WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 73: The Variable (2)
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A forested hill in the northwestern corner of the dormitory grounds.
A man sat on a small rock in the middle of the dark forest, applying wound-healing salve to an injury on his thigh.
The man was Master Go Heon-beom, the dorm parent of Western Wind Residence.
Frowning from the pain in his wound, he muttered irritably.
"So they're academy masters after all."
They had not inhaled it. They had directly consumed the Ja Hyun Powder through tea, yet they had put up a fiercer fight than expected.
His thigh and shoulder were injured.
They truly lived up to the name of Changcheon Martial Academy. Had it not been for the Ja Hyun Powder, dealing with them alone might have been difficult.
After applying wound-healing salve to his injury, Go Heon-beom pulled his rolled-up pants leg back down.
'They should be arriving soon.'
He was waiting for those who had completed their missions to join him.
They were the ones who had spread Ja Hyun Powder through the four dormitories and started the fires.
The corners of Go Heon-beom's mouth rose.
It had already been nine years since he infiltrated Changcheon Martial Academy.
'They never expected us to spend a full nine years preparing this.'
Over a long period, they had altered the ventilation passages inside the four dormitories.
They had done it gradually, one piece at a time, so it had not been difficult.
Ja Hyun Powder seeped through the ventilation shafts connected to every room, poisoning all the cadets.
'They never expected the dormitory system itself to become their weakness.'
Thanks to roll call, the cadets always returned to their dorm rooms.
That was what they had targeted.
They could not have imagined that the enemy had infiltrated them over such a long period to prepare this great scheme.
'Now it begins.'
Countless cadets would be consumed by the Fire Demon and meet their deaths.
They might be nothing but green youths now, but they would become the force of justice's main fighting strength in the future.
Even if they burned them all to death, he felt not the slightest pity.
'Do not think this is unfair. If you want to curse someone after you die, curse your parents and masters.'
They were only returning what had been done to them.
Seventeen years ago, they too had tried to wipe out every last seed of the force of evil.
This was bloody retribution for that.
And it began with bringing down Changcheon Martial Academy...
-Rustle!
Then the sound of brush being pushed aside came from several directions.
Go Heon-beom turned at the presence and saw two masked figures arrive.
Recognizing them, he gave a small laugh and asked, "The mission?"
"Southern Blade Residence has been consumed by the Fire Demon."
"Good."
At last, the arson, the highlight of their great scheme, had begun.
The thought of the despairing expressions Changcheon Martial Academy's masters would make once all four dormitories burned made it impossible for his excitement to settle.
"That's one."
-Rustle!
Before he even finished speaking, two more masked figures emerged from the brush.
They immediately reported to Go Heon-beom.
"Eastern River Residence is burning."
"You have done well."
Go Heon-beom praised them with satisfaction.
Everything was proceeding smoothly, step by step.
'Two left.'
Once the remaining two dormitories burned, their success would be complete.
Just as anticipation filled him, sounds of movement came from the northeastern brush, and two masked figures ran toward them in a panic.
Go Heon-beom smiled and asked, "Have you completed your mission?"
The masked figures looked flustered.
"B-Brigade leader. A variable has arisen."
"A variable?"
"There was interference along the way, but we properly started the Fire Demon. Then something suddenly flew in and extinguished the fire at Northern Heaven Residence."
"...What are you talking about?"
One of Go Heon-beom's eyebrows rose.
No matter how he tried to understand it, their report sounded like incoherent nonsense.
They started a fire, then something did what?
"Report properly."
"We do not understand it either. A wind blew through as if a storm had suddenly risen, and the fire at Northern Heaven Residence went out in an instant."
Did that make any sense?
A storm-like wind suddenly blew through out of nowhere?
Go Heon-beom stared at them in disbelief, then spoke with sharp eyes.
"So, in the end, you failed?"
"We are sorry!"
-Thud!
The two masked figures hurriedly dropped to one knee and bowed their heads.
Failure in a mission was no different from death.
Go Heon-beom looked at them as if they were pathetic, clenching his fist.
'They all should have succeeded.'
They should have burned every dormitory while they had the chance.
Even one failure was a stain on the beginning of the great scheme they had prepared for so long.
"You fools."
"We are sorry. But we could not have expected such a variable..."
"A variable?"
"We never expected anyone to remain awake after inhaling Ja Hyun Powder."
"What?"
Go Heon-beom frowned.
"They remained awake after inhaling Ja Hyun Powder?"
"Yes. Not only were they awake, but they could move without any trouble at all."
"That cannot be."
The powerful effect of Ja Hyun Powder had already been proven.
It was a medicinal powder painstakingly made in the Valley of White Death. It contained no poison, so even internal energy could not detect it, and it spread throughout the entire body.
Even the academy masters had been helplessly affected by it.
Yet there were cadets who were completely fine after being exposed to it?
'...The sole weakness of Ja Hyun Powder is that once someone has been affected by it even once, they develop resistance and it no longer works. But they should never have used it before now.'
Something was strange.
Did they possess an innate resistance to Ja Hyun Powder?
Just as he was puzzling over it...
-Rustle!
A presence came from the brush.
Thinking it was the masked figures returning after completing their mission at Western Wind Residence, Go Heon-beom turned toward it.
But unexpected people emerged from the brush.
They were Jin-hyeok and Hae Ryang.
"No. How are you two here?"
The masked figures assigned to Northern Heaven Residence could not hide their shock.
They had never imagined that these brats would chase after them in the middle of all that.
Go Heon-beom frowned fiercely.
"Not only did you fail your mission, you let yourselves be followed?"
"W-We are sorry. But those brats are the ones who stayed awake and interfered with us."
"What? Them?"
Go Heon-beom glared at Jin-hyeok and Hae Ryang.
The masked figures around them drew their Weapons.
-Shing! Shing!
"Huh? J-Jin-hyeok young master, there are too many of them."
Hae Ryang spoke with difficulty.
He had chased after the masked figures without thinking alongside Jin-hyeok, but he had felt uneasy about it.
That ominous feeling had been right.
'Damn it!'
Jin-hyeok was also surprised by the number of masked figures.
Since arson had broken out throughout the dormitories, he had known it was not the work of one or two people, but this was more serious than he had expected.
"Shouldn't we run?"
At Hae Ryang's whispered question, Jin-hyeok hesitated.
If there had only been two masked figures, it would have been different, but this many would be difficult for the two of them to handle.
Go Heon-beom clicked his tongue.
"You brats should know your limits before playing hero. You are shortening your own lives. Kill them."
-Whoosh!
The masked figures instantly blocked off their escape routes.
Surrounded in an instant, Hae Ryang and Jin-hyeok pressed their backs together and took battle stances.
This was not a sparring match at the academy.
It was a real fight.
Jin-hyeok swallowed dryly and gathered life energy at the tips of his feet.
"Finish this quickly."
At Go Heon-beom's urging, the masked figures moved.
The first to act were the masked figures who had infiltrated Northern Heaven Residence and been hindered by them.
If they wanted to make up for their failure even a little, they had to kill these two with their own hands.
-Whoosh!
A masked figure used a Claw Technique against Jin-hyeok.
'What a vicious Claw Technique.'
The Claw Technique came straight for Jin-hyeok's heart and head.
Jin-hyeok used a step to narrowly evade it, then swung a roundhouse kick at the masked figure's neck.
"Hmph!"
The masked figure casually avoided it by throwing their head back.
But Jin-hyeok's kick was not over.
-Thud!
'Eight-Form Leg Technique, Star-Returning Kick!'
Jin-hyeok spun once more and repeatedly kicked the chest of the masked figure, whose head was still thrown back.
-Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The masked figure was pushed back around three steps.
'This brat?'
The masked figure clutched their chest with startled eyes.
They had thought he was just a brat, but his martial skill was far better than expected.
'...An Expert.'
Go Heon-beom, who commanded the masked figures, also grasped Jin-hyeok's level of martial skill at once.
That level placed him among the stronger cadets at the academy.
If the masked figures faced him one-on-one, subduing him might take time.
"Do not waste time. Attack together."
"Yes!"
At his command, the masked figures prepared to attack at once.
Jin-hyeok and Hae Ryang tensed, their backs pressed together as they prepared to face them.
Then...
-Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!
"Huff! Huff!"
Someone came running through the brush in a panic.
It was a masked figure covered in blood, clutching their empty right shoulder. Recognizing them, Go Heon-beom frowned.
"Why did you come alone? And what happened to you?"
"B-Brigade leader! We are sorry. Western Wind Residence has failed."
"What?"
Northern Heaven Residence had failed, and now Western Wind Residence had failed too?
What was this supposed to mean?
As he stared in confusion at the unexpected report, someone emerged from the brush.
"Hmm. I was wondering which lunatics had scattered such crude powder through the dormitory and committed arson. So you were all gathered here."
A cold beauty with dark blue hair, a proud expression, clothes that revealed smooth thighs, and a fan in her hand.
She was none other than Gu Yang Seo-rin, dorm head of Western Wind Residence and granddaughter of Western Wind Lone Angle.
"Ugh! You bitch!"
The masked figure's reaction alone made it clear who had left them like that.
Yet Gu Yang Seo-rin was not the only one who appeared.
"Jin-hyeok! Hae Ryang!"
"Senior So-so?"
The one calling them was Tang So-so, with her cute dimples.
Beside Tang So-so stood another pretty girl with slightly upturned eyes and a fox-like face. She was Ma Yeon-hwa, ranked third among the academy's third-years.
'Ahhh, we're saved.'
Hae Ryang let out a sigh of relief at their arrival.
He had been at a loss over how he and Jin-hyeok could handle so many masked figures.
Ma Yeon-hwa swept her gaze over the masked figures and spoke.
"Are these the culprits behind it all?"
"It seems so, senior. Oh? But there is a familiar face here. Was our Western Wind Residence dorm parent the culprit directing them?"
Gu Yang Seo-rin's eyes gleamed as she noticed Go Heon-beom.
She had never imagined he would be behind those directing the arsonists.
Go Heon-beom's gaze sharpened.
"How were you awake?"
"You did not seriously think something like that would work on people from the Gu Yang Clan, did you? Then again, it was foolish of you to try it when it would not even work on the Tang Clan."
"Not even on the Tang Clan?... Are you really going to talk like that?"
"Heh heh heh. It is true."
Tang So-so puffed out her cheeks and glared at Gu Yang Seo-rin.
She did not like how Gu Yang Seo-rin always acted as though the Tang Clan was beneath her.
Ma Yeon-hwa stopped the two of them.
"Stop bickering. The enemy is right in front of us."
As she spoke, Ma Yeon-hwa drew two swords from her back.
One was black with a dragon pattern, the other white with a phoenix pattern. They looked like a matched pair of treasures.
Black Dragon and White Phoenix.
They were the two treasured swords she took pride in.
"Well, that is true."
-Snap!
Gu Yang Seo-rin spread open her ornate fan and lifted one leg.
A dark blue aura shimmered like heat haze from her smooth leg.
"Hmph. See you later."
Tang So-so crossed her hands and thrust them forward, revealing the Tang Clan's unique concealed needle weapons filling both hands.
'This is a proper variable.'
He had never expected Ja Hyun Powder to fail on five people.
Tang So-so and Gu Yang Seo-rin came from clans that specialized in poisons and medicinal herbs, so that was one thing. But how had the powder failed on the other three?
Now was not the time to question it.
'Nothing changes.'
Two dormitories had failed, but two others were still being devoured by the Fire Demon.
That alone was enough to shake Changcheon Martial Academy to its core.
"Kill them all!"
The moment the order was given, the masked figures launched themselves at them.
Footnotes:
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