Chapter 3: Great Sky Dancing Divine Mantra

"About 50 years ago, an incident occurred where various dimensions overlapped and disasters began to strike Earth. Creatures referred to as monsters emerged from the fractured dimensions and started devouring humans. This initiated the battle between humans and monsters.

Initially, humans were dominant. This was because, despite being monsters, firearms were still effective against them. However, humanity gradually began to lose ground.

The reason was simple—the monsters were too numerous. The crux of the problem was that they started appearing in villages and cities. Adding to the challenge, the effectiveness of firearms paled in comparison to their cost.

On days when even a single high-level monster appeared in a city, the destruction of that city was inevitable—a price humanity could not afford to pay.

Humanity seemed on the brink of collapse, but then emerged those who dwelled in the shadows of humanity, where science had advanced.

Martial artists wielding their skills and mages wielding magic. They began to eliminate the monsters that invaded the cities. However, for them, humanity…"

"Don't you think the introduction is a bit long?"

"…I'll skip forward then."

"Humanity was pushed back as dimensions overlapped, creating rifts through which others began to emerge.

In the heart of the martial arts world, entities like the Nine Sects One Union and the Eight Great Families appeared. Among the evil factions, those known as the Four Evil Overlords emerged.

From the depths of the magic world, mages from the Seven Colored Magic Tower made their appearance.

They fought off the monsters while integrating those who lived on the fringes of humanity.

But that was not all. There was also the Divine Shrine, home to gods, and Druids who harnessed the power of spirits and the knights at the Round Table.

With the emergence of the World Tree, humanity began a large-scale counterattack. However, this alone was not sufficient to defeat the monsters. They preyed on humanity and continued to thrive. There was a giant monster as big as a mountain, and the sea was dominated by monsters.

Humanity was slowly dying. And then, the System appeared."

System.

"At the moment when humanity was about to counterattack, all those that were called Earthlings came to possess this power. Those who lived in other dimensions said the System's power was close to a divine right. It bestowed immense power upon the Earthlings.

Martial artists would spend their lives practicing martial arts. But through the System, Earthlings caught up with them in less than a decade. They casually created new circular ring structures which took mages a hundred years to research. Loved by the spirits, Druids who contracted with a spirit at birth saw their king forming contracts with other humans.

That was what they called the system."

 [The system is loading....]

Since it was still loading, I still couldn't grasp the concept, but this system seemed quite promising.

'If I had to compare, it's close to the abilities in a novel I enjoyed in my first life.'

Status window. It seems to apply the commonly known game mechanics to reality.

Hmm.

Crossing my arms, I look at the blue semi-transparent window. According to the man, this granted authority to the Earthlings.

Originally, the privileged forces were the Nine Sect One Union and the Five Great Families, the Seven Colored Tower, and the Divine Shrine.

While the Druids should've been among them, the Earthlings who have gained power from the System became a leading force.

'If it's a place known as the Martial Arts Realm and Magical Realm…'

There was a high probability that they were related to my past life.

Although I've never heard of the Divine Shrine, Druids, or the Round Table before, the chances that martial arts and magic were related to this were very high.

'Then, did those guys come too?'

If so, would there be someone who knows my nickname from my past life, Blue-Eyed Martial Emperor, or the title of Duke of Destruction I had in my second life?

'It's a bit troublesome.'

If that happens, it would indeed be very troublesome. I've always been a man of justice and integrity, but because I was too outstanding, I ended up attracting unnecessary jealousy from all sorts of sources.

Both in the world of magic and martial arts. At least in the magic world, the empire was on my side, so it was somewhat bearable, but in the martial world, I had no choice but to wander around as a public enemy of Murim. If my power matures, it won't be much of a concern.

'I'm still stuck at the beginning of reincarnation.'

No matter who it is, becoming strong instantly is not easy. Then, the best method would be to hide and strengthen my power.

'But that again doesn't suit my temperament.'

Hmm. It's troubling.

"Hey."

"…Yes."

When I called, the man approached me, scared.

"I have a few more questions."

"Ask, ask anything you want."

Looking at the man trembling as he spoke made me seem like a bad guy.

"Do you know of such nicknames? Like the Blue-Eyed Martial Emperor, or the Duke of Destruction."

"…I've never heard of either."

"Is that so? Then, do you know what this place is?"

"I—I'm just a lowly subordinate."

"Then, it can't be helped."

As I spoke, looking at the two corpses, the man's expression turned desperate.

"I, I remembered! It's just my guess, but this is like… like a laboratory."

"A laboratory."

So it's the laboratory of a dark mage, or perhaps a place where they are conducting rituals for demon summoning.

'All the mana here is corrupt.'

This is not a good sign. No matter how unparalleled a talent I am, it's difficult to exert full power in such a condition.

"Are there others here?"

"…There's no one here now."

"Is that so?"

…This guy is less useful than I thought. Well, what would such a weakling know? Clicking my tongue, I concentrated mana in my hand.

Creak.

The sound of the air tearing was heard, and cold sweat began to flow down the man's face.

"Weren't you going to spare me?"

"When I begged for mercy, did you show any restraint?"

Are his eyes shaking? This bastard was also one of those who needed to be killed. Originally, these types were the worst of the worst.

"This fucking son of a b—"

Crack.

Just before he could say more, my palm struck his jaw. That was the end of it. Because mana, filled with ominosity, was blown into his insides through his jaw.

'So now…'

Maybe I should loot. My eyes gleamed as I looked at the corpses.

"Phew~."

I whistled.

Perhaps because they were adept at illegal activities. Every time I opened one of their wallets, thick wads of cash came out. There were quite a few cards too, but I threw them all away.

'Ah, I should also keep the ID cards, just in case.'

I kept the ID card of the muscular pig. Except for the muscular pig, those bastards didn't seem to have recognizable faces. They were all over 40.

"Wow."

I exclaimed as I collected all the cash.

'These guys really had saved up quite a bit of cash, hadn't they? At this rate, it should be at least around 5 million won, right?'

5 million won would be quite useful as initial capital.

With this, even without doing anything, I could live for a month or two without any problems.

'If it matches the prices of my era, that is.'

The wallet seemed pretty decent for a muscular pig, so I grabbed everything and stuffed it in there. There was also a bag, so I took that as well.

'As for the cell phone.'

I hesitated for a moment, but it seemed right to keep one. Since the muscular pig's cell phone looked the nicest, I put it in my bag. With this, the initial looting was perfectly completed.

Then, I plopped down on a box nearby.

'Now, what should I do?'

I began to ponder seriously.

If this were a fantasy or martial arts world, I could move freely without any issues, but the modern world is a bit more complicated since my identity could be verified. Although there didn't seem to be CCTV here, such surveillance was commonplace, and I might just be unlucky enough to get singled out for an identity check.

'The best course of action would be to recover my original identity.'

But that seems like it will take some time.

Since I currently lack any form of ID, I'll have to search for it, and the Iron-Blood Sword Clan doesn't seem like they'd welcome me. In the worst-case scenario, my identity might have been erased. That's why I took the muscular pig's wallet, money, and resident registration card.

'Because in modern times, identity is everything.'

The challenge lies in how to establish that identity. I suppose living as the muscular pig for a while is fine, but I can't use the muscular pig's resident registration card indefinitely.

'Well, I'll figure that out later.'

The rain was nearly over, too.

Trudging forward, I looked up and saw a clear, bright sky, as if it were blessing my new reincarnation.

With my hands in my pockets, I started my aimless walk.

"This is troublesome~."

At the location Han Seojin had departed from, two individuals appeared shortly thereafter.

A man with white hair and red eyes, dressed in a suit and fedora.

And a woman with shoulder-length bobbed hair, wearing a black tank top and jeans, with a light coat draped over them.

The man in the fedora surveyed the area with a grin.

"It seems we've been quite thorough in our preparations, but he's already escaped, hasn't he?"

"…That can't be."

At the man's remark, the woman frowned.

"There's no way he could escape. He's just an ordinary person, not chosen by the system nor endowed with mana. No, escaping from here with his frail body, weaker than an ordinary person's? That's simply impossible."

"But if someone were to help him, who knows? After all, he is the eldest son of the famous Iron-Blood Sword Family."

The man walked forward, a sly smile playing on his lips.

"There are three bodies in total, but all were finished off with a single strike. If someone possesses such clean skills… they must be quite a renowned entity."

His slit-like eyes opened just a bit more.

"The two lying on their back didn't even know 'what' hit them before they fell."

"The one in front knew he was going to die and wore a resentful expression."

The woman stopped talking, her words caught in her throat.

He wore a resentful expression… but there was no sign of resistance. Looking at the body, it was clear it belonged to someone well-trained. The mana used felt quite substantial.

If she were to fight this man, she could also end it in a short time. But if asked whether she could end it this cleanly, without allowing any resistance…

'Impossible.'

That would be impossible. She might manage to take the opponent's neck after at least three exchanges. However, she couldn't kill so cleanly with a single strike.

'This person's mana manipulation is incredibly precise. It seems like the deed of an expert who has reached at least the minimum realm.'

The man, Abel, stroked his chin thoughtfully.

'This is dangerous.'

He prides himself on being a warrior who has also reached a certain realm. However, even within the same realm, the extent of one's strength can vary greatly. And the manipulation of mana here was incredibly delicate—something only a master who has reached the highest level could have done.

Nam Hyerin, standing by his side, isn't weak either, but it's a bit too risky to take on the perpetrator with just the two of them. So, he didn't know why would such a being protect the eldest son of the Iron-Blood Sword Family? He had heard that apart from his looks, that guy had no value. Was he taken as a hostage? Could the troublemaker have been swayed by the Iron-Blood boy? If so, he would have to rely on external forces.

The eldest son of the Iron-Blood Sword Family couldn't possibly have anything. Well, there is one thing—his face.

'Is it really because of his looks?'

Abel seriously pondered.

I entered the bathroom and looked into the mirror, where I saw a man of unparalleled beauty in this world—high nose, large eyes, slender jawline, and distinct features with delicate lines. It was hard to tell if I was a man or a woman, especially with my snow-white hair adding an exotic atmosphere. I had never seen such a beautiful man in my three lifetimes combined.

'Indeed, a face of perfection,'

I murmured in admiration as I looked into my eyes, tinged with a bit of blue, a result of infusing mana into this body.

Can I say that it was a certain privilege from a past life?

In my second life, I acquired a power called Heavenly Eyes.

And in my third life, I obtained a body called Heavenly Martial Body.

Although physical traits disappeared after I crossed over to the next life, I stored them in my knowledge. My Heavenly Eyes from my second life did not return in my third. Likewise, the Heavenly Martial Body I obtained from my third life probably couldn't be obtained in the next either.

However, I researched the Heavenly Eyes in my second life.

Thanks to that, I could use it without any problem in my third life.

As proof, I can now imitate the Heavenly Eyes by simply letting mana flow slightly.

Of course, there's still a long way to go for it to truly match the real Heavenly Eyes.

The Heavenly Eyes sees through everything simply by looking.

But this one needs a lot more work just for me to be able to capture most things.

'Shall we start preparing for the next step then?'

I left the park and headed to a motel I had checked out in advance. After paying in cash, I entered the motel room.

Then, I stripped off all my clothes and headed to the bathroom. I could have done it with my clothes on, but I didn't want to throw away the only extra set I had. Sitting cross-legged in the bathtub, I was naked.

What should I master? Countless martial arts techniques swirled in my mind.

From the Ming Cult's Heavenly Demon's Godly Technique to the Orthodox Sect's Violet Mist Godly Technique, the Culmination of Balance Mantra, the Heavenly Thunder Imperial Godly Technique, and the Four Evil Overlords' Black Lotus Internal Art.

All the martial arts stored in the Ming Cult archives and the techniques I've acquired while wandering the martial world of the Central Plain are in my head.

'There's no point in worrying.'

In my third life, this might be what people call my greatest achievement, a new martial art.

The godly technique, the Great Sky Dancing Divine Mantra.