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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: I Became the MacGuffin, Jang Sam
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Seon-u looked around in bewilderment.
The place where he had woken up wasn't his cramped eight-pyeong studio apartment.
The coldness of marble flooring seeped into him from below, while intense heat radiated from all sides.
'What the hell is this? Where am I?'
Seon-u glanced down at his clothes.
Just like the people sitting around him, he was dressed in traditional Chinese-style robes.
"Jang Sam, snap out of it! Jang Sam!"
Slap slap
The burly man in front of him kept slapping his cheeks, urging him to come to his senses.
'Jang Sam? ...Ugh.'
The moment he heard the name Jang Sam, a splitting headache struck like a hammer.
Scattered fragments of memory in his mind began to piece themselves together, one by one.
'Aaaargh!!!!!!!'
His name was Jang Sam.
He was the first disciple of Lee Jae-won, the world's greatest martial artist and the great hero who saved the Murim world—a forgotten MacGuffin.
In the early to mid part of High School Senior Goes to the Murim!, there was an episode where he rescued a pitiful child who had lost his parents to bandits and took him as a disciple, praising Lee Jae-won's sense of justice.
Jang Sam was one of the MacGuffins used in that scene. He was portrayed as someone who seemed important, like a key turning point, but was handed off to some subordinate, abandoned, and completely forgotten.
The protagonist, who protected the peace of the Murim and defeated the Heavenly Demon Emperor, was described as living happily ever after surrounded by countless wives and concubines—but there was no mention anywhere of what became of Jang Sam.
In the end, he had been forgotten by everyone.
Seon-u had possessed this one-use extra, Jang Sam.
'Damn it, they actually sent me to the Murim!?'
Seon-u ground his teeth as he recalled the note he'd seen last.
A review he'd written purely as clickbait must have impressed some transcendent being, leading to this shitty situation.
'Fuck, if you're gonna possess someone, make it the protagonist! Why dump me in this extra trash!?'
Seon-u—no, now Jang Sam—screamed inwardly.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Assimilation Rate 77.1%
Suddenly, the words "Assimilation Rate" flashed through his mind.
Then, Jang Sam's memories began flooding into Seon-u in vivid detail.
Twenty years had passed since the Invincible Martial God Lee Jae-won defeated the Heavenly Demon Emperor, who sought to dominate the Murim.
Jang Sam, who had been just a seven-year-old child at the time, had grown into a 27-year-old man.
Though taken in during the early to mid story to hype up the protagonist, he was still the eldest disciple. His talent for martial arts wasn't bad, so he had reached the Peak realm.
Achieving Peak realm at 27 was impressive enough for a later-generation disciple, but for the disciple of the world's greatest, it was pathetically underwhelming.
His master, the Absolute Martial God Lee Jae-won, had already reached the Absolute realm before age twenty—a stark comparison.
There were plenty of young experts on par with Jang Sam, so his reputation had plummeted.
Even prestigious clans rarely produced Peak realm experts his age, but it wasn't anything special either.
"Jang Sam, what nonsense are you thinking about? Get up right now!"
The man before him was Joo Gwang, the Bandit Sword.
Like Jang Sam, this guy was an early-story extra picked up to prop up the protagonist. Back then, a Peak expert, but as superhuman foes poured in with power creep, he got injured and naturally retired.
Luckily, by riding the right coattails from the start, he ended up as the leader of the Heavenly Martial Alliance in the post-ending setup.
To Jang Sam, abandoned with just a single manual and told to figure it out himself, Joo Gwang was more like a real master than the nominal one, Lee Jae-won.
Seon-u felt the hazy memories sharpening.
Why he had collapsed with blood streaming from his nose, and why the Bandit Sword was supporting him.
Today was the day of the Grand Martial Assembly.
The Heavenly Martial Alliance held it annually to rank its martial artists.
The intent was to give young or later-generation disciples a chance to receive direct guidance through spars with seniors, while urging elders not to rest on laurels but to keep striving.
But by adding rankings, it devolved away from that spirit.
Youngsters fought seniors recklessly for fame over learning, and elders broke at least an arm or leg to keep cocky juniors down. It became a brutal contest.
Of course, the Invincible Martial God Lee Jae-won seemed plenty satisfied with the spectacle.
Jang Sam had been called out at the assembly, sparred, and lost in an instant.
Looking around, everyone was cheering one name in unison.
"Woooah! Heroine Lee Ye-seol has defeated Jang Sam!"
"As expected of the Martial God's bloodline!"
"Lee Ye-seol! Lee Ye-seol! Lee Ye-seol!"
"The Heavenly Heavy Sword Jang Sam is rolling on the ground."
"Earthly Sword suits him better than Heavenly Heavy Sword, hahaahahahaha!"
Yes, Jang Sam had lost to Lee Ye-seol, Lee Jae-won's daughter.
The bitter taste of defeat to a brat seven years younger was awful.
In the story, Lee Jae-won had slept around relentlessly, impregnating all his wives and concubines at once by the ending.
Among them, his principal wife, the Thousand Sword Marquess Joo So-yang, got pregnant during the story and gave birth to a daughter right after the end—Lee Ye-seol.
As the blood of Lee Jae-won and the Thousand Sword Marquess, Lee Ye-seol had shown prodigious talent from childhood. At 17, she reached Peak realm, and now at 20, she was on the verge of Transcendent, a monstrous genius.
A far cry from Jang Sam, the eldest disciple who had only just scraped into Peak.
Seon-u gazed past Joo Gwang at the proudly standing Lee Ye-seol.
Her glossy black hair like polished ebony, sparkling eyes, sharp nose, cherry lips, and curves perfectly outlined by fitted white robes—she stared down at him.
He knew it.
The emotion in those starry eyes was contempt.
Step step step.
Lee Ye-seol approached Jang Sam.
Joo Gwang saw her coming and tactfully retreated below the arena.
She stopped in front of Jang Sam, bending down to meet his lowered gaze.
"Daring to call yourself eldest disciple with such pathetic skills?"
"Junior sister... I..."
Fully assimilated with Jang Sam, Seon-u unwittingly let "junior sister" slip out.
"Don't call me junior sister. Weaklings like you have no right to stand above me."
"......"
"If you have any honor, step down as eldest disciple and leave the Heavenly Martial Alliance. It's far too much for you. Don't tarnish my father's name."
Her icy voice pierced Jang Sam's heart like frost.
Fully merged, he felt Jang Sam's exact emotions.
Anger and inferiority toward Lee Ye-seol, then emptiness.
And finally, lust.
Seon-u felt flustered.
Getting humiliated like this and still feeling horny? What a total pervert.
Rage at never possessing that perfectly radiant woman, inferiority at her superior skills despite being much younger, and yet her voluptuous breasts, slender waist, and plump hips drove him mad with excitement—everything about her aroused Jang Sam.
Lee Ye-seol embodied desire amplification.
What if that haughty face twisted in ecstasy?
What if that arrogant demeanor turned her into a bitch in heat?
Countless fantasies swirled in Jang Sam's mind.
Fully assimilated, Seon-u averted his eyes submissively but stole glances at her curves.
Sensing his gaze, she shot him a worm's-eye glare and turned away.
Despite her scorn, Jang Sam fixated even more on her retreating figure, the sway of her hips mesmerizing.