Chapter 48.
‘…Shinin is a being with countless traits.’
‘He bestows traits upon those loyal to him.’
‘He runs an organization through a mysterious power that allows him to travel across the entire world in mere seconds.’
Information on Shinin obtained previously through Joji, an executive of the Black Moon.
As expected of someone who governed a branch, he had known quite a lot about Shinin, yet it was all hard to believe.
That was why I had gone through the process of verifying it.
Knowing that bastard used a precognition trait, I identified everyone in my memory who had awakened precognition-related traits.
And the result of that was right before my eyes now.
All dead.
‘Even Choe Jinseong, who held the contract, died.’
Even though all those who possessed the traits were dead, that ability was still being manifested.
What could be inferred from this clue was Shinin’s trait.
‘That bastard absorbs traits.’
If it weren’t for that, there was no way to explain the current situation.
Unbelievable as it was, the power to absorb traits seemed to be something Shinin possessed.
The condition was likely the opponent’s death.
Just as Jeong Dohwan absorbs an opponent’s soul to fill his core, he too seemed to absorb traits in a similar manner.
No, it wasn’t simply absorbing traits.
‘Trait bestowal.’
A fact I had learned anew through Joji’s words.
He had originally been nothing more than an ordinary person who hadn’t awakened any traits.
But he met Shinin and, having received a trait called the Power of Noon from him, became an Awakened.
Kill the opponent to absorb their trait, then bestow that trait upon others.
Pfft.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
‘What kind of ridiculous trait is this?’
I had survived the apocalypse for twenty years, yet I never knew such a trait existed.
No, how could I have possibly known?
If it was a trait that powerful, it wouldn’t be strange if he became the Final One rather than one of the Final Seven.
It was definitely a trait that had not existed in the world I lived in.
Yet the fact that it had revealed itself now meant…
‘The law of polar opposites.’
Where there is light, there is darkness.
The darkness born from the light called the regressor—it was highly likely that was Shinin.
“Tch.”
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
I had regressed in order to avoid creating an unfortunate future.
But who would have thought the darkness born from my existence would be this thick?
Perhaps because of it, humanity might have to walk toward an even bleaker future.
‘That can’t be allowed.’
By any means necessary, I would shatter Shinin and the Black Moon he created.
“What about the other matter?”
I asked, pushing aside my thoughts of Shinin.
What I had requested wasn’t only the identities of those who awakened precognition traits.
“China.”
Chairman Gang answered immediately.
“There is a place in China matching the phenomenon you mentioned.”
“Where is the location?”
“The Bingmayong Pits.”
I had suspected as much from the moment China was mentioned.
Clack!
I snapped my fingers, drawing everyone’s attention.
“….”
The eyes of everyone in the hall—including Yeongung and William, who had been engrossed in sparring—gathered on me.
“Get your visas. We’re going on a trip for once.”
Of course, it was not the kind of trip one would normally think of.
It was truly a path of thorns.
The road to China would become a campaign through hell.
*
Lintong District, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, China.
Originally a quiet village of around 700,000 people, it had become a famous city due to the discovery of the Bingmayong Pits, located 1 kilometer from the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.
The Bingmayong Pits.
The terracotta funerary models of the First Emperor, who unified China.
A cultural heritage site consisting of pits containing terracotta models of soldiers, horses, and more, with a total of four pits discovered.
According to legend, on the day the First Emperor resurrects, these soldiers too will come alive and wage war to conquer the world once more.
Thanks to various legends and the fact that they were the terracotta army of the emperor who first unified China, countless tourists had flocked to the Bingmayong Pits every year.
But now.
….
Only silence remained.
An emptiness devoid not only of tourists but also of the local residents usually seen around.
Guarding each of the entrances divided into the four pits were officers of China’s public security bureau.
Having set up cordon lines as they stood guard, they…
“….”
…looked extremely grim.
Faces scrunched up as if they might cry any moment.
Shiver, shiver, shiver.
Their bodies trembled like aspen trees.
The cause that made them—among China’s absolute authorities—tremble in fear was…
Ooooooo—
…the wailing sound echoing from inside the pits.
“Eek!”
“Uwaaah—”
They flinched in terror at the sound reverberating from the entrance.
This was not some vague dread.
Recently, hundreds of staff members managing the Bingmayong Pits had perished.
Cause of death: heart failure.
The only other commonality was that they had all died with expressions of extreme terror.
Due to these mysterious deaths, public security forces had been dispatched.
However, they failed to determine the cause.
On the contrary, public security officers who had surveyed inside the pits also died mysterious deaths, and because of that, the Bingmayong Pits had been closed off, awaiting orders from above.
And in the midst of this, the occasional wailing sounds…
It was a blessing they hadn’t lost their minds.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
A voice rang out abruptly.
Someone had approached the terrified officers.
“What?!”
“You startled me!”
In China, public security officers were no different from absolute power.
A civilian approaching them when they were already frightened and furious was nothing but a target to vent their anger on.
“You bastard, why are you approaching.”
“This is a restricted area!”
The moment they pulled batons from their waists, attempting to lash out as usual.
Thud!
With a dull sound.
Thud, roll—
A severed head from a body rolled across the ground.
“…What?”
While the remaining officer blanked out at the unbelievable reality.
Slash!
Due to the arc drawn by a swordsman who had approached from behind.
Splurt!
His body was bisected, meeting death.
Two people who had dispatched the officers in an instant.
No, they weren’t the only ones.
Thud, thud.
A crowd gathered among the fallen corpses.
Despite the killings, they wore calm expressions, and their attire was peculiar.
Taoist hairpins in neatly coiled hair and loose Taoist robes.
The character Demon embroidered in red on the back of purely black long robes.
Some even wore layers of tattered, hole-ridden clothes like beggars.
Their gazes, clad in such unusual attire, turned toward the pit entrance.
Ooooooo—
The wailing sound that had made the officers tremble in fear moments ago still continued.
“….”
Yet it was different.
They remained deliberately composed despite that sound which incited terror in people’s hearts.
“Clean up.”
At the middle-aged man in black robes’ words, a man in his twenties with burn scars covering half his face moved.
He approached the corpses and stretched out both hands.
Ssssss.
A green energy, like fog, spewed forth and covered the corpses.
At that moment.
Sizzle!
The corpses began to melt with an acrid stench.
It took mere seconds for the corpses to turn into a handful of bloody fluid.
“Let’s go.”
Right after disposing of the corpses, they kicked off the ground and advanced.
Astonishingly, they flew as if soaring through the air—already beyond the realm of ordinary people.
In an instant, they vanished into the darkness of the pit entrance.
Quite some time passed like that.
Footsteps.
Figures revealed themselves with the sound of presence.
They were Sin Yunchan and his party, who had left Korea and arrived in China.
They were now five elite members operating as an organization called the White.
Boom, crash!
At the explosions echoing from inside the pit.
“Tsk.”
He furrowed his brow.
“They beat us to the punch again.”
Someone was causing a commotion inside.
The Black Moon—those bastards had entered the pits one step ahead of us.
“Shall we pursue?”
Jeong Dohwan was utterly calm, unlike the others whose bodies had stiffened with tension.
“….”
But I couldn’t answer him.
Because I had confirmed a blood-like liquid pooled on the ground there.
I immediately checked its texture with my finger.
Squish.
Thick, as if melted sugar water.
‘…Bloody fluid?’
It was a familiar phenomenon.
That was because this bloody fluid was a trace left behind when ‘that guy’ manifested his trait.
It was him.
He was definitely here.
‘Can there be such a coincidence?’
Even if the land I stood on was China, even if it was his country, to think I’d run into him in this vast expanse of land.
Of course, the situation was not good.
The fact that he had killed someone here and entered the pit meant he was also affiliated with the Black Moon.
Not a comrade, but an enemy.
‘Just like before the regression.’
This exact same situation had occurred before the regression as well.
He and I had belonged to organizations opposing each other, enemies who had to kill one another.
Yet, as if by coincidence, that situation was repeating itself now.
A past connection found unexpectedly.
But I didn’t dwell on that thought for long.
“…Let’s enter.”
It was time to stop thinking and go meet him directly.
Liu Yan, the Poison Demon.
He who had been an enemy at first, but was ultimately an old comrade who stayed with me until the very end.
*
What greeted us upon entering the pit were completely shattered Bingmayong.
Like Hansel and Gretel, the trail of broken soldiers continued, and after following it for a while.
Boom!
The explosions from afar drew near.
I clenched my fist, signaling the party to be quiet, and stared straight ahead.
The oddly-dressed group was fighting the Bingmayong.
Whoosh!
Astonishingly fast movements.
Boom!
Precise attacks.
All ten of them displayed combat power far surpassing the realm of ordinary people.
‘Warriors of the jianghu.’
Through their movements, I guessed their traits.
The characteristic feature of so-called jianghu warriors was…
‘The use of martial arts from sects befitting a martial arts novel.’
They wielded imaginary power similar to that of sects in martial arts novels I had occasionally read.
A trait that awakened particularly frequently in China.
‘Roughly the Mojiao, Wudang, and Gaibang, I suppose.’
Those who awakened this trait developed a sense of belonging to their corresponding sect.
That was why they typically wore attire reflecting their sect’s characteristics, as they did now.
Looking at their distinctive clothing, it was impossible not to tell which sect they belonged to.
I turned my gaze.
The Bingmayong facing their splendid movements.
These terracotta soldiers, baked from clay, consisted of light infantry, heavy infantry, archers, and so on.
Of course, they were being overwhelmingly pushed back, but with numerical superiority reaching the hundreds, they were tying down the enemies’ feet.
‘Thanks to that, we caught up.’
Thanks to the Bingmayong’s efforts, we were able to catch up to those who had entered first.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a big problem even if they reached ‘that place’ first, but I would still prefer fewer variables.
Conveying my gratitude to the Bingmayong for their hard work—
“Let’s go.”
I deliberately made my presence known.
Simultaneously.
Swish!
As promised, Yeongung and William scattered in their respective directions.
Yeil, Jeong Dohwan, and I held our position.
I stared to the right.
Far away, someone had his eyes wide at our sudden appearance—a guy with half his face covered in burn scars.
“Yo, good to see you.”
I greeted him in Chinese indistinguishable from a native speaker’s.
Of course, there was no answer.
Just like when I first saw him, we were now enemies who had to kill each other.
But.
‘This time too, nothing will change.’
Liu Yan.
He who was called the Poison Demon, who had killed hundreds in an instant with his powerful trait—this time too, he would end up standing by my side.