Ep480 - I Became a Drunkard in a Martial Arts Novel.

Baek Woo-jin had been thrown into this world as a consequence of choosing the wrong novel. Among the possessions he owned, the one with the most history was, without doubt, a certain gourd. Originally meant to cross paths with a sword immortal, fate tangled to instead introduce him to a drunken immortal. The gourd was acquired through a few charming words and cunning persuasion. This precious item connected him to his wine cellar in the celestial realm, allowing him an endless supply of liquor whenever he desired. But now, that very object was trembling. Rattle, rattle. And quite uproariously at that. "……." This was unprecedented. Aside from when he slept, he always carried it at his waist. If it had been shaking like this before, he would have noticed. So why was it suddenly trembling now? "A treasure…." The gourd was a treasure. A miraculous item crafted by the immortals of the celestial world for their own use. Each treasure was imbued with extraordinary abilities, and if one were to accidentally fall to the earthly realm, it would spark a relentless, greedy war over its possession. Of course, this gourd didn't possess any such remarkable ability but still, it was a treasure made in the celestial world. "Could it be?" A thought occurred to Baek Woo-jin. He quickly detached the gourd from his waist and placed it in his palm. And then he realized it. The gourd, which appeared to shake erratically, was in fact moving with determined direction. "A signpost." In Mount Kunlun, which is said to be closest to the celestial world, a treasure created in the celestial realm was trembling to point in a specific direction. What clearer signpost could there be? Whether it aligned with what he was searching for was uncertain. But ignoring the gourd entirely was not an option. Baek Woo-jin turned to those with him on the mountain and instructed, "Please take a short break." He commanded them to rest, then immediately set off in the direction the gourd indicated. Currently, they were halfway up Mount Kunlun. The gourd continued to point unwaveringly upward. Employing his agility techniques, he swiftly traversed the mountain. Finally, he arrived at the summit. Even standing on the small plateau overlooking the expansive world below, the gourd's direction didn't waver. "Can I ascend even higher from here?" A foreboding thought crossed his mind. Perhaps the gourd wasn't merely pointing to the altar he sought, but towards the celestial realm itself. He focused intently on the gourd vibrating in his palm. It wasn't pointing directly upwards, but rather diagonally. "Hmm." After a brief contemplation, he set the gourd onto the ground. The gourd, freed from the narrow confines of his hand, began to move purposefully across the broader surface. Thud Splash! Bouncing along, the gourd jostled to the cliff’s edge, where just one more step would plunge it into the abyss. After a few tentative bounces at the precarious spot, the gourd energetically leaped forward. Baek Woo-jin, taken aback, reacted instinctively. "Hey, wait…!" Startled, he lunged forward, reaching out. No matter how resilient the treasure might be, its durability had limits. What might happen if it fell from the heights of Mount Kunlun was uncertain. "Got you…!" His hand grasped the air. "Did… I?" He was sure he could have caught it. Despite the unexpected urgency of the situation, his quick reflexes had brought him in contact with the gourd. Yet the gourd evaded him. In a twist, it slipped from his grasp, as if refusing to be caught, suspended in mid-air. In that bewildering moment, as Baek Woo-jin stood dumbfounded by the gourd's evasive maneuvering—even against the hand of a master—it didn’t fall but hung suspended. "……?" What was happening? Did this treasure also possess the ability to walk on air? In his bewilderment, as he looked on, the gourd bounced around mid-air. Bounce! Bounce! "…Ah!" He finally understood. The gourd wasn't floating aimlessly in air; it was resting on something invisible. Otherwise, there could be no explanation for its bouncing movements or the noise. "What, in the world." Baek Woo-jin stood up, dusting himself off. The gourd, still hovering, bobbed towards him as if beckoning him to follow. Its energetic bouncing seemed to say, "What are you waiting for? Follow me." "…You want me to come there?" When he voiced what he hoped wasn’t true, the gourd jumped even more fervently as if understanding him. "……." With cautious anticipation, Baek Woo-jin extended his left foot into the air, maintaining the art of stepping on air—a technique that allowed him to create small, invisible steps beneath him. His anxiety was swiftly quelled. "It holds…" Underneath the sole of his left foot, he felt a ground that shouldn’t have been there. This meant that beyond the cliff's edge, an invisible surface stretched even higher, obscured from view. He placed his right foot onto the surface as well, and once again, the gourd leapt. "They're steps." Following the gourd, he ascended, step by step, each one revealing more of the world below him growing miniature in the distance. With each breath, the air thinned, and as he passed through white clouds, a shiver would course over him, only to be relieved as he emerged once more into clearer skies. After a while, pressure began to build up upon his entire body—a force that would have crushed an ordinary person. With his internal energy shielding him, Baek Woo-jin continued to follow the gourd, pressing on relentlessly. As he climbed higher, each exhalation produced a puff of white mist, the cold so severe it penetrated the layers of his protective internal energy. One, two, three hours passed. The azure sky shifted to hues of red, the sun setting and the moon rising amidst the darkness. Pausing briefly, Baek Woo-jin squinted at the gourd leading him further upward. "How much higher is there to go?" From this height, should he fall, even a consummate martial artist like himself would meet his end. Stepping on air, after all, required creating platforms in midair using one's internal energy—a technique that consumed considerable energy. If a fall from such dizzying heights were to occur? 'I'd likely exhaust my internal energy and perish before even reaching the ground.' Bounce! Bounce! The gourd nudged him back into motion with its incessant prodding. As he moved forward, he pondered. If he were to fall from this height, how could he possibly survive? This was a survival habit etched into him from living in this otherworldly realm. Often faced with extreme situations. How could one survive through such adversity? Constantly strategizing possible escapes, he had gained much from this instinct. It was one of the beneficial habits he’d developed over more than ten years of surviving amidst countless dangers. 'Relying solely on stepping on air is hopeless, and no matter how strongly I shield myself, I’d still face death,' Only one potential solution surfaced in his mind: 'Perhaps my only hope is to unleash several wide-ranged attacks as I start seeing the ground approaching.' By showering powerful attacks below to face intense air resistance, he could slow his descent. Shielding himself with his energy upon landing might offer a slight chance at survival. Lost in these thoughts, he continued to ascend the stairs in silence when something subtly caught his eye. "…Huh?" He looked down to find the gourd bumping against his shin. Was it reacting to some sort of pain? Finding it odd that the gourd had stopped, he looked up, peering into the vast darkness, and spotted something massive. "What is that…?" A colossal structure floating overhead? As soon as those thoughts settled in, the halted gourd stirred once more. It seemed eager to inform him that they hadn't far to go. Following the gourd again, he climbed quickly, finally bringing the enormous form into clear view. It wasn't just any floating object—it was an altar. "…Could it really be?" Perhaps this was the altar mentioned in legends, where prayers were once offered to the gods. Driven by excitement and curiosity, he quickened his pace, ascending to the level of the altar. This wasn't just suspended in midair either. It, too, rested on that same invisible layer. Proceeding cautiously, he stepped up to the ancient altar. Weathered by the ravages of time, it seemed fragile enough to crumble under a firm strike. Beside it stood a massive stone slab, inscribed with bold lettering: "Sushin Hwangryong Cheondan..." He wasn't quite sure what it implied. It seemed to suggest offering something to a deity, though it was uncertain whether it referred to what the altar represented or to receiving a divine blessing and then commemorating it with this structure. Lost in thought, he suddenly felt a nudge from the gourd as it bumped his shin again. Confused, he traced its path, watching as it tried to leap onto the altar but was unable to clear the high edge, colliding repeatedly. Then it waddled back to him, tapping insistently at his shin. Its gesture seemed to ask, "Why are you just standing there?" "…You want me to place you on that altar?" Bounce! It seemed clear now that this was indeed the right move. Whatever the reason, Baek Woo-jin knew that without the gourd, he might never have found this altar, no matter how much time he spent searching. Believing there was some deeper meaning or purpose behind it, he carefully lifted the bouncing gourd from the ground and placed it upon the old altar. Immediately, the gourd stopped its movement and settled quietly on the altar. Not long after, a change began to unfold in the sky above the altar. "...What is that?" A single, pure white beam of light descended from the darkened sky. It reminded him of a scene from a fairy tale in one of the books he read as a child at the orphanage—a rope sent from heaven to save siblings from a hungry tiger. This white beam, slowly descending towards the altar, was reminiscent of that mythical rope. "……." Baek Woo-jin stood there, watching dumbfounded as the scene unfolded. The beam of light, eventually reaching the altar, touched the gourd resting upon it. Then, rather than simply illuminating it, the light began to lift the gourd back up into the sky. "...?" Feeling a mix of curiosity and concern, Baek Woo-jin approached the altar and placed his hand around the body of the gourd as it was being lifted by the mysterious light. Suddenly, strange voices echoed from above. [...It looks like we’ve failed.] [I told you we should just pull it up in one go!] [Come now, that would lack any sense of grace befitting an immortal.] [Grace? Forget grace! That rascal nearly wiped out my wine cellar!] "Uh, um." It seemed he was experiencing some sort of auditory hallucination. --- **Author's Note:** Apologies for the delay. Recently, I've been writing on my laptop more often, and it's starting to strain my wrists again. As I complained about it, someone asked if I was using a palm rest or a topre switch keyboard—then it hit me. To protect my wrists, I need better equipment... So, I bought a palm rest and a topre keyboard, but I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to adjust. My wrists often hover above the palm rest, and the feel of the topre keyboard is unfamiliar... This has affected my focus, and as the story nears its climax, I've been paying extra attention, hence the delay. While I planned to write another update immediately after this one tonight, realistically it seems unlikely. I'll be finishing today’s update with this chapter and I promise to make it up on weekdays with some extra chapters. I've started writing late into the night again, and I’m trying to preserve my barely-adjusted routine. I hope for your understanding. I’ll see you in the next chapter. Thank you for reading as always. Have a great day! (_ _)