The Strongest One Is the Team Leader
Kang Hyun had known from the start about the alienation the five of them felt.
They whined about wanting to become his disciples every time they opened their mouths — how could he not know?
Ordinarily, he would have simply ignored them. In the Murim, it was only natural that the strong claimed the disciple seats. The martial world was not so leisurely a place that it fretted over the complaints of the weak.
But well.
This wasn't the Murim.
And because Kang Hyun had lately been constantly pondering what made a good professor, he had come to them. At the very least, he knew that a good professor did not ignore the festering hearts of his cadets.
Kang Hyun steeled himself once more.
I will not become a monster just to stop Asura. And I will not turn these children into monsters either.
He would simply live. Live his own life, and prepare for the day that thing arrived.
And when it did?
His goal was to smile and smash it to pieces while asking, What took you so long?
"What are you doing? Pour already."
"Ah — yes, sir!"
Kwak Do-jin shot to his feet and poured first.
Glug, glug…
Watching the cup fill, Kang Hyun smiled in satisfaction.
That's right, you brats.
Even a fresh arrival to the martial world didn't swing a sword every waking hour. Sometimes you had to eat something delicious, drink a little. And you were still students, for heaven's sake. Enjoy a little romance in life.
"Feeling left out?"
"Sir?"
"I asked if you're feeling left out. Like I only care about my disciples and just leave the rest of you to rot."
"Th-there's no way that's true, Professor."
Kwak Do-jin hurried to answer. It would have been a lie to say he felt nothing — but to claim his whole heart was bitter would have made him worse than a beast.
"I know better than anyone how precious everything you've taught us is. What professor in the world hands out spiritual elixirs to the kids he's supposedly neglecting?"
At those words, Seo Hae-in's face went even paler.
I've become trash who badmouthed a professor like that behind his back!
She wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but the timing never came. Kang Hyun's gaze stayed fixed on Kwak Do-jin.
"That so? Then drink."
He held out his cup, and Kwak Do-jin clinked against it. Kang Hyun downed his in one go and swept his eyes over the five.
"Who's next?"
"I'll pour, Professor."
This time Cha Yu-sik rose and offered the drink with careful respect. At the same time, he finally let out what had been weighing on him.
"After you left today, I struck a boulder with my sword."
"And?"
"I couldn't leave so much as a scratch. I learned the measure of Do Jeong-hyeok's talent — and the limits of my own."
Kang Hyun had nothing he could say to that.
You really don't have talent.
Kang Hyun himself had possessed a Heavenly Martial Physique. A gift that let him absorb any martial art in the world with ease — which was how he had taken in so many techniques and ultimately achieved mastery of the Cheonsingyeong.
If he hadn't had that talent?
A lifetime of effort would never have been enough to awaken the Cheonsingyeong.
But still.
Just because there's one tall mountain in the world, do all the others have to be that high?
Comparison ate a person alive. Out of eight billion people, you weren't going to live the best life anyway — so why keep clawing for the summit? If a life meant nothing unless you were the absolute best, then among all the martial artists in the world, only the single strongest would ever be happy.
What a ridiculous idea.
Even a lower mountain has plenty of fine scenery.
Of course, he didn't say any of that out loud either.
As if Cha Yu-sik didn't already know? He knew. Knowing and still not being able to accept it were two different things. Sometimes, rather than hasty advice, simply listening all the way through was the greater comfort.
Kang Hyun quietly accepted their drinks and listened — as a professor, and as an adult.
When Seo Hae-in finally poured last—
"What I said earlier! I didn't mean it!"
Her face was already a red tomato.
"I-I don't care about favoritism or anything! I sincerely respect you, Professorr!"
"I get it. Just sit down."
Kang Hyun flicked a hand to seat her, then filled his own cup. After draining a shot of soju, the light in his eyes settled.
"Becoming my disciple isn't all good, you know."
His voice cut through the izakaya noise, heavy and deliberate.
Discrimination?
If anything, it was reverse discrimination. If anyone had a right to feel wronged, it was Kang Hyun's disciples.
"Right now, you're Academy cadets. You receive my teaching, but your lives are yours to choose. After graduation, join a good guild, go government, live easy — whatever you want."
The five had freedom.
Kang Hyun's disciples did not.
His word would become law. If he told them to leap into hellfire, they would have to jump ready to burn. There was no freedom to run.
Learn the Chilyojin and then bolt?
That would be unthinkable.
At that point, the old monsters sleeping in Kang Hyun's heart might well wake up.
"So becoming your disciple means we wouldn't have that freedom?"
Cha Yu-sik asked.
"That's right."
Kang Hyun nodded and continued.
"You wouldn't be able to go anywhere. You'd have to stay with me. And once you choose, you can't just walk away on a whim."
The statement hit Cha Yu-sik especially hard. He still had to lead Cheonrang, after all.
"So."
Glug.
Kang Hyun poured again.
"I made a position for you instead of discipleship."
"A position, sir?"
"Yeah. I'm planning to found a guild soon."
The cadets' eyes went wide.
Professor was starting a guild?
"Inside it, I'll form teams based on the martial arts I teach you. Within those teams, fellow students of the same art will research forms together and get real combat experience."
It was, in truth, about building a force in advance to face Asura's subordinates — but he didn't bother explaining that.
This group won't be oppressive.
Unlike discipleship. Coming and going would both be free.
"The moment you join the guild, I'll treat you as equivalent to my disciples. Meaning you can come to me for instruction anytime — not just during dawn training."
At that, the cadets' breathing roughened.
If they couldn't become disciples?
Joining the guild was the perfect alternative!
"If we join, would the guild members still just be us for now?"
At Kwak Do-jin's question, Kang Hyun nodded.
"That's right. There'll be five teams, and each of you will be the only member. Which means you naturally become the team leaders."
…Team leaders!
Interest flooded the cadets' eyes. A guild founded by Professor Kang Hyun was bound to shake the world eventually — and they would be the ones laying its foundation. Founding members and team leaders!
"But don't get cocky."
Kang Hyun grinned.
"The team leader is always whoever is strongest on that team. If someone who joins later surpasses you, you lose the seat."
The Demonic Cult's logic of strength above all. The strong rose; the weak ground themselves beneath them, hungering to grow stronger. It would become an enormous source of motivation.
And also.
It had only just occurred to him, but he intended to grant team leaders considerable authority. The right to shape their teams as they pleased, a stake in the profit distribution.
Each team becomes a martial sect of its own.
Kang Hyun imagined it. The guild he built spreading across the world, countless teams forming by martial art, taking on junior students and growing their influence. That alone would amount to an extraordinary intelligence network.
"P-Professor. May I ask one thing?"
"Go ahead."
"As you know, after graduation I have to lead Taejung Mulsan. Would it be possible to remain with Taejung Mulsan while also serving as a team leader in your guild?"
At Yoon Hyun-jong's careful question, Kang Hyun let out a short snort of laughter.
"Of course."
Kang Hyun was the majority shareholder of Taejung Mulsan — there was nothing to worry about. The guild and Taejung Mulsan would operate linked together like one family anyway.
"What about the money?!"
This time Kwak Do-jin asked urgently. For someone who had raised himself with only his grandmother, scraping by on tuition, it was the most important question of all.
"How well will you treat us?"
"Eight to two."
He had already looked into it. Industry average was seven to three; a few new outfits offered eight to two.
"They say a guild needs at least twenty percent to run properly."
"Whoa."
The cadets let out a collective breath of admiration. The terms weren't bad at all. An eight-to-two split was the ratio used to recruit competent hunters — not something fresh Academy graduates could normally expect. Beginners usually started at six to four.
Then Kang Hyun went one better.
"Team leaders get nine to one."
"Hhhk!"
Kwak Do-jin clenched his fist.
This is it!
Better to stay under Professor Kang Hyun than go to some mid-tier giant and scrape for scraps!
Everyone but Cha Yu-sik had stars in their eyes. He still wanted to lead Cheonrang, after all. Kang Hyun figured that was his freedom too.
"Think it over carefully. Anyone who's in, come up with a decent team name by tomorrow. Naming the team is the leader's privilege."
Just as Kang Hyun tipped the last of the soju into his mouth—
Bzzzt!
The phone in his pocket vibrated.
Checking the message, Kang Hyun found Ma Chul-woong asking if he could drop by — he'd gotten stuck on a section of the Heaven-Earth Linked Soul-Seizing Blade.
Perfect timing.
The corner of Kang Hyun's mouth curled up. In fact, Ma Chul-woong had already agreed to join the guild Kang Hyun was founding — on the condition of receiving the Ohodanmundo, of course.
Introducing one incoming member before the guild's founding should be fine.
Kang Hyun texted back a location. Come this way for a bit.
Then—
"Seo Hae-in."
"Y-yes, sir!"
"You joining?"
"Ah — yes! Of course!"
Seo Hae-in had nowhere else to go anyway. If she could stay under Professor Kang Hyun, she wanted to — no question.
"Then you don't need to bring a team name tomorrow."
"…!"
Her face crumpled into a pout.
He really does hate me!
He was clearly still misunderstanding what she'd said in the heat of the alcohol!
She was about to launch into an explanation when Kang Hyun cut her off lightly.
"Your team leader is already decided, you see."
"Sir?"
Seo Hae-in — and the other cadets — all tilted their heads. A team leader already decided? Was there anyone else in the world besides the Professor who could even swing that brutish Ohodanmundo?
Right then—
"Hhk!"
"Huuuuhk!"
"M-Ma, Ma…!"
A commotion erupted on the first floor, and then—
Thud. Thud. Thud!
Heavy footsteps began climbing toward the second floor.
An overwhelming bulk. A giant of a man whose face was scored with knife scars, looking every bit as vicious as rumor claimed.
"Hhk!"
"Ma Chul-woong!"
The cadets' jaws dropped.
Why was Ma Chul-woong — the S-rank hunter infamous for being terrifying — here? Normally a celebrity's appearance would draw people for photos, but no one dared approach him. Just looking at him standing still was enough to make your knees go weak.
And yet.
That Ma Chul-woong was walking toward their table.
Ah, ahhh.
Wh-what? Why is he coming this way!
He's scary… he looks even scarier in person.
Just as the cadets' hair stood on end—
"Hyung-nim."
Ma Chul-woong dipped his head slightly toward Kang Hyun.
"You called for me?"
"Yeah, you made it? Come over here a second."
At those words, the cadets' souls left their bodies.
An S-rank hunter…
The famous Ma Chul-woong himself…
was calling Professor Kang Hyun hyung-nim?
"Seo Hae-in, introduce yourself."
Kang Hyun grinned as he went on.
"That guy right there is the leader of the team you're joining."