Chapter 15
"Congratulations on surviving your first day in the Dark Demon Well."
"OOOOOOOH!"
"FUCK! I'M ALIVE! I'M ACTUALLY ALIVE!"
"I seriously thought I was going to die!"
"Haa... is it finally over?"
"Congratulations! Huh? Congratulations!"
"Ah! You too!"
Every fighting platform had been cleared.
The brutal sounds that had filled the Dark Demon Well were finally gone.
The moment Commander Jo Gyun offered his congratulations...
Cheers and celebration exploded throughout the cavern.
Only one day had passed.
Yet the survivors celebrated as though they'd already finished everything.
From each group...
Only the top two fighters had survived and earned the right to advance.
During the matches...
Some people died.
Many others became cripples.
No one knew what happened to those who failed the trial.
Considering all that...
Perhaps the survivors' joy was understandable.
Maybe Jo Gyun simply disliked seeing them so happy.
Because he immediately added:
"Now only slightly better trash remains."
The cheering stopped.
Everyone suddenly remembered something.
It had only been one day.
"Good."
"Listen carefully, better trash."
"That's all for today."
"You may retrieve your weapons."
"You will spend the night in the cave chambers inside the Dark Demon Well."
He looked across the survivors.
"People who passed the first trial in other areas will be staying there as well."
A small smile appeared.
"Make sure you all get along nicely."
Then Jo Gyun turned and left.
His final words were suspicious.
Very suspicious.
First...
Everyone learned that this wasn't the only area where the first trial had taken place.
Apparently, other participants had entered through different routes.
That explained why the number of people here had seemed smaller than expected.
But the words get along nicely bothered me even more.
Especially with that unpleasant smile.
And they're not removing the Demon Prison Rings.
They were returning our weapons...
But keeping our internal energy sealed.
Then another announcement came.
"Follow us inside and retrieve your weapons."
"Your sleeping chambers will be assigned according to your entry numbers."
So everyone could easily figure out where someone else would sleep...
Just by knowing their number.
Putting everything together...
This is another trial.
They had already watched us fight barehanded.
Now...
It felt as though they were telling us to take our weapons and fight however we wanted.
No spectators.
No clearly stated rules.
They were turning the Dark Demon Well into a small martial world of its own.
I had a feeling I wasn't going to sleep peacefully tonight.
My instincts from my mercenary days were warning me.
"At least we can finally relax a little. Wouldn't you agree, Third Young Master?"
"Brother Ma."
I looked at him seriously.
"Don't relax tonight."
"I have a bad feeling."
"Hmm. You think something will happen?"
"Wouldn't that make sense? This is the Dark Demon Well. It can't possibly be this easy."
"Indeed. Certainly not."
Ma Hapji stroked his beard.
"This is a place where even the Third Young Master hides the name of the martial art he knows."
"Didn't I already explain that? I really didn't know its name."
"Hahahaha. A joke. Only a joke."
At least I gave a small warning to the closest thing I currently had to a companion.
Ma Hapji still seemed slightly upset because I'd known the Nine Divine Hands but acted as though I didn't.
I had barely managed to explain it away.
I told him I'd encountered the martial art by chance while studying alchemy...
And hadn't known it was called the Nine Divine Hands.
"In any case..."
Ma Hapji glanced toward one side.
"It seems that man Na Gak also safely passed."
"He has been glaring at the Third Young Master for quite some time."
"Did you create a grudge between you?"
"A grudge?"
I looked over.
Na Gak really was staring at me intensely.
"I'm not sure."
"It feels more like we've become strangely connected."
"Hmm. A connection."
Ma Hapji laughed.
"In that sense, perhaps the Dark Demon Well is surprisingly romantic."
Then he pointed elsewhere.
"Ah. Your younger brother also passed safely."
My half-brother...
Fifth Young Master Cheon Gangwol...
Had also cleared the first trial without much trouble.
He stood by himself in the distance.
Quiet.
Proud.
Blinking occasionally.
He didn't exactly look like someone I would suddenly become close to.
Should I at least greet him...?
Seriously.
What was wrong with this family?
None of these brothers had any social skills.
"Hmm. My turn."
While I was looking around...
It became time to collect our weapons.
Ma Hapji went first.
He returned carrying a curved crescent saber.
Of course.
The weapon at his waist looked incredibly familiar.
A scimitar.
The kind of weapon I had seen in news footage...
And in the field.
Ma Hapji handled the thick, vicious crescent-shaped weapon as though it were a sacred treasure.
Looking at it...
A strange wave of PTSD almost returned.
Beheading...
I'd seen weapons like that too many times.
Both in recordings...
And in person.
And considering the appearance of the man holding it...
The effect became even stronger.
"Brother Ma... could you stand a little farther away?"
"Hm? Why?"
"Just... please."
"Hahaha. Strange man."
Even now...
Relaxing completely around him was difficult.
Eventually, my turn came.
I collected all my weapons.
Since I'd handed over so many daggers...
It took a while just to put them all back in place.
"Do you really carry all those daggers around?"
"I feel safer that way."
"You are quite unusual yourself."
"Everyone follow us inside."
Once we had all retrieved our weapons...
A member of the Dark Demon Corps led the survivors deeper into the cave.
We walked through another long tunnel.
Eventually...
We reached another cavern about the same size as the place where the first trial had taken place.
There were several entrances.
So this was probably where the participants from the other testing areas would gather too.
After a little time passed...
Martial artists began entering through the other tunnels.
The first trial had apparently been divided across three different areas.
Once all the survivors gathered...
The number of people was almost back to what it had been when we first entered.
By tomorrow morning...
There would probably be fewer again.
The newcomers didn't look harmless either.
Everyone here might have been called trash...
But now they were trash that had survived at least one filtering process.
The Dark Demon Well's strange diversity remained.
Different races.
Different clothing.
Different weapons.
Most seemed to belong to the Outer Sect.
The Outer Sect consisted largely of people whose backgrounds, martial arts, or origins placed them outside the mainstream Central Plains factions.
Naturally...
Their weapons were just as unusual.
Instead of only swords and sabers...
I saw shields.
Metal staffs.
Spears.
Chain sickles.
And other uncommon weapons.
Their ethnic backgrounds were just as diverse.
Persian-looking foreigners with pale skin were practically ordinary here.
There were even black men among the crowd.
At this point...
I couldn't even estimate how open the Divine Cult truly was.
And among them...
There were people who had entered the Dark Demon Well specifically to kill me.
"Step forward and receive your Fasting Pills and water."
"Once you enter your cave chambers, there will be no additional support."
"So make sure you take everything you need."
That announcement sounded almost like the Dark Demon Corps was telling my enemies:
Tonight is your chance.
