WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 17: The First Gate (1)

──────

The First Gate (1)

A great castle gate, layered with a dozen smaller gates set one behind another.

This oddly shaped gate had been built through painstaking design.

At a glance you might wonder what on earth it was meant to be, but at the joints where the gates connected, countless mechanical devices were interlocked with astonishing precision.

"Haah, haah! Damn it all!"

A large boy stood before the gate, straining with everything he had.

The gate in front of him stood about seven cheok tall.

It was the smallest of the towering gates before him, yet despite his size the boy could not budge it even a little.

"Hey! You've done enough, give it up already! There are people waiting their turn."

Behind the boy, a crowd stood gathered in a half circle.

They were the throng that had come to take the entrance exam for Changcheon Martial Academy, all waiting their turn.

Watching from atop the carriage roof, up on her toes, Mo Il-hwa clicked her tongue.

"That's the first gate of the entrance exam?"

Hae Ryang answered from below the carriage.

"Yes. With so many people gathering, they couldn't manage to control them all and run the exam properly, so it seems they came up with this method."

"You just have to open the gate?"

"That's right. The problem is that opening it is no easy thing."

"Because it's heavy?"

Even at a glance, the gate's weight was clearly no ordinary matter.

On top of that, the mechanical devices were so finely interlocked that no ordinary strength would open it.

"From what I hear, it was specially built so that it won't open unless a certain level of internal energy is applied. Even that smallest seven-cheok gate weighs four hundred geun and is rigged with mechanisms, so anyone with third-rate internal energy couldn't open it at all."

At that, Jin-hyeok furrowed his brow and muttered,

"So they have no intention of taking in third-rate types in the first place."

Even those called third-rate martial artists had trained in martial arts, however poorly.

They too could be called far stronger than ordinary people, and seeing such people excluded made it clear just how high Changcheon Martial Academy's standards were.

'Then again, this is a place meant to forge the next generation into masters who can pull their own weight within two or three years. They won't allow half-baked greenhorns to enroll.'

Then he stole a glance at Mumu.

From what he had heard, the first gate was a test that measured internal energy.

The gate's mechanism seemed to respond to that and open. He knew the kid had monstrous strength, but would the gate really open by strength alone?

Curious now, Jin-hyeok quietly asked Hae Ryang,

"Could it open by raw strength alone, rather than internal energy?"

At this, Hae Ryang let out a chuckle.

"Strength? Haha. If it could be opened that way, everyone would have cleared that first gate."

"Right?"

If what Hae Ryang said was true, it could be fatal for Mumu.

His mood much improved, Jin-hyeok's lips twitched as he looked over at Mumu.

When had Mumu climbed up onto the carriage? There he was, taking in the sight of the gate.

'If things go well, we'll part ways soon enough.'

Mumu was strong, but he had never trained in internal energy.

Just then Hae Ryang stepped close, leaned toward his ear, and whispered as if sharing a secret.

"Here's an important bit of information. From what I hear, the mechanism on that gate was made by the Master of Ten Thousand Wisdoms and the Grand Patriarch of the Jegal Clan, built so that it can't even respond unless met with a certain level of internal energy."

Truly the work of the Hao clan, an information network through and through.

This was the sort of thing that even most martial clans of the martial world did not know.

With those words, Hae Ryang curled his thumb and forefinger into a circle.

"This piece of information is actually worth a hundred silver coins. Let's call this one a gift from me, in exchange for building a bond with you, Jin-hyeok-nim. If there's anything else you're curious about, feel free to ask anytime. Of course, there's no such thing as free in this world, so you'll just need to pay a fair price."

'......A price.'

Jin-hyeok looked at Hae Ryang's curled fingers and shut his mouth.

Everything he had shared so far had been a sample to build rapport.

It was Hao clan to the core.

'A hundred silver coins......'

Steep.

His brother had risen to fame and the family's circumstances had improved, but it was not a sum to be spent carelessly.

Just then Mo Il-hwa, who had jumped down from atop the carriage, asked with a puzzled look,

"What's worth a hundred silver coins?"

Hae Ryang leaned toward her ear and whispered the same thing.

She let out a delighted little laugh.

"That's not so expensive. I'll make good use of you from now on."

'Not expensive?'

Jin-hyeok clicked his tongue inwardly.

She really was the daughter of the Minister of Justice's household. A hundred silver coins didn't seem expensive to her in the least.

"Oh, thank you kindly. Please make good use of me anytime."

At her bold words, Hae Ryang bowed his head as if attending a top-tier customer.

The way his narrow eyes sparkled, he had clearly marked her down as a prime client.

* * *

Two hours or so had already passed since Mumu's group arrived at the gate of Changcheon Martial Academy.

In that time, close to ten thousand people had tried their hand at opening the gate.

It looked as if the test ran on its own, but a middle-aged man stood atop the wall above the gate, watching the movements of the applicants.

This middle-aged man, who wore a neatly grown beard, was named Hak Gyu.

In the martial world, he was called the Fist Tyrant of Iron Grip, a master of fist techniques.

He served as the fist-arts instructor for the second-year students of Changcheon Martial Academy, and this year he had been put in charge of supervising the first gate for the incoming students.

Tipping back his cup with grace, Hak Gyu looked over at someone.

"Nam-gyeong. Are you writing it all down properly?"

"Yes, yes. I'm getting it all down."

The one taking it down was a sturdily built nineteen-year-old youth with thick eyebrows. He was Yeon Nam-gyeong, a second-year student of Changcheon Martial Academy.

He had been pulled in by Hak Gyu to assist him here.

'Some people get to sit around guzzling wine and watching, while others work until their palms ache.'

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried