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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: The Nosebleed That Launched a Team
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Crunch!
The envelope containing the details of the second test was being viciously crumpled.
The hand gripping the envelope was twice the size of an average man's.
The owner of the hand was not just large in his hands, but in his entire body. In terms of sheer size, he was even bigger than Maeng Ak.
As if crushing the envelope wasn't enough to quell his anger, he ground his teeth and spoke.
"Damn it. A joint battle, so we have to form teams? Whose bright idea was this…!"
Jo Gwang-uk, the eldest son of a minor gate, had taken a nap as soon as he returned to his private quarters.
Despite the head instructor's order to open the envelope first, his reckless nature led him to ignore it and follow his instincts.
The price for acting as he pleased was not small.
How many others would have been carefree enough to take a nap like him?
Most of them had probably already formed their teams.
In particular, the halfway decent students had already been swept up by the Five Heavenly Pillar Gates and that kid So Ryong, the one the Cult Leader had his eye on.
Jo Gwang-uk. For someone from a minor gate, he possessed considerable martial skill.
However, due to his eccentric and headstrong personality, he had kicked away the lifeline offered to him during the first test.
"Damn it. If I'd known this would happen, I should've taken that bastard Do Cheon-mu's hand back then."
He had refused Do Cheon-mu's offer to join him under the Blade Heavenly Pillar Gate.
It was because he held a certain pride in his own gate.
As a result, he had been jointly attacked by Do Cheon-mu and his lackeys during the first test and nearly eliminated.
If some madman hadn't caused a commotion by beating up a disciple of the Poison Heavenly Pillar Gate, he probably wouldn't have made it back in.
"Should I go find that guy? No, wait. Is he already dead?"
Jo Gwang-uk recalled the fleeting image of Maeng Ak.
A guy who had thoroughly gotten on the bad side of the Rising Stars of the Five Heavenly Pillar Gates was unlikely to have found a team yet.
But on second thought, the guy had earned the enmity of the Five Heavenly Pillar Gates, and the Poison Heavenly Pillar Gate at that.
The chances were higher that he was already dead.
So, he gave up and began to ponder whether he should seek out some other stragglers.
"Hmm."
The moment he rested his chin on his hand, about to sink into thought.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on his door.
Jo Gwang-uk, whose head was filled with more muscle than brain, was less curious about the reason for the visit.
And more annoyed that his deliberation had been interrupted.
Bang!
He tried to seize the initiative by violently kicking the door open.
It was his own way of being clever.
But what was this?
Standing in front of the door was none other than that guy.
The madman who had fearlessly planted a fist in the gut of a Rising Star from the Poison Heavenly Pillar Gate, turning all Five Heavenly Pillar Gates against him at once.
"Hiek!"
What was that saying? If you're unlucky, you'll break your nose even when falling backward?
That was precisely Jo Gwang-uk's situation right now.
The door he had violently kicked open to establish dominance had, of all things, smashed right into the guy's face.
'Damn it. Was he standing that close? Did he really just stand there after knocking?'
Creeak.
The door, having squarely struck Maeng Ak's face, swung weakly back toward Jo Gwang-uk.
Thanks to that, Maeng Ak's reddened face, bearing the distinct imprint of the door, was revealed.
"Uh… hey. Your nose is bleeding…"
"…"
Tap.
At Jo Gwang-uk's pointed finger, Maeng Ak silently touched the bridge of his nose where the door had struck.
"Hah."
When he checked the palm he'd pressed against his nose, it was stained with blood.
It was because he had let his guard down, exhausted as he was.
Of course, if any other student besides Jo Gwang-uk, who excelled in external arts, had kicked the door, there wouldn't have been any blood.
"I fought dozens of men with blades and didn't get a single scratch…"
Maeng Ak muttered, just loud enough for Jo Gwang-uk to hear.
Then, like a man afflicted with madness, he began to laugh—quietly at first, but with growing volume.
"Ha. Haha. Bwahahahaha!"
His back shook up and down as he laughed with his head bowed.
The sight was so eerie that Jo Gwang-uk felt a sense of terror.
It was the first time the mountain of a man, Jo Gwang-uk, had ever been frightened by someone his own age.
As Maeng Ak's laughter grew louder, so did the aura emanating from him.
Just as Jo Gwang-uk's legs began to tremble uncontrollably from the pressure, Maeng Ak spoke.
"You're getting a beating."
Creek, thud.
And so, Jo Gwang-uk's door closed again, and from within, a continuous stream of screams could be heard.
"Gyaaaaaaah! Great hero! Please, spare my life! Gyaaaaaaah…!"
* * *
"Hey! Straighten your posture! Use your internal energy, and we're going for round two. Got it?"
"Understood!"
A short while after Maeng Ak had arrived at Jo Gwang-uk's room.
Inside, Maeng Ak was nursing the bridge of his nose while a battered Jo Gwang-uk was being punished in front of him.
Whatever had happened, Jo Gwang-uk was now using honorifics toward Maeng Ak and answering his questions diligently.
"So, you're saying there are others besides you who have fallen out of favor with the Five Phoenixes, One Dragon?"
The 'Five Phoenixes, One Dragon' referred to the five Rising Stars of the Five Heavenly Pillar Gates and So Ryong.
Maeng Ak hadn't known, but apparently, all the students of the Divine Hall of the Latent Demon called them that.
"That's right! As far as I know, some of them even admire you, Sir Maeng Ak."
"That doesn't matter. What's important is whether they have talent. Gather them and bring them here."
"Huh? How am I supposed to know where they are…?"
"Do I need to concern myself with your problems?"
Whoosh.
Maeng Ak raised his right hand toward the questioning Jo Gwang-uk.
At that, Jo Gwang-uk flinched like a mouse before a cat and quickly spoke.
"N-no, sir! I'll bring them, no matter what!"
"That's more like it. I'll give you exactly two quarters of an hour. Prove your worth."
The moment Maeng Ak finished speaking, Jo Gwang-uk kicked the door open even more forcefully than the first time and bolted outside.
His speed seemed to surpass that of most movement techniques. A good beating was certainly an effective remedy.
"Tsk. He's a fairly useful guy, but…"
Maeng Ak stroked his now-bloodless nose as he watched Jo Gwang-uk's retreating back.
During the first test, Maeng Ak had taken note of Jo Gwang-uk, the most powerfully built student he had briefly scanned.
The larger the frame, the easier it would be to pass on the various Green Forest martial arts he had created with his master in his past life.
But the fool didn't know that and dared to touch this body's nose.
After the Heaven and Earth Body, this prominent nose was the thing he liked most about his new vessel after reincarnating. If it had been broken, he wouldn't have let the oaf live.
Besides Jo Gwang-uk, Maeng Ak had remembered a few other students.
Their common trait was that they were all part of the minority who didn't align with the Five Phoenixes, One Dragon.
They were likely outcasts, either cast aside for being difficult to tame like Jo Gwang-uk, or talented but denied any opportunity due to their humble origins.
If not that, then they might be like Maeng Ak himself, aiming to become the Young Cult Leader by defying the established hierarchy of birth.
Maeng Ak had to first form a faction with such individuals.
Not only did he have to face a team-based test from the second trial onward, but he also had to consider the power struggles with the existing authorities after his time in the Divine Hall.
His original plan was to build a team starting with Jo Gwang-uk and proceeding in order, but he was tired, and it was Jo Gwang-uk's fault anyway, so he delegated the task to him.
He would know the situation better than Maeng Ak, at least.
And by now, Geom Cheon-ha, Do Cheon-mu, and So Ryong had probably woken up.
He wanted to avoid wandering around and running into unnecessary trouble.
Of course, killing those three within the Divine Hall would be a simple matter.
However, if he killed the talents of the five pillars supporting the Demonic Cult just because they were annoying, it would negatively impact not only his future control over the cult but also the war against the Orthodox Faction.
If possible, he had to embrace them and move forward.
As he was lost in thought, the two quarters of an hour he had given Jo Gwang-uk passed.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Come in."
Creek.
When Jo Gwang-uk opened the door, seven male students and one female student entered.
For a vague description from Maeng Ak, the group was composed of quite capable individuals. Most were students he had noticed during the first test.
Just then, the male student at the very front spoke up.
"Hoh. This muscle-bound pig suddenly begged me to come along, and I find something interesting here."
"Ha Gyeong! Watch your mouth. And who begged whom!"
Swoosh.
Jo Gwang-uk flared up at the words of the man called Ha Gyeong, but the utterly exhausted Maeng Ak raised a hand to stop him, preventing a commotion.
Maeng Ak asked Ha Gyeong.
"So, I look interesting to you?"
"Hmph. If I offended you, I apologize. I just find it quite amusing to see an orphan who isn't even one of the Five Phoenixes, One Dragon acting so high and mighty, not knowing his place."
Ha Gyeong harbored a subtle inferiority complex toward Maeng Ak.
After all, Maeng Ak had so easily achieved what he himself could not in the first test.
Ha Gyeong. He, too, wanted to overturn the hierarchy of birth.
However, the one acting high and mighty without knowing his place was Ha Gyeong himself.
Maeng Ak looked at him with eyes that saw him as arrogant and insolent, and said.
"Right. You're out."
"What? Out…?"
Ha Gyeong tried to retort at Maeng Ak's incomprehensible words, but he couldn't.
Woooooosh.
It was because the energy Maeng Ak had drawn out to its fullest now filled Jo Gwang-uk's room.
That energy felt like a heavy killing intent.
The nine students in the room, excluding Maeng Ak, momentarily flinched.
They recalled the heavy aura they had felt from Maeng Ak during the first test.
'Kuh. Is he really a fellow student?'
Ha Gyeong bit his lower lip, barely resisting the pressure.
However, when Maeng Ak, who had been sitting on the bed, stood up, he could no longer bear it, and his legs gave out.
It was the same for the other students.
Maeng Ak looked down at them and extended a hand.
"Take my hand. If you want to survive in the Divine Hall. Ah, and this is not a request."
Fwoooosh!
As if to prove his words, Maeng Ak raised his energy even further the moment he finished speaking.
The students, who had collapsed to the floor, felt a surge of terror upon realizing that the pressure that had made their legs give out was not his full strength.
The aura of Maeng Ak that touched their skin.
It felt like the same heavy demonic energy they possessed, yet it also emanated a sharp, sinister power.
One thing was certain: even if all of them attacked with everything they had, they wouldn't be able to leave a single scratch on Maeng Ak.
Before coming here on Jo Gwang-uk's word, the students hadn't believed him.
But now, they saw that the monster he had spoken of—the one who would lead them—was truly before them.
Survival of the fittest. It was ironic, but Maeng Ak, the former number one of the Unorthodox Faction, was making the best use of the very principle that was the foundation of both the Demonic Cult and the Divine Hall.
The students who felt it firsthand trembled with excitement.
And now, less than a quarter of an hour after meeting Maeng Ak, they pledged their loyalty to him.
"Loyalty!"
"…"
However, Ha Gyeong, who had been sneering just moments ago, kept his mouth shut, unable to lift his pale face.
"Good. Since there are many of you, I'll divide you into two teams."
Swoosh.
Maeng Ak withdrew his aura, turned, and sat back down on the edge of the bed as he spoke.
But just then.
Thud!
Behind him, Ha Gyeong slammed his head into the wooden floor with enough force to crack it, and shouted.
"This lowly one spoke out of turn, not knowing his place! Please give me another chance…!"
"Out of turn? A chance? Be grateful I'm letting you live."
Though his words were harsh, Maeng Ak watched his reaction with intrigued eyes.
"I will stake my life on it! Just one chance!"
Thud!
He slammed his head into the floor once more.
Thanks to him, the cracked floor now had a hole large enough for a fist.
Jo Gwang-uk, seeing this, seemed to grimace for a moment.
"Your life… Fine. But right now, your life is of no use to me. So, prove its worth in the next test."
Thud!
"Loyalty!"
Ha Gyeong shouted, slamming his head down again. Despite the blood flowing from his forehead, his complexion looked much better.
With this, Maeng Ak formed two teams, including Ha Gyeong, Jo Gwang-uk, and the rest.
Considering he hadn't put much time or effort into it, the team members were better than expected.
Just looking at Jo Gwang-uk and Ha Gyeong proved that.
Excluding Maeng Ak, Jo Gwang-uk was the most skilled fist user among the students in terms of external arts, and Ha Gyeong was a swordsman whose martial prowess was not far behind that of the Five Phoenixes, One Dragon.
It seemed Jo Gwang-uk had done a decent job of recruiting.
Those who follow their instincts more than reason tend to have good intuition, so he must have spotted some decent prospects during the first test.
'But what's with this guy?'
Maeng Ak looked at Jo Gwang-uk, who was glaring at Ha Gyeong.
Following Jo Gwang-uk's gaze, he saw Ha Gyeong and the gaping hole in the floor beneath him.