The Transfer to Class Seven
As soon as I stepped inside, I said, "I didn't do anything wrong."
The elders and the branch family members all shot to their feet at once, shouting over each other.
"Assaulting a fellow Tanggidae member the moment you return!"
"How utterly shameless!"
"Even after your time in Guya-rim, you show not the slightest remorse!"
I watched them unload like they'd been waiting for this moment and answered with a shrug.
"It was just a light greeting. The kind of prank seventeen-year-old boys do all the time."
I never thought I'd end up spitting out the same excuses the school bullies used in my previous life.
"A prank! He called it a prank!"
Sanlong-ah...
Father's hand rose to his temple as a headache clearly hit him.
"Did anyone actually get hurt? And what was I supposed to do when they came at me saying they'd beat me to a pulp on sight? Self-defense exists for a reason."
"Th-this guy!"
"He's admitting he hit them!"
"He's only getting more brazen by the day!"
"Enough!"
A light wave of energy swept through the patriarch's hall, instantly silencing the uproar.
He's gotten even stronger.
I wondered if it was possible to grow beyond the peak of the super-first-rate realm. The world of martial arts was truly profound.
"The witness statements match the third young master's account. Isn't self-defense an important concept in the gangho?"
A few branch members aligned with the direct line tried to defend me, but even to my ears their arguments sounded weak.
"No matter what, violence is still violence!"
"So I was supposed to just take the beating?!"
"That's not what we're saying!"
"Yeah, this is the Tang family for you."
By the time I was getting used to the familiar taste of this chaos, Tang Woo, leader of the Inryong-dan, who had been unusually quiet today, slowly opened his mouth.
"Both sides have a point."
The branch family members, who had been shouting like it was a fish market, all shut their mouths the instant Tang Woo spoke.
When the family head told them to be quiet they forced themselves to stop, but when Tang Woo talked they naturally fell silent.
Quite the stage presence.
It was a sight that clearly lent weight to his opinion no matter who watched.
"It simply means the grudge between the third young master and those two boys runs that deep."
He conveniently left out his own son.
The moment my eyes met Tang Woo's I literally saw a man's eyes burning with rage. If I weren't the third young master, I don't know what would have happened right then.
"Therefore, I believe it's necessary to separate them."
Tang Munseong spoke in a low voice.
"Are you suggesting we move Sanlong to a different class, Inryong-dan leader?"
"Yes. If we keep them together they'll keep fighting and this will repeat. No matter how much the Tanggidae encourages competition for growth, we should avoid situations where they harm each other. After all, aren't they all pillars who will lead the Tang family in the future?"
"I agree as well."
"Me too."
The elders and the branch faction all voiced their agreement. Since it wasn't a bad proposal for the family head's side either, there weren't any strong objections.
However, Father's expression remained sour.
"I understand the other classes are already full?"
"Isn't there one spot left empty?"
"Inryong-dan leader!"
I could guess exactly where Tang Woo wanted to send me.
So that's his plan.
The place where they gathered all the problem children of the Tanggidae.
The Tanggidae 7th Class.
In my previous life seven symbolized luck, but here the number seven is considered ominous in certain situations.
You could tell just by the fact that there was no fourth class because four sounded like death.
Martial artists tend to be sensitive about these things.
The more someone lived in the murim, the more they clung to superstition since they never knew when they might die.
"Is there any other open spot besides the 7th class?"
"Even so!"
"That place is...!"
The 7th class was essentially where they gathered the problem children and left them to rot. If this had been like my previous life, parents would have risen up in outrage.
But this was the Tang family, a murim clan. It was packaged with rules and laws, but at its core it was a small world of survival of the fittest. There was no reason for the efficiency-obsessed Tang family to care about those already weeded out before they could even step into the gangho.
While most who entered the Tanggidae graduated, about ten percent failed every year. And the class that always accounted for that ten percent was the 7th.
Essentially, entering the 7th class meant you were already considered a dropout.
Truthfully it's because their skills are lacking and they fail the graduation exam. Of course that's why they gather those kinds of guys there.
The future for those who dropped out of the Tanggidae was mostly the same. They left the family, became wanderers, or lived ordinary lives. If they were lucky enough to pass the Doksu-dan test and remain in Tang-gata, that was fortunate.
Tang Woo's intention was to stick me in a place like that. No matter that I was direct lineage, if I couldn't graduate from the Tanggidae my future would become extremely uncertain.
I have no intention of failing the exam, though.
No matter the environment, it didn't mean much to me.
"Even so! How could you do this to the third young master..."
That aside...
As the family head's faction's expressions hardened upon realizing Tang Woo's intention, I acknowledged it with a sense of "as expected."
As expected of Eon Jungmi. I should start calling her the dark Zhuge Liang, or Black Zhuge Liang from now on.
There was no way such a plan came from Tang Woo's simple head. Why did I call him simple? Just seeing him radiate killing intent toward me in the patriarch's hall showed how much he was a slave to his emotions. The reason he could hold back his anger was because even to his simple self, Eon Jungmi's scheme sounded decent. It was also why he didn't separate from her despite disliking her.
"Even so..."
Just as Tang Munseong was about to step in, I spoke.
"I'm fine with it. Let's move me to the 7th class."
What did it matter where I was? All I needed to do was pass the Tanggidae graduation exam anyway. Interference? I could just clear those away. If anything, clearing them all out might let me train quietly by myself.
A crisis is an opportunity.
After Guya-rim, that saying had become truth for me.
"...Sanlong-ah."
Whether he knew my thoughts or not, Tang Munseong decided not to say anything more as he watched his son obediently accept the proposal.
The boy knows how to turn crises into opportunities.
It was something already proven in Guya-rim. The fact that I had trained in the place of exile and even caught the Thousand-Year Spider showed it.
While Father's worries were easing, the elders and branch families' anxiety only increased.
That guy... isn't refusing?
This feels fishy.
The situation had flipped so they were the ones feeling uneasy. Seeing me with a blank face, not knowing when or where I'd cause trouble next, the branch side grew slightly wary.
When I went to Guya-rim they thought I'd return as skin and bones or not return at all, but instead I came back healthier with even greater internal energy.
Did he eat a spiritual beast's inner dan or something?
What did he do to improve so much in half a year...
They had thought I was mediocre, but maybe I wasn't? As their wariness toward me increased, I was blankly staring at the ceiling of the patriarch's hall.
I want to go home and train soon.
Unlike what they were thinking, I didn't have any particular thoughts.
"Mother, try this."
"I have hands too, you know."
"Your son's hands are about to fall off."
"Alright then."
"Is it good?"
"With the poison sprinkled on it, the flavor is quite unique. It might actually be better this way."
A smile hung on Yoo Yang-hee's lips as I fed her the tanggwa. She felt a sense of happiness for the first time in a long while since entering the Tang family.
Her son who went to Guya-rim had returned safely, and the boy who used to only cause accidents was now coming to his senses and working hard. As a parent, she couldn't be anything but happy.
"Still, since it's poisoned, eating too much might upset my stomach, so I'll stop here..."
"Yes, I understand. You are practicing the Odok Shingong regularly, right?"
"Your mother's aptitude isn't particularly outstanding, so I'm barely managing to imitate it."
"Did Father explain it well?"
"Yes. He did explain, but he seemed quite tired afterward. I suppose it's because I don't understand things very well?"
After I returned, Yoo Yang-hee had asked the family head to teach her the Odok Shingong. She hadn't thought of learning it before, but she started at my earnest request.
Good thing I didn't throw it away and brought it back.
Originally, even entering the Odok Shingong would have been difficult, but with the medicinal pills I made from various herbs brought from Guya-rim and Father's efforts, she was able to begin. Still, because her body was so weak, we were diluting the poison as much as possible.
"You need to do it consistently to get healthier."
That day as well, I smiled while increasing my mother Yoo Yang-hee's poison resistance. No matter that she was the family head's wife, I didn't know what Eon Jungmi, whose eyes had rolled back because of her son, might do to her. With poison everywhere and the Tang family using poison for increasing internal energy, lacking poison resistance was that much more dangerous.
"Finish this one too."
"Again?"
"It will help with Mother's Odok Shingong circulation."
"Understood."
Eating that would make her stomach uncomfortable, but since her son had made it with her in mind, Yoo Yang-hee slowly swallowed the poison pill. It was painful at first, but after doing it for a while she was gradually getting used to it.
Watching my mother like that, I felt like I could return to the Tanggidae with a bit more peace of mind.
Since she started late, she probably won't reach great achievement in Odok Shingong, but as long as it's not a fatal poison she should be able to endure it to some degree.
Just that was enough to ease my mind a little.
"You're going back to the Tanggidae starting today?"
"Yes. I have to graduate."
Mother took my hand as I spoke calmly.
"They say all things arise from the mind. Everything depends on how you set your heart to it. Even if you go to the 7th class, if you put in the effort, graduating from the Tanggidae will be no problem. And even if you fail, you can go to your maternal family with this mother. So train with an easy mind."
Having a place to lean on really put one's mind at ease.
"Yes."
"And don't fight with your friends."
"Mother..."
Yoo Yang-hee's nagging had begun.
"There is a saying that gaining a friend is gaining a new world. That's how important making friends is."
"Ugh..."
I listened to Mother's nagging calmly before seizing an opportunity.
"I should get going now."
"Good medicine is bitter to the mouth but good for the illness, and loyal advice is harsh to the ear but beneficial to one's conduct... Just like that, even with friends you shouldn't just say nice things only... Sanlong-ah?"
"Su-hyeon! Please take good care of Mother."
"Yes, young master!"
"Sanlong-ah! You should help your friends when they're in trouble. Understand?"
In a flash.
As I disappeared like I was running away, Yoo Yang-hee couldn't take her eyes off my retreating figure, her face full of worry.
"Please don't worry too much."
"Sigh..."
"And when Madam Eon asked to meet, I refused."
Since I had told her never to meet again, Yoo Yang-hee had agreed.
"Good. Then I'll do some energy circulation now, so you can go about your business."
"Yes, madam."
Recently, Yoo Yang-hee had surprisingly taken a liking to martial arts training.
Leaving my mother absorbed in her training behind, I headed toward the Tanggidae 7th Class building.
"Why do they have to embroider numbers on the martial uniform in such a tacky way?"
Wearing the uniform with the number 't' clumsily embroidered on the right chest and back, I arrived in front of the building.
"The outside looks decent at least..."
Creak. Thud.
The door seemed like it would open fine, but one side of it collapsed.
"...?"
In the situation that made me tilt my head, a small pavilion and training ground caught my eye first.
The pavilion and training ground are in worse condition than my own house?
I was worried whether proper training was even possible here.
It's quiet.
I was thinking that the quiet environment might actually be better when—
Rather, it might be o—
"Give it back right now!"
"Give it baaack~"
"I'll give it back if you beat me, you know?"
"Argh!"
A boy's shout and the voices of what sounded like delinquents rang out at the same time.
"Sigh..."
With a throbbing headache, I moved my steps.
And where my feet stopped, a scene quite familiar to my eyes unfolded.
"Tsk."
I was about to just pass by.
The words my mother had said as I left the house suddenly came to mind.
"Damn it..."
In the end, I turned my steps.