Became the Weapon Monopolist of the Gods-Chapter 8: Immortal Hero (2)

In the 21st century, gates where monsters appeared became rampant, and those who hunted them were called "Hunters."

However, gates had been observed even in the past, though rarely, and both monsters and awakeners existed.

In 15th-century Joseon, awakeners were called "Gwaeryeok Nanshin." a term of fear and avoidance.

"Ja-bul-eo gwaeryeok nanshin"

─Confucius did not mention the power of Gwaeryeok Nanshin.

The power of "monsters" that Confucius even ignored was not considered something a person could wield, and thus, they were not treated as human beings in Joseon.

They were not humans, yet not quite monsters either—fearsome beings that defied categorization.

In Joseon, these Gwaeryeok Nanshin were gathered to form a single unit.

Chakyo Gapsa.

Their mission was singular:

─Chakyo.

Eliminate the monsters.

Yi Sun-sin was a Chakyo Gapsa, born with the power of a Gwaeryeok Nanshin.

Even so, his abilities were recognized, and he rose to the status of a general.

Thus, it was only natural for Yi Sun-sin to chase down Bae Seol, who had become a monster after betraying the country and defecting.

For Yi Sun-sin, capturing Bae Seol—who had turned into a monster after deserting—was an opportunity to recover his tarnished honor due to his dismissal.

The problem was that Anwi was accompanying him.

At first, I hadn’t thought much of it, but upon reflection, this was no small matter.

‘According to the records, Yi Sun-sin would receive his reinstatement order the day after meeting Anwi.’

But despite being with Anwi, Yi Sun-sin was still serving as a common soldier.

This meant that Yi Sun-sin had not received his reinstatement order from King Seonjo because he was busy chasing Bae Seol.

If he had received it, he wouldn’t be wearing the white robe now.

"How many days have you two been together?"

"Let’s see, I met the general at Noryang, so it’s been fifteen days and two more days."

"You’ve been searching for Bae Seol all this time?"

"Yes."

I internally clicked my tongue at Anwi’s words.

If what he said was true, it meant that Yi Sun-sin had been delayed for over fifteen days in his reinstatement.

For Yi Sun-sin, who needed to prepare for the Battle of Myeongnyang, this was a fatal waste of time.

‘I need to capture Bae Seol quickly.’

If we delayed any longer, the Battle of Myeongnyang could turn into a defeat.

I needed to take Yi Sun-sin to the Hwaryongpo in Jangheung, where the twelve warships were located, as soon as possible.

But first, we had to catch Bae Seol, who had become a Gseundae.

"Let’s start searching the valley."

"But is it really true that Bae Seol has become a Gseundae?"

"I once saw a Gseundae wandering in the mountains. It’s the only monster of its kind in this area, so it must be Bae Seol."

"You’ve met the Gseundae before? What a stroke of luck."

I walked with Yi Sun-sin and Anwi toward the valley, looking for shade that a Gseundae might like.

As a shadow demon, the Gseundae preferred cool, dark places.

"But shade is too vague."

Yi Sun-sin, who had been walking silently, spoke.

It made sense, given that in such vast mountain ranges, cool, shady spots were abundant. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

The valley, rocks, caves, and beneath the cool trees—there were countless shady spots throughout the mountains.

If Bae Seol had moved to another mountain, we would have to search the shade there as well.

"As General Yi said, just relying on the shade to find Bae Seol would be difficult, no matter how much time we had."

"Is there another method?"

"Yes, we just need to find crows."

"Crows?"

"Gseundae is a monster that hates life. It would have killed the nearby animals. If that’s the case, there should be corpses, and if there are corpses, wild beasts that smell blood will be drawn to them."

And the most common wild animals that gather around corpses are crows.

"That’s a good idea!"

Yi Sun-sin responded in amazement.

"I’ve never heard that Gseundae hates life. You know a lot about monsters, Seon-in."

The fact that Gseundae hated life had only been discovered in the 21st century.

It wasn’t easy to understand the habits of the Gseundae, which hides from awakeners.

This wasn’t knowledge available in the 15th century when proper research on monsters hadn’t been conducted.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"I’ve done some research out of curiosity."

I vaguely dismissed the source of the information, but neither Anwi nor Yi Sun-sin seemed to question it.

Since I was a "Seon-in," they probably thought there was nothing strange about it.

We continued searching for a cool shade where crows would gather.

During this time, Anwi handled the beasts we encountered.

He was a warrior from the Chakyo Gapsa, who had served Yi Sun-sin.

With a swing of his massive greatsword, a leopard that charged at us was cut in half.

It was a formidable power, one not easily seen even in modern times.

‘At least an A-rank awakener.’

An A-rank awakener could lead a team in a major guild, so they were the top level of awakeners.

Anwi was a veteran among them, possessing incredible experience.

Indeed, he was a remarkable warrior, representing Joseon.

As I traveled with Anwi, I was able to receive many tips from him.

"Seon-in, you’re inexperienced in combat, perhaps because you don’t interact with the mundane world."

"What part are you referring to?"

"You shouldn’t reveal your energy so recklessly."

He pointed at Napoleon’s Rifle.

I had been hunting wolves with Napoleon’s Rifle, and each time, mana overflowed from the rifle.

Anwi didn’t seem to like that.

"Hide your energy."

He demonstrated by channeling mana into his greatsword.

Swoosh...

A blue mana clearly glowed along the blade. Anwi pushed the mana into the sword, making it look like an ordinary sword.

To the naked eye, there was no way to tell the sword contained mana.

"Revealing your energy is a foolish act only done by those who want to show off, like the Ming Dynasty."

Releasing your energy was a foolish act, according to Anwi. It was like telling the opponent your strength.

"In Joseon, we use internal energy, not external energy."

In other words, he was telling me to be a "power hidden" kind of person.

To be honest, I hadn’t even realized Anwi was an awakener at first.

I was amazed by how sharp his sword was even without mana, thinking how strange it was.

‘It’s different from modern times.’

In the 21st century, hunters, unlike Anwi, would freely unleash their mana.

They fought only against monsters, so there was no need to hide their mana.

In modern warfare, how flashy and how much mana you could show off became a measure of your strength.

Anwi called this self-destructive behavior, an act of asking to be killed.

Though there was a difference in understanding due to the times, I felt Anwi’s perspective was right.

When dealing with humans, modern hunters couldn’t match the warriors of Joseon who had lived through the Imjin War.

How long had I been wandering the mountains, receiving Anwi’s practical lessons?

"Found it."

Yi Sun-sin, who had been walking silently, muttered.

Right after his words, the sound of cawing crows filled the air.

"Caw! Caw!"

"Ugh."

I held my nose against the stench of blood.

A pile of animal corpses lay in the middle of the cool valley, with a swarm of crows covering them.

"You’ve been hiding here."

Yi Sun-sin’s eyes glinted with a cold, dangerous light.

His gaze focused on a dark cave beyond the pile of corpses.

The cave was filled with thick darkness.

Inside it was something distinctly separate from the darkness of the cave itself.

"Bae Seol."

The darkness wriggled as his name was called. It was Bae Seol, who had turned into a monster, the Gseundae.

‘This is no ordinary Gseundae.’

Bae Seol might have been a fugitive, but he was once an extraordinary warrior, born of Gwaeryeok Nanshin.

He had been a third-rank general commanding the Gyeongsangdo naval forces.

Such a general turning into a monster meant his power ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) as a monster was not ordinary.

But Yi Sun-sin didn’t hesitate. He took a step toward the cave.

It was a dangerous move, but neither I nor Anwi stopped him.

The reason was simple.

Yi Sun-sin was stronger than any Gwaeryeok Nanshin that had ever existed.

‘The strongest Gwaeryeok Nanshin of Joseon.’

In modern times, no hunter could dispute that Yi Sun-sin was the strongest awakener of Joseon.

But the truth of his power had never been properly revealed.

It wasn’t because there were no records.

The records were overflowing.

But no record could be trusted, as they were filled with absurd details.

There were stories of him slicing through warships with his sword, of his sword unleashing a 3-foot wave of energy...

If we took these records at face value, Yi Sun-sin would have been a monster stronger than S-rank.

Swoosh─

And here, I witnessed the truth of that power for the first time.