WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 274: Someone's Malice (5)

──────

Cheol Sunjik.

He was a chilling man.

Before I knew it, the arms and legs I moved of my own will would be bound to the strings he controlled.

It wasn't just me.

Everyone around me was being toyed with in his hands.

The harder I struggled to escape, the more tangled I became in the web he had spread, until I couldn't move at all.

Those who understood what he was feared him, while those who didn't tried to avoid him.

My survival instincts were sending me a signal.

A dangerous natural predator.

Run.

When I looked ahead, he was charging toward me with his face flushed red.

Eunho stepped in front of me.

I rested a hand on his shoulder and said, "Step back."

"But..."

Eunho met my eyes, realized something, and nodded.

"Then... give me the flag."

"The flag?"

He spoke as though it were obvious.

"You'll win, won't you, Senior Brother?"

A laugh slipped out before I could stop it.

"...Yeah."

Eunho, who had been leading the sword formation, took the flag and fell back.

The White Tiger Sword Formation had already collapsed, and the area had become complete chaos. There was no point in maintaining the formation now.

I quietly watched the man responsible for this mess.

"In a situation like this, you don't have time to put that silver tongue of yours to work, do you?"

I walked toward Cheol Sunjik.

Slowly at first, then faster.

Once I reached my top speed...

Whoosh!

I brought the Black Dragon Sword down with the momentum of my charge.

Clang!

The two swords collided, ringing out together.

Since we had both rushed in, the shock spreading through our bodies was immense.

Cheol Sunjik took five steps back to keep from falling, while I took three.

"Jin Sowoon..."

"You don't even call me Representative Jin anymore."

The venom in his eyes and the killing intent rolling off him pleased me immensely.

I'd wanted to face him like this at least once.

"I like this."

He clearly didn't.

"Haaah!"

In an instant, he unleashed the Jukhyeon Sect's Green Bamboo Sword Art.

Rooted in the Thirty-Six Sword Arts Under Heaven, the Green Bamboo Sword Art held the mysteries of a heavy sword.

Neither of us could use internal energy, but every time his sword struck, it felt as if I were inside a bell, taking the full force of the blow.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Unable to use internal energy, he put his body weight behind every swing.

His ability to adapt on the fly surpassed that of most wandering martial artists.

I found myself sincerely impressed.

So that was it. You were this accustomed to fighting.

I'd never seen his true ability even once in my previous life, so I couldn't hide my surprise.

He was this tyrannical, yet why had he never shown this skill in my previous life?

Why not even once?

Why had he never...

‘...shown the face of a true comrade amid those moments when we walked the line between life and death?’

Cheol Sunjik spun sideways through the air twice in quick succession and brought down his sword.

I gripped the Black Dragon Sword with both hands and met his attack.

Claaang!

My hands shook, and the tremors spread through my forearms and shoulders.

To stop the vibration, I drove my sword into the ground, then immediately launched the Lesser Heaven Sword Art.

Whoosh!

My sword flew exactly where I had predicted.

"Hup!"

Cheol Sunjik's eyes widened as he quickly raised his sword to block.

Clangclangclang!

Once again, the cries of clashing blades echoed across the mountain.

Two swords stood locked together.

In a contest between a heavy sword and a fast sword, what mattered was who seized the rhythm.

A fast sword crushed beneath a heavy sword would break, while a heavy sword drawn along by a fast sword would fall.

"Hngh...!"

Neither of us gave up even a single step as we fought to seize the other's rhythm.

Clangclang!

For an instant, Cheol Sunjik's vital point opened.

Even as he foresaw his own end, he didn't show the slightest fear.

There was only bitter resentment on his face.

"This time around, I've won."

Cheol Sunjik looked confused for an instant as I prepared to drive the Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist into his solar plexus.

"Sunjik!"

An unwanted guest intervened.

Thudthudthud!

Cheol Hyeonjik took the Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist on his back.

As Cheol Hyeonjik writhed in pain and rolled across the ground, Cheol Sunjik looked down at him briefly before his hand moved swiftly.

‘Damn it!’

Just as I tried to retreat and escape the heavy sword's influence...

"...!"

Cheol Hyeonjik, rolling on the ground, desperately clung to my leg.

"Sunjik! Now!"

At Cheol Hyeonjik's shout, Cheol Sunjik spun once, poured all his strength into his sword, and swung as if to cut me in half at the waist.

The move was filled with utterly sincere intent.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

You bastard, did you forget this was only an evaluation?

...Still, I somehow understood.

I'd also forgotten that this evaluation was nothing more than points.

I unleashed the Lotus form of the Flowing Cloud Divine Art to its utmost.

My joints screamed as Cheol Sunjik's heavy sword struck my blade, but I clenched my teeth until they bled and endured.

"Argh!"

Clang!

I barely redirected Cheol Sunjik's sword, then immediately shook Cheol Hyeonjik off my leg.

"Sunjik... now..."

Fuck, why do you keep saying now?

Thud.

Cheol Hyeonjik, who had clung to me like a leech, let out a shriek and fainted. Cheol Sunjik gave his older brother an indifferent glance, then readjusted his stance.

"You're lucky, Jin Sowoon."

"So you've finally thrown away that shitty honorific speech?"

"...Strange. Everyone else liked being spoken to politely."

I gave a derisive snort.

"Only people who can't see the vile intent behind it."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

He should have been furious at seeing his older brother fall, but he showed none of it.

He simply kept swinging his sword.

Then his dry voice continued.

"You thought saving only Seong Moran and Geumpyo would be enough. That you could ruin my plan and still get what you wanted."

"..."

Cheol Sunjik's eyes flashed as he lowered his body even further. His sword grew heavier, as if reflecting his feelings.

"Did you never imagine that I had predicted even that?"

"Jin Sowoon, things will not go as you want."

Claaang! Claaang! Claaang!

Even knowing the Black Dragon Sword was made from Vajra Indestructible Iron, I worried that the blade might break.

"Since you ruined my plan, you won't achieve what you want either!"

Cheol Sunjik shouted more emotionally than I had ever seen him.

#

In my previous life, I had despised Cheol Sunjik.

His selfishness disgusted me. He cared only for himself and his sect's safety rather than the victory of the entire unit.

Because they never gave their all, they had become targets of scorn not only from the Sojeong Unit, but from every martial artist.

Yet there was nothing I could do.

I wasn't strong enough to subdue him by force, and he was too cunning for me to defeat with my mind.

Even Jegal Cheongi had fallen into his schemes every time but once.

That was why I had hated and despised him until I was sick of it.

But...

‘The truth was, I envied him.’

I envied them for surviving to the end.

I envied him for saving his people by any means necessary.

Yes. I envied them.

Cheol Sunjik and the people of his sect, who survived every time despite being criticized and cursed.

Because I couldn't do it.

Because I had no one left to protect.

"Ghk...!"

Perhaps my contempt for him, down to my bones, had come from my hatred for myself because I couldn't protect those precious to me.

That was why I couldn't lose.

No, I must not lose.

I would not repeat the mistakes of my previous life again.

I'd had enough of hiding away and doing nothing but cursing my enemies when I saw traces of comrades who had died or been left behind.

"So I can't stop here!"

Even as the shock wave from his heavy sword knocked me down, I desperately swung the Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist.

It couldn't deal much damage, but it was enough to block his vision for a moment.

"Ghk!"

The instant Cheol Sunjik reopened his eyes after briefly squeezing them shut...

Whoosh!

I thrust the Black Dragon Sword forward without hesitation.

Now that I knew his skill, I knew he wouldn't die so easily from an attack like this.

Whoosh!

The blade grazed his ear by a hair, and he bent his head aside before stabbing at my side with his sword hilt.

One mistake, and my ribs would be shattered.

As I pulled back the Black Dragon Sword, I struck his chin with my elbow.

Thud!

He staggered from the impact and took a couple of steps back.

Anger and resentment were twisted together across his face.

"Why... why do you always get in my way, Jin Sowoon...?"

His neat appearance was gone. With his hair hanging loose around his face, Cheol Sunjik lowered his head and ground out the words.

"I have to bring down the heavens. But... but why are you of all people...! Why are you blocking my great cause?!"

His words made little sense, yet I felt no confusion.

I thought I roughly understood what he meant.

He cried out again in desperation.

"Why... why do you always block my path?"

Claaang!

"Why... why?!"

Claaang!

"Every time...!"

Cheol Sunjik's sword collided with the Black Dragon Sword, but it no longer held the same weight.

Nor was there any speed aimed at exploiting openings.

Only desperate struggling remained.

"Why do you always block my path?!"

Claaang!

I no longer stepped back from the impact.

No. After colliding with my sword, Cheol Sunjik was the one who took a couple of steps back.

Still, he screamed himself hoarse.

"I can never step back!"

I watched him sway.

"I'm the same."

"..."

I looked into those eyes, now filled with nothing but rage and hatred.

They wore an expression I might have worn in my previous life.

"I can never step back either."

He stared blankly at me, then showed a faint, twisted smile.

"...Is that so? Jin Sowoon, do you want the same thing as me?"

"..."

"Then why can't I have it? Why can you have it while I can't?! What is the reason?!"

It was the question I had asked myself countless times while watching Cheol Sunjik in my previous life.

Now, he shouted it at me.

"Why do I have to stand by and watch?!"

In my previous life, I couldn't even begin to guess the answer.

Yet somewhere along the way, I had found the answer to that complicated question.

And the answer was simpler than expected.

"Because I'm more desperate."

"..."

"More desperate than you, Cheol Sunjik!"

The truth plunged deep into his heart.

"Because I am more desperate."

It filled him with profound despair.

"That's all."

"..."

Cheol Sunjik shook his head.

As though he could never accept it.

"That can't be. I'm more... more than anyone..."

Cheol Sunjik's empty gaze moved between me and the Taeul Sect members.

Geumpyo, who was still holding out against five swords...

Saryeon, whose hair had come loose but who had not let go of her trembling sword even once...

Then he pressed his lips tightly together.

His jaw bulged.

Creak.

Soon, red blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

He lowered his head and trembled, then looked at me with flashing eyes.

"Then..."

Cheol Sunjik's face hardened.

"If that's really true, prove it. Show me how desperate you are..."

The veins on his limp arms bulged again as though they would burst.

"...This time, I'll become your Mount Tai[1]."

I poured all my strength into my own trembling arms.

"Even without you, the world is full of bastards trying to block my path!"

Whoosh!

As the Black Dragon Sword shot forward, Cheol Sunjik caught it on the flat of his blade.

Clangclang.

Cheol Sunjik did not move an inch, fully focused on defense.

Rather than swing his sword, he had chosen to become a wall. Just as he said, he had become a Mount Tai.

Whoosh!

"Come at me as much as you want!"

A fast sword without internal energy had its limits, and straightforward sword trajectories no longer worked against Cheol Sunjik, who had become familiar with the Lesser Heaven Sword Art.

"You won't cross me easily, Jin Sowoon."

"...Is that so?"

"Yes... You should feel it too, how disgusting it is to have someone blocking your path..."

But that Mount Tai didn't frighten me at all.

Why?

"If I can't cross it, I only need to break it."

"What?"

Instead of the Lesser Heaven Sword Art, I gripped the Black Dragon Sword with both hands.

"Cheol Sunjik, just as you were trying to do."

Then I unleashed the Green Bamboo Sword Art that Cheol Sunjik had used.

It was an honest, upright, unyielding heavy sword art, faithful to the fundamentals.

A sword capable of breaking through even the sturdiest wall.

Claaang!

I reproduced exactly what he had shown me.

Claaang!

Cheol Sunjik's eyes widened in shock.

"What is this...?"

Using another person's martial art without being able to circulate internal energy was madness.

Most martial arts were created on the foundation of internal-energy circulation.

Unless one had spent a lifetime training and studying that martial art, it was impossible to use it efficiently without internal energy.

But I had nothing to worry about.

Cheol Sunjik had just shown me the years of training he had accumulated.

The finest Green Bamboo Sword Art one could use without internal energy.

"Impossible!!!"

All I had to do was faithfully follow the Green Bamboo Sword Art he had shown me.

Then it would become the finest Green Bamboo Sword Art available in this situation.

Claaang!

Just as he had struck at me as if to break through the wall that was Jin Sowoon...

Claaang!

This time, I struck at the wall called Cheol Sunjik.

Claaang!

I put weight behind my strikes instead of internal energy.

I added rotation instead of speed.

Claaang!

Crack.

For the first time, a small crack appeared in Cheol Sunjik's sword.

"W-What the hell?!"

Cheol Sunjik tried to retreat in panic.

Without hesitation, I spun in place three times and unleashed the Green Bamboo Sword Art.

Booom!

Then...

Craack!

Clang!

With a sound that seemed to tear through my eardrums, Cheol Sunjik's sword broke.

[1] Mount Tai — one of China's sacred mountains, used figuratively for an immense, immovable obstacle.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried