Stealing the Chair (4)
They say your body reacts on its own to an utterly ridiculous sight? That was exactly how I felt right now.
"This guy's fucking hilarious. Who the hell is calling who shameless?"
Even as I kept my foot planted on Namgung Gipyo, I couldn't believe the absurdity of it all.
"J-Jin Sowoon…!"
Namgung Gipyo writhed like a worm, his throat crushed under my sole. I pressed down harder, just once more.
"Seonhwa, why are you just standing there listening to this pointless bullshit?"
"……."
Even at my words, she still couldn't lift her head.
I said it deliberately, with firm resolve. "If you keep your head down like that, it just makes it sound like this bastard's telling the truth, doesn't it?"
Only then did Namgung Seonhwa raise her head. Complex emotions swirled in her eyes.
"Is it because of that 'elder invitation' you mentioned before? Were you trying not to upset this guy?"
Namgung Seonhwa gave a small nod. "…I wanted to be of even a little help to you, Jin gongja. I thought if Grandfather came, it might be even better…."
That clear, pure goodwill directed at me. A smile tugged at my lips without me realizing it.
"Seonhwa. I don't want to see you insulted by idiots like this because of me."
"I-Idiot…? Jin Sowoon! Let me go right now! Khek!"
I kicked Namgung Gipyo's flailing face once more and continued. "Well, that kind of thing will never happen anyway. If I lose the representative position, so be it—I don't want anything bad happening to you, Seonhwa."
"……."
I met her gaze, and she looked straight back into my eyes. I told her clearly, in a steady voice. "Because to me, you're more important than some representative position."
"……!"
From my standpoint, building a close relationship with Namgung Seonhwa was just as crucial as holding the representative spot. In the upcoming Great War between the Orthodox and Demonic factions, the Namgung family's aid would be indispensable.
I'd already passed on the Crushing Strike Technique and saved the Namgung family from near-collapse. It'd be a damn shame if I couldn't cash in that debt properly during the war.
"R-Really?"
Namgung Seonhwa looked at me with flushed cheeks, as if she couldn't believe it.
"Of course."
A direct line to the Namgung family—no way I'd let that slip. I nodded emphatically, over and over.
Her face burned even redder, the pent-up humiliation from enduring Namgung Gipyo's contempt all this time finally surging forth. I deliberately averted my gaze.
"And I don't need to suck up to weasels like this. I can easily take down the Baekdo Association rabble."
"W-Weasel! You talking shit about me, Jin Sowoon?!"
I casually ignored the worm squirming at my feet. "So, can you promise me you won't let scum like this humiliate you again?"
"……."
Namgung Seonhwa, her ears red as well, nodded. As expected, she was someone I could reason with—reliable.
"Good. Then come with me."
"Pardon?"
"I'll show you how I clean up the Baekdo Association."
"……Yes."
A few steps forward, and Namgung Gipyo, who had been pinned to the floor, suddenly sprang up.
"Jin Sowoon! You think you can just trample me and walk away, no matter how strong you are?!"
Shing.
His face marked with my footprint, Namgung Gipyo drew his sword with a furious snort. People gripped by emotion always make the same dumb mistakes.
I pointed at him with my chin and looked at Namgung Seonhwa. "You need to shake off that nasty talk you just heard, right?"
Her eyes gleamed at my words. "Yes."
As Namgung Seonhwa turned, Namgung Gipyo sneered coldly. "Seonhwa! You really thinking of betraying the family?!"
She didn't flinch at his taunt. "I've never betrayed the family."
She glanced at me once, then continued. "In fact, this is the best choice for the family."
"Foolish!"
As Namgung Gipyo charged with the Heavenly Bow Infinite Sword Technique, Namgung Seonhwa's jade-white hand thrust forward.
Papang.
"Hngh…!"
No need for the Heavenly Bow Cloud Tail Sword Technique. Struck directly by the Heavenly Thunder Three Palms, Namgung Gipyo rolled his eyes back, flew five zhang, and passed out.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
"Excellent."
Now that's my executive.
"This is…."
The place I'd led her to. Namgung Seonhwa looked around in confusion.
"The dorms."
The Murim Academy assigned dorms by grades each semester. That's why most top scorers clustered in the Jeongdo Association and Baekdo Association.
The Jeongdo folks especially saw anything below a two-person room as a disgrace.
"The Jeongdo dorms, to be precise."
Hence, the two-person rooms were often called Jeongdo Dorms.
"Exactly. Someone we need to meet is here."
"Someone to meet?"
Jin Sowoon's lips curved into a sly grin as he eyed her puzzled expression. "The one who's gonna take the fall for this mess."
Entering the two-person dorm, sure enough, people shot surprised glances at Jin Sowoon and Namgung Seonhwa's arrival.
Neither had any ties to the Jeongdo Dorms. Yet no one tried to stop or block them. Some even greeted them warmly.
Namgung Seonhwa remembered them too—the ones who'd shared the Sichuan ordeal.
Ignoring the gathering friendly gazes, Jin Sowoon strode through the Jeongdo Dorms.
"Hm… Room 404, right?"
He bounded up the stairs without hesitation and pounded on a dorm door. Like a debt collector hunting a deadbeat.
Soon, footsteps sounded from inside.
"Who's making all this racket…."
The door opened quietly with the response, revealing a monk in robes.
"I'm in the middle of training right now, so please come back later…."
"Hey! Ilgak's in there, right?"
"……."
The robed monk's eyes twitched faintly at the brash tone. No matter how young or low-ranked in the jianghu, Ilgak's position as a Reverse Muscle Meridian cultivator was incomparable to ordinary folk.
Yet to be addressed like some street thug. The Shaolin disciple struggled to maintain decorum as he spoke. "Murim Academy student Jin Sowoon. That's too rude. The monk is currently in training…."
Jin Sowoon waved him off like swatting a fly. "Whatever. Settle your karma before you train."
"……Karma?"
"Yeah, massive karma. If you don't clear it, paradise is off the table."
A faint wrinkle creased the Shaolin disciple's scalp.
"…Are you insulting the Buddha right now?"
Jin Sowoon eyed the wrinkle curiously, then furrowed his brow. "Just relay the message. Quick—I'm in a hurry."
"……."
The academy student's eyes quivered as he shut the door.
"Jin gongja. What on earth…."
Namgung Seonhwa couldn't wrap her head around the unfolding chaos. Ilgak was practically the spiritual pillar of the Jeongdo Association now.
The de facto leader. If Jin Sowoon hadn't taken the representative role, Ilgak would've been the academy's rep.
That's why the Jeongdo Association followed him faithfully. And now this rude behavior toward him….
As expected, murmurs began to stir.
"What's going on?"
"Jin Sowoon's here looking for Ilgak?"
"What? Why him?"
Heads poked out from other rooms, wary eyes upon them. The goodwill from Sichuan might vanish again.
As anxiety flickered in Namgung Seonhwa's heart—
Kiiik.
The door opened, revealing the room's interior. In the center, Ilgak sat with his back turned, chanting sutras.
A Shaolin monk gestured them in. "Please enter."
Guided inside by the reluctant monk, the faint scent of incense—like in a temple hall—wafted through.
"Jin shiju."
Ilgak turned slowly, smiling at Jin Sowoon. But Jin Sowoon grimaced like he'd bitten into shit.
"Ugh, I told you, not shiju."
Ilgak ignored it and pressed his palms together. "What brings the shiju here? Has interest in the Buddha's will awakened?"
"Dunno about Buddha's will, but I'm in a bind right now. I'm fine, but folks around me are freaking out."
Ilgak feigned innocence. "Hm… What might that be?"
"C'mon, drop the act and let's talk."
"Hm… I truly have no idea."
As Ilgak tilted his head, Jin Sowoon stepped closer. "Strictly speaking, this mess is the Jeongdo Association's fault, isn't it?"
Ilgak coughed awkwardly. "Ahem, what do you mean…? The Baekdo and Jeongdo Associations cooperate, but we're not that intertwined."
A sleazy smile spread across Jin Sowoon's lips. "So you knew."
"Ahem… Ahem."
"Playing dumb? Aren't you ashamed to face the Buddha?"
At Jin Sowoon's sarcasm, the watching monk interjected. "Even as representative, how dare you say such—!"
But Ilgak raised a hand to silence him, and Jin Sowoon ignored it, staring only at Ilgak.
"Jin shiju, that mouth of yours will bring you precepts someday."
"My very existence is already a walking precept violation. If it's just my mouth that gets me in trouble, I'd feel wronged."
Ilgak let out a long sigh, realizing words wouldn't win. "In any case, the Jeongdo Association can't intervene here. Jeonggi isn't the type to act on my say-so anyway."
"Nah, that's not what I want."
Puzzlement crossed Ilgak's face. "Huh? Then what…."
Jin Sowoon leaned back leisurely on the bed. "Join my representative executive team."
"Gasp!"
"……!"
The monk and Namgung Seonhwa went wide-eyed like rabbits. An executive spot was one thing, but Ilgak's symbolic status in the Jeongdo Association made it impossible.
Even if Jeonggi ousted Jin Sowoon and took over, Ilgak joining the Baekdo side's execs? Absurd.
"What kinda bullshit is th—."
The monk's outburst voiced everyone's thoughts; Namgung Seonhwa nodded unconsciously. But Jin Sowoon shrugged like it was no big deal.
"If the Jeongdo Association hadn't fucked up in Sichuan, the Baekdo wouldn't have gotten cocky filling the vacuum. Right, monk?"
"……Urgh."
Jin Sowoon jabbed his fingers at Ilgak and the monk. "If I hadn't stepped in against the Blood Cult's scheme and let the Jeongdo die to it, Baekdo wouldn't be strutting like this. Right, monk?"
Sweat beaded on Ilgak's shiny forehead at the pointed remarks.
Watching the beads flow elegantly, Jin Sowoon drove it home. "If Shaolin and Jeoncheong hadn't faced those Iron Corpses thanks to me, Baekdo wouldn't have this opening. Don't you think, monk?"
"……."
Jin Sowoon pressed harder on the silent Ilgak. "As the Buddha said…."
"Enough… That's enough, Jin shiju. I understand what you're getting at."
Unlike Jin Sowoon's smug grin, Ilgak looked pained, as if engulfed by great delusion.
"Jin shiju… Couldn't someone else with Jeongdo representative authority…."
"No way! They won't accept it!"
"Or if the Jeongdo Association formally backs you…."
"No! I don't need empty support."
At Jin Sowoon's firm stance, Ilgak sighed deeply again. "Jin shiju…."
But Jin Sowoon wouldn't stop. "Think about it. How much internal chaos has there been over that one representative spot?"
He deliberately poked Ilgak's sore point. "Is that really the 'path for the Buddha'? Time for a big-picture decision."
"……."
Looking up at the relaxed Jin Sowoon on the bed, Ilgak's eyelids trembled.
A brief silence passed.
Then Ilgak nodded resolutely. "Understood. I'll join."
"Heuk!"
"M-Monk! What are you—!"
Ignoring the gasps around him, Jin Sowoon beamed triumphantly and extended a hand to Ilgak.
Ilgak clasped it. "Jin shiju…."
"Drop the shiju bit. Let's get along from now on."
"Amitabha."
After Jin Sowoon's storm-like visit ended.
In the now-quiet room, only Ilgak's sutra chanting echoed softly.
One shouldn't disturb during training, but the monk couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
"Monk… May I ask one thing?"
Ilgak, eyes closed in chant, slowly opened them. He nodded slightly, as if understanding the monk's heart.
"Why join Jin Sowoon's representative team?"
"……Yes. It was too hasty. The Jeongdo owes him from Sichuan, but no one there will welcome you in that spot."
"I know that too."
"Then why…."
Ilgak turned slowly to face the monk. Overwhelmed by the light in his eyes, the monk nearly looked away but held firm.
Ilgak murmured lowly, unmoved. "Because I want to know."
"Know what?"
Like a monk gazing beyond distant peaks, Ilgak cast his eyes far. "Whether he's an 'enlightened one' or not."
"……."
The monk's hands trembled. "What do you mean…? No matter how great he is, how could someone so vulgar, chasing money and rewards…."
"Even Grandmaster Cheongwon of the headquarters lived like a beggar his whole life."
"……Urgh. But he…."
Ilgak cut him off. "Of course, he had his faults—losing the headquarters' divine relic, the Tangma Commander Staff…. But that doesn't erase his enlightenment passing to posterity."
With Cheongwon mentioned, the monk fell silent. He realized Ilgak's choice wasn't just to dodge a crisis.
It was for something greater.
"Then… Do you think he's someone who'll change history?"
One life changed is fate; countless fates changed is history. Ilgak implied he could alter many fates.
To that, Ilgak slowly shook his head. "I don't know."
He squeezed his eyes shut, as if recalling the past. It might be his illusion, but Jin Sowoon in Sichuan had shone with unearthly radiance—beyond the ordinary.
Ilgak opened his eyes slowly again. They gleamed transparently, like a seeker's thirst for enlightenment.
"What I'm curious about is how far he'll go. And…."
He smiled at the monk. "The best seat for that view is right by his side, isn't it?"
"……."
With that, Ilgak closed his eyes again. Knowing the trials his choice would bring, he couldn't wipe the smile from his lips.
"Amitabha…."
All the monk could do was chant a Buddha's name.