That day was the day he received a bow as a gift from the man.
The boy and the man ate breakfast and climbed the mountain. There were plenty of puffy clouds in the clear sky, and a few fat rabbits roamed the grass. Their mouths busily munching on tiny leaves. “Gyeom-ah, what are you doing?” The man who was walking in front of him looked back at the boy who slowed down as he was distracted by the rabbit. “Rabbit meat.” As the boy beckoned with his eyes shining, the man let out a sigh.
“We came here to train. Not to hunt.”
Recently, the boy and the man were in the middle of training in martial arts. The disciple, who was small, gradually grew in size, and the height that used to reach the man’s waist now reached his chest. He ate well, slept well, and laughed well, even though he hadn’t gotten rid of his bad temper.
“I see my apprentice wants to train until the moon rises.”
The boy grumbled at the gentle threat and quietly followed.
It’s been over a year since they had settled here. The boy and man moved frequently, at least once a year, and at most three or four times a year. Whenever a new nest was built, the man would look at the surrounding terrain to find a good place to train. The boy and the man crossed a mountain and arrived at the place where they usually practiced. The land was flat and uninhabited, so it was very suitable for training.
Today, they decided to do actual sparring with swords.
“Come on, you punk. You’re scraps.”
The boy holding the sword exclaimed excitedly and took up his stance.
“…”
The man who took his sword out of his scabbard made an embarrassed face.
“Uh-huh, this kid. What a rude thing to say to your master.”
“Uh-huh? Who are you to impersonate my master! You and I are enemies now!”
“…”
The man shook his head. Ah. Was it like that… if you’re going to role-play, at least discuss it beforehand… Either way, the boy straightened the hilt of his sword with a serious expression on his face. Concentrating his mind, the boy stared clearly at his teacher standing in front of him. His gaze was weighty.
The boy was now quite strong.
At first, the sparring ended quickly. However, as he started to face against man, the sparring lasted longer and longer. The boy now skillfully used the talismans on his own, and he knew how to easily defeat any ghost that bothered him. Unlike before, when he had a hard time keeping his spiritual energy in check, he could now not only hide his energy, but also handled his spiritual energy so skillfully that he no longer received criticism from the man.
Sometimes he would even go down to private residences to solve small requests. Of course, it was done without his master’s knowledge. He often went to the village to earn money under false pretense that he would bring wood. Even so, it was a small amount, but the boy still had a grand aspiration to one day collect this money and give his master something valuable. He would be scolded if he found out that he was sneaking into the village, but fortunately or unfortunately, the man didn’t know about it yet.
Swords clashed as soon as the sparring began. Clang! A sharp metallic sound echoed incessantly. The boy kicked the ground and swung his sword. The man blocked the boy’s sword with a rough and strong hand. The boy lowered his upper body and stood up once more. The man leaped back to avoid the oncoming attack.
“Hey, take my sword.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ktf ybs pewqfv eq jcv ifa bea j qijsoei rtbea.
“Ktf fcfws ktb xliifv ws qjgfcar!”
Ktf jgw bo atf wjc ktb kjr ygjcvlrtlcu atf rkbgv revvfcis rabqqfv. Ktfgf kjr j ujq. Ktf wjc rqec jgbecv j ygfjat abb ijaf. Ktgbeut atf ujq, tf rijrtfv atf ybs’r rkbgv. Cr tf mbeivc’a bnfgmbwf atf obgmf, atf rkbgv glmbmtfafv ogbw atf ybs’r tjcv. Ktf kfii-obgufv ibcurkbgv wjvf j afggloslcu rbecv jr la rqec atgbeut atf jlg rfnfgji alwfr yfobgf qieculcu lcab atf ugbecv.
The man’s sword came forward and aimed at the boy’s neck. The sharp flashing blade seemed to pierce his throat at any moment. The man looked down at the boy with an expressionless face. His eyes were cold.
“…”
“…”
The boy glanced sideways at the sharp blade with a stiff face,
“Ah, I thought I could win this time!”
Finally, with a look of frustration, he sat down on the ground.
“The enemy who killed your parents, did you say?”
The boy who grumbled, throwing small stones in his hand, raised his head at that moment. The sparring was over. However, the man still hadn’t retracted the sword aimed at the boy. The cold voice made the boy blink blankly. It was just a line of an extension of role play.
“What’s the matter? Are you mad?”
The boy glanced over.
“Against the enemy who killed your parents, you gave up as soon as you lost your sword. Are you going to retaliate with such a soft mindset? If you hadn’t let go of your hand just now and stabbed without hesitation, it might not have struck directly, but it would have wounded me.”
Cold eyes looked down at the boy. The boy didn’t realize he had let go of his hand. It was an unconscious hesitation. It was a fleeting moment, but the man read it. As stern reprimand made the boy nervously reconsider his actions, the man spoke,
“When you get the chance to avenge yourself, don’t hesitate for a second. Do you understand?”
He was just playing around, it’s so serious… the boy thought. Just when he looked up at the man with a sullen face and nodded reluctantly, he blurted out “uh?” as he realized something and pointed with his finger. The boy, who was sitting on the dirt floor, stood up with a bright face and grabbed the cuffs of the black long robe the man was wearing.
“This.I did this, didn’t I? Right?”
The man raised one eyebrow as he looked down at his clothes. The tip of the hem was slightly cut diagonally. It was cut by the boy’s sword.
“Huh? Right! Right? Didn’t I?”
The boy smacked the man’s chest and exclaimed.
“…”
The man who had been silently looking at the boy finally let out a smile.
“Right. It seems so.”
The boy, who had been pouting until just now, was excited as he spread his arms out as if he was celebrating national prosperity. The man swung the sword he was holding in his hand and flung it to the side. “Good job.” He raised his hand and gently stroked the back of his pupil’s head.
“Are you that happy?”
“Of course. Praise me more. Praise me more.”
The boy had never won against the man before. Still, today’s defeat was different from yesterday’s defeat. Even though he lost, it wasn’t that he couldn’t touch him at all.
“Yes yes. Amazing.”
The boy giggled and fiddled with the man’s clothes.
It was then,
“Don’t move.”
An unfamiliar voice interrupted from behind. The startled boy looked around and then froze. Someone had unsheathed a sword between the man and him. To be precise, the blade was aiming at the nape of the man’s neck. It was the sword the boy had been holding until just a moment ago. There was a quiet yet fierce threatening energy. The man’s expression, which had been wearing a smile, hardened in an instant.
Since when did…
The boy’s eyes twitched violently. He didn’t notice anything until the stranger approached. His master was a strong person, so it was no surprise that he was targeted by enemies. But even so, he couldn’t believe that even the teacher hadn’t noticed. It was clear that the opponent was quite talented. As the boy looked at the man with a pale face, when their eyes met, the man slowly closed his eyes.
The man slowly raised his hands to shoulder height as though in surrender.
The stranger’s face was hidden by the hat they were wearing. Their clothes were neat and they carried a large bag, but compared to the tall man, they were somewhat dwarfed. But their spirit was like that of a valiant tiger. The sword aimed at the nape of the master’s neck looked like it would pierce his throat at any moment. The boy’s hands trembled as a sense of danger crept into his bones. He was so afraid that he couldn’t breathe properly.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the man who had been quiet seized the guest’s wrist and spun around. In an instant, the guest’s body lost balance and leaned forward as if they were about to fall. The stranger supported their body with a nimble hand on the ground and kicked the man in the hamstrings. The impact knocked the man’s legs out from under him and he fell to his knees.
Just when the guest again aimed the sword at the man’s neck, taking advantage of that gap, the man picked up one of the remaining swords that had been lying on the floor. The guest flinched at that. However, the man’s posture was too unstable and precarious to fight with the guest. The man threw his sword straight into the air at the boy.
“Gyeom-ah!”
The boy stumbled backward, catching his breath. The hilt of the sword was firmly grasped in the boy’s hand. At that moment, as the guest pointed their sword at the man, they let out a small laugh.
“You’re going to fall back on a kid like that?”
The man stared at the boy in silence despite the ridicule of the guest. Meanwhile, the boy gripped the hilt of the sword with trembling hands. At that time, the guest bent over and whispered something to the man. Whatever it was, the man became silent.
The guest began to strode towards the boy.
“Let’s see what you got, kid.”
The guest adjusted their hat and raised their sword. It was that moment that the boy fully understood the plight of the rabbit that the tiger was preying on. A feeling of dread filled his brain. His first instinct was to run away, but he couldn’t. He had to stay calm. There must be something wrong with the master. He knew there was no way he would give up like that. Obviously, he had to be intentionally drawing attention to him and trying to find a gap from behind.
Finally, the boy’s trembling stopped.
At the same time, the guest jumped like a butterfly. Their sword rushed forward mercilessly. Clang! The boy swung his arm desperately, hoping that his master would come to his defense, but to no avail. If the man’s swordsmanship was rough and crude, the guest’s swordsmanship was very elegant and smooth. It was as if they were doing a sword dance. It was a mysterious and gliding move.
The guest’s sword subdued the boy slyly like a snake. Even when he sparred with the man, he was not so helpless as he was against this stranger. Eventually, the hilt of the sword fell from the boy’s hand in vain. The boy stumbled backward, falling to his butt, the murderous tip of the blade coming silently into his face. The boy’s eyes glowed with venom.
“Hmph, your eyes are alive.”
The guest muttered, pressing down on their hat.
“Aren’t you afraid of dying?”
At the guest’s question, the boy gritted his teeth.
“No, I’m not scared. When I die, I will become a tremendous malicious ghost. I will hold a grudge and pursue you to the ends of the world, making you err in everything you do. You will torment everyone around you, and you will make your descendants suffer for generations. So kill me. I’ll make you deeply regret killing me and my teacher, so kill me.”
What? The guest blinked blankly with their eyes hidden behind the hat. As if possessed by a ghost, the boy was glaring at the whites of his eyes, uttering all sorts of curses. “Oh my.” The guest drew their sword back and took a step back. They turned to look at the man, who was kneeling quietly behind.
“…”
“…”
When their eyes met, the man bit his lip without a word. He seemed like he was suppressing a laugh. The guest plunged the sword in their hand into the ground. Then, a small chuckling sound could be heard from under the hat.
“My goodness. I’ve never heard such…”
Finally, they smiled broadly as they threw off their hat.
“Myojeong, what is this kid?!”
It was a warm smile that shone like sunlight.
… not funny
Thank you for d update
Dum Dum Dum….till the next chapter…who are you smiling sunlight?
Thx misa. I desperately need to kno more about who that was…such an oddly placed scene.
“When you get the chance to avenge yourself, don’t hesitate for a second” 😳😲