Chapter 32: Internal Core (3)

There is something I learned from living.

That the most miserable moment in the world is when you are sick.

Once, after my parents died, I was sick for several days.

I don’t know how much I cried back then.

If at least one of them had been there, they would have taken care of me.

The combination of loneliness and fever is perfect for breaking a person.

That is exactly how I feel now.

After having a feast after a long time, my fever rises and I end up collapsing.

“Kyu.”

Fortunately, at least Wonmo is here, who is adorable.

If even he were not here, I think my heart would hurt even more.

Even the sloth seems to have common sense, because as soon as I started getting sick, he got off my back.

“……”

“……You better leave.”

But because of his innate expression, he did not comfort me at all.

His relaxed face is fine normally, but now it looks like he is mocking me.

‘No… that can’t be it.’

I felt bad for taking it out on the sloth for no reason.

Because of the sudden fever, I felt like I could not think clearly.

I breathed with difficulty from the heat running through my whole body.

Every time I exhaled, hot air came out of my mouth.

At this rate, later I will end up breathing fire like a dragon.

‘I don’t understand the reason.’

It is absurd to get a fever just from eating a fish.

I thought it might be a parasite infection, but it should not be.

I cooked it well just in case.

The only thing I can think of is poison.

Could it be like pufferfish?

‘I took medicine immediately, but I don’t know.’

Just in case, I also took the pill that AllFather gave me.

Normally I should circulate the internal cultivation method immediately, but in this state it is difficult.

I guess I will be able to do it when the fever goes down a bit.

Before that, let’s check the gallery.

Right before my fever rose, I posted something, so there should already be comments.

Title) Ah. Shit. Why do I have a fever?

WildGrills

(photo of the fish completely eaten, even the bones)

Why did I get a fever right after eating this?

Could it have been poisonous?

ㄴIs there a poison that causes fever?

ㄴYes there is. I have heard of poisons that kill with fever

ㄴAllFather) Did you take the medicine I gave you?

ㄴWildGrills) Yes, I took it just in case

ㄴAllFather) If it were poison, you would have recovered immediately. It is strange. It must not be poison

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) It is best that you regulate your internal energy right now. You have eaten a spiritual creature, so your inside will be full of qi

ㄴWildGrills) But I didn’t even eat the internal core

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) They are not called spiritual creatures for nothing. Even if it is not the internal core, their flesh contains enough qi

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) When you are sick, nothing is better than the mana training method. If you take a sip of elixir beforehand, even better

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) It is not mana method, it is internal cultivation method

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) It is the same, isn’t it? Until you teach the formula, everything is the same

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) It makes me want to tear out that malicious tongue of yours

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) Try it if you can haha

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) How pathetic, locked in your house talking nonstop. You only grow older without doing anything useful

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) What did you say?

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) Hm. I think it is time for me to act as well. I do not want to become someone as pathetic as you

ㄴWhy is this HeavenlyDemon suddenly attacking all of us?

ㄴMass provocation lol

ㄴNow I feel like supporting SwordTasteMaster

Now that I think about it, I had an elixir.

Because of the sudden fever, I had not remembered.

Enduring the heat that kept rising, I moved almost crawling.

Finally I took an elixir that was stored in a box.

A bright golden liquid that caught the eye.

The color changes depending on the level, but since I was feeling so bad, I grabbed any one.

‘First just a sip…’

Even opening the cork was difficult.

Should I buy a fever reducer from the auction house?

With effort I managed to open it and took a sip.

It was strangely bitter but refreshing as it went down my throat.

Now only the breathing remains.

Before that, I checked the comments.

I knew that HeavenlyDemon and SwordTasteMaster had started a fight before I closed the gallery.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) No matter how hard you try, I will be the one to teach him the internal cultivation method. So get lost

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) And what if Grills does not understand the formula?

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) That will not happen. I will explain it step by step

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) Sorry, but that is difficult. You are not by his side, and only with the formula it is complicated to learn the mana method

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) And are you not in the same situation? If he understands it with just text, then he is already a genius

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) Do you want to read my posts? I have a brutal skill in writing

ㄴIt’s true, she writes well. Thanks to her the average level of the continent increased

ㄴShe has from basic to advanced, it works for everyone

ㄴHeavenlyDemon only writes garbage lol

ㄴReal lol, SwordTasteMaster’s posts actually help

Even I, who knew nothing, was able to learn the basics thanks to that.

Maybe that is why most people supported SwordTasteMaster more than HeavenlyDemon.

HeavenlyDemon kept responding until the end because of her personality, but a normal person would have already broken down.

I think it is better to stop this here.

Thanks to the elixir, the dizziness had also decreased a bit.

ㄴWildGrills) SwordTasteMaster-nim, please leave it there. It is true that your posts help, but I do not want to break my promise with HeavenlyDemon-nim

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) Sorry. I rushed

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) Do not listen to someone who tries to break trust with her malicious tongue

ㄴWildGrills) SwordTasteMaster-nim was also just trying to help me

Fortunately it seems everything calmed down.

If I did not stop them, my post would have been filled with their fight.

Besides, this time it was SwordTasteMaster who started it.

Although HeavenlyDemon also got heated.

‘It is time to sit…’

Not even the elixir had completely reduced the fever.

It only reduced the pain like a painkiller.

Forcing my increasingly hot body, I sat in lotus position.

Before starting the breathing, I asked HeavenlyDemon.

ㄴWildGrills) I am going to start training. Could you teach me that thing about the formula?

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) I can teach it to you, but for safety I will only tell you the first one. You could fall into deviation

ㄴWildGrills) Understood. Write it in a private comment

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) The sky is the supreme that all things revere. Extend your hand and grasp it within you. Do not look upward, look downward. That is the sky…

I thought it would be a normal explanation, but suddenly a poem appeared.

An ancient poem, very typical of the martial world.

In other words, I understood absolutely nothing.

It was not for nothing that SwordTasteMaster criticized the internal cultivation method saying that it was not a simple instruction, but a poem.

‘How is this supposed to help?’

Also, the formula was not just one, but quite long.

HeavenlyDemon’s comments kept appearing one after another.

Although at first it seemed strange, I memorized the entire formula she wrote in the comments.

Even though my head was dizzy from the fever, it was not impossible to memorize it.

“Fuuu…”

First I started by breathing, as if trying to gather the hot energy.

I also did not forget to recite in my mind the formula that HeavenlyDemon taught me.

I suppose it is enough to imagine a general image.

More than interpretation, this is a matter of sensations.

‘It is better than that horrible poem.’

Much better than that hellish poem.

Imagining the formula HeavenlyDemon gave me, I began to practice the breathing.

I felt how the hot energy that was scattered throughout my body gathered in the abdomen.

‘The sky is the supreme that all things revere…’

And so, while reciting the formula and cultivating the internal method—

“Grr…”

Without realizing it, I fell asleep.

***

I had a very strange dream.

A dream in which I was floating in an infinitely high sky.

More than floating, I was moving freely through that sky.

Since I had never flown, not even on a plane, I spent quite a while flying with complete freedom.

But that freedom did not last long.

I felt my body starting to fall downward.

I wanted to feel that sensation to the fullest, so I endured until the end.

But it was useless.

My body was already falling.

Startled, I looked down.

Below there was a dense forest covering everything.

Suuush!

“Ugh!”

The sensation of falling from such a height made me jolt awake.

It was like when you fall asleep in class and suddenly wake up startled.

But several times more intense.

It cleared my mind completely.

“……”

I blinked.

What kind of dream did I just have?

I remember flying freely, but after that I do not know.

It is hard to explain.

As if my soul and my body had separated.

Even so, it was quite a pleasant dream.

It had been a long time since I felt that kind of freedom.

“Kyu……”

While I was a bit dazed, I heard a sad sound.

When I turned my head, I saw a little ball of fur looking at me.

The small owlbear, Wonmo.

Wonmo was looking at me with sad eyes.

Grrr—

At the same time, my stomach growled.

I am hungry.

Give me food.

I am hungry, so I am sad.

Something like that would be the idea.

I felt a bit uncomfortable, so I first checked the time.

Well, actually there was no need.

Just looking outside the cave was enough.

‘…Is it already night?’

Outside was completely dark.

I ate the fish and got a fever around noon.

That means I rested for at least more than six hours.

No wonder Wonmo had that sad expression.

“Wonmo, I’m sorry. I’ll give you food now.”

“Kyu!”

“Wonmo, and by the way where is sloth…?”

As soon as I turned my head, there was the sloth.

He was looking at me with his usual expression.

From how he was moving his mouth, it seems that while I was sleeping he ate fasting pills.

‘…He didn’t eat much, right?’

With a bit of concern, I checked the amount of fasting pills.

Fortunately, they had not decreased much.

So first is feeding Wonmo.

I connected to the gallery.

As always, it was full of noise, but right now what matters is Wonmo’s food.

“Here, take this.”

“Kyuu!”

I gave him a piece of meat and his eyes shone with joy.

He was so adorable that I patted his head, and he liked that even more.

It is impossible not to grow attached.

Just looking at him made me feel good.

‘It seems the fever went down, and my body feels good.’

Definitely, sleeping well is the best when you have a fever.

Although because of the sweat, my body was sticky.

Nothing to do about it.

It is already late, better to wash quickly.

Since there are fish in the container, I cannot bathe.

“Hm?”

Just when I took off my clothes and went out of the cave.

A doubt came to me.

I could see too well.

I have always had good night vision, but this was much clearer.

Not like daytime, but enough to move without problems.

‘What is this?’

But I set the doubt aside.

First I had to wash.

I did not even need to light the campfire.

If I could already see well, why would I?

Although to sleep I will need it.

The cold is still the same.

Ras—

Before washing, I ran my hand over my body and heard a strange sound.

When I looked down, I found something unexpected.

My skin was peeling.

But not like when you get burned.

The skin underneath was smooth and shiny.

I frowned when I saw it.

This can only mean one thing.

‘Why do I have so much dirt?’

I thought I had been washing well, but it seems not.

From now on I will have to take better care of that.

Today I will wash quickly and tomorrow I will bathe properly.

If I leave the dirt in hot water, it will come off more easily.

‘By the way, tomorrow I will have fish for breakfast.’

I do not think I will get a fever again from that, right?

Thus, the next day, when I was cleaning the fish—

“This again…”

From inside, another internal core came out.