That Doesn't Make Sense!
Leaving the martial hall behind, Kang Yeon and Jo Un walked the streets of West Lake toward the inn. Yet Jo Un's expression remained troubled the entire way. He kept stopping after a few steps, glancing sideways at Kang Yeon again and again.
Jo Un's mind was a whirlpool of confusion. What had just happened in the hall felt like a dream. Hall Master Jo—who had reached the Peak Realm, that dignified and formidable Hall Master Jo—had crumbled at a single gesture from Kang Yeon. As effortlessly as a leaf falling in the wind.
Does this make any sense? Yeon… the same Kang Yeon I've known since we were kids?
Jo Un cast back through his childhood memories. The little boy who used to pester him for sweets at the market. The kid who got scolded for sneaking snacks from the kitchen behind their father's back. The younger brother who one day simply left the inn. He could not believe that the Kang Yeon in every one of those memories was the same person walking calmly beside him now.
Kang Yeon felt Jo Un's stare but kept walking as if nothing were amiss.
Inwardly, though, complicated feelings stirred.
So I have to reveal it after all.
Kang Yeon had always known a moment like this would come someday. He had never believed he could hide his past forever. He simply had not expected the day to arrive so soon—or in this particular way.
The two of them walked the street in silence.
The afternoon streets of West Lake were as lively as ever.
Merchants calling out their wares, children's laughter, the rattle of cart wheels over stone paving—all of it wove together into a peaceful everyday scene. To the two of them, even that ordinary noise sounded like something distant and far away.
"Yeon."
When the West Lake Number One Inn finally came into view, Jo Un spoke at last. A tremor ran through his voice. Kang Yeon stopped and turned. Confusion and curiosity filled Jo Un's face.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"You… what are you, really?"
The question was simple, but the weight behind it was heavy. The faith of a family that had shared long years together clashed openly with the shocking reality he had just witnessed.
Kang Yeon shrugged.
"What do you mean, what am I? I'm a cook."
"No, that's not what I mean…"
Jo Un scratched his head, struggling for words. He had no idea how to put it.
"You just dropped the hall master in one hit. With one palm. How can a cook do that? Hall Master Jo is a Peak Realm martial artist!"
Jo Un's voice rose higher and higher.
Passersby began casting curious looks their way.
Kang Yeon gave a short laugh.
A trace of loneliness clung to that smile.
"Guess I just put a little too much strength into cooking and got trained without realizing it."
"Come on, that doesn't make sense!"
Jo Un planted himself in front of Kang Yeon, blocking the path.
"Yeon, be honest. Are you a Murim expert? Or from some big sect?"
Kang Yeon studied Jo Un for a long moment. Then he scratched his head and spoke.
"Well… I did go out and save the world once, so I guess you could call me a Murim expert. But I'm not from any big sect."
"What??? What am I even hearing right now? You went and saved the world? Then what does that make you… wait, are you somehow the Absolute Martial God?"
Jo Un threw the words out half-joking, half-serious.
But he did not miss the subtle shift in Kang Yeon's expression.
"Huh?"
Kang Yeon let out a sigh.
"Let's talk once we get to the inn. If we keep shouting here, everyone will stare. And Hyung—keep your voice down."
Kang Yeon grabbed Jo Un's arm and hurried him along. Still wearing a look of pure disbelief, Jo Un followed.
When they reached the West Lake Number One Inn, Jo Seol—who had been sweeping out front—spotted Jo Un and jumped in surprise.
"Huh? Oppa! What are you doing at the inn at this hour?"
At this time of day Jo Un should have been pouring sweat into martial training. Seeing him appear with Kang Yeon struck her as strange. Jo Seol propped the broom against the wall and ran over with a bright smile. But as she drew closer she noticed Jo Un's expression was not the usual one.
"Oppa, why do you look like that? Did something happen? What about the martial hall? No training today?"
Jo Un made an awkward face. He had no idea how to explain.
"Ah… well, you see…"
What was he supposed to say?
That Kang Yeon had knocked the hall master flat in one blow and dragged him back to the inn? Jo Un glanced at Kang Yeon, uncertain.
Kang Yeon jumped in smoothly.
"Un-hyung said he wants to learn cooking, so I brought him."
"What? Really?! Our Oppa wants to learn cooking?"
Jo Seol's eyes went round. Surprise and delight lit her face at once.
"Oppa finally got interested in cooking? Wow! That's amazing! Dad's going to be so happy."
She grabbed Jo Un's arm and shook it excitedly. Jo Hwan had tried so hard for so long to teach his son cooking, and it had never taken. Jo Un had always insisted he could never live as a cook—that he was going to become a martial artist—and had stormed out.
Jo Un looked at Kang Yeon as if to say something, but Kang Yeon stopped him with a sharp glance.
"Uh… yeah. I just suddenly wanted to learn cooking."
The answer came out stiff, but Jo Seol was far too happy to notice. Kang Yeon nodded with a satisfied look. Just then Jo Hwan stepped out of the inn. He had heard Jo Seol's voice mixed with the laughter of guests and come out to see what was going on.
"Un? What's going on? Did something happen at the martial hall?"
Worry filled Jo Hwan's eyes. He feared his son might not be adjusting and that some trouble had arisen. He had sent Jo Un to the martial hall to support his dream, but anxiety had always followed close behind.
Looking at that face, Jo Un felt a sudden lump in his throat.
Thinking back, he had always lived exactly as he pleased. Insisting he would learn martial arts and demanding to be sent to the hall, refusing outright to learn cooking—every bit of it had been his own stubbornness. Yet here was Jo Hwan, still fretting that something might have gone wrong. The sight of him looked different all of a sudden.
"Father, nothing happened. It's just… Yeon said he'd teach me cooking."
Kang Yeon spoke to Jo Hwan.
"Uncle, Un-hyung showed interest in cooking, so I thought I'd try teaching him for a while."
Jo Hwan looked back and forth between Kang Yeon and Jo Un. He could read a complicated tangle of emotions on his son's face. This was the same Jo Un who had never so much as glanced at cooking no matter how much he was begged.
And now that same Jo Un suddenly wanted to learn?
He sensed something was being kept from him, but he chose not to press.
"Well, that's good news. Un's old enough now that he should decide his path carefully."
There was deeper meaning in Jo Hwan's words. Deep down he had already concluded that if Jo Un truly possessed talent, he would have become an expert long ago. Years of running the inn had shown him countless Murim people; he knew the signs. For someone who had started late and whose talent was only ordinary, the road to becoming a true master would be brutal.
"You've done well at the martial hall, so you'll pick up cooking just as fast."
At those words Jo Un felt a strange numbness settle over him.
Father already knew I wouldn't make it as a martial artist.
Perhaps the only one who hadn't known that reality was himself.
"Then our whole family can work at the inn together! That's wonderful!"
Jo Seol's bright voice lifted the mood that had grown heavy for a moment.
That evening, after the inn had closed and the last guest had gone, Kang Yeon called Jo Un out to the backyard.
"Hyung, come out back for a minute?"
Jo Un had spent the entire day buried under questions; now he finally hoped to hear the truth. At the same time a thread of fear wound through him about what shocking story he might hear.
Arriving first, Jo Un lightly loosened his body. When his mind was in turmoil, drilling martial arts always helped. He worked through the basics, one form after another, trying to settle his heart.
"Hoo…"
Throwing punches and practicing basic stances, Jo Un heard footsteps behind him and turned. Kang Yeon stood there with a calm expression. Under the moonlight he looked somehow different—deeper, more mysterious.
"Practicing, huh."
Kang Yeon studied Jo Un's stance and nodded.
"Your fundamentals are solid, as expected. They taught you properly at the hall. Foot placement, distribution of power through the shoulders… nothing to criticize."
At the praise Jo Un managed an awkward smile.
"Thanks for saying that. But…"
He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked straight at Kang Yeon.
"Be honest with me now. What are you, really? I've been thinking about it all day and I still can't understand. There's no way an ordinary cook could beat a master like Hall Master Jo that easily."
Kang Yeon fell silent for a moment. Was revealing his identity to Jo Un the right thing? On one hand, as family Jo Un had a right to know. On the other, not knowing might be safer for him.
But when he thought about it carefully, there was no longer any reason to hide. Enemies had already begun to move, and the chance that the inn and his family would be exposed to danger was rising. In that case, it might be safer for even Jo Un to understand the situation clearly.
Kang Yeon made up his mind and spoke.
"Hyung, have you heard of the Absolute Martial God?"
Jo Un's face lit with recognition. The question was sudden, but no martial artist could fail to know that name.
"Of course. What martial artist doesn't know the Absolute Martial God?"
His voice rose with excitement.
"The absolute of Murim! The symbol of chivalry! The great hero who brought peace to the martial world! The man who forced the Demonic Cult and the Unorthodox Path to submit and forged the balance between Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic!"
Respect and awe filled Jo Un's voice.
"They say he flies freely through the sky and can move mountains with a single gesture… wait, why are you suddenly talking about the Absolute Martial God?"
His voice gradually shrank. Kang Yeon gave a quiet laugh. What Jo Un had just recited was the public image of the Absolute Martial God. The more complicated stories hidden behind that image were things ordinary martial artists never learned.
"Hearing that stuff to my face is a little embarrassing."
Jo Un tilted his head, then stammered in rising excitement.
"What? So… y-you're saying you're the Absolute Martial God right now?!!"
His voice shot up.
"No way! You expect me to believe that? Little Kang Yeon from the West Lake Number One Inn is what??? The Absolute Martial God?"
Kang Yeon laid a hand on Jo Un's shoulder.
"Hyung, you're not planning to shout it to the whole neighborhood, are you?"
Jo Un clapped a hand over his mouth in shock. Then he spoke in a much lower voice.
"No… how am I supposed to believe that? That you're the Absolute Martial God?"
True, Kang Yeon had flattened Hall Master Jo in a single strike. But Hall Master Jo was only Peak Realm. Beating him was still a long way from proving someone was the Absolute Martial God.
According to the rumors, the Absolute Martial God could raise a wind with a gesture, soar freely through the heavens, and shake mountains and rivers. How could a mythic being like that be the same Kang Yeon he had known since childhood?
"Huh???"
Jo Un's mouth fell open.
Whir. Whirrr.
At the tip of Kang Yeon's outstretched fingers a small whirlwind took shape. It was tiny, yet the wind pressure packed inside it was so fierce that the air itself seemed to tear. Fallen leaves sucked into the vortex spun wildly and vanished.
"Well… people do say I can do things like this. And this too?"
Kang Yeon's body slowly rose into empty air. He stood in midair as naturally as if he were climbing invisible stairs.
For a moment Jo Un could only rub his eyes.
"Am I dreaming?"