Volume 1 - CH 14

I belatedly realized late that among his abilities, he had the ability to see through other people's Destiny. I had asked Cheon Goonam to keep my ability a secret, and he had promised to do so. Foolishly, I believed his words.

After all, based on the Four Pillars of Destiny, he didn’t seem to be a bad person. Cheon Goonam was born on the day of Eulsa-il (乙巳日), which corresponds to the Day Pillar in the Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi) system. People born on Eulsa-ilju had a modest and affectionate personality. They were fundamentally kind and compassionate, but they also had other characteristics. They also were good at adapting to changing circumstances and had exceptional persuasive skills, but they tend to boast and show off. They could make good use of their excellent persuasive skills, but they could also misuse this innate skill to gossip behind others' backs.

When a party member who had gone with me returned severely injured, Cheon Goonam started spreading rumors about my ability. As a result, people started suspecting me.

[I almost died with Seo Gangrim.]

[They say Seo Gangrim's ability is to steal the abilities of dead people.…]

[Seo Gangrim must have tried to kill and steal his abilities, I guess.]

Once the rumors started spreading, no one wanted to form a party with me anymore. Even if I managed to find a party by chance, when someone returned injured, everyone started to suspect me.

Cheon Goonam was smiling with a face that seemed like he was a good person, just like back then. He was still happily talking with people. Then suddenly, his surprised eyes turned to a woman, and he spoke to her, "Wow, your hands are really small. It's cute."

"Really? I'm not sure..."

"Then, how about comparing it with mine?"

When Cheon Goonam reached out his hand, the woman hesitated for a moment but eventually extended her hand. This was his palm reading trick.

"Right? Your hands are really small. Guys, show your hands to me as well," he said in a voice tinged with admiration.

People gathered around and showed their hands to Cheon Goonam without realizing that they were revealing their destinies.

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[Ability] Palmistry

[Rank] Spirit Third-class

[Description] Can examine the palm lines of oneself and others to read their Destiny.

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The ability Cheon Goonam possessed was 'Palmistry.' Simply put, it was the ability to read someone's destiny through palm lines. It was a rare ability. This ability had its limitations though. Palmistry could only be used to read the Destiny of others by examining their palm lines. Hence, it couldn't examine the Destiny of a target without hands. For example, in the case of a demon, it wouldn't be able to examine their Destiny unless they were in human form.

"Miss Shin Sooah, is your hand still hurting from earlier? Let me take a look."

Cheon Goonam reached out his hand with a worried expression. His intention was to examine Shin Sooah's palm lines. Even if Shin Sooah's Destiny was revealed, it wouldn't be a big problem. If asked, she would willingly reveal it herself. However, if Cheon Goonam knew Shin Sooah's Destiny, he would surely exploit it someway. In my past life, I knew Shin Sooah had a high rank so I clung to her, which resulted in her receiving a lot of abuse.

I quickly stood up and approached their table.

"Miss Shin Sooah."

As I approached, everyone at the table looked at me. I had a feeling that Cheon Goonam might interfere, so I quickly continued, "I have something to say to you. Can we talk for a moment?"

"Oh, sure."

Shin Sooah looked puzzled but soon got up from her seat. As we left the cafeteria together, I felt someone's gaze, but I ignored it. We then found a secluded place and moved to an area near the training room on the first floor.

Shin Sooah looked at me hesitantly and asked,  "What's the matter?"

"I have something to tell you."

Although I brought her here to get away from Cheon Goonam, it seemed like a good opportunity to have a few conversations.

I asked Shin Sooah, "What do you think my ability is?"

"Hmm... the ability to create fire. And the ability to perceive the abilities of others and oneself?"

On the first day, I had revealed her ability in the building, so it was natural for her to notice.

I nodded my head, saying, "Yes, that's correct. I hope you can keep that ability a secret."

"Yes, I understand," she said calmly.

Even if I hadn't told her in the first place, she would have kept it a secret.

I continued, "And it would be better to keep a distance from Cheon Goonam."

"Why?"

"He has an ability called 'Palmistry.' He can see through others' Destiny by reading their palm lines."

"So, that's why he was looking at people's hands earlier..."

Shin Sooah also seemed to have noticed that something was strange.

Now that I had finished everything I needed to say, I changed the subject.

"Anyway, I wanted to let you know about that. I'll excuse myself now."

This should prevent Shin Sooah from getting involved with Cheon Goonam.

Since I finished saying what I had to say, I moved to leave the training room. It seemed like Shin Sooah was about to say something to me, but she didn't follow after me.

As I came out towards the lobby, I saw someone leaning against the wall. It was Cheon Goonam. He seemed to have followed me and Shin Sooah, and then waited nearby.

"Was your name Seo Gangrim? Hello, I'm Cheon Goonam."

He approached me with a friendly smile—just like in my past life. I silently looked at him, and put my hands in my pockets.

"I wanted to have a chat with you sometime. Oh, by the way, thanks for the WiFi."

Cheon Goonam said that and extended his hand for a handshake. I didn’t respond with his pleasantry; I didn’t move my hand from my pockets. When I stared at him without saying anything, Cheon Goonam smiled and withdrew his hand.

"Hahaha, Seo Gangrim, you're really cool."

Even though I treated me bluntly and disrespectfully, Cheon Goonam still had a smiling face. I wondered if he had a good personality or if he was just good at acting.

He continued, "Mr. Gangrim, don't you have anyone to accompany you yet?"

"No, I don't."

"If you're okay with it, would you like to join the same party as me?"

He seemed to have a lot of interest in me even though he hadn't seen my palm lines yet. Indeed, having cleared the Sword Mountain in just one day, I stood out in various ways.

Cheon Goonam rambled on, "I have a pretty high rank too, so it would be nice to accompany each other. I'm a high ranker, you know."

He's really good at lying. He claimed to be a high ranker when he obviously wasn't.

I looked at him and said, "Don't you already have a party over there?"

"Well, you can't keep accompanying someone forever, can you?"

It seemed like he had just discarded them after seeing their palm lines. Their Destinies weren't bad, but they didn't match Cheon Goonam's standards.

I could feel his gaze linger on my hand as he continued speaking, "What do you think? From the second stage onwards, it would be better to accompany me. My ability will be helpful."

Was he really considering me as a high ranker, or did he just want to see my palm lines? Perhaps the latter possibility was more likely.

I still had my hands in my pockets as I spoke, "Did you clear the first room?"

"No, not yet..."

"You're talking about going to the second stage without clearing the first one. That doesn't make sense."

Cheon Goonam's mouth tightened a little. He tapped the back of his head and laughed.

"Well, um, I wouldn't mind if you helped me with the first stage..."

"If you want to come with me, clear the first stage and then come back. Then I'll consider it."

After saying that, I left. Only after returning to my room could I take my hands out of my pockets. If he found out about my abilities in this life, he'd surely tell everyone. However, it would be impossible to keep my hands in my pockets the whole time, and I'd be here for months. That's why I planned to handle him in the second stage, and it was good that he approached first.

Since separate conflicts arise in each party, it would be easy to conceal whatever happened there. Killing would be the easiest way, but I didn't want to accumulate unnecessary karma. He also had no abilities worth stealing for a penalty. Instead, I decided to use a different method. With that method, I could solve other problems as well. I was lost in these thought for a moment, and I then stood up from my seat.

‘Seo Gangrim, I just can't figure out what kind of person he is.’

Shin Sooah was thinking about Seo Gangrim while managing weapons in her room.

She'd always been bothered by him, and since Seo Gangrim revealed Cheon Goonam's ability a few days ago, she become even more bothered.

‘I thought he wanted to keep his distance from me, but it doesn't seem like that.’

When she suggested becoming allies after coming here, Seo Gangrim rejected the proposal. Moreover, even when she greeted him, he only answered out of respect and the conversation ended without any meaningful exchange. Shin Sooah felt that he wanted to keep his distance. It even felt a little uncomfortable for her. But this time, he came to her and advised her to be cautious of Cheon Goonam.

‘He doesn't seem like a bad person...’

Shin Sooah had learned that Seo Gangrim didn't like getting involved with people. He only hunted with Dokgo Jun once, but since then, Seo Gangrim had always been alone. She rarely saw him spend leisure time or engage in conversations with others. His days seemed to revolve around fighting, hunting, and training. It was easy to see him going in and out of doors multiple times a day. He’s man who never rested and constantly pushed himself. This made Shin Sooah wonder.

"Why does he train so intensely? And why does he do it alone?"

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Note:

*I’m not very familiar with the Four Pillars of Destiny, but this is what I got from searching the net:

을사일주 (乙巳日柱): This term consists of three parts: "을사" (乙巳), "일" (日), and "주" (柱).

- 을사 (乙巳): This represents the Heavenly Stem (Stem of the Day) and the Earthly Branch (Branch of the Day) that make up the specific day in the Chinese calendar system. In this case, "을" (乙) represents the second Heavenly Stem, and "사" (巳) represents the sixth Earthly Branch.

- 일 (日): This means "day" or "date".

- 주 (柱): This means "pillar" in Korean and refers to the pillar or column in the Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi) system, which is a Chinese astrological system used to create a birth chart based on a person's birth year, month, day, and hour.