Don’t Worry! I’ll Make Sure You Win! (4)
Chung Myung’s gaze moved slowly from left to right.
And every single person who met that gaze looked away at once, refusing to make eye contact.
Don’t look at him.
That bastard picked today to go crazy.
Just looking at Chung Myung’s wild eyes made it obvious that if they got caught now, they weren’t going to walk away in one piece. The third-generation disciples desperately avoided his stare.
“I can’t…….”
His voice leaked out of his mouth like something crawled up from hell.
“I can’t stand the sight of those Southern Edge bastards beating us.”
His eyes gleamed with madness.
I’m gonna piss myself.
No, seriously, what kind of lunatic even came in here……?
He’s even crazier than usual today. Is it because of the full moon or something?
“A man’s got his pride. How the hell can we lose to Southern Edge?”
No matter how anyone else felt, Chung Myung could not accept that fact. If they lost to Southern Edge, who hadn’t even done anything to Mount Hua, it would still make him so sick he wouldn’t be able to sleep. But getting crushed by those vile bastards who had stolen the Plum Blossom Sword Art?
It would be a miracle if he didn’t die of a burst blood vessel on the spot.
“You seniors have to win. I’ll make sure of it.”
“……”
Everyone was desperately trying to escape Chung Myung’s clutches by whatever means necessary.
But when there were this many people gathered together, there was always bound to be one idiot who couldn’t read the room.
“But……”
It was Jo Gul.
He looked at Chung Myung with a pure, puzzled expression and asked, “What did you mean just now? ‘If you die, you’ll see’? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh?”
Chung Myung smiled broadly at Jo Gul, who had dared to answer back.
“Senior brother. Come here.”
“……Me?”
Jo Gul pointed at his own face with a finger.
“Yeah.”
“……”
He glanced around. His fellow disciples were looking at him and nodding with looks of deep satisfaction.
With a wave of betrayal crashing over him, Jo Gul’s mouth fell open slightly.
Those bastards.
Where the hell had all that brotherly loyalty gone? Before Chung Myung came to Mount Hua, they had at least stuck together and helped each other out. When had this place turned so cold and heartless?
“Hurry up and get over here. Now.”
“G-great senior brother.”
Jo Gul turned to Yoon Jong one last time. Yoon Jong cleared his throat, then nodded.
“Go on. Get out there.”
“You son of a……”
He didn’t get to finish.
In the end, Jo Gul lowered his head and trudged forward like a cow being led to the slaughter. To Yoon Jong’s eyes, it almost looked as if there were a leash wrapped around Jo Gul’s neck.
Chung Myung looked at the approaching Jo Gul and said, “You said you wanted to get stronger, right?”
“……Yeah.”
“Honestly, this is a little weird to say, but……”
Chung Myung grinned. It was a smile from a guy holding a sword under the moonlight, and somehow that only made it colder.
“You seniors are already strong enough.”
“……Huh?”
“All that training you’ve done hasn’t been wasted.”
Jo Gul frowned.
“Then why can’t we beat those Southern Edge bastards?”
“Well, I guess not.”
Chung Myung thought it over for a moment.
Didn’t they say Yi Song-baek was among the stronger second-generation disciples of Southern Edge?
From the way the other senior disciples treated him, he definitely seemed like one of their top fighters. If he used him as a baseline and estimated the level of Southern Edge’s third-generation disciples……
Yeah, that’d be about what I expected.
Jo Gul could put up a fight. Yoon Jong would need luck. But the rest of the third-generation disciples couldn’t win at all.
Of course, a match could swing wildly depending on the condition of the day and a little luck, but unless heaven itself favored them, there was no way to picture Mount Hua’s third-generation disciples beating Southern Edge’s third-generation disciples.
“But that’s not because you seniors are weak.”
“……Then what?”
“Because you’ve built the body, but you’re still doing the same damn things you used to.”
“Huh?”
Built the body?
Jo Gul lowered his gaze and looked down at himself.
It has changed.
Thanks to training under Chung Myung and swallowing all those spirit elixirs, the third-generation disciples had built bodies that wouldn’t lose to even Shaolin. Just looking at those sharply carved muscles was enough to make one smile in satisfaction.
And it wasn’t just for show.
Everyone could feel how many times stronger their bodies were compared to the past now that they had adapted to training. Their swords were faster and sharper than ever, and their lower bodies were as steady as rock.
“So what do you mean, same things? What’s wrong with what we’re doing now?”
“I’m about to show you.”
Chung Myung smiled and stepped toward Jo Gul.
Grrrrk.
The sword in Chung Myung’s hand scraped against the ground with an unpleasant shriek. Jo Gul swallowed dryly and stared at him as he approached.
“Senior brother.”
“Yeah?”
“Why do you think people learn swords?”
“……Well……”
There was already an answer within Mount Hua’s doctrine.
One used the sword to discipline the body, and in the end, one reached the Dao. In a Daoist sect, the sword was merely a means of cultivation, a path toward the Dao.
But there’s no way this bastard wants that answer.
If he said that, Chung Myung would just mock him for giving a textbook answer.
So……
“To beat an opponent, I guess?”
“Krrr!”
Chung Myung clapped his hands.
“Senior brother, to think that answer came out of your head! Truly astonishing. A completely typical black-do path answer that has nothing to do with a Daoist. I’ve heard enough.”
……He should’ve just given the textbook answer.
Chung Myung nodded.
“Half right. You learn it to win. So how do you win with a sword?”
“By getting stronger?”
Having realized that whatever he said would earn him abuse anyway, Jo Gul answered without hesitation.
“That’s it.”
But this time, surprisingly, Chung Myung readily accepted the answer.
“You get stronger. If you’re stronger than your opponent, you win. But what I’m saying is that this means something a little different.”
“……I’m having a hard time following.”
“Simple.”
Chung Myung smiled faintly and raised his sword.
“From now on, senior brother and I are going to spar. Use every trick you know. I’ll only use one move: a straight overhead strike.”
“……Seriously?”
“Yep.”
Jo Gul frowned.
Isn’t he looking down on me way too much?
He had already gained plenty of experience with Chung Myung. No matter how hard he struggled, he knew better than anyone that beating Chung Myung at this point was impossible.
But this was a little different.
No matter how large the gap was, being defeated by Chung Myung using nothing but a single downward strike was a matter of pride.
I’ll show him how much stronger I’ve gotten.
Clenching his teeth, Jo Gul lifted his wooden sword.
“You’re using a real sword?”
“Yeah.”
“……I’m saying this just in case, but……”
“Relax, I wouldn’t do that.”
Why wouldn’t he answer properly?
He’s not going to cut me, is he?
Jo Gul nodded with a sour expression. He must have his reasons.
“Do I start?”
“Oh?”
When Jo Gul raised his wooden sword confidently, Chung Myung’s smile turned strange.
“Looks like you’ve gotten a bit of confidence, senior brother.”
“I’ve been training myself to death, thanks to you.”
“Hmm.”
Chung Myung smiled back and lifted his sword.
Confidence, huh? Good.
Anyone who wielded a sword needed confidence. A person who didn’t believe in himself would have a hard time bringing out his true skill.
But……
It’s still a little early for that.
If they were chickens, maybe he’d grant them a little leeway, but the third-generation disciples were still only chicks. It was natural for them to get carried away now that Mount Hua was advancing with such explosive momentum, but this wasn’t the time to be proud. It was the time to strengthen the foundation.
And now he was going to teach them that.
Jo Gul fixed Chung Myung with sharp eyes. If one only judged by his gaze, he looked like a first-rate swordsman.
“Prepare yourself!”
“Huh?”
“I hold no personal grudges! Haaah!”
With a shout, Jo Gul charged at Chung Myung. Despite his declaration that this was nothing personal, his eyes were blazing with it.
It was almost embarrassing how obvious it was that he intended to land at least one hit before he died.
What exactly did I do wrong?
That was the kind of thing that would have made anyone foam at the mouth and point a finger at him, but fortunately, there was no one here who practiced mind reading.
Chung Myung clicked his tongue and slipped past Jo Gul’s sword.
“Taaaat!”
But as if he had expected exactly that, Jo Gul’s sword began to shift in a flurry of changes.
Falling Flower Sword.
Though less than a month had passed since the instruction began, Jo Gul was already unfolding the Falling Flower Sword with surprising skill. Combined with the Seven Stars Footwork, it was so dazzling and refined that even those who knew nothing about the sword couldn’t help but gasp.
He really does have talent.
Chung Myung looked at Jo Gul with fresh eyes.
In terms of innate talent for the sword, Jo Gul was in no way inferior to anyone in Mount Hua. Talent alone, he wouldn’t lose to Yi Song-baek of Southern Edge.
But.
Chung Myung grinned.
Wasn’t it true that if you wanted a growing sapling to flourish, you had to step on it now and then?
This was absolutely not selfishness. It was nothing but concern for Jo Gul’s growth.
Chung Myung tightened his grip on the sword.
“You’re doing better than I expected, senior brother.”
“……Better?”
“Yes. It looks like Senior Brother Jo Gul is pushing me back one-sidedly.”
Yoon Jong gave a wry smile.
“It would look that way, yes.”
“Pardon?”
“He is pressing forward one-sidedly, but he still hasn’t touched even a single thread of your clothing, has he?”
“Ah……”
While the others focused on Jo Gul’s sword, Yoon Jong paid attention to Chung Myung’s movement.
Footwork?
Not exactly that either.
Whenever Jo Gul advanced, Chung Myung withdrew. Whenever the sword came down, he merely tilted it aside. With nothing more than simple, measured steps, Chung Myung avoided every single strike.
Watching from the side, it no longer felt like a spar but like a beautifully choreographed sword dance.
Every time he moved with that airy, elusive grace, Jo Gul’s sword cut through empty space as if it were intentionally avoiding Chung Myung.
Just how much of that bastard’s movements am I actually seeing?
The only times Yoon Jong had ever been able to face Chung Myung were when he was being beaten by him or training alongside him.
Several months had passed since Chung Myung came to Mount Hua, but this was the first time he had been able to watch him use his martial arts from up close like this.
And so he could tell.
Just how vast the gap between Chung Myung and them truly was.
“I-I-Iiih!”
Jo Gul clenched his teeth and slashed again.
He couldn’t catch him.
It felt like fighting a ghost. Even though his sword filled the air with dazzling motions like petals whipping through the wind, Chung Myung simply slipped past them as if it were nothing.
Not even an inch.
If he thrust, the sword stopped an inch before reaching him. If he cut down, it brushed an inch beside his shoulder. And whenever he swung, Chung Myung ruined every change his sword created with nothing more than a slight tilt of his head.
It was hopeless.
Last time he had fought Chung Myung, he hadn’t even known how he lost. But this was different, wasn’t it? He was going all out, and still he couldn’t even graze the collar of Chung Myung’s robe.
Jo Gul gritted his teeth and poured internal energy into his sword.
“Aaaaaah!”
His sword flashed a brilliant blue.
“Sword qi?”
“He’s using sword qi?”
The voices exploding behind him never reached Jo Gul’s ears.
He focused only on the single-minded resolve to cut Chung Myung down and unleashed a desperate sword strike. But then—
“It’s over.”
At that very moment, Chung Myung suddenly stepped forward with a single pace and lifted his sword overhead.
Jo Gul saw it.
He saw Chung Myung raise his sword.
In a world that seemed to flow as if time had stopped, only Chung Myung’s sword moved slowly at its own speed. It was a perfectly natural motion, like wind blowing or water flowing.
What is that?
The sword, pointing precisely toward the heavens, came to a halt.
And then.
Fwaaaaaaah!
With a terrifying cutting sound that seemed enough to tear eardrums apart, Chung Myung’s sword came crashing down over Jo Gul’s head.
I’m…… dying……
Jo Gul stared at the sword descending toward his head without even being able to close his eyes. In that instant, his entire life flashed past him like a waterfall.
Before he could even realize that this was what people called one’s final moments, Chung Myung’s sword reached his head.
Pwaaaaang!
And with the sound of a leather drum bursting, the sword stopped against Jo Gul’s forehead.
Thud.
Jo Gul collapsed to the ground as if his legs had given out, then looked up at Chung Myung with a dazed expression.
Chung Myung grinned and asked, “So? How does it feel to die?”
“……”
How did it feel?
Well…… I think I just pissed myself a little.
Uh…… huh.