Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 28
>Chapter Title: Gratitude (1)
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Guyangmun, who had attempted a grand escape, returned by evening.
Carrying a lavish dinner spread.
“Why are you back?”
At Jin Ha-yeon’s icy question, Guyangmun forced a hearty laugh in response.
“Ha, haha! I finished up some forgotten work quicker than expected. And, well, you haven’t fully recovered yet, so I couldn’t just abandon attending to the Young Master! I’m a man with a strong sense of responsibility! Haha!”
With that, Guyangmun couldn’t quite meet Jin Ha-yeon’s eyes and hurriedly set the table for me.
“P-Please, eat comfortably, Young Master!”
“I-I shall.”
It was like filming a comedy skit.
As I awkwardly wielded my chopsticks to eat the food laid out before me.
“What Seon-a said just now.”
“W-What story? I-I didn’t hear anything?”
When Jin Ha-yeon seemed about to ask something, Guyangmun had another fit.
But it didn’t work on Jin Ha-yeon.
“The part about you liking me. Is it true?”
“W-Wh-What are you talking about! M-Me, you? H-Ha. That’s absurd.”
I let out a sigh as I ate, watching Guyangmun deny it like he was having a seizure.
“Whew.”
I’d roughly figured it out from the way he acted like an elementary schooler, but this guy was definitely hopeless with romance.
* * *
After finishing dinner and briefly reviewing the day’s training.
While receiving Pushing Palaces and Passing Meridians from Guyangmun, followed by his assistance with my bath.
“Miss Jin, I’m feeling a bit peckish. Could you fetch some snacks? Since my hands are inconvenient, have the servants from the Tea House bring them along.”
When I suddenly assigned her a task, Guyangmun, who had been applying the medicinal paste to my body, cried out in haste.
“No, Young Master! I’ll go!”
“No need. Miss Jin will handle it.”
I insisted on sending Jin Ha-yeon on the errand. And right after she left Wind Rock Hall.
“Whew.”
I sighed and turned to Guyangmun. The reason I’d sent her away was to have a talk with this pitiful man while she was gone.
I had no intention of meddling in others’ love lives, but it was pathetic, and with Seon-a already dropping the bomb, pretending not to know felt pointless.
“You like Miss Jin that much?”
“W-Wh-What are you saying!?”
I frowned at his outburst again.
“It hurts.”
He’d shoved the paste into my skin during his fit. It hadn’t torn, but it was red now.
“S-Sorry.”
“Anyway, Young Hero Guyang’s approach leaves much to be desired.”
“M-My approach? What do you mean?”
“You did it again just now. How do you expect things to go if you freak out like that when she asks if you like her?”
“B-But it’s embarrassing. To say outright that I like her.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
At thirty-four, with a whopping three relationships under my belt, it was time to offer some advice as a romance senior.
“Everyone naturally feels affection toward those who like them. Conversely, almost no one warms to someone who keeps saying they hate them.”
Of course, there are exceptions like when the pursuer’s a scumbag or has major issues, but generally speaking.
“If Miss Jin liked Young Hero Guyang, that’d be one thing. But when you’re already short on courtship, why would she like someone who outright says they hate her?”
“H-Haven’t I shown plenty of goodwill?”
“When?”
“W-Well, giving her the medicine, and attending to you in her place...”
I didn’t hide my bafflement as I shot back.
“...And you think calling it that counts as goodwill?”
“...Th-Then what should I do? Confess that I like her?”
Finally ready to listen, Guyangmun stopped applying the paste and asked.
A pretty dumb question, at that.
“Listen well. A confession isn’t about revealing your feelings to the other person.”
“!? Wh-What do you mean? Isn’t a confession just a confession?”
“No. A confession is the final check on mutual feelings.”
“!!!”
Guyangmun stared at me in shock.
Well, I was the same back in high school when I first had a crush.
“Before that, you gradually build affection by showing small bits of goodwill, stacking emotions little by little. But be careful—pouring on too much goodwill from the start is no different from confessing outright.”
“Th-Then.”
Guyangmun started to ask something, but I cut him off and pressed on.
“And! You can’t show goodwill like you have been. Drip it out bit by bit, but enough that she senses it. Not blatantly ‘I love you!’ but enough to make her wonder, ‘Hmm? Is this guy interested in me?’ Make her intrigued, uncertain—that’s the right amount.”
“Th-Then.”
“Shut up and listen first. Once those small exchanges of goodwill have ripened the feelings to a certain point. That’s the moment for confession.”
Guyangmun muttered amid my lengthy lecture, looking like he’d been struck by lightning.
“...Unbelievable. Your teachings, Young Master, are far deeper and more detailed than my seniors’ advice.”
“...You got advice from seniors?”
“Yes. Actually, that’s why I came back earlier. The Hundred Ghosts Unit seniors told me running off from work isn’t manly—they said to show ‘responsibility.’ That when I become a husband, I need to seem reliable.”
“......”
I see.
That’s why he’d emphasized “responsibility” earlier.
Trying to look like prime husband material.
‘It’s not like it’s 2008... Oh, wait, this is even before that?’
As a nagging doubt crept in that my advice might not land in this era, Guyangmun asked.
“But you said to build it gradually with small goodwill. What if she takes it but shows no reaction?”
“...Try two or three more times. If there’s still no response, or she seems uncomfortable or upset, give up.”
“!!! What are you saying! She’s the only one for me, Young Master!!”
Watching him freak out again, I thought.
He’s got real stalker potential.
They say no tree doesn’t fall after ten strikes?
One success story romanticized it, but the other ninety-nine were stalkers.
If he thought he’d be that one-in-a-hundred, I’d rather recommend buying a lottery ticket.
And above all.
“Listen well. Unwanted goodwill is no different from harassment.”
“Wh-What do you mean? How can goodwill be harassment?”
“Think of a woman you hate most—the kind where just imagining being with her makes you uncomfortable.”
“???”
Young Hero Guyang looked confused, but soon replied, “I’ve thought of one.”
“Now imagine her visiting you every day, bringing unwanted gifts, and even trying to kiss you. Torment or joy?”
“!!!”
Finally, Guyangmun looked shocked, like lightning had struck. He’d grasped empathy at last.
But only for a moment.
“Th-Then what should I do? She really is the only one for me...”
Sighing at his desperate, teary-eyed gaze, I relented.
Whip alone, and who knows what he’d do—I’d dangle a carrot.
“As I said, one-sided pursuit is harassment. So take a breather, then show goodwill. Timing matters in romance. When she’s struggling or lonely, her walls are down—easier to slip in. To catch those moments, first be a friend, not a lover. I keep saying: no excessive goodwill or constant visits to make her uncomfortable.”
“Don’t force big moves—probe with light ones, wait for an opening. Just like martial arts, Young Master. No wonder they say all paths lead to the same end.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle wryly.
‘Romance talk turns to martial arts.’
Demonic cultist through and through.
“Thank you for your great teachings, Young Master. This Guyang will serve you as another lifelong master!”
With that shout, Guyangmun suddenly kowtowed to me.
“Young Master asked you to attend his bath, so what are you doing groveling on the floor?”
Just then, Jin Ha-yeon returned with the snacks and a servant, glaring coldly at Guyangmun prostrated on the ground.
His romance seemed doomed.
* * *
A fortnight later.
Guyangmun left the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s main headquarters with the Hundred Ghosts Unit. They’d been assigned a new mission.
On the way out together.
“Muna. How’d that thing turn out?”
The Hundred Ghosts Unit seniors, bonded over a year of shared trials, grinned mischievously at Guyangmun.
The same ones who’d counseled him on romance a fortnight ago.
“Hahaha. It’s going well.”
Guyangmun gave an answer that would’ve made Il-mok shake his head.
“And you seniors won’t need to ask about it anymore. Hahaha.”
At his reply, the departing unit members’ eyes widened.
“What?”
“No way, you already scored?”
“Sc-Score? What vulgar talk is that!”
As Guyangmun protested at the lowbrow term, the seniors started playfully pummeling him.
“Oh? Getting cocky now?”
“Talking back to your sky-high seniors? Vulgar?”
Amid the half-joking beating, Guyangmun pondered inwardly.
‘As expected! I should follow Master’s advice. Seniors’ tips are useless!’
His “master” here was romance master Il-mok, not a martial one.
‘Show goodwill sporadically and steadily, wait for the gap.’
Good thing, really. He’d be out often anyway with Hundred Ghosts Unit duties.
He figured he could bring back gifts each mission.
‘Last time it was White Lotus Jade Ointment, so this time I’ll scour the mountains for a spirit herb or beast core.’
Il-mok’s advice on small gestures had long vanished from Guyangmun’s mind.
* * *
“One person leaves, and it’s this quiet.”
With Guyangmun gone, Wind Rock Hall returned to its calm.
“Young Master. I brought snacks.”
As I savored the peace, Jin Ha-yeon returned to Wind Rock Hall, tray in hand.
Amazingly, her arm—cracked in places just over a month ago—was fully healed.
‘No wonder it seemed pricey. What kind of medicine was that?’
No matter how I thought about it, the stuff Guyangmun bought wasn’t ordinary.
Anyway, Wind Rock Hall was back to normal.
I could munch snacks, study or spar leisurely with Seon-a or Jin Ha-yeon when she visited.
Just as I basked in the rare peace.
“Hahaha! Is the youngest disciple in?”
One loudmouth left, and a new one arrived.
At the voice, Seon-a flinched and pressed close to me.
I thought she was scared, but her sharp gaze and tensed claws said battle-ready. Protecting me, probably.
Then a familiar figure entered Wind Rock Hall.
“Greetings, Eldest Senior Brother.”
“Hahaha. I just ended my seclusion today.”
The visitor was Eldest Senior Brother, confined a month in Seclusion Cave for his rampage.
But why charge here right after?
‘No way, to kill me!?’
Memories of Seclusion Cave made cold sweat trickle down my back.
Maybe he’d decided then.
“Plenty of places to visit, but I came first to my most grateful junior.”
“???”
Grateful, suddenly?
Puzzled, I got clarification from Eldest Senior Brother.
“That day, thanks to your advice, I broke through the final wall. Hahaha. My Explosive Demon Net Sword Art has reached Transcending Demon realm.”
“!!!”
Shocked, I heard Jin Ha-yeon react first and properly.
“Congratulations, Eldest Young Master.”
Seon-a and I followed, offering felicitations.
“Congratulations, Eldest Senior Brother. So, no more losing to rage?”
“Hahaha. Indeed. If you doubt, test me.”
“......”
Having seen his rampage, testing him was unthinkable.
“Hahaha. No worries. I no longer care about being called dumb. As you advised, if I lack, just hire smart underlings!”
“V-Very wise words. Ha, haha.”
“So, after reaching Transcending Demon, I pondered deeply. Who’d make the best chief of staff?”
“I-Is that so?”
Wondering why tell me, I asked tepidly, but he seemed thrilled.
“Heh heh. Guess who I thought of?”
“Uh... the third squad leader I suggested?”
“Hahaha! My junior’s so humble! Of course, you! Who else for chief of staff?”
Stunned by the suddenness, I blurted blankly.
“Me?”
I just want to graduate the Demonic Path Academy and slack off after.