Chapter 1: Bingyi

The line between a trash game and a god-tier game is defined by the players’ judgment.

Even a game universally condemned as garbage might be an irreplaceable masterpiece to someone else.

That’s why it’s dangerous to judge a game’s potential too hastily.

Of course, there are exceptions.

You’ve probably experienced it at least once:

“Ugh, trash game. Nothing to do.”

The infamous “trash-game parrot.”

For them, it doesn’t matter how much content the game has, how detailed the characters are, or how rich the lore is.

No matter how godlike the game may be, they’ll suck it dry and then scoff that there’s nothing left.

In that sense, he was one of those parrots.

Though… a bit of a special case.

[ Play Record ]

■ Cheongpungjeon (靑風傳)

ㄴ Played for over 19,472 hours

ㄴ Endings collected: 298 / 299

“Almost 20,000 hours.”

20,000 hours of playtime.

At that point, it’s less “no life” and more like the game is your life.

Actually, no, it is your life.

“Well, it is well-made.”

Cheongpungjeon.

A game he both loved and hated.

He’d mutter about quitting every other day, yet always found himself creating a new character before he even realized.

Cheongpungjeon is a wuxia adventure game.

Though developed in Taiwan, its success exploded unexpectedly in Korea.

The genre—martial arts fantasy—was somewhat niche in Korea, but the game’s quality more than made up for it.

Character stats and choices drastically affected story development, and the number of unique endings was jaw-droppingly massive.

Still…

No matter how much freedom it offered, to a 20,000-hour veteran, it was just another trash game in the end.

He needed a new concept.

Something he’d never tried before.

But…

“What’s left?”

Blind swordsman.

Reclusive hermit.

Last disciple of Wudang.
…
….

Concepts? He’d done them all.

Same with endings.

He’d secluded himself and died a lonely death, gotten trampled by a horse, been beaten to death by beggars in a street brawl.

He’d even become the Demon King and wrecked the martial world, and on the flip side, become the righteous leader of the martial alliance and ascended to immortality in a “true ending.”

Still…

Trash game’s gonna trash—there just wasn’t enough content.

“No new mods?”

The only thing that could quench his thirst now was user-created custom mods.

But mods varied wildly in quality, and the good ones had already been milked dry.

Damn it.

Wasn’t there anything?

“…There is.”

He found it.

A fresh, hot-off-the-press mod just posted on the community.

“Myeolma (滅魔)?”

“Eradicate demons.”

In a martial arts context, “demons” usually referred to the demonic cult, so the mod probably involved purging them.

A very clear, straightforward title.

“Let’s see…”

High rating.

Great comments.

Easy installation.

Perfect.

Without hesitation, he installed it.

No need for detailed info—he’d figure it out by diving in.

[ Creating New Character ]

[ Affiliation: Random ]

[ Gender: Male ]

Random affiliation.

In the martial world, your faction was everything.

It determined your learnable techniques and often dragged you into tangled past grudges.

Your faction essentially dictated difficulty.

And now it’s random?

This mod creator was definitely a gacha addict.

Still, with 20,000 hours under his belt, he was way past being intimidated by a little RNG.

[ Unique Trait Added ]

[ Trait: Slay the Demon Cult! ]

[ When encountering demonic cult members, the following effects activate: Pure Spirit Body, Divine Pulse Immunity, Indestructible Physique, Ethereal Form. ]

Slay the Demon Cult.

Talk about living up to its name.

The long list of buffs basically boiled down to: he could go full god-mode… but only against demonic cultists.

In other words, a conditional cheat code.

A limitation, sure, but with massive potential.

[ Stats Auto-Assigned ]

[ Strength: 5 ]

[ Endurance: 5 ]

[…]

Garbage base stats.

Practically a built-in penalty.

But no worries.

[ Achievement Points Available ]

[ Points Held: 19,731 pt ]

[ You can use points to increase stats. ]

Stats were easily fixed using the mountain of points he’d earned over 20,000 hours.

The most important one: Ki Perception—a key stat that basically decided your innate talent.

[ Please enter a name. ]

Cheongun (靑雲).

Simple. Easy to say.

Nice.

He hit Enter.

More text scrolled by.

Enter. Enter. And Enter again.

Finally—

[ Begin Game? ]

Everything was ready.

He reviewed his setup one last time and placed his finger over the Enter key.

And pressed it, firmly.

That was Cheongun’s last memory.

****

Before he fell into the martial world.

When he was suddenly thrown into the world of martial arts—under the premise of “reincarnation”—Cheongun was utterly dumbfounded.

Reincarnation? Seriously?

But why the martial world of all places?

Why not a modern sci-fi setting?

Or a medieval fantasy full of magic and heroes?

Literally anything had to be better than this.

Anger. Confusion.

But in the face of imminent danger, those feelings didn’t matter.

Survival required three essentials: clothes, food, and shelter.

But Cheongun was an orphan.

No parents, no home.

Wandering was his only option.

They say being content in poverty is a virtue, right?

Bullshit. Utter garbage.

Who can feel virtuous while sleeping next to beggars who reek of rot, starving because they can’t afford food, and wearing rags barely fit to be called clothing?

Cheongun certainly didn’t want to find out.

Then it hit him.

Why the martial world was filled with so many scumbags.

To someone who remembered modern life, this world was literal hell.

But humans adapt.

And over time, Cheongun began adjusting to life here.

Sure, he cursed constantly and lived like a miser—but hey, he was alive. That counted for something.

More importantly, he had a revelation:

In a world where the strong ruled, survival required either money or power.

Preferably both.

He was done being looked down on.

Done being broke and pitiful.

Done sleeping on dirt and eating scraps.

He wanted a home.

Passive income.

Overflowing wealth and a peaceful life.

Until he achieved that dream, Cheongun couldn’t stop.

But the martial world wasn’t kind.

It was savage.

Schemes in every breath, blades before words, and a brutal meritocracy.

Move without power and you die—that’s the reality.

So, for years…

Cheongun struggled.

He left the city, built a shack in the wilderness to live in.

First priority: inner energy.

He sat down and focused on breathing according to the Three Principles Technique.

Thanks to his absurdly high stats—maxed out with all those achievement points—he managed to sense the flow of ki in his body sooner than expected.

His senses sharpened.

Time passed.

About a month later, he succeeded in his first ki condensation.

Efficiency? Trash.

It was a third-rate technique, after all.

But Cheongun had no regrets.

The Three Principles Technique was slow but the only one that guaranteed zero risk of qi deviation.

With no master to guide him, learning random techniques could easily land him on death’s door.

Money was great, sure.

But nothing was more valuable than his life.

Slow, but honest.

Cheongun built up his qi and cultivated his internal energy that way.

It felt like things were moving along a little too easily, but he didn’t bother thinking too deeply about it.

Maybe this body’s just naturally talented.

“Now it’s finally usable.”

The cultivation technique he had developed was decent enough.

The heat in his dantian drove out the cold, and as his qi accumulated, his physical endurance increased.

And that’s not all.

Thanks to his internal energy, he didn’t get tired easily, and with just a few cycles of energy circulation, he could go a day or two without sleep.

Which meant—

It was finally time to start making money in earnest.

“Just die already, will you?!”

“Grrghk!”

Hunting beasts.

The very foundation of economic activity.

If you want to save money, you’ve gotta cut back on spending first.

In other words, you need to be self-sufficient in food, shelter, and clothing.

Beasts had all kinds of uses.

The carcass could be roasted and eaten, the hide could be tanned and turned into blankets, and the rest could be sold at the market.

For Cheongun, who had knowledge from video games, this wasn’t even that hard.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

Cheongun cursed under his breath as he diligently saved money.

And the more he did, the more he craved advanced martial arts.

His head was filled with all sorts of techniques and forms.

But for someone who had just started building and using internal energy, they were nothing more than pie in the sky.

His only unique trait would only activate when he encountered a demonic cultist,

But in the martial world, those people weren’t exactly easy to find.

They were a bunch of lunatics who worshipped martial prowess,

Closed off from the world, and overly united,

They holed up on the peak of Ilwol Mountain and hardly ever came down.

Ah, why is life so damn harsh.

As if to make things worse, his empty stomach growled, begging for food.

“Sigh.”

Cheongun slung the fishing rod he’d bought a while back over his shoulder and headed to the nearby river.

After eating raw meat for several days, it was about time to change up the menu.

At the riverbank, Cheongun casually cast his fishing line.

Located right beneath Mount Ami, the Yangtze River had a slow current, which made it easier to fish than anywhere else.

Not too many, not too few—just five big ones.

Anything left over after eating could be sold to a restaurant or inn in the market.

Cheongun sat blankly and steadily moved his fishing line.

If only he could sense qi through the line, he wouldn’t have to wait like this, but his level was still too low for that.

Mm, the scenery’s pretty great.

Even if he looked like a bum, Cheongun felt surprisingly at peace.

Just as he was enjoying the moment—

An unexpected intruder appeared.

“Haah! Haah!”

A woman burst through the thick brush.

Her sweat-soaked martial outfit and heavy breathing made it clear—

She was being chased.

She stood there, catching her breath.

“Ha, what a noisy way to go. Is this the grave you chose? It is the perfect place to die without a sound.”

A voice flew in from behind her.

A masked man stood there lazily, watching her.

He scanned her up and down before speaking indifferently.

“For someone who screamed about justice, you sure ended up using a spy to infiltrate Heuksalmun. Isn’t that just a bit ironic?”

“……”

The woman stayed silent.

He was talking about her.

She ignored his pointless threats, her eyes darting, trying to find a way to escape.

The masked man noticed and followed her gaze.

He didn’t stop her because he was confident he could catch her no matter where she ran.

That, too, was part of the thrill of the hunt.

“Are you ready?”

The man grinned as he hoisted a massive blade onto his shoulder.

The woman’s eyes grew even more frantic.

At that moment, she spotted Cheongun, sitting on a rock by the river, fishing.

Wait.

Is he really just… fishing right now?

“Hm?”

The masked man also noticed Cheongun.

Their eyes met as Cheongun turned his head.

Cheongun blinked, clicked his tongue, and turned back to focus on fishing like he’d seen nothing.

“……”

The masked man sighed and took a step toward Cheongun.

The only witness had to be dealt with.

And then—

Whish.
Thunk.

Before he could get close, a shabby dagger flew through the air and embedded itself in the ground at his feet.

The dagger clearly had internal energy infused in it.

‘…He’s a martial artist.’

This just got annoying.

No witnesses were allowed for this kind of job.

“Hey, old man.”

“Old man? Are you talking to me?”

“Who else around here looks like an old man?”

“I am Sa Uncheon of the Black Forest Sect…”

“Yeah, yeah. Just finish what you were doing and don’t even think about coming this way. I didn’t see anything, alright?”

Cheongun threw out his words and turned away again.

Sa Uncheon was speechless.

What kind of brat is this?

“Young hero!”

The woman shouted.

“I’m Namgung Yul of the Justice Alliance, from the Namgung Clan!”

“And?”

“…What?”

“Don’t talk to me. I’m not interested. If the fish run away, are you gonna take responsibility?”

“No, listen, this isn’t the time to worry about fish—”

“Wow, you really don’t get it. Why should I help you? I don’t want to get involved in your grudge match. What if I end up on some bounty list from that Black Forest Sect or whatever? Ugh, even thinking about it is annoying. Is the Namgung Clan going to cover that? No? Then buzz off.”

Namgung Yul’s forehead twitched at Cheongun’s outrageous attitude.

But she had nothing to say in return.

He wasn’t wrong.

The martial world was tangled in endless cycles of revenge.

Even helping someone in danger required serious consideration.

“I’ll reward you!”

Whoosh.

Cheongun’s head snapped around like lightning at the word “reward.”

“How much?”

“What?”

“How much are you gonna pay me?”

His previously dead eyes suddenly lit up like fire.

Namgung Yul chuckled awkwardly and calmly replied,

“A grudge is repaid twice over. A favor, tenfold. That’s the Namgung way.”

“Yeah, but how much?”

“……”

Crack.

Stay calm. You need his help right now.

“One gold ingot.”

One gold ingot equals fifty gold coins.

Fifty gold coins equals ten thousand silver coins.

One silver coin can buy five sacks of rice.

Five sacks of rice can feed a family of four to five for at least a month.

In short,

One gold ingot could support a family of five for… 833 years!

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

It was an outrageous amount, but for the life of a direct descendant of the Namgung Clan, it was worth it.

Grin.

Cheongun’s lips curled up.

Normally, he’d avoid getting involved in stuff like this, but for that much money, he could tolerate a lot.

This was it.

His chance to change his life.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came knocking.

“Alrighty.”

Cheongun stood and walked over to Namgung Yul.

Sa Uncheon sneered.

“Young fool doesn’t value his life.”

“You sure talk a lot for someone your age.”

“You brat!”

Cheongun was thoroughly selfish.

No matter how much money was on the table, his life was more valuable.

But he’d intended to step in from the start.

He only hesitated to squeeze a little more out of it.

Why was someone this selfish stepping in so confidently?

Because he had a reason.

[You’ve encountered a Demonic Cultist!]

The status window lit up.

[Unique Trait: “Destroy the Demonic Cult!” has been activated!]

That bastard, Sa Uncheon—

[Cheong Spirit Purification Body has been activated!]

[Divine Pulse of Resistance has been activated!]

[Diamond Body has been activated!]

[Void Spirit Physique has been activated!]
…
…

He’s actually one of the rare demonic cultists!

“Hehehe.”

Finally…

Could this be it?

My chance to buy a house.