Chapter 1 Reborn into the Martial World.

Chapter 1: Reborn into the Martial World.

Reborn.

Into the Hell Martial World, where stabbing someone in the gut is an everyday occurrence.

In web novels, others are reborn into noble families or martial clans, but I had none of that.

Instead, I lived until age nine in a crumbling shack, then my entire family died from a sudden epidemic.

Then I met an old man.

“Will you follow me?”

“What happens if I go?”

“That depends on what you do. You could become a martial arts hero, or rot away as a lowly outer-hall warrior.”

“Do they feed you well?”

“Three square meals a day, come rain or shine. Don’t worry.”

“Then I’ll follow you.”

And so he became an outer-door warrior of the Nine Dragon Fortress, a colossal corporation within the martial world.

***

“Ugh! I’m exhausted.”

This damn Nine Dragons Fortress… I should just quit.

Just like Hell Joseon, mornings in Hell Martial World are incredibly hectic.

Today was squad leader meeting day. I couldn’t be late, so I quickly finished getting ready and headed to the outer sect headquarters.

“Seventeenth Squad Leader!”

Upon arrival, Squad Leader Sam greeted me warmly.

A happy social life begins with a genuine greeting.

I quickly approached him and bowed deeply.

“Honorable Third Squad Leader, it is truly an honor beyond measure that you came out to greet me personally.”

“Heh heh heh, this friend’s flattery just keeps getting better and better.”

“Flattery? Not at all! These words come from the deepest respect in my heart, don’t they?”

“Hehehehe.”

The Third Elder gave a satisfied chuckle and patted my shoulder.

Just a couple more months of training, and I’d be close enough to become his debt guarantor.

“The Master should be arriving soon. Let’s go inside.”

“How could I dare lead the way? I’ll follow behind you, Third Elder.”

“Heh heh, you’re something else.”

Following him over the threshold, I braced myself.

As the youngest section chief in the outer hall, I had over twenty people to greet.

“Oh my! Section Chief Yi, it’s been ages!”

“Section Chief Chil! Greetings, sir!”

“Gah! Section Chief Fifteen’s beauty is blinding!”

After bowing at the door for a full hour.

Once I confirmed all the senior squad leaders had entered the main hall, I went in last.

While sipping tea and chatting briefly, a middle-aged man entered.

A large frame, a scar cutting across his face, a bushy beard like a bandit’s, and gleaming eyes.

This man, whose appearance screamed villain to anyone who saw him, was none other than my current master, the Outer Sect Leader, North Palace Baek.

“We greet the Sect Leader.”

The squad leaders rose from their seats and bowed, and he nodded.

“Has everyone been well?”

“Yes!”

“Then let’s begin.”

The meeting that started thus passed without any major content.

Naturally.

The Outer Sect held an infinitesimally small place in the martial world.

That was precisely why I had chosen the Outer Sect as my post, even after graduating from the Ascension Pavilion, the premier elite training institution in Nine Dragon City.

And sure enough.

“Snore, snore, snore.”

Bukgung Baek couldn’t hold back any longer, snoring loudly as he passed out.

This wasn’t the first time, so the squad leaders under the deputy chief ignored him and continued the meeting.

And then.

“This month’s South Gate guard duty will be handled by Squad Seventeen, Squad Three, and Squad One.”

‘Nice!’

Whether it was the grease we’d applied paying off or not, our dream duty assignment had been assigned to our squad.

Clenching my fist, I stood up, saluted, and shouted.

“Squad Leader Jin Mujeon of the Seventeenth Squad, I will carry out the order without a single inch of error!”

“……”

A booming voice like that always gets welcomed wherever it goes.

***

The South Gate guard duty turned out to be an even sweeter gig than expected.

As the squad leader, I sat at a desk set up in one corner.

My squad members bustled about, inspecting travelers’ luggage and identity tags.

You might wonder how this could be a sweet gig, but the true value of gate guard duty lies elsewhere.

“Hehe, it’s not much, but grab a bowl of rice wine after we’re done.”

That’s the backdoor money slipped by merchants.

You might wonder why bribes are needed just for letting people pass through the gate, but that’s only because you don’t understand how much power the gate guards wield.

Their profits vary wildly depending on how strict we are with our inspections.

For example.

“Squad leader, see those dried vipers in that cart over there?”

“Good heavens! Poisonous snakes? The venom’s been removed and they’re dried. They’re medicinal herbs. Medicinal herbs.”

There were also items like this, whose import status was ambiguous.

“Sir! Could you please expedite this? I brought ice, but the delay means it’s about to melt completely.”

There were also goods that needed to bypass the queue and pass through quickly.

“This is iron ore brought from Yunnan Province. It’s been promised to the Imperial Ironworks.“

”Hmm, I haven’t heard about this yet. Wait a moment.“

”Please, don’t make me wait…”

Some merchants simply wanted procedural favors.

Thanks to them, the profits collected over the past fortnight amounted to two taels of silver—equivalent to one million won in Hel Peninsula currency.

It felt satisfying.

All the bribes paid to senior squad leaders over the years felt worthwhile.

Of course, I couldn’t pocket all this money.

Being stingy could earn me a mental note, leading to years of underground prison life.

So, I kept one silver ingot for myself and distributed the other to my squad members as fairly as possible.

‘What a solid feeling.’

As usual, the moment I arrived home, I pulled out the small wooden box from under my bed and opened it.

The coins and silver pieces I’d saved up over time greeted me.

‘Let’s see…’

One coin, two coins, three coins…

Counting for a while, I let out a sigh without realizing it.

“Huh! The road is long, yet why is progress so slow…?”

My savings account, woefully inadequate for retiring to a life of luxury, weighed heavily on my heart.

But such thoughts were fleeting.

“No. Let’s take it slow. Mujeon. You’re still young. A life of luxury can wait until you’re forty.”

I immediately pulled myself together.

Yeah, where am I?

After 21 long years since falling into the martial world, and just 3 years since graduating from the Ascension Pavilion and starting to receive a proper monthly stipend, saving this much money was nothing short of a miracle.

Still, I was nowhere near catching up to my Ascension Pavilion classmates.

“Since when did I start comparing myself to silver spoons?”

A sparrow trying to follow a magpie will only tear its legs apart.

‘Or is it the sparrow that’s the fool?’

Anyway, no need to envy others. Just live within my means.

If I work hard, a beautiful tomorrow and bright future will surely await.

***

“Ugh! Exhausted.”

They say Hell Joseon’s week is Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday-Friday-Friday?

A week in Hell Martial Arts wasn’t much different.

“When will the five-day workweek ever be introduced!”

Sighing at the martial arts world’s work system, which boasted not just six days but seven, he rose from his seat.

“They pay peanuts but work us to the bone.”

Cursing the office worker Gu Ryongseong, he walked for a while.

Arriving at the small pavilion assigned to the Seventeenth Division, he saw the division members practicing martial arts.

Thwack! Thwack!

Over there, in the farthest corner, the guy throwing iron balls in a pitcher’s stance was Yang Gang.

A muscle monster standing 190cm tall and weighing over 120kg, surprisingly, he wasn’t a tank but a ranged attacker.

That iron ball he was throwing was a hidden weapon.

Something called a ‘flying meteor’ or whatever…

Shushushushu.

And the handsome young man piercing the air with a short javelin was Yu Xiaoping.

A scholar with considerable reading, he handled all the paperwork for the Seventeenth Division.

His martial arts? Well… just enough to barely avoid getting beaten up by third-rate rogues on the street.

Instead, he handles all the paperwork for the Seventeenth Division, making him the most reliable member of the team.

“Chwaaah! Chwaaah!”

The little guy darting around the courtyard in the middle, letting out strange battle cries, is Ha Jin-hyeong.

He’s a self-proclaimed master of divine techniques, with lightness skills as his specialty.

Thanks to that, he’s the messenger, but since lies automatically spill out whenever he opens his mouth, only half of what he says is believed.

Lastly.

“…You’re…here…right? Squad Leader.”

The owner of this painfully slow, turtle-like speech is Lee Dang-pal.

The youngest of the Seventeenth Division, he studied at the martial arts academy in Dangata and possesses considerable knowledge about poisons.

However, his movements are painfully slow; watching him makes you feel like your clothes might burst.

“Alright. Did you sleep well?”

“…Yes.”

“How’s your training going lately? If you hit a wall, talk to me. I’ll help anytime.”

“…Yes.”

“…..”

Let’s not talk.

Stepping over the threshold, the squad members greeted me. Unlike usual, their spirited salutes sounded quite pleasant.

No wonder.

I’d paid them a whopping reward of one tael of silver. Their respect for me must be skyrocketing.

“Ahem, everyone doing well? ”

“What the hell are you doing, after seeing me yesterday?”

Apparently not.

Ignoring the ignorant Yanggang bastard, I asked Yoo So-pyeong.

“Any news on the high-ranking official’s visit today?”

“The Lord of the Blue Dragon Hall said he’s heading to the Hanjung Branch.”

“Then he’s going to the North Gate, not us?”

“That seems likely.”

It seemed trivial, but this was more important information than one might think.

Just as the army conducts a major cleanup when a division commander visits, news that a high-ranking official from the inner city was passing meant preparations had to be made well in advance.

“That’s a relief. Then let’s all go.”

He immediately led his team out and headed for the South Gate.

Duty resumed.

“Next!”

Yang Gang, the largest member of Squad 17, stood with his long spear planted, repeatedly calling out “Next!”

Ha Jin-hyeong and Lee Dang-pal checked the luggage and identity tags.

Yoo So-pyeong handled the guestbook and various paperwork.

What was I doing?

What else? As an administrative officer, I focused my energy on managing the squad members.

Snore…

While closing my eyes briefly for meditation, Ha Jin-hyeong’s voice reached me.

“Team Leader, aren’t you eating?”

“Huh? Oh, oh. I should eat. You can’t work on an empty stomach.”

“I thought you might need it, so I bought some rice balls from the Namga Guesthouse over there.”

“Right, right. Thanks.”

As I chewed the rice ball, a familiar face came into view.

A warrior of the White Dragon Sect, his pure white martial robe embroidered with a white dragon.

“Long time no see?”

“Gulp. Yeah. Long time.”

“I heard you graduated from the Ascension Pavilion and joined the outer sect. Fits you better than I expected? Is it because you’re a rootless bastard?”

” For eight whole years at the Ascension Pavilion, you were the one getting beaten by that rootless bastard.“

Hearing my retort to his provocation, laser beams shot from both his eyes.

Judging by the tendons bulging like earth dragons at his temples, he was pretty pissed.

”If you wanna fight, let’s go to that empty lot over there.“

”Khm.“

”You can’t even take me on, yet you pick a fight. “

Trembling.

I could feel his body shaking all the way over here.

Of course.

I’d honed my chat skills in AOS games where all kinds of political maneuvering ran rampant.

In this martial arts world steeped in Confucian and Buddhist philosophy, few could out-talk me.

”…We’ll see about that later.“

”Hmm, you can’t do anything about it, right?“

”Guh.”

The bastard stormed back into the city gates, face twisted with fury.

Yu So-pyeong, standing nearby, seemed curious and asked quietly.

“Who was that? Seemed like a warrior from the White Dragon Sect.”

“The White Dragon Sect Leader’s youngest son.”

Saying it out loud, it sounded like a web novel title.

“…Is that okay? What if he holds a grudge and seeks revenge later?”

” “Would a nobleman like the White Dragon Sect Leader really be swayed by his immature youngest son?”

“That may be true, but who knows what time will bring? He’ll likely hold a high position in the Inner City soon.”

That’s a problem for when I’m still in Nine Dragon City.

By the time that guy is rising through the ranks, I’ll already be gone from Nine Dragon City.

“We’ll worry about that when the time comes.”

And so, another eventful day at Nine Dragon Fort passed.