Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Chapter 9 Jegal Tan (2)
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“Kuhuk! Huk!”
Jegal Tan flailed his arms and legs as he abruptly shot to his feet.
And then he realized.
Night?
It had been morning just moments ago, yet now it was suddenly night?
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
Raising his head at the clicking sound of a tongue, he saw Nangong Yun-ho standing there with the moonlight at his back, wearing a pitying expression.
“What... just happened?”
“The instructor slapped your cheek.”
“Slapped my... cheek?”
Not gored by a bull?
Just lifting his head made his bones crack and pop into place, making the words hard to believe.
“You’re serious? I blacked out from just a slap to the face?”
He, who prided himself on being near first-rate?
It was utterly unbelievable.
“Yeah. Well, I get why you wouldn’t believe it. When it first happened to me, I thought I was dreaming.”
Nangong Yun-ho continued with distant eyes.
“It was quite the innovative experience. Not something I ever want to go through again, though.”
“Damn, how humiliating.”
While Nangong Yun-ho smiled bitterly, Jegal Tan’s reaction was one of sheer exasperation.
He soon ground his teeth and muttered bitterly.
“Tch. Cowardly bastard. Attacked me with a sneak attack?”
“Jegal Tan.”
“I won’t let him off easy when I see him tomorrow.”
“Tan.”
Nangong Yun-ho stepped in to dissuade him with a low, steady voice.
“Don’t think too badly of the instructor. His personality’s a bit prickly, but he’s not a vicious person.”
“All I saw over the past five days was some unheard-of demonic training method and an instructor who’d flying kick you whenever he got the chance.”
“……”
Nangong Yun-ho’s response trailed off.
He couldn’t argue with that, even to himself.
“Even if I try to see him in a good light, it’s hard to forgive someone who works the new students like dogs and makes them run side gigs.”
“...Is that so?”
“Don’t worry. Who do you think I am? I’m ‘Instructor Hunter’ Jegal Tan.”
Jegal Tan glared at Nangong Yun-ho with blazing eyes, his momentum surging.
“If I don’t let my guard down, there won’t be a repeat of today.”
At his friend’s unbroken fighting spirit, Nangong Yun-ho could only let out a deep sigh.
The next day.
Having pulled an all-nighter with wide-open eyes, Jegal Tan headed to the training ground fully prepared.
This remote spot had no onlookers.
So he planned to make his retaliation a bit flashy.
“Where should I carve him up?”
As dangerous thoughts filled his mind upon arriving at the training ground.
Unfortunately, only Nangong Yun-ho and Baek Ri-seol were there warming up.
The pitiful girl attaching eyes to the scarecrow was a non-issue.
The instructor hadn’t appeared yet.
Damn. Forgot he’s always the last one to show up.
His head hot with anger, he’d moved too soon—a mistake.
“Huh? Instructor!”
Moyong Sohye, who’d been attaching eyes to the scarecrow, shouted in surprise.
No presence at all?
Jegal Tan whipped around swiftly.
Hand already on his sword hilt, ready to draw at any moment.
The instant he spun gracefully to capture his opponent.
“What the hell is this?”
Thwack!
The world plunged into darkness once more.
The next day too.
Arriving at the training ground, Jegal Tan froze at the voice from behind.
“Kids sure are energetic.”
Whenever—!
Thwack!
He lost consciousness again.
Defeats piled up.
Finally, on the tenth attempt, he decided to pick his moment.
Lunchtime, specifically.
The lazy guy who vanished whenever he got bored but always showed up on time for meals, according to rumors.
He hid around the corner connected to the training ground, sword drawn.
Ready to strike instantly.
Heh heh heh. Sneak attacks aren’t exclusive to you.
Chatting voices approached.
They were probably all heading to the mess hall together.
Lucky break.
The instructor had no presence and was hard to spot alone, but with others, it was different.
The chirping voices grew closer.
Almost around the corner...
Jegal Tan smirked triumphantly, gripping his sword.
But what rounded the corner.
Was a palm.
“Hey.”
Thwack!
Damn! Dammit!
The fifteenth attempt.
This time, he hid under the floorboards of a building on the path to the mess hall.
Uniquely, shoes were left on the ground, and one ascended steps to the hall, so he could crawl in belly-down.
Normally, he’d never stoop to crawling like a worm, but desperate to succeed even once, Jegal Tan didn’t mind getting filthy.
This spot!
Easy to leap out for a surprise attack, and even if spotted, he could roll away to escape.
The perfect terrain for offense and defense.
I can do this.
But.
“Hiding here too?”
Thwack!
That damn palm... where does it even come from?
Jegal Tan blacked out again.
After the fifteenth attempt.
The difference was he didn’t wake up in the middle of the night as usual.
“Awake?”
Opening his eyes, the detestable instructor grinned in his blurry vision.
“You...”
“Calling the instructor ‘you’? Haven’t you had enough slaps?”
“……”
Jegal Tan shut his mouth.
Chu Un-hwi circled him, muttering.
“You don’t look like some masochist who enjoys getting hit, but you keep coming back smiling, so it’s troublesome.”
“That’s because you—”
“Rookie. Watch your words.”
Chill.
Goosebumps raced up his spine in an instant, and Jegal Tan swallowed his words.
Me, scared?
Instructor Hunter Jegal Tan?
He couldn’t accept it, but the goosebumps from wrists to shoulders didn’t lie.
Tch.
Gritting his teeth, he tried to process this first-time situation when a voice came.
“You were so annoying, I looked into you.”
“Looked into me?”
“Grew up pampered in the Jegal Family, but got pushed aside—brains to your brother, brawn to your younger sibling, ending up mediocre?”
“...!”
“Kicked out of Silver Hall after sulking in the corner playing Yeopo because you went from favored to forgotten. That you?”
“You— watch your—”
Overwhelmed by inescapable dread, Jegal Tan bowed his head, trembling.
A being he couldn’t face.
A being he couldn’t resist.
Yet.
Am I going to submit to a guy like this?
Me, who had no talent but prided myself on sheer malice?
Tch. Tch.
Ignoring his fear-shaking body, he tried to stand.
He couldn’t yield here.
If he lost in temperament too, he’d have nothing left.
Jegal Tan circulated his qi through his dantian with all his might. Instinctively channeling inner power, he forced his fear-stiffened body upright.
And screamed.
“How would you know my pain!”
He bellowed like a cornered beast.
“Being treated coldly every day just because I lack talent!”
“How would you know the agony of being forced to yield everything to my brother! To my younger sibling!”
“Aching for even a scrap of attention, only for those gazes to turn cold again!”
“How would you know!”
If only he’d had a bit more talent.
He wouldn’t have been forgotten by his family, his clan.
Not a family dropout.
He could have lived as a proud member.
“How would you know what it feels like to always be forgotten and robbed! To be branded a dropout!”
Jegal Tan roared with all his strength.
To fight the fear, vomiting out the deep-seated grudges in his heart.
A desperate struggle, bolstered by the power of rage to drive out the terror.
Huff. Huff.
In his teary vision, Jegal Tan finally faced the one who’d hounded him so relentlessly.
The bizarre instructor whose gaze struck down from lofty skies, though it only reached his chest.
Feeling that chilling stare upon him, Jegal Tan gritted his teeth.
That was when.
“Know your pain?”
The grating voice came.
“I’ve always been the best, taking whatever I wanted, so I’ve never felt crap like that.”
“What?”
“Grow up.”
Thwack!
His head snapped around again.
Shit.
But somehow, his chest felt a bit lighter.
Maybe because he’d finally spat out those long-buried grudges.
The next day.
Surprisingly, Jegal Tan appeared at the training ground with proper posture.
Chu Un-hwi, about to attach eyes to the scarecrow doll, immediately scowled.
“Still haven’t had enough beatings?”
“...Please teach me.”
“What?”
“Please give me some guidance.”
Thud.
He dropped to his knees and knocked his head on the ground repeatedly.
Chu Un-hwi snapped in irritation first.
“You got some illness? Feel good after getting smacked around?”
“...No.”
Having pondered all night, Jegal Tan spoke his rehearsed words.
“I want to pick up the sword again.”
“Go home, crawl under the covers, and play alone. You were pretty good at hide-and-seek by yourself last time.”
“I want to properly relearn martial arts. I want to create value on my own. Please awaken this foolish student and guide me, Instructor.”
Thud thud.
Jegal Tan knocked his head again.
Until his forehead split open.
Watching the self-harm, Chu Un-hwi sighed deeply.
“Student Jegal Tan. Do you know why I didn’t want to take you?”
“You said it was because of my talent.”
“Right. I hate high-maintenance types.”
“Even if I’m a bit lacking, I can catch up to your teachings in no time.”
“Why? Think you can because Yun-ho did?”
Pfft.
Chu Un-hwi turned away, chuckling.
There stood Nangong Yun-ho with a stiff face and Baek Ri-seol with sparkling eyes.
“Nangong Yun-ho... well, pitting friends against each other is bad form. Student Baek Ri-seol.”
“Yes! Your loyal student Baek Ri-seol here! Seol is fine too!”
“Baek Ri-seol will do.”
“How regrettable.”
He spoke while eyeing Baek Ri-seol humming nasally in an oddly cute way.
“Wanna spar with this guy?”
“Can I kill him?”
“No.”
“How regrettable~.”
These kids these days are impossible to figure out. Puberty?
Jegal Tan felt offended watching the grumbling instructor.
It wasn’t just anyone—it was him, formerly of Silver Hall.
He’d even built a notorious rep for knocking out instructors, considered quite strong within Silver Hall.
And now pitting him against a Bronze Hall newbie.
“What? Ego bruised?”
“...Can’t say it isn’t.”
“Honesty’s a good trait. Though your eyes tell me otherwise.”
Clack clack.
Attaching eyes to the scarecrow without a hint of tension, Chu Un-hwi said.
“Do your best.”
“Heh heh heh. It’s been tough holding back watching you bother the instructor.”
Baek Ri-seol drew her sword with a smile like a hydrangea bloom, exuding an odd dignity.
Her half-lidded pale eyes gleamed coldly.
“I’d love to torment you into a mess, but I don’t want to be misunderstood as some fierce woman.”
What the hell is she on about?
At words that seemed to foresee victory, Jegal Tan gripped his hilt and retorted.
“Me too. I’ll make sure not to let a girl suffer a pathetic defeat.”
“Oh my. How considerate.”
Shing.
For a moment, Jegal Tan thought Baek Ri-seol’s sword tip vanished.
Clang.
The instant he thought his body should react, his grip felt empty.
Chin.
Baek Ri-seol elegantly caught the spinning sword midair like a graceful crane and smiled brightly.
“You even know how to offer unnecessary consideration.”