Prologue
Beneath a ceiling wide open to the night sky, moonlight poured down into a vast stone cavern.
"I'm just curious—what could you possibly be lacking that makes you want to leave?"
A man with skin black as coal and a bald head asked.
Kunlunno Hoyeonno.
He was often called that on the Hwan Continent, but to Soohyeok, the term "Black man" was a more familiar label for his race. Was his name Hiba? Or Shiba? Truthfully, he couldn't quite remember. He'd more often called him by the nickname Heuksanja (Black Mountain Man). The man seemed to like that nickname well enough, too.
"Rather than something I lack, it's the longing I can't let go of."
Lying on a hard stone bed, Soohyeok replied calmly. Heuksanja's stark white eyes widened as he covered Soohyeok's body with a long cloak made from the hide of a thousand-year-old Imoogi. Then, he burst into loud laughter.
"Kekeke, that's quite the story. You're not saying that because you don't know what you're leaving behind here, right? For someone who's called the one and only, even referred to as Ilcheon (Heaven's One)—you're telling me there's a longing greater than what you already possess?"
He knew very well.
Wealth, honor, physical strength, and power—Soohyeok could have anything he wanted in this continent.
The One and Only,
Ilcheon,
The Greatest Martial Artist,
The Martial Emperor.
There was nothing he couldn't have if he so wished.
But Soohyeok himself felt differently. What he longed for couldn't be found in this world—it was the remnants of memories, a deep yearning.
"This 'Earth' world you talk about… even I'm getting curious about it. I remember one story you told me—something about iron carts with wheels that move faster than peak-level martial artists? What a joke that was."
He chuckled.
"Honestly, if it had been anyone else saying that, I'd have smashed their skull in right away."
Soohyeok didn't reply.
Heuksanja was a talker. If he responded, the conversation would never end.
Heuksanja began applying a liquid made from the essence of a divine root to Soohyeok's body. His eyes glinted mischievously.
"Khhuhuhuhu."
The ghostly laughter tickled Soohyeok's ears unpleasantly.
Thankfully, the sweet scent of the root calmed his nerves. If they'd gone with Heuksanja's first suggestion—to use gumiho blood—he probably would've kicked the guy in frustration by now.
"Heuheung~ Just about done now."
The laughter shifted into a hummed tune.
Heuksanja finally placed a yeouiju, a dragon's pearl, from a long-dead white dragon onto Soohyeok's chest—right above his heart.
"Are you really sure you won't regret this?"
Heuksanja's voice turned serious, the humor gone.
Soohyeok closed his eyes and smiled.
"You're the one who'd be happiest if I disappeared, so cut the crap. Just get on with it."
44 ?> ?=_ _=? , ,
😕 O O O
A strange sound, neither laughter nor crying, echoed through the cavern. Then, an eerie chant began in a language that couldn't be understood.
It was impossible to imitate.
The pronunciation was bizarre, layered with deep and high tones, sounding as if a man, a woman, an old person, and a child were all speaking at once.
Yet somehow, despite how bizarre it all was, Soohyeok's mind remained at peace.
Maybe it was the full moonlight shining through his closed eyelids.
Or maybe it was the harmony of the cool stone floor and the warm Imoogi cloak—like enjoying a summer night with the AC on under a thick blanket.
No, the reason was simple.
Hope.
Hope that he might really return.
The ritual was uncomfortable, yes, but if it worked, wasn't that enough?
"Hey, Heuksanja."
As his consciousness faded, Soohyeok called out.
Heuksanja was still chanting, but Soohyeok could feel he was listening.
"There's something I've always wanted to tell you…"
His consciousness sank into darkness.
Chapter 1
Beep–! Beep–!
A periodic electronic beeping echoed in Soohyeok's ears.
Did I… really make it back?
The thought didn't immediately connect with full consciousness. He still felt like he was floating. But that feeling quickly faded. Slowly, his senses began to sync with his body.
One by one—starting with his pinky—he could feel movement return.
He forced open his heavy eyelids.
"I can't see anything? Did that bastard Heuksanja mess something up?"
Worry flickered through his mind, but he quickly shook his head.
It was just dark. A quiet night.
His pupils adjusted, and his vision slowly adapted to the darkness.
People were nearby.
The ceiling above him was pure white. So was the blanket covering him.
Even his clothes were white—though not pure white, but striped vertically. Between the lines, Korean letters were printed:
[Saeon Hospital].
Only then did he realize the familiar scent tickling his nose.
It had been so long, he'd forgotten. The sterile smell of a hospital.
"Ah…!"
A gasp of awe escaped him.
The surroundings alone were enough for suspicion, but the hospital gown and the scent erased all doubt.
He was back.
He wanted to scream for joy—but his throat was dry, and no sound came out.
"Krrhhh!"
Only a harsh, scratchy rasp escaped.
But who cared?
He had returned to Earth.
That single, glorious fact made every little discomfort meaningless.
His long-missed mom, dad, and younger sister Soo-ah—he could see them again.
Soohyeok tried to sit up right away.
"Ggaaahhk!"
And then let out a genuine scream.
Agony.
A searing pain like his whole body was being torn apart shot through him.
It hit like a lightning strike, instantly clearing the last traces of brain fog.
"Damn it! I just got back and now I'm gonna die again?"
He cursed internally, his brows furrowing deeply.
"This body's in terrible shape. There's no way I'd be this weak from just lying down a day or two. Did that bastard Heuksanja mess up?"
He had promised to return Soohyeok to the exact time he'd left Earth.
A day or two of error, he'd said—at most.
But his body felt far worse. It was like he'd been bedridden for years.
"Huff… Huff…"
Soohyeok wanted to curse just to ease the pain, but even his voice wouldn't come out properly—only a pained groan escaped his lips. A flash of light burst in his eyes.
"I need to fix my body, even if just a little."
Right now, all he could manage was to wiggle his fingers or open his eyes.
It was in this moment that he fully understood why, in all those dramas and movies he'd watched long ago, bedridden patients could only move like this.
"Let's see… If I try to accept Divine Technique of the Union of Heaven and Earth right away, my wrecked body won't be able to handle it. Primordial Technique of the Sacred Earth would be better."
Soohyeok decided to use Martial Arts, the technique from the Hwan Continent where he had suffered for fifteen years after being dragged away not long after his military discharge. He didn't know how effective it would be on Earth, but his understanding of Qi had reached a level where it felt like an extension of his own body—he could not only use it at will but reshape it as he desired.
His returned physical body had no memory.
It didn't even have a proper vessel for Qi.
But his soul remembered its "level."
"Ssss…"
Focusing to sense the Qi floating around him, Soohyeok inhaled slowly.
A warm and comforting energy entered through his nose and mouth, flowing gently like a calm river past his lungs and spreading throughout his body.
Moving carefully and tenderly—never rushed—the energy touched his broken muscles and damaged blood vessels with a gentle touch that reminded him of a mother's embrace. It was quiet. In that prolonged silence, power began to return to his failing body.
"Phew…"
By the time he exhaled deeply, his once ragged breath had become much smoother.
He had just completed a major component of internal energy cultivation: Small Celestial Cycle, which involves absorbing Qi and circulating it through the body before storing it in the lower abdomen.
"Now I feel somewhat alive."
Thanks to that, he was now able to speak, albeit roughly, without it sounding like a scream.
"Should I call the nurse first?"
As Soohyeok looked toward the call button beside the bed, he froze.
A burst of seven-colored lights suddenly exploded before his eyes like fireworks.
"A hallucination? No—have I gone mad?"
He was just beginning to wonder if his brain had suffered damage from returning from another world—
Ding!
A bell rang—not in his ears, but directly in his brain.
Welcome to the Force System.
New Awakened One, please protect your world.
You have acquired the A-rank skill: Primordial Technique of the Sacred Earth.
An entirely unfamiliar and incomprehensible message floated in a translucent window in front of him.
Silently, Soohyeok carefully slapped his cheek just in case.
There was pain—but the floating translucent window remained.
"Crazy the moment I return…?"
How was he supposed to explain this to his parents?
That their son had gone mad?
That he was seeing hallucinations that wouldn't go away?
He might have to become a shaman at this rate.
Finally, Soohyeok buried his face in both hands and let out a deep sigh, on the verge of tears.
[Force Status]
Name: Yang SoohyeokAge: 27? $&*! &&(System error. Stabilizing…)Gender: MaleLevel: 1Class: Martial Artist (武人)Alignment: Chaotic NeutralKarma: Past (過)Strength: 1, Agility: 1, Stamina: 2, Wisdom: 10Note: Due to prolonged physical inactivity, a handicap has been applied.Karma Score: Extremely high relative to age and species baseline.
No matter how many times he checked, the translucent screen visible at the edge of his vision didn't disappear.
The words [Force Status] simply lingered there, as if it had always been part of his view. What was shocking wasn't just the message, but the fact that it wasn't caused by any kind of Qi or supernatural effect—it looked like it was etched into his eyes.
He had already made a few guesses about its identity.
At first, he thought it might be a ghost.
But—
"There's no way a ghost would look like this."
This wasn't just baseless speculation.
Amazingly,Soohyeok had encountered real ghosts back on the Hwan Continent.
For the record, he had also fought and helped some of them pass on.
It wasn't exactly exorcism.
He had simply overwhelmed them with martial arts.
One of them had been an ancient, terrifying spirit—but at the time, Soohyeoknhad the ability to deal with it.
Back then, his martial arts were said to reach the heavens, and he was known across the continent as the First Martial Emperor. That title hadn't been given lightly.
So what then—was this some kind of monster?