“You were thinking of entering this martial hall?”
Seojin’s answer had been an instinctive choice. She had made the spur-of-the-moment judgment that she would have to enter this place if she wanted to investigate Im Hyeon Oppa’s death.
“I was thinking of learning martial arts in the place where Oppa was.”
Seojin let out a sigh.
“But Oppa is dead now….”
She spoke as though she were troubled, unsure of what to do.
At present, she seemed more worried about herself than saddened by Im Hyeon’s death.
She tried to appear as though she was someone who was sad about his death, but whose own concerns took priority—no more and no less.
If she acted too grief-stricken or insisted on entering no matter what, it would look as though she had come to investigate Im Hyeon’s death.
‘I’m sorry, Oppa.’
At first, she had been too shocked to think clearly, but once doubts about Im Hyeon’s death arose, her mind began to turn coldly and methodically.
“Even if Instructor Im were still here, you would have had to take the entrance examination.”
“I’m confident I can pass.”
“Then take the examination and enter. Our martial hall offers everyone a chance, anytime.”
Giseok spoke as though he had no objection to her entering. Seen this way, he looked like someone completely unrelated to Im Hyeon’s death.
“I think I need to give it some thought. Whether I can attend a place where Oppa isn’t. I’ll be going now.”
As she left the room, Giseok offered her words of comfort.
“Don’t grieve too deeply. No martial artist can live while clinging to life and death.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
Seojin bowed politely to Giseok before leaving.
A short while after she departed, a man entered the room. He was Pyosan, an instructor at the Huanglong Martial Hall and Giseok’s right-hand man.
When he entered, Giseok was looking down from the window at Seojin as she left the building. Pyosan walked over to his side and spoke.
“The name Instructor Im had written down as the person to contact in an emergency….”
His gaze also turned toward Seojin, who was walking below.
“It was Seojin.”
Giseok’s eyes sharpened as he looked at her.
“She didn’t seem ordinary. Which clan is she from?”
“The Guimun.”
Giseok turned to Pyosan.
“The Guimun?”
“Yes. That woman is the youngest daughter of the Guimun Lord.”
“This has become troublesome.”
The Guimun’s ghost arts were exceptionally difficult for ordinary martial artists to deal with.
He had intended to kill her and silence her if necessary, but things were different if she was a blood relative of the Guimun. If he killed her carelessly, the Guimun would rise to avenge their daughter.
“That little ghost seemed suspicious of Instructor Im’s death. She’ll probably enter the hall and investigate.”
“I’ll make arrangements to have her fail the examination.”
Giseok shook his head.
“If she has the ability but still fails, she’ll become even more suspicious. Rather than letting her make a fuss investigating from outside, it would be better to keep her close and watch her.”
Giseok looked back at Pyosan.
“If she enters, take charge of her personally.”
“Yes.”
Giseok’s gaze returned to Seojin, standing in the distance beside the training ground.
She had stopped for a moment and was watching the hall members training on the field.
A scene came to her mind. The countless people around her had all disappeared, leaving Im Hyeon lying alone on the vast training ground, covered in blood.
‘…Oppa.’
Only after leaving Giseok’s office and being alone did her grief finally come rushing in earnest.
Im Hyeon Oppa, who had spent every day since childhood following their father and researching the Great Method, had been boring. Whenever he refused to play after she asked him first, he would call for her next.
―Jin, let’s go catch cicadas!
―I have to study. Father will scold me!
―Study later. Let’s go catch cicadas!
It had been the same when they grew a little older.
―Jin, they say a performing troupe has come to the village. Let’s go watch!
―Oppa gave me something to do. If I just leave, he’ll scold me!
―I won’t regret it even if I get scolded! They say it’s a really entertaining show!
For her, who had found life conducting research into the Great Method unbearably stifling, Im Hyeon had been more than just the neighborhood oppa. He had been a breath of fresh air.
Once, during an argument with Gwiryongja over researching the Great Method, she had shouted at him.
―Let’s say the Regression Great Method really is possible, just as Oppa says. If you went back to the past, what would you do? Would you shut yourself away and research again? Since you’ve already achieved regression, would you research reincarnation next? If you thought of doing anything else… Oppa, then we’re living the wrong lives, aren’t we? We should be doing that thing and living that life now, shouldn’t we? We should live the life we want to return to, shouldn’t we?
Looking back now, Im Hyeon had also been the one who taught her that such a life existed. She had seen the world outside the laboratory while playing with him.
But over the past few years, she had hardly seen him properly. Once, she had refused when he asked her to come see him because she was too tired, and another time, she had been genuinely too busy to meet him. She had thought she could see him later. As always.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I should have gone to see him then.’
Guilt welled up inside her, and tears gathered in her eyes. But she forced them back. This was not the time to cry.
‘If someone murdered Oppa and covered it up, I will uncover the truth no matter what.’
This incident had not left only one victim.
She was a victim, and so was Gwiryongja Oppa, who would hear the news later. They would both spend the rest of their lives regretting it and suffering.
She was more worried about her oppa.
He had lost the one friend he had. Gwiryongja was the one who had rejected his advances most often because he was researching the Great Method.
* * *
The next day, Seojin took the entrance examination.
The result was exactly what she had expected.
“Pass!”
Seojin safely cleared the forms demonstration, the internal energy test, and even the final sparring match against an instructor. Although she had primarily learned ghost arts, her martial ability was more than sufficient to enter the Huanglong Martial Hall.
“Congratulations.”
The person who had sparred with her was Pyosan, Giseok’s right-hand man.
“Thank you.”
Pyosan briefly explained the Huanglong Martial Hall’s system.
“New members who have just entered the hall belong to the White Dragon Class. After passing the White Dragon Class, you move on to the Azure Dragon Class; after the Azure Dragon Class comes the Black Dragon Class, and the final class is the Yellow Dragon Class. Only after graduating from the Yellow Dragon Class can you truly call yourself a graduate of the Huanglong Martial Hall.”
“How long does it usually take to complete the Yellow Dragon Class?”
“Those with outstanding martial talent can do it in less than a year, while those without talent can fail to do it even after twenty years.”
Once she entered, she realized there were truly a great many members in the hall.
There were already hundreds of members in the White Dragon Class to which she would belong, and as many as thirty instructors teaching them.
The money they made must be enormous as well. How many people paid their monthly fees without ever managing to graduate because leaving the hall was so difficult?
In any case, her vague hope that she would somehow uncover the truth once she entered the martial hall was nothing more than a vague expectation. It would not be easy to find someone who knew Im Hyeon.
“Come. Follow me.”
The hall could have assigned a member to guide her, but Pyosan personally showed her around. This building was for this, that building was for that.
He pointed out the places every newcomer needed to know: where they could wash, where they could change clothes, and where they could eat.
Finally, he brought her to one corner of the training ground.
“This is where you’ll train starting tomorrow. Be sure to arrive on time!”
“Understood.”
Pyosan turned to leave, but Seojin suddenly asked him a question.
“Instructor, did you know Instructor Im?”
“I did.”
“Then do you also know what kind of accident caused his death?”
Pyosan turned back to her.
“What was your relationship with Instructor Im that you’re asking such questions?”
“He was an oppa I was close to in my hometown. I tried to enter this place because of him, too.”
Pyosan appeared to ponder for a moment before speaking.
“Instructor Im died while sparring with a disciple.”
Seojin was startled by the unexpected answer.
“In cases like this, the cause of death is kept secret out of consideration for the instructor’s honor.”
“Who was he fighting?”
Pyosan’s expression turned cold.
“If you knew, what would you do? Go and take revenge? He died in a fair spar.”
“No.”
“Then why do you want to know?”
Leaving Seojin, who had no answer, behind, Pyosan strode away.
As she watched his back, Seojin’s gaze slowly turned cold.
Because he had answered so directly, without hiding anything like Giseok, his words sounded entirely truthful. But Seojin did not believe him.
He had made one mistake.
When she had first arrived, the martial artist who guided her had said there were many instructors with the surname Im and asked which one she was looking for.
Yet when she had asked Pyosan if he knew Instructor Im, he had immediately answered that he did. Normally, he should naturally have asked, “Which Instructor Im?”
‘There’s only one reason he knew.’
He had already spoken with Giseok.
What were the odds that, in a place with so many instructors, Giseok had happened to discuss her with the person assigned to oversee her examination? In the end, it meant the two of them were in league with each other.
‘What are you people hiding that makes you go this far?’
* * *
The sounds of insects came from far away.
Geom Mugeuk and Ian were circulating their energy in the forest.
They were making their way toward the Huanglong Martial Hall using lightness techniques. With his increased internal energy, Ian could run for a long time without resting. He was also much faster than a galloping horse.
They ran and ran. When their internal energy ran low, they circulated their energy; when it was replenished, they ran again.
It was a journey consisting of nothing but running, with no time for a proper conversation or even a proper meal, but Ian was happy nonetheless.
It was the first time he had ever run to his heart’s content with Geom Mugeuk.
Ian opened his eyes after finishing his energy circulation.
Geom Mugeuk should have finished circulating his energy already, but he remained deep in thought with his eyes closed. His expression was so serious that Ian could not bring himself to speak to him.
Geom Mugeuk was remembering what had happened that day.
“Seojin!”
When he arrived after using his lightness technique to the utmost, Seojin was collapsed on the ground. In the distance, he could see the back of the murderer fleeing at full speed.
The only thing he had been able to see was long, flowing white hair.
He could not pursue him. Seojin’s condition was critical.
“Stay with me!”
He pressed her pressure points to stop the bleeding. But the wound was too deep. It was so deep that he could only consider it fortunate that she had not died instantly.
“Just hold on a little longer!”
He tried to carry Seojin to a physician, but she grabbed his arm and spoke.
“No.”
She had sensed that she was going to die.
Seeing the despair covering Geom Mugeuk’s face, she forced herself to smile.
“It’s all right, friend.”
“I’m not all right.”
Geom Mugeuk let out a deep sigh.
She had been his only friend. His friend, and his hope.
If he had not heard about the Regression Great Method from her, he would never have struggled so desperately to survive. He would have either killed himself or gone to find Hwa Mugi and died a pointless death.
“When you meet Oppa later, be sure to tell him this. I’m leaving after having lived a life without regrets.”
Her eyes grew clear in a final rally of strength, and she spoke distinctly, as though she were uninjured.
“Please tell Oppa not to spend his life researching only the Great Method. Tell him to live his own life.”
“All right. I’ll be sure to tell him.”
Instead, Seojin tightly clasped Geom Mugeuk’s hand.
“Living as a wanderer wasn’t so bad, since I was with you.”
Geom Mugeuk’s heart ached. He had lived as a wanderer without attaching any meaning to death. But now he was so furious that he felt he might explode.
“You’ll be able to return to the past, I’m sure of it.”
As her eyes slowly closed, Geom Mugeuk shouted. There was something she had to hear before she died.
“Who was that bastard? Who was the one who killed you?”
Seojin gave Geom Mugeuk one final smile.
“…Just think about your revenge.”
Seojin’s eyes slowly closed.
When her eyes had shut completely, Geom Mugeuk opened his own.
Seojin had told him not to seek revenge, but he had tracked the man down with dogged determination and taken revenge.
He had gone to find Gwiryongja afterward. He could not go to him without first avenging her. He could not visit him without taking revenge and then deliver her words.
Ian carefully asked him,
“Why do you look so serious? Did you have a bad dream?”
The seriousness slowly faded from Geom Mugeuk’s face, and he smiled at Ian.
“I dreamed I lent you money and never got it back.”
Ian gave a faint smile. Young Master, whom did you lose in your dream?
“How much did I borrow? If I was going to default, I should’ve defaulted on a huge amount. Ian in the dream, live well even without me!”
Geom Mugeuk laughed cheerfully at Ian’s banter.
“Shall I carry you for a while? It’ll be faster.”
Knowing that he meant they should travel faster using rapid steps, Ian swiftly climbed onto Geom Mugeuk’s back.
Ian whispered into Geom Mugeuk’s ear.
“I’d like to borrow some money toooooooo!”
* * *
From the next day onward, Seojin’s life at the Huanglong Martial Hall truly began.
Along with the others who had entered around the same time, she learned martial arts from Pyosan.
After receiving three hours of training a day, the rest of the time was free. They could return home or remain behind to practice martial arts.
After training ended that day, Seojin was looking around the martial hall.
Today was her opportunity. Since it was her first day of training, she could go anywhere. Even if she entered a restricted area, she could claim that she had not known better.
Thus, she toured every corner of the Huanglong Martial Hall, drawing a map in her mind.
As she gradually ventured deeper into the hall, the color of the martial uniforms changed. From white to blue, and farther in, to black. Naturally, the bearing of the members also became sharper and more powerful.
No one paid her any attention as far as the Black Dragon Class’s territory. But when she entered the area where people wearing yellow uniforms were gathered, someone finally stopped her.
“What is a member of the White Dragon Class doing all the way here?”
From the Yellow Dragon Class’s territory onward, guards stood at every entrance. Judging by their yellow uniforms, they appeared to be martial artists who belonged to the Yellow Dragon Class as well.
“It’s my first day since entering the hall. I was curious, so I was looking around.”
At the mention of her first day, the martial artist’s cold expression softened somewhat.
“You cannot enter here. Go back.”
Just as the martial artist was about to send her away, a voice came from behind.
“A newcomer?”
Seojin turned around.
A white-haired man with long, flowing hair was walking toward her.