TL: FoodieMonster007
“Fuck, did sothing get in my eye? Why now, of all tis…?” Cheoldu grumbled, clumsily rubbing his reddened eyes with the back of his hand.
Tears were streaming down his face, but he couldn’t understand why. He hadn’t even shed a tear when Jangsam died. Hell, he’d endured stabbings, burns, and every other kind of pain life threw at him, but each ti he’d gritted his teeth and soldiered on.
Yet now, I’m crying over a few words from that bastard?
Cheoldu couldn’t accept it. Just the thought that so pretty boy, who’d appeared out of nowhere and knocked him down, could stir up his buried emotions was infuriating.
Raising a hatchet, he pointed it threateningly at Baek Suryong’s forehead.
“Bullshit,” he spat, glaring fiercely at the man. “What kind of nonsense are you spouting? You think I’ll believe you’ll give a job if I co under you?”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but hear out first,” Baek Suryong said calmly, then recounted what he had told the old woman at the Rogues’ Guild. Unfortunately, Cheoldu wasn’t interested in listening to anything he had to say.
“You…” Cheoldu sneered, spitting on the ground and letting a trickle of blood escape from between his teeth. “You look like one of those spoiled brats from a good family who picked up a few martial arts tricks. What, are you planning to gather a bunch of lowlifes so you can have fun playing the leader?”
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Visibly unimpressed by Cheoldu’s defiance, Baek Suryong crossed his arms and sighed, “Maybe his skull is just too thick. He doesn’t seem to understand human language. Perhaps so more beatings will do the trick?”
“Stop talking shit and co at !” Cheoldu roared, charging at Baek Suryong again. Deep down, he knew he couldn’t win, but running wasn’t an option. With a hatchet in each hand, he charged forward like a bull, headfirst into danger.
Even if I die here today, so be it! I’ll at least take a limb, no, a finger from him!
At that mont, Cheoldu’s concentration reached an all-ti high. Injuries be damned, he abandoned all attempts at defense and swung his hatchets with surprising speed, drawing a brilliant trajectory as they ripped through the air.
“You’ve got a real knack for axe arts,” Baek Suryong murmured, effortlessly dodging the attack.
As if anticipating Baek Suryong’s sidestep, Cheoldu threw his hatchets and lunged forward, his head shooting forward like a cannonball toward his opponent’s chest. It was a reckless move, without regard for his own safety. If he missed, his head would smash into the wall behind him and split open like a ripe waterlon.
“What you need is a straightforward, powerful martial art… One that matches your killing intent… I know! The Thunderclap Axe is just right for you,” Baek Suryong murmured, even as he drew a smooth circle with his hand, skillfully demonstrating a Taoist technique to effortlessly deflect Cheoldu’s head to the side.
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Disoriented, Cheoldu spun around in the air, feeling as if he was defying gravity for a mont, then crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
“Ugh…” Cheoldu sat dazed on the ground, struggling to gather his senses. He stared at Baek Suryong, who had subdued him without a scratch, as if he were staring at a ghost. “Who the hell are you? Just fucking kill already! I’m not your plaything…”
BONK!
Baek Suryong struck the crown of Cheoldu’s head with the Black Dragon Pointer. “Why don’t you try using that iron head of yours for sothing other than headbutting people?” he asked incredulously.
“…What?”
With eyes as cold as ice, Baek Suryong looked down at Cheoldu. “If I were just gathering thugs for fun, do you think I’d bother keeping you alive?”
Cheoldu glared daggers at Baek Suryong, but Baek Suryong t his gaze with a firm, unyielding stare.
Finally, Cheoldu caved in. “So… What is it you’re trying to do? Why would soone like you be in a place like this…?” he asked in resignation.
“I’m going to unite the forces in the slums and form a proper sect.”
“A sect?” Cheoldu’s eyes widened. He’d assud Baek Suryong was just another power-hungry thug, looking to control the slums and collect protection money.
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Baek Suryong nodded. “Yes. I plan to gather thugs like you and teach them martial arts. However, I won’t accept everyone. Those beyond redemption will be swept up and handed over to the authorities. Only those who can be reford will undergo rigorous training.”
A wicked smile spread across Baek Suryong’s lips, already imagining the hell awaiting the new trainees.
Cheoldu blinked in confusion. “Why would you do sothing like that?”
“You don’t need to know the details. What’s important is this.”
Baek Suryong drew his sword, Moon Shadow.
Cheoldu flinched, expecting an attack, but his gaze quickly locked onto the dazzling crimson sword qi dancing along Moon Shadow’s blade. Having never seen sword qi up close before, he was completely captivated by the sight.
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“If you co under , I’ll teach you real martial arts. Not the third-rate garbage sold in the streets, but techniques that’ll make you a true master,” Baek Suryong tempted.
Entranced, Cheoldu could only mutter, “Real martial arts…”
Baek Suryong smiled, satisfied. As long as he thirsts for power, I knew this would work.
Cheoldu had plenty of combat experience and a fearlessness that made him charge headlong into danger, but it was clear that he’d never encountered high-level martial arts before.
With his potential… If he was part of the old Blood Cult, he would’ve at least beco a squad captain. What he needs now is a martial art that suits him perfectly, and I know just the one.
“I’ll teach you how to wield those axes properly,” Baek Suryong said, glancing at the hatchets Cheoldu had dropped. The Thunderclap Axe was a fiercely practical, offense-oriented technique, and he was confident that if Cheoldu learned it, he’d beco a master in no ti.
Cheoldu looked up at Baek Suryong, bewildered. “…Are you saying you’ll teach advanced martial arts? Why? Advanced techniques are so precious you can’t even buy them with money.”
Everyone knew that advanced techniques were so rare that most martial artists were willing to risk their lives to obtain them. Even between master and disciple, such skills were rarely passed down.
However, Baek Suryong wasn’t soone bound by common sense.
I know a lot of martial arts, but I can’t use them all myself.
The Thunderclap Axe was one of the Blood Cult’s martial arts. To be more precise, it was a technique that the Blood Cult had acquired for research, but it wasn’t a demonic art, so there was no problem with him spreading it.
Although, I might have to omit so of the more brutal techniques.
Most students at the Azure Dragon Academy were already learning advanced martial arts from their families or sects, so there was generally no need to teach them new techniques. In contrast, the sect Baek Suryong planned to establish in the slums required a different approach.
I can teach so of the many martial arts I know to these people. Though they might not be as talented as the students at the Azure Dragon Academy, they more than make up for it with sheer numbers and the fact that they would be entirely under my control. Of course, all this will have to remain a closely guarded secret for now.
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In this plan, Cheoldu was the person Baek Suryong had in mind to lead this new sect. He rembered what the old woman from the Rogues’ Guild had said about him.
“Cheoldu, huh. He’s loyal and, contrary to his appearance, he doesn’t kill just anyone. He only collects half as much protection money as other gangs. Sotis he even exempts those who are really struggling. That’s why he and his people are still poor.”
Despite his intimidating presence, Cheoldu was actually one of the nicer people in the slums.
Baek Suryong smiled. “I’ve said all I needed to say. The choice is yours now.”
“……”
“I’ll be waiting at that inn with the shitty noodles until morning.”
With that, Baek Suryong turned and walked away without looking back.
As soon as he disappeared around the corner of the alley, Cheoldu’s strength gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground with a thud, sighing, “Haa… Have I been tempted by the devil…?”
He stared blankly at the pitch-black sky, where countless stars twinkled as if they were about to fall.
Suddenly, a shooting star streaked across the sky, leaving a long trail behind it. For a mont, Cheoldu was reminded of how he used to make wishes to shooting stars when he was very young, praying to escape his miserable life.
“Damn it. What’s the point now?” Cheoldu chuckled to himself.
His body was so drained of energy that he couldn’t even lift a finger. How long he lay there, he didn’t know.
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A rough voice eventually roused him, saying, “You fool. You’ll freeze to death like that.”
“Old lady?” Cheoldu exclaid, shocked.
It was the old woman from the inn known for its shitty noodles. She was rumored to be mute, but it wasn’t her voice that surprised Cheoldu. After all, he was one of the few who knew that she wasn’t really mute, and that she was a mber of the Rogues’ Guild. Rather, he was surprised that she approached him of her own accord.
“What brings you here, old lady?” he asked.
“The guy who beat you up, his na is Baek Suryong.”
“…Is he famous?”
“He’s a new instructor at the Azure Dragon Academy, and he’s been causing quite the stir lately.”
“So, he’s a big shot. Figures.”
Cheoldu had heard plenty about the Azure Dragon Academy. People said that if you learned martial arts there, you could fly through the sky and smash rocks with your bare fists. To soone like Cheoldu, who had only picked up rudintary fighting skills, it was like hearing about another world.
“Old lady, that guy… he said he’d teach advanced martial arts.”
Cheoldu had long given up on getting into the Azure Dragon Academy. The stigma of being from the slums and his troubled past, which involved run-ins with the authorities from a young age, held him back. Not only the Azure Dragon Academy, but even the countryside martial arts academies had rejected him.
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“…I can’t teach martial arts to soone like you.”
“You? Learn martial arts? You’re bound to beco a demon soday.”
“Get lost! Your eyes are filled with killing intent!”
“Do you know where you are? Get out of here right now!”
As he recalled these bitter mories, Cheoldu smiled wryly. “If soone like learns advanced martial arts, I might end up becoming a public enemy of the murim.”
“What nonsense are you blabbing? Get up, you fool,” the old woman said, poking him with her cane until he groaned and struggled to his feet. Watching him with a steady gaze, she then asked, “What are you going to do? Will you join forces with Baek Suryong?”
“…Honestly, I don’t know if I can trust him.”
Seeing Cheoldu’s confusion, the old woman decided to offer so advice. “That man said sothing interesting. He told not to trust him, but to trust Cheong Cheon instead.”
“…Cheong Cheon? The constable?”
“They seed close.”
Everyone in the slums knew Cheong Cheon. He was one of the few who had risen from these very streets to make sothing of himself and was always there to help when problems arose.
“So, Cheong Cheon…”
“But you know, I’d rather put my trust in Baek Suryong than Cheong Cheon.”
“Why?”
The old woman chuckled at Cheoldu’s uncharacteristically innocent question. “Because ever since Baek Suryong appeared, Cheong Cheon’s face has brightened. Isn’t that reason enough?”
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“……” After thinking for a mont, Cheoldu finally said, “Old lady, I’m hungry. Can you get sothing to eat?”
“Alright. I’ll make you a bowl of those shitty noodles back at the inn.”
The two of them headed back to the inn together.
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