WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 69: The Grand Plan (2)
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The Great Scheme (2)
Ki Ma-jin's heart lurched.
Even Cho Na-yeon, the third-year ranked fifth, couldn't spot him when he committed to his concealment technique. That much he prided himself on. Concealment was one thing he was truly the best at.
And yet this kid had sniffed him out while he was hiding for real?
'......Ha.'
It made no sense. If Mumu had scattered thousand-li fragrance powder around, sure, he'd understand it. But finding him by smell alone? If that was really what had happened, the boy's nose had gone past anything human.
Mumu spoke to him.
"No running this time, senior."
Ki Ma-jin bit down on his lip. At this rate, he might never get to watch Cho Na-yeon train again. All because of that damned new sixth-floor leader.
"Should I come up there?"
At Mumu's words, Ki Ma-jin's hand drifted to the small of his back.
'Like I'd give up that easily.'
In his two hands sat a pair of oddly shaped miniature crossbows. Strapped to the wrists, each one held a cylinder loaded with a magazine of small arrows. Gripping the firing handles with both hands, Ki Ma-jin spun off the tree branch he'd been hanging from and launched himself upward.
Pat!
He fired both crossbows at Mumu in the same motion.
Shhhhhhhk!
The arrows weren't lethal, their tips rounded rather than sharp, but the precision mechanism inside the crossbows sent them screaming toward Mumu's feet at tremendous speed.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The arrows sank into the ground in a perfectly straight line. Ki Ma-jin landed about ten paces away and leveled both crossbows at Mumu.
"Hey. I didn't come out here looking for trouble. I just wanted to catch a glimpse of the woman I'm in love with. Pure intentions, I swear."
"......Sure you did."
"Fair warning. The next round of arrows might just end up in your body instead of the dirt."
"You're going to shoot me?"
"That's right. So leave me alone."
"Going back to spy on her again?"
"I'm just watching, that's all."
"Get a proper leave pass and watch openly, then. Oh, right, I heard peeking on someone's martial arts training without permission is against the rules too."
"......That's true, but I can't get a leave pass anymore. Too many demerits."
Ki Ma-jin had gotten caught sneaking a peek once even with a leave pass, and his applications had been banned ever since. Mumu scratched his head at him.
"Just come with me."
"No!"
"Keep being stubborn and I'll knock you out and carry you there."
Ki Ma-jin snorted at that.
"You think this'll go like last time? You caught me off guard back then, but this time's different. Long as I've got my twin crossbows in hand, you won't even get close."
"That so?"
"Save yourself the trouble and turn back. These tips might be dull, but they still hurt when they hit."
"Sorry, but if I don't bring you back, my job's not done."
"Then I've got no choice."
Click!
Ki Ma-jin fired a single arrow at Mumu. It flew straight for the center of his chest, and Mumu casually snatched it out of the air with one hand.
Thwack!
"What was that for?"
"......You said you never trained in martial arts, but your body moves just as well as someone who has. Guess I don't need to hold back then."
"Huh?"
Pat!
Ki Ma-jin threw himself backward and unleashed both crossbows at Mumu. The real advantage of the twin crossbows was rapid fire. Ki Ma-jin's clan traced its line back to the Geum family of the state of Chu, renowned crossbow craftsmen. The Geum family's crossbow technology was enough to put even seasoned martial artists on edge.
Shhhhhhhk!
The rapid volley streaked toward Mumu. Ki Ma-jin assumed, of course, that Mumu would dodge, and he planned to keep firing and widen the distance while he had the chance.
But instead,
Boom!
Mumu kicked off the ground, the earth erupting beneath him, and charged straight into the incoming hail of arrows.
'Is he insane!'
Sure, Ki Ma-jin had aimed away from any vital points, but shouldn't he still be dodging or blocking? That's when his eyes went wide.
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack!
The arrows struck Mumu's body and simply bounced off.
'......huh?'
He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The arrows hadn't pierced him at all. Even without much force behind them and with rounded tips, arrows fired from twin crossbows could still lodge into solid rock. And this kid had deflected them bare-handed, with no internal energy at all?
While he stood there stunned, Mumu had already closed the distance.
'Damn it!'
Pat!
Ki Ma-jin kicked off and threw himself backward, this time channeling force of ki into the crossbows. He'd wanted to avoid using internal energy since the boy claimed he hadn't trained in martial arts, but that clearly wasn't going to be enough to stop him.
'The legs.'
Ki Ma-jin aimed for Mumu's thighs and legs. Seal off both legs and Mumu wouldn't be able to chase him anymore.
Shhhhhhk!
The arrows loaded with force of ki carried a speed and power nowhere near what they'd had a moment ago. Right at that instant, Mumu leaped up to dodge them. Ki Ma-jin's mouth curled into a grin at the sight.
"Idiot."
Jumping into the air in front of someone who specialized in ranged weapons was practically volunteering to be a target. Ki Ma-jin aimed both crossbows at the airborne Mumu, ready to fire.
Just then,
Flinch!
Ki Ma-jin's gaze snapped toward something off to the side. In that same instant, Mumu's body crashed down onto him.
Thud!
"Gack!"
Mumu's crossed arms caught Ki Ma-jin square in the collarbone, and he went down hard. Mumu pinned his chest and asked, puzzled.
"I thought you were going to shoot. Why'd you stop halfway?"
"Keck, keck. Can you ask without crushing my chest first?"
"Ah. Sorry, thought you'd try to run again."
"......Damn it. If it weren't for that just now, you wouldn't be hearing me talk right now, I'd have turned you into a pincushion."
"That just now?"
"The vibration. The vibration...... you jumped so you didn't feel it, did you?"
"Vibration?"
Puzzled, Mumu watched as Ki Ma-jin, hand trembling, pointed at one of the training hall buildings. The building he pointed at looked like it had been built from Gyeseseok stone.
And then,
Rumble-rumble-rumble-boom!
A series of small explosive sounds rolled out, and the whole building shook.
* * *
Splash!
Do Yang-woon crossed both arms and got knocked back eight paces. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He wanted nothing more than to spit up the churning blood rising in his throat, but his pride wouldn't let him.
"Haah...... haah......."
Do Yang-woon looked like a wreck. His bare, sculpted upper body was mottled with bruises and covered in wounds. As he fought to catch his ragged breath, someone approached slowly, sweeping back glossy indigo hair. Do Yang-woon looked at him and spoke.
"What are you?"
"......"
"Did you get some kind of fortunate encounter recently? Or some kind of realization?"
The handsome man with indigo hair and sharp eyes said nothing to the question. Do Yang-woon scowled at his silence.
Barely a month ago, when they'd sparred, the two of them had been almost evenly matched. Now the gap between them had suddenly widened. The force of ki, the way he handled his moves, none of it used proper technique, just plain, basic movements, and yet it was devastatingly precise against him regardless.
'......Is this really the same guy? To improve this much.'
His skill had leapt forward by a staggering margin. At this kind of gap, more fighting would only end the same way. Humiliating as it was, Do Yang-woon had to admit defeat in this match. Gritting his teeth, he said,
"Seo-han. I concede this ma......"
Pat!
The handsome man shot toward Do Yang-woon like a bolt of lightning. He raised his leg and brought it down in a stomping kick. Do Yang-woon barely managed to slip half a step aside to dodge it.
"What the hell is thi......"
Thud!
Before he could finish speaking, the man's kick changed trajectory mid-flight and slammed into Do Yang-woon's side. The blow sent his body flying.
Rumble-rumble-boom!
Do Yang-woon rolled across the ground several times before finally coming to a stop.
"Guhk!"
He'd been holding it back, but this time the blood finally came up.
Do Yang-woon staggered to his feet. Glaring at the man who kept attacking even after he'd conceded, he raised his voice.
"Gu Yang Seo-han. You trying to finish this all the way?"
"......"
"You really......"
Shhk!
In the blink of an eye, the man called Gu Yang Seo-han had closed the distance to right in front of Do Yang-woon's face.
Thud!
Before he could block, the kick struck Do Yang-woon's throat. Staggering from the hit, he nearly toppled sideways, but gritted his teeth and held his footing, then threw a punch at Gu Yang Seo-han's face.
Gu Yang Seo-han dodged it with ease,
Whip!
then wrapped Do Yang-woon's arm in a grappling hold and slammed him down hard.
Boom!
Blood burst from Do Yang-woon's mouth as he hit the ground. The floor hadn't just cracked, it had caved in around the exact shape of his fallen body, proof enough that Gu Yang Seo-han hadn't held back at all. Bleeding, Do Yang-woon forced his mouth open.
"You...... what the hell......."
Thud!
Before he could finish, Gu Yang Seo-han's foot slammed down onto his chest.
"Kheok!"
Blood sprayed from Do Yang-woon's mouth again. Gu Yang Seo-han stared down at him with a flat, emotionless gaze, then lifted his leg once more. This time his foot wasn't aimed at the chest. It was aimed at his face.
Even through the pain, a chill ran down Do Yang-woon's spine at the sight.
'Don't tell me this bastard's actually trying to kill m......'
Pat!
Gu Yang Seo-han's leg was already coming down, ready to crush Do Yang-woon's face.
Shhk!
Just as he was about to bring it down, Gu Yang Seo-han stepped back and snatched something flying toward him out of the air.
Thwack!
It was a small arrow. Gu Yang Seo-han turned his head toward where it had come from. Beyond a window there, Ki Ma-jin stood with both crossbows aimed, wearing a mortified expression.
"Uh...... look, this is...... I didn't mean to do tha......."
Gu Yang Seo-han studied him for a moment, then turned back and raised his leg toward Do Yang-woon's face again, ready to bring it down.
"Stop!"
Ki Ma-jin fired both crossbows in a frantic burst.
Shhhhhhhhk!
The rapid volley streaked toward Gu Yang Seo-han's vital points. He shifted only his upper body, dodging with ease.
Pat!
As if to say once was forgivable but not twice, he launched himself at Ki Ma-jin.
'Wha-?'
Ki Ma-jin, flustered, kept firing without pause, but Gu Yang Seo-han slid through every shot with an uncanny Body-Lightening Technique and reached the window in an instant.
'Wh-why is he this fast?'
It was an absurd level of movement skill. Startled, Gu Yang Seo-han was about to hurl a lightning kick at Ki Ma-jin, who was already throwing himself backward away from the window.
'!?'
But he flinched, stopped himself, and pulled back a step from the window instead.
Thwip!
'Another little rat, huh.'
His sharpened ki sense had picked up on someone standing against the wall beside the window. If he'd kicked straight at the window, whoever stood there could have ambushed him from the side. And his instinct proved right.
"Damn it. What kind of bait job is this. We got spotted."
"Oh, is that so?"
Gu Yang Seo-han scoffed inwardly at the voices drifting through the window.
'Fools.'
Did they really think some cheap little trap would work on a master of his caliber? On top of that, whoever stood behind the wall didn't even know how to properly hide their presence. Just some green kid.
'Better deal with this one first.'
Gu Yang Seo-han shifted into an odd stance and aimed a kick at the wall. It looked like a simple kick, but it was an advanced form of internal force strike, the Penetrating Strike, a technique that drove force straight through solid matter.
Boom!
The instant his foot touched the wall, a clean footprint sank into the surface, and the entire wall shuddered. A blow strong enough to leave that kind of mark and impact on Gyeseseok stone should have dropped anyone standing on the other side of it, Penetrating Strike or not.
"Ow."
'Ow?'
Gu Yang Seo-han's brow furrowed. That should have been a direct hit from the Penetrating Strike. And all he got was "ow"? Was this some kind of bluff?
Boom!
Right then, a hand with veins bulging along it burst through the wall and grabbed hold of Gu Yang Seo-han's ankle.
'!?'
The Gyeseseok wall had given way that easily? His ki sense had picked up barely any trace of martial training from whoever was behind it. What in the world was going on?
A voice came from beyond the wall.
"Let's talk about this outside, shall we."
'What?'
Thwack!
No sooner had the words left than the hand gripping Gu Yang Seo-han's foot yanked with tremendous force.
Kwaaang!
Footnotes:
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