Chapter 59
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Steadily Accumulating Maturity Refund-Type Karmic Retribution
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After Geum Sihyeon sensed the awkwardness and bolted with the utterly unbelievable excuse of taking the Neukdaeng for a walk.
Unfortunately, they were headed in the same direction.
Moyong Seol awkwardly trailed after Seo Dohee in silence.
Her thoughts spun in dizzying circles.
She'd already heard the story from Geum Sihyeon before.
She knew he'd more or less been semi-forced into a master-disciple bond.
That must have been when it started.
Seo Dohee, once an object of admiration and envy—the idol of every aspiring heroine—had begun to seem subtly different.
And then.
Seo Dohee's fully dolled-up appearance, something she'd never seen before.
And the way she interacted with other disciples or instructors—
Yeah.
The expression on Seo Dohee's face, one so enchantingly feminine it made her seem less like a bold warrior woman and more like a maiden before her man.
How was she supposed to interpret that?
No way, no way.
Moyong Seol couldn't contain her surging curiosity and blurted out a question.
"Um..."
"Hm? What's up?"
It was Instructor Seo Dohee's usual tone.
No, before, it had definitely...
Carried a warmth born from their shared bond as women performing the same instructor role.
That warmth had quietly faded.
"Ah, nothing."
"You're no fun."
It was the slightest shift in temperature.
But Moyong Seol felt it keenly and hurriedly swallowed her words back down into her chest.
Thinking about it, asking outright like that would be too much.
No way, right?
Of course, purely in terms of looks, thanks to the rejuvenating effects of her cultivation, Moyong Seol appeared about the same age as her.
But Instructor Seo Dohee had crossed the threshold of her forties, heading toward her fifties—a vast age gap dwarfing even the difference between Geum Sihyeon and herself.
Yeah.
Sihyeon was just diligent, cute, solid, sturdy, promising future, a bit playful but polite when he needed to be, and all that.
So naturally, she'd just be looking out for him.
But why did it nag at her so much...?
Moyong Seol suddenly felt a burning sensation in her dantian again.
Her skin was naturally pale and sensitive, so faint traces still lingered on her lower abdomen from that time.
In fact, that was a big reason she'd been searching for Geum Sihyeon today.
The icy energy she'd suppressed back then was gradually slipping her control and starting to rampage again.
She'd planned to swallow her shame and pride and ask him for help one more time.
As she silently followed Seo Dohee, Moyong Seol's hands moved busily.
This wasn't her usual happy tapping routine.
[Moyong Seol: Sihyeon-ah. Couldn't say it earlier]
[Moyong Seol: Can you help me one more time later?]
[Moyong Seol: (✿◡‿◡)]
Even as she hit send.
She didn't realize she'd unconsciously used an emoticon she'd never once sent to anyone in private chats.
It was an emotion Moyong Seol had never felt before, so she couldn't comprehend it herself.
But blooming faintly in her chest was, without a doubt.
A twinge of jealousy.
"Neukdaeng-ah. So much has happened. I'm exhausted for real..."
"Kyau!"
In an empty room, he hugged the lone Neukdaeng on the bed and rolled around once.
The window was slightly open, so it must have filled its daily walk quota on its own again today.
Last time, it had gotten hungry at dawn and opened the window sill right in front of me to go stuff its face with a meow-meow feast before coming back.
This is why spirit beasts are great.
Even peeking into its heart with the Heavenly Beast Heart-Returning Art revealed an animal's pure, unclouded—
- Owner's gone and caused trouble again, huh.
"..."
Whatever, nap time first.
A good while later.
He woke only after darkness had fully settled.
His two headache-inducers still hadn't returned home.
They wouldn't dare leave this bigwig out and go fool around with women somewhere, would they?
With Neukdaeng on his belly, he bounced his abs and peacefully opened his smartphone.
[Seol-noonim: (✿◡‿◡)]
"Hm..."
Was the Ice Kyungdu personality finally starting to devour the real Moyong Seol...?
Get out of Seol-noonim's body!
Ice Kyungdu!
After a mental protest rally, he sent a light reply.
One time was no big deal; two wouldn't be either.
This time, he skipped the forced squinting and peeking like some desperate loser.
Next message.
[Luri: (Photo of ice cream Frozen dessert)]
[Luri: I want to eat this]
Hm.
What was he supposed to do about it?
[Me: ?]
[Luri: Buy it for me]
[Me: Where's it sold?]
[Luri: Academy night market]
[Me: Broke or something?]
[Luri: Yeah..]
Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Is this really okay?
Not even a regular low-rank disciple—the young cult leader herself couldn't afford a damn ice cream?
Did her old man catch wind that the cult was about to declare a moratorium, short the cult's stocks, and flee to the Central Plains?
[Me: Yeah ;]
[Me: Meet in 2 gak]
[Luri: Pika!]
That damn pika.
With a sigh, he locked in the meetup on the spot.
A bit later.
"Hi."
The pint-sized one's sullen face appeared, strutting up alone without even bringing her plus-one bait item.
Sudden acute chest emptiness syndrome squeezed his heart, but asking outright why she hadn't come with Sojeo would be too much.
"Let's go."
They headed together to the Hundred Flowers Market.
Maybe some festival had kicked off, because after his nap, the academy grounds were swarming not just with disciples but outsiders too.
As they neared the Hundred Flowers Market.
"Whew. This is the real deal."
It sprawled out on a scale rivaling a typical Xi'an market fair.
Every other stall had faces that looked vaguely familiar, hinting at who was behind the festival.
Everyone.
Eat lots, spend lots, and enjoy.
Suddenly, the whole world shone beautifully, streets overflowing with bright smiles.
"This way."
Trailing after Luri as she tugged his clothes.
"Come one, come all! Binggwa from Nomi Lumi! One bite and you'll freeze two people solid—delicious enough to kill!"
"...What the hell's that guy doing there?"
Moyong Taek came into view, hawking Turkish-style ice cream piled on rolled-up pancakes.
Come to think of it, Luri had no real connection with Moyong Taek.
No wonder she didn't respond.
"Bro's here. Whip up two. But what's this? No gambling, actually doing honest business?"
"What? It's the gold bastard."
Moyong Taek glanced between him and Luri, then leaned in close and whispered cautiously.
"You into that type...? Gah!"
Couldn't exactly punch a vendor in the face, so he drove a solar plexus strike instead.
What a disaster waiting to happen.
Moyong Taek choked and gagged for a moment, started to open his mouth again, locked eyes with Luri, and backed down.
"I'm fostering bonds between the orthodox sects and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult as an envoy, so comp the ice cream. So why're you doing this?"
"Rich prick wants it free? ...There's a story. If only that damn bald bastard from Samsungano..."
"What'd you say?"
"...? You?"
Whoops.
He bristled for a second.
"Not you."
"Boring story. That Mind-Image Sword Debate has a slick bald guy. Hoksemumin or whatever."
"Ah."
"Was neck-and-neck with first place till the end, so I bet big on first assuming he'd take it..."
"Idiot."
No eye for people like that.
Natural selection at this point.
As he spoke, Moyong Taek finished the ice creams and grumbled as he handed them over.
Pulling a gold piece from his pocket made Moyong Taek's face shine like a bald head under Solar Fist.
"Sihyeon, you're the best friend ever!"
"Bullshit. Live straight. We're off."
He could clearly see that gold piece turning into gambling chips at some racetrack soon.
But a man had to have compassion.
Plus, it was his money anyway.
He'd won more than Moyong Taek had lost, so he could afford this handout.
Didn't want to draw more eyes in the crowd, so he handed Luri her ice cream and wandered to a quieter spot.
Even in this demon-infested street, his luck held strong.
"Oh! Young Master Geum!"
"Elder Song. Long time. Any seats upstairs?"
"Of course, we must host you. Empty now—treat it like home. Call if you need anything."
Heh.
After sending spiritual and material thanks to Elder Song for upholding his face.
He took Luri—still clutching his clothes, lapping at her ice cream with her tiny tongue—up to the second floor.
"Want more?"
"Tasty."
"Yeah."
Wrapping up the brief, advanced-level communication with Luri, he savored his own sweet ice cream while gazing out the window.
Vitality surging like a nighttime Xi'an street.
Fine ladies and gentlemen laughing ha-ha-ho-ho as they strolled.
Families from outside the academy, dads piggybacking kids affectionately.
He turned to look at the little Luri before him.
Sighing at her oblivious ice cream-smeared cheek as she licked like an anteater.
Was this what it felt like raising a daughter as a single dad?
"You got some."
He wiped her soft cheek with his thumb.
And for good measure, refilled the melting ice cream with a touch of Ice Arts chill.
"!"
Luri stared into his eyes with the same expression she'd had seeing Pika Ping for the first time.
And soon.
"Ack, aack, why all sudden?"
She puffed her cheeks and hammered his torso with flailing Luri punches.
A world where goodwill turned to harm.
Ungrateful brat.
Two days after the Mind-Image Sword Debate prelims ended.
The main tournament kicked off in earnest.
No upsets.
The powerhouses already spotlighted in prelims steamrolled through, sweeping the round of 64 and 32, weeding out the flash-in-the-pan pretenders.
Some participants' identities were already pinned down.
Like Shaolin's top disciple.
Kakwon, the top candidate for next Supreme Under Heaven, was known to all as "Hoksemumin" in the Mind-Image Sword Debate.
Well, yeah.
There couldn't be two baldies in the world casually wielding Shaolin's vaunted Seventy-Two Supreme Arts.
From the round of 64, match videos were uploaded unedited to Mutube—anyone with eyes could check.
But mysteries lingered for a few, fueling daily comment infernos speculating identities.
And right after the round of 32 results.
The Martial Alliance dropped the round of 16 bracket plus a bombshell announcement.
Starting from the round of 16, we'll apply Zhuge Family's new tech 'Live Broadcast' for real-time viewing.
A technological revolution to upend the entire martial world.
And the debut match for this tech? A flashy matchup.
The rising star Samsunggano, who'd topped prelims and crushed Nine Great Sect warriors in 64 and 32.
Versus the rightful next Supreme candidate—the baldie who'd handed Samsunggano his one loss.
Hoksemumin.
[Mode 'Internet Broadcasting in the Martial World' updating...]
[Mode update complete]
[Trait 'Divine Mountain Ghost Vessel' adds new ability.]
[Watching internet broadcasts reveals the broadcaster's live location.]
"What the hell is this now?"
Geum Sihyeon rubbed his forehead.