WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Invincible Mumu

Chapter 31

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Dormitory Assignment (2)

'Two days since the second and third-year seniors left and I got picked as the Northern Heaven Residence's third floor leader...'

What came over Go Du-ho, his lower body driven into the ground like a stake, was confusion, and then humiliation.
He was a second-year at Changcheon Martial Academy, and not only had he been brought to his knees by a new cadet, he'd been buried straight into the floor. The sheer absurdity of it was hard to process.
But that feeling didn't last long.
Even with internal energy shielding his whole body, getting driven into the ground like that had apparently cracked or broken bones in his waist and legs.

"Aaaargh!"

Watching Go Du-ho fail to hold back the pain, Mumu scratched his head.

'Guess that was a bit much.'

He'd figured that as long as he didn't touch the adjustment screw on his Ki-Restraining Bracelets, nothing too noticeable would happen, so he hadn't bothered controlling his strength properly.
But what could he do now.
What was done was done.

'This idiot...'

Watching Mumu, Jin-hyeok rubbed his forehead like his head was throbbing.
Even so, he should have held back at least a little.
They hadn't even been assigned to a dormitory yet, and now he'd gone and put a senior from one dormitory in that state in front of everyone.
The crowd around them had already erupted.

"No way..."
"He just staked a second-year senior into the ground."
"Aren't floor leaders supposed to be strong?"
"More importantly, isn't getting driven into the ground the weirder part here?"
"Wait, isn't that the kid from the entrance ceremony? The one who got scolded by the Vice-Master for laughing too loud?"
"That's him. But why does he have that much internal energy?"

He'd drawn plenty of attention.
Hae Ryang spoke to Mo Il-hwa, his voice full of trouble.

"My lady... I think we have to give up on Northern Heaven Residence. Of all things..."

'To lay a hand on a floor leader.'

He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought.
Touching a floor leader was practically the same as touching the entire Northern Heaven Residence's Student Autonomy Council.
The Four Immortal Residences of Changcheon Martial Academy were each said to be their own small martial world.
He'd heard the rivalry between them ran fierce.
And in the middle of all that, someone had just turned a floor leader, one of their fighting assets, into that. It wouldn't be strange at all if this stirred up real trouble.

'Did I pick the wrong side to back?'

But then Mo Il-hwa's lips twitched, her whole body trembling.
He thought maybe it was because Mumu had caused trouble, but,

"No. This is great."
"Excuse me?"
"Mumu already set the stage, so now that it's come to this, we might as well raise our group's value."
"......."

'Since when did it become "our group"...'

Setting that aside, raise their value? What was she talking about?
As he looked at her, puzzled, Mo Il-hwa whispered to him quietly.

"They only want to pick cadets who suit their own tastes. Well, if that's how it's going to be, let's make them desperate to take us instead."
"What? How?"
"Watch."

Mo Il-hwa walked up to Mumu, planted both hands on her hips, and spoke loudly, clearly meaning for everyone to hear.

"Mumu. Even if the senior suddenly decided to test your internal energy, this is way too rude. You should have held back."

It sounded like she was scolding him, but the reality was the opposite.
She was framing it so that none of this was Mumu's fault at all, that the blame lay entirely with Go Du-ho for provoking him first.
Sure enough, the people around them started murmuring, oh, so that's what happened?
Mumu tilted his head, then said,

"I did hold back, though."

He really had held back.

"You call that holding back? Anyway, hurry up and apologize to the senior."

Along with that, Mo Il-hwa whispered to Mumu in a voice low enough that only he could hear.

"Play along. Let me set the stage a bit more."
"Huh?"

Mumu was puzzled by her words, but he scratched his head, then walked over to Go Du-ho, still stuck in the ground, and bowed his head in apology.

"Senior. I'm sorry."
"Ngh..."

'This kid gives you the disease and the cure in the same breath.'

He was in so much pain that the apology barely registered.
Mo Il-hwa walked closer to Go Du-ho and said,

"Oh my, senior, are you all right? Still, since Mumu hasn't even learned any Martial Arts, I'm sure you're not too badly hurt, right?"

'!?'

Her words set off a stir in the crowd.

"He hasn't learned Martial Arts? Is that actually true?"
"Then how did he drive a floor leader straight into the ground?"
"You're saying that was pure physical strength?"
"No way!"

They couldn't help being shocked.
For martial artists who cultivated internal energy, strength was supposed to come from muscle alone.
But if raw strength alone had done that to a floor leader, this wasn't something you could just laugh off. It was genuinely stunning.

'He hasn't learned Martial Arts?'

Even Go Du-ho, in the middle of his pain, couldn't hide his shock.
That would mean he'd ended up like this at the hands of someone who hadn't even trained in Martial Arts.
In the middle of all that, Mo Il-hwa crossed her arms and turned to scold Jin-hyeok next.

"Hey. Yeo Jin-hyeok. You should have stepped in and stopped this. It only turned out this way because the senior went easy on him. If Mumu, who hasn't even trained internal energy, had gotten hurt, you'd be setting up a memorial altar for your own brother today."
"My lady, that's..."

Mo Il-hwa was deliberately, cleverly screwing over Go Du-ho, the floor leader.

'Ah. So that's what this is.'

Hae Ryang had wondered why she was stepping in like this, and it turned out she was quietly cunning.
He nearly laughed at the realization, but figured he'd better play along too.

"Hmph! So, did you do wrong, or did you do right?"
"...I think I did wrong. My lady Mo is right. As his brother, I should have stopped him so Mumu wouldn't get hurt."

That set off another stir in the crowd.
This time it was because Jin-hyeok had called Mumu his brother.
Most of the cadets had only known Jin-hyeok as Yu Jin-sung's younger brother.
But thanks to her, it had just been made public.

"He's Yeo Jin-sung's brother too?"
"Then is he the one who tore off the city gate?"
"No, that can't be right. Last night that Yeo Jin-hyeok guy drove five people's heads into the ceiling of his own room when they raided it, remember?"
"But this one's strong too. So who is it, then?"
"Ah! I get it! I thought something was off. They said brothers, right? Both of them are monsters."
"Is that how it is?"
"No, seriously, what kind of family is that? Didn't they say they were commoners?"

Jin-hyeok frowned.
He'd meant to use this chance to clear up the misunderstanding by revealing that Mumu was his brother, but instead the crowd's misunderstanding seemed to be spiraling off in some strange new direction.
He figured he'd better clear this up.

"That's..."

Poke!

Mo Il-hwa jabbed a finger into his side.

"Shh. I finally got our value up and you're going to ruin it all?"
"But..."
"Let them keep misunderstanding each other. And look, here they come."

Where she nodded, Do Yang-woon, dorm head of Northern Heaven Residence, was approaching with a face set in cold fury.
His presence was so fierce that the crowd parted on either side.
But he wasn't the only one coming.

"Look over there!"
"It's Gu Yang Seo-rin."

From the west, walking with elegant steps, came Gu Yang Seo-rin, dorm head of Western Wind Residence.
She was looking at Mumu with a face full of interest as she approached.
Do Yang-woon reached them first and looked down at Go Du-ho, the third floor leader of Northern Heaven Residence, still stuck waist-deep in the ground.

"Is it true?"
"Wh-what do you..."
"Were you trying to test his internal energy?"
"Dorm head. That's..."

Flustered, Go Du-ho tried to make an excuse, but Do Yang-woon didn't even pretend to listen.
Instead, he turned to look at Mumu and said,

"It seems our floor leader committed a breach of manners. As dorm head of Northern Heaven Residence, I apologize."

With that, he clasped his hands together in a formal bow.
Watching a man with sculpted muscles and wild good looks bow so courteously, the female cadets nearby could barely contain their delight.

'A wild, handsome man apologizing to a pretty boy.'
'Where else are you going to see a sight like this.'
'Aaaah. I'm so glad I enrolled this year.'

To their eyes, Do Yang-woon and Mumu were all that existed in the world.
Of course, neither of the two involved cared in the slightest.
Mumu figured this had actually worked out well.
The floor leader Go Du-ho had said that beating the dorm head meant you could take his place.

'Then Il-hwa, Jin-hyeok, and Hae Ryang could all get into the same dormitory, right?'

So he was about to suggest they test their strength against each other,
but Do Yang-woon, having finished his bow, spoke first, and it wasn't what Mumu expected.

"Go Du-ho. You're stripped of your floor leader position."
"Wh-what do you mean... ngh."

Flustered, Go Du-ho tried to say something, but the pain cut him off.
Do Yang-woon gave him one disappointed glance, then walked up to Mumu, held out his hand, and said,

"A seat has opened up. I'd like you to fill it."
"...Me?"

Mumu tilted his head.
Hae Ryang, flustered, spoke up in a fluster.

"He's o-offering you the floor leader position, Young Master Mumu."
"Floor leader?"

Do Yang-woon let out a short laugh and said,

"Not just you. Both of you brothers are more than qualified. Yeo Jin-hyeok, was it? From what I've heard, it sounds like your whole family is exceptional."

Do Yang-woon had been keeping track of the noise the cadets had been making around them.
He'd thought it was just one person, but if both of them had a natural gift for bare-handed combat, he was more than willing to take either one on as a new floor leader.
At his words, Jin-hyeok gave a formal bow and said,

"I'm grateful for the offer, senior. But we're not after a floor leader position. We just want the four of us to end up in the same dormitory."

At that, Mo Il-hwa smiled and nodded in satisfaction.
She'd told Jin-hyeok beforehand to say exactly that.
Do Yang-woon, dorm head of Northern Heaven Residence, glanced over at Mo Il-hwa and Hae Ryang at Jin-hyeok's words.
The Soft Sword at Mo Il-hwa's waist and the two Short Swords at Hae Ryang's hip bothered him a great deal.

'Weapons...'

If nothing else, weapons were something he could never allow.
That was a rule he'd set himself.
But giving up on Mumu and Jin-hyeok over this felt like too great a waste.
He was still turning it over in his mind when,

"If it's not settled yet, how about our juniors come to Western Wind Residence instead?"

Gu Yang Seo-rin cut into the negotiation.
She'd already taken a liking to Mumu, along with a sharp curiosity, for staking Northern Heaven Residence's floor leader, someone who might as well have been a rival house, into the ground.
Do Yang-woon, dorm head of Northern Heaven Residence, raised an eyebrow and said,

"Gu Yang Seo-rin. They're still in the middle of talking with me."

At that, she fanned herself with the ornate fan in her hand and laughed.

"It's so funny it's making me hot. Ha ha ha."
"You're laughing?"
"It's funny, isn't it? Not funny at all? According to our floor leader, your staked floor leader over there flatly refused to take these four in."
"That's..."
"And now suddenly he's had a change of heart, so the dorm head himself came out to recruit them personally?"

At her provocation, Do Yang-woon's eyebrow twitched.
Gu Yang Seo-rin, seeming to enjoy his reaction, curled her lips into a smile and said,

"And here's our Northern Heaven dorm head, who's gone around shouting at the top of his lungs that only women bother with weapons. Surely he's not about to eat his own words just to land these two."

With that, Gu Yang Seo-rin burst out laughing again.

"Gu Yang Seo-rin!"

Fire sparked in Do Yang-woon's eyes.
Behind him, the floor leaders of Northern Heaven Residence had already gathered.
Just the same, behind Gu Yang Seo-rin, the floor leaders of Western Wind Residence had gathered too.

'Ah!'

Tang So-so, who had tagged along to match numbers now that this was turning into an inter-dormitory standoff, spotted Mumu and raised a hand, about to try and catch his eye, then quickly clamped a hand over her nose instead.

'Ahh. The combination of wild charm and fresh, juicy cuteness.'

Seeing Do Yang-woon and Mumu standing side by side made her head spin.
There was no stopping the nosebleed threatening to spill out from sheer excitement.
She hastily ducked behind someone.
Whatever the case, Gu Yang Seo-rin, dorm head of Western Wind Residence, was clearly enjoying the whole situation and turned to Mo Il-hwa and said,

"Looks like the real power behind your group is you, my lady. What do you say? All four of you, come join us at Western Wind Residence together."

At Gu Yang Seo-rin's words, Mo Il-hwa's face lit up with satisfaction as she shrugged her shoulders.
Watching the scene, Hae Ryang clicked his tongue inwardly in admiration.

'So the dragon recognized the tiger.'

He couldn't help but be amazed that Gu Yang Seo-rin had picked out Mo Il-hwa as the real power in their group right away.
Having briefly doubted his own choice, Hae Ryang now looked at Mo Il-hwa with eyes full of loyalty.

Grind!

Do Yang-woon ground his teeth.
At this rate, Western Wind Residence really was going to steal all four of them right out from under him.
He might let it slide with other dormitories, but he couldn't stand to hand over these precious bare-handed talents to Western Wind Residence of all places, a dormitory that used poison as casually as weapons.
He agonized over whether he should really bend the rule he'd set for himself like this.

'My principles... my principles...'

But his conviction and his refusal to lose these talents were pulling him in opposite directions.
Just then,

"If it's not decided yet, we'd like to bid for them too, at Southern Blade Residence."

Every eye turned toward the owner of that voice.
There stood Hong Hye-ryeong, having arrived with the floor leaders of Southern Blade Residence and their dorm head, Wi Pyeong-ak, in tow.
The dorm head was someone else, but going by the atmosphere alone, she seemed to be the one in charge.
Hong Hye-ryeong glanced at Jin-hyeok and said,

"We'd like to take all four of you into Southern Blade Residence as well."

Her words set the cadets murmuring.
Now even Southern Blade Residence had jumped in, saying they wanted to take all four.
Nobody had ever seen anything like this.
But that still wasn't the end of it.

Rumble!

Pushing cadets aside, Mu Hoe-sung, dorm head of Eastern River Residence, appeared from the east, bringing his floor leaders along with Young Chun, the Eastern River Sword Sage's third disciple, who would serve as their new representative.

"Ha."
"Eastern River Residence?"

The dorm heads of all three dormitories made no effort to hide their wariness.
One of the floor leaders beside Mu Hoe-sung, dorm head of Eastern River Residence, whispered something in his ear, and he nodded, then looked at Mo Il-hwa and said,

"We at Eastern River Residence would like to invite you and your three companions as well, my lady."

Eastern River Residence was a dormitory that had always fiercely rejected anyone with former ties to the force of evil, groups like the Hao clan.
And yet they were setting aside that very pride to propose taking in all four of them.

"No way..."
"All Four Immortal Residences are scrambling to take them."
"Does this kind of thing even happen?"

The whole hierarchy of dormitory assignment had just been flipped on its head.

'Ahhh. So this was our golden rope after all.'

Watching the scene unfold, Hae Ryang gazed up at Mo Il-hwa like she was some idol to be worshipped.

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