Chapter 21: New Recruit Initiation Test
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 21: New Recruit Initiation Test
The private training arena Shin Kang-heon had reserved was a top-tier facility, equipped with various weapons, protective gear, sandbags, stretching tools, emergency medicine, and even simple meals.
‘This guy. Looks like he’s loaded.’
Having only ever used the public facilities linked to the academy, this place was practically a new world to me.
As I gawked at the facilities like a country bumpkin, Shin Kang-heon puffed out his chest, showing off.
“First time at a fancy training arena? I train in places like this all the time.”
“Don’t waste money on useless things. Find somewhere cheaper next time.”
“Why would I? I’m not some beggar.”
His attitude...?
I felt the need to instill some manners and character into Shin Kang-heon, who snorted in response.
Letting out a small sigh, I set my bag down in a corner, took out only my practice sword, and walked to the center of the arena.
“Should we warm up first, or go straight into it?”
Shin Kang-heon, who had also set his bag down, walked over with his sword slung over his shoulder.
“Don’t you warm up by fighting?”
For the first time, we were in agreement. We each picked up our swords and faced each other.
I let out a small laugh, seeing Shin Kang-heon’s expression quickly turn serious.
‘He’s finally tolerable.’
I’d felt it at the Competition too.
This guy, who treated everything like a joke with a flippant attitude, at least when he held his sword, he wore a proper expression.
“That’s the only thing I like about you.”
“What’s he talking about? I don’t... like you!”
Shin Kang-heon, who had tilted his head at my muttered words, suddenly thrust his sword forward.
It was a duel that began without warning.
Clang!
I lightly parried, creating distance.
A heavy vibration ran up my grip, and my lips curled into an involuntary smirk.
‘His talent really is undeniable.’
The future Korea’s Greatest Swordsman.
Even now, I often replayed our life-and-death duel, my last fight in my previous life, with Shin Kang-heon.
‘If we had both been at our peak then... I would have surely lost.’
I wouldn’t have gone down easily, but in the end, I would have fallen to Shin Kang-heon’s blade.
It was a judgment based on cold, objective self-assessment, without an ounce of exaggeration or understatement.
My victory back then was merely the result of sheer luck favoring a moth that had flown into a flame.
Clang-clang-clang!
Blades clashed repeatedly, threatening each other.
But his crude and rough sword strikes, far more unrefined than I remembered, were all either parried by my blade or cut through empty air.
“Not bad... but you’ve still got a long way to go.”
At my deliberately audible murmur, a vein pulsed in Shin Kang-heon’s neck.
At the same time, the veins on the back of his tensed hand bulged as if they might burst.
“Let’s see how long you can keep acting so relaxed!”
But if getting angry improved one’s skill, why would anyone bother with arduous training?
His wild, windmill-like swings only exposed greater openings.
I dove inside his wide attack and struck Shin Kang-heon’s flank with the flat of my blade.
At that moment, he raised his knee to block the attack.
Watching Shin Kang-heon slide backward, I let out a hollow laugh.
His reaction speed had exceeded my expectations.
‘It really gets under my skin to see such talent go to waste.’
I couldn’t just leave Shin Kang-heon as he was now.
It wasn’t simply because his future was intertwined with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
‘He could get stronger, so why not?’
I was certain that Shin Kang-heon could become even stronger than the Korea’s Greatest Swordsman I remembered.
And I wanted to surpass that stronger version of him with my own skill.
This time, to face him properly, both at our peak, and defeat him.
It was a purely personal desire, not for anyone else.
“...Bastard. You’re stronger than I thought.”
Shin Kang-heon, who had retreated slightly, regulated his breathing and spoke.
His expression showed frustration that the duel wasn’t going his way.
But his eyes burned fiercely with fighting spirit.
Of course, I had no intention of stopping after just a moderate effort.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
I took a strong forward step and swung my sword powerfully.
CRACK!
Shin Kang-heon’s eyes widened at the sword strike, delivered without holding back.
He must have realized from that attack that I had been going easy on him until now.
“You crazy...!”
“You said you’d beat me half to death? With this skill?”
A sneer played on my lips as I swung my sword again.
Shin Kang-heon, unable to react in time, had blood trickling down his shoulder.
“Are you not taking this seriously? Or is this all the skill you have?”
“Shut up!”
“If you’re unhappy, then shut me up with your skill.”
I continued to provoke Shin Kang-heon, deliberately pricking his pride.
And I crushed him with power and technique, making the disparity clear even to a fool.
CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!
At some point, Shin Kang-heon’s eyes, now only scrambling to block, showed not just bewilderment but anger.
It was clear that if things continued like this, he would lose to me without being able to do anything more.
“Ugh... Damn it!”
Like a cornered beast struggling with all its might, Shin Kang-heon abandoned defense and began to swing his sword with full force.
WHOOSH!
The wind pressure generated by his sword was different.
As he put his maximum physical power into his strikes, an oppressive aura could be felt.
“Yes. That’s it.”
I subtly smiled at the sight of him, showing a resolve to take the bone even if it meant sacrificing flesh.
Of course, that didn’t mean I was going to go easy on him.
I didn’t dodge Shin Kang-heon’s reckless charge, but met him head-on.
CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!
Even parrying at an angle, my grip tingled.
It was a force so great that if my point of impact had been slightly off, I might have dropped my sword.
But that wouldn’t happen.
“Now you’re finally somewhat useful.”
“Shut up—!”
No matter how much he struggled, the current Shin Kang-heon was no match for me.
The difference in practical experience was undeniable, not to mention the twenty-year gap in the years spent wielding a sword.
“And originally, my evaluation was higher at this age anyway.”
“Aargh! What are you talking about? You annoying bastard...!”
“Let’s end this.”
I struck Shin Kang-heon’s face with the flat of my blade, his eyes half-crazed with excitement.
CRACK!
“Cough...!”
His head snapped to the side, and then Shin Kang-heon, his eyes unfocused, slumped backward.
I lightly placed my sword on his chest as he lay on the ground and said,
“If you’d focused on training instead of acting like an attention-seeker, you’d be better than this by now.”
“...”
The frustration of facing an overwhelmingly superior peer.
For someone who thought of himself as a genius, it must have hit even harder.
To Shin Kang-heon, who didn’t know I was a regressor, it would only look like an unfair difference in talent.
In the worst case, he might be so shocked that he would never pick up a sword again and abandon his dream of becoming a Martial Arts Practitioner.
‘If that happens, then so be it.’
One less Heavenly Demon Divine Cult terrorist to plunge the world into chaos wouldn’t be a bad outcome.
But the Shin Kang-heon I knew wasn’t someone who would break so easily.
“...Why are you nagging so much all of a sudden?”
Shin Kang-heon, still lying sprawled on his back, looked up at me with a bewildered expression and asked.
“Huh? Even my deceased mom and dad didn’t nag this much. Who are you, anyway?”
His face seemed genuinely curious rather than annoyed, so I answered honestly.
“Because you’re pathetic. It’s a waste to see you messing around with such talent. Maybe if you get beaten and nagged, you’ll come to your senses?”
“You crazy bastard... Hehehehe.”
Suddenly, Shin Kang-heon burst into laughter, his body shaking.
He chuckled until tears welled up in his eyes, then abruptly sat up, looking straight at me again.
His lips were slightly upturned, not looking displeased.
“Damn it, I lost! So, I have to run errands for three days? Buy you bread every morning?”
“I don’t need anything like that.”
It seemed he had misunderstood the kind of errand I meant. I had no intention of dragging Shin Kang-heon around like some bully.
“I need to find someone.”
“...Who?”
I told Shin Kang-heon that I was looking for a Martial Arts Practitioner named Sword Demon, who had retired long ago.
“Sword Demon? I think I’ve heard that name... Isn’t he a really old Martial Arts Practitioner?”
Given that we were both nineteen, it was normal for him not to know much about Sword Demon, who had been active long before Richard Han’s generation.
Even I hadn’t properly heard of him until I saw Sword Demon on YouTube.
I showed him Sword Demon’s last photo before his retirement, which I’d found after a long search online, and Shin Kang-heon said with an unenthusiastic expression,
“If you’re looking for someone, isn’t it better to pay someone to find them? Oh, right, you’re a beggar...?”
WHACK!
I hit Shin Kang-heon on the head with the flat of my sword and said,
“No. There’s a reason I have to find him myself.”
“You bastard...”
While there were methods like hiring a Private Investigation Agency, the target was a retired Martial Arts Practitioner.
And an incredibly powerful one at that.
If I were Sword Demon, knowing that someone had hired people to find me... I certainly wouldn’t be pleased.
‘I’m asking him for martial arts guidance, so I should leave a good impression if possible.’
Ultimately, I concluded that I had to find Sword Demon myself, and that’s why I recruited Shin Kang-heon as an assistant.
A nineteen-year-old loafer with plenty of money and time.
Since he wouldn’t be diligently attending school for his License Exam preparations anyway, he was the perfect person for a legwork job.
“Hey. Even so, is it really possible for just the two of us to find one person in the middle of Seoul?”
“The good news is, it’s not two of us, but three.”
“...Who else is there?”
“Someone. They should be arriving soon.”
I’d sent her the address via messenger before entering the training arena, so she should be almost here by now.
And a moment later, a red-haired figure opened the arena door and walked in.
Kim Bok-ja looked around, impressed, and said,
“Wow, this place is awesome. Min-jja, you’re richer than I thought...”
“Who’s she?”
Kim Bok-ja paused, and Shin Kang-heon narrowed his eyes. They regarded each other with suspicion, as if they’d spotted a dangerous creature.
It was as if they instinctively sensed that the other had a temper as foul as their own.
‘From my perspective, they’re just two of a kind...’
Shin Kang-heon was the first to look away.
Perhaps he belatedly realized he was covered in the marks of my beating, his ears slightly red, he said to me with a sour expression,
“...I’m going to go change.”
As soon as Shin Kang-heon took his bag and went into the changing room, Bok-ja approached me and asked,
“Why is he here? You said we were just going for dakgalbi?”
I explained the real reason I’d called my friend, who would travel any distance for spicy food.
True to Kim Bok-ja’s personality, she immediately threw a fit.
“Damn it! Luring me with food again! I’m leaving!”
“That instant tteokbokki we had last time was delicious, wasn’t it? This time, it’s charcoal-grilled marinated dakgalbi from a 70-year-old traditional restaurant. It’s a hidden gem that doesn’t even show up in searches. Are you really going to leave?”
Having lived as a Vagrant for 20 years in my previous life, I knew many great restaurants in Seoul.
I remembered at least twenty more restaurants that Kim Bok-ja would love.
‘Besides, most of them were places Kim Bok-ja herself told me about in the future.’
These were restaurants vouched for by the future Kim Bok-ja, so how could they not suit her taste?
Gulp...
Sure enough.
Bok-ja unconsciously licked her lips, then suddenly snapped back to attention and glared at me.
“It better not be bad. I’ll tell Kkagwi to bite your head off.”
At that, a black, cotton-candy-like entity hovering above Bok-ja’s head let out a threatening roar.
Kaaaat!
Though it flinched and immediately hid behind Bok-ja’s back when I gave it a slight glare.
“You even named it?”
“He’s my first Monstrous Being. He’s a pushover, but kinda cute.”
Treating a Vengeful Spirit like a pet... isn’t that a bit problematic?
“Anyway, you need to find someone, right? That’s fine. But seriously.”
Bok-ja looked around at the traces of the duel between Shin Kang-heon and me, then crossed her arms and said, as if something displeased her,
“Shouldn’t you have asked for my opinion as the vice-crew leader about this?”
“About what?”
“The new recruit initiation test. Even if our crew doesn’t really care about character...”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“Just this once, I’ll let it slide.”
Kim Bok-ja didn’t listen to me and started muttering to herself, looking at the changing room Shin Kang-heon had entered.
“What should I make him do? A combatant? The muscle? He looks rich, so maybe the one in charge of company dinners?”
“...”
It seemed there were many misunderstandings, but she looked excited, so I just let her be.