Chapter 362: Chapter 362

After Hwa Jeong-san’s visit, no one came or went from the dormitory for a while.

It was originally a detached building I used alone, but even the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers, who had visited daily, had stopped coming entirely.

‘Well, it’s hardly the atmosphere for socializing.’

The excitement that should have accompanied impending graduation had been thoroughly dampened by the bereaved families visiting the Murim Academy.

Even without them, the moment you realized the friends and classmates you’d seen every day were no longer there, a different kind of melancholy would set in.

Perhaps it was only natural.

I, too, wasn’t in the mood to see anyone.

And yet.

“Why on earth do I have to be facing someone I don’t want to see right now?”

“……”

Yong So-ah gazed at Dang Seo-hui with an impassive expression.

The petite Dang Seo-hui stood between me and Yong So-ah, looking up at each of us in turn.

Like a whimpering puppy.

“If you’ve fought, you should make up and move on……”

“Nothing to make up for.”

“We didn’t fight.”

The silence that followed our simultaneous responses was deafening.

They’d swung swords at each other with murderous intent, and now they claim they didn’t fight?

“……You’re not going to reconcile?”

Dang Seo-hui muttered something to herself with her head bowed.

Then she produced three small mother-of-pearl vials from her robes.

“Even immunity to a hundred poisons……”

A chilling light flickered across her face.

“Is a poison that makes you wither slowly.”

“……”

Feeling the sincerity of Dang Seo-hui’s concern, I spoke first.

“I apologize for defending myself when you tried to kill me first.”

I glanced to check whether Dang Seo-hui had put the vials away. She hadn’t.

“I’ve apologized, so why don’t you apologize too?”

“I have nothing to apologize for.”

I took two steps back.

I had no desire to enter the effective range of her poisons.

I’d clearly apologized.

“Hah…… why are you two acting like children? If you let resentment fester, it’ll turn into a deep grudge.”

What? Is this really the same Dang Seo-hui who used to play at being a chivalrous hero?

Yong So-ah spoke to the surprisingly mature Dang Seo-hui.

“Would you step aside for a moment?”

“……Are you going to apologize?”

“……”

It seemed like this would go on forever, so I answered on his behalf.

“There should be refreshments inside. Someone said they were from Hongga Confections in Wuhan.”

Dang Seo-hui pouted for a moment, then looked at Yong So-ah.

“……I’ll ask Jin So-un about it later.”

After Dang Seo-hui was escorted inside the detached building by an attendant.

I jerked my chin toward the gate.

“Why don’t you get going? We’re not exactly on comfortable terms. I’ll smooth things over with Senior Dang.”

But he didn’t move.

Not a single twitch, like a great boulder. Yong So-ah.

“Got something to say?”

“I’m curious where you’ve decided to go after graduation.”

“……”

I couldn’t understand this man in my previous life, and I understand him even less in this one.

“Why are you asking me that?”

“It’s the end of the term, and graduation is just around the corner. That means it’s time to decide your future path.”

In my past life, the distance between us had been so vast that there’d been nothing to even attempt understanding. But now that I’d seen him up close, the fact that he made even less sense—what was that about?

“That’s not what I was asking.”

“Haven’t decided yet? How negligent. Any capable student would have finished researching their options half a year ago.”

“……What are you getting at?”

“Are you still drowning in grief?”

My chest went cold.

“How foolish.”

Yong So-ah and I weren’t even on terms to have this kind of conversation.

And right now, the future was the last thing I wanted to think about.

“Shut up.”

“Grieving won’t bring back the dead.”

“……Do you actually want to die?”

My internal qi moved before I even realized it.

The killing intent that surged outward coiled around Yong So-ah.

“……What do you really want?”

His curiosity about my career plans couldn’t possibly justify invoking the dead.

But.

“I’m curious where you’ve decided to go. That’s all.”

“……”

Killing intent that had made even demonic practitioners recoil was radiating outward, yet his expression didn’t change in the slightest.

My energy deflated.

What am I even doing?

Getting angry in front of a boulder doesn’t make the boulder react.

“And if I refuse to answer?”

“It isn’t a difficult matter.”

“The more you push, the less I want to tell you.”

Yong So-ah, who’d been completely unfazed by my killing intent, furrowed his brow ever so slightly.

After a brief pause for thought, he looked at me again.

“Jin So-un…… you are an uncertainty.”

“……”

He was saying the same thing again.

“Do not cause chaos. When the time comes……”

But the weight behind it was different.

“I’ll have no choice but to eliminate you.”

After delivering those words without emotion, Yong So-ah turned and left as casually as he’d arrived.

‘Eliminate, huh……’

I must really get under his skin.

For Yong So-ah to say something like that.

‘So is that bastard smart or stupid?’

Aside from the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, assignment to any Murim Alliance unit required the unit commander’s approval to be finalized.

My grades meant there was nowhere I couldn’t go, but there were plenty of places where getting in would be a headache.

Everywhere had the same problem—the Righteous Path Association, the Orthodox Path Association, the Twelve Peak Citadels, they all held positions in most units.

Thinking it through that way, setting aside specialized departments like the Heavenly Eye Pavilion and the Divine Physician Pavilion, and then excluding the places claimed by the Righteous Path Association, the Orthodox Path Association, and the Twelve Peak Citadels respectively—the only places I could enter without trouble were the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, the Yellow Phoenix Pavilion, and the White Wolf Pavilion.

‘I was planning to go to the White Wolf Pavilion from the start, anyway.’

Before the war began, I intended to build the perfect unit.

The strongest unit—one that could save the Sojeong Squad and protect Taeul Sect’s disciples.

“Heh heh heh. Come to think of it, I’m an Academy graduate. The Sojeong Squad guys would naturally become my subordinates. Heh heh heh.”

I hadn’t been thinking about refreshments, yet somehow my mouth was watering.

***

The hottest topic among martial world denizens these days was none other than “the Black Forest.”

No one knew where it had started, but word that Academy students had died in the Black Forest gradually spread through the grapevine.

People were only half-believing the reports of massive casualties, questioning the truth of it all.

“Who did it? Why? If someone wanted to die, there are plenty of easier ways—why go out of your way to attack Academy students?”

“Given how overprotective the Murim Alliance is about their students, the attackers must be real lunatics. If they’re Black Path, the nearest ones would be the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect, right?”

“No, you’ve got it wrong! I heard the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect actually helped the students quite a bit during this Black Forest incident.”

“……This friend of mine has had too much to drink. I always knew he was prone to tall tales.”

When even the plain truth was hard to believe, people thought the events in the Black Forest might well be fabricated.

The Murim Alliance’s complete lack of public response only fueled the misunderstanding.

But when people saw members of various sects and clans heading toward the Murim Alliance, even those who’d called it a lie fell silent.

The scale of those processions was part of it, but what proved most decisive was their attire and the looks on their faces.

An indescribable mix of grief and devastation confirmed that the events in the Black Forest had truly happened.

One question was answered, and another immediately arose.

Then who on earth had attacked the students?

Throughout history, Academy students were the most important figures under the Murim Alliance’s protection.

The fact that Black Path gangs were quietly offering condolences over the students’ deaths, now that the Black Forest incident was confirmed, said it all.

They were discreetly making it known that they had nothing to do with this incident.

It was only natural to wonder about the opponent who had brazenly shattered the martial world’s common sense and spat in the Murim Alliance’s face.

Yet the Murim Alliance refused to announce who the culprits were, even when the bereaved families visited to inquire.

And the longer the Murim Alliance’s suspicious silence continued, the colder the martial world’s atmosphere grew.

The heads of the Alliance Leader’s Hall and Mantongbu were not blind to this climate.

If anything, they felt it more keenly than anyone.

“They’re moving as if they’d been waiting for this very moment.”

Hyeok Mu-gang, who normally loved his tea, hadn’t touched the cup of Junshan Yinzhen before him even as it went completely cold.

“Hundreds of dispatches saying everyone is fully prepared for war.”

Jegal So-myeong, calmly sipping his drink, felt his eyelids tremble faintly.

“……A war against an enemy that even I, Jegal So-myeong, have yet to identify…… It seems they already have an enemy in mind. Or rather, ‘an enemy they want to designate.'”

The Sichuan Incident had already proven that the blood of martial world denizens was running hot.

“Speculation eventually becomes opinion, and opinion soon becomes the prevailing tide.”

The rising bloodlust was turning inward, against their own.

The Golden Age had lasted long enough that every sect had time to build up their strength, and now they were brimming with confidence.

Seizing upon the current unfavorable public opinion toward the Murim Alliance, they were looking for an opportunity to expand their territory.

For their own sects. For their own clans.

“If only they’d at least come out and name the enemy clearly.”

The hidden foe was burying its shadow deep, as though it had foreseen exactly this outcome.

They would likely reveal themselves only when they judged the time ripe to manipulate the martial world at will.

When that enemy finally appeared, the Murim Alliance wouldn’t be able to stand against it.

Seeing the future plain as day yet unable to change course—Hyeok Mu-gang felt a vertiginous helplessness.

“Perhaps what we need now is the way of the hegemon……”

At Hyeok Mu-gang’s quiet murmur, Jegal So-myeong shook his head.

He wasn’t that kind of man to begin with.

“You’d only redirect the target onto yourself, Alliance Leader.”

“……”

They say a warrior can face ten with the strength of one, but no man alone can take on the entire world.

That Hyeok Mu-gang—who understood this better than anyone—had uttered the word “hegemon” was proof of just how dire things had become.

Jegal So-myeong let out a small sigh and offered consolation.

He was frustrated too, but he was the strategist whose job it was to steady the Alliance Leader.

“At the very least, we can count our blessings, can we not? That the damage was only this severe.”

“……”

The deep furrow between Hyeok Mu-gang’s brows eased, if only fractionally.

“……Indeed. Have you also seen the Execution Pavilion’s depositions, Grand Strategist? If that child Jin So-un hadn’t redirected toward the Demonic Reaches, every last student would likely have died in the Black Forest.”

Good grief, when did he even find time to read the Execution Pavilion’s depositions?

Still, seeing the worry lift slightly from Hyeok Mu-gang’s expression, Jegal So-myeong allowed himself a faint smile as well.

“Had every student perished, there would have been no room to maneuver.”

If the damage had been greater, the justification for war would have been even stronger.

And they would have gone to war no matter what.

Even if it meant fabricating a culprit.

What Jin So-un accomplished didn’t end at rescuing the students.

What he had done was stave off the fires of war that nearly engulfed the martial world.

Jegal So-myeong raised his teacup and shook his head.

“A stroke of incredible fortune, without question. Where on earth did a talent like that drop from?”

A few encouraging words from Jegal So-myeong, and Hyeok Mu-gang grew even more animated.

“According to the students’ testimonies, that boy So-un was the first to move, right at the front line. Wasn’t his demand for absolute obedience in the first place meant to secure the justification to place the others behind him?”

Like a child who’d just heard a heroic tale at bedtime, Hyeok Mu-gang’s face was bright with excitement.

Watching him, Jegal So-myeong’s eyes narrowed.

“I read the depositions too, so I’m well aware.”

“Ahem…… forgive me. Recalling the story got me a bit carried away……”

“It’s quite all right.”

In a desperate situation, it was only natural to cling to a hopeful story.

One can endure despair precisely because there’s hope to chase—that’s where the strength to overcome comes from.

In any case, Jegal So-myeong thought the timing was opportune.

“The people of the martial world likely feel no differently from you, Alliance Leader.”

“I’d imagine so.”

“Which is why we should use this incident to elevate that child.”

Hyeok Mu-gang’s brow furrowed again.

After all, it was Jegal So-myeong himself who had meticulously blocked Hyeok Mu-gang’s approaches to keep the boy out of the spotlight.

Jegal So-myeong wore a sheepish expression.

“Right now…… is a time that calls for a hero, wouldn’t you say?”

“But…… Jin So-un doesn’t have the kind of backing Yong So-ah does. Wasn’t that what you’ve been worrying about most, Grand Strategist?”

Exposing a sprout that might someday become a great tree to the middle of a storm.

But.

“We can’t afford to delay. Our situation is too dire.”

A brief silence fell.

Hyeok Mu-gang, who had been deliberating, opened his eyes.

“Then let us proceed.”

“……”

It was his own proposal, yet Jegal So-myeong couldn’t bring himself to answer readily.

Watching him hesitate, Hyeok Mu-gang steeled his expression.

“I believe that child Jin So-un won’t be broken so easily. You must have thought the same, Grand Strategist, which is why you raised the idea in the first place?”

“……”

“And you’re not the type to broach the subject without having a plan prepared.”

He truly hadn’t reached the position of Alliance Leader for nothing.

“We’ll need to lend some of the Jegal Clan’s influence. It so happens that child and my grandchild have sworn brotherhood…… the justification is a bit thin, but we can make it work.”

“Then it’s settled. Let us proceed.”

Hyeok Mu-gang nodded without a shred of hesitation, and Jegal So-myeong stared at him blankly.

“I had been a bit worried, to be honest. You said you’d take responsibility and bring him along, Grand Strategist, but if that child ends up working at Mantongbu, the opposition won’t be trivial. The Alliance Leader’s Hall goes without saying.”

The boy was covered in all sorts of misunderstandings and near-slanderous rumors.

“I was actually worried that the best opportunity available to him would amount to nothing more than the White Wolf Pavilion.”

Whether those murky rumors might clip the boy’s wings—that had been Hyeok Mu-gang’s private worry all along.

“……To be honest, my initial plan was to keep him at the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly for a while, then pull him through the Heavenly Eye Pavilion.”

Jegal So-myeong had shared the same concern.

The two men looked at each other and exchanged bitter smiles.

A truly bleak state of affairs that drew out a rueful laugh.

“I’ll lend my weight as well. This Black Forest incident has given us justification, and with our combined support, no one will be able to drag that child down easily.”

“That is a relief.”

Thinking of the future that would unfold for Jin So-un, Hyeok Mu-gang smiled.

“……That child will be overjoyed. His sect will be thrilled as well.”

“Overjoyed would be an understatement. He’ll be grinning from ear to ear at the thought of not having to go to the White Wolf Pavilion.”

Trials lay ahead, but feeling as though they’d prepared a grand gift in advance for the boy’s path, some of the weight lifted from both their hearts.

Of course, it was a gift given without the slightest consideration for the recipient’s wishes.