"So, Senior, you came from Korea too?"
"Yeah. Fortunately, we're from the same country."
"Tell me what you know about this world. I only got here yesterday."
Jo Hwi, as if grasping at straws, began asking me various questions.
"So it's the past, but people strong in martial arts can fly around like in martial arts novels?"
"Yeah."
"Come on, don't lie. You're messing with me, right?"
"Good grief, you don't believe me. Watch closely."
Seeing that Jo Hwi didn't believe me, I used telekinesis to lift a large nearby rock into the air, then compressed and destroyed it.
Crash!!
"Gasp! It's real... I've seen that in novels. 'Empty Air Grasping Object'."
"Yeah, that's right. I don't know which martial arts novels you've read, but you can think that almost everything in them exists here."
"That can't be... I never imagined real martial arts existed..."
Jo Hwi thought for a moment, then said to me.
"Then if I'm walking down the street and masters fight, I could be killed without even a chance to avoid it, right?"
"Yeah. In this era, fists come before law. But you don't need to worry that much. Things like that don't happen as often as in martial arts novels. It's still a peaceful era, and martial arts sects manage their regions well."
"I see. I was worried for nothing."
With that roughly done, I took Jo Hwi and bought rice and ingredients for his family to eat for a while, as well as some clothes to wear. Some people tried to scam me, thinking I was a Westerner who knew nothing, but when I showed them abilities like martial arts, they cowered on their own.
"It really is an era where fists come first, huh?"
"Right? Let's go home first."
We loaded the purchased items onto a cart and returned to Jo Hwi's house. Jo Hwi's family was very surprised.
"Gasp! What's all this?"
"This hyung-nim knew our family was struggling and helped us."
Jo Hwi spoke well of me to his family. This was something we had coordinated on the way back.
"Ah, I see. How can we ever repay this kindness..."
"It's nothing. Jo Hwi and I aren't strangers. We should help each other in difficult times."
I told them that and decided to rest for the day. I also ate a meal with them. As expected, it was bland and greasy. There were no seasonings, and since it was China, it couldn't be helped.
The next day, Jo Hwi called me.
"Hah... Honestly, I'm worried about how I'm going to live from now on. Senior, can you teach me some martial arts? Wouldn't that help?"
"Sorry, but I don't have time for that. I have to leave today."
"What? You're leaving already?"
Jo Hwi was very flustered when I said I was leaving.
"Yeah. I came to China to obtain something. I met you along the way."
"I-I see. Then when will you come back?"
"I don't know. I don't know when I'll find what I'm looking for, and other things might come up, so I might have to go to another country."
"Hah... The future looks even darker. I was hoping for a little hope with you here, Senior..."
Even though it was only a day, he seemed to have relied on me a lot since we were from the same country and I was strong.
"Don't be like that. You find your own way to live too. I can't help you forever. You have knowledge of the future, don't you? Try to make good use of it."
At that, Jo Hwi seemed to realize something and thought for a moment.
"You're right. I can't rely on others forever."
I handed a box to Jo Hwi.
"This is..."
"Since we're from the same country, I'll help you one last time. Your father, he seems to have borrowed money from the Yeomwang Guild. Pay off the debt first, and use the rest as seed money."
"What! Yeomwang Guild... Hah... Really..."
Jo Hwi, incredulous that his father had borrowed from the Yeomwang Guild, opened the box I gave him. The box was filled with gold and silver treasures and gold coins.
"Huh!!!"
I said to the shocked Jo Hwi.
"Use it wisely. This is the last help I can give you."
"Ah, okay. Thank you."
Jo Hwi immediately hid the money well in his room, talked with his father Jo Sun, and decided to go pay off the Yeomwang Guild debt. Of course, I went with him. In this world, fists come before law, so I didn't know what might happen.
"So, you're here to repay the debt already? Business must be going well these days?"
"Well... an acquaintance helped me out. Business isn't going well."
"I suppose so. You didn't seem to have any customers. You're lucky. Anyway, understood."
Fortunately, we were able to repay the debt without incident. Perhaps because I had shown off my strength at the market yesterday and rumors spread that I was strong.
We returned home, and Jo Sun kept thanking me. He too seemed to have been in a dark place because of the Yeomwang Guild debt.
"Well then, I'll see you next time."
"Benefactor, I will surely repay this kindness. Please stay healthy."
"Senior, I don't know if I'll do well, but I'll try my best. Thanks for your help~"
"Taejin oppa, I love you. I'll wait for you forever."
The protagonist's younger sister, Jo Yeon, said something strange at the end, but I pretended not to hear it, finished saying goodbye, and left the house.
'I've helped this much, so he'll figure it out.'
I immediately took out [Jack Sparrow's Compass] and set off to find the destined encounter the protagonist would obtain later.
"Wow~ China is really big."
I flew slowly, admiring the vast land of beautiful China, not polluted and filled with yellow dust, but with living nature.
"To fill this beautiful land with deserts and yellow dust in the future... The Chinese really... Jang Gak's prophecy is impressive."
Thinking like this, I felt like I wanted to visit the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' world too.
Just then, a shout came from below.
"Gonin! Please wait a moment!"
I paused at those words and looked down. An old man was laboriously flying up on a sword. That seemed to be 'sword flight'. So I waited for him for a moment.
"What is it?"
"This can't be... So close, yet even I can't feel anything. The state of 'returning to simplicity' and even 'returning to youth'... Who exactly are you, Gonin?"
It was because of my abilities, but this man was having strange misunderstandings.
"Wouldn't it be fine if we go down first? I used up a lot of inner energy trying to follow you. I'll buy you a drink instead."
"Sorry, but I don't have time. I'm busy, so don't follow me."
"Heh... You're quite cold. Don't be like that, spare some time for your junior... Gasp! 'Thousand Li Divine Travel'!!"
It was interesting that things like this happened in the martial arts world, but I didn't want to waste time on someone I didn't even know. So I immediately teleported away. As expected, the old man couldn't follow me anymore.
'I probably won't see him again.'
I had no intention of returning to this universe once I obtained the destined encounter.
Traveling like that for a while, I arrived at the protagonist Jo Hwi's first destined encounter, the 'Sword Tomb'. Actually, there was one more destined encounter, but this one seemed sufficient. In the world of "The Modern Man Who Fell into Martial Arts," there was a being called a 'Divine Seat'. This was the place where someone (spoiler) practiced to reach the Divine Seat beyond the Natural Realm. That person had mathematically calculated the swinging of a sword and carved it into the wall.
"Nano, scan."
[Understood, Master.]
I left the scanning to Nano, and I also checked the formulas carved into the wall myself.
"Hmm... Vector values connecting points, uniform acceleration, free fall, vertical upward motion... There's no other crazy person like him. But thanks to his craziness, I can obtain even better swordsmanship. I'm grateful."
This was why I chose this universe to train my swordsmanship. Once I made this mine, I could perfect any swordsmanship with complete mastery.
From that day on, I began training in a nearby mountain. Nano was indeed overpowered. Not only could it perfectly mimic the swordsmanship based on the sword traces left in the Sword Tomb, but it could also input it directly into my mind. It even created opponents for me with 3D images.
Boom!!! Swish!!!
"Hoo... This should be enough. Nano, how long have I been here?"
[About half a year has passed.]
"It's time to leave. The ones watching from above are annoying too."
Once my swordsmanship passed a certain level, I indeed felt some beings watching me. They were probably the 'Divine Seats' from the "The Modern Man Who Fell into Martial Arts" universe.
And there was something I learned during six months of training. My body didn't need the so-called 'circulation' to gather energy as described in martial arts. Probably because I had mana. Mana is a higher power than the concept of 'qi', so there was no obstruction in using any martial art, and I didn't have to worry about things like 'deviation'.
But there was one problem. Having trained this much, my [Swordsmanship] should have reached EX rank, but it was still SSS rank. The fortunate thing was that I could obtain [(SS) Heavenly Meteor Sword].
'Do I need to realize something more?'
Thinking further wouldn't yield an answer, so I went outside the cave where the one who created the Sword Tomb had obtained his final realization. Next to the canyon he had created with a single swing, I created another canyon with a single swing.
Rumble~!
"Well, this should be enough for my business here. My swordsmanship rank doesn't seem to be increasing anymore."
Just then, my Kenbunshoku Haki sensed someone climbing a cliff. They seemed about to fall due to the shock of my swing, so I quickly went down and caught them. This person was Jo Hwi, the protagonist of this universe. It seemed our timings had aligned for us to meet.
"Huh!! I thought I was going to die... Oh? Isn't this Senior!"
"Yeah, long time no see."
"How are you here... More importantly, was that canyon just created by Senior?"
"Yeah, I did it."
"How is that possible? Are you even human, Senior?"
"Well, I don't really know anymore. Whether I'm human or not."
Saying that, I put my arm around Jo Hwi's waist, flew to the Sword Tomb, and set him down.
"You can even fly... Some person is really surprised. Anyway, thanks to you, I'm alive. By the way, was the thing you said you were looking for the Sword Tomb?"
"Yeah, it was this. I was just about to leave after mastering it. Since you're here too, you must have come to master it. Good luck."
As I was about to leave, Jo Hwi urgently called me.
"Senior, wait a moment! Do you have anything to eat? I ran into bandits on the way."
"Quite the achievement, you. Wait a moment."
I took some jerky, water, and several silver ingots from my inventory and handed them to Jo Hwi.
"This is all I can give you."
"I'm always in your debt... Thank you. And, could I see the sword that created that canyon one more time?"
"Who wants to see it?"
"Well..."
Jo Hwi hesitated about whether to tell the truth, but I spoke first.
"Probably one of the spirits in the necklace you're wearing."
"How do you know that..."
At my words, Jo Hwi seemed very surprised.
"I knew. That necklace contains numerous spirits. I can see them all at my level."
"Then this will be quick. There's a person called 'Sword God' in the necklace, and he asked me to show him the sword."
"I see. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter."
I stepped forward and swung my sword once more, creating another canyon. Now there were three canyons.
Rumble~!!
"Wow... Is this something a person can really do..."
I put away my sword and tapped the astonished Jo Hwi on the shoulder.
"You'll be able to do it too, eventually. Anyway, do your best. The answer is all inside the Sword Tomb."
"I don't think I'll ever be able to do something like this... But okay. And, I've established the Jo Family Trading Company. Come visit sometime. I'll repay the kindness I've received many times over."
"Okay. Then."
Finishing our goodbyes, I quickly flew to a distant place and ended the Game Life.
[Ending the world of The Modern Man Who Fell into Martial Arts.]
[Settling rewards.]
[Jo Yeon Affection Level 5]
[Jo Hwi Affection Level 3]
[Jo Sun Affection Level 3]
[Gok A-yeong Affection Level 3]
[Jo Hyeok Affection Level 2]
[Sword God Affection Level 1]
[For progress in The Modern Man Who Fell into Martial Arts, you have earned 2,235 points.]
As expected, the points were low. I had only gone to obtain an ability, so I didn't progress the story, and I only met the protagonist's family, so it couldn't be helped.
"Then, straight to the next Game Life..."
I clicked on the work list and this time entered 'Nano Machine'.