I Am the Youngest Disciple of the Martial Arts World’s Mastermind
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The Youngest Disciple of the Murim’s Hidden Mastermind
Episode 5
While I stood there with my mouth shut in excitement, the man—no, my future Master—spoke again.
“I tend to be fond of children, but since you’ve seen me, I cannot rule out the possibility that you are a spy from somewhere. So, if you have no intention of explaining yourself….”
His hand rose slowly.
“……!”
Future Master? More like future murderer. I was about to die right now.
I instinctively sensed a chilling fact.
If that man unleashed a single palm strike, my head and body would be separated in an instant.
I opened my mouth hurriedly before it was too late.
“I—I am!”
“Hmm?”
Sure enough, the Master who supposedly loved children paused his movement.
Taking advantage of that gap, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind without a second thought.
“My name is Sogae!”
“And?”
“Please accept me as your disciple!!”
I threw myself flat on the ground and thumped my forehead against the floor.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
A moment of silence followed.
Is this right?
A wave of subtle self-reflection washed over me….
“That child is….”
Danhwi, who had been keeping his mouth shut, finally let out a deep sigh and added,
“A massive fool.”
“It would seem so.”
“…….”
Hey now.
This was the first meeting between me and the Master who was the hidden mastermind of the Murim.
“How did you come to be here?”
There are stories people usually tell when they discover a fortuitous encounter.
Still prostrate on the ground, I let the lies flow effortlessly.
“…I was looking for the latrine, but the moonlight was so bright I suddenly felt like running. So I ran as hard as I could, and then I saw a cave….”
“And so you ended up here?”
“Yup.”
Even I thought it was an absurd excuse, but fortuitous encounters were often gained through such ridiculous paths.
Danhwi let out a hollow laugh.
“That makes no sense….”
However, the Master took my side.
“It seems you were meant to be the owner of this encounter.”
Wow, he’s buying that?
Just as I was about to cheer internally while shining my eyes with an ‘I don’t know anything’ look…
He tilted his head slightly and continued.
“I expected that in three or four years, when the Demonic Cult emerges, a first-generation disciple of the Mount Heng Sect would flee from an old demon and hide here. I predicted that if he became the owner of this encounter, he would maintain the balance by resisting the Cult.”
“…….”
“I suppose I can be wrong at times.”
Goosebumps erupted across my skin.
His words matched the game’s story exactly.
How could a character in the game know that?
No, the fact that I didn’t know a character with such a presence in the first place was strange.
“But since you found it, it must have been your destiny from the start.”
He smiled as he stepped down from the rugged cave wall as lightly as if walking on flat ground.
“I told Danhwi to seek cooperation from a member of the Beggars’ Sect to see what level of lightness technique would be required to obtain the spirit medicine. To think you accompanied a child.”
Danhwi spoke respectfully, his face having lost its trace of laughter.
“As you can see by the fact that she made it here, this child meets the conditions you mentioned, Master.”
“If you say so, then it must be.”
Master nodded slowly. However, like everyone seeing me for the first time, he didn’t seem to fully believe it.
Furthermore, he dropped a bolt from the blue.
“Since the encounter has found its owner, let us return now, Danhwi.”
“…Yes, Master.”
Huh? You’re leaving just like that?
Without even answering my request to be your disciple?
I hurriedly pointed at the spirit medicine inside the box.
“Wait, you’re leaving this behind!”
The man tilted his bamboo hat and said,
“That is yours now. Whether you eat it or give it to someone else is the will of heaven. Do as you wish.”
“That…!”
Don’t be so cool about it…!
Seeing him show no interest in a precious spirit medicine, treating it like a common pebble, I became even more certain.
I have to catch this man!
In the end, I shouted honestly.
“That’s not what I want. I want to serve a strong Master!”
But the man adjusted his hat and replied lightly.
“I see. But you are too young, and I am not a man of honor. Child, go find a more illustrious sect. If our fates cross again, let us meet then.”
“…Nooo…!”
Forget illustrious sects or whatever, I already have a gut feeling!
This man might be a hidden card that even I, the story developer, didn’t know about.
But he ignored my words and began to leave.
“Let’s go, Danhwi.”
“Yes.”
“Wait a minute!!”
If I miss him now, I don’t know when I’ll see him again.
As the two of them used lightness techniques to exit the cave at high speed, I chased after them with a crude, desperate sprint.
“Hmm.”
Master let out a light exclamation of admiration upon seeing me run for the first time.
But he was incredibly fast.
“Faster.”
“Yes, Master.”
Perhaps Danhwi had been going easy on me too; once the two of them increased their speed, the gap widened uncontrollably.
“……!!”
To make matters worse, the pain that had been particularly severe today began to flare up again as if it had been waiting for this moment.
“Ugh.”
A warning thumping near my heart alternated between burning heat and a freezing chill, constricting my body.
“Wait…!!”
But I didn’t stop. No matter how far they got, I kept running.
I caught a faint, worried voice from Danhwi, whose figure had almost vanished.
“…It looks like she’s overdoing it, Master.”
I grit my teeth and shouted.
“Take me with you…!”
If I don’t get this man to be my Master here, I’ll surely die in this heartless jianghu.
Perhaps because I was pushing myself too hard, sweat poured down like rain.
“I—I can work hard….”
Then, my vision spun.
No. If I lose him like this….
I stretched my hand forward, but my short fingertips couldn’t even catch a hem of his clothes. I tipped over and fell.
…Thud.
Just then, someone caught my body as it was about to slam into the ground.
For some reason, the familiar scent of Forget-Sorrow Grass wafted from his embrace.
“You stubborn child….”
It was Master’s voice.
He really must like children. He could have just let me collapse and left.
“…Hehe. Thank you….”
Strategy to exploit Master’s soft heart: Success.
I gave a foolish smile.
But man, I’m really exhausted….
Before I could even finish my thanks, I lost consciousness.
***
“…….”
When I came to, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
“Whoa.”
As soon as I opened my eyes, I bounced up like a spring. Then, a dry voice drifted from the side.
“You’re awake.”
“Huh?”
I whipped my head around to see a man I’d never seen before, not Danhwi or Master. He was built like a bear, large enough to block the entire doorway.
The blunt-faced man looked to be around thirty, and I was startled that he used such polite language to a child.
It was the first time I’d heard formal honorifics since being reincarnated into a Murim novel.
He said to me in a low voice,
“You have been unconscious for two days. I will examine you briefly.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you.”
While he carefully lifted and touched my limbs, I looked around blankly. Eventually, I asked him cautiously,
“Um… where am I?”
He didn’t just dump me at some random clinic and leave, did he?
That absolutely won’t do. The only money I have is what I shook down from Wangcho; I’m about to lose it all to medical fees. If I’d known this would happen, I should have just eaten the spirit medicine and stayed put in the cave.
“Hmm.”
The man, who had been scrutinizing my body thoroughly, nodded and pulled his hands away.
“This is a small medical hall on Hyeongak. The Blue Robed Hermit brought you here, do you remember?”
“Ah.”
I remembered the blue clothes Master had been wearing.
Is that why they call him the Blue Robed Hermit?
Seeing as he had a moniker meaning a person living in seclusion in the mountains, it seemed my guess about him being a hidden master was correct.
…In other words, the hidden mastermind of the Murim.
Click.
Just then, the door opened and a familiar voice spoke.
“The brat is awake.”
“……!”
It’s Danhwi!
I’d already grown used to that annoying nickname. In fact, I was almost glad to hear it.
I was about to jump out of bed and run to him, but I flinched and stepped back.
It was because Master was with him.
“You’ve arrived.”
The physician who had treated me bowed his head deeply and calmly.
“Yes. And the child?”
Master was still wearing his blue robe.
However, he had removed the bamboo hat that had covered more than half of his face. It was the first time I had looked directly at his entire face, above the jawline.
Without realizing it, I muttered,
“Beautiful….”
