Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Lost Item (2)
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If the assistant instructors, led by Nangong Yun-ho, felt a sense of emptiness...
"He's really getting on my nerves."
The squad members, led by Un Ho-seung, felt irritation.
The reason for their discontent was simple.
Ever since Mok Yeon-seong had arrived, the temporary instructor had completely lost interest in them.
"It's like he's totally forgotten about us."
"It's all that guy's fault. He's stuck to him like glue."
As the twins said, while Chu Un-hwi was fishing, Mok Yeon-seong rarely left his side.
"Bait."
He'd toss out the word curtly.
"Try this one this time. It was biting well earlier."
With deft hands, he'd swap out earthworms of various types onto the hook, chattering away.
Splash!
The bobber he cast again wobbled along the riverbank.
Soon enough, as it sank straight under the surface, Chu Un-hwi quickly yanked the rod.
"Whoa! That's a keeper."
"This'll last us till tomorrow."
"Hook, please. Let's try the one I just put on again?"
"A master angler like me doesn't fuss over good bait or bad."
"Heh heh heh. Suit yourself then."
Only after a long stretch of empty casts did he extend the rod again.
"Bait. Wrap it nice and snug. Don't let it dry out."
"Haha. What do you take me for?"
Mok Yeon-seong burst into roaring laughter at whatever amused him so, re-threading the earthworm.
Before long, the fish began peeking up again.
The returned fatty seemed satisfied, sprawling atop the rock like a well-fed cat.
Who knew, but if you poked his side, he might let out a lazy purr.
Meanwhile, the sun was already dipping low.
Another day of catching nothing.
"He really gets on my nerves..."
Un Ho-seung grumbled.
The day after the supplementary exam drew five days closer.
Un Ho-seung, unable to bear it any longer, secretly summoned Mok Yeon-seong.
No sooner had the scrawny figure appeared than Un Ho-seung's eyes widened in fury.
"You're perceptive enough that I don't need to spell out why I called you out here, right?"
"......"
"You look like you're having a blast lately. It's bothering me."
"...Is looking happy a crime?"
"The temporary instructor is a busy man. He's here to guide us. Training's falling behind because of you. How do you plan to take responsibility?"
"......"
A shadow of worry clouded Mok Yeon-seong's silent face.
Un Ho-seung thumped his chest in frustration at the defeated look.
"Listen. I know what happened to you, how you've been living."
"......"
"Honestly, I feel sorry for you. Those guys tormenting you have a reputation for being vicious."
Un Ho-seung already knew Mok Yeon-seong's circumstances in detail.
"Probably the secular disciples from the Beggars' Sect, right?"
"......"
Mok Yeon-seong kept his mouth shut.
But his trembling eyes betrayed his agitation.
"Real nasty bunch. Backed by their sect, and skilled to boot."
"...Just as you say."
Mok Yeon-seong admitted readily.
"You must know. The bullying's been going on for quite a while."
It was a story Un Ho-seung knew well too.
Everyone in the know had heard about what happened to the guy before him—it was infamous.
"Started with playful sparring humiliations, then it got out of hand."
Simple duels to draw out embarrassing displays.
From there, everyone piled on with challenge after challenge, turning him into a laughingstock.
"Then you know the rest. At some point, they started following him around, harassing him nonstop. Pouring filth over his head at meals was routine. One day in class, they grabbed his limbs and stripped his pants off."
He knew.
Un Ho-seung had been there.
'That's why I didn't want to talk to him.'
Tormenting someone already relentlessly bullied doesn't sit right.
Un Ho-seung groaned in frustration.
"I just don't get it. Why didn't you fight back? If it were me, I'd fight to the death."
"You're right."
"Just snap and go wild. They'd back off in shock."
"I've thought about it."
"Then do it!"
Enduring such humiliation without resistance?
It was infuriating.
'Doesn't he have any confidence?'
No spirit at all—anger boiled inside.
Still, they'd known each other a few days, so Un Ho-seung held back.
"I get your situation. But how about finding another way instead of hogging the busy temporary instructor?"
"Another way?"
Un Ho-seung thought of his killer idea.
"How about talking to another instructor?"
"Another instructor?"
"Yeah. File a formal complaint through them."
Mok Yeon-seong stared blankly at Un Ho-seung.
No reaction, so he offered another plan.
"Or tell your family, lodge a formal protest, demand an apology."
"......"
"Don't you know any experts from the Beggars' Sect? If a prestigious disciple's doing something卑劣, they'd mediate."
"......"
"Way better than suffering in silence like an idiot. You should've come out swinging from the start!"
Did his persuasion work?
Mok Yeon-seong's head nodded slightly.
"Got it. I'll give it a try."
"Good. That's the spirit."
Finally.
Un Ho-seung patted his shoulder like the deal was done.
"That's the grit. Haha."
Surprisingly, Mok Yeon-seong was a man of action.
No sooner had the talk ended than he vanished, declaring he'd file the formal complaint with an instructor.
Un Ho-seung returned grinning, thrilled the thorn in his side was gone, and shared the news.
But the reaction was poor.
Im So-jeong's face paled first.
"Ho-seung. You really..."
"Huh? Why the long face? He agreed it was a great idea."
Perplexed by the inexplicable mood, Un Ho-seung was baffled.
Even the twins, who usually sided with him, and others clammed up—then he realized something was wrong.
"I'll go check."
Nangong Yun-ho stood first.
"If he really went to an instructor, this is no small matter."
Frustrated by the incomprehensible reactions, Un Ho-seung scowled.
"What? I even introduced him to an instructor I know well. Doesn't my word mean anything?"
I did my part!
His protests met cold stares.
"Being nice to him doesn't make him a good guy."
"Exactly. If it's the instructor who used to strip that fool bare, it might be the worst choice."
Even Nangong Yun-ho, usually chuckling amiably, hardened his expression and joined in.
"People don't make extreme choices because they leisurely decided to give up."
"...Then what?"
"It's more like, after struggling to the end with no improvement, they squeeze out one last burst of courage and throw themselves at the final lifeline left."
"A coward choosing to quit."
"Foolish, but that's all he saw."
Nangong Yun-ho added,
"Would someone with only that last lifeline left not think to tell an instructor? He'd have pulled it and realized early it was rotten."
In the worst case, he'd suffer even more.
Just like the countless times during his days called the Ghost of Bronze Hall.
"What if the bullying suddenly intensified? The instructor's neglect might have come back as even greater retaliation."
"An instructor wouldn't ignore that."
"Why do you think he clung to the temporary instructor instead of a proper Silver Hall one?"
Finally realizing his mistake, Un Ho-seung paled in shock.
"Sometimes, silently supporting from the side is more effective than sharp advice."
At least it gives them breathing room through brief respite to reflect.
This swamp had been that place for Mok Yeon-seong.
A safe haven where he could laugh without a care for prying eyes.
"No way..."
His confident plan in ruins, Un Ho-seung's face twisted.
Confusion. Shock. Self-reproach. Pride.
All jumbled, stirring chaos in his heart until rage surged up.
"What the hell! I gave advice out of good intentions!"
Why should I take the blame?
"I admit my mistake. But if you think about it, it's that guy's fault!"
My error wouldn't have happened if he hadn't drifted here.
"He got blindly swept along from the start, didn't he?"
Yeah. I'm not wrong.
"The jianghu honors the strong. It's a world of survival of the fittest. A guy stepping in without any spirit is at fault! The one providing the opening is worse!"
His childish whining met with...
"Survival of the fittest. I do love that phrase."
Chu Un-hwi's simple remark.
And overwhelming terror.
Chills.
He was just sitting on the rock as always, turning his head—yet Un Ho-seung froze like a lamb facing a mountain tiger.
'My body won't move.'
His recent feats were fake.
Un Ho-seung first felt it: true fear paralyzes even instinct.
His body trembled uncontrollably.
Im So-jeong tilted her head at the aspen-like shakes.
'No one else feels this terror?'
Alone in a marketplace facing an unfathomable being, Un Ho-seung couldn't believe it.
Like a child trapped in an ice cave, gripped by fear, the usual leisurely voice rang out.
"Little squirt, what you said isn't entirely wrong. The victim does bear some fault. The ringleaders are the worst, of course."
Chu Un-hwi paused, flicking his rod.
Piiing. Splash.
The bobber arced beautifully, settling to bob on the surface.
"But."
His voice sharpened.
"Do you think you have no share in this grudge?"
"We didn't do anything..."
"The ringleaders are the worst, sure. Like criminals, say."
So what to call you lot?
Musing, Chu Un-hwi finally hit on a term.
"You're half-criminals."
"Not criminals?"
"Idiot. Two halves make a whole."
"You're a group, so you're worse than outright criminals."
"Crimes born of complicity make the half-criminals run wildest."
You lot are why it reached this point.
No one could speak against Chu Un-hwi's conclusion.
Save one.
If anyone was free of this rebuke...
"Instructor. Scold us later as much as you like. First, we need to find Mok, the student."
Only Nangong Yun-ho.
Though crushed by the subtle pressure, he trembled yet kept his eyes fixed on Mok Yeon-seong's path.
'Worth raising him.'
Chu Un-hwi smiled faintly in reply.
"Let him be."
"But!"
"I've got my own insurance."
"Insurance... you mean words?"
Seeing Nangong Yun-ho's puzzled look, the humming Chu Un-hwi flicked his rod.
Ping. Whirr!
Hooked on the line, a small bundled package in waterproof cloth shot up cheerily.
"Oh, a keeper."
Only then did Nangong Yun-ho recall his recent talk with Mok Yeon-seong.
- If you drift off with the waterproof cloth, it'll be trouble for me too.
- But there's a condition. Die only after I receive the item.
His eyes widened as the memory's meaning dawned.
"He'll come back here eventually."
"...Did you predict all this from the start?"
"Just a little trick for restless sleep. No big deal."
Chattering, he turned to Un Ho-seung's group.
"What you've learned so far is more than you deserve."
So that's it.
"No need to come back. Get lost."
A razor-sharp eviction order.
On a night with a bright full moon, a small shadow crept cautiously into the training grounds.
After stumbling repeatedly and barely steadying, the shadow finally reached the swamp house after a long trek.
"Not there."
"Eek!"
The startled shadow—Mok Yeon-seong—fell on his butt.
In his eyes, a familiar figure under the moonlight waved, fishing line dangling.
"You're here."
"Haha. Weren't you surprised?"
Mok Yeon-seong forced a laugh.