16: The Best Choice (1)

The pain didn’t last long.

▶ Restart from Beginning.
▷ Continue
▷ Restart from Save Point.
[Which Point do you want to return to?]
⏹ Year 95 of the Heavenly Calendar, Chapter 2: Three Choices from the Earth Demon.
[Empty storage slot]
[Empty storage slot]
[Turning back time.]
The white light in his eyes gave way to images: a room with large windows, a gorgeous man looking at the endless bookshelves—the disciple of the Heavenly Demon, the Earth Demon.

“The choice here…”

▶ Become a core warrior.
▷ Become a bodyguard.
▷ Become a secret warrior.
What would his choice be this time?

The same.

[You have selected, Become a core warrior.]
[Continuing]
“That’s good,” the Earth Demon said with a nod. “However, there are still six days left until the test starts. I’ll head down and talk with the clerk on the first floor, so wait in the basement floor. Do something useful there.”

Everything was exactly the same as before. The eyes, the words, even the gestures—it’s just that the Earth Demon forgot to mention the book in the basement before he left. Seol-Hwi, too, went and headed for the basement.

“Wait. Don’t I have a toolbox?” He only remembered because he was near the Earth Demon’s room. If he was right, he could keep the items in his Toolbox permanently—that meant swiping something from the Earth Demon’s room wouldn’t affect his next life.

[Toolbox]
<Healing>
Confectionery Bar x1
Golden Potion x2
Iron Blood Poison x1
<Vitality Potions>
Blue Pear Drunken Lotus x1
Muscle Transfiguration Pill x1
<Weapons>
Short Swords x1
<Items>
Law of Stealth (Disappears after one day)
He’d already learned the Law of Stealth, so it didn’t matter if it disappeared. Seol-Hwi was happy that it had carried over at all.

“Right, I killed Oh Ma and got a life.”

Seol-Hwi turned and went back into the Earth Demon’s room to look into the mirror.

Coins: 2
Seol-Hwi left the mirror and examined the shelves. He tried his best to keep his composure in case someone was watching him, but he didn’t feel anything after almost half an hour.

“I need to take something…” This was the Earth Demon’s chambers, after all.

He searched carefully but didn’t find any particularly important book. He might find something if he could take a closer look, but there were so many things here.

“It doesn’t have to be important…”

Seol-Hwi boldly flung a cabinet open.

“Nothing?” A few silk clothes, a sealed wooden box and tied up papers. The only thing he was curious about was the bevy of secret-looking documents.

Disappointed, Seol-Hwi moved to close the cabinet but saw a ring shaped like a lock tucked behind the clothes.

[Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts, Wind has been obtained.]
“Kuak! Wait, Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts?” The Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts was a martial art bestowed only to the disciples of the Heavenly Demon. How could it appear for Seol-Hwi?

[See details?]
<Accept/Reject>
[Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts]
Description: The martial arts bestowed on the Heavenly Demon’s disciples. The essence of Demonic Martial Arts, the culmination of two hundred years of martial arts, is written here.
This martial art is classified into four attributes: Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind.
Wind was granted to the Earth Demon.
“Ah… ah…” Seol-Hwi felt goosebumps rise on his skin. It wasn’t a lie: one of the best martial arts of the Heavenly Demon was here.

[Placed in the Toolbox.]
[Toolbox]
<Healing>
Confectionery Bar x1 (Bitten)
Golden Potion x2
Iron Blood Poison x1
<Vitality Potions>
Blue Pear Drunken Lotus x1
Muscle Transfiguration Pill x1
<Weapons>
Short Sword x1
Armor x1
<Hidden Arts>
Law of Stealth x1 (Will disappear after one day)
<Absolute Hidden Arts>
Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts
“Uh!” The status window knew the importance of this item, too.

Seol-Hwi quickly cleaned up after himself and fled. To be honest, it didn’t really matter if he was caught and executed for stealing. He would still have it—and this item was worth dying for!

The first thing Seol-Hwi did was go to the basement to check his condition.

Health: 118/120
Internal Energy: 250/250
“Ugh, it’s so different.” His abilities were truly miserable compared to when he was in the test.

“This time I won’t need a pill.” However, it had given him a whopping 2,000 increase. Taking it again would be something.

“The short sword is still in the toolbox.” It made him wonder what he would say to the man who came to escort him. “I’ll get to it when the time comes.”

Seol-Hwi pulled open the Toolbox and pulled out an item.

[Do you want to use the Muscle Transfiguration Pill?]
<Accept/Reject>
He’d learned a bit from his vain death: acting too safely would actually put him at risk. Seol-Hwi had to be prepared to take on the monsters in the test arena, regardless of means or method. The items in the test area would be better anyway.

[Muscle Transfiguration Pill used.]
Health: 1,118 (↑1,000)/1,120
Internal Energy: 260 (↑10)/260
[Blue Pear Drunken Lotus used.]
Health: 1,318 (↑200)/1,320
Internal Energy: 1,300 (↑1,040)/1300
“…Wow!” The medicine had exceeded his expectations, launching his health and internal energy into the quadruple-digits. The changes in his body were evident: his arms swelled and tensed with muscle; he seemed to have grown taller, his eyesight improved, and it seemed like he’d lost some weight.

He had power now. Seol-Hwi could see himself applying his martial arts to solve the situations he’d been in.

“Let’s do it!”

Seol-Hwi practiced martial arts for a week, slowly learning to activate them.

The White Light Demonic Martial Arts. Swordsmanship, fist, and footwork. It was best to use it to counter the opponent’s actions.

Fiery Bare-Handed Demonic Arts. Its destructive power was much greater than the previous imitation but rapidly dissipated as the distance increased.

Peak Flourishing Demonic Arts. It had the most destructive power; if used properly, he could even kill a higher warrior.

It went without saying, but the more skills he could use, the more powerful he would be. Therefore, it would be best to concentrate on increasing his endurance rather than diluting his time with the Law of Stealth.

“Can I still not use it?” Seol-Hwi looked down at his hands.

Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts, the end-all-be-all of martial arts.

[You have mastered the Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts, Wind.]
Seol-Hwi wanted to scream in excitement. The system showed him buildings being crushed with a single finger, sights he struggled to believe even after seeing it with his own two eyes.

But his joy was short-lived.

[Cannot be used!]
– Requires minimum health of 30,000 and minimum internal energy of 50,000.
It seemed like the Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts was out of reach, but at least he had other abilities now.

“The problem is…” The Great Sword.

Great Sword: ↓ ↘ → ←, B
If he could understand it, it would solve most of his problems. He hadn’t realized it when he used it, but this swordsmanship didn’t drain any of Seol-Hwi’s internal energy. It was his best ability, and Seol-Hwi knew it.