One cannot entirely avoid paying the price, however.
“Hmm.”
A crackling sound.
A sound emanates from Jinseong’s body.
An ominous sound, the likes of which should never come from a human body, is heard.
The bones are twisting, and beneath the flaccid skin that seems to have never seen a proper workout, there is a sense of pain. It feels as though insects are crawling under the skin, causing an itchy, creepy sensation that drives the thought to flip the skin inside out and pluck out the bugs infesting within.
The notion arises to rip out the blood vessels tormenting me and throw them far away. The desire grows to puncture the skin and spray insecticide to kill the creatures troubling oneself beneath. This desire bubbles up endlessly, and the more one thinks about it, the more it feels like a snowball rolling down the mountain, growing bigger and bigger until the nails extend uncontrollably to scratch the skin.
“Pain is silence and awareness.”
The kind of phantom pain typically seen in severe drug addicts.
An abnormal phenomenon caused by a nerve disorder.
A situation where an ordinary person might scratch and tear at their skin until they are covered in blood doesn’t feel so far-fetched.
But Jinseong maintains a calm expression amidst such sensations.
In fact, with an expression as if wearing a mask, he even smiles, showing no problem by flexing and relaxing his body.
Crackling sounds are heard as the process continues.
The sound of twisting bones intensifies. Along with the bones, the muscles begin to twist, and some are stretched so taut they seem about to rupture.
The ligaments are no exception, repeatedly stretching and tightening as if testing the limits of endurance.
Jinseong closes his eyes amidst the chaos of sensations.
He focuses on the movement of the tendons in his shoulder.
Whack!
He lifts his right arm and dislocates his left shoulder.
The severe pain from the left shoulder.
The joint twisted, signaling something clearly wrong.
The left arm hanging limp having popped out—this was a bizarrely self-destructive act.
But it was done for a reason.
“It’s better this way.”
This was about preempting the excessive damage to the left arm before it happened. If he had left the left arm to twist out of its socket naturally, it would have likely caused the muscles to twist and tear, and the ligaments would have been impossible to calm. If there was an issue with the ligaments, it could have resulted in an extreme situation where the arm would need to be severed for ligament reattachment surgery or possibly the development of shoulder joint disease. That would not have been ideal.
The pain would have been one problem, but the lengthy rehabilitation time would have been another.
Therefore, Jinseong took proactive action.
It is similar to creating a fire line to prevent the spread of a large wildfire by clearing the landscape.
But…
Just like fire, there are parallels.
“This time it’s the right side.”
When one side is blocked, the movement can seek to escape through the other.
Jinseong realigned the left joint using nearby objects and his right arm.
The movement was so skilled it might convince someone into thinking he works at an orthopedic clinic or has a career in athletics.
A snapping sound followed, accompanied by shock and severe pain.
The area around the shoulder was clearly swollen compared to before and, with even the brush of clothing causing pain, it was evident that a bruise would form.
‘Hmm. This wasn’t a problem before…’
This was unavoidable.
Realigning a dislocated shoulder was something Jinseong was familiar with.
Having worked as a mercenary and traveled through chaos in various parts of a crumbling world.
How many times had his shoulders dislocated or been injured during battles?
How many times had he performed first aid in dire conditions?
Jinseong’s familiarity with aligning shoulders was a testament to his experience.
Drawing from mercenaries’ knowledge and countless personal attempts, he might be more skilled at setting bones than most orthopedic clinics.
But no matter the experience, there are always consequences.
Especially given Jinseong’s current body condition.
Jinseong’s body, unlike in the past, was not accustomed to combat, nor the injuries that typically accompany it. His spirit was experienced, but his body lacked the proper conditioning.
Thus, his shoulder tended to respond excessively to such stimuli.
Additionally, his current physical state was not optimal.
The cost of magic doesn’t wait just because something is in progress.
It arrives without consideration or respite, regardless of how harsh the pain might be.
Such was Jinseong’s current situation.
His body’s endurance had significantly decreased due to the magics he had previously performed. Moreover, his skin and muscles had become fragile.
In such a situation, his response was not surprising.
No, the fact that it ended here was a testament to Jinseong’s skill.
Thus…
Jinseong could purposefully dislocate his right arm without hesitation.
Knowing his skills hadn’t dulled.
Knowing, even though his condition wasn’t ideal, he could endure it.
Crack!
The same disturbing sound comes from the right arm, and it hangs limply.
As before, terrible pain surges in, mixing with the sensation of insects crawling beneath his skin, nibbling everywhere—phantom pain that torments him…
‘I don’t know how many times I have to do this for the twisting to stop.’
Amidst the pain, Jinseong thinks.
If there’s anything, he hopes the process of muscles and bones twisting will end quickly.
‘I need to escape this place soon… Huh, huh, huh.’
Because only then can he escape and clean up afterward.
The sound of joints cracking.
The air between the joints bursts and makes a sound.
The neck jerks violently from side to side, fingers flex.
Muscles in the arms flex, veins become more pronounced.
And with that, energy begins to flow through the virtual passageways in the body.
It starts like a small rivulet, merely asserting its presence, but then it’s as if a heavy rain falls, swelling it into a torrential flow that pushes through in a rough, powerful gush.
And the energy, accelerating, rushes to the hand, roaring for release with menacing intent.
Finally, like the bursting of a floodgate releasing a massive torrent of water, the energy explosively surges outward.
“HAAAH!”
The arm moves roughly following the energy’s flow, stretching forward as if to reduce the shock the energy’s impact on his body and maximize its external impact.
It was less like an uncontrolled energy flow and more like a single, fluid motion. It was as if it mimicked something from nature.
The name of this technique…
“Volcanopunch!”
…was Volcanopunch.
Paaang!
This “Volcanopunch” tore through the air, creating a massive sonic boom.
No, not just sound but a genuine rupture in the air, akin to a volcano erupting.
The energy that traveled to the end of the fist gathered into a specific point in the empty space with the arm’s motion, and erupted from there. The synchronization of the arm’s movement and the energy’s form was so intricate that it created a directional explosion, with one side concave and the other convex.
And the result…
Poom!
Poom!
Poom!
Even just punching into the air, within about 10 meters away, objects were impacted by the shockwave. Quite a strong shockwave, enough to cause an ordinary person to pass out immediately.
Piiik!
And about two seconds after the shock, a sound similar to a horn echoed, and someone far away began to move.
From the start, the person who had been watching approached quickly, came near the person who had thrown the comically named punch, looked at his face, made eye contact, and called out with a hint of anger.
“I-A-RIN!”
The name of the person who used the ‘Volcanopunch.’
And then unleashed a build-up of anger known as ‘Gradient Fury’—a deepening, intensifying rage.
“Hey! What is this all about?”
“Umm?”
Of course, Iarin, the person conducting the Volcanopunch demonstration, finds it puzzling.
But the seemingly clueless expression only served to further provoke the angry person.
Especially if the angry person was familiar with martial arts related to Huashan, and if Iarin was a rival of sorts, competing for points while maintaining a good relationship with them.
“Look! You said you’d show me martial arts related to Huashan! You lured me into the martial arts practice room to show me the Huashan boxing skills, and then what? WHAT?!”
And even more so, if the demonstration of Huashan (Hua Mountain) martial arts led to a demonstration of火山 (volcano) martial arts.
