WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 205: Musical Chairs (4)
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When people witness something too absurd, do their bodies react instinctively?
That was exactly how I felt right now.
“This bastard's hilarious. Who are you calling shameless?”
Even while I had Namgung Gipyo beneath my foot, I couldn't believe this.
“J-Jin Sowoon...!”
Namgung Gipyo writhed like a worm with my foot pressed against his throat.
I put more weight into my foot.
“Lady Seonhwa, why were you just listening to this pointless drivel?”
“...”
Even at my words, she couldn't bring herself to raise her head.
I deliberately spoke firmly.
“If you keep your head bowed like that, won't it make what this bastard said sound true?”
Only then did Namgung Seonhwa lift her head.
Her eyes held a tangle of emotions.
“Was it because of the Invitation of Distinguished Figures you mentioned earlier? Were you trying not to upset this bastard?”
Namgung Seonhwa gave a small nod.
“...I wanted to be even a little help to you, Young Master Jin. I thought it might be better if Grandfather came as well...”
That open, pure goodwill toward me.
A smile rose to my lips before I realized it.
“Lady Seonhwa, I don't want to see you humiliated by an idiot like this because of me.”
“An, an idiot...? Jin Sowoon! Release me at once! Kugh!”
I kicked Namgung Gipyo's struggling face once more and continued.
“Well, it'll never come to that, but I'd rather lose my position as Academy Representative than see anything bad happen to you, Lady Seonhwa.”
“...”
When I looked into her eyes, she looked back into mine.
I made it clear.
“To me, Lady Namgung Seonhwa matters more than a position like Academy Representative.”
“...!”
From my perspective, maintaining a close relationship with Namgung Seonhwa was just as important as keeping my position.
I desperately needed the Namgung Clan's help in the future Orthodox-Demonic War.
I'd taught them the Shattering Form and prevented the Namgung Clan from being nearly wiped out. Wouldn't it be unfair if I couldn't make proper use of that debt during the Orthodox-Demonic War?
“R-Really?”
Namgung Seonhwa looked at me as though she couldn't believe it, her face turning red.
“Of course.”
A direct descendant of the Namgung Clan. I couldn't let her go.
I nodded several times.
Whoosh.
Perhaps the humiliation of enduring Namgung Gipyo's contempt all this time came rushing back to her. Namgung Seonhwa's face flushed even deeper.
I deliberately looked away.
“And you don't need to curry favor with a weasel like this. I can easily crush a few White Path Society fools.”
“A weasel? Jin Sowoon, were you talking about me?!”
I casually ignored the bastard writhing beneath me.
“So can you promise me that you won't let someone like this humiliate you again?”
“...”
Her ears red as well, Namgung Seonhwa nodded.
As expected, she was reliable and easy to talk to.
“Good. Then come with me.”
“Pardon?”
“I'll show you how I'm going to deal with the White Path Society.”
“...Yes.”
After we took a few steps, Namgung Gipyo, who had been pinned to the ground, sprang to his feet.
“Jin Sowoon! Do you think you can trample me and just walk away, no matter how strong you are?”
Clang.
A footprint still marked his face as Namgung Gipyo drew his sword in a fury.
People blinded by emotion always made the wrong choices.
I pointed at him with my chin and looked at Namgung Seonhwa.
“You should shake off the nasty things you heard earlier.”
Her eyes lit up at my words.
“Yes.”
As Namgung Seonhwa turned, Namgung Gipyo gave a cold laugh.
“Seonhwa! Are you truly planning to turn your back on the clan?”
Despite his provocation, she didn't budge.
“I've never turned my back on the clan.”
She glanced at me once, then continued.
“On the contrary, this is the best choice for the clan.”
“You fool!”
Namgung Gipyo charged as he unleashed the Changgung Unhindered Sword Art, and Namgung Seonhwa's jade-white hand shot forward.
Bang!
“Ugh...!”
There was no need to use the Firmament Cloud-Guarding Sword Art.
Struck directly by the Heavenly Thunder Three Palms, Namgung Gipyo's eyes rolled back as he flew five jang and passed out.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
“Good.”
That was what one of my officers should be like.
#
“This is...”
Namgung Seonhwa looked around the place she had reached after following Jin Sowoon, and a question escaped her lips.
“The dormitory?”
The Martial Arts Academy assigned dormitories according to grades each semester.
Because of that, most students with the highest grades gathered in the Orthodox Society and the White Path Society.
The Orthodox Society members, in particular, considered it shameful to be assigned anywhere below a two-person dormitory.
“Orthodox Hall, no less.”
That was why the two-person dormitories were often called Orthodox Hall.
“That’s right. There's someone I need to meet here.”
“Someone you need to meet?”
Jin Sowoon's lips curled upward as he looked at the puzzled Namgung Seonhwa.
“The person who'll take responsibility for this incident.”
As soon as they entered the two-person dormitory, people naturally looked startled at Jin Sowoon and Namgung Seonhwa's appearance.
Neither of them had any connection to Orthodox Hall.
Even so, nobody tried to stop them.
Instead, some greeted them with a nod or acknowledged them openly.
Namgung Seonhwa remembered them too.
They were the people who had gone through the events in Sichuan with them.
Unconcerned by the friendly gazes gathering around him, Jin Sowoon strode through Orthodox Hall.
“Hmm... I'm sure it was Room 404.”
Jin Sowoon climbed the stairs without hesitation, then pounded on the door of a dormitory room.
He had the air of a creditor visiting a debtor.
Soon, someone could be heard moving inside.
“Who is making such a commotion...?”
The door opened quietly, and someone in a monk's robe appeared.
“He is currently cultivating, so please visit another time...”
“Hey! Ilgak's in there, right?”
“...”
The monk-robed disciple's eyes trembled faintly at Jin Sowoon's blunt tone.
No matter how young he was or how low his martial seniority, Ilgak's standing after mastering the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic could not be compared to that of an ordinary person.
Yet Jin Sowoon was calling someone who had cultivated such Buddhist power as if he were a neighborhood thug.
The Shaolin Temple disciple tried to maintain courtesy while speaking.
“Academy Student Jin Sowoon, you are being far too rude. The monk is currently cultivating...”
Jin Sowoon waved his hand as though shooing away a fly.
“Forget it. Tell him to settle his karmic debt before he starts cultivating.”
“...Karmic debt?”
“Yes, an enormous karmic debt. If he doesn't settle it, he'll have a hard time reaching paradise.”
A faint crease formed on the Shaolin Temple disciple's scalp.
“...Are you insulting the Buddha now?”
Jin Sowoon stared at the crease as though it were fascinating, then frowned.
“Just pass on the message. Quickly. It's urgent.”
“...”
The Academy student, their eyelids twitching, shut the door.
“Young Master Jin, what on earth is this...?”
Namgung Seonhwa couldn't make sense of the situation unfolding before her.
Ilgak was practically the spiritual pillar of the Orthodox Society.
In other words, he was no different from the person truly leading it.
If Jin Sowoon hadn't become Academy Representative, Ilgak would have become the Martial Arts Academy's representative this time.
That was why the Orthodox Society followed Ilgak so faithfully.
Yet he was acting this rudely toward Ilgak...
Sure enough, a commotion began to rise.
“What is going on?”
“Jin Sowoon came looking for Ilgak.”
“What? Why would he do that?”
People began poking their heads out of other dormitory rooms, casting wary glances their way.
The people who had begun to view Jin Sowoon favorably after the events in Sichuan might turn away again.
Just as needless anxiety began to rise in Namgung Seonhwa's heart...
Creak.
The door opened, revealing the inside of the dormitory.
At its center, Ilgak sat with his back turned, reciting a Buddhist sutra.
The Shaolin Temple monk gestured to the two of them.
“Please come in.”
They followed the monk inside despite the monk's displeased expression. A faint scent of incense, like that found in a Buddhist hall, drifted through the room.
“Benefactor Jin.”
Ilgak slowly turned around and looked at Jin Sowoon with a smile.
Jin Sowoon, though, frowned as if he had bitten into dung.
“I'm not a benefactor.”
Ilgak ignored him and pressed his palms together.
“What brings you here, Benefactor? Have you become interested in the Buddha's teachings?”
“I don't know if it's the Buddha's teachings, but I've run into a difficult situation. I'm fine, but people around me keep worrying.”
Ilgak put on an innocent expression and asked.
“Hmm... What sort of situation is it?”
“Come on, why don't you stop pretending you don't know?”
“Hmm... I truly have no idea.”
As Ilgak tilted his head, Jin Sowoon took a step closer.
“Strictly speaking, isn't this situation because of the Orthodox Society?”
Ilgak cleared his throat.
“Ahem, what do you mean... The White Path Society and the Orthodox Society may cooperate, but they aren't closely involved with one another.”
A sly smile appeared on Jin Sowoon's lips.
“So you did know after all.”
“Ahem... Cough.”
“You played dumb and pretended not to know. Aren't you ashamed to face the Buddha?”
At Jin Sowoon's mockery, the monk watching from the side cut in.
“Even if you are Representative Jin, how dare you say such things...!”
Ilgak raised a hand to stop the monk, while Jin Sowoon continued staring only at Ilgak as if none of it mattered.
“Benefactor Jin, someday that mouth of yours will get you punished.”
“My very existence is already enough to get me punished. If my mouth is what gets me punished instead, I won't have anything to complain about.”
Seemingly realizing he could never win with words, Ilgak let out a long sigh.
“Anyway, this isn't something the Orthodox Society can step forward to handle. Jegal Jeonggi isn't the sort of person who will move because I ask him to.”
“Ah, that's not what I want.”
A puzzled look appeared on Ilgak's face.
“Hm? Then what...?”
Jin Sowoon leaned against a bed with a relaxed gesture.
“Join the Representative Officer Corps.”
“Gasp!”
“...!”
The monk and Namgung Seonhwa stared at Jin Sowoon with wide eyes.
It might only be an officer position, but Ilgak held enormous symbolic weight within the Orthodox Society.
It was impossible.
Even if Jegal Jeonggi drove Jin Sowoon out and became Academy Representative, Ilgak would never join the White Path Society's Representative Officer Corps.
“What kind of nonsense is that...?”
Namgung Seonhwa unconsciously nodded at the monk's rough words, which seemed to express everyone's thoughts.
Jin Sowoon only shrugged as if he saw no problem.
“If the Orthodox Society hadn't made that blunder in Sichuan, the White Path Society wouldn't have acted like this. Isn't that right, Monk?”
“...Urgh.”
Jin Sowoon poked his finger at Ilgak and the monk as he continued.
“If I had simply stood by and let the Orthodox Society die to the Blood Cult's scheme, the White Path Society wouldn't be making a fuss about filling the empty position. Isn't that right, Monk?”
At Jin Sowoon's point, beads of sweat began to form on Ilgak's smooth forehead.
Watching them roll down in graceful trails, Jin Sowoon drove in the final nail.
“If I hadn't dealt with the Iron Zombies that Shaolin Sect and Mount Cang Sect encountered, the White Path Society wouldn't be acting like this. Don't you think so, Monk?”
“...”
When Ilgak still didn't answer, Jin Sowoon pressed him further.
“In the Buddha's teachings...”
“Enough... Please stop, Benefactor Jin. I understand what you wish to say.”
Unlike Jin Sowoon, who was grinning broadly, Ilgak looked as though he had been swallowed by deep anguish.
“Benefactor Jin... Perhaps someone else from the Orthodox Society who carries its representation...”
“No! I won't accept them!”
“Then if the Orthodox Society formally supports Benefactor Jin...”
“No! I don't need empty support.”
At Jin Sowoon's firm attitude, Ilgak let out another long sigh.
“Benefactor Jin...”
Jin Sowoon's mouth showed no sign of stopping.
“Think carefully. How much internal disorder has there been because everyone wants to claim the position of Academy Representative?”
Jin Sowoon deliberately struck at Ilgak's weak point.
“Is that truly the path for the Buddha? It's time to make a decision for the greater good.”
“...”
Ilgak looked up at Jin Sowoon, who sat leisurely on the bed, and his eyelids trembled.
A brief silence passed.
Then Ilgak nodded as if he had made up his mind.
“Very well. I will join.”
“Gasp!”
“M-Monk! What are you saying?!”
No matter what exclamations arose around him, Jin Sowoon stretched out his hand to Ilgak with a satisfied expression.
Ilgak clasped that hand.
“Benefactor Jin...”
“I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling me benefactor. Let's work well together from now on.”
“Amitabha.”
#
After Jin Sowoon's storm-like visit ended, only Ilgak's quiet recitation of Buddhist sutras echoed through the room.
It was natural not to disturb Ilgak while he cultivated, but the monk could not understand what had just happened.
“Monk... May I ask you something?”
Ilgak, who had been reciting sutras with his eyes closed, slowly opened them.
Then he gave a slight nod as if he understood what weighed on the monk's mind.
“You mean why I joined Jin Sowoon's officer corps?”
“...Yes. It was too hasty a choice. The Orthodox Society may owe him a debt, but none of its members will welcome you taking that position.”
“I know.”
“If you know that, then why...?”
Ilgak slowly turned to look at the monk.
Overwhelmed by the light pouring from Ilgak's eyes, the monk almost looked away, but desperately held themself back.
Ilgak remained completely unmoved as he spoke in a low voice.
“Because I want to know.”
“...Know what?”
Like an ascetic curious about what lay beyond distant mountains, Ilgak cast his gaze far away.
“Whether or not he is an enlightened one.”
“...”
The monk's hand trembled.
“What do you mean...? No matter how remarkable he may be, how could someone so vulgar, someone who only cares about money and rewards, possibly be...”
“Cheongwon, one of this temple's great monks, also lived like a beggar for their entire life.”
“...Urgh. But that venerable monk...”
Ilgak cut off the monk.
“Of course, Cheongwon too had their faults. They lost the temple's sacred treasure, the Demon-Expelling Four-Spirit Bead... But that doesn't mean their enlightenment was not passed down to later generations.”
Once Cheongwon was mentioned, the monk could no longer speak.
The monk now understood that Ilgak's choice was not simply meant to overcome the current crisis.
No, it was a choice made for something much greater.
“Then... Do you believe that man is someone who will change history?”
When one person's life changed, it was called fate. When the fates of countless people changed, it was called history.
Ilgak was saying that Jin Sowoon was someone who could change the fate of countless people.
At that question, Ilgak slowly shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Ilgak closed his eyes tightly for a moment, as though recalling the past.
It might have been his imagination, but Jin Sowoon had clearly shone in Sichuan.
And that was not something an ordinary person could possess.
Ilgak slowly opened his eyes again. They shone as clearly as the eyes of an ascetic thirsting for enlightenment.
“What I am curious about is how far he will go. And...”
He looked at the monk and smiled.
“Isn't the place where I can see that best right by his side?”
“...”
With those words, Ilgak closed his eyes once more.
Though he knew full well how great the hardship brought by his choice would be, he couldn't wipe the smile from his lips.
“Amitabha...”
The monk could do nothing but recite a Buddhist invocation.
Footnotes:
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