“……What? Disciples?”

Disciples? A word that made me doubt my ears.

Taking Yoon Bom, a Dragon-grade national representative athlete, as a disciple.

It was an absurd notion.

“Hyung, me too! Please take me as your disciple too.”

Before I could answer, Yoon Gyeoul chimed in.

His eyes burned with eagerness as he spoke.

“I’ll be better than my sister. Please take me as your disciple.”

“Who’s cutting in line? I’m better than Yoon Gyeoul!”

I watched quietly as the two bickered over who would get to be my disciple.

What a circus.

I stepped in to break it up and said.

“I don’t have the skills to teach you.”

“No! You’re an incredibly amazing person!”

“That’s right. We even had our lives saved thanks to you. There’s so much I want to learn!”

Even when I refused, they were relentless.

I did need to get somewhat closer to them, but disciples?

Meanwhile, Shin Sooa watched us with amusement before speaking.

“Then should I join in?”

“In what?”

“Seo Kangrim’s disciple.”

“Excuse me?”

Dumbfounded, I asked back.

Shin Sooa looked at me and let out a small laugh.

“Just joking. Were you actually considering taking disciples?”

What a joke.

Me taking Shin Sooa as a disciple? It would make more sense if it were the other way around.

Instead of answering, I stood up from my seat.

“Oppa, where are you going?”

“It’s too noisy here, I can’t stay. I’m going to sleep somewhere else.”

I had already burned the Ten Thousand Beast Incense, so even without me, the demon beasts wouldn’t approach the campfire.

As I turned my back on the three and headed toward the forest, I heard them whispering.

“I know what that is.”

“What?”

“A tsundere…….”

【Ah, I second the tsundere assessment.】

【What’s a tsundere?】

【People like Seo Kangrim.】

【You don’t have these where you live, right? The kind of people who tell you spring potatoes are delicious and then give you potatoes.】

【Ah, I get it. That’s exactly Seo Kangrim.】

Ignoring the gods’ chatter, I moved to a different spot.

After walking a fair distance into the forest, I opened the Shop Window.

There was an essential item I needed to purchase here.

[You have purchased the item ‘Demon Realm Map’.]

Upon purchasing the map, a single sheet dropped into my hand.

Unfolding it, I saw the paths I had taken so far spread out and marked on it.

The Room of Sword Tree was a demon realm also known as the Beast Sword’s Maze.

The forest stretched on endlessly with no distinctive landmarks, making it easy to get lost.

Of course, even with a map, it wasn’t recorded in fine detail.

Only the overall shape was drawn, and my movements were recorded on the map as I traveled.

That alone was a huge help in this place, making it a must-buy item.

【The ‘Guardian of the Sword Tree’ has used the item ‘Trace of Deity Name’.】

【Highlighted messages will be activated for 10 minutes.】

【The ‘Guardian of the Sword Tree’ asks why you are buying a map.】

【The ‘Guardian of the Sword Tree’ says that if you receive Divine Descent, they can guide you.】

This stalker-like bastard was still watching me.

He sent messages like a local deity doing home shopping telemarketing, but I ignored him.

I had bought the map, so I figured it would be best to take a look around.

I had burned the Ten Thousand Beast Incense, but I never knew what kind of demon beasts might approach.

There was also the possibility of people, not demon beasts, approaching.

I stared into the darkness.

[‘Senses’ is activated in the darkness!]

Night had fallen and the surroundings grew dark, but thanks to having raised ‘Senses’, it wasn’t a big problem.

Looking around, I found a few traps installed nearby.

They looked like traps that Joo Hyeryung had set up previously.

While I was collecting the traps and observing the surroundings.

I heard footsteps, almost soundless, coming from behind me.

-Giit!

Something sharp brushed past my side.

The ones ambushing me from behind were Small Ogres.

They were holding crudely made swords.

They were rough-looking wooden swords, but their appearance and effectiveness were complete opposites.

-Seugeok!

The debris of the trap I had thrown to disrupt their vision was split in half in midair.

Despite the fact that what they held were wooden swords.

A wooden sword was a wooden sword, but these were made from the branches of the Beast Sword Demonic Realm.

Swords where everything from the leaves to the branches were formed of sharp blades.

They were sharper and more lethal than your average sword.

-Kak-kak-kak!

They seemed well aware of that fact, exuding an air of confidence.

The Small Ogres let out bizarre laughter as they charged at me.

-Seogeok!

However, they were too dull and slow.

Before the Small Ogres’ swords could reach me, my blade had already met their necks.

The Small Ogres screamed and scattered.

Making noise and revealing their positions? I couldn’t have asked for more.

Using the Small Ogres’ gleaming eyes and screams in the darkness as my guide, I swung my sword.

In an instant, Small Ogre corpses began piling up around me.

Having dealt with them to this extent, they wouldn’t approach any further tonight.

I collected the Spirit Jade that spilled from the Small Ogres’ mouths.

[You have acquired Human Grade Spirit Jade!]

[Acquired Spirit Jade Count: 10/1000]

I was told to collect a thousand Spirit Jade, but I didn’t actually need to collect a thousand of them.

The count varied depending on the grade.

Insect Grade counted as 1, while Human Grade counted as 10.

Hunting a hundred Human Grade beasts was far better than hunting a thousand Insect Grade ones.

I had already caught about ten of them, so clearing the realm itself wouldn’t be difficult.

【Wow, he’s catching all the Small Ogres in this situation?】

【Exactly. It was dark, so the Small Ogres had a huge advantage.】

【Isn’t he supposed to be clearing the room tomorrow?】

The gods made a racket while I collected the Spirit Jade.

They even looked a bit desperate.

Meanwhile, more voices began to jump into the Universal Communication channel.

【Ah, there are more and more competitors. This won’t do.】

【Kangrim! If you make a contract with me now, I’ll give you a Dragon Grade weapon.】

【Kangrim! Make a contract with me and become a Daoist youth!】

I did need a weapon right now, but the Dragon Grade weapon was undoubtedly a lie.

Nothing good ever came from trusting minor gods.

Besides, even if they really gave me a Dragon Grade weapon, there was no need to undergo Divine Descent.

There was a hidden weapon in this demon realm.

I didn’t know the exact location, but I was certain it existed, so I had no choice but to search this place thoroughly.

Amidst this, I felt a movement from my coat.

-Ttak-ttak-ttak-ttak

When I took the egg out of my coat, its small mouth began clacking its teeth as if begging for food.

It had been over half a day since I entered this demon realm without feeding it, so it was bound to be hungry.

-Ttak-ttak!

The creature twisted its body toward the corpses, seemingly wanting to eat the Small Ogre’s body.

It looked ready to bite into it, so I hastily stopped the egg.

“You eat this.”

I dragged over some Beast Sword Leaves from nearby and brought them to the egg’s mouth.

Despite not having a nose, the egg smelled the leaf and took a bite.

-Twet!

However, it seemed to taste bad, as it immediately spat it out.

Even so, I couldn’t feed it anything else.

When I forcibly pushed the leaf into its mouth, it resisted a few times before eventually chewing and swallowing it.

I looked at the message window.

[The Wood attribute and Metal attribute of the ‘??? Egg’ increase by 0.4% each.]

[Growth Status: 0.4%]

……I’ll have to feed it diligently if I want it to grow.

Paying attention to it one by one was a bit tedious, but it was an egg with more than enough value to warrant it.

It would be best to hatch it as quickly as possible, but at best, it seemed it wouldn’t hatch until the next demon realm.

Meanwhile, the gods who saw the Unknown Egg started causing an uproar.

【What? Isn’t that an Unknown Egg?】

【I wondered what he was doing with an egg, but it was an Unknown Egg?】

【Where did you even get that?】

【The more I know about this guy, the more I want him.】

I ignored the clamoring voices urging me to undergo Divine Descent and continued to feed the egg.

The problem was that it kept rejecting the food.

-Twet!

I forced it to eat as it kept spitting it out.

I couldn’t let it eat something else and ruin everything.

After feeding it roughly a bush’s worth of leaves, whether it was full or just sick of it, the egg finally closed its mouth.

It didn’t seem to have any intention of eating more today.

It looked a bit sullen, but it couldn’t be helped.

I had finished clearing the vicinity, and the night had deepened with a full moon hanging overhead.

I climbed up a nearby tree and settled into a spot.

I could clearly see where Shin Sooa was, and I had a good view of the surroundings, making it easy to respond to anything.

【Why aren’t you joining them? Aren’t they your comrades?】

【Or maybe Kangrim is playing hard to get.】

【Aah…… So this is what a tsundere is.】

The gods were still chattering away.

I had heard that if my stats went up a bit more, I would be able to exert some control over the Universal Communication.

【But are you trying to sleep on a tree?】

【You’re going to get hurt. But if you undergo Divine Descent with me……!】

The overhead branches were full of blade-like leaves, so it was obvious that a single gust of wind would result in a flurry of blades.

I took out a large fur pelt from my inventory.

It was the hide of the Snowfield Saber-toothed Tiger I had obtained from the Room of Cold Ice.

The hide of a Snowfield Saber-toothed Tiger was highly resistant to sharp edges.

It could easily block something like blade leaves.

I draped the pelt over my body and looked back toward the campfire.

“Gyeoul, why are you so careless, just like last time? Act a bit more carefully!”

“Ugh, stop nagging me! I’m already reflecting on it!”

Yoon Bom and Yoon Gyeoul seemed to be fighting again.

Shin Sooa had no intention of stopping them and was simply watching.

They had emergency rations they brought along, so they were eating that instead of a proper meal.

It somehow reminded me of when I was in the Flying Tiger Sect.

I would fight with Yoo Harang, Jang Taeheon would break it up, and Shin Sooa would just watch and laugh.

It was usually only after Kang Dohyun scolded them that things would quiet down.

【Why are you just watching?】

【I told you, he’s playing hard to get.】

【Why does Kangrim keep going off alone?】

【Going solo must be his concept.】

I ignored the gods running their mouths and simply watched over the group.

As the night deepened, Yoon Gyeoul and Yoon Bom went to sleep first.

Shin Sooa seemed to be standing watch.

As the night grew even deeper, I opened my eyes.

I heard the sound of a demon beast nearby.

I had burned the incense, so the demon beasts wouldn’t come.

However, demon beasts weren’t the only dangerous things in this area.

Enemies were hard to distinguish in the dark, so I raised my Senses.

[‘Senses’ has increased to Level 18.]

I slowly opened my eyes and looked down at the forest.

Something was rushing toward me through the darkness.