Chapter 2: The Village with No Swords
Ironwood Village.
A remote, quiet place at the edge of the known Murim world. Nestled between ancient forests and forgotten hills, it was untouched by sects, wars, and martial arts. A village where no one wielded a sword—not because they didn't want to, but because they feared what martial arts once brought.
Peace. Silence. Boredom.
But for Jin Mu-won, reborn as a boy in this forgotten place, it was the perfect cradle.
He had spent the first three days adapting—learning the child's name, the family he'd inherited, and the era he now lived in.
Name: Jin Mu-won. Still the same.
Age: Ten.
Parents: Dead—bandits burned their home three months ago.
Caretaker: Old man Baek, the village's herbalist. Crippled legs, sharp tongue, soft heart.
Mu-won sat atop a hill overlooking the village, chewing on a blade of grass, eyes narrowed at the distant horizon.
"So this is three hundred years after my time… Murim is quieter. Too quiet."
The pendant around his neck pulsed again. He still hadn't unlocked its secrets, but he could feel the power buried within. A seal? A lock? He needed more information.
A soft rustle behind him.
"Mu-won! You skipped the herb-gathering again!" came a voice, full of youthful fire.
He turned. A girl, maybe eleven. Fierce eyes, calloused hands. Dirt-smudged clothes and a broken sandal. Her name was Yu Ri. One of the few orphans like him, adopted by the village.
"Didn't skip. I'm doing reconnaissance," he replied with a smirk.
Yu Ri frowned. "Recon...what?"
Mu-won stood, brushing off his pants. "Studying the terrain. Planning for war."
"You're such a weirdo."
She stormed off. He chuckled.
He liked her. She reminded him of someone from his past—his younger sister, long dead.
But he couldn't afford distractions.
---
That night, Mu-won sat beside Old Man Baek, watching him grind herbs.
"You're not like the other children," Baek muttered suddenly. "Your eyes… they don't belong to a child."
Mu-won looked at him, silent.
"I once knew someone who looked at the world like that," Baek continued. "He razed a mountain for revenge. They say he died laughing."
Mu-won raised an eyebrow. "You speak of the Crimson Storm?"
Baek nodded, slowly. "Yes. Jin Mu-won. A demon, they called him. I admired him."
A smirk tugged at the boy's lips.
"You're not scared of demons?" Mu-won asked.
Old Man Baek snorted. "Demons don't scare me. Cowards who wear the robes of justice do."
Mu-won's eyes lit up, just for a moment. This world… maybe it wasn't so boring after all.
He looked at the pendant once more. Something was changing inside it. Stirring.
A voice whispered in his soul:
> "The first seal... is breaking."
And in that moment, Jin Mu-won knew—
His path of carnage, chaos, and conquest had just begun.
To be continued....