Vol. 1 Chapter 4.4

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Among the extreme sports that exist on Earth, there’s one called free solo.

It refers to climbing a several-hundred-meter rock wall with no safety equipment whatsoever, just your bare body. It’s also called the most dangerous sport in the world.

No partner, no lifeline. You climb relying only on the natural gaps and protrusions in the rock and the chalk on your fingertips.

This insane act, which sometimes leads to fatal accidents, Yeon had experienced in modern times.

“I never thought I’d be doing this here, too.”

In her previous life, her father made her do free solo climbing under the guise of training. There had been dozens of pre-climbing surveys and thorough preparations, but…

No matter how you look at it, you don’t make your daughter do something like that. One wrong step and you’re dead.

Fortunately, free solo in the martial arts world wasn’t nearly as dangerous.

Of course, Yeon had never surveyed Thundercloud Cliff in advance, nor did she have chalk to prevent slipping. But the martial world had its own universal key, internal energy.

Crunch crunch crunch.

That was the sound of her internal energy-infused hand digging into the cliff face. To create artificial handholds like that, Yeon used the Absorption Technique to adhere her hands firmly. It felt much more stable than using chalk.

The core of rock climbing, after all, was holding on tight without slipping and stepping well. Once that was solved, there was nothing difficult.

What about Cheon-gang, a pure martial artist? Would he climb even better?

Glancing over, he, too, was using a similar method. His expression was perfectly calm.

Oh, looks like he’s done some cliff climbing before? I was terrified the first time.

As they repeated the motions, they soon reached the point where the fog was.

Up close, the dense fog was so thick they couldn’t see an inch ahead. From there, a strange sensation began. A prickling feeling at the back of her head.

“Lady Yeon.”

Cheon-gang called her to a stop and skillfully climbed up beside her.

“Please wait a moment.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I need to check something.”

When Yeon nodded, Cheon-gang raised his upper body above the fog. After a moment, he came back down and spoke with a serious face.

“Beyond the fog, there’s a formation laid out. I thought there might be something, but it’s worse than I expected.”

It was an unfamiliar word to Yeon.

“A formation?”

“Yes. It looks like a fairly dangerous kind.”

“That dangerous?”

“Depending on how you look at it… yes. Perhaps…”

“What is it? Just tell me.”

Yeon abruptly raised her body as she spoke. The moment her head passed through the thick fog-

CRAAACK!

A deafening sound made Yeon flinch hard. Nearly losing her grip, she looked up.

“Wh-what is this?”

A fantastical scene unfolded before her eyes, in a very negative sense.

The blue sky, where not a single drop of rain had fallen, was now packed with dark storm clouds. It wouldn’t be strange if rain started pouring at any moment, the worst possible conditions for rock climbing. But worse than that…

KABOOOM! CRACKLE-CRACKLE!

White lightning exploded. Yeon quickly lowered herself back below the fog. Then, clear skies again. It felt like putting on and taking off a VR headset.

“Lady Yeon?”

“…”

“Are you alright?”

“What is this, Cheon-gang?”

“It’s a formation.”

His calm voice finally helped her pull herself together. Yeon said,

“That? Thunder and lightning are striking right in front of us!”

“It seems to be the type that maximizes fear. I don’t know why a formation of this level is here, but…”

“So it’s all an illusion?”

“I was just about to say that. Of course, none of that can be real. But depending on how you perceive it, it can become real. That’s what makes formations so frightening.”

At a loss for words, Yeon looked up again.

“So you’re saying we could actually die if struck by lightning?”

“I don’t think it will go that far. But you might feel pain, and you could also experience the illusion of electric current flowing through you. And if that happens…”

“We could fall! That old man didn’t say a word about this. Seriously.”

Forget “not dangerous.”

Falling from this height, martial artist or not, is instant death!

Why hadn’t he given them any warning? Had Grandfather Hong genuinely lost his mind?

“For this type of formation, mental strength is the most important. A belief that it can’t hurt you… But that’s not as easy as it sounds. Otherwise, formations would be meaningless.”

“Geez…”

Just as she was shuddering at the absurdity, Cheon-gang continued.

“Lady Yeon, I did recommend this to you, but truthfully, I didn’t expect this kind of training. I’m sorry.”

“No, you don’t need to apologize.”

“If you want to stop here and go down, I’ll follow your lead. I’ll help you train somehow, by any means I know.”

What should I do? They said it’s a formation, so it’s not real, but…

Yeon was torn, but she didn’t want to go back and face Grandfather Hong. It was obvious how much he’d sneer at her.

I’d rather get electrocuted than see that.

Biting her lip, Yeon steeled herself. Giving up halfway wasn’t her style anyway.

“I’m going up.”

“Yes.”

Cheon-gang answered calmly. As if he had expected her answer. But whichever choice she’d made, he would have said the same.

Yeon suddenly thought,

What do other people think of Cheon-gang?

At first glance, he seemed cold and aloof, uninterested in everything. Perhaps he seemed so superior that he’d become a cynic. There were people like that in the world.

So even Namgung Ji-hyun had said something like that.

“Weren’t you interested in other people’s business?”

But after spending time with him, Yeon realized Cheon-gang wasn’t like that. She had been charmed by his perfect looks at their first meeting, but only now did she feel she was starting to understand him.

Cheon-gang wasn’t lacking in emotion or empathy. It was just that the way he expressed them wasn’t frivolous.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have the attention Namgung Ji-hyun so desperately wanted, he was simply lacking. Because he poured it only where it was truly needed, leaving nothing extra. The way he treated Yeon alone showed how thoughtful he could be.

Ah.

Now that she thought about it, she was assuming she was important to him. That was a little embarrassing.

It’s probably true, right? Maybe not super, super important yet… But at least a little?

Yeon became curious. Would she be able to walk the same path with Cheon-gang from now on? What if they joined forces to overcome the crisis about to hit the martial arts world?

She thought Cheon-gang would be a more reliable companion than anyone else. At the same time, a pillar that wouldn’t waver under any trial.

Then what if… they fell in love?

The thought that stirred her heart was pushed beyond consciousness by Cheon-gang’s voice.

“I’ll take the lead.”

“Let’s go together.”

“I’m more familiar with this type of formation. So…”

Without hesitation, Cheon-gang raised his body. Watching him disappear into the fog, Yeon followed shortly after.