Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: A Day of Rest (1)
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"What the...?!"
Boom!
Senior Instructor Jang Cheol-shim was so stunned by the bad news that he couldn't even speak.
After stammering for a while, he finally pieced the situation together.
"So.... What exactly happened?"
Instructor Kwak Jong-keun lowered his head heavily at the sight of Jang Cheol-shim, who was usually so steadfast, now looking disheveled.
"...Student Eom is critically injured. The other five students are also badly hurt."
"How in the world...?"
"A spar broke out, and disaster struck in an instant."
These idiots...
"What were you all doing to let it get this bad?"
"...We have no excuses."
"Jaw shattered, twelve teeth knocked out in a spar?"
The damage he'd heard about briefly was far too severe.
"The medical hall says he'll be on a liquid diet for at least half a year. And that's not all! His internal injuries are so bad, they'll need over a year bedridden."
And who was the victim, no less.
"How do you screw up this badly?"
There was another problem.
A victim, but no perpetrator.
The instructors hemmed and hawed in response.
"Well.... It was so obvious."
"All the students saw Student Eom acting rudely."
"Even if we tried to hush it up, we can't hide that lethal techniques were used."
"Hah...."
His head throbbed painfully.
Massive damage, yet no one at fault?
This was entirely the instructors' responsibility.
It won't end with me just stripping down alone.
If Jeomchang Sect made an issue of it, massive disciplinary action was inevitable.
If it had been a student from some minor sect, there might have been a way to handle it, but a disciple of one of the Nine Great Sects? That was fatal.
It had exceeded his authority by leaps and bounds.
"This is driving me insane."
Jang Cheol-shim pressed his eyes in exhaustion, his voice sharpening.
"Who's responsible for this mess?"
All eyes turned to Kwak Jong-keun.
"I can guess. I did tell you to handle it appropriately."
"...I have nothing to say."
"Of course not."
Grind. Jang Cheol-shim gnashed his teeth and bellowed.
"The accident itself is bad enough, but everyone saw it—how ridiculous do we look now?"
For him, who prided himself as a member of one of the storied Nine Great Sects, the humiliation of his students getting thrashed in front of Bronze Hall's instructors stung more than the injuries themselves.
"How am I supposed to show my face?!"
Kwak Jong-keun, with nothing to say, bowed his head immediately.
"...I'm sorry."
"Hoo. Hah. You. Get out. Go home and reflect."
"Please be lenient."
Thud.
After Kwak Jong-keun left, Jang Cheol-shim calmed his anger for a while before turning his head.
"So. Who did it?"
Instructor Ja-yeom, stepping in for Kwak Jong-keun, answered.
"It was a student named Baek Ri-seol."
"...The talent the Baek Family's shown great interest in, huh."
As expected of a prestigious family's child.
Jang Cheol-shim, finding a somewhat convincing reason, spoke.
"Cooperate with them for the time being."
"Are you really going to accept help from those Bronze Hall nannies?"
"We're swamped just cleaning this up—don't argue."
"Yes, Instructor."
The instructors reluctantly nodded at the senior instructor's stern order. Just as he said, another incident now would screw them over.
"Don't think of it as accepting nannies. Think of it as stepping back once because of those prestigious kids."
Their expressions improved a bit then.
It was mere wordplay, but framing it as yielding not to Bronze Hall's instructors—who they'd seen as laughable—but to the assistants' backgrounds made it easier to swallow.
Of course, some still looked uneasy, especially the older instructors.
"We understand your intent, Instructor Jang, but teaching is another matter."
"How much help can green instructors with little experience provide?"
"What's the point of organization if they can't move in unison when needed? Will those show-offs even follow properly?"
"Exactly. If they teach half-baked lessons on their own and cause problems, we're the ones responsible."
Now even Jang Cheol-shim couldn't just brush it off.
"Fair points."
Organization demanded strict hierarchy above all.
After a moment's thought, he said,
"Then make them prove it with their skills."
"...Pardon?"
"If they keep messing up, the students will see their level anyway."
The older instructors' eyes gleamed at his clever words.
"Let them handle tasks on their own."
"...It was a mistake."
Baek Ri-seol insisted in a low voice.
Bronze Hall's instructors' heads throbbed at the sight of her.
"Hah. Couldn't hold back even for a moment."
"When did this even happen?"
They'd been mobbed by sudden crowds of students when the sound of slaughtering a pig snapped them back—and what a sight.
Beyond the throng lay a gruesome scene of destruction.
"He started it!"
Baek Ri-seol claimed, her face moments ago twisted in sadistic glee as she trampled him.
"It was unavoidable. Hiiing."
Beside her, Moyong So-hye—who'd been snapping two students' arms and pounding iron fists into their solar plexuses—defended herself.
"Good grief...."
The two squad leaders pressed their brows and glanced aside.
"Student Nangong. I thought you'd be different."
"...Sorry for falling short of expectations."
"Student Jegal, too...."
"I held back, so it ended at this much."
Why? Got a problem?
The instructors recalled Jegal Tan's past antics at Silver Hall from their chilling, icy replies.
Come to think of it, Student Jegal's no ordinary personality.
They often forgot lately, with his recent rounded demeanor.
"Ugh."
Anyway, on their first day dispatched from Silver Hall, they'd caused an incident.
What to do?
"This is tyranny! I really thought it was some two-legged mongrel, not a person!"
As things quieted, Baek Ri-seol started her absurd excuses.
Nangong Yun-ho joined in.
"I only requested a spar to check skills."
"I egged this friend on."
"Eiiyo...."
Moyong So-hye timidly raised her hand with a deep sigh.
"Truth is. The two-legged dog. Kinda curious."
"Hoho. So-hye gets it."
No remorse whatsoever.
How does Instructor Chu handle these troublemakers so easily?
Come to think of it, he hadn't been around lately.
"Where's Instructor Chu?"
"Right here."
Creak.
The door opened, and a small figure shuffled in.
"Instructor Chu."
"What's with everyone?"
"Why'd you leave your post amid this chaos?"
Before they could ask what commotion happened in his absence,
Chu Un-hwi pouted and cut in with a drawn-out "Jooo~."
"They called me to check an error in the assistant roster."
"Huh? That happened?"
"On my way back, medical hall summoned me outta nowhere and held me."
Chu Un-hwi turned his head after that.
"...They turned him into rice cake. Thought it'd been splattered with red bean paste and googly eyes."
Baek Ri-seol's voice shrank for the first time since arriving.
"Sorryyyyy."
"Why? You beat him right to death's door—why not finish with one more to cut his breath?"
"......"
As Baek Ri-seol bowed her head, Chu Un-hwi—hands behind his back—paced before the four. They straightened up and began confessing.
"We know we went overboard."
"We'll strive to act more gently from now on."
Zing.
The two squad leaders were shocked seeing Nangong Yun-ho and Jegal Tan overwhelmed by his gaze.
Totally different reaction from moments ago.
Yeo Mae-hong's eyes sparkled too.
Born educator. He bends those kids with atmosphere alone.
Unfathomable guy.
As their fellow instructors' eyes lit up,
"We know we were wrong, but...."
Moyong So-hye timidly raised her hand again.
"The guy who got carted off was harassing Sis...."
Soft voice, but
"What?!"
Chu Un-hwi caught it instantly and raised his voice.
"That bastard did?"
"Grabbed her wrist and...."
"You broke it, right?"
At Chu Un-hwi's sudden shift, Baek Ri-seol's wilted spirit revived.
"Yes! Yes! Both sides!"
"Mouth?"
"Smashed it nice."
"Crotch? Kicked the groin?"
Baek Ri-seol hesitated for the first time.
"Uh, that was a bit."
Chu Un-hwi's shoulders slumped in disappointment. Baek Ri-seol shot her hand up.
"But I spared the preemptive strikes. First Strike Three Times! No Mercy for the Deputy Chief!"
"Guy who lands first three punches is guilty on the spot. You remembered the teachings well."
"Made plenty of witnesses, like you said."
"Perfect. This instructor's satisfied."
The two squad leaders' jaws dropped hearing this.
So these kids caused the incident because
of Instructor Chu's influence?
Dear lord.
A truth they wished they hadn't learned.
Sometimes ignorance is bliss—the brief admiration crumbled, replaced by worry.
Regardless, Chu Un-hwi said his piece.
"Good job. If it happens again, beat without holding back."
"Once you start, don't stop midway. Beat till you're like 'is this okay?' then a few more."
"Think elsewhere mid-fight, and a knife slips into your gut."
He continued with warnings about the jianghu's dangers.
Better to beat your foe dead than die from carelessness.
Yeo Mae-hong pressed her temple at the dogshit philosophy.
"Instructor Chu. What are you teaching these students? They barely hear dreams and hope as is!"
Chu Un-hwi retorted in a sullen tone.
"Huh? Where's dreams and hope in the jianghu? It's fucked. You're a jianghu person now."
"Dear lord."
Yeo Mae-hong, appalled, pressed her forehead and groaned.
Beside her, Instructor Jo-hyeon clicked his tongue.
"No wonder they seem eerily similar lately."
"Looking forward to the blue emerging from the blue."
"...Truly a horrific future."
Meanwhile, the watching squad leaders thought differently.
Extreme, but not wrong.
He had no backing, surviving the harsh jianghu with his fists.
Crude phrasing, but somewhat agreeable.
But he focused less on the words themselves.
The kids' spirits revived instantly.
Just moments ago peeking timidly, now yelling "Yes!" and "Right!" behind Chu Un-hwi.
Like kids hiding behind Dad—the squad leaders chuckled.
Can someone insincere earn that blind faith?
Impossible.
Truly unfathomable.
Now he wondered.
What jianghu had this man lived through?