ch 5
Became a Swordsmanship Instructor at the Academy
Chapter 5
"How fascinating. In my youth, I traveled everywhere from the Nine Provinces to the Eight Wildernesses, but every food you've brought today is something I've never tasted before."
"As I mentioned earlier, a lot of time has passed."
"How much time has passed?"
"Hmm, do you remember the name of the emperor of your country... No, do you remember the name of your country?"
"Of course, it's Ming. The emperor was Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang. Don't tell me the country has changed?"
Most martial arts novel settings are typically in the Ming Dynasty, so this is as expected. If it's Emperor Hongwu, he would be the founding emperor of Ming. Since it's 2023 now, that's roughly 600 years ago. Of course, no matter how skilled a master Cho Yu-ryang might be, he couldn't have lived for 600 years, so he must have crossed over from another world.
"Ming fell a long time ago. Now it's called China."
"Then are you Chinese?"
This guy is calling me Chinese?
"I'm not Chinese. I'm a citizen of what was called Joseon during your time, now known as the Republic of Korea."
"Joseon, I've heard of that. Isn't it the country near Mount Baekdu in the east?"
"That's right."
Since North Korea exists in this world too, strictly speaking, the territory isn't exactly that of the Republic of Korea, but still.
"Strange. If enough time has passed for countries to change, how do you know about me? Especially being from a different country."
"I'm very interested in old stories, that's all."
I gave a vague answer, but he's looking at me suspiciously.
"You seem to be hiding something. If it's difficult to explain, that's fine."
"Thank you for understanding."
It would have been troublesome if he kept pressing me, so that's fortunate.
"But I noticed you have quite a bit of qi accumulated in your body, yet strangely, very little in your dantian. What martial arts have you learned?"
"I haven't specifically learned any martial arts."
"Then how did the qi in your body accumulate?"
"It just built up naturally as I fought with a sword."
Generally, in martial arts novels, people build internal energy through martial arts training, but hunters don't work that way. When you defeat monsters, magic settles in your body, but it doesn't accumulate infinitely—the amount you can hold depends on your individual capacity.
"That's a crude method."
From Cho Yu-ryang's perspective as someone who learned martial arts properly, it would certainly look that way.
Some hunters do exceed their innate limitations, but such cases are rare. According to the original novel, the protagonist's aptitude was superior, while the aptitude of the character who possessed him was average like me.
In the early parts, the original protagonist was overwhelmingly stronger, but eventually, the one who possessed him caught up by learning the same martial arts and consuming elixirs like meals thanks to his family's wealth.
After all, the real protagonist of this novel is Lee Ji-sung, who possessed the original protagonist. Well, by the latter part, the original protagonist also gains enlightenment, so the difference isn't that significant.
"Can't be helped. Nobody learns martial arts in today's world."
"What? How could that be...?"
"As I said earlier, a lot of time has passed. Different powers emerged, and martial arts were gradually forgotten."
Explaining that this is a different world would be complicated, so this explanation is better.
"It seems much more time has passed than I thought."
"That's right."
"Thanks to you, I've been able to have a conversation and taste strange foods, so I'd like to repay you. Is there anything you want from me?"
I was wondering how to bring this up, so this is fortunate.
"What I offered wasn't anything special, but if that's how you feel, would it be possible for me to learn martial arts from you?"
"Good. Actually, I was hoping to ask you that myself, so this works out well."
"Really?"
"Due to breaking through several barriers, my lifespan has increased, but it's not infinite."
"Ah... You still seem quite healthy though."
"I didn't say I was dying right now, did I?"
"N-no, you didn't."
"Even though I've lived a long time alone, I have few lingering attachments to life. However, what concerned me most was the martial arts I possess."
"I see."
"I left my martial arts inscribed on the cave wall where I live, but if I had known I would meet you like this, it would have been unnecessary."
"Haha..."
"Anyway, martial arts are all I have now. What is your name?"
"Lee Min... no, Kang Shin-hyeok."
I almost accidentally gave my past life's name. It probably wouldn't matter, but now I'm Kang Shin-hyeok, not Lee Min-chan.
Before he could possibly change his mind, I immediately bowed nine times, which made Cho Yu-ryang look baffled. I thought that in martial arts novels, when you first meet a master, you perform the "nine ceremonial bows," meaning you bow nine times. But apparently, it's not about bowing nine times, but about performing one bow with nine proper etiquette gestures.
"You speak our language well but don't know such basic customs—you really must be from another country."
"I'm sorry."
I've read martial arts novels but never written one, so how would I know such specific details? It's natural not to know.
***
It's already been a month since I started learning martial arts from Cho Yu-ryang. Thanks to meeting him directly, I'm not just learning the internal energy cultivation technique that the original protagonist would learn, but proper martial arts including combat forms.
A month—short in some ways but quite long in others—but since I can only come here on weekends to learn martial arts, I haven't made much progress yet. As an excuse for my weekend outings, I claimed to be attending a Chinese language school.
While permission isn't granted for personal reasons unless it's an official dinner or similar event, they're quite generous when it comes to self-improvement. In fact, when I submitted a receipt showing I had enrolled in a school and would be attending every weekend, permission was immediately granted.
I enrolled but never actually went, and although there's a condition that I must obtain a certificate within a year, it doesn't matter. Kang Shin-hyeok is quite proficient in Chinese because he was dispatched to China for a year while in the guild, so I can just take an easy exam at the appropriate time and pass it.
"Disciple, do you have any more of these?"
Cho Yu-ryang held up an empty ramen container.
"Wait, I brought a whole box last time. Did you eat all of it already?"
"Well, being alone makes me snack a lot..."
"I'll bring more next time I come."
Since he seems to enjoy eating, I've been bringing ramen and other snacks every time I visit, and he's really taken to them.
"That Jin Ramen was good too. And what was it... Sesame Ramen and Potato Snacks? Can you bring those too?"
"Of course."
He said he didn't need to eat, but now he's naturally opening another snack package—he's such a glutton.
"Why don't you eat something too and take a break?"
"I'm fine."
"There's a saying: 'pulling up seedlings to help them grow faster'—rushing things can ruin them. Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Alright. Let's take a short break."
I put down the wooden sword I was practicing with and sat next to Cho Yu-ryang. In the past, I would have thought he was telling me to rest out of concern for me, but now I can guess his true intentions. He probably feels awkward eating alone, so that's why.
Usually in martial arts novels, the master-disciple relationship involves masters staying close by during training, teaching strictly and severely, but my master Cho Yu-ryang is nothing like that. He says he's written everything in detail on the wall, so I should look at that and figure it out myself.
He did teach me the martial arts chant and monitor my energy cultivation method on the first day, but since then, he's kept his distance, saying I smell of sweat. He just watches me from afar while consuming ramen and snacks, occasionally making a few comments.
But that was only until last week.
"Ah, TSK TSK. The battery died again... Charge it before you come next time."
"Yes, I will."
Since he was curious about the outside world, and I felt sorry for him being alone when I wasn't there, I brought a laptop and showed him various videos, which turned out to be a mistake. Of course, not baseball videos or anything like that, but videos from this world's 'WeTube' (similar to YouTube) showing Chinese scenery or Chinese singers performing songs.
At first, he was amazed, wondering if there were people inside the laptop, but now he's so into it that he can operate it naturally. And he doesn't even look at my training.
"AHEM, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Don't you think you're showing too little interest in my training?"
"Aren't you doing fine on your own?"
He speaks well despite not even watching properly.
"Is that so? For someone who's been learning for a month, I don't feel like my skills are improving much..."
"As I said earlier, martial arts isn't something you can master by rushing."
"Sure, sure. Whatever you say."
Well... Even in the novel, the protagonist didn't suddenly level up and become stronger after learning martial arts. He only got stronger after consuming elixirs like wild ginseng purchased with his family's money.
"I'm telling you, you're really doing well!"
He looked like he was about to get angry, so I said I understood and laid down flat on my back.
"Do you want to become stronger quickly?"
"That's why I'm working so hard, isn't it? Nobody dislikes becoming stronger."
"What do you want to do once you become strong? Unify the Central Plains... No, you're from another country and don't belong to any sect, so it couldn't be that. What's your purpose?"
"Well..."
When I started, I was angry and frustrated at being disrespected by the teachers, so I wanted to develop my abilities and prove myself through skill. But now, I just enjoy practicing martial arts.
Come to think of it, it was the same when I first started writing. After reading novels, I wanted to write one myself. So I did.
I wrote without knowing anything, so the genre was an unreasonable light novel that never made it to paid serialization. It didn't have many firstworks or views, and strictly speaking, it wasn't even a light novel but closer to a romance novel. Still, I wrote over 370,000 characters in a month.
Of course, there were typos everywhere because I didn't proofread, but compared to when I could barely write 5,000 characters a day for commercial works, it was an incredible pace. I could write that much because I enjoyed writing.
The reason I became a full-time writer was also because of a comment on that story. I don't remember exactly, but it suggested that since my writing was decent, I should try writing commercial material.
Though I resented the unstable income at times, I'm really grateful now when I think about it.
"You're surprisingly dedicated for someone without a purpose."
"It's because it's fun. So it would be nice if my master would teach me more enthusiastically."
"I'm telling you, you're doing well already."
"If you're not going to teach me properly, is there any shortcut? Some secret technique that makes my skills improve dramatically all at once—OW!"
I was fishing to see if he might have some medicinal concoction hidden away, but he shook his head and gave me a flick on the forehead. Come on, at my age... Even if he's my master, a forehead flick? It's a bit irritating.
"This guy is getting cocky because I told him he's doing well. You've only been at it for a month and already looking for shortcuts?"
"I just remembered that charging the laptop next time will be difficult. Electricity bills are quite expensive these days."
"What?"
"Ramen prices have also gone up, so I might have to bring less next time. A teacher's salary isn't that generous, you know."
"A-are you threatening this master?"
"Threatening? I'm just stating reality... Oh, and I might not be able to bring Potato Snacks next time either. It's an older snack, so it's hard to find places that sell it."
I was a bit nervous seeing Cho Yu-ryang frown, but I continued speaking nonchalantly.
"Fine, fine. When you come, I'll teach you diligently by your side. Happy now?"
"If master is willing to do that, this disciple will also make every effort to find the things you like."
Cho Yu-ryang glared at me with a displeased expression, but I casually ignored it and stood up with my sword.
"Well then, let's go and train."
In most novels, the master teaching martial arts is the one in charge, but we're a bit different.