I Am the Youngest Disciple of the Martial Arts World’s Mastermind
Chapter 18
Chapter 18
The Youngest Disciple of the Murim Mastermind
Episode 18
…No, that was going too far.
‘In any case, she is a child the Master trusts.’
Danhwi, who had momentarily felt a chill of suspicion toward Soso, stopped his thoughts and began to playfully indulge Gwangeum’s irritability with a smile.
“You’re banned from coming in for a while too, Hyung. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah. Fine. Then I guess I’ll have to give the sweets I bought to Soso instead.”
“……!”
Danhwi grinned and ruffled Gwangeum’s hair.
“Just kidding. I’ll leave some in front of Jinmyeonggak too.”
Gwangeum pouted his lips but spoke anyway.
“…I didn’t ask for them, okay?”
I had received the books I was after, but I couldn’t start learning Mechanisms and Formations right away. Apparently, I had to stabilize the inner energy inside my body first.
So, the first martial art I began to learn was a movement art.
It had already been fifteen days since the lessons started. Danhwi, standing before me with his hands behind his back, spoke.
“Now, last time, we learned how to utilize inner energy while running so you don’t get exhausted.”
“Yes, sir.”
“From now on, let’s look into how to run faster. Right now, you’re using inner energy to run subconsciously. You need to know how to control that energy efficiently to run even faster.”
I was a bit dazed on the first day, but Danhwi was a much better teacher than I expected. How should I put it?
“Now, Soso. Watch.”
Danhwi caught a cherry blossom petal falling from the tree and tossed it into the air. The thin petal fluttered down very slowly through the void, when—
“Wow!”
Danhwi stepped lightly onto it. If I hadn’t been focusing on the petal, I would have mistaken it for him floating in midair.
I suppose it’s because he has this kind of showmanship that the lessons aren’t boring.
Landing softly and gracefully, Danhwi continued his explanation.
“Now, look at where I was originally standing.”
The ground? Why… Oh!
“The ground is dented!”
Danhwi nodded with satisfaction.
“Right. You make your weight heavy for an instant, and then make your body as light as possible when you step on the petal. At a higher level of mastery, even those marks won’t remain, but I left them because I had to show you. Understand?”
“Yes!”
“What do you know, kiddo?”
“Hmph?”
He asks, and then gets annoyed when I answer.
As I lowered my raised hand with a grumpy expression, Danhwi chuckled and put his hands behind his back again.
“In any case, running consists of a series of such continuous movements. When you step forward, make your body heavy to give it power, and when you’re in the air, make it light…”
He was explaining in the simplest terms possible to accommodate me as a child, but I could recognize that those were the principles of Grass Gliding.
To demonstrate a high-tier martial art—one at a level where one can move freely enough to step on grass without bending it—just to explain the principles of running….
In game terms, that was a skill that only unlocked after advancing to an Assassin or a Courier and pouring all your skill points into lightfoot techniques.
As expected, Danhwi was undoubtedly incredibly strong.
‘I have to stick close to him.’
“Now then, basic repetitive training. 100 sets!”
“Yes, sir!”
Around the time I was training hard according to Danhwi’s instructions with that resolve, Master appeared.
“Master!”
“Soso.”
Beads of sweat formed on my forehead from the repetitive training with sandbags tied to my ankles.
Master wiped the sweat away firmly with his sleeve and asked, “You are working hard on your external training as well. Danhwi isn’t giving you a hard time, is he?”
Well, he was picking on me unnecessarily earlier, but…
“No, sir!”
He teaches me kindly enough, so I’ll give him that much.
When I shouted energetically, Master smiled again as if impressed.
Truly, Danhwi was a thousand times better than Gwangeum.
That guy’s personality is really…
When I finally memorized the entire cultivation manual and went to see him:
‘You’re saying you don’t understand this either? Is there something wrong with your head?’
‘No, Master said I was smart, you know?’
‘Is that so? Then memorize all of these.’
‘……!!’
And then he kicked me out again with seven more books.
I was shocked once more because those seven books were the Seven Hearts Sutra, which I knew very well.
That’s because those books were set as special items that dropped with a rare probability when the protagonist killed the Chief Strategist of the Martial Arts Alliance.
Why were the copies here?
Moreover, telling an eight-year-old to memorize books that the Chief Strategist of the Martial Arts Alliance carries around like scripture—is he sane?
But a junior must do as a senior commands.
I was currently struggling through the books every night, looking up unknown hanja with the help of Senior Brother Hyeonhak.
Just you wait….
“Hmm?”
Master tilted his head at the sound of me grinding my teeth.
“It doesn’t seem like he’s not giving you a hard time.”
“What? I treat Soso so well!”
Danhwi, who had been far off, ran over immediately as if he had supernatural hearing for any mention of himself. I quickly made an excuse.
“I wasn’t badmouthing Senior Brother Danhwi.”
“You…”
Just as Danhwi was about to glare at me, Master smiled benevolently and flicked open his fan, cutting him off.
“Indeed. More importantly, Danhwi, I have an errand for you for the first time in a while.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Tell Hyeonhak to prepare a Phantom Sound Pill, and prepare two Human Skin Masks as well. I shall replace the detailed instructions with this letter.”
Receiving the letter Master handed over, Danhwi bowed with discipline.
“Yes. I understand.”
So cool….
I just stood there between the two of them, mouth agape, staying quiet.
But why two Human Skin Masks? Ah, is Senior Brother Hyeonhak or Gwangeum going along?
“And.”
That question was soon resolved.
“Soso shall go as well.”
“……?”
Wait, me too?
“M-me too?”
“Yes. Since you are going with Danhwi, there will be nothing dangerous.”
That’s true. He said I was going with Danhwi.
Since I wanted to stay planted at Cheongsanbong as much as possible, I felt momentarily overwhelmed, but I was soon able to relax.
If I’m with Danhwi, nothing bad will happen! It’s not the first time I’ve done an errand for Master with Danhwi. I’m quite the excellent assistant, if I do say so myself….
As I was shamelessly thinking that, Danhwi asked Master politely.
“Master. When shall we depart?”
“Mhm, right now.”
“You heard him, Soso. Pack your bags. Go to Senior Brother Hyeonhak and get the things Master mentioned earlier.”
“Yes, sir!!”
What did he say? A Phantom Sound Pill, and two Human Skin Masks….
As I was retracing those items and clumsily untying the sandbags on my ankles, the conversation between Danhwi and Master reached my ears.
“You must resolve it and return within five days.”
“Yes, since Soso’s lightfoot technique has improved a lot, four days should be enough to reach Hubei. Hwangun County… it’s been a while. Since I’m going, should I pay my respects to that person as well?”
“There likely hasn’t been any particular misfortune, but you should do so.”
And the moment I heard that conversation, the strength left my legs and I collapsed.
“…….”
Thump.
My head felt so heavy that I fell forward as if toppling over.
Normally, I would have reached out my hands to stop myself, but I wasn’t in the right mind for that now.
The reason I was suddenly shocked was that the name of the town mentioned in their conversation, ‘Hwangun County,’ was very familiar.
…This really can’t be happening.
Hwangun County is the town where the protagonist’s awakening event takes place, shown in the prologue video when you first install and start playing the game.
I couldn’t know if it was that time yet or not, but the fact that there was a possibility of crossing paths with the protagonist was a serious problem in itself.
‘It’s dangerous…!’
The protagonist kills every NPC he meets after his awakening. If that happens, my life—having finally found Cheong-ui Sanin and taken him as my Master—would be bye-bye.
Meanwhile, Danhwi, noticing I had fallen forward, spoke in confusion.
“Huh? Soso. Why are you doing that?”
I spoke without lifting my head from the ground.
“I…”
I’m sorry, but….
“Yeah?”
“I think I suddenly have an upset stomach, so right now is a bit…”
I fumbled against the ground to sit up, clutching my stomach and groaning.
“What? Suddenly? Are you okay?”
Danhwi’s panicked voice came from above.
“You didn’t… tell me you were training while holding it in, did you?”
That’s not it. But thanks for the misunderstanding.
Taking the opportunity, I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted.
“Uugh…. If we have to leave right now, please leave me behind…!!”
How pathetic, how craven!
But I want to live…!
