Namgung Sword Duel vs. North Sea Beauty Disaster
After the match ended, I was looking for Sohui so I could head back to our lodging when someone came up behind me and tapped me on the back.
I turned around to see Paeng Hosik grinning at me.
"No celebration party for making it to the finals?"
He said that after I had beaten him and advanced to the final.
He really was shameless, or maybe I had gotten on Paeng Hosik's good side that much. Either way, the whole situation was hilarious.
When I laughed, Paeng Hosik laughed too.
"What are you two doing?"
Sohui asked as she walked up behind the laughing Paeng Hosik.
Paeng Hosik turned at the sound of her voice, and his ears instantly went red.
"O-oh. I've never seen such a beautiful lady before. What's your name?"
"Pardon? We met a few years ago at the Five Great Clans exchange gathering. I'm Jegal Sohui."
Sohui brushed past Paeng Hosik with a look that said she couldn't believe this and came over to my side.
"There's no way I could forget such a beautiful young lady... Please, Miss Sohui, come to the celebration party for making it to the finals with us!"
Paeng Hosik, looking as excited as though he had made the finals himself, took the lead and insisted we all go party.
With his enthusiastic invitation, Sohui and I ended up following along before we knew it.
I didn't dislike his uniquely cheerful, upbeat energy, so in the end, Paeng Hosik's self-appointed celebration party for my finals appearance did happen.
We headed to the same upscale restaurant we had gone to before.
Paeng Hosik made his way to the private room as naturally as if he owned the place.
The moment we sat down, he started firing off questions.
"How old are you this year, Miss Sohui?"
"Miss Sohui is... Miss Sohui is..."
As the questions kept coming, all aimed at Sohui, I felt an inexplicable irritation rising in me.
Sohui kept stealing glances at me and answering only in bits and pieces.
Before long, the food arrived, and Paeng Hosik's barrage of questions finally stopped.
But only for a moment.
Once the meal was over, the interrogation resumed.
"Ahem."
I gestured Sohui behind me, silently telling him that it was time for us to leave.
"Hmm... By the way, what exactly are Miss Sohui and Young Master Han to each other that you're always together?"
At that question, I lost my words and flinched for a moment.
But if I couldn't answer here, it was obvious Paeng Hosik would keep pestering Sohui forever.
The thought twisted my mood for some reason.
"We're getting to know each other."
It wasn't a lie, but I answered in a deliberately vague way.
"I see..."
Paeng Hosik looked thoroughly disappointed at my answer.
I glanced at Sohui too.
Fortunately, she gave me a tiny thumbs-up where Paeng Hosik couldn't see, as if to say I had done well.
And so, though it had started as my celebration party for reaching the finals, the night ended with someone's hopes crushed, and Paeng Hosik and I parted ways.
Sohui and I headed back to the lodging.
On the way, the atmosphere felt a little strange, so I finally spoke.
"About what I said earlier."
At my words, which broke the silence, Sohui focused on me.
"What about it?"
"I told Paeng Hosik that we were getting to know each other."
"Oh, that."
"I was just wondering if I said something unnecessary."
"Unnecessary? Not at all. I was a little uncomfortable too. He kept asking me all sorts of things."
"I'm glad to hear that."
After that, a strange silence settled between us for a while.
As we walked on, Sohui spoke first.
"But did you really think that?"
"Think what? That you were uncomfortable?"
"Not that..."
Sohui hesitated for a long moment before continuing.
"Did you think we were getting to know each other?"
Her direct question left me thoroughly flustered.
What if I said yes just for the sake of it, and she wasn't thinking that at all? Wouldn't that get awkward for me too?
Countless possibilities and assumptions flooded my head.
I stayed silent for a while, but Sohui waited without saying a word.
In the end, we arrived at the lodging just like that.
Sohui was about to head back to her room.
But thinking I shouldn't let her go like this, I grabbed her wrist.
"I didn't say that because I thought we were already that kind of relationship."
"Oh?"
Sohui looked somewhat disappointed.
"I said it because I wanted us to become that kind of relationship."
At my words, Sohui froze in surprise.
Then, little by little, her face began to redden.
Her lips opened and closed, but no sound came out.
"Uh... uh..."
And then, just as Sohui seemed to have made up her mind to speak, the door opened and Jegal Jinhyeon came in.
"Oh! What are you two doing here? Young Master Han, I hear you made it to the finals? Congratulations! Get to bed early and do your best tomorrow. Try to take the championship too."
Jinhyeon's sudden appearance made the mood awkward, and in the end I had to return to my room without hearing Sohui's answer.
But just as I turned away, I saw Sohui's lips move.
See you tomorrow.
From her bright expression, it felt like I could expect a positive answer.
And so, whether it was because of tomorrow's final or my conversation with Sohui, I spent a difficult night with my heart pounding wildly, and at last morning broke on the day of the Murim Tournament finals.
The final was in the afternoon, so I woke leisurely, circulated my qi, and brought my condition to its peak.
I had lunch with Sohui as usual, but there was no conversation between us.
After yesterday's talk, it somehow felt hard to strike up a conversation.
When that quiet meal ended, we headed to the tournament grounds together.
We remained silent the whole way there.
Once we arrived, I headed to the waiting room and Sohui went off to the stands, which meant it was time for us to part.
"Then I'll be off."
I said my goodbye and turned around.
Then Sohui's voice came from behind me.
"Please win. That... thing."
Sohui hesitated.
I turned back to face her.
"Since we're getting to know each other, shouldn't you at least show me something cool?"
She said that and then hurried off toward the stands.
Without realizing it, I wore a dazed, delighted expression as I headed for the waiting room.
There's no way I'm losing to anyone today. No, defeat is simply unacceptable today.
I sat in the waiting room, my whole body buzzing with excitement.
Shortly after, Namgung Taeseong's opening ceremony began.
"At last, the long-awaited final of the Late-Generation Rising Dragon Murim Tournament! The finalists are Namgung's Sword, Namgung Hyeongeom of the Namgung Clan, and North Sea Beauty Disaster, Han Yugang of the North Sea Ice Palace! The champion of the Murim Tournament will be decided between these two men!"
The crowd burst into cheers at the Alliance Leader's opening remarks.
I took a deep breath and stepped onto the sparring platform.
I could see Namgung Hyeongeom coming up from the opposite side.
His heavy, forceful swordsmanship from the semifinal flashed through my mind.
Still, I absolutely can't lose today.
The tremor eased as I gripped the blade at my waist.
Namgung Hyeongeom, on the other side, wore a similarly resolute expression.
He probably wanted to claim the title of strongest among the younger generation in front of his father, the Alliance Leader.
I wasn't after the title of strongest, but that didn't mean I had any desire to lose. Not even a little.
"Then the final of the Late-Generation Rising Dragon Murim Tournament begins now!"
I focused my inner power.
Everything around me felt sharper than usual.
My desire to win was stronger than it had ever been.
I exhaled cold air through my breath, and the surroundings gradually began to freeze over.
The instant Namgung Hyeongeom tried to adjust his stance, I charged.
Now!
Draw!
My fierce drawing slash was met head-on by Namgung Hyeongeom.
Boundless Sky Sword Art First Form: Falling Thunder
My blade and Namgung Hyeongeom's collided in full.
Now that they had actually met, it was clearly a heavy, razor-sharp strike.
It carried more power than Paeng Hosik's blade style ever had.
Still, today's draw technique didn't seem like it would be pushed back.
As my momentum gradually began to force him back, Namgung Hyeongeom twisted his whole body while retreating and managed to evade the strike.
"Indeed, Young Master Han has the advantage in sheer power at the moment of impact. However, after watching the semifinal, I have already found a way to break your two forms."
Break them? My draw technique doesn't lose. Even if it's blocked, I can just follow into a spinning slash. He only escaped backward just now, which prevented me from chaining into the spin.
Thinking that, I slid the blade back into its scabbard and reset my stance.
"Your first strike is tremendously powerful. The spinning slash that follows is sharp and fast as well. But it has a fatal weakness."
Before he even finished speaking, I charged again.
Namgung Hyeongeom also rushed toward me to meet it.
"Then let's see you block this."
Draw!
Something felt wrong.
But the blade was already coming free.
Namgung Hyeongeom had no intention of blocking my draw like before.
As he closed the distance and I began to draw, he suddenly leaped backward.
Because I had calculated my draw based on the speed of my charge, the sudden change in distance meant my blade would miss.
And his sword pointed skyward.
Damn it.
At this rate, my blade would never reach Namgung Hyeongeom, and my own forward momentum would carry me right into his sword.
But there was no way to generate enough rotational force for the spinning slash in this position.
Shit.
My second form, the spinning slash, was meant for when the draw got stopped.
I had never assumed the possibility that my draw would be evaded or fail to connect entirely.
Even if I tried to leap backward now to create distance, my center of gravity was already pitched too far forward.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Then a single line suddenly surfaced in my mind.
"Your sword's blade is curved, so when you draw it, it can brace against the scabbard. You use that force to slash as though the sword is springing out of the scabbard."
Cheon Muhyeok's words.
Those were the words that had explained the principle of the draw technique, something I hadn't even understood myself.
That one line surfaced in my head again.
Brace it and slash as though it springs out...
And when I opened the eyes I had squeezed shut, the ground came into view.