Practical Training (1)
Huangbo Ryun, who had been unconscious, clutched his neck and pushed his upper body upright. The White Sword Lord grabbed Huangbo Ryun’s wrist and carefully sent a stream of energy into him. From the reaction, it didn’t seem like a serious injury.
Han Yeoreum, confirming that Huangbo Ryun was fine, cut through the crowd of shocked people and walked straight toward me. Cold vapor kept leaking from her mouth, probably from the aftereffects of operating her true qi.
Han Yeoreum lifted the corners of her mouth and grinned brightly. I had no idea what she found so amusing.
She already knew the routine and tilted her head forward slightly, so I gave it a gentle pat. Seriously, it wasn’t like a cat headbutting someone as a greeting.
Han Yeoreum grabbed my other arm with both hands as she spoke. I didn’t mind the cool sensation either.
Cheon Hayeon, who had approached us at some point, spoke in a low voice.
Only then did I notice the many glances being thrown our way.
Cheon Hayeon crossed her arms and looked me up and down.
Han Yeoreum was already on the verge of melting from the warmth. Her eyes were half-glazed over.
She looked ready to cling to me completely, so I gently pushed her away and patted her back to straighten her posture.
Only then did Han Yeoreum come back to her senses. Her face flushed bright red as she hung her head.
Overwhelmed with self-loathing, Han Yeoreum covered her face with her palms.
Cheon Hayeon let out a strange sigh of admiration.
With Han Yeoreum as the final match, the sparring class came to an end. The way people looked at us had clearly changed from before the lesson. Whether they did or not, I was just grateful to have safely gotten through the first day of class.
I had been worried about whether I could adapt to a world where swords could slice through tanks, but at this rate, it seemed manageable.
Cheon Hayeon said she had somewhere to go, so Han Yeoreum and I walked side by side along the cherry blossom path. The pink buds just beginning to bloom gave off a rich spring fragrance. The red glow of the setting sun filtered through the cherry trees, casting long shadows.
They must have put real effort into the landscaping; even though it was just a common path on campus, it had its own charm.
Han Yeoreum suddenly grabbed my collar.
Han Yeoreum’s face turned as red as a tomato.
Instead of answering, Han Yeoreum twisted the ends of her hair. After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke.
Han Yeoreum let out a deep sigh. She really would have done it… I thought she was joking. As expected, her personality was impossible to pin down.
I wrapped my arm around her waist as she pouted.
Her yin energy seemed to linger longer than expected; her body was still slightly cold. I pulled her closer so she was pressed right against my side. She didn’t resist and obediently leaned into me.
We matched our steps and walked slowly. Thanks to the heightened senses I’d developed from training in martial arts, I could clearly hear Han Yeoreum’s heart pounding. In contrast, my own heart remained perfectly calm.
The temperature difference left me with a strangely complicated feeling.
I don’t know.
Maybe maintaining ‘equanimity’ wasn’t necessarily a good thing after all. The thought suddenly crossed my mind.
After walking at a leisurely pace, we eventually reached the end of the cherry blossom path. From here on, it was the dormitory area where students came and went quite frequently.
The dormitories strictly separated the male and female zones. As expected of Unicorn Academy. In old martial arts novels, Murim people were usually portrayed as relatively free and open about relationships between the sexes, but modern Murim seemed to have gone in the complete opposite direction.
Even in the class I’d seen earlier, the male and female groups had been strictly divided. That was probably why we stood out so much.
I released the arm I’d wrapped around Han Yeoreum’s waist.
After confirming she had entered the female dormitory zone, I turned around.
Both Han Yeoreum and I were essentially ordinary people, yet we had defeated monsters who had trained for over a decade since childhood. Even with the System’s correction, it still didn’t feel entirely real.
The same went for the Martial Soul. The fact that someone close to being the strongest in history had called it ‘everything I have’ was clearly no exaggeration.
It’s tricky.
It would have been better if I had possessed the body right at the start of the game. In the game, the past was nothing more than fragmentary background lore. Not much had been revealed, so naturally I didn’t have much information either. After all, games were mostly about events.
And most of those events were connected to the Gate incidents. Just like how I had been vaporized by the Demon King’s eye beam while trying to defeat him.
As time passed, Gates would appear more frequently and with greater intensity. Of course, Gates weren’t the only threats to this world. There were also humans.
If we were talking about the most dangerous group among humans, it was undoubtedly the Blood Sect. Next came the Ten Thousand Poison Gate. And finally, the National Intelligence Service’s Murim Inspection Department.
Every single one of them was at a level where even touching them right now would be suicidal. Since there was no such thing as revival, I had to be extremely cautious until I built up enough strength.
Lost in thought while planning for the future, I soon found myself in front of my room.
Click.
Cheon Hayeon, wearing only black silk pajamas and lying stretched out on the sofa with her chin propped on her hand, greeted me first. Her golden hair spilled all the way down past the sofa.
…Of course, Cheon Hayeon was currently in her female form.
Judging by how she had already showered, it didn’t look like she had actually gone anywhere for business.
It seemed Cheon Hayeon had already decided that Han Yeoreum and I were lovers. She stared at me with a languid expression for a moment before slowly sitting up. Then she walked right up to me.
Her clear green eyes looked up at me.
I was about to argue back, but the serious look on Cheon Hayeon’s face left me momentarily speechless.
Did she think I didn’t know that? I was hesitating precisely because I wasn’t sure. If I acted without conviction, the consequences would be too much to handle.
Cheon Hayeon, who had been quietly staring into my eyes, let out a small chuckle.
Cheon Hayeon went back to the sofa, sat down cross-legged, and flopped back.
I shot back lightly as I leaned against the sofa beside her.
I had guessed as much, but so that’s what she meant by trash…
Cheon Hayeon looked at me as if I had asked something strange.
Cheon Hayeon gave me a look of contempt. Hmm. Well, I guess she didn’t call it trash for no reason.
How was I supposed to say that I had to have sex with Han Yeoreum regularly just to stay alive? Besides, that would be disrespectful to her.
Just being possessed in this insane world was enough to break anyone’s mentality.
Vrrrr—
Suddenly, the smartphone in my pocket vibrated several times.
I took out my phone to check it as I headed into the bathroom. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could feel Cheon Hayeon’s gaze on my back.
She really couldn’t stay proper for long.
Han Yeoreum sent a message along with a barrage of angry emojis.
I wondered why she suddenly started texting. It seemed her roommate wasn’t to her liking at all.
After that, the messages stopped abruptly. It looked like she was going to try something new.
She learned all of that from me. Han Yeoreum hadn’t been like this at first either. Maybe it was because she was a high schooler under a lot of stress—she used to get sulky and angry at the drop of a hat, so I had to soothe her every single time. The most effective method had been to just put something sweet in her mouth.
After she graduated, she somehow turned into this personality. Thinking back on those days still makes me dizzy. I couldn’t just leave a child who had lost her parents and was wandering aimlessly, so I did my best to find a way. I still don’t know how I endured it. I’m honestly proud of myself.
My memories after finishing the shower were hazy. A sudden wave of exhaustion hit me, so I just collapsed onto the bed… When I came to, I felt the warm morning sunlight hitting my cheek.
I thought I closed the curtains.
It seemed Cheon Hayeon had woken up first. I slowly lifted my heavy eyelids and saw her sitting there with her eyes wide open, staring intently at something.
Following her gaze downward… it landed exactly on my crotch.
Because of the heat, I had instinctively kicked off the blanket. At the end of Cheon Hayeon’s line of sight stood a mountain towering like Mount Tai.
…Fuck.