The Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix
“Mmm.” I sat up naturally, pretending I’d just woken up. Cheon Hayeon flinched and quickly looked away. …It’s obvious. I never imagined she’d be curious about this sort of thing.
“Were you… already awake?” Her lips trembled ever so slightly.
“Just now. You’re up early.”
“Any martial artist rises at dawn. It is only natural.”
Then why were you standing there staring at me until just now? The words almost left my throat, but I swallowed them. I was curious how she’d react, yet the aftermath might be troublesome.
“So, what were you looking at?” I asked directly. To hell with the aftermath. How often do you get to see the lofty Young Sect Leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect flustered?
“…You are truly mischievous.” Cheon Hayeon lightly bit her lip. She’d been caught. Just like when she instantly grasped the relationship between Han Yeoreum and me yesterday, she possessed remarkable insight. My intention had been seen through immediately. Still, it felt oddly cute.
“Sorry. I didn’t expect you to be interested in this kind of thing.”
“…I merely came to wake you and my gaze happened to wander.”
“Naturally? That’s rich—ugh?”
Thwack. Before I could react, a finger-flick struck my forehead. It hurt. I clutched my head as sharp pain bloomed. That was definitely going to leave a mark.
“You jest too much.” Cheon Hayeon turned her head sharply after leaving a bright red mark on my forehead. Standing there in her pajamas, hair slightly disheveled… cute. I wanted to tease her more. But if I pushed further, a bump on the head would be the least of my worries.
I spoke in a slightly more serious tone. “I told you. Living together would lead to awkward situations.”
“No, it is not awkward.” She denied it firmly.
“Well, that’s a relief.”
“My apologies. I overreacted. Is your forehead all right?”
“Feels like I’m dying, but I’ll live.”
“…I am sorry. It was simply so novel that I…”
Novel, huh. Well, according to my Unicorn Divine Art’s judgment, Cheon Hayeon was also a virgin. She was at an age where curiosity ran high.
“Men are usually like this in the morning.”
“All of them?”
“Not all… but most?”
“Fascinating. So other men are also this…” Cheon Hayeon stretched her fingers out, measuring the length. Hey, doing that right in front of me—what does that make me? When she even pressed her wrist against her own arm and tilted her head in confusion, a sigh escaped me. There were limits to ignoring social cues.
“…Sizes vary greatly between individuals, so please stop measuring. It’s embarrassing.”
“I-I see. It is difficult to suppress one’s curiosity.”
Was this what they called a virgin bitch? I was going to lose my mind.
“Never seen one before?”
“…No.”
Fair enough. “Anyway, it’s just a common physiological phenomenon. Nothing to be amazed about. I’m going to wash up first.”
She nodded. Leaving the slightly dazed Cheon Hayeon behind, I headed into the bathroom.
I came out drying my hair with a towel to find Cheon Hayeon watching the TV with a grave expression.
“Something wrong?”
“Disappearances have been frequent lately.”
Ten years ago… I wouldn’t know. My memory wasn’t infinite, and the game never detailed events from ten years prior anyway.
“Even the Heavenly Demon Sect couldn’t figure it out?”
“We do not know everything either. The orthodox factions still openly reject us, making it difficult to operate freely in Korea.” Cheon Hayeon turned off the TV with a bitter look.
“Do you know anything about the Blood Sect?” I asked on a sudden impulse. She stared at me intently.
“How do you know about the Blood Sect?”
So it was still a secret at this point. “Never mind how. Want to exchange information? We still have some time before class.”
Thanks to her waking me early, we had time to talk.
“If it is something I can answer.”
“It’s nothing major. Just a small curiosity. Why does the Heavenly Demon Sect hate the Blood Sect so much?”
It was a question that had always nagged at me during the Blood Sect uprising arc. More often than not, it was the demonic factions, not the orthodox ones, who fought the Blood Sect with everything they had. Many orthodox sects and guilds that once shouted about righteousness and chivalry shrank back after a few brutal retaliations from the Blood Sect. The Blood Sect was powerful—though not quite on the level of the Heavenly Demon Sect—and above all, there was Hyeokri Ak. That madman’s methods were horrifically cruel. He slaughtered every resistor and even hunted down their families for torture and murder.
Compared to the hesitant orthodox side, the Heavenly Demon Sect, with the player’s cooperation, waged an all-out war and eventually succeeded in driving the Blood Sect out. Since the Heavenly Demon Sect was treated as a mysterious faction in-game, access was extremely limited. Naturally, the exact background behind their bloody struggle was hard to find.
“The Blood Sect… can be considered our shame. When we decided to migrate to Korea, they are the faction that rebelled against sealing and discarding all our wicked great arts and martial techniques, breaking away from the Heavenly Demon Sect. Filth, the lot of them.”
Cheon Hayeon’s eyes burned with hostility. As expected. I had suspected as much. A powerful group like the Blood Sect couldn’t have simply sprung from the ground overnight.
“The Blood Sect’s main base is the Hyeokri Clan. Know it? The next Blood Sect Leader’s name is Hyeokri Ak. He probably hasn’t taken the throne yet.”
Cheon Hayeon’s eyes widened. “Is this information reliable?”
“It’s reliable, but there’s no evidence. They’re still gathering strength in the shadows. I don’t have the ability to strip away their disguises, but you’re different, aren’t you?”
After pondering with her chin in her hand for a moment, Cheon Hayeon nodded. “It is worth investigating. You, on the other hand…”
Attacking the Blood Sect with my own power would be suicide. But did I really need to handle it alone? Now that I had a powerful ally, why not use her? The Poison Gate didn’t exist yet, and the Murim Inspection Department was a government agency, so we couldn’t strike until they openly revealed their ambitions. But the Blood Sect was different. Cut the weeds and dig out the roots. If we could eliminate the source of trouble in advance, all the better. They would still be weaker than in the past, and I had already stolen the opportunity the Blood Sect Leader was supposed to obtain. Even if we failed to completely uproot them, it wouldn’t matter. As long as the Heavenly Demon Sect kept them in check beforehand, dealing with them later would be far easier.
“And check these guys too.” I wrote down the names and characteristics of several notorious figures from the Blood Sect uprising event and handed the paper over.
“…I will mention it to the Sect.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“It is I who should thank you. If this is true… you will be a benefactor not only to me, but to the entire Heavenly Demon Sect.”
“No need to go that far. Let’s just get ready for class.”
Cheon Hayeon nodded and went to wash up. Disappearances, huh. A world where dozens of people vanished daily in broad daylight in the middle of the capital region. Once again, I was reminded—this world really was a cesspool.
***
“This is scary.” Han Yeoreum lightly grabbed my collar. Today was a major required course—the practical training day. As the name suggested, the goal was to face monsters that actually appeared in gates. The academy had been founded to combat the unprecedented disaster known as the Gate Incident, so it was inevitable that the curriculum leaned heavily in that direction.
“No need to be that nervous.”
“I can’t even kill bugs.” Her eyes trembled slightly. She was really tense.
“You killed them just fine in the game.”
“That was a game…! Can you really kill them?”
“Probably?”
“…Really?”
“You’ll see later.”
I patted the back of the wide-eyed Han Yeoreum. Thanks to my Conscience Severance trait, I probably wouldn’t even flinch at killing people. …Probably. I didn’t think a mere monster would disturb my composure.
“You all right?” I asked Kim Yong casually as we entered the training area. He stood leaning against a nearby pillar with half-closed eyes, arms crossed, striking the perfect chuunibyou pose.
“Hmph, don’t concern yourself…!” Kim Yong snorted and turned his head sharply. Watching a guy act like that made me want to smack him on the head. If I ambushed him and struck his skull with the Blood Demon Art, I might win. The ridiculous thought crossed my mind, but I suppressed it and walked inside.
“The professor in charge is a woman. From the Hwasan Sect, a Plum Blossom Sword Master or something?” Han Yeoreum’s eyes sparkled.
“Interested?”
“She’s cool. I liked her in the game too. The Plum Blossom Sword Masters.”
Even the Shaolin Sect, the supreme power of Murim, had collapsed completely. There was no way the Hwasan Sect right next door in Shaanxi had survived unscathed. The surviving members scattered, but some of the Hwasan Sect managed to regroup in Korea. They established a new temple on Plum Blossom Mountain in Gyeongsangnam-do and continued their lineage as the New Hwasan Sect. It was an absurd setting, but thanks to their efforts to rebuild, they soon produced quite a few excellent swordsmen. Anyone with talent was immediately taken in as a direct disciple of the sect leader or elders, so by the ten-year mark, it was hard to guess someone’s position based on age alone.
“She’s coming.” I nudged Han Yeoreum’s side as she stood with her hands neatly folded. A woman with jet-black hair cascading past her waist, adorned with a plum blossom hairpin, approached with calm steps. The sleeves of her hemp robe were embroidered with intricate plum blossom patterns. She looked to be in her late twenties at most, yet she could easily pass for the same age as Han Yeoreum. A slightly more mature version of her? Naturally, she was a stunning beauty.
“Why does she look like you?”
“…Right? It’s not just my imagination, is it? Do you know who she is?” Han Yeoreum whispered in my ear. At a glance, they could pass for sisters. It was hazy, but I was certain. She looked exactly like this even ten years later.
“Cheongha, the Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix. The youngest Plum Blossom Sword Master.”
“Who?”
“Just think of her as one of the most outstanding figures in our parents’ generation.”
In the Hwasan Sect’s generational naming, “Cheong” meant she was a direct disciple of the sect leader. The current Hwasan Sect Leader was Unhyeon Jinin. A young female disciple among mostly middle-aged first-generation disciples. That was why age alone couldn’t determine someone’s standing in the Hwasan Sect. Even in modern Murim, generational hierarchy was important. Moreover, judging by her swordsmanship, she had already become the head of the Seven Plum Blossom Sword Masters at this point.
“She’s pretty… Should I join the Hwasan Sect? I want to learn something elegant like the Plum Blossom Sword Art instead of crude techniques like the Small Heavenly Demon Art.”
“It’s already too late. And if you go there, you won’t be able to see me.”
No matter how secular the Hwasan Sect was, they were still fundamentally Taoists and quite strict about romantic relationships. That was probably why Professor Cheongha was also a virgin. …Even the professor was a virgin now. No matter how young she looked.
“Then I can’t do that.”
“Let’s just focus on what we’ve already learned.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Han Yeoreum pouted.
“Everyone’s gathered. Let me introduce myself first.”
Suddenly, she drew her sword and swung it lightly. Beautifully scattered petals and a rich plum blossom fragrance filled the air.
“…The Twenty-Four Hands Plum Blossom Sword Art—Plum Blossom Ten Thousand Li Fragrance. To have mastered it at her age. Truly worthy of her reputation.” Even Cheon Hayeon, who had quietly approached my side, watched in admiration.
“I’m Cheongha from the Hwasan Sect, in charge of this class.”
Amid the subtle violet energy spreading like sunset and the crimson plum blossoms falling gently, she held her sword in reverse grip and clasped her hands in greeting. It was a beautiful, almost unreal sight that was hard to look away from.