The Possessor's Complex
Rin was.
Born into a precious noble family.
More precisely, a reincarnator from the modern world had possessed a child born in that place, one who might or might not have had talent.
The modern human Rin's rational thinking had not fit in with the Murim world, and it had taken years to wipe away fear and be able to draw a line at someone and pull the trigger.
The talent of that child had been excluded by the uninvited guest named Rin without ever blooming.
Rin had done her best, but what she had reached was nothing more than a mature second-rate level.
Knowing that staying in the family would mean nothing but being compared, bullied, and weighed down by guilt, Rin could not endure it any longer.
Before reaching the age of twenty, she was kicked out of the family and thrown into the Murim League.
After that, she had rolled around on the dirt floor, learning the ropes in the field one by one without relying on the family's authority, until she could finally do her share.
One day she would return to the place the rightful owner of this body should have gone, with the strength the rightful owner should have possessed.
She had no intention of chasing the glory the child named Rin should have enjoyed, as long as she qualified.
But.
“I wish to meet the elders of the Wudang Sect.”
“It is difficult. You are a Murim League member, but bringing out an elder of a single sect without any agreement…”
“Even if I am the daughter of the Namgung Clan Head?”
“Y-yes…?”
This time, Rin had decided to borrow the family's light.
If it were only herself, she did not care.
She would regard this as a trial and, with the heart to atone to the Namgung Clan and Rin, she would see it through herself.
But Hae Sua was different.
“Hae Sua is like me back then. Dropped into this Murim without knowing anything.”
The sight of someone like that running around being chased to death by a disciple of the Blood Cult, one of the top evil groups in Murim.
Not being able to stop it when they could was an act impossible in Rin’s moral code.
She had heard that cooperation and morality were different, but she thought cooperation existed inside the big concept of morality.
In this situation, even using the family’s light to cooperate, and raising a spirit that could cooperate without that light one day, that was not the way to gain the qualification to return to the Namgung Clan?
Rin had thought so.
And just as Rin was solidifying her will.
“…Fuck, what the hell is this.”
The unnamed Wudang Sect disciple felt a chill.
It did not seem like a huge disparity, and he knew that barging straight into the main hall to call an elder was rude.
But.
The cold judgment of the Namgung Clan Head’s great light blocked it.
“I see. I will do my best as much as possible.”
“Thank you. Fellow junior.”
Rin had obtained what she wanted, and the Wudang Sect disciple had known that he would be scolded by his senior brother, master, elder, or even the sect leader, and with tears and gritted teeth he headed to the Purple Heaven Palace where the leaders resided.
In a situation where even situation assessment was messed up, it would be better to be scolded than for the Wudang Sect to swallow the shame of having the daughter of the Namgung Clan Head treated poorly.
While thinking that this was better, the stinging in her eyes could not be helped.
The middle-level leaders of the Wudang Sect were terrifyingly strict.
*
“Even if I ask for the reason!”
“T-this is the first time I have seen the elder so angry…”
When I arrived, the elder of the Wudang Sect was openly furious.
Honestly, the atmosphere was quite bad.
Even excluding the emotional difference between modern people and Murim people, it just looked like open anger.
And as I stepped into the Purple Heaven Palace where things were noisy, Rin, having sensed my presence, turned to look at me for a moment.
Then.
As if she had found the reason, she looked the Wudang Sect elder in the eye and began.
“Dragons are said to be the most righteous divine beasts, but in the opposite direction, it is said that if they do not receive the same treatment, they bring about calamity. My wish to help a dragon in peril from the elders of the Wudang Sect is for that reason.”
“…?”
The most righteous, but if they do not treat me well, they bring calamity?
Me?
“Honestly, I am not that much.”
Why do I have to do harm to others and live.
“That’s all? You barge into Wudang Mountain demanding to be treated like a pet, waving around and ordering the elder to be brought out? To a Wudang disciple?”
Of course, it was not enough explanation even to the Wudang Sect elder.
“Namgung Rin! Your father says you are close with the middle-level leaders of our Wudang Sect, so you cannot command our Wudang people. What you are saying now does not explain anything.”
The eyes of the Wudang Sect elder widened as he shot Rin.
However, after hearing this much, it did not feel like pure malice.
More than anything, it felt like he was scolding Rin while trying to teach her, as if solving the face problem of having the daughter of the Namgung Clan Head been swung around.
It was almost like some kind of WWE, but…
“I have the answer to what I said just now. The divine beast standing behind me now is being chased.”
“It is a pitiful thing for a divine beast to be chased. It is regrettable, and if you confess your sins sincerely, we will gladly protect you. However, that does not become your reason for trespassing.”
“The target chasing the dragon is also the Blood Cult and the Salmun.”
“What?”
The instant the names of the Blood Cult and Salmun were mentioned, the eyes of the Wudang Sect elder widened.
At the same time, that widened gaze began to glare at me.
The anger that had been toward Rin until just now now seemed toward me.
“Wh-why! …W-what?”
I had tried to act tough, but the Wudang Sect elder’s appearance like an angry grandfather glaring openly made it impossible to stay arrogant.
Somehow it felt like getting scolded by my grandfather.
“Ahyea, what is your name.”
“Hae Sua, but.”
“Is it because you are a sea dragon, Hae Sua?”
“Tch, what a name.”
“What is my name.”
Sua, so pretty.
“So, Ahyea. What are you being targeted by. Is that young lady’s words true?”
“Well, I am a sea dragon living in the Yangtze River…”
“Why is a sea dragon living in the Yangtze River? Then you should be a river dragon or something.”
“Tch, just listen for a moment. I am trying to explain.”
“I understand. I will listen with respect.”
By the way, why is this elder so sweet?
A moment ago it seemed as if he was scolding his own daughter in front of the family to fix her spoiled attitude, which was correct.
After all, I was just a stranger, so it did not matter how I lived.
“It’s good.”
Either way, thinking that the scolding Rin had received would not come to me, I felt a lot of relief.
I appropriately colored the reason I had come to live in the Yangtze River.
The story of Rin and Rin being fished up by a fishing rod that had drifted to the riverbank.
The senior Rin’s arm and sword that had been recovered upstream.
After that, the fierce fight with the Blood Cult disciple, and the fight with the 2nd-class assassin sent by that disciple, I gave the most vivid briefing possible.
“And right after arriving here, I took a bath. Since I am a sea dragon, I have to keep my skin moist at all times. I didn’t hold back and used the bath water.”
“That bath water is something the third-generation disciples brought and heated, so I have nothing to do with it. When you come and go, say thank you to those kids.”
“How do you distinguish the third-generation disciples…?”
“It is not a good mindset to distinguish the objects of gratitude.”
“I will feel grateful to all the Wudang Sect people…”
“Good.”
It had been a misunderstanding.
Not as extremely hostile as before, but the old-man vibe remained.
“And can we gather your bath water separately?”
“Huh?”
“Thank you for allowing it.”
And does this old man have a pervert vibe?
If the old man is already like that, it is hopeless.
“By the way, the Blood Cult and Salmun…”
“Arin.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Are you a Murim League member?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Even if you are a Murim League member, what is this crossdressing look?”
“T-that…”
A glance.
Rin reflexively looked around.
At least, there were not many people who could overhear this story.
At most, the female disciple who had brought me and the male disciple standing beside Rin.
“They are people with heavy mouths. Even if not heavy, I will make them heavy.”
“Hah.”
“Eh…”
And even that, when the elder declared he would discipline the mouth, Rin finally opened it.
“I do not have the qualification. To return to the family.”
“Here we go again. About five years ago, when I first saw you in Anhui Province, you said the same thing.”
“I still do not have the qualification.”
Is there a complex?
Rin.
To Namgung Rin, the Namgung Clan seemed like a troublesome home to return to.
“Then, is this time, you plan to report first to the Alliance Leader, not your father?”
“My affiliation is the Murim League now, so of course I will.”
“Good. Personally, I hope your father obtains this information first, but to obtain the cooperation of the entire Orthodox Murim, the Alliance Leader must step forward.”
“I think that is the right judgment. The easiest way to ring the alarm bell in the Orthodox Murim is to use the Murim League.”
Nod.
Rin nodded as if satisfied.
And then the elder’s gaze turned to me.
“Ahyea.”
“Please speak.”
Because of the unique gaze, I had unconsciously continued with polite speech.
“First, let me introduce myself formally. I am the elder of the Wudang Sect, Mihyeon. Call me Elder Mihyeon or just Elder.”
The words “not comfortable at all” had risen to my throat, but I had barely held them back.
“I do not particularly like divine beasts, but I do not dislike them either. Just as not all humans are good and not all are evil, I think the same for divine beasts.”
“Then, why will you help me?”
“Returning a house to those who have lost their house. It is a very simple logic. Do not worry. Our Orthodox Murim is one of the Blood Cult and Salmun’s main enemies. We are just doing our job, so there is no reason for you to be grateful. Go to the Murim League and report the situation, and just wait. The rest, we will handle ourselves.”
At this point, I could not help but feel confusion.
“Not like a gang…?”
Murim people.
Sect.
Clan.
What was so different from American or Mexican gangs…
“Is this the righteous party?”
They do not help if they do not see the gaze.
But if the gaze reaches, they seem to help the pitiful ones clearly.
It was pretty heartwarming.
Then.
Now, with a happy heart, should I rely on them?
There is no reason to wave off being cared for carefully.