WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Invincible Mumu

Chapter 33

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The Touch of Temptation (1)

Any man who had trained his body even a little could tell.
Actually, most people gathered there had spent their lives training in Martial Arts, so compared to ordinary folk they understood the body's structure, muscles, and blood pressure points and chi down to fine detail.
To eyes like theirs, the muscles revealed beneath Mumu's rolled-up trouser leg were, quite literally, beyond imagination.
It was impressive enough to make anyone wonder just how someone trained to bring muscle to such a dense, refined shape.
Everyone was stunned, but Do Yang-woon, dorm head of Northern Heaven Residence and grandson of the Northern Heaven Fist Hero, was struck hardest of all.

'...What monstrous muscle.'

Even sculpting an upper body like that took an enormous amount of training.
It was a different kind of patient toil than refining internal energy.
But imagining how much training it must have taken this kid Mumu to build muscle of this overwhelming caliber made him swallow dryly without meaning to.

'So that was the secret to his strength.'

Now he understood.
Now he understood how Mumu, with raw muscular strength alone, had surpassed Advanced and reached the realm of Expert.
There had to have been an incredible span of patient toil behind it, something only the kid himself had endured.
Thinking of it, he couldn't help but feel a stir of genuine admiration.
Then, out of nowhere, he remembered the advice his grandfather, Northern Heaven Fist Hero Do Jin-cheon, had given him before he entered Changcheon Martial Academy.

[Don't let yourself grow arrogant just because you've learned martial arts from me and moved one step ahead of others. The world is vast, and there are many hidden masters out there.]
[Understood.]
[You can learn even from a bird in flight, and gain insight even from a bug crawling on the ground. If there's learning to be had from anything at all, treat it as your teacher.]
[I'll keep that in mind.]
[If you keep just these two things I've told you in mind, you'll gain a great deal at Changcheon Martial Academy.]

He'd always kept himself in check against arrogance.
But somewhere along the way, he'd forgotten the second lesson.
He'd fallen into the mindset that to reach a higher realm, he had only to fight himself and break through his own limits.
Do Yang-woon looked at Mumu with eyes trembling faintly.
Just then, one of Northern Heaven Residence's floor leaders spoke up at Mumu, voice hot with anger.

"You kicked a senior down just to show off your muscles. If you're really that strong, why don't you spar with me and find out."

The floor leader dropped into a fighting stance for a fist technique.
His name was Kang Seo-ryang.
The young lord of the Pyeongryang Gangseo Fist Hall, a prestigious martial house in Gansu Province, he served as the fifth floor leader.
A second-year cadet, and if you excluded Do Yang-woon the dorm head, he could be called the strongest in martial standing among Northern Heaven Residence's second-year floor leaders.

'I can't let this slide.'

Because of Mumu, two of Northern Heaven Residence's floor leaders had already been humiliated.
That astonishing muscle was impressive, sure, but this was a different matter.
If they let it pass in front of the incoming cadets and the other dormitories' heads and floor leaders watching, Northern Heaven Residence's reputation would be shredded.
The only way to salvage it was to beat Mumu down and show everyone plainly that no matter how impressive the muscle, it was useless in real combat.

"Take your stance. Or else..."
"Wait."

Dorm head Do Yang-woon stepped in and blocked Kang Seo-ryang's path.
Kang Seo-ryang frowned and asked,

"Why are you stopping me? If we let this go, Northern Heaven Residence's honor will..."
"I won't forgive anyone who lays a hand on this person without my permission."
"This person?"

What on earth was that supposed to mean?
While he stood there dumbfounded, dorm head Do Yang-woon walked up in front of Mumu.
Then, of all things, he pressed his palms together and gave a clasped-hands salute.

"D-dorm head?"

The other floor leaders of Northern Heaven Residence were just as flustered.
None of them had any idea why Do Yang-woon was acting like this.
Even Mumu, puzzled by Do Yang-woon's attitude, tilted his head.
Then Do Yang-woon spoke to Mumu in a courteous tone.

"Young master Mumu. Please become my master."

'!?'

At those words from Do Yang-woon, everyone present froze in stunned silence.
Even Jin-hyeok, Mo Il-hwa, and Hae Ryang, Mumu's own companions, were just as shocked at this sudden, out-of-nowhere declaration.

'...What is even happening right now?'

Mo Il-hwa had thought things had gone sideways.
Showing off his muscles had left another Northern Heaven Residence floor leader in that state, and she'd been racking her brain over how to smooth things over before Northern Heaven Residence turned into an outright enemy.
But the result that came out was nothing like what she'd expected.
No, it was something well beyond that.

"Master?"
"That's right. Seeing your muscles, young master Mumu, made me realize just how much of a frog in a well I've been."
"Ah, really? Well, I'm glad it helped. Then you should train your lower body hard too, to balance things out..."

Grip!

Do Yang-woon snatched Mumu's hand and clasped it tight with both of his.
Then, eyes burning with passion, he said,

"Young master Mumu. I want a body like yours. Please, teach me. No, please become my muscle training master."
"Like me?"

Mumu's eyes narrowed.
Wanting a body like his own, did this man actually mean that?
Just then, Kang Seo-ryang, the fifth floor leader who'd been about to challenge Mumu to a duel, cut in.

"Dorm head! Calling someone who just enrolled 'master'?"

Mumu was a brand-new cadet at Changcheon Martial Academy.
Asking for guidance from a kid like that, no matter how you looked at it, this was wrong.
He had to stop Do Yang-woon right now.

"There are too many eyes on us. Please, stop..."
"My grandfather told me never to be ashamed of asking anyone for guidance if there's something I lack."
"You mean Elder Northern Heaven Fist Hero?"

Once Do Yang-woon brought his own grandfather into it, there was no easy way to argue him down.
And judging by the resolve in his voice, he genuinely intended to take Mumu as his master.
Imagining that damned kid's smug face was already enough to make Kang Seo-ryang despair.
Just then, Mumu spoke up.

"It might be a hard road. Are you prepared for that?"

At those words from Mumu, Do Yang-woon's face lit up.

"How could I have asked for your guidance, young master Mumu, without that kind of resolve to hone myself?"

Mumu scratched his head at this.

"When you put it that way, it's kind of embarrassing. Well, anyway, since you've decided to learn from me, I'll formally accept you as the first disciple of the Muscle Training School."

'Hah.'

At Mumu's words, Kang Seo-ryang nearly burst out laughing at how absurd it all was.
Slapping the name of a whole school onto something as trivial as muscle training, it was downright childish.
Mumu shot him a half-lidded look.
Then he turned right back to Do Yang-woon and said,

"Actually, all your lower bodies were bothering me anyway. Since it's come to this, how about the floor leaders join the Muscle Training School too, not just you, dorm head?"

'What?'

Kang Seo-ryang's brow furrowed.
He had no intention of playing along with this nonsense.
But dorm head Do Yang-woon, of all people, agreed it was a great idea.

"I was actually about to ask young master Mumu the same thing. Take our floor leaders on as disciples of the Muscle Training School as well."

'Wait, hold on!'
'You're not even asking what we think?'
'Hey. Hey, dorm head?'

The eyes of Northern Heaven Residence's floor leaders shook wildly.
The upper bodies they'd just built had been hard enough to manage under dorm head Do Yang-woon's relentless push.
And now, without so much as a choice in the matter, they were about to be dragged into the Muscle Training School.

"Hmph. Well, that's no fun anymore. Men, honestly."

Watching all this quietly, Gu Yang Seo-rin, dorm head of Western Wind Residence, clicked her tongue as if she'd lost all interest and led her floor leaders away.

'Of all dormitories, Northern Heaven Residence.'

Tang So-so watched Mumu with a wistful look in her eyes.
She'd secretly hoped Mumu would join Western Wind Residence, so this outcome stung.
Were they really going to end up as rivals now?

'No. This isn't so bad either.'

She'd still get to keep watching that combination of wild charm and fresh, juicy appeal. That was something.
Licking her lips, she finally turned and followed Western Wind Residence's floor leaders back to their tents.
Dormitory placement still wasn't finished.
Just like Western Wind Residence, the other two dormitories seemed to sense that the mood had swung entirely toward Northern Heaven Residence, and they withdrew as well, unable to hide their frustration.

* * *

The tense standoff among the four dormitories during the placement ceremony.
There were two people watching this whole scene unfold from a good distance away.
One was Ha Ryun, his right hand splinted.
The other was a girl brimming with seductive charm, her body wrapped in a purple cloak.
After watching Mumu for a long while, the girl parted lips painted red with rouge.

"Interesting enough, I suppose, but he doesn't seem like a particularly dangerous one."

At her words, Ha Ryun scoffed inwardly.
He'd let his guard down, sure, but hadn't he too underestimated that monster of a kid's strength and clashed palms with him, only to end up in this state?

"I don't understand why Master Heo told us to test him."
"Let me give you one piece of advice. Don't let your guard down and end up regretting it. Better to be careful."

It was sincere advice.
At Ha Ryun's words, the girl gave a small snort.

"I don't much care to hear advice from someone who got hurt in a mere entrance examination."
"What did you say?"

One of Ha Ryun's eyebrows shot up dangerously.
Watching him, the girl smirked and brought her hand close to his face.

"What are you doing?"

As Ha Ryun tried to step back, the girl made a strange gesture with her hand.
A sweet fragrance wrapped around his nose, and his heart began pounding fast.

'Poison?'

Ha Ryun took a step back.
Something was wrong.
He had a constitution highly resistant to poison.
There was no way his heart should race and his face flush just from catching a brief whiff of some scent.
Just then the girl flicked her tongue and winked at Ha Ryun.
And with that, Ha Ryun felt a powerful surge of lust rise inside him.

'This can't be!'

Ha Ryun hurriedly circulated his clan's own internal energy breathing technique to suppress it.
Unlike himself, who had openly admitted to hailing from the Valley of White Death, she had kept her identity thoroughly hidden, so which of the House of the Eight Villains she belonged to had remained a mystery. But now he thought he knew.

"Demonic Joy Palace!"
"Ho ho ho. Disappointing that it took you this long to guess."

At her mocking words, Ha Ryun bit down hard on his lip.
The masters of the Valley of White Death had warned him that the foxes gathered there were the ones to be most wary of among all the Villains.
He was starting to understand why they'd given that warning.
A girl of barely seventeen, and yet she carried this much seductive menace.

'I need to stay far away from her.'

Even among the House of the Eight Villains, she was someone he absolutely had to keep his distance from.
The girl spoke with a smug, satisfied look on her face.

"No man who falls into my hands can ever escape temptation. Watch closely. Watch how I devour that one."

She flicked her tongue again.
She looked at her target, Mumu, and curled the corner of her lips upward.

* * *

The dormitory placements for all the incoming cadets still weren't finished, so while Mumu waited, he passed the time doing slow squats with his legs spread at a steady width, sitting down and standing back up again and again.
The key to this training method was to squat down until the thighs sat level with the knees before rising back up.
Doing this slowly, without rushing, worked the sartorius as well as the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and other muscles, training them intensely.

'Would be nice to have something with some real weight to it.'

Normally he'd have shouldered an iron pole with roughly a thousand geun of rock lashed to either end while doing this, but doing it empty-handed left him feeling oddly hollow.
After repeating this for a good while, Mumu felt the need to relieve himself.
He asked where the latrine was, and hearing it sat at the end of a side path in the northwest corner of the plaza, he headed that way.

'Ah! It's Mumu.'

Tang So-so, who'd been sorting through incoming cadets at Western Wind Residence's tents, spotted him.
Earlier she'd been too caught up in the chaos to even greet him properly, and she'd been disappointed about it, but now that the placement roster was nearly filled, she figured it was about time to say hello.

"I'll be right back, just stepping out for a moment."

She told another floor leader, then went after Mumu, who was already some distance off.
Judging by the direction, he seemed to be heading for the latrine.

'Ah, then maybe I should greet him when he comes back?'

Following someone all the way to the latrine wasn't exactly a good look.
A nuisance, more like.
But then something else caught Tang So-so's eye.
A girl in a cloak, wearing far too much makeup for her age.

'...What's this?'

The latrine on the plaza's northwest side was men's only.
The women's latrine was down the northeast side path, so why was this new cadet heading northwest?
Something about it felt off, and Tang So-so quietly began tailing her.

* * *

"Whew."

Mumu came out of the latrine after relieving himself, looking refreshed.
He was heading back the way he'd come when he found someone waiting for him along the path.
A girl draped in a purple cloak.

'This is the men's latrine, isn't it?'

Puzzled, Mumu tilted his head.
Then, figuring the women's latrine must have been full and she'd been waiting nearby, he tried to walk past her.
Just then the girl stepped directly into his path.

"Hello."
"...Hello."

Mumu greeted her back, a little caught off guard.
The girl gave a smile brimming with seductive charm and spoke to Mumu in a sultry voice.

"I'm Jo Mae-hui."
"I'm..."
"Young master Mumu, aren't you?"
"Huh? How do you know my name?"
"I have my ways of knowing everything. Haah."

Jo Mae-hui deliberately let out a sultry breath toward Mumu.
The secret art of the Demonic Joy Palace, the Demonic Joy Meditation, began by stirring the sense of hearing.
A man who heard such a sound would have his imagination stirred, and his desire for the woman would grow stronger because of it.

[Mae-hui. Half breath, half voice.]

That had been the core secret the palace mistress had taught her.

"Young master. Haah."

At the sultry sound she made, Mumu asked,

"Are you sick somewhere?"
"......"

She'd poured her whole seductive, sultry voice into it, and this was what came back? Are you sick somewhere?
Judging by his expression, he seemed to be asking that in complete earnest.

'What is with this guy?'

She was privately baffled, but she quickly steadied herself.

'Ah!'

Her master had once told her that among men, there existed rare, top-grade specimens who possessed a kind of natural, unspoiled innocence, the kind people called virgins.

'Is this one of those top-grade specimens?'

If that was the case, it made perfect sense.
But once caught by her secret art, even that kind of natural innocence would turn into a beast.
Jo Mae-hui smiled sultrily and said,

"Haah. Young master, isn't it hot?"

Slip!

With those words, she let the cloak she'd been wearing fall away.
Beneath it, a thin silk top that left her cleavage brazenly exposed and a short skirt baring her thighs came into view.
The kind of scandalous outfit only a courtesan from the red-light district would wear.

'What!'

Tang So-so, watching from hiding at a distance, clapped a hand over her mouth.
She'd followed out of some vague unease, and now this was the outrageous scene unfolding in front of her!

'What is with that little vixen?'

This was blatant seduction, plain as day.
As Jo Mae-hui took a step forward, her generous chest swayed with the movement.
Watching this, Tang So-so's gaze dropped for a moment, then rose again with a crestfallen look on her face, before she finally glared daggers at Jo Mae-hui.

'That, that is an absolute fox spirit!'

Trying to prey on their fresh, juicy, innocent Mumu, of all people.
She couldn't just stand by and watch this.
She was about to step out and put a stop to it right then, but Tang So-so froze and clapped a hand over her own mouth, a look of disbelief crossing her face.
Mumu was staring straight at that vixen's chest, quite blatantly.

'M-Mumu, you were that kind of man too? There's more to it, though.'

Her face flushed with anger, Tang So-so chewed at her bottom lip.
Jo Mae-hui's lips curled upward in satisfaction.

'Just as I thought.'

Men really were all the same, every last one of them.
The moment she dropped the cloak, they couldn't tear their eyes away.
The match was already won.
If she broke him thoroughly here and turned him into her prey, then her slave, Master Heo would surely commend her handsomely for it.
Jo Mae-hui beckoned with her hand and spoke in a sultry voice.

"Haah. Young master, come here. Don't you want to touch it?"

At her words, Mumu frowned and opened his mouth.

"That looks really serious."
"Haah. I know. Mine's just a little different from other people's..."
"Worse than Il-hwa's. Want to try some chest training?"
"......"

What in the world was this bastard even saying right now?

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