword.
It seems all he needed was to infuse Qi, so he played around with the sword, lengthening and shortening it, thickening and thinning it, and surprisingly, he quickly learned how to use it.
If you know how to use Qi, using it doesn’t seem that hard.
That night.
He took that sword and cut down all his subordinates around him.
Yeah.
He couldn’t resist his desires and immediately went to work.
I thought he might do it after getting a little closer to Kunlun or after luring people to his territory, but it happened way too fast.
After using the Makya Sword to chop someone, he sheathed it, drew his sword, and kicked the cart’s surface to bits. The splintered wood pierced his body, and the bloody Bu-maeng-ju approached me, saying he didn’t need any witnesses as he sliced my neck.
Splatter! My blood sprayed, and thud! my head separated from my body.
I could have taken warmth right away to turn into a monster, but this time, I didn’t.
Because when my severed head hit the ground, I found barely alive people sticking to the earth.
He grabbed my head and body, tossed them far from the road, and vanished.
After lying there for a while, bugs nibbled at my body, and wild beasts approached, drawn by the smell of blood, so I regenerated my body.
As soon as I reattached my head and got up, I saw a big creature.
There’s a tiger.
The beast, exposing its massive fangs in the darkness, looked at me curiously.
I ignored it since I had no interest in the beast, and it sauntered back into the dark of the forest. Thank goodness it didn’t charge at me to eat.
I don’t know if I’d regenerate if I were eaten.
I dusted off the dirt and bugs from my body, hoping there were still living people around, and headed towards the populated area.
The cart I rode was burning fiercely.
Looking around, Bu-maeng-ju was nowhere to be seen; it seemed he had left this place.
Seeing the wreckage, I figured out roughly what he was trying to do.
It looks like he was plotting to make it seem like I had escaped after slaughtering O-ak faction members.
If it were a mountainous area where the beast I saw earlier roamed, corpses would vanish quickly.
Still, he probably set up some consistency in case something went wrong. He wanted to say I did it with the Makya Sword.
Without anyone to correct the story, lies become the truth, and it’s not unusual for things to disappear without a trace in between.
However, the problem is that I’m the one who committed such an act.
There’s a deliciously cooked situation right in front of me.
I sat in front of the dying person with a frustrated expression.
“Hello, humanity.”
His face instantly changed to one of terror.
Huh? Did this guy see me die?
Oh, come to think of it, he’s the one who met my gaze when my head was chopped off earlier.
It must be terrifying, but on the flip side, everything I say will be persuasive.
“If you stay like this, you’re going to die. But if you make a contract with me, you can live with a healthy body.”
He pondered over my words. So, I left him to think and went to wake the still living ones, asking them the same question.
One, two, three, four. Five. Six.
One of them died while I was talking, so I excluded that one.
“I’m sorry, everyone. I can save three people a day. There are five alive right now. I can’t save two of you.”
I could see one of the living ones flinch and start to panic.
Yeah. Numbers are easy to understand, and that makes them easier to seep into the heart.
That’s why scammers bring up numbers when they say something. Even meaningless numbers become persuasive as soon as they are stated.
“I’ll give myself to you. But later, when you’ve settled everything, I’ll take everything you have. What do you think?”
I mentioned the contract document.
Then I added, “If you agree, then it’s a contract. But only up to three people.”
It’s a first-come, first-served deal with a time limit.
In fact, there’s a way for everyone to come back to life. By wishing to save everyone dying here and making a contract, you might gain psychic ability to save them.
But I didn’t say that.
Because what I need is someone who can harbor resentment and spread it far and wide.
“I-I’ll do it.”
At that moment, the man furthest away said so.
“Okay.”
As I transferred my essence to him, he transformed into a porcelain-like figure, then cracked like clay, revealing a man with purple hair and azure skin.
You can tell this guy was facing death by just looking at his skin.
Anyway, he was revived despite his strange appearance.
Now there are four people left. Two spots remain.
It’s a battle of wits.
Just then, the man who transformed first walked up to me.
“What do you want?”
“I believe that humanity should have the freedom to choose what they want to do. And if I may ask, please build graves for those who have died.”
It sounds like a respectful thing to say, right? But it’s actually a way to lower your guard around me.
Asking for something that’s not particularly restrictive, just a matter of human decency.
Doesn’t it seem reasonable?
In reality, it’s a certainty that I’ll take their warmth.
“I-I’ll do it. I can’t die yet.”
This time, the man who had his head buried in the sand, acting dead, spoke up.
He also had blue skin.
Now there are three people left. One spot remaining.
If they delay their choice, the odds drop. 60%, 50%, 33.3%.
Let’s add a bit more kindness.
“From now on, only one person can be saved.”
Let’s see if they make the right choice. Who will go first, who will die, and who will take on the most guilt?
As time passed.
One person died.
So the odds went back up. But I didn’t explain that. I was purposely letting people stew.
The cart burning fiercely was now almost extinguished. Amidst the fading light, a man raised his hand.
“I’ll do the contract.”
He was revived.
And one person was left.
O-ak Sword Faction. For short: O-ak.
The Five Factions that band together: Hwasa faction, Sungsan faction, Taesan faction, Hyungsan faction.
The remaining people are one from Hwasa, one from Sungsan, and one from Taesan.
The Sungsan faction member is in a relatively important position—he’s the head disciple of the blind swordsman, the leader of the O-ak faction, and now the acting master.
He must have a lot to say. And I’d imagine he has a bit of influence too.
I approached them near the nearly extinguished flames and, seeing the three of them still in shock, I made my request.
“Surely you can help make graves for the dead, right?”
A dark night filled with gloom. I stood behind the light.
This is an act.
And I dropped a drop of malice into it.
Now, look directly at the corpses of those who used to be comrades.
Who on earth is the one that made them like this?
To set priorities to my liking, I asked them to bury the dead.
They all agreed.
Meanwhile, there are still living people around. Who will be the next to take the fall?
And emotions are contagious.
I purposely moved closer to where corpses lay scattered, digging earnestly at the ground with a knife I found.
Some helped me, while others dealt with the corpses.
“Oh, ah, ah! Why! Why! Jeongchiljin! You scum of the earth!”
Eventually, I met a living person. Or rather, I met someone who was dying. With a brief greeting, they died.
Just so happened, we had some acquaintance.
Emotions exploded. Their screams mixed with rage erupted, and the name Bu-maeng-ju came out. The survivors looked at each other.
Yeah.
Meeting someone dying is more painful than meeting someone dead. I get it.
When the wailing subsided, and we buried everyone…
The faces of the survivors were a mess. Especially the hatred flickering in their eyes caught my attention.
Then a man from the Taesan faction, Cheonbaek, approached me.
“Why did you save us?”
Now here’s someone with a level head.
“My goal is to get to Kunlun Mountain. It was easier not to walk if I rode a cart. Being tied up didn’t bother me, and since everything would be revealed at Kunlun Mountain, I stayed quiet.”
And so I said this.
Of course, it would be revealed that I’m a monster if I get to Kunlun Mountain, but I didn’t lie. It’s the truth, after all.
But it sounds like I was connected to some master or immortal, doesn’t it?
“But look where we ended up.”
At that moment, a man from the Hwasa faction, Wonhu-gong, approached from behind.
“Why didn’t you help us? If it had been you, you could have helped when that bastard used the treasure!”
He’s someone who’s venting anger at the person right in front of him. If you give a clear-cut reason, it’s easy to understand.
“Well, as you can see, this is it. Generally, this body can regenerate. And three times a day. One opportunity for one person. I told a man named Yoo Dae-jeong that I couldn’t use the Makya Sword.”
Of course, having regeneration and being unable to use the Makya Sword is entirely different reasons. But if I combine them, it sounds like I have no combat ability at all.
And by cheating with the name of Yoo Dae-jeong, the leader of Hyungsan faction, I boost my credibility. Thinking calmly, it’s still something I said.
Could you come up with a logic like that? You?
“The treasure, well, it can’t be helped. I’m going to keep going to Kunlun Mountain. You humans are free to do as you wish. Then, farewell.”
One more time. I hinted that I wasn’t human, and I left them behind. I left an impression, so when they meet others, they mix it up a bit about me.
To make it hard for someone to grab my ankle.
I walked towards the direction of Kunlun Mountain.
I have a long way to go.
But I won’t be bored in the meantime. I have three more people to watch me.
