[Dong Lu] Ihwa > Who's Bothering Us? (1) (Revised)
It was a tedious time.
Third Seat, Second Seat, Chief Seat.
Even after selecting the three of them, Cheonghae Ilgeom's mouth showed no intention of resting.
He spewed words incessantly.
"And so, going forward……"
'This old man really talks too much.'
The meaning behind the words wasn't bad.
No matter what the coming era held.
Dangers may come, so you must continue to sharpen and polish yourselves.
Only when a martial artist sharpens and polishes the martial way do they become a true martial artist.
Do not lose your chivalry under the banner of the righteous path.
Since you have entered the Divine Dragon Hall.
Even if chivalry alone cannot protect Manbaek Castle.
You must become someone capable of protecting at least the region to which you belong.
That was the meaning of the speech Cheonghae Ilgeom was spouting, but…
'They are nice words to hear, but….'
Having been doing that for dozens of minutes now.
How could it not be boring?
I heard the first day only covered the entrance ceremony and lodging assignments.
I had wondered why the schedule was so remarkably simple.
'Was this person's speech taking up half of it?'
Having gone through it, it was an exhausting schedule.
It was absurd.
"Finally, to your bright futures ahead…"
For reference, that word 'finally' was already the fifth time I'd heard it.
I was going crazy, really….
It was one of the most difficult things I'd experienced recently.
Being up on the podium.
The gazes of the junior disciples below looking this way were the same.
Especially.
The fact that I knew where the men's gazes were directed made it worse.
'These bastards are staring outright.'
Their gazes were fixed on Wi Seol-a.
Well, if I had been there.
I would have looked at her too.
Wi Seol-a, who had bloomed in appearance, possessed such presence.
I wanted to use my internal energy to cover her up.
My internal injuries hadn't fully healed, and.
If I acted rashly with Cheonghae Ilgeom right in front of me.
It could be troublesome.
The only thing I could do was.
Commit the ones sending gazes to memory.
'…There's too many. I can't remember them all.'
Most of the male junior disciples were doing so.
It seemed they had no interest in Cheonghae Ilgeom's words to begin with.
The female junior disciples were the same.
Whether he knew it or not, only Cheonghae Ilgeom was excitedly continuing to speak.
While looking around with my eyes.
I spotted a guy who was particularly gawking.
'Got you. I remembered you.'
I don't know his name or who he is, but.
I remembered his face.
Internally repeating the guy's face, I glanced at Wi Seol-a beside me.
Wi Seol-a was standing still with half-lidded eyes.
Her perfectly upright posture caught my eye.
If it were the old days, she would have been bouncing around.
She would have talked to me without paying Cheonghae Ilgeom any mind.
If so.
She would have told me to stand still or something.
I would have accepted it roughly and moved on.
'Now.'
Now?
Within her gently opened eyes, golden pupils were visible.
Her breathing was even through tightly closed lips.
Where had the lively Wi Seol-a from back then gone.
She felt like a well-educated descendant of a prestigious house.
It was different, and yet.
She felt a bit distant.
'That's closer to the Wi Seol-a I know, though.'
A figure devoid of emotion, as if it had all melted away.
Eyes resembling the cold of winter.
While closer to that time than ever, yet.
Somehow, I only felt regret.
While I was sneaking a glance at Wi Seol-a.
Perhaps sensing my gaze, Wi Seol-a also looked my way.
Our eyes met.
Slightly widening, her large eyes were visible.
Holding a golden light.
Like the moon, perhaps.
Or perhaps like the sun.
Which one was it?
'It doesn't matter.'
Whichever it was, it didn't matter.
Because all of it was Wi Seol-a.
Wi Seol-a looked at me like that.
Her lips twitched.
She seemed to want to say something.
So focused on Wi Seol-a's lips.
"With this, I shall conclude the entrance ceremony."
Cheonghae Ilgeom's closing words were heard.
As if sickeningly talking, it finally seemed to be over.
Guided by those who appeared to be instructors.
The junior disciples began to move.
Following that, Wi Seol-a tried to move again, but.
I grabbed the wrist of Wi Seol-a, who was about to move.
The wrist I grasped felt cold.
"You should finish what you were about to say before you go."
It was a shame to let it end like this.
If you were going to say something, you should see it through to the end.
"Ah, no, I…."
Wi Seol-a flustered, as if she hadn't expected to be caught.
Looking at her large eyes, fortunately she seemed unchanged so far.
Should I say that's a relief?
"A meal…."
"Hmm?"
"I was going to ask if you had eaten…."
…If I'd eaten?
It was a rather abrupt question.
"Of course I ate. Why?"
"…Just…. I just wanted to ask."
Rather, Wi Seol-a stammered as if she herself was flustered.
She looked as if something had malfunctioned somewhere.
"O-oh, the weather is nice today…?"
"Does that look nice to you?"
The sky was filled with dark clouds.
No matter how kindly one looked at it, it seemed quite a stretch to call the weather good.
Perhaps because she spoke without looking at the sky.
Only then did Wi Seol-a look at the sky and tightly shut her mouth.
Perhaps because even she could tell that wasn't it.
Wi Seol-a, who had stammered like that for a while.
Soon firmly closed her mouth and disappeared with quick steps.
"Hey, where are you going!"
I called out, but she left without looking back.
Watching that retreating figure, I let out a hollow laugh.
What on earth had she wanted to do?
With the entrance ceremony over, what remained next was lodging assignment.
Crazy. I don't know what kind of shitty mindset spends half the day on speeches alone.
'Four or five per room.'
What was written on a large wooden board.
The room locations and the names of those assigned.
The building provided as lodging was considerably large.
It had more than six floors.
Indeed, even counting just the dormitory housing only male martial artists.
It was almost the size of an entire district.
Truly, it was enormous.
'Though my house is small too.'
But to use that much for lodging.
There was no greater waste than this.
Yet it was strange that the rooms weren't single occupancy.
At that size, couldn't they give one to each person?
I asked Gu Jeol-yeop, who was looking at the floors beside me.
"What floor are you?"
"The third floor."
"The third floor…. I see. Seems they gathered the sword users on the third and fourth floors."
It wasn't just Gu Jeol-yeop.
Swordsmen whose names I'd heard before were gathered on specific floors.
Seems they've divided them again.
'Am I on the fifth floor?'
It seemed they distributed them by ratio. I wondered if that was necessary for mere rooms, but.
They must have some plan.
Making it annoying to go up and down the stairs.
The floors were terribly high too.
Confirming that.
This time I asked another guy.
"Buddy, where are you?"
"…F-fourth floor."
Cheol Ji-seon answered with a trembling voice.
The guy seemed to be on the fourth floor.
Unexpectedly, he seemed to use a sword.
Well, he had been carrying a sword at his waist.
Though I'd never seen him draw it.
"Do you know what we're doing tomorrow?"
"I heard we're just briefly greeting our assigned instructors."
"Greeting what, demons?"
"With our assigned instructor…."
"Boring. What kind of greeting is that."
A waste of time.
Why bother with useless greetings.
We should just get straight to the main point quickly.
Time is money, after all.
Letting out deep sighs while looking at the people divided by floor.
'Hmm?'
I discovered a peculiar difference.
'They've all been split up?'
The noticeable ones.
The ones called Hidden Dragon, Sword Dragon, and so on.
Most of the Six Dragons and Three Phoenixes had been separated.
Was it an illusion, or coincidence?
'Why did they bother splitting them up like that?'
There must be a reason for keeping them apart so they didn't overlap.
In the midst of that, a familiar name brushed past.
'Huh? He came too? I don't think I've seen him until now.'
Hwangbo Cheol-wi.
I faintly saw the name of that wild boar guy, a blood relative of the Hwangbo family, written there.
He was a new recruit too, so he could have entered.
Maybe I didn't see him because he was in Group 1 during the exam?
That could be.
But, seeing how he hasn't shown his face until now.
Could it be that he's deliberately avoiding me?
'Things not going well?'
I hadn't been paying much attention to the Hwangbo Se-ga side I'd set up in the past.
It was a side that didn't matter much either way.
I'd only been paying attention to Hwangbo Seon and leaving the rest.
I should look into this again later.
What was urgent was probably the Hwangbo Cheol-wi side.
'Looks like the other kids were split up too.'
Moyong Hui or Tang So-yeol. Namgung Bi or Wi Seol-a, etc.
Just like the male dormitory.
It seemed they were split up over there too.
What was suspicious was that Gu Yeon-seo was attached to Namgung Bi's side.
What was the intention?
Was there even any intention?
I'll set that aside for now.
I grabbed Cheol Ji-seon, who was flustered beside me, and spoke.
"Buddy."
"Yes? Ah, n-no, y-yeah."
"If anyone's bothering you, tell me. Don't tell me later."
"…Ah, okay."
Cheol Ji-seon's expression as he answered was strange.
It was an expression asking if it wasn't strange for me of all people to say that.
"Look at me? Did I bully you? What's with your face."
"Ah, no…. You didn't bully me…."
"Right? We decided to get along, friend."
Saying this while patting Cheol Ji-seon's shoulder.
The guy nodded.
This guy, making jokes.
Keh-keh.
"Huh? …What, man."
"It's nothing…."
I asked because Gu Jeol-yeop was looking this way with his eyes wide.
He shakes his head.
That bastard…. Doesn't even know grace.
'I picked him up from rolling on the ground when he didn't even know the way, washed him, dressed him, and set him walking.'
Ungrateful beyond belief.
I'll have to re-educate him later.
While Gu Jeol-yeop trembled feeling an inexplicable chill.
Thinking I'd seen enough, I moved.
I can see the rest tomorrow.
Moving my tired body here and there, I headed to my room.
Having the lodgings inside Shinryong Hall wasn't a bad method in its own way, but.
It wasn't entirely good.
Squeak.
Opening the assigned room and entering.
A large room first caught my eye.
Sweltering heat was felt.
"You insignificant wretch, how dare you talk back to whom?"
"Are you asking for a fight?"
Clichéd lines one might have heard somewhere before were exchanged.
Do they really study those lines somewhere in advance?
"It wouldn't be bad to determine who is superior right now."
Oh, heavens.
What kind of spectacle is this?
Inside the room, several men who seemed to have already arrived were growling at each other.
'Ha.'
A sigh burst out the moment I saw the situation.
Five.
The number of men in the room, including me.
Only upon seeing this.
Did I somehow realize the reason.
'No wonder.'
As I keep mentioning.
Shinryong Hall is where new recruits of prestigious families and renowned sects gather.
Meaning they are the real deal, collected after being filtered once from there.
In other words.
It meant self-proclaimed geniuses were everywhere.
And the majority were bastards whose pride pierced the heavens, knowing full well their own talents were great.
They were all men who had never known intimidation anywhere.
Their characteristic was.
That they didn't bother with the truly exceptional ones, one could say.
The Six Dragons and Three Phoenixes and whatnot.
Those who were already soaring in the sky.
They dismissed as being from a different world than them.
They wanted to act as leaders within their own world.
In a world consisting entirely of such men.
Gathering four or five in one place?
"You bastard…!"
To determine who was superior.
They started by clashing auras.
With no attendants or anything around.
If they were to live together for a while.
Perhaps they judged it better to establish hierarchy.
'Ah…. Tired from the first day.'
Watching the guys raising their auras with flushed faces.
My head was already throbbing.
Only now did I seem to understand.
Why the room assignments had been made this way.
Looking at the building's size.
It would have been enough to give single rooms.
Yet they went so far as to carve out large rooms and house multiple people there.
Not only that.
Splitting up the Six Dragons and Three Phoenixes, or others who already had aliases and were displaying their prominence.
The reason for inserting one each.
'If things get too wild, they need someone to keep them in line?'
It had always been that way.
In a world where bowing down to stronger men was routine.
They might intend to strengthen an organizational feeling.
But it didn't look very good.
Ah, they should have just given single rooms.
What kind of useless act is this?
The pretext, well.
Shinryong Hall doesn't care about family or sect.
That everyone is equal and so on.
They might say there's no special treatment.
Their heads are already as big as they come.
They obviously know how much power the reputation attached to their names holds.
As if that would work.
Would the Martial Alliance not know that?
No. They know but turn a blind eye.
Because it's convenient.
The quick-witted ones.
Already checked the power structure from day one.
Or were moving to build connections.
When I glanced earlier, everyone was quick.
Kids these days are really fast.
In my time…. No, was I just bad at it? I feel bitter thinking about it for no reason.
Even if we are all probationary trainees.
It's not the same when we get out.
This was practically the best place to build connections.
And.
'It's also a good place to act tough.'
If you did well here.
That too would help your reputation.
Guys wanting to puff their chests out were all like this.
Especially the floor I was on.
They had gathered only guys who bare-knuckle brawled.
Their tempers couldn't possibly be good.
I guess my bad personality.
Was probably because I'm a combat-type martial artist.
Seeing how every fist-fighter I met lately had a trash personality.
It must be the difference in martial arts.
'If I were a swordsman, I would have been so kind.'
[Grrr?]
'Who are you to suddenly wake up and object? Go back to sleep.'
[…Grr.]
The tactless beast cub was put away again.
I surveyed the room on the verge of an incident.
"Let's see, I need to smash your nose to shut your mouth…"
"Shut up, you bastard. Lower your voice, my head hurts. Anyway, uneducated bastards think they're so great just because they have loud voices."
"What?"
The guy who had been shouting at the top of his lungs.
Coldly lowered his voice at my interjection.
The gaze directed at me was quite savage.
By the look in his eyes alone, he could kill a person.
"What did you just say…."
"I sleep a lot, so wake me last. And memorize what side dishes come out in the dining hall tomorrow."
"What is this bastard…."
The guy approached me.
Seeing that, another guy seemed to notice something and spoke, but.
"Wait, that person. Jin…!"
*Crack*
My hand was faster.
"Crack…!"
The jaw of the guy who was about to raise his fist tilted slightly.
Because using internal energy causes pain in my dantian.
I couldn't hit him lightly, so I struck with all my might.
He probably won't wake up until tomorrow morning.
Honestly, I wanted to get rid of him quickly.
Because I'm tired and want to rest.
*Thud.*
The nameless lump who had been heating up the atmosphere.
The moment he collapsed powerlessly to the floor.
The others who had been raising their auras lost their words.
"Hey."
I spoke to the guy who had been arguing with this lump.
"…A-are you calling me?"
By his speech and appearance, he wasn't a bloodline of a great family.
He seemed to be from a sect.
"Then, is there anyone else there besides you?"
"W-what is it?"
"What's this bastard's name?"
"Pae U-cheol…. is what he said."
Pae U-cheol. It was a name I heard for the first time.
With that massive build, he was more fragile than expected.
I kicked the unconscious guy away like a ball and sent him rolling to a corner.
"If you need someone to do something starting tomorrow, have Woo-cheol do it. He's the youngest in this room from now on."
The problem was that he had been chirping loudly as soon as he came in.
"…What do you mean…sir?"
When the guy who answered me asked back.
I slightly furrowed my brow.
"I don't really like tactless kids. If you don't get it, do you want to be the youngest?"
"As an older brother, I will take good care of my younger brother."
"You've got good sense. You're number two."
"Thank you, Brother."
Unlike a certain someone around me.
He seemed to be a guy with remarkably quick wits.
Not bad.
After knocking out Pae U-cheol.
The atmosphere seemed to have calmed a bit.
The guys too, among the names written on the board.
Must have known I would be using the same room as them.
I don't know why those bastards were acting like that knowing it.
To avoid being annoyed later.
It was convenient to establish control now.
I spoke to my roommates with a grin.
"Shall we get along from now on? Anyone dissatisfied with this situation?"
At my question, they exchanged silent conversations through eye contact.
If there were, I had the intention of dealing with them kindly.
"If there are, speak up quickly so I can put those friends to sleep and get some sleep myself."
The meaning of "put to sleep" was naturally physical.
Since controlling my strength was a bit difficult now, it would hurt more than usual.
It didn't matter either way.
Because I wouldn't be the one hurting.
Perhaps my kindness reached them.
The guys quickly shook their heads to indicate there were no objections.
Seeing that, I smiled and nodded.
Thankfully, they were kind friends.