SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 76

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 76. Song of Light and Shadow (2)
3.
When I first tried to learn the Asayugeom.
“What?”
Cheon Ma was disappointed.
“So the longest you’ve ever gone hungry in your entire life is merely three days or so?”
She didn’t acknowledge my effort. She gave up. She resigned herself to it. She merely watched me swing the sword for a brief moment before turning her back and leaving.
“There’s no understanding between us.”
“How could you ever awaken the Matheon Divine Art if you don’t even grasp this?”
Cheon Ma had only tested me in order to give up on herself.
Because there was nothing left to hope for in this world. Because there shouldn’t be.
“So be it.”
“It is my failure.”
That was when I learned Hunger.
But from the moment I began to master Thirst, her attitude changed entirely.
4
“Your sword is far too simple.”
Cheon Ma watched as I fought against the corpse.
I could feel her gaze shifting gradually. Even when I wielded the sword clumsily at times, Cheon Ma would furrow her brows but never turn away.
Instead, she offered counsel.
“There is no subtlety to be found in your sword. You lack versatility. It is upright and true, but for that very reason it is brittle.”
Cheon Ma had begun to place hope in me, a human being.
“Your sword seems designed not to oppose humans, but to contend with the world itself. It is closer to the sword of the Righteous Path than to the sword of our order. A curious thing, indeed.”
At first, I was killed in a single blow by a martial corpse.
But as time passed, I could handle martial corpses with ease. It was only natural. Each night I died at the hands of corpses that Agui brought.
The more I experienced the trauma of one who died of thirst, the stronger my sword became.
“I will teach you a concise Heart Secret.”
Once my sword had grown to a certain strength, Cheon Ma finally began to impart her teachings.
“A Heart Secret? What is that?”
“…It is a secret principle or technique. Talking to an ignorant child proves difficult.”
Cheon Ma cleared her throat with a soft cough.
“Think back to when you unleashed the Asayugeom. What were you thinking as you swung the sword?”
“I was thinking of hunger.”
“Of course you were. But it was not only that. Without knowing it yourself, you had already pierced through the very essence of demonic arts.”
The essence of demonic arts.
“I shall now reveal it to you.”
We sat facing each other in the snow field.
“Now, picture an Apple in your mind.”
“An apple? Do you mean the kind of apple you eat?”
“The kind you eat.”
I imagined a single apple as instructed.
“Have you pictured it?”
“Yes.”
“What does the apple feel like to the touch?”
“Pardon?”
Cheon Ma’s question was unfamiliar to me. The feel of an apple? But I didn’t actually have an apple in my hand—how could I know its sensation?
I was bewildered. Cheon Ma studied my face closely.
“You don’t know?”
“I suppose if I forced myself, I could imagine it, but…”
“That’s fine. If you don’t know, simply say so.”
“Ah, yes. I truly don’t know at all.”
“Hmm. Hmm.”
Cheon Ma smiled. The woman was delighted.
“Honest. Good! Now picture Hunger.”
“…”
I pictured it.
I envisioned a farmer endlessly swinging a hoe across parched earth. I saw the gesture of a hand striking children. I saw children digging into the soft mud by the Riverbank, and from that excavated earth, they shaped Mud Cookies.
“Have you pictured it?”
Cheon Ma whispered.
“Yes, I have pictured it.”
“What does hunger feel like to the touch?”
The crunch of teeth biting into Mud Cookie. The taste. The dry, crumbly texture.
“…It feels dry.”
“What does hunger smell like?”
“Like earth.”
“Ah. What kind of earth? There are many types of earth. There is soil for farming, and soil for pottery. Black earth, and red earth. I am curious. What earth is your hunger?”
“Mud.”
I spoke with my eyes closed.
“Not any mud scooped up carelessly. It must be mud with few pebbles and no sand.”
“I see. And what does hunger taste like?”
……
“Child.”
Cheon Ma’s voice softened.
“I asked what hunger tastes like. Why do you not answer at once?”
“…Because it saddens me.”
I spoke.
“Children dry Mud Cookies in the sun. While they dry in the sunlight, with nothing else to do, the children linger around the Mud Cookies. They simply wait for the mud to harden……”
“Children waiting for sunlight.”
“…Yes.”
“Hunger, then, is children waiting for sunlight.”
That was true. That had been true.
“Child, that is your poetry.”
Cheon Ma’s voice fell like soft snow.
“When I asked you about the feel of an Apple, you said you did not know. But when I asked about hunger, what happened? You touched the mud. You smelled the mud. You chewed and ate the mud! Because you saw the flowing river, you must have even caught the water’s sound as it lapped.”
The final voyage of some old man. A ferryboat. A night sky.
A solitary death, one who wished to trouble the world with nothing, yet ended as a burden nonetheless.
“An Apple has form, but hunger has none. An Apple has taste, but hunger is tasteless. Yet still you speak so well of hunger! To you, hunger is mud, and sunlight, and river water, and children.”
……
“Child! That is precisely your gift!”
Cheon Ma spoke.
“Now, open your eyes and look.”
I looked.
Cheon Ma moved both hands while seated.
“The reason you do not know the feel of an Apple is simple. It is because your Memory has not been awakened.”
My memory.
“If you had eaten an Apple before, you would know.”
Cheon Ma moved her hands, smiling.
I soon understood.
Cheon Ma was miming the cutting of an Apple in half.
“An Apple has soft skin. It is smooth, yet slightly bumpy. I ordinarily prefer to eat Apples with the skin on, but if there is a sick child, it is different. Cut in half……”
It truly seemed as though an Apple lay in her hands.
“Scrape it out with a spoon. Spoon by spoon, I feed the scraped Apple to the ailing child.”
……
“Did you ever eat an Apple scraped that way, when you were small?”
Yes.
I have a memory of a teacher at the Orphanage doing it for me. When I lay ill with a cold, they fed me Apple scraped with a spoon.
“What is the texture of a scraped Apple?”
“…Soft and yielding.”
“Exactly! Normally a crisp Apple becomes soft and yielding once scraped by a spoon. But is that all? Does it merely lose its flavor?”
“Golden juice fills the mouth completely.”
“Yes! And is that all? When you scrape even the skin away, what remains becomes wrinkled and ridiculous. The hand of the mother who pared the Apple becomes wet with the juice that dripped from it. But then—then, listen, child—which of these things do you call the Apple?”
……
I fell into thought.
As I pondered, Cheon Ma pressed me further.
“Is it a whole Apple? An Apple cut in half? A spoonful of scraped juice? The skin? The mother’s hand? What is your Apple?”
What is my Apple?
“I once saw a mother who scraped an entire Apple for her child, then ate only the skin herself.”
……
“To me, an Apple is the mother’s leftover skin. It is the feverish child. It is the mother’s heart, scraped away spoonful by spoonful.”
For some reason, warmth bloomed in my chest.
Sitting in the heart of the Snow Field.
Perhaps it was because Cheon Ma was smiling.
“…And I also think of children whose mothers never once dug up an Apple for them when they were young.”
But Cheon Ma’s smile didn’t last long.
“I think of mothers who couldn’t afford Apples. Mothers who could afford them but wouldn’t buy them. Children who lay flat with the flu but had no one to nurse them. Children who died because they received no care.”
Toxic miasma.
Cheon Ma’s black eyes darkened.
“There is nothing in this world untouched by the human heart, and therefore nothing unsoaked by human resentment!”
My body tingled.
“Does Hunger have no shape? No taste? No fragrance? Thirst! Hunger is mud, is river, is a child. Even a single Apple is thus. Listen, child! Just as you make Hunger into mud, so too shall you make Thirst!”
“…….”
“Feel the pain of Thirst! Sense it. Fill your taste. Smell its fragrance. Eat. Gesture. Demonic art is Memory! Memory is Sensation. This is the Heart Secret of our sect! The tactile sensation of scooping and eating mud, that touch held in your hand—that is your Hunger, that is your Matheon Divine Art!”
The nape of my neck grew cold.
A chill ran through my body like electric current.
“Common folk who suffer injustice can do nothing about it. They cannot speak. They cannot vomit forth their resentment. That resentment which cannot be expelled continues to accumulate in the heart, and in the end hardens into grudge. But our Demonic Path’s martial artists are different!”
Cheon Ma looked at me.
“We wield the blade!”
Without thinking, I gripped the hilt of my sword tightly.
“Just as courtesans sing and scholars recite poetry, we wield the blade. What difference is there between a mere bandit thug and one of our Demonic Path? They are wielded by the blade. But we wield the blade! That alone—and that is everything.”
The training began.
“How can you call it life to merely live as things happen to you? That is death! How can you call it a blade to be wielded as you are swung? That is a beast. Do you wish to die? Do you wish to become a beast?”
“No!”
I clenched my teeth hard.
“I am a living human!”
“Then thirst, quickly! Thirst as you have hungered!”
I gathered 112 who had died of Hunger.
Among them was a child who had gnawed on Mud Cookies.
I held earth granules that crumbled dry in my mouth.
Therefore.
Matheon Divine Art.
First Form.
Asayugeom.
“You have found the mud of Hunger. Now you must find something of Thirst. For you, Hunger was children waiting for sunlight. For you, what is Thirst?”
I gathered 48 who had died of Thirst.
Among them was an old woman who drank seawater and kept drinking.
I pickled my five organs and six viscera in salt water.
Therefore.
Matheon Divine Art.
Second Form.
Gallsa Bi Sword.
“For you, Hunger was mud and Thirst was the sea. Yet is pain from the sea only Thirst? There is also the agony of drowning in seawater. The agony of drowning in river water exists. Child, what does water mean to you?”
I gathered 37 who had died of Drowning.
Among them was a father who breathed his last breath into his own child.
As I sank into water, I shared breath with Agui.
Therefore.
Matheon Divine Art.
Third Form.
Iksa Man Sword.
“Hunger is earth. Thirst is waves. For you, breathlessness is the last breath of your father! Already the land and sea and air are yours. Young stranger! What does winter mean to you?”
I gathered 96 who had died of Freezing Death.
Among them was an infant who clung to its mother’s corpse until the very end.
I embraced the corpse tightly until I too began to freeze.
Therefore.
Matheon Divine Art.
Fourth Form.
Dongsa Jeop Sword.
“…….”
Dawn faded. Morning passed. Midday elapsed.
The world had lived through half a day.
And I had witnessed 293 deaths.
“Your swordsmanship is truly…….”
Cheon Ma opened her lips slowly.
“Remarkably varied.”
The way Cheon Ma looked at me had changed as well.
“Each person carries their own tendencies. Martial arts bear the imprint of the one who practices them—habits that cannot be erased. The Matheon Divine Art is especially prone to this, but you… you are wonderfully multifaceted. Truly rich in expression.”
“Ah, I hear that often—that I have a rather diverse style.”
…….
“Was that nonsense, then?”
“No. That was utter drivel.”
“That’s harsh language.”
“To be frank, it was complete balderdash.”
Well then. Complete balderdash, is it…….
If that’s what it was, there’s nothing for it—
“It is difficult for one person to know all suffering. Even if they do, to endure every kind of suffering to its extreme limit is… exceedingly hard. And yet, watching the way you unfold the Matheon Divine Art, it is as though… Hmm?”
Cheon Ma’s brows furrowed. She turned her head.
“…Someone approaches.”
In the direction she looked, figures were drawing near. Broad daylight ruled out any zombie, and in a world already annihilated, there could be no uninvited guests. It was the Murim Alliance Master and Viper. Viper was carrying the Alliance Master on her back, trudging through the snow.
“Hmph.”
Cheon Ma’s nostrils flared.
“What brings the old relic here? And what is this pathetic spectacle? Ha—have you finally admitted to yourself that you’re a decrepit fossil?”
“Quiet.”
The Murim Alliance Master spoke from where he sat on Viper’s back.
“I came because I was worried about you. Oof!”
“Worried? Worried for me? A passing corpse would laugh itself to death. You, weaker than me, daring to worry about this master—you’re out of your place…….”
“Cheon Ma, you haven’t undergone the Nine Prostrations Ceremony yet, have you?”
…….
“Ay-ay-ay. It’s written all over your face! I knew it!”
Cheon Ma pressed her lips shut.
I tilted my head in confusion.
‘What’s the Nine Prostrations Ceremony?’
It is a ritual performed when a master and disciple forge their bond in the martial world, the Backhoe Spirit explained.
Backhoe Spirit spoke.
Each faction has its own slight variation. Some sects have the disciple perform nine genuine prostrations, others just three, and……. I’m not sure what the Demonic Path does—it’s a secret and sacred ritual.
‘How was it in your sect?’
Well, if you could survive nine blows to the head from your master, that counted as the ceremony. I endured it sixty-three times—longest record in sect history, they said. Pretty badass, right?
I understood why the Backhoe Spirit was insane.
Insanity runs in the sect from the very beginning.
“…Enough of this noise. When and whom I take as a disciple is for this master to decide.”
Cheon Ma spoke curtly.
“It is no concern of yours.”
“Nonsense. It is precisely my concern to interfere!”
The Murim Alliance Master leaped down from Viper’s back. The old man fixed Cheon Ma with a piercing gaze.
“Because the reason you won’t take a disciple is obviously because you feel sorry toward me!”
“Huh? What do you mean…….”
“Only two martial masters remain in the world. By coincidence, you are the sole demon master, and I am the sole righteous master. If you alone take a disciple, then only the Demonic Path’s successor will remain in the martial world. What’s the conclusion? It’s as good as winning the Righteous-Demonic Great War without fighting at all!”
…….
“You and I swore an oath to settle this between ourselves. We made a solemn vow. You hesitate to break that oath, you feel sorry toward me, so you cannot bring yourself to take that young one as your disciple!”
Hmm.
‘…Ah, yes. That could indeed be the reason.’
The same circumstances for both, yet to have only one take a disciple and pass on the teachings.
Given Cheon Ma’s position, it was certainly enough to make her feel apologetic toward the Murim Alliance Master.
Only.
“Tsk-tsk-tsk. Such thick-headed honor!”
…….
“I knew you’d be like this, so I moved first.”
The Murim Alliance Master patted Viper’s shoulder.
Viper smiled bitterly and scratched her cheek.
“Well, it’s done.”
Cheon Ma’s eyes widened in shock.
“Old… old man… surely you haven’t taken that young one as…….”
“Yes! From today on, you are my formal disciple!”
“How dare you treat me this way!?”
Cheon Ma rushed forward. Crash! Bang! Two masters tumbled across the snowy field, wrestling like dogs.
“I didn’t receive the Nine Prostrations Ceremony all day long for your sake! And you— this old fool treats my heartfelt sincerity as nothing……!”
“Stop your noise! If opportunity has come to you, receive it with gratitude toward Heaven! Don’t reject it out of concern for my feelings—that’s not how people should act!”
“What about the Righteous-Demonic Great War!”
“Must only the two of us wage the Righteous-Demonic Great War? If our disciples fight, that too is the Righteous-Demonic Great War!”
“I cannot acknowledge you as my opponent!”
“True to form—such extremism from the Witch!”
“What of it!”
The woman seized the old man by the collar.
The old man, refusing to yield, grabbed her hair and glared back at her.
“Witch, you witch! You’re always the same. This or that, that or this. Inseok! Since when does the world divide the way you demand it should?”
“The world you see may be an ocean, but the landscape I see is ice. Of course it splits the way I cut it!”
“Then melt it!”
“That’s precisely why there is the fire of the Demonic Path! That’s why there are demonic practitioners to serve as fuel!”
“Then become one more piece of wood yourself!”
“You, Buwol-seon……! Only a refined gentleman of the White Path would quibble over words and cling to them like this……!”
The exchange of words flew back and forth between the old man and the woman. Each time they grappled, two different worlds collided with a ringing sound.
That was how worlds took their place—even within a crude and endless brawl.
Leaving the two worlds to their fight, I turned my gaze to Viper.
“It’s rather unexpected.”
“What is?”
I couldn’t very well speak my real thought outright—that someone as “genuine” as you was taking a master.
I chose a gentler phrasing.
“Aren’t you the Master of the Cheonmu School? Can a master even take a new teacher?”
“Damn it. If there’s a place to dance with swords, you dance with swords. If there’s a master to learn from, you seek to learn. I don’t have the luxury to haggle over every little thing like that.”
Viper smiled faintly. The strong, angular face held a masculine warmth.
I see.
“Viper.”
“What.”
“Let me be clear. If you’ve taken the Murim Alliance Master as your teacher out of mere reluctance, or out of pity—if you did this without true resolve—you will regret it.”
The two worlds continue to collide loudly even now.
This is different from how Viper, driven by pride and pushed by his disciples, leaped into the Records of the Witch.
To treat this half-heartedly would be an insult to those two worlds.
I cannot forgive that.
“…I don’t follow what you’re saying at all.”
Viper scratched his cheek, then blinked his one eye once.
“Damn it, why does this Four Kings bastard keep muttering on? If you want to check something, verify it with steel.”
With that, Viper drew his sword.
“It won’t be easy.”
There was certainly an easier way to confirm it. I could open Viper’s mental panel and everything would become clear.
But instead, I spoke quietly.
“Viper.”
“Yeah.”
“Have you ever known hunger?”
Viper blinked his one eye.
“What?”
At that moment, I moved forward.
SSS-Rank: The Hunter Who Lives Only by Dying (Serial Publication)
Author | Shin Noa
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyung
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelung Posttower 1st)
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Shin Noa 2019
※ This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and its contents may not be used in any form or manner without permission from the company and author.
Violation may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————