Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Spring at Eight Years Old (4)
My first class was during the 3rd period.
I spent 1st and 2nd periods on a dormitory assignment and a meeting with the principal, then entered the classroom for 3rd period. But no one was there.
A single female student who remained alone saw me and said with a smile.
"It's major time. You need to go to the art room."
A female student with short hair and exceptionally pale skin.
She had a refined impression and spoke carefully and kindly, but seemed to lack confidence. On top of that, she was wearing a school uniform so worn that the difference from other students was obvious at a glance.
A face that would be quite pretty if she smiled brightly, but she had her hair down covering her forehead, and her expression was dark too.
"Do you want to drink this?"
She took out a yogurt drink from her bag.
It was something Mother gave me every morning. This morning I couldn't drink it because I came to school early.
It bothered me that she was treating me like a little kid, but her expression wasn't dismissive, so I took the yogurt and drank it.
"Good."
She smiled seeing me.
The gaze of an older sister looking at a younger sibling.
Not a gaze I particularly liked, but I could tell she had a good heart.
"When you turn twenty, contact me again. I'll think about it."
If only the darkness ingrained in her could be erased, she was a beauty who would have men lining up.
"Think about what?"
"Because I'm still eight years old. Still, to embrace a woman, I should at least be ten."
"What?"
"Never mind. Where's the art room? Guide me."
Only after speaking did I realize my mistake.
'I should have asked a friend for help.'
Moreover, with the appearance of an eight-year-old, she would surely get angry.
Since I planned to stay quietly and leave, there was no need to create such a conflict.
I was about to change my words when the female student spoke first.
"Okay."
Her shoulders became even narrower.
There was no confidence to be found in her behavior.
Thud.
Something fell next to her as she tried to move hastily. It was a sketchbook.
The sketchbook that fell to the floor opened up, and it caught my eye.
I approached and picked up the sketchbook.
'Oh ho.'
I couldn't help but admire inwardly.
Each page of the sketchbook was full of drawings.
The drawings were delicate and dreamlike, unlike her outward appearance. Although the colors and lines were rough due to being drawn only with pencil or marker, the emotions they tried to express were clear.
"Give it back."
While I was looking intently, she reached out her hand to take it back.
Thwack.
I instinctively swatted it away and continued looking at the drawings.
As I turned the pages, I could feel changes in emotion.
They were excellent works, captivating enough to naturally draw you in. But the further back I went, the darker the drawings became.
What appeared to be the most recently drawn picture was of a withering flower. Even though it was still incomplete, deep shadows were visible.
'She's ruining it.'
Her talent was rotting.
"Give it back!"
She shouted.
She couldn't bring herself to reach out and just glared at me with tears welling up.
"If you're going to glare like that, you need to put venom in it. Are you about to cry from frustration?"
"Who the hell are you? What are you to suddenly appear and...!"
"Who am I?"
I answered as if it were obvious.
"Classmate."
"What?"
"I don't plan to get along like friends. I'll just stay quietly and leave. But still, since I saw the drawings, I can't just let it pass."
It had been like this since I learned drawing from Jimun Seo-saeng. After looking at the drawings, we would have time to honestly share our impressions about them.
If there was no value, I would let it pass, but the drawing I just saw wasn't like that.
"When the mind collapses, the sword dulls. A dulling sword is the same as a dulling brush. If the mind doesn't become firm, the drawings will continue to deteriorate."
"What do you know! You're just a kid!"
She shouted hysterically and tried to leave.
Thwack.
I grabbed the wrist of her hand brushing past me. She tried to shake it off but couldn't.
"Let go!"
"I'm not a kid. Let's make that clear first."
I let go of her arm and said,
"Get paid for the yogurt before you go."
I led her to the center of the classroom. Then I pushed all the desks to the corners.
"Hey, you'll get in trouble for this. What are you trying to do?"
This time it was a worried expression.
'Her mind is quite broken.'
She was more sensitive to her surroundings than her own feelings. She was afraid of people's gazes and words.
Confused, trying to avoid each momentary crisis.
'It's at collapse level.'
In this life, this is called depression or bipolar disorder. There's no center to the emotions.
"Stand in the middle."
I stood her in the middle of the empty space.
"What's your name?"
"Why?"
Defense mechanisms are activated.
"Min Ju-yeon."
"Fine, Min Ju-yeon. This could kill you. If I'm going to kill someone, I should at least know their name."
"What do you mean...?"
Ignoring her words, I looked around. Then I discovered a mop placed in one corner.
"What are you trying to do?"
I squeezed out all the paint and ink from my bag, sprinkled it on the floor, and stood in front of Min Ju-yeon.
"I'll give you just one hint. This thing will try to kill you. If you don't want to die, kill this thing."
I moved the mop.
The paint and ink sprinkled on the floor mixed with the water on the mop and transformed into the shape of a dragon.
Yongajin.
A modification of Jimun Seo-saeng's Hwaajin, it was a type of Gimunjinbeop that changed flowers into dragons.
It had no effect on ordinary people or those not interested in art.
It was a formation created when Murim masters competed in drawing or calligraphy, to show off to each other how excellent they were.
Min Ju-yeon couldn't close her mouth at the shape of the dragon being drawn with the mop.
In 5 minutes, the nine dragons surrounding her were completed.
"Escape within 30 minutes. If you can't, you die."
I handed her the mop.
Min Ju-yeon couldn't take her eyes off the drawing. As expected, her concentration on the drawing was strong, so she immediately fell into the Yongajin.
Of course, I had no intention of killing her. After about 20 minutes, I planned to pull her out.
'If she escapes, she overcomes it; if she fails, that's that.'
It was payment for the yogurt.
This was paying quite an high price.
'I'm giving her a chance because her talent is precious.'
10 minutes passed.
Min Ju-yeon’s body trembled. She was gripped by fear as if she would collapse any moment.
When another 10 minutes had passed.
Thud.
Min Ju-yeon dropped the mop.
"It's no good."
Her talent was precious, but it was becoming too dangerous, so I was about to pull her out. I had no obligation to do more than that either.
At that moment, Min Ju-yeon sat down on the floor with a blank expression.
'Hm?'
Like a child playing in the dirt, she sat down on the floor and reached her finger toward the dragon's scales. Then she began changing the dragon's form.
The dragon soon lost its shape and began transforming into flowers.
When all nine dragons disappeared, flowers were in full bloom around her.
'A real genius.'
There were no more shadows in Min Ju-yeon's expression. She looked like a child playing the most enjoyable game.
With this, the yogurt debt was definitely repaid.
Lunch time.
I received lunch at the student cafeteria and sat down.
"Uram!"
Min Ju-yeon sat next to me, holding her tray.
"The payment should be finished."
"Here."
This time it was milk.
And she held out a drawing.
In the center was a straight dirt road, with wide fields spread out on both sides.
"A gift. Will you accept it?"
She seemed to have gained enlightenment. Joy was visible in her expression.
"When you turn twenty, come find me again. Actually, eighteen would be enough, but anyway, since it's forbidden here, I'll wait two more years for you."
"Pfft."
She seemed to think it was a joke.
"Thank you."
"If you're grateful, repay me. When you turn twenty."
Her expression brightened considerably.
"Actually, I was going to quit drawing. My family situation is difficult and I didn't seem to have talent. If I didn't make it in this year's national competition, I was going to transfer to a regular school."
She even talked about things I wasn't particularly curious about. It seemed she hadn't had friends until now.
"Now I know it doesn't matter. I also realized how much I love drawing."
There was a brief commotion because we had drawn on the classroom floor.
However, the students and teachers who saw the drawing directly couldn't say anything. Rather, they were busy taking pictures of the drawing.
Officially, the drawing became known as a collaborative work between Min Ju-yeon and me. So, regardless of the work's quality, we both agreed to do the cleaning.
Of course, Min Ju-yeon did it all alone.
"Is there a quiet place here? Somewhere no one goes."
"Huh? Why would you need such a place...?"
It was an expression of some misunderstanding.
"I'm not going with you."
Min Ju-yeon thought for a while, then said cautiously.
"The back mountain is a restricted area, so no one goes there."
I found a good location.
"You drink this. I don't like being in debt."
I pushed away the milk and accepted the drawing. After that, I began eating silently.
I finished eating and was about to get up when someone called my name.
"Na Uram."
A tone so soft it was repulsive. Mother's friends also called me this way.
Naturally, I hated this kind of tone tremendously.
When I turned around, I saw a female student with a pretty face wearing earrings and even a bracelet.
Han Ji-seon.
I remembered her by this name.
With her refined appearance and seemingly wealthy family, she wore expensive accessories. From what I observed during break time, even the boys were overwhelmed by her aura and couldn't say anything.
She was subtly playing the role of leader in the class of 20 and was officially the class president too.
Perhaps because it was an art class, all the boys were quite timid, and Han Ji-seon was so willful that they couldn't touch her.
If the chubby kid who confessed to the Witch in kindergarten had grown up as is, he would look like this.
"Hey."
Han Ji-seon gave Min Ju-yeon, who was sitting next to me, a look. Then Min Ju-yeon vacated her seat.
Han Ji-seon sat in that spot. Then she held out a drawing.
I glanced at the drawing.
It was a colorful landscape painting. Perhaps because so many colors were used, it was a drawing I wasn't familiar with.
"Want to do collaborative work with me?"
It seemed Min Ju-yeon receiving attention had stimulated her.
I looked at the drawing once more.
It was full of traces trying to show off skills. Unnecessary expressions obscured sincerity.
"If you're going to do this, take a photo."
"What?"
I didn't really feel like having a conversation.
One week since entering school.
I didn't attend afternoon classes.
It wasn't a problem since it was already an arranged matter.
I just sat through morning classes halfheartedly, then devoted the remaining time to training. The location was the back mountain Min Ju-yeon had mentioned.
At night, I trained internal energy in my single-person dormitory room, and in the afternoon, I trained techniques at the back mountain.
'I should just sleep during class time.'
I realized after a week of classes.
The school didn't have the knowledge I wanted. All the knowledge here was tailored to exams.
The reason for studying in my previous life was clear.
When young, you do it to develop the brain. If you activate a growing brain, you'll be smart even as an adult.
This was no different from training.
So most studying was tailored to thinking.
You think of dozens of answers to one question. Masters also doesn't define what the correct answer is.
But studying in this society is a competition. This didn't feel like studying but more like Bimu.
It was obvious as fire what results a brain developed that way would lead to when becoming an adult.
The schools of South Korea were raising warriors, not scholars.
'That's how I lived in the Demonic Cult.'
Living as a slave to competition for life. Because that's how I learned.
I realized how terribly poisonous that competition was only after passing three hundred years old.
"From the basics."
I do my own studying.
"Frustrating."
Having memories of my previous life intact was certainly a blessing, but it was also mentally exhausting.
The memories I had were of an overwhelming number of masters. But now, compared to then, I was at a beginner level.
The feeling that my body wouldn't move as I wished was inevitably frustrating.
"There's a lot to do."
I will become an absolute being again.
To do this, I must save time. Martial arts become stronger the more you work at them.
I trained until sunset and came down from the mountain around 10 PM.
Since it was training with high physical consumption, I was naturally hungry.
'Damn it!'
I'm angry.
I have money to buy food. Quite a lot, in fact.
But I fell for the Witch's scheme and can't buy food.
The reason I diligently get lunch and dinner meals is also here.
-Little brother, buy something delicious to eat.
The Witch deliberately gave me 1 million won in cash and a check card in front of our parents.
Why she did that is obvious.
If our parents saw that, they wouldn't give me spending money.
Still, at this level, I would use the money even if uncomfortable, but the Witch drove in the final wedge.
-Use it with a grateful heart toward your older sister.
It's the same as telling me not to spend the money.
She's getting revenge for mocking her drawing.
'Cruel woman.'
Someday, there will be a day for revenge.