Chapter 61
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Jin Ga-baek of the Great Sword Sect
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As evening fell, everyone gathered at the restaurant set up below the athlete village.
But Sima Ryang was nowhere to be seen, so I asked Yang Cho-gun about it.
"Where's Sima Ryang?"
"Last I saw, he had the look of a man who'd lost his country and hasn't come out of his room since."
"Really? Even with tomorrow's match ahead, he's skipping dinner?"
"He said he has no appetite and isn't thinking about dinner."
"Hmm. Well, I guess I'll have to bring him something later when I head back to the dorm."
"How sweet."
"Who else is going to look after him if not us?"
"Fair enough."
As we finished up dinner, things got noisy over at the Demon Dragon Academy restaurant.
Un Ja-cheon from the Four Black Alliance had been bellowing at the top of his lungs since earlier.
He must have been furious about the match results—it was quite the public nuisance.
We rose from our seats after dinner. I considered heading straight back to the dorm but decided on a short walk to aid digestion.
The garden here under the full moon had a certain poetic charm to it.
The imperial gardeners must have sweated bullets creating it.
As I strolled slowly, admiring the garden, I sensed I wasn't alone. Far from it—my senses picked up at least ten people already there.
Sharpening my ears, the sounds I caught were odd.
Smack~ smack~ smack smack~
I concealed my presence.
I don't know why. It just happened instinctively.
My footsteps became as silent and stealthy as they were back in my Shadow Squad days.
Moving closer, I spotted the first pair of early birds.
Under a dimly lit tree, a handsome young man and a beautiful woman sat side by side, their lips locked in a passionate, lover's kiss.
In the modern world, seeing couples kiss on the street wasn't unusual.
But this era recited phrases like "men and women shouldn't sit together after age seven" and "the body is a gift from one's parents."
Just showing the soles of one's feet to others was considered shameful.
A secret kiss in a public place like this? Utterly bold.
Living in this era had clearly turned me into a man of this time.
I was shocked by a mere kiss, after all.
'Alright, let's see those smug faces... Huh?!'
Incredibly, the daring lovers were people I knew.
'No way, that guy?'
It was Jang Baek-pung and Dang Yeo-rim.
'Jang Baek-pung, that bastard. What an innocent face, but he's making steady progress.'
As I watched him in disbelief, Jang Baek-pung opened his eyes and scanned the surroundings.
"Hm?"
When Jang Baek-pung looked around, Dang Yeo-rim whispered tensely.
"What? Someone there?"
"Weird. I could've sworn I felt someone."
"Really? I didn't sense anything."
Evading the senses of a master like Jang Baek-pung would require someone of true elder status in the martial world, but for me, it was child's play.
"Probably a wild animal. Come here, it's fine."
"Mmm... Okay."
'Haha, those two are head over heels.'
Thinking that, I moved to another spot. What I saw next shocked me even more.
A man in Dragon Academy robes was enjoying a secret rendezvous with a woman in Demon Dragon Academy garb.
'Whoa...'
A scion of a prestigious righteous sect meeting in secret with a daughter of the unorthodox world.
Peering closer, it was none other than Cho Yu-rim of the Wudang Sect and Cha Yu-rim of Flying Flower Valley.
Cha Yu-rim, still unable to shake off her defeat, was wiping away tears, while Cho Yu-rim comforted her, caressing her hand and shoulder.
'Well, I'll be. A martial world Romeo and Juliet...'
I had a feeling I knew how this story ended without seeing more.
Praying they never had to swallow the Tang family's special poison, I sincerely wished them peace in the afterlife.
'Have a beautiful love, both of you.'
Leaving them behind, I headed elsewhere.
What else could surprise me now? I wondered.
But I was in for another shock.
'Holy shit... Insane.'
I witnessed an unimaginable couple.
"Honey! You were so cool today."
"You think so?"
"Yeah yeah!"
"You were cool too, honey!"
"For real?"
"Totally!"
The scene before me was beyond imagination.
Cheon-sim-dan and Nip Baek-hap were cooing like lovebirds with their baby talk.
'Fuck. Those two were a thing... So that's why she was so aggressive toward me at the inn that night?'
It all made sense now.
Her weird attitude—snapping at the very person who'd come to recruit her—had baffled me.
Who'd want to join up with the guy who knocked out their crush?
With the great war of good and evil potentially erupting any moment, here they were, all diligently dating away. Babies born in wartime? No exaggeration.
Humans really were slaves to their hormones, no different from beasts.
'Sigh. What good does watching others flirt do me? Time to wash up and sleep.'
As I turned to head back to the dorm,
I spotted Ni Dam-bi perched in a distant tree, spying on someone else's romance.
Using her family's stealth arts for personal gain like that made me sigh,
but
'I'm in no position to judge.'
Realizing an outsider would see little difference between her and me, I let it slide.
'Just don't get caught here among all these masters.'
Respecting my subordinate's leisure time and hobbies as much as possible, I returned to the dorm.
Back at the dorm, someone was pacing out front—Baek Sa-hong, one of the few women I knew.
'Hm? What's she doing here?'
I approached and greeted her first.
"What brings you to the Imperial Palace Martial Academy dorms?"
Startled by my voice from behind, she jumped and greeted me flustered.
"Ahh! Oh, h-hello!"
She bowed with overly enthusiastic clasped hands.
After competing today, she should be exhausted, so her presence here suggested something important.
"Are you looking for someone?"
"W-well, um..."
Her words faltered; she fidgeted with her fingers, then scraped the ground with her toes—odd behavior.
"Hm..."
A woman acting like this probably meant she liked me, right?
As I stared piercingly, she shyly brushed her hair behind her ear.
Seeing the jade hairpin I'd given her neatly pinned there, I was certain this wasn't just my imagination—she really liked me.
"Hm..."
Objectively, she was stunning even by modern beauty standards.
In my past life, I'd have asked her out on the spot.
For such a beauty to treasure my gift this long and seek me out amid her busy schedule? I owed her a bow of gratitude.
But I lived for revenge now. My target was the supreme under heaven.
Facing such a colossal foe, I had no time for idle romance.
I appreciated it, but I'd politely decline her confession.
"Excuse me, do you like me?"
"Wh-what? I, um... I li... like..."
"I'm sorry, but I'm not looking to date right now."
"......"
Better to leave no room for hope. I turned away curtly.
"Well, I'll be going."
"W-wait a second!"
Turning back, I saw Baek Sa-hong's face—baffled, no, desperate.
Flushed with excitement, she yanked the jade hairpin from her hair and thrust it at me.
Her loosened locks cascaded down like something out of a shampoo ad.
Her hair gleamed especially under the moonlight.
But her tone had turned ice cold, unlike before.
"If you don't like me, why give me this?"
A cynical, businesslike voice.
The one etched in my memory.
"I gave it to a woman who happened to be nearby because none of our group could use it, and she had a friendly face. My friend next to me got one too, so I thought..."
"Who?!"
Baek Sa-hong cut me off with a scream of anguish.
I looked at her in confusion.
She spoke to me in a trembling voice.
"Who in the world gives away a jade hairpin worth a full silver tael just because someone was nearby?"
Her voice clearly held back sobs.
"......I'm sorry. That wasn't my intention."
"'Sorry' just hurts more right now."
"......"
She held out the hairpin.
"Here."
"You don't have to give it back..."
"Give things like this only to someone you truly care for. Don't confuse people."
She forced it into my hand and vanished like the wind.
"Hm..."
I looked down at the jade hairpin in my palm.
It felt strangely unfamiliar, as if seeing it for the first time.
But more than the hairpin, I lingered on how soft and warm her hand had felt when she passed it to me.
Unlike her cold words just moments ago.
The next day, matches for Groups 3 and 4 began.
The first Group 3 bout pitted Byeon Cheon-san of the Imperial Palace Martial Academy against Jin Ga-baek of the Great Sword Sect.
Byeon Cheon-san was one of the second-year seniors who'd once come to lecture me. He was the most amicable toward me among them.
Well, "amicable" in a good light—put harshly, he'd chickened out against his junior.
His opponent, Jin Ga-baek of the Great Sword Sect, had ties to a senior nicknamed Fragrant Breeze, whom the Squad Leader had mentioned before.
Among all the Dragon Academy cadets I'd seen, he ranked in the top ten in skill.
Byeon Cheon-san, timid by nature, was visibly tense before the match—so much I worried for him.
But once it started, he fought coolly, without a hint of nerves.
He seemed the type who turned calm in real combat.
Unfortunately, Jin Ga-baek of the Great Sword Sect was far beyond him.