Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: The Challenge Letter
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As the sun dipped low toward the horizon, Wi Seongcheon and Paeng Yeonhwa descended the mountain following the Taiji Sword Lord's instructions.
They had agreed to receive his guidance here every Monday, so it would be a week before they saw him again.
"How was it?"
There was a slight distance between Wi Seongcheon and Paeng Yeonhwa. Rather than walking side by side, she moved a bit faster ahead of him. Each time he tried to draw level with her, she adjusted her stride—widening or shortening it—to avoid matching his pace.
"What?"
"The Formula of the Unmoved Heart. The Sword Lord called it not a martial art, but it's still his personal insights written by his own hand. How was it?"
"You're not supposed to tell me."
Paeng Yeonhwa shot him a disbelieving glare. Truth be told, it didn't matter much. They were walking together, if a little apart, and the silence felt awkward, so she'd just tossed out a random question.
"Right?"
"...What do you mean, 'right'? You ask and then act like that. What about you? How's your body... feeling?"
"I'm fine. It wasn't an injury or anything—just a bit of a shock. Aren't you curious? About what the Sword Lord told me."
"I am, but I won't ask. If it was something I could hear, he would've let me stay there too."
Paeng Yeonhwa spoke with a mature expression. But unlike her face, her tail was swishing back and forth. She looked just like a cat basking in the sun on a porch.
"Tigers are cats too, right?"
"...What are you talking about?"
"Your tail."
At his words, Paeng Yeonhwa startled. She whipped her head around and glared at her own tail. It froze mid-sway and drooped limply downward.
Laughter bubbled up unconsciously, and her tail did the same. Without conscious thought, it just moved on its own like that.
"Why? It's cute."
"Shut up."
Paeng Yeonhwa growled. Wi Seongcheon chuckled as he watched her turn back and resume walking ahead.
"Aren't your shoulders too tense?"
"I said shut up."
"Don't be so prickly. With everything between us, don't you think we could get pretty close now?"
"What even are 'us'?"
Childhood friends? Paeng Yeonhwa let out a hollow laugh.
"We just played together for a few days. We haven't met since."
"We met here."
"I think I said it back then too. Those childhood memories might be precious to you. But to me, they're not. Back then, we'd laugh at dog poop on the street. Just because we hung out a bit..."
"Why laugh at dog poop?"
Wi Seongcheon tilted his head, puzzled, and Paeng Yeonhwa's eyes twitched in frustration.
"...It's just a figure of speech."
"No, I really don't get it. Dog poop is funny?"
"Shut up. That's not the point! Childhood bonds are worthless. At that age, you play with anyone without a second thought."
"Not me."
Wi Seongcheon smiled faintly.
"You probably had lots of people around, plenty wanting to be friends. But not me. There were no kids my age to play with on the mountain where I lived, and outside, more people hated me than liked me. Still do."
That's why it was precious. Paeng Yeonhwa didn't reply right away. After a moment, she let out a short sigh.
"...Sorry. It's just... you saw it yourself. I'm dangerous."
"If you master the Formula of the Unmoved Heart, that danger won't arise."
"That's not what I mean. ...You heard it too. Ho Hwan... joined the Demonic Cult."
She didn't call him "older brother."
That monster was no longer Paeng Yeonhwa's brother.
"And for some reason, he's targeting me. Maybe he regrets not killing me back then. It's not just Ho Hwan. Others see me as a monster too. If you hang around someone like me, the people who hate me will hate you too."
"Who says that?"
The Heavenly Flower Sect faced similar disdain.
"...Even if you're okay with it, I'm not."
Paeng Yeonhwa muttered. Wi Seongcheon shrugged.
"Got it."
He had no intention of pushing. If she didn't want it, he wouldn't force the issue.
'...This is tricky.'
In the silence that fell between them, Paeng Yeonhwa frowned. It wasn't Wi Seongcheon who was in trouble—it was her "surroundings." They already shunned her, and now jealousy would mix in.
She had no choice; the Taiji Sword Lord had chosen to teach her personally. On the surface, everyone would accept it, but deep down, they wouldn't.
That jealousy—why them, of all people?—would sharpen the glares directed at Paeng Yeonhwa even more.
'What now.'
Wi Seongcheon was thinking something else entirely.
Jealousy was to be expected. He'd anticipated this and caused that commotion in the dining hall two days ago on Saturday.
'We'll weed out the ones hiding and munching pumpkin seeds.'
Dealing with every single one would never end.
'What will the Sword Dragon do?'
Sword Dragon Tae Huimyung, a disciple of the Wudang Sect. How would he take the Taiji Sword Lord's decision to teach Wi Seongcheon and Paeng Yeonhwa instead of him? Bang Jun had called Tae Huimyung a good person.
Unlike Little Buddha Jinwoo.
Jinu had harbored flames in his chest over Wi Seongcheon receiving Won Gwang Bul's letter of recommendation—even if he didn't show it outright. Wi Seongcheon had confirmed it in the dining hall.
Would Tae Huimyung do the same? If so, that would be welcome.
'And Mu Yeonjun.'
He had received the Sword Lord's guidance too.
Wi Seongcheon was curious how he'd react.
* * *
"...Well, well."
A grin bloomed on Wi Seongcheon's face. As expected, Jinwoo was different from Tae Huimyung.
He was blatant about it.
In the center of the wall where students buzzed and gathered.
A challenge letter was posted.
From third-year Jin Bae of the Shaolin Sect.
"No way."
Paeng Yeonhwa muttered. She alternated glances between the letter and Wi Seongcheon's face. Below it was an official professor's seal of approval.
But this was unprecedented. Spars within the academy weren't rare. Yet one posted publicly on the wall to draw attention like this was unusual. And the opponent was the issue.
A third-year like Jin Bae openly challenging a first-year like Wi Seongcheon.
"Why?"
"Reasons? Plenty. They say Wi Seongcheon was rude in the dining hall over the weekend."
"Nah, no way it's just that. I think it's this: sect honor."
Students whispered among themselves. Wi Seongcheon pushed through the crowd, stroking his chin as he read the letter. The content was straightforward.
No reason for the duel was stated. Nor was the date or time.
"It's telling you to set it."
Paeng Yeonhwa said. She looked utterly baffled. But unlike her grave expression, Wi Seongcheon was grinning ear to ear, as if delighted.
"Anyone got a brush?"
Wi Seongcheon called out around him. Paeng Yeonhwa jumped in alarm. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him fiercely.
"Are you insane?!"
"What?"
Shaken by Paeng Yeonhwa, Wi Seongcheon asked with a sullen look. Ignoring the surrounding clamor, she glared at him and spat it out.
"Ignore it."
"Why?"
"Why?! Are you serious? He's a third-year senior!"
"So?"
"It's not about winning or losing. It's that things will blow up! So ignore it. Accepting or not is your choice...!"
"Will cowering make them back off nicely?"
"...What?"
"Thanks for worrying, but our ways of handling things are different."
Paeng Yeonhwa's eyes went blank. Wi Seongcheon lifted her hand from his shoulder. Then, with a deliberate wink and smile for all to see.
"Sometimes, shrinking back isn't the answer."
Not in this situation.
Paeng Yeonhwa couldn't say more and meekly lowered her arm. She couldn't understand his actions. She knew well the feeling of being shunned by others.
People's perceptions didn't change easily. Though it was her brother, not her, who caused the Paeng Clan massacre, people avoided Paeng Yeonhwa.
Because the same blood ran through her veins. And she didn't deny the blood in her own body. She couldn't. Sometimes, the "impulse" surged.
Her blood heated up, her heart pounded, and the urge to rampage wildly overwhelmed her.
I'm a monster.
Knowing that, Paeng Yeonhwa chose to "shrink." That was her way.
No matter what others said, she didn't resist. Quietly, small... so as not to bother anyone.
Wi Seongcheon said their ways were different.
'...They are.'
Wi Seongcheon was different from her.
Fundamentally so. He wasn't dangerous like her. Not a monster like her.
What came his way was contempt, not fear. Was that why he could act like this? ...She didn't know. Paeng Yeonhwa bit her lower lip.
"...You're different."
She murmured.
Wi Seongcheon, who had borrowed a brush from a nearby student, heard her mutter.
"What?"
"You said our ways are different... Of course they are. You're not like me."
"Naturally."
Wi Seongcheon brought the brush to the challenge letter.
"Who said we're the same?"
Tomorrow.
Wi Seongcheon wrote the character with the brush and added his name below.
"...I can't do what you do."
"Have you ever tried?"
He asked with a smile.
Paeng Yeonhwa had no answer. She couldn't give one.
Because she never had. Wi Seongcheon knew that too. Asking like this made any claim of "yes" embarrassing and awkward.
Since enrolling in Euisan Academy, Paeng Yeonhwa had never fought another student—not even in mandatory grade evaluation spars, where she forfeited.
That was why someone of her skill remained in the lower class.
"Not doing it and being unable are different."
Tap.
Wi Seongcheon patted her shoulder.
"In your case, it's not doing it."
"......"
"I'll do it."
She didn't want to say he was wrong. Choosing to act or not was up to each person.
"...Do what you want."
Paeng Yeonhwa gave up persuading him. From her view, his actions were just stirring up trouble unnecessarily. Wi Seongcheon... was strong. She didn't doubt that.
But his opponent was a Shaolin disciple. Obscured only by Little Buddha Jinwoo's fame, the Jin-generation Shaolin disciples who entered Euisan Academy were top talents who could have claimed his Dragon-Phoenix seat without him.
Not for nothing was he the internal candidate for the Eighteen Arhats. Paeng Yeonhwa watched Wi Seongcheon with bitter eyes.
"Got confidence?"
A sudden voice cut in.
The students' murmurs halted at once. Paeng Yeonhwa looked toward the voice in surprise too.
"You'll know once we fight."
Wi Seongcheon replied without flinching.
Mu Yeonjun's expression was as faint as ever. Young Sojin stood beside him, looking flustered.
From that alone, Wi Seongcheon grasped the situation. No doubt, Young Sojin had gossiped noisily back in the upper-class dorms.
Judging by her face, she hadn't expected Mu Yeonjun to come here himself.
Wi Seongcheon hadn't either.
[Jin Bae wields a staff.]
The abrupt telepathic message startled him.
He stared at Mu Yeonjun with wide eyes. Mu Yeonjun said no more. With a bored look, he glanced at the challenge letter on the wall and the scrawled "Tomorrow" below it, then turned away.
"...Uh... Th... Thanks."
Wi Seongcheon muttered awkwardly at Mu Yeonjun's retreating back.
Why Mu Yeonjun suddenly offered that, he couldn't fathom.
Jin Bae wields a staff. He wasn't the type for idle chatter. Was it advice?
'I knew that already.'
It wasn't particularly helpful.