WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Episode 1: Opportunity (2)

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The masked intruder could not hide their puzzlement.

Even those who cultivated internal energy would fall into a deep sleep if Sleep Fragrance caught them off guard.

For an ordinary person who had never learned Martial Arts, even a faint whiff would send them suddenly to sleep.

Yet something unexpected had happened.

Everyone in the government holding cell had fallen asleep, but this fellow was wide awake.

‘What in the world is this brat?’

Just in case, the intruder placed a hand on the boy's abdomen.

Then they sent life energy into him.

If he had cultivated even the slightest bit of internal energy, Reflective Force would occur.

But...

‘There is no Reflective Force.’

He had not cultivated internal energy at all.

Then, as the intruder had heard from an acquaintance in officialdom earlier that day, he truly was an ordinary person.

Why, then, had Sleep Fragrance not worked on him?

‘...This brat?’

Moreover, he was not afraid of the situation.

Setting aside the fact that he had withstood Sleep Fragrance, a stranger had broken into the holding cell and immobilized him with the Point-Sealing Art.

Yet he stared back without the slightest tremor in his eyes.

As though he were observing them.

‘He is different.’

The intruder had heard he was a condemned criminal, but there was something different about him from ordinary boys his age.

Perhaps it was that he gave off an unsettling feeling.

The intruder hesitated for a moment.

‘Perhaps...’

Then a voice came from behind them.

“Have you not found him yet?”

Someone walked into the rear of the holding cell.

This person was also masked, but their build was not particularly large.

No, their slender frame and short stature showed that they were not yet a fully grown adult.

The intruder spoke quietly.

“Young Master, I asked you to wait outside and keep watch...”

“Is that him?”

Before the intruder could finish, the masked youth pointed and asked.

It was the disheveled prisoner boy, immobilized by the Point-Sealing Art.

The intruder nodded.

“Yes.”

“I cannot see his face clearly. Guard Gam, move his hair aside.”

He seemed to want to confirm the boy's face.

Guard Gam hesitated briefly, then lifted the immobilized boy's hair away from his face.

A gasp escaped the masked youth.

“Ha...”

The youth was genuinely unable to hide his astonishment.

The disheveled prisoner boy could not understand this reaction.

Why were these intruders reacting like this after immobilizing him?

Then the masked youth removed his mask.

‘!?’

The boy's eyes shook.

The youth's face beneath the mask resembled his own, as though he were looking into a mirror.

Their faces were so alike that one could believe them twins.

Their hairstyles and facial details differed subtly, but if they dressed alike, even people who had known them for a long time might not be able to tell them apart.

“Do we look alike?”

“...Almost identical.”

“Truly... astonishing.”

“I was shocked myself when I first saw him.”

“That is understandable.”

What were the chances that complete strangers could have such similar faces?

It would not be an exaggeration to say they were nearly nonexistent.

Yet the prisoner boy and the unmasked youth had almost exactly the same face.

After staring in amazement for some time, the unmasked youth approached the prisoner boy and spoke.

“You. You are condemned to death, correct?”

“...”

His Mute Point had also been sealed, so there was no way he could answer.

The youth signaled to Guard Gam.

Guard Gam struck the boy's chest with an acupoint strike.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!

When the acupoint strike was complete, the youth said,

“You can answer now. You are condemned to death, correct?”

The prisoner boy remained silent for a moment before answering.

“...Yes.”

At his respectful reply, the youth smiled.

“You understand your position well.”

After all, even if he was condemned to death, he was only an ordinary person.

Before martial artists, he was no different from a cat before a tiger. It would have been stranger if he had not been respectful.

The youth folded his arms and spoke arrogantly.

“I hear your execution will be carried out the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

“What would you do if you were given a chance to live a little longer?”

“...I want to live.”

“Hehehe. Yes, of course you do.”

The youth could not hide his satisfaction.

How could a condemned man with no options endure without clutching at the hem of someone offering to save his life?

The youth sneered.

“Such an opportunity does not come easily. For a condemned criminal, you are quite fortunate.”

“...Will you give me that opportunity?”

“Yes. A very great opportunity.”

“What is it?”

“Even if it is only for five days, it is not often that someone like you gets the chance to live as Mok GyeongUn, the third young master of the great Yeonmok Sword Manor.”

‘Yeonmok Sword Manor?’

He had never heard of it.

From the sound of it, it seemed to be some large manor.

The youth did not know it, but Yeonmok Sword Manor was an old martial family in northern Anhui.

There was no way for him to know that, but one thing was clear.

“Do you want a double?”

At the prisoner boy's question, Mok GyeongUn's smile widened.

“You are not stupid. Yes. Why else would I need a condemned criminal like you? What I need is that face of yours.”

There was only one reason to seek someone with the same face.

It was to have them serve as a double.

“...Do I merely need to act as your double?”

“It is only five days. Were you expecting something grand? All you must do is stay shut inside the manor's villa and pretend to be this young master.”

“I see.”

“You can enjoy five days as the young master of a prestigious martial family and preserve your life in return. What a fine opportunity, is it not?”

He was certainly right.

But the boy was not a fool.

A double was someone who took risks in place of the real person.

There was surely some hidden danger lurking behind this offer.

‘A double...’

But no opportunity could be better than this.

He had been wondering how to escape the government holding cell in the first place.

If he stayed, he would be executed by dismemberment.

There was no need to deliberate.

“Give me this opportunity.”

“Heh.”

Mok GyeongUn snickered and gestured.

The masked intruder took out a small pouch from their robes.

The boy asked, puzzled.

“What is that?”

“Eat it.”

“...?”

As he wondered what that meant, the intruder took a black pellet from the pouch.

A foul stench wafted from it. Anyone could tell it had nothing to do with medicine.

The intruder brought the pellet to the boy's mouth.

Staring at it, the boy asked,

“...Is it poison?”

Mok GyeongUn snorted.

“Did you think I would simply trust a condemned criminal like you?”

“...”

“If you safely complete your role as my double, I will give you the antidote. Hehehe.”

He meant to eliminate any chance of the boy doing something foolish from the start.

The intruder pressed the poison pellet to his lips.

“Open your mouth.”

He had no choice.

Looking at Mok GyeongUn, who wore a cruel smile, the boy slowly opened his mouth and accepted the poison pellet.

Guard Gam's eyes glinted as they watched him chew.

Normally, anyone who knew it was poison would grimace in distress, but he chewed and swallowed it without the slightest reaction.

He did not simply swallow it whole, either.

‘This brat truly is different.’

He had the same face as the young master, but he was a vicious sort.

That was likely why, despite never learning Martial Arts, he had killed so many people that he became a condemned criminal.

‘It was wise to prepare the poison pellet in advance.’

Now that he had taken it, he would not be able to pull any foolish trick like running away if he wished to live.

The boy stopped chewing and opened his mouth wide.

“I swallowed it, Young Master.”

They confirmed that there was nothing in his mouth.

The poison pellet was too large to hide in his mouth while pretending to swallow it.

Once they had confirmed it, Mok GyeongUn ordered,

“Release him now.”

“Yes.”

Guard Gam found a key among the ring they had brought and released the wooden restraint frame binding the boy's hands and feet.

‘Hoo.’

Once his hands and feet were free, the boy felt as though he could finally live again.

It was called a wooden restraint frame, but its insides were made of iron. It pressed painfully into his wrists and was tremendously heavy.

Guard Gam approached the entrance to the holding cell and spoke quietly.

“I will lead. You follow behind me. Young Master, please follow behind him.”

“Understood.”

He could not run away after taking the poison pellet, but it was a precaution.

With Guard Gam in front and the young master watching from behind, how could he possibly escape?

No matter that he was condemned to death, compared to those who had learned Martial Arts, he was no different from a child.

“Follow me.”

Just as they were about to open the holding cell door and leave...

“You! Urgh!”

Crack! Thud!

Startled by the sounds behind them, Guard Gam turned around.

An unbelievable sight unfolded before their eyes.

Mok GyeongUn lay on the floor with a look of shock on his face, his neck completely twisted around.

‘!!!’

It had happened so quickly that Guard Gam was speechless for a moment.

The boy spoke to them as if nothing had happened.

“What should we do? The condemned criminal meant to serve as the double has died.”

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