Fixer (3)
Fixer (3)
There was a time, sometime ago, when I'd been asked the question, what exactly were martial arts, or mugong?
Back in my school days, some kids who got curious seeing me read wuxia novels whenever I had free time came up to me and asked what wuxia was, and naturally the conversation flowed to what exactly this mugong that gets dealt with a lot in wuxia was.
And, at the time, the moment I realized those guys hadn't approached out of pure curiosity but with the aim of making fun of me and harassing me, I just gave a brief answer about mugong by saying it was Chinese martial arts.
Thanks to that, I have memories of being teased quite a lot, with them calling me a chink or whatever.
'Well, that ended before it got too bad when I beat a few of them up in the classroom.'
Anyway, those guys whose characters were twisted back then, when they heard the words Chinese martial arts, they mocked me by flailing their arms around in a ridiculously exaggerated way, as if to make a point.
「Whoa, so what. Do you even get something like Taekkukgwon or something? Saw on NewTube that all those bastards who call themselves masters or whatever are all frauds. Usually when you see stuff like that, your parents tell you not to watch weird things.」
Of course, I made sure they paid dearly for the sin of bringing up parents while knowing full well that I was an orphan. Since I taught a beast, who was uneducated about parents despite having them, some manners in a beast's own way.
'I wonder what those guys are up to these days.'
After recalling those ridiculous faces after a long time, I dispersed the thought. It wasn't the time to be reminiscing about such memories, and I needed to focus on the matter at hand first.
'Taekkukgwon, huh.'
As can be seen from the memories I just recalled, Taekkukgwon is a very famous synonym for Chinese martial arts, to the point that there are actually few who don't know of it.
Even in mugong, Taekkukgwon is renowned far and wide, and the Taiji Wisdom Sword, which melts its exquisite subtlety into the sword, is often depicted as the supreme sword technique of the Wudang sect.
To the point where you sometimes even see wuxia novels that place the Wudang sect at the apex of Daoist martial arts sects solely through the symbol of Taiji.
'Of course, I've tried creating Taekkukgwon too.'
The soft overcomes the hard, the principle that softness is capable of subduing strength.
In terms of defense, it boasts extreme performance, and at the same time it is an ideal very close to the purpose of self-protection.
And Taekkukgwon is a fist technique that has refined such an aspect to its limit. It is a representative mugong that symbolizes the subtlety of softness that redirects and receives force.
Naturally, I too have tried creating a fist technique with the aim of achieving Taekkukgwon.
'Even at Yeongshin Elementary School, while using the Strong Fist, I was occasionally redirecting the attacks of the monsters that kept surging in with Taekkukgwon. I also received and redirected Marcel Lacrima's attacks to reduce the damage.'
However, the Taekkukgwon that I made was always clumsy. No matter how many times I deployed it, I felt its incompleteness, and a sensation that something was missing made me uncomfortable.
'I half-ignored it, thinking I would find the answer someday if I continued to train.'
I put strength into my trembling lips and somehow held back my laughter. In front of me, Mok Hong was still looking at me with an unreadable expression.
'At last, I understand.'
Now that I've experienced Mok Hong's Secret Martial Arts directly, I know. I understood by experiencing how she redirected my force and shifted the center of gravity.
"Ha-hat!"
"......Why are you laughing?"
A laugh burst out unintentionally. Seeing me suddenly start laughing, Mok Hong tilted her head as if wondering about it.
But now, I lacked the leisure to react to her.
'I saw the forms in which the body moves.'
I imprinted the individual movements that form the technique's postures, that is, the shapes, into my head.
'I experienced how the True Qi must be moved.'
I felt firsthand how the Energy of Nature that Mok Hong handles harmonizes with the technique's postures.
'I was able to compare the subtlety of softness that exists in my Taekkukgwon with the subtlety of softness dissolved in Mok Hong's Secret Martial Arts.'
By comparing these two different techniques that had been running towards the same realm, I understood what was lacking.
"Mok Hong-ssi, is it alright if I call you that?"
"Call me whatever is convenient."
Click, I felt something meshing within my Mindscape. A lucid sensation of a single mugong completing a distinct ideology and being reborn as a whole world. The birth of a new world resonated through my quiet Mindscape.
"If, say, I were to defeat Mok Hong-ssi here—"
Riding the rising elation, I confidently posed a question to Mok Hong.
"Would I be able to become a 1st Grade Solver?"
Now, in the subtlety of softness, I am ahead.
Because I had such a conviction.
If I defeat you, can I become a 1st Grade Solver?
At that question, which was presumptuous and at first glance even rude, Mok Hong momentarily furrowed her brow. Ever since earlier, she had often suffered insults asking if she was really a true 1st Grade Solver due to her young appearance.
Naturally, Mok Hong initially thought that Kim Sihyeon's question was in that same vein as well. She thought he had gotten arrogant just because he had dodged an attack once and endured her Secret Martial Arts in good shape.
However, the moment her eyes met his as he stared straight at her, Mok Hong changed her mind.
'He is sincere.'
The clear eyes were infinitely clean and pure. No trace of insult or mockery could be found. Only a mix of pure curiosity and delight simmered like a hot flame.
Just what on earth had he realized with that brief exchange just now? While that question stirred within Mok Hong's mind for a moment, she smiled thinly and took her stance once again.
"There's no way a person who can defeat a 1st Grade Solver in a head-on fight would receive a grade lower than 1st Grade."
If you're confident, prove it.
Come on, try and defeat me.
Though she didn't voice it aloud, Mok Hong's fighting spirit flared up palpably with such intent as she kicked off the ground.
—Taang!
The sound of the dash rings out like a gunshot. The air tears apart and the distance that had been about a dozen paces wide closes in the blink of an eye.
'If I attack like this, how will you respond?'
The Energy of Nature taken in through a Breathing Technique originally belongs to nature, not to humans. Naturally, due to its nature of quickly dissipating and being unruly, intentional manipulation is nearly impossible.
However, a Secret Martial Arts is a phenomenon drawn out by the harmony of a martial artist's mind, body, and energy. Only at the moment when one deploys a Secret Martial Arts, to a certain degree, the energy of nature that dwells within the martial artist's body transforms to resemble the True Qi of ancient mugong.
One stores the energy of nature in a trained body. One fervently harbors a phenomenon in one's heart. Thus, having qualified, one beseeches the providence of the world to grant that wish.
'Since he said he will defeat me, he wouldn't be able to complain even if I'm a bit rough.'
Cheonguseong Mok Hong's Secret Martial Arts is rotation. Just like the Taekkukgwon of the Wudang of old, she draws a circle and forces the flow of qi so that all things rotate around her physical body.
It is extremely simple, but because it is a simple Secret Martial Arts, it is powerful. A Secret Martial Arts creates an exception to the laws of the world. As long as Mok Hong maintains her rotation, even if a bomb explodes or a bullet flies in before her eyes, she can wholly receive and return all that heat and impact force.
A power that she is confident is the strongest in terms of defense among all the Secret Martial Arts of Liangshan Marsh. An exception to the law that even Cheontoeseong and Cheongangseong, who have reached the rank of special grade, shudder at, saying it is tough to penetrate.
—Kagagak!
As such, Mok Hong's rotation gradually increases in power and speed as it continues. The accumulated qi waves build up, spinning without leaking out. Even the force of the intervening opponent is taken in as part of the rotation to grow its bulk.
Spinning and leaping her body as if dancing, Mok Hong extends her sword. The rotation that had been distorting her surroundings coils around her sword. The force that had been flowing quietly explodes forth toward Kim Sihyeon.
Enough force to pierce and destroy them all even if you lined up a dozen or so tanks in a row is concentrated upon a single human being.
"You're impressive."
But.
"To be able to draw out such explosive power by applying the subtlety of softness like that."
The one facing that sword strike, Kim Sihyeon, is standing calmly as if conversing comfortably.
"Thanks to that, I've learned a lot as well."
Mok Hong's eyes waver. Wasn't there no sign of him dodging or blocking? At this rate, a direct hit might endanger his life.
"For example, like this."
And, the next moment.
"......Huh?"
Mok Hong's field of vision flipped. The moment she noticed the change in her sight, a floating sensation assaulted her body. Strength drained from her body as if she were falling asleep, and without a moment to do anything about it, she fell and rolled across the floor.
"If possible, I would have liked to use it in a scenic place like a salt desert with some cool monologue."
"......?"
"Ah, don't mind me. I just recalled a scene that left a deep impression from an old wuxia novel I read."
Mok Hong, collapsed on the floor and looking up at the ceiling, and Kim Sihyeon, who was smiling awkwardly without even a single hem of his clothes disturbed.
Seeing his figure standing unscathed even after receiving an attack that was, in its own way, her special technique, Mok Hong harbored a question.
Going further, she became terribly curious as to why she was collapsed on the floor, and what method he had used at the end.
"Just now, that was...... what in the world is it?"
Thus, she asked.
And, to her question, Kim Sihyeon answered.
"Taekkukgwon."
That, at this level, it seemed okay to call it that.
That he had finally reached a level where he could call it that.
Mystical forces are divided into two types.
One side are groups cooperative with the government, the other side are groups uncooperative with the government.
The distinction of good and evil is essentially meaningless. There are not a few who are cooperative with the government but frequently commit wicked deeds, and conversely, not a few forces that are uncooperative with the government yet possess ethics and morals in their own way.
And the Solver Association belongs to the group cooperative with the government. Because its very origin is an institution established by the US government to collect talented individuals possessing various mysteries.
"Are those words you just spoke truly without a single lie?"
"I would tell you it is so no matter how many times. I have nothing to gain by lying."
Therefore, the important matters of the Solver Association are conveyed to the US government as well. Most matters aren't particularly reported, but rarely, when a large incident or a talented individual stands out, it is directly delivered to the President.
"But no matter how I think about it, a 1st Grade Solver right from the start......."
With an expressionless face, Mok Hong looked at the man heaving deep sighs before her eyes and putting a hand to his forehead. The man, whose build was so huge the word giant wouldn't be lacking, had a considerably broad forehead, perhaps due to baldness.
"I'm not balding. My forehead is just broad genetically. It's a family trait."
"I'm sorry for saying this, but baldness is also hereditary as a family trait."
"Please just be quiet. I've been concerned about it lately."
Anyway, a single document was laid upon the desk before him. A clean document that would be finished processing with just one final stamp of approval.
"Frankly, I can't believe it. They say he's a talent being pushed by the Management Bureau, but ultimately it's a single recommendation from the Korean branch, and...... above all else, some Asian who hasn't had a single rumor spread about him until now suddenly appears and is a 1st Grade."
As Mok Hong watched the man muttering in a lamenting tone, she rolled her eyes. Instead of his tired-looking face, she took in the splendid nameplate placed at the corner of the desk.
[Solver Association]
[Association President - Honor Tropaeum]
A man possessing absolute power who can even sit at the same table as the President of the United States, while simultaneously being the strongest Special Grade Solver of the US himself, acting as the head of the Solver Association.
Having confirmed Honor's status once again, Mok Hong, still expressionless, opened her mouth impassively in a voice without inflection.
"That statement just now was an Asian discriminatory statement."
"What?"
"Racial discrimination is also in the US—"
"No, why is the story suddenly going that way? I'm simply finding the part about him being an unheard-of talent from the East to be questionable!"
At Mok Hong's surprise racial discrimination joke, Honor flinched in surprise and raised his voice. Standing up hurriedly, saying his words were absolutely not spoken with that intent, he then coughed dryly and pulled back the chair he had kicked and sat down.
"Rather, don't you find it strange? I may be a layman because I mainly learned magic, but you, Cheonguseong who has learned a Secret Martial Arts, you would be even more aware of just how ridiculous this situation is."
Every year, there are people who come knocking on the Solver Association's door with faction recommendations. Various factions with diverse objectives approach, asking that talented individuals they recommend be looked upon favorably.
And the vast, overwhelming majority of those 'talents' who come that way are vaguely outstanding mediocrities. Meaning they aren't ordinary, but not particularly exceptional either.
"He resolved one Urban Disastrous-grade anomaly, one Urban Chaos-grade anomaly, one National Chaos-grade anomaly, and on top of that, even that infamously notorious Marcel Lacrima was subjugated single-handedly, and he retrieved Shisikgyojeonui, which had been designated as a forbidden text?"
There are limits even to factions hyping someone up; at this degree, it's reaching the level of intentionally exaggerating achievements to embarrass someone.
"Did you request an intelligence inquiry from the Mystic Management Bureau headquarters?"
"......I did."
"What was the result?"
"They said it's all true. They don't know if it's precisely achievements pulled off by this man called Kim Sihyeon, but there were records remaining that a series of incidents had certainly been resolved within the recent month. A report was filed that Shisikgyojeonui was successfully retrieved as well."
If the materials to reference for the evaluation had ended there, Honor had been prepared to grant Kim Sihyeon a 4th Grade Solver position and end it.
Since there is no clear evidence that he himself established the achievements, tell him to achieve results befitting a 1st Grade with his own skills.
However, on this day of the evaluation, a change occurred.
"You're saying he saw your Cheonguseong Secret Martial Arts, created a superior compatible version of a Secret Martial Arts on the spot, and in reverse, broke through your special technique and defeated you?"
An evaluation spar with Mok Hong, invited to check whether the Korean Management Bureau's fuss that he had learned a Secret Martial Arts close to mugong was true.
Essentially, it was an evaluation half-intended as a warning to the Management Bureau to stop talking nonsense and mind their own due process.
"At this rate, I have no choice but to believe that the history submitted by the Management Bureau is also true."
But in that evaluation, rather than just receiving a passing grade, Kim Sihyeon defeated Mok Hong, who had been invited as the examiner.
By creating a superior Secret Martial Arts to hers on the spot, and defeating her with that newly created Secret Martial Arts...... essentially in a manner close to toying with her.
Making excuses was impossible. Because the very moment Mok Hong and Kim Sihyeon clashed, the concept itself dwelling in Mok Hong's Secret Martial Arts was overwhelmed in grade and was disassembled piece by piece.
"So, are you not going to give me the 1st Grade? The qualification is sufficient. If I came all the way here and can't receive a 1st Grade, I'd lose face."
"......What on earth were you thinking making a bet like that? And practice the translation magic a bit. Even Marcel Lacrima, who only dabbled in black magic, had a high-quality translation magic."
Haa, making such a sound, Honor let out a sigh that seemed to make the ground sink, and slammed the stamp down on a document placed on his desk with a Bang!
"Sigh, it might not be long before a second Special Grade is born in Korea."
After Mok Hong left with Kim Sihyeon's 1st Grade Solver qualification certificate.
Left alone in the Association President's Office, Honor's muttering to himself echoed quietly.