Chapter 25
Interest (2)
Her hair had a vermilion hue, as if dyed with tangerine juice.
Hong Hye-ryeong’s lips puffed out like a duck’s bill as she neatly combed her long, luscious hair.
‘It’s annoying.’
No matter how much she thought about it, she was furious.
She had expected all the attention within the Changcheon Martial Arts Academy to be on her once the enrollment exam was over.
Even without having to rely on the fame of her father, the Southern Blade Imperial Uncle Hong Hwa-ryun.
But the result was completely unexpected.
‘Yu Jin-seong’s younger brother?’
She, too, had heard the name Yu Jin-seong before.
The story of how he became a Censor Inspector to save his father, who had been unjustly framed and sent into exile, had moved the hearts of many women.
But unlike other women, that was the end of it for her.
It was a story outside of Hong Hye-ryeong’s interest.
Rather,
‘Who is he to be talked about more than me?’
A considerable number of the female successful applicants waiting in the temporary lodging were talking only about Yu Jin-seong’s younger brother.
[Did you hear? They say the reason the enrollment exam was delayed was all because of that younger brother of Yu Jin-seong.]
[Really?]
[Yes. A kid who passed late and came in said he’s such a great master that he tore off the castle gate and made the water of the artificial lake overflow like a wave just by using his lightness skill.]
[Oh my, oh my. How can the brothers be so outstanding, one and all? I’m so looking forward to it.]
[You girl. Are you calling dibs already?]
[If he’s not taken, I can claim him, can’t I? Giggle.]
‘…No. No!’
This wasn’t the picture she wanted.
From the start of the enrollment exam to the moment of completion, the name Hong Hye-ryeong, and only that name, was supposed to be deeply engraved in everyone’s minds, regardless of gender.
But from the very beginning, that younger brother of Yu Jin-seong had stolen all the topic of conversation.
For better or for worse.
She became curious what kind of person could steal everyone’s attention from her.
‘…Fine.’
Hong Hye-ryeong tied her hair up and rose from her bed.
She was going to wait until the entrance ceremony to see what kind of bastard he was, but she changed her mind.
‘I’ll go see what kind of mug he has.’
‘Did I know this bastard could get angry?’
He thought he was the kind of guy who would just grin and let anything slide.
But seeing him with such a terrifying expression, showing no mercy in his actions, it went beyond surprise to a feeling that sent a shiver down his spine.
“D-Don’t come…”
-Thwack! Bam!
With a single gesture from Mumu, another person’s head was stuck in the ceiling.
The sight of a person’s head stuck in the ceiling, dangling there, was not something one could see just anywhere.
‘Again, again!’
The expressions of the boys who had looked down on him for his simple-minded appearance changed in an instant.
Terrified, they backed away, not knowing what to do.
“S-Seo-ryong. What do we do?”
‘What do we do?’
At the boy’s question, Kang Seo-ryong couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
He had thought that since this guy wasn’t Yu Jin-seong’s younger brother, that bastard would be nothing special, but his prediction was completely off.
He himself was confident he could beat the other four at the same time.
But performing a bizarre act like sticking people’s heads into the ceiling was impossible.
“I think we should apologize and ask him to stop.”
‘Damn it.’
At the boy’s words, Kang Seo-ryong bit his lip hard.
If he had handsomely dealt with Yu Jin-seong’s younger brother and come out, it would be one thing, but to go in talking big and then come out terrified would be a disgrace to the face of the Strong Principle Sect of Namyang.
The academy students would surely laugh at him.
-Bam!
In the meantime, another head was stuck in the ceiling.
Judging by his vigor, he seemed determined to put them all in that state.
This is driving me crazy.
Just then, the boy next to Kang Seo-ryong hurriedly ran in front of Mumu, knelt down, and begged.
“Y-You’re Mumu, right? Please forgive us. We won’t act up anymore…”
Mumu looked down at him indifferently.
And then he spoke.
“My father told me a gentleman should always show magnanimity.”
“Ahhh!”
At those words, the boy’s face lit up.
He decided that his choice was the right one.
“Thank you. Really, thank y-“
However,
-Thwack! Bam!
Mumu kicked him up by the chin, and just like the other boys, his head was stuck in the ceiling.
Seeing this, a dumbfounded Kang Seo-ryong shouted.
“You said he told you to show magnanimity?”
“But he also said I don’t have to show magnanimity if they target my family.”
“F-Family?”
Kang Seo-ryong’s eyes widened in shock.
Does that mean this guy and that monster-like guy are brothers?
Only then did Kang Seo-ryong realize that their target was Mumu, not Jin-hyeok.
Unlike the flustered him, Jin-hyeok’s expression became strange.
‘Family…’
He didn’t expect the word ‘family’ to come from the guy’s mouth.
They hadn’t even been together for that long, yet he was calling him family.
Something felt strange.
It was at that very moment.
-Grip!
Kang Seo-ryong grabbed Jin-hyeok’s hair and seized his neck.
Jin-hyeok frowned and said.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know, you bastard. That bastard is going wild anyway, so what can’t I do?”
“What?”
With narrowed eyes, Jin-hyeok looked at Kang Seo-ryong’s hand gripping his neck.
It was trembling violently.
The guy was in an extremely tense state.
Because of that, you could say he was seeing red.
Kang Seo-ryong warned Mumu.
“Hey! Don’t come any closer. You said this guy is your family, right? If you take one step, I’ll snap this bastard’s neck.”
“Snap it?”
One of Mumu’s eyebrows shot up.
Kang Seo-ryong felt even more terrified at the sight, but he couldn’t back down.
He couldn’t start his life at Changcheon Martial Arts Academy embarrassingly with his head stuck in the ceiling like those vermin-like guys.
‘I just have to get out of this place.’
He had to hurry.
With this much commotion, other academy students were bound to flock over.
If that happened, he would lose face completely.
Kang Seo-ryong said to Mumu.
“Let’s make a deal. If you let me go, I’ll let this guy go safely too. How about it?”
Of course, he had no real intention of killing him.
It was, literally, just a threat.
If he really did it, not only would his enrollment in Changcheon Martial Arts Academy be canceled, but his entire life would be ruined.
-Flex! Flex!
At that moment, Kang Seo-ryong’s pupils trembled.
Veins bulged on Mumu’s previously expressionless face, and his facial muscles twitched as it contorted into a vicious expression.
It was the first time he had ever seen a person’s facial muscles move like that.
While he was bewildered, Mumu opened his mouth.
“I really have to kill you.”
-Shiver!
Those words, uttered so casually, were so chilling that his legs felt like they were about to give out.
Only one thing came to Kang Seo-ryong’s mind.
That bastard really seemed like he would kill him.
It wasn’t just him who felt this way; Jin-hyeok did too.
‘That bastard is going to cause trouble at this rate.’
He felt he had to stop Mumu.
But right now, his body was lethargic and he couldn’t muster any strength…
-Grip!
Just then, strength returned to his hand.
He didn’t know when it had returned, but his lethargic body was back to normal.
Realizing this, Jin-hyeok didn’t hesitate to grab Kang Seo-ryong’s wrist, which was gripping his hair, and deliver a kick straight to his face.
-Thwack!
“Gah!”
Kang Seo-ryong, who had let his guard down while being wary of Mumu, was hit in the face and staggered backward.
Jin-hyeok created some distance and said to Mumu.
“Mumu. I’m okay, so sto-“
Before he could finish his words.
“Huk!”
-WHAM!
Mumu, like an angry bull, snatched the staggering Kang Seo-ryong and charged toward the wall.
-CRASH!
“Ugh!”
The wall of the lodging was breached, and Mumu and Kang Seo-ryong fell straight down.
‘Crazy! Th-This is the fifth floor!’
As he thought, Mumu’s temporary lodging room was located on the 5th floor.
Startled, Jin-hyeok ran to the broken wall.
He looked down, and though the guys who had fallen should have been there, neither Mumu nor Kang Seo-ryong was in sight.
‘What? Mumu?’
He had no idea where on earth they had disappeared to.
In the meantime, he heard murmuring sounds from behind.
Successful applicants had already gathered outside the door, peeking in to see what was going on.
Ha-ryun was also mixed in with the crowd.
‘By now, he must have gone through a lot of trouble.’
Since he couldn’t kill the guy right away, he had intervened as a way of venting anger.
The dust powder Ha-ryun had scattered was more of a medicine than a poison; it made a person lethargic and unable to use their strength for a short time.
The advantage was that since it wasn’t a poison, there would be no problems later, and it left no traces as it vaporized and disappeared.
The disadvantage was that after one use, one would become immune, and it wouldn’t work well again.
‘It’s only once, but it’s useful at times like this.’
He figured that even without internal energy, since his body was lethargic, he would have no choice but to be beaten.
Ha-ryun, who peeked in to enjoy the sight of the bastard getting beaten up, found his eyes widened in shock.
‘…What is this?’
He saw four bodies dangling, their heads stuck in the ceiling.
And he saw Jin-hyeok standing blankly, looking past the broken wall of the lodging.
Seeing that the somewhat decent-looking guy named Kang Seo-ryong was gone and the wall was broken like that, it seemed he had fallen outside.
‘Wait? That guy isn’t him.’
It was definitely that guy named Yu Jin-hyeok who was with Mumu.
Why is that guy in the room and not Mumu?
‘Wait…he did that to those guys even after being hit by that dust powder?’
Ha-ryun’s eyes sharpened.
He had judged him to be definitely below his level on the surface and hadn’t paid much attention, but he had done that to those guys by himself even after being hit with the body-weakening dust powder.
It was an unbelievable event.
-Clench!
Ha-ryun’s fist tightened.
It seemed there were more opponents here who surpassed his expectations than he thought.
Especially those Yu Clan brothers, who, like the successors of the Four Great Grandmasters, seemed to be no ordinary people.
Ha-ryun slowly backed away from the crowd of new students.
A cynical smile crept onto the corner of his lips.
‘This bastard and that bastard, they’re not making things easy.’
Rather, his fighting spirit was rekindled.
Unlike him, Jin-hyeok was getting a headache.
The new students who had gathered because of the commotion were looking at him with eyes full of awe.
“Wow. Aren’t those the guys who were just talking about teaching him a lesson?”
“That’s right. They were shouting like that in the hallway.”
“Awesome.”
“It wasn’t just his martial arts that were strong.”
“It seems he did that to show he has no mercy in his actions toward enemies who target him.”
“He’s a scary guy.”
It seemed he was being thoroughly misunderstood.
What that guy Mumu had done had somehow become his own doing.
For the new students to swarm in right after Mumu fell was just too coincidental a situation.
It seemed he had to clear up the misunderstanding.
Jin-hyeok sighed, looked at the new students, and said.
“Look, there’s some misunderstanding-“
-Murmur, murmur!
Before he could finish, the new students suddenly looked toward the hallway.
He wondered why, and then they parted ways as a beautiful girl walked through, her faintly vermilion hair fluttering.
Her appearance was such a woman of unrivaled beauty that everyone stared, mesmerized.
“That large saber on her back? Surely not Hong Hye-ryeong?”
“Hong Hye-ryeong, you say?”
“Why is the successor of the Southern Blade Imperial Uncle here?”
When her identity was revealed, the new students were amazed.
Jin-hyeok was just as surprised.
It was the first time he had been captivated by a woman’s appearance, but knowing her identity brought him to his senses.
‘Why is a successor of the Four Great Grandmasters here?’
While he was puzzled, she scanned the room once and then opened her cherry-like lips toward Jin-hyeok.
“That mercy in your actions for your enemies… is quite something. You are more than qualified to be my, Hong Hye-ryeong’s, worthy opponent.”
‘?!’
What in the world is she talking about?
As he was bewildered by her sudden declaration, the spectating new students went into an uproar.
“Good Heavens!”
“The successor of the Southern Blade Imperial Uncle has acknowledged him as a worthy opponent.”
“Damn it! To receive Hong Hye-ryeong’s interest.”
“If you’re jealous, just say you’re jealous.”
Hearing their murmurs, Jin-hyeok’s mind grew complicated.
Things had just gotten even bigger than before.
‘I’m going crazy.’
He didn’t know how things had gotten so twisted.
Meanwhile, in a deserted forest not far from the lodging.
A middle-aged man with graying hair who had arrived there dropped Kang Seo-ryong, whom he was holding by the scruff of his neck, onto the ground.
“Ugh!”
Kang Seo-ryong, who had landed on his butt, looked at this unknown person, not understanding the reason.
At this sight, the middle-aged man with graying hair chuckled and said.
“I went out of my way to save your life, and you’re being wary?”
“If you saved me from falling down…”
“What are you talking about.”
“Pardon?”
“I saved you from that guy, didn’t I.”
Where the middle-aged man gestured with his head, a human figure could be seen approaching.
It was none other than Mumu.
‘Gasp!’
As soon as he spotted Mumu, a startled Kang Seo-ryong shuddered with fear.
That bastard was a complete monster.
“I-I don’t know who you are, but that guy was trying to kill me…”
“You’d be better off worrying about your punishment for the trouble you caused.”
“Pardon?”
“For now, go to sleep.”
-Tap, tap, tap, tap!
As if annoyed, the middle-aged man with graying hair put the fussing Kang Seo-ryong to sleep with pressure point sealing.
Seeing this, Mumu tilted his head and asked.
“Who are you, ahjussi, to take him away?”
He had originally intended to drop him and crush his body.
After all, he was the guy who tried to kill Jin-hyeok.
But as he fell through the wall, that ahjussi appeared, suddenly grabbed the guy’s scruff, snatched him up, and told him to follow.
“Ahjussi? Hahahahaha. What a truly amusing child.”
The word ‘ahjussi’ brought a burst of laughter from the middle-aged man’s mouth.
His identity was none other than the Vice-Chief of the Changcheon Martial Arts Academy, Dan Pil-hu.
He had come to secretly observe what kind of person Mumu was at the request of Master Byeok I-mun, and he couldn’t hide his amazement at the unexpected sight.
‘He’s trained his external arts to such a level?’
He was half-doubting, half-believing, but it was truly enough to make him let out a gasp of admiration.
He could see why Master Byeok I-mun had taken such an interest.
Vice-Chief Dan Pil-hu stopped laughing and spoke to Mumu in a somewhat serious voice.
“Child. How about this ahjussi takes you as a disciple?”
