Chapter 9
There are many tangled events that led me to open a martial arts dojo.
My parents died in an accident as soon as I was born.
I was sent to an orphanage and raised there.
I was an orphan in my past life, and I’m an orphan here too… I felt dejected for a moment, but I soon pulled myself together and threw myself into the training of martial arts.
It was when I was a snot-nosed kid that I realized I couldn't cultivate internal energy.
Still, it wasn't as if I hadn't tried my best to practice martial arts in my own way.
I discovered that I could, at the very least, practice external techniques.
Even so… how should I put it? The desire I had in my past life to "witness the pinnacle of martial arts!" had completely cooled and vanished.
I just grew up, practicing external techniques here and there.
After that?
I left the orphanage and became independent. I was living by doing manual labor when I met Park Kang-chan.
Park Kang-chan was a screw-loose kid with no common sense back then, but after getting beaten up by me a few times, he volunteered to become my disciple.
Since I opened my martial arts dojo because of that… you could say Park Kang-chan practically designed my future.
Because Park Kang-chan was a famous Awakened in Korea, other Awakened he knew began to frequent my dojo.
Currently, there are six Awakened attending my dojo. There are twelve non-Awakened civilians.
Since the tuition is quite expensive, I was earning enough to live comfortably even with this number of students.
Because my dojo teaches practical combat, which is different from typical martial arts gyms, it is quite well-regarded by the Awakened.
And as for Shin A-rim…
She is a woman who lives her life with a sense of seriousness in everything.
Her skill is number one in my martial arts dojo.
In other words, she is stronger in martial arts than Park Kang-chan.
However, that doesn't mean she is a superior Awakened.
Because the strength of an Awakened varies wildly depending on their class.
Actually, that is why my martial arts dojo isn't overflowing with people.
Martial arts? What’s the point of learning that? A Unique class is a thug.
That kind of sentiment is rampant.
I don't think that sentiment is necessarily wrong, either.
Even in the Jianghu of my past life, if you were born with a Heavenly Martial Body, you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, and if you were an average talent, you were likely to die young from qi deviation while trying to master a legendary divine technique.
The starting points are different to begin with, so what can you do?
Come to think of it.
I was born with a spoon of my own.
A "past-life spoon," if you will.
If not for the memories of my past life, would I have been able to achieve the first-ever perfect clear of the tutorial?
"I apologize for dropping by so late at night. I wanted to offer my congratulations first, and I also wanted to ask what your thoughts were regarding our company..."
Unlike Park Kang-chan, who was dressed in a sharp suit, Shin A-rim was wearing sportswear, as if she had rushed over right after a workout.
"No need to apologize. Come on in, Ms. Shin."
I am not the type to look down on someone just because they are a student.
If it were my past life, I would have said, "Disciple, you have come? Go and brew a cup of tea."
But am I not a proper human of modern Earth now?
"Kang-chan. You were here too?"
"Of course. I’m the Master’s top disciple, so naturally, I was here first. And you, Ms. Shin, you arrived quite quickly yourself?"
"The Master is someone who should join the company I belong to. Kang-chan, step aside."
"Oh, ho. Are you ignoring our Woongryeok?"
Hmm~ My two disciples are growling at each other.
Well, it can't be helped. Shin A-rim is the ace of the Yuseong Group.
Isn't that the same as Park Kang-chan being the ace of the Woongryeok Group?
"Now, now. Both of you, stop it..."
As I was trying to stop them, I heard the sound of someone running up the stairs through the open door.
My martial arts dojo is located on the third floor of a building without an elevator, so naturally, one has to come up the stairs.
Who is it this time? Another Awakened student?
While I was thinking that, someone suddenly walked in.
Then, seeing me, they bowed their head.
It was a man in his forties wearing a neat suit.
"Nice to meet you. Are you Director Park Kang-chan—no, Director Lee Mu-seon?"
"I am. Who are you?"
"I am from the Dimensional Tower Management Bureau."
A civil servant this time?
* * *
[Did you hear a crazy newbie appeared in our country?] (3)
[F*ck! A Korean did it!] (1)
[Are we the strongest now?] (4)
[Lol, if you didn't emigrate, upvote] (12)
[But honestly, the super newbie will probably emigrate soon too] (2457)
[Tutorial reward upgrade is seriously a godsend] (5)
[Dammit! Why wasn't there a reward upgrade when I entered the tutorial!!] (54)
The Dimensional Tower community. The Korean region tab is peaceful today as well.
It’s burning up with talk about me, though.
Well, this place was always burning.
The Dimensional Tower community board is a service provided by the Dimensional Tower; you can access it via computer, but you can also peek at it through the system window.
In other words, any Awakened can use it anywhere, and non-Awakened can access it via phone or PC.
Perhaps because it is provided directly by the Tower's system, this [Dimensional Tower Community] is used so frequently that it crushes other types of communities.
And right now, I, Lee Mu-seon, am occupying the issues of Korea.
Well, obviously.
Because the first clear doesn't just benefit me; it brings tremendous benefits to Korea as well.
Anyway, the post about me emigrating has become a total battlefield. The replies are just piling up.
It’s a bountiful harvest.
"To think it would turn out like this in just a day..."
The awakening happened late last night, and all that chaos ensued.
After Park Kang-chan and Shin A-rim arrived, people from the Dimensional Tower Management Bureau rushed over, and people from the Awakened Association rushed over, too. Then, even people claiming to be agents from other large corporations barged in, but I told them all to get lost.
To come back when they had proper terms to offer.
After that, I slept, woke up, sent a message to the students that the dojo would be closed for the day, and grabbed a rough breakfast.
Now, what am I going to do from here?
I’m planning to enter the Tower.
They say that, on average, an Awakened enters the Dimensional Tower about once a month.
They say magic recovery usually takes about a week, but it's because fighting for your life inside is incredibly grueling.
I’m an exception because I cleared the tutorial.
The tutorial doesn't consume magic, after all.
Anyway, while it's said that Hunters revive even if they die, everything else feels realistic.
It means that while you do revive if you actually die, if you come out of the Tower with your limbs severed, you have to treat that yourself.
In other words, it’s painful, and you could end up crippled.
Some Hunters even say that in the case of being crippled, it’s better to just die and revive to regenerate your limbs.
Because of things like that, they say there are many who develop PTSD and give up on conquering the Dimensional Tower.
That’s why they say it’s the national rule to enter the Dimensional Tower once a month.
However, Awakened who call themselves the "conquest party" say they enter as soon as their magic recovers.
Well, they are basically battle-maniacs who aren't afraid of getting hurt.
Actually, I’m one of them, too.
So, since I’ve had my breakfast, shall I head in right away?
"Enter Dimensional Tower."
Along with the words, I felt my body floating, and then I found myself standing in a pure white space with nothing in it.
[You have entered the Dimensional Tower.]
[Awakened Lee Mu-seon is currently in the Dimensional Tower foyer.]
[Would you like to enter the 1st floor of the Dimensional Tower?]
The Dimensional Tower foyer.
It’s like an entrance. It refers to this empty space, and they say it’s a kind of waiting area.
The reason this exists is that it’s the Tower’s consideration to let you make various preparations here.
Especially for broadcast preparation.
I need to manipulate the system a bit before I go in.
From the 1st floor, you can choose to broadcast or not.
Not that I have any intention of not broadcasting. Because broadcasting is overwhelmingly better for earning DP.
And there are also achievements and rewards related to broadcasting.
So, not doing it would be a loss.
However, I don't intend to show my entire system like I did during the tutorial.
I’ll tweak the settings so that none of my system messages are visible... Good. Setup complete.
-The Necrotic Martial Sovereign is here!
-The Necrotic Martial Sovereign has arrived!
-Eh? Already at this hour? It hasn't even been a day since you cleared the tutorial?
-As expected of the Master! I knew you’d be the one to clear it!
People started flooding in incredibly fast, as if they had all set notifications.
It is 11:00 AM.
And today is a weekday.
But what are these guys doing, coming in to watch the broadcast?
"Nice to see you all. It’s morning, but you’re all coming in so fast?"
-We set notifications! I’m slacking off at work, and the Necrotic Master is right here!
-I’m a job seeker, lol.
-I’m at school, watching secretly, lolol.
-It’s night here. Is it morning for you?
I see foreigners here and there, too.
But how did they tweak the translation system?
Isn't the Tower's system supposed to translate foreign languages to sound like a local's?
Is that guy doing it on purpose?
While I was thinking that, the number of viewers started to increase in an instant.
When I finished the tutorial, I had confirmed that it had reached 8,000 people, but I checked that 9,000 people had entered less than a minute after I turned on the broadcast.
I realized there were this many people who had set alarms while I was sleeping.
"Then, without further ado. I’m starting the climb of the Dimensional Tower. First, I’ll bring out the undead."
My shadow expands.
*Thump.*
A hand slipped out from the shadow. And it grabbed the ground and crawled out just like that.
Three undead were emerging from my Small Undead Sub-dimension.
Anyway.
It was the national rule to cast buffs and such here before entering the 1st floor, right?
It’s the perfect state to experiment with accumulating internal energy in the undead.
*Zzzzt, zzzzt.*
I poured half of my Necrotic Magic into one of the undead.
I cycled that Necrotic Magic through the Great Heavenly Circulation using the method of the Necrotic Heavenly Zombie One-Body Art, and then stored it directly into the undead's dantian.
One year's worth of Necrotic Heavenly Zombie One-Body Art internal energy.
Settled.
If this remains in the undead even after clearing the first floor... I will be able to possess undead that wield Internal Energy.
-What did he just do?
-Did he imbue Necrotic Magic? Doing it manually instead of using a skill is inefficient.
-He killed a Troll, so the first floor is nothing to him, lol.
-Go for it, Martial Sovereign!
"Then, shall I enter? Now. I wonder what I'll get!"
[Will you enter the first floor of the Dimensional Tower?]
[Your intent to enter the first floor of the Dimensional Tower has been confirmed.]
[May luck be with you.]
At the same time, a roulette-like object appeared before me and began to spin.
It is well known that the Dimensional Tower is unusually obsessed with luck.
To begin with, even the entry point is random.
The spinning wheel stopped on an image that looked like a fortress.
-Holy crap, he got a defense mission on the first floor?
-Is that a defense mission? Do those even show up on the first floor?
-Are you kidding me? He’s screwed.
While the viewers were in shock, I arrived at a place I had never seen before, accompanied by a flash of light.
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