If you open your eyes and find yourself in a strange place that's not where you fell asleep, most people would wonder if they were still dreaming.
I was the same.
I had definitely been scrolling on my phone last night, dopamine-hunting for satisfaction because going to work tomorrow felt like such a drag, even though I knew I should sleep.
Then, when 2 a.m. rolled around, I finally surrendered to reality and dragged myself to bed.
I gotta sleep. Gotta sleep so I can go make money again tomorrow.
But now that my eyes were open, I was sitting cross-legged in a massive cavern.
"What is this...."
The words slipped out of me unbidden, fading faintly into the vast space.
That alone made it clear just how enormous this place was.
A voice didn't even echo. How big could it be?
I stood up and examined the clothes I was wearing.
Black attire. It felt like a robe, but the texture was a bit different.
No way... Is this really what I think it is?
To resolve the suspicion forming in my head, I wandered around a bit, and my doubt turned into certainty.
I discovered plenty.
Countless weapons, an uncountable number of Rock Grain Pills, and what seemed to be spirit medicines.
A pitch-black wall that looked utterly impervious to scratches, Night-Luminescent Pearls embedded in the high ceiling, and several spare sets of Martial Robes just like the one I had on.
And an old manual inscribed with the words Obliterating Origin Divine Art.
I opened the manual.
It was filled with densely packed classical Chinese text. But I could read it.
Amazing. Is this what it feels like to master a second language?
Being able to naturally read characters that weren't Korean felt incredibly strange.
It was different from English.
Not that I'm all that great at English anyway.
Anyway, those thoughts didn't last long before another one crept in.
Ah, damn it. If you're gonna send me to another world, why not make it fantasy?
Magic, elves, dragons, adventures... Wouldn't that be awesome?
Why does it have to be wuxia?
Either way, one thing was certain: this wasn't a dream.
And I'd been transported to a martial arts world.
I had no idea how or why I'd come here.
Or what I was supposed to do.
I couldn't just sit there dumbfounded, so I scanned the cavern again.
After wandering for a while, I spotted some writing on one of the walls.
[Upon greatly mastering the Obliterating Origin Divine Art, you will be able to cleave the Black Wall.]
Seeing that made my head spin.
It meant that if I couldn't master that tattered manual from earlier, I couldn't leave this place.
In other words, I was trapped. Here.
Suddenly, the mountains of Rock Grain Pills made sense.
The spirit medicines too. At least whoever set this up had some manners, providing those as well.
Anyway, my immediate task here was crystal clear.
If I wanted to get out, I had to greatly master that technique called the Obliterating Origin Divine Art.
One minor problem: I was a perfectly ordinary 28-year-old who'd never properly exercised in my life.
Is this even possible?
Can someone my age even learn martial arts? Hell, I don't even have any internal energy to start with.
I went back to the manual and opened it again.
I could read it, but I didn't really understand what it was blabbering about.
Still, after reading it a few times, I started to get the gist.
'Keep your gaze straight ahead, grip the sword with your right hand, and extend the tip forward. Your stance should be a bit wider than shoulder-width, with your right foot forward—but not past your right elbow. Position your left foot at a right angle to the right, without any awkwardness. Draw a circle with the sword tip. The circle should be one cun and five fen in diameter, neither too fast nor too slow.'
It didn't explain why to draw a circle with the sword tip.
The rest was the same. This was a pretty unfriendly manual.
Well, if it were friendly, it wouldn't be a manual. Why would you need a master then?
But that was a problem too.
There was no master here. No one to teach me.
Hang on, shouldn't there be something at least?
Like some transcendent being who's lost its power and banished, lingering as a tiny spirit.
Or even a cute animal form.
Hell, even an AI would do!
Feeling blocked, I scanned the cavern once more.
I looked at my situation through the eyes of someone hunting for a backdoor route.
If there was a way out without following the rules, I could grab some of those spirit medicines and sell them for a fortune.
Or maybe learn that Obliterating Origin Divine Art more easily.
Somewhere better than this dim cave where the only food is Rock Grain Pills.
But of course, there was nothing. No loopholes like that.
Yeah, figures. Whoever designed this wouldn't leave something that sloppy.
In the end, I'd have to fully master the Obliterating Origin Divine Art here and break through the Black Wall with my own hands.
This sucks so bad.
I wasn't ready. Honestly, this setup was pretty unfair.
Whoever did this to me—couldn't they have just snapped their fingers and given me the power?
Or at least given me some choice in the matter?
I grumbled internally for a bit before letting it go.
Whining like this wouldn't help.
No matter their intentions, I had one thing to do right now.
Learn martial arts, whether it worked or not. Study the manual and do exactly as it said.
There were swords too... What if I just offed myself? The thought crossed my mind briefly, but that was nonsense.
I didn't know what chances lay ahead, and giving up without checking wasn't my style.
Wait, is that a style thing? Whatever.
So I took a deep breath, gripped the manual, and got to it.
Yeah. Let's see if it kills me or feeds me. They must've brought me here because it's possible.
And so, from that day, I began cultivating the Obliterating Origin Divine Art.
I achieved great mastery fifty-two years and five months later, on some ordinary day.
There were no fanfares or congratulatory messages announcing my great mastery.
I just knew. That I'd become ridiculously strong.
Now, this pitch-black Black Wall was something I could slice through anytime.
Actually, about two years ago, I'd already been able to leave sword marks on it when swinging my blade.
So it wouldn't be hard. I could've left sooner if I'd pushed it.
But I didn't cleave the Black Wall right away.
Fifty-two years and five months.
With the mind of a 28-year-old, I'd stayed here without feeling the passage of time.
Maybe because I'd undergone Rejuvenation to Youth and Bone Transformation and Marrow Shedding midway.
Either way, physically, I looked far younger than when I'd first arrived.
Moreover, after over fifty years cultivating the Obliterating Origin Divine Art here, I'd gained my own insights.
Not the given technique, but my personal realm.
The Obliterating Origin Divine Art was fully mastered, nothing left to learn there, but my insights were different.
That's why, even though I could leave anytime, I didn't.
There were still plenty of Rock Grain Pills left. Honestly, I didn't need to eat anymore anyway.
So I stayed longer.
I didn't know what was out there, but training here felt more familiar and comfortable.
At least no one to bother me.
So I kept staying. But now, I barely moved my body.
I sat cross-legged in stillness, endlessly pursuing enlightenment.
Fifteen years.
After fifteen more years, I finally consolidated my modest enlightenment.
By murim standards, great mastery of the Obliterating Origin Divine Art was the Transformation Realm.
And now that I'd consolidated my insights, I figured it was around the Manifestation Realm.
Not entirely sure, though.
The manual said great mastery equaled Transformation Realm, so that was my guess.
Either way, nothing more to do here. Time to prepare to leave.
First thing I grabbed: the Night-Luminescent Pearls from the ceiling.
Couldn't leave those behind. I'd need money out there.
There were quite a few.
Enough to make me wonder how much I'd get if I sold them all.
Plus, there were still uneaten spirit medicines.
For some reason, the prepared varieties and quantities were plentiful.
Even after decades, plenty remained.
Though past a certain point, I hadn't needed them anyway.
Finally, what I took was the Black Sword.
Black Sword. A blade forged from the same material as this wall.
After great mastery of the Obliterating Origin Divine Art, I'd cut a chunk from the wall and shaped it.
Black Wall of unknown material. Even unleashing sword aura at peak power barely scratched it.
So forging it into a sword took over ten years.
The downside? A bit heavy. But the weight felt good. Unlikely to break or dull.
And no maintenance needed. It wouldn't rust like metal.
I named the sword Dark Radiance Sword.
This black-bladed sword shines blindingly bright when infused with qi. That's why the name.
I unpacked the spare Martial Robes, stuffed them full of Night-Luminescent Pearls and spirit medicines, set the bundle aside, and gripped the Dark Radiance Sword.
Over sixty-seven years in this place. More than twice as long as I'd lived before.
Now it was time to leave.
I gripped the sword and lightly infused it with qi.
The blade emitted a chilling light. The signal that I was ready.
I swung it lightly a few times.
Casual, effortless motions—but the power was anything but.
The Black Wall cracked and collapsed in a heap.
And through the gap, bright light poured in.
Kurrrung!
As the Black Wall crumbled, an ominous rumble echoed through the entire cavern.
Whoa. No way?
But my senses were spot on.
This cavern was collapsing. Definitely.
I grabbed the Night-Luminescent Pearls and spirit medicines and headed out.
But beyond the Black Wall wasn't the outside. There was a tunnel that looked like a natural cave.
As I followed it, the rumbling behind grew louder.
Then cracks spiderwebbed from the inner cavern, and it began collapsing section by section.
Emerging from the cave mouth, brilliant sunlight bathed me.
Suddenly, I realized I'd gone sixty-seven years without seeing the sun.
Wild.
Maybe I wasn't human anymore. How else could this be possible?
By then, the cavern—and the tunnel I'd exited—were collapsing too.
I backed up further and confirmed I was at the base of a massive rocky mountain.
The sound of it shattering like the world ending: kurung-kurung.
A moment later, the shocks and vibrations stopped.
And the world fell quiet again, as if nothing had happened.