Chapter 369: Chapter 369
The Murim Alliance proposed delivering the honored contributors’ compensation directly to the immediate families rather than routing it through their sects.
Several sects protested, demanding ‘Are you saying you don’t trust us?’—but the louder they raised their voices, the thicker the suspicion grew, so the objections died down quickly.
Additionally, several sects were subjected to inspection to verify compliance with the Alliance Leader’s Decree.
The One Learning Sect Leader, who’d been camped out at the Murim Alliance for weeks, suddenly bolted back to his sect with his disciples in tow as though he’d been struck by lightning.
As a result, Geum Tae-jong’s family was left stranded and abandoned.
Meeting them in person didn’t seem wise, so I sent people on my behalf.
From what I heard, Song Ju-saeng had apparently made a show of it—setting up tents right on Murim Alliance grounds and making the family stay there for weeks.
I cursed Song Ju-saeng of the One Learning Sect under my breath, arranged the finest inn available for the family, and after they’d rested for several days, connected them with an escort agency to take them home.
Then, for some reason, once they learned who’d been looking after them, they sent word that they wanted to see me.
I couldn’t predict what they’d say, but I felt I owed it to them to accept. So the day before their departure, I visited the inn where they were staying.
Geum Tae-seon was either asleep or stayed in her room—she didn’t appear. Only the middle-aged couple, presumably the parents, came out to meet me.
Having changed out of their flashy but grimy clothes into something simple and clean, they looked nothing like the pitiable figures I’d seen before—neat and composed.
“I was…… Geum Tae-jong’s friend. And the one who led the Life-or-Death Unit in the Black Forest. My name is Jin So-un.”
Their discomfort around warriors, however, remained unchanged.
Despite my deliberately leaving my sword behind, a faint trace of fear lingered on their faces.
“……”
It was heartbreaking.
In the martial world, the weak didn’t even have the right to express their emotions honestly.
Just as I had in my previous life, they surely harbored questions about their son’s death—yet couldn’t bring themselves to voice their anger or suspicion.
I bowed my head first.
“If there’s anything you’d like to say, please speak freely. I’m fully aware of my own failings.”
At that, the middle-aged woman waved her hands and gripped my shoulders.
“N-no. No, Young Lord.”
Young lord, young lord……
If Geum Tae-jong had been here, wouldn’t he have scoffed at that title being used to praise me?
Beside his flustered mother, his father spoke carefully.
“That’s not why we asked to see you.”
Despite my being the same status as their son—a fellow Academy student—the deference with which they treated me was painfully excessive.
“We wanted to thank the person who’s been looking after us…… and when we heard it was Young Lord Jin, we simply had to see you in person.”
“Me?”
Their words made it sound as though they’d known about me beforehand, and I tilted my head.
“Tae-jong told us a great deal about you.”
“……”
In my memory, Geum Tae-jong and I had had virtually no interaction.
What in the world had he told them?
“After Tae-jong entered the Academy, he struggled a great deal. As parents, we couldn’t bear to watch our child suffer, so we told him to quit and come home…… but the burden on his shoulders must have been too heavy, because he didn’t come back.”
He’d managed to get into the Murim Academy, but with no real connections inside, life there would have been anything but easy.
But as with every “dragon born in a ditch,” few could simply abandon the burden and opportunity they carried on their shoulders.
“Then, at some point, he started writing to us about you, Young Lord Jin. He said there was someone…… unusual. That watching this person made him think he could endure Academy life a little longer.”
What had the Geum Tae-jong I never knew seen in me?
“When he visited home recently, he said he was enjoying Academy life. Even said he wished it could go on another year.”
What on earth had made him happy?
“We’ve heard…… that you suffered greatly in the Black Forest, Young Lord. And that the other students came back alive because of you.”
“……I’m sorry.”
My voice shrank despite myself.
But the couple shook their heads.
Then the woman’s voice came, laced with moisture.
“From the moment that child picked up a sword…… we’d always known something like this might happen.”
Her voice was calm, accepting the life her son had chosen as a warrior.
“In any case, you did your very best, didn’t you, Young Lord?”
She took my hand.
Her palm was rough with calluses, yet it carried a warmth unlike any other hand I’d ever held.
“Thank you.”
“……”
Gratitude I’d never expected.
I looked up at the couple again.
Exhausted as they were, faint smiles rested on their lips.
“That our Tae-jong was able to enjoy his time at the Academy—it’s all thanks to you, Young Lord. Thank you.”
“……”
Even within my vast memory, I couldn’t find the right words to offer. So I answered with silence.
***
One year ended and a new one began.
The cold hadn’t yet lifted, and the Murim Academy was preparing to close in anticipation of its upcoming graduation.
After this cohort graduated, the Academy would enter another two-year-long hiatus until the next Murim Regular Exam selected new students.
The students were busy making the rounds to greet their seniors.
The number of officer positions in the Martial Pavilions was finite, and naturally, only a handful of graduates could claim them.
Anyone who failed to secure an assignment before the graduation ceremony would either be shipped off to a branch office or assigned to the universally dreaded White Wolf Pavilion—so everyone was desperate.
And as for me……
“Have you lost your mind???!!!”
My sanity was being questioned yet again.
“It’s a place everyone’s dying to get into! And from Taeul Sect’s perspective, wouldn’t it be even better to have a disciple active in the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly?”
Seong Mo-ran had listed over a dozen reasons why I should join the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.
“The basic activity stipend alone is at the level of a regular Hall. You’d travel everywhere across the martial world, receiving the finest treatment wherever you go. Young Lord Jin, you’re obsess—…… I mean, you love money, right? Travel, fame, and great pay—what more could you want??”
“I have enough money. And I think raising my profile any further would be a bad idea……”
“AAAARGH!”
Seong Mo-ran clutched her head.
I’m the one who said no, so why is she so worked up……
“AAAARGH!! I knew you weren’t in your right mind, but I never imagined you were this far gone……!”
“……”
Seong Mo-ran passionately extolled the practical merits of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, but none of it resonated with me in the slightest.
As a boy, I’d looked up to them with starry-eyed admiration, seeing the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly as the very model of “heroes.”
But across two lifetimes, I’d come to realize that their activities amounted to little more than a “pageant.”
In other words, Dragon and Phoenix Assembly activities would contribute absolutely nothing to the coming Great Righteous-Demonic War.
Moreover, if I were assigned to a unit only after completing Assembly activities, there simply wouldn’t be enough time to rebuild and run a unit before the war began.
And in the meantime, incidents would keep erupting endlessly throughout the Murim Alliance and the wider martial world.
Who was going to uphold justice and chivalry in the martial world while they were out gallivanting every day?! Right?
“So, so…… you’re really going to the White Wolf Pavilion?!”
Honestly, I didn’t understand Seong Mo-ran’s reaction.
“……But Lady Seong, you have the grades to enter the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly regardless. What difference does it make whether I go or not?”
“Well, without you there……”
“……Without me?”
Seong Mo-ran caught herself mid-sentence and froze.
Then, in a voice that shrank to barely a whisper—
“……Um, without you, it…… wouldn’t be any fun……”
I knew it.
Hah, I, Jin So-un, had become the kind of person whose mere existence brought people joy.
But despite Seong Mo-ran’s fervent support, I couldn’t back down.
“Enjoying things while you can is important, of course, but there’s something I absolutely must do.”
“……You’d rather die than not go to the White Wolf Pavilion?”
“Yes!”
“Think before you speak, for heaven’s sake! Both of us have top grades. So why…… why are you volunteering for the White Wolf Pavilion, a place you’d end up at without even trying? Why would you choose to go there? Why…… why……!”
After a pause, Seong Mo-ran whipped around and grabbed the shoulders of Namgung Seon-hwa, who’d been calmly enjoying her tea beside us.
“Do you have any idea what the Divine Sword will say when he hears the Namgung Clan’s granddaughter is joining the White Wolf Pavilion?!!”
“……”
Why is she yelling at me about Namgung Seon-hwa voluntarily applying to the White Wolf Pavilion?
I wanted to argue the point, but something told me that pressing the issue here would mean crossing a river I could never uncross, so I kept my mouth shut.
Then Namgung Seon-hwa set down her teacup and murmured calmly.
“I’m fine. I’d rather get scolded by Grandfather than leave him alone and watch some random slut—…… ahem! I mean, people swarming around him.”
Despite the composure of her voice—
CRACK.
A fine line split the teacup in her hand.
“Seon-hwa……!”
“Oh my? The cup must have been too old.”
……I’d heard that cup was brand new.
Under Namgung Seon-hwa’s brightly shining gaze, Seong Mo-ran finally sighed.
“Haaah…… fine. Then I’ll apply to the White Wolf Pavilion too.”
Now what was happening?
“……Do you have to?”
I genuinely didn’t understand.
I had my own special reasons, and it would also make it easier to receive Taeul Sect’s disciples later—that’s why I was going to the White Wolf Pavilion.
Seong Mo-ran and Namgung Seon-hwa could easily get into any fine Martial Pavilion even without the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.
So why……
“That’s exactly what I’m saying! Why on earth would I do this?”
“……For faster promotion?”
Killing intent was radiating from Seong Mo-ran.
“Ha ha ha, I was joking. Hmm! It must be because being with me is that enjoyable, right? I know all about it……”
The killing intent only intensified.
“W-was that not it?”
Now she was glaring at me with actual bloodshot eyes.
“……”
I’d truly lived two lives, and yet the female heart remained utterly incomprehensible.
***
The Personnel Hall.
The Personnel Hall, a subdivision under Mantongbu, oversaw the personnel assignments for the Murim Alliance and the branches spread across the martial world.
Many questioned whether a body at the “Hall” level could possibly manage such a vast number of people, but in truth, it didn’t handle every single assignment.
It only needed to assign branch chiefs and general affairs officers. After that, those appointees filled their own positions to their liking and reported back.
The Personnel Hall then simply verified whether each assignment presented any issues, stamped its approval, and that was that.
Since the Martial Pavilions’ and specialized pavilions’ personnel processes were all handled the same way, the Personnel Hall had retained only its “Hall”-level status.
Recently, it had been busy planning compensation for the honored contributors killed in the Black Forest, but that work was nearly complete. Once the graduating students’ assignments were finalized, the Personnel Hall was looking forward to a long vacation.
The staff were practically giddy with anticipation.
And then—
“Hall Master, something’s off here.”
“Yaaawn…… what is it?”
“……The applicants are overwhelmingly skewed in one direction.”
The Hall Master, mid-yawn, waved it off as nothing.
“The kids who didn’t secure a spot always just throw in an application hoping for the best. Cut them off at a reasonable point and redirect them to other pavilions. Anyone left over goes to the branches.”
Officially, every Martial Pavilion in the Murim Alliance offered equal treatment—but in reality, the pavilions warriors actually wanted to join were well-known.
Vying for those limited spots, they’d pull strings behind the scenes, though only a handful ever secured a guaranteed position.
Those who failed at the backroom dealings would take a gamble and aim high anyway. It happened every cohort—nothing surprising anymore.
“Ahh. I get that graduating from the Academy inflates their egos to the sky, but…… kids like that need to get knocked around before they learn.”
The Hall Master pulled his blanket up to his chin, propped his feet on the desk, and closed his eyes.
“S-sir, that’s not what……”
“If any of them throw a fit, tell them we’ll ship them to the White Wolf Pavilion. They’ll come running back with a ‘thank you’ and report to their original assignment on their own.”
“……Hall Master, it’s……”
“It’s nothing, I’m telling you. Yaaawn— I’m going to sleep, so don’t wake me.”
Just as the Hall Master was surrendering to the wave of drowsiness and relaxing his body—
“Hall Master, in that case……”
His eyes snapped wide open at what came next.
“If it’s the reverse—if the White Wolf Pavilion is flooded with applicants—do we just take them all? And then…… how do we fill the vacancies in the other pavilions?”
What kind of skull-cracking nonsense was this?
“What…… are you talking about?”
“The White Wolf Pavilion has no personnel cap, does it?”
Well, no—because it had never once managed to fill its capacity in any cohort.
“But if we accept all these applications…… there won’t be enough people for the other pavilions. Should we proceed anyway?”
“……”
What the hell had this idiot been trying to say this whole time?
The Hall Master irritably tossed the blanket aside and snatched the document from the clerk’s hands.
“What kind of nonsense……”
Just as in previous cohorts, a massive pile of applications had gathered under the Azure Dragon Pavilion.
Then, in order, the Red Dragon Pavilion, the White Tiger Pavilion, and the Black Martial Pavilion had their share—
“Hall Master, look more carefully. That’s not the Azure Dragon Pavilion. It’s the White Wolf Pavilion.”
“……”
The Hall Master rubbed his eyes raw.
He doubted them again and again.
But.
“……”
Just as the clerk said, where “Azure Dragon Pavilion” should have been written, there it sat—proudly: “White Wolf Pavilion.”
“What is this…… Is Il-gak not the Il-gak I know? Is there some other Il-gak?”
“It’s the Shaolin Temple’s Il-gak, sir.”
“……Namgung Seon-hwa? The one I know……”
“The Namgung Clan’s Namgung Seon-hwa, yes.”
“……And Cheol Sun-jik.”
“Yes, Cheol Sun-jik of the Bamboo String……”
“I know, you bastard!! I was about to ask a different question!”
“……”
An awkward silence fell over the Personnel Hall.
“Cheol Sun-jik was charged with leading the Twelve Peak Citadels within the Academy, wasn’t he? Then he should obviously be going to the Red Phoenix Pavilion. Why is he applying to the White Wolf Pavilion?”
“That’s not all. Murong Jae-hwa of the Murong Clan, Dang Gi-han of the Tang Clan, Gwak Su-san and Jang Gwang-bo of the Zhongnan Sect—they all applied to the White Wolf Pavilion. Beyond them, the majority of students in the top thirty percent of Academy rankings submitted applications to the White Wolf Pavilion.”
“……”
The Hall Master sat frozen, as though struck by paralysis.
Thirty percent?
Not three percent—thirty percent?
“Did something happen at the White Wolf Pavilion that I don’t know about? Did they strike Azure Stone Milk in the storeroom?”
“I doubt it.”
“Then why the hell is everyone losing their minds to go there?”
“Well……”
The Hall Master involuntarily swallowed, waiting for the answer.
“I don’t know.”
“You little shit! Say that sooner!”
No matter how experienced a person was, encountering a situation beyond imagination short-circuited the brain.
That was exactly the state the Personnel Hall Master was in right now.
No idea what to do.
Just then, an impatient clerk spoke up.
“So should we proceed as-is?”
Dump every applicant into the White Wolf Pavilion?
All the top-scoring ones?
GULP.
If he did that, every other Martial Pavilion would descend on the Personnel Hall screaming about staffing shortages and tear the place apart.
That…… had to be prevented at all costs.
“Proceed with what, you lunatic?!”
“……So what do we do?”
“What do you think?! Sound the alarm!”
“The alarm?”
“Yes, the alarm!!”
The Hall Master immediately convened an emergency meeting to assess the situation and discuss solutions.
“Could there be rumors that the other pavilions have poor working conditions?”
“The White Wolf Pavilion has the worst conditions of all. Some people would rather go to a branch office than the White Wolf Pavilion.”
But not a single person could properly explain the current situation.
“Come to think of it, Student Jin So-un has apparently been going around saying he’d go to the White Wolf Pavilion for a while now.”
“……And?”
“So maybe they’re just following him? The top student and representative is going, so they figure it must be good……”
“You idiots…… you think Academy students are that brainless? Just because some guy goes to the White Wolf Pavilion, why would everyone follow?”
“……”
After an extended meeting, the Hall Master—having hit the wall of physical exhaustion—finally made his decision.
“At this point, there’s no other choice.”
“……!”
“Pass it up.”
“Is that really all right?”
“After all…… it’s not our problem that’s urgent.”
A problem they couldn’t solve would be someone else’s to deal with.
A thoroughly administrative course of action.
The prospect of the other Martial Pavilions throwing tantrums was terrifying, but the staff—already pushed to the brink by endless overtime—seized on their Hall Master’s decision as an excuse to offload responsibility, and duly notified every Martial Pavilion of the situation.
And then.
An emergency was declared across every Martial Pavilion in the Murim Alliance.