The eastern slums stank of rot, dog piss, and broken hopes — the kind of place even the wind avoided.
In the backroom of a gambling den, behind silk curtains hiding bloodstains, So Taektwirled a bone die between his fingers. His smile was narrow. Calculating. It never reached his eyes.
To call him a "merchant" was generous. He was more like a carrion bird that had learned to wear silk and count coins.
"You," he said, staring at Jin Seol's ragged form, "look like shit someone stepped in during a rainstorm."
Jin Seol said nothing. His hands were tucked inside his robe, one gripping the hidden crossbow prototype.
So Taek chuckled. "Don't glare. You're not the first desperate dog to come wagging his tail, hoping to sell me a 'world-changing' weapon. The last one sold me a knife that broke on its first stab. So… what makes you different?"
Jin Seol stepped forward and set the device on the table.
So Taek's eyes flicked toward it. Intrigued. Distrustful. Still amused.
"Looks like something a one-eyed carpenter made drunk."
Jin Seol loaded a bolt. Click.
He turned slightly and fired.
The bolt screeched through the smoky air and slammed into the wooden beam behind So Taek — deep. The beam cracked, and splinters burst like pine needles in the wind.
The guards reached for their blades. So Taek raised a hand. They stopped.
⸻
A long pause.
Then So Taek leaned back, folding his arms behind his head.
"Now that… that's interesting."
His grin returned, this time showing a gold-capped tooth.
"Where'd you steal it?"
Jin Seol stared him down. "It's mine."
"Of course it is," So Taek said easily, inspecting the grooves and tension wire. "You want to sell the design. Or maybe… you want protection."
Jin Seol placed a scroll on the table. "Ten silver ingots. No negotiations. You buy it now — or the next rat gets it."
So Taek leaned in closer, his smile disappearing for just a second.
"You think you're the only bastard hungry enough to blackmail a man like me?"
"No," Jin Seol said. "But I'm the only one who knows what he's selling."
Another pause. Tense.
Then So Taek laughed. Loud and open, like a man who hadn't laughed for real in years.
"I like you. You're bold. Suicidal. Stupid… but bold. That's the kind of man who changes things."
He flicked his fingers. A pouch clinked on the table. Jin Seol snatched it, checking the weight.
"You'll hear from me again," So Taek said, eyes narrowing. "And when you do… you'd better be worth the silver I just threw into a fire."
⸻
By dusk, Jin Seol was slipping through the alleys, sack of coin hidden beneath old linen.
He bartered in hushed tones, using beggar dialect and false names. He bought rare herbs in secret:
• White Flame Root for inner cleansing.
• Iron Vine for bone reinforcement.
• Powdered Black Date for rapid blood recovery.
With those ingredients, he would begin crafting the pills that would let him train like no man ever had.
⸻
He hid the supplies beneath a collapsed section of the mountain wall near the old cemetery. No one went there except the dead.
That night, under the shadow of the moon bridge, he sat alone with the ingredients laid out before him.
"The body doesn't need to be born strong. You just need to be willing to destroy it first… and rebuild it better."
⸻
Tomorrow, the breaking would begin.
But not just his body.
The world.
⸻
End of Chapter 3
Next Chapter – Chapter 4: Ash, Bone, and Blood