Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Spring at Eight Years Old (5)
School life was reasonably satisfying.
I had plenty of personal time to devote to training, and through the students, I thoroughly learned the way of life here.
The only things that bothered me were Min Ju-yeon and Han Ji-seon.
Class president Han Ji-seon had subtly started bullying Min Ju-yeon.
'If you lose the initiative at the start, it'll only get worse.'
The members of the Evil Sect were good at this sort of thing.
They'd bully powerless merchants, and if they got a timid response, they'd work them like slaves.
Min Ju-yeon only avoided Han Ji-seon's approaches.
'How frustrating.'
In the end, I called Min Ju-yeon over during break time.
"Why?"
She looked intimidated.
"The brush is like a sword. Remember?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know what happens when someone with a sword loses a fight?"
Min Ju-yeon couldn't answer.
There was no reason to wait, so I answered for her.
"You die."
Min Ju-yeon flinched. It was because of my gaze.
"If your mind becomes strong, no one will be able to look down on you. Don't pretend to be meekly kind—fight. If not, just break down again."
That was as far as I would help her.
After that, Min Ju-yeon didn't just let it go when Han Ji-seon picked fights with her. She confronted her logically and confidently, even coming close to physical confrontation.
"Didn't you say you were quitting art because you have no money? You don't even have money for university tuition anyway."
Han Ji-seon seemed quite upset.
I thought it was a rather harsh thing to say, but Min Ju-yeon easily countered.
"I don't need to go to university. I draw better than you anyway."
"You little!"
"Go ahead and receive awards that daddy bought with money. I'll receive them with skill."
She countered quite impressively. Even I didn't know she could fight back.
Han Ji-seon couldn't hold back and raised her hand. But she couldn't move any further.
'Excellent. There's satisfaction in teaching.'
Min Ju-yeon's gaze had overwhelmed Han Ji-seon.
In the end, the fight ended like that.
When lunchtime came.
As usual, Min Ju-yeon sat in front of me.
"Thank you."
"As long as you know."
At my answer, Min Ju-yeon smiled.
She held out yogurt in front of me again.
"I'm not a kid."
"I know."
Having received confirmation, I accepted the yogurt.
I finished eating and was about to get up when Min Ju-yeon said with a smile.
"I'm an outcast now too."
Something was a bit off about that.
Not understanding, I stared blankly at Min Ju-yeon.
"Didn't you know?"
Min Ju-yeon said to me as if it were obvious.
"You're an outcast."
Only then did I realize that there was no one around me.
It was a month since entering high school.
The only people who talked to me at school were teachers and Min Ju-yeon. The other kids even avoided making eye contact with me.
'Organized.'
Min Ju-yeon and I were the only ones left out of the smartphone group chat.
'Well, it doesn't matter.'
I had no intention of fighting in the mud the same way the kids did. If anything, the current state was better.
The one showing an uncomfortable reaction was actually Han Ji-seon's side. It was because Min Ju-yeon and I, the targets of ostracism, were enjoying school life far too happily.
Min Ju-yeon's drawing skills improved day by day, and the teachers kept exclaiming in admiration.
The teachers had already started giving Min Ju-yeon special attention, which led to her placing second in a nationwide competition.
There were even rumors that she would study abroad through an arts foundation's talent support program.
Though she was an outcast in the art club, she was receiving concentrated attention throughout the entire school.
'My eye wasn't wrong.'
The darkness that had ruined her beauty disappeared. Following my advice, she removed the hair that had covered her face, giving off a bright feeling, and as her behavior became more confident, male students approached her more frequently.
"Uram."
I was sitting on the schoolyard stairs for a moment before dinner when Min Ju-yeon came. Thinking we'd gotten close, her tone had become affectionate.
"Are you going to the back mountain again today?"
When I nodded, Min Ju-yeon sat next to me and put earphones in her ears.
Usually, even when sitting side by side like this, we didn't talk much to each other. Min Ju-yeon listened to music, and I either looked at the scenery or studied Internal Energy techniques.
"Ju-yeon takes good care of Uram."
Teachers leaving work would pass by saying things like this.
I was about to let it pass again today when a familiar voice followed.
"Uram."
"Huh?"
It was Mother's voice. Since I hadn't gone home even on the weekend, she had come to find me herself.
I quickly got up and embraced Mother.
She liked this sort of thing. I had to do it once in a while.
"Yes, my son. You're doing well."
The homeroom teacher was with Mother.
"These days, Uram and Ju-yeon are receiving the most attention at school."
"Thank you, teacher."
Min Ju-yeon got up belatedly and bowed to Mother.
"Hello."
"Right, you're Ju-yeon? I heard you take care of Uram like a younger brother. Thank you so much."
"No. Uram is the one who takes care of me."
"How can you speak so prettily too."
I was the one taking care of her. But there was no particular reason to correct the facts, so I left it alone.
"Uram, Mom packed a lunchbox."
My eyes lit up.
"Ju-yeon, you come eat with us too."
"No, it's okay."
"I packed a lot after hearing about you. Let's go quickly."
That's how I ate Mother's food after a long time.
After finishing the meal, Mother chatted for a while and then prepared to leave.
"Please take good care of our Uram."
"Yes."
"I'm so happy that it feels like Uram has gained an older sister. Uram bickers with his real older sister every day."
After asking Min Ju-yeon the same favor several times, Mother hugged me tightly and left.
"You had an older sister too?"
"I do, but I don't."
"What does that mean?"
"Exactly what I said."
I didn't want to talk about the Witch.
"I overate."
Having eaten Mother's food after a long time, I'd overstuffed myself. I sat back down on the stairs to rest.
"Want to listen?"
Min Ju-yeon held out one of her earphones.
"Mother just said that casually. Don't try to take care of me more than necessary. I'm not a kid."
"Don't worry. I think of you as a friend my age anyway."
Min Ju-yeon put the earphone in my ear.
Music played.
Thinking it wasn't bad to listen to music like this after a long time, I left it alone.
Fortunately, it wasn't noisy music but mostly calm light music or ballads. The voice was quite sweet, so it wasn't bad to appreciate.
The kids around us looked at the two of us strangely, but seeing my face, they just passed by.
Since an eight-year-old and a seventeen-year-old were sitting together, they didn't seem to develop their imagination further.
Thanks to that, I could concentrate on the music.
About five songs passed, and thinking it was time to train, I tried to remove the earphone.
But the back of my head received a tingling shock. It was because of the song lyrics.
I was the sky
You were the highest sky
Until the last moment of my life
Everything you left behind...
With calm piano accompaniment, it was a young woman's voice. The voice was clean and clear, so the lyrics were distinct.
"Play it again."
Min Ju-yeon replayed the song from the beginning as I asked.
I was the sky
You were the highest sky
Because of you, I had everything
Until the last moment of my life
I will protect and nurture everything you left behind
And never forget
"Whose song is this?"
"It's So Iryeon's solo song. Since she composed it herself, it was originally in Chinese, but she sang it in Korean this time."
"So Iryeon?"
It was a name I'd heard often.
She was a member of the girl group Fairy and a 17-year-old girl currently in the spotlight as a CF star.
From China, she was also the only foreigner among Fairy's five members.
With her exceptionally beautiful appearance, good singing skills, and pure, innocent image appropriate for her age, she was receiving attention from all media.
'So Iryeon.'
I mulled over those lyrics again. At the same time, a scene from the past came to mind.
Before the final battle in the Central Plains, I had said this,
—You are the sky, and I am the highest sky. We will have everything that exists under the sky. We will protect and nurture everything achieved with our blood and never lose it forever.
These were words I said to the five Protectors before the battle with the Murim Alliance.
The reason I remember these words exactly is that I agonized greatly over how to say something cool.
Of course, the response wasn't that great. The Protectors coughed and were embarrassed by my words.
After that, I just spoke honestly as I felt like it.
'Who is it?'
It was definitely my words with only the terms changed.
'I'm probably not the only one who reincarnated.'
The probability of that was high. Then there might be even more reincarnators.
'I need to find out.'
This wasn't something to just pass over.
Instead of the back mountain, I returned to the dormitory.
Finding out about So Iryeon wasn't difficult. Just a smartphone search gave me a rough idea.
She had currently released her first full-length album, and the song in question was the last track.
The title was 'To the Sky', and it was a song So Iryeon had written and composed herself.
"This should get a response."
I hurriedly drew a picture.
I drew a dragon looking down from the sky, and next to it, with a thin brush, I wrote exactly what I had said.
I sent that picture to the agency.
Two days later. 9 AM.
Giving up on class, I started training on the back mountain.
Practice was about creating habits.
This couldn't be done with memory alone. The body had to react automatically.
If you think and then move, you die. That's why practicing forms was important.
Before entering the forms, I warmed up my body with basics.
Good habits start with the basics.
It was training I hadn't skipped a single day since I could move my body.
And for efficiency, I drew up my Internal Energy to repeat as quickly as possible.
Basic attack training took about 30 minutes, and then I moved on to footwork. I also repeated this for 30 minutes, stepping on the ground as quickly and strongly as possible.
After the one hour of basics ended, I picked up a tree branch and moved on to sword techniques. Next came form practice.
'I need to regain the Heavenly Demon Divine Art quickly.'
My Internal Energy was still increasing rapidly. If my Internal Energy increased, the Lightness Art Heaven Flight would naturally follow.
In the end, the key was Internal Energy and the growth of the body.
'I need to undergo Bone and Flesh Transformation.'
Recalling my past life, I underwent Bone and Flesh Transformation when I reached 180 years. After that, my body wasn't damaged even when I deployed the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
"Huuu."
After fully deploying all 16 forms of the Asura Sword Technique that I'd been practicing mainly these days, I put down the tree branch I'd held instead of a sword.
The branch crumbled into powder as soon as it touched the ground.
'This damned body.'
I was sweating. My breathing was also labored.
Judging by Internal Energy alone, there was no reason for my stamina to be depleted like this. The problem was definitely the body.
My current body played a good role in learning Internal Energy, but there were limits for External Cultivation.
'Bone and Flesh Transformation!'
This was the only way.
When my Internal Energy reached its peak and my entire body was reconstructed accordingly, all problems would disappear.
For now, I had to work hard for that moment.
As I caught my breath and was about to enter training again, I heard something stepping on grass.
'Who is it?'
Judging by the intervals, it was a person's footsteps.
I didn't bother hiding my body.
As I listened quietly, the sound gradually got closer. And at one moment, the sound changed.
'Footwork.'
The weight became lighter, the intervals narrowed, and the speed increased. These were the characteristics of someone who had learned footwork.
The owner of the sound approached straight to where I was.
"I heard you draw pictures on the back mountain."
It seemed such a rumor had spread. The teachers would have needed a reason to leave me alone.
"You're younger than I thought."
It was a calm and clear voice.
As if telling me to lower my guard, she spoke in advance and revealed herself.
The uninvited guest approached to within two steps and stood facing me.
'Impressive.'
When I faced her, I received a shock that made my head go blank for a moment.
She had long straight hair and a pure face. Tight jeans revealed her perfect figure as is, and from her upright posture, I could even feel an elegant grace.
Her eyebrows and eyes, extending slender like orchids, felt innocent yet strict, and her red lips moving whenever she spoke had the power to stimulate men.
It felt like all the charm a woman could have was gathered there.
So Iryeon.
The person I'd only seen on screen stood before me.
'Her reputation is well-deserved.'
I didn't know I'd think of this phrase because of beauty. Even throughout my previous life, she was a beauty I could count on one hand.
"Reveal your identity."
Without realizing it, my voice dropped low.
At my words, So Iryeon smiled slightly. It was a reaction of finding it interesting.
So Iryeon accepted my gaze and said calmly,
"Prove it first."
She clenched her fist.