Chapter 321

Chapter 321
## Chapter 321. Black Forest (1)

—

Inside the conference room where everyone had departed, Won-pyeong-Buk let out a long sigh.
“Madman…”
There was no other way to express it. How else would one describe a person who bared his teeth toward the instructors who held his leash and told them to go ahead and try stabbing him with a blade?
‘…Truly the successor of the Black Way’s joint legacy?’
It felt as if the rumors, which didn’t even sound like words, were somehow gaining more and more credibility. Won-pyeong-Buk pressed his throbbing head firmly with his thumbs.
“I’m going to age rapidly because of that guy, rapidly.”
He was the benefactor who had allowed him to gain the fortuitous opportunity to find the successor of the Three Pureness Formless Sword, but since it felt like he would age and die before even opening his sect because of the fellow, it was hard to gauge whether he was an enemy or a benefactor.
“But it is unexpected… for the instructors to back down.”
The vested interests of the Murim League do not easily back down. No, it was safe to say they never back down. Why would a group that possessed money, power, and even outstanding martial force back down? They do not harbor even a sliver of doubt toward their giant fortress. They merely kick away those who try to climb that fortress and pour oil to set them on fire.
The end for those who try to climb the fortress is mostly similar. As one climbs, they must fall someday. There is only the difference of who climbed higher. Won-pyeong-Buk hoped that So-un-Jin would climb at least higher than himself. Setting aside secular disciples or interests. He just became curious about what it would be like if that fellow did well.
But So-un-Jin had kicked away the ladder with his own hands before even climbing the fortress.
[Do it. Do as you please. No, please, I beg you to do so. That way, I won’t feel guilty when I lay my hands on the instructors.]
And then he shouted threats that he would kill everyone situated inside the fortress.
“Hmph… madman…”
Of course, it was a dizzying moment. Because the vested interests, especially the Righteous Society centered around the Nine Schools and One Gang, would never tolerate someone like So-un-Jin. Why can the vested interests maintain that status? Because if someone challenges their power, they do not tolerate even the most trivial thing and trample the sprout. So, he had not doubted that this position would be the end of So-un-Jin’s ascent and the beginning of his fall.
However,
[…Grind. Let’s stop here.]
The instructors backed down first.
‘Why?’
Doubt arose before the relief that So-un-Jin had survived. Because the instructors were not people who would easily back down. If they backed down here, So-un-Jin’s active role and the instructors’ humiliation would follow them like a shadow for the rest of the semester. Rumors would circulate even after returning to the Murim League, and it was certain that the Cheongseong Sect would be indignant at this story. Nevertheless, the instructors backed down first.
“I truly don’t know.”
Then, he suddenly imagined what it would have been like if it were him. As he had told So-un-Jin, he would have appropriately adjusted the relationship at the meeting. Because when the instructors made the proposal to So-un-Jin, he had certainly thought it was a decent condition.
“…”
Because he would have judged that that was the only way to safely climb the fortress without being hindered. But So-un-Jin did not care. As if climbing the fortress did not matter, he had even burned the rope they lowered with his own hands and fallen to the ground. As if he were not afraid of what came next at all. As if he could fall as much as he wanted.
An involuntary hollow laugh escaped him.
“…Is that what is different?”
Then, suddenly. A thought occurred to him that perhaps So-un-Jin’s decision was the correct answer. Because in the end, the ones who backed down were the instructors. His head began to ache again.
“I don’t know what is what.”
Whether the schemes of a fellow who had just passed twenty years of age had worked. Or whether he himself, who had lived a life twice the length of that fellow’s life, did not know the world. Won-pyeong-Buk could not leave the conference room for a long time even though the meeting had ended.

“Damn it!”
Jin-ha-No kicked an innocent pebble and sent it flying. Even so, as if his anger were not relieved, he huffed and puffed and spat out his pent-up frustration everywhere.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damnable bastard! I will surely kill him…!”
Despite mental cultivation being the basic conduct of a Taoist, the behavior of even spitting out insults did not look very good, but Sun-tak-Kang did not stop him. Because he himself was not feeling much different from Jin-ha-No. Still, he was worried there might be watching eyes.
“Stop, calm down. Isn’t it already a finished matter?”
Jin-ha-No, who was huffing and breathing out frustration, glared sharply at Sun-tak-Kang.
“Did you find out why the Blue Dragon Pavilion Master and the Red Dragon Pavilion Master are protecting that fellow?”
“…I am looking into it.”
“Still?”
A sigh naturally leaked from Sun-tak-Kang’s mouth. He hadn’t been this much of a blockhead.
“Get a grip. This is a matter that could even spread into an investigation of the Pavilion Masters. You know that we must approach cautiously, don’t you?”
“Isn’t it because such nonsensical things are happening!!!”
At Jin-ha-No’s words, Sun-tak-Kang let out a chuckle. Just as he said, if the Blue Dragon Pavilion Master and the Red Dragon Pavilion Master hadn’t stepped forward, they certainly would have crushed So-un-Jin.
“Isn’t it a fact that those people doing strange things isn’t just a one- or two-day occurrence?”
It was clear that neither the Blue Dragon Pavilion Master nor the Red Dragon Pavilion Master had a connection with So-un-Jin. They had exercised external pressure through the White Tiger Pavilion Master as if they had predicted their actions. No matter who they were, they could not ignore the Pavilion Masters they would have to see in just a year. So, they had eventually created the meeting. Even that, in the end, was not satisfactory.
“Since that day… I, I am so resentful that I cannot sleep. I cannot sleep!”
“…”
Jin-ha-No pounded his chest like a person who had missed an irreconcilable enemy right before his eyes. Well, if he had suffered the same thing, he would have half-killed So-un-Jin first, regardless of Pavilion Masters or whatever. Sun-tak-Kang patted Jin-ha-No’s shoulder.
“In a way, isn’t it actually a good thing?”
“What is?”
“Since it’s no different from the Academy Representative and the instructors being crossed, can’t we use that as an excuse instead?”
“…”
“Anyway, for the rest of the semester, isn’t our evaluation absolute? With that, we will sufficiently be able to corner that fellow.”
“…I suppose so.”
Perhaps tonight, So-un-Jin would fall into a comfortable sleep while enjoying his victory. Conversely, Jin-ha-No would likely not be able to sleep properly. However, that was only for a moment.
“It’s not over yet. No, on the contrary, you can see it as just the beginning.”
From now on, So-un-Jin would fall asleep every night while regretting. Because their power was not something that was visibly revealed right before one’s eyes.
“Let’s go. Today, I’m buying.”
So, for now, they just had to soothe their bitter hearts a little. Because the time to become comfortable would soon come.

After the confrontation between the instructors and So-un-Jin. The semester began once more. The academy students wanted to know how this incident had been handled, but neither So-un-Jin nor the instructors opened their mouths, and it passed as if nothing had happened. Naturally, the academy students, who would never miss such a tasty story in their dull academy lives, created various rumors.
“They say Representative Jin eventually knelt before the instructors and cried loudly, asking them to save him just once?”
“I heard So-un-Jin led the Black Way experts and raided the instructors’ quarters one by one.”
“I heard So-un-Jin handed the instructors a blank check?”
This topic came up at the drop of a hat not only at drinking gatherings but also at meal times, but the truth could not be confirmed anywhere. As rumors always do, the stories that had boiled up like a wildfire soon vanished, but they left other things in their place.
“No… why is my grade a C (Byeong)? I clearly reached the top four in the duel competition…”
“Tsk, don’t the instructors say your understanding of the forms is low?”
“Crazy, what kind of nonsense is that!!! How many times have they even seen our sect’s forms!”
“Since such things kept happening after it changed to absolute evaluation… tsk tsk. Perhaps what Representative Jin said was true.”
Cases where those not belonging to the Righteous Society received harsh evaluations in their grades became frequent. Of course, it could look as if the evaluation standards had risen, just as the instructors said when they claimed the overall level was low. However, to say that, the scores of those belonging to the Righteous Society or those related to them began to become higher than originally.
“…It’s a bit strange. That fellow goes around drinking every day and has many days of absence, yet he has a B (Eul) evaluation.”
“Hmm… is there a move we don’t know about?”
“Move my foot! Of course, they gave him a good score because he’s a favorite!”
The discrimination that was carried out stealthily at first began to be revealed more and more clearly as time passed. By the time three months had passed since the semester began and the end-of-semester evaluations were coming out, the discrimination had become distinct. The majority of the Righteous Society members received the highest scores, and about half of the White Way Society members received good scores. The members of the 12 Bong-seong and other personnel received the lowest scores and ended up forming the bottom.
When such blatant discrimination began, the atmosphere within the academy began to turn increasingly fierce. Those who were not in the Righteous Society began to be hostile toward the Righteous Society due to the injustice they suffered. The Righteous Society took the treatment they received for granted and dismissed the hostility of others as mere jealousy.
“I heard the 12 Bong-seong fellows visited the Bureau of Academic Affairs again yesterday. Saying the evaluation isn’t fair.”
“Stupid bastards, to think they are making moaning sounds instead of thinking about cultivating their skills.”
“Tell me about it. They don’t think about the fact that they received good evaluations all this time thanks to that damnable So-un-Jin.”
“We need to teach that So-un-Jin a lesson sometime… Huh? What are you!”
The person who was walking while insulting So-un-Jin grabbed the shoulder of a small guy who had bumped into his shoulder and turned him around.
“Where do you think you’re going without even an apology…! Uh… Gwang-yu (Mad Weasel)?”
And the moment he confirmed the face, his complexion changed.
“Gwang-yu?”
When the brow of the man, who looked as if his youthful flush had just vanished yesterday, furrowed, the man hurriedly took back his words.
“A-Ah, no. It’s nothing, Yul-geuk-Ya.”
The person himself was the only one who didn’t know that he was called the “Mad Weasel” because he never let go once he bit and would lunge regardless of night or day. If So-un-Jin was an awl inside a pocket, this fellow was a giant pile of cow dung dropped on the road. The moment one stepped on it, the only one who suffered a loss was the person who stepped on it.
The man belonging to the Righteous Society cleared his throat and tried to turn back.
“W-Well then, excuse me…”
“Wait…”
“Y-Yes?”
“But you’re going to teach So-un-Jin a lesson?”
“Huh?”
“You just said those words, didn’t you? No?”
“…”
Crack.
Suddenly, Yul-geuk-Ya cracked his fingers. The man’s complexion turned white.
“What? Why? What did I do…”
The eyes of the Mad Wea—no, Yul-geuk-Ya, flashed.
“So-un-Jin… that bastard is mine. I am the one who will crush him.”
“…”
“But you can’t teach him a lesson first, can you?”
Exactly what was this crazy kid saying? The moment the man was about to make some excuse.
Peok.
Already, his form was collapsing to the floor. The man still screamed inside.
‘So, I’m asking exactly what that means!’

Even though the summer break had ended, there was no regret or gloom on the faces of the academy students. No, before that. There were not many people who had spent this break as a true break. Because once the summer break ended, a massive two-month-long “Great Journey” would begin. It was a process where a significant portion of the academic evaluation was tested, and at the same time, it was a starting point where one could make a name for themselves in the Kangho as an academy student.
“Has anyone heard anything about the Great Journey?”
Mo-ran-Seong bit her nails as if she were anxious.
“Unnie, why do you look so anxious?”
“I hate the heat too, but… I really, really, really hate bugs.”
There were a total of three candidates chosen as the location where the Great Journey would unfold.
The Fire Desert (Hwa-mak).
The Ice Sea (Bing-hae).
The Dark Forest (Muk-rim).
Because the advantage or disadvantage among the academy students was divided depending on where they went, the location of the Great Journey was very important to the academy students.
“I hope we go to the Ice Sea.”
At Seol-ran-Eun’s words, Mo-ran-Seong raised her eyes and asked.
“Right! Seol-ran, you’re from the North Sea, aren’t you? There are no bugs there, right?”
“…Uh.”
Seol-ran-Eun, who could not answer easily. One could tell what she wanted to say just by looking at her expression. She probably wanted to say that there wasn’t much that was “alive” in the North Sea in the first place.
“Jin-Gong-ja, have you really not heard anything?”
I haven’t heard anything, but I know where we will go. In the first place, academic plans like this are set for two years at a time. In my past life, the Great Journey eventually did not proceed due to the Sichuan Blood Incident, but the destination had been decided.
“I haven’t heard anything, but I know where we will go.”
“Yes?! Really? Where is it?”
“The Dark Forest.”
“…………E-Eh?”
Mo-ran-Seong shook her head as if she couldn’t believe it.
“N-No… right? You’re joking, right? To tease me? Haha… right? Tell me it’s not true! Tell me!!!”
While being swung around limply by Mo-ran-Seong’s hands, I said steadfastly.
“In the last term, didn’t So-ah-Yong make a name for herself by single-handedly subjugating the Takun tribe of the Fire Desert?”
“…Th-That can’t necessarily be the basis for saying we’ll go to the Dark Forest.”
“In the term before that, there was an incident where half of the academy students who went to the Ice Sea suffered from frostbite.”
“…”
Mo-ran-Seong’s face turned from blue to black.
“I-It’s impossible! No… no! I said no!!”
Mo-ran-Seong screamed and ran out of the Representative’s office. Why does she hate it that much? Aside from it being humid and having many poisonous insects, it actually has more advantages. Furthermore, isn’t the Dark Forest a place where a giant spiritual vein flows?
Past academy students had looked forward to going to the Dark Forest as the location for the Great Journey. Because the Dark Forest was not a place one could enter recklessly, as it was usually designated as a forbidden area.
At that time, Seon-hwa-Namgung asked with wide eyes.
“Huh? Jin-Gong-ja, that’s a necklace I haven’t seen before?”
“Ah… this? I received it as a gift from Woo-jae’s father a long time ago. I asked for it to be processed a bit during the last break.”
“Oh, it’s so pretty.”
“Is that so?”
I toyed with the necklace and looked at the spot where Mo-ran-Seong had rushed out. I truly cannot understand. Just how good the Dark Forest is.