Ch. 37 Murim Psychopath Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Fierce Battle Aboard the Ship (2)

Just before he reached the stairs!

A shadow with the moon at its back stretched long into the lower cabin.

'Is someone coming down?'

Dong Bong-su immediately retreated into the partitioned room at the stern.

It was easy to conceal himself in the darkness, and the partition meant there was no risk of being discovered. Even if an enemy came this way, he only had to slip back out through the oar port.

The danger level?

Of course, it was zero.

Dong Bong-su cautiously peeked out and observed the enemy's movements. If all three had come down into the lower cabin, it would have been obvious that he couldn't deal with them simultaneously.

'Changing the plan.'

However,

Only one enemy came down into the lower cabin.

'They split up?'

The other two had probably gone toward the docking area, shining the fire lantern around. If not, they were likely milling about on the upper deck.

Either way, it didn't matter.

When he had been carried aboard earlier, Dong Bong-su had noticed that the Third Squad Leader and squad members wore different uniforms. The squad members wore green, while the squad leader wore blue.

This one…

'Green clothes.'

A squad member.

The man was completely absorbed by the bone fragment embedded in the floor of the lower cabin.

There was no need to hesitate.

Dong Bong-su drew a dagger from his Inventory. Silently, he moved through the darkness of the partitioned room.

Then,

Piiing.

A thin tearing sound cut softly through the air inside the lower cabin.

Thud.

The dagger buried itself precisely into the side of the squad member's head.

The man died instantly, unable to leave behind even a single scream as his final words.

Quietly yet swiftly, Dong Bong-su approached the collapsing body and stored it inside his Inventory.

It was to prevent the sound that would have been made when the corpse hit the floor.

'Two.'

Two were dead.

Two remained.

Dong Bong-su carried the squad member he had just killed over toward the cabin stairs and threw the corpse up onto the deck.

Thump.

The body landed on the deck with a dull impact, producing a slight tremor and noise.

"Sq-Squad Leader! Over there!"

Immediately afterward, the voice of the last remaining Third Squad member reached Dong Bong-su's ears.

The other two had indeed been near the bow, where the boarding stairs were.

Pat.

Dong Bong-su moved at once.

He slipped back out through the oar port. This time, instead of heading toward the boarding stairs, he wedged his hand into a narrow seam between the cedar planks of the hull directly from the oar port and climbed onto the deck.

Since the oar port was located at the stern, the distance to the cabin was about ten meters, while the bow was over twenty meters away.

Using the shadow cast by the tall cabin as cover, Dong Bong-su climbed perfectly onto the stern deck.

At the stern sat a bench like those commonly found on pleasure boats, making it easy for him to hide.

He concealed himself in the darkness while the enemies still wandered the deck carrying the fire lantern.

Go San-gong and the remaining squad member had moved from the bow toward the cabin in the middle of the ship and were examining the corpse Dong Bong-su had just thrown up.

Neither of them even dreamed that someone was watching them from the stern.

Dong Bong-su drew two daggers this time.

Without the slightest hesitation, he hurled them straight toward the backs of their heads.

His Throw passive had already reached Level 8, giving him an incredible 40% action bonus.

Swhooosh!

Even though he had never learned throwing knife techniques, the daggers he threw flew with astonishing speed.

Thud.

Clang!

Two different sounds rang out simultaneously.

The squad member, completely defenseless, died instantly with a dagger lodged in the back of his head.

Go San-gong, however, the Third Squad Leader, heard the sound of air splitting and instinctively drew his sword, blocking the attack with the sword-drawing technique he had honed over ten years in the Namgung Family.

It had truly been a hair's breadth.

A victory of instinct.

"So you're over there!"

Go San-gong shouted toward the stern where Dong Bong-su was hiding.

Yet he didn't recklessly approach him.

Rather, he stepped backward.

He believed Dong Bong-su couldn't possibly be alone.

Anyone would have thought the same.

Who would imagine that a single man had been moving about like a ghost using the oar port?

Dong Bong-su secretly observed Go San-gong while pushing his mind into overdrive.

'Three.'

Three out of four were dead.

Only one enemy remained.

The problem was that the survivor was the Third Squad Leader.

To be honest, Dong Bong-su had believed he could kill Go San-gong with that thrown dagger.

Instead, Go San-gong had blocked it so effortlessly it was almost as if he were mocking him.

Can I win?

It was a meaningless question.

He had already committed himself.

He had to win.

Dong Bong-su drew the Beginner's Sword.

Carefully, he approached Go San-gong.

'His level is higher than mine. I can't beat him in a straightforward fight. If I'm going to win, I absolutely need a way, a strategy.'

So what method and strategy did he need?

Ultimately, everything came down to one answer.

'Make full use of every technique I have.'

Dong Bong-su had skills.

He had to employ every skill and every technique at his disposal at exactly the right moment and in exactly the right way to overwhelm his opponent.

As he walked, he reviewed everything he possessed.

First, his active skills were:

[Three Talents Sword Art First and Second Forms], [Lightness Skill], [Circulating Energy and Practicing the Art].

Those three.

His other abilities, Spirit Eye, Slash, Thrust, Throw, Block, and the rest, were passives that remained active at all times.

Besides those, he possessed the Inventory Divine Art.

In truth, it was both his greatest survival technique and his greatest offensive skill.

Furthermore, the Beginner's Sword, Clothes, Shoes, and Hood were supreme items that did not exist in this world.

In this New Murim Online, in Murim itself, no one possessed items.

Only he held these divine artifacts.

Simply equipping them would easily close a level gap of one or two levels.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

Within only a few steps, his appearance completely changed.

He stored the black robes and mask he had worn as the Unnamed Righteous Hero into his Inventory and changed into the Beginner's set.

Immediately, his stats increased from equipping the items.

Hummm.

He instantly activated Circulating Energy and Practicing the Art.

His attack and defense rose as well.

Preparations were complete.

Now all that remained was to fight and win.

Several seconds later,

Dong Bong-su finally stepped out from the shadow of the cabin and fully revealed himself beneath the moonlight.

Indifferent eyes.

A lean frame.

A height slightly too tall for his small body.

Aside from his eyes, he looked exactly like Sosam.

"You!?"

Go San-gong stared in shock as Dong Bong-su finally revealed himself.

The reason was simple.

Though he wasn't familiar with him, he had seen Dong Bong-su not long ago.

The clothes had changed, but he could still recognize him.

He had looked far too frail to resemble a proper guest of the Namgung Family.

Moreover, Go San-gong had clearly seen him being carried into the Heavenly Guest Hall by members of the Second Squad earlier.

"Why are you…?"

In response to Go San-gong's question, Dong Bong-su calmly replied with a single sentence.

"For the Namgung Family."

"…"

To Go San-gong, slaughtering members of the Heavenly Wind Division in such a gruesome manner was supposedly for the sake of the Namgung Family?

He naturally thought Dong Bong-su was spouting nonsense.

But Dong Bong-su had spoken the truth.

The Namgung Family had to survive for him to survive.

His methods might have been extreme, but he was leaving behind the best "advice" he could aboard this ship.

"You lunatic.."

Just as Go San-gong was about to finish the word "bastard."

Pat!

Dong Bong-su attacked.

From Go San-gong's perspective, it might have seemed cowardly.

To Dong Bong-su, however, it was only natural.

In fact, he had already decided to attack from the moment Go San-gong started asking questions.

Fair play?

There were no such rules in a fight.

If such rules existed, that would be the real joke.

People fought to win.

What did methods or means matter if victory was the goal?

Especially when lives were at stake, talking about honor or cowardice was absurd.

Most things he had encountered here had been acceptable.

But this obsession with etiquette,

That alone displeased Dong Bong-su.

A fight wasn't a sport.

No matter how much ceremony one wrapped around it, a fight was still just a fight.

Papapak.

[Lightness Skill Lv.5 Proficiency: 47.75%]

A martial art that lightens the body. By mastering the Lightness Skill, one can jump higher and run faster.

Current Applied Level: Lv.5 (The player may adjust this skill's active level.)

Jump Bonus: 50%

Movement Speed Bonus: 50%

Vital Energy Consumption: 5 JP per second

Dong Bong-su's Lightness Skill had now reached Level 5, granting a 50% bonus to both jumping ability and movement speed.

His movements while using the technique were on an entirely different level from before.

Furthermore, with Circulating Energy and Practicing the Art at Level 2 also activated, his attack and defense bonuses had risen to 60%.

Not only had his movements improved,

the power behind his sword was incomparable to when he had massacred the Third Squad members moments earlier.

Swhooosh!

The Beginner's Sword sliced through the air as it shot toward Go San-gong's throat.

It was the technique he had steadily practiced until it reached Level 4,

Three Talents Sword Art, Second Form: Straight Thrusting Yellow Dragon.

[Three Talents Sword Art Second Form: Straight Thrusting Yellow Dragon Lv.4 Proficiency: 45.7%]

A sword art so common in Murim that even ordinary people without internal energy can learn it.

Straight Thrusting Yellow Dragon is an enhanced version of Thrust.

All action bonuses granted by this skill are affected by related skill proficiency and whether Sword Qi or Sword Aura is being used.

Current Applied Level: Lv.4 (The player may adjust this skill's active level.)

Thrust Range Bonus: 4%

Thrust Attack Bonus: 4%

Thrust Casting Speed Bonus: -3%

Vital Energy Consumption: 60 JP per use

Clang!

Go San-gong was no ordinary opponent.

Despite Dong Bong-su's sudden attack, he swiftly raised his sword and knocked aside the Beginner's Sword.

Immediately afterward, he launched a counterattack.

After all, he had trained with the sword in the Namgung Family for ten years.

His swordsmanship was anything but ordinary, and the sword cry it produced was impressively fierce.

The technique Go San-gong used was none other than Heavenly Wind Sword Art, First Form: Heavenly Wind Flowing Clouds.

The Heavenly Wind Sword Art was the signature sword art of the Heavenly Wind Division, a heavy sword style that struck with overwhelming force like the winds sweeping across the heavens.

Among its forms, Heavenly Wind Flowing Clouds specialized in horizontal attacks and was its fastest sword technique.

Whoooom.

Like the wind drifting gently above the clouds,

Go San-gong's sword swept toward Dong Bong-su's waist.

Having just been knocked off balance by Go San-gong's previous deflection, Dong Bong-su had not yet regained proper control of his body.

He was in no condition to block the technique head-on.

In that instant, Dong Bong-su forcibly twisted his wrist and lowered the tip of his sword.

The blade pointed toward the deck, forming a vertical guarding stance.

His Block passive had remained at an extremely low level compared to his other skills because he had rarely needed to defend.

Only Level 2.

A mere 5% action bonus.

Bang!

Go San-gong's sword, perfectly parallel to the ship's deck, slammed into Dong Bong-su's blade at a precise ninety-degree angle.