Chapter 24 – Advancement

“*Pant, pant*. Brother. *Huff*, I have to go, *gasp*, because Ye-na is waiting.”

“You can’t go until you do this.”

“Ah! Shoot!”

“Did you just speak like that to me?”

“No…”

“Just do this one. Your promotion exam is soon.”

Hyun Jae-young concentrated his mind, placing a log in front of him. The bark was a mess, mangled by his spear.

“Lower your posture.”

It was a practice of drawing two footprints on the ground with chalk, taking a stance on them, and then slicing the log.

Se-min placed the log at a distance further than Hyun Jae-young’s attack range. Hyun Jae-young had to draw out his Sword Gang to slice it.

Now, the log was located quite far away.

“You have already come this far.”

Se-min grinned and rested his chin on the log.

“Try it.”

“You will get hurt, brother.”

“Oh? You have confidence? Try to hurt me.”

“You will really get hurt?”

“*Neener neener*. Try it, try it.”

“Ah, damn it!”

He was exhausted to death, but Se-min kept nagging him. Hyun Jae-young drew up his aura, containing his anger.

*Clang!*

A bursting sound of metal colliding with metal echoed, and the log flew in the air.

Hyun Jae-young was surprised by the realm of the Sword Gang he had created, surprised by the log being sliced, and finally surprised by the metallic sound.

“Brother?”

“You did quite well, ya punk.”

Se-min was unharmed. He merely shrugged.

“Are you okay? You aren’t hurt?”

“Do you think you can hurt me?”

“The sound earlier…”

“Forget it. You passed. Play with your girlfriend.”

“Are you really okay?”

At Hyun Jae-young asking repeatedly, Se-min raised his eyebrows.

“Won’t you get lost quickly?”

“Understood. I’m leaving. Are you going home, brother?”

“Probably, but I might do one more raid at night.”

“Do it while resting a bit. I’m leaving.”

“Yeah. Have a Happy Date. For reference, Happy Date is the abbreviation for a happy date.”

Hyun Jae-young nodded and walked toward the shower room. At the same time, he reflected on what had just occurred.

Clearly, a sound of metal colliding was made.

However, Se-min was not holding his claymore. When he looked again later, he was barehanded.

“What was it?”

Wondering if he had misseen, he tilted his head, but when he checked the message on his phone, he hurried to the shower room.

Watching his back, Se-min smiled.

“You could do it, ya punk.”

Hyun Jae-young grew rapidly. Although he was not the type with outstanding talent, he was diligent. When Se-min raised the standard, he complained but followed until the end.

“I was surprised he succeeded suddenly.”

Se-min looked at his arm. His Sukajan jacket was torn, revealing his bare skin.

His arm was fine.

At the moment of crisis, his aura became steel, protecting his skin. The metallic sound Hyun Jae-young heard was the sound of the Sword Gang colliding with Se-min’s body.

Body-Protection Sword Gang.

It was a realm he obtained while being beaten by monsters beyond the gate.

Se-min set the sliced log up again.

“I am alone today too.”

Once Hyun Jae-young left, only Se-min was in the training ground.

The Raiders of this company did not train much. Because participating in raids every day was already overwhelming. In addition, they believed that actual combat was the best training.

Se-min’s thoughts were different.

Through actual combat, one could learn raid techniques and tips, but it could not complete martial arts.

To rise to a higher realm, one had to contemplate the inner self and refine oneself.

Even though aura was granted to humanity, people still treated these things as talking about clouds. They treated what was not clarified as superstition.

Because they had not seen it.

However, Se-min met them.

Grand Wizard Iana. (Very pretty)

The Best Devil of All Time, Dokgo Cheonma. (Very strong)

‘A fight is eventually a process of subordinating the enemy’s universe to one’s own universe. Therefore, martial arts is the path of self-completion, and if one is complete, the enemy yields on their own.’

However, his universe was still small and weak.

Se-min performed the Three Talents Sword Art.

The Three Talents Sword Art consisted of only three moves.

Vertical cut, Heaven.

Horizontal cut, Earth.

Stab, Human.

This was also in contact with the realization of the Tai Chi Wisdom.

“Tai Chi refers to yin and yang, heaven, earth, and human, and further refers to origin, prosperity, utility, and perseverance.”

Se-min muttered, closing his eyes.

He practiced Tai Chi Wisdom to harbor a harmonious energy that embraced all things in the world. And through Xing Yi Quan, he learned how to implement that aura in the physical world.

Now, he had to achieve Tai Chi with the sword through the Three Talents Sword Art.

All of Dokgo Cheonma’s teachings were connected.

For the current him, he was a man he couldn’t guess the depths of or look up to.

“Brother. I miss you…”

Se-min threw down his claymore, pulled out his phone from his back pocket, and accessed the Transcendent Network. Today as well, the transcendents were leisurely protecting the peace of their dimensions.

Containing his welling emotions, Se-min left a post praising big brother Dokgo Cheonma.

He wrote that big brother Dokgo Cheonma’s martial arts was like bone soup, the essence of which was brewed the more it was refined, and that he was merely a child who picked up a few shells in front of that infinite sea. In addition, he subtly mentioned the wall he hit.

Not long after, Dokgo Cheonma’s comment was posted. The speed was immense.

Unexpectedly, big brother Dokgo Cheonma might be monitoring the board all day to monitor where his name was mentioned.

The Best Devil of All Time, Dokgo Cheonma: The body is merely a helper.

It was a short word.

Too short, yet so much meaning was implied that even the Transcendent Network system couldn’t bring itself to kick it to the tip board—a mere six characters.

The body is merely a helper!

Se-min opened his mouth in surprise without realizing.

“Ah…!”

Se-min slumped down.

Goosebumps broke out over his body.

He was the Hemingway of the martial arts world. How could he make a person reach realization with only six characters?

The body was merely a helper.

Clad in a shiver, Se-min hurriedly left a comment.

Raider Lee Se-min: Big brother Dokgo Cheonma…!

The Best Devil of All Time, Dokgo Cheonma: What.

Raider Lee Se-min: I love you!!!!!

The Best Devil of All Time, Dokgo Cheonma: Get lost.

***

Because a Daoist immortal moves as if riding a cloud, it was called Cloud-Ladder Step.

It was the lightfoot technique recommended by big brother Dokgo Cheonma and brother Dam Woo-gwang. He bought it with the points he obtained after clearing the quest to defeat over 500 magic beasts.

The magic faction brothers and sisters who recommended levitation and such to him scolded him, saying he had completely crossed over to the other side now, but it couldn’t be helped. How could he learn magic at this point?

Instead, he began to be loved by the martial arts transcendents.

The list of martial arts recommended by martial artists filled a sheet of A4 paper. Mostly they recommended their own. Among them were types that were urgent for Se-min.

Ten Thousand Years of Solitude Jwa Ryong-gang: I recommend my secret technique, Yin-Yang Unity Color Joyful Art. This is really good, but I have no words to explain. Really good…

Se-min carved it in his mind.

At any rate, utilizing the newly learned Cloud-Ladder Step, he floated on a tree branch and watched below.

Below, numerous Raiders gathered to show off their skills.

It was the Green Mark promotion exam venue.

Se-min added Noh Hak-jae’s Shadow Walk to Dokgo Cheonma’s Cloud-Ladder Step to hide his body. No one noticed Se-min’s presence. The same went for Hyun Jae-young, who could be called his disciple.

Without even knowing Se-min was here, Hyun Jae-young passed through various exams and was now taking the actual combat test.

Not bad.

Hyun Jae-young who floundered at Blue Mark and the current him were different. He remodeled his aura with Hak-jae’s Divine Art, and stabilized his stance and movement through actual combat experience with Se-min. His Sword Gang also became proficient.

He would probably pass.

Se-min stopped paying attention to Hyun Jae-young and observed the others.

They were all similar. Se-min had grasped what Green Mark was through the Renegade brothers he decided to call brothers, and could thus predict the general pass or fail.

Most were at a level where they could barely hang onto Green Mark.

An outstanding one was occasionally visible.

“He shouldn’t do that.”

Se-min observed a man. He had distinctly superior skill compared to the surroundings.

However, he was unfairly playing with his sparring partner.

Beyond merely demonstrating his skill difference, he suppressed the opponent so he couldn’t display his skills. It was a deliberate movement. If he did that, the opponent couldn’t show his strength and couldn’t get the score suited to his skill.

Se-min rubbed his chin.

There was no regulation saying he shouldn’t do that, but his mindset was wicked.

However, Se-min had no way to stop him. He merely hoped the exam proctor would notice his behavior and give him a warning, but he wondered if there was such a skilled person.

Then, that thing happened.

“Combat halt.”

A proctor appeared and stopped them.

“Is it over?”

The guy Se-min decided to call the Bad-mannered Guy asked, shrugging. His opponent was panting with his head hung in exhaustion.

The proctor quietly looked at him.

Under that direct gaze, the Bad-mannered Guy flinched.

He asked back.

“Is it over?”

The proctor who stared at him for a while adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and said.

“Kang Young-han.”

“Yes.”

“Raiders are all comrades. Since we share the mission to protect citizens from magic beasts, we must have a sense of partnership.”

“Yes…?”

“Do you not have such a mind?”

It was a voice he had heard somewhere.

Se-min opened his eyes wide.

Thick glasses, a receding hairline, a bulging belly, a middle-aged man who looked like a common office worker.

However, a gold badge was certainly shining on his collar.

“I will deduct attitude points by personal discretion. Do it again. I will watch.”

“Y-Yes!”

“You cannot become an outstanding Raider just because you are strong alone.”

Se-min remembered the proctor. He was the Raider Bureau section chief who proctored Se-min’s written exam and told stories about gate subjugations and the unidentified magic beast Black Castle.

The uncle who had a thorough professional spirit was still evaluating the qualifications of Raiders at that spot.

Some things do not change.

Se-min smiled warmly. Now the Bad-mannered Guy stopped the deliberate blocking of attacks, and the opponent struggled to show his skills.

“It will end soon.”

Se-min kicked the air and left the exam venue. It was a free movement like a cloud.

At some point, he arrived at the entrance of the Green Mark promotion exam venue.

Numerous foreign sports cars were parked. Colleagues, families, and companions of the candidates waited at the entrance.

“Ahem, hem.”

Se-min cleared his throat and adjusted his hairstyle through the selfie mode on his phone.

He was also a famous person now. In the raid industry, anyone who knew about the ‘Factory’ knew. In addition, since he decided to do the Kowood meat business with John McKellan recently, his face would gradually become known.

Now he needed to maintain dignity.

Still, no one recognized him.

It was the moment a crestfallen Se-min was looking for his scooter.

“Oh? Brother?”

It was Kim Ye-na.

“What brings you here, Ye-na?”

When Se-min asked in surprise, her expression turned pouting.

“I know you don’t like me much, brother, but I am not someone who won’t even visit my boyfriend’s promotion exam.”

“Jae-young said you couldn’t come because of work though?”

“I lied to surprise him.”

She was hiding something behind her. When Se-min tried to see it, she pulled her body back.

“What are you trying to look at again?”

“Is that a gift?”

“Yes, so what?”

“Jae-young said Ye-na doesn’t do gifts though?”

“Yes. It is my first gift. Happy now?”

“Ah, well. Understood. Jae-young has given you quite a few gifts though…”

“Shut up. It can happen.”

He had intended to wait for Hyun Jae-young, but it didn’t seem necessary. When Se-min smiled, Kim Ye-na grimaced.

“Don’t smile like that.”

“What is wrong with smiling?”

“It looks like you are mocking.”

“You saw correctly.”

“Ah, annoying.”

Se-min laughed out loud.

“Then I’m leaving.”

“You came yet you just leave?”

“I am busy.”

Se-min started his outdated scooter. Looking at it, Kim Ye-na made a strange expression.

“All Raiders drive expensive cars, but I guess a scooter is enough for you, Se-min?”

“Of course.”

Se-min shrugged.

“Because I do not need the approval of others. It is a quote, so carve it in your mind.”

Se-min pulled the accelerator. His scooter went *chug-chug-chug* forward.

Watching his back, Kim Ye-na crossed her arms.

“He spoke casually without me noticing.”