Chapter 139
Chapter 139
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Unexpected Invitation (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Having witnessed two men's heads shatter in an instant while the liquor bottle remained unscathed, the bandit named Uk Sam responded to my beckoning finger as if entranced.
"……."
But his expression looked far too terrified.
"Why the long face? You look like someone's about to eat you."
I draped an arm over the shoulders of Uk Sam, who had shuffled over hesitantly, to help him relax.
"Hey now, the other bandits might get the wrong idea. Smile. Come on, smile."
"Heh, heh heh."
But his smile was a bit too forced.
"Don't show your teeth. Just lift the corners of your mouth."
"Huh?"
"There we go. Perfect."
As I pointed that out, my comrades stared with wide eyes and open mouths.
"Y-Yong-un?"
"Big brother?"
"...I figured those six needed a beating to shake them up a bit. But damn, you just smashed them outright without any mercy."
I quickly assigned tasks to the group.
"I saw earlier that most of them headed over there, except for the ones going to the kitchen—probably their barracks. Jang Ho and Yong Myeong, handle the left group. So Reung and Jeong Hyeon, take the right. Make sure to tell them it's what they get for spouting nonsense. Je Gal So Jeo, stick with me and listen in on this guy's story."
We'd cleared out the nuisances.
Now I turned to Uk Sam.
"Anyway, Uk Sam bro, let's pick up where you left off about running into your old friend in Tae Won."
"Wh-where did I leave off? ...S-Sorry. I forgot in all the chaos."
"You'd gone to Tae Won on an errand, and when you asked your old friend why he'd suddenly improved so much, figuring he'd had some lucky encounter."
"Y-You remember that? ...He said I could become just like him if I was curious, and to follow him?"
"And so? Did you go?"
"Our branch leader beats people like dogs if we don't finish his jobs on time, so I couldn't."
At Uk Sam's words,
Je Gal Seol Ji furrowed her brow and spoke up.
"Then doesn't that ruin the plan to boost your martial arts and defect numerically?"
Uk Sam rolled his eyes at Je Gal Seol Ji's question.
"...Th-that defection talk... If it reaches the branch leader or higher-ups, I'm done for."
I patted the hand on his shoulder and opened my mouth.
"You brought up the thing that could get you in big trouble yourself?"
"I didn't think someone as noble as you, young master, would listen to a guy like me."
"Anyway, that doesn't add up."
"He said to come find him later. I was planning to go soon."
"Tae Won's not a small town. How were you supposed to find him? Does he have a hideout or something?"
At my question, Uk Sam swallowed dryly and looked troubled.
"Th-that's close to heavenly secrets. He said if I blabbed, they'd find and kill me no matter where I was..."
I tried to persuade Uk Sam.
"Where do you think that heavenly secret guy is right now, roughly?"
"...Pardon?"
"My fist is right here. Is heavenly secret closer than this?"
"...Th-there's no fixed spot. He told me in a fortnight to check the walls of the houses in Tae Won's back alleys carefully. Then I'd see a certain symbol..."
Having heard that much, I used my foot to roughly sketch the mark I'd seen on the assassin's body and spoke.
"Was it this symbol?"
"Huh? Yeah! How did you...?"
That was when it happened.
The moment Uk Sam acted like he recognized the droplet-flame symbol.
Papapap-
Papapapap-
Two groups came rushing from afar.
"Eon So Hyeop!"
"Eon hyung!"
The front group was smaller but moved with discipline—they were our guys returning after dropping off the fallen bandits.
"Branch Head and Gwang Nam are down!"
The horde following behind were the bandits.
Among those who arrived,
Thud! Thud!
Starting with Jeong Hyeon and U So Reung taking positions in front of me at a proper distance,
Cheon Jang Ho and Eon Yong Myeong recalled the Chae Jak Formation from our last field trip and took the other directions.
Finally, Je Gal Seol Ji, who'd been with me, stood to claim the fifth position.
Chichichik!
The six of us formed the basic Chae Jak Formation.
The late arrivals split to the sides,
and the bald underboss, who'd taken a verbal hit from No Sam earlier at the midpoint clearing, stepped forward, revealing his deep-seated grudge against the righteous martial world.
"Just as I thought. The vile true nature of you righteous scum shows itself right away. Repaying our hospitality with enmity?"
The bald underboss huffed indignantly.
The bandits gripped their tetanus-worthy weapons tighter, spitting on them.
In the tense standoff,
my comrades, positioned around me in the five directions, drew swords or extended fists into stances.
Sreung- sreureung-
I let out a low sigh.
"Sigh. Who's really showing their true colors here? I wanted to let this slide amicably, but you just had to sign up for remedial education."
Of course, I wasn't just sighing—I quickly spoke to Uk Sam.
"People gotta communicate to be people, and read the room to be people, but you greenwood folk are all so damn hot-headed. Do you screen for type-A personalities or something? Right, Uk Sam bro?"
"...Wh-what's MBTI?"
"It's a thing. Anyway, I'll toss you to the back, so stay put. Oh, and don't stray, or there might be an accident. For reference, accident here means death."
With that, I grabbed Uk Sam, who was nodding like a woodpecker, by the collar and hurled him backward.
"Hng."
Kwangtang-!
Having secured my valuable informant,
over there, the bald underboss opened his mouth.
"They started it, so even the Greenwood King will understand! That old beggar won't have a word to say!"
He spun and drew the two willow-leaf sabers from his waist.
"Charge!"
With their enthusiasm for remedial class exploding like that,
there was no avoiding the fight.
Better to subdue them first and sort out details later.
I issued orders immediately.
"Jeong Hyeon and Cheon Jang Ho on left wing, Je Gal So Jeo and Yong Myeong on right wing, So Reung on tail. I'll handle all attacks. Not sure what prof and the Greenwood King are talking about, so no killing blows unless lives are at stake."
My comrades swiftly shifted positions as ordered.
But Je Gal Seol Ji sent a transmission.
[You probably know this already, Yong-un, but we're outnumbered. If it drags into a rotation battle, it could get messy. Shouldn't we thin their numbers while we're fresh?]
[I've got it covered, don't worry.]
Her concern wasn't unfounded.
'To Je Gal Seol Ji, we look like just six students plus No Sam—seven total.'
Assuming that's our full strength,
she imagined the bandits wearing us down until the Greenwood King and guards joined in.
'But if things head toward that worst-case even a little?'
I'd switch to my past life's style.
Then we'd instantly outnumber them.
'The issue is how No Sam prof and the others react to that bizarre sight...'
Well, with my perfect score in Corpse Technique Theory midterm, it should be fine.
'Plus I'm from the Pearl Eon Family.'
And my no-kill order was
"Incoming! Right flank!"
"Got it. I'll block front! So Reung, stick close!"
Chaeng!
Chaechaeng!
"Yong-un! One coming now!"
to rein in the others, who lacked experience harming people with martial arts.
"...Huh?! ...Why am I alone?"
Not for someone like me, who knew exactly how to strike without killing—just deep sleep.
I casually greeted the bandit who'd boldly charged the front of our Chae Jak Formation, ending up isolated inside.
"Welcome. First time in a Chae Jak?"
Then I swung the liquor bottle, infused with Heaven-Splitting energy, with all my might.
Ppaak!!!!!
"Keng!"
One of Jinseong Stronghold's forces down in an instant, as Je Gal Seol Ji feared.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Bandit groups aren't exactly tight-knit to begin with.
Chaechaeng!!!
Even with morale boosted by the Greenwood King's visit, the Jinseong Stronghold bandits—fueled by their bald underboss's distrust of the righteous world—charged like wildfire.
"Yong-un! Another one!!!"
- ...Seol Ji, that one looks a bit excited. Am I imagining it?
Ppaak!
"Ah?!"
Ah?
Did this guy train Iron Head Gong or something?
Not "eok" or "keung"—why "ah"?
'Hold on, master. Seems like a special constitution.'
- It was just musing anyway. Keep going.
'Yes.'
Bbak! Ppaak!!
"Euk!"
As comrades bled and slumped one by one,
their boosted morale deflated, and they started backing away hesitantly.
'In pro terms, morale bombing's kicking in.'
No real place to run in their own stronghold with the Greenwood King inside, so they just held position.
Most had lost the will to fight.
I gave the bald underboss, at a crossroads, more options.
"Want to keep going? You rushed in so blindly we haven't talked, but there's some misunderstanding in what you know."
Normally, in such a dire situation, they'd ask what misunderstanding.
But humans aren't always rational.
The bald underboss wasn't either.
He forwent retreat for advance.
"Shut up!!"
At least he stepped up himself instead of feeding more minions.
Chaeng!
Chaechaeng!
"Bro!!"
"Eon hyung! Front opening?!"
And,
still aware of their numerical edge,
"Hah. Take you down, and this damn formation crumbles?"
Charging into the center of our interlocking formation?
It naturally led to a one-on-one with me—commendable for an enemy.
"When you lot were just swinging at scarecrows in clean dojos, I built the name Twin Saber Ghost in the jianghu. Blocking me alone without your pals will be rough."
With that, the bald underboss crossed his saber-thread-wrapped twin blades menacingly and lunged.
Swaeak!
Swaeaak!!!
But he overlooked the most crucial thing.
'I'm not the typical righteous punk you think.'
Part of me wanted a pure martial duel as a sword master.
'But in a moment where enemy morale's dropping real-time, ending the boss duel overwhelmingly is best.'
And all that "righteous scum" lumping irked me.
'Time to show there's this kind of righteous guy too.'
I decided to hunt him, slipping my empty left hand into my bosom amid stretching time.
I yanked out a Curse of Ages talisman and flung it at the charging Twin Saber Ghost.
Whoooosh-
Recognizing the fluttering talisman as a projectile, he cursed and slashed reflexively.
"Shit!"
The curse slowing him plus my focus,
in that instant,
to my eyes, he froze like stone.
"Truuuue... sloooow... mooooove...?"
I didn't miss, flashing Flying Shadow Heaven-Splitting Step to close the gap instantly.
Then with my empty left, I drew Regret from my left waist—in reverse grip naturally.
I overlapped Regret precisely on the center of his crossed willow-leaf sabers with attachment technique.
Kang!!!!
As the two sabers and one sword clashed,
I promptly smashed his temple with the liquor bottle in my right.
Swaeak!!
Ppaak!!!
"Eok?"
First strike with full intent.
Second with emotion, no energy.
Swaeak!!!
Chijik!!!!
The energy around the bottle vanished, shattering it.
With the exploding bottle, Twin Saber Ghost sprawled starfished.
So Reung, peeking from behind me, chimed in.
"You got him, right?"
Uh.
Don't say that casually.
As my brow furrowed at So Reung's words,
sure enough,
the tough-headed bandit I'd knocked out earlier suddenly bulged veins, face purpling red-blue, eyes rolling back.
"Kkeuok?! Kkureureut! Kreureureuk?!"
His limbs twisted grotesquely.
"Huh?"
That looks like...
the side effect from the original story when someone mishandles demonic energy...?