Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Practical Combat Training

As I entered the market, I looked around.

The savory smell drifting from a gukbap restaurant, the thick steam rising from a dumpling shop, and the many people passing through the market.

For someone like me, who had grown up in the countryside, those were the images that came to mind first when I heard the word “market.”

But the market before my eyes was different.

Rather than a warm image, it felt cold, dead, and lifeless.

It was probably not only because it was past midnight.

After all, in this alley, I could not see even a single dumpling shop or gukbap restaurant, the sort of place any proper market should have.

“You said there would be delicious food if we went to the market, didn’t you? There’s nothing here!”

Aris, who was sitting on my left shoulder, frowned.

Far from delicious food, the place was packed only with shops advertising short-term loans and pawnshops.

She did not know what those meant, but no matter how she looked at them, they did not seem edible.

“You ate that much chicken and pizza, yet you are talking about eating again, du. Sometimes, you should sit upright and meditate like me, du.”

Poporu, who was sitting on my right, clicked his tongue as if there was no helping her.

“Hey, lousy Kung-du! If you don’t want to get beaten up again, you’d better stop du-duing and stay quiet! I can cross over and smack you right now!”

“Don’t.”

“Yes!”

Aris sprang up, then sat down obediently as if nothing had happened.

Today, just in case, I had not left my demon friends at home.

Aris on the left, Poporu on the right!

It was hard to call them a reliable combination, but in any case, having them with me kept me from being bored.

I checked the map on my phone and moved deeper inside.

The place I had come to, which bought Lowest-Grade Magic Stones, was located among the shops in this alley’s commercial district.

Setting aside the fact that they paid well, they were open twenty-four hours a day.

They also said they had plenty of cash prepared, so one could call it an excellent shop.

“My lord, du. May I ask one thing, du?”

“No.”

“Ddu?!”

“I’m joking. What is it?”

“Why did you come all this long way here, du?”

“Hmm.”

I opened my mouth as I continued walking.

“Because there might be unexpected luck?”

“Luck, du?”

“That’s how people’s hearts are. Even when the money in your hands is absurdly insufficient, you still want to pay off all the remaining loan principal in one shot somehow. It’s realistically impossible, but you still hope an opportunity will come from some strange place. That sort of feeling.”

“Boss, since you came here in person, did you come to grab that opportunity by the hair?”

“That isn’t exactly wrong, but...”

I turned my head to the left and stared at Aris.

What on earth was she watching on my phone for her vocabulary to get rougher by the day?

“My lord, du. I have felt this since earlier, but your disguise today is excellent, du. A pitch-black hat that melts into the deep night, and... What is that called, du?”

“A mask.”

“The musque is excellent, du! It is the night itself, du!”

“Hey, you stupid, smooth-headed Kung-du! It’s a mask, a mask! And what do you mean, disguise? He just wore it to look cool! Am I right?!”

Was it because our eyes met and I stared at her for a long while?

She sat quietly in her seat again.

I always felt this, but she had a talent for inviting punishment.

“There is a light, du!”

“From now on, shh.”

“Hup!”

“Dup!”

Aris and Poporu covered their mouths with both hands.

I walked alone toward the shop with its lights on.

Unlike the shop in Sillim, “Cash Farming from Today,” this place had a young owner who looked to be in his early twenties.

“Welcome. You’re the person who contacted me through TallaGram, right?”

The owner, who seemed to have been waiting anxiously, sprang up and greeted me.

“Hello. Yes, that’s right. I’m the one who contacted you about selling Lowest-Grade Magic Stones.”

“Whew, I thought you weren’t coming. There are so many people these days who contact us and then no-show. Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Do-guk.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Please wait just a moment. I’ll prepare it for you right away.”

After shaking my hand, Lee Do-guk took a thick envelope and a bill counter out from under the table.

Lee Do-guk took out bundles of 50,000-won bills and fed them into the counter.

The number 1,750 appeared on the counter’s screen.

“35,000 won each. This is the purchase amount for 500 Lowest-Grade Magic Stones. And this is...”

Lee Do-guk grinned and took out ten more 50,000-won bills.

“This is our shop’s first-visit service. Please visit us again next time.”

“Oh, thank you.”

As Ryu Jin brightly accepted the envelope, the corner of Lee Do-guk’s mouth twitched.

‘No, I’m the one who should be thanking you.’

The reason he paid more than ten percent above other shops per stone and even gave this kind of service was simple.

Because, after a few dozen minutes, that money would come back to him anyway.

Like magic.

“I’ve confirmed 500 Lowest-Grade Magic Stones. You must be cash farming hard.”

“I’m working hard without even sleeping.”

“Take it easy. No matter how easy the floor is, the Labyrinth is a place where a single mistake can cost you your life. Then please be careful on your way, and I hope you visit again.”

“Thank you. Keep up the hard work.”

Ryu Jin bowed his head and turned around.

Hiss.

Lee Do-guk, who lit a cigarette, watched the back of the customer walking away.

“You’re the one who needs to start working hard now.”

He stretched lazily and sat down in his chair.

Including the sucker from earlier in the day, his net profit for the day alone was more than twenty million won.

It was truly a lucky day.

---

How long had I walked after leaving the shop?

A group of six or seven blocked the path.

Perhaps they had come after drinking heavily, because the smell of alcohol reached all the way here.

“Hellooo... Hic! Ugh... It’s spinning. Usually, we start with a greeting and proceed politely, but our condition isn’t good right now. We’ll skip some of that.”

The guy standing at the very front held out his hand.

“You have the cash you got from selling Magic Stones just now, right? Hand it over. If you don’t want to get beaten up at dawn.”

“Mister, hurry up and give it to us. You’re annoying me. I’m pissed because only we had to come while the others kept drinking.”

Without answering, I looked around.

Then I entered one of the alleys that seemed suitable.

“What’s this? Where’s that mister going?”

“Bro! That’s a dead-end alley anyway!”

“Hey, hey, hurry up and follow him! It’ll be annoying if he reports us.”

I did not care what they said behind me.

Because I had entered while knowing it was a dead end.

After putting my back against the wall, I looked at the guys staggering after me.

For Evil Eye’s Unique Ability Motion Detection to work, they had to enter my sight all at once.

“Damn it, I said I feel sick, and you still run away! Come here!”

A hand roughly stretched out and grabbed me by the collar.

I lowered my gaze and quietly looked at the hand pulling me.

To be honest, I was surprised.

They were this weak?

I slowly raised my hand and grabbed that hand.

Crunch.

“Gaaah!”

I could not break it in one go like in a movie.

I was not that strong.

But it was enough to twist it at once and force him to his knees.

‘How old is he?’

I was surprised again by the face I saw up close.

He looked like he had only just become a high school student.

To already be doing something like this, this market must have been quite a rough place.

“Let go of this! Let go—”

SMACK!

After striking him with the outside of my fist, I stared at the rest of the group.

“What the hell are you, you bastard?! Do you know who we are?”

“Mister, are you crazy? We were going to let you go nicely!”

I could clearly see their confusion, perhaps because this was the first time they had experienced a situation like this.

Was that why?

“Huuuuuuu.”

My tension instead loosened, and composure seeped in.

“Hey, just stomp this bastard!”

“Rush him all at once!!”

I steadied my breathing and took a stance.

The reason I had not been surprised by their appearance from the beginning was simple.

Because I had come here wanting this situation in the first place.

Was I insane?

Even I thought that might be true.

But what could I do?

My enemies were not only in the Labyrinth.

No matter how much I soared and crawled around inside the Labyrinth, it would mean nothing if I fell flat in reality.

That was why I needed it.

Practical combat training like what I had done against the monster Gangchi in the Labyrinth.

Through that, I had to figure it out.

What could I do inside the Labyrinth, and what could I not do in reality?

And in reality, what percentage of my Labyrinth combat power could I bring out?

Whoooosh!

I looked at the fist stretching toward me.

It was far slower than our Kung-du’s thrust, and even slower than the tree branch Jin Hwayeon had casually stretched out while yawning.

Since this was a comfortable real battle, let us use what I had learned as much as possible.

I recalled First Blossom Step, the footwork I had learned from Jin Hwayeon and repeated thousands of times inside Plum Blossom Venerable.

Since I was outside the Labyrinth, the trait called First Blossom Step did not exist.

However, perhaps thanks to Evil Eye and the Physical Training trait, my body remembered all of those processes.

‘Lightly, as though the first flower is blooming.’

Rustle.

I stepped forward and let the flying fist slide past.

Naturally, it was not as perfect as when I had done it inside Plum Blossom Venerable.

But this much was satisfactory.

If I repeated it, then even if I did not acquire it as a trait, I would gradually become more proficient at imitating it.

I brought my fingertips to the side of the guy I had just passed.

[One-Inch Punch]

CRACK!!

With a short scream, the guy slammed into the wall.

Seeing that he was even foaming at the mouth, he seemed to have fainted.

“You crazy bastard!”

I used Evil Eye to read their movements and stepped with First Blossom Step, avoiding every attack flying at me.

Then I brought my shoulder toward the closest guy.

Iron Mountain Lean, which I had acquired when Kung Fu rose to Level 3.

It was a technique that explosively pushed away an opponent in close contact using the shoulder or back.

CRACK!

The guy floated into the air, flew away, and became tangled with the group.

Perhaps because they were dead drunk, they collapsed all at once from that one blow.

In the meantime, I steadied my breathing.

If I were the stylish protagonist of a comic or anime, I would have stopped around here with a line like, “You understand the gap between us now, don’t you?”

But my Kung Fu master, Poporu, had said repeatedly.

When an opportunity appeared, beating them thoroughly until they retired was Kung-du Style Kung Fu.

I immediately ran over and carefully beat down the staggering guys one by one.

The group of juvenile delinquents became one with the ground without even putting up proper resistance.

I turned around and looked at the sprawled-out guys.

‘This actually works.’

As a former developer, I had simulated countless situations before coming here.

I had brought Poporu and Aris in preparation for the worst among them.

But I had not expected it to end this smoothly.

‘Du... Duuu...!’

Poporu, the Demon of Kung-du, who had been watching nearby, swallowed dryly.

He had planned to beat up the wicked group together with his lord, but it had ended far too overwhelmingly.

‘This should have been my lord’s first real battle, du...! What happened, du!’

Even though he had seen it himself, he could hardly believe it.

Every splendid flower had a time when it was a sprout.

In that sense, in one’s first real battle, mistakes were bound to come out from tension and fear.

But far from making mistakes, his lord executed what he had learned without a single error, like some kind of machine.

Poporu performed a fist-and-palm salute toward Ryu Jin.

He was certain.

His lord would surely bloom fully.

More beautifully than any flower.

And in another corner.

Aris, who had been hiding and watching, had eyes that shook violently.

‘He isn’t sane...!’

Before they set off, he had said they were going to do practical combat training, so she had wondered what he meant.

But it had truly been exactly that. A real battle.

It was absolutely impossible for someone with their head screwed on straight—

Flinch!

Their eyes met again.

“You were insulting me, weren’t you?”

“I wasn’t!”

“Really? Then let’s go.”

I seated Poporu and Aris on my shoulders, just as I had when we came.

Aris on the left, Poporu on the right... Or was it the opposite? In any case.

“Huh? Aren’t we going home?”

“No.”

I smiled and walked back the way we had just come.

How could I just leave it like this?

This unexpected luck.