Chapter 95: Change-2

The matter of Seonwoo Jin and Hae Cheong-yeon's squad transfer could not be resolved immediately in the end.

It was simply too sudden an issue compared to the weight of the matter to decide so easily.

Seol Pung told them that a search for Cheol-gwi by the squad leaders was scheduled, so he asked them to hold off on a decision until that was finished, giving the two some time.

Then he immediately returned to headquarters for the search.

After Seol Pung left, silence hung in the Thirteen Squads' waiting room for a while.

Everyone wanted to keep the two in the squad, but knowing they had no justification to do so, they could not bring themselves to speak.

After a moment, Bi Sa-yeong was the first to lightly open his mouth.

"Tch, I told you people shouldn't be too outstanding. If you stand out, you're bound to get hit. Who told you to be so damn outstanding, you bastard?"

It was a playful remark filled with regret.

At that, faint smiles touched the corners of the squad members' lips.

Cheon Ju-eun also smiled, a little wistfully, and picked up Bi Sa-yeong's words.

"That's right. Why did you both have to be so outstanding that you can't even stay together? It's such a shame."

Seonwoo Jin chuckled and replied.

"This is why I tried not to reveal my excellence to the world, but I've been found out. Keuh, is this why absolute beings are inevitably lonely?"

At Seonwoo Jin's playful antics, Bi Sa-yeong shot back with a look of utter disdain.

"Oh, cut the crap."

As the squad members smiled at Seonwoo Jin's clowning and Bi Sa-yeong's retort, Bae Jong-gwan, who had been seriously pondering something, spoke to Cheon Ju-eun.

"Cheon Sojeo, I shall reduce my training from now on."

Understanding the implication, Seonwoo Jin and Bi Sa-yeong squeezed their eyes shut for a moment.

It seemed he was about to say that he should not be too outstanding so he could stay with Cheon Ju-eun for a long time.

They needed to stop him quickly before the mood turned awkward.

"Jong-gwan, that's..."

But before that, Cheon Ju-eun answered with a bright smile.

"Oh my, I'm going to train even harder. Isn't it so cool to have your outstanding skills recognized and be mentioned as a squad leader candidate? I wish you would do the same, Bae Gongja."

At her words, Bae Jong-gwan sank back into thought with a shocked expression.

Then, as everyone held out their thumbs toward Cheon Ju-eun, Na Seo-yu asked with a regretful look.

"Then has Seonu Gongja made up his mind?"

At that, Seonwoo Jin gazed at Na Seo-yu for a moment with deep eyes before answering slowly.

"I still don't really know. But as the squad leader said, rather than being dispatched to another Flying Dragon Corps, belonging to the Thirteen Squads even if it's a different squad seems better. Still, I want to think about it a bit more."

At Seonwoo Jin's words, everyone silently nodded.

Only Hae Cheong-yeon remained looking at Seonwoo Jin without a word.

After leaving the waiting room, Seonwoo Jin headed to the Seventh Squad's shared storage for now.

His mind was a bit complicated, but there was something he had to do first and foremost.

Entering the storage and standing before the spirit medicine vault, Seonwoo Jin rubbed his palms together and muttered.

"Alright, squad transfer is squad transfer. Now, shall I finally raise my internal energy a bit?"

Seonwoo Jin had been able to break through the seventy-year wall of internal energy during this deployment.

He had advanced his realm by another stage barely two or three months after entering the peak level.

It was all thanks to Mukrang's teachings.

Such rapid progress was an incredibly surprising and meaningful thing for Seonwoo Jin.

Seonwoo Jin had already reached the upper tier of first-class in his past life.

And he had also been on the verge of reaching the peak realm.

So the truth was, he had taken reaching the peak level in this life somewhat in stride.

But breaking through the next stage's wall was a completely different story.

This was purely an achievement of this life.

Seonwoo Jin, who had been growing at super-speed through the memories of his past life, had now glimpsed the possibility that he could grow at a sufficiently rapid pace even without them.

'So if I could just maintain this growth rate to any degree...'

If that were possible, then surpassing the wall of the transcendent peak within five years did not seem impossible either.

The plan to launch an offensive against the Blood Cult would become truly realistic.

Besides, did he not have Mukrang with him?

If only he could unlock the secret of the Mukrang sword.

Then perhaps, just as the current number one under heaven, the Sword Emperor Ban Jung-yang, had done, could he not obtain the Sword God's legacy as well?

It felt as if a light of hope was shining brightly just ahead of him.

That was when.

At the sound of another presence entering the storage, Seonwoo Jin looked toward the door.

The person who opened the door and walked in was none other than Hae Cheong-yeon.

"Cheong-yeon Sojeo?"

When Seonwoo Jin called out to her warmly, she also spoke naturally, as if she had already known he was in the storage.

"Spirit medicine, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠see. I wondered if that might be the case, and sure enough, it seems you have broken through the seventy-year wall?"

At her question, Seonwoo Jin laughed sheepishly and scratched his head.

It seemed he could not deceive her eyes after all.

"Yes, I was planning to surprise you during our sparring match, but it seems I had already been found out."

At that, Cheong-yeon merely nodded silently.

She showed no particular change in expression.

Now that she had lowered her bangs again, it was not easy to read her expression.

Feeling a slight regret at not being able to see her beautiful face again, Seonwoo Jin asked her.

"But what brings Cheong-yeon Sojeo here?"

She answered, just as nonchalantly as ever.

"I also crossed the wall."

But upon hearing that answer, Seonwoo Jin could not be nonchalant at all.

"...Pardon?"

As Seonwoo Jin blinked and asked again, Hae Cheong-yeon answered once more.

"I also surpassed the seventy-year wall during this deployment. So I came to consume some spirit medicine."

"......"

Seonwoo Jin stared at her with a blank face.

His mind went numb.

As far as Seonwoo Jin knew, the time she had entered the peak realm was not much different from his own.

And she had already broken through the next stage's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wall?

In his case, he had only been able to do so because he encountered the fortune of Mukrang. She did it without anything like that?

Seonwoo Jin stammered from the shock as he asked again.

"So, Sojeo. Did you perhaps obtain some kind of fortune?"

But Cheong-yeon simply shook her head as if it were nothing.

"No. I was just training and it happened?"

She had just been training and crossed the wall.

The wall of seventy years of internal energy, that is.

He felt the exhilaration from earlier about having quickly broken through the wall suddenly fade away.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

Was the seventy-year wall originally something anyone could cross so easily?

Had he been feeling moved all this time over something trivial that anyone could do?

But he knew the answer after just a moment's thought.

That could not possibly be the case.

Did most peak-level masters not stop at the early stage of the peak and fail to cross the wall for their entire lives?

Then just what was this Sojeo...?

He suddenly recalled what the Sword Saint Hae Un-baek had once said about Cheong-yeon with a doting father's demeanor.

He had boasted that he had never in his life seen a girl as beautiful, wise, and talented as her.

Back then, he had just thought it was the excessive daughter-love of a doting father, but had it actually been a perfectly objective truth?

Swallowing hard, Seonwoo Jin barely regained his composure and opened his mouth.

"Congratulations, Sojeo. Your progress has been astonishingly swift."

At that, Hae Cheong-yeon smiled softly and replied.

"I thought that was the case too, but seeing you, Seonu Gongja, it seems that might not be entirely true."

The two of them gathered as much spirit medicine as each needed and stepped back outside.

It was then that Hae Cheong-yeon suddenly called out to Seonwoo Jin.

"Seonu Gongja."

"Yes?"

Hae Cheong-yeon stared silently at Seonwoo Jin for a moment.

Then at last, she opened her mouth.

"The Fourth Squad Leader... are you going to accept Lady Dang's proposal?"

At that question, Seonwoo Jin laughed bitterly and shook his head.

"I'm not sure. I do think it's a much better choice than being transferred to another Flying Dragon Squad... but I'm still hesitating a little."

Then Hae Cheong-yeon asked again.

"Is it... because of Eonni Seo-yu?"

At the sound of Na Seo-yu's name coming from her lips, Seonwoo Jin couldn't help but be startled.

She had known even that.

But he soon understood.

It occurred to him that if it was Cheong-yeon, she might have already known.

After all, she was someone who read every single detail about him.

He answered with an embarrassed laugh.

"Ah, you even knew about that. Goodness. This is a bit embarrassing. Yes, well. Part of it is that I don't want to be separated from Seolpung Jojang or the other squad mates, but that is the biggest reason."

Hae Cheong-yeon stared silently at Seonwoo Jin, who was smiling with an innocent expression.

Suddenly, she was deeply grateful that she had lowered her bangs again.

Because now, she didn't have to show him the look in her eyes.

Her chest... hurt so much.

Hae Cheong-yeon, who was barely holding back the urge to clutch her chest from the throbbing pain, abruptly asked again.

"Why don't you just... try confessing?"

At that, Seonwoo Jin, utterly startled, shot back.

"Wh-What?! C-Confess?!"

Confess.

For Seonwoo Jin, who had never once dated a woman across two lifetimes, it was a word beyond imagination.

Just hearing those two syllables.

Just imagining that moment made his whole body go rigid.

He was more terrified than when he had stood before the Small-faced Demon Lord, Sa Won-yang.

Watching Seonwoo Jin in that state, Hae Cheong-yeon bit her lip.

Because that innocent side of Seonwoo ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Jin, who had always shown only a wise and courageous face no matter what ordeal came, was striking her heart even more painfully.

And so, Hae Cheong-yeon opened her mouth without realizing it.

"If it's not a feeling you intend to keep to yourself forever, then you have to confess, don't you? If you do end up transferring to another squad, wouldn't it be good to know Eonni Seo-yu's feelings before that?"

When Seonwoo Jin went blank from the shock of that question, Hae Cheong-yeon immediately turned her body and hurried away from him.

She had never felt so cowardly in her life.

Knowing full well that Na Seo-yu would never accept his confession, she was scheming to end Seonwoo Jin's feelings once and for all.

'This was the worst.'

She couldn't believe this loathsome side of herself.

She had thought that she, of all people, would never act like this.

From a young age, Hae Cheong-yeon had always been interested in things different from others, and had always excelled beyond them. At some point, she had begun to think this way:

That she was different from other people.

And so, she would not live like them.

That she would never surrender her body to emotion over reason.

But that wasn't the case.

When she had walked a long way and finally couldn't see Seonwoo Jin anymore, Hae Cheong-yeon ultimately crumpled to the ground right there.

There wasn't a single shred of strength in her entire body.

Clutching her throbbing chest, she murmured.

"Pathetic. You're so pathetic, Hae Cheong-yeon."

Why on earth had she become like this?

Just when did it start...?

Abruptly, she recalled the first time she had felt an attraction to Seonwoo Jin.

At first, she had thought it was just a slightly strong curiosity.

That it was merely a passing interest that would come briefly and soon wither away, as it always had.

After that, even when she felt her feelings growing as she watched him by his side, she had thought it was just an illusion brought on by acknowledging that she fancied him.

A shallow emotion that she could erase instantly if she just set her mind to it.

But during this deployment, when she thought he might have died, Hae Cheong-yeon had no choice but to finally admit it.

That her feelings had grown so deep that merely imagining his death left her unable to breathe.

That her emotions had become so uncontrollable that she was casually committing actions she had so despised until now.

It was... so pathetic.

***

"Huuuuu."

I opened my half-closed eyes and slowly rose to my feet.

A vitality I had never felt before was filling my entire body.

It was the power of internal energy that had fully reached eighty years.

It had only been roughly seven months since I entered the frontlines with a second-rate realm and a pig-like body, yet before I knew it, I had reached a level where I could contend with First Squad Leader Han Gyo-seong, the one called a genius even in the Cheongseong Sect.

That meant I was now the strongest among the Flying Dragon Thirteen Squad members, excluding Seolpung Jojang.

It was undeniably an encouraging thing.

Cracking my neck, I walked out to the center of the training ground.

"Alright, shall I get a feel for the power of eighty years of internal energy?"

I immediately drew my sword and, as if performing a sword dance, executed the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords and the Sail Sword Technique to assess my condition.

My body, moving with ferocious yet fluid power, felt boundlessly free.

At the clearly perceptible change in my senses, a joyful laugh spilled out involuntarily.

But I, who had been smiling contentedly while basking in deep satisfaction, soon let out a heavy sigh.

It was because Cheong Miss Yeon's words had abruptly come to mind.

'If it's not a feeling you intend to keep to yourself forever, then you have to confess, don't you? If you do end up transferring to another squad, wouldn't it be good to know Eonni Seo-yu's feelings before that?'

"Hmm."

No matter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠how much I thought about it, it did seem like she was right.

If I wasn't going to keep it to myself forever, wouldn't I have to confess someday?

Moreover, if I moved to another squad, I wouldn't see her as often as I do now, so maybe this was the final opportunity.

So it definitely seemed right to confess now.

The problem was that I had absolutely no confidence at all.

I was so anxious, and so afraid.

I gulped and thought.

'Would the me of right now look like a decent person to Na Sojeo?'

I tried to assess myself with a cold, objective eye.

And the result was....

Surprisingly, it didn't seem too bad.

I'd lost the weight now, and hadn't I been hearing quite often lately that I was handsome?

There had even been quite a few young ladies who confessed their feelings for me.

Besides, looking solely at my martial arts, wasn't I now a respectable peak-level master?

I'd even earned the alias Flying Sky Black Wolf, and I'd become a talent that other squads wanted to recruit as a vice squad leader or even a squad leader.

As my thoughts reached that point, I abruptly felt something like confidence welling up. The eighty years of internal energy filling my danjeon felt exactly like confidence.

Suddenly, I clenched my fist and murmured.

"Yeah, I can do this. Now I've become a man who can confidently confess to Na Sojeo too!"

And I turned my gaze toward the direction of the lodgings where Na Sojeo would be.

Today, the day I had filled eighty years of internal energy to the brim.

Today, it seemed, was the fated day to confess to her.