Blood flowed to my cheeks as I downed one drink after another. “Wen… The crrrrtain falllshh~ the wurld wil reveaaaal itself.” I was slurring my words like a drunk. “A marshellll god killed his pasht and became hish fuchure.”

“Yeah I’ll let you in… but that is not alcoholic, It's just cider.” The bartender said as he wiped the rim of a glass. He gestured to the door behind him, “Just go through there…”

I had just very recently made it to a small town about 15 or so miles outside of Nydvilien’s human side. The town was built in a traditionally human design, without any thought given to inhuman species. Not that such an obvious flaw in architectural design affected me in any way, considering my human stature. Despite not having any organs or need for things like oxygen I was somehow able to get completely wasted by a non-alcoholic drink.

After an unnecessarily difficult journey to the doorway, I was rewarded in an instant sober as I passed through the barrier separating the current dimension with the martial murim. Should I explain what the hell the Martial Murim is? Probably, but I'd rather let it speak for itself.

The sprawling world was wonderfully whimsical, roads were intentionally unaligned, food vendors sold foods that really shouldn't exist, masses of land were randomly floating, and buildings were constructed in a way so that the various martial users could traverse by jumping from roof to roof. I read the jumbled lettering on a nearby sign and sighed at the translation. “LEARN THE 4 FAMILIES STRONGEST TECHNIQUES IN MINUTES!!!! CHEAP!!!”

The small stand was surrounded by players all donning starting equipment. Their hunger for power was so ironic that I couldn't help but laugh. “What are these, ‘strong techniques’ your sign is advertising?” it was impossible to resist. The stout man on the other side greedily showed me his goods, “Well?”

The techniques were of the kind that the four families taught people who had yet to become disciples, things like breathing techniques and meditation exercises. “Is this a joke?” I asked, “As if you can buy the Four Families strongest techniques. You'd need to become a high ranking disciple or even a leader for something like that. Don't you have better things to do than scamming innocent people?” the man shot a scowl in my direction, but I slipped away before anyone could start asking me questions.

Despite the martial murim being such a disorientating place to explore, I managed to find my way to my destination. A spiraling tower that bent and twisted into all kinds of strange shapes the farther you looked up. I sighed a sigh of annoyance and entered the lobby, a small bell signaled my entrance and the receptionist made eye contact with me. “Well look who it is…” she began. “The one and only ‘Robo-Bitch’ ' a grin crossed her makeup covered face, “It’s nice to see you too Babi, though do tell- whats a depraved devil like you working a receptionist job for? That silver fox will never sleep with you.”

My comment turned the woman into a blushing and stammering mess, “Th- That’s not-'' I cut her off, “Save it, I was just teasing.” a few seconds later she had calmed down, “What is it you need? It's not like you to visit.” I quickly replied, “I need him to send me in the right direction.”

“I see…” she started, “I’ll inform him of your arrival.”

As I sat idle in the lobby I thought back to one of the many experiences with the bastard I came here to see.

--

“What was that?” I asked through gritted teeth. “You heard me.” Carmichael sighed, “As you are now, there is absolutely no chance in hell you'd be able to learn anything from me. You're simply too weak.” he harshly replied. He was right but I was completely against the notion of my own weakness. I had only been playing for about a month and had yet to clear any sort of dungeon let alone defeat a boss single-handedly. “What do you expect?!? You gave me no training and told me to kill a whole boss monster by myself! Such a feat is only possible to those who are natural-born masters.”

“Hmm.” he bemoaned, “I'm sure one day you will be able to do it easily, even without things like a personal attribute or items.” he started, “You see, it's all about the mindset. Murim Techniques focus on maintaining a healthy mind whilst under intense duress, and If you're able to learn that then you'll be able to overcome such an obstacle without breaking a sweat!”

--

Before I could finish reminiscing the elevator chimed and Babi motioned for me to step inside. “He’s waiting.”

I stepped into the elevator, gripped the metal railing, and prepared for the nauseating ride that was to come. In a moment the elevator was shot into the air at an extreme speed, it swerved to the left and right as it navigated the horribly designed tower. The elevator spun like a dreidel before slowly shifting into place. A small Ding! Announced my presence as the elevator doors opened. In Front of me was a room made of glass with a man sitting behind a singular desk, “Lauer.” A wry grin escaped me, “Sup, you Silver Fox Bastard.”