Surviving as a Sorcerer in Seoul - Chapter 46
Chapter 46. Chronicle of the Sea’s Gloom and Erosion (5)
TL: DDTL
“A Self-Nature System. There was nothing about this in any of the intel.”
Paegwang flicked his tongue in and out.
His voice was as relaxed as ever, but there was a flicker of unease in those narrow, slitted eyes.
Before long he pulled another bundle of hwatu cards from his pocket and began to shuffle them.
At the sinister spiritual power, Ju Gi-baek’s eyes narrowed.
He could tell instinctively.
That narrow-eyed guy. He was pretty strong.
By far one of the strongest opponents he’d faced yet.
Paegwang muttered with a sneer.
“Looks like quietly running away’s off the table anyway. Let’s have ourselves a real fight.”
Riffle, riffle, riffle, riffle.
Dozens of hwatu cards drifted above Paegwang’s head.
And behind Ju Gi-baek rose the enormous phantom image of the Seonangdang.
The two masters’ disparate spiritual powers collided in midair.
Zziiiiing-
Ju Gi-baek struck first.
He curled his right hand into a fist.
The method for manifesting the Self-Nature System, the very thing he’d been racking his brain over all those days shut up in his room. The techniques he’d devised, the ones he’d figured out watching Kahutoa’s tattoos, flashed before his eyes.
‘Once you’re inside my Domain, my strikes land one way or another.’
Ju Gi-baek lowered his stance and steadied himself.
He laid the principles of the Waveform Fist over the Domain of the Seonangdang.
He surged forward half a breath faster.
It wasn’t footwork meant to close the striking distance, but footwork meant to lock his opponent entirely within his zone of control.
Something chilling stirred in the air.
“!”
Paegwang flinched and pulled back half a step.
He’d yanked his body away even though the strike hadn’t come anywhere near him. It was an instinct that walked the line between life and death, closer to pure premonition.
But.
‘Too late.’
Ju Gi-baek’s command of the space was far faster.
With his tightly clenched fist he drove a rapid series of straight punches into empty air. There was no way they could reach across that distance. And yet.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
Perfectly timed with the punches thrown into empty air.
Two or three spots on Paegwang’s chest caved in as if struck by an invisible hammer. A sound like a drum being beaten burst out.
His slitted eyes flew wide in disbelief.
At the same time, dark red blood spurted out between his gaping lips.
“Kah!”
Even through that fatal wound, Paegwang whipped his right hand up.
Two red hwatu cards splattered with droplets of his blood floated into the air.
“Four-Nine Pato, you asshole…!” [TL Note: A “pato” is a voided hand in seotda, the two-card hwatu gambling game. Being dealt a Four and a Nine, the designated “dummy” pair, lets a player scrap the hand and force a redeal, which is why the combo resets his recent wounds.]
“……”
“Hkaack! Ptooey!”
Paegwang spat on the ground.
The moment the cards floating in the air crumbled to dust, the caved-in wounds on his chest sealed back up with a crackling sound, restored to their original state.
‘That should have landed clean.’
Ju Gi-baek tilted his head and quietly examined his own fist.
The impact against his fingertips had been unmistakable.
The vibration had crushed the man’s organs perfectly.
It seemed Paegwang’s card technique held some strange restorative power he hadn’t known about.
It had to be one of the defensive spells tied to that man’s Self-Nature System.
“What? Surprised you swung and hit nothing?”
Paegwang grinned and began shuffling the cards again in a dazzling flurry. At the frantic motion and the noise, Ju Gi-baek’s brow furrowed.
‘Attack nullification, is it?’
It was an unexpectedly troublesome ability.
But that was all it was.
There was no such thing as an invincible sorcery that could nullify attacks endlessly, forever, without spending any spiritual power.
If anyone were really that broken, why would he be running for his life, cornered at a dead end and coughing up blood?
If that was the case, then the answer was quite simple.
Just keep going until the bastard’s cards ran dry or his restoration hit its limit.
He only had to pay him back with attacks that overran that range.
But before that, there was something he was curious about.
His curiosity as a sorcerer had briefly caught Ju Gi-baek by the ankle. He opened his mouth.
“Is that your Self-Nature System?”
“Heh. Turns out you’re the type who enjoys small talk mid-fight? Yeah. That’s right. Part of my Self-Nature System.”
“……”
“Then I’ll ask one too. This ridiculous way you strike through space, that’s your Self-Nature System?”
“It is.”
“Interesting method. Spread your Domain out along the ground, then lay techniques your body’s mastered on top of it. A real tasty bibimbap you’ve got there.”
In that brief instant he’d seen straight through the principle of Ju Gi-baek’s Self-Nature System.
Inwardly, Ju Gi-baek was more than a little surprised.
Even so, he wasn’t especially rattled.
After all, the more two strong fighters grabbed each other by the collar and went at it, the more naturally they came to read each other’s hand.
If there was one thing he was taking away for certain, though.
It was that this narrow-eyed guy, for all his loose, easy grinning, was absolutely not some fool he could brush aside.
Paegwang licked the blood off his lips with his tongue.
He bounced lightly on the balls of both feet, as if skipping rope.
His gaze was measuring Ju Gi-baek’s shoulders and the tips of his feet.
“Now that I’ve felt it firsthand, I figure I’ve got a shot. I just have to read the timing of your punches and slip out of the Domain, right?”
“You make it sound easy.”
“Because I’m confident.”
“Is that so?”
In that instant.
Something burst up out of the shadow beneath Paegwang’s feet.
Black-Armored Centipedes.
Kyaaaak!
Kiiiiit!
Familiars that shot out instantly, with no Gate-Opening Talisman, not even a Word-Spirit.
The Seonangdang standing firm at his back, the Domain itself.
He’d considered in advance using it as a means of Gate Opening too.
It was an application of the method he’d used on Salmu back at the Loden Hotel.
Because there’d been no proper talisman-unfolding process, the recoil had left the summoned familiars somewhat weaker.
But the simple fact that they’d crawled up from beneath his feet with no warning whatsoever was effect enough.
Just like now.
Like the way Paegwang was flailing in utter panic.
“You sleazy bastard! Chatting me up all relaxed and pulling some dirty trick like this…!”
The Black-Armored Centipedes began savaging Paegwang’s thighs and calves. Their sharp venom fangs sank deep into his flesh.
“Kraaaaagh!”
An ill-timed scream tore out, and Ju Gi-baek’s step carried him forward.
It was to trap his opponent inside his absolute Domain once again.
The moment the distance closed, he drove four or five relentless punches home.
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
The vibration of the Waveform Fist aimed at empty air.
Paegwang’s face was crushed by invisible blows, snapping fast in order, up and down, then left and right.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Kugh!”
His nose bone collapsed, and the bloodied Paegwang hastily threw both hands up.
The hwatu cards hovering in the air rained down toward Ju Gi-baek.
Dozens of cards pouring down, surrounding him on all sides.
Ju Gi-baek’s step faltered for an instant.
Should he defend?
But mocking his brief hesitation, the five-color cloths and thick ropes wrapped around the Seonangdang’s Sacred Tree came slithering out.
Fwa-vak!
The scraps of cloth flapped wildly and swatted every one of the falling cards out of the air.
Perfectly protecting Ju Gi-baek, the master of the Domain.
A kind of automatic-defense concept had already been built in.
‘It’s a prototype and I wasn’t sure of it, so I didn’t fully trust it.’
Wasn’t today the very first time he’d deployed the Self-Nature System in a real fight?
Even Ju Gi-baek himself had harbored the slightest doubt about the power of the Domain he’d shaped.
The price of that distrust was a short delay.
Having bought precious time, Paegwang shuffled his cards like a madman, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth.
Riffle, riffle, riffle!
Then he drew two red cards from the deck and flipped them over.
“Six-Pair!”
Two hwatu cards painted with red flowers blazed with light at Paegwang’s fingertips.
Just then, something pressed down on Ju Gi-baek’s limbs like a boulder.
His muscles went stiff and rigid.
Perhaps thinking he’d firmly seized the upper hand, laughter burst from Paegwang’s mouth.
“Hahaha! Frozen, aren’t you? You walked right into it!”
Ju Gi-baek’s eyes rolled to the side. His body felt heavy as a thousand pounds.
“Die!”
Paegwang drew and hurled card after card.
They took on the shape of a great serpent and rushed straight for the nape of Ju Gi-baek’s neck.
Ju Gi-baek forcibly wrenched his pinned body around and drew the Seonangdang’s spiritual power at his back to its absolute limit.
“Break (破).”
Ju Gi-baek’s Word-Spirit fell.
The thick golden rope wrapped around the Seonangdang drew taut and shuddered.
Charged with the force of the Waveform Fist, the golden rope lashed out like a whip and smashed the viper’s head to pieces in a single stroke.
Venom splattered everywhere, melting the asphalt beneath.
Ju Gi-baek forced strength into his two pinned legs.
The Seonangdang’s curse-breaking power overlapped with his own brute strength. Soon there came the sound of something shattering.
“You broke my Six-Pair this fast…?”
Paegwang stepped back.
To get ahead of him, Ju Gi-baek’s feet ground into the earth and he charged recklessly forward.
The Six-Pair’s binding that had trapped his body split with a crackling and tore away completely.
Ju Gi-baek raised his fist. Not to be outdone, Paegwang raised a card to meet him.
Paegwang muttered.
“You son of a bitch…!”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
A fierce exchange of blows followed.
A sound like shattering glass rang out again and again.
To anyone who didn’t know better, it looked like Ju Gi-baek was just throwing punches at thin air from a distance.
But from where Paegwang stood, facing it, the situation could only be cold-sweat terrifying. He struggled to open even the smallest gap of distance.
But the Black-Armored Centipedes bursting out at random kept snaring his feet.
And each time, Ju Gi-baek’s Waveform Fist would unfailingly erupt and pummel him. His card-based restoration was hitting its limit too.
The hwatu he had left was slowly running dry.
In desperation, Paegwang played his final card.
He unleashed the spiritual power that had been building the longer the fight dragged on.
“Three-Eight Gwangttaeng, you fucker.” [TL Note: The “Three-Eight Gwangttaeng” is the highest, unbeatable hand in seotda, formed by pairing the March “bright” card (a cherry blossom) with the August “bright” card (a full moon), which is why that imagery manifests.]
Paegwang flipped over the two cards floating in the air.
Behind him a cherry-blossom tree bloomed, and a serene full moon rose gently into view.
It was a move anyone could see was no ordinary thing. In the split second Ju Gi-baek spent working out how to escape it…
“G-got him…!”
In that instant Yu-a suddenly cried out. Some hulking ghosts materialized on Paegwang’s shoulders and dropped down hard.
The ground caved in deep, and Paegwang sank up to his ankles. The color drained from the face of the swaggering Paegwang.
“You, you crazy bitch……”
To Paegwang’s now-restricted position, Ju Gi-baek brought out yet another spell. It was a spell that could only be used on the premise that its target was held in place.
Crrrack! Crrk!
Spiritual power sprouted from beneath Paegwang’s feet.
The roots of the Seonangdang burrowed into his veins and surged up horrifically.
“Guaaaaah……”
Before long Paegwang’s mouth slowly fell open.
A thick tree branch shot out from inside his mouth and grew.
Right after, twisted branches burst through the skin at the ends of his limbs and bloomed forth.
On the branches, grown with his blood vessels for fertilizer, red flowers blossomed in riotous profusion.
It was another Seonangdang, blooming with his flesh for nourishment.
From somewhere a swarm of blue butterflies came drifting in and fluttered in circles around the tree.
“Kuhk……”
The last drop of blood fell from between the flowering branches.
Paegwang had died right where he stood.
His grandiose Three-Eight Gwangttaeng had come to nothing.
‘That was a little dicey.’
Ju Gi-baek clicked his tongue inwardly.
And there was another surprise.
Yu-a, stamping her feet off in the distance. She was gazing up at Ju Gi-baek with a look that seemed to beg for praise.
“……”
Ju Gi-baek gave a thumbs-up. Only then did Yu-a’s eyes light up.
Next, Ju Gi-baek opened the rear door of Paegwang’s sedan and checked inside.
The ‘Chronicle of the Sea’s Gloom and Erosion’ had been left there, half fused into place.
Blackened fingers were wriggling at the torn edge. It was, by any measure, in a highly unstable state.
Ju Gi-baek pressed a hand to his forehead.
‘How the hell am I supposed to graft this back together?’
*
The situation was more or less wrapped up.
The stolen ‘Chronicle of the Sea’s Gloom and Erosion’ had been returned to the villa, one way or another.
Kang Yuto, the on-site mediator, had stepped out for a bit, saying he had to report directly to the Chairman in Japan.
I glanced through the window.
I could see Kang Yuto pacing anxiously among the wreckage of the ruined garden, talking on the phone.
I sat on the sofa, staring blankly into space.
That was when I noticed Kahutoa leaning at an angle against the wall. The whole situation was over and the rat had been dealt with, so.
There was no more need to keep his big frame stuffed into a cramped pocket, and I’d let him out a while ago.
“You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind, Tohunga.”
“…Me?”
“That’s right.”
“Sharp guy.”
I let out a short, heavy sigh and folded my arms.
Then I plopped both feet up on the table in front of me and jiggled them.
The truth was, there was a separate reason I was mulling things over and stewing inside.
The Self-Nature System, the Seonangdang, that I’d deployed for the first time in this real fight.
It had only been a rough prototype with the frame slapped together, but there were definitely weak points I needed to address.
The reach of its power wasn’t as overwhelming as I’d hoped, and conversely, pushing that power to its ceiling inevitably meant a delay while the spiritual power gathered.
That split-second gap turned into fatal poison in a fight between top-tier fighters.
‘So in the end, the answer to this structural flaw is Great Master Wonhyo’s skull-water, huh.’
Only with that catalyst would the door open to making the mental image carved into my body function flawlessly.
That was how it seemed to me.
Above all, I had the strong feeling this whole sorcery system built around the Seonangdang still wasn’t cleanly organized.
The way the martial force of the Waveform Fist and the Domain of sorcery were mixed together, it wasn’t quite one thing or the other.
An ambiguous flavor, neither here nor there.
Truly a difficult thing.
‘Well, this is something I can polish up bit by bit later, so no need to fret over it too much.’
While I was lost in thought for a moment.
Bang.
The door swung open and Kang Yuto came inside.
He wiped the sweat beading on his forehead with the back of his hand and spoke.
“Phew. I just finished my full report to Chairman Matsuda. Thankfully, he says he’ll handle the cleanup cleanly on his end one way or another. He also said he’d put some muscle into keeping the troublesome Supernatural Management Bureau quiet, framing it as a generous donation.”
“…I see.”
“Chairman Matsuda absolutely won’t let this incident slide easily. Anyone can see the information leaked from someone close to the very top. More than anything, he’s famous for having an enormous pride, so… he’ll be gunning to dig this out by the roots and find the rat, whatever it takes.”
“……”
“And this is a personal word of thanks from me, but.”
Kang Yuto, still speaking, suddenly stepped right up in front of me and bent at the waist to a perfect right angle.
I was briefly thrown by the crispness of the posture.
I looked down at the neat crown of his head for a long while.
Only then did Kang Yuto slowly straighten up.
“I owe you my life. That bow was heartfelt. And.”
Kang Yuto drew a black business card from inside his coat and carefully held it out with both hands.
It was a completely different material from the card he’d given me at our first meeting.
“This is?”
“It’s the exclusive card for my own true VIPs. If you ever decide to operate in Japan down the line, or run into some troublesome business over in the Archipelago, and you contact me at this number, I’ll take responsibility and look after you, whatever it takes.”
“…Understood.”
No reason to turn down a gesture of goodwill. I tucked the card into the inner pocket of my coat.
Though, would I actually have any occasion to go to Japan anytime soon?
Who knows. Maybe once all this is over I’ll take Aunt and Ji-yeon and Hee-yeon on a family trip or something.
The hot spring water over there is supposed to be pretty nice.
I was rolling that carefree thought around in my head when.
Beep-beep-beep-
A phone’s notification chime rang. It was Kang Yuto’s.
He fumbled hurriedly at the pocket of his tracksuit pants. He checked the caller and picked up in a rush.
“Yes, yes. Chairman.”
Bowing and bobbing over and over, nodding again and again.
The call went on for a moment. Then all at once his drooping eyes went round.
And, still holding the phone, he turned his gaze to me.
“Chairman M-Matsuda… says he wants to thank you in person right now, Baek-gi nim? To sort out the aftermath, he’s apparently already boarded his private jet….”
“What?”
Now what the hell was that supposed to mean?
****
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