Chapter 108
Chapter 108
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: From Rotation to Straight Line
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pffk.
Looking back at the spot where the sound came from, it was none other than the heart.
"Five points!"
Han Ibi realized that this obnoxious Ban Bang-geun was actually a master of the flying dagger arts.
Ban Bang-geun shrugged his shoulders and said,
"This much is nothing. Not difficult at all."
With those words, another dagger flew out.
Pffk.
Incredibly, the dagger pierced straight through the dummy's head once more.
No, more precisely, right where a person's right eyeball would be.
If it was aimed, the control was virtually perfect.
"Five points!"
As the score was called out, Ban Bang-geun flashed a grin at him and said,
"Well, no need to throw any more. Right? You've already hit fifteen points."
The young disciple of the Sichuan Tang Clan looked a bit flustered but seemed to find no grounds to refuse, so he replied,
"That's correct."
Then he announced loudly,
"Kunlun Sect's Ban Bang-geun, passed!"
Ban Bang-geun turned around and said to Han Ibi,
"Good luck, then. I'll take my leave first."
Ugh, that insufferable prick.
But that was that... Now Han Ibi had to find his own way to survive.
He positioned himself as close to the line as possible, preparing to throw the dagger.
Taking one more deep breath, Han Ibi activated Dart Technique from his status window.
The familiar crosshair appeared in his vision.
He could see the horizontal and vertical lines shaking irregularly.
Timing it perfectly was the core of a throwing arts specialist's dart technique.
That had been the essence of his focused training over the past few days.
[Aim for five points. Ones won't cut it.]
With that, Han Ibi focused all his attention on the dummy's head.
And then...
Whoosh.
Han Ibi's dagger sliced through the air.
But...
It just kept slicing air.
"Argh!"
Han Ibi clutched his head with both hands and yelled without thinking.
He'd been so tense that he missed the final aiming timing.
"Hahaha!"
It was the laughter of Ban Bang-geun from Kunlun Sect, who had stepped back to watch.
"Young Master Jong, did you perhaps feel mercy for the dummy? Why waste a dagger like that?"
Han Ibi's blood boiled.
Scores be damned—he wanted to rush over, grab the guy by the collar, and shake him.
But...
What would that change? As long as he didn't get eliminated, he'd count his blessings...
Han Ibi flexed his fingers and took another deep breath.
He focused entirely on the movement of the crosshair.
The moment the horizontal and vertical lines intersected—a mere instant.
Capturing that instant.
Swoosh.
Han Ibi's dagger slid through the air once more.
Pffk.
'Whew!'
Han Ibi let out a sigh of relief.
"Five points!"
This time, he'd successfully embedded the dagger in the head.
It was a bit off toward the left ear, but... a success was a success.
Ban Bang-geun looked at Han Ibi with an amused expression.
"Oh ho. Not bad, Young Master Jong. Luck was on your side, it seems."
Han Ibi took another deep breath and drew the next dagger.
The darts provided by the Murim Alliance differed slightly in weight and grip from those gifted by Cha Du-haeng.
He regretted not practicing enough with these new ones.
Hubris truly was the greatest obstacle to success...
He decided to play it safer for the second and third throws.
He'd target the lower body, which had the largest surface area.
Awarding three points for a leg hit made sense—it could cripple an opponent's mobility.
Even in training, it was a realistic scoring system.
Han Ibi held his breath and quickly hurled the dagger at the leg.
Pffk.
The dagger was lodged in the dummy's right ankle.
Ban Bang-geun clapped quietly and said,
"Impressive. Going for the ankle, no less!"
'Tch, I was aiming for the thigh...'
It had shaken again.
As expected, these split-second battles were no joke.
Han Ibi took one more deep breath, vowing this time to hit the thigh.
Swoosh—the blade flew.
Pffk.
For a moment, the training ground fell silent.
Followed by Ban Bang-geun's bursting laughter.
"Puhaha!"
Led by him, snickers erupted from all around.
Some of the female instructors watching turned red-faced.
Even the young Sichuan Tang Clan disciple scoring looked quite flustered.
Yes.
The dagger aimed at the thigh had struck the most vital spot on a man's body—the dead center groin.
Ban Bang-geun, still chuckling, asked the Tang Clan disciple,
"What do we do in a case like this?"
The disciple pondered briefly, then scurried over to Dang Hyo-bi.
He returned shortly and shouted,
"Three points!"
Ban Bang-geun protested,
"What? Three points? Shouldn't this be five?"
The surrounding youths erupted in "Wahaha!" laughter.
"Exactly. Feels more like ten points!"
"A true marksman!"
Han Ibi wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole from embarrassment.
Still, he had to focus on the final throw.
Current score: eleven points.
He absolutely needed to hit the head or heart.
A clear mind to seize the instant.
The subtle point where the arm's rotational motion turns into the dagger's straight flight.
Grasping that action point precisely.
That is my dart technique!
Han Ibi inhaled sharply—"Hup"—and held his breath.
The dagger flew.
Pffk!
Han Ibi clenched his fist tightly.
His dagger was embedded in the dummy's head.
Success at last.
The Sichuan Tang Clan disciple's voice rang out.
"Qingcheng Sect's Jong Ri-mae, passed!"
Ban Bang-geun said with a look of genuine respect,
"Ooh. Impressive, Young Master Jong."
Han Ibi twitched his eyebrow and replied,
"What, as good as you, Brother Ban?"
"Haha, too modest. See you later, then."
Han Ibi glared at Ban Bang-geun's retreating back with dissatisfaction.
As expected, actual combat was the best practice.
Han Ibi felt his proficiency in dart technique had grown another level.
'Good. No greed. Stick to this pace.'
Jong Ri-hyeok unfortunately failed the first round.
No matter the protagonist, he couldn't be perfect at everything.
But among the twelve, several familiar faces advanced.
Gwak Won-hoe, for one.
True to his Imperial Army background, he displayed excellent archery and passed the first round easily.
And So Eun-ri...
She too showed unexpected skill with the bow, clearing the first round effortlessly.
'That level... doesn't look like just a hobby.'
The already-eliminated instructors now watched the competing youths with relaxed interest.
Competitions always drew crowds, regardless of era or nation.
And now, the second exam began.
Heo Son-dam stepped forward, holding something like a child's head-sized ball in his hand.
It was cloth stuffed tightly with straw.
That was surely the "moving target."
Heo Son-dam said,
"Better to show than explain a hundred times."
With that, he hurled the target high into the air—whoosh.
Two figures moved swiftly at the same time.
Sichuan Tang Clan's Dang Hyo-bi and Yellow Dragon Squad's Nam Cheong-bong.
Their actions were nearly simultaneous.
Dang Hyo-bi was slightly closer, Nam Cheong-bong a bit farther—that was the difference.
Whoosh.
Accompanied by the sound of cutting wind, the flying target suddenly halted midair and dropped to the ground with a thud.
Dang Hyo-bi's dart and Nam Cheong-bong's arrow had struck it simultaneously, canceling its momentum.
A jaw-dropping display.
The instructors forgot the situation and cheered with applause.
Heo Son-dam said,
"No further explanation needed, right?"
The twelve candidates replied in unison,
"Yes, Instructor!"
"We'll do the second exam in groups of six. Five moving targets per person. The top half, based on most hits, advance to the final exam via relative evaluation."
Han Ibi called out to So Eun-ri a few steps away,
"Little Sister So, best of luck."
So Eun-ri simply nodded plainly.
But she was tense too.
The eliminated youths lounged under the trees, watching leisurely.
Yeon Nan-ju was among them. She waved enthusiastically,
"Qingcheng Sect disciples! Fight on!"
Sigh. Why was embarrassment always his burden?
Han Ibi ignored her cheers and took his position for the exam.
Like the first round, spaced about three jang apart, a young Quanzhen Sect Taoist prepared to launch the targets.
Han Ibi focused intently and activated Dart Technique.
The crosshair trembled faintly, as if anxious.
And finally, the target launched skyward.
Not having enough time to concentrate was this exam's constraint.
Han Ibi predicted the moving target's path and threw the dart.
However...
His dart missed the target by a wide margin.
'D-Damn. This is way harder than I thought.'
Han Ibi panicked but steadied himself and drew the second dart.
The Quanzhen Sect disciple impassively launched the second target.
Han Ibi threw again.
The dart neared the target.
But it missed by a hair's breadth once more.
Now Han Ibi couldn't help but panic.
Only three darts left.
He glanced around.
Fortunately, many were in the same boat.
Hitting moving targets was far harder than stationary ones.
Yet Dang Baek-mun, Gwak Won-hoe, So Eun-ri, and others hit the moving targets flawlessly.
'At this rate, I'm out... Need a way... find a way.'
Han Ibi raised his hand to the Quanzhen disciple, asking for a pause.
He wiped cold sweat from his brow with his sleeve, thinking furiously. Then it hit him.
'Right. Eagle's Eye Technique's Tracking Gaze Method. That'll help.'
As soon as the thought formed, Han Ibi activated Tracking Gaze Method and locked onto the moving target.
The Quanzhen disciple asked,
"Ready?"
"Yes. Begin."
The young Quanzhen disciple hurled the target again.
The target's trajectory began analyzing per Tracking Gaze Method.
This was far superior to rough mental estimation.
And finally...
Pffk—the target was struck and sent flying.
Han Ibi cheered inwardly.
Even the Quanzhen disciple looked surprised.
He launched two more moving targets, and Han Ibi, thanks to the combo of Tracking Gaze and Dart Technique, barely managed to hit and send them flying.
'Whew! I've done all I can. The rest is up to heaven.'
With all candidates finished, Dang Hyo-bi stepped forward to announce results.
First, those who hit all five: Sichuan Tang Clan's Dang Baek-mun, Kunlun Sect's Ban Bang-geun, Yellow Dragon Squad's Gwak Won-hoe.
True masters among marksmen.
Next passers hit four: Namgung Clan's Namgung Woo-hee and Qingcheng Sect's So Eun-ri.
Many marveled at the two women's performances.
And finally...
"One left. The final second-round passer is... Qingcheng Sect's Jong Ri-mae, who hit three targets."
All the youths looked shocked, and Han Ibi clenched his fist triumphantly.
(To be continued in the next chapter)