WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 206: Musical Chairs (5)
──────
“Um...”
“Uh...”
“Ahem...”
An awkward silence settled over the room.
The person responsible for it merely sat there, rolling prayer beads through his fingers.
“I told you not to smash heads, and you went and tore out a heart instead?”
At Nam Hwaseong’s blunt remark, everyone nodded before they realized it.
Then they turned to Jin Sowoon, the one responsible for this absurd situation.
Their eyes demanded an explanation.
Jin Sowoon only glanced at Ilgak’s shining head and shrugged.
“Well, that’s what happened. Try to get along from now on.”
“...”
Jin Sowoon brushed it aside with an explanation that was far too inadequate.
Shouldn’t he at least explain how Ilgak had ended up joining the Representative Officer Corps?
Eunho looked at Ilgak with absolute certainty.
His gaze was full of sympathy, as though he understood everything Ilgak had been through.
“Monk... Did Eldest Senior Brother perhaps seize on a weakness of yours and threaten you with some sinister scheme?”
Eunho asked politely, unwilling to commit a sin against a monk and go to hell. Yet Jin Sowoon answered instead.
“What kind of blackmailer do you take me for...? Well, I do blackmail people when I need to...”
The others nodded with looks that said, At least he knows it, then cleared their throats under Jin Sowoon’s sharp glare.
“Anyway, he joined of his own free will to settle his karmic debts, so don’t worry.”
Why were they supposed to feel relieved that he had not been threatened?
The officer corps members swallowed their more fundamental questions and turned to Ilgak, silently asking whether Jin Sowoon was telling the truth.
Ilgak, meanwhile, only rolled his prayer beads faster, as though trying to drive away his worldly thoughts.
“Oh, right. You don’t have to suspect him of being a spy, either.”
Of course not!
No matter how foolish the Orthodox Society could be, why would it send someone like Ilgak in as a spy?
Ilgak’s fingers twitched around the prayer beads, but soon resumed their steady motion as though nothing had happened.
“Damn it! I joined willingly too, so why am I always suspected of being a spy?”
Jin Sowoon gave Nam Hwaseong an incredulous look.
“You aren’t that important.”
“W-What?”
“Then become someone important if it bothers you.”
“Damn it!”
Nam Hwaseong stormed out of the room with his face twisted in anger. Eunho let his shoulders droop as he muttered to himself.
“I’m going to suffer through him again.”
Just as Jin Sowoon’s delegation had been shocked, Ilgak joining the officer corps caused an enormous controversy throughout the Martial Arts Academy.
“Monk Ilgak joined the officer corps...? This is nonsense!”
“Did we mishear that everyone had unified behind one representative?”
“What kind of question is that? Why would Monk Ilgak unite behind Jin Sowoon?”
Ilgak was more than just the symbolic leader of the Orthodox Society. He represented the current generation of Academy students.
Many students recognized and respected Ilgak regardless of their own affiliations, so his actions felt shocking to them.
“Then doesn’t this mean Monk Ilgak acknowledges Jin Sowoon?”
“It goes beyond acknowledging him. Wasn’t Jin Sowoon already the Academy Representative?”
“Then should we take it as the Orthodox Society acknowledging Representative Jin Sowoon as well?”
Ilgak’s sudden entry into the officer corps also threw the Orthodox Society into confusion.
Arguments broke out between those who supported Ilgak’s decision and those who condemned it.
“What is going on? Isn’t everyone starting to think our Orthodox Society supports Jin Sowoon?”
“There’s nothing we can do. Monk Ilgak joined the delegation.”
“What do you mean, there’s nothing we can do? At this rate, the Orthodox Society’s momentum may be broken.”
“...Then go grab Monk Ilgak by the hair and drag him back.”
“How am I supposed to grab hair that isn’t...!”
Words harsher than anything even Demonic Cultists would say were exchanged.
After the Orthodox Society’s blunder in Sichuan, opposition to its established powers had grown within the group. Those in power had to keep their heads down, leaving them unable to unite and act as one.
Did that mean the White Path Society benefited from this?
Not at all.
The White Path Society had planned to exploit the Orthodox Society’s weakness and shake it further, but Ilgak’s unexpected move left them flustered and confused.
“Should we take this as the Orthodox Society declaring that it will never cooperate with the White Path Society again?”
“The Orthodox Society and the White Path Society each walk their own path, but we are also companions. Why would the Orthodox Society suddenly turn against the White Path Society?”
“Then there is no way to explain why Ilgak acted as he did.”
“Perhaps Jin Sowoon grabbed him by the hair!”
“But where would he even grab hi... Ahem.”
While everyone spent their days trying to interpret the political implications of Ilgak’s actions, Ilgak himself sat awkwardly in the delegation office, never imagining people were discussing his hair.
“Benefactor Jin... What work should I handle here?”
“What work could a monk possibly know about worldly affairs? Just sit quietly and nod along like a sleepy chicken whenever I speak.”
“...”
Jin Sowoon was busily assigning tasks one by one to the people Jang Woojae had recruited.
Jang Woojae had been assigned to work at the Mantong Office, and he looked deeply dissatisfied.
The others were not idle, either.
The existing officers were each handling their own duties, while Ilgak alone had not been assigned anything and sat in place like a stone statue.
No matter how accustomed he was to wall-facing meditation, there could hardly be anything more torturous than sitting still beside people who were working.
Ilgak finally stepped forward.
“Since I have decided to join the officer corps, I wish to learn the work properly. Please tell me what you need done, Benefactor Jin.”
As though he had been waiting for those words, Jin Sowoon pulled out a document.
“Well, if you insist, then I have no choice but to give you work.”
“What is this?”
“These are the sects affiliated with the White Path Society that we should bring into our delegation first.”
Ilgak accepted the document and quickly tried to grasp the situation.
“...So you’re telling me to act as a spy?”
Ilgak stared at Jin Sowoon in disbelief.
“What do you mean, a spy? You just need to go speak with them, earn their goodwill, and persuade them to leave the White Path Society.”
“...That is usually called espionage.”
“Oh...!”
Jin Sowoon narrowed his eyes in surprise.
“You know quite a lot about worldly affairs. I can entrust you with even more work in the future. How reassuring! Hahaha.”
What was this? He somehow felt as though he had been tricked.
Watching Jin Sowoon throw back his head and laugh, Ilgak wondered if he had mistaken Jin Sowoon for an enlightened man after seeing something that was not there.
But regret always came too late.
#
Surprising news always found its way to people’s ears, whether it was true or not.
For example, the news that Ilgak had joined Jin Sowoon’s delegation.
‘Jin Sowoon...’
At first, Jegal Jeonggi had dismissed it as nonsense. Yet after witnessing Jin Sowoon pick out and eat only pieces of meat from among Ilgak’s side dishes at the Martial Arts Academy dining hall, he had no choice but to believe it.
That naturally raised a question.
How had Jin Sowoon convinced Ilgak to join his delegation?
The most obvious possibility was that he had found a weakness to exploit.
But that made no sense.
Anything Jin Sowoon knew, the White Path Society would know as well.
Although the White Path Society and Orthodox Society often cooperated within the Martial Arts Academy, they would become rivals once they entered the Martial Alliance.
For that reason, avoiding having their weaknesses exposed to one another was instinctive, something carved into their bones.
And this was Ilgak.
Even if someone threatened him, he was not the kind of person who would yield.
The unanswered question ultimately shifted direction and became an accusation against the other side.
An accusation that benefited them.
“Ilgak acted as he did because he does not want the White Path Society to take the representative position.”
At Jegal Jeonggi’s assertion, the White Path Society members naturally had questions.
“Even so, what could Ilgak possibly gain by joining Jin Sowoon’s delegation?”
Jegal Jeonggi was far too intelligent to be left speechless by such an obvious question.
“Because of what happened in Sichuan, the Orthodox Society is in danger of being judged unfit to carry out the duties of the representative position.
“If that is the case, isn’t their final desperate measure to create the impression that Jin Sowoon retains the position not because they are incompetent, but because he is outstanding?”
One by one, they began nodding at Jegal Jeonggi’s reasoning.
“More than anything, it means our White Path Society has grown so formidable that Ilgak himself felt compelled to act.”
Color gradually returned to the faces of the White Path Society’s temporary officers.
Jegal Jeonggi smiled in satisfaction.
“In the end, the White Path Society reclaiming the representative position from Jin Sowoon is practically a foregone conclusion.”
The temporary officers were energized by the interpretation that Ilgak had impulsively joined Jin Sowoon’s delegation because he feared the White Path Society’s growing influence. They gained even more confidence in the event they were preparing.
#
Behind Jegal Jeonggi’s outwardly calm appearance, he was actually in turmoil.
‘He truly is impossible to predict.’
Jin Sowoon’s actions were difficult to understand even for him.
It was not limited to the matter of Ilgak.
He had been unable to grasp Jin Sowoon’s intentions ever since hearing that Jegal Cheongi had caused a major incident at the Jegal Clan, been imprisoned in the Golden Prison, and was later freed by Jin Sowoon.
What could he possibly intend to do by bringing along a child so obsessed with crude mechanical devices like Mechanism Formations?
Then there was the fact that Jin Sowoon had received an Academy Admission Token from Jegal Jeonggi’s grandfather, Jegal Somyeong. That made him feel not only puzzled but betrayed.
An Academy Admission Token that his grandfather had refused to give even to his own grandsons had been given to a disciple of some obscure third-rate sect.
Jegal Jeonggi had believed that the Jegal Somyeong he respected so deeply would never do such a thing. Yet when he learned that Jin Sowoon had handed that token to Moyong Jaehwa and gotten him admitted, he had been left dumbfounded.
Jin Sowoon was a person whose actions could not be predicted in the slightest.
A Thunderclap Bomb that could fly off in any direction.
That was exactly what Jin Sowoon was to Jegal Jeonggi.
Then that unpredictable person came looking for him at an unexpected moment.
“I heard you brought Monk Ilgak into the officer corps.”
Rather than answering, Jin Sowoon only stared blankly at the cup of Seven-Colored Flower Tea in front of him.
“...Hm? Ah, yes. That happened.”
He was impossible to read after all.
“You must be pleased.”
“Pleased? We can’t even hold our team dinners at taverns now, and we have to order meals without meat. There’s a great deal to worry about.”
And no matter how he looked at him, Jin Sowoon did not seem entirely sane.
“How did you persuade Monk Ilgak?”
“Persuade him?”
“Monk Ilgak is not someone who can be moved by money. Did you find some weakness of his?”
“Oh? It seems you always seize on people’s weaknesses when you try to persuade them.”
“If not, why would he move?”
Jin Sowoon shrugged as if it were nothing.
“I did nothing special. I simply asked him to work with me. If anything motivated him, wasn’t it my character?”
“Crazy...”
“Hmm? What did you just say?”
Trying not to get dragged into Jin Sowoon’s nonsense, Jegal Jeonggi changed the subject.
“Then why have you come today?”
“...Well, why did I come today?”
Still keeping his eyes on the cup of Seven-Colored Flower Tea, Jin Sowoon gave a cryptic answer and fell silent.
The sight only confirmed Jegal Jeonggi’s thoughts.
If power gathered in the hands of someone this unpredictable, there was no telling what might happen.
The Martial Arts Academy could improve only with a fair and impartial representative who would not abuse that power.
That was why Jegal Jeonggi could not let the opportunity his clan had created slip away.
The Seven Stars Seven Locks Formation.
The Jegal Clan’s strongest arcane formation, one installed by every renowned clan in the world.
People often judged whether a faction was truly major based on whether it possessed the Seven Stars Seven Locks Formation.
And a new formation, created over the last twenty years by the greatest geniuses of the Jegal Clan’s Elder Council and Artisan Hall, was about to be unveiled.
The Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation.
While the existing Seven Stars Seven Locks Formation had only around five thousand formation paths, the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation possessed a staggering twelve thousand formation paths.
It was a supreme death formation from which no one could escape once they entered, not until they died.
Some might say the Jegal Clan’s legend had been broken by the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation.
But had the Martial Arts Academy event not proven otherwise?
The Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation was an absolute death formation that humans could not control.
If an arcane formation meant to stop enemies swallowed up allies as well, that would be putting the cart before the horse.
That was why the world still sought the Seven Stars Seven Locks Formation.
On top of that, the Black Path martial world had formed an alliance, the Green Forest Alliance had begun making suspicious movements, and the Blood Cult had appeared in a martial world already on edge.
The world would not be able to hide its curiosity at the arrival of an arcane formation more powerful than the Seven Stars Seven Locks Formation. Academy students, who were practically representatives of their respective sects, would have no choice but to attend a Martial Arts Academy event demonstrating it.
And once public opinion shifted, even the instructors would lend their support to condemning Jin Sowoon.
No matter what desperate struggle Jin Sowoon made now, the White Path Society’s victory was all but certain.
‘Will I finally see that vile face looking stunned?’
Jegal Jeonggi looked at Jin Sowoon, who still could not take his eyes off the cup of Seven-Colored Flower Tea, and smiled maliciously.
#
As the event date drew near, the White Path Society finally revealed the nature of the event it was hosting.
It was a new arcane formation being unveiled by the Jegal Clan.
The appearance of a new arcane formation, one that had never been shown anywhere in the world, stirred not only the Martial Arts Academy but also the nearby Martial Alliance and the martial world beyond.
People were desperate to learn the true nature of the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation. Each called on their connections to gather information about it.
By then, the number of messages Academy students received from their sects or close relatives had increased dramatically.
The pressure to obtain information on the Jegal Clan’s new arcane formation before anyone else had intensified.
There was one small problem, though.
“The White Path Society’s event overlaps with Representative Jin’s event schedule.”
“I heard Representative Jin Sowoon formally invited the Hyeongsan Sect to prepare a lecture on banishing evil and suppressing spirits.”
“I was thinking of attending the lecture after hearing what happened to the Orthodox Society this time.”
Both were excellent events, but no one could attend two events held in different places at the same time.
One concerned their lives, while the other concerned the survival of their sects.
This tight contest was enough to leave the Academy students in deep anguish.
While the entire Martial Arts Academy was in an uproar...
“Huff, huff! Damn it. Why, why am I the only one digging?”
“What are you talking about? I’m digging too.”
Nam Hwaseong, who had been digging throughout the training ground, looked at Jin Sowoon, who had dug up more sections than he had, and asked.
“Is it really okay for us to be doing this?”
“No, you bastard! If you want dinner, hurry up and dig!”
At Jin Sowoon’s immediate answer, Nam Hwaseong asked again in frustration.
“No, I mean, didn’t the White Path Society say they were holding an event where people could experience a new arcane formation? Shouldn’t you at least set up that Boundless Indestructible whatever formation you used before?”
“Do you know how much money it costs to deploy the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation just once?”
“Do you really think people will come to our event just to see some Nine Palaces Bewildering Formation?”
Jin Sowoon shook his head as though Nam Hwaseong were pathetic.
“People are always weak to things given as extras.”
“Extras?”
“That’s right. Extras. The Hyeongsan Sect’s event is the main attraction, and participating in the arcane formation we’re making now is the extra.”
“...”
Would anyone really consider an arcane formation like the Nine Palaces Bewildering Formation a worthwhile extra?
Nam Hwaseong, who normally hated thinking, racked his brain and considered it carefully for once.
It did not seem likely.
Even he thought it would be better to experience the Jegal Clan’s new arcane formation than study banishing evil and suppressing spirits early, when he could learn them after entering the Martial Alliance.
And public opinion seemed to be moving in much the same direction as Nam Hwaseong’s thoughts.
‘What is he thinking?’
A rebuke flew toward Nam Hwaseong as he stood alone in the middle of the training ground.
“What are you doing? Get back to digging.”
Nam Hwaseong decided not to doubt the Nine Palaces Bewildering Formation or Jin Sowoon’s plan any longer.
There was a more urgent and practical question in front of him.
“That’s what I’m asking. Why am I the only one digging? There are so many people in the delegation.”
“They’re working.”
“I-I’m working too!”
“What work can a spy do? Hurry up and dig.”
“...”
Nam Hwaseong felt uneasy that digging might truly turn out to be a pointless waste of effort, but he still found himself doing as Jin Sowoon told him.
“Hup.”
Watching Jin Sowoon dig diligently, Nam Hwaseong decided that rather than overthinking things with shallow doubts as he had in Sichuan, he would simply follow him.
At the very least, he had never lost out by trusting Jin Sowoon.
“Spy! Why aren’t you digging faster?”
Of course, the way he was being treated was grossly unfair.
“D-Damn it! I’m not a spy!”
“Seeing how you aren’t working hard, you must be a spy.”
“...”
Even so, Nam Hwaseong could not bring himself to throw down his shovel.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried