That’s Something We’ll Have to Wait and See (3)
Sunlight poured in through the window.
Chung Myung, who had risen before dawn and spent the morning meditating on his bed, only opened his eyes when the warm light tickled his face.
Today, huh.
He looked quietly out the window for a moment, then reached out and picked up the sword resting beside his bed.
Shrring.
He drew it slowly, flicked the blade with the tip of his finger, and listened as a clear note rang out.
A smile of pure satisfaction spread across his face as he sat up from the bed.
“All right, then. Where should I go first?”
It was going to be an interesting day.
Very interesting.
After washing his face and straightening his clothes, Chung Myung finished getting ready. He usually didn’t care all that much about such things, but today it took him twice as long as usual to make sure everything was in order.
It wasn’t as if he thought he needed to prepare for this day with any special reverence, but somehow it felt like he should.
Once everything was ready, Chung Myung slowly headed downstairs.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
By the time he reached the first floor, all the Mount Hua disciples had already finished preparing and were waiting for him.
Feeling the eyes of everyone on him, Chung Myung shrugged.
“You’re up early.”
At his utterly shameless tone, Hyun Young let a faint smile slip out.
He’d have every reason to be nervous.
Having skill didn’t mean a person didn’t get nervous. In fact, those who possessed true ability often felt even more pressure than ordinary people, because they believed there was something they absolutely had to achieve.
But Chung Myung’s expression looked no different from usual.
“Looks like you slept well.”
“Yeah. Like a rock.”
Hyun Young smiled broadly and nodded.
That brat.
Just looking at that brazen face made the tension in his chest ease. The other Mount Hua disciples seemed to feel the same, because the mood quickly warmed.
Then Hyun Jong spoke quietly.
“Chung Myung.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“You may not like hearing this, but I’m not particularly asking you to win first place.”
Chung Myung said nothing, simply waiting for Hyun Jong to continue.
“If you merely prove to those gathered here that Mount Hua is no longer a sect to be ignored, then that will be enough for me.”
Chung Myung smiled faintly.
“That’s exactly how it’ll be, Sect Leader.”
It was a refreshingly direct answer. Hyun Jong looked at him and smiled back.
What a peculiar thing.
A troublemaker.
A brat who always turned Mount Hua upside down.
And yet, at moments like this, he was without question the most dependable person here.
“Well then….”
Hyun Jong looked around at everyone.
The one who had reached the finals was Chung Myung.
But he had not created this situation alone. If the other Mount Hua disciples had not performed as well as they had, even Chung Myung reaching the finals would have been seen as little more than a minor upset.
It was because Mount Hua’s disciples had achieved such good results that Chung Myung’s place in the finals became the crowning touch.
No one could ignore Mount Hua now.
Mount Hua has become strong.
Hyun Jong closed his eyes briefly, steadied his heart, then turned his head and looked at the hall doors standing wide open.
“Lift your heads.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“The people of the world are waiting for us. They will remember even your smallest movement, your every glance. So let us go. Let us go and show them.”
Not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
Everyone was looking at Hyun Jong with determination burning in their eyes. Seeing those shining gazes, Hyun Jong found himself smiling before he knew it.
Results don’t matter nearly as much as this.
Three years ago, he could never have expected such eyes from these children.
But not anymore. The greatest achievement Mount Hua had gained from this tournament was not fame, nor profit, but confidence.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Led by Hyun Jong, the Mount Hua disciples strode out with heads held high.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Ah! Quit pushing!”
“Who isn’t getting pushed in this crowd? Quit making such a fuss and just bear with it!”
“Good heavens. I’ve never seen so many people gathered in my life!”
Shaolin was, quite literally, bursting at the seams.
It had been crowded to the point of suffocation throughout the tournament, but today was the finals, and the number of people seemed to have doubled.
Even that wasn’t enough, because the line still pouring into Shaolin showed no sign of stopping.
“Still, surely the winner will be Shaolin’s Hye Yeon, won’t it? I still can’t forget the Supreme Great Power of Non-Action he displayed. It was truly overwhelming!”
The listener frowned and shot back.
“Nonsense! Mount Hua’s Mount Hua Divine Dragon won with a single sword strike in the fourth round. And didn’t Hye Yeon get injured by a Mount Hua disciple? Considering the level of those who reached the fourth round, that Mount Hua Divine Dragon is clearly a tier above Hye Yeon!”
“That’s not how you compare skill! You can’t know for sure until they’ve actually fought!”
“Damn it! What are you looking at with those pea-sized eyes of yours?”
“What did you say, you punk?”
What had started as a polite conversation quickly escalated into a furious exchange, and before long they were grabbing one another by the collars.
But the people around them didn’t even bother to intervene, let alone spare them a glance. Everyone’s attention was fixed entirely on when the finals would begin.
Besides, similar scenes were already unfolding all over the place. There was nothing especially unusual about it.
The atmosphere in Shaolin had become so heated it was practically boiling over.
Everywhere one looked, opinions on the overall tournament and predictions for the winner were flying around like a storm. Everyone was enjoying the final competition in their own way, tossing out their logic and arguments with relish.
As people busied themselves placing bets at stalls, buying food, and arguing over the winner, the sun eventually climbed to its peak.
The time Shaolin had announced in advance had finally arrived.
Shaolin, which had been deafening just moments before, gradually began to quiet down.
And then—
“It’s Shaolin!”
“Shaolin is coming!”
“Woooooaaaaaah!”
All eyes turned at once toward one place. Far off between the halls, the figures in Shaolin’s yellow robes were walking forward with imposing dignity.
Those who felt the weight of that aura in their bones screamed even louder in excitement.
“As expected of Shaolin!”
“The winner is obviously going to be Shaolin!”
“The Abbot himself is leading them!”
Even amid the torrents of cheers, the Shaolin disciples’ steps never wavered.
For countless years, Shaolin had stood like a mountain, guarding the north of the jianghu. Over such a long span of time, how could there have been no challengers? How could there have been no ups and downs?
And yet Shaolin had overcome every challenge and endured every downturn. That was why all the righteous sects of the jianghu acknowledged Shaolin as the greatest sect under heaven and treated it with respect.
In the eyes of those watching Shaolin, there was trust.
Mount Hua’s challenge was fierce, but today too Shaolin would ultimately seize victory. And once again, Shaolin would etch into the world’s memory that it was the greatest sect under heaven.
Those trusting eyes turned toward Shaolin—and toward Hye Yeon, who was walking in their midst.
But soon enough, that chorus of praise was drowned out by another.
“It’s Mount Huaaa!”
“Mount Hua is coming! It’s the Mount Hua Divine Dragon!”
“Mount Hua! The greatest sword sect under heaven!”
The roar was far louder than the cheers that had gone to Shaolin.
Which, really, made sense.
Most people didn’t like fixed systems. They always wanted the wind of change to blow in.
Even if that change never truly came, those who created a new current were naturally met with support and encouragement.
Right now, Mount Hua was the symbol of that newness.
Shaolin. The Nine Great Sects. The Five Great Families.
These were the ones who symbolized the long-standing order of the jianghu. Mount Hua stood as the challenger to that tired, ossified system.
Everyone who had grown sick of the Nine Sects’ long hold on power cheered for Mount Hua.
In the vast world of the jianghu, the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families were only a tiny fraction. So, naturally, those who did not belong to that fraction could only throw their support behind Mount Hua.
“Mount Hua Divine Dragon! Take Shaolin down!”
“Smash those Nine Sects bastards’ noses flat!”
“Sweep away those damn bald monks!”
Along the path that opened to either side of the central fighting platform, Shaolin and Mount Hua walked slowly forward. From all directions, thunderous shouts crashed over them.
Even while walking, Yoon Jong glanced around and swallowed dryly.
When his pace slowed just a little, Jo Gul looked at him in confusion.
“What’s wrong, Sasuk?”
“No, it’s just….”
Yoon Jong gave an awkward smile and said,
“Isn’t it strange? Mount Hua being cheered by so many people.”
“……”
Jo Gul fell silent at that.
Strange?
Yes, strange.
Only a few years ago, Mount Hua had been a sect slowly fading from people’s memories. Even Yoon Jong and Jo Gul, who had entered Mount Hua and were learning the sword there, had not held onto any hope that Mount Hua would rise again.
They had simply wanted to honor the bond that had brought them here.
But now Mount Hua had become a sect the whole world watched.
These surging cheers felt almost unreal.
In the end, that was where it all began.
Jo Gul recalled the first time Chung Myung had entered Mount Hua.
That small, shabby child. The one who had been looking around Jo Gul’s room, looking so fragile he seemed like he’d snap if someone merely tapped him.
Jo Gul lifted his head and looked at Chung Myung’s back in front of him.
That back wasn’t very broad.
And yet that back was the one leading all of Mount Hua now.
Who could have imagined a day like this would come?
Even when he had decided to follow Chung Myung’s lead, he had never thought they would come this far.
“Sasuk.”
“Hm?”
“…It’s nothing.”
“You’re no fun.”
Yoon Jong smiled lightly.
He didn’t need Jo Gul to say the rest; he already knew. But putting such feelings into words was not easy. Yoon Jong himself was so full of emotion that he could hardly speak.
“Sasuk. How far do you think that bastard Chung Myung will go?”
“……Who knows.”
Yoon Jong looked at Chung Myung again.
How far, he wondered. No one could possibly know that.
But there was one thing he could be certain of.
“Wherever Chung Myung goes, whatever kind of world he walks through, we’ll be beside him.”
At Yoon Jong’s words, Jo Gul quietly nodded.
Yes.
Not just them—Mount Hua would be beside Chung Myung too.
Before long, Chung Myung reached the fighting platform and looked up. Baek Cheon, walking beside him, spoke with a composed expression.
“Chung Myung.”
“Hm?”
“This probably isn’t the right thing to say right now, but….”
“Mm….”
Baek Cheon wore a faint, complicated smile.
“From the day you punched me to this moment, I have never once thought there would be anyone who could surpass you.”
“……What’s that supposed to mean?”
“So….”
Baek Cheon nodded heavily and said in a low voice,
“Go back and prove I wasn’t wrong.”
Chung Myung was about to throw back some snide remark when Yu I-seol came padding up from behind him. Then she reached out toward his head.
“Huh?”
Tap. Tap.
She lightly tapped Chung Myung on the head twice, then nodded.
“Win.”
“……”
Yoon Jong and Jo Gul came forward too and rubbed Chung Myung’s shoulders.
“You can do it, Chung Myung.”
“It makes no sense for you to lose!”
Dang Soso, Baek Sang, Yeom Jin, and the Cheong generation disciples, along with the Baek generation disciples, all stepped forward as well and gave his shoulders light pats.
“Go out there and win.”
“We believe in you.”
“I can’t even imagine you losing. Of course you’re going to win!”
At all of it, Chung Myung let out an incredulous laugh.
“No, you people are—”
But before he could scold them for making a fuss, he saw their eyes and fell silent.
Eyes filled with nothing but faith.
Eyes that did not waver in the slightest. Eyes full of trust.
Had he ever been looked at like this before?
…
Of course Mount Hua had trusted him in the past. No one had ever doubted his skill.
But these eyes were a little different from then. Trust beyond skill. The kind of gaze given to the one leading them forward—eyes full of respect.
“……Well, damn.”
Chung Myung shook his head.
“You’re all making such a big deal out of nothing.”
Then he turned his body again and looked toward the fighting platform.
“Wait here.”
Though the side of his face was lined with the eyes of Mount Hua’s disciples, he no longer turned his gaze back to them.
“By the time I come back, Mount Hua’s going to be the best.”
With that calm declaration, he began walking straight toward the fighting platform.
It’s a little strange.
He kept feeling like turning his head back, but he consciously fixed his eyes forward.
Now wasn’t the time to look behind him.
Sect Leader Uncle-Master.
There were times like this.
Times when Chung Mun had walked ahead alone.
Whenever that happened, none of Mount Hua’s disciples had tried to stand beside him. Merely standing behind and watching the back of the one leading them was enough to bring strength and determination surging up inside them.
And now all of Mount Hua’s disciples were watching Chung Myung’s back.
The role Chung Mun had played in the past—Chung Myung was playing it now.
It was heavy.
And because of that, it felt strange.
Even when he fought the Demonic Sect under the weight of the whole world’s expectations, Chung Myung had never felt heavy like this.
Of course the enemies had been terrifying, and his own strength had limits. But the burden he had felt then was different from the heaviness he felt now.
To be trusted by someone.
He had never imagined it could weigh this much on a person’s shoulders.
And yet….
That’s not all.
It pushed him.
Those trust-filled eyes were pushing against his back.
So he should answer that trust in kind.
Chung Myung came to a stop and looked ahead. Hye Yeon was walking up onto the fighting platform.
The corner of Chung Myung’s mouth curled upward.
“You washed your neck before coming, right, octopus head?”
Now it was time to turn the world upside down.