Chapter 32.
Shadowless Divine Thief Two (1)
"Mr. Kim Tae-yang, look over here."
Click, click!
"Please look this way too. A little closer to the Mayor. Yes, perfect."
Click, click!
"Hey, hey, where are you going? We're not done yet. Chief of Police. Please stand there. Yes, taking it now."
Click, click.
I held the comndation plaque for the Brave Citizen Award and smiled awkwardly.
……This is right, isn't it? Manager Jeong Jang-hyeon.
"Oh my! You look magnificent, our President. Truly handso. Hey, photographer. Our President's forehead bandage, yes. That. Could you make it stand out more? Ah, yes, that's it. Perfect."
Manager Jeong Jang-hyeon was in such high spirits that he was practically floating, even holding a bouquet of flowers.
The Mayor and Chief of Police extended their hands to shake mine.
"With young n like you, the future of our Republic of Korea is bright."
That was the Mayor.
"Young Hero Kim Tae-yang! Ah, even the na is wonderful! His parents really raised a fine son!"
That was the Chief of Police.
"Ohoho! Our Tae-yang takes after ."
That was my mother.
【Mother is greatly pleased. 500 Happiness】
【Kim Tae-yang is pleased. 100 Happiness】
The event finally ended.
I loaded an armful of bouquets into my mother's compact car.
"Phew……. I could never do that twice."
Manager Jeong Jang-hyeon approached.
He held sothing out.
"It's the latest model phone. It's already activated so you can use it right away. I've also saved the contact information for myself and all mbers of the owner family."
Since my phone kept breaking down and turning off, it seems he just went ahead and bought one.
"Going forward, I'll contact you at this number."
"Understood."
Well, the hassle of activating a new phone has been taken care of.
"You've really worked hard. The photos taken today will be set up as a standing billboard next to the Handso Bungeoppang store in the departnt store."
"Yes."
"By the way, do you still think it's not a great idea to run newspaper articles?"
"The articles are already out. Young Hero this and that."
"That's a local paper. In the national daily, spread across—."
"Co on, who reads newspapers these days."
I barely managed to send Manager Jeong Jang-hyeon away despite his persistent persuasion.
The Kang I-deuk incident with Jeoksapa concluded pleasantly.
I learned this later, but apparently the Jeoksapa and the Red Dragon Gate had gone into an uproar because of the ssages I'd sent from Park Jeok-sa's phone.
After all, it contained threats from Park Jeok-sa saying he would kill Red Dragon Gate Master Lee Won-ryong.
Of course, Lee Won-ryong was no fool, so he imdiately went after Park Jeok-sa.
But there was no finding Park Jeok-sa.
"He was reincarnated as fine fertilizer."
So what remained was Kang I-deuk.
Kang I-deuk had Park Jeok-sa's dying declaration, but he failed to take control of Jeoksapa.
His rank within Jeoksapa was only fifth.
That too was sothing I had aid for.
The Red Dragon Gate against Jeoksapa, and Jeoksapa tearing itself apart from within.
If they were busy beating each other up like that, they'd have no spare ti to chase after .
Kang I-deuk had to make a choice.
Whether to try and swallow up Jeoksapa, or to run.
Running was obviously the better option.
What you need to run is a generous supply of funds.
Kang I-deuk headed to the entertainnt district where he could exert influence, one of Jeoksapa's sources of funding.
Ace Song Bar was one of the places managing Jeoksapa's front accounts.
That was how the rampage began, and in the end, Kang I-deuk turned into a Young Hero.
Ultimately, the one who benefited was .
A victory for the Poison Demon.
I got into my mother's old compact car.
Creak.
I also removed the bandage I had deliberately stuck on to add impact to the photos.
"Phew……."
The sound of my mother sighing.
Then imdiately—smack! She slapped my forearm and launched into a scolding.
"What on earth were you thinking, hm?! Fighting with gangsters? You said that wasn't it!"
"I was worried about worrying you."
"What would have happened if you got hurt!"
"I told you though."
"That you walked into the arcade and everyone just collapsed on their own?"
"Yes."
"Who do you take for a fool?"
"The gangsters suddenly started fighting each other, I'm telling you."
"Tae-yang!"
My mother didn't believe .
Well, I wouldn't believe it either.
"Mom, I'm Kim Tae-yang. What kind of power would I have."
My innocent expression.
My mother looked at as if about to say sothing—
"……."
She just closed her mouth.
"I understand you're worried. I have been showing so different sides of myself lately."
First the Bungeoppang business, then that business exploding in popularity.
Getting close with chaebol heirs, and hundreds of millions flowing into my account.
My mother must be feeling like she's dreaming right now.
"Dad told . It seems strange, but the who was sick before has gotten better. The who was ill is gone. This is my true self."
"Tae-yang……."
"Please trust and wait. Mom."
My mother stared into my eyes for a long while, then gave a nod.
Adding just this one thing.
"From now on, absolutely no more playing hero!"
Ding!
【Kim Tae-yang asks. Are you saying I'm treating you as the illness? 1 Happiness】
No, your father is.
【Kim Tae-yang……. 1 Happiness】
Nothing to say to that, do you.
Co to think of it, could you even have conversations like this?
***
Thud! Thud!
I was doing fieldwork in my dicinal herb plot.
This herb and poisonous plant field brimming with spiritual energy.
It would grow fine even without tending to it, but giving it so attention would surely help more.
And besides.
After dealing with all the complicated affairs of the mundane world.
Getting my hands in the soil like this made all the worries of the world fade away.
"Aah, this is healing."
Healing through farming, alone in the tower.
"Purple Mist Grass is here, Shadow Root Grass isn't available right now but Snow Bone Flower can substitute, and the most important Life-Severing Vine is here."
I tilled the field and waited for the mont.
For the Murim Tower door to the 14th floor to open.
Hummm—.
【You may now enter the 14th floor of the Tower.】
The ti has co.
This ti I plan to enter without hesitation.
The incident with the White Tiger Gate and my family's collateral branch's Yama's Life-Chasing Threads.
I couldn't get that out of my head.
***
【Entering Murim Tower (Republic of Korea) 14th floor.】
【This is your first entry.】
【Mission (14th Floor): Eliminate the Shadowless Divine Thief.】
-Ti Limit: 3 Days
-Upon Success: 10,000 Happiness Points awarded
【A bonus mission is given for first entry.】
【Bonus Mission: Swift Elimination of the Shadowless Divine Thief】
-Ti Limit: 10 Minutes
-Upon Success:
① Mission (14th Floor) counted as cleared (GOLD)
② Happiness Points tripled (×3)
③ Technique Reversal Secret Arts Secret Manual 1/3
-Upon Failure: Shadowless Divine Thief's subordinates, thirty Shadowless Thousand Hands, will appear.
Failing the bonus mission this ti would make things considerably more troubleso.
I entered the tower.
An inn where not even moonlight could seep in.
It was called an inn, but it was an enclosed sealed room.
No matter how wide I opened my eyes, no matter how far I stretched my hand, there was nothing to see.
Complete darkness with not a single window or door.
Quiet as the end of the world, without a single gap.
The 14th floor had a notorious reputation even among Murim Tower climbers.
Precisely because you had to locate and eliminate the Shadowless Divine Thief, which was like trying to pluck a star from the sky.
First, the location for the 14th floor was a five-story inn.
And not just any inn—one whose interior was designed to be extraordinarily complex.
Pillars lined up densely one after another, and thick cloth was spread across the walls and floor to swallow all footsteps.
Even the wardrobes and furniture had chanical traps installed.
"If you touch the wrong thing, all the positions get shifted around."
As the tower was repeatedly challenged, expertise accumulated, but—
The Shadowless Divine Thief was never found in the sa location.
Every ti you entered, he appeared in a different place, because his concealnt arts were no ordinary thing.
The Shadowless Divine Thief was a renowned master even in Gangho.
A thief who, true to his na, left not even a shadow behind.
He belonged to no particular sect and accepted only commissions—
Without distinguishing between the orthodox or unorthodox paths.
His skill was supre.
He had even plundered the Imperial Palace's treasury, after all.
"One of the Three Great Thieves of Gangho."
So the standard strategy that Murim Tower climbers had established was precisely this.
The mont you enter the tower, imdiately smash the surrounding objects. Then illuminate the surroundings with a fire striker.
That process must not exceed ten minutes.
Exactly ten minutes in and the Shadowless Divine Thief's subordinates, the Shadowless Thousand Hands, would appear.
So what would happen if ten minutes passed without even getting a fire lit?
"Fighting in the darkness ans total annihilation."
And that wasn't the end.
After defeating the Shadowless Thousand Hands, that was when the formidable Shadowless Divine Thief would appear.
The usual bonus mission failure result of 'All bonus mission rewards for this floor with this person are permanently lost' did not appear—for this very reason.
That was why the 14th floor had earned this nickna.
"Hell's Darkness."
That was why, before attempting the 14th floor, climbers would—
Click! Click! Huff huff—.
Practice making fire like their lives depended on it.
Light a fire, win against the Shadowless Thousand Hands, then scour the entire inn for three days.
Not a single country in the entire world had cleared floors fourteen through sixteen at Red rank. There wasn't even a Scarlet rank, and the highest was Yellow rank for the 14th floor.
And only one of those existed.
……Japan.
They had captured the Shadowless Divine Thief in just three hours.
In truth, they had simply gotten lucky in discovering the Shadowless Divine Thief, but Japan promoted this widely.
[No one can escape the eyes of the ninja.]
It was sothing of a pride point for Japan's Murim Tower.
anwhile, the Republic of Korea's rank was Blue for the 14th floor.
The remaining fifteenth and sixteenth floors were all Green.
On internet forums, when a controversial post titled 'Republic of Korea Murim Tower VS Japan Murim Tower' went up, they'd usually argue like this and end it.
└(Korea) Republic of Korea at 36th floor, Japan at 35th floor
└(Japan) Josenjing, having a fit over Yellow on the 14th floor.
└(Korea) A rank earned by luck. Get lost.
└(Japan) You cannot escape the eyes of the ninja.
└(Korea) But doesn't sothing seem off? Three hours and you'd normally get Scarlet or Red rank, wouldn't you?
└(Japan) The greatness of Japan, questioned by you people. How amusing.
└(Korea) Funny. Japan is still at 35th floor.
└(Japan) Japan has Jang Masayoshi now. 37th floor is coming soon.
└(Korea) Son of a—.
└(Japan) Japan wins. Forever beneath us.
"There are plenty who say the difficulty is just too high, but—"
There was hope.
If you cleared the 14th floor, as long as the climbers who challenged it remained the sa, the Shadowless Divine Thief's appearance location would be identical on both the fifteenth and sixteenth floors as well.
Therefore, deploy as many people as possible at once on the 14th floor, then challenge the fifteenth and sixteenth floors ten days or twenty days later with that sa group.
Oh, of course it doesn't matter if so died.
This was the standard strategy.
So then, what about ?
"The standard strategy is wrong."
I knew.
A certain thod to catch the Shadowless Divine Thief.
"If you want to catch a rabbit that has gone into hiding, you must blow smoke into the burrow."
Hummm—.
The mont I stepped into the tower—
Woooosh—.
I activated the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art.
And I opened the pouch I'd brought and scattered the poison.
Fssssss—.
As the poison lightly dispersed from my fingertips, a fine violet powder spread out into the air.
A violet haze that was barely visible to the eye.
In the absolute darkness where no light could enter, it spread even more covertly.
Drifting like light dust, it seeped along the inn walls, up the pillars, and into the ceiling.
Without sound, without scent……
The na of this poison was,
"Purple Haze Dust Poison."
The mont you breathe.
Those fine poison particles seep through the nose and throat into the body.
Purple Haze Dust Poison is made from three poisonous herbs.
First, Purple Mist Grass.
A plant with slender purple leaves.
Dried and ground to powder, it spreads easily through the air, making it the foundation of the poison.
Next, Snow Bone Flower.
A poisonous plant with pure white petals.
Once it clings to sothing, it won't let go for a full week.
And on top of that, my activated Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art!
It drains a great deal of inner energy, but it amplifies the effect of Purple Haze Dust Poison in an instant.
"Spread!"
The violet powder blood outward like a living thing!
Drifting along the walls, it seeped into the darkness of the inn.
Four minutes, five minutes, six minutes……
"Holding out quite well."
I spread my energy and waited leisurely.
The Shadowless Divine Thief was bound to appear no matter what.
Because of Life-Severing Vine.
This thin, tough climbing plant—the final ingredient of Purple Haze Dust Poison—
"Irritates the mucous mbranes and induces violent sneezing!"
Seven minutes……
At first it began as a simple itch.
Like an invisible long feather tickling the nose and throat.
But gradually!
The stinging sharpened as if thorns were burrowing into the mucous mbranes, and an irresistible urge built up.
Prick prick prick!
Eight minutes……
How is it? You can't hold it, can you?
Sowhere in the darkness, the Shadowless Divine Thief gritting his teeth trying to suppress a cough was plain as day in my mind.
He'd be huddled in a corner, breathing in shallow breaths trying to endure—but.
But who was his opponent?
None other than myself, the Poison Demon.
I concentrated while counting the ti in my head.
Nine minutes!
"Cough……!"
"Ugh!"
Small coughing sounds from sowhere in the darkness!
My eyes flashed as I shot upward in an instant.
"Tch!"
The Shadowless Divine Thief, realizing he'd been found out, tried to fling his body away—but.
"It's already too late!"
My left hand moved like lightning, snatching the back of his neck.
Simultaneously in the opposite direction—Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers!
Storm Pear Blossom Needles shot toward so corner of the inn!
Whsssh! Thud thud thud!
"Gack!"
I grabbed the Yama's Life-Chasing Threads attached to the end of the Storm Pear Blossom Needles and yanked!
"Kkkugh!"
A man in black flew through the air, skewered, and landed in my right hand.
A light landing on the floor.
"Tch!"
"……Damn it."
Two people caught in my two hands.
That's right.
The reason Japan received only a Yellow rank despite catching the Shadowless Divine Thief in a short ti of three hours.
Shadowless and Divine Thief.
"The Shadowless Divine Thief is two people."
Thunk! Crack.
【Bonus Mission Cleared】
【Swift Elimination of the Shadowless Divine Thief】
-Mission (14th Floor) counted as cleared!
-Happiness Points 30,000!
-Technique Reversal Secret Arts Secret Manual 1/3 has been awarded!
【Ti taken to complete mission: 9 minutes 48 seconds】
【A crushing achievent (GOLD)!】
【Murim Tower's 14th Floor turns gold.】
【The entire world takes notice of the Republic of Korea's Tower.】
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