Chapter 31
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Hey, That Word is a 'Forbidden Word'…!
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But despite my firm resolve to properly sort out the pecking order, there were no provocations coming from the outer disciples.
"Huh? They're backing down this easily? No way."
As I muttered seriously to myself, Bihwan, who had been wiping down his wooden sword, glanced at me and spoke up.
"Isn't that a good thing for us?"
"It's boring. I was hoping those guys would come at us first, giving us a thrilling brawl with zero blame on our side. Tch."
"Who talks about fights like some deranged street thug...?"
Bihwan muttered with a weary look and subtly dodged the wooden sword I swung at him.
I flopped down onto the training ground and rolled around wildly on the dirt, shouting.
"Boring! It's so boring!"
"Then go train."
"Training's boring now too."
I sprang lightly to my feet, pointed my wooden sword at Bihwan, and grinned.
"So let's spar. Until one of us drops. Loser becomes the dog."
"Uihyeon Martial Uncle! Your disciple's gone mad!"
"I'm proposing a duel to the death!"
"What kind of spar is a duel to the death!"
I clicked my tongue as I watched Bihwan freak out and bolt away from me.
Then I turned my gaze to the other junior brothers.
They all averted their eyes in unison—frantically polishing their wooden swords, pretending to swing them at the air, or suddenly starting to sprint laps around the training ground.
'What's their deal?'
Had I beaten them too hard during spars?
Scratching my head, I plopped back down onto the training ground dirt.
At that moment, a shout came from behind.
"Hyung!"
I turned at the familiar title that had been demoted from the front seat.
There stood a boy who looked exactly like Bihwan.
Bihwan's twin brother, who had missed the core disciple exam by a single step, had entered Mount Hua this year as an outer disciple.
Bihwan, who had been keeping his distance from me far off, strode over upon seeing his brother, furrowed his fine brows, and smacked his sibling's head.
"I told you to call me martial brother, not hyung."
"Martial brother doesn't roll off the tongue."
The twin pouted in response to Bihwan's scolding.
They looked identical on the outside, but while Bihwan had a sharp, cool impression, his twin brother had a gentle, affable face.
All the core disciples here remembered that memorable 500th spar with the twin brother. And since he often showed up to see his brother, everyone greeted him warmly.
"Hey, hyung..."
The twin hemmed and hawed, sneaking glances at us as if gauging our reactions, before finally speaking up.
"Is it true there's a backdoor admission among the core disciples?"
Gasps echoed from all around, and everyone glared at the twin in unison.
Caught in the spotlight instantly, he flinched.
"Gasp!"
"That kid said 'that' word...!"
"Hey, that's forbidden! You can't say it out loud!"
The moment "backdoor admission" slipped out, Biwon started shaking so badly from pity—or terror—that he dropped his wooden sword.
I clicked my tongue watching my junior brothers freak out like they'd uttered "that person's" name in some Harry Potter world.
Isn't this a bit over the top?
Sure, I'd chased you all down like rabid dogs and beaten you black and blue on rainy days just for mentioning the "ju" in "backdoor"...
Bihwan grabbed his brother's shoulder with a grim face and said desperately.
"Listen up, Haeyoung. There are no backdoor admissions in Mount Hua. Everyone here got in on their own merit. Great Senior Brother absolutely isn't one."
"Huh? Why bring up Great Senior Brother out of nowhere?"
"Wait."
I cut in abruptly, and a panicked Bihwan hurriedly shoved his brother behind his back protectively while trying to dissuade me.
"Senior Brother, he probably just heard it somewhere and didn't know any better—"
"What are you talking about? He came to ask something."
Anyone hearing this would think I was some villain who went around beating people willy-nilly.
I rested my wooden sword on my shoulder and looked up at the junior brother named Haeyoung with a tilted gaze.
"Where'd you hear that rumor about a backdoor admission?"
"Huh? It's the hot gossip going around among the outer disciples..."
"Dammit, there has to be a source! The source of the rumor!"
Haeyoung flinched at my irritated shout and peeked at my mood from over his brother's shoulder. I beckoned him with a finger.
"Come find out who started it first."
"Me?"
I snorted at the kid pointing at himself with wide eyes.
"Were you gonna spread that disgusting nonsense to us without the guts to back it up?"
Haeyoung frantically shook his head at my chilling glare.
"Don't be too hard on my little brother, Senior Brother."
Unable to stand it anymore, Bihwan shielded his brother and spoke up.
"Little brother? Baby bird? You took a dharma name to sever worldly ties and it's baby bird? Then ditch the dharma name and head down the mountain!"
"Big trouble!"
I had just grabbed Bihwan's collar and was shaking him for no good reason when a panting Biyeong came running up, shouting urgently.
"Senior Brother Biryung—gasp—got into it with a bunch of outer disciples!"
At those words, I immediately flung Bihwan's collar aside, my eyes gleaming as I whirled around.
"Let's go!"
The pecking-order brawl I'd been waiting for had finally broken out!
Humming a tune involuntarily, I got a smirk from Bihwan running beside me.
"Were you that bored?"
"Partly, but I'm curious about the impact of a thirteen-year-old. I've only tried up to eleven."
Bihwan's face turned sour instantly, and he edged away from me.
We arrived where Biyeong was leading, and a sharp, mocking voice rang out clearly.
"No matter how much the weakest of the Baek family bunch I am, I'm not at a level where I'd lose to riffraff like you."
Several outer disciples were already sprawled at Biryung's feet.
Her face bore scratches, and though she breathed heavily, her stance with the wooden sword remained steady and proper.
"For someone like that, you look like you're struggling, huh, backdoor admission?"
Was that why our Biryung Junior Sister, who had dramatically passed the Mount Hua core disciple exam with insane tenacity, was getting called that?
The guys blocking Biryung were a full head taller than her.
Despite the taunts and snickers thrown her way, a sharp smile never left Biryung's face.
"Not something I wanna hear from cowards ganging up one against many."
At Biryung's jab, the biggest guy in the middle, wooden sword slung over his shoulder, cackled.
"If you really weren't a backdoor admission, you should've taken us down in one go. Right?"
"What the hell is that bastard saying...?"
Bihwan muttered in disbelief.
They apparently had no idea how impressive it was for her to hold out this well against a bunch of guys one to three years older.
If they didn't know, I'd make them feel it with their bodies! That was the duty of the seniors!
I charged straight at the guy aiming for Biryung's back and unleashed a flying kick.
"Yeah, this ain't right!"
I landed after sending him flying properly with my kick and bellowed.
"I'll make a legend of one against many that I haven't even tried yet...!"
"You're the one?!"
Biwon shot back with an incredulous look.
The outer disciples facing me and twenty-eight scrubs looked flustered.
As I scanned them slowly, I spotted a familiar face and waved with my trademark bright smile.
"Oh? Long time no see!"
It was the guy who hadn't made the final thirty and dropped out at the end of the core disciple exam.
Seeing his face, I finally got why the parachute suspicions pointed to Biryung and not me, who became Great Senior Brother at six.
Me, always top of the class in exams and training, even snagging first place.
And Biryung, who always dry-heaved after training, had never touched a sword before, and her exam scores weren't anything special.
No need to spell out who looked like the parachute in his eyes.
Still smiling, I asked the guy awkwardly scratching his head in response to my greeting.
"Was it you? The one spreading crap about a backdoor admission among us?"
He flinched and shook his head rapidly.
Before I could even step forward, the leader-type brute stepped in front of me, looking down with a scowl.
"What's this? If even a brat like you is jumping in, how easy was that core disciple exam? Without the age limit, you'd have passed too, tch."
Oh really? You think so?
I tilted my head innocently, and his sneer deepened.
Ignoring it, I cracked my knuckles lightly, clenched my fist, and grinned at him.
"What is this?"
I leaped and slammed a solid punch into his solar plexus, shouting loud enough for the others to hear clearly.
"This is your Great Senior Brother, who you respect, admire, and bow to at the mere sight of his shadow!"
Hmm, thirteen-year-old impact feels like this.
The leader flew far off, tumbled pitifully onto the ground, and went limp.
That sparked it—core disciples and outer disciples charged at each other.
At first, quite a few rushed the one who looked the youngest—me—but after I sent a few flying satisfyingly with my wooden sword, disappointingly, no more came at me.
Amid the tangled melee of wooden swords, fists, and kicks flying everywhere, Biryung slipped out.
She walked over to stand beside me, hands behind her back, observing from a short distance away.
"Between those guys and you, who struck first?"
"You don't think I started it and gave those punks an excuse to back out, do you, Senior Brother?"
Biryung replied with a low scoff. I shook my head at the sight.
Yeah, you don't mess with the smart ones.