WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 196: The Uninvited Guest Who Visited the Academy
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“I've set your legs again, but... hmm... even if they heal completely, there'll probably be lasting effects.”
At the physician's calm words, Ak Jupyeong's face crumpled like paper.
“Bullshit! Don't try to excuse your lack of skill by saying you couldn't treat me properly!”
“...”
“Martial Alliance Physicians Hall...! Send me to the Martial Alliance Physicians Hall!”
“...Only Martial Alliance members may go to the Martial Alliance Physicians Hall. You aren't an official Alliance member yet.”
Ak Jupyeong's face flushed red, then turned pale at the physician's firm refusal.
“You worthless quack! Even the physicians of my clan can cure this, so why can't you?!”
The physician's expression turned cold under the continued abuse.
“You certainly have a foul mouth.”
“W-What's your name? I won't let this matter slide!”
“Sama Jeong. A Grade Five Special Alliance Member of the Martial Alliance.”
Ak Jupyeong's face tightened at Sama Jeong's words.
Reaching Grade Five at that age meant Sama Jeong was no ordinary physician.
“Why? Do you intend to make an issue of it?”
“...”
“I'm the one who'll take issue with what you said today.”
“...”
“So I should finish your treatment quickly.”
With that, Sama Jeong left the inner room.
“Hah!”
Ak Jupyeong let out a long breath and ground his teeth.
He wasn't particularly afraid of some physician deciding to make trouble for him.
The Ak Clan's influence had already spread throughout the Martial Alliance, and his uncle was a powerful figure even within the Inspectorate, the Alliance's highest investigative body.
Still, the fact remained that Jin Sowoon had caught him off guard and left him seriously injured.
Even if he tore Jin Sowoon to pieces later, the blow to his pride from this incident would never heal.
“Jin Sowoon... I'll tear apart not just your fellow disciples, but your entire sect.”
Bang.
Someone suddenly opened the door and entered, making Ak Jupyeong furrow his brow.
“Who the hell comes in without even making their presence known...?”
Once he saw the person's face, Ak Jupyeong clamped his mouth shut.
The uninvited guest entered the inner room, dragged a chair from the center of the room, and slowly approached Ak Jupyeong.
Creeeak.
The chair scraping across the floor made an unsettling sound, filling the room with an ominous air.
Forcing down the fear constricting his body, Ak Jupyeong glared at the visitor.
Creeeak.
The sound stopped.
The visitor sat backward on the chair and looked at Ak Jupyeong without expression.
“Jin Sowoon...”
Ak Jupyeong ground his teeth.
“You bastard... after daring to do something like this...!”
“If you think I'll let this slide, don't even dream of it.”
“...”
As though Jin Sowoon had completed his unfinished words, Ak Jupyeong closed his mouth tightly.
Jin Sowoon rested an arm on the chair back and tilted his head slightly.
“Ak Jupyeong. You crossed the line.”
“...”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Jin Sowoon tapped the chair back with his fingers in a steady rhythm.
“You went far beyond it.”
Then, propping his chin on his hand, he calmly looked Ak Jupyeong over from head to toe.
His eyes were utterly emotionless, yet cold enough to freeze the air.
“Right now, I want to break all four of your limbs and destroy your dantian.”
Ak Jupyeong shuddered without realizing it, then clenched his teeth.
“I-I'm Ak Jupyeong of the Shandong Ak Clan! Do you think you can do whatever you want to me?!”
Jin Sowoon gave a faint snort, the corner of his mouth lifting nearly to his ear.
“Do you think you're in the Ak Clan right now?”
“...”
“Even if the Ak Clan comes after you're crippled, what would it matter? You'll spend the rest of your life lying in bed, eating nothing but porridge.”
“...”
Only then did Ak Jupyeong seem to grasp his situation. His body trembled again.
Gulp.
Jin Sowoon reached out, and Ak Jupyeong flinched backward.
A cold, solid wall pressed against his back.
Ak Jupyeong squeezed his eyes shut.
When nothing happened after several moments, he cautiously opened one eye.
“...Ghk!”
Jin Sowoon's hand, which had been reaching for Ak Jupyeong's throat, stopped.
Then it changed direction and lightly patted his shoulder.
“Don't worry. I don't intend to handle you myself. If I did, that brat would come charging at me to kill me instead of you.”
“...What?”
“So hurry up and recover, then return to academy life. The sooner you recover, the sooner that bastard's tantrums will find their proper target. You, instead of me.”
“What are you...?”
Having said all he wanted, Jin Sowoon turned away from Ak Jupyeong and headed for the door, regardless of whatever he babbled behind him.
Then he stopped.
“Oh, and don't even think about withdrawing from the academy.”
A killing intent so terrifying it made Ak Jupyeong's teeth chatter poured from Jin Sowoon's entire body.
“If you do, I'll chase you to the very end of hell and kill you.”
With that, Jin Sowoon left the inner room.
“Huff... huff... huff...”
Only after Jin Sowoon was gone did the tension constricting Ak Jupyeong's body ease. He felt overwhelming shame at how frightened he had been of someone like Jin Sowoon.
“...Jin Sowoon! You bastard! I swear, I swear I'll have my revenge...!”
The sound of Ak Jupyeong grinding his teeth echoed hollowly through the inner room.
#
On my way out after warning Ak Jupyeong, I couldn't help but laugh when I saw who was approaching.
Had they heard me?
The trainers and instructors all turned to look at me.
“Jin Sowoon... You're under disciplinary review. Who gave you permission to wander around?”
“Disciplinary review?”
When I tilted my head, the instructor who appeared to be their leader twisted his face.
“The trainers' meeting has already begun discussing disciplinary action against you. Depending on the outcome, you could even be expelled from the academy. Do you not understand that?”
What kind of nonsense were these bastards trying to sell me?
“How ridiculous.”
“What?”
I gave a disbelieving laugh.
“Disciplinary action isn't final until the Academy Head approves it.”
“Y-You...!”
Do you know who I am?
I'm martial brothers with your Academy Head, that's who.
“Jin Sowoon, show some respect to the instructor.”
“Respect, my ass...”
I picked at my ear and looked at them indifferently. The instructor, along with the trainers behind him, trembled with rage.
“Besides, expelling an academy student is a serious matter that requires approval from the Mantong Office. Your negligence as Martial Arts Academy trainers and instructors will be brought up during the investigation as well. Are you all right with that?”
“Y-You insolent bastard!”
Now that was high praise.
It was practically an admission that the instructor had lost the argument.
“This should be interesting. The trainers and instructors who neglected an academy student while he was beaten nearly to death, and me, who assaulted the attacker to save that student. I wonder who'll receive the harsher punishment.”
“...Do you think the White Path Society and the Shandong Ak Clan will let this matter go?”
“Not to mention the trainers and instructors, who should have remained neutral, were currying favor with certain factions and giving academy students special treatment.”
“Grrrk!”
I pointed at the inner room where Ak Jupyeong lay with both hands.
“Go kiss his ass already. If you do it while he's feeling vulnerable like this, won't Ak Jupyeong like you even more?”
I walked between the instructors and trainers.
Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran were waiting in the courtyard of the Academy Medical Hall.
They must have heard the rough outline of what had happened. Both looked full of concern.
“Young Master Jin, what happened?”
“It's nothing serious.”
“How can you say that? The entire academy is in an uproar because of this...!”
“Well, I'll probably receive a minor punishment, but I won't be expelled. Ak Jupyeong's crimes were too serious.”
Despite what I said, Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa couldn't relax.
After exchanging a glance, Namgung Seonhwa stepped forward.
“The Shandong Ak Clan is one of the Five Great Clans, and it holds more major posts in the Martial Alliance than any other clan.”
“Hmm... Is that so?”
I already knew that much.
Still, I didn't let on in front of Namgung Seonhwa.
For some reason, her expression was stiffer than usual.
“Especially within the Inspectorate. They have many people stationed there.”
“What?”
What was that supposed to mean?
I quickly searched the archives in my head for the personnel records.
Namgung Seonhwa continued.
“You know the Inspectorate's Third Department is the cruelest of them all, right?”
Throughout the Martial Alliance and even among the Black Path martial artists, it was said that anyone who entered the Third Department's building never emerged whole.
“...”
Namgung Seonhwa nodded.
“The Blood-Devil Flying Spear, the head of the Inspectorate's Third Department, is Ak Jupyeong's second uncle.”
“...”
At that moment, I found the name of the Third Department's head in the Inspectorate personnel records from this point in my previous life.
Ak Byeongbi
Head of the Inspectorate's Third Department
Damn it. He was unmistakably from the Shandong Ak Clan.
#
‘Ugh...’
Yayul Geuk came to his senses and opened his eyes wide at the unfamiliar ceiling.
“W-Where am I...?!”
“Awake?”
The sudden voice made him whip his head around.
“J-Jin Sowoon!”
He thought he might have seen that disagreeable face in a dream, leaving him in a foul mood.
“You... If I see you again...!”
Yayul Geuk bared his teeth on instinct and forced his killing intent to rise.
Yet the killing intent produced by his still-unrecovered body was pitifully weak.
Jin Sowoon looked at him as though he could not feel the killing intent at all.
“Why did you give up?”
The question came out of nowhere.
When Yayul Geuk said nothing, Jin Sowoon stepped closer and asked again.
“Why did you give up?”
“W-What are you talking about?!”
Jin Sowoon's eyes flashed sharply.
“Those bastards were rough, but it wasn't enough to kill you. Why did you give up?”
“...”
Forgetting his anger at Jin Sowoon, Yayul Geuk lowered his head.
“Why did you give up?”
The relentless question continued.
“It's none of your business!”
He tried to resist.
“Why did you give up?”
Jin Sowoon kept backing Yayul Geuk into a corner.
“Why did you give up?”
The repeated question finally made Yayul Geuk's eyes turn vicious.
“W-What would someone like you know?! Who are you to interfere?!”
“So you did give up.”
“...You crazy bastard.”
Jin Sowoon fell silent for a moment, then asked in a cold voice.
“Did giving up make you feel better?”
The question burrowed into Yayul Geuk's heart again.
It hurt more than a fist.
It cut deeper than a kick.
Yet that icy voice did not stop.
“I asked whether running away gave you comfort.”
All Yayul Geuk could do was glare.
Jin Sowoon gave a faint laugh, as though that glare was laughable.
“If I were you, I would've thought of your brothers.”
“...!”
Fire lit in Yayul Geuk's eyes.
Jin Sowoon's indifferent voice continued.
“Your second brother, who's dead. Your third brother, who's crippled.”
“Y-You!”
As though he had remembered something, Jin Sowoon slapped his forehead.
“Ah! I heard you took the regular examination with the money your eldest brother earned over his entire life. That brother of yours is pitiful too. How absurd must it feel to realize he wasted his life on someone as worthless as you?”
Yayul Geuk felt as though something exploded inside his head.
“Y-You son of a bitch!”
He lunged at Jin Sowoon without thinking.
It didn't matter whether his body had recovered.
He couldn't endure it without throwing himself forward in fury.
Leaping from the bed, Yayul Geuk unleashed the Thunderforce Fist Art, striking only at Jin Sowoon's vital points.
Tat-tat-tat.
Jin Sowoon casually neutralized the fist strikes with one hand, then pressed Yayul Geuk's paralysis acupoint.
Yayul Geuk struggled frantically.
“L-Let me go! I'll kill you!”
“This is the Academy Medical Hall. There are patients here.”
Jin Sowoon lifted Yayul Geuk with one arm and carried him out of the Academy Medical Hall toward the training ground.
The moment they arrived at a small, empty training ground, he threw Yayul Geuk down. At some point, he had also released the paralysis acupoint.
Jin Sowoon looked down at Yayul Geuk and provoked him.
“You can make as much noise as you want here.”
Yayul Geuk immediately shouted, his eyes rolling wildly.
“Y-You fucking bastard!”
The Thunderforce Fist Art unfolded from Yayul Geuk's hands.
A fierce, lightning-fast fist art.
Without even trying to dodge, Jin Sowoon grabbed Yayul Geuk's shoulder, hooked his leg, and slammed him to the ground.
Thud.
Yayul Geuk tried to rise quickly, but Jin Sowoon grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him forward.
Yayul Geuk rolled wildly across the ground as though he were performing the Lazy Donkey Roll.
“What? You think you can kill someone with only this much skill?”
“Argh!”
The Torrential Rain Palm Art poured down, closing in on Jin Sowoon from three directions.
Jin Sowoon still didn't dodge. He raised a hand blade and neutralized the palm strikes.
His movements as he dealt with Yayul Geuk's desperate struggle were impossibly light.
“I don't think I even need to use martial arts for this.”
“...”
Yayul Geuk forced himself to steady his ragged breathing and waited for his final chance.
Jin Sowoon approached him as though Yayul Geuk were no concern at all.
“Now I understand why Ak Jupyeong tormented you so persistently. People who are all talk are always pathetic.”
Jin Sowoon's fist came flying in brutally.
Yayul Geuk watched its path until the end, grabbed Jin Sowoon's fist, and unleashed Lotus of the Flowing Cloud Divine Art.
It was his trump card, one that had caught Ak Jupyeong's group several times before they experienced it firsthand.
‘I've got him...!’
Yayul Geuk looked at Jin Sowoon, believing his attack had worked.
Jin Sowoon's body rose into the air and spun halfway around.
If Yayul Geuk slammed him into the ground now, the impact would knock some sense into him.
Then he could follow up with another attack...
“You don't even understand the basics of momentum, yet you're trying to use the art of Flower-Grafting.”
For an instant, Yayul Geuk doubted his ears.
Jin Sowoon should have been flustered, yet he was saying something incomprehensible in midair.
Tap.
Then, as he landed, Jin Sowoon shifted his grip and pulled Yayul Geuk toward him.
In that instant, Yayul Geuk's body was drawn into the air by an overwhelming force he couldn't resist.
‘F-Flower-Grafting?’
No one in the Flowing Cloud Sect could produce such a powerful force of attraction.
Crash.
Yayul Geuk was smashed into the ground. The impact felt as though it would break his entire body, leaving his head blank and his ears ringing.
His own force had been returned to him several times over.
The impact struck his body before it had fully recovered, and he felt as though he would collapse at any moment. Yet the technique he had just suffered left him no time to feel pain.
More than pain, the shock of it nearly froze his entire body.
‘T-This is...’
It was the very thing everyone in the Flowing Cloud Sect had searched for so desperately.
The ultimate art of Flower-Grafting.
Lotus in the truest sense.
“W-What the hell are you, Jin Sowoon?!”
It had manifested from the hands of that hateful Jin Sowoon.
It truly had manifested.
Footnotes:
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