The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 10

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

Surviving in the Martial Realm as a Mage: Episode 10
To properly delve into the magic and mysteries of this world,
I had to learn the written language as quickly as possible.
For that, I absolutely needed a good Writing Teacher.
“Ah, so you’re looking for a Writing Teacher. The commission fee is twenty-five silver taels, which should cover at least two months of wages. That includes the brokerage fee.”
There were countless people wanting to become Writing Teachers.
Honestly, there was such an oversupply of talent that I could have simply grabbed any of the melancholic scholars sitting dejectedly outside the Ronin Guild and made the request.
Finding a Writing Teacher would have been easy.
And for good reason.
In this world, the general categories were poetry, calligraphy, painting, and music.
Those in the literary and artistic professions, commonly called the Four Arts, struggled with poverty unless they were overwhelmingly talented masters.
Artists of mediocre talent were all desperately hunting for work.
‘In truth, I could have found someone without going through the Ronin Guild at all.’
For some reason, this boy had insisted on submitting it as a formal commission.
Perhaps Mak Chung’s puzzlement showed on his face.
Ilhyang smiled brightly and spoke.
“I understand that submitting commissions also counts toward one’s record. Isn’t that correct?”
“Ah! Yes, yes! That’s right. You were thinking ahead.”
The Ronin Guild ranks generally went from Wooden Badge, Iron Badge, Bronze Badge, Silver Badge, to Gold Badge.
To properly advance in rank, one needed to both accept and submit commissions, with records of transactions above a certain amount.
More precisely, one needed a record of fee payments.
‘Otherwise, one’s martial prowess would have to be exceptionally formidable.’
For reference, Pyeong So-byeok, who was a first-rate master, held a Bronze Badge in the Ronin Guild based solely on his personal martial skill and his record of submitting commissions.
‘Yet it’s curious.’
Most Ronins only accepted commissions to save on fees.
They rarely thought to submit their own commissions to advance their rank.
They were stingy with their money.
Especially for simple commissions like this, they wouldn’t willingly pay the brokerage fee.
“In any case, I understand. This is a commission that can be resolved immediately.”
Mak Chung at the Reception Office sent one of the snot-nosed young kids sitting behind him
to bring in a gaunt, pale scholar from outside.
“This is Master Gongchu, a scholar from the nearby Munye Academy. He’s perfectly suited for the commission you’re seeking, Ilhyang.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Master Gongchu. I’m Ilhyang.”
“Ahem, the pleasure is mine. I am Gongchu.”
Scholar Gongchu.
At a glance, his clothes were shabby, his frame was small and thin.
He was barely a head taller than Ilhyang, who was only around ten years old.
His circumstances were clearly not comfortable.
But what did that matter?
As long as he had the skill to teach writing, that was all that mattered.
“Could you start teaching from today?”
“Of course.”
“Then let’s fill out the request form and head out.”
The two of them properly recorded everything at the Reception Office before heading straight to Manseok Inn.
“Let’s have a meal first. It’s difficult to accomplish anything on an empty stomach.”
“Ahem, thank you, Small Guild.”
Master Gongchu, habitually adjusting his worn hat while receiving an excellent meal at Manseok Inn,
pulled out heavily worn books from the bundle he was carrying.
“I have the Thousand Character Classic and the Four Books and Three Classics. They’re old and tattered, but they’re perfectly serviceable texts for learning.”
“Understood.”
“Then let’s begin with the Thousand Character Classic.”
Master Gongchu hoped the calm-looking boy before him would at least have some interest in scholarship.
That way, he wouldn’t be stuck with just this two-month short-term commission,
but could secure a long-term contract and worry less about putting food on the table.
‘I’ll teach the Thousand Character Classic as engagingly as possible, then coax him into learning the Four Books and Three Classics next.’
In this field,
the private writing teacher market was truly hellish, no exaggeration.
Master Gongchu had to pay half of whatever commission he received as a fee, leaving him with mere scraps.
And even that was impossible without connections at the Reception Office.
So I didn’t want to miss this opportunity that had come after so long.
Master Gongchu sat in a guest room on the Second Floor of Manseok Inn,
and with the gentlest voice possible, showed and wrote the characters of the Thousand Character Classic one by one on a wooden tablet with charcoal,
trying to instill interest and passion for learning.
Though it didn’t quite suit a scholar’s dignity,
he had even practiced storytelling separately for children—such was his genuine commitment to this private writing teacher market.
After Master Gongchu steeled his resolve and began teaching, exactly half a shichen passed—one hour.
“This… what in the world is…”
Master Gongchu’s mouth fell open as he stared at the boy before him.
He swallowed hard and asked carefully.
“Did you already know how to read and write, Small Guild?”
“No, I’m learning for the first time today. I knew about thirty-two characters before. But this is fascinating. The shapes of the characters are becoming familiar so quickly.”
“…Really? How can you grasp characters so easily on your first try?”
By Master Gongchu’s understanding, this made no sense.
When someone first encounters the Thousand Character Classic,
no matter how talented they are, they struggle not just to memorize,
but even to copy down its diverse and complex forms.
Yet this boy was different.
After hearing the meaning and pronunciation just once or twice, he immediately understood and rapidly progressed through the next sections.
In just half a shichen, he had already mastered half of the Thousand Character Classic.
‘And that’s only because the speed of erasing and rewriting on the wooden tablet is slow.’
He memorized and mastered everything I taught him perfectly as I went along.
There was no need to explain anything twice.
Then a sudden thought occurred to me.
‘Could it be that he deliberately paid the commission fee to help me?’
But there was no connection between this boy and me to think such a thing.
Master Gongchu organized his complicated thoughts as quickly as possible.
For now, I taught the remaining Thousand Character Classic in the same manner as before.
“…To master the entire Thousand Character Classic in just one day. By my understanding, such a thing is impossible.”
“The world is vast, so many things are possible. Thank you for your hard work today.”
After the lesson ended, Ilhyang
went down to the first floor of the inn and ordered some simple food separately.
He wrapped it in a wooden bowl and handed it to Master Gongchu.
“…Mm. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, Small Guild.”
“Not at all. Today’s teaching was truly excellent.”
“I intend to hold lessons about three times every ten days. How does that sound?”
“That sounds good. Then I’ll see you in four days.”
Ilhyang escorted Writing Teacher Master Gongchu to the door.
Then he returned directly to his lodgings on the Second Floor.
“I think learning the basics of writing is sufficient for now.”
Still, the more characters one knew, the better.
Especially the artifact I obtained by chance—the Inventory.
In this world, it seemed they called it separately [Storage Space].
As expected, when I asked Pyeong So-byeok about it, this item was not common at all.
‘The characters written on this artifact are similar to runes yet have a different texture.’
So the more I learned about this world’s writing system,
the greater the possibility of interpreting the runes written on the artifact would become.
Ilhyang had perfectly mastered the format of runes used in the Lower Dimension.
So if I just became familiar with the construction and basic rules of this world’s writing,
I thought it would be worth attempting to create artifacts directly.
‘But first, I should try making potions and elixirs.’
Over the past ten days,
based on the serious conversations I had with Pyeong So-byeok,
this world was, as expected, a realm of warriors who revered martial arts.
Learning internal energy and training the body,
a world focused on transcending the physical.
‘Yet at the same time, there was a certain mystique to it.’
The Mansizong and Heavenly Blood Sect that I encountered upon first arriving in this world
were, according to Pyeong So-byeok’s advice, mysterious sects hidden in the shadows of this world.
They were even officially designated by the Murim
as secret organizations that people tried to avoid mentioning whenever possible.
Even Pyeong So-byeok, who wielded considerable influence in this neighborhood, had gone pale at the mere mention of Mansizong and the Heavenly Blood Sect.
Ah!
Of course, it was entirely possible that Pyeong So-byeok had lied.
But Ilhyang suspected the likelihood was quite slim.
‘There’s no way he’d lie during this one-sided meal date with Guul.’
Perhaps it was because of Guul’s rather voracious appetite?
Watching his own fingers and toes vanish before his eyes in real-time through magic, Pyeong So-byeok
answered every question Ilhyang posed with remarkable courtesy and enthusiasm.
“I-I’m telling the truth, Master! Even I don’t know the exact details about Mansizong and the Blood Cult. It’s taboo to even mention the Immortal Cultivators in the first place. However, the ‘elders from the neighboring district’ that my father once mentioned might be their people. Our family occasionally kidnapped children and paid tribute to those neighboring elders, so I only knew of them by reputation!”
Beyond that,
Pyeong So-byeok freely confessed to his own numerous misdeeds
and the various corruptions committed by the Pyeong Family he belonged to, without the slightest hesitation.
‘If I organize this correctly, are there two distinct worlds coexisting here?’
It was fascinating.
Kangho, the world of ordinary mortals where the masters of Murim dwelled,
and the Immortal Realm, where the Immortal Cultivators who wielded what appeared to be magic—fantastical arts—resided.
Thus Kangho and the Immortal Realm
seemed to be two orders coexisting in yin and yang harmony.
‘Certainly, those from Mansizong and the Heavenly Blood Sect were hardly ordinary.’
The energy I had sensed from the Immortal Cultivators of Mansizong and the Blood Cult back then was distinctly different from ordinary inner force.
‘It was far more pure and pristine than inner force. Though by my standards, it was still turbid.’
Mana that seemed to be filtered from the ambient energy through a sieve and accumulated in the dantian.
Comparing the martial artists I had encountered while traveling through Giyang County with the masters of Mansizong,
the Mansizong cultivators were certainly overwhelmingly superior in purity, but from my perspective, they were essentially the same.
“Hmm. But what I still can’t understand is why everyone accumulates inner force in the dantian?”
Our courteous and honest friend Pyeong So-byeok couldn’t provide a proper answer to this question either. He didn’t even seem to understand the question itself.
“O-of course you must accumulate inner force in the dantian, mustn’t you? Ugh, u-ugh… M-Master! Please, just spare my thumb!”
‘How is that obvious? That’s strange.’
A hypothetical space that doesn’t actually exist anywhere in the body.
That was precisely what the dantian was.
Accumulating inner force in a space that doesn’t exist to create the dantian was extraordinarily inefficient,
and its foundation was fragile.
Even after the energy was fully developed, it was difficult to gain any further benefits.
“The reason mages accumulated mana in the heart was because the heart is where life force is most concentrated in the human body.”
Among all the organs in the human body, the heart is undoubtedly where life force is densest,
and among all the vital organs, the heart is also the most critical.
Therefore, mages naturally gathered the mana flowing through the air, created circles with it, and prioritized protecting the heart above all else.
“Knights operated on the same principle.”
Knights didn’t create circles,
but they too accumulated mana in the heart and employed the Mana Heart cultivation method.
In any case, after that, Ilhyang continued to have frank and open conversations with our kind friend Pyeong So-byeok several times over.
And eventually.
Ilhyang ignored Pyeong So-byeok’s arguments and advice, continuing to gather energy into my heart exactly as before.
Of course, the method differed from the general internal energy cultivation techniques of this world.
In a way, it resembled what practitioners of the Circle do.
I was filtering the external energy multiple times in a pure manner, gathering only energy that had become infinitely close to nature into my heart.
‘Tsk. The gathering speed is terribly slow because I’m forcibly filtering the energy, but there’s no helping it. Circle magic naturally works this way.’
Currently, Ilhyang had gathered only a quail egg-sized amount of energy in my heart.
But at this level.
It was a size just barely sufficient to challenge the 1st Circle without the aid of spirits or external help.
‘I should attempt it today.’
There was still no response from the Spirit Realm.
So I decided to abandon that direction entirely for the time being.
Now was the time to focus on creating the Circle.
Circle magic was the foundation of Ilhyang’s magic.
‘The greatest advantage when the Circle is completed lies in its sustaining power.’
Once I managed to create the Circle somehow.
Even if I didn’t pay attention to my breathing while gathering energy every time like now.
The energy would naturally accumulate through breathing, growing gradually like a snowball.
‘Of course, this all requires enlightenment to support it as well.’
Ilhyang was already a body that had even been called a god of magic in the Lower Dimension.
There was no situation where the gathering speed of mana would stop or decrease due to lack of enlightenment or experience.
“Then shall I attempt it?”
Ilhyang first went down to the first floor of Manseok Inn and paid the Inn Server a month’s lodging fee in advance.
After warning him never to come up unless called, I settled onto the bed and sat down.
“Sitting in the lotus position really is good for gathering energy.”
This was a decent piece of knowledge Ilhyang had learned in this world.
I had accepted the advice of my always-kind friend Pyeong So-byeok.
Ilhyang had conducted personal tests on the efficiency of the lotus position.
Though the reason remained unclear, I acknowledged that this uncomfortable posture of bending the legs and sitting was surprisingly quite effective for internal energy absorption.
Therefore, without much resistance, I continued to sit in the lotus position and fell into meditation.
And so, on the fifteenth day since Ilhyang had crossed over into this world.
I finally resolved to challenge the creation of the 1st Circle.

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