Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Intensive Training Week (5)
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Why is this woman here?
He asked with his eyes, and Dang Gan scratched his head with a laugh.
"Haha. My sister said she wanted to come to the Sichuan Cave."
"Why the Sichuan Cave?"
"I drop by whenever I miss home, but lately, they've been denying visit permissions more than usual, right?"
"And how does that relate?"
"She wanted to come, so I snuck her in. We're friends with you, Instructor, aren't we?"
Ah, I see.
He promptly flipped the grinning Dang Gan and tossed him into the swamp.
"Save me—!" A scream rang out, but Chu Un-hwi ignored it and pressed his temples.
'Oops. My mistake.'
Dang Ae-hee, the Tang Clan's beloved daughter. She wouldn't let it slide after seeing a clan member thrown into the swamp.
"Hehe. You two really get along."
An unexpected response came back.
She even pretended to scold Dang Gan.
"Gan, I told you to tell him ahead of time."
"Haha. It's fine. He'd end up in the swamp anyway."
Dang Gan laughed cheerfully as he leaped out of the swamp and wrung out his clothes. Dang Ae-hee greeted him again.
"I apologize for the sudden visit."
"Ah, no. It's okay."
Did this woman eat something strange?
Her voice was too gentle for her.
"I've heard a lot about you from Dang Gan."
"Hehe. I bragged about our temporary instructor a bit."
Ah, really? What a pointless thing to do.
As he pondered throwing him into the swamp again, Dang Gan excitedly explained.
"He got great scores on the makeup exam—everyone was shocked. Even the clan elders praised him."
The ungrateful brat repays kindness with enmity by bringing the Poison Butterfly of Sichuan.
As he cracked his knuckles to grab his collar again, the defenseless Dang Gan approached and offered a palm-sized wooden box.
"What's this?"
"How could I come empty-handed to show my gratitude? I brought it thinking of you, Instructor."
Click. Inside the opened box were several fishing hooks gleaming with silver luster.
"Oh."
"Since you like fishing. I had our clan's artisan make them. Hope you like them."
"This is pretty good."
"Heh. I've gotten better at reading the room, huh?"
"The monk who couldn't count coppers has grown up."
Right. Actually, the problem might have been the hooks, not the worms.
His mood softened a bit.
Dang Gan kept chattering nonstop.
About how this swamp was truly famous in Sichuan, how there were so many deadly poisons that countless people had died here.
He even rambled on about ghost stories related to the swamp.
He didn't want to hear any of it.
Especially not about the many people who had sunk here and died.
'The crazy Murim Alliance didn't recreate that too, did they?'
Please, no.
People should live sensibly.
He wanted to smash his fist into that mouth, but it wasn't easy.
"Thank you for your hospitality as temporary instructor."
"Dang Gan was actually my biggest worry. He's so reckless."
"Thanks for lending us the training ground too."
The Poison Butterfly's gentle demeanor was so out of character it felt awkward.
Her girlish reaction to hearing about Myo Jin Sect was bewildering.
While he hemmed and hawed, Dang Gan blurted out everything he wanted to say and seemed relieved.
"I'll visit often."
With those ominous words.
"See you again."
Chu Un-hwi screamed inwardly at Dang Ae-hee's farewell.
'No! Don't come!'
But his inner voice didn't reach them.
Time flowed like running water.
Unlike the leisurely swamp, the other instructors were buried in overtime as the Jianghu expedition loomed.
The temporary instructors had it especially rough.
They were already stretched thin teaching students in Bronze and Silver Halls, now saddled with preparing for their first expedition.
"If we got overtime pay, our monthly stipend would triple."
Instructor Jo Hyun sniffled.
Even the unflappable Squad Leader Yang looked drained.
"This is killing me. At least the academy rules changed recently."
"Right. If Grand Hero Duggo hadn't cut the paperwork, we'd be dead from overwork already."
"Tell me about it. Mixed classes helped too."
Su-ha, the reliable one, had quietly earned the instructors' trust without them noticing.
A few more years like this, and he might conquer the Divine Martial Academy.
"Hehe. It's been a while since we sat side by side."
"Well, Silver Hall instructors are strict about gender separation."
"You barely even show up."
Nothing to say to that.
She was right, as Yeo Mae-hong said.
They could sit like this only because it was the Bronze Hall instructors' office.
"How's the expedition prep going? Professional instructors have way more to handle, I hear."
"Eh. Seems okay."
"As expected of Instructor Chu. You seem laid-back but thorough. Negotiating with client sects, building rapport, assessing risks, securing emergency comms—tons of work."
Uh. First I've heard of it.
Today was the first he learned such tasks existed.
Yeo Mae-hong listed more horrors that made his head spin just hearing them.
It was maddening. Then the office door opened, and Bronze Hall Master Chung-hyun appeared.
"Everyone's here."
His hair seemed even thinner since last seen. He spoke wearily.
"First, I commend your hard work. Silver Hall's been grateful thanks to you."
As he started, an overworked instructor raised his hand.
"Hall Master, the workload's killing us."
Another followed.
"What about the staffing we discussed?"
"At least until after the expedition."
Chung-hyun cleared his throat and shouted.
"Thus, I've prepared something for you weary souls."
"Staffing?"
"I'd love to treat you all to a fancy feast at Hongcheon Tower."
"Hall Master! Staffing!"
"You all look beat, so let's do a quick gathering at the nearby mess hall."
"Aaaah! Staf—!"
"I bought the booze with my own money, so bear with it. Dismissed!"
Thud thud thud thud.
Chung-hyun stamped the expedition permits at lightning speed and fled.
Bronze Hall hadn't changed a bit.
This was the most depressing gathering ever.
"Ugh. Worried sick—booze won't go down."
"Hang in there. No choice."
"Thinking of the backlog after we return already hurts my stomach."
"Same here."
Exhausted from overwork, even the rowdy drinking faction of instructors sat with lost expressions, habitually cracking their knuckles.
Thump.
Soon enough, one passed out with dilated pupils, face-planting the table.
Overworked stomachs flooded with cheap baijiu.
Casualties mounted, but no one batted an eye.
"Damn world. Eat fast, die fast."
"Clear the snacks. Gotta get smashed today."
"Chung-hyun, you bastard—"
Ignoring his subordinates, Chung-hyun steadily munched snacks, sipped booze, and said,
"Tsk tsk. Warriors who can't even manage their own bodies."
Back in my day!
His sermon ignited the instructors' pent-up rage, faces flushing red.
"What? Got a problem?"
They couldn't hit their superior.
Chung-hyun smirked at the grumbling bunch and sat by Chu Un-hwi.
"What's up?"
"I've got a favor to ask."
"A favor?"
"Could you listen to Senior Instructor Jang Cheol-sim a bit more? Be more polite. It's tricky for me."
He slammed the table.
"Speaking of which! I recommended you—do you know how much grief it caused?"
Long-winded, but the gist was: don't cause trouble and relay messages properly.
"I'm buying booze like this. Huh? It's for your sake."
"Don't torment my roots anymore."
"Hearing about you lately makes my heart skip."
Looking at Chung-hyun's thinning scalp as he pleaded, Chu Un-hwi replied,
"Tsk tsk. A Hall Master who can't manage his hair."
He thought it a solid counter, but it went too far—Chung-hyun teared up.
"That was too much."
"Yeah, you're in the wrong."
Even fellow instructors scolded him.
The most depressing gathering ever.
Back in Bronze Hall's creaky attic loft after so long.
"Really hits different."
Memories from half a year ago flooded back vividly.
Sniiiiff.
As he deeply inhaled the dusty room's scent,
Thud thud.
The wall rumbled.
'Wall's still full of holes.'
He knew no one would use it for a while, but not that they hadn't fixed it.
'They splurge on weird stuff like mock battlegrounds.'
Righteous faction's money sense was beyond him.
Muttering complaints, he leaned against the wall. Yeo Mae-hong's hand reached through the hole.
"Tada—."
"What's this?"
"Hehe. Snuck a bottle."
"Whoa, even this."
"Whyyyy. Today's gathering was a total flop."
"You're the best. Awesome."
"Hoho. Really?"
Passing drinks through the wall, Chu Un-hwi leaned back.
Feeling faint warmth, Yeo Mae-hong must be leaning too.
Sipping sounds accompanied her voice.
"So many ups and downs lately."
"Yeah."
"When I first came as a newbie instructor, I worried if I could handle it."
Unlike her usual fiery self, Yeo Mae-hong spilled her inner turmoil in detail.
'Thought she was tough and handled everything smoothly.'
Turns out her tender heart hid deep worries.
Starting something new scares everyone.
Her words continued.
"Now I'm getting used to it. Didn't expect Silver Hall so soon, even temporarily."
"Is that so?"
Pour.
A soft sigh followed as she refilled.
"Now it's something else bothering me."
"Things are going well, but still worries?"
"Losing my初心. Getting complacent, turning into the people I despised."
Her obsession made sense soon enough.
"My dream is to be like my mentor."
"What was the name..."
"Instructor Eun Hae-wol."
Right, that was it.
"Fair and kind to students, unyielding against injustice—a cool instructor like her."
It suited Yeo Mae-hong well, he thought.
"Truth is, I've been down lately."
Sip sip.
Her cup refills quickened, heart burning.
"At first, I tended to each student carefully, but lately, I've been slacking with 'busy' excuses."
She even wrote personal praise letters early on.
'Real hot-blooded instructor.'
Now too busy for chats, she explained.
"The recent incident too. More attention, and I'd have spotted the bullied students sooner."
She was such a good person.
Reminded him of a rabbit scared upon emerging from its burrow into the open plain. Chu Un-hwi muttered,
"Just don't lose your初心."
"But how? Busy days make you forget the old stuff quick."
Unsure how he'd change over time.
He sat up at her added whisper.
"In that case."
He balled his fist and pounded the wall.
Thud thud thud thud.
A startled voice from beyond.
"Instructor Chu?"
Yeo Mae-hong's wide eyes peered through the hole.
He scratched his head, feigning surprise toward her.
"Oh deaaar. Sorry, I broke the wall."
"Huh?"
Rubbing his hands at her blinking eyes,
"Eh. Nice morning, huh?"
Her bright eyes lit up.
"Kyaa! Who are you?"
"Great weather."
"How'd you break the wall?"
"What a mess. Wall's weak. Shoddy work?"
"Sorry. I'll help pay."
Yeo Mae-hong bowed through the wall, then burst out laughing, shoulders shaking.
"Ahahahahaha!"
"Hehehehehe."
After laughing long, she wiped tears with a finger.
"This memory won't fade, no matter how busy."
"As long as you remember showing mercy to the bumpkin instructor who wrecked the capital on day one, you won't lose your初心."
"Instructor Chu's so unique," whispered a voice, but he played dumb.
"Thanks."
"No biggie."
The humble feast lasted deep into the night.
When snoring came from beyond the wall,
Chu Un-hwi rose from bed and perched on the windowsill.
"Back to the Jianghu again?"
Tiresome.
But a twinge of anticipation too.
"The Jianghu now is different."
Back then, a savage land of blood seas and corpse mountains.
Now, pre-cataclysm—still pure and vibrant.
Vast plains and fields, deep valleys and mountains teeming with life, endless encounters awaiting.
"Even after a century, some expectations are inevitable."
Chu Un-hwi muttered in a frail voice.
The day before the expedition.
Life in Bronze Hall's shabbiest quarters drew to a close.