Chapter 192
Chapter 192
Chapter 192. <A Messenger from the Past (2)>
Among those from the Sojeong Unit, there wasn't a single bastard who had so much as been near the Murim Academy.
To bastards who barely received a monthly stipend with flawed martial arts, the Murim Academy was no different from another world they could never dare approach.
For those bastards, for whom even yearning was a luxury, the only thing they could do was hate those from the Murim Academy with a passion.
The worst among them was Yaryul Jae.
The bastard usually had little to say, but whenever he saw someone from the Murim Academy, his eyes would go wild.
He would pick a fight like that, and when the other party lightly used their hand, he would retaliate with his half-baked martial arts.
Of course, the end of those fights was always Yaryul Jae collapsed on the ground, being humiliated.
As if he never got tired of it, Yaryul Jae picked fights with Murim Academy graduates every time and got beaten half to death every time.
That was definitely how it had been.
There had seemed to be no possible connection between that guy and the Murim Academy……."What on earth is he?" (Jin So-un) Yaryul Jae had never once said that someone from his sect had entered the Murim Academy.
To begin with, the Yuun Sect's martial arts were the sort that had no one-strike killing move.
It was not a sect favored by those who dreamed of becoming martial artists.
On top of that, its martial arts were not even complete, so he had said the sect always suffered from poverty.
Yaryul Jae had also said he had spent his whole life as a wanderer trying to complete his half-baked sect's martial arts before entering the Martial Alliance.
For a sect with neither power nor money to take the regular exam was, at the present point in time, something close to utterly impossible…….
"Hey, you sons of bitches! Come at me all at once!" (Yaryul Geuk)
At the sharp voice that broke my thoughts before I knew it, I looked ahead.
The small academy student who had thrown the big man down shouted for the next bastard to come out, but no one among those watching moved."As expected, it's still half-baked." (Jin So-un) The big man who had been thrown down behind him got up as if nothing had happened, grabbed the small academy student by the shoulder, and lightly kicked his leg.
Thud.
The academy student's posture collapsed powerlessly.
Wham.
Then the big man's kick lodged itself in the academy student's face, and the academy student's face was soon covered in blood."This won't do." (Jin So-un) I raised my inner arts and lightly shot out killing intent.
"!!" (Onlookers)
The people who had been watching leisurely nearby opened their eyes wide and sprang up from their seats.
I slowly moved my feet and warned them.
"How about stopping?" (Jin So-un)
The big man, no longer able to move his body, glared at me.
I smiled brightly at him.
"I'm in a good mood today, you see." (Jin So-un)
"……?" (Big Man)
That expression said he had no idea what I meant.
Well, it wasn't as if I had said it to make him understand in the first place.
As if shooing away a fly, I waved my hand back and forth in front of his face.
"Would you get lost?" (Jin So-un)
Grit.
-the sound of teeth grinding came through ominously, and the bastard's face crumpled all at once.
"Those are harsh words, Jin So-un." (Ak Ju-pyeong)
At that moment, among those watching, someone wearing the clothes of the Shandong Ak Clan opened his mouth.
I think his name was Ak Ju-pyeong or something.
"This is a matter of personal grudges. Don't concern yourself and just leave." (Ak Ju-pyeong)
Oh-ho, so that bastard must be the leader.
"Hmm, could it be you don't know what the word 'personal' means? How many of you are there?" (Jin So-un)
I tilted my head as I looked at him, then exaggeratedly slapped my forehead with a tak.
"Ah! They did say the Ak Clan doesn't teach letters!" (Jin So-un)
A vein bulged on the bastard's forehead.
"How dare you insult my clan!" (Ak Ju-pyeong)
"Now there's a personal grudge between you and me, too. Right?" (Jin So-un)
"……." (Ak Ju-pyeong)
"As the academy representative, I can't just watch and let this kind of mess slide." (Jin So-un)
I crooked a finger at him.
"If you're confident, come on in and let's have a round, or else get lost." (Jin So-un)
At my words, the bastard gave a snort of laughter.
"Do you still think you're the academy representative?" (Ak Ju-pyeong)
Look at this bastard? He keeps buzzing nonstop?
This is why you can't admonish idiots with words.
I picked my ear and raised my aura.
"Ah, I told you bastards to get lost!" (Jin So-un)
As soon as I burst out with killing intent, the bastards hurriedly backed away.
"……
Eek!" (Ak Ju-pyeong's Group)
As if they only realized belatedly that they had retreated, the bastards' faces flushed bright red.
Ak Ju-pyeong, who had been chewing on his lips, turned around sharply.
"Let's go." (Ak Ju-pyeong)
Once the stupid leader bastard backed down with a whimper, the bastards loitering around each glared at me once and then followed him to the other side.
"Tsk. Seriously, they never listen when you speak nicely." (Jin So-un)
Clicking my tongue, I approached the guy who had been beaten all this time."It's a face I've never seen before……." (Jin So-un) I looked him over in case he was someone related to Yaryul Jae, but his impression was completely different from his.
The only thing they had in common was that the symbol of their sect embroidered on their clothes was the same.
"Hey, are you all right?" (Jin So-un)
When I shook his shoulder, the academy student who had been curled up protecting his head snapped his eyes open.
Then he sprang up from his spot.
"C-come at me! Come at me, you sons of bitches!" (Yaryul Geuk)
Then he immediately took a fighting stance.
He was born with guts, all right. Born with them.
"They're gone. Stop it." (Jin So-un)
"……
Gone?" (Yaryul Geuk)
Only then did the academy student look around.
I nodded to him and tried to ask what I was curious about.
"You, are you from the Yuun Sect……." (Jin So-un)
"Where did those bastards go!" (Yaryul Geuk)
"……." (Jin So-un)
But the excited bastard glared at me with his eyes bulging.
"I chased them away. So now calm down and……." (Jin So-un)
"You chased them away?" (Yaryul Geuk)
The small academy student trembled.
"Who are you to chase those bastards away! If I'd had just a little more time, I could have given them a proper lesson!" (Yaryul Geuk)
"……." (Jin So-un)
But it seemed this bastard and that bastard alike hadn't studied letters at all."Proper lesson" is a word he's using in a very strange way, isn't it? (Jin So-un)
"Bring those bastards here right now! Bring them here!" (Yaryul Geuk)
No, how am I supposed to bring back bastards I chased away?
"Then you get beaten in their place!" (Yaryul Geuk)
The small little brat grabbed my hand and tried to unfold the Yuun Divine Art's Snow Flower
.
If Lotus Flower was a counterattack technique, Snow Flower was an offensive technique.
Because it could not use the opponent's strength, the principle lay in maximizing one's own energy, but perhaps the small little brat didn't even know that, because he tried to twist my hand by force."This little brat……." (Jin So-un) He's crossing the line, isn't he?
Having finally run out of patience, I slightly raised my inner arts and lifted the bastard's entire body.
Then I slammed him into the ground.
Boom!
"Keuk!" (Yaryul Geuk)
The impact must have been so great that the little brat vomited up what he had eaten.
Now we could probably talk.
"Now, calm yourself down and let's talk……." (Jin So-un)
But before I even finished speaking, the little brat sprang to his feet and started running away.
"J-just you wait! Jin So-un! I'll definitely get revenge! Watch the back of your head!" (Yaryul Geuk)
After saying that, he limped away at a speed that wasn't even very fast.
"Ha!" (Jin So-un)
I let out a hollow laugh at the absurd situation.
In the end, I hadn't gotten a single piece of the information I wanted, but still, I knew one thing for certain.
That bastard was someone related to Yaryul Jae.
No, he was probably definitely his brother."For that damn awful personality to be so exactly the same, it would be impossible unless it were the power of blood." (Jin So-un) A strange longing bloomed in my chest.#I visited the dormitory and looked for Jang Woo-jae.
Because I thought Jang Woo-jae, the central figure of those without affiliations, might know about him.
"Ah…… Do you mean that stubborn bastard?" (Jang Woo-jae)
Sure enough, even though I only described his appearance a little, Jang Woo-jae recognized him right away.
"Yuhun Sect? Yuun Sect? Anyway, I remember it was some sect like that." (Jang Woo-jae)
"He's really from the Yuun Sect?" (Jin So-un)
"Do you happen to know where that is? It was a name I'd heard for the first time, so I couldn't remember it well." (Jang Woo-jae)
"Ah, I'd heard of it before." (Jin So-un)
Jang Woo-jae nodded a couple of times.
"Anyway, he's a rather unusual friend. He doesn't hang out with anyone, and I've never seen him go out to drink or leave privately either. It seems he breaks up every day to train, but his skills don't seem to improve all that much." (Jang Woo-jae)
"Are the others excluding him?" (Jin So-un)
Jang Woo-jae scratched his cheek with a finger.
"Well, the Baekdo Association, the Jeongdo Association, and the Twelve Peak Stars don't treat us as people to begin with, do they? Because of that, we at least tend to stick together among ourselves." (Jang Woo-jae)
"Then why?" (Jin So-un)
"It's just…… that friend usually doesn't talk much at all." (Jang Woo-jae)
"……
What was that about him being a stubborn bastard earlier?" (Jin So-un)
Jang Woo-jae rolled his eyes as if rummaging through his memories.
"Well, there was a time before when he got into a quarrel with someone from the Baekdo Association. It wasn't a big deal, though. That friend demanded an apology, but the person from the Baekdo Association ignored it and passed him by." (Jang Woo-jae)
"And then?" (Jin So-un)
After pausing for a moment, Jang Woo-jae answered while raising both hands into the air.
"At that time, that friend used a stone to hit the head of the Baekdo Association member……." (Jang Woo-jae)
Ha, crazy…….
Even the things he did were exactly like someone else.
"After that, the Baekdo Association took revenge on that friend as a group. Then that friend went and found each of them one by one and caused trouble again……. That's already been going on for three months now." (Jang Woo-jae)
"What a spectacle." (Jin So-un)
"What's more, if someone tries to help him, he attacks that person too……. So we have no way to do anything about it either." (Jang Woo-jae)
"As expected, he's even crazier than I thought……." (Jin So-un)
"Pardon?" (Jang Woo-jae)
"Ah, no. I was just thinking to myself. But……." (Jin So-un)
I tilted my head as I looked at Jang Woo-jae.
"Why do you keep using polite speech?" (Jin So-un)
"Ah, haha. It's just that this is more comfortable for me." (Jang Woo-jae)
"……." (Jin So-un)
"Does it perhaps make you uncomfortable?" (Jang Woo-jae)
"No, not particularly." (Jin So-un)
Jang Woo-jae's eyes sparkled like a puppy wagging its tail while looking at its owner.
"Then may I continue speaking like this from now on?" (Jang Woo-jae)
"Well, if that's more comfortable for you……." (Jin So-un)
Just as I was about to wrap up my conversation with Jang Woo-jae and turn around.
I remembered a question I had failed to ask.
"Come to think of it, what was that guy's name?" (Jin So-un)
"His name? ……
Ah! It was an unusual name, so I remembered it." (Jang Woo-jae)
"Unusual?" (Jin So-un)
Jang Woo-jae shook his head vigorously.
"Yes. He said it was Yaryul Geuk." (Jang Woo-jae)
"……." (Jin So-un)
See, I told you I was right.
That bastard, whose head was filled with recklessness instead of a brain, was definitely Yaryul Jae's blood kin.#At this point, a question arises.
Why had Yaryul Jae never spoken about his younger brother?
He was a friend of few words, but that didn't mean he was the type to hide his own story tightly away.
A penniless sect, half-baked martial arts.
Yaryul Jae had said that in his youth, he had lived as a wanderer to solve those two problems.
Just as the fastest secret to completing a sect's unique martial arts is to fight many real battles, Yaryul Jae had tried to send money to his poor sect while at the same time completing the Yuun Divine Art.
But fairy-tale stories of successfully completing one's lone journey through the martial world and ultimately finishing one's martial arts were only possible for special beings like Hyuk Mu-gang.
Just like the seniors of my sect, Yaryul Jae, too, ultimately failed to complete his half-baked martial arts.
The place he drifted and drifted into after that was the Martial Alliance's Sojeong Unit.
Ironically, when he gave everything up, Yaryul Jae ultimately completed the Yuun Divine Art, but by then, a long time had already passed since the Orthodox-Demonic War broke out.
It was seven years after the Yuun Sect had been uprooted down to the very last root."Damn it, to think this ended up being completed." (Yaryul Jae)
As if he did not much like himself for having completed the martial art, Yaryul Jae had suffered and drunk even more than usual."What on earth was the story behind it? Were the two of them on bad terms?" (Jin So-un) In any case, wanting to hear the story directly from Yaryul Geuk, I searched for him.
If the story from my past life was right, around now, Yaryul Jae would have eventually recognized his limits, given up his life as a wanderer, and be living like a ruined man.
If I could pass the completed Yuun Divine Art to Yaryul Jae through Yaryul Geuk, wouldn't his current life change a little too?
But he was nowhere to be seen in the academy classrooms or in the eight-person dormitory where he was staying."Is he getting beaten by the Baekdo Association bastards again?" (Jin So-un) Just as I finally gave up on finding him and was about to return.
I felt something flying in from behind.
I slightly turned my head to avoid it and, at the same time, snatched the flying thing with my hand."A ro, ……
a rock?" (Jin So-un) In my hand was a rock with sharp edges in all sorts of ways.
"Huh……." (Jin So-un)
Because it was so absurd, I turned my head in the direction from which the stone had flown.
"That little bastard!" (Jin So-un)
Yaryul Geuk, wearing a flustered expression, was frantically turning around and running away.
Even as he ran, his mouth worked hard.
"J-Jin So-un! Watch yourself on the road at night!" (Yaryul Geuk)
After telling me last time to watch the back of my head and then throwing a rock, was he saying he would even ambush me at night this time?
"No one would believe he wasn't Yaryul Jae's blood kin." (Jin So-un)
The reason Yaryul Jae had not talked about his younger brother was probably that their relationship was extremely bad.
Wasn't it said that a person with a nasty personality hates those with the same personality the most?
Was it called a kind of self-loathing?
"Well, trying to help him would only turn into a headache." (Jin So-un)
It seemed it was not yet the time to talk with the bastard.
I gave up chasing him and returned to the dormitory.#"Huff, huff, huff." (Yaryul Geuk)
After running away for a long while and entering the back of a building, Yaryul Geuk poked his head out and checked whether Jin So-un was chasing him.
Fortunately, he could not sense any sign of being pursued.
"Heng! See that! Now he'll be so scared of my ambush that he won't even be able to sleep!" (Yaryul Geuk)
After laughing like that for a long while, Yaryul Geuk slowly stopped laughing.
"Geuk-ah, what on earth are you doing?" (Yaryul Geuk)
Yaryul Geuk shook his head in self-loathing.
Jin So-un was a legendary existence.
He was said to belong to the Hundred Eight Peaks, but he was from a sect so insignificant that it was worthless even compared to the Yuun Sect.
In that situation, he had taken only his junior brothers with him, sat the regular exam, and seized the top spot.
By contrast, he himself had come all the way to the academy on the foundation of his brothers' sacrifices, yet far from thinking about completing the martial arts, he was only repeating brawls every day."That's why I said I wouldn't come." (Yaryul Geuk) His eldest brother, who had long ago gone out into the martial world saying he would complete their half-baked martial arts, had failed in the end.
Then, saying that if it was you, you could do it, he had put him into the academy.
While taking the regular exam, his second brother died and his third brother became crippled.
His eldest brother had told him not to mind it at all and to devote himself to studying, but was that really as easy as words made it sound?
Still, after struggling desperately to live up to his brothers' expectations, there was one fact he came to realize."……
I can't do it." (Yaryul Geuk) Every time he spent a day and lay down to sleep, he would think.
That he wished he could close his eyes just like this.
That he wished he would never see tomorrow's rising sun again.
That was why he hated Jin So-un.
Because he shone so brightly.
Because he looked far too great.
The way he stood proudly before the strong.
The way he moved forward without wavering no matter what problem came upon him.
It was so contemptible.
But soon, the arrow of contempt changed direction and flew toward himself."No……. The contemptible one is probably myself." (Yaryul Geuk) But now, there was nothing he could do.
Behind him were his second brother's death and his third brother's severed arm, and ahead of him stood a firm and towering wall he could never overcome.
"When will I be able to go see Second Brother……." (Yaryul Geuk)
Today of all days, he especially thought of his second brother, who had smiled gently.
He shook off his thoughts and moved his feet.
Because in order to launch a surprise attack at night, it would be better to sleep even a little now.
At that moment.
"There you are." (Ak Ju-pyeong)
At the unpleasant voice from behind him, his head snapped up.
Ak Ju-pyeong.
The bastard who had been the beginning of this ill-fated relationship.
Around him, the Baekdo Association bastards who always stuck to him stood in a long row.
There were three times as many as usual.
"Fuckers. How cowardly……." (Yaryul Geuk)
"Don't worry. Only one guy at a time will be facing you." (Ak Ju-pyeong)
"Fuck off!" (Yaryul Geuk)
After giving them the finger, Yaryul Geuk began sprinting with all his strength in the opposite direction from where the bastards had appeared.
But before he had even gone a few steps, a kick that shot out from the alley sent his body floating into the air.
Crash.
"Keuk." (Yaryul Geuk)
He had been kicked so hard that his insides churned.
Ak Ju-pyeong slowly approached and crouched down.
"What is your relationship with Jin So-un?" (Ak Ju-pyeong)
Crouching, Ak Ju-pyeong stared at him intently.
Was that bastard afraid of Jin So-un too?
"Why are you curious about that?" (Yaryul Geuk)
"Because there's something we're preparing. If you have a relationship with Jin So-un, we'll postpone your punishment for a little while." (Ak Ju-pyeong)
Was he saying that if he sold Jin So-un's name, he could get through this crisis?
"Pfft." (Yaryul Geuk)
"You're laughing?" (Ak Ju-pyeong)
Yaryul Geuk swallowed the sneer that felt like it might burst out at any moment.
Had he become so ugly that he had to sell the name of someone he despised?
"Why would I form a relationship with someone like Jin So-un?" (Yaryul Geuk)
"……." (Ak Ju-pyeong)
Yaryul Geuk's eyes flashed like a wildcat's.
A smile formed at the corners of Ak Ju-pyeong's mouth.
"That's fortunate. I would have felt very uneasy about postponing trampling on you too." (Ak Ju-pyeong)
Ak Ju-pyeong slowly rose to his feet without wiping away his smile.
It was a smile that was the complete opposite of his second brother's.