Unlike the other North Korean cities he had seen so far, Manpo City appeared to be thoroughly fortified. It seemed that many people had gathered in Manpo City, trying to cross over to China.
There were two bridges connecting Manpo City to China. One was a railway bridge, and the other was a two-lane road bridge.
Before arriving here, Yonghoon had worried about soldiers guarding the border, but it turned out to be an unnecessary concern. There was no one guarding either bridge. Both the Chinese and North Korean sides were completely open.
Only on the wall built in the center of Manpo City could he see people keeping watch toward China, but they were quite far away.
Watching from behind an abandoned building, Yonghoon tightened the straps of his backpack and began running across the bridge.
He could hear people shouting from atop the wall, but Yonghoon ignored them all. As he sprinted, the shouting faded away, and he was able to safely cross the Yalu River.
In front of Yonghoon, who had set foot on Chinese soil, stretched barren rice fields where no crops had been planted. Beyond the fields, low mountain ridges unfolded.
Yonghoon took out his phone to check the navigation.
If he continued downstream along the Yalu River for a few dozen minutes, he would see Jian City, and before reaching Jian City, he would come across the Tomb of King Jangsu.
As he neared his goal, Yonghoon grew a little excited.
He began running along the river. Dust rose from the desolate fields.
As he was running, Yonghoon slowed down at the sight ahead. Several plumes of smoke were rising in the distance. The shape of the smoke looked like a large fire had broken out somewhere.
Jian City lay ahead. It seemed something had happened there.
Yonghoon kicked off the ground again. He needed to find the sword and return before getting caught up in unnecessary trouble.
Fortunately, nothing happened on the way to the Tomb of King Jangsu.
The Tomb of King Jangsu was a massive pyramid-shaped tomb, just as he had seen on the internet.
Upon arriving, Yonghoon turned his back on the tomb and headed west.
His goal was not the Tomb of King Jangsu itself but one of its subsidiary tombs. There had originally been five subsidiary tombs, but four had been destroyed, and only one remained.
Yonghoon’s target was the western tomb among the four that had been destroyed.
“Am I too late?”
Yonghoon stood in front of a deep pit, looking disappointed. Behind him loomed the large pyramid-shaped tomb.
The place where Yonghoon stood was the location where an Awakened from the other world had supposedly found the sword.
Yonghoon let out a sigh.
Things were not going as he had expected. Either the Awakened who had told the story had lied, or something different had happened in this world.
In any case, he might have to return empty-handed after coming all this way.
Staring into the pit, Yonghoon raised his head and looked toward Jian City, where smoke was still rising. The relic had started glowing only a few days ago, and the pit looked freshly dug.
It was clear someone from Jian City had excavated the sword.
Yonghoon’s face twisted in frustration.
‘Should I sneak into Jian City, find out who took it, and either steal or snatch it from their home……’
“From grave robbing to robbery, huh?”
Yonghoon sighed as he hesitated.
Although it wouldn’t be as good as the sword here, he was sure there would be other decent swords. No matter how badly he wanted the sword, he didn’t think he needed to go that far.
“This is the end of the road.”
Yonghoon shook off his regret and gathered his belongings. He sighed at the thought of heading back home.
But Yonghoon couldn’t move from the spot.
He sensed Dimensional Power approaching him. Through the dense bushes, about the height of a person, a disordered flow of Dimensional Power was heading toward him.
A moment later, someone burst through the bushes and thrust a sword at Yonghoon.
Yonghoon stared at the incoming sword. It was moving too slowly. Moreover, the tip of the sword was trembling, suggesting its wielder was exhausted. Yonghoon deflected the sword with his spear.
The sword, bounced off by the spear, along with its wielder, was pushed backward. Behind the sword, a girl with wounds all over her body stood, regaining her stance.
However, Yonghoon’s eyes weren’t on the girl at all. His gaze was fixed on the sword pointed at him.
It was an antique-style long sword. Though it wasn’t yet emitting a sky-blue glow, Yonghoon recognized it immediately.
The sword, flashing silver under the light, was exactly the one he had been searching for.
Lost in admiration, Yonghoon snapped back to his senses as the sword moved.
He looked at the person holding the sword and aiming it at him. Behind the sword stood a girl.
She appeared to be a cute, short-haired girl about middle school age, glaring at Yonghoon while panting heavily.
Her face, directed at Yonghoon, was twisted with sorrow and anger.
Yonghoon tilted his head in confusion at the girl who had suddenly attacked him. It seemed there had been some misunderstanding.
Yonghoon scrutinized the girl. Her clothes were a mess, her skin was wounded, and she looked utterly exhausted. It seemed she had been in a fight with someone.
Although she seemed to be an Awakened, judging by her exposed Dimensional Power, she was probably E-Rank or lower. Yonghoon raised both hands to show he had no intention of fighting.
Perhaps thanks to his gesture, the girl’s expression seemed to relax slightly.
“Who are you?”
The girl asked Yonghoon in Chinese.
But Yonghoon couldn’t understand a word.
Unable to speak Chinese, Yonghoon had no choice but to respond in Korean.
“I’m Korean. I don’t know Chinese.”
The girl frowned at his words.
“South Korean?”
Fluent Korean came out of her mouth. Though her accent was a bit strange, it was perfectly understandable.
Yonghoon felt slightly relieved that they could communicate.
“Ah, yes, I’m Korean.”
“How did a Korean come here?”
Yonghoon struggled to think of an answer.
But even if he said he had come after hearing a story from an Awakened from another world, she wouldn’t believe him.
Besides, he had been staring at the sword so intently that lying would be pointless. Yonghoon decided to tell her half the truth for now.
“I came looking for a glowing relic. I heard there was such a relic at the Tomb of King Jangsu.”
“Is that why all the trash flocked here for this sword?”
She growled lowly in Chinese.
Although Yonghoon couldn’t understand her words, he could tell from her twisted expression that it wasn’t anything good.
He felt like he had chosen the wrong option.
She glanced at Yonghoon, her gaze shifting several times. Finally, after looking behind her once, she gritted her teeth and spoke to Yonghoon.
“If I give you this sword, can you take me to Korea?”
Yonghoon tilted his head at her sudden proposal.
To Yonghoon, her offer was a blessing. He wouldn’t have to forcibly take the sword; he just had to accompany her to Korea. Besides, she was an Awakened, so she wouldn’t be much of a burden.
However, Yonghoon couldn’t trust her words because of the hostility radiating from her.
Judging by the situation so far, it seemed she intended to use him to protect herself from whatever was pursuing her.
Yonghoon decided to ask her first.
“How can you guarantee that the sword is yours?”
At his question, the girl’s eyes reddened, and she bit her lip tightly. She spoke in a voice that sounded like she was about to cry.
“My brother found it! My brother was a hero who protected this city.”
At her words, a thought flashed through Yonghoon’s mind.
“Is your brother’s name Lee Gwangnam by any chance?”
Her eyes widened in surprise.
“You know my brother?”
Yonghoon felt troubled.
She was the younger sister of the sword’s original owner. It seemed her brother had found the sword again. Since he had spoken as if he knew her brother, the situation had become complicated.
“Did you come here after hearing from my brother?”
The girl immediately lowered her sword. She approached Yonghoon, grabbed his arm, and began to sob. She seemed to think Yonghoon was her brother’s friend.
“Bad people came and killed my brother. I managed to escape because he hid me, but those people will come after me. We have to get out of here quickly.”
Yonghoon frowned.
‘A fight between Awakened?’
As Yonghoon hesitated, she tugged on his arm and kept talking.
“Those people are terrifyingly powerful Awakened. My brother was incredibly strong too, but they used two abilities, and he couldn’t stop them.”
Yonghoon’s expression changed. They were Linkers.
Yonghoon asked urgently.
“How many of them?”
“Huh? Three.”
She answered immediately to Yonghoon’s urgent question.
There were three Linkers. If they were Linkers, they would be at least D-Rank, maybe even C-Rank. In that case, he couldn’t guarantee victory in a head-on fight.
Hearing her words, it seemed these Linkers were committing murders recklessly to obtain relics. If he encountered them unprepared here, there was a high chance he would be taken down too.
Yonghoon decided to follow her advice and hide for now. He needed to understand the situation more clearly and check on the Linkers chasing them.
Yonghoon moved as she led him. The girl and Yonghoon quickly ran into the mountain behind the Tomb of King Jangsu.
After Yonghoon and the girl disappeared, the front of the Tomb of King Jangsu fell silent.
As time passed, the bushes where the girl had appeared began to rustle again. The rustling grew louder, and people emerged from between the bushes.
The people who appeared were all bulky men, consisting of two white men and one Asian man. They seemed to be the Awakened chasing the girl.
The two white men were holding spears, and the Asian man was holding a shield. Their equipment and bodies were drenched in blood.
A tall white man surveyed the surroundings and frowned. He growled at the gloomy-looking white man who was crouching and inspecting the ground.
“Damn it, looks like they ran pretty far. I told you we should have chased them immediately!”
His words were in English, and the gloomy white man inspecting the ground replied in English as well.
“We need to eliminate all witnesses. It’ll be troublesome if rumors spread later.”
“Damn it, who could even escape from a city this isolated? We’ve already killed all the useful Awakened.”
At his words, the tall white man kept grumbling.
“They can’t escape Snake’s tracking anyway. Just think of it as a slow hunt.”
The Asian man spoke to the grumbling white man.
“Ugh, you’re just being lazy. Imagine if she loses the sword halfway through. It’ll be a disaster.”
The man called Snake answered with a gleam in his eyes.
“I can find it if it comes to that. The problem is, she picked up a collaborator here. Over 180 centimeters tall, male, an Awakened.”
At his words, the white man picked his ear and spoke.
“So what. What’s the big deal? It’s just two C-Ranks and one D-Rank. Even within Link Corp, hardly anyone can beat us. Plus, we have these.”
He tapped the ground with his spear.
“Their movements are professional. We shouldn’t let our guard down.”
At Snake’s words, he shrugged.
“Anyway, let’s catch them quickly and add to our collection.”
“You better remember it’s all thanks to me. It was my idea to raid the Chinese museum for relics, and I was the one who threatened the museum staff to get information about this place.”
The Asian man stepped forward, boasting.
“Yeah, yeah, let’s settle that when we get back.”
After finishing their conversation, they put the gloomy man called Snake at the front and started walking toward the forest where Yonghoon and the girl had disappeared.
The spears and shield they carried exuded a strong sense of antique elegance as they walked toward the forest.