My Body is Not a Chair
I did my best to return the wooden box, and some time passed.
Many eyes watched me, but I ignored them and moved the box back to its place. It would have been impossible to sneak it out anyway.
Afterward, I openly joined the morning training session.
To be honest, I had been told I didn't need to participate, but I did it anyway. Partly to manage how others saw me, and partly because I felt like I would lose my mind if I didn't keep myself busy.
Once training was over, I even went to eat.
As I sat squarely in the cafeteria, chewing my food, stares flew at me from all directions.
I ignored them and kept swallowing my food.
However, I couldn't ignore the whispers drifting into my ears.
"It's Young Master Bang."
"...The one who smashed Socheonggeom..."
"Why is he... in the cafeteria...?"
They were looking at a fellow squad member eating in the cafeteria as if he were some kind of alien. How should I interpret this? Had my standing changed that much, or was it something else?
I didn't know.
I just chewed and swallowed. Afterward, I returned to my room.
There were probably patrol duties and other tasks scheduled, but I decided to skip them.
"...Ah, damn it."
With my mind in such a chaotic state, doing chores was out of the question.
"Is that why you came here?"
I clicked my tongue at the old man's question. The place I had retreated to was none other than a private training ground.
It was a space allocated to me the moment I was revealed as the descendant of the Sword Saint.
"I don't have anything else to do right now anyway," I said, swinging a wooden sword through the air with a sharp whoosh.
I had complained to Cheon Ui-jin about discrimination and favoritism, but now that I was the beneficiary, I was using it without a shred of guilt.
Favoritism is the best.
This was the life. Training in a completely empty space—how long had it been since I last enjoyed such a luxury?
Excluding the times I used the training grounds at dawn before Cheon Ui-jin arrived, this was probably the first time.
It felt genuinely good.
And it's not like I don't have things I want to try out.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!* I kept swinging the wooden sword through the air. The sensation was incredibly subtle.
Well, now.
The Cheongwol Mind Method. The internal cultivation method the old man had forcibly implanted in my body.
Perhaps because of it, my body felt remarkably light.
I feel like my physical strength has increased a bit, too.
I had grown stronger overall. Had my cultivation realm risen? The end result wasn't bad, but...
The problem is...
Even though I had grown stronger, I had no idea what to do next.
"Hmm..."
My original cultivation method was gone, replaced out of nowhere by the Cheongwol Mind Method. Naturally, my martial arts had to change accordingly.
But what should I practice?
I couldn't find my bearings. So, I immediately turned to the one who would know.
"...What am I supposed to do now?"
"Hmm?" The old man tilted his head at my question.
"Why are you asking me that?"
"Who else am I supposed to ask...?"
Was he kidding me?
"Old man... If you're going to forcibly shove something strange into my body, you have to take responsibility."
"Ho? Look at this brat." The old man grinned at my words.
"Are you saying you wish to learn martial arts from me? From the great Yoo Chun-gil?"
"Yes. Isn't that obvious?"
From my perspective, his question was the absurd one.
"If you put it in me without my permission, you should at least make it so I can use it. Did you plan on just taking over my body whenever you pleased and leaving it at that?"
"..."
Why aren't you answering?
"Answer me, you old geezer."
"What did you say, you punk?"
"Ah, sorry. My inner thoughts slipped out..."
I had made a slip of the tongue without realizing it. I resolved to curse him strictly in my head next time.
"..."
"Anyway, did you really plan on doing that?"
Did he think he could just handle everything by possessing me all day long?
Honestly, I wouldn't have minded that. It would be easier for me. Who knew? Maybe I could just lend him my body and coast through life without any hardship. But...
"That possession thing. Does it actually work properly?"
I had my doubts about lending him my body.
"What?"
I recalled the final moments of the duel with Socheonggeom.
"I mean, it wore off last time. Can we actually rely on it?"
"..."
The old man shut his mouth at my accusation.
His expression back then had hinted at it, but his reaction now made it crystal clear.
"You can't just use possession indefinitely, can you?"
"Ahem..."
A fake cough was as good as an admission.
I immediately frowned upon hearing that.
"Old man. Why didn't you tell me?"
It seemed the old geezer had known about the issue all along. Yet, the fact that he had kept his mouth shut until I pointed it out meant one thing.
"Were you trying to hide it?"
"Watch your tongue! Do you truly think the great Yoo Chun-gil would resort to such underhanded tricks?"
"Yes."
"You are far too blunt... That actually hurt a little."
Hurt, my foot. No matter how I looked at him, he was exactly the type of person who would do such a thing.
"So, why did you do it?"
Putting the deception aside, I wanted to know the reason.
"Who said anything about deceiving you...! I merely held my tongue because I hadn't fully verified it yet."
"Old man. Let me ask you again, then."
"What is it?"
"Possession. Can you do it again?"
"..."
The old man fell silent at my question.
Watching his reaction, I clicked my tongue inwardly. It seemed my suspicions were correct.
I had felt something off during the duel with Socheonggeom.
I remembered the sensation of the possession breaking at the very last moment, and I remembered the look on Yoo Chun-gil's face when he looked at me back then.
"There's a problem, isn't there?"
Possession was not something that could be used continuously. Yoo Chun-gil's behavior proved it.
"...It is not quite like that. Well, I should be able to... No, I can do it."
"Then, are you saying we can keep using it?"
"It is just... to sustain it for a long period, it seems I would have to tap into your innate qi...?"
"..."
My face immediately contorted. Tap into my innate qi to maintain possession...?
Innate qi was entirely different from the energy in one's dantian; it was directly linked to one's life force.
Tapping into that meant...
"You're asking me to trade my life..."
"No, well... It is not quite to that extreme."
Yoo Chun-gil hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words, before suddenly raising his voice.
"And besides...! How was I supposed to know? I was surprised back then too! If maintaining it requires tapping into that, what else was I supposed to do?"
"Why are you getting angry at me? You're the one who caused this."
I couldn't believe how shameless he was being.
Though I showed my disgust at his reaction, my mind was busy organizing the situation.
If I can't rely on possession, what am I supposed to do?
This was the one trump card I believed in, and now it was compromised.
"...So, does this mean possession is forever out of the question?"
"Not forever. From what I can tell... as time passes, the duration I can remain inside you seems to increase."
"How can you be so sure of that?"
"Just a hunch."
"...Thank you for such an incredibly helpful answer."
I barely held back the curses rising in my throat. Suppressing my irritation, I pondered.
In any case, possession isn't a power I can just throw around.
How was I supposed to survive like this?
It was a massive headache. I needed to be able to use it at will to get anything done.
Every plan I made had to factor in possession.
Only then would my chances of survival increase.
It wasn't as if I were some kind of genius. Even if I learned martial arts from this old man, it didn't mean I could suddenly do everything. But if I couldn't even use possession freely...
...What the hell am I supposed to do now?
My thoughts were a tangled mess. Damn it. What was the play here?
As all sorts of worries flashed through my mind...
"Looking at your face, it seems you are worrying needlessly again."
I swallowed a groan at the old man's remark.
"...Of course I am. My life is on the verge of going down the drain."
"Do not fret over that. I have a plan."
A plan? Did he actually have a way? I didn't trust him, but I was desperate enough to welcome any glimmer of hope.
"...And what would that plan be?"
When I spoke with the desperation of a drowning man clutching at straws, the old man's eyes suddenly gleamed as he looked at me.
"Did you not just say it yourself?"
"Say what?"
"That you would learn martial arts from me."
"Well, that was... just me grasping at straws."
Besides, I had thought that since things had turned out this way, I might as well learn the Sword Saint's martial arts and reap the benefits.
Survival was the priority, but wouldn't it be great to become a master while I was at it?
I could open a martial arts hall later and make a decent amount of money.
It was a purely greedy thought, but...
"Step aside."
"Huh?"
"I said, step aside so I can enter for a moment."
I stared at him, utterly dumbfounded by his words.
"Excuse me, but my body isn't a chair. What do you mean, step aside...?"
"I need to gain some certainty about my method as well. Hurry up and step aside. It will only take a moment."
"...Didn't you just say that doing it any more would require tapping into my innate qi?"
"A tiny bit is fine. I swear it on my name."
"..."
What weight did a name carry when the man was already dead and reduced to a mere ghost?
The thought crossed my mind, but the look in the old man's eyes was resolute.
"...Just for a moment, okay?"
The moment my permission was granted, he overlaid himself onto my body. It happened in an instant.
It was that strange sensation again.
The uncomfortable yet oddly comfortable feeling of my body not belonging to me.
I'm conscious from the very start this time.
During the first possession, I had completely lost consciousness.
During the second, I had regained consciousness halfway through.
And this time, my mind was perfectly clear from the beginning.
What makes the difference?
This was definitely something I needed to figure out.
Just then, my body began to move. Naturally, it wasn't by my own will this time either.
I watched to see what he would do, but he simply flattened his hand like a blade and drew a cross in the air.
I wondered what the hell he was doing.
He swung his hand like that a couple more times, and then—
*Whoosh!*
"...Huh?"
The possession broke. I looked behind me. Yoo Chun-gil was standing there, arms crossed, staring at me.
"What was that...?"
"Try it."
"What?"
"The movement I just did. Try to copy it exactly."
By "just now," did he mean drawing the cross?
Why on earth would I do that...?
I didn't see the point, but the old man's gaze was too intense for me to argue.
Well.
I moved slowly.
Just now...
To call it simply drawing a cross was an understatement; he had clearly utilized his entire body.
The positioning of the toes.
The way force was exerted from the soles of the feet.
Locking that force in the waist and maintaining pressure in the upper body.
At the same time, keeping just enough tension in the joints to allow the arms to move freely.
And the breathing here.
Matching the exact rhythm of inhaling and exhaling, I moved my hand.
*Swish.*
*Swish.*
My hand sliced through the air twice.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... As expected."
Seeing that, the old man let out the exact same chuckle as before.
"...Does that actually tell you anything?"
"It was more than enough. Yes, this makes it certain."
With his lips curled into a wide grin, the old man spoke to me.
"You truly are my hope."
A shiver ran down my spine at his incomprehensible confidence.
Another day passed.
My daily routine wasn't much different from usual.
I trained as usual and ate as usual.
Ah, if there was one difference, it was that I didn't swing a sword.
The stares of the others were simply too intense for that.
Please, stop staring.
How would he swing his sword? Surely the descendant of the Sword Saint must be different, right? I could feel their expectations burning into me.
There was no way my crude swordsmanship could satisfy those looks.
So, I only did basic physical conditioning.
The atmosphere grew disappointed when I didn't show off any swordplay, but what could they do about it?
Right now, I need to be careful about the image I project.
It was best to maintain the facade as much as possible. For the sake of my future, if nothing else.
Just as I was wiping my sweat-drenched body with a towel...
"Excuse me."
Someone came looking for me.
I turned around at the voice, and a familiar face came into view.
A beauty whose features practically screamed "spoiled brat."
Her name was definitely...
"Namgung Bong-soon...?"
"...It's Namgung Hyeon."
"Ah, so close..."
"..."
Her glare made it clear she didn't think it was close at all. I had made a joke in my own way, but her reaction was freezing cold.
Looking at the woman who was said to be the younger sister of Socheonggeom Namgung Seong, I asked, "What is it?"
"I have something to tell you. Do you have a moment?"
She clutched the hem of her skirt, her face flushing as she spoke.
She certainly resembled Namgung Seong; she was quite beautiful.
A private moment with such a beauty, huh?
I pondered for a moment and nodded.
"No. I don't want to. Why should I?"
"..."
Namgung Hyeon's face immediately contorted at my reply.