The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 9

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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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Surviving in the Martial Realm as a Mage: Episode 9
Ilhyang feigned ignorance of Pyeong So-byeok’s gleaming gaze,
his innocent childlike eyes sweeping across the surroundings as he spoke.
“It has been truly difficult navigating this harsh world at such a young age without anyone to care for me. Still, as I wish to begin a new life in this place, I humbly ask for your generous assistance, Master Pyeong.”
“Of course! Naturally! Trust me, and hahahaha!”
Crunch—crunch—
Pyeong So-byeok led Ilhyang away from the sparsely populated official road, down a quiet mountain trail that grew increasingly treacherous.
Ilhyang continued to feign ignorance, staying close to Pyeong So-byeok as he spoke.
“The terrain is quite rugged indeed. It makes sense that wild beasts would disturb the herb fields in such a place.”
“That’s right.”
As we approached the mountain foot, the sun set swiftly,
and Pyeong So-byeok’s words grew equally sparse.
He scanned the surroundings as we climbed,
like a predator deciding where to consume its already-captured prey.
Then,
“This spot looks perfect.”
“Pardon? What do you mean? I don’t see any herb field here.”
Pyeong So-byeok caressed the sword hilt at his waist and grinned wickedly.
“Seeing such an innocent friend as yourself makes my heart feel unsettled. How about I teach you a bit about the harshness of the world? You don’t mind, do you?”
Pyeong So-byeok asked in a tone that showed he had never considered the other’s consent at all.
Only then did Ilhyang respond with a somewhat frightened expression.
“What do you suddenly mean, Master Pyeong?”
“Haha, have you ever tasted human flesh? Especially the flesh of a child—it’s so tender and delicious.”
“….”
Pyeong So-byeok observed the terrified sparrow-like Ilhyang and decided drawing a sword would be excessive.
So he drew a small dagger from his sleeve instead.
Shing—
The fading evening glow streamed across the dagger Pyeong So-byeok had drawn, like droplets of blood.
“Let’s start with one arm.”
Pyeong So-byeok licked his lips and approached the retreating Ilhyang leisurely,
and Ilhyang, who until then had maintained the frightened expression of a young fawn as he surveyed his surroundings,
suddenly wore an expressionless face, then quietly curled the corners of his mouth upward.
“Human flesh, you say. Our young master certainly has refined tastes.”
“Haha, oh dear, oh dear! You noticed far too late! Far, far too late! After all, no one can help you even if you scream and struggle here!”
“So it seems.”
But the same applies to you.
No one can help you either.
I swallowed the rest of my words,
and gazed steadily at Pyeong So-byeok.
Pyeong So-byeok disliked those eyes that showed no fear whatsoever.
So I decided to stop teasing and finish what I’d started.
“So shut your mouth, stay quiet, and just extend one arm….”
“Fine, let’s start with one arm as you wish. Your right arm would be nice.”
“Oh? Quite obedient….”
Whoosh―
Crunch―!
Pyeong So-byeok’s words never finished.
From the darkness of the forest.
Something plummeted like an eagle, severing his right arm with surgical precision, as if plucking a radish from the earth.
“Ugh! What is this!”
Splash―!
Blood erupted skyward from his shoulder.
A man with a face pale as beeswax, drenched in that crimson spray.
“A, a corpse? Why is a corpse here? How….”
Pyeong So-byeok still couldn’t comprehend what had just happened to him.
Watching that foolish expression.
Ilhyang, wearing the mask of a child, drew a bloody smile across his lips.
* * *
Bright Moon Blade Song Gwang-sik suppressed his presence entirely, holding his breath as he observed the scene revealed beneath the crimson sunset.
‘Idiot. He’s poking a sleeping tiger.’
That fellow Pyeong So-byeok.
Song Gwang-sik knew a little about him too.
He’d heard that the Pyeong Family had raised him as their heir with such doting care that he’d grown into a spoiled, reckless fool.
But to think he’d actually resort to cannibalism.
Today, he’d finally met his match.
* * *
“P, please spare me, young master.”
“Hmm. Now that things have come to this, is there any reason to spare you? If I just let you go, I have a feeling my back will itch terribly.”
“Never! Absolutely not! I swear I will never speak of today’s events to anyone! Please, show me mercy!”
Thud, thud, thud―
Even as blood poured from Pyeong So-byeok’s right arm.
He rapidly struck his head against the ground, pleading.
“Hmm, Chilho. Go wash off the blood. The scent is too strong.”
“….”
The expressionless corpse lowered its head, then vanished like smoke.
Left alone with the Kid.
Pyeong So-byeok dared not move recklessly.
‘That was Hyeol Gang-si. Which means this Kid is Man Si-jong’s sorcerer. There must be other corpses nearby. Definitely.’
Something had felt off from the start.
Because he sensed no inner energy whatsoever from this Kid.
Yet despite that, I subdued a third-rate Ronin with my bare hands.
I should have sensed something was amiss and retreated then.
Such exquisite flesh—a rare delicacy I hadn’t savored in ages.
Hunger blinded my judgment.
Of course, such regret came far too late.
“Please, I beg you, Master! Spare my life!”
Pyeong So-byeok pressed his forehead firmly to the ground in deference.
His tears pleaded silently for the other’s mercy.
If only I could escape this place somehow.
If I could just survive this crisis!
I was certain I could exact my revenge.
A moment of humiliation was a small price to bear.
Ilhyang saw through Pyeong So-byeok’s thoughts as clearly as day and smiled faintly.
“You were simply unlucky. Think of it that way.”
“…!”
Pyeong So-byeok’s heart plummeted in an instant.
Weren’t those the very words he always spoke before devouring young children?
“How unfortunate that you naturally led me to this place. Your luck truly has abandoned you.”
This was the Automatic Hunting Ground where I had released incomplete ghouls.
And much to Pyeong So-byeok’s misfortune.
By nature, I never left loose ends.
“M-Master! Please, just one more chance! I can pay you any amount you desire!”
Pyeong So-byeok crawled forward desperately, reaching to grasp at Ilhyang’s pant leg.
But Ilhyang stepped back and shook his head.
“That won’t do. Did you ever give a chance to those you devoured?”
“That is… I…”
Cold and merciless eyes of the child.
In that brief moment of meeting his gaze.
Pyeong So-byeok’s terror reached its peak.
And then.
Snap—
Ilhyang snapped his fingers.
Other Blood Corpses hidden in the darkness burst forth and brutally crushed Pyeong So-byeok’s head.
“Gack! Gaaack!”
As Pyeong So-byeok thrashed with his remaining arm, crying out pitifully.
Ilhyang manipulated one Blood Corpse to roughly seal Pyeong So-byeok’s mouth and completely restrain his body, then.
drew close and whispered.
“I have many questions for you. Don’t go limp on me from the start. Understand?”
“…Mmph! Mmph!”
Pyeong So-byeok breathed heavily against the crude hand muffling his mouth and nodded desperately.
In truth, the hand gripping my nape was as rigid and cold as ice, making me feel as though I might lose consciousness at any moment.
I had never been this terrified in my entire life.
So much so that I had even lost control of my bladder without realizing it.
‘A Blood Corpse of rank ten? He must have been at least an elder-level master in Mansizong.’
He was truly a necromancer of extraordinary caliber.
And that vicious cunning was even more frightening.
‘To lure someone all the way here with such an innocent expression!’
That was it.
I had fallen into a meticulously orchestrated trap from the very beginning.
Pyeong So-byeok had long since erased from his memory the fact that he had walked into this situation of his own volition.
‘How could I have been so naive? This is unbearably infuriating and unjust!’
Pyeong So-byeok gave no thought whatsoever to the countless atrocities he had committed.
He felt only indignation at the suffering that awaited him.
He wept bitterly, consumed by rage and a sense of profound injustice.
‘Will I soon become a Blood Corpse like that, neither dead nor alive, dragged about like a slave? Oh, what misery.’
Thoughts flashed through Pyeong So-byeok’s mind like a lantern show of the dying.
‘Ah… Father. I should have heeded your words from the start! This is how an unfilial son meets his end!’
Father had said he could procure children through official channels whenever he wished.
Why had I insisted on indulging in this amusement alone, only to invite such calamity?
The regret was overwhelming and absolute.
Pyeong So-byeok’s mind churned like a furnace, chaotic and turbulent.
Then.
“Just wait a moment. Let me organize the questions in my head first.”
“…!”
In truth, I paid no attention to whatever Pyeong So-byeok was thinking.
I had far too many questions about this world, and determining the proper order in which to ask them was far more pressing.
‘First, I need to ask about Mansizong, that necromancer organization…’
I also needed to inquire about the Heavenly Blood Sect that had attacked Mansizong.
There were simply too many fundamental facts about this world’s structure that I needed to understand.
‘Uncovering all of this one piece at a time would require far too much money and time.’
I needed someone I could question without arousing suspicion.
Since Pyeong So-byeok had conveniently approached me with malicious intent, I had simply played along.
“Now I’m going to ask you questions one by one. If you scream, you die, understood?”
Pyeong So-byeok nodded frantically.
I smiled with satisfaction and ordered the Blood Corpse to release its grip on his mouth.
“Do you know what Mansizong is?”
The night was long.
And since this commission was set to renew on a ten-day cycle anyway.
Time was abundant.
I began to gradually acquire knowledge about this world, question by question.
* * *
Ten days later, when Ilhyang arrived at the Guild Branch as if nothing had happened, a flicker of subtle admiration crossed Mak Chung’s face at the reception desk.
“I have completed the commission.”
Observing the boy whose expression remained virtually unchanged from ten days prior.
Mak Chung could not conceal his inner astonishment.
‘Could it be that he actually received the commission stamp from the Pyeong Family’s junior head?’
Once a commission was accepted.
One could lodge no protest even if unsavory incidents occurred in the process.
And it was Pyeong So-byeok who had exploited this to discreetly eliminate people, satisfying his murderous and cannibalistic desires.
In truth, he was quite a renowned serial killer in these parts.
‘Pyeong So-byeok was at least a first-rate master. Yet did this kid possess the strength to contend with such a master?’
Whether it stemmed from personal prowess.
Or a formidable backing behind the scenes.
It mattered not.
In any case, this child possessed some manner of remarkably useful trump card.
After all, he had brought back the commission completion stamp so splendidly.
Of course, for some reason, Pyeong So-byeok who had departed with him did not reappear.
But that was none of Mak Chung’s concern.
‘We are not the authorities, after all.’
From the Ronin Guild’s perspective, it sufficed that the commission left unattended for the past month had been resolved.
“Then I shall provide you the commission fee minus our service charge.”
Mak Chung handed over half of the commission funds that Pyeong So-byeok had entrusted to him, and Ilhyang, having received twenty-five silver coins, pushed them straight back across the counter and spoke.
“I wish to post a commission.”
A ronin could accept commissions, but could also post them.
Mak Chung regarded the returned money with a courteous expression and replied.
“What manner of commission do you seek?”
“I wish to find a Writing Teacher.”
“A Writing Teacher, you say….”
“I have heard that with this sum, one can procure a reasonably competent Writing Teacher. Someone capable of teaching basic sentences and vocabulary would suffice.”
I had briefly considered learning from Pyeong So-byeok.
But he had grown far too frightened, and beyond that, his teaching ability was abysmal.
Thus I resolved to seek out a professional instructor instead.
I needed to learn this world’s written language as swiftly as possible.
I needed to learn this world’s writing system as quickly as possible.

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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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