YDHP 10

Chapter – 10

“Reach Transcendence in a Month?”

Joo So-hee said it as if it were obvious, but mastery isn’t something that just skyrockets like a game of tag.

Not to mention, how many elders remain at top-tier status for their entire lives without reaching transcendence?

A player might reach it eventually by pouring in money and time, but that only works when it’s a game.

Even I had been stuck at late peak level for almost a year.

‘Well, that’s because I couldn’t spend extra money!’

The 500 million won I had saved up in stocks and savings flashed before my eyes.

If I had invested all of it, I’d have smashed through transcendence and even reached the Flowing Realm by now.

But for now, it was just a distant dream.

Leveling up seemed practically impossible.

“Uh, mother?”

“Yes?”

“Is it even possible to reach transcendence in a month?”

“If it’s my daughter, of course it is.”

Joo So-hee gestured, handing me the secret manual.

“You will memorize this text alone, and I will supervise your cultivation of energy both morning and evening. Doing so will transform you completely in no time.”

“…Is my older brother, who’s currently traveling, also at transcendence?”

“He is still at early peak.”

I smacked my forehead.

“Mother, my older brother, who’s seven years older than me, is still only at early peak, yet you expect me to reach transcendence?”

“My son took after his father, so his talent is limited. But you took after me, so you should do well on your own.”

Joo So-hee smiled kindly.

Even a stranger would want to rush over and hug her.

In reality, it was just her sky-high confidence saying, “Your brother is mediocre like your father, but you inherited my genius, so you’ll handle it.”

“Though I myself only broke the wall to transcendence at my age, seeing your progress makes me feel I could even surpass myself. Even if you fail, it will benefit you later, so don’t shy away—just try.”

“Hmm.”

I thought about how my mother would have forced me to attend endless classes via a monitor back home, all for my own good.

‘In the end, I did get into Korea University’s pharmacy program.’

Wait.

Then maybe this training isn’t so bad after all?

Come to think of it, opportunities to receive one-on-one training from a master of the Flowing Realm are rare. Even children born into the Oh-Dae-se family wouldn’t have such a chance. Not every family has a Flowing Realm master, and as far as I know, the only one from my parents’ generation to reach that level was Joo So-hee of the Paeng family.

My adoptive mother, Cheonma?

She was stronger than Joo So-hee, but considering her age… I’d guess she was over two hundred. …At face value, she looked about in her mid-twenties.

Perhaps reading my hesitation, Joo So-hee stepped closer and took my hand.

“Moreover, being my daughter, you won’t be free from the Blood Sect’s attacks. You’ve managed to avoid them until now, but once your abilities are officially announced by the sect, you’ll become much more noticeable. Especially if they learn your age.”

“Huh? My age?”

“The elders of the sect are at best at the Harmonization Realm even at your age. If they find out that the daughter of the Sword Master is approaching transcendence while still in her mid-teens, do you think they’ll leave you alone?”

I understood.

In other words, if I were left alone, I would become an untouchable monster, so they’d try to eliminate me before that happened.

When I nodded, Joo So-hee smiled gently.

“So, you’ve learned Martial Energy, haven’t you?”

“…What?!”

I recoiled in surprise. I had been hiding the fact that I’d learned Martial Energy since the moment I possessed this body. I had avoided using it as much as possible in front of Joo So-hee and everyone else.

Seeing my reaction, she explained matter-of-factly.

“At a certain level, even a master can roughly discern what kind of martial arts a novice has learned.”

“!”

I realized what she meant.

Just like in the game, where you could roughly see the stats and skills of an enemy weaker than yourself, Joo So-hee must have a ‘status window’ of sorts, showing my stats approximately:

[Name: Paengdori (Evil Alignment)]
[Primary Martial Art: Peculiar Techniques]

Of course, this isn’t a game, so she probably couldn’t know the exact names of my skills.

…I rolled my eyes.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

‘Am I about to be erased from the registry like this…?’

No, it’s worse than that.

If my Martial Energy had been discovered, it wouldn’t just mean being erased from records.

The techniques I’d learned were premium, requiring actual payments in the game. Even learning just one made me a notable martial artist and a target for immediate execution. I wasn’t careless; I had deliberately kept it hidden.

‘Even if I run, I’ll just die.’

If it were the Flowing Realm, maybe, but running from a master? That’s practically asking for death.

While my mind raced, Joo So-hee spoke again.

“Yes. Sometimes, to survive, one must bow.”

“Uh.”

She hugged me.

Tightly.

Affectionately, as always.

“They surely forced you to learn it, didn’t they? That’s the usual trick of the Martial or Blood Sects: they make you learn Martial Energy to tie you down with martial achievements, so you cannot escape.”

Joo So-hee patted my back gently, pity in her eyes.

“Even in such a situation, you’ve grown up properly. …How admirable.”

“Eh… eh.”

My mouth froze.

Forced to learn? Who? Me?

‘My conscience hurts.’

I had just spent roughly ten million won in microtransactions thinking, ‘Well, I can’t resist a Cheonma shooting a laser beam.’

I just wanted to become a Cheonma who shoots electricity in action.

Honestly, it’s awesome!

My mind was spinning in all directions.

Fortunately, the sharp edges of embarrassment hadn’t hit yet. If I stayed too long next to Joo So-hee, I might just turn into a round blob.

“Phew.”

After being hugged and showered with affection, we returned to the main topic.

“It’s best to avoid being discovered, but if you are…”

“If I am?”

“…Just kill them.”

“What?”

Is that how it works?

“If there’s no witness, it’s as if it never happened. Isn’t that so?”

“Eh.”

Her claim was extreme, and a bead of sweat slid down my forehead.

‘Basically, she’s saying it’s like an assassination if there’s no witness. Crazy.’

I asked seriously.

“What if a righteous figure or someone too strong discovers it?”

“If it’s someone I know, they can’t touch you anyway. Your face already serves as your identification. But for officials or righteous figures you don’t know, you must reveal your name.”

“Even to officials? Why?”

Joo So-hee burst out laughing.

“Haha! My child, do you not even know your mother’s name?”

“?”

“Joo So-hee.”

I blinked, puzzled. Joo So-hee’s expression shifted slightly to a surprised look.

“You really don’t know?”

“Yes, I do. But why?”

“Well…”

She paused for a moment, then made a small sound of realization.

From her expression, she seemed to switch into the ‘poor child’ mode. Something ridiculous was clearly going through her head.

“My child doesn’t know? Then I must teach you. The character ‘Ju’ (朱) in your name means ‘bloodline of the Son of Heaven,’ and Hwangryongdae signifies the emperor-sanctioned great sword.”

The sudden influx of information left my mind blank.

The Son of Heaven?

That means emperor, right?

‘I vaguely remember something about the Ming Dynasty in the game prologue…’

I had no interest in the world’s lore and had completely forgotten it.

I gasped.

“Does that mean I’m also an imperial descendant?”

“Technically, princesses’ descendants aren’t imperial heirs, but you are correct in saying you carry imperial blood.”

“A… a princess?”

“Yes. Though my brother was once the crown prince, he is nearly seventy now, so you should refer to him as the former emperor.”

Cold sweat ran down my back.

In a martial fantasy world, suddenly being pulled into Ming Dynasty history.

‘If I follow the righteous path, does that mean I’ll meet the imperial family? Maybe I shouldn’t have joined the Martial Sect… No, even if I followed that path, I probably wouldn’t have known. I would need to have read event dialogues first.’

Zero experience reading martial arts novels.

I skipped every story.

Ah, the consequence of my laziness and carelessness was coming back to haunt me.

But whose fault is it really if I skipped the story for being boring?

“If that’s the case, there won’t be many who dare touch you, the daughter of the Son of Heaven. But in the extremely rare case someone tries to kill you…”

Joo So-hee smiled coldly.

“I will personally find them and tear ten generations apart.”

I’d only read about ‘annihilate ten generations’ in history books, and now here it was, the emperor’s protection embodied.

“Even before the emperor, I could plead with tears, so don’t worry. Would the emperor ignore his only sibling’s grievance?”

And it’s the only princess.

That means even if the emperor dies and the crown prince ascends, she becomes the only senior member of the royal family. Actually, in this case, my cousin would be the next emperor.

‘Scary. Hero protagonist luck.’

Backing this up exceeds anything I could imagine.

There’s a hidden trump card like this, and I had only been checking gacha probabilities instead of consulting the story wiki.

“My contemporaries might not understand this, but if you reach transcendence, who would dare interfere?”

Having said that, Joo So-hee erased her fierce expression and returned to a gentle, kind face.

She gave me a soft, playful smile.

“So, focus on reaching transcendence as soon as possible. I’ll handle everything else.”

“Yes!”

Wow! A righteous Flowing Realm mother!

And one of the Five Grand Masters!

And a princess too!

So reliable! I nodded vigorously.

“Then first, I will teach you a secret royal technique passed down in the imperial family.”

“A secret royal technique!”

My eyes sparkled.

I had never interacted with the royal side because I followed the Cheonma path in the game.

But now, the actual princess, one of the Five Grand Masters, is teaching me a ‘secret royal technique.’ My heart was already racing with excitement.

“Here, take this book first.”

“Okay.”

I naturally took the book but hesitated.

Joo So-hee seemed a little excited as she spoke rapidly.

“You must memorize all the incantations written here. Hmm, it’s only a hundred pages, so three days should suffice.”

“…Mother.”

“Yes?”

I held the book with a face that was neither smiling nor crying.

“What is this supposed to be read as?”

Indeed.

A proud child of South Korea, Paengdori (or not).

I can’t read Chinese characters.

‘Isn’t that obvious?’

皇室祕笈書北冥神功 ← I challenge any Korean who can read all of these characters.

For now… I have no clue.