Chapter 27: So You're Ki Mu-hyeok
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 27: So You're Ki Mu-hyeok
"Then I'll see you again tomorrow!"
After a sweat-drenched Ki Mu-hyeok left with a satisfied expression.
Sword Demon Choi Geon, left alone on the rooftop, gazed intently at the retreating figure of the boy.
"…It feels like I've been possessed by a ghost."
When he realized Ki Mu-hyeok was practicing his swordsmanship, he was surprised, but he didn't think it was impossible.
After all, he had taught hundreds of disciples when he was a swordsmanship instructor in the Martial Alliance.
At least ten of them had received enough instruction to be called direct disciples, so he thought it might be a disciple of a disciple.
Since there was even a small connection, he brought the boy home, intending to send him off with a gift.
"He understood my swordsmanship more deeply than anyone I'd ever taught directly. Even more than that guy… Haaah!"
A painful memory suddenly surfaced, and his breathing grew ragged.
It was an impossible occurrence for a master like him, but Choi Geon, as if accustomed to it, took deep breaths and calmed his swirling mind.
"…If he were that bastard's disciple, he wouldn't have dared to seek me out."
Choi Geon, muttering to himself with a chilling gaze, massaged an old, aching wound on his shoulder.
-How will you take responsibility for the failed operation!
-Dozens of young martial artists died because of your reckless plan. Don't you feel sorry for them?
-The Martial Alliance's operation was leaked beforehand? Are you calling that an excuse when you have no proof!
-You murderer! You hypocrite!
…Though more than twenty years had passed, Choi Geon still had nightmares about the past.
It was a secret operation by the Martial Alliance, launched to subjugate a cult that had rapidly expanded its power through drugs and dark magic.
Sword Demon Choi Geon led an elite unit dispatched to eliminate the cult's executives in one swift strike.
However, they fell into an enemy trap that was waiting for them, losing most of their unit members, and he barely made it back alive.
-There was a trap! I won't deny my responsibility, but I will not step down from this position until the spy who leaked the information is revealed!
-What a pathetic excuse!
-It only looks like you're trying to shift the blame onto others!
Many, led by the Sect Masters of the Eight Great Sects, held Choi Geon responsible and demanded he step down from his position.
He had no intention of evading responsibility.
He could endure any amount of criticism.
However, he had no intention of ever stepping down until the spy who leaked the information was found.
That was, until an unthinkable person appeared among the countless people pointing fingers at him.
-…I will testify. Numerous casualties occurred due to Sword Demon Choi Geon's reckless insistence on the operation. There was no trace of information leakage. Everything happened because of Sword Demon Choi Geon's mistaken judgment.
-How could you...!
It was a disciple he had taught for nearly ten years, thinking of him as his own child.
On the day of the testimony from that disciple, who was now one of the elders of the Eight Great Sects.
Choi Geon gave up fighting invisible enemies and left the Martial Alliance.
"Since that day, I swore I would never teach swordsmanship to anyone again…"
The wounds etched on his body had healed, leaving scars, but the Heart Demon carved into his mind was still gnawing at Choi Geon's spirit, even after twenty years.
Shaking his head as if to forcibly cast off the Heart Demon, he looked at Ki Mu-hyeok's retreating back.
"To think some audacious kid would appear and make me break that vow."
The boy, Ki Mu-hyeok, understood things he hadn't taught anyone.
Things he couldn't teach when he instructed young swordsmen in the Martial Alliance because they weren't properly established yet.
In fact, in some areas, he even caught glimpses of solutions to problems he had pondered for a long time.
'Did he really establish his own swordsmanship all by himself?'
'Just by looking at that old book and video?'
'If that's true, isn't his talent so absurd that calling him a genius is an understatement?'
Choi Geon, unaware that Ki Mu-hyeok had mastered the swordsmanship his future self would complete, could only feel as if he were possessed by a ghost.
"I've faced and cut down countless Monstrous Beings in my life... but I've never experienced anything stranger than this."
Choi Geon let out a hollow laugh.
Ki Mu-hyeok's figure had now vanished into the darkness, no longer visible.
Turning his body, he lightly swished the back scratcher in his hand through the air.
Shhhk-
A thin crack appeared in the cool night air, then dispersed.
Even a slender twig, in the hands of a master, becomes a sharp sword.
At this moment, the back scratcher in the Sword Demon's hand was as sharp as any peerless divine sword.
Shhhk. Shhhk-shhhk-
Choi Geon recalled Ki Mu-hyeok's training, extending and swinging his 'sword'.
Swordsmanship so close to perfection that if Ki Mu-hyeok had seen it, he would have watched, mouth agape and utterly captivated.
Following the sword path he had memorized after seeing it just once, the Sword Demon assessed the young swordsman's accumulated effort and mindset.
"Indeed…"
Choi Geon lowered his 'sword' and nodded slightly.
He felt even more certain about the thoughts he'd had while briefly guiding the boy.
'There isn't much to teach.'
In the grand scheme of things, the boy Ki Mu-hyeok was already a complete martial artist, with little left to refine.
He only needed to shed a few bad habits that overtaxed his body, some rough ingrained tendencies, and his excessive competitiveness, and he would quickly find his own path.
'It's like looking at my past self.'
The thought suddenly occurred to him, but Choi Geon soon let out a small laugh and shook his head.
Comparing him to himself was an absurd overestimation of his own abilities.
Because Ki Mu-hyeok possessed far greater talent than Choi Geon in his youth.
The only person comparable to that boy… absurdly, only one came to mind.
-Korea is too small. I will embark on a martial arts journey across the world.
The young man who had bid farewell and left less than a week after learning swordsmanship from him.
The world's greatest. It was a talent reminiscent of Richard Han.
"Such an incredible fellow…"
-I'm a huge fan of Sword Demon Choi Geon.
"Ahem!"
Ki Mu-hyeok's sudden words came to mind, making him clear his throat.
It wasn't like he was being senile and foolish; hadn't he almost blushed in embarrassment after hearing that?
"Audacious brat. Do you think I'd fall for that so easily?"
Choi Geon narrowed his eyes, sharply turned his head, and glared in the direction Ki Mu-hyeok had left.
Ki Mu-hyeok's figure was no longer visible, but he muttered as if the boy were still there.
"If I just watch over him so he doesn't lose his way…"
Wouldn't another peerless martial artist emerge, one who would transcend Korea and venture into the world?
Choi Geon felt his heart pound rapidly, but for a different reason than before.
He was, by nature, someone who loved to teach.
That was why he had taken on the role of swordsmanship instructor for the Martial Alliance.
Watching talented Rising Stars develop through his teachings was one of his greatest joys.
"…Just one last time, perhaps."
He felt a desire to help this boy achieve what he himself had failed to accomplish.
-I won't abandon anything.
Just as the boy had said with such a fervent expression, so that he could achieve it without giving up or losing anything.
"And on top of that, he's a Five Elements Affinity user…"
Everyone possessed a bit of the Five Elements' energy, but having the aptitude to master martial arts with it was another matter entirely.
Among spellcasters and Taoists, there were even those who trained for decades to balance the Five Elements within their bodies.
For martial artists, if their Constitution itself was poor, being a Five Elements Affinity user held little significance.
But in cases where the Constitution was exceptional…
'There's no need to tell him about the Five Elements Divine Art just yet.'
Musculature forged as if carving rock, and a Constitution blessed by heaven.
If proper guidance were added to this, what kind of swordsman would truly emerge?
Choi Geon, clenching his fist, realized he was smiling without knowing it.
"Haha. It feels like I'm having a late-life awakening."
Choi Geon descended from the rooftop and entered his home.
The space was as desolate as ever.
On the refrigerator, a Post-it note he'd never seen before was stuck.
-I put the sandwich and watermelon I brought for dessert in here, so eat them as soon as possible!
Opening the refrigerator, he found a well-packaged sandwich, like one sold in a store, and watermelon cut into bite-sized pieces in a side dish container.
"When did she…?"
Did she secretly put them in the refrigerator on her way down?
Choi Geon stared at the handwriting for a long time, then took out the watermelon and ate it.
It was watermelon he hadn't eaten in who knew how long.
"Clever brat. Do you think I wouldn't see through your trick of coming in and out of my house to get the side dish container back?"
However, contrary to his gruff words, a gentle smile played on Sword Demon Choi Geon's lips.
"…The watermelon is sweet."
The old man, who had lived without interacting with people for the past twenty years, looked forward to tomorrow for the first time in a long while.
The next day.
'What exactly is a Five Elements Affinity user?'
I thought, watching the clouds drift by outside the window.
It was early autumn in a high school senior classroom, where the sweltering heat still reigned.
I wasn't particularly interested in academics, but I still tried my best not to goof off during class.
However, whenever it was break time, like now, my mind would automatically fill with the events of the past few days.
'He definitely looked very surprised. My Constitution, being able to master all Five Elements, seems unusual, but was it really something to react to that much?'
But it wasn't a negative reaction so much as a complicated expression...
'There might be information about my Constitution that I don't know.'
Besides that, reviewing the guidance I'd received the day before, pondering the relationship between the Sword Demon and the Eight Great Sects, and planning future training, time would just fly by.
That was why I didn't pay attention, even though I knew people were gathering around me.
"Hey, Mu-hyeok."
"...Huh?"
A high school classmate whose face I barely remembered spoke to me.
It was quite rare.
Since I didn't have much to talk about with friends who weren't aspiring martial artists, I always went to school quietly by myself.
'I think there were a few in freshman year...'
There were a few rough-spoken friends who said they also aspired to be martial artists and wanted to be close.
But after sparring with them once or twice, they all said they'd focus on their studies, and we drifted apart.
Since then, I rarely had conversations at school, so I looked at my friend with the kindest smile I could manage.
"Do you need something from me?"
"S-sorry! For disturbing you…"
"It's fine. So, what's up?"
"Th-this is why…"
For some reason, my friend, unable to meet my eyes and with his neck hunched, showed me the smartphone in his hand.
"Mu-hyeok. Is this you?"
"...Ah."
No wonder everyone kept glancing at me today.
A video uploaded to YouTube showed me fighting Yaksha Sword.
The camera was frantically shaking to follow the movements, but my face, visible whenever it paused, was clear enough for anyone to recognize me.
"Let me see for a second."
Checking the comments, my high school and name were already mentioned.
Checking my smartphone, a good number of messenger chats had piled up.
Most were from Father, Shin Kang-heon, and Kim Bok-ja.
"...Yeah. That's me."
I figured denying it wouldn't make them believe me, so I simply nodded.
"Crazy! You were this strong?"
"At this rate, won't the Eight Great Sects send you scout offers?"
"It's only been a few hours since this went up, and it already has over a hundred thousand views. It'll definitely hit half a million today."
"..."
I wanted to exchange light banter with my friends too, but I didn't have anything to say, so I just met each of their eyes and nodded.
Then, the crowd around me dispersed like an ebbing tide.
…Didn't they want to be friends with me?
Now that it was quiet, I watched the YouTube video again and checked the comments.
The reaction was bigger than I expected, and I had a feeling things were about to get a little troublesome.
'Today, I should stop by home first, then go meet The Master.'
After all classes ended.
As soon as homeroom was over, I jumped out of the third-floor window.
Whoosh!
All I could think about was getting home quickly before any troublesome things happened.
But whether my reaction was a bit slow, or theirs was fast.
A limousine was conspicuously parked in front of the school gate, waiting for me.
"Huh? That logo, isn't that the Changcheon Sword Sect?"
"You're right. Why is the Changcheon Sword Sect here?"
"Is it because of that video? The one with our senior fighting a martial artist."
Even without hearing the murmuring students passing by, I knew who was in that limousine.
A sword lying horizontally above the Hanja characters for Changcheon (蒼天).
Because the logo of the Changcheon Sword Sect, one of the Eight Great Sects, was affixed to the side of the car.
"You must be Ki Mu-hyeok?"
A woman stepped out of the limousine and walked straight towards me.
A woman with shoulder-length bobbed hair and long limbs, exuding a model-like aura.
Though dressed in a formal suit, one could tell she wasn't an ordinary office worker just by her gait.
"Could you spare a moment?"
The Changcheon Sword Sect disciple, who had approached me, said with a friendly smile.