Chapter 2: Macguffin, I've Become Jang Sam?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 2: Macguffin, I've Become Jang Sam?
Looking around, Sun-woo felt a wave of bewilderment.
The place he had woken up was not his cramped, eight-pyeong studio apartment. He felt the coldness of marble beneath him and a sweltering heat radiating from his surroundings.
What is this? Where am I?
Sun-woo looked down to check his own attire. Like the people sitting in the stands, he was dressed in traditional Chinese-style clothing.
"Jang Sam, get a grip! Jang Sam!"
Slap! Slap!
A giant of a man in front of him was repeatedly slapping his cheeks, urging him to snap out of it.
Jang Sam? ...Ugh!
The moment he heard the name 'Jang Sam,' a splitting headache struck him. Soon, fragments of memories scattered in his mind began to click into place, merging into one.
Aaaaaaaargh!
His name was Jang Sam.
He was the first disciple of Lee Jae-won—the world's greatest martial artist and the great hero who saved the Murim—and he was one of the forgotten Macguffins.
In the early-to-mid stages of the novel High School Senior Goes to Murim, there was an episode praising Lee Jae-won’s chivalry. It involved him saving a pitiful child who had lost his parents to bandits and taking him in as a disciple.
Jang Sam was one of the Macguffins used for that purpose. Despite being described as if he would become someone important later—a significant turning point—he was a character the author simply handed off to a random subordinate, neglected, and eventually forgot.
The story said the protagonist, who protected the peace of the Murim and defeated the Heavenly Demon Emperor, lived out his happy days surrounded by numerous wives and concubines. However, there wasn't a single line describing what happened to Jang Sam.
In the end, he had been forgotten. By everyone.
And Sun-woo had possessed the body of that disposable extra, Jang Sam.
Damn it, that part about sending me to the Murim was real?!
Sun-woo gnashed his teeth as he recalled the contents of the note he had seen last. It claimed that his critique, written purely as bait, had moved the heart of some transcendental being, leading to this absolute mess.
Shit, if you're going to make me possess someone, make it the protagonist! Why this kind of extra?!
Sun-woo—no, the man who had now become Jang Sam—screamed inwardly.
[Assimilation Rate: 77.1%]
Suddenly, the term 'Assimilation Rate' flashed through his mind. Then, Jang Sam’s memories began to seep into Sun-woo with rapid detail.
Twenty years had passed since the Absolute Martial God Lee Jae-won defeated the Heavenly Demon Emperor, who had harbored ambitions to rule the Murim. Jang Sam, who was only a seven-year-old child back then, had grown into a twenty-seven-year-old man.
Though Jang Sam was a disciple taken in merely to boost the protagonist's image in the early stages, he was technically the first disciple. Since his talent for martial arts wasn't terrible, he had managed to reach the Peak Realm.
Reaching the Peak Realm at the young age of twenty-seven was an impressive feat for any of the rising stars, but for the disciple of the world's greatest martial artist, it was a pathetic result.
His master, the Absolute Martial God Lee Jae-won, was a superhuman who had reached the Absolute Realm before the age of twenty. The comparison was devastating.
Since there was no shortage of young experts on par with Jang Sam, his reputation had plummeted to rock bottom. While it wasn't common for even prestigious clans to produce a Peak Realm martial artist of Jang Sam's age, it wasn't an achievement considered particularly special either.
"Jang Sam! What are you daydreaming for? Get up this instant!"
The man in front of him was Ju Gwang of the Great Tyrant Blade.
This man was also an extra brought in early on to make the protagonist look good. He was a Peak Realm expert at the time, but he couldn't keep up with the power inflation when a horde of Super-Peak experts started running wild. He was naturally written out of the story after sustaining an injury.
Fortunately, perhaps because he had aligned himself with the right side early on, the setting established that he held the position of a Hall Master in the Cheonmu Alliance after the ending.
To Jang Sam, who had been neglected after being tossed a single secret manual and told to learn it himself, Ju Gwang was closer to a real teacher than Lee Jae-won, who was his master in name only.
Sun-woo felt his hazy memories becoming clearer. He realized why he had been lying there with blood streaming from his nose and why the Great Tyrant Blade was supporting him.
Today was the day of the Grand Martial Arts Tournament.
The Cheonmu Alliance held the Grand Martial Arts Tournament every year to establish the hierarchy among martial artists. The intended purpose was to give newcomers and rising stars a chance to receive direct instruction from the older generation through duels, and to encourage the older generation to keep striving forward rather than becoming complacent.
However, while dueling itself was fine, the decision to create a formal hierarchy caused the event to evolve in a different direction.
Rather than seeking instruction, the rising stars fought recklessly against the older generation to make a name for themselves. The older generation, in turn, fought fiercely to ensure their arrogant juniors couldn't climb over them, often going as far as breaking a limb.
Of course, the Absolute Martial God Lee Jae-won seemed perfectly satisfied with this spectacle.
Jang Sam had also been challenged to a duel in the Grand Martial Arts Tournament and had been defeated in an instant.
Looking around, everyone was chanting one person's name in unison.
"Waaaaah! Lady Lee Ye-seol defeated Jang Sam!"
"As expected of the Martial God's bloodline!"
"Lee Ye-seol! Lee Ye-seol! Lee Ye-seol!"
"The 'Heavenly Heavy Sword' Jang Sam is rolling on the ground!"
"He's more of an 'Earth-Heavy Sword' than a 'Heavenly Heavy Sword' now! Hahahaha!"
That was it. Jang Sam had been defeated by Lee Jae-won’s daughter, Lee Ye-seol.
The fact that he had lost to a kid seven years younger than him left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Given how much of a womanizer Lee Jae-won was in the story, all his wives and concubines had become pregnant simultaneously after the ending. Among them, the primary wife, Heavenly Sword Empress Joo So-yang, had become pregnant during the story and gave birth to a daughter right after the ending—that was Lee Ye-seol.
Born from the bloodline of Lee Jae-won and the Heavenly Sword Empress, Lee Ye-seol possessed innate martial talent. She reached the Peak Realm at the young age of seventeen, and now, at twenty, she had grown into a formidable expert on the verge of the Super-Peak Realm.
Despite being the first disciple, Jang Sam, who had only just reached the Peak Realm, was worlds apart from her in terms of skill.
Sun-woo looked past Ju Gwang at Lee Ye-seol, who stood there with an air of nobility.
A woman with ebony, lustrous hair, sparkling eyes, a sharp nose, and lips as bright as cherries was looking down at him. She wore a white robe that seemed tailored to perfectly accentuate her curves.
He could tell. The emotion dwelling in those eyes, which shone like starlight, was contempt.
Step. Step. Step.
Lee Ye-seol approached Jang Sam.
Seeing her approach, Ju Gwang took the hint and stepped down from the duel stage.
Lee Ye-seol stood before Jang Sam and leaned down to meet his eyes.
"Do you really call yourself the first disciple with such pathetic skills?"
"Junior Sister... I..."
Having fully assimilated with Jang Sam, the words 'Junior Sister' escaped Sun-woo's mouth instinctively.
"Don't call me that. A weakling like you has no right to stand above me."
".........."
"If you have any shred of honor left, why don't you give up your position as the first disciple and leave the Cheonmu Alliance? No matter how I look at it, that title is wasted on you. Stop dragging my father's name through the mud."
Her voice, cold as frost, pierced through Jang Sam's chest. Perhaps because of the perfect assimilation, he could feel exactly what Jang Sam was feeling.
It was anger, a sense of inferiority, and futility toward Lee Ye-seol.
And finally, it was lust.
Sun-woo felt a sense of bewilderment. To feel sexual desire while being looked down upon like this—was this guy a total pervert?
The anger at the fact that he could never possess that woman who shone as perfectly as a star; the inferiority toward her superior martial arts despite her being much younger; and yet, her voluptuous breasts, slender waist, and firm buttocks—everything about her drove him into a frenzy of arousal.
To define Lee Ye-seol, she was a woman who amplified one's desire for possession.
What would that noble face look like if it were distorted by lust?
What would happen if that haughty attitude turned into that of a bitch in heat?
Countless questions and delusions seemed to flash through Jang Sam's mind.
Jang Sam, now fully merged with Sun-woo, lowered his eyes as if intimidated, yet he couldn't stop stealing glances at her curves.
Sensing his gaze, Lee Ye-seol gave him a look as if she were staring at a bug, then turned around and walked away.
Even though he had received her contemptuous gaze, Jang Sam watched her retreating figure even more intently, captivated by the swaying movement of her hips.