Chapter 25
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: I Think Climbing Without Gear is Insane
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“Fifteen minutes rest!”
At Uijin’s shout, I immediately flopped down onto the dirt ground.
I untied the heavy sandbags and rotated my sore wrists, when retching sounds came from beside me.
‘Again…?’
With a sigh, I turned my gaze.
Juyeong, who dry-heaved after every training session, was almost impressive in a way.
All the other trainees who had survived this far had adapted somewhat to the insane morning drills, to the point where they only panted heavily.
Only Juyeong was still heaving like it was the first day.
‘Is she just powering through on sheer willpower? Impressive.’
On top of that, she rejected every bit of goodwill directed her way.
It had been three days or so. After a girl patting her back while she heaved and a boy offering water both backed off red-faced from her sharp words and attitude, no one approached her anymore.
Making friends was fine, but making enemies for no reason wasn’t.
Juyeong had the looks of a beauty with real potential, but her prickly personality and stamina that could give out any moment kept people away.
Only a few boys interested in her lingered stealthily nearby.
Even they couldn’t withstand her icy glare and scattered like startled birds.
“Your stamina’s insane. Your family martial artists or something?”
“Hey, hey, lemme see your sandbag. Damn, it’s the same weight as mine. How are you so fast with this thing?”
“Biyeon, you too lazy to get up? Wanna sip my water? I’ll take a swig of yours later!”
“Biyeon! Eat dinner with us and go fetch water together later!”
In contrast, people—guys and girls alike—were always swarming around me.
I was the youngest among the remaining trainees, yet one of the best at keeping up, and I was playing the part of a friendly, harmless kid.
Juyeong wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, glanced at me surrounded by people, then quickly looked away.
“She’s kinda weird.”
The girl handing back my canteen shook her head.
“She acts like she’ll die if she doesn’t pass this test. There’s the Zhongnan selection in Shaanxi in a month, and if she really wants to join Mount Hua, there’s next year’s outer disciple selection.”
“Guess she’s got a reason she has to pass this one.”
“Yeah, like me. If I fail here, I’ll be stuck working at my dad’s merchant house, never touching a sword again. He says don’t even dream of being a secular disciple. Tch.”
Talk about desperate. I smirked inwardly and plucked a tempting red fruit.
Juyeong struggled to keep up with training, but if we were measuring desperation, she and I were about equal.
I was the one carrying the Mount Hua name, after all.
The only difference was our base stamina.
“But Iryeong sis, with stamina that bad, can she really pass?”
Seongniri spoke in a worried tone, snatching the fruit from my hand. Something about poison in the seeds.
With her herbalist dad, Seongniri had found us edible, tasty fruits a few times when we got hungry at night.
“Who knows? With that mental strength, she could do anything.”
I replied indifferently, tying the sandbags back onto my wrists and ankles.
In novels, kids like Juyeong always passed in the end. The ones trash-talking dropped out mid-pack.
And kids like me—top of the pack, friendly with everyone—were guaranteed to pass!
So why worry about others when your own nose is barely above water?
* * *
“…What the hell?”
I scowled at the suspiciously light canteen and unscrewed the lid.
Tilting it to my mouth yielded nothing. Shaking it out, only a few drops hit my tongue.
“Which shameless bastard!”
I hurled the canteen to the ground and bellowed.
Fetching water meant crossing that treacherous rocky cliff to the stream valley—a path that demanded serious time and stamina.
That’s why sneaky thieves who secretly drank others’ water cropped up.
Save your own stamina, drain someone else’s. Real two birds with one stone, huh?
Rest time was just fifteen minutes. Way too short to trek to the stream and back.
Training stretched endlessly ahead, and going without water was impossible. Begging sips felt lame.
“That canteen there—was it yours, Biyeon?”
Panting, Seongniri offered her canteen and struck up a conversation. I whipped around, and she muttered like to herself.
“No wonder. She drank while eyeing every direction warily.”
“Who?”
At my sharp question, Seongniri shrugged with an expectant look.
“Not 100% sure it was her, so it’s awkward to say.”
“Then don’t. I’ll catch the thief myself.”
What, you want me to be your water shuttle?
I turned away, picking my ear. Not getting the response she wanted, Seongniri hurriedly caught up.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. I said I’m not certain, okay?”
I nodded and took a sip from the canteen she handed me.
“Not drinking more?”
“Nah. So, who drank all wary like that?”
Seongniri took back the canteen and whispered low.
“Iryeong sis.”
Surprised, I blinked, then shook my head. Juyeong didn’t seem the type to pull sneaky crap.
“Even if it was really her, it’s not that weird, right?”
Seongniri pouted.
“She wants you to fail. That way she passes.”
This entrance exam was just get into the top thirty—no rule against shoving others down.
If you can’t climb yourself, grab someone who can and drag ’em down.
Hadn’t Uijin warned me? Some bastards only feel satisfied stepping on others.
That night, after training, as we settled into bed, I straight-up asked Juyeong crawling into her blankets.
“Hey, did you drink my canteen water by any chance?”
She looked at me with her deep blue-black eyes and spat in disgust.
“…Don’t drag innocent people into your bullshit.”
She glared contemptuously, then pulled the blanket over her head.
“Talk nicer to the kid…”
Accepting Seongniri’s comforting pat, I rubbed my stomach, which had been grumbling since afternoon.
What, something wrong with dinner?
Work us to death and feed us rotten food? Damn bastards.
* * *
In retrospect, I was way too naive.
I thought Uijin’s “it gets tougher” meant just more sandbags on limbs and running till you puked.
And I’d firmly believed they wouldn’t kill kids over a selection test.
Crack. As the rock I gripped cracked under my weight, I urgently reached up and grabbed another.
“Argh!”
Someone below screamed—hit by the falling rock. I reflexively looked down and regretted it instantly.
The bottom was dizzyingly far—legs turned to jelly just looking.
Yesterday’s stomachache had left me groggy, but the threat of death sharpened my mind.
‘Amitabha, Amitabha!’
I chanted the mantra frantically in my head.
Primordial Heavenly Venerable, save me!
Home—no, the palace—has rabbit-like Uncle Uihyeon, fox-like Uncle Uiseong, bear-like Uncle Uigang, kindly tiger-like Sect Leader Grandpa, other elders—tons of people!
Mount Hua’s second entrance exam: cliff climbing.
One of the countless cliffs on Mount Hua, jokingly called a sect landmark.
At least they picked one a bit kid-friendly—not sheer smooth rock, but with holds for hands and feet.
‘Not “bad karma falls,” it’s the damn body!’
Good or bad character, everyone falls here!
Shouldn’t we learn lightness skill first? Wrong order!
Nearly fifty trainees already dropped from this cliff alone.
Eleven quit at the base. Thirty-seven midway.
The midway quitters were safely caught by instructors.
Now the question was if they’d catch you mid-fall.
Only around 150 diehards desperately crawled up.
I was in the lead.
To avoid falling rocks from above, topping out was the only way.
Unexpectedly, Juyeong was right beside me.
Her gritted teeth and bloodied, broken nails showed her desperate climb. Her breathing was ragged—overdoing it.
Top 100 passed.
Juyeong and I, up front, were safe unless we slipped or misstepped.
“No way you’ll fail at this rate, so why the rush?”
“…Shut up.”
Juyeong growled through labored breaths.
I’d felt uneasy, and sure enough, she misfooted and dangled helplessly.
Her desperate grip visibly slipped.
Her terrified breathing grew louder.
I stopped climbing and looked down.
“Call an instructor?”
“Don’t!”
Struggling to re-grip a protruding rock, she snapped back sharply. I sighed deeply and advised.
“You fall from here, you’re dead. Drop the stubbornness.”
Her stubborn eyes glared up. Frowning, she ground out.
“Fall and die here, or get dragged back to that hellhole—same difference.”