Chapter 12
In my past life, the beginning of my fame was also a martial arts competition.
'What was the name of the competition... it was hosted by the Murong family.'
I don't even remember the exact name of the competition, but from my appearance, I was a thorn in the side of the prestigious families.
The martial arts competition I participated in and ended up winning was, as it happened, a competition planned by the renowned Murong family to have their own young talent win and raise their fame.
'I did think it was strange that they accepted me.'
Martial artists are ridiculously obsessed with face and origin.
Thanks to that, I had never even participated in the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, where young talents officially made their names and faces known and formed friendships.
A nobody like me couldn't participate because my name wasn't known and I wasn't invited, or something like that.
At that time, I could only feel wronged, thinking, 'Then where on earth do nobodies make their names known!'
In the midst of that, the competition that accepted my participation, saying it was good that I was a nobody, was the one hosted by the Murong family.
'That was the first time I realized I was that strong.'
At fifteen, I had first entered the martial world with a heart full of dreams.
Then, in the mountain right in front of my house, I met the Green Forest bandits and had a desperate, bloody battle...
'I was robbed of everything but my undergarments. It was a miracle I survived.'
Just thinking about that time still makes my hair stand on end.
It was fortunate that those mountain bandits were kind (?) Green Forest bandits. If they had been like the Green Forest bandits these days, who stab first and then take the money, I would already be dead.
Anyway, after returning home at that time, I trained in martial arts like a madman for ten years.
When I was awake, it was either eating, pooping, or training, and my only rest time was when I was sleeping.
And after ten years, I entered the martial world again, and while living a life of catching small-time thugs in the back alleys, claiming to be doing righteous deeds, I ended up participating in the competition hosted by the Murong family.
'And I ended up winning that competition anticlimactically.'
The martial artists who participated in the competition were all weaker than I thought.
No, not just in my opinion, they were probably objectively weak martial artists.
Since it was a competition created for the Murong family's young talent to win, it would be easier to win if it was filled with weak martial artists.
'What was his name again. Was it Murong Bisan?'
Well, it was a name like that.
When I met him in the finals, I had a pretty tough time.
Because his skills were far beyond the level of the martial artists I had fought until then.
But I won.
How did I win?
'It was a victory of grit.'
Murong Bisan and my level were, coincidentally, almost the same.
So time passed without either side gaining an advantage.
But who am I? I'm the one who isn't satisfied unless I swing my sword for half a day once I start, and I was confident in doing the horse stance all day.
In the end, Murong Bisan, who got tired before me, dropped his sword, and I won the martial arts competition anticlimactically.
I gained a little fame from that competition, and with that fame, I participated in a bigger martial arts competition, won there too, and with that fame, I participated in another martial arts competition...
It was at the speed of a snail crawling, but I gained fame like that and even got the slightly annoying nickname 'Self-Taught Sword Master'.
'The fact that I also earned the hatred of the Murong family was a bonus.'
After that, the Murong family, perhaps resentful that I had snatched the meal they had so carefully prepared, interfered with me at every turn.
I don't know if the Murong family instigated it, but after that, the so-called prestigious families and large sects began to discriminate against me.
Anyway, that's enough of old memories. I finished my meal and sat facing Senior Brother Uncheol.
I was about to ask him if he knew anything about the martial arts competition.
"Senior Brother Uncheol."
"Wh-What is it?"
Ever since I had that deep conversation with Senior Brother Uncheol that day, he would get startled whenever I spoke to him.
I feel a little sorry, but I'm leaving him be because of what he did to this body until now.
"You knew about the martial arts competition, right, Senior Brother?"
"Yes. I knew."
Un Gwang said earlier that the competition is held once every six months, and Senior Brother Uncheol said he has been training at the Yuyeop Hall for two years, so it was natural that he knew.
"If there was something like that, why didn't you tell me? You're not the type of person to forget something like that, Senior Brother."
"I was so busy since you woke up that I didn't even think about the martial arts competition. And..."
"And?"
"Actually, our room was going to forfeit the martial arts competition itself. So that's also why I didn't remember."
"Huh? Why? You're said to be one of the strongest in our 'Un' generation, Senior Brother."
Then, Uncheol looked around at the senior brothers who were each doing the two hundred handstand push-ups I had ordered them to do in their own spots, and then spoke to me quietly.
"Can we move to another place to talk?"
I nodded obediently.
It was the first time Senior Brother Uncheol had spoken to me like this since we started training, and it seemed like he was about to say something the junior brothers shouldn't hear.
"Senior Brothers. After you finish the two hundred, just do three hundred squats."
"Uh..."
"Three hundred...?"
The senior brothers' words trailed off.
I let out a deep sigh and said, "Just do that and then rest for a bit. Be careful not to let your knees go past your toes when you squat, and if you try to cheat on the count... I won't let you off. I have ways of knowing, you know?"
"Ah, alright."
I gave them a firm warning and then closed the door and came out.
But, at that moment, I heard a small cheer from behind.
"Guys, we can rest after just three hundred!"
"Let's do it hard, with proper form, and get it over with quickly!"
"Good. Oh, I love it. The feeling of it really hitting my butt and thighs is the best."
...I also feel like I might be ruining the senior brothers.
***
Senior Brother Uncheol and I went out to a deserted open space with no people.
For a moment, I wondered if this senior brother was trying to challenge me in a deserted place, but fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
"What did you want to talk about that you came all the way here?"
"It's nothing special, I was just afraid that our room's junior brothers would be hurt if they heard."
"What on earth is it?"
"It's about forfeiting this martial arts competition."
"Yes."
"I meant that our room has no chance, so we're forfeiting."
He frowned as if he was saying something he didn't want to say.
It seemed his pride was hurt by giving up without even trying.
I waited quietly for his words.
After a moment, as if he had composed himself, he opened his mouth again.
"This martial arts competition is a team competition, not an individual one."
"Ah! I heard that from Senior Brother Un Gwang."
"And it's not a system where the winner keeps fighting the next opponent, but a system where each person chooses an opponent, fights once, and is then excluded from the competition."
"Aha. I see. So it doesn't matter if you win alone, right?"
"That's right."
I roughly understood the system.
The winning room would fight another winning room, go up, and then go up again, in that kind of system.
But one question remains.
"But why did you bring me all the way here to talk about that?"
"Because I can't say in front of our room's junior brothers that they have no chance of winning."
"No chance?"
"Yes. We had a martial arts competition six months ago. Of course, our room participated then too..."
His words trailed off.
I can roughly guess.
Senior Brother Uncheol somehow beat his opponent, but the rest were utterly defeated.
At best, Senior Brother Unjeong would have fought on par with his opponent, and Senior Brothers Unshik and Unmi would have been crushed miserably.
"Unjeong fought well, but the rest were no match."
"Just as I expected. How was I?"
"You've never participated. You weren't there at that time."
"Aha, so originally the four of you shared a room, and then I joined when Wudang recruited more 'Un' generation members?"
"That's right."
I think I heard that from Un Gwang.
Even if they are in the same generation, they recruit members to match the number of rooms.
"But Senior Brother, I think you're mistaken about something."
"Mistaken?"
"Do you really think that not talking about it in front of the other senior brothers is for their sake?"
"Th-That's..."
"If it's not for their sake, do you think you're being considerate?"
Uncheol nodded slightly.
He doesn't look like it, but he must be the type who is secretly very affectionate.
But what's wrong is wrong.
I said with a firm expression, "Not at all. That's definitely not being considerate."
"If I talked about it in front of the junior brothers and they got frustrated and discouraged..."
"Are you being serious right now?"
My expression crumpled without my knowledge.
I thought I had corrected this defeatist attitude that was prevalent throughout Wudang over the past few days, but it seems it's not easily fixed.
"I know very well how kind you are, Senior Brother. But do you know that what you're saying right now is clearly hypocritical? You said you wanted to make Wudang strong. But you're afraid to say something like that? What? What if they get frustrated? Hoo..."
The heat rushed to my head and I poured out my words, and I felt myself getting dizzy.
This damn weak body.
I put my hand on my head and continued speaking as if nothing was wrong.
"Why don't you think that the moment you overcome that frustration is the moment you truly grow? You're the one who made me jump into a pond and almost killed me, so why are you so soft-hearted?"
"That's..."
"Are you going to say again that you didn't think I would really jump? What were you going to do if I had really died?"
At the suddenly brought up topic, Uncheol shut his mouth as if he had become a mute who had eaten honey.
It was a topic I had deliberately not brought up for the past few days.
But perhaps because I was excited, I ended up bringing it up.
Uncheol's pupils trembled as if there was an earthquake.
He might have been trying hard to forget.
He might have thought he was atoning to me by listening to my words well.
"I..."
He tried to say something but couldn't finish his sentence.
Well, he probably has nothing to say.
It's clearly his fault, so there's no excuse.
Thud—
"Huh...?"
But at Senior Brother Uncheol's next action, I let out a strange sound without realizing it.
He suddenly knelt down in front of me.
"Senior Brother, what are you doing all of a sudden..."
"After hearing your story, I realized that I haven't even apologized to you until now. Of course, I should have begged for your forgiveness like this. I'm sorry."
His voice was serious.
But the problem was me.
I had no idea how to accept those words.
In my entire life, including my past life, I had never had someone kneel down and ask for my forgiveness like this.
Ah! There was one time.
The guys from the Unorthodox Faction or the Demonic Cult had begged me to save them right before they died.
But this is the first time someone older than me has completely admitted their fault and begged for forgiveness.
'What... does he really mean he didn't intend to kill this body?'
I'm a little confused by his truly sincere appearance.
He was still kneeling, his gaze fixed on the floor, as he opened his mouth.
"There can be no excuse, but I really didn't think you would jump. I thought you weren't a martial talent and lacked courage, so I thought you would never jump."
"...What were you going to do if I had really died?"
"You might not believe it... but at that time, I was going to leave the martial world and enter the Taoist sect."
Now all my questions are answered.
My guess was wrong.
He didn't remain in the Yuyeop Hall, not choosing a master, and become a mediocre martial artist, but he completely left the martial world and lived his life as a Taoist.
"Hoo..."
I let out a deep breath.
I had thought he wasn't a bad kid at heart, but hearing his story like this, my stuffy heart feels a little relieved.
"I understand. Get up."
"I'm sorry... really..."
I helped Uncheol up, and my goodness.
His face was stained with tears.
And that wasn't the end of it.
He suddenly looked at me and shouted.
"Unhwi-ya... I'm sorry!! Sob..."
This is driving me crazy, really.
(End of Chapter)