Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 143: Nokrim

Rustle.

A man was walking through the dense forest and grassland, pushing aside the branches and leaves.

“Damn! Is there nothing but mountains here? I’m in trouble since I don’t even know where I am.”

He muttered to himself without realizing it. He was in a quite difficult situation.

Of course, it was not a matter of survival. 

The occasional beasts that popped out were nothing but a good meal for him, and the cold of the night was not a big enemy for him who had spent more than half a year in the northern mountains covered with snow.

‘The problem is that I can’t find a single ant. Is this a place where people live?’

He had been wandering in the mountains for three days already. 

In fact, the place where he drifted was a deserted coast. 

It was quite lucky for Eurius to meet someone after running for half a day.

‘This is crazy. I have to find my friends and companions, but there’s no hope at this rate.’

He didn’t know the way or have a map. 

In this situation, even Nuada, who was familiar with the mountains, had a hard time finding his way.

He originally thought that if he walked in a straight line for a few days, he would come across a village, but he seemed to have taken the wrong path as there was no end in sight.

And Nuada knew better than anyone that when he lost his direction in the mountains, he shouldn’t move without certainty.

‘I don’t even know where my companions are. If I wander around more, I might get farther away from them. I need to come up with some plan.’

As he pondered on how to find his way, Nuada recalled the method that Eurius used to track their tribe.

“He looks at the age rings of the cut trees and confirms the direction?”

“There are other ways too, but that’s the simplest one!”

But that method was only useful when he knew the map or the destination. Nuada didn’t even know where he was, so what use was it to know the cardinal directions?

‘Ugh!’

Crack!

He vented his anger by punching a large tree that caught his eye. With a thud, the waist of the pine tree snapped and fell down.

Thud!

He felt a little better after hearing that sound, and Nuada tried to hurry his steps again.

“…!?”

But then, he noticed something different about the nearby trees with his keen eyesight.

“What is this?”

He opened his eyes wide and observed the trees around him carefully. 

As he checked, he found that the trees here were either deformed and twisted or too hard to knock down.

There was only one thing that this fact meant. 

Someone had taken away the trees that were straight and easy to chop for firewood.

‘There must be traces of logging for firewood. Then there must be people nearby.’

He searched around for another half day and found clear signs of human touch. There were stumps of trees that were left behind or marks of dragging fallen logs.

Once he found out this much, finding where people lived was a piece of cake for him.

‘Even if some time has passed, the footprints of wild animals or monsters are different from those of humans.’

He calmly brushed aside the fallen leaves and looked at the ground. 

Nuada soon found human footprints leading to the foot of the mountain. It was inevitable that he would be glad to see human traces after several days.

‘Is it over there?’

He followed the trail without hesitation.

***

“Congratulations on your 44th birthday, Chief!”

“Congratulations!”

“Oh yeah. Hahaha!”

Today, there was a big feast at Geowungchae, located in Daepasan, to celebrate the chief’s 44th birthday.

On one side of the mountain house, there was a pile of wealth that had been plundered from nearby villages and trade stations, and in the center of it, there was a man with a fierce face who laughed loudly as if he was in a good mood.

“Lately, those bastards from Jeongdomaeng don’t bother our business (?) anymore, so only good things happen.”

“Isn’t it all thanks to you, Chief?”

“That’s right! No matter how much those Jeongdomaeng bastards hate us, who is our Chief? He is one of the best bandits among Nokrimchilshipichae (The 72 Bandit Houses of Nokrim), Paeryeokbu Hyupgon Daerin (The Great Leader Hyupgon of Paeryeokbu)!”

“Haha! You guys are really flattering me.”

The surrounding minions were all busy pleasing Hyupgon, the leader of the bandits.

It was obvious flattery, but as usual for this kind of human, he loved this kind of praise, so the atmosphere was very harmonious.

In fact, it was not all flattery. Contrary to his appearance, Hyupgon was a master who had learned a considerable level of martial arts.

He was one of the 72 bandit groups that called their banditry business in this continent. It literally meant that there were 72 groups of mountain bandits.

But unlike the mediocre bandits, there were quite a few masters who had learned martial arts among them.

And if they became the leader, they were the owners of martial arts much better than the average third-rate master, so it was actually a situation where both hands and feet were raised in the righteous sect or the government.

Moreover, the atmosphere of the righteous sect was chaotic these days, so they had no room to pay attention to them, so they were more active.

Their noisy voices echoed through the nearby mountains.

The guard dog at the gate, who was on guard in case of any emergency, was eagerly waiting for the shift change.

“Damn. I’m unlucky to be on guard today. This year is really unlucky… Huh?”

The guard dog, who was regaining his appetite, spotted a stranger walking fast from afar on the mountain road.

“…!?”

The bandit’s den was located on a steep rocky cliff, so it was good to observe enemies from afar and difficult for enemies to approach.

But the stranger who was approaching now seemed to be walking slowly at first glance, but he was lightly jumping over the steep rocks and cliffs and approaching the bandit’s den.

‘Does he look like a master who has learned martial arts? Should I report it to the boss?’

He thought so, but as soon as he saw the appearance of the man who had approached nearby, he could only tilt his head.

The other party had black hair and black eyes, but his facial features were like a foreigner with big eyes and a straight nose.

He wore a white fur coat, but judging by his appearance, he was definitely not a master from the orthodox sect. 

The guard dog cautiously spoke to him.

“Are you sent by the general leader?”

Except for his different race, he looked like a colleague, so it was understandable for the guard dog to mistake him.

There was also information that Gunrangchae, which was the leader of Nokrimchilsibichae, was recruiting a lot of masters recently, so he was more careful.

However, after hearing the next words of the man, his face turned pale.

“I have a question. How do I get to Jegal Sega’s place from here?”

‘It’s a big deal!’

The guard dog hastily hit the gong next to him.

Clang!

“Huh?”

The sound of hitting the gong soon echoed throughout the bandit’s den. Along with that, bandits armed with weapons poured out from the gate.

“Who is that!”

“Did the government troops attack?”

“…”

The man who just asked for directions. Nuada was surrounded by them in an instant. But he looked around calmly as he saw that they were all just small fries.

“What’s going on! Who is that young man?”

Soon Hyupgon broke through them and showed his imposing physique. 

He was in a very bad mood because his birthday party was interrupted.

But he was also a master who had some reputation in Nokrim. 

He noticed that Nuada was some kind of master who had learned martial arts as soon as he saw him.

He frowned as the guard dog approached him and whispered in his ear.

“He asked about Jegal Sega?”

Hyupgon pondered for a moment. 

He was surprisingly quick-witted and knew how to use his brain unlike his size.

He soon came to a conclusion.

‘There is no way that one of the Five Great Masters would be here at this point. He must have some other purpose.’

“You’re looking for Jegal Sega? Why?”

“To meet a friend.”

Nuada’s answer was short as he had no other purpose than asking for directions. 

Hyupgon looked puzzled.

“A friend?”

“That’s right.”

‘Is he crazy or something?’

‘Why does this young man in blue call Je Gal Se Ga as if he lives next door, and why does he ask me, a member of Nok Rim Do, about him?’

His eyes, honed by decades of banditry, warned him. 

In fact, the most important thing to survive in this world was to choose your opponent well.

If you make a mistake and encounter a martial arts master, bandits like him would be worth less than a fly’s life. 

That was the reality. He cunningly used his head, which did not match his physique, and soon nodded agreeably.

“I know where Je Gal Se Ga is.”

“Really?”

Nuada, who showed a hint of surprise, shook his head regretfully.

“But it’s quite far from here. Can you go there alone?”

Nuada had traveled far away from Yu Ri Oos because he had lost contact with him when their ship was wrecked.

“Is it that far? Hmm…”

Nuada groaned as he roughly heard the distance. 

He realized that it would be impossible for him to find his way there with just directions. 

He knew nothing about the Eastern Continent, even less than Yu Ri Oos, and it was a serious problem for him who had been wandering for three days.

‘And my friend told me not to use force if possible?’

Yu Ri Oos had told him not to solve things with power in the East, so Nuada had no choice but to ask politely.

“Can you please show me the way there? I will consider it a debt and repay you someday.”

“No problem!”

Hyup Gon gladly agreed, thinking that he was naive as he looked.

‘He must be a newbie or a madman who just came out of the martial world. Je Gal Se Ga has been conquered long ago and he asks about him?’

If he was a master of Ma Gyo or Jung Do Mang, he would have known that fact.

‘But if he learned martial arts, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.’

Hyup Gon smirked inwardly as he made a suggestion.

“But today is a good day and it’s a bit hard to choose someone to guide you. How about resting here for a day? I’ll send someone with you tomorrow.”

“I guess I have no choice. Can I impose on you?”

“It’s natural in the martial world to help each other. Hahaha!”

Hyup Gon laughed heartily as he led Nuada to the banquet hall. But he had a different plan.

‘You can’t fool my eyes that have rolled around in this world for decades!’

He scanned Nuada’s body with greedy eyes.

Nuada did not wear any special weapons, but his clothes were surprisingly valuable.

The fur coat he wore outside was the skin of the spirit beast that had been passed down in his tribe for generations, and the shirt underneath was a fine product made from the skin of Yi Moo Gi that he caught with Yu Ri Oos.

‘Hehe… No matter how skilled he is, can he do anything if I ambush him while he sleeps?’

That was Hyup Gon’s plan when he met Nuada. He quickly calculated how much he could rip off from him. He sat back on his chair and shouted in a cheerful voice.

“Come on! We have a rare guest here, so bring more wine!”

“Woohoo!”

His subordinates were staring blankly at first, but in this stronghold, the leader’s word was law. Once Hyup Gon decided to treat him as a guest, they had no objection.

“Thanks for welcoming me.”

Nuada felt something was odd, but he was not unhappy to be welcomed. 

He obediently sat down and accepted the hospitality, keeping Eurius instructions in mind.

After a few rounds of drinks, Hyup Gon seemed to be in a very good mood today and suddenly ordered his subordinates.

“Today is a good day, so I have to show off my strength! Bring me my weapon!”

“Yes sir!”

His subordinates went inside and came back with something that three people struggled to carry. It was a huge axe that was as big as a human torso.

Hyup Gon picked up the axe that three people had carried with difficulty with one hand. His subordinates cheered at his monstrous strength.

“Woah! He is truly our leader!”

Hyup Gon looked satisfied as he scanned his subordinates with a drunken face.

“Hahaha!”

He burst into another round of laughter, his muscles swelling like balloons. 

He must have raised his inner strength to the maximum, as his arm holding the blue-tinted axe was pulled back as far as possible.

“Huaaah!”

Whiiing!

The heavy axe flew out of his hand and shot towards the cliff behind the mountain stronghold.

Kwaduduk!

The axe that was hurled like an arrow pierced into the hard rock and raised a cloud of dust. 

He must have done this often, as there were axe marks all over the cliff.

Anyway, he had a natural brute strength, and it was not something anyone could do to make such a massive axe dig into the cliff.

“Waaaaah!!!”

The cheers of his subordinates shook the mountain stronghold again, and Hyupgon gave a satisfied expression and ordered them to retrieve the axe.

But it was hard work to pull out the axe that was too heavy to lift from the cliff.

Seeing about ten bandits climbing up the cliff and groaning, Nuada got up abruptly. He felt sorry for just being treated well.

“It looks hard to pull that out. Can I help you with that?”

“Huh? Do as you please.”

Hyupgon readily agreed. 

He wanted to see the skill of that brat anyway. But Nuada didn’t walk towards the cliff, but looked around here and there.

“What are you doing?”

Hyupgon turned his head with a puzzled expression, when Nuada seemed to have found something suitable and raised his arm up.

“…!?”

“I saw a good show, so I’ll show you one of my skills too.”

It was common for warriors to show off their skills at festivals in Nuada’s tribe. 

He felt a strange kinship with Hyupgon and lifted up a long spear that had a flag of the Geowungchae hanging on it.

He didn’t know what he was trying to do, so Hyupgon tilted his head. But the next moment!

Kwaaaang!

“What the hell!”

He had no choice but to jump up from his seat. 

The mountain stronghold shook with a loud noise. 

He didn’t even see Nuada’s movement properly, but when dust and gravel flew up with a loud noise, he looked at the front with a surprised expression.

Thud!

The next thing he heard was the heavy sound of the axe falling. 

The source of the noise was the spear that Nuada casually threw. 

He looked at the fallen axe and moved his eyes to the cliff, and Hyupgon and his subordinates opened their mouths wide.

“Gasp!”

“How can that be…”

The spear didn’t just stick to the cliff, but went deep enough that even the handle couldn’t be seen.

That wasn’t all. 

The place where the spear hit was cracked like a tofu, leaving a mark that was several meters deep and tens of meters wide.

Hyupgon, who opened his mouth wide enough to drop his jaw, turned his head stiffly like a machine to look at Nuada.

“…”

“How about that? Is this enough proof of being an excellent warrior… Huh?”

Hyupgon’s body was faster than he thought. 

He fell flat on his face with a speed that was unimaginable for his huge frame, and buried his head in the ground.

“I didn’t know you were Master!”

“I didn’t know you were Master, great leader!”

“Please spare my life!”

Hyupgon, who buried his head and trembled, kept shouting in his mind.

‘I’m screwed! He’s a real master now. Not a shoddy bandit like me, but a terrifying master like a chieftain!’

Nuada looked at them with a bewildered expression, who bowed their heads from all sides.

“Huh?”