CHAPTER 131: —Where Desires Swirl

I have to cut it.

He wasn't talking about Lin Shenlin, but the mass of light that followed him.

Lin Shenlin didn't matter. Muryeon seemed to need him as a means to solve their Qi Deviation problem, but that had nothing to do with Jinwoo.

He was more concerned about the mass of light hovering at his side. He had only seen it for a moment, but it was unmistakably the power of the Lord of Light. It was her power, a fragment of her soul, that he had encountered on the 3rd Floor.

If he could cut it, so many things would become possible. He could use it to find the Lord of Light's location in the Spirit Realm, and if a battle broke out, he could fight her the same way he killed Jerakson.

Most importantly, if this White Land was the product of that light's power, cutting it could restore the Black Land.

'So, in the end, defeating Jerakson didn't restore the Black Land.'

He had considered the possibility, but this confirmed it. This White Land wasn't a natural recovery; it was the Lord of Light's intervention.

And considering her nature, this was by no means an act of mercy or kindness. It was something she had done to seize this star, this world that had become vacant after Jerakson's disappearance.

He needed to cut it down and drive her out right here. If she remained obsessed even after that, he would have to chase her to the Spirit Realm, find her location, and settle things for good.

'First, the light that's right in front of me.'

After getting permission from his team, Jinwoo pursued Lin Shenlin. The team leader agreed without him even giving a proper reason. Perhaps Ma Doo-sik had given him a heads-up beforehand.

Jinwoo wasn't the only one in pursuit. Many others were chasing him too: the Muryeon Hunters, and the Hong Kong Hunters they had contacted and belatedly mobilized.

'They say Qi Deviation is a serious problem for Hong Kong's Hunters.'

Many of them had been martial artists in their past lives, so there were many Hunters who practiced martial arts. They weren't the only ones in the world who did, but the proportion of martial artists among Hong Kong's Hunters was high. Just as there were many assassins among Tokyo's Hunters.

It was likely the result of various factors like region, ethnicity, and culture. Jinwoo didn't fully understand the mysteries of reincarnation. Perhaps the World Tree, known as the Spirit Tree of the Spirit Realm and responsible for the Elves' reincarnation, might know something.

"#$%$#"

"@^$#%@#"

In any case, the Hong Kong Hunters weren't just chasing Lin Shenlin because they were ordered to. Qi Deviation was a widespread issue for them, so they were pursuing him with much more vigor.

'This is not good.'

Jinwoo had a slight advantage in his ability to sense flames. Lin Shenlin, having become a servant of the Lord of Light, possessed a Black Flame, making him easy to identify from a distance.

However, that was a very small advantage. Compared to the sheer numbers of the Hong Kong Hunters who swarmed in to search, or the advanced equipment they used, it was bound to fall short.

This wasn't a Gate; it was right next to Hong Kong. For Jinwoo to catch Lin Shenlin alone before they did would be an arduous task.

'But I can't just give up because it's difficult.'

Jinwoo clicked his tongue and hid his body in the shade of a tree. In the distance, he could see the Hong Kong Hunters moving in an organized fashion. In contrast, Jinwoo, moving alone, was at least light on his feet.

Lin Shenlin ran through the forest, gasping for breath.

Many obstacles blocked his path. The forest trails, untrodden by people, made it hard to even find a foothold, and yet the place was teeming with monsters.

The big ones were actually fine. Their large size made it difficult for them to move through the forest, and they were easy to take care of in advance.

The problem was the small ones. Creatures the size of rabbits or squirrels, or even smaller, insect-sized ones. They were small but possessed deadly venom, posing a major obstacle.

But even more than that...

—"Get him!"

—"This way!"

The Hunters from his homeland, swarming in greater numbers than the monsters, were the most troublesome of all.

Even when he thought he had shaken them off, they quickly found him again. He couldn't relax even when he didn't sense any human presence. Machines like drones flew through the sky, tracking his location.

Hiding in a cave or the shade of a tree was useless against an infrared camera. No matter how powerful an S-class Hunter he was, he couldn't hide his body heat.

"Haa... haa..."

Still, he couldn't run indefinitely; he needed to rest. After shaking off his pursuers as best he could, he quickly caught his breath and closed his eyes.

After circulating his energy briefly, a little vitality returned. The White Land, restored by the Lord of Light's power, contained far more mana than the Black Land or even the cities.

That was his only salvation. Since his opponents were pouring in with endless numbers, the greater-than-usual mana worked to his advantage.

[Are you alright?]

"Can't you tell by looking?" he snapped back at the concerned tone. The whole reason he was in this mess was because this light had arbitrarily restored the Black Land, drawing the world's attention.

"I don't know what you're plotting, but you should have done it somewhere that had nothing to do with me..."

[That is impossible. I am intervening in this land using you as a medium. If you don't like it, I will have to withdraw my power, but will you be alright with that?]

"...Tsk."

He couldn't bring himself to say no. The only reason his body, ravaged by Qi Deviation, was holding on was thanks to her power.

If he cast her aside here, he would return to those days of agony. If it were only pain, he could endure it, but he could not afford to lose his martial arts. Having his dantian and qi channels completely destroyed by Qi Deviation was the outcome he wanted to avoid most.

'It's impossible to overcome it on my own now.'

Qi Deviation itself was like an incurable disease that one couldn't handle alone, but now, even the miraculous possibility was gone.

Because he had already used an external power once—the blessing of the Sky God—to forcibly correct it.

Having relied on an external power once, it was now impossible to resolve it on his own. You could say the first button was fastened completely wrong. But...

'I had no choice!'

For him, it had been unavoidable.

At that time, his body, mind, and even his soul were in tatters, and in that state, he couldn't refuse the lifeline that was offered. If he hadn't accepted the Sky God's proposal back then, he would already be dead.

'Thinking about it that way... am I just a life that should have died, now being forcibly held together?'

Like an undead, he thought.

His heart was clearly beating, and his lungs moved when he breathed. Bright red blood flowed through his body; he was definitely a living human. Yet, the reason he was sinking into such pessimistic thoughts was perhaps because he was in a desperate situation, being hunted.

—"Found him!"

"Kuh!"

Lin Shenlin's eyes flew open. He finished circulating his energy and ran. Cutting down the Muryeon bastards was no trouble, but the problem was that killing one wouldn't be the end of it. In the end, he had no choice but to flee.

'I can't just linger around here.'

He could no longer just run around within the White Land. He was already cornered. With no reason to cling to this land anymore, he ran outward. Onto the plains that had not yet been restored. Onto the Black Land.

[...]

[...The one who truly matters isn't taking the bait, only these flies are swarming.]

Watching Lin Shenlin flee toward the Black Land, the mass of light muttered to itself. It was true that it was using him as bait, but the desired prey was not biting.

Perhaps it needed to provoke the world a little more? It glowed a little brighter, and the Black Land began to be restored, just as before.

Lin Shenlin's escape became more widely known than expected. It was partly due to Hong Kong's massive mobilization, but also because of the information that the Black Land was being restored in his wake.

Lin Shenlin is a swordsman. There's no way he has an ability like that.

But it's a fact that the White Land is expanding. And that phenomenon is happening around Lin Shenlin.

Is it true he's accompanied by a white light? Swordsmen don't have spirits!

The world was in an uproar with speculation that Lin Shenlin possessed the ability to restore the Black Land.

It was a completely different ability from Lin Shenlin's well-known martial arts, but no one could definitively deny it.

The prevailing theory was that he had formed a bond in a Gate and acquired a spirit, and the power of that spirit was restoring the Black Land.

If that's true, we have to catch him! Whoever captures him will hold the world in their hands!

That's an exaggeration... but you can't just dismiss it. The restoration of the land is essential for humanity's survival.

Did Muryeon already know about this? I heard they were the first to start chasing him.

All sorts of baseless speculation ran rampant, a chaotic mix of lies and truth. The only truth in all of it was that Lin Shenlin was accompanied by a light, and the White Land was expanding in its wake.

Hunters from every city, who had originally gathered in Hong Kong for the investigation, began to track Lin Shenlin's whereabouts. Muryeon and the Hong Kong Hunters, who were already pursuing him, became even more relentless.

The fact that he still hadn't been caught—was it because he was an S-class Hunter?

"Yes, Chartia. I'm chasing him alone. Sorry to say it, but I'm faster alone."

Amidst this global current, Jinwoo was still chasing him—no, the light attached to him.

The fact that he hadn't caught him after all this time couldn't be explained simply by him being an S-class Hunter. It was clear that the power of the Lord of Light was involved.

"Please take care of things on your end. I'll handle Lin Shenlin somehow."

After a few more words, he hung up the phone. From atop a tree that had to be 30 meters tall, Jinwoo raised a pair of binoculars and scanned the surroundings.

It was a rough forest teeming with monsters, but there were even more Hunters. He could see Caucasian and Black Hunters, but the overwhelming majority were East Asian—Hunters belonging to Hong Kong.

'There's no Black Flame nearby.'

His ability to sense flames had its limits. He couldn't detect it from too far away, so he at least needed to know the direction he had fled.

'Overall, he's been continuously fleeing north.'

Jinwoo took out a map and a pen and marked the movement path. So far, Lin Shenlin was moving away from Hong Kong. A large number of Hunters were tracking his trail, moving north just the same.

Perhaps because he was watching from a high tree, he could feel the flow of it all—the great mass of people, regardless of race or nationality, moving in a massive herd.

'...It's all going according to her tastes, isn't it?'

The nature and behavior of the Lord of Light he had seen on the 3rd Floor. A single jar where everyone's desires swirled as they craved a single point of light.

He was already inside it himself. To break it, he had to find and cut down the source, the caster who was stirring up this whole situation.