Falling.
To be more precise—
"Uwaaaaah!"
He was plummeting. Into an endless abyss. His body, gaining momentum, was falling even faster. The ground wasn't even visible.
'If I fall like this, I'll die.'
Crack! He'd be sent straight to the afterlife in one blow.
He knew this all too well because he'd experienced it countless times. He'd gone through numerous trials and errors just to find this path.
'The only difference from before is that if I fail this time, I'll really die.'
Yoo Baekjun pulled his arm back, gripping his axe. Then, after closing his eyes, he counted the timing.
"One, two…"
The wind whooshed loudly past his cheeks. But right now, he was so focused that even that sound didn't register.
"Three!"
Yoo Baekjun opened his eyes. At the same time, he hurled his axe forward.
Thrown with a feeble body, the axe looked powerless, and its trajectory unstable.
'I threw it accounting for all of that!'
Yoo Baekjun's eyes widened.
Amid the rapidly shifting dark view, he saw a glowing blue orb floating in the air. The spinning axe, lacking force, flew forward and struck the orb dead-on.
Paaang!
With a crisp sound, the orb exploded.
The blue light inside spread in all directions, forming something like a magic circle on the ground.
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
Yoo Baekjun's falling body was sucked into the magic circle in an instant. But the sensation of falling didn't stop.
That endless feeling of descent—Yoo Baekjun squeezed his eyes shut again.
Thud!
"Guh!"
He was thrown onto a stone floor.
Yoo Baekjun writhed as he lay on the ground.
"Ugh, argh… my body…"
Something must've broken during the fall from such a height—his entire body ached. On top of that, the blood loss made him dizzy.
"Hey, herbs."
Yoo Baekjun took the medicine he'd prepared in advance.
But this medicine only helped regenerate wounds; it didn't help restore stamina.
"Even if I want to rest, I can't…"
Yoo Baekjun raised his heavy body. Then he slowly looked around. What he saw was an enormous cavern. White glowing stones embedded in the ceiling lit the place.
'Did I make it?'
Yoo Baekjun recalled the stone monument he'd seen in the forest. All the phrases written on it had been hints to enter this cave.
'Who the hell could figure that out from such vague hints?'
If it hadn't been a real stroke of luck, even he wouldn't have discovered this place. And even then, to make it into this tomb, he had to play through countless runs.
For a simple reason.
'Because I had to get through that disgustingly complicated and difficult labyrinth.'
And that's not all. Without proper knowledge of in-game herbs, you wouldn't be able to prepare the right medicine and thus couldn't treat wounds.
Which made getting through that labyrinth way harder.
And Yoo Baekjun's condition was so poor that if he wandered even a little in the labyrinth, he'd waste stamina and die.
'What is this, the Death Parade?'
Yoo Baekjun let out a hollow chuckle as he looked around.
'No matter when I come, there's never anything here.'
All that was there were a few trees and a shabby grave in the middle of the cavern. Yoo Baekjun staggered over to it.
–Born empty-handed, and shall leave empty-handed.
–Here, I leave all of my martial ways.
The phrases were written in beautiful script.
Yoo Baekjun bit his finger to draw blood and scattered it over the writing.
Wuuuuung!
The words began to glow red.
That light spread over the entire grave, and soon after—Thunk!—a sound of a mechanism activating rang out.
Rumble rumble…
The grave opened. Of course, there was no corpse in the tomb—only a single book remained.
一武神
Martial God.
The progenitor of Yoo Baekjun's family, the Sword Saint Clan.
A man who learned martial arts from all over the world and left behind what he realized in a book.
In the end, he vanished without a word to anyone, leaving behind a legend.
'Who could've known?'
That the Martial God's tomb would be here.
Among the NPCs, there were those who believed the Martial God had transcended into an immortal.
Whether that was true or not, his legacy was clearly here.
'The real legacy.'
A true secret manual unknown even to the rest of the Sword Saint Clan.
"The fateful encounter beneath the cliff, huh."
The classic trope in martial arts novels.
To think it would apply so directly even in a game like this. A dry chuckle slipped out.
Yoo Baekjun slowly reached for the book.
"..."
Nothing happened.
No flash of light, no ghost appearing before him, no voice whispering in his ear.
Nothing like that.
Slide.
He opened the first page of the book.
There, he saw the words left behind by the Martial God.
–While I lived, I sought to record and preserve all the martial arts in this world.
–But my time is almost up.
–So I created this book.
–Even if I die, this book will continue to record the martial arts that emerge anew in this world.
He'd read it before, but no matter how many times he read it, there were still so many mysteries. Like how this kind of book was even made.
The best guess he had was that it had something to do with the Martial God's unique ability.
–I don't know who will open this book, but it's probably an unknown descendant.
–I hope you use it for a righteous cause.
Yoo Baekjun looked at the final words.
"Yes, I'll use it for a righteous cause, ancestor."
To kill the ones who need killing, and after flipping this infuriating clan upside down. Yoo Baekjun turned to the next page. A blank page appeared.
–Verifying the user's qualifications… bloodline relation confirmed.
–Verifying the user's physical condition… no martial talent whatsoever.
–Improvement required.
Words began to appear on the page one by one. After the message saying "improvement required," the letters began to shine.
–Forcibly awakening the Martial God's blood within the body to enhance physical attributes.
The entire book shone with intense light. So bright it could blind him, and when Yoo Baekjun opened his eyes again—
The Martial God's Book had vanished.
"..."
Yoo Baekjun looked down at his own body.
A faint glow lingered where his lower dantian was.
The book he'd just seen—the Martial God's Book—had entered his body.
–Unique Ability: You have acquired the Martial God's Book.
–Trait: You have acquired the Heavenly Martial Physique.
–Due to the trait's effects, your body has been automatically enhanced. All stats have increased in rank.
Messages appeared before his eyes. At the same time, all the wounds on his body slowly began to heal. A smile crept onto Yoo Baekjun's lips.
"This is it."
The reason he threw himself off the cliff, risking his life. The ultimate fateful encounter hidden in Seorak Mountain.
[Yoo Baekjun]
Strength: C (1/100) Agility: C (1/100)
Stamina: C (1/100) Mana: D (1/100)
[Unique Ability: Martial God's Book (EX, 1★)]
[Trait: Heavenly Martial Physique (S)]
[Skills: None]
This was exactly the unique ability and trait he had risked everything to obtain.
[Heavenly Martial Physique (S)]
–Innate talent for martial arts blessed by the heavens, and a body optimized for them.
–Able to quickly understand and learn any martial art, and rapidly develop the body.
–Also enhances the power of used skills.
A trait that simply made him smile.
In Heroes Road, there are no levels. So you had to grind your way to raise stats and skill proficiency…
'But this trait lets you increase those much faster.'
With just this one trait, you could raise stats and skills at a much faster pace. Not to mention, it also helped you learn new skills faster. It was ridiculously beneficial.
'This'll help my growth immensely.'
And finally, the Martial God's Book.
[Martial God's Book (EX, 1★)]
–A book left behind at the end of his life by one who reached the realm of gods in martial arts.
–Contains all martial arts in existence, and even new ones are recorded automatically through unknown power.
–Points are awarded based on quests and the user's actions, which can then be spent to learn skills recorded in the book.
A truly unique ability.
Unique abilities are powers only their owners possess and, unless passed down in some special way, cannot be learned by anyone else.
This was an ability fundamentally different from those of other playable characters, and one that dramatically reduced the difficulty of this route—a broken ability.
'If it's a skill that exists in this world… I can learn anything.'
Not limited to martial arts. Be it techniques from the wuxia side, or the fantasy side—if it fell under the category of martial arts, he could learn it.
As long as he paid the proper price.
'It's a shame I can't learn magic or alchemy with it, but there are other ways for that.'
Like using skill books—there were plenty of methods. Yoo Baekjun smiled as he activated his unique ability. And just like that, the Martial God's Book shimmered like a mirage in his hand.
–Current Points: 100P.
–You may now accept a new quest.
A small message appeared.
Yoo Baekjun opened the second page. There was a table of contents, but the names were unusual.
Tri-Sword Technique
Bash
Charge
Raphelda Principality Spearmanship
.....
The table of contents listed skill names. The skills he could learn with 100P were listed in the index. Yoo Baekjun skimmed through it and chose a skill to learn.
'Sword techniques or whatever, they're useless right now.'
Whether sword or spear techniques—it didn't matter.
In his current state, fighting was basically suicide, and there was no need to fight anyway.
What he needed was a way to move fast.
"Well, guess there's only one choice."
Yoo Baekjun pressed one of the items in the table of contents with his finger.
The chosen skill was Mobility Technique—a martial art that lightens the body and enhances speed, agility, and reflexes.
It was perfect for his current situation.
'Besides, as the Martial God's Book gains proficiency, I'll be able to do some fun things later on.'
Yoo Baekjun smirked. It was a helpful choice now and a smart one for the future.
"Alright then."
The message before him sparkled. Especially the one saying he could accept a new quest. As if urging him to start now.
"Let's just sleep first."
Yoo Baekjun flopped onto the floor. Immediately, the message window glowed even more brightly. Of course, he was eager to start.
"But I'm at my limit…"
He just didn't have the strength. Yoo Baekjun closed his eyes.
"Snore…"
And fell asleep, as if knocked out.
***
The world of Heroes Road is set in the modern era. The year 2035, a time when civilization had advanced to its peak. You'd think you could enjoy the benefits of that civilization, but…
"Goddamn it, this bastard didn't even bring a lighter?!"
Yoo Baekjun cursed as he furiously rubbed a thin stick against another thick one.
"Friction heat, damn this friction heat!"
Coming to a place like this, couldn't he have at least brought a lighter? Trying desperately to start a fire made him fume inside.
Sizzle.
Soon, the fire caught, and Yoo Baekjun transferred it to dry twigs, finally lighting a campfire.
It had been a process long enough to make him curse.
"To think I'd wake up from the cold…"
He'd slept for two whole days. What woke him up was the intense cold. Otherwise, he might've slept even longer.
"Ugh, I'm starving."
His stomach was practically touching his spine. He looked around, but there was nothing edible, nor any passage to go through.
'Guess it's time to clear a quest.'
Yoo Baekjun summoned the Martial God's Book.
[You may undertake two quests.]
"I'll accept the quests."
A new quest window appeared.
[Catch Me If You Can.]
Train your Mobility Technique and increase its proficiency. Run, run, and run again—you might just have a revelation.
–Reward: 100P, stat increase
And the second. This one was the key.
[Sorry, Ancestor. Just for today, let me be a righteous grave robber.]
The Martial God's tomb has many things prepared for future successors. Find and take as many of them as you can. Your ancestor will probably forgive you.
–Reward: Points and items (Reward level varies by amount discovered)
"Even the way they phrase things…"
Yoo Baekjun sighed.
A grave robber, huh. The sad thing was, he had no rebuttal.
Rumble!
As he accepted the quests, a previously solid wall in the cave opened to reveal a passage.
'This is gonna be a breeze.'
Yoo Baekjun whistled.