-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Here Come the Heroes (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Today was finally the day the detailed midterm exam schedule would be released.
The beautiful tradition of having no classes the week before exams was practically an unspoken rule!
Thanks to this, I could enjoy the luxury of not leaving my bed until the sun was high in the sky.
Of course, considering the accumulated fatigue, lazy thoughts of wanting to rest all day kept bubbling up.
Yet, there was one class that brazenly defied and shattered this tradition.
It was the only wicked class that, while everyone else was on break, proudly declared, "We are open for business as usual."
That was Chicken Master's class, "Understanding Heterodox Martial Arts."
Truly, it was a cruel and vicious idea, befitting the heterodox path, and I couldn't help but shudder.
At this rate, I might commit an act of betrayal, unable to call my master "master" anymore...
My routine right after an early bird wake-up.
Activating my habitual smartphone observation syndrome.
[YOU MUST RESPECT ME I AM THE THIRD CANDIDATE IN LINE TO INHERIT THE GREAT MO YONG CLAN I WON THE YOUTH MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT AND ALSO ACHIEVED DECENT RESULTS IN THE MOST PROMISING THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD RANKING COMPETITION AND I WAS ALSO VOTED THE BEST LOOKING IN LIAONING PROVINCE AND...]
"Ugh, this crazy bastard."
I immediately deleted the spam message from that pathetic Mo Yong-wi-cheon guy, who, after challenging me in the advanced sparring class last time, had achieved the humiliating score of 0 wins and 3 losses in 3 matches.
I swore I'd never live like that.
Mentally, I shook off the bad vibes.
I accessed Baekhwa Academy's official app and calmly reviewed the exam announcements.
Most of it was just a regular, unremarkable schedule.
"Understanding the Classics" had no practical exam.
As for "Herbology" and "Toxicology," perhaps Mr. Tang Chunsik's mental state hadn't recovered from being crushed, because all the exams were lumped into the finals.
As I casually glanced at the exam schedule automatically generated by the app.
"...Is he really getting dementia?"
I discovered one truly shocking schedule.
* * *
An ominous aura swirled through Seo Estate, more intense than ever before.
Of course, everyone who was going to leave had already left, so only twelve students remained, enduring.
To exaggerate just a little.
Chicken Master and his 12 Apostles.
Naturally, I, who could be called the First Apostle.
Had already, deep in my heart, denied my faith three times—no, as many times as Chicken Master's age.
The last day of the exam period.
Followed by a 3-night, 4-day ordeal.
While everyone else was done with exams and happily goofing off, we were forced into a 3-night, 4-day exam marathon?
Was this even a human idea?
Even I, who was good-natured enough to tolerate all of Ru-ri's atrocious behavior, and even the Young Miss, were slightly furrowing our brows!
Soon, Chicken Master ambled out of the building.
"I object! How can you make us take an exam for three nights and four days?!"
"No matter how important practical exams are..."
"We request you reconsider!"
The chicks chirped their protests.
However.
As if he had already predicted this commotion, Chicken Master walked over with a serene expression and imbued his axe handle with sword qi.
Shimmering brightly!
"..."
"..."
"Hmm..."
Chicken Master, who had first demonstrated the "good" answer, "Or would you rather die?", by manifesting it with sword qi.
"Why do you learn martial arts?"
Then, he began to drone on with the "bad" answer, boring and pedantic.
"Martial arts are the perfection of oneself, hence, self-cultivation. If through this you elevate the name of your family or sect, then that is managing your household. Governing the nation... let's skip that, I don't want to get hit by cannon fire. So, what remains?"
"Bringing peace to the world, Master."
At my interjection, the Master nodded in satisfaction.
"Is it merely to accumulate cultivation faster than other rising talents? To bring glory to your family? To gain recognition from your sect and become its leader? Or perhaps, simply to survive?"
The Master's gaze swiftly swept over the assembled students.
"Listen. Though I was born with the blood of the Green Forest, scorned as lowly by the righteous sects, I have never once stained my hands or my axe with the blood of the innocent."
"You made my nose bleed... Ugh!"
Wham!
The flying axe handle struck Mo Yong-taek squarely on the bridge of his nose, tracing a clean arc.
Is that bastard's life so boring now that it's exam season?
He's gambling with his own life as the stake.
I sighed and turned away from the sight of Mo Yong-taek's nose bleeding profusely.
"Originally, the Green Forest was nothing more than a band of mountain bandits. But in my generation, I strove to make them decent people. Instead of swords wielded to kill, I made them grasp pickaxes to carve out mountains. Instead of taking lives and everything else without reason, I made them collect tolls for the paths they themselves had forged. Has the world improved even a little because of this?"
"It has, Master!"
"Yes! It was really comfortable when I came to the academy!"
"However, there are still vermin who haven't abandoned their lifelong habit of preying on others' blood, hiding near Mount Taebaek, in the lands of Shaanxi."
The Master's gaze then slowly fixed on each person's face, as if scrutinizing them one by one.
"Baekhwa Academy is a place to cultivate righteous martial artists. If you witness injustice and tolerate it, can you be called a righteous martial artist?"
"No, Master!"
The Master's lips curved into a hearty smile.
"We are going to perform an act of chivalry."
With this sudden infusion of chivalrous fervor, the youngsters' expressions turned solemn.
Even Cheon Ru-ri seemed moved by his words.
Her lifeless eyes shimmered slightly with vitality.
...The Demonic Cult's Young Mistress being moved by a bandit leader's philosophy of chivalry in the Murim world.
Well.
If the outcome is good, then it's fine, I guess.
"Then, dismissed. On the day the exam begins, each of you should bring your weapons. I will cover all expenses."
Perhaps it was also due to the class ending in a mere fifteen minutes, rather than the two hours allocated for a regular lesson.
Even Mo Yong-taek left Seo Estate with a stupid expression, as if deep in thought.
Immediately after the other students left, I naturally made my way to the Master's quarters, as if entering my own home.
"Hehe, how was that? Pretty cool, huh? Right?"
The Master, whose sudden silly behavior caused his stock to plummet in my mental evaluation.
But perhaps because the chivalrous fervor had pulled the emergency brake on my judgment, even that didn't seem pathetic.
"You were truly magnificent, Master."
At times like this, a word of flattery was essential.
Seeing the sleeve that still bore Mo Yong-taek's blood, it was simply a matter of proper conduct.
"So, did you bring your bow today?"
"Yes."
I took out the bow that I had kept wrapped in cloth.
The Master took the bow, examining it closely, then.
Thwack!
He struck me on the head with the axe handle like a bolt of lightning.
"Ow! Hey, why did you hit me?!"
"Isn't this the Divine Archer's Bow-Sword? Why is it in your hands?"
"You know about this?"
"Yes. I was guarding the western forest partly because of that very item..."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, the Master held my bow and fell into a nostalgic reverie.
To summarize roughly.
Before Baekhwa Academy was even built, the bow's original owner, the Divine Archer, had nearly wiped out the Green Forest, then befriended the Master's father.
And he had apparently taken a particular liking to little Seo Do-hee (which I honestly couldn't imagine at all) and told her many stories.
"And Wolfie is a descendant of the wolf that person raised back then?"
"Indeed."
Hmm...
In a way, isn't this like a triple fortuitous encounter?
Wolfie, the bow, and even the Master.
If I consider my own unique situation as just a bonus, it all fits.
Well, since I'd already performed the formal ceremony of acknowledging a master when I obtained the bow.
I decided to simply consider the Divine Archer Grandpa as my grandmaster.
Anyway.
"A Bow-Sword? Not just a bow?"
Chicken Master looked at me with a pathetic expression.
"You, you're the kind of fellow who would see a pearl right in front of your eyes and mistake it for a pebble."
"No, why would you say that──"
Shink!
What had clearly been a bow.
Suddenly transformed into the shape of a curved sword when the Master lightly swung and flicked it.
"──What? How did you do that?"
"Didn't I tell you? It's a Bow-Sword. If you channel internal energy along the specific paths carved into the bow's limbs, it transforms into a sword. And vice-versa."
The Master held out the sword to me, as if telling me to try.
Indeed, upon careful inspection, I saw tiny grooves etched into it. So, concentrating my mind and channeling true qi into them, then swinging──
Shink!
"Oh."
It had changed back into a bow.
"It might feel a bit unfamiliar compared to the straight sword you're used to, but a single weapon that allows you to wield both archery and swordsmanship can create many variables. It's an excellent weapon, so get used to it."
"Hmm, but if it's something Grandmaster used, Master, shouldn't you..."
"Don't say things you don't mean."
Was it that obvious?
Desperately suppressing the grin that kept creeping up my lips.
For the first time in a while, I completely absorbed the Master's grueling training without a single complaint.
Shink!
Shink!
"That's distracting."
"Yes, Master."
* * *
My first midterm exams since entering Baekhwa Academy.
For someone who'd been slightly nervous, it was remarkably smooth.
Advanced Sparring Class.
"Ugh, how humiliating...!"
An easy victory, as I made Mo Yong-wi-cheon, who had audaciously challenged me again, bleed from both nostrils just like Mo Yong-taek.
Foundations of Swordsmanship.
"Your posture has certainly improved. Excellent."
There was a minor issue of Sister Seol intentionally massaging my arm, but in any case, I got a perfect score.
Understanding the Classics.
"Squeak!"
...Perhaps it was invisible to others.
There was a minor incident where I desperately tried to ignore Squirrelly darting around everywhere.
But I showcased my perfect writing skills using traditional Chinese characters and proudly earned a gold medal—no, I topped the exam!
"Easy."
I delivered my overall midterm assessment in perfect Western tongue pronunciation, honed by Suneung-style English studies.
"Woof?"
Unlike Squirrelly.
I flicked a bit of saliva onto Wolfie's audacious nose, which had been snoring away in my arms throughout the entire exam.
I returned to the dormitory and packed my travel bag.
"Ready, Hak?"
"Of course, Taek."
"What are you two messing around about? Let's go."
Although I had gained practical experience through the historical causality of the Battle of Salsu River, this was my first time being deployed into a truly live, literal combat situation.
Reveling in the pleasant tension and the warm fur against my chest, I marched forward with a dignified stride.
It's time for heroes to rise!
* * *
"...What exactly do you want?"
The one-armed man, Sa Do-gyeong, who had once vied with Seo Do-hee for the position of General Leader, but after ultimately losing, had led the hardliners to declare independence.
Sa Do-gyeong let out an uneasy groan.
"We are requesting your cooperation. We will lend you our blood zombies, and all you need to do is secure one person, alive."
"Who is it?"
"The Young Mistress of the Demonic Heavenly Cult."
"...Why would someone like that be with the group led by that woman, the Combat King?"
"Hmph hmph hmph... You don't need to know that much. Otherwise..."
Wearing a smile laced with malice, clearly discernible even through her veil.
The woman danced lightly, her steps barely disturbing the pool of blood beneath her feet, her robes fluttering.
"Having your heart ripped out by my delicate hands wouldn't be such a bad option either, would it?"
At her arrogant words, Sa Do-gyeong's teeth ground together.
That madwoman had already demonstrated such terrifying martial prowess that she could grind attacking bandits into formless paste with a mere flick of her hand.
In a situation where his options were effectively castrated.
"...Never thought I'd live to become a dog for the Blood Cult."
Ultimately, Sa Do-gyeong chose a miserable life over an honorable death.
Just as he had done before.
The smile that had been on the woman's lips twisted into a maniacal laugh.