Back in the old Murim days, when the system hadn't been introduced yet, Murim people divided martial arts proficiency with vague star-rank concepts like '1 star' or '10 stars.'

But even among Murim people, the criteria for distinguishing these 'star ranks' was unclear.

For example, one person would say that the point when a blue light started to gather on the sword hilt was '5 stars of the Azure Sky Boundless Swordsmanship,' while another would call the point when a blue light started to gather on the blade itself '5 stars of the Azure Sky Boundless Swordsmanship.'

That kind of thing. So, bluntly speaking, if a family's expert started lying like, "I'm 10 stars in the Azure Sky Boundless Swordsmanship, and from then on the sword aura loses its color," it wouldn't even be easy to break that lie.

However, once the system was introduced and the 'New Murim' began, everything changed.

「It became an era where no one could deceive their realm.」

The King's Sword, Namgung Jincheon, was a Murim person of the so-called 'New Murim' generation. A generation that had grown up accustomed to learning martial arts refined into [Skills] from childhood, and evaluating those skills' proficiency by level.

[The skill level of the exclusive skill 'Azure Sky Boundless Swordsmanship' has increased!]

Namgung Jincheon liked his era.

An era with nothing hidden.

He had grown up in an honest Murim, a jianghu of obvious desires.

「A higher level. A stronger skill.」

That alone was the banner of the 'New Murim.'

Following that banner, he trained martial arts, raised his level, and gathered coins.

He cleared scenarios.

He hunted spirit creatures like 'a five-hundred-year centipede,' 'a three-hundred-year toad,' and a 'golden-furred wild boar,' and he even participated in a raid hunting a 'super-giant imugi.'

But the stiff-necked elders of the old Murim didn't acknowledge his strength.

"Kids these days don't know. Do you know how hard it was to learn martial arts in my day?"

"Martial arts are enlightenment. A martial artist without enlightenment can't truly become strong."

Namgung Jincheon thought.

What the hell is that enlightenment. In the end, isn't enlightenment something they sell in a 'dokkaebi bundle' anyway? If you're right, shouldn't you be stronger than me?

Before he knew it, Namgung Jincheon, now called the King's Sword, had become arrogant. He looked down on the old Murim and despised the elders of the past.

That was, until 'that thing' appeared in Murim one day.

「It tore through the darkness of the firmament and appeared.」

The shadow of a giant imugi that turned midday into night.

【Which bastard touched my children】

The Murim people who heard the true words vomited blood from their seven apertures and died.

Namgung Jincheon drew up his internal energy and resisted that pressure with all his might, but instinctively foresaw certain defeat.

「A human can't deal with it.」

Namgung Jincheon immediately requested help from the constellations.

The backers behind the 'Namgung Clan' who had recognized his talent early and supported him.

If it was them, they could resolve this situation.

[Constellation, 'Master of the Spear' flees the channel.]
[Constellation, 'Fist-and-Kick Taoist' flees the channel.]
[Multiple Murim-origin constellations flee the channel!]

…….

Namgung Jincheon despaired. An opponent that even hero-grade constellations who had taught him martial arts fled from.

【■ A ■ A ■ A ■ A ■ A ■ A ■ A ■ A】

The Ten Great Masters of the era were gruesomely torn apart by the imugi's teeth. The Murim people struck down by an Outer God kept chanting the same words like a prayer even after their heads fell off.

Save me.

In a scene where the boundary of reality blurred, Namgung Jincheon witnessed baby imugi tearing off Murim people's facial skin.

The peeled facial skin soon became the Imugi King's scales. Scales made from several hundred thousand pieces of human skin.

A Murim person whose shoulders were trembling at his side began to mutter.

"saveme saveme saveme saveme diesaveme diesaveme saveme die imugi imugi the Imugi King is coming he is coming to destroy murim he is coming to avenge old murim he will become a dragon and ascend—"

One by one, the surrounding Murim people muttered strange words as if bewitched.

Namgung Jincheon desperately drew up magic power to keep his sanity, but even that was reaching its limit now.

Murim was finished. No one could deny that fact.

Then, an elder who was spilling blood beside him spoke.

"Jincheon. It's okay. The Sword Saint still hasn't come."

Namgung Jincheon scoffed at those words.

Sword Saint. Was there still someone in this Murim who could be called that.

The constellations ran, and the Ten Great Masters died. In this Murim with nothing left, who could possibly be left?

「And Namgung Jincheon saw.」

A single shadow facing the serpent that covered the sky.

A giant stood before the king of serpents while everyone knelt.

[The Murim I think of is a 'forest.']

A voice filled with grand, heroic momentum.

Even against the Imugi King's roar, the giant quietly looked over the Murim people and asked.

[I ask. What is the 'Murim' you think of?]

It was only a question. But no one there dared answer. Because the existence asking it was too great.

So instead of answering the question, the Murim people chose to accept the questioner's answer.

"Everyone, gather!"

The elders shouted. Murim people supported the Murim people who had fallen. Like trees winding roots around each other, Murim people stood, supporting one another.

Murim soon became one forest.

"The Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint has come!"

The Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint.

That day, Namgung Jincheon learned that name for the first time.

[So that is your answer.]

An existence whose strength couldn't be measured with any skill he possessed.

An incarnation who directly drove off an Outer God that even those constellations feared.

[I can't let a forest collapse over a single snake.]

The night sky was breaking. Watching the host of sword auras surging like meteors from sword strikes, watching the Imugi King's true body tear apart helplessly, Namgung Jincheon collapsed to his knees.

[Are you Namgung's new clan head?]

The Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint, now descended to the ground, was looking at him. To him, unable to even respond and only panting, the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint held something out.

[Eat.]

It was a dumpling.

Chewing the dumpling he accepted with trembling hands, Namgung Jincheon thought.

The strongest in this Murim wasn't the Ten Great Masters, the Namgung Clan Head, or even the hero-grade constellations.

「The strongest of the Number One Murim is 'Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint Namgung Minyoung.'」

Already decades had passed since that day, and the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint had gone back into seclusion. Naturally, even the taste of that day's dumpling faded from memory.

And now, Namgung Jincheon was making coins by selling that day's memories.

"Our Fourth Ancestor also loved Murim dumplings."

"Ohh, then are these dumplings the dumplings from that day?"

"That's right."

It was bullshit. Namgung Jincheon no longer remembered what those dumplings tasted like.

"I miss that day."

What mattered now was the Namgung family's Murim dumplings about to launch. And the immense coins those dumplings would bring in.

A Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint whose life or death he didn't even know, a Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint who didn't help the Namgung Clan in the slightest—those things weren't important to him anymore.

That was when he noticed a small child's head.

'A beggar?'

A shaggy-haired kid was eating dumplings nearby.

Namgung Jincheon was about to signal with his eyes to have the kid removed, but after seeing the boy's face hidden under that shaggy hair, he exclaimed in admiration.

'A really handsome kid. Like me when I was young.'

Watching the kid chewing dumplings like him in his youth, Namgung Jincheon smiled with satisfaction.

That lasted until the kid opened his mouth.

"The filling isn't cooked evenly."

At first, he wondered if he'd heard wrong.

"This kind of thing isn't Murim dumplings."

He heard murmuring around him. Fortunately, it seemed not many people had heard the kid's words yet.

Smiling awkwardly, Namgung Jincheon shrugged and smoothed the situation over.

If it was now, he could just let it slide. Words from some kid like this weren't important at all. What mattered was only the result of the 'Dumpling Competition' he was about to announce—

"This kind of thing, isn't, Murim dumplings."

A clearly enunciated voice, ringing out. This time, internal energy was carried on it, so it was impossible to ignore.

Narrowing his eyes, Namgung Jincheon asked.

"Who are you, Young Hero?"

"I am Yoo Joonghyuk."

Namgung Jincheon tilted his head.

Yoo Joonghyuk? It sounded like a name he'd heard somewhere.

"How dare you! Do you even know who this person is—"

Namgung Clan martial artists who had approached at some point emitted pressure toward the kid. But the kid didn't even blink.

Looking down at the kid with cold eyes, Namgung Jincheon asked.

"You're a Young Hero with impressive spirit. Where is your sect?"

Sighs spilled out here and there.

Asking about a sect in a situation like this meant the Namgung Clan had made up its mind.

Someone said that kid was finished now, and someone said even that kid's sect was finished.

And finally, when the kid spoke his sect—

"Heaven-Sundering Sword Sect."

Everyone there shut their mouths.

What broke the silence was Namgung Jincheon's ominous smile.

"From now on, Young Hero, you will have to take responsibility for that answer."

*

A little later, we were escorted under guard after being bound by the Namgung Clan martial artists (more precisely, only Yoo Joonghyuk was escorted, and I was hiding in Yoo Joonghyuk's pocket).

Before long, the Namgung Clan's wooden manor came into view from a distance. Just one glance told you it was truly an incredible manor.

They say Murim is the Five Great Clans—looks like they made a lot of coins.

I can even see a broken barn over there. Seems like the barn whose roof we smashed was also the Namgung Clan's.

―Kim Dokja.

―Yeah?

―I did what you told me to do.

―Well done.

In truth, revealing the sect in front of Namgung Jincheon was our plan. Honestly, I didn't know Yoo Joonghyuk could act this well.

―What's the next plan?

―There isn't one.

Yoo Joonghyuk went silent as if weighing the meaning of my words, then glared.

―You bastard, what are you scheming…….

―Just stay still.

―Do you not know who that bastard is? The Five Great Clan Head, the King's Sword, Namgung Jincheon.

―I know. Namgung Clan head with a dogshit personality. If you fight him, do you lose?

―In this state, I lose no matter who I fight.

―Yeah? Then stay still.

―You bastard.

―One, thirty steps to the southwest.

―What?

―Two, fifty steps to the northeast.

At my words, Yoo Joonghyuk hurriedly tried to look around.

I stopped Yoo Joonghyuk and added,

―Don't look. You'll stand out.

From the moment Yoo Joonghyuk faced Namgung Jincheon until now, I had kept the fairy tale fragment activated the entire time.

[Fairy Tale Fragment, 'Walls Have Ears,' continues the story.]

This fairy tale fragment doesn't just 'hear' words. If you focus and listen well, you can even read the unique breathing that comes through in someone's qi.

And inside a hundred-meter radius, there were a few incarnation bodies hiding their qi unbelievably well.

―Have you ever made enemies like grudges in Murim?

―I just bought one.

―Not Namgung Jincheon.

―None.

You can't take Yoo Joonghyuk's 'none' at face value. That guy didn't know it himself, but in every regression he'd been hanging enemies dripping with jealousy and envy in a long line.

―Then the answer's decided.

―Constellations' underlings.

I nodded.

The constellations who lost us near the 'Void Curtain' had sent the incarnations under their wing into the scenario region inside the curtain.

―Doesn't seem like we've been found out yet. They seem unsure too.

―But it's only a matter of time.

―Right. That's why we carried out this plan.

Yoo Joonghyuk's steps hesitated for a moment. Only then did he realize.

―Don't tell me.

While being chased by constellations, the only way in this Murim for us to protect ourselves—

―If we're inside the Namgung Clan, even the constellations won't be able to invade easily. After the 'Outer God incident,' the Namgung Clan is on bad terms with the constellations.

―So you provoked Namgung Jincheon?

―That's right.

At some point, within the Namgung Clan, the names 'Heaven-Sundering Sword Sect' and 'Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint' had become taboo.

―Others might not, but I believed the King's Sword would bite. Because he once tried to enter the Heaven-Sundering Sword Sect.

It was a secret history that only appeared in 'Ways of Survival,' but the King's Sword, Namgung Jincheon, had a precedent of visiting the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint several times after being captivated by her martial might. To learn the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint's martial arts.

―You know quite a lot about the King's Sword. Then you know well how that bastard will treat us now, too.

―He won't harm us. On the surface, anyway.

In the 'Number One Murim,' the King's Sword was known as a gentleman. So, even to protect that image, he wouldn't harm us until the 'Dumpling Competition' ended.

The problem was after that.

―Do you think he's going to bring us to his clan and serve us rare delicacies?

―As if. We'll be thrown straight into a cell. We might even get beaten with a rod.

―I don't want to be beaten with a rod.

Of course, that wasn't the intention. In this world, the only one who could hit Yoo Joonghyuk's ass was the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint.

―If he comes at us like that, show a little of the Heaven-Sundering Sword Sect martial arts. Just showing the basic forms is enough.

―Then you think he'll help us? Because he once tried to enter the Heaven-Sundering Sword Sect?

―No, his eyes will flip. The Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint rejected him saying the Heaven-Sundering Sword Dao was a martial art only female bodies could learn, but she took in some male brat as a disciple instead. He might even start by ripping off your pants.

Yoo Joonghyuk, who had been walking, stopped dead in his tracks. I could feel the Namgung Clan martial artists looking at him, startled.

Before Yoo Joonghyuk went berserk, I quickly added,

―Listen. Even so, this is the fastest way.

―I don't need to listen to your words anymore.

―You do. Because this is the fastest way to meet the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint.

Yoo Joonghyuk had said it would take three or four days ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) for his memories to fully recover. That meant if we could endure somehow for just three or four days, we could escape the Namgung Clan and go find the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint.

[Your incarnation body is in a dangerous state.]

The problem was that my incarnation body was scheduled to collapse before those 'three or four days' passed.

―This is the fastest way?

―How fast do you think Murim rumors are?

At the 'Best Murim Dumpling Competition' that the 'Number One Murim' was paying attention to, a kid appeared who insulted the dumplings of the Namgung Clan head.

And if that kid was known as a disciple of the 'Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint,' who hadn't appeared for the past decades?

―As you know, the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint doesn't have a 'new disciple' right now.

We weren't the ones going to her.

―The Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint will come looking for us.