I Am the Youngest Disciple of the Martial Arts World’s Mastermind
Chapter 17
Chapter 17
The Youngest Disciple of the Murim’s Mastermind
Episode 17
“It’s a story I loathe to tell. But since you plan on staying here anyway, you’ll find out eventually, so I’m telling you now.”
“Ah…”
I realized it the moment he spoke.
‘…Wait, I know this story.’
Perhaps it was only natural. It was a plot point used and discarded like a consumable in the game’s background lore.
The story he told was of how the Namgung Main Clan had framed a branch family for their own transgressions and massacred them.
It was also the incident where the game’s protagonist, after becoming the Heavenly Demon, revealed the truth to tarnish the reputation of the Namgung Clan—the strongest power remaining within the Righteous faction.
Since he was staring at the ceiling, I was able to keep him from noticing my wide eyes and gaping mouth—a look that screamed ‘I know something.’
‘…Ah, this makes my heart ache a little….’
The staff member in charge of character settings had a peculiar habit of giving supporting characters exceptionally miserable backstories.
Back then, I just brushed it off. I never imagined I’d meet that supporting character in person, let alone serve him as my senior brother….
“…….”
Gwang-eum must have been even younger than I am now back then. I, at least, am an adult on the inside. But Gwang-eum…
‘He was just a real child….’
“So, as for mechanisms and formations…”
Gwang-eum tried to say more, but I reached out and clamped my hand over his mouth.
No. If I hear any more, I’ll start tearing up, and he’ll suspect my reaction is too extreme.
“Gwang-eum-sahyeong!! I—I understand everything now.”
“……?”
“I understand why you told me to leave last time. You didn’t want me to get caught up in something like that, did you, Sahyeong?”
I didn’t actually know if Gwang-eum had tried to kick me out because he was worried about me. But for now, let’s wrap it in a nice bow.
Gwang-eum didn’t give a straight answer; he just narrowed his eyes. In the meantime, I pushed forward resolutely.
“But if the righteousness and chivalry of the jianghu mean it’s only natural for everyone to die just because they’ve earned someone’s hatred… then I’ll choose to be a coward.”
“…….”
“So please, teach me mechanisms and formations! Once I’ve become strong, I’ll go down to the jianghu and take revenge for you, Sahyeong!”
I’d probably have to drift in and out of the jianghu like Danhwi-sahyeong once I got older anyway. I decided to be generous and make a grand promise while I was at it.
“…….”
At that, Gwang-eum, who had been stiff the entire time, blinked for the first time.
I could see the torchlight flickering in his dark pupils. Then, he roughly brushed my hand away from his mouth.
“……Hey.”
“Y-Yes.”
What? Did I say something wrong again…?
I fidgeted, hiding my hands behind my back as I watched his reaction.
“Do it if you can.”
Surprisingly, instead of snapping at me further, Gwang-eum reached out and pulled a book from a shelf about two heads above me.
“Learning mechanisms and formations won’t be easy. It remains true that you must know how to handle inner energy, and it’s difficult for someone with a stone for a brain, so you’ll need to be smart. Like me.”
And then.
“Take it.”
“……!”
He tossed it to me. I lowered my head slightly to look at the title, which was written in Hanja I had already memorized. It was exactly the cultivation manual I had been aiming for.
Gwang-eum spoke without looking me in the eye.
“Train with that manual first. Learning about mechanisms and formations comes after that. If you get stuck while training, come find me at Jinmyeonggak.”
“…I can come there?”
When I asked cautiously, Gwang-eum’s eyebrow twitched.
“You plan on doing it alone, then?”
“Nooo….”
I quickly hugged the secret manual to my chest. Then, before he could change his mind, I beamed and shouted.
“Thank you!!”
“Get out that way.”
“Yes!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, I dashed toward the side door in the middle of the hallway he was pointing to.
Creak. Thud.
“Phew!”
The moment I stepped outside, the refreshing mountain breeze swept through my hair.
I took a deep breath of the cold air and shouted toward the jagged mountain peaks.
“…I did it!!”
I got the martial arts manual I wanted, and I think things have smoothed over with Gwang-eum.
But to think Gwang-eum was from that Namgung family. That was unexpected….
Come to think of it.
“…It’s about to start soon.”
The beginning of the game. The incident where the Demonic Cult rises as the Heavenly Demon Cult, and the slave of the cult who will become the future Heavenly Demon—the ‘protagonist’—awakens.
“…….”
How is the protagonist living right now?
I can guess. He’s probably living an incredibly difficult life.
“Hmm-hmm.”
Despite those thoughts, I skipped down the stairs toward Master with a light step.
It wasn’t because I was a psychopath lacking empathy; it was because the protagonist would eventually grow strong enough to become the Heavenly Demon. A rabbit has no need to worry about a tiger.
Besides, the protagonist has a secret lineage and all….
In many ways, a weakling like me had no business worrying about the protagonist.
…At least, that’s what I thought back then.
“…….”
Inside the library of secret manuals after Soyoung had scurried away.
Someone muttered from above Gwang-eum’s head as he stood still, brushing his hair back.
“The kid’s gone. You can let me down now.”
“…….”
“My arms hurt.”
Gwang-eum frowned and tilted his head back.
“Who told you to sneak in here in the first place, Hyung?”
Up on the high, dark ceiling, Danhwi was dangling from a mechanism.
In his ornate robes, he looked exactly like a butterfly caught in a spider’s web. Though in truth, he was more of a poisonous moth.
Danhwi’s thin lips curled into a smirk as he whispered.
“But really, you’re improving fast. Last year, I could have bypassed this with my eyes closed.”
“…….”
“This time, I got caught trying to come in with my eyes closed.”
“Stop bluffing.”
With a twitch of his brow, Gwang-eum manipulated the library wall to release the mechanism.
Rumble.
“Nice.”
Thud. Danhwi landed on the floor without a stumble and immediately stood straight, brushing the dust off his clothes.
Then, he nudged the shoulder of Gwang-eum, who had his hair tied up high, and laughed.
“Yo~ Gwang-eum-ie. Did you tie your hair up because I told you to?”
“…I tied it because it was time to inspect the devices.”
“Sure you did.”
Though he responded surlily, to Danhwi, Gwang-eum was still just a child, not much different from Soyoung.
If anything, Soso was the one who was far too mature….
“…….”
Recalling what Soso had said to Gwang-eum earlier, Danhwi’s expression clouded for a moment.
‘But if the righteousness and chivalry of the jianghu mean it’s only natural for everyone to die just because they’ve earned someone’s hatred… then I’ll choose to be a coward.’
Can an eight-year-old really say things like that?
As someone who, like the others on Cheongsanbong, had not had a normal childhood, Danhwi couldn’t be sure.
Particularly, the way she had looked ‘as if she knew something’ after hearing Gwang-eum’s story….
‘No, if you look at it that way, there isn’t just one or two strange things about her.’
Danhwi shook his head. Regardless, the important point was….
“Sob.”
“……?”
Seeing Danhwi pretend to wipe away tears, Gwang-eum flinched back. It was an instinctive move.
Ignoring him, Danhwi spoke in a tearful voice.
“Gwang-eum-ah. This Hyung is deeply moved….”
“W-What now.”
“To think you’d develop such a warm heart toward your junior sister in just a single day…. Moreover, for someone as prideful as you to offer to teach her mechanisms and formations yourself….”
“…She said she wanted to learn! Like a fool.”
“Uh-huh, didn’t you just declare with your own mouth that you have to be smart to learn it? Honestly, Soso is on the clever side.”
A little too clever, perhaps.
Watching Gwang-eum keep his mouth shut tight, Danhwi grinned. Meanwhile, his mind was busy calculating.
All he had done was provide an opening and watch from where he’d been caught in the mechanism.
Winning over the prickly Gwang-eum… was entirely due to Soso’s ability to handle the situation and her eloquence.
Moving someone’s heart isn’t something that can be done with mere tricks. He had been skeptical while watching, but….
She had made Gwang-eum, who only hours ago hated even running into her, talk about the ‘affairs of the Namgung Clan’ with his own mouth. She had instantly grasped that his love-hate relationship with mechanisms was his weakness.
It was almost as if she knew that Gwang-eum hadn’t completely let go of his desire for revenge against his main family….
