Don't You Dare Die
It was a vast sparring arena.
Around the edges, an official in a black hat held a record sheet, carefully documenting every development. On the opposite side, a small tent had been pitched where a physician sat ready for any emergency.
I stood in the center of the pure white sparring ground.
“What’s your name? Affiliation? Something about you feels off.”
Pahwanggun dragged over a chair beside the arena and sat as he asked.
I parted my parched lips and answered.
“I am Moyong Bi, the fourth son of the Moyong Family.”
“The Moyong Family of the Five Great Families should only have three sons, right? Fourth? Did I have that wrong?”
Pahwanggun tilted his head and stroked his chin. He picked up a wine bottle next to the chair.
“Well, whatever. What do I care? Not interested, none of my business. So.”
He drained the entire bottle in one go, then belched and said indifferently.
“Boy of the Moyong Family. What will you choose as your test event?”
“My choice is...”
In that short span I ran through countless thoughts. It was six of one and half a dozen of the other, but I wanted something that still held even a sliver of possibility. In truth, with almost no internal energy to speak of, I had never had a real choice to begin with.
“I apply for sparring.”
“Sparring?”
“Yes.”
Pahwanggun tossed the bottle aside and stood. When he raised his hand, the official hurried over.
“Tell the official what weapon you need for the spar.”
“Does Lord Pahwanggun not need a weapon?”
He was empty-handed. Curious, I asked, and he grinned.
“Because of a promise with the Alliance Leader, I fight bare-handed whenever possible, kid.”
Pahwanggun spread his bear-paw-like hands wide.
“If you’ve heard of me, you’d know I was originally from the unorthodox path before defecting to this side. My nature is so rough that the Alliance Leader took special measures just to keep me here.”
I swallowed hard as I stared at those hands. The thick fingers and the calluses piled thick on every joint were weapons in themselves. Just how brutal and prolonged must the training have been for a man’s hands to become like that? It was the first time I had ever felt I might be killed simply by looking at someone’s palms.
Like facing a wild bear.
I bit my lip without realizing it. Tension made my chest feel ready to burst. Looking at my thoroughly wound-up self as if I were something cute, Pahwanggun chuckled.
“You look really nervous. Like this, you won’t even show your real skill. How about I add a condition to help you relax and make the test more exciting?”
He held up three fingers.
“I’ll only show three-tenths of my internal energy and skill. But within that, I’ll go all out, so you’d better be careful.”
I thought it might actually be better if he used everything but didn’t go all out. I approached the official holding the weapons. After a long hesitation, I said,
“Ten flying daggers...”
“Pardon? Flying daggers, applicant?”
“Ah, no.”
Damn it. Even if it wasn’t a mainstream art, using Mount Hua Sect techniques would almost certainly cause talk later. The martial arts of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families were so distinctive that anyone could recognize them at a glance. And among the Nine Great Sects, the Mount Hua Sect’s arts—even the non-mainstream ones—had unique forms that simply could not go unrecognized. If they were spotted, the questions about where I had learned them would start, and explaining would become a nightmare.
“Please lend me a single sword.”
What the official handed over was an ordinary iron sword. I adjusted my grip. Even as I took the ready stance, my head remained endlessly complicated.
“Then, though my skill is meager, I shall begin.”
“Sure. Come at me.”
The moment Pahwanggun clenched his fist, a terrifyingly vast aura made me shudder.
Is he on par with So Yeomgyo or Moyong Taese—or even beyond?
Even so, I could not show all my cards. If they started probing how I had obtained the techniques, I had no confidence I could explain. Of course they might not recognize them. But the risk was far too great to stake everything on that faint possibility. In the end I had no choice; this was the only way.
“Haaap!”
I displayed the most basic sword arts I had polished across my previous life.
Six Harmonies Sword Art.
Isan Footwork.
Taehyeong Iron Palm.
Martial arts that market thugs and street guards might use. But I had trained them with everything I had. They were the arts that had barely kept me fed in my previous life. They had worked reasonably against local ruffians and Green Forest bandits, and they had been the foundation that let me take day-labor bodyguard work.
This was not about survival. It was a test. So I figured if I showed everything I possessed to the absolute best of my ability, he would understand.
“Hey.”
Eight sword strikes delivered with everything I had. After blocking them all with just his left arm—bare skin at that—Pahwanggun spoke.
“What the hell are you doing right now?”
A chill ran down the back of my neck. I stammered without meaning to.
“What do you mean...”
“Are you kidding me? In front of me? Or are you dancing with basic forms that even a little kid wouldn’t use?”
Every word drove nails into my chest. As expected. To someone who lived above the heavens, the martial arts I had devoted my entire previous life to looked like mere dancing.
“You must have clearly seen the guys before you getting carried out as pulp after half-assing it.”
“...Yes.”
Pahwanggun put his hands on his hips and laughed hollowly.
“It’s so absurd I can only laugh. You saw those kids get carried out and still haven’t come to your senses? I’ve been in the murim for over thirty years, but I’ve never seen an arrogant bastard like you.”
I could not understand what he meant. At my dumbfounded expression, Pahwanggun looked irritated.
“I’m saying, how dare a chick like you worry about this body of mine.”
“I don’t know what you mean. This is the best martial art I can display. It’s a misunderstanding.”
“If the two guys before you said that, I’d have believed them. No, if anyone else said it, I’d understand. That’s why I wanted to test the ones at the back first.”
Something in his words felt off.
“You think you can fool my eyes? A natural martial bone from the Five Great Families, and Six Harmonies Sword Art is all you’ve got? Are you joking?”
His words made my chest go cold.
“I’m not your master, so I don’t know what you’ve learned. But listen. One thing I do know is that you’re not giving your best right now. No, what am I even doing? Persuading an applicant.”
Frowning, Pahwanggun waved his hand.
“I didn’t expect a guy who can’t even take a proper stance. Rotten bastards like you aren’t even worth touching. Official, fail this son of a—”
I cut him off like lightning and shouted.
“If I give my best, is that enough?!”
I absolutely could not fail. That alone was absolutely not allowed!
“...Oh?”
I gave up thinking about what came next. There was nothing more foolish than worrying about the future when you could not even get through the present.
“But let me say one thing in advance.”
“What?”
“My skill is so meager that I intend to stake everything on just two techniques from now on. If that doesn’t satisfy you, Lord Pahwanggun, and you stop the spar, then I will acknowledge it myself. However!”
My foundations were woefully lacking. Surviving even a short chaotic exchange was impossible. I had to decide it in one or two techniques. To hide that fact, I deliberately adopted a provocative tone.
“I don’t know how to hold back. Keep that in mind.”
“...Ha?”
The expression Pahwanggun made just then was beyond words. Sensing the atmosphere turning strange, the official spoke.
“Lord Pahwanggun. Even if Lord Gang Buryong has delegated full authority, regulations prohibit this kind of spar. Just fail this entrant for now—”
“Shut up.”
“...!”
Pahwanggun stroked his chin. He looked up at the sky. He looked down at the ground. With a crack, he cracked his neck.
“Hey, official.”
“Yes, sir! Lord Pahwanggun.”
To the terrified official, Pahwanggun raised a finger and pointed straight at the entrance.
“Except for the physician on standby for emergencies, all officials step out for a bit.”
“Pardon?”
A smile that looked ready to tear his face stretched across Pahwanggun’s lips.
“I’ll call you when it’s over, so go peel some fruit and eat.”
“Regulations make that impossi—”
Pahwanggun simply stared at him.
“I’ll peel some for Lord Pahwanggun’s share as well.”
The official fled as if his ass were on fire. Pahwanggun turned his gaze back to me.
“There. The meddlers you were worried about are gone. No witnesses either. Don’t worry about the physician next to us; he’s completely illiterate when it comes to martial arts.”
His eyes glittered with madness. That quiet madness writhed as if about to explode.
“Show me. That capital of yours.”
I tensed every muscle in my body and checked.
“Mumyeong, let me check one more time.”
What are you checking for? Your internal energy has already stabilized. Though it’s a mere handful of meager energy...
I shook my head.
“Not that. It’ll be insufficient.”
Host, don’t tell me.
Mumyeong seemed to have caught my intent.
Do you think True Origin True Qi is some snack you can nibble whenever you feel like it?
“I know the dangers better than anyone. So, has it stabilized?”
Mumyeong answered as if resigned.
Yes, it has stabilized. Satisfied now?
With a pale face and cold sweat streaming down, I smiled.
“Heh heh, yeah. That’s enough.... That’s enough.”
You’re insane.
“Do you know what I felt bone-deep throughout my previous life?”
I muttered, biting my lip.
“Even if I threw myself in burning my whole body, reality was the kind of bastard that might or might not open the door for me.”
Is that so.
“If I’d had a life that went smoothly, that I could just coast through, I wouldn’t have lived so hard. Reality is something where you have to pour everything in just for a door to maybe open... that fact. That fact I didn’t want to know, I...”
A cold winter rose in my mind. The floor had been freezing stone. It was a winter so cold that a bowl of cold water left outside would freeze solid in less than two hours. There, my mother had frozen to death.
“Do you know how bone-chillingly I felt it? Bastards who only succeed never know that dogshit feeling! I won’t miss it. No matter what, I won’t miss this chance. If I have to miss it, I’d rather bite my tongue and die...!”
It’s funny for me to say this, but.
After a silence, Mumyeong added,
If Heaven is watching, may fortune be with you, Host.
I clenched my teeth. I raised my voice and declared to the examiner before me.
“You said you wanted to see my true sincerity, right? Understood. I’ll show you my resolve. So.”
Kiiing!
My two pupils turned red. My aura transformed completely.
“Don’t you dare die. It’d make things awkward for me!”
Pahwanggun’s expression changed.
“You.”
His crossed arms uncrossed.
“My whole body is tingling with killing intent, euha, euhaha!”
His entire face was dyed with ecstasy.
“Yes, come at me once, fourth son of the Moyong Family!”