I Am the Youngest Disciple of the Martial Arts World’s Mastermind
Chapter 54
Chapter 54
The Youngest Disciple of the Murim’s Hidden Mastermind
Chapter 54
Her voice was light, brimming with conceit. It was an arrogance rooted entirely in her own skill.
Even so, one should not use the safety of others as bait for such a stunt.
Baekri Hyuk was personally acquainted with Namgung Ryeong-hwa, but even he could not turn a blind eye to this.
“Lady Ryeong-hwa. This matter should be settled once we are outside….”
It was just as Yeong-do, who had stood up with Baekri Hyuk’s support, was huffing in indignation.
Deung So-han, who had been examining the wall, spoke in a low voice.
“Lady Namgung Ryeong-hwa.”
“…Yes?”
When Deung So-han, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke up, Namgung Ryeong-hwa turned to look at him with a startled expression.
Deung So-han pulled his hand away from the wall and asked, “Did you do that thinking you could see which mechanisms were triggered more clearly if Priest Yeong-do held a torch in each hand?”
“…Yes, exactly. That was why.”
Deung So-han turned back to Yeong-do.
“So she says. Next time, please explain your intentions and ask for cooperation.”
“Why should I….”
“It seems we haven’t even approached the artifacts left by the Medicine Immortal yet. If we want to pick up the pace, we must avoid pointless bickering.”
“…….”
“……Hah!”
Yeong-do’s face flushed red as he bit his lip hard, then he shook off Baekri Hyuk’s support. He then shoved the torch that originally belonged to her back toward Namgung Ryeong-hwa.
“I won’t forget this.”
“Suit yourself.”
Namgung Ryeong-hwa took the torch with a prim expression.
“Wow.”
Lying inside the safe secret passage, I watched the young experts and marveled.
“How did they manage to gather a group where every single one has such a broken personality?”
Is the Orthodox faction doomed?
Three people in particular caught my eye.
Without a doubt, the most striking was Namgung Ryeong-hwa.
At first, I admired her because she was a pretty unnie, but the more I watched, the more her personality seemed like total trash.
I recalled how Gwang-eum, a member of a collateral branch of the Namgung family, would occasionally shudder in disgust whenever he mentioned the Namgung Clan while talking about the martial world.
‘Those Namgung bastards fall for bait like this easily. Their pride is just too high.’
‘You mean their confidence?’
‘Yeah. They reign over Anhui like kings. No, they are kings. Even the Namgung Clan Leader’s title is the Sword Emperor.’
Maybe that was why. Namgung Ryeong-hwa certainly had a temper.
In particular, when she just shoved the Mount Hua disciple into the corridor to check for traps earlier, even I—the one adjusting the intensity of the mechanisms and formations—was startled.
I suppose this kind of variable is exactly why a disciple of the Murim’s Hidden Mastermind has to be inside the treasury to manage the mechanisms. Otherwise, the strength of the Orthodox faction might be pointlessly wasted.
The more I carried out the mission, the more I understood Master’s intentions for placing me here.
I checked the paper Gwang-eum had given me once more.
[If less than half of the members are able to cross the first trap, adjust the activation time of all subsequent mechanisms from the moment of ignition to….]
It was an instruction to scale the difficulty of the mechanisms according to the level of the entering disciples.
In short, it was a customized training session for the young experts!
Fortunately, everyone was stronger than expected, so there was no need to lower the difficulty.
Inwardly, I had hoped the young masters of the Zhuge Clan I met in Hwangun County would show up too, but listening to the conversation of those present….
It seemed they had applied but felt they were lacking after the friendly sparring matches held at the Martial Arts Alliance and had gone back for further training.
‘Did they not take the elixirs?’
Or perhaps it just takes some time to fully assimilate them.
Not everyone can be a genius like Ryang, after all.
“Ah.”
I giggled like an idiot thinking of Ryang, but quickly followed the young experts when I sensed them moving.
‘In the game, this would have been skipped with a single line of script like ….’
But now that it was reality, I had to pay attention to every single detail to lead them toward the result I wanted.
Still, there’s a certain thrill in being the one pulling the strings from the shadows.
“……Hah.”
I pulled some roasted beans out of my pocket, which I had brought to snack on while watching. Munching on the savory beans, I refocused on the situation.
Deung So-han was dusting off a wall as he spoke.
“That passage over there seems to be a trap, and there is writing covered in dust on this wall.”
Baekri Hyuk stepped forward to read the text.
“It’s a riddle.”
“Can you read it for us?”
“‘Have you entered the breath of the dark night? Follow the path whispered by the cold stone walls, but watch your step. The moment a careless stride awakens the earth, the iron rain shall leave not even a shadow behind.’”
Yeong-do frowned and said, “…That must be talking about the hail of arrows from earlier.”
“Most likely.”
Namgung Ryeong-hwa added spitefully, “It wasn’t that threatening because it was so old, though.”
“…….”
Just before Yeong-do could glare at Namgung Ryeong-hwa again, Deung So-han interjected calmly.
“Even so, it would have been dangerous if we were careless. The fact that it still works after all this time is strange in itself.”
While the six of them chattered and shared opinions, I stared intently at Deung So-han through an invisible gap.
‘He’s a good talker….’
Yes. The second person I was keeping an eye on was Deung So-han.
‘It’s definitely not because he’s a disciple of the Hengshan Sect, which is close to Cheongsanbong!’
It was because he was coordinating conflicts more skillfully than Baekri Hyuk, who appeared to be the oldest, and was leading the group without drawing attention to himself.
‘Master’s instructions said to let the disciple who seems to have the brightest potential take a particularly better elixir….’
You’re the winner. He caught my eye for reasons completely opposite to Namgung Ryeong-hwa.
“Hmm.”
Being like this makes me feel like I’ve gone back to my days of developing game stories. It feels good.
It was then.
“…….”
“Why are you suddenly looking at empty space?”
Baekri Hyuk suddenly whipped around to look in my direction.
At Yoo Chwi-san’s puzzled question, he quickly withdrew his gaze and smiled.
“I thought I felt someone watching us.”
‘Oh, crap….’
While I breathed a sigh of relief internally, Yoo Chwi-san laughed it off.
“Oh, come on. It’s not like the soul of the Medicine Immortal is wandering this place….”
Fortunately, Baekri Hyuk also lost interest quickly.
“Haha, you’re right. They say the Medicine Immortal doesn’t even have a grave.”
“Yes. He must have ascended to the heavens.”
…….
‘Is it okay now?’
I slowly raised my head, which I had ducked for a moment.
“Phew.”
Before I knew it, the topic had shifted back to the rest of the riddle.
Right, there’s no way they could notice.
This secret passage was designed with a unique structure. Because of that, they can’t sense my presence from over there, and it’s said they can’t hear me even if I mutter to myself or keep crunching on roasted beans.
Of course, a true grandmaster might notice….
But for mere young experts, it was a masterpiece of a mechanism that Gwang-eum was quite proud of.
‘My heart almost stopped….’
Is Baekri Hyuk’s internal force the deepest after all, perhaps because of his age?
While I was thinking that, the young experts were harmoniously interpreting the rest of the riddle as if the atmosphere had never been hostile.
“‘He who seeks the truth, do not look with eyes but feel with hands. If you caress the wall where even moonlight cannot reach, the way shall open. He who crosses that threshold, do not covet treasure but benefit the world of men. The teachings of the Medicine Immortal lie in salvation, not greed.’”
“It seems there is a path in the wall.”
“Where even moonlight cannot reach…. But this is a cave?”
It looks like they won’t find the way easily.
I manipulated the mechanism to cause a gust of wind to blow through the cave.
“Ugh.”
Due to the sudden wind, one of the torches flickered out.
‘Will this be enough of a clue?’
Or should I intervene more directly….
Just then, Dang Cheong-a, who had been lost in thought, saw the extinguished torch. Her eyes sparkled as she spoke in a youthful voice.
“How about we try putting out the lights?”
“…Suddenly?”
“It’s hard to see a small light when there’s a bright one around.”
Namgung Ryeong-hwa twitched an eyebrow and countered sharply.
“Do you think moonlight will suddenly enter the cave just because we turn them off? You know we’ll have to stay in the dark once we put them out, right?”
However, Deung So-han and Yoo Chwi-san took Dang Cheong-a’s side.
