A Misunderstood Victory
"..."
He stared at the wooden sword with wide eyes. The tip of the finely carved blade was resting against someone's neck.
He had fair skin for a man, yet his body was thoroughly tempered by rigorous training.
It was Cheon Ui-jin of the Cheongwol Gate.
My wooden sword, surprisingly, was pressed right against his throat.
"*Pant... pant...*"
While I was catching my ragged breath and staring at him in shock, he spoke.
"Haha... Well, look at that."
Cheon Ui-jin smiled awkwardly.
"I lost. As expected, you are on another level, Young Master Bang."
"..."
Ui-jin's reaction made it seem as though he had fully anticipated his defeat.
Perhaps it was only natural to him. No, he must have thought so.
And it made sense.
To him, I was the guy who had not only defeated the Namgung clan's Young Azure Sword but had also seemingly cruised to victory against Seom Seong-gyeong, an active martial artist of the Sowol Squadron.
From Ui-jin's perspective, this outcome was only logical.
But...
What the hell just happened? How did I do that?
It certainly wasn't logical to me.
Why on earth...
How did I beat Cheon Ui-jin? No, to be precise...
Why was it... so easy?
How did I grasp victory with so little struggle?
I couldn't wrap my head around it.
"..."
As I stared at him with trembling eyes, the smile remained on his face as he spoke.
"I am sorry."
It was a sudden apology. I frowned upon hearing it.
"Why are you apologizing all of a sudden?"
When I asked, genuinely baffled, Ui-jin replied.
"I know you held back to match my level. It could have been a much more meaningful spar for you... I can only apologize."
"..."
Hearing his words, I finally understood what he meant.
It seemed Ui-jin believed I had gone easy on him.
As if I could afford to hold back.
If I had held back, would I be gasping for air like this?
In fact, Ui-jin's breathing was perfectly steady, while I was on the verge of hyperventilating.
This was a fundamental difference in physical ability.
Strength, speed, and even stamina.
Ui-jin surpassed me in every single category.
I had felt it immediately during the spar, and even if I hadn't, it was a fact I already knew.
"...No, it's not that."
I replied, lost in thought.
That was why this was so bizarre.
How did I defeat Cheon Ui-jin under those circumstances?
Yoo Chun-gil hadn't taken over my body. I had done it entirely on my own.
Amidst the swirling questions, a sudden thrill coursed through my body.
"...It was..."
I had defeated Cheon Ui-jin with my own two hands.
"...a highly valuable spar."
The heat born from that realization slowly began to spread through my limbs.
Right after returning the wooden sword.
I felt somewhat dazed as I walked away.
My hands were empty, yet my fingers remained slightly curled.
As if I were still gripping a hilt.
As I walked on, looking like a man possessed,
[Did I not tell you?]
Yoo Chun-gil, who was floating behind me, spoke. Only then did my feet come to a halt.
[I told you there was no way you gained nothing.]
"..."
[Well? Did you truly gain nothing?]
I couldn't say a word. It wasn't that I couldn't think of a rebuttal; my voice simply wouldn't come out.
Silence stretched between us. As I stood there mute, Yoo Chun-gil quietly watched me, waiting for my response.
After a long while, my tightly shut lips finally parted.
"...How did that happen?"
Hearing my question, Yoo Chun-gil let out a smirk.
[How did what happen?]
"Just... how..."
[How you saw his sword so clearly?]
"..."
I answered with silence. But Yoo Chun-gil understood my meaning perfectly and continued.
[My boy.]
"...Yes."
[This is what you obtained from that place.]
I swallowed hard at his words.
The fruit of dying thousands of times in the Spiritual Dream.
Was this really it?
I saw every single one of Cheon Ui-jin's strikes.
His sword had still been fast and sharp.
Just as I had felt when I first saw him, his movements were incredibly clean, built on a foundation of well-disciplined basics.
Cheon Ui-jin was strong.
I wasn't sure if he was on the level of the Seven Great Talents like Cheon Hye-in, or just below them like the Young Azure Sword.
But he was definitely not someone who would be considered weak among the rising stars of his generation.
And yet...
How did I see all of it?
I had sensed every single trajectory of his sword.
Half of it was the power of the Moon Eye.
It allowed me to see which path the opponent's sword would take to strike me.
The streaks of blue light had laid everything bare.
Of course, they weren't perfect paths. The countless branching streaks represented possibilities.
Preparing for the most likely one among them—
that was the utility of the Moon Eye as I knew it.
...But my body moved on its own the moment I saw them.
Before my mind could even process the rising streaks of light, my body had already reacted.
Even if my brain wasn't sure, my body seemed absolutely certain.
The sheer cognitive dissonance of that sensation was indescribable.
I had no idea how it was possible, but...
...in the end, I won.
I swung my sword in tandem with my body's reflex.
I dodged what I could, and deflected what I couldn't block.
My movements weren't as clean as they had been when fighting the young Yoo Chun-gil in the Spiritual Dream.
That was the difference between a dream and reality. Even if I had done it thousands of times in my sleep, my physical body in the real world hadn't caught up.
However...
I still pulled it off.
Despite the clunkiness, I managed to slip my wooden sword through the opening I created and strike Ui-jin's blind spot.
That was how I won.
"...Haha..."
A chuckle escaped my lips before I could stop it.
My cultivation realm hadn't progressed. My internal energy hadn't increased, and my physical body was exactly the same.
Yet, under those conditions, I had defeated Cheon Ui-jin, who was presumably at the First-rate realm.
And I had done it with my own hands.
Unbelievable.
Just as the corners of my mouth began to twitch upward,
[Tsk, tsk. Look at you, grinning like an idiot.]
Yoo Chun-gil immediately threw cold water on my parade.
[Do not smile so easily over a single, narrow victory. It makes you look cheap.]
"...I'm not doing anything."
[It is unsightly to see you so drunk on triumph. The purpose of that spar was to make you realize your current state, not to make you forget your place.]
Yoo Chun-gil clicked his tongue repeatedly and added,
[It was a paper-thin margin. If you had been even a hair slower, you would have been the one eating dirt, boy.]
"..."
I had no rebuttal. He was right.
My stamina had already reached its limit. Just as he said, if the fight had dragged on any longer, I would have collapsed and lost.
So it really had been a paper-thin margin.
I knew that, but...
"...How is this even possible?"
I still couldn't comprehend it.
How did I beat Cheon Ui-jin? I wanted Yoo Chun-gil to give me the answer.
In response to my question, Yoo Chun-gil looked at me as if I were pathetic.
[What do you mean, 'how'?]
His tone suggested I was asking the obvious.
[The boy was weaker, and you were slightly stronger. That is the sole difference between victory and defeat.]
"But..."
[If we must dissect it, I suppose there is something. An intuitive sense forged in the Spiritual Dream.]
"An intuitive sense?"
[Did I not tell you? If you move only after seeing it with your eyes, you will be too late.]
"Yes. I remember."
You think too much. Just move first. That was the advice Yoo Chun-gil had given me.
I had kept it in mind, thinking it was a rather crucial piece of advice.
[But that statement is slightly misleading.]
"What...?"
Yoo Chun-gil was singing a different tune now.
"Misleading how?"
*Tap, tap.* Yoo Chun-gil tapped his temple with his index finger at my question.
[Ultimately, the body is moved by the mind.]
This was quite different from what he had just said.
He had just told me that moving after seeing is too late, so I should let my body move first, and now this?
[Whether you consciously process and think about it before moving is a slightly different matter.]
"That's hard to grasp."
[To put it simply, how quickly you react depends entirely on a trained mind.]
Yoo Chun-gil stopped tapping his temple and pointed at me.
[You have been tempered by experiencing death thousands of times, which means you have become slightly more useful.]
"..."
So what he was saying was, in short...
By being sliced to pieces thousands of times, the gap between my thoughts and my actions has narrowed.
Or perhaps the time I spent thinking had unconsciously decreased.
It was difficult to fully comprehend, but Yoo Chun-gil's point boiled down to one thing.
The Spiritual Dream actually helped.
That grueling, godawful time had been to my benefit.
That was what he wanted to say.
...Tsk.
I scowled. Looking at the results, he was right, but I really didn't want to admit it.
I went through that absolute hell. If it hadn't helped, that would have been an even bigger problem.
How many times had my throat been slit? How many times had I blocked his sword?
Even after waking up, the vivid sensation of those deaths would linger, sending goosebumps down my neck.
I lightly stroked my neck and looked at Yoo Chun-gil.
"...Then, old man."
[Speak.]
"Can I beat Cheon Hye-in now?"
If I could beat Cheon Ui-jin, surely I stood a chance against Cheon Hye-in too?
When I asked with that expectation,
[Don't be ridiculous.]
Yoo Chun-gil sighed and shut me down instantly.
[Just because a sparrow grows a tiny feather on its back does not mean it can outfly a hawk.]
"..."
[Do not even entertain the thought. It is still impossible for you.]
That analogy stung. So I had barely managed to become a sparrow, while Cheon Hye-in was a hawk?
It was clear that Yoo Chun-gil held Cheon Hye-in in very high regard.
So what's impossible is impossible.
I had hoped for a different answer, so it was a bit disappointing.
However...
He said 'still.'
I made sure to note that the old man had said it was still impossible.
[...Hmph.]
Yoo Chun-gil let out a chuckle, as if reading my mind like an open book.
[My boy.]
"Yes."
[It was a single victory. Do not let it go to your head.]
"When did I ever let it go to my head?"
[Do not get drunk on this. The road ahead of you is far too long to be celebrating already.]
"...Hmm."
[If you wish to make the moon bloom at the tip of your sword, your inner self must always remain tranquil. Like a night waiting in silence.]
"That's incredibly abstract and useless."
Blooming a moon with a sword.
Remaining tranquil like the night.
It was enough to make me yawn. Besides...
"I don't care about the moon or whatever."
Moons and all that crap.
I had absolutely no interest or concern for such poetic nonsense.
How was one supposed to make a moon bloom with a sword anyway?
The moon was just a natural phenomenon that appeared when the sun went down.
[Tsk, tsk...]
Yoo Chun-gil chuckled at my response.
[Think what you will for now. You will understand soon enough anyway.]
His sheer confidence made me uneasy. It sounded as if he was going to force me to understand, one way or another.
Then...
[On that note, you did well with the Dang family.]
"Huh?"
Out of nowhere? I stared at Yoo Chun-gil, caught off guard by the sudden shift in topic.
"...Why are you bringing up the Dang family all of a sudden?"
I had been meaning to ask him about it, but I hadn't expected him to bring it up first.
[I was just wondering how to handle it, but things have worked out perfectly.]
"What has?"
[Did I not tell you before? That I would get you a much better dark steel sword.]
Was he talking about when we were messing around in the underground chamber?
Yoo Chun-gil had promised that if I cleared the next room using my own strength, he would procure a magnificent dark steel sword for me.
Ah, could it be?
"Don't tell me we're getting the sword from the Dang family?"
I couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement as the words left my mouth.
If that was the case, my heart was already racing.
A dark steel sword crafted by the Dang family...?
The weapons of the Dang family were things ordinary people couldn't buy, no matter how much money they had.
And a sword made of dark steel, which was comparable in value to cold iron?
That was something you couldn't obtain even if you offered a fortune.
Just selling it would set me up for life.
I didn't know how Yoo Chun-gil planned to get his hands on such a treasure, but if he actually pulled it off, I was willing to bow down to this old ghost.
As I was trying to calm my racing heart,
[It works out perfectly.]
Yoo Chun-gil nodded in agreement.
[I still have a few things left to squeeze out of that family anyway.]
"...Excuse me?"
[I might as well rob them blind this time. *Kekeke.*]
What did I just hear...?
Robbing the Dang family...?
One of the Five Great Noble Clans...?
No way.
I must have misheard.
I forced a smile, trying to dismiss the thought, but...
"...Old man. What do you mean by that? Care to explain properly?"
A moment later, I had to ask him with a deadpan expression.
Because if it was this old man, he was entirely capable of doing exactly that.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
In a secluded, empty clearing.
A place where barely anyone ever set foot, Cheon Ui-jin was swinging his sword.
Beads of sweat dripped down with his intense movements, but he paid them no mind, continuing to move his body without pause.
"*Huff! Hah!*"
Though he was exhausted enough to falter, the tip of Ui-jin's sword remained perfectly steady.
He sliced through the empty air again and again.
Now—!
At the precise moment, Ui-jin relaxed his waist.
*Slash—!*
Drawing a clean arc, the sword carved a half-moon in the air.
"*Haa... ha...*"
Ui-jin smiled, unable to hide his satisfaction at the sight.
I did it.
Now, he could succeed eight times out of ten.
It was a movement he had learned from Bang Seong-yeon back at the Anhui branch of the Martial Alliance.
Eliminating unnecessary tension and instead relaxing his muscles at the critical moment.
Ui-jin had never forgotten that lesson.
As if to prove it, he could feel the once-difficult movement gradually becoming second nature to his body.
But...
...I still have a long way to go.
The satisfaction that had risen in Ui-jin's eyes quickly vanished.
More.
He had to swing his sword even more.
To be satisfied with this level was foolish; the destination he aimed for was still infinitely far away.
...Yes, at least.
At least to the point where he wouldn't have to show me unnecessary consideration.
He wanted to reach that level.
It was a rare opportunity.
How shocked he had been when Bang Seong-yeon suggested they spar.
Ui-jin had been overjoyed by those words, but...
...in the end, it wasn't even a proper spar.
His own level was too low to fully seize the opportunity.
He was definitely ruining his stance on purpose.
During the spar, Bang Seong-yeon had fought with a stance that looked incredibly sloppy and unstable to Ui-jin.
He had been flustered when he first saw it.
What is he doing?
Why are his movements so half-hearted?
He had only dodged or deflected attacks, never launching a proper counteroffensive.
As the spar went on, Ui-jin had realized the truth.
Ah.
He's holding back.
He was purposely using sloppy movements to reduce his speed and power, and moving more frantically to disrupt his own breathing.
He was intentionally matching his level to mine.
It seemed that was the method Bang Seong-yeon had chosen just to spar with him.
Damn it...
Ui-jin bit his lip.
It was a painful realization.
The fact that Seong-yeon had to lower himself to such a degree just to bridge the gap between them was deeply humiliating and agonizing.
Moreover...
I still lost in the end.
Even though Seong-yeon had fought with such a ridiculous stance and disrupted breathing, Ui-jin had still been defeated.
...He is truly an incredible person.
He was once again convinced of Bang Seong-yeon's true worth.
Just how strong is he?
It had been shocking enough when he defeated the Young Azure Sword, but just recently, he had heard that Seong-yeon had defeated Senior Brother Seom Seong-gyeong.
The youngest member of the Sowol Squadron.
They said it was an unprecedented feat in history.
A feat that practically rewrote the history established by the Sword Saint himself.
"..."
Ui-jin paused, his movements halting as he recalled those facts.
The goals he so desperately wished to reach were achieved so effortlessly by Bang Seong-yeon.
Just thinking about it made him feel small.
...Will I...
...never be able to reach that height?
Though the dark thought wormed its way into his mind,
"..."
Ui-jin shook his head to clear his thoughts and gripped his sword tightly once more.
...I can do it.
He could do it. He would make it happen, no matter what.
Just as he steeled his resolve and prepared to swing the wooden sword again,
"Working hard, are we?"
"...!"
At the sound of the voice, Ui-jin's body froze like stone.
Forcing his stiff neck to turn, he looked toward the source of the voice.
Standing there was...
"Hello."
His older sister, and the object of his deepest dread.
"My useless little brother."
The Moon Dance Beauty, Cheon Hye-in, was staring right at him.
"Shall we have a little chat with your big sister?"
And her face was completely, chillingly expressionless.