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1.
In the history of Murim Academy, there was no star that shone as brilliantly.
A being born at the highest place and always located at the highest place.
Then, if we were to name the opposite, we could point to the first student in the history of Murim Academy who was formerly a ronin.
A ‘dragon from the gutter’ who is an orphan with no parents, let alone a family.
There was a man who started working as an assistant to a ronin at the age of ten, succeeded in his first ronin job at fourteen, and took the exam on his own at twenty-two to enter the academy.
Current Baekranggakju Deungcheonbi.
He was a person who had already retired as the former head of Baekranggak when I started working at Sojeongdae.
The person who entered the Alliance at the lowest rank, secured a position among the Seven Stars, and rose to become the youngest Lord was none other than the Star-Striking Deungcheonbi standing before our eyes.
A figure who was once a symbol of the Murim Alliance’s success story.
However, conversely, he was an unfortunate being who could never escape from Baekranggak.
Perhaps the Great War between Righteousness and Demons, where origins and backgrounds would become meaningless, was the only opportunity for him to prove his true worth; however, he eventually stepped down from his position as a clan leader before the war broke out and disappeared from the martial arts world.
I finally met him, the one on whom only rumors had been circulating.
But… ‘To think he was this kind of person.’ A large build and a rough beard.
The half-closed eyelids and bloodshot eyes are far from the typical appearance of a Murim Alliance member.
No, considering his signature weapon, the katana, and the long robe with the front half-unfastened… I suppose you could say he fits in better with the Green Forest Bandits than with the Murim Alliance.
We’ll… be able to communicate, right?
I opened the conversation as politely as possible.
“I am the top student in the academic center. I can go wherever I want…….”
“I know. That’s why I sent the application back. Let’s just say you withdrew it.”
“That’s ridiculous… Why can’t you accept it?”
Deng Tianfei twitched his eyelids and spat out a look full of dissatisfaction.
“I guess I made the right decision not to answer, seeing as you can’t get the gist of it. I just told you. I absolutely hate anything bothersome.”
“……
ha.”
I am used to ordinary absurdities, but such a preposterous attitude naturally provokes anger.
“Ugh… I’ve lost my appetite. Go back immediately. Shoo, shoo.”
“…….”
Anger rises.
What is even more infuriating is that since this person is the final decision-maker no matter what, I can’t just ram into him easily.
I absolutely must enter Baekranggak.
I told you. I can’t accept it.
I felt something strange while talking.
It changed from “doesn’t accept” to “can’t accept” before I knew it.
“What do you mean? That remark that seems unwilling?”
The hulking bandit flinches uncharacteristically and then speaks awkwardly.
That’s why I tell you, quick-witted guys are such a nuisance.
“I would like to hear the details of what that means…….”
I can’t accept it because I’ve already been treated to a drink.
Have you ever seen such a ridiculous greeting?
You sold out someone who isn’t even a subordinate yet?
“Fuck, what kind of bullshit is that?”
“Fuck? Fuck? Did you just say fuck? To your superior?”
He isn’t even my direct superior, is he? Besides, didn’t you say you wouldn’t accept me?
“Ah… I see.”
What are you accepting now?
While examining countless possibilities regarding the future and trying to predict as many potential variables as possible, I never imagined that I would fail to enter Baekranggak.
I joined the alliance as a low-ranking warrior in my previous life, and I ended up becoming the leader of the Sojeongdae.
“To think that I, having even graduated from the academy, cannot go to Baekranggak. What kind of bullshit is this?” Moreover, all the plans I prepared must be executed based at Baekranggak.
These are things that cannot be executed in other martial arts halls where the influence of the Four Sects or existing forces is significant.
All the future I have prepared is about to be shattered into pieces because of this drunkard right in front of me.
I thought about coming in after the head of Baekranggak changed, but then it would be too late.
As soon as I realized I couldn’t back down, I thought of what I had to do.
It’s not just the level of martial arts that has changed since my previous life.
How much is it?
“what?”
“The bill for the drinks. I’m asking how much it is.”
“Why? Are you going to give it to me?”
Deungcheonbi let out a mocking laugh.
“yes.”
“huh?”
However, soon his eyes become even rounder than a rabbit’s.
I looked down at his bottle of liquor and made a suggestion.
I will pay back the entire bill for the drinks at Yanggaru and Cheongbinru as well.
“Are there drink bills at other places too? I’ll take care of them all. No, I’ll make sure you never have to worry about drink bills again. Just like that…….”
“Hey, kid.”
In an instant, a rough aura erupted along with a terrible scent, tightening its grip.
“Gasp!”
My body flinched for a moment, and I took a step back.
As someone who hadn’t experienced anything like this in a long time, it was quite a perplexing situation. ‘Striking a star…’
“Is this all there is?” His unrefined, rough fighting style clearly demonstrated his identity of having started from the bottom.
Even though he was ruined by years of alcoholism, he had not yet forgotten his wild nature.
Much like that of a bloody battle, or like that of Bang Du-chil.
I could feel the boldness characteristic of someone who has personally carved out and walked their own path.
Stop your presumptuous behavior. Considering you sold me out, I’ve let you off the hook enough.
It was a strange feeling I was experiencing for the first time since returning.
Living one life and welcoming a second life.
As a result, no matter how old the other person was, he was bound to feel like a child; however, the way he looked just now was so aggressive yet relaxed that it made me forget the long time I had lived in an instant.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I have any intention of backing down.
Shouldn’t you calculate it properly?
I don’t think it’s enough.
Then what do you intend to do?
He growled as if a tiger were revealing hostility.
It is clearly evident that they intend to attack recklessly if you keep messing around.
But how could such crude threats, which only work on drinking thugs, possibly work on me, a former member of the Sojeongdae?
I looked around the interior of the office with a fresh smile.
“Hmm, first of all, I suppose I need to inform the Ministry of Public Works about this. I should report that the Master of Baekranggak is committing acts of breach of trust in operating Baekranggak, such as handling affairs negligently and incurring massive external debts.”
I also intend to file a complaint with the Inspection Bureau. Since they are accepting bribes and representing the interests of the opposing side, I believe we can sufficiently take issue with this.
Bewilderment gradually appears on the face that was filled with hostility.
No matter how impenetrable a person may seem, they are bound to waver once their weaknesses are dug up one by one.
“Ah! I suppose I should speak to the Executioner’s Pavilion as well. Deliberately refusing to accept someone who could be of help to the White Wolf Pavilion could be seen as a plan to intentionally weaken its power. Since this directly leads to a weakening of the Murim Alliance’s strength… Hmm, I suppose I won’t be able to avoid the suspicion of being a spy for the Black Dao.”
“What kind of bullshit is that!!”
The face that was like a tiger is gradually turning into a dog’s.
He fidgets restlessly with a look as if he needs to poop, as if he doesn’t know if the other person is an enemy or his master.
“Weren’t you not interested in the position of Baekranggakju anyway? Surely you aren’t harboring any greed to keep the position now?”
Even if you act recklessly and live as if you have given up on everything, no one can let go of everything from their grasp.
Everyone is afraid to give up what they hold in their hands.
Because it is hard to bear the sense of loss that follows.
“If the Master of Baekranggak prevents me from entering Baekranggak, I will simply replace him.”
Do you think that would be possible?
I can hear the sound of teeth grinding.
However, he doesn’t back down and fights back.
Because the burdens I carry are too heavy to back down just for the sake of the other person’s feelings.
“We’ll find out if it’s possible or not by trying. After all, I intend to enter Baekranggak no matter what, even if it means doing it that way.”
I did hear people call him crazy, but to think he’d just charge in like this, without any reason. Ha! I’m glad I didn’t hit him.
So you’re really going to give it a try.
“Try what you’re trying to do, you crazy bastard!”
Deungcheonbi turned his gaze.
However, his shoulders soon droop.
It seemed he had run out of even the little alcohol he had, as he turned the bottle upside down and shook it vigorously, but not a single drop fell out.
This happened a few times.
As Deungcheonbi puts down the wine bottle, wondering if he has given up, he asks me.
Why do you want to enter Baekranggak?
Why, why…
The answer is clear.
Because it is the place that suits me best.
My colleagues and my plans are all here.
Everything that has been prepared since the day of the return will germinate here.
And it will grow into a big tree.
A different plan now? That’s ridiculous.
I have overcome countless impossibilities to get this far, so I cannot be stopped by the mere cost of drinks for the head of Baekranggak.
Damn, it’s just like looking at my younger days.
Are you cursing?
“Even if you can replace the Master of Baekranggak, you will ultimately never be able to enter Baekranggak.”
Well, we’ll find out once we try it.
Deungcheonbi shook his head.
“No, I know without even trying. Because I wasn’t the one who stopped you in the first place.”
What on earth is this all about?
Weren’t you selling me out for the sake of drinks?
Then who is it?
“Why? Are you going to replace him too?”
There’s nothing I can’t do.
You probably won’t be able to do it.
Deungcheonbi does not know. He does not know that the path I have walked was just as difficult as the path he has walked.
“Just give me your name. Who is it? Which bastard blocked my path?”
Deungcheonbi, who had been sulking, somehow twitched his lips.
Then, he casually blurts out a name.
Hyeok Mu-gang.
Hyeok Mu-gang, Hyeok Mu-gang, a name I’ve heard somewhere before.
I searched through the Murim Alliance roster to thoroughly check where he was currently located.
I just need to get rid of that guy…
“……?!”
Hmm, surely that can’t be true.
I scanned the namebook again, then stopped abruptly and looked at the Deungcheonbi.
It seems the name is wrong.
That’s right.
This person… it seems like they’ve gone too far with their pranks.
“No. It is clearly wrong………”
“that’s right.”
Are you kidding me?
“That’s right, I said it’s right, I’m telling you, you bastard!? That Hyuk Mu-gang!”
Because in the current Murim Alliance’s roster, there is only one person named Hyeok Mu-gang.
“Baeksushin-geom Hyeok Mu-gang?”
As that name, which I had never imagined would come out of my mouth along with a nickname…
Deungcheonbi sneered as if he had won.
“Yes, it’s the leader of the Murim Alliance you know, you little brat!”
My mind, which had been racing to eliminate variables, suddenly came to a halt.
“Are you still here because you don’t know where the Mengzhu Palace is? Why, shall I tell you?”
Damn it, is that even something you can say?
“That is a reactionary act. Watch your words.”
“You said it yourself. That you would join Baekranggak even if it meant replacing the Alliance Leader.”
I never said that.
What a lunatic trying to make someone out to be a spy.
Anyway, I feel dizzy.
Why did the Leader of the Murim Alliance block my journey to Baekranggak?
I’m pretty sure you were nice to me the last time we met.
I wonder if this person is lying.
Is it true?
“Would I lie?”
He looks like someone who is more than capable of doing it.
“Thanks for the compliment, you bastard. But I’m not lying. If you doubt it, go ask someone.”
Is he bluffing because he knows it’s impossible?
Or perhaps I can speak about it confidently because it actually happened.
While I was lost in agony, Deng Tianfei’s monologue flew into my ears.
To think I’m meeting the Leader of the Martial Arts Alliance for the first time in my life because of a student from the academy.
His voice was somehow filled with a sense of despondency.
“I wonder what on earth you are that everyone is making such a fuss about.”
That was actually what I wanted to ask.
I wonder what on earth is going on.
He, who had somehow calmed down, leans back in his chair and looks at me.
“Why are you so obsessed with Baekranggak?”
A face filled with pure doubt.
As someone who knows the reality and treatment of Baekranggak better than anyone, this situation must be the hardest for him to understand.
There is work to be done at Baekranggak.
“Something that has to be done… You don’t think this is the place that suits you, do you?”
A question that flew in while I was thinking about how to enter Baekranggak.
For some reason, those words lingered in my mind, so I looked at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you think this is the place that suits you?”
“You’ve been through school life yourself, so you’d know. Whether it’s the school or the Martial Arts Alliance, the places a guy like you can go are limited from the very beginning.”
Even though he was clearly cursing at me, he was looking at me with a somehow pitiful expression.
“It must have been a series of days worn down and exhausted, repeating cycles of expectation and disappointment amidst the gap between opportunities that seemed fair on the surface and what was actually given.”
Even though it was his first time meeting me, he somehow seemed to know me well.
“But soon, you will distinguish what you can have, and regarding what you cannot, you will act as if you never wanted it in the first place. That must be why you are trying to come to Baekranggak. You wouldn’t want to show a cowardly side.”
Even though he was talking about me, it somehow sounded like he was telling his own story.
Why do you talk about yourself as if it were someone else’s story?
What are you talking about! I told you kids these days have no manners.
I felt extremely annoyed hearing such things from someone who doesn’t even have the basics down.
“As a kid these days, I will take my leave now.”
As I rose from my seat first, Deungcheonbi, who had been hesitating, parted his lips with a wavering expression.
Don’t give up just because you feel like you’ve hit a wall. Even if you stumble, it’s better to just face it head-on. That way, you won’t have any regrets left over from the days gone by.
He casually tossed it out, as if conveying something to someone from the past.
– Took a remark.
“Isn’t even the Leader of the Martial Arts Alliance stepping forward to brighten your future, you fool… unlike me. Then, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to throw yourself into it.”
The words he said themselves didn’t sound bad, though.
That’s a good thing to say.
I felt bad that Deungcheonbi said something like that.
“However, I am a talent that even the Leader of the Martial Arts Alliance has been keeping an eye on from the very beginning. Please do not disparage me on the same level as you, Master.”
pup.”
“I don’t know what is going on, but given that the Leader of the Martial Arts Alliance gave instructions to the Head of the White Wolf Pavilion, I suppose I should assume there is no chance I will be assigned to the White Wolf Pavilion. But why did he go out of his way to act against the Alliance’s laws?” What I still don’t understand is that the Alliance Leader stepped forward personally.
It is not illegal, but it is certainly an action that enemies could easily find fault with.
“Maybe he judged that my going to Baekranggak would be bad for my future.” “Hmph…” My head started spinning as I had no idea where to even begin or how to clear up the misunderstanding.
While I was trying to sort out my cluttered thoughts.
Deungcheonbi kept clearing his throat.
“Ahem, ahem, anyway, about the drinks you mentioned earlier… were you really planning to pay for them?”
This is the first time in my life I have been so dumbfounded that I was speechless.
Are you kidding me?
“No, anyway, uh… what do you call it… I was going to accept it, but I can’t because of the Alliance Leader…..”
Just as I was about to leave the footnote’s office at the nonsensical rubbish.
Something felt off, so I turned around and looked at him.
“I heard you already said you wouldn’t accept me on the Alliance Leader’s orders. But who treated you to a drink, and why?”
At my question, Deungcheonbi smiled brightly for the first time.
“Ah, that? Those other pathetic Mugak clan leaders kept acting all friendly and pestering me, so I pretended to give in and accepted. Heh heh, their expressions are going to be something to see when they find out the truth later. Ugh, I’m craving a drink already.”
How could anyone defraud the footnote holders, considering who they are?
When I first saw him, I just thought he was crazy.
Now that I look at it, I can tell for sure.
“This person. ‘He’s completely insane.’ I slipped out of the Baekranggak Master’s office, where my head had been throbbing, and wandered around Baekranggak.”
It was because I couldn’t bring myself to go straight to the academy, thinking that getting assigned to Baekranggak would be difficult.
Buildings with low ceilings and poor facilities compared to other buildings.
Still, it was better maintained than the Baekranggak in my memory.
Even though it had been a long time since I last saw the place, seeing that the facilities were cleaner than before gave me a strange feeling.
As I stared blankly at the surrounding facilities one by one, I suddenly found myself at the battalion training ground of Baekranggak. ‘When did I get this far?’ The quarters of each battalion are visible around the main training ground.
Leaving aside the other branches of the Murim Alliance, the scenery feels small and desolate even when compared to the Academy.
While admiring the desolate scenery, I stopped abruptly at the sight of a group.
Those faces I was tired of and missed.
The moment I saw those faces, younger than the vivid images in my memory.
An indescribable emotion surged up from deep within my heart.
I asked in a trembling voice.
“Is this… Sojeongdae?”
It wasn’t just the members of the Sojeong Unit I knew, but it was definitely the Sojeong Unit.
The faces that exist in my memory were scattered all around, glaring at me with disgusted eyes.
“What are you, you son of a bitch?”
Harsh profanity.
“Wow… Who the hell knows where this is, staring straight at me? Hey you bastard, aren’t you going to lower your eyes? Should I rip the ink out of both of your eyes? Those ink-using Tenmokukaku guys would be thrilled if I gave this to them, hahaha!!”
An extremely vulgar way of speaking.
“Hey, do you have any money? Don’t say you don’t. If you don’t, one coin is a punch to the face.”
Unconcealable ruffian behavior and.
“You look like a chewed-up piece of dried radish, yet you’re carrying a sword? Where did you buy that? It must have cost at least ten taels of silver.”
Even the intellect and discernment that have thrown common sense far away.
“Damn it, did you eat honey? Aren’t you going to answer?”
Those guys are right.
It was definitely those guys.
I barely managed to open my lips, which wouldn’t budge, and answered.
“Um, I am…… Jin So-un, a student at the Murim Academy.”
A greeting distinctly different from the first meeting in a past life.
As soon as I finished speaking, I suddenly burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha! I’m from the academic building.”
“Moorim Academy? Hey, have academies become a total dump these days? Do they accept just anyone? Should we apply there, too?”
“Campus residents my ass… What the hell are these bastards doing? At least we should weed out the lunatics. Even if we’re a total wreck, this is ridiculous.”
The lineup is a bit different, but the atmosphere remains the same.
That is the place. That was the right place.
“Actually… I wanted to come here… but in the end, it didn’t work out.”
A sense of utter despair naturally flows out.
How long I have been looking forward to this.
What a moment I have longed for.
When tears are about to pour out from the emotions surging up like that.
“You bastard! Just because you think the Sojeongdae is… Did you really think a loser like you could easily get in?!”
Harsh words began to pour out from all directions.
“Anyway, these youngsters have such high standards these days. Everyone and their dog dreams of becoming a Murim Alliance warrior.”
“This is all because of you, you bastard Do Kwang-soo! It’s because you muddied the waters!”
“Why are you giving me your ass? That half-wit is the one who did something wrong.”
Endless criticism and insults poured out against me.
For some reason… … I felt like blood was going to come out of my ear.
“You brat, if you want to join Sojeongdae, go suckle your mother’s milk for another ten years.”
“Hey, do you think that’ll be enough? Take that sword, go into a deep mountain valley, swing it around for about thirty years, and then come out. Then I’ll take you. Heh heh.”
“Do you have any money at home? I know a bachelor. Should I slip some money in through the back door?”
Very familiar and exactly as expected.
I quietly listened to the story of those Sojeongdae guys and calmly nodded my head.
I see. Sojeongdae was originally a place like this.
“What the hell is this crazy bastard talking about? Talking like you’ve been here before…”
“I made up my mind. No matter what difficulties or hardships I face, I will definitely return here.”
Did they see my determined resolve? The cursing stopped for a moment.
But soon.
“““Hahahaha!””
“This guy is totally a funny bastard.”
“Hey, you might as well be a clown, hehe.”
The members of the Sojeong unit rolling on the floor clutching their stomachs.
I looked at their faces.
And I made a promise to myself, and then another.
I want to be with such lovely team members.
I promised I would definitely return here.
“If you join Sojeongdae, I’ll burn my fist, you bastard.”
And I’ll make that bastard burn his hand on a hot stove, and I’ll treat the rest of them terribly with plenty of affection.
Watching those snickering Sojeongdae bastards, I repeated my oath over and over again. ‘You’re all dead.’
