Chapter 26
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Reading Books Makes You Roughly Spot Who's Suspicious
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I was at a loss for words. Cancel what I said about our desperation being on the same level.
“I’d rather die here than fail.”
Because I’d take failing over plummeting to my death.
That line of hers sounded like it came with a heavy backstory, so I swallowed the words I’d been about to use to call the instructor.
A chilling venom gleamed in Jui Ryeong’s deep blue eyes, beyond any words.
“If you call the instructor, I’ll definitely kill you.”
With that, Jui Ryeong clamped her mouth shut.
Her expression was one that wouldn’t bend no matter what, so I sighed and carefully began descending the cliff. It was far easier than climbing up.
Once I’d reached just below her feet, I gave directions.
“Move your foot a little more to the left. Yeah, like that. No, a bit higher.”
I confirmed her foot safely planted in the crevice, then started climbing back up.
“Whew, I’m alive…”
Finally reaching the top and stepping onto solid ground, a groan escaped me.
Uijin knelt down in front of me as I lay there sprawled out, catching my breath, and announced my ranking.
“Trainee number one, thirty-second place.”
While I’d been watching out for Jui Ryeong and helping her find her footing again, someone had overtaken me.
So my final score wasn’t first place, but somewhere in the upper middle.
“You did well.”
He muttered it just loud enough for me to hear, patted the top of my head, and smoothly stood up.
I grabbed the hem of his pants.
“No extra points for helping?”
“That’s up to the examiner’s discretion.”
Uijin chuckled. I thought of Doseon’s stern face for a moment.
No matter how I looked at it, that guy wasn’t the type to give me extra points.
It’d be a miracle if he didn’t deduct points for being a pint-sized obstacle blocking his disciple’s path.
As Uijin headed toward another kid, I rolled over and sprawled out flat.
What if the next test is climbing the cliff with sandbags on our wrists and ankles? Then we’d really only have thirty left.
I shook my head wildly at the all-too-plausible thought when someone plopped down beside me.
“Thanks.”
I looked up blankly at the face delivering the calm thanks. Her features suited the word “delicate” perfectly.
To the point where her blood-crusted fingertips felt utterly out of place.
I wondered what story lay behind her saying she’d rather fall to her death than fail here.
But she didn’t seem like the type to share, so I barely suppressed my curiosity.
‘Should I use this to get closer?’
Then maybe I could hear about her past before entering the Selection Hall.
But Jui Ryeong was still Jui Ryeong.
“And forget what I said when I was hanging off the cliff. Dare to ask about my past…”
She bared her teeth like an angry chihuahua, and I quietly shelved the idea of getting friendly.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a classic rescue arc? Normally, the protagonist gets moved and warms up, right?
* * *
“My hunch was right… Those vicious bastards…”
I muttered as I crawled up the cliff, my hands trembling. Heavy sandbags weighed down my wrists and ankles.
The third test was exactly as I’d predicted. Climb the cliff with sandbags. First fifty to the top pass.
“Argh!”
I heard screams as I stabbed my hands into the rock face over and over.
No need to worry about fatal falls anymore.
The instructors were waiting below, ready to leap up with lightfoot skill and catch any falling trainee.
Once I saw that with my own eyes, I climbed without a care.
But even without fearing death, my body still ached.
“Yes! First place!”
Today, Jui Ryeong didn’t twist her ankle and made it up safely, so I held onto the lead without falling behind.
Uijin clicked his tongue as I bounded over the edge, as if my energy was excessive.
I propped my chin and watched the trainees streaming up one by one. Today too, just seconds separated passers from failures.
The test ended when the last failure sobbed his way to the top.
Some headed to the dorms to rest, others went straight to the training ground for water, and some, like me, just collapsed at the cliff’s peak.
My breathing steadied, and thirst hit hard, so I got up.
The water jugs were all empty when I arrived—everyone else had drunk and gone. Just one presence lingered.
“Better not drink that.”
As I picked up my jug and opened it, Jui Ryeong—who was sipping from hers—spoke up bluntly.
“Number 143 shook dirt into it real good.”
I tilted my jug toward the ground, and muddy water poured out.
People really pulled all sorts of stunts. Was this punk behind my water disappearing lately too?
“143, you said?”
I smirked crookedly, chuckling.
Looks like we’d have one dropout tomorrow. Getting beaten and carried off meant failure, right.
I turned to head to the training ground, then backpedaled to Jui Ryeong’s side.
“But who’s 143?”
“Slanted eyes, dark skin, short hair—boy.”
Her description flowed out easily, and I instantly knew who. But…
“You memorized all the numbers?”
“Only fifty left. Not hard.”
Her eyes widened at my question, and she snorted.
Yeah, yeah. I’m the dummy who can’t even remember fifty numbers.
She caught my stare and lowered her jug, raising a brow.
“What? Even after all that, you don’t know 143? Need me to point him out?”
“No, just… Thought you didn’t care about others. Surprising.”
“You pick it up hearing the instructors call numbers. No effort needed.”
Yeah, that’s what they call genius in the world.
If only she’d been born into the Zhuge family. Tut tut. They could overlook weak stamina there. Though their standards were still martial artist level.
As I sauntered lazily toward the dorms, Jui Ryeong called out advice from behind.
“Don’t trust people too much. More common than you think—folks who smile and act nice up front while sharpening knives behind your back.”
“Oh? So who are these folks among one to five hundred?”
“Figure it out yourself. Gotta spoon-feed that too?”
Tch. Might as well tell me who’s plotting to stab me while she’s at it. Not like the smilers in front of me are few.
Still, Jui Ryeong definitely wasn’t one.
She’d never smiled at me or treated me well.
Hiss. Wait, was that line her way of saying trust only her?
* * *
“So, 143, you put dirt in number one’s water jug. And you, number one, got mad when he shoved you while confronting him about it, and turned 143 into this mess. That it?”
“Pretty much, yeah?”
143 clutched his right arm, eyes and cheeks swollen puffy. I was just a bit dirtier on my uniform, relatively fine. Doseon alternated glances between us and sighed deeply at my bright reply.
Unilateral violence meant disqualification, but trainee scuffles didn’t.
And since 143 dirtied my water first, this luckily counted as a scuffle.
143, who’d dragged me here triumphantly expecting my expulsion, left with slumped shoulders.
I smirked at his pitiful back, but Doseon shooed me out too. I reported my latest issue.
“Oh, and the food’s gone bad or something? Stomach’s been hurting lately.”
“You’re the only one who gets bellyaches after meals. Probably ate something dumb.”
“Ate a few berries, but they’re non-toxic. Others ate them too.”
“Doesn’t suit your constitution, then.”
“Hey, come on!”
I yelled at his half-hearted reply, earning a stern glare.
“Think this is the Mount Hua kitchens, indulging every whine?”
“It’s the Selection Hall on Mount Hua’s Falling Rock Peak.”
I shot back without backing down, and Doseon tsked irritably, sending a Mount Hua disciple to check the food.
“No more scavenging, number one.”
“Yeees.”
I pouted at him for insisting on “number one.”
Yep, he definitely disliked me. Where’d that guy go who called me “baby” back then?
I returned to my room in the dorms.
Seong Riri was out, and Jui Ryeong was already under the covers.
As I unrolled my bedding, a knock came.
I flung the door open to a cool-faced boy.
The twin who got 500. His striking first impression stuck with me.
Wondering who he wanted, he pointed between me and Jui Ryeong, then jabbed at me.
“Go to the training ground. Quick.”
He spat that and turned away before I could ask why.
No way some guys jealous of my top-thirty spot gathered to beat me one-on-one? Even I couldn’t handle twenty-one versus one.
“So you dragged me—busy as I am—here on a hunch?”
Uijin rubbed his brow as he climbed the training ground steps, pulled by my fuss over busting a violence plot.
“Points off if no one’s there.”
“Ugh, as if—look, people! See?”
Seong Riri and 143 stood face-to-face where I pointed. Hmm, man and woman alone late at night…
“That look like a violence plot to you?”
Uijin sighed and smacked my head.
“Why not? A guy and girl meeting at night could be plotting.”
No sooner had I spoken than 143 barked at Seong Riri.
“You said Biyeon would drop out in two days flat! Now I’m the one failing!”