Chapter 253
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 253
Chapter Title: Overflowing Power
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I brought Kim Ijin back to my house.
Next time, I wanted to treat her to some nice food out, but somehow it ended up like this again—coming straight home so suddenly.
"What do you want to eat? How about I whip up some simple spaghetti?"
"I'll eat anything."
The moment I opened the car door, Cheongsol leaped right onto my lap.
- Kyuuk! Kyuuuuk?
We hadn't set any specific signal for meeting up, so I gradually released a bit of the energy I normally kept bottled up to call him over.
Cheongsol was sharp enough to pick up on my bad mood, so he must have noticed this blatant invitation.
Sure enough, he came bounding over to the house, full of curiosity about what was going on.
"Cheongsol, can you call your friend for me?"
- Kyuuk?
"You know, the hawk. Songgolmae. The one we always meet here at the house. Ijin wants to see her."
"Uh, Director. If you say it like that... I'm happy just with Cheongsol..."
- Kyuuuuk!
Cheongsol smacked my knee in anger.
Then he jumped onto Kim Ijin, too.
"Whoa!"
Fortunately, Cheongsol didn't unleash his Famed Black Blood Divine Fist on her.
He was a spirit beast who could deliver punches even softer than a normal pine squirrel's—like a puff of cotton.
- Kyuuk! Kyuuuk! Kyuuk!
"Sorry. Of course you missed him. Cheongsol's the one you wanted to see most, right?"
Kim Ijin stroked him expertly, soothing him right away.
What was this? What was going on? Why the protest?
- Kyuuk!
Cheongsol shook his head cutely, showing off as much as he could before finally stopping the punches.
Then he dashed off somewhere with a whoosh.
"What's with him? Is he sulking?"
Good grief.
As I stared in disbelief, Kim Ijin scolded me.
"Director, Cheongsol was probably waiting for you all day, and the second you get home, you ask for the hawk? How disappointed must he be?"
You said you wanted to see the hawk!
And he wasn't waiting all day! I just called him, and he got here!
"That little guy's jealous, huh."
"Animals get super jealous. You have to take good care of their feelings. Treat all your pets equally, and never say in front of them that one is better than the others."
Ah, I see.
Maybe it was because she had a dog—Kim Ijin just had a different way about her.
But I wasn't Prime Minister Hwang Hui.
That great minister gained enlightenment from a farmer who quietly said, "The black cow is better," but all I wanted was to throw soft punches like Cheongsol in protest.
'I've never raised these guys!'
Sigh. Let's just eat.
If the hawk comes back with him, I should give Cheongsol some nuts too. Packed full of spirit energy, that'll cheer him up.
I even picked this house with Cheongsol in mind, and I keep his food stocked... that should be enough, right...? Ah, do normal people call it "raising" them?
Is that it...? Have I been the only one denying it all this time...?
I pondered it deeply as I got the cooking underway.
"Um, Director."
I set water to boil in the pot and sat at the table when Kim Ijin called me with a serious look.
"Yeah? What's up?"
Unlike when she'd scolded me over Cheongsol earlier, she hesitated quite a bit now.
Being patient in moments like this was one of my specialties, so I just gave her a kind smile.
"I... um... not sure how this'll sound."
"Go ahead."
She probably didn't come just to see the hawk.
Kim Ijin fidgeted with her mouth for a moment before getting to the point.
"My body's feeling weird. Not sick or anything—the opposite, actually... It's like I've gotten too strong. Like I can't control my own power... I don't know what to do with all this excess strength... Have you ever felt anything like that, Director?"
Ah.
Good lord.
This was way more shocking than Kim Jaegyu rambling about heroic spirit.
Middle-school syndrome otaku talk coming out of Ijin's mouth, of all people.
But unlike Kim Jaegyu's case, this was 100% my fault.
She was really feeling it.
"I have."
I forced every facial muscle to stay straight—no smiling—and answered seriously.
"Really? I knew it... I figured you'd understand, Director. You taught me that meditation technique... so you must have seen this coming?"
Not at all.
The breathing method I taught her wasn't even that impressive to begin with.
I'd only expected some boost to cardio endurance and muscle strength.
How was I supposed to know she'd build up enough internal energy for even a normal person to feel?
"You should pause that meditation for a while. More importantly... uh, how about I teach you how to hide your power? No—better yet, how to handle it more naturally."
And this was from a total beginner's technique. I absolutely couldn't teach her advanced martial arts.
Time to stop wrecking the ecosystem. Unless I wanted to unleash a myth like "Martial Arts Crushes the NBA."
"Yes, Director."
Kim Ijin straightened her back, placed both hands on her knees.
She was sitting in a chair, but it looked like proper meditation posture.
"Have you tried suppressing it?"
Kim Ijin clenched her fist and thrust it into the air.
She moved her energy bit by bit.
Whoa, whoa? Why's it moving like that? How far had she figured out on her own?
But the energy that slowly flowed from her hand along the meridians toward her torso soon got pushed back.
Instead, all the power surged to her fist, creating an illusion of explosion.
Like pressing down on a boiling pot lid only for it to fly off.
"Ah, I see the problem. Don't try to force it down like that. Your... power isn't something to suppress—it's part of you, Ijin. To hide it, accept it as part of your being, let it flow naturally back to your dantian like water, and return even the traces to nature."
"......"
It was so natural for me that explaining it in words now was tricky.
I told her to give it a try first and ask if anything was unclear, then headed back to the kitchen.
The water was boiling.
'What if she asks how I know this? Passed down family manual...? Too suspicious.'
I agonized over it while boiling the noodles and frying up the spaghetti sauce.
"Director! I got it!"
"What? Already?"
It took me days.
That shouldn't work right away.
It was just abstract advice for now.
Like the recording where I'd recited acupoints at first, I planned to teach her specific ways to gather her qi more easily.
But Kim Ijin had figured it out herself.
The energy that used to scatter everywhere was gone; she just looked like a normal person with faint qi.
Unless you were a peak-level expert, it would be hard to see through her realm.
"Well... done."
I couldn't hide my shock as I barely managed a word of praise.
Kim Ijin looked up at me with eyes full of respect.
She didn't ask how I knew all this.
"So, what next?"
She was simply marching toward the path of the strong.
Uh, shouldn't we just eat?
I couldn't answer the look in her eyes asking for the "next step."
Advanced martial arts—no. Absolutely not.
"...Train hard, keep tempering your body steadily. I'll teach you the next stage of the meditation when the time is right."
Of course, that time would never come. Not unless gates started opening or something.
"Yes!"
Thankfully, Kim Ijin took my words at face value.
And she resolved to train her body even harder.
"Alright, let's eat before the spaghetti gets cold."
I'd managed to patch things up somehow...?
I let out a big sigh of relief as I plated the spaghetti.
Fortunately, Kim Ijin didn't bring up the topic again.
She talked about upcoming games and the new rookies on the team.
"Ah, she's here."
Just as we finished eating, the hawk arrived.
"What?"
"The hawk you wanted to see."
"......You actually called her?"
"Of course...?"
What, did I fake-call her?
"How'd you tame her?"
"I didn't tame her. She just decided to stick around on her own."
"An untamed hawk comes when you call...?"
I led Kim Ijin out to the garden.
"Huh? Where is she?"
Kim Ijin looked around, but nothing was visible.
I'd sensed her approaching energy before she even landed.
"Up there."
I pointed at the moon.
It was past 10 p.m. already.
Normally pitch black, but the full moon made it a bit brighter.
The moment I stretched out my hand.
Songgolmae spread her wings wide, slicing through the sky and casting an instant shadow.
"Whoa."
Her wingtips caught the moonlight and sparkled.
Then she glided down sharply and gracefully.
"So cool..."
Kim Ijin stared, completely entranced by Songgolmae.
It was a pretty fairy-tale-like scene.
Honestly, it was impressive.
- Fwoosh.
She flapped her wings and perched on her favorite tree.
The tallest one in our garden.
"Ah, Director. What was her name again?"
"I haven't named her."
"Director, seriously!"
"Want to name her? Songgoli?"
What? Why the glare?
Cheongsol from blue pine squirrel, Songgoli from pine hawk.
Just like how you named him before, right?
"Moonlit Night Flying Eagle..."
But Kim Ijin muttered something like an Iron Blood Divine Fist nickname.
- Kee-ee-eeek!
Does she like it? Hate it?
She circled Kim Ijin once, showing off her majestic form, so she seemed pleased.
When I tried naming Cheongsol, what did she say!
I could come up with tons of those nicknames.
Heavenwind Hawk, Blood Moon Hawk, Azure Sky Flying Eagle, Blazing Flame Bird, and so on.
- Kyuuuk!
Then Cheongsol appeared and climbed the tree where the hawk was.
And he threw the same punches again.
- Kyuuk! Kyuuk!
- Kee-eeek!
Why does he hate even other people's cool names? How jealous can he be?
You should've gotten the Black Blood Divine Fist yourself.
- Kyuuk! Kyuuk!
Cheongsol protested at Kim Ijin, too.
Like, don't give her such a cool name?
"Ah, yeah, it's kinda hard to call out."
Did he understand, or was she guessing like me?
Kim Ijin nodded and accepted Cheongsol's complaint.
"Then what about... hmm. Songgoli isn't bad."
- Kee-ee-eeek!
Ah, now she doesn't like it?
There was a good way to handle this.
Solomon's choice.
"How about Moonlit Night Flying Eagle Songgoli?"
Nickname separate.
- Kyuuk!
- Kiek! Kik!
Ha, are they both happy now?
Songgolmae circled happily over me and Kim Ijin again.
Cheongsol munched the nuts I handed him.
Catering to guests and family was this tough!
"Director, could you take just one photo?"
Click.
Kim Ijin had a blast hanging out with Songgoli and Cheongsol.
She really loved animals.
Neither resisted her approach, so she got to enjoy Cheongsol's cuteness and Songgolmae's majesty to her heart's content.
She finally headed home just before midnight.
I won the argument about her taking a taxi.
Dropped her off and came back—it was pretty late.
We'd eaten spaghetti.
She'd learned to hide her power.
Seen Songgolmae.
It must've been a satisfying night for her.
"You guys staying over?"
Since they'd come, would they stick around a while? Songgolmae and Cheongsol stayed perched in the tree.
I took the chance to set a signal for how to call them from now on.
Not that I'd need to call them much outside of when Ijin wanted to see them, but who knows the future.
"Ah, I feel wiped out. The Heavenly Martial Body was too much."
Normally after work, I'd do a bit of English study and gaming before bed, but tonight was extra activities.
Even accounting for that, I was mentally drained.
Good thing tomorrow's my day off, I thought, as I lay down.
I didn't even have the energy for the mobile game's daily quests.
Just check in and sleep—I turned on my smartphone.
'...Invitation from the royal family, what?'
There was a suspicious email.
No time for thoughts like "Perfect chance to study English closely!"
I turned off the phone right away.
"What kinda weird spam is this?"
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