WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 99: Sorcerers from the North (3)

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Brrr!

The sorcerers gathered in the auditorium noticed the enchanted artifacts rattling violently.

"Telekinesis?!"

Those born with spiritual power could infuse objects with it and move them as they wished.

Normally, the most they could do was manipulate one or two objects and send them flying in a straight line.

But she was trying to move this many enchanted artifacts at once?

"Such tremendous spiritual power. To think North Korea produced a genius of the age."

"She already rivals a Great Yokai despite having a human body. If her spiritual power alone is this strong, then her spells must be..."

They were stunned even by Cha Hyeran's attempt to control hundreds of different enchanted artifacts at once.

The fact that she was trying to move so many at all was proof of incredible spiritual power.

"But there are too many. She can't actually move them."

"It seems she got too greedy."

No!

Cha Hyeran panicked when the weapons she was pouring telekinesis into refused to budge.

How much spiritual power is he using to pin them down?!

Cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

With a stiff expression, she studied Yohan.

Her spiritual sight showed Yohan's spiritual power surging around him and crushing her own.

What shocked her even more was that he still had plenty to spare.

That was why he was yawning and waiting to see what she would do.

No.

She couldn't win a contest of spiritual power.

Cha Hyeran exhaled sharply and focused her spiritual power on a single staff.

A sudden shift in the direction of her power. Before that bastard pinning down countless enchanted artifacts could react, she'd pierce him.

Bang!

Mujangseung's staff shot toward Yohan, bursting through the air.

But that was all it did.

The staff that had flown like a sharp dagger was crushed in midair and slammed straight into the floor.

"...!"

Cha Hyeran's pupils trembled.

He reacted in that instant?

It was the kind of reaction speed expected from a Republic warrior trained to the limit.

To be fair, that wasn't entirely wrong.

During the time Yohan had been trapped inside the Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land and received Pastor Park's special training, he had focused on two things.

Physical conditioning and reaction training.

It was already clear that Yohan possessed massive spiritual power and could use all kinds of magic.

His spells would increase as long as he caught demons, and his spiritual power would gradually surpass human limits anyway.

So he only needed to develop his stamina and reflexes.

Stamina was the root of everything, and reflexes improved his ability to respond.

Pastor Park had focused entirely on making Yohan harder to kill.

"Whoa, that startled me."

Besides, Yohan had seen this pattern before.

Even the Great Yokai Six-Tailed Fox had failed to beat him in a battle of spiritual power and tried to overcome it with tricks.

Then maybe I should try something similar.

Yohan focused his spiritual power on the dozen or so swords, spears, and staffs Cha Hyeran had been trying to lift, then launched them at her.

At that moment, talismans unfolded into a transparent wall that blocked the incoming enchanted artifacts.

The protective talismans hidden in Cha Hyeran's sleeves had automatically moved to defend her.

"...!"

Cha Hyeran's pupils trembled.

He had stolen control of the enchanted artifacts she was trying to lift that easily? More than a dozen of them?

What kind of monster is he?!

This was supposed to be a young South Korean sorcerer?

Was there a genius like her in South Korea too?

How could someone like this be unknown? Was he a secret weapon raised by the South Korean puppet regime?

No, judging by his rosary, he belonged to Holy Temple Church. Did that mean he was Pastor Park's hidden successor?

As thoughts raced through her mind, Cha Hyeran slipped a talisman between her fingers.

Complex patterns drawn in red blood covered it, packed with ancient letters that were difficult to recognize at a glance.

"I proclaim!"

The talisman fell from her fingertips, and red letters flashed in the air.

Kwang!

Flames burst from the talisman and took the shape of a snake.

The fire snake lunged at Yohan, and he piled more than a dozen swords and staffs together to block it.

The South Korean sorcerers watching were impressed.

"I heard a fire snake once ran wild in North Korea. Did they preserve its blood and spiritual flesh in a talisman?"

"There's someone in the North capable of such advanced spellcraft?"

"That Gari Bodhisattva is holding out well too."

"Judging by how he took the enchanted artifacts Cha Hyeran had tried to control, he might have even better control over spiritual power."

Hearing them, Bang Seoryeong twisted her lips into a faint smile.

They've got it completely backward.

They only thought Cha Hyeran had overreached when they saw her trying to move hundreds of enchanted artifacts at once.

Without interference, she probably could have put on an incredible show, moving hundreds of weapons with spiritual power alone.

But Yohan had been pinning them down with his massive spiritual power.

To suppress someone else's power, you needed even greater power.

They probably couldn't imagine that Yohan possessed more spiritual power than Cha Hyeran, who was trying to move hundreds of enchanted artifacts.

The North Korean girl must have noticed my brother's strength too. That must be why she brought out her trump card.

The fire snake Cha Hyeran had unleashed was a spiritual creature more powerful than most Dragon Gods.

Yet even after summoning it, she couldn't break through the barrier Yohan had formed by reinforcing ordinary enchanted artifacts.

What's more...

"Fire..."

Yohan recalled the authority of Auns, the fifty-eighth demon.

A demon's authority, one that controlled fire.

Then maybe I can control these flames too.

"Hm?"

Cha Hyeran was puzzled when the fire snake's momentum weakened.

That vicious, blazing fire snake had suddenly become weaker?

Just taking its fire away won't be enough.

Yohan also realized that Auns's authority alone wouldn't be enough to weaken the fire snake completely.

Something was missing.

What if that fire snake wasn't simply fire shaped like a snake, but a spiritual being that had once been alive?

A fire snake. So it counted as a beast?

He added the authority of Marchosias, the thirty-fifth demon and a beast demon.

It was his first time mixing two spells at once, but somehow, it worked.

"...!"

Only then did Cha Hyeran realize it.

Yohan was trying to steal control of her fire snake itself.

That's impossible! The Republic gave its full support just to control that fire snake!

They had barely controlled the fire snake with a spell talisman drawn in mirror cinnabar, a mineral containing mercury, on century-old yellow talisman paper, using blood infused with the spiritual power of dozens of sorcerers.

And he was just taking it away?

As Cha Hyeran stared in horror, unsure what to do, the magic created by mixing Marchosias's and Auns's authorities finally consumed the fire snake.

Paang!

Spiritual power spread through the area, and something changed.

After a brief silence, the fire snake that had been pressing Yohan moments ago now stood at his side, staring at Cha Hyeran.

Shaaa!

The fierce heat of the fire snake was now aimed at its former master.

"Ah, ah..."

Cha Hyeran collapsed to the floor.

* * *

The North-South friendship match ended with three victories for South Korea.

It had been pretty close, but hey, a win was a win.

The North Korean side looked like they were attending a funeral, while the South Korean side breathed sighs of relief.

Quite a few people kept glancing at me.

"Congratulations on your victory, Brother."

"You won overwhelmingly too, Seoryeong."

"Well, I am one of the heads of the Five Great Lineages."

North Korea's sorcerers had been stronger than expected.

Considering what people had thought of them before, they were no longer a force to take lightly.

"That should be enough for the friendship match. We should go meet Seon Master Unjeong and the Grand Academician. Both of them have come down."

"Oh, the Great Elders?"

They were around the same age as Pastor Park.

Apparently, Pastor Park, Mrs. Park, Seon Master Unjeong, and Lord Choi were the four Great Elders who had led Korea's exorcist world in the early days of the government.

"What kind of people are they?"

Pastor Park was one thing, but I had already met Bang Seoryeong, the head of the Black Lotus Society, and Moon Hakjeong of the heretical Great Unification Church.

This time, I'd be meeting the heads of the remaining Five Great Lineages.

"Seon Master Unjeong of the Diamond Sect is exactly what you'd imagine a monk to be. Gentle and kind... I suppose he's similar to Pastor Park?"

"...Pastor Park is gentle and kind?"

"They're both the type to solve things with force."

"Ah..."

So he was like Pastor Park, who beat werewolves to death with his fists.

The Great Elders around here were mostly fighters.

"Lord Choi is a little different from the other Great Elders. In terms of strength... he's rather hopeless."

"It'd be strange if a Confucian scholar was a fighter."

"Have you never heard stories of passing scholars? In this country's folktales, the fighters are usually scholars."

Was that true?

Now that she mentioned it, maybe it was.

"Well, Lord Choi isn't even good with a bow."

"Then what is he good at?"

"He's a master of Confucian scripture. I heard people said he had mastered the Four Books and Three Classics at seven and would have placed first in the civil service examination at nine."

"The civil service examination doesn't exist anymore."

"If it did."

Bang Seoryeong shrugged and continued describing Grand Academician Lord Choi.

"He's the eldest grandson of the main family, and the one who rebuilt Cheonghak after it began to collapse following the North-South War. He's more than qualified to be its leader. But..."

"But?"

"He's a Confucian scholar, from the main family, and old. When those keywords pile up, there's only one conclusion."

"Uh..."

I thought I knew where this was going.

"He's an old fossil. A complete one."

* * *

The room was so quiet it felt suffocating.

I'd heard they had rented out the entire hotel, yet this room had bookshelves filled to the brim with books.

The Analects, Mencius, The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean.

The old books written in Classical Chinese were lined up so neatly that I wondered if I had wandered onto the set of a historical drama.

At the center of the room sat a monk reciting Buddhist scripture and an old man writing on Korean paper with an ink-stained brush.

Those two had to be Seon Master Unjeong of the Diamond Sect and Lord Choi of Cheonghak.

"Old man. Monk."

Bang Seoryeong called to them.

Seon Master Unjeong kept his eyes closed and only held out his palm. He was reciting scripture, so he was telling her to wait.

Lord Choi, on the other hand, twitched an eyebrow and looked us over.

"Pastor Park still does a lousy job teaching his disciple."

"Excuse me?"

"That was neither a clasped-hands greeting, a full bow, nor even a nod."

Lord Choi looked me up and down.

"A thing that's neither one nor the other speaks for itself."

"Uh..."

So he was saying I hadn't greeted him properly?

"Anyone who takes on great work must not let even the smallest flaw take hold. First impressions reveal a person's foundation. You can see a person by observing how they carry themselves."

I have no idea what he's talking about...

"Sit."

I sat down.

Then he watched that closely too, and he seemed displeased.

"Keep your legs together in front of an elder."

"Uh... yes."

"A grown man should keep his back straight."

"Yes."

"Tuck in your chin a little."

"Good."

Only after I tucked in my chin did Lord Choi nod in satisfaction.

"Cultivate yourself, regulate your family, govern the state, and bring peace to all under heaven. How can someone who cannot even correct his own posture set the world right?"

"..."

"It is Cheonghak's first lesson, and the foundation of a student's attitude."

"Parents must love that."

"Respecting one's parents is a duty as important as loyalty. The parents do like it."

So that was why Cheonghak was known for children's education.

"Scholar Baek, what feelings do you hold when facing an evil ghost?"

"...To stop it from hurting people and grant it passage to the afterlife?"

"Hm. Saving the people and purifying wicked souls. That is righteousness."

Lord Choi tapped the desk with his finger.

"You're a young man with a proper foundation. Wielding power because you have it is violence. Looking away because you lack power is negligence. Those with power doing what they ought to do, that is righteousness."

Tap!

"If you cut down evil ghosts steeped in wickedness and serve your country with loyalty, you too are a scholar."

"Ah, yes..."

"Old man. You're talking too much."

"Heh heh, you impudent girl! As an elder who has learned much, I am giving instruction to a young scholar!"

"No, you've only just met him. If you do that the first time you meet someone, people will call you an old fossil."

"Hah!"

Lord Choi wore an incredulous expression before turning his gaze back to me.

"I heard about you, Scholar Baek, from Pastor Park. He said you were a fine young man, rare these days."

"You spoke with Pastor Park?"

"I did. Even if one holds the finest sword in the world, a wicked heart makes one worse than a commoner. Virtue is not solitary. It always has neighbors."

Lord Choi suddenly brought over the sheet of Korean paper he had been writing on.

When I blinked at it, he explained.

"It means that a virtuous person is not lonely and will surely have neighbors."

"Ah, I know that one."

"You do?"

"It's from The Analects, right?"

"...!"

Lord Choi's eyebrows suddenly began to tremble.

The reason I knew was because my parents had once taught me the Four Books and Three Classics.

「Yohan, you need to memorize this properly.」

「Why do I have to study stuff like this these days? Same with Latin.」

「Pastor Kim mastered the Four Books and Three Classics when he was young. To deny strange powers and spirits, you need the spirit of scholarship.」

Then they made me memorize all kinds of things.

When I was young, I memorized Latin more than English, and the Four Books and Three Classics more than Korean and math.

My grades were terrible because of it, but my parents liked it more when I memorized the Bible and mastered the Four Books and Three Classics.

"Investigate things to extend knowledge, make the will sincere, and rectify the mind."

"That's from The Great Learning, right? Study the principles of things to fully develop knowledge, make your intentions sincere, and correct your heart... is that right?"

"...To learn and practice again and again, is that not a joy?"

"That was from The Analects too, I think... It meant learning and practicing was a joyful thing."

Lord Choi suddenly grabbed my hand.

"Scholar Baek... no, Baek-gunja!"

"Baek-gunja?"

"How can someone who has memorized the Four Books and Three Classics and explains their meaning without hesitation not be a gentleman?"

"...I only memorized them."

"To know when you know, and know when you do not, that is true knowledge! You possess the virtue of a gentleman!"

"Uh... yes."

"Baek-gunja, are you married?"

"What? No, not yet."

"Heh heh! People say these are the end times, but the sooner a grown man enters a marriage bond, the better. My granddaughter has come of age this year. Are you interested?"

"What?!"

"Hey!"

Bang Seoryeong stepped forward with an angry shout.

"Old man, there you go again with that nonsense! Stop talking rubbish and tell us about the Mountain Lord!"

"Hah, Dragon Maiden Bodhisattva, don't you dare think of marrying our Baek-gunja. How could someone serving strange powers and spirits, a heretic..."

"What did you say?! Seon Master Unjeong! Are you just going to sit there and watch?!"

Bang Seoryeong glared at Seon Master Unjeong, and only then did he open his eyes and grasp his prayer beads.

"Disasters one calls upon oneself must be endured by oneself."

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Footnotes:

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