To Hell With Being a Hero!

The unimaginable coalition of the three factions formed in order to maintain the status quo with the original four. Their plan was to crush humanity before they got bigger and threatened them even more. Having failed in reaching their goal, the Sernitas needed to make up for the loss, and they chose the Demon Empire as the sacrificial pawn. Chi-Hyun had expected all that up to this point. Thus, he focused on the aftermath and tried to predict what the Sernitas’ next move would be after they absorbed the Demon Empire. Since they didn’t lose anything besides one Sky Castle in the great war, it appeared the Sernitas had the means to run wild with all other factions having suffered critical damage.

Yet Chi-Hyun’s prediction turned out to be wrong. After destroying the Demon Empire, the Sernitas had been quiet as a mouse and were still maintaining their silence. Like a hermit on a mountain, they had halted all external activities. It was the same for the Abyss. Factions that had fought vigorously before and during the war showed not even the slightest stir. Chi-Hyun was hit with a foreboding feeling from this sudden silence. There must be something. There was no reason otherwise that these factions would be so quiet, but he couldn’t figure out what that reason was no matter how much he thought about it.

And though he didn’t know what they were scheming, he thought it would be worth a try poking at them. Thus, he had helped behind the scenes in Seven Stars’ recent expedition with Balim as the target. Balim was one of the Seven Chasms that went through a hierarchy change recently. Chi-Hyun had thought the Abyss would react if the expedition team targeted Balim, or at worst, things could escalate into a bigger event. Thus, Chi-Hyun personally moved and spied on the Abyss.

Though the expedition team wasn’t able to catch Balim in the end, they achieved some results: they put an end to an experiment that the Abyss was secretly conducting, yet the Abyss still didn’t move. It might have been a secret base, but they had trespassed into one of the Abyss’ territories all the same. Even then, the Abyss remained on the sidelines like spectators.

‘There’s definitely something going on.’ Unless the Abyss were absolute trolls who suddenly decided to kill themselves, nothing seemed to explain their behavior. Thus, it bothered Chi-Hyun even more. Anyway, Seven Stars’ expedition confirmed one thing at least: the Sernitas and Abyss were hiding something with their current silence, and it was a very well-kept secret. And once their secret plans were complete, the two factions would reveal themselves to the world and begin moving again, which wouldn’t be good news for the Cassiubia League or humanity. Thus, they needed to move before that and not give the two factions time to complete what they were doing.

‘I should have a talk with the dragon,’ Chi-Hyun thought and got up from his seat.

***

The Seven Stars headquarters buzzed with conversations about their new recruit recently. When Chi-Woo first brought her back, Flora was just some nameless, pitiful girl. But in only a couple of days, she became one of the most promising individuals in Seven Stars. It was only expected since she had successfully proved herself against Ru Amuh and Umaru. There was even talk that Chi-Woo had brought Flora back to make her one of his last stars.

In reality, that had already happened and was evident in the way Chi-Woo had been acting recently. Besides Byeok, Chi-Woo also frequently visited the Image Representation space that Chi-Hyun had prepared. All of Seven Stars’ team captains responded similarly. Flora had managed to almost land a blow on not just anyone, but Ru Amuh. Even though Ru Amuh had gone easy on her, Flora had been wholly untrained when she fought him; she was like a blank sheet of paper. While nothing was set in stone at the moment, they thought if they got to return to the Celestial Realm, she might go with them.

Other members thought similarly, but they couldn’t help but have conflicting feelings. They couldn’t say anything since it was Chi-Woo who personally brought Flora into their fold, but her existence made them anxious. If the rumors were true, there was only one star position left.

‘What should I do? What should I do?’ Teresa bit her fingernails out of nervousness. Truthfully, she knew this would happen. The fact that Eun-Hyang, Umaru, and she were in one team seemed to mean that Chi-Woo planned to pick one star among them. She thought the star would be chosen after they came back from the recent expedition, but there was no signs of that happening even after quite some time. The implication was clear: they were still lacking. Even Teresa admitted that none of the three of them had showcased their talent in a notable way during the last expedition. Furthermore, being adequate wasn’t enough. They needed to show a sparkle that would catch Chi-Woo’s eye, yet in the recent expedition, they had only thrown away this precious opportunity.

At this rate, if Chi-Woo brought along another outsider like Apoline or Flora, she might not even have a chance at the last spot.

‘I need to make myself shine somehow…’ Teresa thought. But it wasn’t only her or the temporary captain of the sixth team that was having such thoughts. There was one more person on the main team who shared their sentiments.

Though she couldn’t even dare to show her intention for the Seven Stars position, Hawa intently watched Chi-Woo as he went to the Image Representation Space to check on Flora again. In her usually emotionless eyes, there were conflicted feelings swirling inside.

***

Having been focusing on Flora’s training, Byeok noticed a change recently. She knew that Chi-Woo came to the training site from time to time to quietly watch Flora before leaving. But one day, he stopped showing himself. Why wasn’t he coming to watch even after entering the Image Representation Space? Byeok asked around and found out that Chi-Woo was training in another place.

It was only natural for a hero to train. She would willingly help him out if he asked for it. Since Chi-Woo had risen to a certain level now, she could take a look at him from time to time while teaching Flora. Yet Chi-Woo didn’t go to her to request help. For some reason, a slight sense of dissatisfaction and bitterness crept up to her when one day she saw him training with the ghost that tagged along with him wherever Chi-Woo went. After watching him quietly, Byeok tilted her head.

‘Isn’t that training…?’ Byeok divided training into three types. The first two were ones that trained the body or mind. The third trained both at the same time. Currently, Flora was training her physical body 100%. Since she had the perfect foundation, she needed to keep running on it. In contrast, Chi-Woo was focusing all his senses on training his mind and heart. This was evident in his training process. Besides mana training, Flora was focusing on using her body, while Chi-Woo barely moved. He either bathed in sunlight at the peak of a mountain in a lotus position, or quietly immersed himself in meditation under the waterfall. The only times he used his body were when he did shadowboxing for a bit.

It was understandable. Chi-Woo was at a stage where he couldn’t expect big gains in a short period of time by training his physical body. And if Byeok had to choose between the first two types of training, she preferred the physical training a bit more. For mental training, it was difficult for one to make significant progress unless one had the proper understanding and state of mind.

‘It might be easier to push his body to the limit and force him to reach realization…’ Byeok thought; from what she knew, Chi-Woo’s mental state wasn’t that outstanding. She considered going up to them to give Chi-Woo her guidance, but stopped herself. It was because Chi-Woo and the women-chasing ghost who always circled around him were both whole-heartedly and seriously immersed in their training.

***

—Jung-gi-shin describes the three factors that make up a living human.

—Jung is the essence. It is made up of the original substance of life, including the air that one breathes and the tangible nutrients that the human body receives to maintain life.

—With jung, a person’s gi or energy is generated. And with gi, a person’s shin comes to being. Therefore, one could say that gi is a form of energy that connects one’s jung and shin.

—Shin describes the mental activities that take place in a person’s brain. In other words, it is their mind. Nothing more or less than that.

—Thus, training the jung-gi-shin starts with the shin. Through one’s shin, a person learns to control their jung and gi.

—In the end, this was all just one process. From body to energy—from energy to mind.

—With the harmony of these factors, one could lead their human body to a new path…

Philip shared his knowledge about the human body that he had learned after experiencing death, and Chi-Woo quietly listened. Byeok had misunderstood one thing. The purpose of this training wasn’t for Chi-Woo to rise to a new level. More than that, he didn’t feel the need to awaken himself again. Instead, he was trying hard to understand what Philip was saying like he was studying. After his battle with Bael, Chi-Woo had gained a new understanding, but he couldn’t sort it out properly when he tried to break it down exactly.

To put into words what the realization was, it was a sensation that let him do everything he put his mind to; but he couldn’t exactly describe what it was with that. Chi-Woo thought that the sensation would be somehow connected to the power inside him. If that was the case, it was only natural that he couldn’t comprehend what it was with his current level of understanding. Thus, he needed to contemplate this matter longer and gain a new way of understanding.

To that end, he needed to get right to the core of the principle of jung-gi-shin; then it would serve as a strong foundation for him to understand his mind and body. After all, there was the saying that all mathematical formulas were derived from elementary arithmetics. Chi-Woo’s training was like that. Rather than learning some difficult skill, he thought he should further dive into the fundamentals. Of course, knowing it alone was meaningless. He would need to also learn how to apply this knowledge in practice and use it in real-life situations.

‘Gi is a medium of sorts. With the creation of life, it connects with the jung. With the beginning of thought, it connects with the shin.’ Coming from the brain, gi was used to operate the jung and shin. Chi-Woo used his shin to recall his battle with Bael. He tried to remember how he had fought then and what would’ve happened if he had fought another way. Then, a strange thing happened. Like how 1+1 was 2, but 0 +2 and 3-1 all equaled 2, Philip’s explanation opened a new way of thinking for Chi-Woo.

By approaching the same situation in a different way, new truths came to him one by one. And when he understood and utilized them, the sensations that he had forcefully pushed down became digestible. For example, Philip had given him a piece of advice during his battle with Bael.

—The remaining method is to turn soft to strong…

The strong overcame the soft and the soft overcame the strong. Only clinging to these principles was the same as putting limitations on himself. Even though it was efficient to smolder the strong with softness, there was no need for him to swear upon it. After all, he could respond to the strong with greater strength and softness with greater softness too. The key was for him to understand the basis of these logics and apply them.

—And to carry out this logic in practice, you need to master the essence of stillness in movement….

If Chi-Woo mastered the relationship between stillness and movement, everything would naturally follow even if he didn’t learn the others. This was what Philip wanted to tell him. With the thought in mind, he could imagine without limits by using energy to operate his body and mind as his foundation.

—Be like a storm but also like the mountain breeze. Be like the mountain breeze but also like the storm.

‘I see.’

—Even the same storm could be accompanied by lightning or rain.

‘I suppose that’s one way to think of it.’ Chi-Woo understood what Philip had advised Ru Amuh a long time ago in another way.

—I guess you’ve heard a thing or two…but that’s not what I mean. I’m saying that if you focus too much on strength, you would be limiting yourself in ways of raising strength.

—You know how to withdraw and be flexible, but once you decide on a direction to go, you tend to rely on it too much.

This was the main point that Philip was trying to pass on to Chi-Woo. It was then Chi-Woo realized that Philip hadn’t just been bluffing when he said that he could’ve beat Ru Amuh from that time.

Philip became excited then; Chi-Woo was showing a small change as he understood his teachings one by one. After coming back from his solitary training, as a spirit, Philip saw Chi-Woo’s mind and body filled with light. It was as if he was seeing a holy master returning after great trials and reaching enlightenment.

Soon, the light grew fainter. What had once been scattered all over was neatly put into place one by one. Seeing this process, Philip realized instinctively that Chi-Woo was in the midst of rising to new heights even without achieving new realizations. Chi-Woo himself felt this change clearly. The vessel inside him that made up his body was widening, and extra spaces began to form. To make an analogy, it was like how a cluttered room gained more empty space after the unnecessary items were organized.

‘Then…’ As he had done inside Future Yoo-Joo’s space, Chi-Woo activated the power inside him without hesitation. Byeok and Chi-Hyun would’ve been shocked and horrified if they knew what he was doing. Even Philip foamed in his mouth in terror.

—Hey, hey! You crazy bastard!

Even though Chi-Woo had acknowledged and accepted this power inside him, it didn’t change the fact that he still needed to be careful around it. Thus, how could he just draw it out of himself like this? Philip jumped up and down trying to stop Chi-Woo, but soon settled down. His mouth gaped open as he stared at Chi-Woo.

Chi-Woo didn’t look pained or tortured as he had done before. It was the same for his power. Instead of running berserk, it flowed calmly like a river. It was more stable than any other time and even looked a bit happy. And while being smoldered by this cluster of playfully fluctuating light, Chi-Woo smiled. He had made a promise. Even though the power had been too much for him then, he had promised to accept it someday after trying again and again.

—It’s not going berserk…?

Philip, who didn’t know about the promise the two shared, stared in a daze as Chi-Woo and the light resonated with one another.