WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Invincible Mumu

Chapter 40

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Roll Call (2)

Dorm head Do Yang-woon was quietly stunned.
Mumu's raw strength had already been proven.
But he hadn't expected muscle this close to flawless to hold up this kind of durability too.
A fist loaded with internal energy had struck the pectorals of a boy with no Martial Arts training at all, and instead of landing a blow, it had rebounded off him like it hit a solid wall.

'This is beyond common sense.'

Even having decided to take him as a master, this was a strange body.
How did anyone train themselves into something like that?
Something stirred in his chest.
A rising excitement took hold, the sense that the wall he'd been stuck against might finally crumble because of Mumu.
But alongside that excitement, another feeling quietly bloomed.

'I want to test myself against him.'

He'd decided to take Mumu as his master because he sensed there was something to learn, but now he wanted to cross blades, or fists, with this strange new kind of strength.
That feeling didn't last long, though.

"This... this is going to be a problem."

Right then, floor leader Hang Mi-hye of the Beggar's Sect spoke up, her expression grave, chin propped on the table.
The other floor leaders nodded along, apparently in agreement.
Of all people, Woo Hoo-chi, who happened to be the sixth floor leader, was the one who'd gotten hurt.

'Ah...'

Do Yang-woon hadn't considered this angle at all.
Woo Hoo-chi was in charge of the sixth floor, politely called the discipline-focused floor, or less politely, the delinquent floor.

"Ngghhh."

Woo Hoo-chi clutched his wrist, groaning in pain.
If he showed up to this year's first roll call looking like that, the delinquents would write him off in an instant.
Do Yang-woon let out a thin breath and said,

"Seo-ryang. Take Senior Woo to the infirmary for now."
"Understood."

Fifth floor leader Kang Seo-ryang helped Woo Hoo-chi up and walked him out of the office.
Once they'd left, dorm head Do Yang-woon stroked his chin, sinking into thought.
Woo Hoo-chi was combative, sure, but his skill ranked him in the top thirty among third-years.
On top of that, coming from a background in the dark path, he understood the delinquents better than anyone, which was why he'd managed the sixth floor reasonably well the year before.

'This is a problem.'

Of course, "reasonably well" was a relative term.
The sixth floor was, quite literally, a collection of nothing but delinquents, kids who treated dorm rules like garbage.
Even under Woo Hoo-chi's watch, incidents had broken out constantly.
Do Yang-woon glanced toward third-year floor leader Ja Muk-hyun, who sat flipping through a book, looking utterly indifferent to everything happening around him.

"Senior. By any chance..."
"No."
"Senior. Still..."
"No."

Ja Muk-hyun shut him down flat before he could even finish.
Hang Mi-hye of the Beggar's Sect spoke up to him.

"Muk-hyun. Among the male floor leaders, there's no one but you who can keep those kids in line."
"No."

Ja Muk-hyun refused without ever lifting his eyes from the book.
Even Hang Mi-hye, who'd been ready to snap at Woo Hoo-chi, said nothing further at Ja Muk-hyun's cold indifference.
Ranking among the top five of the academy's third-years meant he'd stepped well past the boundary of a mere rising talent.
Word was that Ja Muk-hyun's strength even surpassed that of ordinary masters.
That was exactly why Hang Mi-hye handled him with caution.

'This is going to be rough.'

Do Yang-woon shook his head.
He hadn't expected much to begin with.
Ja Muk-hyun had only taken on a floor leader position to pad his grade record and to keep an eye on that "senior" from Western Wind Residence.

'I can't just fill in myself either.'

Aside from these two, he was the only one here who could reasonably keep the sixth floor in check.
But he had to oversee all of Northern Heaven Residence from this position.
Stationed at the building entrance during roll call, he had to track down late arrivals and confirm nothing was wrong anywhere else, which meant he couldn't hand that job off to someone else.
Right then, Ja Muk-hyun, still flipping through his book, spoke up.

"Just hand it to that one."
"Sorry?"

Ja Muk-hyun pointed a finger at Mumu, who stood there wearing Jin-hyeok's borrowed coat over his shoulders.
Mumu tilted his head.

"Turning Woo Hoo-chi's hand into that shape while just standing there is more than enough, if you ask me."

At Ja Muk-hyun's words, every floor leader in the room wore some shade of the same uncertain expression.
They'd all been shocked by Mumu's strength and by the toughness that brought to mind an indestructible golden body, sure.
But this was a separate matter entirely.

'...Him?'
'He seems way too innocent for this.'
'Can he actually handle those delinquents?'

Strength aside, Mumu's personality seemed endlessly naive.
Whether someone like that could handle kids like those was a real question.
Dorm head Do Yang-woon shared that same doubt.

'...Seems like it'd be rough.'

Those delinquents wouldn't be easily cowed by strength, and the more innocent someone acted, the more likely they were to mock and exploit it.
Handing the sixth floor to Master Mumu felt like asking for trouble.
Just as Do Yang-woon was about to suggest finding a stand-in among the third-year seniors instead, Mumu raised his hand.

"Since Senior Woo Hoo-chi got hurt because of me, I'll take the sixth floor."

He'd volunteered, just like that.
At this, Hang Mi-hye of the Beggar's Sect let out a sigh and tried to talk him out of it.

"Junior. That floor's too much for you right now. Only a delinquent can handle delinquents properly, that's exactly why Woo Hoo-chi was running it."
"What's a delinquent?"
"How should I put it... kids who don't treat the rules as rules, who go off the rails?"
"Then can't I just make them follow the rules?"

At Mumu's words, Hang Mi-hye waved a hand lightly and said,

"If it were that easy, we wouldn't call them delinquents in the first place. They're not the type who listen when you push them around with force, they're just hard to control, period."

Try to force them, and they'd band together and make a mess of the whole floor.
That was exactly why the sixth floor was such a headache to manage.
Mumu tilted his head at that and said,

"Then maybe there just wasn't enough force being used?"
"......"

She'd bothered to explain all this out of genuine concern, so why did it land on that conclusion?

* * *

The Hour of the Rat's First Half.
Roll call time in the Changcheon Martial Academy dormitories.
With so many cadets living in the dorms, roll call was how they kept the residents in check.
In the academy's early days, the masters had handled this process themselves, but once the Student Autonomy Council was formed, the cadets managed it on their own, aside from the dorm parent who oversaw the whole thing.

The method was simple.
The floor leader assigned to each floor confirmed the headcount of the cadets, that is, the dorm residents, living there.
Once roll call time passed, every resident had to be in their own room, except those with approved outings or overnight leave.

The male dorm, sixth floor, of Northern Heaven Residence.
This was where second-and third-year residents with accumulated demerits from repeated rule violations lived.
In short, it was a gathering place for delinquents.
Around the Hour of the Rat's First Half, roll call time, deep in the night, was supposed to be a quiet hour, but the rooms on the sixth floor of Northern Heaven Residence were anything but quiet, and the stairwell and central lounge were packed with residents making noise and having a grand old time.

Clang, clang, clang!

A bell rang out through the whole dormitory.
The signal that roll call had begun.
When the bell rang like this, the assigned residents were supposed to step out and stand in front of their rooms.
Only that way could the headcount be taken quickly, and any problems inside the rooms confirmed.
But no one on the sixth floor did anything of the sort.
Business as usual, more like it.

Thud, thud!

Someone came trudging up the stairs.
A boy with an armband on his left arm reading Northern Heaven Residence, Six.
It was Mumu.
Mumu climbed the stairs while checking names off the headcount sheet written on a wooden board.

'Left corridor, eight rooms... sixteen people, right corridor, seven rooms... fourteen people. Thirty total.'

Thirty residents were supposed to be on the sixth floor.
Seventeen second-year residents, thirteen third-year residents.
No first-years had been assigned yet, since none had racked up demerits.

'Hm?'

The moment he reached the sixth floor, he found it odd that everyone was gathered in the central lounge, laughing and carrying on instead of standing in front of their rooms.
Wasn't everyone supposed to be standing outside their rooms, according to the rules the dorm head had given him?
Mumu walked toward the lounge.
Hearing his footsteps, the eight residents who'd been chattering away turned their heads toward him.
Then they let out a snort, something close to a sneer.

"Whoa. What's this?"
"Floor leader got switched?"
"I figured it'd be that hothead Woo Hoo-chi again this year."

They'd naturally assumed Woo Hoo-chi would take the sixth floor again this year.
Given their working relationship with him, no one else could manage the floor properly, or so they figured.
But out of nowhere, some baby-faced newcomer had shown up instead.
This might turn out to be an even easier year than when Woo Hoo-chi was in charge.
One of the residents, Mak Jin-ryeong, waved a hand dismissively and said,

"Hey. Floor leader. Just mark everyone present and get lost."

At his words, Mumu checked the headcount sheet and asked,

"What room number are you?"

Mak Jin-ryeong didn't answer, just kept going with whatever conversation he'd been having with the other residents a moment ago.
Mumu stepped further into the lounge and asked again.

"What room number are you?"

At Mumu's question, Mak Jin-ryeong, still chattering away, didn't even bother turning his head, just said, sounding annoyed,

"Hey. You're a rookie, right? Just half-ass it. Why bother counting one by one? Mark everyone present, nobody's going to know the difference."

At that, Mumu slowly closed the cover of the headcount sheet.
Then he muttered,

"Ahh. So that's why they said it's all delinquents up here."
"What'd you say?"

Hearing him mutter that, Mak Jin-ryeong shot up out of his seat.
So did the other residents.
Woo Hoo-chi had thrown his weight around trying to establish dominance early on too, but even he'd never outright called them delinquents.
And now some kid who looked like a fresh rookie was calling them delinquents to their faces?
Mak Jin-ryeong stepped up to Mumu and jabbed a finger into his chest.

"Hey. Seniors are cutting you a break here and you say what? Delinquents? You trying to quit being floor leader on your first day?"
"I don't want to quit, though."
"Then you shouldn't be running your mouth like that."
"If you're not following the roll call rules, what else am I supposed to call it?"
"Ha!"

Mak Jin-ryeong laughed like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
This kid was more naive than he'd expected.
No idea what the dorm head was thinking, sending a kid like this up as floor leader.
Somewhere between annoyed and amused, Mak Jin-ryeong said, like he was explaining something to a child,

"Kid. Since you clearly don't know anything, your big brothers here will be nice and spell it out. Your predecessor Woo Hoo-chi got sick of the fight and struck a deal with us. We don't bother each other."
"You don't bother each other?"
"Right. Unless it's something seriously major, the sixth floor just gets marked all-present, that was the deal. Do the same thing he did and you'll have an easy year ahead of you."
"Ahh. Is that so?"
"Yeah. Now that you get it..."

Poke!

"Don't act up, and..."

Poke!

"Just head on down..."

Right then, Mumu grabbed the wrist of the hand Mak Jin-ryeong had been jabbing into his chest.

"That's pretty annoying."
"What the... you little punk, who do you think you're..."

Grip!

Mumu tightened his hold on the wrist he'd caught.
Mak Jin-ryeong twisted his whole body like a pretzel, writhing in pain.

"Aaaargh."
"What room number?"
"You... you little..."

Grip!

"You still don't remember your room number?"
"Wha... what are you all just standing there for!"

"You son of a..."

At the shout, one of the nearby residents threw a punch at Mumu.
Mumu didn't dodge, just let it land.
Except the resident who'd thrown the punch was the one who ended up clutching his fist, groaning in pain.

"Argh! Wh-what the hell is this guy?"

The pain was one thing, but the sight of Mumu standing there completely unaffected after taking a punch loaded with Force of ki was enough to make his blood run cold.

"Opening."
"What?"

Right then, Mumu brought a knife-hand strike down on the head of the resident who'd thrown the punch.

Thwack!

"Gack!"

With a strangled cry, the resident's eyes rolled back and he collapsed.
The sight left Mak Jin-ryeong and the others wide-eyed.
They'd underestimated him as a rookie and dismissed him, but this was no joke.

"You... what are you?"
"More importantly, what room number?"

Mumu tightened his grip further.

Grip!

At that,

"Hgh... six... six oh four... room six oh four!"

Mak Jin-ryeong's own room number burst out of his mouth.
Only then did Mumu release the wrist he'd been gripping.
Seeing Mak Jin-ryeong clutching his wrist and writhing in pain, one of the residents, Jang Ho, gritted his teeth, seething with anger, and said,

"You... you think you can go toe to toe with us on strength? Hey! Call everyone!"

Plenty of floor leaders had tried to bring them to heel with force before.
Woo Hoo-chi had too, at first.
But none of them had ever succeeded.
In the end, every single one had come around to their terms instead, choosing the easier road.

'Think you'll be any different.'

But,

"Sounds like it's always just been a lack of force, honestly."
"What?"

What the hell was this kid even talking about?

Click!

Right then, Mumu rolled up his right sleeve and turned the adjustment screw on his Ki-Restraining Bracelet.
His right arm's muscles, the long head, the biceps, every part of it, swelled like they were about to tear right through the skin.
Watching this, every resident's pupils shook like the ground beneath them had just cracked open.

'Wh-what kind of arm muscles are those?'

None of them had ever seen anything like it.
It looked like staring at the trunk of some ancient tree.
Right then, Mumu grabbed the head of Jang Ho, who was still grinding his teeth and protesting, and hoisted him up.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing?"

Dangling helplessly, Jang Ho struggled with everything he had to break free, but it did nothing.
The next moment, Mumu shook the head he'd grabbed like it was a bell.
Then he let go, and Jang Ho's eyes rolled back, staggered, and he passed out cold.

Thud!

At the sight of Jang Ho collapsed on the floor, the remaining residents lost all words.
What had they just witnessed?
Mumu turned to them with a bright, innocent smile and said,

"From now on, right after roll call, I'll make sure every senior here gets a good night's sleep."

'!?'

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