There Was a Method (1)
Ughhh. My stomach's all queasy, and my head's pounding.
Father said he'd teach me how to drink, but...
What happened after that...?
He told me to have just one drink with his generous(?) offer, and that's all I did. But I must've passed out cold from that single cup.
"Here, drink some honey water."
"Thanks."
I took it naturally and gulped it down.
"Kuhhh! Now I feel alive again, monk grandpa."
"The monk you're talking about is passed out outside."
I was frowning with my head down from the hangover headache, so I naturally assumed the one handing me the cup was the monk grandpa.
Huh? If it's not monk grandpa, then who...?
I looked up to check, and my eyes widened.
"Third... Third Brother, what are you doing here?"
I first calmed my startled heart. I felt like I might puke.
"Tsk tsk, so you're finally coming to your senses?"
"Yes."
I relaxed my eyes and thought.
He's not here to fight... So why did he really come?
"Don't you remember yesterday?"
"Haha! Well, that's because I..."
Father and Singui drank together with me, and...
"A rumor spread through the family estate yesterday. That you were treating everyone to celebrate your proxy duel victory."
"In my memory, only a few people knew."
"I didn't know from the start either. But after the drinking party broke up, those guys went out and started blabbing that Father himself had joined the party. I got suspicious and came to check. Though Father wasn't here, of course."
Then, that's when!
When those guys came back in and kept eating! Third Brother was saying they'd gone out and flapped their mouths in the meantime.
No way!
Then not everyone in the family came to eat yesterday, right? If they did, how much would that cost? I couldn't even calculate it.
"I waited for you for one reason. After seeing your duel yesterday, I made a decision."
"What?"
Third Brother stared straight at me with wide-open eyes. I couldn't understand why he was building up the atmosphere like this. Weren't things between us settled?
"I'm going back into secluded training."
"Pardon? How long ago did you come out? And besides..."
You're already insanely strong without needing to.
Now even I knew how amazing Third Brother was. The aura emanating from him alone made my body tense up instinctively.
Could I win if we fought? I couldn't guarantee it, but at my current level, I wouldn't lose easily. Though that doesn't mean I'd win.
"You've gotten stronger. Gathering such astonishing influence, even drawing in old Murim folks. I was right not to underestimate you."
"I just did my best, that's all."
"Exactly. So I'm going to do my best too."
"Why... exactly?"
How much more effort on top of what he's done already could be his "best"? And I was shocked that his reason for that best was me.
Among his peers or even those three or four years older, Third Brother had no equals. If time passed like this, he'd naturally ascend to the ranks of the supreme masters.
In terms of generation, he'd be the strongest among the three great disciples.
"Sawangjeon."
I blanked out the moment Third Brother said it.
"You'll be there too. I plan to win Sawangjeon. And claim the title of the greatest hugi jisu. I've said what I came to say, so I'll be going. Take care of yourself. And yesterday was fun to watch. Second Brother's stunned face was amusing even for me."
With that, Third Brother left the room leisurely.
I was left alone.
"Uh... uh..."
Why hadn't I thought of that?
There was a way. One that didn't even require going to the young clan head competition to fulfill my wish!
"Sawangjeon!"
I had a rough idea why I'd completely forgotten about it.
"Before regression, I never even dreamed of it."
So after regressing, I'd excluded it from my mind entirely.
As Third Brother said, Sawangjeon selected the era's top hugi jisu—one could call it Murim's greatest festival.
After Ma-gyo vanished, Murim lived with a sense of vigilance in their hearts. Never to suffer such defeat again.
But peace bred complacency, and even with effort, fewer and fewer risked their lives to grow strong like in the Great Chaos era.
Well, the Namgung family was an exception among them. It was full of abnormal people, after all.
That's why they created Sawangjeon.
A tournament to give those who would lead future Murim a goal.
Naturally, all sects' hugi jisu participated. Age limit: under twenty.
As the name implied, it selected four young kings—little sword king, little fist king, little blade king, little hidden king.
And Sawangjeon's highlight was selecting the era's Jinryong.
These four top hugi jisu in their fields dueled each other, and the last one standing became the era's Jinryong—the supreme hugi jisu.
That's why it was also called the Jinryong Tournament.
"If I could just win Sawangjeon!"
The Jinryong received one benefit agreed upon by all participating Murim: any reasonable wish granted.
Of course, it couldn't stray from righteousness or be absurdly impossible.
But most wishes were feasible.
"The Jinryong two tournaments ago was Eldest Brother."
Namgung Dae used his right to challenge the Tianxia First Person—Father—to a duel right there.
A wish no one but a martial maniac would make.
Yet all Murim granted it.
Wouldn't any man wish for the world's greatest beauty? Or endless wealth?
Well, Eldest Brother didn't need the latter.
Anyway! With infinite possible wishes...
That day, Eldest Brother dueled Father and lost cleanly.
The next Sawangjeon's Jinryong was Second Brother.
Unlike Eldest Brother's ridiculous wish, Namgung Jung asked to access one piece of secret information related to Murim's hidden history, known only to the Beggar Clan and Hao Clan leaders.
It was done secretly with their consent, and to this day, no one but those three knows what info he sought.
But Second Brother expressed satisfaction, so the wish was fulfilled.
Sawangjeon was held every five years.
Third Brother was eighteen now. I was thirteen.
Normally, it would be in two years.
There, Third Brother would participate as a Namgung direct descendant.
In two years, I'd be fifteen—fully qualified for Sawangjeon.
Something unimaginable before regression.
Back then, a third-rate like me had no chance—the wall was too high.
But now was different.
I've gotten strong.
Astoundingly so, compared to before.
And I'd grow even stronger.
"If I could win there!"
My one wish: stripped of Namgung direct descendant status, boldly walk out as a fugitive!
Yes. If I won, no need for the young clan head competition!
In two years, every sect's top hugi jisu would show up.
They were probably vomiting blood in training for it now.
Sawangjeon would be my sole breakthrough against Namgung's dominance over Tianxia.
Become Jinryong, and steal Tianxia from Namgung!
The Tianxia First Person title too.
Namgung was called the Tianxia Greatest Clan not just for the Tianxia First Person or strongest force, but mainly because they held the Tianxia Greatest Hugi Jisu!
Time passing without incident, that hugi jisu naturally became the next Tianxia First Person.
Namgung already had two such people.
A blessing for Murim, but a lifelong curse choking other sects.
Yet the only curse they could break themselves.
You couldn't steal the other two Tianxias from Namgung.
Tianxia First Person. Tianxia Greatest Clan.
Fortresses built over countless years, impregnable.
Stealing those would take at least five generations.
But Tianxia Greatest Hugi Jisu was different.
Just twenty years old—the oldest in Sawangjeon.
Enough for a normal person to start a family.
But for Murim folk training martial arts, not much age.
Twenty? To them, a chick fresh from the egg.
Completion of martial arts varied wildly, talents blooming differently.
One's peak might be smashing rocks; another's, mountains.
But those peaks took at least forty or fifty years.
Sawangjeon wasn't about peaks.
It was sprouts battling—not full blooms, but first leaves from seeds!
Of course, some surged ahead.
That ugly chick beside you might become a crane; wake up to a hawk devouring you; or a phoenix fledgling soaring high.
"Brother said he'd win Sawangjeon."
The key: Sawangjeon's hugi jisu didn't know their potential yet!
The one chance for chicks to beat hawks or phoenixes.
Maybe a gift from heaven.
"I have to enter no matter what!"
To grant my wish, I had to beat Brother.
"I'll win for sure!"
I shot to my feet.
No time for comfy sleep now.
Two years left.
I'd win Sawangjeon, come hell or high water.
And right in front of me...
"Ah, let go! You old geezers for real!"
A familiar sight unfolded.
"You think you can sleep in times like these?!"
I'd passed out unavoidably—Father dragged me into it!
I quickly woke them up.
Thinking of the road ahead, I couldn't waste a minute or second.
"Ah, damn it, come on! Wake up!"
"Ughhh. Youngest Young Master, just a bit more. Why the racket this early?!"
Who was the boss here?
And where were the maid sisters and head maid?
I went to their room and opened the door.
"What the hell happened yesterday?"
Never seen them oversleep before.
More precisely, never seen them so disheveled.
First time today.
Well, forgivable—they'd worked hard.
But the problem was the long road ahead!
I personally woke them all, including the Daegalbak old-timers outside.
Moments later.
"Alright! Listen up!"
I gathered the still-dazed crowd and declared.
"I'm entering Sawangjeon now."
"So what's for hangover soup?"
These guys, seriously!!