WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 1: A Spy's End Is Death.

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A spy's end was death.

The dark hidden chamber was thick with choking dust.

It was proof that no human hand had touched it in a long time.

“Cough.”

Dust had gotten into my mouth and nose.

Even so, I was filled with anticipation.

I desperately hoped this was the place.

As I carefully searched the hidden chamber by torchlight, I finally found an old wooden box.

I cautiously approached the dust-covered box.

Hiss!

Then, with a sound like air escaping, something sprang out.

“Gasp!”

Startled, I hurriedly stepped back.

Once there was some distance between us, I saw what it was.

A snake.

Hiss! Hiss!

Oddly, its eyes were as white as a snowfield.

The moment I looked into those white eyes, chills ran down my spine.

Perhaps there had not been even a rat in this cave because this thing had devoured them all.

The snake flicked its tongue and threatened me with hissing sounds.

It was as though it meant to stop me from approaching the wooden box.

“Damn it!”

I swung my torch at the snake as if to attack it.

As the torch's heat and orange sparks flew, its white pupils rippled.

Crackle, crackle!

Yet no matter how I waved the torch, the snake did not budge.

Instead, those white eyes stared directly into mine.

What kind of snake was not afraid of fire?

In the end, my hand went to the hilt of my sword.

Hiss! Hiss!

Then the snake lowered the long body it had raised threateningly.

It slithered over the floor as though swimming, then vanished somewhere at great speed.

“Haa.”

A breath of relief escaped me.

Catching the snake would not have been particularly difficult, but those uncanny white eyes had left me with an inexplicable sense of unease.

Fearing it might return, I quickly opened the wooden box.

“Ah!”

There was something inside.

It was a yellowed sheet of paper that looked ready to tear at any moment.

It had to be nearly six hundred years old. Perhaps it had been treated with some special chemical, because although its color had faded, the writing remained perfectly intact.

I felt as though I might cry.

Countless lines were written on the paper.

“Secret Records of the Sword Sage.”

The treasure said to have been left behind by the Sword Sage, who had been called the greatest in swordsmanship six hundred years ago, had fallen into my hands.

Unfortunately, I could not become its owner.

There were two reasons for that.

First, my dantian had been damaged by a Ki Rampage when I was young. I could not cultivate internal energy and had become a third-rate martial artist.

Second, there was the situation I was in.

Brush.

Inside the part of my chest I was touching was a Blood Worm.

The Blood Worm was a venomous insect created by the Blood Cult.

Whenever they wished, they could make this damned insect run wild and kill its host.

If you wondered why such a thing was inside my chest, it was because I was a Blood Cult Spy.

My teeth ground together.

If I had not been kidnapped back then, this would never have happened.

I tightened my grip on the Secret Records of the Sword Sage.

Alarmed when the paper crumpled, I quickly loosened my hand.

The Secret Records of the Sword Sage, called a treasure for all ages by martial artists, no, by master swordsmen who honed their blades, were the only lifeline that could free me from serving as a Blood Cult lackey.

“Hmm.”

But was this really the Secret Records of the Sword Sage?

The contents were utterly bizarre.

It rambled on and on about the mystic ki of the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper in order to understand the Sword Heart...

Was this really a secret manual?

What made my skin crawl was that strange patterns had been drawn across the paper in red ink, as though they were some sort of heterodox sorcery.

Whatever.

My purpose was to remove the Blood Worm from my chest and return to being a child of a force-of-justice prestigious clan, rather than a Spy.

Even if my Clan treated me like trash, it was better than living every moment in fear as a Spy.

I only needed to call Council Elder Baek WiHyang and Mo YongSoo, the Head of the Golden Dragon Clan, who were searching elsewhere.

But first, there was something I had to do.

I took something from my clothes.

It was a specially treated cylinder about two finger joints long.

“Damn it.”

I suddenly felt irritated.

There was a small crack in the cylinder.

I must have fallen face-first while climbing down the cliff.

At least it had not shattered.

I carefully folded and folded the paper from the Secret Records of the Sword Sage, then put it into the cylinder.

“Phew...”

Could I even swallow this?

I should have prepared some water.

I opened my mouth, put in the cylinder, and forced it down my throat.

I felt like vomiting, but I had no choice.

“Urk.”

It felt like eating a dried, rotten tree root.

The reason I swallowed it like this was simple.

It was my own precaution.

They had said they would help me, but they were martial artists. There was no telling whether they would covet the Secret Records of the Sword Sage.

Grind.

After opening the stone door of the hidden chamber, I knocked on the wall of the cavern at the center of the cave.

Tap! Tap! Tap-tap-tap! Tap-tap! Tap!

It was the Martial Alliance's code.

The knocks were quiet, so perhaps they would not hear them. But Council Elder Baek WiHyang, said to rank fifth in the Martial Alliance, or Mo YongSoo, one of the Two Dragons among the rising talents, should have been able to hear.

Sure enough, the two appeared shortly afterward.

“Did you find it?”

The broad-shouldered, powerfully built middle-aged man with an impressive beard was Baek WiHyang, the Fourth Council Elder of the Martial Alliance.

Beside him stood Mo YongSoo, the eldest son of the renowned Mo Yong Clan. His sharp eyes and high nose made him stand out at a glance.

After catching my breath, I smiled.

“Yes, Elder. It was here.”

Both their faces brightened.

They had found the Secret Records of the Sword Sage, a treasure for all ages. There was no need to put their joy into words.

Mo YongSoo, the Head of the Golden Dragon Clan, quietly asked me, “Where is it? The Secret Records of the Sword Sage?”

“Please honor your promise first.”

That promise was to remove the Blood Worm.

I had heard that Council Elder Baek WiHyang's profound internal energy could burn the Blood Worm inside my body with life energy.

I felt sorry for the two who had trusted me, but after suffering so much as a Spy, I needed a definite guarantee.

Council Elder Baek WiHyang smiled.

“Ho ho ho. Of course. You are right. Accounts must be settled properly.”

Then he signaled Mo YongSoo with his eyes.

Shing!

Mo YongSoo drew a prized ki weapon with a razor-sharp edge from its sheath.

It was the Celebrated-End Sword, the famed sword of the Mo Yong Clan.

Startled by the sudden draw, I backed away.

“What are you doing?”

“Hand it over if you don't want to die.”

Mo YongSoo pointed the tip of his sword at me.

He looked ready to stab me at once if I did not hand over the Secret Records of the Sword Sage.

My heart pounded under his sharp murderous intent. But after living under the constant anxiety of the Blood Worm, would I meekly say yes to this threat?

“...If I give it to you, will you remove the Blood Worm?”

“Well, do we need to keep you alive?”

Ah, damn it.

I had feared this, and I had been right.

The Secret Records of the Sword Sage had blinded those two.

They intended to silence me after obtaining the treasure.

“Will you violate the code that forbids personal feelings or greed during a Martial Alliance mission?”

Baek WiHyang sneered at my words.

“What use is a code if no one will ever know?”

“If I die...”

“What would be the problem if a Blood Cult Spy died? Rather, the Head of the alliance will praise our merit for uncovering a Spy.”

Damn it!

This was why no one could be trusted.

I had revealed that I had been forced into becoming a Spy, and they were using me like this.

“What if I refuse to speak until the end? Have you forgotten that the Blood Cult also sent masters here? Every moment counts.”

They were searching around the cliff.

If we delayed, they would soon discover that the cave containing the Sword Sage's treasure was beneath it.

Mo YongSoo's eyes wavered at those words.

But Council Elder Baek WiHyang's did not.

“You seem to want to play clever tricks, but every moment counts for you as much as it does for us.”

“...”

“You hid the treasure in one of these many hidden chambers in this situation? Do not play games. The only place you could have hidden it is inside that body of yours.”

I had nothing to say.

I had tried to outthink them, but he had guessed it at once.

The reason was simple.

“Did you think this elder had not searched through your belongings?”

Baek WiHyang smiled smugly.

Ah, I was finished.

At times like this, being a third-rate martial artist without internal energy was a lifelong regret.

I lacked the internal energy needed to sense someone searching my room with ill intent.

Of course, there was nothing I could do if a master like Council Elder Baek WiHyang searched it, but it still felt unfair.

“Then we should split this bastard's belly open, Elder. Heh heh heh.”

Mo YongSoo smiled leisurely.

At that moment, he was not a rising talent of the force of justice. He was nothing more than a greedy man.

There was no other choice.

Thud!

I fell to my knees and begged desperately.

“Please spare me. I will keep my mouth shut for the rest of my life. Even if you kill a third-rate martial artist like me, one who cannot even cultivate internal energy...”

“You read it, did you not?”

“What?”

“You read the Secret Records of the Sword Sage.”

I had nothing to say.

How else could I know whether that paper was the Secret Records of the Sword Sage without reading it?

What was unfair was that there had been nothing inside worthy of being called a secret manual.

“That is another reason you must die.”

“Th-the Records contained nothing special...”

Shnk!

My chest suddenly burned.

Mo YongSoo's Celebrated-End Sword pierced straight through my chest with absurd ease.

From the start, these bastards had never intended to let me live.

“Cough.”

Blood flowed from my mouth.

Then I collapsed onto the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

My fate had been decided from the moment this mission was issued by both the Blood Cult and the Martial Alliance.

Strength left my body, and my mind grew hazy.

Was this how I died?

“Cut open his belly.”

Council Elder Baek WiHyang spoke as casually as if he were discussing the weather.

Was I some pig raised for meat? How could he so easily tell someone to cut open my belly?

“Understood.”

Mo YongSoo pulled the sword from my chest and drove it into my belly.

Shnk!

“Urgh!”

I heard something crunch inside my stomach.

“Damn.”

Of all places, Mo YongSoo had thrust his sword directly into the cylinder in my stomach.

He must have felt it too, because he hurriedly pulled out his sword and tried to cut open my belly around that spot.

He was worried that stomach acid or foreign matter might get into the cylinder and damage the paper.

Then it happened.

Fwoosh!

“What?”

Something strange occurred.

A hot energy rose from inside my stomach, and blue flames erupted.

Startled, Mo YongSoo stepped back.

“What are you doing? Get that out of his stomach now!”

“Y-yes!”

At Council Elder Baek WiHyang's shout, he tried to cut open my belly again, but it was useless.

Before long, my entire body was swallowed by the blue Fire Demon.

But something was strange.

Being burned should have hurt, yet I felt no pain.

Was it because I was already dying?

“Damn it! Why won't this fire go out?”

Mo YongSoo's frantic voice gradually faded.

Now that I was truly about to die, I regretted everything.

How had I come to live such a life?

It was so unjust.

As blue flames swallowed my vision, everything turned bright white.

At that moment,

Splash!

Something soaked my body.

Had someone thrown water over me to put out the flames?

Startled without realizing it, I sprang upright.

“Argh!”

As soon as I came to my senses, I remembered being engulfed in blue flames and looked down at my hands and feet.

But they were completely unharmed.

Even my stomach, where Mo YongSoo's sword had stabbed me, was perfectly fine.

I had no idea what had happened.

Snicker, snicker.

Mocking laughter reached my ears.

When I raised my head, two boys around fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in splendid silk robes, stood looking down at me with sneers on their faces.

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