Dropped into Murim with an Instant-Kill Skill - Chapter 3

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Chapter 3: Read a Book a Hundred Times and Its Meaning Reveals Itself (2)

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Yeon Sowol had never considered himself sensitive. If anything, he was pretty easygoing.

Even when he found a hair in his food, he was the type to brush it aside and keep eating because arguing about it was too much trouble.

So even on his first night in the martial arts world, he tried to endure it somehow.

Even though strange hairs clung to the blanket.

Even though there was a yellowish stain on it.

He really tried to put up with it.

This was not the twenty-first century.

It was a place like ancient China.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. He did not want to draw attention by making a fuss over nothing.

But.

But!

"Excuse me, innkeeper. The blanket smells terrible. It's a little damp, too..."

The smell was the one thing he could not endure.

Yeon Sowol eventually sought out the innkeeper and spoke as politely as he could.

This was not right.

Something had to be wrong.

Even in a martial arts world, was this not proof that they had failed to prepare a room properly for a guest if the bedding smelled this bad?

The innkeeper abruptly held out his hand.

'?'

When Sowol only blinked, unable to understand what that meant, the man snapped at him.

"You want fresh bedding, don't you? Five copper coins."

"...I mean, I'm telling you because the smell is so bad."

"Exactly! You want it changed. Five copper coins."

The innkeeper waved his hand irritably.

Once again, Yeon Sowol realized that the concept of customer complaints from the twenty-first century did not exist here.

Even if a blanket stank, anyone who wanted it changed had to pay for it.

"Yes."

Yeon Sowol held out five copper coins.

He had paid for fifteen days of lodging and meals with one silver yuanbao, receiving one hundred copper coins in change, so he was not short on money yet.

It was just a little sad.

Still, the new blanket was decent enough. It had a yellowish stain, and there was a faint damp, moldy odor, but it did not smell like urine. There were no hairs on it either.

With a sigh, Yeon Sowol pulled the blanket over himself and went to sleep.

That was when it began.

Yeon Sowol's battle against smells.

He could endure everything else.

The rude people he met everywhere.

The disorderly streets, where no one had the slightest sense of public decency.

The merchants who only thought about how to cheat him.

Even unhygienic food, he could force himself to accept.

What else was he supposed to do if he could not endure it?

Once he thought that, he could grit his teeth and bear it somehow.

If he did not get used to it quickly, he would be the only one suffering.

But.

"Ugh."

He simply could not tolerate the smells.

Body odor from passersby. The smell of greasy hair. The rancid stink from restaurants. Urine smells from who knew where. The smell of shit.

One foul odor after another battered Yeon Sowol's soul without pause.

It went beyond turning his stomach. It made his whole body feel chilled and sick.

After about three days, Yeon Sowol was nearly at his limit.

'...Can I really do this?'

He could say with confidence that he had worked incredibly hard over those three days.

He had gone around gathering information to find the best way to train in martial arts. Which sect should he aim for? What should he focus on learning? How could he become a disciple?

He had worked harder than when he was preparing for the Seoul National University entrance exam.

But.

The smell.

That damned smell.

Far from growing used to it, the stench somehow became more revolting by the day, and Yeon Sowol's resolve was on the verge of breaking.

'Is this really right? Do I really have to live like this? Here? Can I... do it?'

Even so, Yeon Sowol somehow pulled himself together and fled outside.

The streets were full of frauds who demanded one copper coin just to ramble about whatever scraps of information they happened to know. He endured it and went out anyway, because he had to gather information somehow.

That was how he met the merchant Jo Manseok.

"..."

At the entrance to Jo Manseok's shop, Yeon Sowol stood there blankly for a moment.

'Is this heaven?'

There was no smell.

There was no smell!

No.

There was fragrance.

A sharp, clear scent like medicinal herbs filled the shop and spilled out into the street.

It felt as though his soul was being healed. Yeon Sowol shuddered.

"Who are you?"

A voice came from inside. Sowol snapped back to his senses.

"Ah, yes, sir. Um, what is this fragrance?"

The question slipped out before he could stop himself.

He had originally come to ask about Windflow Martial Academy and the Great Hero Yi Yubaek who ran it, but he could not possibly leave without asking.

'Damn. I guess I'll have to spend another coin.'

Nothing was free in this world. Since he had asked about the fragrance, that would surely have its own price. Yeon Sowol fidgeted with a copper coin in his pocket.

Then.

"Oh? This young man knows a thing or two. Your bearing is very neat, and your clear eyes lift my spirits. Fine. I'll tell you the secret recipe as a special favor. It is incense made by burning two parts myrrh, one part cassia, and one part pine resin. What do you think? Quite pleasant, is it not?"

Jo Manseok answered. The old man had snow-white hair neatly twisted into a topknot.

And Yeon Sowol had not even paid him a coin!

What was more, no bad breath came from Jo Manseok as he spoke.

Yeon Sowol's eyes widened.

It felt as though the man was glowing.

'Refinement...! So this is what refinement is!'

At that moment, he understood the true meaning of a word he had barely ever used in his life.

"Sir..."

Yeon Sowol lowered his head.

His shoulders shook.

"H-Hey, what's wrong?"

Yeon Sowol bit down hard on his lip.

'Wow. I almost cried just now.'

He had not cried even on the day he had suddenly fallen into this world. Yet something like this had nearly made him cry...

"Are you all right?"

At Jo Manseok's kind question, Yeon Sowol nodded firmly.

'I want to live like this man.'

No matter how unreasonable and filthy the world was, if he could at least keep everything within his reach clean and sensible, then he could survive.

Yeon Sowol found the courage to keep living once again.

He would become a martial artist and gain strength and money.

Then he would live like a decent human being for once.

* * *

From that day on, Yeon Sowol visited Jo Manseok every day.

Jo Manseok was not only refined, but astonishingly knowledgeable. Valuable information that others would not share even for money poured freely from his mouth.

"So I'm telling you, you cannot learn martial arts. You have to enter the path before the age of learning, fifteen at the latest. Otherwise, turbid qi builds up, your whole body stiffens, and your qi and blood channels become blocked, leaving you with an unusable constitution."

"Sir, I still have to learn martial arts."

"What can you do about something impossible? Unless you have a legendary Greater Rejuvenation Pill, it cannot be done!"

He did have one.

A Greater Rejuvenation Pill.

But Yeon Sowol did not tell even Jo Manseok about it. It could be dangerous.

"Even so, I want to go as far as I can."

"Hoo. Even if you work yourself to death, your progress will be meager. Even if you had a Greater Rejuvenation Pill, it would not solve everything at once. You would have to train like mad for years until you at least became a third-rate martial artist before your body could handle the Greater Rejuvenation Pill. And without one? You will remain third-rate your entire life. If you have exceptional talent, you might barely be called second-rate by middle age. Is that the kind of life you want?"

"Yes. Any life, as long as I can learn martial arts."

"Urgh..."

Jo Manseok leaned back.

Then he asked in a gentler voice.

"You said that was why you came here? All the way from Annam?"

"Yes, sir."

A young woodcutter from Annam, Vietnam.

That was the identity Yeon Sowol had created for himself over the past few days.

One day, while living as a woodcutter in Annam, he had seen the martial arts of a martial artist from the Central Plains. Deeply moved, he had taken a ship through Hainan Island and come all the way to Guangdong Province.

The identity he had carefully constructed through thorough local research, using the experience he had gained while preparing for his Seoul National University interview, had worked beautifully.

"Hmm. Your devotion is admirable. It reminds me of how the Sixth Patriarch Huineng sought out Master Hongren..."

Even Jo Manseok, who had consistently insisted there was no hope, could not help softening at this story.

That had been Yeon Sowol's goal.

Shinheung County in Guangdong Province was the birthplace of the great Buddhist master, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng.

Huineng had spent his life as a woodcutter. At thirty-two, he attained enlightenment from a passage in the Diamond Sutra, then traveled from Guangdong to Hubei to seek instruction.

Even seven-year-old children passing through Shinheung County knew this story well.

That was why Sowol had deliberately created an identity that brought Huineng to mind.

Yet Jo Manseok eventually shook his head again.

"Still, it cannot be done. Buddhist practice and martial arts are different paths. Of course, they say Great Hero Yi Yubaek of Windflow Martial Academy is not only the greatest martial artist in Shinheung, but also kind by nature and fond of nurturing others... But even that is limited to people with potential. You only chisel a stone when you see a vein, and polish it when you see a glint. No matter how skilled Great Hero Yi Yubaek is, he is not the sort of man who would try to make a jewel from common rubble. Ahem. I am sorry to say this to you, but..."

"What if I show my sincerity?"

"Sincerity?"

"Yes. Before I left home, I sold all my family's possessions. Even everything my parents left behind. If I offer it all and ask him to take me in, might he be moved even a little?"

Though he had only been here a few days, Yeon Sowol had learned quickly. People here were very particular about sincerity.

Even the refined Jo Manseok treated him more kindly than usual on the days Yeon Sowol brought gifts.

Jo Manseok's expression turned grave.

"You truly mean it that much?"

"Yes. That is why I came all the way here from Annam."

"...Then give it a try. If you go that far, Great Hero Yi Yubaek might be moved. Besides, even your bearing is far from ordinary."

"Is it?"

"I should say so."

"I think I am quite ordinary..."

"How could that be? You do not pick your nose in the middle of a conversation, you do not cough in someone's face, and you listen attentively when an elder speaks."

"...!"

"You are a young man who understands courtesy, a truly rare thing."

"I-I see."

"Yes. So give it a try. Even if it does not work, do not be too disappointed."

It was a positive answer from the most knowledgeable and wisest person Yeon Sowol knew.

This would be his only interview opportunity, one that would never come twice, but it was worth taking a chance.

'Admission to Windflow Martial Academy...!'

Yeon Sowol hardened his resolve.

"Ah, but do not show that kind of sincerity anywhere else. Not to the White Dragon Gang or the Severing Sword Sect. Try it only once, with Great Hero Yi Yubaek of Windflow Martial Academy."

"Why is that?"

"They might take your money and throw you out. Great Hero Yi Yubaek and his disciples would not do that, of course."

"...Do martial sects really do such things?"

"They do such things because they are martial sects."

"..."

"I do not know what fantasies you have about the people of Jianghu."

Jo Manseok lit his pipe.

Even refined old men thought nothing of smoking indoors in this world.

He exhaled a plume of white smoke.

"Never trust the people of Jianghu."

At that moment, Yeon Sowol thought to himself.

People of Jianghu must be something like gangsters.

* * *

Yeon Sowol entered through the main gate of Windflow Martial Academy.

'Ah...!'

The scent of grass and mint hung in the air there.

Even the academy students training bare-chested did not smell. Everyone was clean and refined.

This was the second heaven he had found since coming here.

No, this was a world where common sense applied.

Yeon Sowol knew it at once.

'I have to learn here. No matter what.'

That was why, when he encountered Yi Yubaek, a handsome, clean-shaven man in his late thirties, Yeon Sowol's mind immediately began racing.

"Mm? Who are you?"

Was this Yi Yubaek?

Yes.

He resembled the description Sowol had heard.

More than that, there was the fragrance.

Not merely an absence of bad smells. A faint, fresh lemon scent hung around him as though he had used perfume, along with a dry, sweet fragrance.

It was the first genuinely pleasant smell Yeon Sowol had encountered since falling into this world.

There was no way this man could be anyone but the Great Hero Yi Yubaek, the greatest martial artist in Shinheung.

The moment he reached that conclusion, he moved at once.

Thud.

"Mm?"

First, he dropped to his knees.

Rustle!

Then he prostrated himself at Yi Yubaek's feet.

"I greet the Great Hero Yi Yubaek, the greatest martial artist in Shinheung. This humble one is Yeon Sowol, a woodcutter from Annam beyond the southern sea. I have long admired the martial arts of Jianghu, and I crossed many hardships by ship to seek your instruction. I beg you, do not cast me aside for my shortcomings. If you would grant me even a single line of teaching, I shall regard you as my benefactor for life."

This was another speech Yeon Sowol had polished over several days while gathering information.

He had heard that Yi Yubaek admired the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, so he crafted the most respectful wording he could and had Jo Manseok review it.

As expected, Yi Yubaek's reaction was not bad.

"Well, look at this fellow. He understands courtesy."

Yi Yubaek's disciples standing beside him also laughed.

"Not like the bastard who came last month. His bearing is neat, too."

"Does not smell, either."

"Ah, senior brother. You mean that guy from last month? The one who said he would become a disciple if he beat you in a spar?"

"Yes, that guy. I regret only breaking one of his arms. I went too easy on him."

"Senior brother, I found him afterward and broke one of his legs too."

"Oh. Well done."

"Senior brothers, still, was that guy really so bad? There are always lunatics saying every kind of absurd thing because they want to become disciples..."

"That is true."

"..."

Cold sweat ran down Yeon Sowol's back.

The level of common sense in this world never failed to surprise him.

Yet precisely because of that, Yeon Sowol, who had prepared to behave with basic decency, was shining brilliantly right now.

Yi Yubaek was very pleased.

"You are a truly rare young man who understands courtesy. So Annam has young men like you as well. You even remind me of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng. ...But."

Yi Yubaek looked regretful.

"How old are you? You do not seem to have reached twenty yet."

"I just turned eighteen."

Yeon Sowol gave his international age.

Yi Yubaek sighed.

"It is too late to learn martial arts. Why not seek another profession? You will never achieve greatness through martial arts."

Yeon Sowol lowered his head.

"I came here with martial arts as my sole goal. I have nowhere to retreat to."

"You should retreat when it is time to retreat."

"I gave everything I had and came here for martial arts alone."

"Even so, when it is time to retreat..."

Yi Yubaek cut himself off as he was about to repeat the same words.

Yeon Sowol had lifted a small box while keeping his head lowered.

"What is this?"

A smile appeared on Yi Yubaek's face when he opened it.

Three yellow gold yuanbao lay neatly on soft silk.

Yeon Sowol did not hesitate to spend what money he had. He still had jewels left, after all.

Even to the wealthy Yi Yubaek, three gold yuanbao was an impressive sum.

It was enough for a rural family of four to live on for three years. For Yeon Sowol, supposedly a woodcutter, it was a fortune that would require every coin he had saved in his lifetime, along with all his family's property.

"You truly were sincere."

Yi Yubaek nodded deeply.

He tucked the box into his robes and asked, "What martial arts do you wish to learn? Have you given it any thought?"

"I want to learn lightness skill and footwork."

The best choice he had found amid all the information he had gathered with his copper coins was lightness skill and footwork.

"Interesting. Why?"

"With footwork, I can evade an opponent's attacks. With lightness skill, I can run away."

"You want to learn martial arts so you can evade and run away? Why?"

The truth was that it was because of the Heaven-Killing Star's power.

Since he could kill anyone as long as he touched them, he had no need for powerful offensive techniques.

Instead, footwork that would let him evade attacks and close in on an opponent, along with lightness skill that would let him retreat quickly in an emergency, would be far more useful.

But he could not tell Yi Yubaek that.

Yeon Sowol came up with an excuse.

"If I can evade and run away, I will not have to see ugly things."

"Ha! Good. One does not enter a dangerous state or live in a chaotic one. Now I can see how I should carve and polish the stone that is you."

Yi Yubaek smiled.

He held up three fingers.

"Three months. Follow my training for three months, and I will accept you as a disciple. However, if you cannot keep up with the training, I cannot accept you."

Conditional acceptance.

Yeon Sowol promptly prostrated himself.

"Thank you. I will live up to your expectations."

At the same time, he thought to himself.

'If I fail after three months, he will return the gold yuanbao, right?'

Surely he would.

Not just anyone could be called a Great Hero.

Old Man Jo Manseok had acknowledged his character.

He even smelled nice.

'Please!'

Yeon Sowol prayed desperately.

He had fallen from the sky with no foundation or support. Prayer was the only thing he could do.