Chapter 13

Chapter 13. Galactic Martial God Chronicle - Reincarnation (4)

An archaic-looking logo appeared on the display.

[Special Documentary Celebrating the 2500th Anniversary of Solar Extraterrestrial Expansion, History of Galactic Murim, Episode 3.]

[Production: GBS General Programming, Beggar Sect Home Star System.]

[Presented by: GBS Martial God Third Star System.]

[Production Support: Galactic Murim Alliance - Murim History Research Lab, Galactic International Federation - Galactic Historical Archives, Earth Historical Records Compilation Committee.]

I had watched Episodes 1 and 2 of the documentary yesterday, so I played Episode 3.

I liked science and tinkering with machines, which was why I had gone into a science track, but if I hadn’t been interested in machines, I would have considered going into history instead. That was how much I liked history.

History from another world? How could that not be interesting?!

Episode 1 of the documentary had covered the history of ancient martial arts beginning in ancient Egypt, the martial arts that were transmitted to India’s Tianzhu and reorganized there, and how martial arts flowed into East Asia.

Episode 2 had compared and analyzed the developmental history of martial arts that spread through East Asia with ancient China at its center from the late Zhou dynasty onward, alongside the ancient martial arts that had spread directly from Egypt to Europe without passing through India, and what kind of independent system they developed under Rome and the Germanic peoples.

Episode 3 was scheduled to cover Murim history from the mid-Qing dynasty, which counted as the late ancient period by this world’s standards and the early modern period by mine, to the 21st century, the very beginning of space exploration.

---

A professor with a dignified impression walked onto the documentary set.

Most of the documentary consisted of footage and narration, but the professor’s role was to provide commentary whenever an explanation was needed in the middle.

“It’s good to see you again. Now, as promised, today we’ll be covering the period from the late 16th century, which corresponds to the late ancient era, to the 21st century, which corresponds to the early medieval period.”

Artifacts from ancient China appeared briefly on the screen, then the scene changed to a historical drama filming location.

“Let’s briefly review our previous lesson. Martial arts have always undergone rapid development through periods of war. In the past, ancient China, where martial arts had just begun to spread, went through the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, developing a uniquely East Asian color distinct from Egypt and India. That color became the foundation of modern martial arts.”

The screen changed, and footage imitating wars from the era before gunpowder weapons appeared.

In the footage, stunt actors who had learned martial arts performed dazzling combat scenes.

Then the screen changed again, and a chronological chart appeared, marking the period of warfare corresponding to the late Ming dynasty and the Ming-Qing transition.

“Through the wars of the Ming-Qing transition, martial arts developed once again. However, after the war, the Jurchens, who were the ruling class of the Qing dynasty at the time, implemented policies that suppressed martial artists who had learned martial arts.”

The screen changed to show an emperor and generals dressed in Qing dynasty attire suppressing martial artists.

“In Murim history, a dark age even worse than the Mongol Yuan dynasty period arrived. However, compared to the darkness in the west, the darkness in the east could be called so bright that it would be embarrassing to call it a dark age.”

The screen changed, and a map of Europe spread out.

At the time, in Europe, with the development of gunpowder weapons, the martial arts developed by Rome and the Germanic peoples naturally began to decline.

If martial arts in the east were suppressed by the state, then in the west, martial artists began abandoning martial arts on their own.

That trend spread especially rapidly due to the invention of the cartridge case and the emergence of breech-loading rifles.

An incident in which two riflemen annihilated fifty cavalrymen armed with sabers proved fatal.

Skepticism toward martial arts spread thickly across Europe, and with the distribution of modern weapons, western martial arts were almost completely severed.

Instead, in the west, unusual martial arts such as Gun Kata, designed to handle firearms well, emerged, and as the Industrial Revolution began, the colonial age of imperialism opened.

While the west began invading the entire world, the east, especially the Qing dynasty, saw its policy of national isolation and the corruption of its officials intensify.

As a result, the Qing imperial family and government were paralyzed by the western powers, and numerous nations suffered heavy exploitation.

Ironically, however, the Qing dynasty’s stagnation and collapse signified the end of the dark age in Murim history.

As the Qing government, which had suppressed martial artists, lost its ability to function, the suppression of martial arts disappeared, and amid western encroachment and the chaos of states failing to function as states, ordinary people began learning martial arts to protect themselves.

Guns were easier to learn than martial arts, but the west was wary of arming its colonies, so it banned personal firearms from being released into colonial territories.

Even if one obtained a gun with great difficulty, obtaining gunpowder was even harder than obtaining the gun itself.

For that reason, martial arts, which did not require one to consider consumption, became the only means of self-defense left to colonial subjects.

Western nations mocked the outdated martial artists of the east, and history flowed on.

After the 19th century, the bitter dark age of Murim history, ended, and after the early to mid-20th century, the age of great wars that engulfed the entire world, a period of peace finally arrived in the late 20th century.

The late 20th century.

Even then, the Cold War between the great powers still left the international atmosphere tense, and sporadic wars still broke out all over the world, but when looking at the whole of Earth’s history, it was hard to deny that it was a rare period of peace.

Martial arts develop rapidly through war.

This remained true even during the world wars of the 20th century, when the importance of various gunpowder weapons and aerial combat came to the fore.

Before the Industrial Revolution, martial arts developed around how well one could kill an enemy and how easily one could block an enemy’s attacks.

However, martial arts during the world war era developed around how well one could dodge bullets, and how well one could survive amid poison gas and bombardment.

It was truly a brutal era where survival itself was victory.

The world wars were horrific, but they gave martial artists who had learned martial arts an overwhelming ability to survive.

This survival ability later became the fundamental foundation that allowed martial artists to advance into space.

After the wars ended, Murim entered another period of stagnation in the 21st century.

The world of the peaceful era was wary of individuals possessing force.

Martial arts could be defined as a method of fighting, so it was only natural that societies and nations that desired peace would be concerned about martial artists who had learned martial arts.

However, just as gun regulation was impossible in America, suppressing martial arts that had already spread widely through the wars was close to impossible.

Martial arts in this period became more covert and developed into forms that hid one’s martial prowess.

The professor on the documentary set slowly walked toward the camera and said,

“This development of martial arts’ covert nature would play a major role during the age of great intelligence warfare that surpassed the old Cold War, which took place from the mid-to-late 21st century to the early-to-mid 22nd century.”

The professor who had been narrating the documentary looked at the camera and delivered his closing remarks.

“Now then, we’ll wrap things up here for today. Next time, we’ll examine how 22nd-century martial arts were used in intelligence warfare, and we’ll also look into Murim history up to the 24th century, the period of full-fledged space expansion. Then I’ll see you again at this time next episode.”

The screen darkened, and the production staff roll began to rise along with grand music.

---

Episode 3 of the documentary, which covered the period I had been most interested in, ended.

This world was one where a martial arts world had advanced into space thousands of years ago. It was now the 50th century, a distant future where the 21st century I had lived in was called the Middle Ages.

It was funny to think that even after three thousand years had passed, most cars still ran on tires.

But umbrellas had been used in the same form for several thousand years too, so it seemed that sometimes the form itself did not change for reasons of efficiency.

There were rare levitating cars as well, and even cars with tires might have internal structures completely different from what I knew.

In fact, just looking at Si-woo gave me a sense of this world’s scientific capabilities.

Wasn’t it amazing enough that an android indistinguishable from a human existed?

“Are you finished watching? Would you like a snack?”

“Yeah!”

I put the rice puff, a baby snack that Si-woo placed in my hand, into my mouth and chewed on it as I played the next episode.

Once the documentary on Galactic Murim history ended, I was planning to watch a documentary on scientific development and space exploration, then a documentary on the history of the great sects.

“Documentaries are beneficial, so they’re good, but if you only sit still, your body will stiffen. Let’s take some time to stretch.”

At Si-woo’s guidance, I got up from my seat.

Si-woo spread a mat with footprints drawn on it across the floor.

“Now, follow these steps and try moving like this.”

It was a hassle, but I stepped exactly on the footprints and stretched while following Si-woo’s movements.

Uh… hold on. Are these the foot positions for Bluewood Step?

“You’re doing well.”

I’m only learning to walk now. Is it really okay to teach me a footwork method already?

Well, it’s good for me if I learn it.

---

My life was monotonous.

Well, that was only natural.

How colorful could a baby’s life possibly be?

Eating, sleeping, and growing were a baby’s duty, weren’t they?

However, it was so monotonous that outside of cultivation method and footwork method training, as well as documentary viewing time, I spent most of my time accelerating time through Third-Person Avatar.

Personally, the documentaries were extremely interesting.

Perhaps because this was a world where martial arts had become widespread, unlike the world I had lived in, the broad currents of history were the same, but the smaller streams were very different.

Episode 4 of Galactic Murim history mainly covered the growth and competition of the Beggar Sect and Hao Gate.

The Beggar Sect and Hao Gate, information-specialist sects made up of beggars found everywhere in the world and people at the bottom of society, had the same range of activity, yet their natures were drastically different.

As a righteous sect, the Beggar Sect established justice as its reason for existence, while Hao Gate made the protection of the socially weak its reason for existence without concerning itself with law or morality.

As explained in Episode 3, with the fall of the Qing dynasty, the dark age of Murim history ended, and after the world war era passed, Murim revived with only a slight period of stagnation.

However, the Beggar Sect entered a dark age.

Before the Industrial Revolution, people considered it natural for beggars to be anywhere and paid them no attention, but as cities developed, states and societies drove beggars to the outskirts of cities under the pretext of beautifying the urban environment.

Especially when important events such as international gatherings were held, beggars were driven out all the more.

They needed to gather information up close, but they were constantly driven away, so the Beggar Sect’s intelligence network became dreadful.

In contrast, Hao Gate entered its golden age.

Hao Gate’s main force consisted of socially weak people such as inn servers, courtesans in pleasure houses, and peddlers.

After the Industrial Revolution, inns became hotels, pleasure houses became salons for the upper class, and merchants became trading companies that traveled the world, making information gathering even easier.

In particular, cleaning workers, who belonged to a vulnerable class, had infiltrated everywhere, making them excellent for collecting rumors regardless of whether they came from political or financial circles.

For that reason, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the 20th century was the greatest golden age in Hao Gate’s history.

The Beggar Sect, now at an absolute disadvantage, decided to throw off the shackle of being beggars in order to solve its fundamental problem.

In the 20th century, during its worst period of stagnation, the Beggar Sect leader became convinced of the value of internet communication, which had only just begun to emerge, and staked the Beggar Sect’s entire fate on the internet.

The Beggar Sect’s prediction proved perfectly correct.

All kinds of information began pouring onto the internet, and by the 21st century, the Beggar Sect, which had seized the internet first, possessed intelligence-gathering power that overwhelmed Hao Gate.

Using that intelligence network as its foundation, the Beggar Sect began devouring Hao Gate’s territory offline.

For the Beggar Sect, which had abandoned its origin as beggars, there was nothing to hesitate over just because it was Hao Gate’s territory.

Having lost the internet first, and now faced with the Beggar Sect’s offensive offline as well, Hao Gate found itself trapped on all sides.