The first contact between Jeokgwi Daebyeol and Odokmun ended in failure. Odokmun denied the allegations, claiming that the martial artists captured on site were heavily drugged, thus rendering their testimonies unreliable.
Using drug-addicted martial artists as expendables and then cutting ties under the pretense of their impaired mental states—that was the basic strategy of Odokmun, making this scenario entirely predictable.
There was something peculiar about Odokmun that made it hard to classify them as a sect. To call them a drug cartel didn’t fully encapsulate their cruelty, so perhaps they deserved to be labeled as a criminal organization.
If we were to recognize them as a proper sect, it was a structure where no true martial artists could emerge, because let’s face it, would those who believe they have talent and the potential for success willingly step into a drug den? No rational person, regardless of their abilities, would choose to associate with Odokmun.
Given the circumstances, nearly all the lower-ranking sect members of Odokmun had no agency in their enrollment. Most were coerced into joining due to desperation or addiction.
With people flocking together like clouds, even if one were to sift through them, finding an expert would be a challenge in such a demotivating sect.
Even so, the combat power of Odokmun’s martial artists could not be ignored. By explosively tapping into their potential with various drugs that consumed their bodies, they could significantly amplify their abilities.
Truly, they were the type to do everything bad—poisons, drugs, you name it—everything nasty was done by Odokmun.
My party and I were now infiltrating Odokmun’s dangerous drug fields, and I was feeling particularly bad.
“Ugh.”
The reason? I was wearing cursed gear—military uniform! The very thing I had to wear to disguise myself as a member of Jeokgwi Daebyeol! Just putting it on made my body heavy, sapped my motivation, and made me not want to think at all. Who would feel good in this situation?
When I transformed into the officer of the 11th Brigade, it felt alright with the red uniform and cap. But this military outfit was oppressive with its set effects.
I hadn’t even had the uniform on for an hour, and already I had a strong urge to return to Bicheongmacha and sprawl out.
This guy, Kang Chumo-ru, didn’t even teach me, yet how come the combat uniforms look exactly the same?
While I trudged forward, my energy being drained by the uniform, Black Cat suddenly halted.
“Here. It seems the Odokmun side has blocked this area, probably thinking that a useful cave might attract people.”
It looked just like a rock wall if you didn’t know to look. My party nodded and started moving boulders one by one.
It was just dirt, not like we were digging rock, so it didn’t take long before the entrance revealed itself.
Passing through the narrow entrance, we found an open stone door leading into a cave of decent size—about enough to fit a small house with some space left over.
But all that was there was a single altar.
“Oh… quite spacious inside.”
“It’s an artificial cave.”
My party marveled as they glanced around. Their eyes immediately focused on the altar. Aside from it being unusually large, there wasn’t anything else in the cave.
“Oh, Senior Ho, could you please explain now? What are we supposed to do here?”
“Right. I, too, was curious why we had to come here right before the operation.”
Nodding, I picked up the core stone of the array formation from the altar. It was a globe inscribed with strange oracle-like characters.
“You saw the open stone door when we came in, right?”
“Hmm. I did.”
“In this place, a mystical enchantment is unfolding. If we close the stone door and insert this core stone, this cave will transform into a box.”
Confusion washed over my party’s faces. Hmm, if they have any concept of random boxes, gacha, or lotteries, then I wouldn’t need to explain in length.
“Once the formation is complete, it will summon ‘something.’ The reason I say ‘something’ is that I genuinely don’t know what will be summoned. It could be a pile of junk, an ordinary herbalist, a legendary expert, or perhaps a ferocious entity.”
“Umm… truly a mystical formation.”
“I can’t believe it can summon a person or entity. Is that really possible?”
“Well, technically, it’s not about summoning something that exists but rather that the formation randomly manifests. It’s hard to grasp, but as long as the formation is maintained, they exist in reality. Once the formation ends, they all disappear.”
“Hmm.”
“Extremely powerful entities or crazed warlords could potentially appear.”
I continued to explain to my party.
Manifesting such beings is the function of the formation. Opening the door is fine, but if the altar or entrance gets damaged, the manifestations will also be canceled. Since wild or dangerous entities will likely aim to destroy the altar or entrance, simply waiting gives us a way to reduce the chances of encountering such threats.
Of course, this summoning formation couldn’t be reused, but since it was a disposable item, it didn’t matter. Even if the facility were intact, there was no way to obtain another core stone.
“I understand that manifestations occur, but if everything disappears when the formation ends, what’s the point?”
“Whatever is placed on that altar won’t disappear even if the formation stops. If it’s an entity, it might leave behind a Dan, and if it’s a martial artist, we might obtain secret texts or weapons through negotiations.”
“Thus, it’s random… the world indeed has many strange things.”
With that, those who understood the structure of this lottery formation exited. After rolling the circular stone door shut, there was a hole perfectly shaped for the core stone in the center.
Once I inserted the core stone, the formation reacted immediately.
Fssshhhh…!
Letters began to glow a blue hue around the core stone, and at the same time, the ground started to tremble with a subtle quake.
“Quite noisy.”
Wrrrrrrr!!!
The formation was emanating a low vibration, reminiscent of a massive machine at work. Its complete activation generated tremors akin to a small earthquake. The effects generated in the process couldn’t be hidden, making it impossible not to activate it right before the operation.
The only thing that could drown out a disturbance was more disturbance.
“Alright! Now that our job is done, let’s hurry up.”
The party nodded and swiftly exited the cave, deploying their lightness of body technique. As we approached the rendezvous point, chimes began to ring. It seemed someone among Odokmun’s security personnel had spotted Jeokgwi Daebyeol.
“Then let’s scatter!”
“May fortune be on you!”
As per prior arrangements, we scattered to join forces with Jeokgwi Daebyeol, who was surrounding the drug fields. Peak Stage members Tang Do-yeon, Miss Yeo Il-ye, Hyeok Gi-rin, and Black Cat decided to operate solo, while the Peak Stage me and Tang So-yeol partnered up.
Upon reaching the rendezvous point, we saw Jeokgwi Daebyeol members on the move. Upon spotting us, they raised their weapons.
“Wait! They’re in disguises! Are they ally reinforcements?”
“I’ll check. Hwarang!”
“Dambae!”
“Confirmed. Please join us!”
“Understood.”
Tang So-yeol and I merged with Jeokgwi Daebyeol and began our march. They formed a protective line, leading with members wielding large spears, making us feel quite secure as we entered their ranks.
“Repel the intruders!”
“Throw!”
Five martial artists, seemingly from a guard post, appeared, but our squad consisted of twenty-five members.
In an instant, dozens of non-lethal hidden weapons struck, taking down the two men in the front.
“Subdue them!”
“Those bastards!”
The three martial artists tried their best to fight back, but they soon found their arms and legs in disarray before Jeokgwi Daebyeol’s spears. Even a lone spear was enough to confuse them, but when multiple spears converged, it became a wall.
The martial artists charging toward the spear line soon found many of them ensnared.
“I’ll use the neutralizer!”
Pew!
As the spear line clashed with the weapons of Odokmun’s martial artists, Tang So-yeol threw a pouch. A cloud of powder spread like flour dust across the area.
It was a neutralizer specifically designed to weaken the effects of various drugs used by Odokmun’s martial artists.
And as the neutralizer obscured visibility, Tang So-yeol’s hands began to move rapidly.
Various hidden weapons soared through the clouds.
Soon, potent paralysis poisons began to rain down, making the targets stumble.
“Using drugs only makes you more susceptible to poison!”
To amplify the effects of quick-acting drugs, one needed to speed up metabolism. A quick metabolic rate meant poison would also act swiftly.
The martial artists hit by Tang So-yeol’s hidden weapons quickly lost their ability to move freely.
Cha-ching!
I, too, faced off against a martial artist who circumvented the spear line, clashing swords. Even enhanced by various drugs, their attacks lacked the sharpness they typically held when in their right mind.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Seeing a martial artist wielding their spear with bloodshot eyes, drooling, sent shivers down my spine. While it wasn’t difficult to counter the brute force, I had to stay alert knowing just a slight brush against their shiny spear could be poisonous.
Rather than recklessly trying to subjugate a single martial artist, I decided to focus on coordination.
“Cough!”
As I pinned the spear with my sword, Tang So-yeol’s hidden weapon shot into the guy’s neck, causing him to roll his eyes back and collapse.
“Those bastards spread poison!”
“Everyone stop breathing and fall back!”
Someone inevitably released poison, and soon green clouds rose on the battlefield.
Holding my breath.
Easier said than done; battling with a weapon in hand made it hard to keep my breathing steady.
Several Jeokgwi Daebyeol members fell after inhaling the poison, causing our formation to break apart. Taking advantage of the gap, the martial artists invaded.
Thud! Thud!
True hidden weapons plunged into the bodies of Odokmun’s martial artists, but they were barely able to hinder those who had forgotten their pain due to various drugs.
The silver lining? Most of Odokmun’s martial artists had been hit by the hidden weapons thrown by Tang So-yeol, rendering them incapable of fighting back properly.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“Gyaaaaaah!”
While their ferocity was fierce, their limbs were stiff, moving in strange ways.
Only a few were still moving normally, and those of us with spears faced them.
Thud!
After smashing the jaw of one struggling caught in three spears, I noticed the martial artist, while made immune to pain and hardened due to the drugs, wasn’t invulnerable.
Receiving an unbearable blow to his face, he rolled his eyes back and fell silent.
“Phew.”
Seeing the last resisting Odokmun martial artist shattered by a Jeokgwi Daebyeol spear, I sighed and turned back.
As several people became infected, Tang So-yeol quickly moved to treat the wounded.
“Bring the poisoned ones this way!”
There were roughly ten injuries. Considering my joined squad had fifty members, it was notable that so many were wounded despite the operation going well.
It couldn’t be helped; with Odokmun’s martial artists pulling every dirty trick with drugs and poisoned weapons, it was only natural.
“What’s their condition?”
“They should all survive.”
Hearing Tang So-yeol’s rapid response brought a sigh of relief to me.
Poison.
The reason it’s so rare for sects to specialize in poison in this world was playing out right before my eyes.
“Press the acupressure points more thoroughly!”
“Those who can expel the poison with their internal energy should do so first!”
Even if the poison entered through injuries, quick-healing could temporarily stop its spread. Even if poisoned, one could push the poison out via internal energy or enhance their resistance.
Martial artists would naturally have increased resistance to poison as they rose in rank.
This was the main reason why very few sects specialized in poison in the world. Ultimately, to kill an expert with poison, they had to be bound, and to bind an expert, you needed martial prowess. Storing poison for the right moment was one thing, but studying poison at a sect level just wasn’t effective.
The second reason was that both Jeokgwi Daebyeol members and us, like today, had to engage in direct power struggles against opponents who were thoroughly prepared for poison. If the sect’s greatest weapon was neutralized at a crucial moment, it’s no wonder sects that specialized in poison don’t exist.
Piiiiiing!
While conducting emergency care for the wounded, the sound of a signaling horn was heard. Firing the horn signaled that the operational area had been secured.
Jeokgwi Daebyeol, with whom I had joined forces, surveyed the area and also signaled.
Piiiiiing!!
The signals of successful area seizures echoed repeatedly throughout the area.
