Chapter 218

Chapter 218

The cleanup wasn’t difficult to finish.

“Aigoo, I’m exhausted.”

Inside a dark room.

Paeng Jin, who confirmed the Yeomwangjeon monks who had broken their bracelets and disappeared after falling into danger, rolled his stiff shoulders while making dying sounds. His eyes shone brightly, contrary to his dying sounds.

“We somehow managed to repel them in time. If they had tried to stall, we would have been in trouble too.”

“They probably chose to increase their chances of survival even slightly rather than perish together. If the fire goes out, they have no chance of surviving, right?”

“Well, that’s how it is. Those Yeomwangjeon bastards have too much greed for money despite being so wealthy.”

The Yeomwangjeon monks were more full of material greed than anyone in the secular world. Could you really call such people monks who had taken refuge in the Buddhist law?

“Well, anyway, let’s stop thinking about Yeomwangjeon.”

Paeng Jin, who shook his head unconsciously, looked at the three additional people who had joined while waving his hand. He felt anew how lucky they were.

“Meeting familiar faces in a place like this is really nice. Isn’t that right, Namgung Hyeon? Dang Seol?”

“I won’t deny being lucky.”

“M-me too…….”

Meeting Namgung Hyeon and Dang Seol happened less than one shichen after the Gate Opening Ceremony started.

It was Namgung Hyeon and Dang Seol who helped Paeng Jin, who had been hunting alone and was about to be eliminated after being counterattacked. According to what he heard, those two had already met half a shichen earlier and were acting together.

“This time too, we would have been in trouble if there hadn’t been five of us. Mm. Though one person still doesn’t seem to want to join as a comrade.”

“You piece of trash.”

“Your mouth is rough too.”

Paeng Jin, who shrugged his shoulders at Jeongnyuha glaring at him, shook his head again and opened his mouth.

“Anyway, let’s tally up what we got. Did you have any harvest outside?”

“We ambushed a group of three and stole their candles.”

“Oh, how many?”

“One.”

“Damn, that’s disappointing. I thought there’d be at least three.”

Candles tended to be held more by small groups rather than large groups. Because large groups basically had a tendency to go for plunder, while small groups had a tendency to go for missions.

Until this incident—the zone master appearance incident—occurred, the purpose of candles hadn’t been properly explained. Plunderers threw away surplus candles on the street, while small-scale survivors often collected candles just in case.

That’s how it reached the present.

The tasty prey became small groups rather than large groups. Right now, candles for survival were more important than points.

“Seonwoo Gang. Did you search the Yeomwangjeon bastards’ stuff? How many did they have?”

“Five.”

“Six total. Whether they collected them in advance thinking it might be useful, or plundered to get five…… anyway, we can breathe a sigh of relief.”

Paeng Jin, who let out a sigh of relief, organized the current situation.

“Six candles. This is our lifeline right now. We can hold out for a while with this.”

“Mm. How long can we hold out?”

“About one gak per candle…… roughly half a shichen and one gyeong. To hold out until the sun rises, this is nowhere near enough.”

About one shichen had passed since the sun set.

He didn’t know how long the night lasted within the formation, but even at the shortest, they’d need to wait at least three more shichen, and at the longest, they’d have to wait up to five shichen. If they had enough candles they could hold out, but with this amount of candles, it was nowhere near enough.

They needed a means to secure more candles. A large quantity at that.

“The important thing is that there aren’t many survivors left in this area.”

Paeng Jin, who sighed deeply, turned his gaze toward Dang Seol.

“How did the reconnaissance go?”

“Th-there are almost none nearby…… There are a couple of small-scale survivors, but they seemed to be preparing to leave too. It doesn’t seem like they have spare candles.”

“Attacking them would be a waste of time then.”

“Yes…… And, um. I don’t know if this is my imagination…….”

Paeng Jin blinked at Dang Seol’s appearance hesitating over whether to speak or not, then shrugged his shoulders.

“What is it? If you have any information, say it. Either way, we’re in a situation where every piece of information is important.”

“Well…… there were traces.”

“Traces?”

“Traces that seemed to head inward…….”

“Inward?”

At Dang Seol’s story, Paeng Jin, who unconsciously turned his gaze, looked at the nine-tailed fox visible far away and asked with a sour expression.

“There were traces heading toward that interior?”

“Yes…….”

“When were they made?”

“Relatively recently. It’s certain they were after night fell.”

“What for…….”

The interior was close to the fox yokai. Without candles, the interior was literally a place where you’d immediately become a target and get killed.

Common sense said there was no reason to enter. What would they gain by willingly entering that dangerous place……?

‘……Wait.’

“Could it be?”

After thinking briefly, Paeng Jin, who had something flash in his mind, hurriedly looked at Seonwoo Gang. And Seonwoo Gang nodding at that gaze.

“I think that ‘could it be’ is right.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If it’s a group with many candles, the interior might actually be safer. Junior Martial Sister.”

The farther inward you go, the more likely you are to receive the nine-tailed fox’s attacks. And if you light candles, you can avoid the nine-tailed fox’s attacks.

That means, conversely, the safest place for those with sufficient candles was right beside the nine-tailed fox. The biggest threat for those with sufficient candles wasn’t the nine-tailed fox but people, and those without candles couldn’t approach the nine-tailed fox’s side.

“The group that went inward probably already secured sufficient candles. They judged they had enough candles to get through the night, so they burrowed inward. It’s a troublesome situation.”

“What? Why troublesome…….”

“Because all the groups with large quantities of candles are in the interior.”

Desperation takes away freedom of thought.

Those with plentiful candles could more easily devise such means because they had leisure. For them, the only threat was martial artists from other groups who would attack them.

If they devised a plan to overcome that danger, they would have easily reached the conclusion to go inward. By now, most of them would have moved inward.

“Probably there are almost no groups with many candles in this vicinity or farther outward.”

“We with few remaining candles also need to make a decision soon.”

If they stayed here, only a future of elimination awaited them. This place wasn’t close enough to the nine-tailed fox to have many people with candles, and it wasn’t far away either, so they could easily receive attacks.

“There are two options. Either retreat completely to the outskirts to avoid the fox yokai’s attacks while prolonging life, or trust these few candles and go inward to plunder candles.”

“What will you do?”

At Paeng Jin’s question, everyone fell into thought. Choices that each had advantages and disadvantages.

Retreating to the outskirts was slightly safer. The groups holding out inside had probably already resolved to not move and turned their positions into semi-fortresses, so ambushing with Dang Seol’s hidden weapons wouldn’t be easy either.

“If what the shop owner said is true, catching the zone master was originally the condition for advancing to the central zone.”

“That’s right.”

“For us, the condition for advancing to the central zone is surviving the zone master.”

Indeed, could those barely clinging to life in the outskirts also advance to the central zone?

They might. Surviving in the outskirts wasn’t easy either. That too could be recognized as a type of qualification.

But what if they didn’t recognize that qualification? What if entry to the central zone was only granted to those within the fox yokai’s effective range?

“We need to go inward.”

“I agree as well. If there’s a possibility of being eliminated without doing anything, it’s better to move toward the side with greater possibility.”

“Mm.”

At Namgung Hyeon and Seonwoo Gang’s opinions, Paeng Jin, who nodded, glanced to the side at the women who hadn’t answered yet. Then Dang Seol answered cautiously.

“I-I think retreating to the outskirts would be better, but…….”

“Speak comfortably. No one here will criticize you for having a different opinion.”

“……Even so, if you say we’re going inward, I’ll follow. If worst comes to worst, I can just tear off my bracelet…….”

“Good.”

At Dang Seol’s appearance trailing off while clearly stating her opinion, Paeng Jin, who smiled broadly, turned his gaze to the last remaining person.

“Two in favor, one opposed. Then, what does our Hyeolgeommun young sect master think?”

“What do you think my reason for cooperating with you White Path bastards is?”

“You’re in favor then. Good. More than half agreed.”

Buseureuk!

Paeng Jin, who tallied the opinions, quickly started collecting the candles beside him, and the group blinked. And watching that, Paeng Jin asked.

“What are you all doing?”

“What?”

“If we’re going to move, we need to move now. Hurry up and pack.”

“Wait, you mean move now? Shouldn’t we devise some strategy or something…….”

“Even if we devise one, nothing special will come out, and we need to assess the opponents’ situation too. And.”

Paeng Jin, who paused briefly, turned his gaze beyond.

“Look at that.”

“It seems we don’t have much time.”

At Paeng Jin’s words, those who slowly followed his gaze were at a loss for words.

The palace’s center.

The fox yokai was moving.

To deal with the surviving survivors.

Right after zone transfer.

“……So.”

After watching the fake Heukya moving in the distance, I turned my gaze toward the shop owner smiling brightly in front of me. A small-statured boy spreading out candles in front of the shop and smiling broadly.

“You mean that without this candle, the moment I leave this shop, I’ll be attacked by that thing.”

“Yep yep. That’s right.”

“I can’t buy candles at the shop either.”

“I’ll sell about two. Limited to people who transferred zones though.”

“Hmm, so this side is an endurance structure.”

The terrain was different in each zone, and the zone masters were different.

When I realized that, I expected there would be various types of zone masters. If all zones were unified in a ‘subjugation’ format, there would definitely be aspects that deviated from fairness.

“This ruined palace area especially has good point-earning opportunities. If you threw in a zone master that could be subjugated, they’d definitely catch it quickly and advance to the central zone. That wouldn’t be fair, right?”

“That’s true.”

“So they released a zone master that can’t be subjugated like that, and made it so you can advance to the central zone if you endure the time. Smart, isn’t it?”

“Was this your idea?”

“No, it wasn’t my idea.”

He was so triumphant that I thought it was his idea, but apparently not.

Making a strange expression while stroking my chin, the boy-shaped martial artist, Gomokdaeju, held a candle in his small hand and waved it.

“Anyway, Changcheon. Will you buy it or not? If you want to search for people without being disturbed, this candle is essential, right? Finding people while receiving that yokai’s attacks won’t be easy even for you.”

“That’s true.”

“One thousand points each! This price is cheap!”

“It’s expensive.”

“Hey, growing kids need to eat a lot to grow.”

“Isn’t your growth period long past, Gomokdaeju? I remember you already being over fifty.”

“Oh my.”

Despite looking like that on the outside, Gomokdaeju was the oldest among Sado Alliance’s martial force commanders. What growth period?

“How cold. So cold~.”

Gomokdaeju, who stretched out his words while manipulating the candle placed on the table, wore a playful smile. And the proposal that followed.

“So, won’t you buy it?”

Candles.

After thinking briefly, I turned my gaze. The appearance of Heukya rampaging in the distance.

‘Indeed.’

I need to find Seonwoo Gang urgently.

Even if it’s fake, if I have to find Seonwoo Gang while receiving Heukya’s attacks, the search won’t proceed smoothly. There will definitely be setbacks. No matter how I think about it, buying candles is the right choice.

That is, if looking at it from the perspective of searching for Seonwoo Gang.

“How wide is this ruined palace?”

“Hm? Well, it’s quite wide……?”

“Can you see that yokai even from the outskirts?”

“Well, it’s big, so…….”

“Then that’s fine.”

Wasn’t the premise wrong?

Even if I search for Seonwoo Gang in this vast ruined palace, it will inevitably take a long time. If it’s a structure where you have to light candles to survive, Seonwoo Gang will also be hiding, so it will be even harder to find him quickly.

Then I should flip the premise.

“There’s no need to search for people.”

“I just need to make them come find me.”

Fortunately. I’m glad it’s Heukya and not another great yokai.

“Having experience facing him will be helpful.”

I drew my sword and left the shop. 

Immediately.

Kwaaaaang!

I smiled broadly at the sight of the black tail swooping down over my head.

“This is how it should be.”