Beyond the Door(1)
Inside a cramped room, a man was thrashing about like a madman.
He swung his fist at the wall.
Thud! Bang!
The wall dented with a deep metallic sound.
Thud! Bang! Thud! Bang!
He kept punching, but the thick steel wall only caved in without breaking or collapsing.
The man’s entire body was veined like writhing worms, and his breath was as ragged as if he’d run a thousand miles.
Suddenly, he turned his head sharply. On the opposite wall, there was a hole the size of a grown man’s hand, and someone was peering in.
Like a predator spotting prey, the man lunged at the wall.
Thud! Thud!
When pounding the wall proved futile, he peered through the hole. He saw two figures on the other side.
“Grrr…”
A murderous intent surged within him, a desire to break through the wall and kill the two people outside.
Meanwhile, the two observers remained calm. They were none other than Marengin and Chudochi.
Chudochi, slightly flushed, spoke with a hint of excitement as he faced the man with bloodshot eyes.
“He’s still full of life. I have a good feeling about this time.”
Marengin reminded him of reality.
“The real test starts now.”
Chudochi lit incense with a lamp attached to the wall. Smoke began to curl up as the incense burned.
“If he can hold out until the incense burns out, we’ll succeed.”
Tension flickered in Chudochi’s eyes. They had failed repeatedly over the years, wasting enormous time and resources. More than anything, the constant failures had worn him down.
‘Please, just this once! Burn faster!’
But contrary to his desperate wish, the incense burned slowly.
The man, who had been pacing the room, suddenly stopped.
“Ugh!”
His eyes widened, the whites turning a fiery red. His eyes, now completely red, looked as if they were seeing a ghost.
“No! Hold on!”
Chudochi shouted desperately, while Marengin watched impassively.
The man in the room began to convulse again, more violently than before.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The thick steel wall dented, but the man’s hands remained unscathed.
“Just a little longer, hold on.”
Encouraged by Chudochi, the man pressed his face to the hole, gasping as if pleading for mercy.
“Endure it! You bastard! Hold on!”
“Ugh!”
The man convulsed in agony, then suddenly went still.
Splat.
Blood oozed from his facial orifices as he collapsed to the floor. Silence filled the once-chaotic room.
Chudochi sighed, looking down at the incense he held. More than half remained.
“Damn it!”
He glanced at Marengin, who stood beside him. Though Marengin showed no outward sign, he was clearly furious.
Chudochi quickly held up the remaining incense to Marengin.
“He lasted a bit longer today.”
But his words offered no comfort. Instead, they seemed to trigger something in Marengin, who strode purposefully away.
He stopped in front of a room exuding a strange aura.
He tried to open the door, but it was locked.
Marengin spoke quietly.
“Open the door.”
But the door remained shut.
Chudochi watched, feeling a twinge of anxiety. Marengin was angrier than usual.
“I said open it!”
As Marengin raised his voice, a man named Iho appeared at the end of the corridor.
He walked briskly and blocked the door.
“You can’t do this.”
“Move.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t. We agreed not to force it open if it wasn’t opened from the inside.”
Iho explained calmly, not budging an inch.
Marengin’s anger shifted to Iho.
“I said move.”
“If you keep this up, I’ll have to report it to the higher-ups.”
“Higher-ups? And what about me? Am I the lower-downs? Your footstool?”
Despite Marengin’s outburst, Iho didn’t flinch.
Just then, there was a sound.
Tap.
It was just a single knock from the opposite room. A quiet warning to be silent.
Iho trembled all over. The man who hadn’t been afraid of Marengin’s fury was now scared.
Marengin asked quickly.
“Who on earth is in that room?”
Surprisingly, even Marengin didn’t know who was in the room with the powerful aura.
Only Iho, the overseer, knew what was inside.
“You bastards! If you didn’t trust me, you shouldn’t have recruited me in the first place. If you did, you should trust me to the end!”
Chudochi, watching, was inwardly surprised. Both Iho and Marengin were not the type to show their emotions easily.
Despite countless failures, Marengin had never been this angry before.
“Please leave.”
At Iho’s dismissal, Marengin spoke coldly.
“Arrogant bastard. You’ll regret this.”
As Marengin turned to leave, he suddenly recalled the words of a nameless guest.
-You really seem to have a taste for arrogant people.
“Damn it!”
Marengin, who was heading to his room, turned around and walked out.
Chudochi, watching, could sense it.
Marengin was changing. Though he didn’t yet know why.
The streets of Jeongju were starting to bustle.
Though there were still ten days until the grand festival, people from all over the central plains were already gathering. As it was a festival for merchants, countless traders from various regions were converging.
Unfamiliar goods were displayed in the marketplace, drawing crowds eager to buy.
I, too, was swept along by the crowd, browsing the goods.
There were truly all sorts of items.
I bought a few things as I wandered. Some were necessities, others were impulsive purchases. Among them was a scent I thought I might use someday.
In any case, my knowledge of martial arts artifacts was put to good use, and I avoided being overcharged or deceived by fakes.
I bought a bracelet and a fishing rod, spending nearly all of the seven thousand nyang I had left. Rather than feeling wasteful, I felt oddly liberated.
When I returned to the inn, Marengin was sitting on the first floor, drinking.
“Did you come looking for me?”
“Indeed.”
Judging by the empty bottles, he’d been there for a while.
I sat across from him and ordered more drinks and food.
“You could have given me a heads-up.”
“I drink just fine on my own.”
“Good timing. I was just in the mood for a drink.”
I downed the drink Marengin poured in one go. Was it because my body felt younger? Or had my mindset changed? The alcohol went down smoother and tasted better than in my days as a leader.
Back then, I had no time to enjoy a proper drink. Afraid of making mistakes, I used my inner strength to expel the alcohol as soon as it entered my body.
At the time, all I thought about was the duties of leadership and the peace of the martial world. When I wasn’t overwhelmed with work, I was absorbed in martial arts training.
Now, I was beginning to understand why I hadn’t reached the state of mind-sword. It wasn’t a lack of earnestness. My way of life was flawed. How could I achieve the mind-sword state with a life bound by rigid obligations and filled with greedy training?
If only I had taken the time to enjoy a drink, travel occasionally. If I had known then what I know now, it would have been wonderful.
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“They say curiosity kills the cat, but damn it, I can’t help it. How did you get involved in all this?”
“All this?”
“The things I saw underground. The man who bled to death, the room with that strange aura. It’s not normal, is it?”
“Could be the man was a villain. Maybe the Martial Alliance was torturing him to uncover his backers.”
I chuckled.
“Do I look that naive? What about the people I killed at the gambling den? Were they Martial Alliance warriors too?”
Marengin laughed with me.
“You’re sharp.”
“If I were sharp, would I be asking these questions? There’s something else I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
“Is this something you’re doing on your own, or is the leader involved?”
“What do you think?”
“I think it’s something you’re doing independently.”
“Why do you think that?”
Marengin’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“No matter what, the leader of the Martial Alliance wouldn’t be involved in something so shady, right?”
Marengin laughed again.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Aren’t you different on the outside and inside? The world knows you as a hero, but in reality, you’re just…”
“A petty man with a love for money. So, does the leader know about this?”
I looked at him with interest.
“Could be, or maybe not.”
“So you’re not going to tell me.”
“You said it yourself, knowing too many secrets can get you killed. Let’s not end our connection over idle curiosity.”
The man who planned to use me and then kill me was saying this with a straight face. In a way, it was almost admirable.
“Here, take this.”
I pulled something from my pocket. It was one of the items I bought at the market earlier.
“A gift for you.”
It was a portable whetstone, perfect for sharpening a sword on the go. Among portable options, it was one of the best and most expensive, lightweight yet highly effective.
“It can’t compare to the kindness you’ve shown me, but I wanted to offer something in return. I wish I could have gotten you something grander, but I wasn’t sure what to choose.”
“Does this mean you trust me now?”
I shook my head.
“Your kindness still feels like a trap. But sometimes in life, we walk into things knowing full well what they are, don’t we? I’m tired today, so I’ll head up and rest. Feel free to stay and drink.”
I retreated upstairs as if fleeing.
Before entering my room, I glanced back. He was still seated, staring at the whetstone.
This was the moment my tactical gesture of goodwill seemed to take effect.
Two days later, the Maeryeongin summoned me to the manor.
Whether my gesture had worked or it was mere coincidence, I couldn’t tell.
Chudochi arrived, blindfolded me, and took me there by carriage.
“At this point, do we really need the blindfold?”
“At this point? Do we even have something you could call a ‘relationship’?”
His irritable response made it clear. He was still upset about the twenty thousand nyang from before.
It’s always advantageous when your enemies are emotionally unsettled. In such times, I must keep my own mind calm and composed.
I stepped out of the carriage and entered the manor. I focused intently, counting my steps, noting when to turn, and observing which mechanism opened the secret passage to the underground.
Thanks to this, I noticed Chudochi adjusting a wall-mounted lamp to open the passage.
The door opened, and the mechanism carried us down.
A low hum filled the air.
We walked the same corridor as before, the oppressive aura from the four mechanisms still palpable.
Turning a corner, a new corridor appeared.
We passed a room guarded by eight men. Their presence signaled that the Maeryeongin was here.
Next, we encountered two adjacent rooms.
One exuded a mysterious energy, the other a powerful aura.
I was led to the final room where I had dined with him previously.
When the blindfold was removed, the Maeryeongin was seated with another man—the one who had previously barred my entry.
“Introduce yourselves.”
I greeted him first.
“You may not know me, but I have no name. Just call me Nameless.”
The man replied curtly.
“I have no name either.”
Then the Maeryeongin interjected.
“But isn’t there a title you go by?”
The man’s expression briefly hardened before he spoke evenly.
“I’m called Iho.”
Iho. My suspicions were confirmed. He was indeed from the same organization as her.
“If you’re Iho, you must be quite skilled. You’re right after Ilho, aren’t you?”
I tossed it out as a joke, but I was genuinely curious. Did their organization rank by skill, or were the numbers just arbitrary?
He offered no response.
He reminded me of Chilho, whom I’d met before, but this man was different.
Chilho had an air of melancholy and futility, a longing to escape her role.
But this man was not like that. He was content and committed to his work, striving to excel. Easy to manipulate, yet extremely dangerous.
“Now that he’s part of the family, why don’t you show him around?”
Iho’s expression tightened slightly.
A silent battle of wills was unfolding between the two.
This was exactly what I wanted.
If my opponent had been Majungsoo, I would have smiled with satisfaction.
But instead of rejoicing, I reminded myself to be cautious.
Our recent interactions had certainly led to this moment. But while our relationship might be a ‘catalyst,’ it would never be the ‘result.’ He wasn’t someone who would spare me just because we were on good terms. He would find a way to exploit even this connection.
The Maeryeongin was like a deep, dark well with no bottom in sight.
Perhaps today’s meeting was to set in motion what they had discussed that day.
I must be careful.
Iho glanced between me and the Maeryeongin, then rose without delay.
“Follow me.”
With a trembling heart, I followed Iho and the Maeryeongin to the room exuding the mysterious energy.