WeTried Translations

Translator: Joy

Editor: Joy

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Damned Transmigration ◈

Chapter 28: Unyielding will

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He had held it in for a long time.

And he had endured well. Even Yuri thought so himself.

The evening he returned from the Le Seyun auction house, when Haryeong first told him about the Martial Apex Venerables over dinner.

‘Moonlit Reveller, Chuk-sin-doo.’

When he first heard that name, Yuri had remarkably managed not to laugh. It had partly been luck, but it was also because he had been consciously restraining himself.

The Martial Apex Venerables were martial artists among the strongest in this world. It was possible that figures that powerful had appeared as NPCs in the game. If he reacted strangely upon hearing a familiar name, people might suspect he was a transmigrator, so he had kept a tight hold on his expression from the beginning.

Thanks to that, he had gotten through hearing the name Moonlit Reveller, Chuk-sin-doo for the first time without laughing.

Next.

Orca’s room at the top of the Dersia Mage Tower. When Yuri had watched Chuk-sin-doo’s antics after he arrived at the city walls through magic. He had kicked a metal sphere into the city gate for a goal, then put on a celebration. When Orca told him that metal sphere was called Madorido.

Even then, Yuri had somehow held back his laughter. The conversation beforehand had been so serious, and Yuri had been inwardly certain that Orca’s prospective disciple, Lacey, was a transmigrator. He thought the entire conversation might be some sort of test, so he had been managing his expression from the start. Thanks to that, he had not laughed at Chuk-sin-doo’s idiotic antics then either.

Next.

When he met Chuk-sin-doo in person. When the man boasted about his own name, talked about his “big brother,” borrowed his brother’s seemingly profound sayings to make himself sound weighty, and declared that his brother never broke promises.

The greatest crisis came when Chuk-sin-doo took off his outer robe to begin the duel. That had been truly dangerous. Who would have thought he had been wearing a self-made uniform beneath it?

Yuri had overcome many crises, and having seen the man in person, he had grown somewhat accustomed to him. His guard had loosened for just a moment.

A laugh nearly escaped, but Yuri bit his tongue and held it back.

He thought there would be no more crises. He had become sufficiently accustomed to that bastard Chuk-sin-doo’s antics, and surely there could be nothing even more idiotic than what he had seen so far.

He had been too focused.

The duel between Fist Wolf Bakerd and Chuk-sin-doo was at such a high level that Yuri could not help concentrating on it. Merely watching broadened the realm of martial arts in Yuri’s mind. He did not want to miss a single thing.

And then.

And then, who would have thought there was still more?

‘The secret technique of Full Moon Killing Kick.’

‘Heavenly Downpour.’

The moment he heard that, Yuri laughed before he even had time to think that he needed to hold it in. Fortunately, compared to the deafening roar that seemed to overturn the world, Yuri’s laugh was very, very small. Small enough that it would ordinarily go unheard.

But Yuri did not let his guard down. Elena and Haryeong were right beside him. Elena was a fourth-tier mage, and although Yuri did not know Haryeong’s exact tier, she seemed to be at least Elena’s equal.

Haryeong was especially dangerous. She was an assassin, and assassins naturally had sharp senses. She might have heard Yuri’s laugh even amid that roar.

He did not want Elena and Haryeong, at least, to discover that he was a transmigrator.

He could not turn to check. Even looking around nervously would only prove that he had something to hide.

So Yuri did not look around, and he could not see Orca and Lacey staring at him from afar.

A desperate moment. Yuri’s thoughts spun rapidly. He did not assume his laughter had been drowned out by the roar. Relying on such lax thinking might get him killed later.

Yuri immediately circulated his internal energy. The laugh had already escaped. Then he had to disguise it as something other than laughter. It took Yuri only a few seconds to reach that decision.

This was arguably his worst crisis since transmigrating.

Yuri did not hesitate for even an instant.

He deliberately twisted the flow of internal energy rising from his dantian. Pain tore through his insides, and Yuri intentionally inflicted an internal injury on himself. Blood burst from his mouth.

“Puhk.”

He made exactly the same sound as when he had laughed earlier. Nor did he only vomit blood from his mouth. Blood streamed from his nose and eyes as well.

“Yuri-nim?!”

Haryeong cried out in alarm and supported Yuri. Elena also seized Yuri’s arm in shock.

But Yuri did not look at either of them until the end. Dark blood streamed from his eyes, nose, and mouth, and he glared straight ahead with eyes that had long since turned bloodshot.

“Fist Wolf…”

He forced out a voice that would barely come due to his internal injury. His voice was cracked and trembling.

That was better.

Yuri clenched his fists as blood flowed from his eyes like tears.

“To this extent…!”

Haryeong adopted a certain expression and sighed.

Yuri and Fist Wolf Bakerd were not master and disciple. But to Haryeong, their relationship did not seem all that different from one. Yuri had received instruction in martial arts from Bakerd almost every day for the short span of a month.

That was why Haryeong believed Yuri was shedding bloody tears with the heart of a disciple. A master with whom he had formed a bond was standing against Moonlit Reveller’s overwhelming martial arts without yielding...

This misunderstanding fit perfectly with Yuri’s earlier encouragement of the title Fist Wolf.

For a moment, Haryeong set aside her identity as an assassin. As a martial artist, and as someone’s disciple, she empathized with Yuri’s feelings.

Rumble!

Even as Yuri immersed himself in the act of burning his soul, Heavenly Downpour did not stop.

It was a secret technique horribly faithful to its name. A rain of Ganggi poured down from the entire sky where Chuk-sin-doo stood.

Among those countless attacks, the one with by far the greatest power was the Madorido kicked directly by Chuk-sin-doo. Bakerd stood at the heart of the downpour, receiving the Madorido with both hands.

“Grk…!”

Blood burst from between Bakerd’s tightly clenched teeth.

He tried to divert the Madorido with the techniques of the Fist of the Rending Cloud, but the Madorido’s power was completely different from before. Diverting it was out of the question. All he could manage was receiving it with both hands.

Even then, Heavenly Downpour did not stop. The ceaseless Ganggi destroyed Bakerd’s protective aura.

“Graaaah!”

Bakerd let out a roar and barely twisted the Madorido aside.

Screeeech!

But the Madorido did not fly in the direction Bakerd wanted. Like a living creature with a will of its own, it flew freely through the sky and joined the rain of Ganggi.

Only then did Bakerd understand why that man was called Moonlit Reveller.

The Madorido, wrapped in white Ganggi, was no different from a brilliant full moon. Chuk-sin-doo’s martial art was a revel that played with that full moon.

“…The Dang Family, which rules the Salmun, possesses the ultimate hidden weapon art called Ten Thousand Flower Rain.”

Haryeong spoke as she supported Yuri.

“It is a martial art that unleashes all manner of hidden weapons at once. The explanation is simple, but in practice, it is an exceedingly difficult and high-level supreme art. Moonlit Reveller’s secret technique, Heavenly Downpour... I am seeing it for the first time, but it is different from the Dang Family’s Ten Thousand Flower Rain. Still, its completion as a Ganggi art is truly astounding.”

‘Fuck, please...’

It was difficult to hold back while listening to Haryeong seriously evaluate the martial arts. Yuri vomited blood again.

“A-are you sure you are alright?”

Elena’s fingertips trembled. She was terrified that something might be seriously wrong with Yuri.

“Yuri-nim, if it is painful to watch, you do not need to force yourself.”

“No... I’m, I’m alright.”

Yuri answered haltingly.

“It will be over soon anyway.”

Bakerd could be seen struggling amid the downpour. His protective aura, worn down to its limit, could no longer protect him. Blood flowed from Bakerd’s body whenever the Ganggi brushed against him.

It was Chuk-sin-doo’s mercy that kept a single blow from tearing and breaking his body apart.

‘Just a little, a little more...’

Bakerd looked ready to collapse long ago. But he desperately held on to his consciousness. Surprisingly, he was not thinking about how much time remained.

Endure for one minute? That had been impossible from the start. Bakerd was still alive and standing only because of Chuk-sin-doo’s mercy.

Even knowing that, Bakerd did not fall. He did not give up. He had no intention of enduring all the remaining time and winning the duel.

He wanted to gain something while receiving this supreme martial art.

The wall of the seventh tier had blocked Bakerd for years. He knew it was difficult to overcome. There were countless experts who had failed to reach the seventh tier and remained stuck before that wall, and most of them were more talented than Bakerd, with better martial arts and backgrounds.

Bakerd had never expected to easily overcome the wall that even such people could not cross.

But Bakerd had something he had to do. In Bakerd’s opinion, what put him clearly ahead of the many sixth-tier experts was his venom and desperation.

He had to avenge his family. He had to find the three culprits who had massacred the Raspion Family.

They had wrought such slaughter twenty years ago, so there was a high chance they had reached the seventh tier by now. Perhaps one culprit was among the Martial Apex Venerables, or among the Seven Evils of the Demonic Cult. Perhaps one was a recluse whose name was unknown to the world, or perhaps...

A transmigrator.

To find those culprits and achieve his revenge, he could not remain at the sixth tier.

Bakerd had lived with that venom and desperation for twenty years. Repeatedly dueling opponents stronger than himself, he gathered fragments of insight and reached the sixth tier.

Defeat in a duel with Moonlit Reveller was inevitable. He had to gain even the smallest thing from that inevitable defeat.

[If you do not despair at this attack and resist while watching to the end, you might gain something. If so, you will be able to fall gladly.]

Bakerd was grateful for Moonlit Reveller’s consideration. Many people called Moonlit Reveller a madman. Many also despised him merely for being a transmigrator.

But to Bakerd, Moonlit Reveller was a martial artist worthy of reverence.

‘Just a little... more...’

Unconsciously, Bakerd used the Fist of the Rending Cloud and the Diamond-Shattering Fist at the same time.

It was the origin of the new fist art Bakerd had devoted himself to for the past month. He instinctively displayed an unestablished union of the two fist arts in this situation beyond his limits.

Weight settled into his slowly extended fists. Softness and strength coexisted.

Bakerd’s hands quickly redirected the onrushing Ganggi. But he could not continue doing so. Bakerd’s mastery was insufficient to accomplish that.

“Ah…”

Bakerd’s mind returned from its trance and saw the Madorido. The brilliant full moon within the downpour stood before him.

The slowly approaching full moon did not crash into Bakerd’s body as it had before.

Instead, the full moon radiated brilliant light.

Fwoooosh!

All the drifting Ganggi intertwined with the full moon’s light. It was an attack that could not be defended against.

But Bakerd was deeply satisfied. Laughing heartily, he spread his arms wide within Heavenly Downpour.

Sssshhh…

The spreading light gathered in one place, burst, and scattered.

Bakerd stood blankly amid the fluttering fragments of light. But there was no light in the eyes of the unconscious Bakerd.

“Five minutes... have passed.”

Namgung Ju-won had been overwhelmed by the splendid transformation and the Ganggi mastery woven to its limit. He finally forced out the words.

Looking between Chuk-sin-doo, who stood calmly with his hands behind his back, and Bakerd, who remained standing despite having lost consciousness, he spoke haltingly.

“The result of the duel is...”

“He has not fallen.”

Chuk-sin-doo smiled.

“If Fist Wolf is still standing after five minutes, then I lose. Did I not say that at the beginning?”

“Um, hmm...”

“He has lost consciousness, but he has not fallen. Hahaha! I cannot call it Fist Wolf’s victory, but I cannot call it mine either.”

At that moment, Bakerd’s body, which had merely remained standing while unconscious, swayed.

He was finally about to fall.

Yuri.

He was spewing blood and shedding bloody tears at the desperate sight of Fist Wolf, who was not his master but something similar. It felt like he might be taking things too far, but with the duel over, Yuri thought remaining quiet would not match the agitation he had shown earlier.

Besides, that was not the only reason Yuri stepped forward.

Fist Wolf Bakerd’s duel had deeply impressed Yuri. He simply felt like doing this.

So Yuri shook off Haryeong and Elena’s support. The internal injury made moving uncomfortable, but Yuri reached Bakerd at the moment he staggered and began to fall.

Yuri supported Bakerd. Bakerd was a huge man with an exceptionally solid build, so Yuri had to grip his waist with both arms to keep him from falling.

“Hoh.”

Chuk-sin-doo’s eyes lit up.

Blood covered Yuri’s face. His lips were ragged from how many times he had bitten them.

Chuk-sin-doo looked at Yuri and smiled.

“You said he was not your master, but something like one. Was it painful to watch?”

How should he answer?

After letting that brief concern pass, Yuri nodded.

“It was painful, but I also felt proud.”

“Proud? Why?”

“Against Moonlit Reveller-nim, one of the Four Absolutes among the Martial Apex Venerables, Bakerd-nim did not give up midway through. And he kept his word to remain standing until the duel ended.”

Yuri could not bring himself to say the name Chuk-sin-doo aloud...

“Right. Fist Wolf is an impressive martial artist. Receiving and striking my Madorido with bare fists is something ordinary martial artists would not even dare consider.”

“I know Moonlit Reveller-nim showed restraint.”

“Hahaha! Your name was Yuri, was it? Yuri. It is true that I showed restraint, but how many people in this world do you think would swing their fists and say they would face my Madorido with bare hands?”

Chuk-sin-doo laughed loudly and wagged a finger.

“Unless they are a martial artist on the level of Fist King Dokgo Gwi-jin, they would not try to face the Madorido with bare fists. Most would try to dodge instead of receiving it. But Fist Wolf reached out without avoiding the Madorido from the beginning. That alone makes him a fucking courageous martial artist.”

“…”

“I had no great expectations, but the duel was more enjoyable than I thought. The five minutes I used today were quite worthwhile.”

After saying that, Chuk-sin-doo turned to Namgung Ju-won.

“Let us say today’s duel belongs to neither of us. I rendered Fist Wolf unable to fight, but he did not fall. A draw! Hahaha! Extra time and penalty shootouts are fun too, but sometimes a draw is fun as well.”

Chuk-sin-doo’s smiling eyes turned back to Yuri.

“Yuri, you watched Fist Wolf’s duel with me very intently. Did you see anything?”

“My level is low, so I do not think I saw it properly.”

“You are a humble one. Your tier is low, and your martial arts still look crude... but your eyes seem good. You were late, but your eyes managed to follow the movements. Your concentration seems good too.”

“You praise me too highly.”

“I am not someone who gives excessive praise. In my experience, people with good eyes become good fighters. Football also requires good eyes. Yuri, how long has it been since you entered martial arts?”

“About a month.”

“A month? Hahahaha!”

Chuk-sin-doo’s laughter grew even louder.

“You followed that duel with your eyes after only one month? That really is surprising. You have talent. You may be proud.”

“…”

“I do not know how long I will remember your name, but I have a feeling I will hear your name again someday. So long as you do not die somewhere.”

Many people looked at Yuri after hearing that.

In particular, Azure Sky Sword Lord, Namgung Ju-won, who had served as the referee, looked at Yuri with curious eyes. There was little hostility or emotion in his gaze, so it seemed he had not heard about the incident with Namgung Jin.

“Thank you.”

Yuri first lowered his head deeply.

Chuk-sin-doo grinned at Yuri, then suddenly rose into the sky.

“I do not usually do this, but there are many spectators today and I am in a good mood, so I shall show you.”

Chuk-sin-doo kicked off the empty air and leaped high into the sky. At the same time, his right hand rose over his head, and his spinning finger created a tornado.

“Hooooo!”

He turned halfway in the air, spread both arms wide, and shouted. The crowd cheered.

The duel was over.

Footnotes:

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