Chapter 99. Gathering Like Clouds
***
The City That Never Sleeps.
When spring comes, it's the same for any city, but here in Zhengzhou, night disappears. All those who had shrunk back during the winter rush outside all at once and roam the streets day and night.
Among all the cities under heaven, Zhengzhou was currently the brightest and the most crowded. That was because not only the people of Zhengzhou, but also the young talents of the martial world from the Nine Provinces were gathering like clouds to make a name for themselves.
Because so many people had flooded in, inns and restaurants had long since become completely full. Taverns were no exception. Any place that could shelter one from the slightly chilly spring breeze was packed to the brim.
Even so, people kept forcing their way in.
Then where would those who failed to find a place to sleep go? In any case, until the day the All-Under-Heaven Youth Martial Arts Tournament that was turning Zhengzhou into a city where the lights never went out, they had to endure, didn't they?
Some paid extra money to stay temporarily in private homes, and some avoided the night dew in blue houses or red houses while breathing in the scent of women's flesh and powder.
And those who were left over?
Sleeping outdoors. As expected, the last resort was the roadside.
If you collapsed anywhere, that place became your bed. Still, since it was spring, it wasn't cold enough to freeze to death.
They were martial artists of the martial world. In the winds and dust of the martial world, what did a bit of roadside wind and dust matter?
But that was just the thinking of those sleeping outdoors, and reality was different. When night fell, disputes over spots on the roadside often broke out among the wandering martial artists. Normally, all of these people should have been dragged off to the authorities, but now was a special period. And since most of these vagrants were martial artists, it was difficult for the authorities to intervene.
Because of this, to restore order to the chaotic security of Zhengzhou, the Martial Alliance was deploying warriors even at this late hour to keep things in check. Of course, no matter how much it was the Martial Alliance, it was still not enough to completely resolve everything.
Moreover, some of the Martial Alliance's guests who had come after receiving the Martial Alliance's invitation were also going out for nighttime strolls in the chaotic city of Zhengzhou...
It was truly a city of sleepless chaos.
And.
Among the night strollers seeking to kill time in that chaotic Zhengzhou, Dong Bong-su was also mixed in. Of course, it went without saying that his purpose was completely different from that of the others.
***
One hour earlier.
Eulji Tae first guided Dong Bong-su to the Guest Residence Pavilion, then headed alone to the Heaven-Connecting Hall. Strictly speaking, Dong Bong-su was not a guest of the alliance but a personal guest of the Weapon Monster.
By the time the two passed through Muhwa Gate and entered the Martial Alliance, the sun had already set, so outsiders were strictly forbidden from entering the Heaven-Connecting Hall. Even though Eulji Tae was the leader of the Martial World Protection Unit, he could not bring Dong Bong-su inside the Heaven-Connecting Hall.
In the end, they decided to go meet the Weapon Monster after daybreak tomorrow, and Eulji Tae entered the Inner Hall alone.
After that, Dong Bong-su briefly left the Guest Residence Pavilion and took a walk around the Outer Hall of the Martial Alliance. Since he had the temporary nameplate and pass that Eulji Tae had given him, no one stopped his movements.
He went through every corner of the Martial Alliance's Outer Hall and stored every single person he encountered, step by step, in his head.
All of this was a kind of "map exploration."
Most gamers, when they first go to an unknown dungeon or hunting ground, do this as their very first action.
Although Dong Bong-su was not a professional gamer, he was instinctively acting like a seasoned one. In fact, just like in a game, the basics of hunting also started with first becoming familiar with the surrounding terrain where the prey lived, so in a way, the two were quite similar.
Above all.
To him, this itself was a game.
New Murim Online.
Another world engraved into his soul, his hunting ground, and his goal.
Here, Zhengzhou.
Was nothing more than a new "hunting field" in New Murim Online.
There were quite a few people besides Dong Bong-su who were freely strolling around inside the alliance like that. Some of them even went outside Muhwa Gate toward the bustling streets of Zhengzhou. When he had more or less finished exploring the Outer Hall of the Martial Alliance, he naturally blended in with them and followed them out.
Thanks to the nameplate pinned to the left side of his chest—given to him by Eulji Tae—he could enter anywhere except the Inner Hall of the Martial Alliance. It was essentially a kind of pass.
Map exploration wasn't limited to dungeons alone. If the Martial Alliance was a dungeon, then inside Zhengzhou city was the "field." In case of emergencies, it was good to perfectly grasp the geography of Zhengzhou as well.
And the next thing to do was to check the "mobs" roaming that field, and finally, check the "boss mob."
Especially in a situation like now, where his level had risen quite a lot, it might be enough just to check the boss mob.
He had gone through all of this when he first arrived in Datong as well. And the strongest in Datong that he met back then—the boss mob, in game terms—was the Weapon Monster.
In particular, most of the boss mobs here in Zhengzhou would be concentrated inside the Inner Hall of this dungeon called the Martial Alliance, but there was a high chance that some had been additionally deployed into the field to match this "All-Under-Heaven Youth Martial Arts Tournament event."
Dong Bong-su had gone out into the field to find them.
If this were a real online game, he could have pulled up all their specs with a single "Alt + Tab," but...
As expected, this was the real martial world.
Inside New Murim Online.
That was why Dong Bong-su liked it even more.
***
Just like when he had found the Weapon Monster in Datong, Dong Bong-su once again carefully scanned and wandered around Zhengzhou.
Most of those scattered around here and there were trash. Like badly mannered house cats, the kind that still didn't even realize they had come outside, only catching house mice under the eaves and knowing nothing of the harshness of the world, glaring recklessly at anyone.
The ones Dong Bong-su was looking for were not those tamed cats.
He needed predators, carnivores, or gluttons.
Dong Bong-su steadily continued his search. He looked for refined instincts of high-tier feline beasts, not the low-grade killing intent of alley cats. Or special and unique cases like Zhong Zhihang were also fine. Even better, in fact.
Any proper prey was welcome.
In reality, there were several prey that stimulated Dong Bong-su's battle sense. But they were not the kind of prey he wanted in this New Murim Online.
There was no stimulation of spiritual vision.
This was the biggest change in him since coming to this world. Now, mere predators were far from being his prey. Now, ordinary predators didn't even become appetizing hunting targets. They had to be strong.
Strong, and cruel. If not that...
At the very least, they had to be strong. If they were insanely strong...
That alone made them the best prey. Now.
He, too, was gradually coming to understand the taste of fighting, the pleasure of battle itself. His last battle with Timur Khan had given him a different flavor. The ecstasy in an extremely fierce battle, in a fight where life and death were on the line.
That was the best.
Dong Bong-su was looking for such a target, an opponent capable of that.
However.
Lv. 35.
Had he become too strong?
Even though the night time, which the gatekeepers of Muhwa Gate had warned him to be sure to return by, was almost over, he had not met a single such person.
He passed by many strong ones, but he couldn't find anyone strong enough to truly catch his interest.
Up until then, spiritual vision had been far too quiet.
'Do I have to look among those who received the Martial Alliance's invitation, after all?'
That was how much Dong Bong-su had grown.
Although he couldn't find a thrilling prey, he thought this was fine in its own way.
After all, in games too, once you become high level, most players spend all their time on "boss time," running dungeons, PVP, PK, and so on.
It was probably just time for him to do the same now.
Now...
It was time to hunt real monsters.
Dong Bong-su decided to return to the Martial Alliance once he finished exploring the field. Any further searching seemed like a waste of time.
Just as he was about to conclude that among the mobs newly added to this "Zhengzhou field," there were no boss-class ones!
[The conditions to activate spiritual vision have been met. Spiritual vision is automatically cast.]
[An enemy with a level difference of 10 or more has approached within 20 meters of you.]
Dding-dding-dding-dding, ddiriririring...
"...!"
The mechanical sound of spiritual vision, which now felt somewhat unfamiliar, shook his mind.
Step.
He stopped his feet. Then he immediately began to check exactly what was within a 20-meter radius.
His current position was about 4 km northwest at a 25° angle from the Martial Alliance.
On both sides of a road about 10 meters wide, taverns were lined up. Even at this late hour, it was a bustling district so crowded that there was no place to step.
Even now, a group of drunken people staggered toward him. Even so, the "20" that spiritual vision indicated remained fixed. Proof that among that group, there was no prey that offended spiritual vision's senses.
He slightly moved his steps to the left and naturally avoided the group. But that small step made the warning sound stop abruptly.
'If moving left made the warning stop...'
The prey was on the right.
Dong Bong-su turned his head to the right. Through the heads of the drunkards passing by him, a small two-story building was standing there.
Nangnang Tavern.
The signboard told him the building's name.
Dong Bong-su quickly swept his gaze over the building from top to bottom, then took a step toward its entrance.
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