bookrebus Chapter 362 : Chapter 362
Chapter 362 : Chapter 362
Part 2, Chapter 2. Everyone Is Gone (2)
Deep down, he thought.
No, he hoped.
Could he meet them?
Would he be able to see them again, no matter what form they took?
He had such hopes.
But the 200 years of time had shattered Patrick's expectations.
It's true that Murim experts sometimes live past 100 if they live long.
There are even precedents of some who have surpassed 150 by balancing their essence, qi, and spirit and focusing on longevity arts.
But 200 years….
‘Impossible. It's impossible.’
It was a number that far exceeded the limits of extending one's lifespan through martial arts.
Patrick, mulling over the number 200, questioned the bandits again.
“Where is this place now?”
“Huh? Why do you ask… Gwaak!”
SMACK!
Another man collapsed, smoke billowing from his head.
And Patrick, tapping his shoulder with the scabbard of his Black Dragon Sword, said in a thuggish manner.
“Why do you have to earn a beating when you could just answer? Is it a trend in Murim these days to enjoy getting hit?”
There was, of course, no such trend.
One of the Green Forest bandits quickly raised his hand and said.
“Our current location is the Great Spirit Mountain Range in Liaoning Province.”
“Liaoning Province? We've been dropped off far away.”
It was quite a long way to go to reach Gansu Province, where the Twin Dragon Sect was located.
Would the Twin Dragon Sect still be there?
He should probably give up on the nice picture of it being renowned throughout the Murim world.
After all, these Green Forest bandits didn't even know what the Twin Dragon Sect was.
But if its lineage was still being maintained….
If so….
“I guess I'll have to go and see.”
Patrick concluded and stood up from his seat.
Then, he took out a gold coin, placed it on the table, and said.
“Innkeeper, well then, good business to you.”
And Patrick turned his back to quietly leave….
“You can't, Great Master!”
He tried to, but he couldn't.
Because the innkeeper had desperately thrown himself at Patrick's feet and was clinging to them.
“Hey, this old man…. Why? Why are you suddenly being so clingy?”
“What am I to do if you leave like this? As a fair and just Great Master of Murim, you should take pity on a commoner like me and deal with those atrocious bandits.”
“Ah, that?”
Patrick said as if he had just remembered.
“Yes. That's it. If you leave like this, Great Master, what am I to do? Do you think those atrocious and vicious bandits will leave me alone?”
“They probably won't. Especially when you're openly calling them vicious to their faces, do you think they'll leave you alone?”
“Uh…?”
The expression 'Come to think of it' appeared on the innkeeper's face.
His neck slowly turned.
Then he saw the bandits glaring at him as if they wanted to kill him.
“Tsk tsk tsk, you should be more careful with your words, shouldn't you? Of course, what you said is all correct, but it's a habit of the Green Forest folks to skin people alive and salt them when they hear the truth to their faces.”
“Hiiiik!”
The innkeeper shuddered as if the mere thought gave him goosebumps.
And he clung to Patrick again.
“Please help me, Great Master. If you help me, I will repay this grace for three lifetimes….”
“Nope, not doing it. Well then, I'll be on my way….”
“Great Maaaaster!”
“Ahem, this old man keeps getting in the way even though I said I won't do it.”
Persona, who had been watching Patrick bickering with the innkeeper, let out a sigh and said.
“Just help him out. It's not a difficult task, is it?”
Certainly, for Patrick, getting rid of a group of bandits harassing an innkeeper was no trouble at all.
But, the thing is.
“Sona, do you know what I find most annoying in life?”
“Well….”
This old man found so many things annoying.
There was even a time when he urgently called her while she was diligently training, just to say, ‘My feet are cold. Cover them up to the end of the blanket.’
Just thinking about it again pisses me off.
How much she had wanted to use her breath attack then.
Anyway, Patrick said.
“It's getting involved in other people's business for no money and wasting my energy.”
Ah, I see.
He hated that.
The disciple simply despaired at the words that came out of the mouth of the great hero who had achieved the great feat of saving a world from crisis and ascended to a divine rank.
Regardless, Patrick continued to speak.
“I tell you. I did other people's work for not a single penny because of my Master… because of my father…. Aww, just thinking about it again pisses me off.”
From Patrick's perspective, those were days of endurance.
When his sucker Master and sucker father caused trouble and made a mess, he was the one who had to clean up after them.
But….
“Now, my Master is not here, and my father is not here. So why should I volunteer to be a sucker?”
“Ah, I see.”
“That's right. From now on, our Twin Dragon Sect will vehemently declare its rejection of sucker-like behavior.”
“…Ah, I see.”
The disciple's gaze was truly pitiful.
Yes.
She had expected it to some extent.
Persona also knew that this good-for-nothing couldn't be let loose without a leash.
Because she knew….
‘I've prepared a countermeasure.’
“Then let's go. It's a long way from here to Gansu Province…. Huh? What's this?”
It was then.
Something blue appeared in front of Patrick's eyes.
[Directive]
You heartless, good-for-nothing bastard.
When I'm asking nicely, save the pitiful innkeeper from the threat of the bandits UN·CON·DI·TION·AL·LY.
Success: Gain 50 Causal Law.
Conditional Success: Gain 0 Causal Law.
Failure: Lose 50 Causal Law.
Patrick's eyes widened as he stared at the blue, rectangular window in front of him.
“…Uh, this is uh….”
“What's wrong, Master.”
“No, it's just….”
“Why? Do you see something strange?”
“……”
Persona was smiling.
* * *
Two years ago.
While Patrick was focused on his rehabilitation, Persona was summoned by Kalaron and Yupinel.
“You called for me?”
“Yes. We have something to say, so please sit there.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as Persona sat down, Yupinel and Kalaron got straight to the point.
“Patrick Schneider has been granted permission to return to world number 3524, where he lived his previous life.”
“I see.”
“It didn't seem like it would be easily granted, but it seems there's a serious bug on that side as well.”
World number 3524.
That is, the world where the Radiant Dragon Great Master, Jin Cheon, lived, was also in a pretty bad situation.
The Blood Demon, who had been sealed along with the Heavenly Demon, was still sealed, but he was up to something behind the scenes.
It was unknown what kind of scheme it was, but the axis of the world was shaking greatly, and order was about to collapse.
To correct this, dispatching Patrick, who was originally connected to that world, was something that side would welcome.
And it wasn't bad for Yupinel and Kalaron either.
“If Patrick Schneider is dispatched there and earns Causal Law, we can also breathe a sigh of relief.”
“We also want to pay off some of our debt and live comfortably.”
When Patrick defeated the Heavenly Demon, a significant portion of the Causal Law he had accumulated in this world was collected by Yupinel and Kalaron.
But what good did that do?
The amount they had borrowed from here and there was enormous.
They were still pitiful debtors.
But….
“Do not worry. If Master builds up achievements in that world and accumulates Causal Law, our world's debt can also be written off.”
Persona said with confidence.
Yes.
In fact, the reason they were sending Patrick over there was precisely for that reason.
However….
“About that matter….”
“Yes. Please speak.”
“Will he meekly accumulate Causal Law?”
“That is….”
To accumulate Causal Law, Patrick would have to achieve great feats there, spread his fame, and bestow grace upon many people.
Of course, he might do well.
Wasn't he a man who had been active in the Orthodox Faction Murim for decades and was called a Great Master?
He was also a great hero who had already achieved the feat of saving a world and ascended to a divine rank on his own.
But….
“That Patrick…?”
“I can't be sure.”
Yupinel and Kalaron were extremely anxious.
“That is, that… umm.”
And Persona couldn't say any words to defend her master.
A natural disaster that could erupt anywhere and in any way.
Wasn't that her master, Patrick Schneider?
So, Yupinel and Kalaron put their heads together and pondered, and came to one conclusion.
“We need a coercive force that can guide that man's actions.”
“And get a bit more Causal Law on the side.”
Persona said to the two of them.
“What are you planning to do?”
“I purchased a system that has been verified in other worlds.”
“A system, you say?”
At Persona's words, Yupinel and Kalaron nodded and said.
“Originally, it's like a guide to nurture a being blessed by a god into a hero.”
“Let me tell you, this wasn't cheap.”
“In fact, it was ridiculously expensive.”
“If we don't get our money's worth, I swear….”
Persona said to the worried two.
“No, what did you purchase?”
“It's called by various names… but it's usually called a quest, or a system, or a guide.”
“What is that?”
“First, I will explain it to you.”
“Later, you explain it to Patrick.”
Kalaron and Yupinel explained it to Persona in detail.
* * *
And now.
Persona said to Patrick.
“If you don't do as it says, you cannot accumulate Causal Law. Rather, even the Causal Law you have will disappear.”
“Th-this is what….”
“What will you do, Master?”
At Persona's words, Patrick looked dizzy and said.
“No, Causal Law and whatever, isn't that a currency used in the world of gods? It has nothing to do with me….”
“Our very existence in this world consumes Causal Law.”
“Really?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“Wait, then if all the Causal Law runs out….”
“You will be forcibly returned to your original world.”
Patrick grabbed the back of his neck.
So, right now, in a world without his Master or his father, he had to follow the instructions given by this thing called a directive?
Is that it?
If it tells him to help people, he has to help, and if it tells him to punish villains, he has to punish them?
That meant….
“I…. I'm a sucker. Me….”
Just like that, Patrick grabbed the back of his neck and collapsed.
Persona shook her head as she looked at her master.
* * *
The Chieftain of the Black Snake Stronghold, Im Dal.
He was originally a soldier in the northern defense forces, repeatedly fighting against foreign tribes in the northern grasslands.
One day, he killed his superior and deserted the army, at which time he was able to loot a secret manual called the Six Family Spear Technique and an elixir contained in a wooden box from the possession of the superior he had killed.
And fleeing from the army's pursuit, he hid in the mountains, took the elixir, and trained with the secret manual.
Ten years passed like that.
He achieved the 6-Star level of the Six Family Spear Technique and came out into the world.
And by subduing and gathering nearby groups of bandits one by one, he finally established his own mountain stronghold called the Black Snake Stronghold.
His martial arts were quite excellent for a bandit.
Thanks to that, he was able to smoothly increase its size, and now the number of members in the Black Snake Stronghold was over 300.
“Hahaha. If I continue to increase the size smoothly like this, it might be possible to get our name on the list of the 72 Green Forest Strongholds. Maybe I'll even be able to receive a line of teaching from the Heaven Breaking Martial Emperor.”
To think that he, born into a poor family, who had scraped by as a low-ranking soldier and never knew when he would die, had become the leader of a group like this.
He was truly filled with deep emotion.
If his life until now had been a difficult and harsh winter, now it was like a warm spring day.
But then….
“Chieftain!”
“What is it?”
Im Dal frowned upon seeing his subordinate urgently calling out to him.
“Enemies… enemies have invaded.”
“Enemies? Could it be the government troops? Or have those bastards from the Moyong Clan invaded?”
For a moment, Im Dal became very tense.
Both sides were tough opponents to face at the moment.
And his subordinate said….
“There are two invaders.”
Then Im Dal frowned and shouted.
“Only two? Then what's all the fuss about?”
“They're not ordinary….”
CRASH!
It was then.
A wall on one side shattered into pieces, and two people, a man and a woman, entered.
One was a peerless beauty so beautiful that she could make one lose their senses even in this urgent situation, and the other was a brown-haired, color-eyed man.
He slowly approached with a pair of black and white swords slung over his shoulder.
“Are you the chieftain?”
The eyes of the speaking, color-eyed man were overflowing with a dreadful killing intent and a desperate madness.
Im Dal reacted immediately to that vicious killing intent.
“Haat!”
His spear split into three prongs, aiming simultaneously at the enemy's heart, dantian, and neck.
A perfectly executed ultimate technique.
But….
CLANG!
“What? Why is this bastard, a bandit, using military martial arts and shit?”
The opponent brushed off his attack so lightly.
“Kuk….”
Although he was only blocked by a simple defense, Im Dal couldn't withstand the shock and had to take three steps back.
And he realized.
‘An… an expert.’
That the opponent was an expert he couldn't dare to fight against.
But he couldn't back down like this.
Didn't he have at least something to argue about?
“Bi… birds of a feather flock together….”
“Huh?”
“What is this outrage between fellow Unorthodox Alliance members… Kuwek!”
WHACK!
He knew he would be hit.