The sunset-lit Northern Great Rainforest came into view.
It was thanks to summer, when the days grew longer.
This was also the reason expeditions were usually carried out in summer.
Magical beasts grew stronger at night.
Summer, when the sun stayed in the sky longer, favored humans.
"Around here should be fine, right? That's the entrance to the Northern Great Rainforest. Having to see the entrance clearly—are you messing with me or what…?"
"Messing with you? Is something wrong?"
From Kang Museong's perspective, it was understandable.
If I hadn't taken the Seongmu Academy entrance exam, he would have gone on the Northern Great Rainforest expedition with Choi Hyojeong.
But in the end, he would be grateful to me.
Because he would be the first to hear the request for rescue.
"No, it's nothing. So what do you want help with?"
"Practical combat experience. I don't have much real combat experience."
A blatant lie, everyone!
I was probably the warrior with the most experience on this land.
Before my regression, how many battles had I fought?
Times when I had the advantage, times when I was at a disadvantage, times I fought many enemies alone, times I fought powerful foes together with comrades.
I had fought all kinds of battles in all kinds of terrain.
But that was before the regression.
I was using completely different martial arts back then, and both the One-Sword Style and the Falling Moon Sword Technique were entirely new to me, even as a battle-hardened veteran.
To be able to use them perfectly in real combat, I needed to spar with someone stronger than me.
'It'd be best to do it with Grandfather, but…'
If I did that, my body wouldn't survive, so I'd settle for Kang Museong.
"So just sparring is fine?"
"Yes. Let's use wooden swords. Just sparring is boring, so how about we make a bet?"
"Can a bet between you and me even make sense?"
Kang Museong snorted.
He was a competitive person.
If I provoked him just a little, he'd accept the bet.
"Why? Are you not confident?"
"How are we betting? Let's hear it."
"How about this? You only score points if you successfully hit my heart or head. On the other hand, I get a point if I successfully hit anywhere."
"Sounds fine."
In short, even brushing me with a finger would earn me a point.
Kang Museong, on the other hand, had to aim strictly for my head or heart.
"And the first to reach ten points wins."
"What are we betting?"
"Push-ups. Just ten."
"That's nothing. That's training we do all the time."
"More precisely, push-ups counted by the opponent."
"Fine, fine. I thought you were going to suggest some big punishment."
Kang Museong let the most important part go in one ear and out the other.
You'll regret that.
"Then let's start."
Kang Museong took his stance.
He didn't look like he was underestimating me.
But even so, it would be hard for him to completely avoid my attacks now.
Especially since, to win, Kang Museong had to aim for my head or chest.
An obvious line of attack was easy to counter.
"Circulate your internal energy properly. Don't cry if something breaks."
"What a thing to worry about."
The moment my words ended, Kang Museong thrust his sword at me.
I evaded using Gongsi Daebo (攻時待步) and slashed toward Kang Museong's arm.
But Kang Museong easily dodged and said,
"Too obvious, you brat."
Then he aimed for my head.
I slightly tilted my head and aimed for his toes.
With a thud, Kang Museong's wooden sword struck my shoulder, and at the same time my sword brushed against his toes.
"Yes! One point!"
I clearly felt it graze his toes.
"You get hit on the shoulder and barely brush my toes, and you're that happy. If this were a real duel, you'd have lost. Your arm would be cut clean off."
"That's true. But not right now, is it? It wasn't my head, it was my shoulder, so you don't get a point."
"…Tch. Fine. Fine. Take your one point."
"Thank you."
It was a bit sneaky, but winning came first.
I hated losing.
The spar resumed.
As we exchanged forms, I timed Kang Museong's attacks and aimed for places that were hard to defend, like his fingers, shoulders, and toes.
Of course, every time I did, I got hit in places like my abdomen or thigh—areas that were practically vital points—but it didn't matter.
Either way, the points were mine.
After a total of twelve exchanges, the result was ten to two in my favor.
Kang Museong ran a hand through his hair, looking flustered.
"Wow… this is really pissing me off."
"Alright, ten push-ups."
"One more round. Got it?"
"Of course. It'd be a shame to end it with just one."
Kang Museong quickly took position and did ten push-ups.
As expected of a Seonin, his form was perfect.
He immediately stood up and spoke.
His face was slightly red—maybe he was embarrassed to do push-ups in front of his disciple.
But what could he do?
This wasn't the end.
"What are you doing?"
"What? I just did the push-ups."
"No, no. You haven't done them yet."
"I just did them. Didn't you see?"
"You should have listened carefully. I said push-ups counted by the opponent."
"..."
"I didn't count even one."
"Do you want to die?"
"No. I don't want to die. Please just do the punishment."
"And if I don't?"
"Then you won't be able to get revenge. Until you do the punishment, there's no rematch."
"Is that so? Fine. Fine. Let's do it."
Kang Museong got back into position, went down once, then came back up.
"I just did one. Hurry up and count."
"Ah, you should've gone down a bit more. And you can't come up with momentum. You have to stop completely, then come up and tighten your muscles like this. Doing push-ups like that is ineffective."
"…You're really going to die."
"Go down again. That's the only way we'll rematch."
"Hoo. I'll settle this after I'm done."
Kang Museong went down, and after a long pause, I said,
"One, on the way up."
"Hah, I seriously can't believe this…"
Kang Museong laughed in disbelief.
"Fine, fine. This is how you want to do it? Good."
"Hey, talking while doing it messes up your breathing. That one doesn't count yet."
"Hoo."
After ten rounds of my unreasonable counting, Kang Museong immediately picked up his wooden sword.
I could feel killing intent.
A killing intent so sharp it felt like I'd be stabbed to death.
Yes.
This was exactly what I wanted.
I was extremely satisfied.
'This is how sparring should be.'
In the previous spar, Kang Museong hadn't been serious.
He probably thought there was no way he could lose.
He must never have imagined being toyed with by a junior so far below him, a disciple only on paper.
Anyway, I had succeeded in drawing out his killing intent.
By nature, sparring was only effective when both sides fought with the intent to kill.
If you just lightly exchanged blows, what kind of training was that?
"Alright! Let's begin."
That was the moment.
Kang Museong flew toward me as if he had teleported.
'Huh?'
No, even so, isn't this a bit too serious?
Wait—!
Kang Museong's wooden sword struck my forehead.
"Ah, I'm going to die."
After that, we sparred about ten more times, and I recorded ten consecutive losses.
If I had used the Falling Moon Sword Technique, I could have fought him on even footing, but with only the One-Sword Style, I couldn't defeat a fully serious Kang Museong.
And on top of that, the way he nitpicked was unbelievable.
Saying it didn't count because my chin didn't touch the ground.
Then saying my chest touched the ground if my chin did.
What, did I need to have a shovel chin or something?
Still, I gained a lot of practical experience.
Once I adapted to Kang Museong's sincere attacks, I'd at least stop getting beaten up wherever I went.
'If I only used the Falling Moon Sword Technique, I could raise my level to something similar right away, but…'
But since it had the fatal drawback of shortening my lifespan, I couldn't abuse it.
Against ordinary opponents, I had to be able to win with pure skill.
A day passed like that, and I sat next to Arin and attended class.
Arin looked at my forehead and said,
"It's bruised? What's this? The middle of your forehead is all blue."
"I was sparring. With Seonin Kang Museong. He really didn't hold back."
"I should go get medicine from Yakseon-nim. I'll be right back."
Class was about to start, and she was going now?
I quickly grabbed Arin's hand as she stood up.
"No, no. Later. I'll go get it myself. I train with Yakseon-nim too."
"Oh, right. That's true. Okay."
Arin kept glancing at my forehead.
Just from that look, it felt like the injury was already healing.
More than that, Sanghyeok's expression didn't look good.
His expression was always bad during academic classes, but this time the atmosphere was different.
'Something happened.'
Something must have happened in Unseong.
'Han Sanghyeok entering Seongmu Academy happened because of me.'
The future had changed.
Now that things had turned out like this, there was no way for me to find out what had happened in Unseong.
This was exactly why I tried to solve things while interfering with the future as little as possible.
If the future changed, the information I knew would also change, and I wouldn't be able to make plans.
That was why I had to change what couldn't be avoided and boldly abandon what needed to be abandoned.
"Something wrong? You don't look good."
"Huh? Oh, it's just that the class is hard."
"You said you went to Unseong. Nothing happened there?"
"Well, nothing much. Same as always. Just getting ignored."
"If something's bothering you, tell me."
I looked Sanghyeok in the eyes and said,
"No matter what happens, I'm on your side."
"…Yeah. If something happens, I'll tell you."
Just as Sanghyeok nodded, the teacher entered.
There was definitely something going on…
Let's not worry.
Sanghyeok was the kind of guy who was nothing but loyalty.
I was helping him because he was the kind of person who would throw away his life for loyalty.
'He'll tell me.'
No matter what it was, Sanghyeok would tell me.
For now, let's focus on solving the problem right in front of us.
Northern Great Rainforest (北大雨林).
Even with the sun high in the sky, the forest interior was dark.
Choi Hyojeong moved slowly with her subordinates.
This expedition was scheduled to last four nights and five days.
As she walked through her assigned area, Choi Hyojeong said,
"Everyone stay alert. You never know what might come out from where."
Her team consisted of three upper-rank warriors and two mid-rank warriors, with a gender ratio of three women and two men.
Kim Gyuyeon, an upper-rank warrior serving as vice leader, spoke up.
"They're completely stiff. Well, it's their first time in the Northern Great Rainforest, after all. But didn't Seonin Kang Museong say anything? He couldn't come along this time."
A 27-year-old upper-rank warrior.
Kim Gyuyeon was close friends with Choi Hyojeong, who was two years younger.
Although Choi Hyojeong had become a Seonin first, they had once served together as mid-rank warriors, so when no one else was around, they spoke freely.
"He just said it was a shame. Why, what about Museong?"
"No, just… I thought he'd be especially disappointed."
"That's true. Since he wants to become a Red-Clad Seonin, every expedition must be precious to him."
"That's not what I meant. You're pretending not to know on purpose, aren't you?"
"What am I pretending not to know?"
Choi Hyojeong smiled faintly and headed deeper into the forest, while Kim Gyuyeon shrugged.
"She really is pretending not to know. Man, Seonin Museong has it rough."
Once inside the forest, it definitely felt like there were more magical beasts.
Spotting two black wolves charging toward them, Choi Hyojeong shouted,
"Giant Black Wolves! Prepare to hunt!"
Giant Black Wolf (巨黑狼).
It meant a gigantic black wolf.
They were about twice the size of ordinary wolves and usually traveled in packs of at least five, making them tricky to hunt.
After cutting down the two Giant Black Wolves charging at the front, Choi Hyojeong said,
"Pair up and take one each! Don't let your guard down!"
At her command, the team members immediately formed pairs and fought.
As a Seonin, she took on three at once, while the remaining two were handled by the mid-rank warriors working in pairs.
The mid-rank warriors struggled a bit, but it was still two against one.
Choi Hyojeong waited until her subordinates finished off the Giant Black Wolves.
She was giving the juniors real combat experience.
"Well done. When dealing with magical beasts, it's better to fight in pairs. Even just one person drawing its attention while the other attacks from behind makes it much easier. You're not fighting humans, so don't cling to pride and insist on one-on-one fights. Got it?"
"Yes, Seonin."
Looking at the young warriors barely in their early twenties, Choi Hyojeong smiled and said to Kim Gyuyeon,
"This is what you told me when I first joined. Remember?"
"At the time, I didn't know you'd become a Seonin, so I was just showing off. Don't bring it up—it's embarrassing."
"Hehe. Everyone, don't relax. Let's move again!"
Choi Hyojeong led her subordinates deeper into the forest.
And a man was watching them.
"Hm. So that's Choi Hyojeong."
A man with a single small horn watched Choi Hyojeong's group from high up in a tree.
Rakshasa. Atika.
With silver hair, a pretty face, and thin white robes fluttering around him.
Unlike the burly Nergal, Atika gave off the impression of a young boy.
"So only that woman needs to live?"
Which meant everyone else could die.
Atika smiled and said,
"I'm looking forward to it."
Just imagining the day the forest would be filled with screams made him feel like he'd go mad with anticipation.