Chapter 19: 19

The air of the day felt different.

No one has told the children what was going to happen. Still, all the children instinctively noticed that today was something different from any other day.

Because of this, the atmosphere was chaotic in the morning.

The children who usually stay away from each other gathered one by one to the center of the underground communal area.

Among them was Pyo-wol. 

Pyo-wol came out of section one with a strange premonition and also went to the center of the underground cavity.

“You must have felt it too.”

So Gyeoksan spoke to Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol silently nodded and looked around.

The instructors have not yet appeared. But somewhere, he could feel they were moving in a hurry.

That was then.

Lim Sayeol appeared together with Gu Shinhaeng and Sang Ilshin.

All of the children stopped whatever they were doing and looked at them. 

Their attire was different from usual. They were still wearing their masks on their faces, but the outfit they wore looked more refined. It was clothes they haven’t worn in any of the training sessions before. 

As the three of them approached, the children looked at them while holding their breath.

Lim Sayeol looked at the children for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“Today, we will leave this cave.”

The children widened their eyes.

They expected it to some extent, but hearing it through Lim Sayeol’s mouth still gave off a different feeling. Nonetheless, no one dared to open their mouths to speak or shout. 

They were forbidden to open their mouths in a public gathering without the instructor’s or the sword’s permission. But their wide eyes expressed their feelings at the recent announcement. 

‘We’re finally going out?’

Pyo-wol’s face had mixed emotions. Pyo-wol might have adapted to this place better than anyone else, but it wasn’t that he didn’t miss the outside world. Even though he had been here for a long time with his memory fuzzy, he still wanted to feel the fresh air from outside. 

Lim Sayeol looked at the children’s faces and said.

“The instructors will go out first, and then it will be your turn. So Yeowol.”

“Yes!”

So Yeowol stepped forward and answered.

“You take responsibility and bring the other children out.”

“Alright.”

It wasn’t just Pyo-wol who thought that So Yeowol’s voice was particularly lively.

A look of anticipation could be seen over the children’s faces.  It had been almost seven years since they were imprisoned in the underground cave. 

Leaving this place meant that they would soon be put on a mission.

Not a single child was unaware of that fact. But it was a good thing nonetheless. The fact that they were able to escape from this hellish place made them happy.

Soon after, the instructors appeared.

The instructors, like Lim Sayeol and other two swords, also had a change of clothes. Although their faces were covered with a mask, there was a youthful expression of excitement in their eyes.

Even if they have been trained to hide their emotions, they can’t help but be excited to go out after 7 years.

Among the instructors, only Lim Sayeol remained unmoved and kept a cold gaze. He thought as he looked at the children.

‘How many of them will end up surviving?’

The children were strong.

Although they did not master excellent martial arts like the masters at Jianghu, they were still basically stronger compared to others. 

Before teaching them martial arts, the children were thrown into an extreme situation and let them come out on it on their own. In addition, they were always in a state of extreme competition, making it impossible for them to survive not unless they decided to kill their opponents.

These were the children who went through that process.

Even if they failed to master martial arts, they could be said to be strong enough as a person. 

The children who went through such a fierce struggle for survival learned to live to a high degree. Each child was like a ferocious beast. However, no matter how advanced their killing techniques were, they were still not the best in Jianghu. 

The target of their assassination is not the most powerful person in Jianghu, but rather, someone who is highly likely to become one in the future. A man of great potential.

Lim Sayeol did not dare to guess how many children would survive against him.

‘Anyway, I don’t know.’

His mission was just to raise children to a certain level. Anything more than that was already outside of his responsibility.

Now that he has finished his job, all that remains is to enjoy his retirement life.  He is finally about to end this tedious assassin life.

Thud!

A basket fell from the ceiling.

Some of the instructors, led by Lim Sayeol, got on a huge basket. Then the basket went up to the ceiling again.

It was a long time later that the basket came down again.

The remaining instructors climbed into the basket and disappeared. Now, only Pyo-wol and the children remained in the underground cave. 

So Yeowol approached Pyo-wol.

“Are we going to be put on a mission soon?”

“That’s right. Because they raised us for that sole reason.”

“Do you know who the target of the assassination is?”

“No.”

Pyo-wol shook his head.

He knew the name of Woo Gunsang, but he had no intentions of making it known to So Yeowol or the other children. Because the less who know the secret, the better.

Pyo-wol asked as if he had suddenly remembered.

“What happened to the cursed poison?”

“A few of us have been detoxified.”

“Really?”

Pyo-wol gave a surprised expression. Because he knew that detoxing the cursed poison was not easy.

So Yeowol smiled softly.

“Min knows a lot about poison.”

“Lee Min?”

So Yeowol just nodded her head. She didn’t give any more details no did Pyo-wol ask for more.

‘Lee Seol-min.’

It was the real name of Lee Min.

Like most of the children here, her past was also thoroughly hidden by an iron curtain. He wouldn’t  know what kind of past she had not until she would share it herself.

Even so, the fact that she was able to detoxify the cursed poison in such a short time meant that her ability was great.

Pyo-wol looked at So Yeowol’s side face half-heartedly.

So Yeowol was just as beautiful as Lee Min. In particular, as she had not seen sunlight for seven years, her white skin was enough to steal the souls of men. So Yeowol knew that she was beautiful and knew how to use her beauty as a weapon.

Perhaps she taught only a few children who followed her how to detoxify cursed poison. Knowing how to detoxify the cursed poison was also a great weapon for her.

The ability to use everything around him was truly innate.

That was then.

Thud!

The basket came down again with a dull sound.

“Finally!”

“We can go out!”

The children were excited.

Now it was their turn to leave.

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Since they’re about to see the sunlight for the first time in seven years, they couldn’t help but be excited no matter how coldhearted they’ve gotten. 

So Yeowol stepped forward and said,

“The basket isn’t big enough for everyone to ride, so half of us would ride it first, while the rest would wait for the basket to come down again.”

“Who wants to get up first?”

“Cheolpyeong, Jinsam, and In Mokso…” 

So Yeowol called the children’s names as they waited. 

A light of joy flashed on the faces of the children who were called. The children who were not called did not show any particular dissatisfaction.

This was because So Yeowol and her closest aides remained for the last.  The children who were called hurriedly climbed into the basket.

“I’ll go up first and wait.”

“We’ll go ahead.”

The basket with the children went up again.

Pyo-wol looked around with his arms crossed.

The sunlight was almost gone, and most of the structure was engulfed in darkness, but it was still clearly visible to Pyo-wol’s eyes.

This had been the place where they spent seven years.

He might not have any good memories in this place, but it can’t be denied that he felt somewhat sad now that he was about to leave this place. 

Pyo-wol suddenly removed the expression on his face. 

‘What kind of feelings—” 

This place was hell.

Here he became a demon.

They were taught how to kill people. 

His hands were stained with children’s blood, and the smell of blood continues to linger.

In order to live, he had to kill others, and he had to thoroughly hide his feelings and inner thoughts. So his emotions were worn out, and the only thing that was left was a monster who knows how to kill. 

The human in Pyo-wol died. Only Pyo-wol, who was reborn as a monster, remained.

Maybe this place was the best fit for Pyo-wol.

If the basket had not come down at the right time, Pyo-wol’s thoughts might have continued endlessly.

Thud!

The basket came down with a dull sound.

A light of joy flashed on the faces of the children who were left for last. 

The fact that they could go out soon, no matter how hard they tried to pretend, made them excited.

Thump!

Finally, the basket reached the floor.

The children lined up and climbed into the basket.

Finally, there was no one left and all of them were battered. So Yeowol pulled the string tied to the basket. Then the basket slowly began to rise to the ceiling.

The basket went up continuously. 

They continued to climb up past what they thought was the ceiling.

It felt like hundreds of sheets were going up vertically.

“You mean we were in such a deep underground?”

“This is crazy…”

Only then did the children tremble when they realized the reality of the place where they were imprisoned.

They weren’t just in a hellish place, they were literally in hell. If someone from above had not lowered the basket, they would have starved.

A white light sphere could be seen in the distance.

Recognizing that it was an outside light, Pyo-wol ripped his sleeve and made a long piece of cloth. Although his clothes that had been ripped became messy like rags, Pyo-wol didn’t care.

He quickly covered his eyes with a cloth and tied them tightly.

So Yeowol and Lee Min, who looked at the scene with puzzled expressions, realized something and quickly followed suit.

“Why…?”

“What are you doing…”

The children asked with a puzzled look on their faces.

So Yeowol said, tying the cloth tightly.

“If you don’t want to go blind then cover your eyes.”

“Ah!”

“Shit!”

Only then did the children realize why Pyo-wol and So Yeowol acted the way they did.

His eyes, which had not seen sunlight for as many as seven years, were weak. He wondered what the consequences would be if he looked directly at the sun without an acclimatization period.

Either his eyes will completely be blinded or his eyes will be severely damaged.

So action had to be taken before that.

The children hastily tore a fabric and covered their eyes. Still, the closer they got to the ground, the stronger the light felt.

The intense light that pierced through the fabric seemed to pierce even their eyelids. Even with their eyes closed, tears started to flow due to the pain.

It was the same with Pyo-wol. 

Rather, the pain he felt was greater than that of the other children. His eyes were more sensitive because his eyes have perfectly adapted to the darkness. The pouring light was like a weapon that threatened his life now. 

His pure white skin, which had not seen sunlight for a long time, was already reddish.

He got a minor burn from just contact with normal sunlight. It was the same with the other children.

“Ugh!”

“Oh, it hurts!”

The children groaned involuntarily.

They had developed a tolerance for almost all kinds of pain, but they didn’t know that the sunlight which they had so longed for would cause them to feel such pain.

Thud!

Finally, the basket they got on was completely out of the ground. Waiting for the children was a group of warriors dressed in black.

The warriors whose eyes were on the children were assassins from the Blood Phantom Corps. Among them was a particularly skinny middle-aged man.

He had glass-like eyes and an expressionless face, which seems incapable of human emotions. His features give off an uncomfortable feeling to anyone who would look at him. 

A moon-shaped sword hung around his waist.

The name of the sword is Blood Moon Knife (血月刀). 

It was a man’s affair. (남자의애병이었다.)

He doesn’t know how many people have died so far because of the deformed blood moon knife. 

The owner of the Blood Moon Knife signifies the captain of the Blood Phantom Group. 

The man’s name is Gu Juyang.

He was the master of the Blood Moon Knife and the man who reigned as the captain of the Blood Phantom Group of assassins. 

It had been a long time since he appeared in broad daylight. 

Today was the day when the results of the seven years and ​​enormous funds spent in training the children were put out into the world.

Of course, he had to check the results with his own two eyes.

There was a small smile on his lips.

“We seem to have created some useful ones. I’m sure the client will be satisfied.”

Although the children were suffering from the sunlight, eerie energy was flowing from their whole body.

This was enough to be spent on this hunt.

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