Gungbong, who used to do things that left people speechless, was now crossing over into full-blown bizarre.
Watching her run on all fours, I was so dumbfounded I turned to Yeondu—who, by the look on her face, was just as stunned. It was probably her first ti seeing a human sprint like that too.
Her confused voice echoed in my mind, tinged with disbelief.
—Shaaa? 『So-ryong, do humans... run on all fours? I don't think I've ever seen that before... What is that?』
“Normally, no. But... I an, I can't say never either...”
What kind of normal person runs on all fours?
Whatever Gungbong was doing, it was certainly a kind of eccentric performance—no regular person would be doing that.
And yet... here we were, witnessing it with our own eyes. So it felt weird to flat-out deny Yeondu's question.
After all, soone—right now—was running on all fours.
Who knows, maybe there were others like her out there.
No... surely not, right?
As I considered whether to walk back my earlier response so Yeondu wouldn’t have her worldview distorted too badly, a thought popped into my head.
Sister Seol was training in a martial art that involved using her hands like feet—almost beastlike.
Right, Sister Seol has that style where she moves like an animal, too.
Beast Palace techniques, like Houquan—the Monkey Fist—often required using hands like feet.
Their martial arts imitated animals, so using one’s hands as legs wasn’t rare.
That in mind, maybe Gungbong’s behavior wasn’t just so freakish stunt. Maybe it was martial training?
Running on all fours without using lightfoot technique?
That had to be for training—there was no other reason to move that way otherwise.
So... she’s honing a new technique? After just recovering from a fever? Maybe she really is a martial artist through and through.
Just as I was starting to convince myself that Gungbong’s antics might be martial practice, Yeondu pointed sothing out.
—Shaaa. 『Oh? She stopped. That woman stopped running.』
“She stopped?”
I looked down and saw Gungbong sitting against a large rock, one hand over her chest, gasping for breath.
The yellow and black ribbon in her hair caught my eye.
She must’ve exhausted herself running like that. I asked Yeondu to bring us down closer.
“Yeondu, let’s go check it out.”
—Sha. 『Yes, So-ryong.』
Just as we started to descend above Gungbong—
—I heard her voice drifting up from below.
They say people with a childish mind talk to themselves often. Sure enough, there she was, murmuring to herself against the rock.
“Phew... I need to catch my breath. At least I made it this far... just need to rest a bit...”
I shouted down to surprise her.
“Gungbong!”
“Eeeek!”
She flinched so hard it looked like she’d seen a ghost, then whipped her head around in all directions, panicking.
Laughing, I called out again.
“Kekeke. Gungbong, up here. Look up!”
She froze, staring at with a stunned expression like I had just materialized out of nowhere.
“Let’s go down, Yeondu.”
—Shaaa. 『Yes, So-ryong.』
As we descended, Gungbong stamred, still shocked.
“H-How did you... how did you get here?”
She ant, “How did you suddenly appear out of nowhere?” But the mont I landed near her, sothing caught my nose.
A faint, unpleasant sll.
Yeondu spoke up with a wince in her voice.
—Shaaa. 『So-ryong, do you sll that too?』
“Now that you ntion it... yeah.”
—Sha... 『Ugh...』
Back when we were in northeastern India, we all used to wash up at night in the river. But ever since we started traveling again, there hadn’t been any bathing at all.
The water here was freezing—glacial lt from the Himalayas—so just washing our faces was a challenge.
Bathing? Forget it.
Most of us just dabbed our faces like cats.
And Gungbong, who’d been sick for several days, hadn’t been able to wash properly at all. She’d been sweating buckets, too.
So that sll?
Yeah, it was probably coming from her.
—Sha. 『She slls kind of like Yeolbi...』
Yeolbi? That little stink bug? No matter how long it had been since Gungbong bathed, comparing her to Yeolbi was a bit harsh.
Sure, Yeondu was a venomous snake and all—but wow, that venom ca with so serious sass.
If Gungbong had heard that, she would’ve cried.
Telling a woman she slls? That’s not sothing you say unless you're ready for war. Or worse—divorce court.
“U-Um?”
The sll faded with the breeze, and Gungbong awkwardly spoke up again.
Still wearing that “how did you get here” face.
I gave her a smile.
“Oh, Yeondu just had a question earlier. And honestly, I felt bad letting you go out alone when you’re clearly not 100% yet. But I guess I was worrying for nothing. You’re running around on all fours, so you must be well enough to train.”
“N-Four...!? Ah, uh, right! Martial training! Of course! Haha...”
She scratched her head and let out a laugh so ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ forced, it sounded like a guilty thief caught red-handed.
I chuckled and added:
“Still, don’t overdo it. If you push yourself too hard and collapse, that’s even more trouble.”
“R-Right. Got it.”
She looked a little grateful for the reminder.
I extended a hand toward the trees ahead and offered a suggestion.
“Well then, shall we?”
“W-Where?”
She blinked at , glancing between and the woods.
Her reaction made wonder if she thought I was suggesting sothing... inappropriate?
I an, co on. I was practically engaged. What did she think we were doing out here?
We ca out to hunt. That’s it.
If anything, I was more interested in catching insects or reptiles.
Besides, we weren’t alone—Yeondu was here too.
“Where else? Hunting. Let’s catch sothing decent while we’re out here. You’ve recovered enough to run like that, so let’s make it count. That monkey from a few days ago slled awful and tasted worse.”
“M-Monkey...? Oh... Y-Yeah... That one...”
Her jaw clenched slightly as she answered.
Maybe because she’d worked hard to catch it?
But truthfully, it had been a male, and it stank. The at was tough and nasty.
I briefly considered apologizing—but then I rembered the person who’d complained the loudest about the sll and taste was none other than Gungbong herself.
“You said it was inedible too, rember?”
She flinched.
Apparently, she’d forgotten her own words.
“R-Right... I did, didn’t I?”
“So this ti, let’s get sothing actually tasty. Dinner’s probably already being prepared. Let’s find sothing for tomorrow.”
“Y-Yeah. Hunting. Let’s do that. Ha... hahaha...”
Still stamring, her laugh was a little less shaky now, though she still hadn’t fully cald down.
Once she steadied herself, I looked to Yeondu.
“Yeondu, fly up and scout for any animals nearby.”
—Shaaa. 『Got it, So-ryong.』
As Yeondu soared into the sky, I turned to Gungbong.
“Lead the way.”
“O-Okay.”
Her yellow and black hair ribbon fluttered behind her as she stepped ahead of .
“Heh...”
She passed by with a weird little laugh, like soone forcing themselves to take steps they didn’t really want to take.
Each footfall seed reluctant, strained.
...Am I just imagining things?
***
—Ppudeudeudeuk.
The bowstring, drawn tight, made its signature creaking sound.
The arrow nocked in Gungbong’s bow was aid at a yak—a wild ox-like creature native to the Himalayas. Yeondu had spotted a herd along the ridgeline, and now Gungbong had her shot lined up.
She aid for a long while, holding her breath. Then finally, she loosened her grip.
And then—
—Thunk. Tick.
—Dududududu.
The arrow fell limply at her feet, barely even leaving the bowstring.
The empty twang of the string rang out, and the startled yaks took off, disappearing over the ridge.
The arrow hadn’t even flown—it simply dropped to the ground in front of her.
I stared at Gungbong, utterly baffled, and she scratched her head with an awkward grin.
“Huh? Wh-What’s going on?”
Like she couldn’t fathom what had just happened, as if she’d done everything right and the universe had glitched on her.
But that was the kind of mistake you’d only expect from a total beginner.
Back in my past life, I’d practiced Korean traditional archery, and this kind of failure only happened when the arrow wasn’t properly set on the string—a rookie mistake.
“Gungbong, what was that? You’re shooting like it’s your first ti holding a bow.”
“I-I know, right? I don’t know what’s wrong with today...”
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
“N-No, really! I’m fine. Totally recovered! Hahaha... Haah... I’ll... I’ll get it right next ti.”
She picked up the fallen arrow and promised to do better “next ti.”
But that “next ti” never ca.
The sun was already setting. It was ti to head back.
“No, let’s just go. The sun’s going down, and people will start to worry.”
“R-Right. Okay...”
We’d co hunting with Gungbong, who was known for never missing a shot—and ended up empty-handed.
It was almost hard to believe.
Is she really still sick?
Earlier she’d been sprinting around on all fours like a wild animal. She seed fine. But now she couldn’t even shoot properly.
Today, Gungbong was more unreadable than ever.
I quietly turned and started heading back to the campsite with Yeondu and Gungbong walking beside in no particular order.
Then I noticed sothing.
When Gungbong stepped ahead, the black-and-yellow ribbon tied in her hair swung into view again.
Wait, did she always wear a ribbon like that?
Black, with a yellow-dyed knot. A strange gradient color that didn’t match this era at all.
***
Later, we all sat around the campfire, roasting jerky, and soone asked the obvious question—why we ca back empty-handed.
Because when Gungbong went hunting, she never ca back empty-handed.
So I explained.
Everyone wore expressions of disbelief.
“Gungbong missed a shot?”
“Yes.”
“Co on. There are limits to what one can ss up.”
“Even monkeys fall from trees sotis, right?”
“Well, it is Gungbong, after all...”
“She must not be fully recovered yet.”
No matter how sick she’d been, the fact that Gungbong—reputed as the deadliest archer in the Central Plains—had failed to hit a simple beast? It was hard to wrap their heads around. But since it was Gungbong, they sohow accepted it.
While people buzzed about how even Gungbong had missed a shot, I heard her voice—she was sitting just to my left, next to Hwa-eun, speaking to Tenzin.
“Um, Tenzin?”
“Yes? You an ?”
“Yes. I was wondering... how many days do we have left before we reach Podarlap Palace?”
“Hm... Originally, crossing the mountains was expected to take about a month. But since we were delayed four days because of your illness, and we’ve been traveling for six days already...”
Tenzin began counting on his fingers, clearly doing the math in his head.
It wasn’t a hard calculation—just twenty days left. But as I was about to jump in and help him answer, Gungbong beat to it.
“So we’ve got about twenty days left, then?”
And at that mont—
—the lively chatter around the campfire froze.
—Tadak. Tak. Tadadak.
Only the crackling of burning logs remained.
I looked around, confused by the sudden silence.
Then, without a word, my brother, Ji-ryong, Eunbong, Hu-gae, and Monk Jaheo slowly stood and surrounded Gungbong.
What... what is happening right now?
Ji-ryong spoke up, voice icy.
“Who are you, really? What have you done with Gungbong...? Gungbong doing math—accurately? That’s impossible!”
Wait, seriously? They’re suspicious because she did basic math? Just who the hell is Gungbong supposed to be...?
It was such a ridiculous accusation, I just stared in disbelief.
Then, suddenly—Gungbong sprang up with a bizarre motion, leaping onto a tree branch above us, and shouted:
“Damn it. I’ve been found out! Of all the bodies I could’ve ended up in—why did it have to be this idiotic woman?!”
The fact that arithtic involving tens was the definitive proof she wasn’t the real Gungbong... was just another reminder of how absurd our reality had beco.
And yet—Five Dragons’s suspicion was dead on.
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