Chapter 362

Chapter 362
In the days following **Hwa-jeong-san**’s visit, my dormitory remained completely deserted.

Normally, I had this detached building all to myself, but lately, not even the **Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers**—who had previously made it a daily habit to drop by—bothered to show their faces.

*I suppose this isn’t exactly the time to be hanging out and having fun.*

The excitement that should have been bubbling up right before graduation had been thoroughly crushed by the arrival of the grieving families at the **Murim Academy**.

Even if you managed to avoid the bereaved relatives, simply waking up to the reality that the classmates and friends you joked with every day were permanently gone was enough to trigger a deep, sinking despair.

It was an entirely understandable reaction.

Besides, I wasn’t exactly eager to socialize right now, either.

However…

“Why am I being forced to look at someone I despise at a time like this?”

“…….”

**Yong-so-a** stared back at **Dang-seo-hui** with an utterly blank expression.

Standing between **Yong-so-a** and me, the petite **Dang-seo-hui** kept glancing up at both of us, back and forth.

She looked exactly like a whimpering, anxious puppy.

“If you two clashed, you should just bury the hatchet and move past it……”

“I have zero intention of making amends.”

“We did not fight.”

A heavy silence dropped over the room as **Yong-so-a** and I delivered our responses at the exact same time.

We had literally swung our blades at each other with lethal intent, yet he had the nerve to claim we hadn’t fought?

“……Are you seriously not going to make up?”

**Dang-seo-hui** mumbled to herself, her gaze dropping to the floor.

A moment later, she reached into her robes and produced three tiny, mother-of-pearl vials.

“Even if someone possesses **Hundred Poison Immunity**……”

A gloomy shadow crossed her delicate features.

“This toxin will cause their body to wither away to nothing.”

“…….”

Recognizing the severe depth of **Dang-seo-hui**’s “consideration,” I decided to break the tension.

“I am sorry for defending myself when you tried to murder me first.”

I threw a quick glance at **Dang-seo-hui** to see if she had put the mother-of-pearl vials away. She was still holding them.

“I offered my apology, so shouldn’t you do the same?”

“I have committed no wrong to apologize for.”

I instinctively took two steps backward.

I had no desire to accidentally find myself inside the blast radius of whatever wasting poison she was holding.

I had clearly done my part and apologized.

“Ugh……. Why are both of you acting like toddlers? If you let this resentment fester, it’s going to rot into a massive grudge.”

Who was this person? Was this truly the same **Dang-seo-hui** who used to run around pretending to be a righteous hero of justice?

Facing this surprisingly mature version of **Dang-seo-hui**, **Yong-so-a** spoke up.

“Could you leave us for a moment.”

“……Are you finally going to apologize?”

“…….”

Sensing that this standoff would drag on forever, I stepped in to answer for him.

“You’ll find some snacks inside the house. I was told they are specifically from **Infinite Hong-ga Refreshments**.”

**Dang-seo-hui** stuck out her bottom lip in a pout, casting one last look at **Yong-so-a**.

“……I’ll get the details from **Jin-so-un** later.”

—

Once a servant had escorted **Dang-seo-hui** into the main area of the detached house, I jutted my chin in **Yong-so-a**’s direction.

“You need to leave too. It’s not like we enjoy each other’s company. I’ll make up some excuse to tell Senior Dang.”

He didn’t budge an inch.

Standing there like an immovable boulder, **Yong-so-a** remained perfectly still.

“Was there something you needed to say?”

“I am simply wondering where you plan to go for your career.”

“…….”

I couldn’t wrap my head around this guy in my previous life, and somehow, I understand him even less in this one.

“Why do you care about that?”

“The semester is concluding, and graduation is imminent. Naturally, this is the period when one finalizes their path.”

In my past life, I chalked up my inability to understand him to the sheer distance between our statures. But now that I’m standing right in front of him, why is he even more baffling?

“That didn’t answer my question.”

“Are you still undecided? How irresponsible. A truly exceptional academy student would have concluded their scouting and decided on a faction six months ago.”

“……What exactly are you playing at?”

“Are you still drowning in your sorrow?”

My blood ran completely cold.

“What a foolish waste of time.”

To begin with, **Yong-so-a** and I were absolutely not close enough to be having this kind of heart-to-heart.

And right now, the absolute last thing I wanted to discuss was the future.

“Shut your mouth.”

“Mourning will not resurrect the deceased.”

“……Are you begging me to kill you?”

Without even making a conscious decision to do so, my internal energy surged.

The lethal intent poured out of me, wrapping tightly around **Yong-so-a**’s throat.

“……What are you actually trying to get out of me?”

There was no way he was bringing up my dead classmates just because he was idly curious about my job applications.

However…

“I am merely curious about your decided career path. Nothing more.”

“…….”

Even though I was radiating a murderous aura dense enough to make a demon tremble, his stony expression didn’t so much as twitch.

For some reason, the fight just drained completely out of me.

What was I even doing?

Screaming at a brick wall wouldn’t make the wall talk back.

“And if I refuse to tell you?”

“It is not a complicated thing to share.”

“When you demand it like that, it makes me want to tell you even less.”

**Yong-so-a**, who hadn’t blinked at my killing intent, finally let a tiny frown crease his forehead.

He seemed to mull something over briefly before fixing his gaze back on me.

“**Jin-so-un**…… you are a variable.”

“…….”

He was parroting those exact same words from before.

“Do not cause unnecessary chaos. If you do……”

But the gravity behind them had shifted entirely.

“I will be left with no alternative but to eliminate you.”

Delivering his threat with clinical apathy, **Yong-so-a** turned on his heel and departed just as casually as he had arrived.

*Eliminate me, he says……*

I must be a massive thorn in his side.

To hear such a direct threat fall from **Yong-so-a**’s lips was surprising.

*By the way, is that arrogant jerk brilliant, or just plain stupid?*

If you exclude the **Dragon-Phoenix Gathering**, securing an assignment within the **Murim Alliance** mandates the explicit approval of the specific unit commander to be finalized.

Given my academic standing, I could theoretically walk into any post I wanted. The problem was that many of those posts would be absolute headaches to navigate.

Not that every faction was terrible, but the vast majority of the units were thoroughly dominated by someone from the **Righteous Way Society**, the **White Way Society**, or the **12th Peak Stars**.

If you do the math… First, you cross off highly specialized intelligence and command sectors like the **Thousand Eyes Pavilion** and the **Divine Will Pavilion**.

Next, you cross off every single division heavily occupied by the **Righteous Way Society**, the **White Way Society**, and the **12th Peak Stars** respectively.

Once the board is cleared, the only destinations left where I could operate without constant internal sabotage are the **Dragon-Phoenix Gathering**, the **Yellow Phoenix Pavilion**, and the **White Wolf Pavilion**.

*It doesn’t matter anyway. I had my sights set on the **White Wolf Pavilion** from the very beginning.*

My grand plan is to forge an immaculate, flawless military unit before the impending war erupts.

I need the ultimate fighting force—one capable of bailing out the **So-jeong-dae** and shielding the disciples of **Tae-eul-mun**.

“Hehehe. Now that I think about it, as an academy graduate, those **So-jeong-dae** punks are automatically going to end up as my subordinates. Hehehe.”

Even though I hadn’t had the slightest appetite for snacks a moment ago, my mouth suddenly began to water.

—

### Shadows Over the Jianghu

Lately, the most explosive topic dominating conversations across the **Jianghu** was undeniably the **Silent Forest**.

Nobody knew exactly who leaked it first, but whispers that academy students had been slaughtered in the **Silent Forest** were spreading like wildfire.

Given reports that the casualties were catastrophic, most martial artists initially treated the rumors with heavy skepticism.

“Who would do that? And why? If someone was looking to commit suicide, there are a hundred easier ways to do it than specifically targeting the academy kids.”

“The **Murim Alliance**’s obsession with protecting those students isn’t exactly a secret. You’d have to be a complete lunatic. If it was the **Black Way** scumbags, maybe the **Mandok-mun** since they are stationed nearby?”

“Ha, you’ve got it backwards! Didn’t you hear that the **Mandok-mun** were the ones bending over backward to help the students during the **Silent Forest** crisis?”

“……You’ve had too much to drink, friend. I know you’ve spun tall tales before, but this is ridiculous.”

Because the plain facts of the incident were simply too absurd to process, the general public assumed the entire **Silent Forest** narrative was a massive hoax.

The fact that the **Murim Alliance** had issued absolutely zero official statements only fueled the public’s assumption that it was fake news.

However, the moment the prominent figures of the various sects and families were seen marching grimly toward the **Murim Alliance** headquarters, the skeptics abruptly closed their mouths.

The sheer size of the delegations was alarming, but it was the dark, devastated expressions on their faces that sealed the truth.

Surrounded by an aura of unutterable grief, it was finally confirmed to the world: the bloodbath in the **Silent Forest** was terrifyingly real.

With the first mystery solved, an even bigger question violently took its place.

If the massacre happened, who on earth was suicidal enough to attack the academy students?

For generations, the students were universally treated by the **Murim Alliance** as untouchable, elite VIPs.

You could see the sheer panic in the way the **Black Way** factions were currently stumbling over themselves to issue awkward condolences, now that the **Silent Forest** rumors were validated.

They were practically screaming their innocence, trying desperately to prove they had nothing to do with the atrocity without looking suspicious.

It was entirely logical for the world to demand the head of whoever had dared to flip off the **Murim Alliance** while shattering the foundational rules of the **Jianghu**.

Yet, despite the furious inquiries from the mourning families, the **Murim Alliance** refused to name the perpetrator.

As the Alliance’s unnatural, suffocating silence dragged on, the mood across the **Jianghu** began to turn dangerously cold.

Inside the **Alliance Leader’s Hall** and the **Bureau of Myriad Wisdom**, the leaders were acutely aware of this shifting tide.

In fact, they felt the rising pressure far more intensely than anyone else on the outside.

“They really are mobilizing as if they’ve just been waiting for an excuse like this.”

**Hyeok-mu-gang**, a man who normally cherished his tea time above all else, stared blankly at his cup. He didn’t even reach for it until the premium **Gunsan-eunchim** tea had gone completely cold.

“We have intercepted hundreds of carrier pigeons. The message is uniform: everyone is fully prepared for war.”

**Jegal-so-myeong**, who was quietly nursing a cup of liquor instead of tea, gave a slow blink.

“……A war against an adversary whose true identity even I, **Jegal-so-myeong**, have failed to uncover……. To them, the actual enemy doesn’t matter. It seems an ‘existence they wish to make into an enemy’ has already been decided.”

The horrific events in **Sichuan** had already proven that the martial artists of the **Jianghu** were out for blood.

“Suspicion will inevitably curdle into public opinion, and soon enough, it will dictate the trend.”

That feral, boiling thirst for violence was slowly turning inward, aiming straight at their own allies.

Thanks to a prolonged golden age of peace, the various factions had spent years quietly stockpiling resources and bolstering their inner strength. They were overflowing with arrogance.

Sensing that public faith in the **Murim Alliance** was fracturing, these sects were salivating at the chance to carve up new territory.

All in the name of empowering their own sects and enriching their own families.

“If only we could just cleanly expose their identity to the light.”

The unseen instigators were keeping to the shadows with terrifying discipline, fully anticipating this exact chaotic fallout.

They were likely biding their time, planning to step into the light only when they felt they could butcher the Murim at their leisure.

When that day came, the exhausted **Murim Alliance** would be completely incapable of defending against them.

Despite seeing this catastrophic future with crystal clarity, **Hyeok-mu-gang** felt powerless, trapped in a current he couldn’t redirect.

“Is it an era where the **Overlord’s Way** (*Pa-do*) is our only option……”

Hearing **Hyeok-mu-gang**’s grim whisper, **Jegal-so-myeong** firmly shook his head.

To begin with, the Alliance Leader simply wasn’t wired to be a brutal tyrant.

“Conversely, if you attempt that, the target of the factions’ attacks will immediately shift to you, Alliance Leader.”

“…….”

It’s an old saying that an elite martial artist can stand against ten men, but no single human being can wage war against the entire world.

The mere fact that **Hyeok-mu-gang**—a man who understood this limitation better than anyone living—was even entertaining the **Overlord’s Way** proved just how bleak their reality was.

Releasing a heavy sigh, **Jegal-so-myeong** offered a word of solace.

As the chief strategist, it was his duty to keep the Alliance Leader from losing his mind to the pressure.

“Still, shouldn’t we count our blessings? It is a great relief that the damage stopped where it did.”

“…….”

The deep, anxious wrinkles carved into **Hyeok-mu-gang**’s forehead smoothed out, if only a fraction.

“……I suppose you are right. Chief Strategist, have you reviewed the official investigation report from the **Execution Hall**? If that child, **Jin-so-un**, hadn’t actively redirected their escape route toward the demonic realm, every single student would have perished in the **Silent Forest**.”

*Good grief, when did he find the time to memorize the **Execution Hall**’s report?*

Regardless, seeing **Hyeok-mu-gang**’s heavy burden lighten slightly brought a faint, genuine smile to **Jegal-so-myeong**’s lips.

“If they had all been wiped out, we wouldn’t even have the breathing room to do anything.”

A total massacre would have handed the restless factions a massive, undeniable justification for violence.

And they would have launched their holy war without hesitation.

Even if they had to fabricate a scapegoat to do it.

What **Jin-so-un** achieved went far beyond merely pulling his classmates out of the fire.

His actions had single-handedly snuffed out the flames of war that were mere inches away from detonating the entire Murim.

**Jegal-so-myeong** slowly shook his head, gazing into his teacup.

“It is truly a stroke of incredible luck. Just from what heavens did such a prodigy drop down?”

Encouraged by **Jegal-so-myeong**’s praise, **Hyeok-mu-gang**’s voice picked up an eager, animated cadence.

“Based on the survivors’ testimonies, young **So-un** took the absolute vanguard position from the very start. And when you think about it, wasn’t his strict demand for ‘absolute obedience’ just an intentional tactic to secure the justification to stand the children securely behind his back?”

**Hyeok-mu-gang** looked exactly like a wide-eyed child marveling at a heroic myth before bedtime.

Watching the Alliance Leader fanboy over a student, **Jegal-so-myeong** narrowed his eyes slightly.

“I am well aware, as I also read the report.”

“Ahem…… my apologies. Just thinking about the boy’s story got me excited……”

“It is quite alright.”

It was perfectly natural to cling fiercely to a beacon of hope when surrounded by suffocating darkness.

Because one can pursue such hope, the vitality to conquer despair also arises.

Regardless, **Jegal-so-myeong** was in complete agreement that things had turned out well.

“The broader public of the **Jianghu** will likely react exactly the same way you do, Alliance Leader.”

“I would expect so.”

“Therefore, we must utilize this tragedy as an opportunity to promote that child.”

**Hyeok-mu-gang**’s brow instantly scrunched back up.

It was a jarring pivot, considering **Jegal-so-myeong** was the exact person who had fiercely vetoed **Hyeok-mu-gang**’s previous attempts to recruit the boy, fearing that public attention would ruin him.

**Jegal-so-myeong** spoke with an awkward expression.

“Now…… is it not a time when a hero is desperately needed?”

“But…… **Jin-so-un** lacks the impenetrable aristocratic background of someone like **Yong-so-a**. Wasn’t that what you were most worried about all this time, Chief Strategist?”

It was a fantastic way to expose a brilliant sprout to a hurricane before it could grow into a giant tree.

However…

“Our current situation is too poor to delay.”

A heavy groan rumbled from the Alliance Leader’s throat for a moment.

After wrestling with the tactical reality, **Hyeok-mu-gang** opened his eyes, his resolve hardening.

“Let us do so.”

“…….”

Even though it was an opinion he himself had suggested, **Jegal-so-myeong** hesitated to easily confirm it.

Seeing his strategist waver, **Hyeok-mu-gang**’s face settled into an expression of iron certainty.

“I believe that child **Jin-so-un** will not be so easily broken. You surely shared that thought as well, which is why you made the decision, correct?”

“…….”

“And knowing you, Chief Strategist…… you wouldn’t bring it up without having prepared a safety net.”

As expected, the man hadn’t clawed his way to the apex of the **Murim Alliance** purely on brawn.

“I will have to put a bit of the political weight of the **Great Families** behind him. As luck would have it, that boy and my own grandson recently swore an oath of brotherhood…… The justification is a bit thin, but I can roughly dress it up to match the appearance.”

“Then the matter is settled. Let us move forward with this.”

Seeing **Hyeok-mu-gang** nod his head without a shred of hesitation, **Jegal-so-myeong** just stared at him in quiet awe.

“To be completely honest, I had been losing sleep over this for a while. You confidently swore you would take responsibility and bring him in, but if we assigned a controversial child like him to the **Bureau of Myriad Wisdom**, wouldn’t the internal opposition be deafening? Not to mention the **Alliance Leader’s Hall**.”

The boy was currently covered in malicious gossip and wild rumors that bordered on outright slander.

“I was actually terrified that the only opportunity we could safely offer him would be a dumping ground like the **White Wolf Pavilion**.”

**Hyeok-mu-gang** had been quietly eating his own heart out, anxious that the toxic whisper network would clip the brilliant boy’s wings.

“……Truthfully, my backup plan was to stash him in the **Dragon-Phoenix Gathering** temporarily, and then quietly transfer him into the **Thousand Eyes Pavilion**.”

This was exactly the same for **Jegal-so-myeong**.

The two powerful men locked eyes across the table and shared a deeply wry, bitter smile.

A self-deprecating chuckle escaped them at the pathetic reality of their bureaucratic cage.

“I will add my full strength as well. A rock-solid justification has been created through this **Silent Forest** tragedy, and if we add our combined backing, no politician will dare try to drag that child down.”

“That is a massive relief.”

Picturing the bright, unhindered future they were paving for **Jin-so-un**, a warm smile spread across **Hyeok-mu-gang**’s weathered face.

“……The boy is going to be absolutely ecstatic. His sect will also be weeping with joy.”

“Ecstatic is an understatement. He’ll be grinning from ear to ear just knowing he dodged being banished to the **White Wolf Pavilion**.”

While monumental trials undoubtedly awaited the boy, the two leaders felt their hearts lighten significantly, deeply satisfied that they had secured a magnificent gift in advance for the young hero’s future path.

Naturally, it was a magnificent gift that completely ignored the boy’s actual desires.