Chapter 14
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Hae Myo of the Huashan Sect
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Hae Myo of the Huashan Sect
The Namgung Family.
Having returned to his family home, Namgung Yuya had been feeling an inexplicable sense of frustration ever since the incident at the inn.
‘Sigh.’
As he walked along, sighing heavily, someone bumped into his shoulder and passed by. The impact was strong enough to knock Namgung Yuya to the ground.
“Don't get in the way.”
When Namgung Yuya looked up, he saw his third elder brother standing there.
“You vermin!”
The familiar insult came from his third brother. Then, he left.
‘Strange.’
It was truly strange. Normally, hearing such insults would make him shrink back like before, but he didn't feel that way at all.
Moreover, whenever he saw his third brother, he was always too afraid to meet his gaze, but today, he looked him in the eye without any issue.
Namgung Yuya got up and started walking again, heading for his room.
Ever since that day, a corner of his chest felt tight and tingly.
Even after the sun set and it was time for bed, the feeling hadn't gone away.
Unable to sleep, he eventually went out for a short walk. As he strolled, he saw a familiar silhouette in the distance.
Namgung Yuya quickly tried to turn back, but a voice called out to him from the shadow.
“I heard from the strategist today.”
‘Damn it!’
The figure was none other than the head of the Namgung Family, the Sword King, Namgung Je.
To Namgung Yuya, his father was an object of both admiration and fear.
So, while he wished to see him, it was always awkward. He never knew how to act when he met his father.
“That you did well on your first mission.”
He flinched.
Namgung Yuya's body, which had been turning away, trembled.
“The strategist praised you, saying that thanks to you, a complicated matter was resolved smoothly.”
When he looked, his father was smiling at him for the first time.
Only then did Namgung Yuya realize the source of the frustration that had been tormenting him.
‘I didn't do it.’
He had just stood quietly in the corner.
‘I just watched.’
“You are a member of the Namgung family, so I believed you would do well. I'm proud of you.”
These were the words Namgung Yuya had always wanted to hear from his father. But for some reason… he wasn't as happy as he thought he would be.
He thought his heart would be pounding, but he just felt calm.
“Yes.”
“Alright. You look tired. Go and rest.”
“Yes.”
Returning to his room, Namgung Yuya lay down on his bed, pulled the covers over himself, and closed his eyes.
Sleep did not come.
“I should have rushed out then.”
His hands itched.
His feet tingled.
His heart pounded, beating far too strongly.
Namgung Yuya was changing, little by little.
***
Chengdu.
“Warrior! Good morning!”
People who didn't know him yesterday were now greeting him.
It felt like he had become a celebrity.
“Warrior! We're counting on you again today!”
He thought it was a coincidence, but more and more people were making eye contact with him.
“Warrior! A fine morning to you!”
Bewildered, Ha Yuseong glanced at Namgung Yuya walking beside him.
Namgung Yuya, as if accustomed to such reactions, walked on in silence.
‘As expected of the Five Great Families.’
He sometimes forgot. His partner was from one of the renowned Five Great Families. Though it didn't usually show, a person's upbringing naturally seeps into their character.
Look at him, so composed.
In contrast, for Ha Yuseong, who was once a third-rate ronin, this excessive attention was an entirely new and unfamiliar experience.
“Yesterday's fight was incredible!”
But it wasn't so bad.
The corners of his mouth naturally started to curl upwards.
‘Ahem!’
There were just some bad guys, and he had simply beaten them up.
A child running ahead stumbles and falls. Just before the child hits the ground, Ha Yuseong catches and helps them up.
“Are you okay?”
“Yup!”
“Good. Be more careful from now on.”
“Okay!”
Seeing this, the people began to murmur again.
“Oh my! How kind!”
“As expected of the Murim Alliance, messengers of justice!”
“The Murim Alliance, tigers of justice!”
“The Murim Alliance, dragons of justice!”
Hearing constant praise was almost intoxicating. Could this be the taste of that legendary drug, the only one sanctioned by the state? The drug called the Murim Alliance?
Ha Yuseong glanced to his side again, and Namgung Yuya, as befitting a scion of the Five Great Families, maintained a stoic expression.
In that moment, Ha Yuseong thought, *Oops!* and quickly lowered the corners of his mouth.
‘I must maintain my dignity.’
I'm no longer a third-rate warrior!
A messenger of justice! A tiger! A dragon!
I'm a warrior of the Murim Alliance.
And when they entered the inn, others welcomed Ha Yuseong.
The innkeeper's assistant approached and greeted them.
“I heard there was a big incident at the inn yesterday. I hope you were alright?”
Ha Yuseong now replied with practiced ease.
“I'm fine. If anything had happened, it would have been to all of you, not me. Are you all alright?”
“Such profound consideration! How can he be so thoughtful!”
At the assistant's praise, Ha Yuseong had to forcibly suppress his rising spirits.
However, he didn't downplay his own achievements.
‘My first deed after joining the Murim Alliance.’
‘The first peace I've protected.’
Until now, Ha Yuseong had only watched from a distance as others changed the world around him.
During his days as a third-rate ronin, he was simply swept along by his changing environment.
But after becoming a warrior of the Murim Alliance, he had, for the first time, taken the initiative to directly influence his surroundings.
That change.
Ha Yuseong looked around the inn.
The assistants bustled about.
Customers ordered their food.
If he listened closely, he could hear conversations of little substance.
The small, insignificant daily life that he had protected.
It wasn't grand.
It was very ordinary.
Quite.
‘It's not bad.’
Just then, the assistant took something out and handed it to Ha Yuseong.
“And this is a small token of our gratitude from our Golden Inn to you, warrior.”
A thick stack of paper.
Was this the legendary bribe (?).
The stack of paper turned out to be meal tickets.
Enough to eat for at least a month.
“If you bring these, you can order anything you like. Of course, the number of dishes doesn't matter.”
The Golden Inn was the best inn in Henan. Meal tickets that allowed one to order anything from their menu boasted a value that could hardly be converted into money.
“You don't have to do this. I was just doing my duty.”
“No, please. If you refuse even this, we won't have the face to see you again. Please accept it.”
‘I have no choice.’
It's a gesture of sincerity.
It would be rude to refuse.
“Yes. Then I'll accept it gratefully.”
At the same time, a thought flashed through his mind.
It was fortunate the outcome was good. If he had lost to the Three Hounds of Henan, everyone here might have met a terrible end.
Perhaps many people could have lost their lives on the spot.
Feeling the reassuring stack of meal tickets in his breast pocket, Ha Yuseong made a vow.
It was definitely not because of the money.
‘Right! I'm still not strong enough!’
Ha Yuseong went up to the second floor and moved aside the chair in front of the table.
Namgung Yuya watched him with a puzzled expression. After all, sitting in mid-air without a chair was obviously strange.
“Brother Ha?”
“Brother Namgung. You should join me.”
“Join you in what?”
“Lower body training. Training knows no time or place. Self-discipline must be practiced daily! You never know when a critical situation like last time might arise!”
“Is that... sitting in mid-air right now?”
“Indeed. My thighs are feeling a delicious burn right now. Isn't this the true delicacy? Oh! It's already so tasty!”
Namgung Yuya looked at the actual delicacies spread out before him and wondered what kind of crazy stunt this was, but he quickly remembered his resolve from yesterday. He had decided to change.
“I'll join you!”
Namgung Yuya sat in mid-air like Ha Yuseong, without a chair, but after about fifteen minutes, he sat back down. His thighs felt like they were about to explode. He then simply enjoyed the real delicacies before him.
Namgung Yuya glanced at Ha Yuseong, who was still sitting in mid-air.
“Oh, this flavor?”
“It's a fantastic taste where land, sea, and air come together!”
Indeed, Brother Ha was amazing, but definitely!
‘He's not normal.’
It was another peaceful day.
***
As one of the three great disciples of the Huashan Sect and a member of the Three Flowers Unit, the third-strongest of the Ten Great Units, it was no exaggeration to say that Hae Myo had a brilliant future guaranteed.
However, one day, a bolt from the blue struck, and he was demoted from the third unit of the Ten Great Units to the lowest-ranking Crouching Dragon Unit.
“What! A disciple of the Huashan Sect taking bribes? Shit! Is this for real?!”
He couldn't understand it. A proud disciple of the great Huashan Sect taking a bribe from a mere merchant!
As a disciple of the Huashan Sect, it was unavoidable that he would be caught in the fallout.
But this was a matter of pride as a disciple of the Huashan Sect.
“Hmph. To think the Huashan Sect, a symbol of purity, would suffer such disgrace. Fine! Though I've been demoted to the Crouching Dragon Unit, I will definitely climb back up!”
He saw a turtle-shaped sign ahead.
“That must be the Crouching Dragon Unit.”
The most important thing in a first meeting is the first impression.
Hae Myo had no intention of being looked down upon by the likes of the Crouching Dragon Unit. He kicked open the closed door and declared confidently.
“Who's the head honcho here?!”
***
There are many kinds of people in the martial world, and it was a common theory that most of them were abnormal.
Hae Myo, who had just burst in, was no exception.
An extreme narcissist who lived off his own sense of superiority.
And for good reason. Hae Myo was a talent who had confidently risen this far through the unstinting support of the Huashan Sect and his own relentless efforts.
He was what you would call a rising star, an idol among the young martial artists.
Being who he was, it wasn't easy for Hae Myo to accept this reality.
‘My time in the Crouching Dragon Unit is just a brief moment in my long martial arts career.’
The current situation was like taking temporary shelter from a storm.
But that didn't mean he planned to stay quiet.
Hae Myo first cast his gaze towards the master of this place, the Unit Leader.
His eyes fell on the Unit Leader, who was sleeping, slumped in his chair as if lying down, completely devoid of motivation.
Just what you'd expect from the leader of the lowest-ranking unit of the Ten Great Units.
Hae Myo's face crumpled. It was a stark contrast to the leader of the Three Flowers Unit where he had been.
-Alright! Time for training today!
To think he was so sound asleep that he didn't even notice my arrival.
No wonder the other unit members are nowhere to be seen, aside from that one dazed-looking guy over there.
Who would serve under a man like that?
“Tsk!”
Hae Myo clicked his tongue and approached Namgung Yuya.
“Are you the boss?”
Namgung Yuya answered immediately.
“No.”
Hearing the reply, Hae Myo lost interest in Namgung Yuya and went to sit in an empty seat.
Just then, Ha Yuseong returned from his morning training.
His clothes were soaked through.
Steam rose from his body, still hot.
“Brother Namgung! Let's head out for our mission now!”
Hae Myo's eyes glinted for a moment.
The first proper human he had seen in the Crouching Dragon Unit.
It was only natural that Hae Myo's eyes, filled with curiosity, were fixed on Ha Yuseong.
Namgung Yuya hurriedly looked back at Hae Myo.
The future that naturally came to mind.
Hae Myo was jumping up from his seat and approaching his brother.
Then, holding his head high, he asked.
“Are you the boss?”
“The boss?”
“Whatever, you! Let's have a go!”
“Why should I have a go with you?”
“I'm Hae Myo, from the Three Flowers Unit.”
“Oh! The Three Flowers Unit! That's impressive!”
“I'm only here temporarily due to certain circumstances.”
“How unfortunate for you.”
“Truly unfortunate. At least you seem like a proper Murim Alliance warrior here. The great Hae Myo will specially take you as his first subordinate. What's your name?”
“My name is Ha Yuseong.”
“So it was you?”
“Pardon?”
“Let's fight! Come outside!”
Namgung Yuya quickly went to Ha Yuseong and gave him a brief explanation. Ha Yuseong immediately nodded, his eyes shining.
-Brother! He's our new subordinate, demoted here because of the Three Hounds of Henan incident!
“A subordinate!”
The fourth thing on his list of one hundred things to do after joining the Murim Alliance!
Four. Get a subordinate.
This was something he couldn't resist.
To think a cute little subordinate had arrived already