Chapter 38
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Taming Hwang Tae-seong
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Sima Liang spoke with a slightly fearful expression.
"You live such a dynamic life. First, you catch the eye of the Sword Emperor's grandson at lunch, and now the son of the Evil Alliance Leader. If I were you, I'd have fled the Central Plains right away. Who could live with that kind of fear hanging over them?"
Jo Gi-myeong asked in a worried tone as well.
"The unorthodox factions won't leave you alone. What are you going to do from now on? If they send an assassin..."
At the mention of an assassin, I snorted and replied.
"Let them come at me with everything they've got."
"It's not that simple..."
"Enough of that! It's almost dinnertime now. We need to set up camp quickly. Do we have time to sit around like this?"
Tae-seong dragged his concerned friends toward the designated campsite.
Their campsite had been prepared in a field near Cheonhyang. There were no inns large enough to house two hundred people at once, so the academy had provided tents like those used by the imperial army.
Once the tents were up, it felt surprisingly like a fun camping trip.
We filled our bellies with the combat rations that were distributed, then built a small campfire in front of the tents and boiled some tea.
In the Central Plains, tea was an absolute must.
As we sat around the fire sipping our tea, Sima Liang suddenly expressed his gratitude to me.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For putting those guys in their place earlier. Truth be told, they were the ones who used to bully me when we were kids."
"Is that so? They didn't seem like much stronger than you."
"Haha. Seeing them cower before you today made them look utterly pathetic."
"Traumas have a way of lingering."
"Trau... what?"
"Ah, scars on the heart."
"Hm. You use some pretty unfamiliar words sometimes. What language is that?"
"It's from the Western Regions, but I only know a little."
"Really? You use it quite often for knowing just a bit. Anyway, impressive. Mastering martial arts is hard enough, yet you picked up a foreign tongue on top of that."
Agreeing deeply with Sima Liang, Yang Cho-gun chimed in.
"I said the same thing before. This guy's medical skills are top-notch too. He stitched up this wound on my shoulder."
"Even medicine..."
Yang Cho-gun showed the two of them the scar from his recent sword wound sustained fighting the Twin-Handed Four Ghosts.
Sima Liang and Jo Gi-myeong were quite shocked.
"To have fought life-or-death battles and taken wounds like this at our age... You two are the real deal, true martial artists."
They looked at Yang Cho-gun and me with a mix of envy and respect.
In their hearts, they thought to themselves:
That to grow strong, they needed to gain real combat experience like us.
As we chatted about this and that, night deepened, and the bedtime horn sounded.
Dung~ Dung~ Dung~ Dung~
"Bedtime!"
Everyone headed into their assigned sleeping tents to prepare for rest.
Lying down, I mulled over the day's events.
Especially what the Sword Emperor's grandson had said.
'We'll see each other again soon'? Does that guy know something?
Such thoughts swirled, but since tomorrow we were heading back to the Imperial Palace Martial Academy, I turned in early.
Carriages flying the banners of the Imperial Palace Martial Academy arrived at the main gate.
It had been seven days since departing for Cheonhyang.
The returning cadets' faces showed a mix of reluctance and joy.
Thus ended the very brief but memorable training camp.
The moment it was over, Tae-seong bolted to the physical training hall.
After seven days without exercise, he felt like he was losing muscle.
'Gotta make up for lost time with double the intensity.'
Tae-seong planned to double down on his missed workouts.
But the world never goes as planned.
The problem arose from the strictest possible source.
The Imperial Palace Martial Academy was a place where hazing exceeded imagination.
Here, getting dragged off by seniors and beaten for no reason was commonplace.
Even Sima Liang had recently been grabbed by seniors and chewed out without cause.
Evidently, this senior culture transcended eras and places.
Among them, a particularly vicious group of second-years had a notorious reputation spread wide among the first-years.
And there was one existence constantly grating on their nerves: Hwang Tae-seong.
"We need to teach that punk Hwang Tae-seong a lesson sometime."
"He didn't even show up to the senior-junior mixer."
"Skipped the group bonding event before that too."
"Yesterday we called an assembly for all first-years, and he was the only no-show."
"Ha... We've got a monumental insolent brat who thinks nothing of his seniors."
"Since it's come up, how about we all give him a good stomping? If we let this slide, our reputation will hit rock bottom."
"You're right."
"I agree."
"No objections here."
"Looks unanimous. Let's proceed with taming Hwang Tae-seong."
A nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
To them, Hwang Tae-seong was exactly that.
Unlike other juniors, he showed no fear or deference toward them as seniors.
Not only did he wear an arrogant expression at all times, but his greetings were half-hearted and insolent.
They'd tried calling him to the second-year dorm multiple times to talk sense into him, but he ignored them every time.
Thus, they ground their teeth in grudge against Hwang Tae-seong.
On top of that, even the fourth-year upperclassmen had earnestly instructed them to manage him properly, saying he'd devour his seniors if left alone.
Probably because during Hell Week training, Tae-seong's air of leisure had irked the fourth-years.
So the second-years planned to crush him properly this time.
But this Hwang Tae-seong never emerged once he entered the physical training hall.
The opposite of the regular cadets gathered here.
For regular cadets, the internal energy training hall was far more popular.
The reason? They were all thirsty for internal energy cultivation methods.
Not just anyone could learn an internal energy method on a whim.
Only prestigious martial clans possessed their own.
Thus, academy cadets shed tears of joy learning the academy-provided Yellow Dragon Heart Method.
Yellow Dragon Heart Method (黃龍心法).
The name sounded grandiose, but it was actually below second-rate.
No matter how wealthy the imperial family, they couldn't create internal methods rivaling those of the martial world.
Developing superior internal methods was exceedingly difficult.
One might think they could just buy one from a sect with money, but superior methods were a clan's greatest treasure, guarded fiercely against leaks.
Famous clans and sects subdivided their methods, teaching disciples in stages.
Beginners got simple basics; intermediates only after full verification.
The pinnacle was passed one-to-one to sect leaders or clan heads, preventing any outflow.
With such strict control, purchasable methods on the market— even after 120 years—barely accumulated half a cycle's worth of energy, all bottom-tier.
And those were exorbitantly priced, so poor academy cadets couldn't dream of them. They diligently practiced the Yellow Dragon method with gratitude.
But Hwang Tae-seong skipped internal training entirely, living in the physical hall daily.
"Ha, typical lowborn. Obsessed with external arts like that—stupid or just foolish?"
"Indeed."
"No choice. We'll have to go to him ourselves."
"Daring to make us seniors move personally? He'll pay dearly!"
"Good! Let's go!"
Thus, the second-year seniors swarmed toward the physical training hall to confront Hwang Tae-seong.
As the second-years burst in roughly, the first-year cadets caught on and quickly scattered.
And at last, they met Hwang Tae-seong.
"Hoo~ Hoo~ Hoo~."
Something enormous heaved up and down without rest.
It resembled a massive iron mace.
Clearly no ordinary person could lift it.
Seeing Tae-seong handle it effortlessly, the second-years involuntarily swallowed hard.
The intimidation radiating from him was no joke.
His back was covered in gruesome scars, with hyper-developed muscles encasing his body like armor.
He looked like a yaksha among the Twelve Heavenly Generals descended to earth.
Gulp—
A few timid second-years deflated instantly.
Around him burned countless incense sticks.
No idea why he was burning so many, like for a funeral rite.
The thick, suffocating incense evoked thoughts of someone's death day.
'Surely not mine?' Just a feeling, probably.
One intimidated by Tae-seong's aura urgently sent a transmission to his classmate beside him.
-Heard rumors this guy's a real expert? We okay?
-What can I do? This is like the army.
-It's not the army. It's an academy.
-Whatever. Call it seniors then.
-His presence is unnatural.
-You gonna come all this way and chicken out to a junior?
-N-no, but...
-Then stay back and watch. We'll handle the rest.
-Got it.
The one boasting boldly strode toward Tae-seong confidently.
Tae-seong, seeing second-year seniors kick open the door and swarm him, slammed his barbell to the floor harshly.
A massive quake echoed through the hall.
Kuuung—
The ground shook like an earthquake, making the approaching seniors flinch and halt.
Tae-seong slowly turned, scanning the unfamiliar seniors' faces one by one.
He saw their panicked expressions.
'Sigh. They won't even let me train in peace, just like the Demonic Cult. Can't beat up academy seniors like 266 either... Annoying.'
"Hoo."
Letting out a small sigh, Hwang Tae-seong asked the gathered seniors,
"Do you have business with me, seniors?"