2026-01-20 19:20:53The Seven Agonies of the Stone Buddha.
The Gale of the Broken Wing.
Techniques that killed their users. Techniques that were ugly, painful, and devoid of grace.
They were perfect.
He felt a strange kinship with these books. They were outcasts, just like him. They were weapons that had been judged as failures because the world was too weak to wield them.
"I will give you a new master," Ha-jun whispered to the dusty pages. "And together, we will break every beautiful, flowing sword in this clan."
He turned to leave, the manuals tucked under his arm. As he walked back toward the front desk to register them, a group of disciples blocked his path.
Three of them. Older. Inner Disciples, judging by the silk embroidery on their cuffs.
"Well, well," the leader said. He was a tall, handsome youth with a face that Ha-jun remembered.
Liu Jin. The son of the Hall Master of Discipline. A man who had once forced Ha-jun to kneel in the snow for three hours because Ha-jun had "looked at him with disrespect."
"The dog is learning to read?" Liu Jin smirked, looking down at the tattered books in Ha-jun's hands. "Let me see what trash attracts trash."
He reached out, snatching The Gale of the Broken Wing from Ha-jun's hand before Ha-jun could react.
Liu Jin glanced at the scroll and burst into laughter. "Broken Wing? Are you planning to cripple yourself, Ha-jun? Or are you just preparing for your inevitable future?"
He tossed the scroll to the floor and stepped on it, grinding his boot heel into the ancient paper.
"Oops," Liu Jin grinned. "Clumsy me."
The library went silent. Everyone watched. The "runt" was being bullied by an Inner Disciple. This was the natural order of things. They expected Ha-jun to cower. They expected him to pick up the scroll, apologize, and scurry away.
Ha-jun stared at the boot on the scroll.
The rage in his gut flared. The Undying Furnace roared.
[Quest Alert: The First Humiliation.]
[Condition: An insect has stepped on your property.]
[Choice A: Submit. (Reward: Survival. Penalty: -10% self-esteem.]
[Choice B: Teach. (Reward: 50 Vengeance Points. Penalty: Inner Sect Hostility.]
Ha-jun didn't look at the blue screen. He looked at Liu Jin.
"Pick it up," Ha-jun said.
The voice was quiet. But it carried a vibration that rattled the teeth of everyone standing close by.
Liu Jin stopped laughing. He blinked, unsure if he had heard correctly. "What did you say?"
Ha-jun took a step forward. The floorboards didn't creak; they groaned under the density of his anger.
"I said," Ha-jun looked up, his eyes locking onto Liu Jin's. The pupils were vertical slits. "Pick. It. Up."
.
.
.
Liu Jin did not pick it up.
Instead, the handsome Inner Disciple dug his heel deeper into the scroll, grinding the ancient paper into the floorboards with a deliberate, slow twist of his ankle. The sound of the dry parchment crinkling was like the snapping of small bones in the quiet library.
"You have a lot of arrogance for a dog that was supposed to be put down," Liu Jin sneered, crossing his arms. He looked around at the gathering crowd, playing to his audience. "Do you think beating up a fat pig like Jang Myung makes you a master? You're still trash, Ha-jun. And trash belongs under a boot."
He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a mocking whisper. "Make me pick it up. I dare you."
Ha-jun stared at the boot. Then, he looked up at Liu Jin. His expression was frighteningly placid. There was no screaming rage, no trembling fists. It was the calm of a deep ocean before a tsunami.
"Very well," Ha-jun said softly.
[System Alert: Hostility Confirmed.]
[Target Analysis: Liu Jin (Inner Disciple). Cultivation: Mid-stage Qi Gathering. Bone Density: Average. Organ Defense: Negligible.]
[Combat Mode: Silent Execution.]
Ha-jun moved.
It wasn't a dash. It was a flicker.
One moment, he was standing three paces away; the next, he was inside Liu Jin's personal space, effectively occupying the air the Inner Disciple was breathing.
Liu Jin's eyes widened. He instinctively drew a breath to shout, to summon his Qi and strike. But he was too slow.
Ha-jun's left hand shot out, open-palmed. But instead of a slap, his fingers were rigid, striking with the precision of a surgeon's scalpel.
Thwip.
The tips of his fingers slammed into Liu Jin's solar plexus.
It wasn't a heavy blow on the surface. It was a penetrating strike.
The force generated by Ha-jun's Myriad Beast Sinews bypassed the abdominal muscles entirely, sending a shockwave straight into the diaphragm.
Liu Jin's mouth opened wide, but no sound came out. His lungs seized instantly. The scream died in his throat, replaced by a desperate, silent wheeze.
"Shh," Ha-jun whispered, bringing his face close to Liu Jin's panicked eyes. "This is a place of learning. Keep your voice down."
Ha-jun's right hand moved. It was a blur, a short, compact punch that traveled only six inches. He aimed for the liver, the body's filter, a soft organ rich with blood and nerves.
Thud.
The sound was dull, like a heavy book falling onto a carpet.
[Status Window]
[SYSTEM INTERFACE: ONLINE]
[HOST INFORMATION]
[Name: Moyong Ha-jun
Race: Human (Variant: Demonic Vessel)
Cultivation Base: None (Foundational Stage)
Condition: Hungry (Metaphysical Starvation)
Vengeance Points (VP): 30
[ACQUIRED TECHNIQUES - THE DISCARDED PATH]
1. EXTERNAL ART: [Seven Agonies of the Stone Buddha]
Origin: Rejected Orthodox Manual.
Mechanism: Compresses Qi into bone/muscle density rather than circulation.
Synergy: 100% with [Adamantine Skeleton].
Effect: Turns the body into an immovable object.
2. WEAPON ART: [Gale of the Broken Wing]
Origin: Rejected "Madman's" Manual.
Mechanism: Generates force via violent muscle recoil and erratic stops. destroys normal ligaments.
Synergy: 100% with [Myriad Beast Sinews].
Effect: Kinetic bombardment swordplay. Unpredictable movements and power.
[ACTIVE QUEST: THE FIRST HUMILIATION]
"An insect has stepped on your property, Host."
[Opponent: Liu Jin (Inner Disciple)
Objective: Force the opponent to pick up the scroll.
Reward: 50 Vengeance Points.
Risk: High (Escalation with Disciplinary Hall).]
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
The Origin
Liu Jin's eyes bulged so far out they looked ready to pop from his skull. The pain of a liver shot was not immediate; it was a rising tide of agony that shut down the nervous system.His legs turned to jelly. His brain screamed for him to collapse, to curl into a fetal ball.But Ha-jun didn't let him fall.He grabbed Liu Jin by the collar of his silk robes with one hand, holding the taller boy upright. To the onlookers from a distance, it looked like Ha-jun was merely gripping his shirt, perhaps whispering a threat. They couldn't see the devastation happening behind the silk."You like to crush things under your heel?" Ha-jun murmured, his voice a low vibration that only Liu Jin could hear.Ha-jun delivered a third strike. This one was a knee, driven slowly but with hydraulic force into Liu Jin's left kidney.Crunch.It was a wet, muffled sound. The kidney didn't burst, but the tissue around it hemorrhaged instantly.Liu Jin's face turned a shade of grey that looked like wet ash. Tear
Silent Execution
The Seven Agonies of the Stone Buddha.The Gale of the Broken Wing.Techniques that killed their users. Techniques that were ugly, painful, and devoid of grace.They were perfect.He felt a strange kinship with these books. They were outcasts, just like him. They were weapons that had been judged as failures because the world was too weak to wield them."I will give you a new master," Ha-jun whispered to the dusty pages. "And together, we will break every beautiful, flowing sword in this clan."He turned to leave, the manuals tucked under his arm. As he walked back toward the front desk to register them, a group of disciples blocked his path.Three of them. Older. Inner Disciples, judging by the silk embroidery on their cuffs."Well, well," the leader said. He was a tall, handsome youth with a face that Ha-jun remembered.Liu Jin. The son of the Hall Master of Discipline. A man who had once forced Ha-jun to kneel in the snow for three hours because Ha-jun had "looked at him with disre
Trash Manuals
Ha-jun ignored them. In his past life, he would have kept his head down, apologizing for existing. He would have hurried past, desperate to avoid confrontation.Now, he walked down the center of the path. His stride was long and predatory. He didn't look at them, not out of fear, but out of the arrogance of a higher species ignoring insects.The Tyrant's Aura, the passive skill he had unlocked, rippled off him in cold waves. When his gaze accidentally brushes against a disciple, the boy would flinch, pale, and look away, instinctually sensing the predator within.He reached the Library. It was a colossal five-story pagoda, guarding the clan's knowledge like a slumbering beast.At the entrance sat Elder Gu.Ha-jun remembered Gu. A withered old man with a heart as dried up as his skin. Gu had been the one to officially record Ha-jun's demotion to servant status in the previous timeline. He was a man who delighted in bureaucracy and the suffering of those beneath him.Ha-jun approached t
Void's Hunger
But Ha-jun was already insane. The fire in the Death Forest had burned away his sanity, leaving only purpose."If the Heavens won't accept me because I am a demon," Ha-jun said, closing his eyes and forcing the black vortex in his gut to spin faster, "then I will drag the Heavens down into the mud with me."He could feel the power humming in his veins, dark, heavy, and magnificent. It was the power of a predator."The Moyong Clan wants a loyal dog?"Ha-jun channeled the energy, feeling it tear through his meridians with a pleasurable agony, burning away the last remnants of his weakness."I will show them a rabid beast."***The morning sun bled over the horizon, casting long, pale shadows across the Moyong Clan estate. To any other disciple, it was the start of a beautiful day for cultivation, the air crisp and filled with the scent of pine and discipline.To Moyong Ha-jun, it felt like starvation.He sat on the edge of his bed, his chest heaving with a phantom exertion. His new body
Acknowledgment
"A thousand-fold," he vowed, his voice trembling with the sheer weight of his hatred. "If they cut my finger, I will sever their arm. If they mock my name, I will erase their lineage. I will not just kill them. I will break their spirits. I will make them watch as I burn everything they hold dear, their reputation, their power, their legacy, until they beg me for the mercy of death. And I will deny them even that."[System Acknowledgment: Vengeance Directive Accepted.][The path of the Ashen Swordmaster is lonely and cruel. Prepare yourself.]Ha-jun took a deep breath, pushing the rage down into his gut. Rage was fuel, but if left uncontrolled, it was a wildfire that would consume him.He needed to understand his weapon. He needed to know what this "Reconstruction" had done to him.He sat cross-legged on the stained mattress, assuming the lotus position. He closed his eyes, turning his vision inward, initiating the Art of Introspection.In his previous life, looking inside his body wa
What Are You?
The violence had acted as the final welding arc, fusing his spirit to this new vessel of destruction.He felt... good.He felt powerful.He looked down at the last conscious lackey, who was crawling away in the dirt, sobbing. Ha-jun stepped on the boy's ankle. He applied pressure slowly."A-ah! AHHH!" the boy screamed."Listen closely," Ha-jun said, his voice carrying across the silent courtyard so every waking disciple could hear. "And tell the others."He leaned down, his face inches from the terrified boy." The dog is dead. The wolf is hungry."[Combat Encounter Resolved.][Performance Grade: S (Brutality Bonus Applied).][First Blood-Debt Collected: 3/3 targets neutralized.][Reward: The System acknowledges the Host's nature.][Unlock Feature: 'The Tyrant's Aura'.][Passive Effect: Low-level enemies will experience the 'Fear' status effect upon making eye contact.]Ha-jun straightened up, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. He stared at the blue text box. T
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