The Reincarnated Hunter Sweeps Up All Fortunes - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 31
31
Dong Pok Dae Hyeop Gorge was known for its beautiful waterfalls and dramatic cliffs.
It ranked among Zhejiang Province’s most stunning vistas, yet the treacherous path kept travelers scarce.
Though not entirely uninhabited. Few visitors meant undisturbed medicinal herbs—a fortune waiting to be claimed.
Herb gatherers, mountain diggers of every stripe.
There were always those willing to risk wild beasts, to push forward by any means.
‘…If people did come through here, they’d leave nothing but corpses.’
Im Gang exhaled quietly.
He’d suspected this was Tian Mu Mountain on the climb up, but he’d never expected it would actually be here.
Why bring him to this place? Why spare him when the others—the Nang Ins—had been slaughtered? The unanswered questions churned in his skull.
Following the narrow path between the gorge walls, he came upon a small settlement.
Not a real village—more a temporary encampment. A handful of ramshackle huts stood weathered and crude, with fire pits and water-carrying tools scattered about.
Alongside the Ma Ins who looked mad as rabid dogs, there were others who seemed perfectly sane.
How could he tell?
If they weren’t howling like animals or drooling from their mouths, they were fine. Simple as that.
Though it hardly mattered now.
He’d been forced into a damp, lightless cave.
Straw littered the floor—or attempted to. Soaked through with moisture, it had become a sodden mat. Even striking it with flint was useless.
A proper roaring fire might’ve stood a chance.
“Rations.”
A Ma In tossed him something that vaguely resembled a Byeok Gok Dan.
The resemblance became clear the moment he bit into it.
……
Dense and crumbly as compacted mud. It wasn’t entirely flavorless, and it wasn’t actually dirt. It was just a texture issue.
The taste, to be honest…
‘Damn it. They’re making us eat this?’
…was that level of terrible.
Even the Nang Ins, who’d scrape dropped food off the ground without hesitation, grumbled.
“Is this a Byeok Gok Dan or a mud cake?”
“We have to eat something… We’ve gone two days straight without food.”
“The Yuk Po we were carrying ran out long ago…”
“Just chew it. Force it down and swallow. Otherwise you’ll actually starve to death.”
Hunger won out. They choked it down regardless.
After days without proper food, their eyes had grown hollow and desperate.
Even mud-like sustenance felt like a blessing.
Once their bellies were half-full, the Nang Ins began groaning like sick chickens.
Not because tension had eased.
As hunger faded, exhaustion they’d been suppressing crashed over them all at once.
Im Gang’s eyelids grew impossibly heavy. He was fighting to stay awake when—
Ding!
[Entering the Dungeon ‘Mu Gan Mu Yeong Jin’.]
‘…!’
Im Gang’s eyes snapped open. Sleep vanished in an instant. A dungeon—meaning a Jin Beop. The third array after Hun Myeong Mi Do Jin and Eun Hyeong Gi Mang Jin.
‘Damn it… They activated another Jin Beop.’
Im Gang squeezed his eyes shut.
Impossible though it was, even his last desperate hope had crumbled—that the Sa Pa sects in Hangzhou would come to rescue them, or at least kill the Ma Ins.
He didn’t know precisely what Mu Gan Mu Yeong Jin did, but based on his experience so far, it seemed designed to obscure him from outside view.
‘Ah, hell. I give up thinking.’
Im Gang surrendered to it and collapsed onto his back.
He fell asleep almost instantly, consciousness simply vanishing.
* * *
Life in Dong Pok Dae Hyeop Gorge was simple.
At mealtimes, they distributed food and water.
That was all.
When Im Gang groaned his way upright, his body aching in protest, the Nang Ins who’d been mechanically chewing the mud-like substance tossed him another piece.
“Rations.”
“…Same thing as yesterday.”
“Well, it’s not as bad as you’d think. If you soak it well with saliva and chew it long enough, savoring it, there’s a faint hint of something almost sweet and nutty beneath it all.”
“Nutrition! That’s the taste of getting stronger!”
Im Gang let out a hollow laugh at how quickly the vagrants had adapted. Still, his stomach was growling, so he broke off pieces of the clay Byeok Gok Dan and chewed slowly, thinking as he ate.
‘Is this why Ma Ins desert the Demon Cult? Feeding them nothing but garbage like this?’
If it were true, they were pitiful creatures. But pity didn’t mean forgiveness. Pity and forgiveness were two entirely different matters. If he was going to eat this swill, the least they could do was keep it to themselves—why force it on him? Absolutely unforgivable.
In any case, last night he’d thought all hope was lost. But after sleeping and waking, his mind had cleared somewhat.
His thoughts had shifted.
‘It’s too early to give up.’
The old saying went that even if a tiger takes you in its jaws, you can survive if you keep your wits about you.
Of course, now he wasn’t just in the tiger’s jaws—he was trapped in its den—but he hadn’t been swallowed yet. That meant opportunity still existed.
‘First, why did Pok Yeol Ma-gun bring me here?’
Because he had Mu Jae, that’s what he’d said.
Mu Jae.
His master had told him once that he possessed it too.
-You’ve got some natural talent.
-Really?!
-Nothing remarkable. One in a hundred, maybe.
-Is that supposed to be praise?
-Yeah, it’s praise. Most people don’t even make one in ten.
One in a hundred.
By his master’s standards, that was what he was.
A third-rate vagrant… though now that Im Gang thought about it, his master—hiding his martial prowess and his very identity as a recluse hermit—might be something more than that.
‘Maybe the difference is just a matter of rank compared to Pok Yeol Ma-gun?’
If it wasn’t even that, then it had changed when he awakened his past life and his level increased.
Im Gang’s vision was too limited—a vagrant’s vision—to know for certain. Either way, it seemed Pok Yeol Ma-gun was kidnapping warriors with Mu Jae and plotting something with them.
But what?
While he was still pondering this, he felt a presence at the cave entrance.
Not the mad dog, but Ma Ins. They seemed to have come to check on Im Gang and the vagrants; they glanced around the cave quickly and then left.
But among them, two of their faces…
‘……?’
…were oddly familiar.
Had he seen them somewhere before? Or were they just people who looked similar?
Im Gang racked his memory quickly. Just like in his past life, he didn’t have particularly good memory in this life either. But it wasn’t bad, either.
He wasn’t the type to forget recent events. Thanks to that, it didn’t take long before he remembered who they were.
A chill ran down his spine.
“…Four, five.”
“The count checks out.”
Im Gang quickly lowered his head. His heart pounded. If they noticed that he’d recognized them, it would be a problem.
Fortunately, the Ma Ins just counted and left.
“…Damn it.”
“Huh? Where did that come from?”
“Is it the taste? If you don’t want it, give it to me.”
“Do you remember the ones who just came by?”
“No.”
“Didn’t you see them?”
“……….”
Im Gang felt his spine chill for a different reason this time, listening to the vagrants’ responses.
These bastards… had he let them live for nothing?
Regret came too late now, and besides, he couldn’t kill them at this point anyway.
“…I’ve seen two of the ones who just came by before. In Hangzhou.”
To be precise, he’d crossed paths with them a few times at the Geo Gan So.
If that’s all he could remember, there were probably many more encounters he’d forgotten.
Vagrants don’t remember people well unless they’re much stronger or distinctly unusual in some way.
“……!”
>”…Gasp.”
The vagrants nearly let out a cry, but managed to stifle it with their hands clamped over their mouths.
After a moment, they cautiously removed their hands while watching for any sign of attention from outside, and asked quietly.
“…Are you sure they’re people you’ve actually seen before?”
“I’m sure. Certain.”
“Damn… this is trouble. This isn’t something to take lightly.”
The third chill crept down his spine.
‘Should I kill them now? …No. Not yet. I still don’t know.’
Im Gang pushed away the dark, disturbing thought.
“Anyway. Those bastards are Ma In right now. Maybe they’re trying to make us the same.”
The vagrants’ faces went pale.
Ma In were the common enemy of the martial world.
Those affiliated with the Demon Cult could not be touched lightly due to the organization’s protection, but unaffiliated Ma In were different.
They were killed on sight. No questions asked. The mere fact of having learned Ma Gong absolved all other concerns.
Killing a Ma In was not murder—it was righteous action.
“Sh-shouldn’t we run?”
“But how? There are patrols checking periodically, and there are damn many of them outside. How are we supposed to shake them off?”
“And there’s Pok Yeol Ma-gun too.”
“Hell. I can’t become a Ma In like this……!”
Im Gang watched the panicked vagrants and silently agreed.
Becoming a Ma In meant living in hell. Everyone except the Demon Cult became your enemy. Survival itself ceased to be survival.
‘But…….’
Im Gang suddenly had a thought.
‘Would becoming a Ma In really be so bad for me?’
In the worst case, if he became a Ma In, he could watch for an opening, escape, and then throw himself into the Demon Cult’s embrace—wouldn’t he then live under their protection?
The Demon Cult were vile bastards, but surely they fed better than this mud-caked Byeok Gok Dan.
‘…Have I gone mad in just a few days?’
Im Gang slapped his own cheek.
He’d realized he was entertaining insane thoughts.
If he learned Ma Gong, he would have to obey the commands of Ma In who had learned higher-tier Ma Gong than himself.
That wouldn’t do.
It wasn’t just a reduction in freedom—it was the erasure of freedom.
He’d rejected the offer to become a Sok Ga Je Ja precisely because of freedom and bondage.
Becoming a Ma In wasn’t mere bondage; it was near-slavery.
‘Then how do I escape from here.’
Im Gang leaned his back against the damp cave wall and closed his eyes.
Jin Beop formations blanketed the ground.
Ma In were watching.
A monster named Pok Yeol Ma-gun held the exit.
Could he escape?
Not now. Not immediately.
But.
‘An opportunity will come. It always does.’
A treasure hunter had to find and seize treasure even from dead ends, from cliff faces, from crumbling caves. Why would this den of Ma In be any different?
This time, the treasure was merely the chance to escape and survive.
‘…This tastes like absolute shit.’
As Im Gang steeled his resolve, his tongue recoiled from the vile taste of the mud-caked Byeok Gok Dan.
* * *
Im Gang recovered his depleted Nae Gong through breathing meditation.
Restoring stamina with the mud Byeok Gok Dan had its limits. Never mind the taste—they weren’t giving him enough to stay truly satisfied for long.
They rationed the water too, so his throat burned with thirst often.
But he waited.
Waited, and waited again.
Waited for the treasure—for his chance at escape.
Then, the next day.
“Learn it.”
“…Yes?”
“I will recite the incantation of the Pok Yeom Bun Cheon Gong.”
“……Yes?”
The opportunity wasn’t escape. It was the chance to become a Ma In.
…Damn it. Is this really it?
The world was screwing him over.

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