Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 6

Tap, tap-tap, tap.

His eyes were hollow, as if he hadn’t slept for days, and his body was emaciated, as if he hadn’t eaten. Cheol Tae-min, a supervisor at the Hwasan Guild’s monster corpse disposal site, looked no different from the slaves he had so viciously tormented.

Tap, tap, tap.

Biting his nails, he constantly scanned his surroundings, seemingly anxious.

It had started that day.

The glint in those eyes that flashed in his mind.

“Ugh, ughhh.”

The gaze of that mere slave had been haunting him every moment.

‘Those aren’t human eyes…’

Cheol Tae-min was already one of the dropouts who had stopped leveling up out of fear of monsters.

Fortunately, thanks to a relative in a high position in the Hwasan Guild, he had reached the minimum level of 5 and became a supervisor at the corpse disposal site, enjoying the most pleasurable time of his life while bossing around slaves.

But that day.

“Lee, Rowoon….”

After seeing the changed look in that guy’s eyes, he had completely lost it.

Tap.

The sensation on his shoulder.

“Hiiiik!”

Cheol Tae-min quickly moved, grabbing his whip as goosebumps erupted all over his body.

“You’ve completely lost it.”

The man who had placed his hand on his shoulder spoke in a low, heavy voice.

“Cheol Tae-min, get a grip. Rowoon is….”

The man looked directly into Cheol Tae-min’s eyes and said,

“Dead.”

“N-no, no….”

“Can’t you even recognize me now?”

The man clicked his tongue and turned away.

Tap!

Like a shadow, a figure appeared before him and knelt down.

“Reporting in. According to the workers, Rowoon headed to the Abyss immediately after the clash with Cheol Tae-min.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes. It seems Cheol Tae-min was already using the workers to look for Rowoon. We confirmed the trail leading to the Abyss, and we couldn’t find him near the entrance either.”

The Abyss was a euphemism for the deepest part of the Hwasan Guild’s corpse disposal site.

A place that even the workers, supervisors, and even the Hwasan Guild members avoided.

But more than anything….

‘That thing.’

Inside, there was the corpse of a corpse dragon.

The corpse dragon’s poison that could melt even rankers [high-level players].

If Rowoon had gone into such a place, it was clear.

“He must be dead.”

Otherwise, the slave seal wouldn’t have broken.

But still, the man couldn’t shake off the unease.

‘Rowoon, Rowoon….’

That tiresome and hateful name.

“What happened that day?”

At the man’s words, another tap! sound was heard, and a shadow appeared in front of him.

Thud!

Roughly thrown to the ground by the shadow was one of the workers the shadow had brought.

“Report everything you saw and heard to the squad leader in detail.”

“H-hiik.”

The worker was too frightened to speak.

Crack!

He was whipped.

The whipping, reacting to the slave seal, caused excruciating pain.

“I-I’ll tell you! Stop! Please stop!”

The worker, in pain and fear, spoke with his head buried in the ground.

“He, he was just dozing off…. Supervisor Cheol Tae-min approached him to punish him, but….”

The worker said.

“He just grabbed his fist with a snap, dodged with a whoosh! And then he just looked at him for a moment and went to the Abyss! That’s all!”

A slave with no power.

So, there was a limit to what he could see.

‘There’s… enough possibility.’

It was Rowoon.

Even if he had lost the power of a player, if he had been biding his time and hiding something, he could dodge the fist of Cheol Tae-min, who was only level 5.

But there was something else that bothered him.

“He looked him in the eyes?”

“Yes! Yes! That’s right!”

He had made eye contact with Cheol Tae-min, and Cheol Tae-min had fallen as if he was frightened.

‘And he went crazy.’

Something came to mind.

‘Killing intent.’

The exclusive domain of martial artists, a power like magic that controlled consciousness and spirit.

That was why martial artists were so terrifying.

Even among martial artists of the same level, the gap between those who could use killing intent and those who could not was life-threatening in actual combat.

But that was also why it didn’t make sense.

‘He’s not a martial artist.’

There was no way a human from Earth could wield the power of a martial artist.

Moreover, he was a guy who had even lost the power of a player.

“Please! I’ve told you everything I know! Please… just spare me….”

The worker grabbed the man’s ankle and begged, trembling.

Swoosh!

A bright red line was drawn across the worker’s neck.

Thud.

The worker’s body, his head instantly separated from his torso, lost its balance and fell.

“How filthy. A mere slave.”

This was the reality of the workers at the corpse disposal site.

They were not even treated like proper humans, and the dignity of life was not respected.

‘You’re the same, Rowoon.’

And Rowoon should have lived in such a place, receiving such treatment.

“It seems he’s definitely dead.”

It was a shame he was already dead.

“Shall we search the Abyss?”

The man shook his head at the shadow’s words.

“Don’t bother. It’s not a poison you can handle. Your whole body would melt away in less than three hours.”

“……Then.”

“Let’s go back.”

The man turned away as if he had finished his business.

The trembling Cheol Tae-min.

The foul and filthy smell of the corpse disposal site.

It was a place he would never have set foot in, nor would he have wanted to stay for even a moment, if it hadn’t been to confirm Rowoon’s death.

“I will follow you, Squad Leader.”

It was at that moment, as the man’s group was about to move.

Thwack!

The sound of something piercing through flesh.

Boom!

Soon after, the sound of a firework exploding.

“…….”

Cheol Tae-min was slowly collapsing, his body nothing more than a husk.

The man quietly turned his head.

There.

“……!”

Someone who shouldn’t be there was standing.

“Long time no see.”

That couldn’t be.

“Kim Shin-hong.”

“Rowoon-!”

Rowoon was standing there.

* * *

He had considered the possibility.

‘But I didn’t expect to run into him like this.’

He had shed the slave seal through rebirth, and naturally, a signal would have been sent to the caster who had placed the slave seal, according to the magic of the binding.

‘Given his personality, I thought he would move himself.’

He was so suspicious that he wouldn’t believe it unless he saw it himself.

So, it was obvious that he would take the trouble to come to the corpse disposal site to check.

But he hadn’t expected the timing to be so perfect.

“Long time no see, Kim Shin-hong.”

The man who had been his closest friend.

One of the members of Dank, the small elite guild they had formed as players.

And….

“Rowoon-!”

One of the traitors who had thrown him into this hell.

He had thought he would meet him, but he hadn’t expected to meet him so soon.

“How are you alive?”

“Well, you could say I was lucky.”

Crack!

A vein bulged in Kim Shin-hong’s temple.

‘Is it real?’

Even now, Kim Shin-hong was doubting everything.

The slave seal he had placed on Rowoon had clearly disappeared.

“Is it really… Rowoon?”

Moreover, the place he had gone to was the Abyss, a place where even his direct guards, the shadows, couldn’t last an hour, and even he himself wasn’t confident he could last a day.

Could it be possible for a guy who had lost the power of a player to return alive from such a place?

Also, there were more things to doubt.

“Who are you? Who is it that’s impersonating Rowoon?”

The last time he had seen him, he had a withered body, a hunched back, and disheveled hair from his long life as a slave.

But the Rowoon he saw now was too robust.

Rather, he was even more so than in the past, when he could only see his back.

He seemed to have grown taller, and his build had also become larger.

‘Red eyes.’

Moreover, the eyes of the person presumed to be Rowoon were glowing red.

His eyes were black.

There was the most certain way to confirm it in such cases.

Kim Shin-hong muttered the name of a skill in a small voice.

“Information Search.”

A skill that a player of a lower level than him could never avoid.

A blue window appeared in front of Kim Shin-hong’s eyes.

[Only player information can be searched.]

“……!”

[Searching for information registered in the world, not a player.]

[Name….]

On the status window that appeared.

[@#[email protected][email protected]!#$]

Suddenly, noise began to appear.

“Kuh!”

Soon after, Kim Shin-hong was struck by a headache.

When he opened his eyes again, the status window had turned red and was constantly distorted.

“What is this…!”

He had never heard of or seen such a phenomenon.

“Kim Shin-hong, have you already forgotten?”

Rowoon’s voice was heard by Kim Shin-hong, who was in a state of panic.

“I’m disappointed that you can’t recognize me just because my appearance has changed a bit. It’s me, the one you know. I heard you sold me out and became the squad leader of the Hwasan Guild. Have you become even more cowardly?”

“Shut up!”

In the midst of the confusion, there was only one thing Kim Shin-hong could do.

“Kill that guy!”

Whoosh!

The shadows rushed towards Rowoon as soon as Kim Shin-hong’s command was given.

* * *

The shadows.

Their exact name was Black Plum.

They were direct guards given only to executives of squad leader level or higher in the Hwasan Guild, and they were assassins who would not hesitate to give their lives when ordered.

Their level was generally above level 90 based on player standards, and they were skilled enough to be on the verge of becoming rankers [high-level players].

Swoosh.

The figures of the shadows approaching Rowoon disappeared.

‘Stealth.’

It was clear that they were using stealth and rapid movement, which were the characteristics of assassins.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Indeed, as befitting the Black Plums of the Hwasan Guild, they were not letting their guard down even against someone presumed to be a slave, circling around and looking for an opening.

If they saw an opening for even a moment, the Black Plum’s dagger would pierce their neck.

Due to their nature as assassins, they could take the life of even an opponent with a higher level than them with a single blow.

‘Assassins are nothing but troublesome.’

But that was only true for the old him.

‘Disciple, but they are only troublesome when you are terribly weak.’

His Martial King Master’s teachings.

“He said that fast-moving insects should be crushed to death with the palm of your hand.”

Rowoon raised one hand.

The open palm began to clench into a fist.

The Black Plums seemed to sense something and quickly tried to soar into the air, but.

“Too late.”

Rowoon clenched his fist at that moment.

Bang!

He saw a tiny black bead pop out.

A speed that was incomparable to a bullet, the Black Plums quickly twisted their bodies in mid-air to avoid the bead.

Cold sweat ran down their backs at the close call.

It was only the size of a grain of millet, but at that speed, it would have pierced through their barriers, and they shuddered to think what would have happened if it had hit a vital point.

But the important thing was that they had avoided it.

‘I can’t let my guard down.’

As the Black Plums looked at each other and tried to readjust their posture, exchanging glances.

Fwoooosh!

A roar echoed.

What had happened?

The Black Plums couldn’t think any further.

Thud, thud.

They fell to the ground, just like the worker they had thrown earlier.

Embedded in the back of their heads were dense black spheres.

This was the third stage of the Blood Demon Divine Art.

‘Black Blood.’

The black blood cells split and spread like buckshot.

And if they were embedded in the body, they would absorb the opponent’s internal energy and magic power….

Boom!

They would explode.

“I heard you became the squad leader of the Hwasan Guild, but you’re the same as before.”

Rowoon said as he walked towards Kim Shin-hong, leaving the corpses of the Black Plums behind.

“Hiding behind others in fear.”