Episode 101. The Spirit of Moorim (2)

“I misspoke. Asking you to teach me Mugong.. Haha, I must have been out of my mind.”

Kim Young-hwan, who sat across me, smiled as he spoke.

“I have so much work these days that I sometimes talk nonsense. Haha.”

Kim Young-hwan tried to make excuses for what he had said earlier. But I already knew he had meant it.

His dazed face, the way he kept glancing at my body while we talked, and the way he was unconsciously tapping the table.

Although he verbally denied it, Kim Young-hwan’s gestures were constantly signaling: ‘What was that? Can’t you tell me about your Mugong earlier?’

“I actually came to see you about the guild coalition. Um.. I told you about it last time, right?”

It was like he was attempting to change the subject for now. After all, it was wrong for Hunters to see other Hunters’ training secretly, and it was rude to ask them to teach them their hard-earned techniques.

His reaction was expected. I nodded slowly, listening to his excuses. Then, I casually spoke.

“You’re very interested in the technique I was working on earlier, aren’t you?”

“So the coalition.. Yes?”

Kim Young-hwan’s face stiffened as soon as I spoke. He looked like someone who had his mind read. I looked at him standing still with his mouth open and firmly continued to speak.

“If you’d like, I’ll teach you. Since I was able to use the technique.. no, the Mugong, because of you, guild master Kim Young-hwan.”

“What are you talking about?”

Kim Young-hwan, who had been talking naturally, albeit a bit all over the place, stammered. There was no need to talk further here. I put down my coffee cup and stood up.

“W.. wait, hold on. I’m coming, Hunter Jeong Si-woo!”

Kim Young-hwan hurriedly followed. Less than 10 minutes after entering the coffee shop, we both headed back to the training facility.

* * *

“So you’re saying that you’ve earned my Characteristic?”

“Yes, I unilaterally took it from you, to be exact...”

“No, you said it was possible because I unconsciously didn’t want it. The term ‘transfer’ seems more appropriate. Haha.. that’s amazing.”

Kim Young-hwan burst out laughing.

‘Why is he laughing?’

I wondered if I had explained properly.

Characteristics were essential to a Hunter. Skills assist the Hunter’s hunting, and Characteristics build the framework for what type of hunting the Hunter will carry out. Characteristics determine the Hunter’s position and how to plan future hunts.

In other words, it was no exaggeration to say that Characteristics were the ‘essence’ of a Hunter.

It was the same with my Akashic Records and my Outstanding Insight. But Kim Young-hwan smiled without reacting bitterly to the news that I had taken his Characteristic that had given him -Mugong-, which in turn had basically made him the person he was today.

I couldn’t understand his reaction. If someone had stolen my Insight when I was an Analyst, I would have been uncontrollably angry.

“It looks like you want to know why I’m laughing and reacting this way.”

Kim Young-hwan guessed, still smiling, and started to speak.

“Well, I suppose it may seem weird. You took my Characteristic, and it’s safe to say that Characteristics are everything to a Hunter. How could anyone laugh like this?”

“.....”

“But as you said, I have actually hoped this Characteristic would disappear for a long time.”

His clear eyes looked at me.

“If this had happened when I was young and active, I would have been very angry.”

“Yes.”

“But not now. It’s not a bad thing, but rather seems like a miracle. I feel very relieved.”

Kim Young-hwan leaned against the wall.

“The reason I started hunting was nothing special. I lost my wife. My old apartment wall collapsed, and my wife and a dead Monster were lying in the rubble.”

“.....”

“That’s when I first saw Monsters. They looked too horrible to be living creatures, with teeth like saws. I couldn’t bear the thought of those monsters attacking and devouring my wife. She used to cry even when she cut her finger a little bit while cooking. She hated pain—my wife.”

His eyes gazed into the air.

“When I first started hunting, I was scared. I couldn’t help but tremble when I saw Monsters. So, I couldn’t save a few families who were in the same situation as myself. Because I was scared stiff, some lost their children, and some lost their parents.”

“.....”

“That’s when I started having nightmares. But at some point, instead of nightmares, memories of this place called ‘Moorim’ started to flow into my mind. Up to the point that it became hard for me to distinguish between Moorim and reality. I thought this was my punishment. Punishment for being too terrified to save people, even though I had lost his family and had decided to be a Hero.”

Kim Young-hwan’s eyes were full of emotions. There was no need to use my skills or Characteristics. His feelings were conveyed through his eyes.

“I couldn’t remember my three sons’ names or the faces of those close to me. As I was connected to Moorim, I focused only on getting stronger. I thought that was my reason for living. To die fighting a Monster. I thought it was my life’s goal to sharpen my mind and body to save one more person and die.”

“.....”

“But regardless of what I thought, I was human, and I got tired. At some point, it became difficult. I started to think that the memories were consuming me.”

He smiled faintly.

“So I’ve always been looking for a successor. I hoped that others would continue what I had achieved before I was consumed. I was worried about the people who would be left behind if I died without overcoming this disaster.”

“.....”

“I couldn’t find a successor for years. I reached the point where I couldn’t even clearly remember what happened the day before. And at that very moment, you showed up.”

His gaze now turned towards me again.

“I’ve been studying how to teach it for years, but now I suppose there is no need.”

“Ah.....”

“I thought I had completely lost my mind because the memories of Moorim stopped coming to me a week ago. But I was wrong. I had finally come back to my senses.”

“.....”

“I felt both relieved and empty. I had wanted to rest for a long time, but living as a Hunter for so long, I guess my brain is now damaged.”

He burst out laughing.

“Seeing your amazing Mugong, I became greedy again.”

“.....”

“I thought I could maybe become stronger and break through my limits again with your Mugong. Haha.....”

The Traveler, who was listening, snorted in the back.

[He’s a natural Moorim person. If he were born over there, not in this world, he would have become a great man.]

The Traveler was right. Kim Young-hwan’s eyes did not seem like those of a middle-aged man. Anyone would think that they were the eyes of a young man in his 20s.

“If possible, could you teach me your Mugong?”

“My Mugong?”

“Yes. I could barely copy what I saw. I don’t have the same insight as you, and I wasn’t born with talent. So I know how difficult it is to achieve so much in just a week and establish a technique. But please.”

Thump, thump.

Kim Young-hwan walked toward me and bowed his head.

I was silent for a moment, but then I slowly opened my mouth and spoke.

“Yes, I will.”

Kim Young-hwan is a Hero. Among all the people I know, he is one of the most righteous. I didn’t mind giving such a person something like this.

“But I have a favor to ask you, too.”

So asking him for this was not because I begrudged teaching him my Mugong.

[You earned it thanks to that guy. You’re being a little petty.]

‘No, I’m not,’ I shouted to myself, hearing the Traveler’s sarcastic words.

* * *

“..Are you serious?”

That was the first thing Kim Young-hwan said upon hearing my request. Well, I probably would have said so, too, if I had been asked the same thing.

“Yes.”

“Hahahaha, I’m a little taken aback. It’s the first time I’ve been asked this kind of favor apart from my eldest son.”

He looked perplexed but soon laughed.

“Nobody has asked me to spar with them. People around me know me so well.”

As he said, my request was to spar with him, without using any skills or Characteristics, only our physical strength, and techniques. It was the Moorim way, different from how Hunters usually battled each other.

“Yes, I don’t mean to win either.”

I replied with a smile. Of course, I couldn’t win. Although I acquired advanced Mugong, Kim Young-hwan had trained for dozens of years and had perfected his techniques.

My goal was not to win.

I wanted to fight someone who had spent his entire life investing in physical techniques and creating ways to hunt Monsters with them. I wanted to learn from his greatness and grow stronger.

In the past, I analyzed Kim Young-hwan’s battle scenes over and over, but watching was entirely different from physically experiencing his strength.

[It’s the best way to become stronger. Isn’t that your specialty? To steal what your opponent has and break them down while you fight them?]

It didn’t sound so nice, but the Traveler was right. To make the most of my analytical skills, this was the fastest way to become stronger.

“Anyway, okay. I can do that much for you. And fighting with Mugong will help me as well.”

“Thank you.”

Kim Young-hwan readily accepted. He changed into the training clothes in the facility. I could still see his strong muscles through the loose clothes. His body was incomparable to mine since I had just started to build up my Ki.

One of the top 5 Hunters, or one of the top 5 humans, to be exact. I was about to fight hand to hand with such a man.

“Let’s start right away.”

A small gust of wind blew in the training facility.

“I was a bit taken aback, but I’m actually looking forward to it.” historical