“Wooooaaahhh—!”

A roar like an erupting volcano. Lee Taebaek and his group finally pushed the kids aside and entered the master bedroom on the second floor.

The room was surrounded by soundproof walls, so the noise cut off abruptly, but the fervor of faith still permeated the air. A furnace of devotion blazed just beyond the door.

For reference, this cozy-looking master bedroom had been remodeled from the Stiletto Club’s inner rooms.

That’s right. Baron Mallo had knocked down the row of partitioned rooms where he used to bite and suck with his boyfriends.

Considering this was nominally Lee Taebaek’s private space now, it felt oddly suspicious. The intentions behind it were dubious.

It was done under Jin Sobang’s direction as the 31st District Branch Leader.

No way that bastard Jin Sobang had done it innocently. He deserved to be milked for more favors. If he resisted, Lee Taebaek planned to drag him here to the Hundred-Fold Sect Branch 1 and treat him just like Baron Mallo.

“Damn it, Lee Taebaek. What the hell did you do, brainwash all those kids en masse?”

Tang Jihye leaned against the door in a hunched posture before slowly straightening up. In just five minutes, she looked five years older as she spoke.

“Weren’t you a Siesta Hound? Did you turn them into that using the same method they used on you? Wow, you really have twisted tastes—”

“Shut up, please.”

Lee Taebaek cut her off sharply. Ban, who had been about to leave, flinched, his eyelashes trembling.

“…Siesta Hound… Megacorp assassin… Does that mean the Founding Patriarch…?”

Tang Jihye smirked smugly at Ban’s shocked reaction, her eyes saying, “You’re hiding your past and deceiving the kids, right?”

Lee Taebaek made up his mind. Nope, couldn’t let it slide. He’d set everything else aside and beat her first. An assault in a women-forbidden zone would make for even more meaningful memories.

Baron Mallo, who died here, would be thrilled.

But Ban’s next words completely derailed his expectations. He muttered lowly.

“F-Freakin’ awesome…”

His pupils sparkled with awe. Then he started spewing words without even breathing.

“A tragic yet compelling backstory, overcoming it, and even founding a relief organization to prevent others from suffering the same… A hero—no, like a scene ripped straight from myth… Is he a god? Is he light itself? Oh, Founding Patriarch, how far must I worship you…?”

His orange irises quivered with fear.

“Wh-What the hell is this?”

“The Hundred-Fold’s sacred resonance echoes within me, most holy—”

“Ban, cut it out and get out of the way already.”

Goeun spoke indifferently, unfazed. As a Demonic Cult alumna who had been in and out of here for three days, she was used to it.

“Go calm the kids down. You’re second only to Lee Taebaek in the Hundred-Fold Sect, right?”

“Hundred-Fold—”

“…Fine.”

And so, only Lee Taebaek, Goeun, and Tang Jihye remained in the room. No more obstacles.

Clunk.

Lee Taebaek claimed a spot and sat cross-legged. Goeun took position behind him and said,

“You know that during energy circulation, you’re in a vegetative state—like a pseudo-sleep, right?”

“Feels like sleep paralysis, I guess.”

“I’ve never had it myself, so who knows. Anyway, think of it however it makes sense to you. Point is, you can’t move from your spot during it. If you need the bathroom, go now.”

Lee Taebaek shook his head.

“Just one question. If it was just basic energy circulation, you wouldn’t bother guiding me personally. There’s more to it, right?”

“Hmm.”

Goeun hesitated briefly before sighing and confessing.

“I wasn’t planning to hide it anyway, so here goes. When the Commander-in-Chief sent you to me, there was one request.”

“Request?”

“More like a proposal. Anyway, long story short: ‘Can you teach Lee Taebaek magic?’”

As she spoke, Goeun placed her hand on his back and closed and then opened her eyes.

From her cheekbones to her forehead, blood vessels bulged in her eyeballs, changing their color. The Demonic Eye activated.

“I said I’d think about it after checking your state. Remember? The Commander-in-Chief had sent a few ‘external agents’ before.”

The moment Goeun’s palm touched his back, Lee Taebaek’s back muscles twitched involuntarily.

Hiss…

A chill pierced his spine, creeping along his sides like tickling fingers.

Ugh.

It felt like invisible hands gripped his abdomen tightly. He didn’t want to make a sound, but it hurt like hell.

“But they were all duds. The Commander-in-Chief picked the best, I’m sure, but they didn’t impress me. And why? Because I was an instructor in the Demonic Cult.”

“Instructor…?”

“Right. I taught cultists—or mages, as they’re also called.”

Just before entering energy circulation, Goeun smirked.

“Why? Surprised the person you beat was a bigger deal than you thought?”

…Beaten? She went easy on me so obviously it was embarrassing for her.

Pfft. Her laughter grew louder.

Tang Jihye, leaning crookedly against the door, frowned. With her eyes wide like that while laughing, she looked like a demon herself.

She’s improved since moving to Lake City, but…

The rift between orthodox and demonic sects ran deep. Of course, Goeun and Tang Jihye got along decently enough. They were in similar boats.

“I lowered the output, but I never held back.”

“What does that even mean?”

Lee Taebaek closed his eyes, mulling it over. The mage’s whisper tickled his ear.

“I toned it down so my home wouldn’t burn to the ground. Even if you died, the Commander-in-Chief agreed not to hold me accountable.”

Fuck, what about my say in this?

“Anyway, amid all these mediocre guys, you showed up and caught my eye. So, for your first energy circulation, I’m intervening to help you cultivate both internal energy and magic at once.”

“Then why’s Tang Jihye just standing there?”

Lee Taebaek nodded toward her with his eyes closed. Tang Jihye stuck out her tongue dramatically.

“Wow, you really are clueless. Obviously, someone has to stand guard during energy circulation.”

“I know that. Why you?”

“Hey-!”

“The Tang Clan lady feels indebted to you. Tang folks can’t leave debts unpaid. It’s a family curse. Now, enough. Let’s start.”

“Got it.”

Lee Taebaek pressed the edges of his hands together at his navel. Goeun’s energy surged into his back.

His breathing slowed.

His senses dulled.

His mind plummeted.

Into the depths of the unconscious.

Little by little… little by little.

Ding—

How to sum up energy circulation in one sentence?

Borrowing the pretentious lingo of Jianghu folks obsessed with flair: contemplation of the mind.

In our terms, peering into your inner self. Simply put, meditation.

But at a superhuman level of focus that transcends ordinary humans.

If everyone could build internal energy just by sitting cross-legged, dogs and cows would be flying around ignoring hover vehicles.

What I’m saying is this:

Elevate the quality of your meditation to the extreme. Until you can sense that supernatural energy called internal energy with your skin.

Deeper.

Blood flows back and forth through vessels. Amazing. Veins look like tunnels now. Focus more—even the grime in the corners is visible.

That’s ‘impurity.’ Impurities narrow already tight vessels even further.

I inhaled slowly. As my expanded lungs pushed against my ribs, I exhaled in a rush.

Shooooaaaaah!

My basic internal energy, the Tang Clan energy absorbed from Tang Jihye, and Goeun’s guiding vital energy. True qi, in other words.

The blood wave carrying these three forces swept away the dregs. The rust dissolved into the blood.

Refreshing.

So this is what purging impurities feels like.

As a sense of fullness washed over me, my vision suddenly funneled into a point. Startled, I rubbed my inner eye and opened it again.

That apple-like red speck? Red blood cells!

Lake City’s tech-packed microscope couldn’t match this magnification.

This wondrous phenomenon meant my consciousness was drawing nearer to the unconscious. I smiled.

Let’s shove my mind even deeper.

I’d seen footage like this: Earth as a ping-pong ball next to Jupiter, a speck beside the sun.

Now, I’m reversed.

The apple-sized red blood cell enlarges. Its spherical shape vanishes, blocking my view like a wall. Then vision blacks out.

I’ve reached a lightless place where colors are indistinguishable. Yet gravity still pulls my body downward.

Is this the bottom of the slope? Am I even doing energy circulation? At the start, I could faintly hear Tang Jihye grumbling.

Then ambient air seemed to muffle sounds, distancing them. That’s when I pulled a trick.

This alone wouldn’t count as a trick. To test my limits, I invoked a ‘restriction.’

Ding.

[Operator’s Life stat has been nerfed.]

Ding.

[Operator’s Strength stat has been nerfed.]

Ding.

[Operator’s Agility stat has been nerfed.]

Ding.

[Operator’s Magic Power stat has been nerfed.]

Ding.

[Operator’s Faith stat has been nerfed.]

[Operator’s Mind is amplified 120x.]

.

.

.

She was standing guard midway through.

“Crazy…”

Tang Jihye quickly peeled her back off the wall. Her gaze shot out the window.

Rain was brewing. Nothing special. As the name implied, Lake City was a city of water. The fishy smell was nauseating.

But.

“What the hell are those clouds?”

Twisted thread-clouds like ropes connected earth and sky. Dragon clouds. Abnormal weather, sure. The timing was the issue.

Tang Jihye glanced at Lee Taebaek. Thunder crashed then. Krarrrumble!

Backlit silhouette hard to make out. Yet his presence wasn’t eclipsed by mere lightning.

Suddenly, a legend came to Tang Jihye’s mind: an imugi ascending as a dragon upon enlightenment.

“Python…”

His revolver gleamed in the light.