Do Not Hesitate to Correct Your Faults
In the dim, gloomy corner that perfectly suited the failures of Tanggidae’s 7th Class, three older kids were busy tormenting a single boy. The scene felt like the opening shot of some low-budget C-grade movie from my previous life, and the first thing that came out of me was a long sigh.
“Haa…”
The kid getting bullied looked about fifteen and was a full head shorter than most his age. His tormentors, on the other hand, each had at least a head on him. The 7th Class was where Tanggidae dumped its rejects—kids with rotten personalities, zero talent, or a rap sheet of catastrophic screw-ups.
Judging by how the boy couldn’t even use basic martial arts properly despite being a member of the clan, it was clear his skills were nothing special. Still, even while taking hits, his eyes refused to submit.
‘No talent, but that spirit of his is second to none.’
He was already doing better than the old me. At least he hadn’t given up. I picked up a rock from the ground.
“Enough.”
The three 7th Class students turned at my voice.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Wait, isn’t that…?”
“I’ve seen him somewhere.”
The freckle-faced girl recognized me right away. Not surprising—my reputation in Tanggidae leaned heavily toward the “problematic” side.
“Third Young Master?”
“Why’s he here?”
The girl smirked at the bullied boy’s confused question. “Actually, it’s weirder that he only showed up now. He’s been dodging the 7th Class this whole time just because he’s a direct descendant, but even he couldn’t avoid it forever. Third Young Master, just keep walking. You don’t want to get dragged into something ugly.”
Her tone and glare were openly hostile. I took one step closer.
“Does the instructor know you’re doing this?”
The three of them exchanged glances, then burst out laughing.
“Instructor?”
“Puhahaha!”
“What instructor? We haven’t seen his face in over a week. You’re seriously counting on him? Really?”
The biggest and meanest-looking one started walking toward me in a threatening manner. The boy who was being beaten suddenly shouted. He couldn’t stand the thought of the first person who’d tried to help him since he arrived here getting messed up too.
“I’m fine! Just go!”
“Shut your mouth! You crazy mutt, still biting?”
Even with his face turning into a bloody mess, the kid kept fighting back by biting them.
I’d been briefly lost in memories of my past life, but I knew I couldn’t afford another incident. I tried to settle things peacefully through conversation, but their eyes told me they weren’t interested in talking.
“You just got back from Guya-rim, right? Stay quiet and mind your own business. This is the 7th Class. No one—not the instructor, not anyone—gives a damn about what happens here.”
It was clearly a threat, but it also solved my dilemma more cleanly than anything else could have.
“No one cares at all?”
“That’s right…”
“Good. I did warn you.”
Slap!
My open-handed strike sent the hulking boy straight into the dirt. Aimed at the chin with perfect timing, he couldn’t even resist. His body crumpled like a withered tree.
“Wha… what the—!”
“Get him! Attack!”
The vicious girl and the sneaky boy didn’t hesitate. They hurled hidden weapons at me immediately.
“Not your first time doing this, huh?”
The way they threw without a second thought made it obvious they’d done this many times before.
“Using internal-energy-infused hidden weapons on fellow Tanggidae members? Bold.”
I slipped off my outer robe and spun it in a wide circle.
“No way!”
The projectiles clattered uselessly to the ground, blocked by my improvised shield. I didn’t give them time to throw again.
“Dokryong-bo!”
While Dokryong-bo was optimized for backward evasion, it wasn’t useless for closing distance. In the blink of an eye I was on them. My knee slammed into the vicious girl’s stomach first.
“Urk!”
As she doubled over, I planted my foot on her face and shoved, smashing her into the wall.
The sneaky boy screamed and launched into Tangga-gwon.
“Fists aren’t supposed to flail around like that. Like this. And this.”
Bam! Bam! Bam!
He swung wildly, but I dodged with minimal movement and proceeded to methodically beat every inch of his body. In seconds, all three were down.
The boy who’d been their punching bag simply stared, completely stunned.
‘They said the Third Young Master’s martial skills were trash…’
Gi Chae-yun was utterly bewildered by his sudden savior. The rumors he’d heard about me and the reality in front of him were too different.
‘They said he had no talent for martial arts, just like me… but those hands show incredible effort!’
Like always, rumors were worthless. Before he knew it, the boy’s eyes were shining with pure admiration as he looked at me.
“Tsk.”
After dealing with the three delinquents, I clicked my tongue and picked up the book that had been rolling around on the ground. It was clearly well-worn—Gi Chae-yun must have read it constantly.
“Is this yours?”
“Y-yes!”
“Mind if I take a look?”
“Well…”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
It’s always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. I opened the book before he could answer.
‘Not a diary, huh.’
Too bad. Nothing beats snooping through someone else’s diary.
The pages were packed with complex mechanical formations and trap designs.
‘Oh?’
It was a book you could buy anywhere in the market, but the notes and additions inside showed real depth.
‘So he’s an engineering otaku.’
I reached my conclusion about Gi Chae-yun pretty quickly.
“Here, take it. What’s your name?”
“Thank you, Third Young Master! My name is Gi Chae-yun.”
“Right. Gi Chae-yun. This book is common as dirt in the market. So why were you protecting it like your life depended on it while getting beaten half to death?”
“That’s…”
Looked like there was a story there.
“Never mind. I’m leaving.”
It felt like listening would just become a hassle, so I turned away without hesitation.
“Third Young Master!”
“Can’t hear you~ Can’t hear you~”
“Third Young Master, I lost my parents young and have no one to rely on…”
Deciding that simply following my mother’s teachings was already enough filial piety, I neatly ignored Gi Chae-yun’s desperate voice and practically ran away from the scene.
In a dark corner of the market, a gambling den buzzed with low voices and the clack of tiles.
A fierce-looking man in his late thirties was shuffling cards with intense focus. “Hmmm.” He scratched the scar on his cheek, legs trembling, unable to sit still. Then his face lit up.
“Hahaha! Looks like this round belongs to me!”
Just as he thought he was finally winning, the weaselly man beside him smiled and laid down his own tiles.
“Oh my, it seems I was slightly luckier than you.”
“No… this… what the hell!”
The man looked at the others and finally noticed the faint smiles on their lips. He realized it too late.
“You bastards! You were all in on it!”
“Brother Tang, why use such harsh words?”
“Shut your mouth! How dare you—”
Before he could explode, two large men appeared behind him. The situation was wrapped up quickly.
“Ugh…”
“Spit! And don’t come back.”
“If only… I’d had a proper teacher…”
Pouring rain soaked the man as he trudged miserably down the alley. A well-dressed figure approached him.
“Chief?”
“Ugh. Tsk! Instructor Tang Chil-ju, come with me.”
“Me, sir?”
Tang Chil-ju tilted his head at the sight of the chief with his thin goatee. The same man who hadn’t paid him any attention for eight years as an instructor was suddenly calling for him?
With a bewildered expression, Tang Chil-ju followed Tang Gil-cheon.
“Where are we going?”
“First time at Honghwaru?”
Did he not realize this was a high-class restaurant an instructor’s salary could never touch? Following the chief inside, Tang Chil-ju felt a wave of instinctive unease at the table loaded with dishes whose names alone screamed luxury.
‘Eight years of complete indifference, the man who threw me into the 7th Class… suddenly treating me?’
Tang Chil-ju had once lived as an upright instructor. He never discriminated between direct descendants, branch members, or outsiders. He rewarded and punished fairly.
Then three years ago, he punished the son of the Cheonryongdan leader. After that, he was dragged into countless strange incidents, framed for harassing a female disciple, and dumped into the 7th Class.
‘While I’m rotting here…’
The woman who framed him had entered Cheonryongdan and was rising rapidly, gaining fame and glory.
‘Sigh…’
He wasn’t stupid. He knew it was all connected to the Cheonryongdan leader’s son. Seeing a world where the powerless suffered and the guilty prospered had broken him. These days he drowned himself in alcohol and gambling.
‘There’s definitely something going on.’
So when the chief suddenly appeared and offered an expensive meal, even someone as politically dense as Tang Chil-ju could smell the ulterior motive immediately.
“This is Gamnamchun. Have a cup.”
“Th-thank you.”
He was wary, but the chance to drink such fine liquor didn’t come often. His hand moved on its own.
“It’s been… six years since you joined Tanggidae, right?”
“Eight years, sir.”
“Eight years. To think an upright, promising instructor like you is stuck in the 7th Class… It really is a huge loss for Tanggidae.”
Suddenly acting like they were old colleagues? The delicious taste of the Gamnamchun turned to ash in his mouth.
“Is that so.”
Whether he noticed Tang Chil-ju’s thoughts or not, Tang Gil-cheon continued smoothly.
“Drinking with you after so long feels wonderful. I was disappointed you didn’t show up at the last gathering.”
You never invited me. After that incident they had openly ostracized him, yet the chief had the nerve to say something so shameless. Tang Chil-ju wanted to flip the table and leave right then.
‘Damn it… damn it all!’
Yet his body wouldn’t move. Realizing the upright man he used to be was truly gone, a wave of self-loathing washed over him.
“You want to escape the 7th Class, don’t you?”
“Pardon?”
His eyes had already answered for him. Seemingly satisfied, Tang Gil-cheon picked up some food with his chopsticks, ate it with obvious pleasure, and kept talking.
“Are you aware a new student has joined your class?”
“I heard something about it, but…”
He’d heard a new student was coming but hadn’t paid enough attention to learn who it was. The chief’s expression instantly turned icy.
“Tsk.”
For a split second, a look of pure contempt and disdain swept across Tang Chil-ju’s entire body.
“Hahaha…”
As Tang Chil-ju laughed awkwardly, the chief spoke as if granting a great favor.
“The Third Young Master is being assigned to the 7th Class.”
So that worthless Third Young Master was finally coming. What was meant to happen had happened.
“Yes. I will serve him to the best of my ability.”
At his half-resigned expression, Tang Gil-cheon shouted in anger.
“Ahem! How can an instructor of Tanggidae speak of giving special treatment to a particular student!”
“…Pardon?”
Why was he angry? When Tang Chil-ju answered in confusion, Tang Gil-cheon spoke as if he were the most righteous man alive.
“Tanggidae must operate strictly according to its principles regardless of status! How can you speak of special favors!”
“I-I’m sorry!”
Watching Tang Chil-ju stand and offer a respectful salute, the chief stroked his goatee.
“Treat the Third Young Master strictly according to Tanggidae’s rules. Understood? There must be absolutely no special treatment. And since there are many rumors about the Third Young Master, report on his every single move for the time being!”
“I will keep it in mind!”
“The Young Master spoke of gwa jeuk mul tan gae. It means if you have faults, do not hesitate to correct them.”
“Understood.”
“So behave properly this time—unlike three years ago. Finish the food. I seem to have lost my appetite.”
As Tang Gil-cheon left, Tang Chil-ju quietly raised his cup.
“…It’s bitter.”
Was Gamnamchun always this bitter? Even as he ate the finest delicacies, his mouth felt only dry and rough.