Chapter 2
The Poison Demon and The Happy World (1)
Gureureureuk—.
A dark and damp sensation enveloped my surroundings.
【You will be reincarnated into South Korea in the year 202X.】
: Current Happiness Points: 0/999,999,999
At the sa ti, a phrase whose aning I couldn't understand flew into my head.
......What is this saying?
【The Great Law of Reversal (易行) will be applied. Poison (毒) becos dicine (藥), and dicine becos poison.】
......The Great Law of Reversal? What nonsense.
【mory synchronization is in progress. 50%...... 60%......】
Before I could even question it, my head hurt so much that it was difficult to organize my thoughts.
Pain so intense that ti seed to flow slowly!
Gureureureuk—!
Euup!
I suddenly ca to my senses. My body was heavy and sinking endlessly.
And I was extrely cold.
......Cold? This body that had reached the realm of Cold And Heat Immunity (寒暑不侵)?
Where is this place exactly?
Gureurеuk!
......In water!
My body was sinking into the abyss!
Putting aside thoughts and worries, I desperately swam quickly toward the surface.
Right at that mont.
Ttiring!
【Mission: Escape from the water and survive.】
-Upon completion: Happiness Points 1,000
-Upon failure: Death
【Sub Mission: Survive for 5 minutes while drinking contaminated water】
-Upon completion: Unlocking of 2 Past Life Martial Arts
What? A mission?
Phrases rushed into my head in a stream.
Gureureureureuk!
Damn! Why suddenly? No!
There was no ti to think with my head; I was on the verge of drowning.
To think that I, the absolute master Poison Demon, would drown—I'd rather die ascending to immortality than suffer such humiliation!
I moved my heavy limbs with all my strength, but the surface was still impossibly far.
My breath rose to my chin.
I had already swallowed quite a bit of water, my lungs hurt, and my vision was becoming blurry.
【You have drunk too much contaminated river water.】
-Immunity To Ten Thousand Poisons Lv1 resists the poison.
【The Great Law of Reversal (易行) is applied. Poison (毓) becos dicine (藥).】
【Mission Success!: Survive for 5 minutes while drinking contaminated water】
-Part of your Past Life Martial Arts will be unlocked.
Unlocked Martial Arts:
① Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art (天毒血神功) Lv1
② Fish Swimming Through Water Art (魚遊動流功) Lv1
Unlocked? I'm not sure, but energy started flowing through my body.
The Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art was my Poison Sect martial art.
And what about the Fish Swimming Through Water Art?
Becoming one with water and flowing, moving swiftly and smoothly like a fish even in rivers or seas.
Water Arts (水功)!
True to the martial art of the Eighteen Water Path Pirates Of The Yangtze (江上水路十八梟), which synchronizes the body's internal energy with water to minimize resistance and even allows activity without breathing for short periods.
I shot upward at trendous speed.
Paaaaat!
Like a carp of the Yangtze, I leaped above the surface.
......What is this?!
The mont I saw the scene before my eyes, my breath caught.
Even though it was a scene I'd never seen before, its na naturally ca to mind.
'Solid concrete bridges and honking cars......?'
At the sa ti, phrases like before ran rampant in my head.
【mory synchronization is in progress. 70%......】
Pain rushed in as if my head would burst.
Through my blurred vision, I heard people's shouts like echoes.
"He, he surfaced! Coast guard, pull that young man up!"
Once again, a phrase whose aning I couldn't understand ca to mind.
【Mission Success!: Escape from the water and survive.】
-Happiness Points 1,000
【Current Happiness Points: 1,000/999,999,999】
With that, I lost consciousness.
***
"Oh my, Taeyang! Why did you jump off the bridge?"
......Taeyang?
Ah, my na.
But who are you?
A woman was clutching my limbs and wailing. She was about 50 years old.
Why are you crying......?
A man beside the woman spoke to her.
"Honey...... Let's stop. Taeyang woke up, so everything's fine."
......Honey?
Ah, that's right.
She's my mother. The man beside her is my father.
......Huh?
This is strange. My parents passed away decades ago.
I looked at the two people.
The woman called Mother had weariness embedded in her faded outer garnt and wrinkled eyes.
The man called Father had poverty's years embedded in his rough knuckles and deepened wrinkles around his eyes.
He was also limping on one leg.
"He's probably not in his right mind yet. The shock was too great, so he needs to rest."
A man in a white gown.
A dical gentleman.
In this world's terms, a doctor. High inco, professional job. What I wanted to beco.
......What is this?
All sorts of words keep coming to mind.
Jjikeun!
【mory synchronization is in progress. 75%......】
My head throbbed again, and I fainted once more.
After a while.
I was lying on a hospital bed staring at the ceiling light.
That's a LED light.
Ppii— ppii—.
This thing making noise is a machine checking my electrocardiogram.
Ttok, ttok.
This thing stuck in my forearm is an IV drip.
dicine.
Huh?
dicine (藥)?
【The Great Law of Reversal (易行) is applied. dicine (藥) becos poison (毒).】
【Ability: Immunity To Ten Thousand Poisons Lv1 resists the poison.】
【The Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art (天毒血神功) has detected poison in your body. Internal energy increases.】
【The poison injected over 3 days develops the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art.】
【Congratulations. Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art (天毒血神功) Lv2】
Uuuung.
A tremor ran through my body.
What? To recover my realm so easily.
Does this an I don't have to drink deadly poison that lts the five viscera and six bowels like before?
Seuuik.
I looked at the hanging IV drip. Several packs of nutrition supplents were hanging there despite the poor circumstances.
Excellent. That must be an elixir!
I sat up, grabbed the IV pack in my hand, and squeezed it tight.
Ttok— ttok—.
No change.
Ah, this isn't it.
I opened wide the device that controls the IV drip's infusion speed.
Ttok, ttok, ttok, ttok.
The dripping speed increased.
【The poison being injected has accelerated. Immunity To Ten Thousand Poisons Lv1 resists the poison.】
【Internal energy increases.】
Good. This is exactly it. The Divine Art of Getting Stronger While Lying Down.
Shall I na it the Lying Down Divine Art (臥功神功)?
At that mont.
"Patient! What are you doing!"
A nurse entered the room and was shocked when she saw the IV speed.
"Oh my! Look at this IV speed?! This could be dangerous!"
The nurse reduced the IV speed and glared at .
"You barely survived, and now you want to die again? Well, it's not like you'll die from getting IV fluid quickly, but think of your parents who cried for three whole days and finally fell asleep!"
"Ah, that's not it."
"The world is going crazy with the 'Murim Tower' right now, but it's still worth living!"
"Listen to —."
"Get a grip! A grip! And why are you talking like that? Did you watch a lot of historical dramas?"
My speech? mories are mixed up, so words from my past life are slipping out.
"Your looks are amazingly handso, but you're not living up to your face. Really!"
The nurse snapped sharply, gave a stern warning, and left.
I looked at the IV drip.
This...... I'm really doing it because I like it.
Seuuik.
I increased the speed again.
No one can interfere with my Lying Down Divine Art.
My head kept throbbing.
I traced my mories one by one.
I had to change my speech, lifestyle habits, everything to match this world.
***
I spent two days lying down and grasping the situation.
To conclude.
This isn't the martial world, but a country called 'South Korea'.
A capitalist country where all sorts of modern conveniences and desires are mixed together.
In this place, I was a 26-year-old young man.
To think I, who was well past my pri, am in my mid-twenties.
Huhu.
Youth is a good thing.
Though I've lost most of my internal energy and martial arts.
Well, I'll recover them if I train again.
My current na is Kim Taeyang.
It's a na my grandfather gave to live brightly, illuminating the world like the sun.
But my situation didn't seem to reflect that.
A suicide attempter.
When I first opened my eyes in the river.
It seed I had jumped into the river trying to die.
There were also self-inflicted wounds on my wrist.
......Pathetic bastard.
However, I don't really know why he tried to die.
The mory synchronization stopped at three-quarters, no, 75%.
I possessed most of the knowledge about South Korea that this pathetic guy, Kim Taeyang, had.
But I was in a state where I'd lost the mory of why he tried to die.
As if it were sealed.
"Well, I'll figure it out gradually."
By the way, it seems I briefly beca a topic of interest for causing a commotion on the bridge while trying to die.
A video of crying and making a fuss trying to die seed to be circulating in this amazing world called SNS.
The interesting device called TV also reported it on the news.
But news about was quickly buried. A bigger issue consud the news.
The place where I jumped.
Waste drums that had been buried long ago were discovered at the bottom of the river.
【Sub Mission: Survive for 5 minutes while drinking contaminated water】
To think they secretly threw waste into this river that many citizens drink from.
This news was widely reported, and the company that dumped the waste drums was revealed.
Moreover, the son of that company's president is apparently a famous celebrity.
Thanks to that, I was quietly forgotten.
"A celebrity......"
Those who were treated as perforrs in the martial world I lived in were called 'stars' here and treated like stars in the sky.
Well, anyway.
***
"We're done now, right?"
Ttak.
I wrote the three characters Kim Taeyang, put down the ballpoint pen, and asked the police officer.
This is a police station.
After discharge, I stopped by for a simple procedural investigation.
"What do you an done?"
The police officer looked at pathetically and sseup— clicked his tongue.
A young constable in his thirties. No, a detective.
A hot-blooded man with eyes burning with a sense of justice.
From his perspective, I, who attempted suicide at such a promising age, must be a pathetic guy through and through.
He asked.
"That's you, right? The guy who was loitering in front of our police station last year, too. You were standing there with a look like you were about to cry, and when I approached you, you ran away."
"......?"
"Are you going through so kind of trouble? Were you scamd? Is that why you made that choice?"
"......"
I sent him a puzzled look.
That's what I want to ask too.
Why I did that.
The police officer sighed and handed his business card.
"Take this. Contact if anything cos up. Got it?"
I put the business card in my pocket.
"I'll be going now. My mother is waiting."
"Do you even care that your mother is worried?"
"Of course."
I smiled and stood up.
"Are you really okay? Your mother showed your photos, and you had such a depressed expression in every single one...... Why are you suddenly grinning?"
"I'm going to try living up to my face value."
"What?"
"I'm handso, aren't I? So from now on, I'm going to live with a smile. And be filial too."
"Ha."
"Can I eat this?"
I picked up a piece of candy from the police officer's desk.
"Y, yes."
Perfect. The speech I practiced is fully adapted.
Is it because my body beca younger, or because the crushing pain disappeared?
Jokes I never made before ca out naturally.
As if.
I had returned to my childhood.
To those days when I was cheerful and full of dreams.
I ca outside and unwrapped the candy, and put it in my mouth.
Aah.
Sweet, so sweet.
This is candy. Much sweeter than the sugar confections (糖菓) I ate in the martial world.
"We're finished. Mother."
Not the Poison Demon's mother.
Kim Taeyang's mother.
Perhaps because I practiced a lot in my head, the word mother ca out easily.
Unlike what I was worried about, there wasn't even a hint of awkwardness.
Kim Taeyang's mories are mine too.
My head and heart clearly proclaid it.
This person is definitely my mother.
My mother, who had been sitting on a chair in the hallway, had a face laden with worry.
I faced my mother with a bright smile as if nothing had happened.
She looked shocked.
"M, Mother?!"
"Yes?"
"Not Mom, but Mother?"
"Yes. Should I call you Honorable Mother?"
My mother listened to my words and stared at blankly for a mont.
"Should we go back to the hospital?"
Eh?
"You haven't fully recovered yet, Taeyang."
"No. I'm completely better. IV drips are good, but the dicine's effect is weak."
"Huh?"
"Let's get in the car. I'll drive."
"You don't have a license."
Ah, is that so?
That bastard Kim Taeyang. He's 26 years old and still hasn't gotten his license?
I got into the passenger seat of my mother's old compact car, which was over 15 years old.
"I think we should go back to the hospital after all. I wonder if insurance will cover it......"
My mother muttered while grabbing the steering wheel.
Dallkak.
I opened the mirror on the passenger seat ceiling.
Heueum.
......Similar.
Definitely similar. No, identical!
If the handso from childhood had grown up as is, this would be exactly that face.
Seuuik.
I raised both hands and wiggled them.
The length of my fingers, the length of my limbs. All the sa.
There's no sense of dissonance at all.
"Are you really okay? This won't do. We need to go back to the hospital......"
"I said I'm fine."
"Taeyang!"
"I feel like I've been reborn. There are still so things that aren't quite right, but I feel very refreshed."
When I said this with a smile, my mother sighed and held the steering wheel.
"Alright. I understand. Let's go ho. And...... Let's rest a bit. I told them I'd take a day off from the mart today—."
"Before that."
"Hmm?"
I looked at my mother.
"Let's go to Murim Tower first."
***
'Murim Tower (武林塔).'
Several years ago, a tower that suddenly rose in various places around the world.
With its appearance, it simultaneously turned a 1km radius into scorched earth, causing casualties exceeding several million people.
When towers that only appeared in novels suddenly appeared, everyone was terrified.
"C, could there be monsters inside?"
"If we can't conquer the tower, will the world end?!"
"It's not conquering, it's climbing!"
"Sa difference!"
Each country sent heavily ard soldiers and scholars to investigate.
Uuuuung—.
When people approached, the tower emitted light and opened its doors.
South Korea also sent a first investigation team composed of professors and soldiers into the tower.
A total of 100 people.
A few hours later, only 1 person returned.
Covered in blood.
The ashen-faced professor trembled and said,
"Inside...... Is hell!"
The testimony of the professor who ca to his senses was shocking.
The world inside the tower was completely different from this real world.
First, gunpowder weapons didn't work.
All the guns the soldiers brought beca useless.
Only the cold weapons, like great swords, they carried worked.
Moreover.
People dressed like they ca out of Chinese martial arts movies were flying around bungbung.
They attacked while saying incomprehensible things.
The swords they swung split shields and shattered guns, making them impossible to fight against.
The world fell into great chaos.
A resolution was passed at an ergency UN eting.
'Until there's a definitive investigation, no country should enter the tower!'
However.
Every country knew.
Perhaps this tower could beco a force that would change the world's power dynamics.
People flying around and cutting through tal like tofu!
China was the first to move.
By order of China's president, a second investigation team was dispatched.
200 special forces with bayonets and great swords entered the tower.
And 20 of them survived and returned.
Those survivors clutched their severed arms and legs and shouted.
"Ki (氣)!"
China made this news headline news. China's president himself appeared on the news and announced.
"A third energy source has been discovered! And the people inside the tower are Chinese."
The president emphasized the latter sentence.
The third energy source, dismissed as a legendary tale.
With the news that Ki (氣) actually existed, the UN resolution no longer mattered.
Of course, not everyone believed China's reports entirely.
They said they were Chinese, but no communication whatsoever was possible.
Just looking at those who returned with lost limbs showed that.
The great powers competed to dispatch soldiers, and at the end of a war of attrition that literally ground up soldiers.
They discovered Spirit Grass (靈草) and Spirit dicine (靈藥).
Miracle treasures that cured terminal cancer patients and delayed aging!
Moreover, this thing called Ki (氣) was literally new energy that would change the world's power dynamics.
The next breaking news was announced by the United States.
'The dream of immortality approaches reality!'
Investigation of the tower continued competitively for a year.
They broke through the first floor and reached the 2nd and 3rd floors.
And the investigation results were announced.
(1) The tower is divided by floors, and you cannot go to the next floor unless you conquer that floor.
(2) Those inside the tower are people who use martial arts.
(3) Inside the tower is very similar to real-world Earth but fundantally different, and it's not China or ancient China, and the language system is different. They use characters similar to Chinese characters, but decoding is necessary.
(4) The Ki (氣) used by those inside the tower can also be used by people in the real world, but it requires a long ti and effort.
(5) To shorten the ti, an Artificial Dantian (人工丹田) is being developed, and a prototype will be released soon.
(6) The higher you go in the tower, the stronger the opponents that appear.
Thus, exactly one year after the tower appeared.
Uuuuung—!
Numbers appeared above the tower.
【8 years : 11 months : 30 days : 23 hours : 59 minutes : 59 seconds】
Countries that had broken through several floors had different tis, but countries that hadn't attempted to break through at all had this.
Jjaekkagjjaekak.
A few months later, numbers also appeared for countries that had broken through several floors.
There was no explanation, but everyone could tell.
That ti represented a 10-year ti limit from when the tower appeared.
The clock stops each ti a floor is broken through.
And on the day all ti is consud, the world will end.
The only way to prevent it is to conquer the tower.
And more than 10 years passed.
***
"Taeyang, we've arrived at Murim Tower. Huh? Where are you going?!"
I got out of the car and imdiately went close to Murim Tower.
Several years have passed since Murim Tower appeared.
Perhaps people beca accustod to it as years passed.
Now nurous citizens were passing in front of the tower without fear anymore.
The Murim Tower was rising to the end of the sky.
[1 year : 6 months : 15 days : 17 hours : 52 minutes : 23 seconds]
......A year and a half remaining.
I stood before it.
I could tell without even looking.
Ttiring! Ttiring!
ssages were going crazy in my head.
【Main Mission (1): Conquer the tower.】
-Upon success: Separation and survival of both worlds■ ■■■ ■■
-Upon failure: Destruction of both worlds
【Sub Mission: Eliminate the Murim Alliance Leader, Evil Path Alliance Leader, and Heavenly Demon.】
【Main Mission (2): Make the world happy.】
-You have spread too much suffering.
-If you fill the world with happiness, we will grant you one wish.
Putting aside the ssages flashing through my head, I stared intently at the tower stretching high.
"Murim Alliance Leader, Evil Path Alliance Leader, Heavenly Demon...... So you were here. In the tower."
I told you, didn't I?
"Keep your necks well preserved."
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