WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 269: A Damnably Familiar Face (4)
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Cheol Sunjik and the lackeys(?) following him looked as though they had just tasted shit.
I was usually open to new proposals.
Even if I knew everything in the Mantong Office, the Ten Thousand Books Repository, and the Martial Alliance's records, there were bound to be things I didn't know. At times, others might even offer a sharper perspective.
For instance, I immediately accepted Jang Woojae's opinion that the delegation's work should be divided.
His argument was that the delegation should pursue long-term stability over immediate efficiency.
When it came to actually handling tasks, it was true that I could resolve them faster than the others because I already knew the answers.
There would be no need to exchange documents with the Martial Arts Academy, Education Hall, and Mantong Office. Any documents I wrote would pass immediately.
Still, I divided the work instead of pursuing maximum efficiency because I wanted the delegation to function well even when I wasn't around.
Just as Jang Woojae said, the delegation was now taking shape in a way that would allow it to operate steadily without me.
Open-minded as I was, I utterly despised people who schemed for their own benefit.
‘The Martial Alliance collapsed in my previous life because of that disgusting selfishness, the belief that only they needed to prosper.’
The ones repeatedly pushed aside and mistreated by the power struggles of the Nine Sects One Gang, the Five Great Clans, and the Twelve Peak Alliance had been our White Wolf Pavilion's Sojeong Unit.
I leaned toward Cheol Sunjik.
“Do you know why martial organizations and merchant groups maintain a chain of command?”
“...”
“Because even an unfair order can sometimes serve the interests of the entire organization. If a sect's people refuse to obey their sect leader, that sect will soon disappear. If a merchant group's servants act as they please, the merchant group cannot survive.”
“...The Martial Arts Academy is different.”
Cheol Sunjik still tried to press his case with plausible-sounding words.
“Of course it is. But fundamentally, it is the same. Once you graduate from the Academy and are assigned to the Martial Alliance, will you still insist that a council is necessary?”
“...”
Cheol Sunjik had only been able to plot something like this because he thought I was easy prey.
If Shaolin Sect's Ilgak or the Jegal Clan's Jegal Jeonggi had become Academy Representative, he wouldn't have dared pull this sort of stunt.
They had enough power to strike back.
Their base of support was solid.
The reason he could shove such a worthless idea under my nose was because he thought my foundation was weak.
A person who divided people strictly into the strong and weak, surviving by picking only fights he could win.
And the best way to crush people like that was...
“Once you are assigned to the Martial Alliance, you will likely hold at least the position of squad leader or Deputy Hall Master wherever you go. What will you do if a subordinate refuses your order because they claim it is unfair?”
“...”
“What if the members conclude that it is more beneficial not to fight the enemy?”
It was to make them understand that I was an opponent they could not defeat.
After looking around the room once, I asked Cheol Sunjik, “Will you run from an enemy standing before you?”
He couldn't answer easily.
No matter what he said, his own earlier words would come back to bind him.
“You spoke so smoothly until just now. Why have you suddenly gone mute?”
People in the martial world often believed that Black Path fighters spoke more crudely than those of the White Path.
After making a circuit of the Black Alliance, I thought otherwise.
At times, Black Path fighters were more careful with their words.
Those who rushed in without thinking started by hurling curses, of course, but the rest spoke surprisingly cautiously.
Why?
Because Black Path fighters always risked getting their heads smashed in.
A bloody brawl could break out at any time, so they watched what they said.
White Path fighters, in contrast, had relatively little risk of getting their heads smashed in.
No matter how much they sneered at or mocked someone, as long as it wasn't a direct insult, they had no grounds to draw a sword.
That was why I made up my mind.
Today, I would make Cheol Sunjik fear that his head could be smashed in.
I would make him understand the consequences of his words and actions.
So that he would be careful when he opened his mouth again.
So that the next time he decided to scheme, he would not casually make me his sacrificial lamb.
I loosened my wrists.
“Then you and everyone gathered here have no need to graduate from the Academy. Go home, form whatever council you want, and debate until the day you die.”
“...”
“I will draft documents explaining why you have left the Academy and send them to each of your sects. That way, the excellent system you devised can be implemented in your sects at once.”
At my words, their eyes flared.
“What kind of rude nonsense is that!”
“You think being Academy Representative gives you the right to do such a thing!”
“I will not let this stand...!”
Bang!
“Enough.”
Crack!
The table I struck lightly split in two.
The stacks of documents piled on top spilled across the floor.
“W-what is this...!”
The eyes of Cheol Sunjik and the self-proclaimed council representatives shook violently at my monstrous strength.
Why did people never reflect on the rudeness they themselves committed?
They gave me the answer to a question I had long wondered about.
They never considered what they did to be rude in the first place.
The shameless belief that they could do it, but no one could do the same to them.
“Did you just call it ‘such a thing’?”
“...”
They would only come to their senses after being grabbed by the hair and shown their wrongdoing right before their eyes.
Only after they were made aware of what they had tried to do would they attempt something called thinking.
“Every sect will be shocked. It is no different from saying you intend to challenge the authority of your sect leader. At best, it is insubordination. At worst, it is practically betrayal of master and sect.”
“...”
Just as people learned to watch their mouths after getting their heads smashed once.
When I raised my hand, everyone flinched and drew in their necks like turtles, taking defensive stances.
“Fuck, and you people just asked me to introduce that kind of bullshit?”
I cursed, but no one protested.
They were furious with humiliation, but that humiliation came from their own wrongdoing.
I lazily leaned back in my chair.
“Now that you understand, get out. As you can see, I am busy.”
Heavy silence settled over the room.
Even the delegation members who had been working stared blankly with their mouths open at my coarse words.
The first to move was a disciple from Mount Hua.
Then the Jegal Clan disciple and the others began leaving one after another.
Cheol Sunjik remained until the end.
“What, is there a problem? Ah, do you want to end up like that table?”
When I nodded toward the table split in two, he shook his head and headed for the door.
After leaving the delegation, Cheol Sunjik would probably use his usual eloquence to soothe the people who had come with him.
Then he would continue using them as pieces on his board.
I wasn't kind enough to stand by and watch that happen.
“If you act without thinking, con artists like him will drag down not only your own honor, but your sect's honor as well. Look at this even now. Cheol Sunjik may have started the whole plan, but you are the ones being cursed alongside him. Remember today.”
At my words, the people leaving looked at Cheol Sunjik one by one, then abruptly turned away and left the office.
Cheol Sunjik stood alone before the door and glared at me as though he wanted to kill me.
“Representative Jin, do you think you have won the war just because you won one battle?”
I snorted.
“Did you come here thinking this was a contest in the first place?”
“...”
“I can see how insignificant you thought I was.”
“...You will definitely regret what happened today.”
I nodded.
“If we're talking about regret, no one has experienced as much as I have. I'm not as soft as you think, so don't waste your concern on me.”
“...”
Cheol Sunjik turned sharply and left, as though speaking to me was pointless.
“First Senior Brother, will this be all right? You humiliated him like that...”
Eunho, who knew Cheol Sunjik's hidden motives, asked worriedly.
I answered bluntly.
“What will you do if it isn't?”
“Pardon?”
“Didn't I tell you? As long as we keep moving forward, people who try to hold us back will appear without end. Do you want us to stop where we are because of people like that?”
“No.”
I patted Eunho's shoulder.
“Then don't worry about it so much. If someone comes at us, all we have to do is smash their head.”
“...First Senior Brother. No, Representative.”
“Yes?”
“No matter what, you cannot openly say you will smash people's heads where everyone can hear you.”
“...”
When I discreetly looked around, the gazes that had once been full of goodwill were nowhere to be found. There were only looks of reproach.
I looked once at the broken table, then at the door Cheol Sunjik had left through.
That man really was no help at all.
#
As the term drew to a close, the Ten Thousand Books Repository emptied out.
The Academy students no longer had to prepare for written exams. They were preparing for the final remaining practical examination, the combat strategy and tactics evaluation.
Those who received Grade A evaluations trained once every five days or so.
Those who received Grade B evaluations trained once every three days.
Those who received Grade C evaluations trained once every two days.
Those who received Grade D evaluations trained at least once a day.
Then what about those who received Mu ratings?
They visited the training ground at least twice a day and swung their weapons as though their lives depended on it.
‘With three Mu ratings, I have no right to rest.’
A certain Geumpyo spent every hour except mealtimes at the training ground.
Despite the winter weather that turned breath white, sweat soaked his entire body, leaving him unable to feel the cold. If he rested even briefly, anxiety overwhelmed him until he could not bear it.
There were often other Academy students in the same position at the training ground.
The first dropouts would probably come from among them.
Students who had entered the Academy with such difficulty, only to leave it of their own accord.
The number might be only one percent, but no one wanted to be part of it.
Dropping out of the Martial Arts Academy would feel more humiliating than failing to enter it in the first place.
‘This is driving me insane.’
Seong Moran, who had trained with him these past few days, gained some insight into the Mountain-Crushing Sword Art and moved to a private training ground.
If she could properly organize that insight and apply it to her martial arts before the practical evaluation, Seong Moran would not be among the dropouts.
That only made Geumpyo more impatient.
“Huff! Huff!”
His breath rose to his throat, and he swung his sword until his bladder nearly burst.
Yet no fated encounter like Seong Moran's came to him.
More than the anxiety of leaving his two younger brothers and fellow disciples behind at the Martial Arts Academy, the frustration of being unable to keep up with them gnawed away at his heart.
“Hey, Young Master Geumpyo!”
That detestable First Senior Brother had kept calling him “Young Master Geumpyo” these past few days.
Wasn't a person who received Mu ratings and dropped out of the Academy no longer a disciple of the Taeul Sect?
“Hoo...”
“Young Master Geumpyo. You look as though you have many worries.”
“What brings you here?”
“Ah, did I interrupt someone else's training?”
Did he really have to provoke people that much to feel satisfied?
How could someone with that kind of personality become Academy Representative...
“Hoo...”
Without even thinking to wipe away the sweat frozen like frost on his body, Geumpyo muttered softly.
“...First Senior Brother.”
“Hm? Why are you calling me First Senior Brother?”
“If you are here to interfere, please leave. I am not in the mood.”
“Tsk tsk. You're a grown man, yet you're slumping over because you received a few Mu ratings.”
Thud.
Jin Sowoon suddenly laid something blunt on the ground to use as a seat, then sat on it.
Was he going to settle in and mock him now?
All the resentment Geumpyo had kept inside burst out.
“Didn't you make fun of me as though the world had ended just because I got Mu ratings?”
“Of course you deserve to be mocked. Only a turtle-brained fool would get scores like that.”
“...”
Geumpyo felt something surge up within his chest.
He could not bring himself to ask his younger brothers or senior sister for it, but could his First Senior Brother not offer him at least a little comfort?
Yet this man who called himself his First Senior Brother...!
“Do you think I am being too harsh?”
“...!”
The burden and disappointment he had carried struck his throat, and moisture began gathering in his eyes.
Ashamed, Geumpyo clenched his teeth and tried to hide the tears spilling from his eyes.
“I don't want to drop out either. I want to walk the same path as you, First Senior Brother. But...”
He had tried desperately, again and again.
After realizing he lacked the talent his younger brothers possessed, he worked even harder.
He cut down on sleep and even reduced the time he spent eating as he devoted himself to training.
Yet the result was still dropping out.
Geumpyo possessed neither Seong Moran's good fortune nor his younger brothers' talent.
And ordinary people, standing before geniuses who shone so brilliantly, were bound to recognize the depth of their own darkness and fall into despair.
“But... I cannot catch up no matter what I do. I want to, but... I am afraid I will be left behind alone.”
The tears he had barely held back finally fell.
Once the tears began flowing, they did not stop, running like a small stream.
“Ugh... I don't want to be left alone. I want to go with everyone too...”
“Tsk tsk. You're swinging your sword with a heart full of impatience, so your mind cannot work properly.”
“Ugh... What?”
After clicking his tongue, Jin Sowoon asked, “What is our final practical evaluation?”
“...The strategy and tactics evaluation.”
“How does it proceed?”
“The three armies are divided into platoons, which move to seize each other's flags and occupy bases.”
“Then what does receiving a good evaluation there mean?”
“It means the platoon survives, grows the unit, and secures bases.”
“Do you still not understand?”
“What do you mean?”
Jin Sowoon sighed and shook his head.
“Do you think your younger brothers and fellow disciples will not put you in their platoon?”
“...”
Geumpyo stood there with his mouth open, unable even to wipe the tear tracks from his face.
“Look at the bigger picture. If you remain trapped in such narrow sight, will you be able to seize an insight even if it passes right by you?”
“B-but if I join them, won't I become a burden?”
Jin Sowoon clicked his tongue again.
“Tsk. Let me ask you something. Why do you think your swordsmanship is not as sharp as Dongryong's?”
“Because Dongryong was born with natural talent.”
“Then when the four of you, including Saryeon, form the White Tiger Sword Formation, why does Eunho become the formation's pivot?”
“Because Eunho sees the whole picture well.”
“What do you do every time?”
“I-I stand at the very front and swing my sword...”
Jin Sowoon nodded.
“That is it.”
“Pardon?”
“The reason your sword is not aggressive, and why defensive, cautious movements have become ingrained in you.”
First Senior Brother's voice reached Geumpyo, who wore a puzzled expression.
“It is because you instinctively protect your younger brothers and the sword formation.”
“...!”
Jin Sowoon rose and drew the Black Dragon Sword.
“Normally, when Taeul Sect disciples use the Lesser Heaven Sword Art, they swing as though they intend to pierce straight through their opponent's spine.”
Whoosh.
“This is the Single Flash. But you instinctively stop around the solar plexus. You believe there is not enough time to thrust all the way to the spine and pull back, so your impatience to perform the next move makes you return early.”
Geumpyo's face turned pale.
How frightening was habit to a martial artist?
Once a bad habit took root, correcting it was agonizingly difficult.
His path was already long enough, and now he had formed a bad habit as well...
Geumpyo felt as though his world had collapsed.
“A-am I finished?”
“Hm?”
“My skill is already lacking... and now I have to change my bad habits too, don't I?”
Jin Sowoon let out a genuinely exasperated sigh.
“Why change it? Compared to Dongryong, you won't be able to press in as boldly anyway. As long as you are with Dongryong, your swordsmanship will never become more aggressive.”
“...”
Who could be happy to hear that they had no further potential for growth?
Geumpyo's expression darkened further.
As First Senior Brother's detestable words stabbed his chest over and over, making it feel as though blood was pouring out...
“But.”
First Senior Brother continued.
“You only need to develop that further.”
“What?”
Jin Sowoon pulled out the object he had been sitting on and held it out.
“What is this?”
“Something that will turn a bad habit into something that is not bad.”
Geumpyo stared at the object Jin Sowoon offered him.
“...A shield?”
Jin Sowoon nodded.
“If protecting someone within the sword formation has become ingrained in you, then take on the role of defending in earnest.”
“...”
“Do you still have an aversion to shields?”
Geumpyo shook his head.
If not for the shield First Senior Brother had given him during the regular examination, he might have lost his life several times.
Since then, no matter what others thought, all his aversion to shields had vanished.
Jin Sowoon stood up.
“If you are going to carry a shield, carry it properly. Be the shield that protects your brothers and fellow disciples.”
Then he firmly placed the shield in Geumpyo's hands.
“Go on to become the strongest shield that protects the Taeul Sect.”
“...!”
Every word from First Senior Brother made Geumpyo's heart tremble.
Jin Sowoon's steady gaze rested on Geumpyo's face.
“Within your sturdy shield, your fellow disciples will gladly swing their swords for you.”
The despair that he would be left behind disappeared in an instant.
The face of his First Senior Brother, shining brilliantly with genius, along with the faces of his younger brothers and companions, no longer felt impossibly distant.
He did not need to wield a sword as well as Dongryong or be as clever as Eunho.
While he protected them, his fellow disciples would defeat their enemies.
For the first time, he felt he had found his role, his place.
He looked again at the shield First Senior Brother had given him.
When he brushed off the dust piled thickly upon it, a vivid goblin was revealed.
What he had thought was simply an old antique carried an elegant beauty.
As Geumpyo became absorbed in the goblin image, First Senior Brother's voice reached his ear.
“Vajra Shield. It is a divine artifact said to repel all malice.”
His voice sent gentle ripples through Geumpyo's heart.
“A shield that repels... all malice...”
Geumpyo repeated the words as though they were his calling.
The anxiety raging in his chest settled into something heavy and solid.
“A shield that will protect everyone...”
Geumpyo's voice rang out, quiet and weighty.
Footnotes:
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