Picking and Choosing Martial Arts, Part 1

Vrooooom...

Even though I had apologized, the air inside the car remained uncomfortably, excessively polite.

“No, Lady Doyeon. Please do not concern yourself with it.”

Why? Because this bastard was actually being sincere.

“Hey. I said I'm sorry. Seriously.”

“I am sorry, Lady Doyeon.”

He wasn't being sarcastic; he was apologizing to me from the bottom of his heart.

This is ridiculous.

First of all, yes, it was true that I got dragged into a mess because of him. Honestly, it sucked. But if he lost his spirit completely like this, that was also a problem.

If he stays like this, our connection will fizzle out in no time.

What I wanted wasn't a treasure goblin I could just shake down once and be done with. I wanted a reliable, sturdy backer who would protect me for a long time to come.

But if our relationship became one where one side completely dominated the other, forming a long-term bond would be impossible. Gyeon Geumsu was acting like this now, but extreme emotions inevitably fade over time. And then what?

If a person incurs an unpayable debt, do they dedicate their entire life to their benefactor because they can't repay it, eventually throwing themselves in harm's way to save them and dying? Sure, some people do that. Usually, those people end up in history books. But most people just get exhausted halfway through.

And even worse, they might actually end up harboring hostility toward the person they owe.

Three years after the Gate Outbreak, I witnessed an absurd murder case. A man had murdered the benefactor who had helped his family for three straight years. The reason was utterly ridiculous. Because he couldn't see any way to repay the kindness shown to his family over those three years, the weight of that debt became too painful to bear. So, he felt he had no choice but to kill the benefactor who was causing him such agony. He claimed that other than murder, there was no way for him to escape his torment.

Of course, the man who literally repaid grace with enmity was cursed by everyone as the ultimate scum of the earth and publicly beheaded in the middle of a square.

But the lesson I learned back then remained vivid in my memory.

An unpayable debt is useless.

A debt that is just barely repayable if you work your absolute hardest—that is the heaviest debt of all.

If that's how it is with gratitude, what about guilt?

So, it was time to soothe Gyeon Geumsu just the right amount.

“…Hey, Gyeon Geumsu.”

“Yes, Lady Doyeon.”

Hearing that "Lady" title was getting more and more uncomfortable.

“Pull over over there.”

Even though I suddenly told him to pull over, he didn't ask why and meekly complied.

“Hey.”

I smacked Gyeon Geumsu on the back again.

“Why is a grown man moping around over something like that?”

“Well... it's just...”

“Sure, to be blunt, I did taste some real shit because of you.”

Gyeon Geumsu flinched.

“But did you do it on purpose? If you did, tell me right now so I can get my revenge.”

“Of course not...”

“Right, of course not. It was an accident. And did I die because of that accident? Did I get crippled?”

“No...”

“Exactly! That's the point, none of that happened!”

I slapped him on the back repeatedly. For some reason, every time I did, his mood seemed to lift a little.

“The world's gone to shit anyway, so stuff like this is bound to happen, you dummy! Even the law books probably say that if you make a mistake, you just have to compensate for the damages, right?”

“Ah've read 'em, and that's not exactly how it goes...”

“Don't explain it, I only graduated middle school so I don't know. Anyway! The point is!”

I patted his shoulder to comfort him.

“Cheer up, kid. It'd be much better if you just shouted, 'Ah! Ah'm so sorry! Ah'll pay for all your medical bills, and here's a gift to apologize!!' and bowed your head. That way, we can keep being friends.”

Gyeon Geumsu's eyes widened.

“I'm seriously going to take a sword manual from your family, and we'll call it even with that. Got it?”

“…Noona, yer absolutely right.”

“Of course I'm right, kid. Now get us moving again.”

I gave his back one last hard slap. But wait, isn't this guy enjoying this a bit too much? ...No, surely not. If he is, that's kind of gross.

Asking for a sword style was a spur-of-the-moment impulse. But it was also true that I really needed one. I was getting sick of just swinging the Three Talents Sword Style over and over. More than anything, now that I'd finally become a martial artist, I wanted to use some cool techniques.

As for the Bongrae Sect...

What should I do, really?

Honestly, I wanted to learn the Bongrae Sect's martial arts. But I wasn't keen on actually joining them. If I joined a sect, I'd have to deal with communal living and training. Waking up at a set time every morning, living in the same place as my martial brothers and sisters, training together, practicing together, and returning to the same dorms. And since the Bongrae Sect was a Taoist sect, I'd probably have to read Taoist scriptures diligently too. All to become an immortal.

Maybe that suited some people. But having lived alone for ten years ever since I became an orphan, just the thought of communal living made me feel suffocated. Besides, my goal wasn't to become strong and ascend to immortality; it was to become strong and uncover the secrets of this world, including the Gates. If I belonged to a specific sect, there was a high chance I wouldn't be able to act as I pleased.

Hmm... Can't I just avoid joining the Bongrae Sect and privately become Hyeonsongcheonnyeo's disciple?

It seemed unlikely, but this was exactly why the Jin Moorim Gallery existed—to ask questions like this.

“Ah, right, Lady Doyeon.”

“Seriously, ban that word. If you call me 'Lady' one more time, I'm taking your family's manual and cutting ties with you.”

“…Miss Doyeon.”

Gyeon Geumsu pulled two thin items from his breast pocket. They were Ohsung's latest smartphones. The models that currently cost 30 million won each.

“Oh! You brought them!”

“Noona, you asked for them. Of course I brought them.”

“Hey, but are they activated?”

“Yes, both of them.”

“Do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they have data?”

“I put them on unlimited data plans. On my tab.”

“Nice. Excellent.”

In this day and age, an unlimited data plan alone probably cost hundreds of thousands of won a month. For two phones, that was double.

Exactly. This is why you have to milk a pushover slowly and steadily.

Now that I had a smartphone, I could browse the internet forums, but I couldn't do it right in front of someone where they could see my screen.

It feels like it's been forever since I posted as Anon.

Actually, not that much time had passed. It was just that so many things had happened in such a short span.

And as expected, the response to 'Anon' was much better than to 'Dohwaseonnyeo'.

This is where the real dopamine is.

And the Sword Empress is still at it...?

It seems my sense of reality isn't the only thing that's weird.

...Come to think of it, the moment she dumped the White Dragon Divine Art on me out of nowhere, wasn't that already the exact kind of relationship I was talking about?

A master-disciple relationship where I learn the martial arts without actually belonging to the sect.

...

Um, you forgot to change your handle.

Ah, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it's Ho-eamae.

The one who became my friend when I was using the Dohwaseonnyeo account. But didn't she mention something about her family before? Is she from some amazing household?

“Hey, Geumsu.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Do you know Ho-eamae? Who is she?”

“Are you browsing Jin Moorim Gallery right now?”

“Don't open your interface. You need to focus on driving.”

“Ah guess that's true... Anyway, Ho-eamae is her. You know, the genius of the Jegal Clan. Was her name Jegal Ayeong?”

“The Jegal Clan?”

One of the Seven Great Clans is popping up here?

“Ah, the Jegal Clan is one of the martial families, one of the Seven Great Clans of Korea—”

“I know what the Seven Great Clans are, you dummy.”

I was a bit surprised, though.

Wow. I'm so glad we became friends.

Ah.

So it's technically against the rules, but the people teaching are powerful enough to just ignore the rules. Then a question came to mind. Why bother?

Aha.

Thanks to Ho-eamae—Jegal Ayeong—I understood. Normally, it wasn't allowed. But when they saw a brilliant genius, they just couldn't resist teaching them. And since they were of the Sect Leader's generation, they rarely faced any real punishment anyway.

Is that so? Is that how it is?

A crazy idea popped into my head.

But first.

Hyeonsongcheonnyeo had definitely said she was the junior sister of the current Bongrae Sect Leader.

Will she respond? I was pretty sure she would.

Oho.

Of course. There was no way she wouldn't be checking, especially after hearing that I had caused all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kinds of chaos on Jin Moorim Gallery while she was away. Nothing gets the dopamine flowing like catching up on missed forum drama, after all.

“We have arrived. This is the building where Ohsung's secret manual vault is located.”

“Hold on a second.”