Chapter 3: What a Headache

A hut. Yes, calling it a hut fits better than calling it a house. It’s a shabby structure. This is where Dan Mokunrye and Hamu Baek arrived, the former carrying a bundle of food after escorting the other four trainees to their quarters.

With a big smile on his face, Dan Mokunrye entered the hut—or rather, the house. Hamu Baek watched from a short distance with a look of disbelief on his face.

“Mother! Unhye!”

“Mokunrye, how did you come here? Didn’t you say you couldn’t come out for the first three months?”

His mother’s voice was choked with emotion. Hamu Baek’s keen hearing picked up every word.

“Brother! Brother! What’s that?”

A young girl’s voice echoed.

“She’s ten, right?”

Hamu Baek recalled the family information from the personal details. Dan Mok unhye. She is the only younger sister of Dan Mokunrye and she turned ten this year.

Mother and younger sister. This is his entire family. An extremely poor family. Indeed, Dan Mokunrye had joined the Fierce Dragon Corps to sell his life.

“Wow! What’s this? Can we really eat this?”

Dan Mok Unhye’s voice was full of excitement.

“Mokunrye, what’s going on? Where did you get such precious food…?”

In contrast, their mother’s voice was full of worry. How could her son bring such luxurious food?

“Ah, the instructor gave it to us since it’s our first day of training.”

Dan Mokunrye replied vaguely. Whether it was true or not, he knew this explanation would keep his mother from worrying.

“So delicious! I didn’t know food like this existed!”

Dan Mok Unhye exclaimed with wide eyes and continued eating hurriedly. Dan Mokunrye watched his sister with warm eyes.

After a while, Dan Mokunrye came out.

“Let’s go.”

Hamu Baek spoke briefly.

“Thank you so much, Instructor.”

When did she come out? Dan Mokunrye’s mother had stepped out and bowed deeply towards Hamu Baek.

Hamu Baek turned slightly and bowed his head. He saw Dan Mokunrye’s younger sister, Unhye, clutching at her mother’s skirt.

‘Is that…’

Hamu Baek started walking towards Hidden Dragon Hall again, with Dan Mokunrye following behind.

“My family used to be a noble family.”

Dan Mokunrye started speaking as they walked silently.

“When I was eight, and Unhye was still in my mother’s womb…”

It must have been about ten years ago. Back then, the martial world was chaotic with wars. Countless sects disappeared overnight, and countless new ones emerged.

“Our family was annihilated in the war. My mother barely managed to escape to Muchang with me.”

“…”

“It was a long and difficult journey. I remember it vividly.”

Hamu Baek said nothing.

“Do you know what’s absurd? Our family was destroyed due to someone’s betrayal. That’s why I joined the Fierce Dragon Corps. I need more than just money. I need power. But no sect would teach martial arts to a child like me. Only the Fierce Dragon Corps offers me a glimmer of hope. So please, don’t tell me to go home.”

“And your sister is sick?”

“How did you…”

Dan Mokunrye’s eyes widened at Hamu Baek’s question. Does this kid even know why his sister is sick? Hamu Baek had noticed it briefly, but his keen eyes couldn’t miss it. Thanks to his naturally sharp observation skills.

Chil-eum-jeol-maek (Seven Yin’s Severed Veins).

If untreated, she wouldn’t live past twenty. Dan Mok Unhye was born with this condition.

“Have you been to a doctor?”

“They don’t know the cause. That’s why I need power and money even more. So please, don’t tell me to go home.”

“…”

Hamu Baek didn’t respond. By now, they had reached the vicinity of the main gate of Hidden Dragon Hall.

It was already past midnight.

The gatekeepers were vigilantly guarding the entrance.

“Oh.”

Hamu Baek suddenly remembered what the gatekeeper had said when he left to drop off the other trainees.

‘Entry and exit are prohibited after midnight.’

He looked up at the night sky. Midnight had indeed passed.

In other words, entry was now forbidden.

“What a headache. Damn it.”

“What’s wrong?”

Dan Mokunrye asked cautiously.

“It’s past midnight.”

“Whaaat?!”

Understanding immediately, Dan Mokunrye’s face turned pale.

“I’m sorry. I stayed too long at home…”

Dan Mokunrye bowed deeply.

“Enough.”

Hamu Baek raised a hand to stop him. Then he pondered.

Should he push through the front?

Should he try to sneak in from the side?

He recalled his bold words to Peng Doyul.

‘I said I’d stay quiet, damn it. This is embarrassing.’

If he tried to push through the front, he’d inevitably clash with the gatekeepers, causing a considerable commotion.

And he now had a burden to bear.

‘No choice. Though I don’t like it.’

Hamu Baek chose to sneak in from the side.

“You said your room is with Dang Jinsan?”

“Yes? Yes.”

With a nod, Hamu Baek swiftly jabbed Dan Mokunrye’s pressure points.

“?!?”

Dan Mokunrye froze, eyes wide open.

Hamu Baek slung him over one shoulder and leaped.

No sound, no vibration, no trace.

Like a ghost, Hamu Baek crossed the Hidden Dragon Hall unnoticed by any guards, swiftly arriving at the Fierce Dragon Corps quarters.

He unceremoniously tossed Dan Mokunrye through an open window.

His task complete, Hamu Baek headed to his own quarters.

“Damn it. Climbing over walls on my first day. How disgraceful. By the way, Dan Mok… could it be the Danmok clan?”

Thinking of a once-renowned clan in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, Hamu Baek muttered to himself.

***

Morning dawned.

Around 9 a.m., five figures stood at attention in the training yard.

Hamu Baek ambled in, looking thoroughly annoyed.

“Yawn.”

He let out a huge yawn in front of the trainees.

“Thanks to someone, I went to bed late. So bear with me.”

Dan Mokunrye’s face turned red at his words.

“Well, that’s not the main point.”

Hamu Baek looked each of the five in the eye.

“Are you really not going home?”

All five averted their gaze slightly. Their silence was their answer.

“Damn it. Seriously, go home. I’m telling you to go while you can. Do you even know what this place is?”

“Yes!”

They answered in unison.

“Hey, Dang Jinsan.”

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to keep living as a delinquent in the city?”

Dang Jinsan’s expression shifted slightly at Hamu Baek’s question.

“What, do you think they let just anyone in here?”

“Yes. They seem to let anyone in.”

Dang Jinsan replied with a smirk.

Hamu Baek was momentarily speechless.

He was right. In truth, anyone could join if they applied.

However.

“This is still the Hidden Dragon Hall. They at least check who’s a dog and who’s an ox.”

Their expressions stiffened slightly at his words.

“But you two don’t belong here.”

Hamu Baek’s gaze shifted to Dang Jinsan of the Tang clan and Baek Lypyeong of the Jongnam sect. Finally, he glanced at Yeon Hamin.

Neither spoke.

“If you stay here, you’ll just be a burden to these three.”

Hamu Baek’s eyes flicked from Yeon Hamin to Nak Woojin and Dan Mokunrye.

They were truly empty, fitting the term “cannon fodder.”

‘Though Nak Woojin is hiding something.’

Dan Mokunrye looked between the three with a puzzled expression.

“It’s my father’s order. If I go home, I’ll be beaten and sent back next term.”

Dang Jinsan had said something similar the previous evening.

“It’s the sect leader’s order.”

Baek Lypyeong replied with a serious face.

“Huuu.”

Hamu Baek sighed deeply once more.

“So you’re saying you’ll stay here and go to die in two years?”

His tone was slightly mocking, but the two nodded resolutely.

“Do you know where you’ll be sent in two years?”

Hamu Baek asked with a deeply serious face.

“Beyond the Sanwol Fortress, to the Sanwol Demon Forest.”

“We’ve heard we need to exterminate the remnants of the Blood Cult and the monsters they’ve created.”

Baek Lypyeong and Dang Jinsan answered.

“Do you know what those remnants and monsters are like?”

"......"

"Hmm......"

"......"

There was no answer to his question. How many people truly knew about it? Very few.

The rumors in the martial world merely said it was a land of monsters. Even those who knew a bit more only knew that the survival rate of Fierce Dragon Corps was extremely low.

"The survival rate of a batch of Fierce Dragon Corps recruits is five percent. Five out of a hundred return after five years. One team out of twenty. And even then, we don't know if they return whole or crippled."

The five recruits were agitated by Hamubaek's words. They had only heard it was a dangerous place, but hearing such precise numbers was a first.

"How many of you think you'll be among those five?"

No one could answer.

Hamubaek had a reason for being this serious about dissuading them.

Sanwol Forest.

He had firsthand experience of breaking through that cursed land during the War against the Blood Cult.

Although they had defeated the Blood Cult leader, the cursed land remained.

'Damn those elders.'

Hamubaek cursed the elders he had always despised while in the Fierce Dragon Corps.

After the war, the clean-up of Sanwol Forest was assigned to the Nine Great Schools and the Five Great Clans, pushed by the elders.

It was a strategy to check the power of the new factions and the leader.

They had thought it would be easy, having already taken down the main forces of the Blood Cult. They were gravely mistaken.

That cursed land was far from simple. Properly cleansing it would have required significant sacrifices from the Nine Great Schools and the Five Great Clans.

They were not willing to bear that cost.

So, it was left unresolved, and now the Fierce Dragon Corps's demon-slaying team managed Sanwol Fort.

Naturally, the person in charge was aligned with the elders.

As a result, the Fierce Dragon Corps became their sacrificial lamb.

"Listen up. Why do you think Sanwol Forest is called the Forest of Demons? It's a cursed land."

This was the first time the five recruits were hearing such a thing.

No one had told them, and the world didn't know.

"Those damn old geezers of the elders' council have kept this tightly under wraps. But the high and mighty up there all know."

Hamubaek's gaze fell on Dang Jinsan.

"Of course, your father knows too."

Dang Jinsan's father was the current head of the Dang family. Dang Jinsan, the fourth son, should never have ended up here.

"Ugh."

Dang Jinsan let out a small groan.

"Let me tell you what the world doesn't know. The Blood Sect must have cast some spell on that land, as it's constantly producing undead. Yesterday's comrades stand before you the next day as undead. That's what a cursed land it is. Not just people. All kinds of animals turn undead too. And it's not just the regular undead. There are venomous undead, bloodthirsty undead, all sorts of damned undead. They're monsters, plain and simple."

"......"

"......"

There was silence.

Someone swallowed dryly.

Undead.

They were thought to be merely tales.

But a forest where such beings constantly appeared?

"And you all are supposed to act as shields for the demon-slaying team to fight those undead. In the process, you'll all die."

"How, how do you know this, instructor?"

Dang Jinsan asked, his voice trembling slightly.

It was a natural question.

How could an ordinary Fierce Dragon Corps instructor know a secret only heads of the Five Great Clans might know?

"I know because I'm someone who should know. That's not what's important. So, are you going home or not?"

Hamubaek asked again.

Still, no one said they would go home.

But Danmok Unroe's face had turned pale.

"Are you really not going home? Do you want to bring tears of blood to your mother and sister in two years?"

"If I go home, I might cry tears of blood before two years."

He thought of his thin, frail mother and sister. Danmok Unroe's own health wasn't great either.

If he left Fierce Dragon Corps, his family might starve to death before two years were up.

"You fools."

Hamubaek muttered, looking at the five.

"Fine. If you don't want to go home, stay. I'll feed you, house you, and pay you for two years. But I don't want to waste my time on idiots who want to die. So train yourselves."

"What?"

"Self-training. You know what that means, right?"

With that, Hamubaek left the training ground.

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