Chapter 70

Every day, the routine after meals is self-defense training.

After finishing, I'm so exhausted that I can fall asleep without a single thought, but I can clearly feel my skills improving day by day.

If only I had the willpower in the real world to go to the gym every day after work and eat, just like here, I probably wouldn't have gained that belly fat.

Although in reality, it might be because I didn't have a busty, beautiful personal trainer putting me through hellish training every day.

"Yun-ho. Dodge this."

So-hee swung her sword as she spoke.

Shouldn't you give me some room?

I immediately took a big step back to create distance. So-hee instantly changed the sword's trajectory, aiming the blade at my neck.

How am I supposed to dodge this?

"Yun-ho. I told you. If you dodge with a big movement, you'll get hit by the next attack."

When a Heavenly Killing Star is swinging a real sword, you have to dodge, right?

"If I move a little, won't I get cut by the sword?"

"Gauge the interval of the attack and just retreat about the space of a palm's width."

"Haha."

I gave a feeble laugh.

I had learned from her how to gauge the interval, but I was dominated by the fear of getting cut if I failed, so I couldn't easily dodge.

In arcade shooting games where you can gauge missile trajectories and bullet speeds, I died countless times on the first stage from misjudging intervals. And now I have to dodge a sword with my life on the line.

"Is that difficult?"

So-hee asked me with a genuinely puzzled face. Not a look of contempt, but a tone of sincerely not understanding.

This is why geniuses are no good.

"Even if I gauge the interval, the fear of getting cut makes it hard."

I looked at the ground and let out a small sigh. I think I'm picking up the other self-defense techniques pretty well, but the fear of the blade is hard to shake off.

"Yun-ho. Give me your forearm."

So-hee held out her palm and spoke to me. I haven't learned any martial arts that shoot out forearms like rocket punches, so I obediently extended my forearm and placed it on her palm.

Without giving me a chance to react, So-hee slashed my forearm with her sword.

"Agh! So-hee!"

Am I about to use the rocket punch you can only use once in a lifetime?

"Don't yell, just look."

"Huh?"

My forearm wasn't cut.

"Yun-ho, you've learned the Jade Face Protection Skill, right? A clumsy slash won't hurt you. You don't have to be afraid to move."

Wow. It really didn't cut. Not a single scratch on my arm. How is this possible? My skin looks the same as before.

For a moment, all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind, but thankfully... I thought I'd have to go around saying I gave my lost arm as a gift to a new Heavenly Killing Star and live as a one-armed man.

"Alright! So-hee. Then this time, I'll try dodging and closing in as I learned."

I can do it! I can do it! If my body is in a constant shield state, it's possible.

"Okay. This time I'll try a thrust. Try dodging and coming in."

So-hee openly took a thrusting stance for me.

I look at the opponent's shoulder and eyes to calculate the direction and timing. The body enhanced by the Minor Cloud Heart-Mind Technique makes that possible.

Twitch. So-hee's shoulder showed a deliberately noticeable movement.

The direction is my left shoulder.

Dodge now.

I immediately twist my shoulder...

"Ah!"

"Ah."

A sigh of regret escaped both our mouths.

To thrust before I could even dodge... So-hee's thrust seemed about twice as fast as usual.

"You looked so motivated, so I thrust a little faster. Sorry."

"It's okay, So-hee. I'm not hurt now, see?"

Now that I have a body that doesn't get hurt, you can thrust a bit more aggressively, right?

I slightly pulled aside the clothes on my left shoulder, where So-hee had thrust, to show it was fine.

"Ah."

"Huh?"

There was a small but definite wound on my shoulder.

"... You're hurt."

"I am hurt. Ugh!"

The pain that arrived belatedly made me slump right down on the spot.

A Heavenly Killing Star's sword could pierce the Jade Face Protection Skill. As expected, the perfect hierarchy of the martial arts world.

"Yun-ho! I'll get the Golden Sore Medicine!"

No. It's just a scratch.

Before I could even say anything, So-hee disappeared from sight with a panicked face.

From now on, I really need to ask her to limit her movements to third-rate or second-rate levels.

Those eyes.

"So-hee. Let's try again."

Cheon So-hee looked at Yun-ho's gaze, fixed directly on her, and thought.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— Internal Energy Method. Who did you learn it from?

She wanted to know about his past.

What kind of life he had lived. What life-or-death crisis he had faced. Why he was her destined benefactor.

As someone who had never properly had a deep, getting-to-know-you conversation, she thought asking about the Internal Energy Method first was the right choice.

Martial arts were something Cheon So-hee knew far more about than Kang Yun-ho. Following her master's words, she starts a conversation with a common interest to get to know Yun-ho.

— I learned it a long time ago after helping a woman in trouble.

Cheon So-hee felt as if she'd been hit by a hammer upon hearing his answer. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ — She said it would make my body healthy and taught me this breathing technique.

You don't teach martial arts for just that reason. She barely managed to hold back the words that were about to come out.

Yun-ho touched his lower abdomen as if holding something precious. No, what you learned probably isn't that precious.

Even though she had words that had risen to her throat and been swallowed just moments ago, seeing him like that made her want to belittle the martial arts he had learned.

— Yun-ho.

No. Don't. Stop right there.

So-hee recalled her own actions that she would later regret.

— That breathing technique. Can I take a quick look at it?

What she sensed from within him was the Martial Studies of Ascent. A martial art that should absolutely never be given to an outsider. Such arts are never taught to mere acquaintances.

Behind Yun-ho's back, So-hee unconsciously bit her lower lip.

— What was our relationship? I'm not sure either, Oppa. After a brief meeting, we decided to go our separate ways.

Yun-ho. Why are you making that face?

The face full of longing he always made when talking about memories with her. But now, the person in Yun-ho's heart as he made that expression was not her, but someone else.

That expression belonged to her.

An emotion she had never felt toward another person in her life. Her insides twisted from this inexplicable feeling.

What should I do?

The easiest method she had always used for problem-solving was killing, but she couldn't kill Yun-ho. She couldn't figure out how to resolve this twisting, boiling emotion.

He said it was a passing connection. But did that woman think so too? No, is Yun-ho right to think that way?

He said he wanted to learn martial arts. But she couldn't teach him the martial arts of the Killing Curtain. Unless it was her master's martial arts, who wasn't from the Killing Curtain.

Her master's martial arts?

The Heavenly Killing Star remembered what her master had said not long before she left the Killing Curtain's main mountain.

— You are the last one.

— Last what.

— Raising those damn disciple brats who keep dropping like flies. I don't plan to teach anymore.

— The Life-Severing Asura Skill and the Phantom Foresight Step. They're martial arts too precious to be lost to time.

— If they're so precious, you teach them. I have no regrets now.

— Me?

— If you see a suitable child, teach them. Then I'll have less to worry about when I die.

— I don't have the ability to teach others.

— Who do you think was born with that ability? It doesn't have to be a child. A man is fine too. Just teach them as you see fit.

— I'll keep it in mind.

She had gotten permission. But was it really okay to teach him martial arts?

She was by his side to protect him. Was teaching him martial arts the right thing? Was it right to make him a martial artist?

Her worries were shattered by a few words Yun-ho said with a longing face.

— Oppa understands. She must have just treated me specially.

I'll teach him.

I have to reclaim that expression.

If he remembers her because of martial arts, then I can make him forget with martial arts.

Thus, the Heavenly Killing Star began teaching Yun-ho martial arts.

"So-hee?"

Yun-ho called out to So-hee, who was lost in thought.

"Yeah."

"About that footwork for self-defense you mentioned earlier. I can follow the other stuff, but this footwork where you gather energy at the Yongcheon point and leap out... I just can't get the hang of it."

What he was asking about was one of the footwork techniques of the Phantom Foresight Step. While teaching self-defense, the Heavenly Killing Star had taught him one of the secrets of the Phantom Foresight Step among the footwork techniques.

"I'll teach you. And with Yun-ho's two years of internal energy, using that once will burn through half your energy. You should only use it when you really need to escape or approach with just one use."

"Thank you."

Yun-ho smiled at So-hee.

It was good that I taught him martial arts.

His gaze is now fixed on me. Not on that passing woman.

So-hee secretly smiled as she watched Yun-ho practicing the footwork, following the footprints she had stamped in the courtyard.

I've reclaimed his gaze and expression.

I only taught him a little of my master's martial arts, but no one will ever find out.

— In return. If you teach him martial arts, bring him before me later.

— Then I just won't teach him.

So-hee tried hard to erase from her memory the last thing her master had said when she permitted the teaching of martial arts, and watched Yun-ho's training until the end.

Back to Kang Yun-ho's life as a storyteller.

"That storyteller tells the same story every time."

"Hey, it's fun, why are you complaining?"

"You, my friend. You haven't been here long, so you don't know, but I'm getting a bit tired of that friend's story now."

The first day back was a huge success, but unfortunately, the second comeback didn't only receive good reactions.

"Young Master Ha Mu-rin!"

"I snuck out after hearing the rumors!"

"Quite a lot of girls and kids. If it's a story meant for them, let's go."

"Let's go have a drink of baekju instead."

As the negative reactions grew or the audience gradually dwindled, Yun-ho's shoulders began to feel heavier bit by bit.

Finished with the storytelling work and returned to the House of Peace.

"What story should I tell?"

Yun-ho let out a sigh and pondered over another story for his storytelling.

"Can't you just tell any story?"

So-hee spoke to lighten his shoulders, weighed down by worry. With his eloquence, any story would be interesting.

But her words did not lighten his burdened shoulders.

So-hee could only continue to watch as Yun-ho paced around the room, worrying about what story to tell next.

"Yun-ho."

"Yeah?"

"I'll go buy some food."

She couldn't solve his worries for him. But she could at least buy some delicious food.

So-hee headed for an inn famous for its tasty food, even though it was quite a distance from the House of Peace.

'How do I ask about Yun-ho's past?'

So-hee continued her private worries as she headed to the inn.

I only started with a common interest as my master said. But I ended up having an experience I never want to repeat.

If I ask about another part of his past and he makes that longing face while thinking of someone else, will I be able to bear it next time?

'I hate it.'

I don't want to hastily ask and have that experience again.

'There is plenty of time.'

As long as I'm by his side, the killing intent disappears.

If I spend time with him by his side, I can learn about his past naturally without getting hurt. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ There's no need to be impatient.

Just like I walked slowly towards this inn, I just need to walk the same path as him.

The Heavenly Killing Star thought that and headed towards the inn visible ahead.

No, she tried to head towards it.

[Kill...]

She stopped in her tracks for a moment.

[... him.]

Something boiled up from within her chest.

A flame not yet extinguished.

A flame that would burn everything.

'No.'

The Heavenly Killing Star hurriedly headed into an alley between shops.

Suppress it. It's not the first time. It's just been a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠while.

After barely calming the single will that tried to fill her brain from the crown of her head with whiteness, So-hee clutched her startled chest and thought.

'The killing intent... It surged up again?'

The dying embers of the Heavenly Killing Star, not yet extinguished, tried to reignite.

To burn away the life of Cheon So-hee, which she had barely managed to grasp.