System
Quest
There Is a Man Who Loved You So Much
A man’s burning feelings for a woman have manifested as jealousy and rage.
He seeks to win her love by knocking you down.
Grade: Peak
Restriction: Jin Taekyung
Task: Win the duel (Incomplete)
Reward: EXP and Fame
Failure: Acquire the Title Weak Male
—Would you like to accept the Quest?
—If you refuse the Quest, the Title Weak Male will be granted.
Wow. That sucks.
Of course, the penalty for refusing would suck twice as much.
No choice.
As I clicked my tongue and rose from my seat, everyone’s attention turned toward me.
“Young Master Jin!”
“Young Master Jin.”
“Young Hero Jin, you don’t need to go out there.”
“That’s right. Has Senior Brother Chul gone crazy? Why is he suddenly acting like that?”
Wolhwa, Lee Seowol, Baek Museong, and even Eunhyang, whom I had barely exchanged a few words with, all looked at me with concern.
I was the only one who didn’t think much of it.
“It’s fine. Let’s have a good, clean match.”
Wolhwa sighed.
“Young Master Jin, do you know who your opponent is?”
“I do. Chulwoo, the Defeated Flower Fist.”
“I don’t think you do. The Defeated Flower Fist is a prodigy recognized even within Huashan. Think carefully about why he’s called one of the Three Plum Blossom Elites.”
“He probably got the name because he’s good at fighting.”
“No, that’s not what I meant… Whew. Fine, I give up. Do whatever you want.”
Wolhwa was out.
Baek Museong and Eunhyang stepped forward next.
“I’m not underestimating Young Hero Jin in any way, but my Second Junior Brother is, how should I put it? He’s…”
“He’s a mad bull. When Senior Brother Chul loses his temper, it’s going to be really painful.”
“Eunhyang!”
“What? It’s not wrong.”
In short, they were saying that someone like me couldn’t go toe-to-toe with Chulwoo.
That’s what you think.
I thought differently. I still wasn’t sure whether it was arrogance or confidence. I simply…
I don’t think I’ll lose.
I had that certainty. The certainty that I could defeat that man shouting at me.
“Come! Out! Right! Now!”
“I’m coming, you bastard.”
Under the eyes of more than a thousand people gathered around the Grand Training Ground, I walked toward Chulwoo.
“We have to stop the duel.”
At Baek Museong’s words, Jin Wikyung shook his head.
“My younger brother has already accepted the Defeated Flower Fist’s challenge. The duel will end after that.”
“Great Hero Jin.”
“I don’t know what happened between them, but it seems there is some bad blood between the two. Wouldn’t it be good for them to clear it up while they have the chance?”
Baek Museong inwardly sighed at Jin Wikyung’s carefree words.
Does he not understand the situation?
To Baek Museong, Chulwoo looked absolutely furious. He seemed ready to break several of Jin Taekyung’s limbs before he stopped.
This is bad.
They had to stop it here. Baek Museong had heard more than enough rumors about the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi on the way here, but none of them compared to his Second Junior Brother.
The names Defeated Flower Fist and Three Plum Blossom Elites had not been earned through his Master’s reputation alone.
“He could be seriously injured. Shouldn’t we stop this before something happens?”
“Who?”
“…Pardon?”
“The duel hasn’t even begun yet. Neither has its outcome.”
Baek Museong realized that his understanding had been wrong all along. Jin Wikyung understood the situation better than anyone.
Their assumptions were simply different.
“Great Hero Jin. Could it be…”
“That is correct.”
Jin Wikyung gave a low laugh. His gaze remained fixed on the back of his younger brother as he walked toward the dueling platform.
“That boy will win. Just as he always has.”
“…”
Baek Museong was left speechless. The Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi was undeniably an incredible prodigy, but he could not match Chulwoo in experience, martial arts, or internal energy.
Baek Museong had watched Chulwoo since he was a child. He could state it with certainty.
The Lesser Family Head is wrong. The Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi can’t stand against my Second Junior Brother.
Baek Museong shook his head, but the water had already been spilled. Backing out now would surely drag the prestige of both sects through the dirt.
I’ll have to step in at the right moment.
As he watched the dueling platform with sunken eyes, he missed one fact.
Munch, munch. Smack, smack.
Cheongpung—the man who called Jin Taekyung his Benefactor—was silently watching the situation unfold.
“Waaaaah!”
“Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi! Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi!”
“Defeated Flower Fist! Defeated Flower Fist!”
The moment I stepped onto the dueling platform, cheers erupted from every direction. The response was on an entirely different level from when the other challengers had appeared.
“Oh, so everyone knows the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi. For the record, he’s scary strong.”
“Waaaaah!”
I waved enthusiastically at the crowd, and Chulwoo glared at me.
“Wave your hand a little, too. There are no stars without fans. Don’t you know that?”
“Wave all you want. For the next three months, you’ll be staring at the ceiling of a medical clinic.”
“Let me ask you one thing. Why the fuck are you giving me shit?”
“You’re asking because you don’t know?”
I shrugged.
“Did you get rejected before you could confess?”
“Who got rejected!”
Chulwoo shouted with a flushed face.
“If you hadn’t interfered, I would already have three children and be living happily!”
“…Isn’t that a little too fast?”
There were limits to speeding things up. We hadn’t even known each other for half a shichen. How was he supposed to get married and have three children already?
What is he, a Command Center? He’ll hit a population of two hundred in no time.
As Cheongpung had said, even if a goose delivered them by rocket delivery, it would take half a day. And in this case, there were three children, so it was a bundle delivery.
“It’s fine to spread your imagination’s wings, but leave me out of it. I don’t have anything to do with this Young Lady, so this is unfair.”
“Nonsense! I saw the look in her eyes when she looked at you!”
“The look in her eyes? What was it like?”
“That… That…”
Unable to continue, Chulwoo groaned and widened his eyes.
“I swear. You won’t leave this place on your own two feet.”
“I’m a nice guy, so I’ll let you crawl out on all fours.”
“I’ll smash that insolent mouth of yours!”
With a roar, Chulwoo charged.
I swung my spear shaft at the punch flying toward me with a fierce aura.
Whoosh! Boom!
The intense impact sent my body sliding backward. The force was unbelievable for a collision between flesh and steel.
By then, a pair of dull-black gauntlets covered his hands.
“Those Items look pretty good. Mind if I take a look for a moment?”
“You bastard!”
Whoosh!
He was a mad bull in every sense of the word.
The only difference was that he had fists instead of horns, and those fists didn’t simply attack.
“Hup!”
I held my breath and swung my spear. The gauntlets and spearhead met in their arcs, spitting sparks.
Clang-clang-clang!
I pressured him with the spear’s advantage in reach, while Chulwoo pressured me with his natural reflexes and strength.
Whoosh!
A steel-like leg lashed toward my waist like a whip.
His movements were fast and flexible despite his size. I retreated while thrusting my spear toward his neck.
Bang! Krrrck!
His toes cut through empty air, while the spearhead was stopped by his gauntlet. Chulwoo seized the spearhead and grinned.
“Got you.”
Krrrck!
At the same time, an immense force pulled the spear toward him. He had probably been aiming for this from the beginning.
A spearman without his spear was no different from a scarecrow with its eyes open.
Of course…
I expected this much.
I relaxed my grip and charged toward Chulwoo. The look of triumph on his face turned to shock.
His own strength had sent both hands flying overhead, the spear still clutched in them as though he were cheering.
“You…!”
“Give me my spear.”
Crack!
“Guh!”
Something broke. Chulwoo staggered after taking a knee to the face. Next came his solar plexus.
Thud!
“Ghn!”
After being struck in a vital spot, he dropped the spear and stumbled backward. I calmly retrieved it in the meantime.
“You bastard!”
The moment I saw Chulwoo finally straighten his back after escaping the pain, I let out a quiet laugh.
“Y-You’re laughing?”
“You have a nosebleed.”
“You’re really dead—what? A nosebleed?”
He hurriedly wiped the bridge of his nose with the back of his hand, and his face twisted in outrage.
“How dare you injure my face?”
“It’s fine. You’re so ugly that no one can tell.”
“That makes it worse! Won’t I become even uglier now?”
“…”
What the hell? Surprisingly, he had an accurate grasp of himself.
“Gaaaaah!”
Chulwoo let out a furious roar, and his eyes flashed.
“I was going to finish this at an appropriate level out of consideration for my Senior Brother, but… Never mind.”
“Do it properly. That’s why I came out here.”
“Fine. I’ll face you seriously.”
As if to prove his words, a faint light shimmered around Chulwoo’s gauntlets.
“Fist qi?”
It was still incomplete, but it was unmistakably fist qi. A vicious smile spread across his lips.
“It’s too late to regret it now.”
Whoosh! Slice!
Sparks flew as the spearhead was cleanly severed. Chulwoo’s fist, drawing up all the internal energy in his body, blurred.
Swish! Swish-swish-swish!
A sharp whirlwind surged around us. Every time I swung my spear at the wind raised by his fists, the spear grew shorter by a handspan.
Though incomplete, the cutting power of his manifested qi was tremendous.
Slice! Slice! Slice!
In less than the blink of an eye, the steel spear in my hands had been reduced to a sharp metal rod no longer than my forearm.
“Damn. I thought I was finally getting used to it.”
At this point, it wasn’t a spear anymore. It was a short flute. A short flute.
Grumbling, I swung the steel flute through the air.
“Oh, it’s suddenly so light that I can’t adjust.”
Perhaps my appearance looked funny to him, because Chulwoo burst into laughter.
“Ha-ha-ha! Pathetic bastard. What are you planning to do with that?”
“Mind your own business.”
“Are you already admitting defeat?”
“What do you mean, admitting defeat? Who’s lost?”
“What kind of confidence does a man who has lost even his weapon have? If you think your Senior Brother or your elder brother will save you, you’re mistaken.”
I let out a quiet laugh.
“You’d better not regret this. If you suggested a draw right now, I might even consider it.”
“What? A draw?”
“Yeah. On the condition that you stop hitting on this Young Lady.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Then negotiations are over.”
I walked steadily toward him, casually brandishing the steel flute that could no longer be called a spear.
“Come here. Let’s fight.”
A spearman was fearlessly approaching a master of fist-and-foot techniques. And he was doing it without even a proper weapon in his hands.
The crowd surrounding the Grand Training Ground began to murmur at the sight.
Chulwoo frowned as if he were looking at some strange creature.
“What the hell are you?”
“Jin Taekyung, the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi. You know that.”
“Are you acting cocky because you trust in some hidden move?”
“Who knows?”
“You aren’t planning to use some underhanded trick, are you?”
An underhanded trick. In a way, it might have been similar.
It was a technique permitted only to me—one no one else could see.
Status Window Open.
The distance between Chulwoo and me was only thirty paces. The System responded.
Ding.
System
Status Window
Level 71 Jin Taekyung
Class: Peak Master
Fame: 2,500 (+250)
Titles: 5 (Title effects active)
Returnee (All stats +10)
Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi (All stats +15, Fame +200)
Scion of a Prestigious Family (All stats +5, Fame +50)
Gambler (Combat-related stats +10% in one-on-one combat)
Intermediate Trainee (Training speed +20%)
Strength: 255 (+55)
Stamina: 207 (+50)Agility: 250 (+55)
Intelligence: 40 (+30)Charm: 40 (+30)
Internal Energy: 45 yearsToughness: 200 (+50)
Remaining Points: 70
Certain stats have been temporarily increased by the Gambler effect.
Assign the remaining points.
The Gambler effect. And the seventy points I had gained by breaking through the wall of the Peak realm.
I stepped forward without hesitation. Twenty paces away, I could see the bewildered look on his face.
“Crazy bastard.”
“I’ve heard that a lot.”
Fifteen paces.
I muttered inwardly.
Assign twenty points to Strength.
Whoosh.
Along with an invisible wind, new strength seeped into me. My Strength, temporarily exceeding 300, churned like an active volcano.
Fifty points to Agility.
A second wind blew. At the same time, the step I took felt unfamiliar, as though it belonged to someone else.
Was I always this light?
It felt like I had entered an entirely new world.
I took a deep breath. It was Chulwoo, not me, who first closed the remaining ten paces.
“Damn it, I told you to surrender! Now that it’s come to this, don’t blame me!”
Whoosh!
I knew this martial art. It was called Crouching Tiger Fist because it was said to subdue tigers.
Just as the fierce first strike of the Crouching Tiger Fist was about to slam into my chest—
Whoosh.
A third wind blew.
It began at my toes and ended at my fingertips.
“Hey, Level 95.”
Swish.
I stabbed the back of Chulwoo’s neck with the pointed steel flute.
By then, I was already sitting on his shoulder.
“Looks like I’ve gotten a lot stronger.”
Comments
Comments need a network connection.