Chapter 11: Flying Dragon Thirteen Squad-1
Chapter 11: Flying Dragon Thirteen Squad-1
"Follow me, this is the Seventh Squad's barracks."
We were all being guided to the Seventh Squad's barracks, following Squad Leader Seolpung and Vice Squad Leader Na Seo-yu.
After many twists and turns during the squad assignments moments earlier, Lady Na, Miss Yeon, and Miss Cheon Ju-eun had all been assigned to the Seventh Squad.
I had been thinking that the worst-case scenario would have been assignment to Ma Yu-gyeom's Fourth Squad, and simply avoiding that would have been relief enough. But for all of us to be assigned to the Seventh Squad — this was an astonishing outcome I had not dared to hope for.
The Seventh Squad barracks, which we arrived at shortly after, looked exactly as I remembered.
It was the place where I had lived for seven years in my past life, where I had turned Na into a true martial artist, and where I had gained and lost so many friends.
Suddenly, my heart grew wistful.
The long rectangular barracks had a central common waiting area, with the men's and women's quarters at either end.
As Vice Squad Leader Na Seo-yu took Lady Yeon and Miss Cheon Ju-eun toward the women's quarters, Squad Leader Seolpung spoke to me.
"Among the squad members, there will certainly be those who try to throw their weight around. I hope you won't take it too much to heart."
A hint of worry lingered in Squad Leader Seolpung's eyes as he said that.
There was no way I wouldn't know what he was worried about.
I had already been through it brutally in my past life.
Suddenly, the memory of the first time I entered those barracks came back vividly.
'What the hell? Pffthahaha! Is that a pig or a person? Is that thing meant to be thrown as feed for the demons? Don't tell me they brought it here to actually fight alongside us?'
'The third son of the Seonwoo Clan? Ah! Now I remember. The disgrace of the Seonwoo Clan. But to bring such a disgrace into our squad — has the squad leader lost his mind?'
'Get lost! You disgusting pig bastard! Just looking at your face brings bad luck!'
I didn't know if that qualified as mere hazing, but back then, the terrible hatred and ostracism I received from strangers in an unfamiliar place had made me secretly shed tears every night.
How much I had suffered.
Of course, in the end, I managed to overcome all that suffering and change myself, but at least in those moments, it was true that I had suffered so much I wanted to die.
And now, thinking about walking into that same place once again, I was struck by a surge of fresh emotion.
As I opened the dormitory door with a pounding heart, they came into view immediately.
"Oh, squad leader! A newcomer?"
"Bwahahaha! Judging by your build, brother, you must eat as much as I do! Pleased to meet you!"
There were the welcoming faces of my past-life friends Bi Sa-yeong and Bae Jong-gwan, greeting me in their own friendly ways, and also —
"What's this? Some pig showed up?"
"What did you expect? You think we'd get a proper newcomer? Our squad leader's the squad leader of the Seventh, after all."
"Heh heh heh, that's true enough."
— the three stooges, Ha Mu-jin, Ji Man-geum, and Man Gu-in, huddled together sneering exactly as I remembered.
Still, seeing that their reactions were far milder than in the past, I thought once again that losing weight had been a good decision.
As I looked around at them with a deeply moved expression, Squad Leader Seolpung introduced me.
"Now, now, this is Young Master Seonwoo Jin, the third son of the prestigious Seonwoo Clan of Guizhou. The front line will still be unfamiliar to him, so please give him plenty of help from your side."
"Huh? The Seonwoo Clan?"
The expressions of the three — Ha Mu-jin, Ji Man-geum, and Man Gu-in — grew strange upon hearing my introduction.
They were from the Guizhou Ha Clan, the Mandomun, and the Jigajang Family respectively, so they knew the Seonwoo Clan well.
Ha Mu-jin approached me with a greasy smirk.
"What's this? Are you that very son they call the disgrace of the Seonwoo Clan? The one they say is a pig, not a person?"
Ji Man-geum chimed in with a nasty grin.
"That's right, that's him. That's the third son of the Seonwoo Clan, all right. I remember seeing him before. That cripple who used to get beaten up even by his own younger sibling. But he's lost some weight since then, hasn't he? Back then I seriously wondered if he really belonged to a martial family."
Hearing that, Ha Mu-jin stepped forward and poked my chest as he spoke.
"Hey, was the trip all the way here a bit rough? For a pig to lose this much weight. Gotta fatten you back up soon, huh? That way you can at least serve as bait to draw the demons' attention, right? Heh heh."
At their rude behavior, the smile vanished from Squad Leader Seolpung's face, and Bi Sa-yeong and Bae Jong-gwan also scowled deeply, about to step forward.
But I was still beaming brightly.
For one thing, the intensity of their words was far lower than in my memories, and besides — to me, these people were all already dead.
There were friends who had died trying to save me, and there were bastards who had died while running away trying to save themselves. But in any case, they were all people who had died. So even this kind of behavior from them felt nothing short of intensely welcome.
With a bright smile, I grasped Ha Mu-jin's hand tightly and said,
"Good to see you, Ha Mu-jin."
He flinched in surprise and asked,
"Huh? You know me?"
I nodded and answered warmly,
"Yeah, I know you well. But first, let's have you get hit a bit."
"What?"
The next instant, his body spun one full rotation in the air — Woong! — and was slammed straight into the ground.
Puh-eok!
"Kk-urgh!"
It was a move from the Gale Eighteen Strikes, executed with the Golden Capture Hand.
From the tremendous impact, foam bubbled from his mouth.
"Grrr-rrk!"
Ji Man-geum, who had been laughing behind him, shouted in alarm.
"Wh-what are you doing?!"
Still beaming, I lunged at him too.
"What am I doing? You called me a cripple, remember?"
"Y-you bastard!"
He scrambled to his feet and threw a punch at me.
Shoo-shook!
But his fist, still at the level of a mere second-rate practitioner, was nothing but laughable to me.
My body might still be at the second-rate level, but my mind had already reached the upper tier of first-rate, had it not?
Moreover, the Gale Eighteen Strikes was a first-rate brawling technique that could hold its own anywhere. Deflecting his punch with ease, my hand snared his throat.
Khwa-ak!
"Kek! Kek!"
Then I yanked him in and drove my knee into his abdomen.
Puh-eok!
"Kku-urgh!"
Finally, I spun him lightly in the air once more and flung him contemptuously to the ground.
Puh-uh-eok!
"Kk-uuurgh!"
The feeling of repaying a debt I had been sitting on since my past life — it couldn't have been more refreshing.
Ahh, so satisfying.
I'm really glad I came back.
Filled with that satisfying feeling, I launched my body lightly into the air, then touched down neatly onto the prone Ha Mu-jin's body.
Puh-uh-eok!
"Kk-uuurgh!"
Sorry. I'm still a bit heavy.
Haven't lost enough weight yet.
And as I looked at Man Gu-in, still sitting there with a dazed expression, he shook his head frantically with a terrified look.
"I-I didn't say anything!"
True to form, he was a bit slow-witted and not nearly nasty enough to do much of anything.
So I was debating whether to leave him alone or give him a fair beating too, when suddenly the door swung open and someone stepped into the barracks, saying,
"What is the meaning of this?"
The moment I saw his face, another joyful smile came over me.
The ringleader had finally made his entrance.
Ha Mu-jin, Ji Man-geum, Man Gu-in. Ha. Ji. Man. The three stooges, led by the malignant presence within the Seventh Squad who constantly picked fights with Squad Leader Seolpung over every little thing — the Jeomchang Sword Serpent, Ju Tae-gyeong. He had come into the barracks late.
Seeing his two followers sprawled out in a wretched state, he asked me with a sharp glare.
"I asked what the meaning of this is."
I answered with a beaming smile and a cupped-fist salute.
"A pleasure to meet you, hyeongjang. I am called Seonwoo Jin, newly assigned to the Seventh Squad today. The moment they saw my face, these fellows so amiably called me a pig and a cripple, so I thought I'd express some amiability in return. And hyeongjang, you are?"
At my words, he narrowed his eyes slightly but soon answered coldly.
"I am called Ju Tae-gyeong of the Jeomchang Sect."
His pride as a disciple of the Jeomchang Sect was immense.
How immense? It was so immense that he could not bear the fact that he, a Jeomchang disciple, was a mere squad member under Squad Leader Seolpung, who was nothing more than a nobody from no notable background. Yet it was also so immense that, despite them being his followers, he would never stoop to participate in the low-grade antics of the Ha. Ji. Man. three stooges.
And so, having heard that they had taunted me as a pig and a cripple, he seemed to have decided not to get involved.
For me, that was fortunate, at least for now.
His current martial prowess was probably around the mid-level of first-rate — still a burdensome opponent for me, who possessed a body still at the second-rate.
So I had been planning to simply let him walk by arrogantly after leaving only his name, when Squad Leader Seolpung suddenly spoke to him with a smile.
"Two female squad members have joined us as well. Shall we share a meal together this evening and exchange greetings?"
At that, Ju Tae-gyeong merely glanced at him with a contemptuous gaze, offered no reply, and walked right past.
It was an attitude that said the question wasn't even worth answering.
That discourteous attitude instantly made my blood boil.
'That bastard?!'
In my past life as well, he had persistently responded to Squad Leader Seolpung — who kept trying to appease him and lead the squad — in exactly that manner, constantly picking fights over every little thing.
And in the end, it had led to the loss of someone who should never have been lost.
Only after that did Squad Leader Seolpung finally stop holding back and change his approach, but by then it was already too late.
As those memories surfaced, I hesitated for a moment.
If I left that bastard alone, he was bound to become a malignant presence no matter what.
So it was certain that nipping him in the bud somehow was the best course.
'The problem is, his mid-level first-rate martial prowess is a bit much for me to mess with right now.'
But after deliberating, I ultimately made up my mind.
Even if I didn't stomp on him directly, I could use Squad Leader Seolpung to do it, and if that didn't work, couldn't I just provoke him now and stomp on him later?
In any case, my judgment was that a festering tumor of a person like that would only rot further if left alone.
Besides, I already possessed the experience of having reached the upper tier of first-rate. So as long as my body could break past the first-rate wall, it seemed like there would be a chance of victory somehow.
Alright, then. Shall I do a little provoking?
What was it that bastard hated most again?
Suddenly recalling it, I grinned and opened my mouth in a mocking tone.
"Ah, come to think of it, hyeongjang turned out to be the young hero Ju Tae-gyeong. I've heard quite a lot about you. They call you the Jeomchang Sword Serpent, don't they?"
Jeomchang Sword Serpent. It meant bug, snake.
Among the disciples of Jeomchang, who were distinguished by animal-themed epithets like Sword Dragon, Sword Tiger, and Sword Eagle, the one who was merely a snake — that was Ju Tae-gyeong's current standing, and the source of his deep inferiority complex.
Ju Tae-gyeong whipped around to face me with killing intent in his eyes and demanded,
"What did you just say?"
As if I had no idea why he was angry, I smiled sunnily and asked in return,
"The Jeomchang Sword Serpent. Isn't that hyeongjang's epithet? That's what I understood it to be?"
At that, he gripped his sword hilt and spoke coldly.
"You've looked into things far too carelessly. That is why you will die."
Pretending to be utterly startled, I quickly ducked behind Squad Leader Seolpung's back and said,
"Aigo, what's this about?! Young Hero Ju Tae-gyeong, the Jeomchang Sword Serpent!"
Now realizing that I was openly mocking him, he shouted with a furious face.
"Step aside, Seol Pung! To dare mock me, a disciple of the great Jeomchang Sect — I absolutely cannot let him live!"
But Squad Leader Seolpung answered, still smiling.
"He only just arrived and probably doesn't know any better. Please, bear with it just this once. Besides, if you don't release that sword hilt, you'll be crossing a line. Surely you don't truly wish to do that?"
Though his words were pacifying, a heavy pressure was slowly beginning to emanate from Squad Leader Seolpung's body.
Ju Tae-gyeong flinched and gritted his teeth.
He knew all too well what kind of man Squad Leader Seolpung became when he, a peak-level master, got serious.
I clicked my tongue at the sight.
I had meant to enrage him into clashing with the squad leader, but one sharp look and he tucked his tail right in.
Indeed, a snake was a snake after all.
But he did not simply back off, perhaps conscious of the eyes upon him.
"Does a second-rate wretch who deceived a first-rate warrior not have to pay the price?! Are you going to stop even that, Seol Pung?"
At those words, I immediately answered back.
"Ah, I was rude. I apologize. Seeing a first-rate wretch addressing a peak-level master squad leader so carelessly, I simply assumed that Pointed Spear Sword Whistle Ju Tae-gyeong sohyeop was a magnanimous man who wouldn't fuss over such trifles."
"Wha, what did you say?!"
His face was now completely flushed bright red.
Beside me, my past-life friend Bi Sa-yeong, who had been watching with keen interest, burst out laughing and clapped.
"Hahahaha! A masterpiece! A true masterpiece has arrived!"
Bi Sa-yeong, who had always been at odds with Ju Tae-gyeong, seemed utterly beside himself with glee.
I flashed him a grin and opened my mouth again.
"Besides, from what I can see, there seems to be no chance whatsoever of Pointed Spear Sword Whistle Ju Tae-gyeong sohyeop ever catching up to the squad leader's martial prowess. On the other hand, the gap between sohyeop and me... I think I could close it pretty quickly. A month or two at most?"
"...What did you say?"
Now trembling all over, Ju Tae-gyeong asked me with a glare that looked ready to devour me.
"Can you back up those words?"
I grinned and asked in return.
"And if I can, what will you do?"
Then Ju Tae-gyeong spoke to me, his eyes brimming over with venomous energy.
"Three months. I will give you three months. After that, fight me and prove it. I will collect the price with your life. You brought this upon yourself with your own words, so there will be no unfairness."
"Fine. If I win, what will you do?"
At my expression, grinning as if I could never possibly lose, he answered with a look that seemed ready to explode at any moment.
"Ha! Then I shall simply die as well, won't I?!"
Though it was a grave answer, I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
"Oh, that won't do. How could we let precious comrades who must fight the demons die like that? Let's do this instead. If I win, from that moment on, you will honor me as your elder brother. How about it? I think that would be quite sufficient for me."
At that, he glared at me murderously for a moment before shouting at Squad Leader Seol Pung.
"The bastard brought this upon himself! You won't stop this either?!"
And then, without even waiting for an answer, he kicked the door open and stormed out.
Bam!
Then the three idiots—Ha, Ji, and Man—who had been watching the situation with bated breath, quickly followed him out.
"Tae, Tae-gyeong! Wait up!"
"Let's go together!"
"M, me too!"
Even after they left, Bi Sa-yeong did not stop laughing.
"Hahahahaha! How refreshing! Too refreshing! Your name was Seonwoo Jin, right? Let's be close friends. I have a feeling I'm going to grow quite fond of you. Kuhahahaha!"
Bi Sa-yeong was a disciple of the Bi Sect, which was now nearly annihilated.
And the reason the Bi Sect was annihilated was the Emperor's Tomb Blood Incident, caused by the Jeomchang Sect's greed.
So Bi Sa-yeong, who had never liked the Jeomchang Sect to begin with, had thoroughly detested the arrogant and despicable Ju Tae-gyeong.
For him, this situation must have been unbearably satisfying.
Beside him, my past-life friend Bae Jong-gwan also laughed heartily and said,
"Kuhahaha! I took a liking to this friend from the first time I saw him! I thought we'd get along well. Say, have you ever thought about becoming tougher than the demons?! If you temper that sturdy flesh of yours, it seems like it would make a fine suit of armor!"
The hulking muscular giant Bae Jong-gwan, the sole external arts practitioner of the Thirteen Squads, seemed equally thrilled by what had just transpired.
The warm welcome of those who had been my cherished friends in my past life, and whom I had saved and lost, made my heart feel tight and heavy.
Only Squad Leader Seol Pung asked me with a worried expression.
"Will you be alright? Though they call him Sword Whistle, Ju Tae-gyeong is no easy opponent. In my view, you appear to be at the tail end of second-rate, young master. Honestly, catching up to him—a mid-level first-rate warrior—in three months seems like a stretch."
At his concern, I grinned and answered back.
"Then wouldn't it work if the squad leader trains me? Just work me hard enough that I don't die. I'm already prepared. And please speak comfortably. I'm a squad member now, and aren't you older and superior to me?"
At my bright and resolute attitude, he let out a hollow laugh, then spoke in a hearty voice.
"Fine. Let's do that, Seonu Gongja. No, Seonwoo Jin. Since you've spoken so boldly, you must be prepared. I'll work you to the point you truly wish you were dead."
"Yes! Thank you!"
At that, Bi Sa-yeong, who had been watching, exchanged glances with Bae Jong-gwan before cutting in with an uneasy look.
"Hey. You're going to do the squad leader's training together? That's a bit much, isn't it? You might not know because you haven't seen it, but that's something only a peak-level master can handle, my friend."
Sorry, but I've already done it with him before, you know?
And this time, I have no intention of doing it alone.
Now, shall I cast a line?
Smiling, I asked the squad leader.
"Only possible for a peak-level master? Is that really true, squad leader?"
"No, but I've been doing it that way since I first started training in martial arts?"
The moment I heard the squad leader's answer, I looked at Bi Sa-yeong with an expression of profound disappointment and said,
"That's what he says. In that case, it seems it's not training that only a peak-level master can do, but training that can make a peak-level master. At first glance, you looked like a real man, hyeongjang, but perhaps you lack more confidence than I thought?"
Though his skill was still only second-rate, Bi Sa-yeong's pride reached the heavens, and he hated being pitied or looked down upon more than death itself.
So the method to move someone like him was quite simple.
And I had already mastered that method in my past life.
At my provocation, Bi Sa-yeong immediately flared up and took the bait.
"That's ridiculous! I am a man who knows no such thing as a lack of confidence in this world!"
At his strong objection, I plastered my face with an expression of utter insincerity that said I didn't quite believe him but would let it slide.
"Ah, is that so? Hmm."
Then the enraged fish leaped out of the water of its own accord.
"Hmph! I'll show you myself! As if I can't handle that kind of training! I'll gladly do it with you as much as you want!"
Just as expected.
The method of reeling in Bi Sa-yeong, the very embodiment of touchiness, was all too simple.
Now the problem was this guy, the muscular giant Bae Jong-gwan beside him.
This guy, who trudged doggedly down his own path based on his own convictions no matter what anyone else said, required a slightly more indirect approach.
The guy laughed heartily and said.
"Hahaha! I'd like to join you, but I have a grand ambition. It's the dream of smashing demons with an external art trained to its very extreme. So I don't have time for other training..."
At that moment, I cut him off and said with eyes full of emotion.
"Oh! That's incredible! Smashing demons with the ultimate external art! I absolutely want to learn that too! Hyeongjang! Would you teach me a bit of external arts as well?"
"Huh? Oh? Ar, are you serious? Do you mean that sincerely?"
Bae Jong-gwan, who had always been dismissed as a medicine peddler for training in external arts, was so startled by my request that he grabbed my hand tightly.
Then Squad Leader Seol Pung, who had been watching, chimed in with a word.
"Now that I think of it, this friend said something similar to you earlier. Didn't he say he wanted to compete with the demons to see whose skin was tougher?"
"What?! Did he really say that?!"
I had indeed said that.
Though it was a lie.
It was what I'd said earlier during squad assignment to avoid Ma Yu-gyeom, who was trying to put me in his squad.
But Bae Jong-gwan, who didn't know that, was on the verge of being so moved he might kiss me.
Afraid of that, I slipped my hand away and answered.
"Of course I did. But my goal is to fly like a swift fox with that hardened body and deliver a body slam to a demon. Wouldn't it be truly magnificent to fly like a cannonball and shatter demons to pieces?"
"Fly like a cannonball... and shatter demons to pieces?"
His eyes grew hazy as he repeated my words.
Thinking he was almost hooked, I tossed out one more line.
"Then wouldn't the martial world call you something like this? Iron Body Meteor, or maybe Diamond Flying Star."
"Iron Body Meteor... Diamond Flying Star?"
There was no need to explain what his now fervently burning eyes were saying.
In the past, I had absolutely no intention of learning Squad Leader Seol Pung's offered brawling technique, let alone this friend's external art.
Rather, I had even thought this guy was a bit pathetic back then.
I had realized it too late back then.
The fact that a moment would come when your weapons would all shatter and you would have to keep fighting.
The fact that I should have tempered every means I had at my disposal.
Bae Jong-gwan's external art was the same.
This guy had always been ignored as a medicine peddler by everyone for practicing only external arts day and night, but later, he had ultimately proven its worth by single-handedly holding back ten Liver Demons.
And then, in the end, he had stayed behind and never returned.
That was why, in this life, I intended to master all of it.
And I intended to never let my friends, who had died miserably, die like that ever again.
'Not losing my precious people ever again.'
Because this was my final goal in this second life.
Compared to this goal, my decision to become stronger with all my might and to properly fight the Blood Cult was ultimately nothing more than a process to achieve that goal.
Of course, since my strength was still meager, there wouldn't be much I could do right now.
For the time being, I would have to focus solely on training as if I were dead.
Suddenly, a memory from my past life surfaced.
The frontline collapsed in the seventh year, but it had begun to crumble in the fifth year, when the Blood Demons started to appear.
So, before that, I had to reclaim the martial prowess of my past life as quickly as possible, and further beyond that, step into the realm of peak-level—a realm I had never yet reached.
The peak-level stage, where one no longer had to fear demons like Owl Demons or Spider Demons—that was the minimum requirement for me to be able to do anything on my own initiative.
If I could just reach that, then this time for sure....
I gritted my teeth and burned with fighting spirit.
I vowed firmly once again,
that this time, things would absolutely not end up like my past life.
***
The squad leader's training began the very next day.
The dawn training consisted of leaping like flying squirrels across the treetops in the dense jungle.
"Now! Let's go!"
The squad leader was the first to nimbly climb a tree like a cat and dart across the branches.
And this, while wearing a steel vest weighing a good thirty gwan (approx. 3kg per gwan) and with his eyes blindfolded.
Bi Sa-yeong, who had been watching this with a horrified face, gritted his teeth and launched himself.
"Hmph! For a disciple of the Bi Sect like me, something like that is nothing!"
On the vest of the man who said that, about ten gwan of steel was strapped.
I, still carrying some extra weight, and the massively muscular Bae Jong-gwan were bare-bodied. But even so, Bae Jong-gwan wore a horrified expression and couldn't bring himself to start.
So I, having already experienced this training in my past life, laughed valiantly and set out first.
"This is nothing. I'll go first!"
Then I climbed up the tree and set out lightly... or at least that was my intention.
Snap!
Until the branch I stepped on broke cleanly.
Thump! Crash!
"Ughhk!"
"Jin! Are you alright?!"
Sprawled on the ground like a frog with my limbs splayed, I suddenly remembered.
Ah, did I do this training after I'd lost the weight first?