IBM 03

Chapter 3

Mumu (3)

‘Eight long years have passed since I became a member of Muyang Fortress and started my life of banditry……’

He witnessed the absurd sight of his cherished weapon—the iron club that had been with him through eight years of life and death, joys and sorrows—turning into an iron ball right before his eyes.

He had heard that among masters with profound internal energy, there were those who could bend iron like taffy.

But this felt completely different.

—Twitch, twitch—

Just what kind of training could make one’s arm muscles split and ripple so clearly?

As he stood there dumbfounded, half in shock and half in bewilderment, the Sub-leader’s sharp cry reached his ears.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

Only then did the mountain bandit snap back to his senses.

He instinctively tried to draw the short sword from his waist.

But then—

“Here, take it back.”

“What?”

—Swoosh! Clang!

“Gack!”

His head was struck by the iron ball that Mumu had casually tossed.

The bandit’s body spun one and a half times on the spot before his back bent at a grotesque angle and he collapsed face down.

—Crack!

The mountain bandit’s body trembled violently for a moment, then fell still.

“Ah…….”

Mumu covered his mouth with his hand and glanced at his adoptive father, Yu Yeop-gyeong.

Thinking that his adoptive father was in danger, he had gotten a little angry and, without thinking, thrown the iron-club-turned-iron-ball at the bandit.

‘This is bad.’

“Father, this is……”

“G-good job!”

Yu Yeop-gyeong shouted in excitement.

Seeing this, Mumu felt relieved.

He had secretly worried that his father would see him using his strength, discover that he had been training, and scold him.

In truth, Yu Yeop-gyeong had no time to worry about such things.

He had been concerned for his son, who had never fought before in his life, but he was greatly relieved to see him using his unique talents to the fullest against the mountain bandits.

“S-Sub-leader!”

The hairy mountain bandit urgently called out to the scar-covered Sub-leader.

They, too, seemed deeply shocked.

And why wouldn’t they be?

He had bent an iron club into an iron ball with his bare hands and thrown it with enough force to make a man spin nearly twice.

The bizarre act Mumu had shown was not something an ordinary person could do.

‘This guy is deep in his internal arts training.’

The scar-covered Sub-leader narrowed his eyes.

It seemed he had encountered a worthy opponent after a long time.

The boy looked young, but if he could bend iron, he must have devoted himself entirely to cultivating internal energy.

But perhaps because he was still young, he seemed somewhat dazed.

‘Proof of his inexperience.’

He was full of openings.

For instance…..

“Use a joint attack to either crush him or hold him back. I’ll grab the guy’s father.”

At the Sub-leader’s command, the mountain bandits’ lips curled into vicious smirks.

That was their Sub-leader, alright.

The brat might look strong, but what could he do if they took his family hostage?

The younger they were, the easier they were to shake mentally.

“Alright, boys, g—”

He was about to shout ‘go!’ when—

—Crack! Shhhk!

Everyone froze for a moment.

Mumu had grabbed a young tree about one zhang tall and ripped it out of the ground, roots and all.

‘Huh?’

Then, with his clenched fist, he swiped down the tree, stripping away all the small branches in one go, before throwing it.

—Swoooosh!

With just that simple motion, the tree—now a crude wooden spear—shot forward like lightning.

There was no time to dodge.

—Thwump!

“Kuaargh!”

“Gah!”

The wooden spear pierced through the bodies of the two mountain bandits standing side by side directly ahead of him.

Impaled on the wood, the two bandits flailed desperately while screaming, before their heads eventually drooped lifelessly.

‘This… is insane…’

The hairy mountain bandit was momentarily speechless.

They were still, at the very least, bandits of Muyang Fortress, one of the Seventy-Two Fortresses of the Green Forest.

These men, skilled enough to be called third-rate warriors, had been skewered and killed by a tree in an instant.

“H-How could this……”

“Damn it!”

The Sub-leader was equally bewildered.

To dismiss him as merely a guy with somewhat deep internal energy completely defied common sense.

A direct confrontation with this fellow seemed extremely dangerous, even for him, someone close to becoming a first-rate master.

“Get the father first!”

The Sub-leader and the hairy mountain bandit charged at the same time.

In terms of distance, they were slightly closer to Yu Yeop-gyeong than Mumu was.

Realizing they intended to take him hostage, Yu Yeop-gyeong tried to run away, but with the dagger still embedded in his thigh, he couldn’t move properly.

In the blink of an eye, they were about to reach him.

It was at that very moment.

—BAAAM!

Something flew past and landed directly in front of him.

The figure, seen from behind, was none other than his adopted son, Mumu.

As Mumu skidded to a stop, the courtyard ground was gouged apart, and dirt and dust surged upward like a wave.

“M-Mumu!”

Yu Yeop-gyeong’s face brightened.

‘Damn it!’

In contrast, the Sub-leader’s expression twisted.

They had been closer, yet the boy had arrived first in an instant.

Even more shocking was the fact that the ground had been torn apart simply from the force of his stop.

Just how monstrous were his leg muscles?

“You people lack class.”

“What?”

“You tried to take my father hostage, didn’t you?”

Seen up close, he was quite a handsome boy.

With his languid eyes and lazy tone of speech, he even appeared somewhat simple-minded.

And yet, despite that appearance, he possessed terrifying martial prowess and acted with merciless decisiveness.

‘For a kid not even twenty years old to possess this level of martial prowess, he must have an incredible master behind him.’

This situation had become extremely troublesome.

The Sub-leader worried that he had provoked someone he absolutely shouldn’t have.

‘Ah!’

But then, a good idea flashed through his mind.

The boy seemed naïve despite his strength.

If he truly belonged to the martial world, then surely he would understand what the Seventy-Two Fortresses of the Green Forest meant.

The Sub-leader spoke confidently.

“Young little brother, your martial arts are impressive.”

“I am Yun Pyeong, the Sub-leader of Yangho Fortress, one of the Seventy-Two Fortresses of the Green Forest.”

“State whose disciple you are.”

The Sub-leader deliberately brought up the Seventy-Two Fortresses of the Green Forest.

If the boy understood the ways of Murim, he would grasp the hidden threat in those words.

Behind him stood Yangho Fortress and the immense power of the Green Forest alliance.

“What are martial arts, and what do you mean by disciple?”

“What?”

The Sub-leader was momentarily speechless.

He had naturally assumed the boy was the disciple of some great master or a member of a famous martial sect.

Yet he didn’t even understand what he was saying.

“Are you trying to joke with me right now—”

—Thwack!

Before he could finish speaking, the hairy mountain bandit was sent flying after Mumu’s fist smashed directly into his face.

The Sub-leader was utterly flabbergasted.

He had clearly mentioned the Seventy-Two Fortresses of the Green Forest.

So why was this happening?

“Y-You bastard! Are you not afraid of our Yangho Fortress and the Seventy-Two Fortresses of the Green Forest?!”

“I don’t know about that, but you are mountain bandits, right?”

‘This bastard……’

Only then did the Sub-leader realize.

Something was fundamentally wrong here.

He couldn’t reason with this guy at all.

The boy didn’t even know what martial arts were and simply regarded the Seventy-Two Fortresses as nothing more than bandits.

But then, how in the world did he possess such terrifying martial prowess?

‘Let’s run.’

This was hopeless.

It would be better to escape and bring back the Fortress Leader and the others from Yangho Fortress.

The brat might be monstrous for his age, but even he couldn’t handle the renowned Fortress Leader and the fifty-plus bandits stationed at the fortress.

—Phat!

The Sub-leader attempted to flee.

But before he could even take a single step—

—Swish!

‘Huk!’

Mumu’s kick shot forward like lightning and slammed into his shoulder.

Because he had been tense and alert, the Sub-leader managed to protect his body with internal energy at the last moment.

—Thwack! Crack!

But the instant the kick connected, the sound of bones shattering echoed out.

The Sub-leader’s body was helplessly launched sideways.

—CRASH! RUMBLE—!

He only stopped after rolling across the ground several times.

For a moment, the Sub-leader lost consciousness.

The pain from that kick had been so overwhelming that his vision had gone black instantly.

—Thud, thud!

Mumu slowly walked toward him.

The Sub-leader’s pupils shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck.

‘What kind of calves does that bastard have?’

He hadn’t noticed earlier, but the boy’s thighs and calves were so thick and sharply defined that his pants looked skin-tight.

It was the first time he had ever seen muscles so visible even through clothing.

Did all that absurd power come from those muscles?

“Do people who practice banditry usually not do muscle-strength training?”

“All of your bodies are so frail.”

‘What in the world is he talking about…?’

—Thud, thud!

‘Hiek!’

Those approaching footsteps felt like a noose tightening around his neck.

Consumed by fear, the Sub-leader desperately shouted,

“Y-You bastard! Aren’t you afraid of the consequences?!”

“If I, the Sub-leader, die, the people from the mountain fortress will swarm this place!”

“Are you confident you can handle all of them?!”

At those words, Mumu tilted his head and looked toward Yu Yeop-gyeong.

He was asking what he should do.

Thinking he still had a chance to survive, the Sub-leader hurriedly pleaded,

“Sir! If you just let me live, I swear we will never return!”

“I pledge this on my honor as the Sub-leader of Yangho Fortress!”

Hearing those words, Yu Yeop-gyeong fell silent in thought.

Could this man’s words truly be trusted?

Clutching his wounded thigh, Yu Yeop-gyeong staggered toward the Sub-leader.

The Sub-leader immediately prostrated himself and begged again.

“Please spare me.”

“My son.”

“Yes.”

“You haven’t forgotten the teaching that a gentleman must always show mercy, have you?”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

‘Ahh!’

At those words, the Sub-leader’s face brightened.

He had suspected it already.

Judging by the man’s appearance and aura, Yu Yeop-gyeong was clearly a scholar.

He believed his life had been saved.

But then—

“However, if they target your family, you do not need to show mercy.”

‘!?’

“Did you not just order your men to kill my son?”

“W-Wait, that was—”

—Shunk! Thud!

Before he could finish speaking, Yu Yeop-gyeong pulled the dagger from his own thigh and decisively plunged it into the Sub-leader’s neck.

“Gack, gack…… You… damn….”

—Thud!

The Sub-leader, clutching the dagger lodged in his neck, twitched in agony before finally going still.

‘Hoo…. hoo…’

Although it was for his son’s sake, Yu Yeop-gyeong’s hands trembled violently.

This was the first time in his life he had ever killed someone.

A man who had spent his entire life holding nothing but a writing brush was now experiencing unimaginable things.

Still, he couldn’t show weakness in front of his son, so he tried his best to appear calm.

But now even his legs had begun trembling.

‘Ugh.’

It seemed to be because of the wound.

Mumu quickly rushed over and supported him.

“Father! Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine. Aaargh.”

“Why on earth did you pull that out?”

—Riiiip!

Mumu tore a long strip from his own shirt and tightly wrapped it around the upper part of his adoptive father’s blood-soaked thigh.

Yu Yeop-gyeong’s lips trembled as he spoke in a strained voice.

“……My son.”

“Yes?”

“You tied it so tight that I think my thigh is going to burst and kill me before the bleeding does.”

“Ah!”

Flustered, Mumu hurriedly untied the torn cloth again.

Looking at his adopted son, Yu Yeop-gyeong pondered seriously.

‘Why does he keep getting stronger?’