WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 362: The Invisible Torrent (2)
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For some time after Hwa Jeongsan's visit, no one came by the dormitory.
It was a separate residence I used alone to begin with, but even the Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers, who visited every day, had stopped coming entirely.
‘It’s not exactly a time to be going around visiting people.’
The excitement that should have come with graduation had been thoroughly subdued by the bereaved families visiting the Martial Arts Academy.
Even without them, once people realized that friends and classmates they had seen every day would never appear again, a different kind of grief would begin to set in.
Perhaps it was only natural.
Besides, I did not feel like meeting anyone either.
Then...
“Why should I have to see someone I dislike right now?”
“...”
Yong Soa looked at Dang Seohui with a blank expression.
Small in stature, Dang Seohui stood between Yong Soa and me, looking up at each of us in turn.
Like a whimpering puppy.
“If you fought, you should make up and move on...”
“We have nothing to make up over.”
“We never fought.”
Silence fell after Yong Soa and I spoke at the same time.
We had swung swords at each other as if we meant to kill each other, yet we had not fought?
“...You do not intend to reconcile?”
Dang Seohui lowered her head and muttered to herself.
Then she took three small mother-of-pearl vials from her robe.
“Even someone resistant to a hundred poisons...”
A chilling glint crossed her face.
“Can waste away from this poison.”
“...”
I could see she was trying to be considerate, so I spoke first.
“I apologize for defending myself after you tried to kill me first.”
I glanced over to see whether Dang Seohui had put the vials away. She had not.
“I apologized, so why don’t you apologize too?”
“I have nothing to apologize for.”
I took two steps back.
I had no desire to end up within range of the poison.
I had definitely apologized.
“Ugh... Why are you acting like children? If resentment remains, it grows into a great grudge.”
What was this? Was this really the Dang Seohui who used to play at being a chivalrous hero?
Yong Soa spoke to the unusually mature Dang Seohui.
“Could you give us some privacy?”
“...Are you going to apologize?”
“...”
It seemed this would never end, so I answered for him.
“There are refreshments inside. I heard they were bought from Hongga Confectionery in Wuhan.”
Dang Seohui pouted, then looked at Yong Soa.
“...I will ask Jin Sowoon later.”
After Dang Seohui entered the separate residence under a servant’s guidance, I jerked my chin at Yong Soa.
“You should get going. We are not close enough to be comfortable around each other. I’ll have a word with Senior Dang.”
Yet he did not move.
Yong Soa stood as still as a massive boulder.
“Do you have something to say?”
“I am curious about the career path you have chosen.”
“...”
I could not understand this man in my previous life, but I understood him even less in this one.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“It is the end of the term, and graduation is near. It is time for you to decide your career path.”
We had been so distant in my previous life that it was understandable I could not figure him out. But now that I had seen him this closely, why did he make even less sense?
“That is not what you wanted to ask.”
“Have you not decided yet? How careless. An outstanding Academy student should have finished researching where they intend to go half a year ago.”
“...What are you trying to do?”
“Are you still immersed in grief?”
My heart sank coldly.
“Foolish.”
Yong Soa and I were not close enough to have this sort of conversation to begin with.
And this was not a time when I wanted to think about the future.
“Shut up.”
“The dead do not return because you grieve.”
“...Do you really want to die?”
Though I had not meant to, my internal energy stirred.
The killing intent that spread from me squeezed Yong Soa.
“...What do you really want?”
He could not have brought up the dead just because he was curious about where I would apply.
Yet...
“I am curious about the career path you have chosen. That is all.”
“...”
Even as killing intent that had made demonic beings shudder poured toward him, his expression did not change in the slightest.
All my strength drained away.
What was I even doing?
No matter how angry I became at a rock, it would not react.
“What if I refuse to tell you?”
“It is not difficult to find out.”
“Now I want to tell you even less.”
Yong Soa, who had not reacted at all to my killing intent, faintly furrowed his brow.
After a brief moment of thought, he looked at me again.
“Jin Sowoon... You are an uncertainty.”
“...”
He said the same thing again.
“Do not cause confusion. If you do...”
But this time, his words carried a different weight.
“I will have no choice but to eliminate you.”
After speaking in that indifferent tone, Yong Soa left as casually as he had come.
‘Eliminate me...’
I must really get under his skin.
For Yong Soa to say something like that.
‘More importantly, is that bastard smart or stupid?’
Other than the Dragon-Phoenix Association, assignments to Martial Alliance units could only be finalized with the unit leader’s approval.
There was nowhere I could not go because of my grades, but there were plenty of places where I would have trouble after joining.
It would be the same anywhere, but the Orthodox Society, White Path Society, and Twelve Peak Alliance would each hold positions in most units.
Looking at it that way, aside from special places like Cheonmok Pavilion and the Divine Physician Pavilion...
If I excluded the places controlled by the Orthodox Society, White Path Society, and Twelve Peak Alliance...
The only places I could join comfortably were the Dragon-Phoenix Association, Yellow Phoenix Pavilion, and White Wolf Pavilion.
‘Though I had planned to join White Wolf Pavilion from the beginning.’
Before the war began, I intended to build a perfect unit.
The strongest unit, one that could save the Sojeong Unit and protect the disciples of the Taeul Sect.
“Hehehe. Come to think of it, I am an Academy graduate now. Those Sojeong Unit bastards will naturally become my subordinates. Hehehe.”
I had not even been thinking about the refreshments, yet my mouth was already watering.
#
Among the people of the martial world, the hottest topic of late was Mukrim.
No one knew where the rumors had begun, but word gradually spread that Academy students had died in Mukrim.
People doubted whether the reports of enormous casualties were even true.
“Who would do that? Why? There are plenty of easier ways to die, so why attack Academy students?”
“The Martial Alliance’s overprotection of Academy students is nothing new. They must be completely insane. If it was the Black Path, was it the nearby Myriad Poison Sect?”
“Hah, that is not it! I heard the Myriad Poison Sect helped many Academy students during the Mukrim incident.”
“...You have had too much to drink. I knew you had a habit of making things up.”
Even when the truth was told exactly as it happened, it was difficult to believe, so people thought the events in Mukrim might be false.
The Martial Alliance’s lack of any response only deepened the misunderstanding.
But when people from sects and clans began heading for the Martial Alliance, even those calling it a lie fell silent.
The procession was large, but what truly settled the matter was their appearance and expressions.
Their faces were filled with indescribable sorrow and grief, confirming that what happened in Mukrim had truly occurred.
As one question was answered, another immediately arose.
Then who had attacked the Academy students?
Throughout history, Academy students had been protected by the Martial Alliance as its most important people.
The fact that even Black Path factions discreetly offered condolences for the Academy students’ deaths proved as much.
They were quietly declaring that they had nothing to do with the incident.
It was only natural for people to wonder about the enemy who had shattered the martial world’s common sense and humiliated the Martial Alliance.
Yet even when the bereaved families came to ask, the Martial Alliance did not announce who the culprit was.
And as the Martial Alliance’s suspicious silence continued, the mood in the martial world grew colder.
The leaders of the Alliance Leader’s Hall and the Mantong Office were not unaware of this atmosphere.
No, they felt it more keenly than anyone else.
“They have begun moving as though they were waiting for this.”
Hyeok Mugang, who usually loved tea, did not touch the Junshan Silver Needle before him even after it had gone cold.
“There are hundreds of messages saying that everyone is fully prepared for war.”
Jegal Somyeong, who had been calmly drinking alcohol, had their eyelids quiver slightly.
“...A war against an enemy whose identity I have yet to uncover. It seems they already have an enemy, no, someone they wish to make their enemy.”
What happened in Sichuan had already proven that the blood of the martial world was boiling.
“Questions will eventually become opinions, and then the prevailing sentiment.”
Their boiling killing intent was turning toward their allies.
The golden age had lasted long enough for them to build their strength, and every sect and clan had confidence in itself.
They were looking for an opportunity to expand their territories while public opinion of the Martial Alliance was poor.
For their sects.
For their clans.
“If only the hidden enemy would at least reveal its identity clearly.”
As though they had expected this outcome, the hidden enemy kept its shadow concealed.
It would likely reveal itself only once it decided it could manipulate the martial world as it pleased.
The Martial Alliance would not be able to withstand the enemy that appeared then.
Though he could clearly see the future, there was no way to change course. Hyeok Mugang felt lost.
“Is this a time that calls for hegemonic rule...?”
Jegal Somyeong shook their head at Hyeok Mugang’s quiet mutter.
He was not the kind of person capable of that to begin with.
“The target of the attacks would instead shift to the Alliance Leader.”
“...”
Martial artists might be able to face ten men alone, but no one could stand against the entire world.
The fact that Hyeok Mugang, who understood this better than anyone, had spoken of hegemonic rule showed how hopeless the situation was.
Jegal Somyeong sighed quietly and consoled him.
They were frustrated as well, but they were the Chief Strategist. They had to reassure the Alliance Leader.
“Still, are we not incredibly fortunate that it ended with only this much damage?”
“...”
The deeply furrowed lines between Hyeok Mugang’s brows eased, if only slightly.
“...That is true. Chief Strategist, have you seen the Enforcement Hall’s report as well? If that child, Jin Sowoon, had not changed direction toward the Demonic Realm, all of the Academy students would likely have died in Mukrim.”
Honestly, when had he seen the Enforcement Hall’s report too?
Still, Jegal Somyeong smiled faintly when they saw that some of Hyeok Mugang’s worries had eased.
“If everyone had died, there would have been no room for us to act.”
If the damage had been greater, the justification would have been greater as well.
And they would have started a war somehow.
Even if they had to create a culprit.
What Jin Sowoon had done did not end with rescuing the Academy students.
He had prevented the flames of war from sweeping over the martial world.
Jegal Somyeong lifted their cup and shook their head.
“We could not be more fortunate. Where did such a talented person suddenly come from?”
As Jegal Somyeong offered a few words of agreement, Hyeok Mugang added excitedly.
“According to the students’ testimonies, Sowoon was the first to move on the front line. Was not his demand for absolute obedience from the start meant to secure grounds for placing the students behind him?”
Hyeok Mugang looked as excited as a child listening to a heroic legend at bedtime.
Jegal Somyeong’s eyes narrowed as they watched him.
“I know. I read the report too.”
“Ahem... My apologies. Remembering it made me excited...”
“It is fine.”
In a hopeless situation, it was only natural to become excited by a hopeful story.
The ability to pursue such hope was what gave people the strength to overcome despair.
In any case, Jegal Somyeong thought that this worked out well.
“People in the martial world will likely feel no differently from you, Alliance Leader.”
“I suppose so.”
“Then we should raise that child’s profile through this incident.”
Hyeok Mugang’s brow furrowed again.
It was Jegal Somyeong who had thoroughly kept Hyeok Mugang away from Jin Sowoon to prevent him from attracting attention, so the reaction was only natural.
Jegal Somyeong spoke with an awkward expression.
“Is this not a time when we need a hero?”
“But... Jin Sowoon does not have a background like Yong Soa’s. Has that not been your greatest concern all this time, Chief Strategist?”
It might result in exposing a sprout that could one day become a towering tree to a storm.
But...
“Our circumstances are too dire to delay any longer.”
A long silence followed.
After thinking it over, Hyeok Mugang opened his eyes.
“Let us do that.”
“...”
Though it was their own proposal, Jegal Somyeong could not answer easily.
As Hyeok Mugang watched them hesitate, his expression turned resolute.
“I do not believe that child, Jin Sowoon, will break so easily. You must have thought the same, Chief Strategist, which is why you made this decision.”
“...”
“And you are not someone who would raise the matter without preparing a way forward.”
He truly had not become the Martial Alliance Leader for nothing.
“I must put some of my clan’s weight behind him. That child and my grandchild have become sworn brothers, so... the justification is a little lacking, but it should be enough to make a proper case.”
“Then it is settled.”
Jegal Somyeong stared blankly at Hyeok Mugang, who nodded without the slightest hesitation.
“To be honest, I have been somewhat worried. You said you would take responsibility for bringing that child in, Chief Strategist, but if he works in the Mantong Office, there will be considerable opposition. The Alliance Leader’s Hall is out of the question as well.”
Jin Sowoon was a child burdened with all kinds of misunderstandings and rumors that were nearly slander.
“I was worried that White Wolf Pavilion might be the only opportunity available to him.”
Hyeok Mugang had secretly feared that those dark rumors would break the boy’s wings.
“...To be honest, I had planned to leave him in the Dragon-Phoenix Association for a while, then bring him in through Cheonmok Pavilion.”
Jegal Somyeong had felt the same.
The two looked at each other and smiled bitterly.
A mocking laugh escaped at the bitter reality.
“I will lend my strength as well. The Mukrim incident has given us justification, and if we add our support, no one will be able to bring that child down easily.”
“That is fortunate.”
Thinking of the future awaiting Jin Sowoon, Hyeok Mugang smiled faintly.
“...That child will be very pleased. His sect will be pleased as well.”
“Pleased? He will be grinning from ear to ear at the thought that he does not have to go to White Wolf Pavilion.”
Trials awaited him, but both of them felt as though they had given him a great gift in advance, and the weight on their hearts lightened a little.
Of course, it was a gift that did not consider the recipient’s wishes at all.
Footnotes:
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