Chapter 8: Martial Crew Cheongrang
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 8: Martial Crew Cheongrang
No matter how many times I tried, the Constitution Test results remained unchanged. The clear Chinese character '二' (two) on the monitor stayed put, and the fire that had entered all five elements of affinity continued to shine brightly.
"…It's really Grade 2, isn't it?"
"How many more times do I have to do it for you to believe me?"
Bok-ja slumped back in her chair, waving her hand as if to say she couldn't do it anymore. At first, she thought the results were wrong and suggested a retest, but after getting the same outcome repeatedly, she now shook her head with an exhausted expression.
"Anyway, congratulations. Grade 2 is a one-in-ten-thousand chance, so it's practically a path paved with flowers stretching out before you, isn't it?"
"…"
I silently gazed up at the monitor.
In my previous life, I couldn't see anything on that monitor screen.
[Constitution Judgement: Unsuitable for Martial Arts Practitioner]
What I received, waiting anxiously for the results outside the examination room, was a single sheet of paper with that sentence written on it. Below it were detailed figures for each category, and at the spellcaster's question of whether I wanted a retest, I bolted out of the hospital.
Because all the numbers written there were zero.
"Honestly, I'm more flabbergasted by all five Five Elements Affinities showing up than the grade itself. You know how usually it's one or two, and if you're really lucky and get three, they treat you like a national treasure and everyone tries to recruit you? But you got five, which I've never even heard of! Ugh, suddenly I'm getting a stomachache."
"…Good."
"Good? That's all you have to say after seeing those insane results?"
"It hasn't really sunk in yet."
Because just a few weeks ago, I received a 'Martial Arts Practitioner Unsuitable Judgement'. To my current self, it was an event from a distant past life, but also a lifelong inferiority complex.
I thought I'd at least cry if the results came out well.
But once I saw it with my own eyes, I felt strangely calm.
Grade 2.
A remarkable Constitution, statistically appearing in perhaps one out of ten thousand people.
And the aptitude to wield all five elements: Wood (木), Fire (火), Earth (土), Metal (金), and Water (水).
Even though I now possessed the qualifications to choose and join any Martial Sect I desired.
Bok-ja was still grumbling with a bored expression.
"Seriously, the world is so unfair. Your Musculature is clearly top-tier, and now your Constitution is like this too? Isn't that cheating?"
"You're right. It is like cheating."
"…Huh?"
But this is a cheat I created by dedicating my entire life before my regression.
In my previous life, I honed my innate physical abilities, earning the evaluation of having top-tier Musculature among my peers, but the unsuitable judgement in the Constitution Test forced me to abandon my dreams.
There would also be cases opposite to mine. Cases where only one was excellent, or both were mediocre, or out of all possible scenarios, those with both excellent Musculature and Constitution were extremely rare.
Among those naturally gifted individuals, only the ones who worked themselves to death made it to the World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament.
Now, I possessed both top-tier Musculature and Constitution. In other words, I could finally say I was at the proper starting line.
I can finally properly contend with the world's top Martial Artists.
A faint smile finally formed on my lips. It wasn't because of the results I'd just received, but because I now had the conviction that I could ascend to a much higher place: the <World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament>.
To do that, first.
I need to find a Mind Cultivation Method that best suits my Constitution and aptitude.
Several famous Mind Cultivation Methods came to mind, but none felt like 'the one'. It wasn't urgent, so I planned to search carefully and decide.
I put on the clothes I'd taken off and said to Bok-ja.
"Keep my Constitution Test results a secret."
At my request, Bok-ja narrowed her brows and snorted.
"Surely not for free? I re-did the test how many times?"
Her mischievous smile clearly indicated she was joking, but I nodded seriously.
"I'll pay you next time I come."
"…Hey. Can't you take a joke?"
"I understood perfectly. But I'll still pay you. I owe you quite a bit."
Like today, and many times in my previous life too.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason. Just like in my previous life, Kim Bok-ja was a good enough person that I wanted to be friends with her in this life too.
And get some help with spells when I need them, while I'm at it.
I stood up and said.
"I'll drop by sometimes. And if anyone bothers you again, let me know."
"What are you talking about? Are you actually going to form a gang?"
"A gang? No way. Maybe a casual crew that hangs out when we're bored."
"You mean Cheongrang (靑狼), like you said earlier?"
"Cheong... yeah. Call it whatever you want."
I was about to correct her, saying it was Cheongnang, not Cheongrang, but I paused when I saw Bok-ja's expectant expression.
Youth... Romance. I just made it up as an abbreviation for whatever came to mind. She'd probably freak out if she knew, right?
Given Kim Bok-ja's personality, she'd definitely throw a fit about the name being lame, so I decided to keep 'Youth' and 'Romance' buried in my heart for good.
And so, the Martial Crew 'Cheongrang,' meaning 'Azure Wolf,' was inadvertently formed.
"Take care of us, Leader."
Bok-ja chuckled, exchanged contact info with me, and created a group chat with just the two of us for now.
"Don't worry about keeping secrets. I'm Red Rabbit. Without loyalty, I'm nothing but a corpse."
"Thanks, Bok-ja."
"Ah, don't call me that!"
It had been a day of many achievements. I had accurately learned about my Constitution in this life, and I had also changed Bok-ja's future, which would have forced her into an unwanted Underworld organization.
My parents must be worried about me being late.
Checking the time, it was already past 10 PM. Quite a few messages from them had piled up on my smartphone.
"I should probably get going."
"Alright, Lunchbox. Hurry home before curfew."
A chuckle escaped me at our back-and-forth banter. It was because I finally felt like we'd gotten a little closer.
"Well then, next time... Ah! I almost forgot the most important thing."
I let go of the doorknob I'd grabbed to leave and turned back.
"The Grade-Concealing Spell for the Constitution Test. Can you cast it now?"
When I first proposed the deal, I asked Bok-ja for two things in exchange for handling a troublesome matter. One was the Constitution Test. And the other was a spell to conceal my grade during the official Constitution Test.
If it got out that I had a Grade 2 Constitution and Five Elements Affinity, it would cause a huge stir.
Both of us had been so engrossed in the Constitution Test results that we'd completely forgotten about it. If I didn't get the procedure done beforehand, before taking the retest at an official hospital, these results would be revealed to the world. The aftermath... I didn't particularly want to think about it.
"That's not very difficult. But are you really going to hide it? Isn't it something you should be bragging about to everyone?"
"Personal reasons."
At my concise answer, Bok-ja didn't press further. Instead, she put on the goggles I had worn earlier and latex gloves on both hands, then said.
"Alright, take off your clothes again and lie down. Let's finish this procedure quickly so I can rest too."
After Ki Mu-hyeok, having received the procedure, left the workshop, Kim Bok-ja, left alone, slumped back onto the sofa.
"Haa... I'm dead tired."
As the tension from the entire day finally released, her body felt heavy as lead. It had been one of the most thrilling days of her life, one she could count on one hand.
"It's like I was possessed by a ghost..."
She'd pretended it was nothing in front of Ki Mu-hyeok, but in truth, she'd only heard rumors about the Hidden Tower and had never actually been inside. The fact that she could speak confidently in front of the intimidating Unorthodox Faction members and Vagrants there was also thanks to Ki Mu-hyeok being by her side.
"...Honestly, I was scared shitless."
Because Ki Mu-hyeok had been more skilled and natural than anyone else there. But when he received the famous Blood Tiger Gang's recruitment offer and rejected it with an indifferent expression, she didn't show it, but she screamed internally.
That crazy bastard. Does he even know what he just did?
What if the Blood Tiger Gang had held a grudge over the rejection and picked a fight? Fortunately, O-ho had politely retreated, promising to meet again, which allowed her to also refuse the offer.
No matter how good the treatment... a full-fledged organization like that just feels unsettling.
[Kimoo: I checked the fridge earlier, there was nothing but alcohol]
[Kimoo: If you keep drinking like that, you'll get a hole in your stomach.]
Yet the person who had shocked her several times that day was sending messages like an old man.
[Rabbit: What's it to you?]
Thinking it might be too cold, she also sent a glaring rabbit emoji.
"...He's not reading it?"
Kim Bok-ja glared at the group chat for a moment, then changed the room name to <Martial Crew Cheongrang> and exited.
A crew, not an organization. He said it was a casual social gathering with horizontal relationships, not a hierarchy. There wasn't much pressure, so it seemed like a good idea to join as a kind of insurance.
"...I guess I can make the logo, right?"
Kim Bok-ja mumbled to herself, then began sketching various things that came to mind on a piece of paper.
The next day, Namdaemun Market Underground Shopping Center.
On the front door of Red Rabbit, the freelance spellcaster's shop, a large logo of an Azure Wolf with its head raised was emblazoned.
The process of convincing my parents wasn't as difficult as I'd imagined.
"Please let me take the Constitution Test just one more time."
"Hyeok, you..."
"Is it because you still have lingering regrets?"
If possible, I wanted to go quietly and get a retest by myself, but minors couldn't undergo a Constitution Test without the consent of a legal guardian.
"Just one more time. I know the test is expensive... but this time, I'll accept whatever results come out."
At my calm tone, my parents looked at me with regretful expressions, then nodded.
"Alright, what the heck, let's do it one more time."
"Don't worry about the money. Your mom and dad have that much."
The cost of a single Constitution Test exceeded five million won. Therefore, unless it was a considerably wealthy family, no one would retake the test just because they didn't like the results. Even though it was a burdensome amount for our family's finances, they readily booked the test for their son.
I'll repay you a hundred, a thousand times over, soon.
A few days later.
After arriving at the hospital and waiting for a while, I entered a piece of equipment far larger and more precise than what I'd seen in Bok-ja's workshop, and remained there for a long time. Although it was expensive and time-consuming, providing high accuracy and detailed figures, for me now, it was a meaningless period.
Thus, the test, which was incredibly boring for me and anxious for my parents, concluded. For some reason, it took much longer than the first test.
"First, I apologize. It took a long time to reconfirm and cross-reference the previous results. This is our first time encountering such a case..."
The doctor and spellcaster in charge of my test looked at the results sheet with a troubled expression. My parents, perhaps interpreting that expression negatively, also grew somber. The doctor, speechless for a moment, finally managed to deliver the results.
"...It's Grade 4."
"Excuse me?"
"What?"
"Ki Mu-hyeok's Constitution has been corrected to Grade 4."
The probability of a Constitution Test result being incorrect was known to be less than 0.1%. This was because not only scientific equipment but also spells that manipulate ki were used in conjunction.
But it's not 0%. There have been precedents where results came out wrong.
In other words, in my case too, it could somehow be passed off as a testing error.
"To Ki Mu-hyeok and his parents, who must have been disheartened by the incorrect results, I offer my sincerest apologies once again..."
"Woooooah!"
...That wasn't me screaming.
My father, who had been listening quietly with a dazed expression, suddenly sprang up and let out a yell.
"My son! My son Mu-hyeok is Grade 4! Doctor! Thank you so much, Doctor!"
So overjoyed, my father eagerly embraced the doctor. My mother, on the other hand, still wore an incredulous expression.
"I-it's real, isn't it, Doctor? So our Mu-hyeok can become a Martial Arts Practitioner now, right?"
"Of course. Grade 4 is an excellent Constitution that allows one to excel in any field."
Only after repeated confirmation did tears well up in my mother's eyes.
"Thank you. Thank you so much..."
"Not at all. I apologize for not being able to provide accurate results from the start. Ki Mu-hyeok. Congratulations."
"...Yes. Thank you."
After spending that time of celebration, gratitude, and joy, our family took the results sheet and happily left the hospital.
As expected of Kim Bok-ja. Her skill is incredible.
Grade 4 Constitution.
It was a Constitution highly regarded enough, without attracting excessive public attention.
It's better not to attract too much attention until I'm strong enough. And one by one, according to plan...
However, there was one minor problem I hadn't anticipated. My father nudged my side with his elbow and asked in a subtle voice.
"But son. I saw it when you were getting tested earlier, what's that tattoo on your stomach?"
"Huh? Oh, that..."
-There's nothing like a tattoo to cover up the traces of a spell procedure.
My parents were horrified to see the small tattoo above my navel. I had no choice but to get it to prevent the traces of the spell procedure from showing...
"You rascal! You're going to be a Martial Arts Practitioner, you can't go astray now!"
"You came home late a few nights ago. Was it done then, by any chance?"
"Tell me straight. Your father pretended not to notice the smell of alcohol on you that day, so where were you and what were you doing?"
"...I told you, I met a friend."
"Are you saying minors were drinking? Now?"
Just as my mind was about to go blank from my parents' relentless barrage of nagging, giving me no room to breathe.
Click-click-click!
Outside the window, camera flashes were going off non-stop.
"What is it?"
"Did reporters find out and come? That can't be..."
I was one of the promising Rising Stars, but reporters had already lost interest in me, knowing my previous Constitution Test results were unfavorable. There was no way the retest results had already been leaked, so that crowd had nothing to do with me.
Just then, a voice full of strained effort came from the spot receiving the barrage of flashes.
"First, I'd like to thank everyone who waited for the test results! To tell you the results, I have been judged to have a very excellent Grade 3 Constitution!"
Looking closely, a burly guy my age was standing in front of the press, and it was a face I knew well.
Shin Kang-heon?
It was Shin Kang-heon, who would later become Korea's Greatest Swordsman and a terrorist of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.