Human Experint
After finishing his workout as usual, Choi Kang-hyuk montarily indulged in the pleasure of admiring his muscles in the mirror in Tokyo.
He was simply delighted with the growth of his muscles, but soon returned to being Mu-jin, not Choi Kang-hyuk.
What caught his eye was a man in the early stages of transforming into a muscle-bound freak with square-shaped muscles.
As a muscle enthusiast, this was still not enough, but he was a martial artist before a muscle enthusiast.
Barely regaining his senses, Mu-jin raised his arm and reached behind his back with a feeling of concern.
It was a common pose to scratch his own back, but he felt his shoulder’s deltoid and his arm’s bicep hindering the motion.
Fortunately, he could barely touch his back with his fingertips, despite the uncomfortable sensation.
“Phew, that was close.”
If even such a movent was obstructed by his muscles, executing martial arts would be an arduous task.
“I almost ended up like Mu-gung.”
Recalling Mu-gung, the epito of stiffness, Mu-jin decided to revise his future plans.
“For now, I need to focus on Jade Vajra Technique for a while.”
He decided to prioritize compressing his muscles and additionally focus a bit more on flexibility.
However, he had no intention of completely stopping weight training. After all, how could he abandon the muscles he had painstakingly built?
* * *
The next day.
“Uh?”
Seeing Mu-jin stop his weight training earlier than usual, those who were watching his workout simultaneously exclaid in surprise.
Typically, Mu-jin would train for a full two hours, but for so reason, he started putting away the weights about 30 minutes early.
“Are you already stopping your workout?” Jegal Jin-hee asked, unable to hide her disappointnt as Mu-jin started to put his shirt back on.
“I seem to have overbuilt my muscles, so I am considering taking a break.”
“Are you planning to reduce your muscles?”
Mu-jin replied with a startled expression.
“Muscle loss? What a dreadful thing to say.”
“Then, what are you planning to do?”
Feeling embarrassed by Mu-jin’s response, Jegal Jin-hee asked.
“Ahem. I plan to maintain my muscles while increasing my proficiency in Jade Vajra Technique to compress them. For a while, I’ll reduce the ti spent on weight training and increase my ti practicing the Jade Vajra Technique.”
“Oh, I see.”
Jegal Jin-hee smacked her lips in disappointnt. It wasn’t just because she would see less of his muscles.
To be precise, it wasn’t solely because of that.
Although Mu-jin had openly practiced external martial arts techniques, he did not train the Jade Vajra Technique in front of others.
Since it was a martial art taught by Hyun-gwang, he had no intention of revealing it carelessly.
In other words, saying he would practice the Jade Vajra Technique was akin to issuing an order to those present to leave.
But since he didn’t an they had to leave imdiately, Jegal Jin-hee swallowed her disappointnt and asked a ‘public’ question.
“So, the training you did today was solely to maintain your current state?”
“That’s right.”
“Then, could you explain the maintenance routines later?”
This was an important issue.
Unless Mu-jin revealed the Jade Vajra Technique, most martial artists would find maintaining rather than growing more important at a certain point.
Once one’s physique and muscle quality were optimized for their martial arts, changes in muscle could beco detrintal.
“Hmmm. It’s actually a matter of experiential intuition. If muscles beco overly developed, one should reduce the intensity of training a bit, and if they are insufficient, gradually increase the intensity to create the most appropriate routine.”
“……So, trial and error are inevitable?”
“Yes. I’m going through the sa process, aren’t I?”
Jegal Jin-hee lightly exclaid in realization at Mu-jin’s answer.
“Ah. Then, it might be a good idea to also research the thod for determining the appropriate routines during this opportunity.”
“I don’t mind, but…… it will take quite so ti.”
“No need to worry about the ti. We plan to stay at Shaolin for a year to observe the seasonal changes affecting the formations.”
Half was truth, half was a lie.
Given that the formations utilized nature, subtle issues could arise from the seasonal climate changes.
However, the Jegal family’s formations were designed to account for that.
It was just an excuse to stay by pointing out the slight chance of failure.
Of course, Mu-jin, who was almost ignorant about formations, simply accepted it as such.
* * *
That evening.
After finishing his Jade Vajra Technique practice and Close-Range Spear Technique training, Mu-jin, taking a break, happened to encounter Mu-gung within the Shaolin Temple grounds.
Since returning to Shaolin, Mu-jin and the other mbers of the Muja Quartet had been busy training, leading to rare etings.
Seeing Mu-jin after a long ti, Mu-gung was quite surprised.
‘This lunatic has grown even more muscle?’
Well, given how obsessed he was with muscles, it would be strange if he didn’t grow them.
But why?
After looking Mu-jin up and down, Mu-gung felt him muttering sothing strange before leaving.
“Wow. I almost ended up like that.”
“Like that? What do you an by that? Huh?”
Mu-gung, feeling inexplicably annoyed, asked back, but Mu-jin hurried away as if fearing he might catch an illness.
Watching Mu-jin’s retreating figure with a dumbfounded expression, Mu-gung soon stopped caring.
It was a waste of life to pay attention to the antics of a madman every ti.
However, sotis that madman did show behaviors worth learning from.
‘Hmm. Should I grow more muscle too?’
Mu-gung thought of Mu-jin, who seed to be catching up to him.
‘Yes! Master said that it’s important for my martial arts to build up endlessly rather than learning new things!’
Then, what if I add muscle strength to the depth of my internal energy and Tathagata Palm?
In any case, finesse or elegance didn’t suit him.
Thus, Mu-gung headed to the training ground filled with weights.
* * *
Another month passed.
To maintain his muscle strength while increasing his proficiency in the Jade Vajra Technique, Mu-jin had succeeded in achieving so level of accomplishnt in the Jade Vajra Technique.
Since then, Mu-jin carefully balanced the ratio between practicing the Jade Vajra Technique and weight training, adjusting his workout whenever he started to turn into a muscle-bound freak, gradually increasing his strength little by little.
* * *
One day, after so ti had passed.
Mu-jin, who happened to run into Mu-gung, asked with a bewildered expression.
“…Mu-gung. Did you eat sothing wrong?”
“Eating sothing wrong? Why?”
“I an, unless you ate sothing really weird, how could a guy who’s already ridiculously big get even bigger?”
Although Mu-jin hadn’t noticed during their occasional encounters, today Mu-gung’s body suddenly caught his eye.
However, contrary to Mu-jin’s confusion, Mu-gung responded with a triumphant face.
“Looks like you finally noticed. Hehehe. But why do you seem thinner than the last ti I saw you?”
There couldn’t be a more provocative remark for a workout addict. Veins popped out on Mu-jin’s forehead.
“I compressed my muscles on purpose. But why did you, who haven’t learned the Jade Vajra Technique, grow your muscles even more?”
“Hmph.”
Instead of answering directly, Mu-gung snorted and assud the Tathagata Palm posture.
And the mont Mu-gung extended his palm.
Whoosh!
A fla of much stronger intensity than before erupted.
“How about that?”
Mu-gung spoke in a very triumphant tone after demonstrating, but Mu-jin stood in front of him, sighing deeply.
Then he raised his left hand to make it align with Mu-gung’s right hand, as if holding a pad in boxing training.
“Try hitting this palm with the Tathagata Palm without using internal energy. Extend your right hand straight.”
Although puzzled, Mu-gung still perford the Tathagata Palm’s first move.
But the result left Mu-gung exclaiming, “Huh?”
He thought he had extended his hand straight, but his palm barely touched the edge of Mu-jin’s left palm.
“Did you move your hand?”
“Hey, you fool. With those oversized biceps and pectoral muscles, how can your arm go straight? Of course, your muscles will push your arm sideways.”
“Calling Mu-yul, that’s too harsh!”
“Didn’t I tell you? If you keep growing your muscles from there, just maintain them and focus on Close-Range Spear Technique. If you can’t rember my advice, how are you different from Mu-yul?”
Speechless at Mu-jin’s criticism, Mu-gung blushed and retorted.
“Hmph! I did it with a plan!”
Saying so, Mu-gung slightly turned his body and extended the Tathagata Palm towards Mu-jin’s palm.
He compensated for his arm going sideways by twisting his body the other way.
“How about this? It’s okay, right?”
“Would you do that in a real fight too? When your opponent is right in front of you, would you twist your body just to use the Tathagata Palm? Are you a flounder?”
At Mu-jin’s relentless barrage, Mu-gung eventually hung his head in defeat.
‘Damn it… How can I be compared to Mu-yul.’
Seeing Mu-gung’s dejected look, Mu-jin sighed and gave him advice.
“For a while, ease up on the weights and focus on Close-Range Spear Technique training. Use the extra ti to increase your internal energy through ditation. If you continue training the Tathagata Palm in your current state, you’ll really end up like a flounder.”
After giving Mu-gung advice that would help him, Mu-jin went back to his quarters for the day’s training.
After finishing his muscle-punishing weight training, Mu-jin was writing in his exercise journal, also known as his research on external martial arts techniques, when Jegal Jin-hee smiled and asked.
“Looks like you’ve found so balance now?”
Unlike his stern deanor with Mu-gung, Mu-jin responded with a hearty laugh.
“Hahaha. It was a bit tricky at first, but I think I’ve got the hang of it now.”
Initially, it had been quite a struggle to balance the progress of the Jade Vajra Technique and muscle developnt, but recently, he seed to have found a good balance.
Yesterday, he had felt his muscles were slightly overdeveloped, but today, he maintained a perfectly balanced physique.
‘Maybe yesterday, my muscles looked pumped because it was right after a workout?’
Mu-jin thought optimistically.
* * *
The next morning.
Mu-jin, who invariably checked his body in the mirror every morning, froze in place.
Whether it was his imagination or not, he felt a bit leaner than yesterday.
The conversation he had with Mu-gung floated back into his mind.
‘Damn it. Was it because I talked about muscle loss yesterday?’
Could he be experiencing muscle loss as a result of suggesting it to soone else?
‘Or did Mu-gung curse sohow?’
Although the thought was superstitious, Mu-jin soon shook his head.
‘Co on, even in martial arts, a curse? It’s probably just my imagination.’
He might just look a bit leaner in the morning. The difference wasn’t significant enough to be glaring.
Repeating to himself that it was just his imagination, he focused on his training for several days.
* * *
“It’s not just my imagination!!”
No matter how he looked at it now, his body was definitely leaner than the day he t Mu-gung.
Grit. Grit.
Gnawing his nails like soone tornted by paranoia, Mu-jin fell into deep thought.
“Why? Why am I losing weight? Is it just weight loss? Could it be muscle loss?”
Pacing around the room so intensely that even the onlookers felt anxious, he finally had a flash of insight.
“Could it be…?”
Though not certain, it was the most plausible reason considering his current condition and recent lifestyle.
Based on Mu-jin’s knowledge and experience in exercise physiology, it was the likeliest explanation.
Sadly, this issue was not sothing he could easily resolve on his own.
Mu-jin sat down abruptly, ground so ink, and began scribbling sothing on a piece of paper.
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