The Strongest in Murim Through Gacha
Chapter 4
3. The Secret Manual of Manryonggak (2)
Before he could even answer, the two of them walked away.
“Tch, that bastard acts like I did something to him when I didn’t even cause him any harm.”
It made sense that he’d look down on them, since it seemed everyone else had received proper guidance from a martial family.
‘Still, Jaguni didn’t seem to be sneering. But that Cho Yeongho bastard looks completely displeased that I’m in the same group.’
So Jongcheon shrugged and looked around.
Relationships had never been something you could control at will, and he had no interest in whatever that insignificant guy spewed.
More importantly, with a time limit in place right now, it was time to focus on choosing a martial art.
Just as he was thinking that, text suddenly popped up in the air.
[Quest Occurred!]
“Huh?”
A window with a new name appeared in the corner of his vision.
[Quest]
When he pressed it, words telling him to complete the quest below appeared, along with a detailed explanation.
[Standing Out From the Crowd (?)]
[Receive the attention of everyone present at a gathering of 100 or more people.]
[Reward: 7 Appraisal Scrolls]
“So that’s what it was, a game quest.”
Seven appraisal scrolls were worth 700 silver.
He had needed appraisal scrolls anyway, so it was fortunate that this quest system had appeared.
‘If I could only obtain currency through daily rewards, growth would take forever, so I guess that’s why these exist too.’
However, just because a quest had appeared didn’t mean he could obtain the reward easily.
Receive the attention of every single person without exception at a gathering of over 100 people.
‘I wonder when I’ll be able to complete this. Standing out from the crowd, huh. But why is there a question mark?’
So Jongcheon, who had been looking at the description with a troubled expression, closed the quest window.
If he waited, an opportunity would come eventually, but for now, choosing a martial arts manual took priority.
Sword Arts, Spear Arts, Saber Arts, Axe Arts, Staff Arts.
The martial techniques for handling various weapons were divided into broad categories and placed on the bookshelves.
‘Would it be better to look at fist techniques I’m already familiar with? No, but no matter how much martial arts I’ve learned, fighting bare-handed against someone wielding a blade is a bit… I should learn a weapon technique after all, shouldn’t I?’
As he was wandering around worrying, a bookshelf where inner cultivation methods were collected caught his eye.
“Wait, inner cultivation methods.”
He still had memories of training to death in the Cheongmyeong Tonapgong and Choyeonggwon, but honestly, it was hard to say he properly understood the study of martial arts.
Aside from briefly receiving guidance from his father when he was young, he had learned martial arts without a proper master.
However, he knew that inner cultivation methods played an extremely important role in martial arts.
‘In wuxia novels, mastering the inner cultivation method is the beginning of all martial arts training, right? It’s like the work of building a heart.’
He knew that even if you mastered sword arts or saber arts for a hundred days, you couldn’t become an expert without internal energy.
In his memories, the Cheongmyeong Tonapgong was said to be quite an unremarkable inner cultivation method, so he thought about switching to a good internal energy cultivation method.
‘I can’t really tell which ones are good just by looking, but it’s the same for other martial arts anyway.’
Since he didn’t have a set goal for what to learn, for now, he examined the books containing internal energy cultivation methods.
Taeguek Tonapgong, Baekgyeol Simbeop, Samyanggong, Daeheo Simbeop.
He took them out haphazardly, skimmed through them, tilted his head, and put them back repeatedly.
‘There sure are a lot… but as expected, I can’t tell what’s good. I do know that you shouldn’t carelessly learn just any inner cultivation method.’
While scratching his head and looking through the books, he discovered a somewhat unusual name.
‘Byeokryeokgong, Geongon Simbeop, Banya Shingong, Hyeonwon Gigong… Huh?’
“Banya Shingong?”
It was a name that had appeared often in the wuxia novels he occasionally read.
The martial art of Shaolin, called the leader of the Nine Sects and One School, the Mount Tai and North Star of Murim.
And hadn’t it appeared as one of Shaolin’s greatest internal energy cultivation methods among its countless martial arts?
Unlike the others, its very name bore the title of Divine Technique.
“What!? Is this the real thing? No way… shouldn’t something like this be a secret manual tightly locked away within Shaolin Temple?”
Gulp.
He swallowed and took out the book, opening it.
What met his eyes were densely written formulas of the inner cultivation method in a neat yet powerful style.
This place was the storage for martial arts books of the Jamryong Academy, an educational institution directly under the righteous Murim Alliance.
Since it wasn’t something sold by a street peddler, he thought that even if it wasn’t the original but a copy, it couldn’t possibly be fake.
‘This is it.’
It was a chance to switch from his family’s mediocre inner cultivation method to a world-shaking divine technique.
There seemed to be no reason to look for other options.
‘Why aren’t the others learning something like this… Ah, is it because I’m the only one from a nobody family? Everyone else probably has martial arts they’ve trained in for a long time from famous sects, so they can’t recklessly switch their foundational inner cultivation method.’
So Jongcheon hugged the Banya Shingong secret manual tightly to his chest and left his spot.
As he moved about looking around, a place where people who appeared to be librarians were gathered came into view.
“Excuse me. Is this where I register to borrow books?”
“That’s correct. You are the last, young hero.”
It hadn’t even been half a shichen, yet it seemed everyone else had already finished registering.
‘There were quite a few people looking through the library like me… Had they all finished registering and were just looking around?’
“Let’s see, Banya Shingong? Hmm?”
The librarian who received the manual So Jongcheon held out raised his eyes as if surprised.
‘Don’t tell me he’s going to say this can’t be borrowed?’
While he was needlessly feeling anxious, the librarian looking at the manual continued.
“Hmm. Impressive. I trust you know that once a book is registered, it cannot be exchanged until permission is granted?”
“Yes, I heard.”
He didn’t know what was so impressive about it, but he nodded anxiously in case he was told it wasn’t allowed.
“Then I shall register it as is. Please be careful not to damage the secret manual. There are plenty of seats, so you may read in a comfortable place. Of course, as you know, you cannot take it outside Manryonggak, so when you leave, you must come back here and return it.”
“Yes!”
He snatched the manual being handed over as the registration was completed, then left his seat in high spirits.
‘Great! This seems like a good start. A Shaolin divine technique—I must’ve really struck gold, right?’
So Jongcheon went to a secluded place, settled down, and began reading the secret manual slowly.
And one shichen later.
Having finished reading the manual, So Jongcheon opened his mouth with a laugh.
“Hehe… What the hell is this. F*ck. It’s insanely difficult.”
His head was already hurting just from reading it.
He couldn’t even fathom interpreting the meaning of the formulas.
‘It’s a hassle to come here every time, so let me at least memorize the basic internal energy circulation method. As for interpreting the formulas… I’ll study them whenever I have time, and it’ll work out somehow.’
As he was concentrated on reading and memorizing the method of circulating true energy written in the early sections, one of the librarians approached and spoke to him.
“It is almost time to leave. Please return the book.”
“Ah, the time has already… Understood.”
The time had passed quickly, but he felt he had more or less memorized the internal energy circulation method.
Having returned the secret manual and exited Manryonggak, So Jongcheon followed the other trainees back to the second training ground.
At the same time.
Instructor Chu Omyeong was receiving and checking the record sheet of martial arts the trainees had registered.
“What? This kid?”
Chu Omyeong’s expression, which had been calmly reading through the record sheet, twisted grotesquely the moment his eyes took in two words.
[So Jongcheon – Banya Shingong]
“It can’t be. The person in charge must have written it down wrong.”
Chu Omyeong’s expression, which had been staring intently at the record sheet, soon relaxed.
People could make mistakes while working.
Accepting it that way was more rational than accepting the existence of a trainee who had chosen Shaolin’s inner cultivation method.
As time passed, the trainees who had gone to Manryonggak returned.
“Everyone is gathered.”
An ordinary person would have wasted unnecessary time trying to confirm the number of gathered people.
However, Chu Omyeong, an expert who had reached the pinnacle of the first-rate, could perceive that all 208 people were gathered with just one sweeping glance.
Standing in front of the trainees, Chu Omyeong opened his mouth.
“It is now lunchtime, so I will not speak at length. All of you must attend the trainee mental education held today at Yushi (酉時), and you are free to act during other times. Unless there are special separate instructions, you will gather here daily at Sonshi (巽時) from now on. If a mission is assigned to the Hwangryong Team, classes for each subject will also be temporarily suspended.”
Chu Omyeong stopped speaking and was about to dismiss them when he recalled something.
‘I should correct the error on the record sheet. There’s no need to go all the way to Manryonggak to point out the mistake and hurt anyone’s feelings.’
“So Jongcheon.”
“Yes!”
“It seems there was a mistake in Manryonggak’s records. Which martial art did you register?”
“Banya Shingong!”
Hearing the answer, Chu Omyeong doubted his own ears for a moment.
“…Are you saying the Banya Shingong, Shaolin’s internal energy cultivation method?”
“Yes, that’s right?”
The surroundings became noisy at So Jongcheon’s answer.
“What? He chose an inner cultivation method? What’s he trying to do?”
“A Shaolin martial art? What was he thinking choosing something like that?”
As the atmosphere around him turned strange, So Jongcheon felt that something was wrong.
‘What? Why are they all acting like this?’
Chu Omyeong approached the flustered So Jongcheon, closing the distance in an instant with rapid movement techniques.
“While Manryonggak is indeed where all obtainable martial arts manuals are gathered, the number of trainees who chose an inner cultivation method in the history of Jamryong Academy can be counted on one hand. Let alone Shaolin’s divine ultimate technique?”
For a martial artist, an internal cultivation method was the basis of basics, no different from learning to walk.
Unless it was a very special situation, it was extremely rare to abandon one’s existing inner cultivation method and learn a new one.
And So Jongcheon, who fell into that rare category, made an expression indicating he didn’t know what was wrong with Chu Omyeong’s words.
‘If it’s a divine ultimate technique, that means it’s a good thing, right? So why does he sound like I’ve done something wrong?’
“Is Banya Shingong… perhaps a forbidden text or some kind of martial art that shouldn’t be learned?”
“It’s not impossible. But why would you insist on throwing away your existing inner cultivation method to study something difficult to master? And that after entering Jamryong Academy, no less. You must know well that for Buddhist martial arts, it is now impossible to find a master who can instruct you?”
Banya Shingong was indeed an incredible ascending cultivation method befitting its name Divine Technique.
But at the same time, true to its nature as a martial art rooted in Buddhism, it was also an art where one could not progress without Buddhist teachings and enlightenment.
Moreover, its difficulty was such that even Buddhist disciples with years of accumulated training would shake their heads.
“What do you mean we can’t find a master… Are you saying there are no instructors from Shaolin?”
So Jongcheon expressed doubt at Chu Omyeong’s words.
He found it hard to believe there wasn’t a single person from Shaolin among the Murim Alliance’s instructors.
Wasn’t there a saying, ‘All martial arts under heaven originate from Shaolin’?
Even if there were no real monks, shouldn’t there at least be secular disciples?
‘Is this world different from the wuxia novels I read?’
Chu Omyeong answered with a frown at So Jongcheon’s question.
“Shaolin suffered a blow close to annihilation and declared it would no longer get involved in Murim’s affairs, locking its gates—how long ago was that, that you would spout such nonsensical talk? Surely you aren’t saying you don’t know that there are no more martial monks in Murim?”
‘Huh?’
So Jongcheon’s mouth fell open.
‘For real? I knew this was a setting where the Demonic Cult caused tremendous damage, but Shaolin was sealed to that extent? Crazy… So that’s why Shaolin’s greatest ultimate technique was just lying around in an academy?’
Shaolin, which stood proudly at the peak of the righteous faction in most wuxia settings.
But it seemed Shaolin in this world was ruined.