Star Instructor, Master Baek

TL: FoodieMonster007

“Ugh…” Geo Sangwoong groaned, struggling to open his eyes. His body felt like it was made of lead, his head pounded like he had a monstrous hangover, and his throat burned with thirst.

“Water…” he croaked, his voice rough and broken.

“Yawwwn. You’re awake?” a sleepy voice replied.

Yasu Hyeok, who had been dozing against the wall, crawled to his feet and approached Geo Sangwoong, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Lifting him to a sitting position, he handed him a kettle and said, “Drink this.”

Geo Sangwoong gulped down half of the water in one go, then wiped his lips with the back of his hand. Now more alert, he asked Yasu Hyeok, “Why are you here?”

“Why else? I agreed to be your servant for three days, remember? Today’s the last day.”

“Hahaha!” Geo Sangwoong laughed at the curt answer. “You’re really stubborn. All this over a bet.”

“Shut up. If it weren’t for the bet, I’d have beaten you up by now.”

Yasu Hyeok frowned, visibly annoyed. “When you’re feeling better, go back to the White Dragon Manor,” he said gruffly.

“No. I won’t go back there.”

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Yasu Hyeok sighed and folded his heavily muscled, well-tanned arms. “You have to. Master instructed me to take you there as soon as you woke up.”

“I don’t want to. I’m scared of learning martial arts.”

“…What?” Yasu Hyeok gasped, bewildered.

Geo Sangwoong chuckled. I’ve never openly admitted this to anyone before, but somehow I feel like I can say it to this junior. Maybe it’s because Yasu Hyeok reminds me of my younger self, or maybe it’s because I’ve already shown this kid my ugliest side.

With a devil-may-care attitude, Geo Sangwoong recounted his tale, “Back when I was a sophomore, I was fearless, wild, and rebellious, firmly believing that I would become the world’s best pugilist.1 The Heavenly Martial Festival? Hah. To me, it was nothing more than the perfect opportunity to show off my skills in front of others.”

“……” Yasu Hyeok fell silent. Although Geo Sangwoong appeared to be cheerful and laughing, his voice rang oddly hollow.

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“Since we arrived at the inn before the tournament started and were bored, we snuck out that night and prowled the dazzling streets of Hubei, eating, drinking, and causing a ruckus. Then…we picked a fight with students from the Heavenly Martial Academy.”

Geo Sangwoong stretched slowly, loosening his stiff muscles from days of being in a coma. With a wry smile, he continued, “Well, to cut a long story short, we lost. There were ten of us and only two of them, but we were the ones who were wiped out.”

“I guess pigs have a lot of endurance, huh.”

“Hey, I heard you want to be the world’s best pugilist?”

“With pathetic martial arts like that?”

Geo Sangwoong recalled the taunts from that night and laughed bitterly. As the person with the sturdiest build, he had resisted the longest but also suffered the most.

“Those two were on a different level. It was the first time since I learned martial arts that I felt the real fear of dying in a fight,” he sighed despondently.

Since that night, I had nightmares every day, so I tried to drown my fear in gambling and indulgence. Still, something feels weird? How can I talk about it so casually now when I could never bring myself to mention it before?

It was thanks to Baek Suryong removing the fear-inducing demonic energy from the Soul Reaping Demonic Art from his body, but Geo Sangwoong was unaware of that.

Feeling an inexplicable mix of emptiness and relief, Geo Sangwoong explained, “…Anyway, that’s why I decided to stop practicing martial arts. Every time I trained, the fear from that time would resurface.”

Geo Sangwoong looked at his thick hands. He had tried to train on his own, gritting his teeth, but each time he ended up having seizures, causing him to sink deeper and deeper into despair. Only recently, after he had completely given up martial arts, had the seizures become less frequent.

“It’s been a while, but training again made me realize it. I just can’t do it. Yesterday’s damn incident…it’ll just keep happening. Over and over again.”

“……” Still, Yasu Hyeok remained silent, his sunburnt bronze face devoid of all emotion.

The awkward atmosphere made Geo Sangwoong laugh heartily. “Hahaha! Go ahead, laugh at me for being a coward. I deserve it. All I did was take a few hits and I’m scared out of my mind…”

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“Senior,” Yasu Hyeok interrupted bluntly. Rubbing his chin to organize his thoughts, he said with unusual seriousness, “I grew up in the mountains, so I’m not good with fancy words. Most of what my hyungs taught me were swear words or coarse language… So much so that when I decided to go to school, they told me to keep my mouth shut as much as possible and hide my uncultured ways.”

Indeed, Yasu Hyeok was taciturn, blunt, tough and competitive, with a hot temper that only flared up against stronger opponents.

“…So even if you don’t understand what I’m saying, could you just keep listening to the end?”

“Sure,” Geo Sangwoong said with a generous smile and a nod.

“My father was eaten by a tiger right in front of me.”

“…!!” Geo Sangwoong froze, struck speechless by the sudden revelation.

Yasu Hyeok switched from rubbing his chin to scratching his head. “It happened when I was seven years old. The tiger was huge, the kind that people worship as mountain spirits. Sometimes, those monsters come down from the mountains and eat people… and it just so happened that my father, a woodcutter, got the short end of the stick that day.”

“Why are you telling me this…”

“Let me finish my story.”

“……”

“After the tiger ate my father, it took one look at me and walked away. Its mouth was smeared with blood and it looked satiated. Since my mother died giving birth to me, I was then orphaned, but thankfully, my hyungs, who lived in the mountains, took me in.”

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“……”

“After that day, even the sound of a tiger roaring made me wet myself. Every night, my crying and screaming would wake up my hyungs, haha,” Yasu Hyeok chuckled, but his eyes were filled with turmoil as he looked fixedly at Geo Sangwoong.

“Do you know how I overcame my fear of that tiger?” he asked.

Before Geo Sangwoong could answer though, he beamed proudly, showing his white teeth, and said, “I killed that tiger with my own hands last year.”

“…That’s incredible. Truly,” Geo Sangwoong couldn’t help but mutter.

“However, I didn’t do it alone. My hyungs helped me a lot. They taught me how to fight, took me on tiger and bear hunts, and soothed my fears with old stories. In the end, they brought me up to be strong enough to kill that tiger myself.”

Yasu Hyeok suddenly removed his shirt, revealing a deep, jagged scar from a beast’s claw on his heavily muscled chest.

“This scar is from the day I killed the tiger. It’s my badge of honor. Though, I did almost die because my stupid hyungs poured all kinds of strong alcohol and suspicious medicine on it…” Yasu Hyeok laughed heartily.

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“……” Geo Sangwoong, watching him, remained silent.

“Anyway, I have no intention of laughing at you. Honestly, I still sometimes dream of that tiger eating my father.”

“…What do you do when it appears in your dreams?”

Yasu Hyeok grinned broadly. “What do you think? I tear it apart every time.”

“Ahahaha!” Geo Sangwoong burst into laughter.

Yasu Hyeok held out his hand, saying, “If I did it, then so can you. Now, let’s go.”

“What? This is ridiculous…”

Grabbing Geo Sangwoong’s hand, Yasu Hyeok helped the startled older boy up. “Stop talking and follow me. The teacher will handle the rest.”

“You mean Baek Suryong?”

“Who else?” Yasu Hyeok looked at Geo Sangwoong as if it was obvious. “That man, he kind of reminds me of my hyungs. He’s not like those stuffy orthodox sect pussies, he’s tough and straightforward. Honestly, if he weren’t such a pretty boy, he wouldn’t be out of place in the industry at all.”

“…Stuffy orthodox sect pussies? And what industry at you talking about?”

“Um… don’t mind the little details.” Avoiding Geo Sangwoong’s eyes, Yasu Hyeok kicked the clinic door open and dragged Geo Sangwoong outside.

Stumbling, Geo Sangwoong squirmed and shouted, “Hey! Wait a minute… Guards! Guards! Somone help me!”

Unfortunately, his body was still too weak to fight Yasu Hyeok, and the guards, who had been warned by the boss not to listen to his pleas, avoided his gaze.

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Finally, Geo Sangwoong resigned himself to his fate. “…You big brute,” he groaned.

“If I’m a big brute, then you’re a fatass. Lose some weight. Wait, how much do you weigh anyway?”

The two young men bickered as they made their way to the White Dragon Manor. Their large figures attracted attention, but neither of them cared. They had not known each other long, but after fighting, they had become much closer. Such was the way of men in the murim.

“…That’s enough, let me go. I can walk on my own now,” Geo Sangwoong said feeling oddly at ease.

This is strange. Why do I feel so calm?

Even though Geo Sangwoong knew that he would probably have another seizure if he trained, he felt inexplicably relaxed. He looked at Yasu Hyeok’s sunburned face, both admiring and respecting he younger boy for killing the tiger that ate his father.

Maybe… I should try again.

He had never asked for help with his fears, always thinking that he had to overcome them alone, but Yasu Hyeok showed him that fears could be overcome with the help of others.

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“…Just one more time,” he said to himself, clenching his fists as he looked at the White Dragon Manor’s plaque in the distance.

When he finally met Baek Suryong, however, he was greeted by shocking news.

“Your qi deviation has been treated. You won’t have any more seizures during martial arts training,” Baek Suryong said.

“…Qi deviation?” Geo Sangwoong asked, thoroughly confused.

“Experiencing abnormal levels of mental distress during martial arts training is also a symptom of qi deviation,” Baek Suryong calmly bluffed. He’d tried to sound as confident as possible, but even he felt that his explanation was rather far-fetched. Regardless, it was the best he could come up with at the moment.

Revealing that a Heavenly Martial Academy student is practicing demonic arts would cause chaos in the Murim Alliance, so I can’t tell him that he was brainwashed by a demonic art. Most importantly, the Blood Cult would immediately go into hiding, and I won’t be able to find them.

Well, I wasn’t completely wrong though. Two years of nightmares from the Soul Reaping Demonic Art have led to accumulated fear and despair, which probably would have developed into actual qi deviation and driven Geo Sangwoong mad if it hadn’t been cured.

Baek Suryong added, “The blue bruise on your chest that looks like a Mongolian spot should have disappeared. That’s the proof that your qi deviation has been cured.”

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”!!” Geo Sangwoong hurriedly opened his shirt to confirm that the bruise was gone. “Many physicians examined me, but none said it was qi deviation…” he mumbled in disbelief.

Of course not, they couldn’t even detect the demonic energy, Baek Suryong thought. The demonic energy from the Soul Reaping Demonic Art blended naturally with the victim’s inner qi, making it hard for even famous physicians to detect.

Baek Suryong smiled. “I’m a professional in treating qi deviation, so don’t worry, you won’t have any more seizures during training.”

Geo Sangwoong gasped, almost in rapture, “How could it be treated so easily? I can’t believe it…”

“Trust me, you’ll believe it when you start training,” Baek Suryong replied, handing him a stack of class registration papers.

Still, Geo Sangwoong just stared at them blankly for a while.

“Are you still uninterested in martial arts?”

“……”

Geo Sangwoong looked back at Yasu Hyeok, who was standing in front of him with folded arms. When their eyes met, Yasu Hyeok nodded. Geo Sangwoong turned back to Baek Suryong.

Finding courage wasn’t as hard as he thought.

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“No, I want to learn. Please teach me.”

Grinning, Baek Suryong nodded. “Okay, brace yourself. I won’t go easy on you.”

“Yes, teacher!”

That night, Geo Sangwoong received one-on-one training from Baek Suryong. Even after exhausting himself, he did not have any seizures for hours, nor the next day, nor the day after that.

Just like that, Geo Sangwoong was convinced that his qi deviation had been completely cured.

“Mr. Baek…” he sobbed, tears streaming down his noticeably slimmer face. “Thank you! Thank you so much. I’ve rediscovered the joy of martial arts training.”

Seeing the sweat and tear-soaked Geo Sangwoong, Baek Suryong smiled warmly. “You’re two years behind, so you’ll have to work harder. Also, you need lose more weight.”

“Yes!”

Baek Suryong looked proudly at the enthusiastic Geo Sangwoong. “So, how did you get into gambling and binge eating?” he asked casually.

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Geo Sangwoong hesitated for a moment, then replied, “I needed something to distract me since I couldn’t practice martial arts…”

Baek Suryong smiled gently, “Don’t worry, I’m not scolding you, I’m just curious. There must have been a reason. Like someone taking you to a gambling den…”

“Well, actually, a senior I know…”

“A senior?”

Baek Suryong’s eyes narrowed instantly.

1. Pugilist: Master of hand-to-hand combat. Because it sounds better than boxer (too modern) or brawler. ↩

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