Preliminary field trip (2)
Of course, accompanying me to such an event wasn’t something I could do just because I wanted to.
Anyway, the current Hugo was just a diner sitting at Sega as a guest.
“Hmm, I guess they were selecting people here too. As you know, it must be quite dangerous, so are you sure it’s okay? It’s a place where you never know what kind of accident might happen. “The well-planned attack must have been significant.”
“The world is like this, so we can’t just avoid danger. “Can’t we just stay in a safe place like this forever?”
Therefore, the priority was to get permission from the person in charge and create a place where we could be together…
“···Great attitude. Well, in order to properly respond to change in this confusing world, diverse experiences are essential.”
“you’re right. “There is no better opportunity than now to see the wider world and expand your knowledge.”
“I understand what you mean. Then, let me make a separate place for myself.”
He was able to request a meeting with Taesang family head Zhugegunak, who had allowed him to stay in the family, and obtain permission without difficulty.
Of course, if Hugo had been a needless distraction, they wouldn’t have readily agreed, but since he was a military officer who was fully capable of keeping things in order, it wasn’t a big problem.
‘Maybe they thought Harris would intervene when the time comes.’
It was extremely reassuring for the delegation to have a top police officer secretly protecting them.
It may be true, but it wasn’t that big of a deal to give up a seat anyway, so there’s nothing wrong with accepting with the mindset of getting insurance.
However, something unexpected happened next.
“I want to go too.”
Zhuge Hui-mi, who had first told us about the meeting, said he would also go.
“My treatment isn’t finished yet, right? However, if there is a problem while Prince Ha is away, it will be a big problem… Wouldn’t it be better if I went with you too?”
She asserted her opinion with reasonable reasons, but of course such unreasonable arguments could not be accepted.
Because it wasn’t a place to go to have fun in the first place.
What guardian would send a young girl, who is no different from a flower in a greenhouse, to a rough place where certain danger lurks, just to prepare for an emergency that may or may not come?
Honestly, even if she got involved, it would only be a distraction.
“···Ah, that’s a shame. “I tried it just in case, but it still didn’t work.”
Jegal Hye-mi shakes her head with a bitter smile, as if she is regretful of the results that reflect such circumstances.
In response, Hugo looked at her with narrowed eyes.
‘As expected, was it intentional that you told me about that meeting?’
I thought he said it without thinking while chatting as usual, but now that I look at it, it seems like it was calculated from the beginning.
Although I had a strong feeling that I took a stab at it just in case there was something sloppy in the ending.
‘···It’s not that I can’t understand that feeling.’
In fact, I had just recovered from spending my whole life in this closed family, unable to move around freely due to my weak body, and I was just recovering. How terrible was that feeling?
However, it was just too much to try to go to the track when he had just started walking.
From No ble mt L dot c om
“Ugh—I can’t help it. Then, since I will be stuck here and working out hard, Confucius Xia, please tell me about what happened there. “I can look forward to it, right?”
“Well, it shouldn’t be that difficult. “If possible, I will try to get you a souvenir.”
“and! As expected, Confucius! “Then is it a promise?”
After Hugo’s joining was decided.
Perhaps they had been preparing for the meeting for quite some time, and the delegation’s expedition plan, which had already been prepared to some extent, began to quickly take shape.
In the Zhuge Dynasty, the best warriors and magicians and an elder to lead them were selected, and the second son, Zhuge Junghyeok, the son of the current head of the family and one of Zhuge Hye-mi’s older brothers, was appointed as the general manager.
‘I thought at most one of the elders would go because it was dangerous, but this is more serious than I thought? I never would have thought that even the direct lineage of the family head would step forward in person.’
Perhaps this is unavoidable in order to avoid unnecessary disputes as much as possible and build Sega’s prestige.
Since the distance was not that far, they may have judged it to be relatively less dangerous.
‘···Then I guess I’ll have to focus more on training until preparations are over.’
Although Shaolin Temple, the meeting place, was relatively closer than other places, in terms of simple distance, it was a little less than the distance from Seoul to Busan, so there was bound to be a lot of preparation.
So, even though the plan had already progressed to some extent, the additional time it took was about 15 days.
Time passed quickly while Hugo was busy training to get used to his newly acquired abilities.
Finally, the day for the delegation to leave arrived.
The main gate of the Zhuge family, lined with numerous carriages and horses.
“Then, please be careful. “You know the promise, right?”
After saying hello to her brother, Jegal Jung-hyeok, and her elder brother, Jegal Hye-mi, who came hurriedly to where he was and opened her mouth cheerfully.
In that bright voice, there was a worry that he couldn’t hide that he may have done something for nothing, but to him, it was just a meaningless worry.
“Don’t worry, Zhuge Xiaoze. Because I have the ability to somehow get this body out. Of course, it would be best if nothing like that happened.”
“···Then, I’ll be waiting for your gift.”
So the delegation, including Hugo and Ha Seung-hun, left Sega and moved north.
***
Dagdak—dagak—
While the horses and carriages carrying the delegation moved along the road, Hugo remained motionless and quietly closed his eyes inside the carriage filled with various luggage.
“Whoa—.”
It was a moment when I felt like I would never see the results of the training I had done right before I left Sega, so I just couldn’t let go.
‘Sweet, I think I just need to do a little more.’
He took several deep breaths and sank deeply into himself.
Breathing was the most important factor in handling internal energy.
In fact, this is a phrase that is commonly used by all living creatures, but it was especially emphasized in the mysteries of martial arts that purify and manipulate energy.
‘When accumulating energy, refining it with internal energy, using it with the body, and even when performing martial arts, breathing is all involved.’
In this Ganghwan world, Naegongsimbeop is called a breathing method for no reason.
So what would happen if you could control your breathing at will?
‘Underwater breathing’ is a skill that allows you to breathe underwater through your skin rather than your nose and mouth. If only I could twist it well and make it usable on earth…’
It is possible to finely control the energy in the body by breathing using the pores of the entire body, rather than simply the nose and mouth.
I was able to guarantee its effectiveness because I had already experimented with it by staying in the bathtub for several days while I was at the Zhuge family.
If there’s one problem there, it’s that, unfortunately, humans in this world are creatures that live on land, not in water.
‘Of course, if you don’t breathe normally, it won’t be very effective.’
Hugo tried to focus his mind, trying to shake off the memories that were fluttering in his mind: the people who would come to him from time to time to check whether he had drowned while he was in the middle of training in the bathtub.
No matter how flexibly the skill can be applied depending on the user’s skill level, there are limits to that.
Of course, it was not easy to freely modify a skill that was clearly stated in its name to be only usable ‘underwater’.
‘But it doesn’t mean there is no way.’
It was something I had already experienced several times.
The evolution of a skill that occurs when multiple skills are combined into one.
So, the topic he is currently focusing on is harmonizing “Underwater Breathing” and “Underwater Breathing” into one.
By mobilizing all of my strengths as a person from another world, my avatar’s growth potential, my “versatility” and the elixir’s medicinal properties, etc.
‘Already, the elixirs collected by Harris are piled up in a pile that cannot be digested, but once this whole body breathing is completed, the speed will increase dramatically…!’
But when he was in the middle of a trance like that.
Quaaang!
Shush shush—!
The planned event occurred.
“It’s an attack! “Everyone get down and form a formation!”
Heeheeheehee—!
“Reaction detected in both directions, northeast and northwest!”
Shhh!
“Arrows are flying! Protect your horses!”
The sudden commotion broke their concentration and a bloody fight began.
Actually, it wasn’t that bad.
I had already guessed that there would be an attack anyway, and I was able to get a feel for “imitation” by observing the martial arts of the Zhuge family’s warriors and the attackers who went into battle.
however···.
Beep!
“Enemy attack! “It’s an enemy attack!”
“Everyone wake up!”
Even in the middle of the night when we were setting up camp and going to bed.
“Waaah!”
“Hit—!”
“You guys! How dare you know who we are!”
“hahahaha! Aren’t they cowards who stay in their own homes like turtles? “You somehow managed to get out like this!”
Even at the moment when I was passing through the unmaintained and disorganized Guando.
“When these guys eat in a dishonest manner…!”
“evil! Dust! “I just had a drink!”
“Is now the time to worry about that?!”
Even when we stop for a meal.
I was constantly so confused that I couldn’t do anything that required concentration.
‘···I never thought it would be like this.’
As the situation continued, Hugo could not help but feel embarrassed.
When I first came to this world as Harris, I used the wind spirit to fly through the sky, and when I landed on the ground, I didn’t really feel it because no one dared attack me easily…
‘I guess I was so stuck in a safe place that I didn’t know reality.’
I knew about it, but this was my first time experiencing it like this.
Now I could truly feel the situation Kang Hwan-gye was in.
I never would have thought that public order would be this messed up.
‘Certainly in a situation like this, it would be worth forming a delegation and preparing so thoroughly. ‘I didn’t mean to scare you.’
From the elite fighting units of rival forces to bandits, rogues, and civilians who seem to have been led as arrows.
The world outside the sphere of influence was a chaotic place filled with madness, to the extent that even Zhuge Emperor, who was considered the loser of a region, could not easily see it.
‘···I did a proper preliminary survey.’
It was good to have achieved one of the goals of this trip, but I couldn’t be very happy about that fact right now.
That’s because the stress about the current situation was creeping up to the top of my head.
‘Ah, I think something could be done if I had just a little bit of free time…!’
The glimmering edge of enlightenment that seems almost out of reach.
When something needs to be accomplished through concentration, interference comes in, and when you try to fix it again, commotion arises.
It quickly eroded Hugo’s patience and created an unquenchable thirst—.
“Khahahaha! Those savants are trying to pass through our area without permission! “Maybe we should give him a hazing ceremony?”
“hey! You slaves! If you don’t want to fall behind, run forward quickly! “If you come back alive, you’ll let me eat your fill of meat?”
“Ugh… Ugh!”
The moment I saw the skinny people wearing nothing but rags and carrying rusty spears rushing in without warning, and the Murim people giggling behind them.
Just like that, my last remaining patience was gone.
‘Now that I think about it, why did I come to this world… to the world of Kang Hwan?’
He was lost in thought in a scene where madness swirled.
why?
To create a new source of karma.
And in order to restore the world that Beoncheonhoeju ruined and thwart his plan.
In other words, it was to take the lead in normalizing the world.
‘So what should I do now between intervening and watching?’
It is best to intervene in order to receive karma immediately.
However, in order to normalize the world, it is better not to hastily intervene but to understand the relationship and situation between forces more closely…
‘No, that’s not it.’
Would leaving those human steeds alone be a big hindrance to your plans?
In the first place, is it possible to normalize the world in a situation where people like that walk around freely?
‘Okay, since you can’t work in the garbage dump, it would be better to start by cleaning up any visible dirt first. Like cleaning your room first before you start studying.’
Hugo quietly closed his eyes and nodded heavily.
I felt like there was something wrong with the example, but now was not the time to nitpick over such trivial things.
Because it was important that he decided to do it anyway.
‘Then who would be better as a cleaner?’
Harris, who had experience, was not very willing to put himself forward for this kind of work.
Although he has already shown an aggressive side against his opponents once, the idea of his personality twisting depending on the external environment felt a bit uneasy.
‘then···.’
Several candidates passed through my mind.
And after careful consideration, I was finally able to choose one.
“aaah—!”
“Kill!”
“Save me… please save me!”
A battlefield full of blood, screams, anger and madness.
In a place far away from this place where Hugo is.
Ssssssssss—
About an hour ago, at a corner of the road where the Zhuge Dynasty’s delegation had passed.
“hehehe!”
A madman who will fill this world and devour the swirling madness… No.
“Ah, that’s good! hahahaha—!”
The Gwangma (狂魔) opened his eyes.
