Chapter 136: Han Hae and the Graveyard of Blades (2)
After passing through the Gate, Han Hae opened his eyes and looked around. He was surrounded by tombstones, and when he looked up, a single moon hung high in the night sky. It seemed he was standing in the middle of a communal cemetery.
A chill ran down his spine, and he instinctively reached for the sword at his waist. However, upon hearing the voice of Cha Min-Ji, a senior who was younger than he was, his tension strangely eased.
"Wow! The atmosphere is lit," she said.
Then, he heard the scolding voice of Potion Brewer Lim Yun-Ju.
"Min-Ji. Be careful with your language. Ji-Hee is with us. What's with this 'lit'?"
"Ugh, I really hate the Undead..." Kang Seh-Hyuk interjected.
"What about spirits?" Kim Ki-Rok asked.
"I've spent a lot of time with Ji-Hee, so I'm kind of used to them."
Contrary to their relaxed exchange, Han Hae felt drained. He slowly turned around and noticed Kim Ji-Hee bowing to a spirit whose face was grotesquely damaged.
As he hiccuped in surprise, she calmly reached out to the spirit.
"Hello, I'm Kim Ji-Hee." With sorrow in her eyes, she released her mana while gently taking the spirit's hands. "That must hurt..."
The spirit's twisted features smoothed out, and the ominous energy it had been emitting disappeared.
"Thank you, Spiritualist Princess," it said.
Kim Ji-Hee hid her face behind a stuffed rabbit and giggled. "Princess... Hehe. I'm not a princess."
As the surrounding spirits cautiously watched the two, it asked, "Spiritualist Princess, could you heal the others who suffer as I do?"
"Yeeess."
"Thank you."
All the spirits bowed politely before vanishing.
Everyone had just witnessed the miracle of a monsterized spirit regaining sentience, yet their indifference left Han Hae baffled. He had heard the stories before, but seeing it with his own eyes was something else entirely. Still frozen in shock, mouth agape, he watched as Kim Ki-Rok and the members of the DG Guild smoothly began setting up camp for the night.
"Mr. Seh-Hyuk, could you give me a hand? Ah, Miss Min-Ji, Sister Yoon-Joo, could you assist Ji-Hee for a bit? We're in a graveyard, so quite a few spirits are bound to show up," Kim Ki-Rok requested.
"Sure," Kang Seh-Hyuk said as he turned toward Kim Ki-Rok.
As Cha Min-Ji and Lim Yun-Ju took their places beside Kim Ji-Hee, he added, "Mister Han Hae, get ready."
"Ready?"
"Yes. You're here to clear the Gate, no? Please finish your preparations for battle."
"Ah, right!"
While they were setting up camp, the healed spirit reappeared and greeted, "Spiritualist Princess."
It had brought along other spirits, none of whom looked like ordinary spectrals. One was rotting, another had no lower body, another's arm dangled by a thread. Every one of them appeared grotesque.
"Grrr."
"Ugh..."
The first spirit spoke nervously. "I brought everyone except those who are too far gone. I'm sorry..."
Kim Ji-Hee stood up from Lim Yun-Ju's lap and shook her head. "Uuuuhm..."
Even without physical form, the spirits' appearances were horrifying, enough to make even a hardened adult queasy. Any child would likely burst into tears at the mere sight, but not Kim Ji-Hee.
She casually took the spirit's hand. "Hello."
Despite their grotesque appearances, she showed no trace of fear or disgust. With a gentle smile, she greeted the spirits and calmly performed the relief ritual for those undergoing monsterization, never once losing her warm composure.
"That's why I nominated Ji-Hee to be a Saintess, not a Hero."
Startled by Kim Ki-Rok's voice, Han Hae responded reflexively, "I-I see."
"If we had to give her a nickname, it would be Saintess of Spirits." Kim Ki-Rok, watching Kim Ji-Hee with a satisfied expression, slowly turned his gaze to Han Hae. "So, are you ready?"
"Ah, yes! I'm ready."
"Then go ahead. Ghost-type monsters won't attack you."
"Right now?"
"Yes."
"But I haven't received any potions or scrolls..."
"Tell me, Mister Han Hae. How do you defeat undead monsters like Skeletons or Ghouls?"
"By destroying their mana stone."
"Exactly. You know your basics. Then go."
Kim Ki-Rok's tone implied: why bother with potions or scrolls if you already know how to defeat them?
"Of course, there are potions and scrolls that deal critical damage to the Undead. They exist. But we won't use them. Not here, at least."
"Not here?"
"Yes. In this Graveyard of Blades, you'll gain three things. First, famous swords buried in the ground. Second, the Gate reward. And third, a teacher."
"Huh?" Han Hae tilted his head, puzzled. "A-a teacher?"
"Yes. A sword teacher."
"Are there swordsmen in the Graveyard of Blades?"
"Of course there are."
Ah, so that's why he was here... Han Hae realized.
Kim Ki-Rok silently turned his head toward the spirits gathered in front of Kim Ji-Hee. Han Hae followed his gaze and finally understood who Kim Ki-Rok had been referring to.
Could it really be...? he thought, recalling what his senior, Boo Seung-Tae, had said.
After a brief pause, Han Hae broke the silence. "Guildmaster."
"Yes, Mister Han Hae."
"Could it be... my teacher is..."
"Yes. The Graveyard of Blades is the resting place of renowned, exceptional swordsmen. For now, though, you should focus on fighting skeletons. Just remember, these aren't your average skeletons."
So this is why they say experience can't be underestimated.
Senior Boo Seung-Tae's theory was gradually proving true.
Kim Ki-Rok drove the point home. "The Undead transformed by mana stones from the Demon Realm, dark mana stones, are different from ordinary Undead. The dark mana stone infects a skeleton with remnants of its memories from life, creating Undead that retain some of their former skills and consciousness."
He paused before continuing, "Now, Mister Han Hae, where are we?"
"A graveyard where outstanding swordsmen are buried after death..."
"That's right. So, would a skeleton infused with Demon Realm mana and memories of swordsmanship be skilled with the blade, or not?"
The answer was obvious. They would be swordmasters.
"Now go on. In the meantime, I'll work on finding swordsmanship teachers for the DG Guild."
As Han Hae was reeling from the barrage of staggering revelations, Kim Ki-Rok added, "That's right. You've never fought with the Undead. Mr. Seh-Hyuk, please accompany him."
"Right." With a brief reply, Kang Seh-Hyuk rose from his seat and led Han Hae toward the center of the Gate.
"Um... Senior Seh-Hyuk?"
"Call me hyung. You'll end up doing that eventually. So, what's up?"
"What... what did he mean by 'work on finding'?"
Seh-Hyuk paused, then looked at Han Hae with a puzzled expression. "Ah? ...Oh, you don't know. Our DG Guild carries around three different types of application forms. One's for the Awakened and another's for regular folks who handle general affairs."
That made sense. The eccentric Guildmaster often called Crazy Bastard was notorious for his obsession with scouting talent.
Han Hae pondered for a moment, then whipped his head around to glance back. "The third one... surely not?"
"Yup. It's an application form for spirits."
***
With a clap of his hands, Kim Ki-Rok announced, "Now! Allow me, Kim Ki-Rok, to ask a question on behalf of Ji-Hee, as her guardian."
He looked around at the spirits gathered around Kim Ji-Hee, and they looked back with complete seriousness. This clearly wasn't his first time handling such a situation; anyone with experience in real estate might say he had the cadence of a seasoned agent.
"You have two choices. First, you can accept Ji-Hee's help, let go of all your regrets, and leave the material world. I can't say where you'll end up—heaven or hell, or maybe even reincarnation. Who knows? But the first choice is to let go of your attachments and move on. Because if you remain in this world..." He swept his gaze across the silent spirits. "You'll either have to give up your regrets and leave of your own will, or become a monster."
The spirits nodded. They had lingered in the living world precisely because they couldn't yet relinquish their attachments. As Kim Ki-Rok said, they could only remain for so long before either moving on or transforming into monsters.
"Your second option is to help our Ji-Hee."
At that, the spirits perked up, showing genuine interest.
"By helping Ji-Hee, you'll be buying yourselves time to slowly sever your ties to the world on your own terms."
"I have a question. How exactly would we be helping the Princess? Considering her age, staying in a graveyard for long periods can't be good for her education, let alone her emotional development."
It seemed that these spirits placed Kim Ji-Hee's well-being above all else, and Kim Ki-Rok liked that.
"That's a good point. But our Ji-Hee doesn't need to remain here or be taught by spirits," he said, now speaking with more energy than before. "Why? Because I have something called a spirit mana stone!"
The spirits understood Kim Ki-Rok's intentions and nodded.
"So let me ask. Who wants to leave the earth immediately with Ji-Hee's help?"
Two out of the five spirits raised their hands.
"Two of you, got it. Then we'll proceed with your relief ceremony in one hour."
Though Kim Ki-Rok felt a pang of disappointment, he respected their choice. The only spirits who opted for release were a man clad in armor and a muscular warrior covered in scars.
Turning to the remaining three, Kim Ki-Rok asked, "And the rest of you, are you choosing to extend your time here by helping Ji-Hee sever your lingering regrets?"
The female spirit who had been saved first nodded her head. "Yes."
"Thank you for choosing to help our Ji-Hee," Kim Ki-Rok said with a bow. "Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Kim Ki-Rok, a visitor from another dimension called Earth and the protector of Kim Ji-Hee."
"I should introduce myself as well. Um... well, when I was alive, I worked as a freelance knight. My name was Ainess."
"Oh! Lady Ainess?!"
Both the spirits choosing to stay and those who had opted for release turned in surprise. Kim Ki-Rok's eyes sparkled at the reaction; this kind of moment was why he kept doing this.
It wasn't his first visit to the Graveyard of Blades. He had come here before to find spirits to aid Kim Ji-Hee, just like the time he visited the Fortress of Living Armor. However, this particular visit had been postponed in earlier Attempts, as there had been more urgent matters to attend to at the time.
However, this Attempt was different. Han Hae had joined the guild, making this Gate a top priority. As a result, Kim Ki-Rok had pushed himself to schedule a visit earlier than in previous timelines.
Given the state the spirits had been in before Kim Ji-Hee intervened, it now made sense why he hadn't been able to reach them in earlier Attempts. They simply hadn't been in any condition to communicate.
"I'm not particularly well-versed in this world's history," Kim Ki-Rok admitted, "seeing as I'm a visitor from another dimension. Can someone tell me who Lady Ainess is?"
"She was the first female Commander of the Order of the King's Guard!" shouted a woman with short-cropped hair, who looked to be a mercenary.
"At twenty-seven, she attained the rank of Swordmaster, making her the third youngest knight on the entire continent to do so," added an old swordsman clad in a thin, martial-arts-style uniform.
Kim Ki-Rok clenched his fist, visibly thrilled. From now on, any Gate where spirits appear is the highest priority no matter what.
How could he resist when he got these kinds of results?