Episode 68

Sohee’s expression was quite ominous.

I asked her what she was thinking about, but it seemed like she already knew and was pressing me to tell her who I was thinking about.

I recalled her, whom I hadn’t seen for over a year. If it had been a thousand years, I wouldn’t remember her appearance, voice, or scent.

But it had only been a little over a year. I vividly remembered the moment she awkwardly yet passionately invaded my mouth.

It’s not like I was talking about an ex-girlfriend to my current one, so there was no need to hide it.

“I was thinking about the martial arts she taught me. I didn’t know she would teach me such an advanced technique.”

I boldly lied to cover up the truth.

I thought about her while practicing the Tonap Technique, which was said to be a good technique.

Sohee, being a martial artist, must understand how great it is to learn such an advanced technique. Please understand even if I seem a bit silly.

Contrary to my expectations, Sohee narrowed her eyes and stared at my abdomen, her cheeks twitching slightly.

“The inner energy technique she taught you is not an advanced technique.”

She informed me of this fact in an annoyed voice.

“Didn’t you say it was an advanced technique last time, Sohee?”

“It is an advanced martial art, but not enough to be called a technique.”

If it’s an advanced martial art, it should be a technique. Not a technique, then what is it?

[I was going to reset but ended up drawing a tier 1 character right at the start. Should I focus on this character now?]

[It’s a tier 1 character, alright. S-class, but not SS-class. Reset for 24 hours.]

Seeing my unconvinced expression, she seemed to be ready to provide further explanation.

“The original form of this inner energy technique is a superior martial art, but the Tonap Technique Yunho learned is just a half-baked version. The necessary process of accumulating energy (蓄氣) is crudely omitted, and you don’t even know the mantra of the inner energy technique.”

“She told me it was a Tonap Technique that doesn’t accumulate inner energy for children.”

“That’s nonsense. The younger you are, the faster the inner energy accumulates, so you should start accumulating energy as early as possible.”

Huh? What’s this?

Moyong Sang-ah told me it was a simple technique for kids that didn’t accumulate inner energy.

“So, she intentionally removed the process of accumulating inner energy before teaching me?”

“Only a genius of the highest order could intentionally modify an advanced martial art. Perhaps there was a half-baked martial art in case the technique got leaked.”

Moyong Sang-ah was indeed a genius in the martial arts visual novel world, so she must have modified it herself.

Since we’re an interpreter family, it wouldn’t be good to accumulate inner energy, so she must have modified it on the spot.

“Whether it’s not an advanced technique or just a half-baked martial art, I’m alive thanks to this Tonap Technique. I should always be grateful to her.”

You said you’d teach me martial arts but haven’t yet. It’s not right to belittle others’ gifts without giving anything yourself.

“Always?”

“Teaching martial arts isn’t a favor. I don’t easily forget kindness.”

My name is Kang Yun-ho. A man who doesn’t forget kindness. And the touch of a tongue.

So hurry up and teach me too.

Hearing my words, her lips jutted out slightly as she made an annoyed face.

“Yunho.”

Her voice was cold.

“Yeah?”

“Stop using that Tonap Technique from now on.”

What’s this about crossing a line?

“I need to use it to recover. What should I do if I don’t?”

“From now on, I’ll teach you a modified version of the Tonap Technique. Sit in a cross-legged position.”

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

A modification. The utility is already so good, why modify it?

“I’ll help you accumulate energy in your lower abdomen, so focus from now on.”

Accumulate energy! If I can gather inner energy in my abdomen, I have to learn it!

I sat cross-legged and prepared to use the Tonap Technique.

She placed her hand on my back and slowly began to infuse me with inner energy.

‘This is the inner energy of the Heavenly Death Star.’

If Moyong Sang-ah’s inner energy felt like a truck driving safely, the energy of the Heavenly Death Star was like a modified car, fierce and sharp, as if shouting ‘Power blast! Power blast!’

Hello. The energy that has entered my body, you’re the second. I’ll introduce you to the blue spear tip riding a tricycle, my inner energy.

Though not comparable to a truck or a modified vehicle, these are the energies that have been passing through my body for over a year. Like a friend who heartlessly returns home after the Tonap Technique is finished.

Her energy ignored the blue spear tip and flowed into my lower abdomen, creating something like an iron cage arena.

What’s this? It felt like I should prepare for a royal rumble.

“Channel your energy into it.”

Following her instruction, I channeled the energy I had received into the iron arena she had created in my lower abdomen.

Originally, the energy should gather briefly in the lower abdomen and then flow through the whole body, but it was blocked by her iron cage and couldn’t escape.

“Compress the energy into one point.”

If that were easy, I would have done it long ago. My energy, like that of a primary schooler, would run wherever I opened a path, but it wouldn’t stay orderly.

As I struggled, she gradually narrowed the iron cage in my lower abdomen.

Like primary schoolers gathering in the center during a dodgeball game when an outfielder throws a star-shaped pass, the energy began to converge into one point.

Was this working?

As I concentrated on gathering energy, I felt it solidify at a single point.

“Is it done?”

“Not yet. You need to circulate the energy and increase its size. Follow me.”

I began to move, following the flow of her inner energy.

The path led by the Moyong Family’s secret Tonap Technique was similar yet different.

Her guided path was the same, but at the end, instead of distributing the energy throughout the body, it returned to the lower abdomen.

When it returned to the lower abdomen for the first time, the amount of energy had noticeably increased.

“Rotate it and converge again.”

Final fusion approval? I rotated the gathered energy in my lower abdomen and slowly added the increased energy to it.

“Keep repeating.”

As she instructed, I continued the Small Circulation until I was exhausted.

“Congratulations.”

After performing the Small Circulation until no more energy accumulated and opening my eyes, she calmly congratulated me.

“Is it really true that I’ve accumulated inner energy?”

I asked her in a dazed state. I definitely felt it in my lower abdomen, but I couldn’t believe it. I had accumulated inner energy.

“You’ve gathered about two years’ worth of inner energy. Have you ever taken any elixirs, Yunho?”

“I’ve consumed ginseng quite often.”

Kang Yunho of Joseon would casually drink ginseng tea whenever he felt like it. Of course, he didn’t practice martial arts then, so most of it would have been expelled, but some must have remained in his body.

I managed to accumulate two years’ worth of inner energy without consuming ten years’ worth of Polygonum multiflorum.

It felt like a 9th grade civil servant receiving a higher salary by recognizing two years of military service.

“That half-baked martial art you’ve been using.”

“Huh?”

“I borrowed some parts of the Escaping Asura martial art I learned and modified it.”

“Weren’t we not supposed to learn the martial arts of assassins?”

Won’t I be pursued by assassins if I use this?

“Only my master and I have learned the Escaping Asura martial art in the assassin’s guild. I just borrowed some parts of the energy accumulation and Small Circulation, so absolutely. No one. Will notice.”

She emphasized her words to assure me it was safe.

Like replacing a missing part in a machine with a compatible alternative component.

“Then that’s a relief.”

“It’s not a complete technique, so the energy accumulation will be slow. But its efficiency is exceptional, so continue using that technique.”

“I will.”

I didn’t desire to become the greatest martial artist in the world. I just wanted to say goodbye to a life where I was constantly beaten up by third-rate ruffians.

But if only two people have learned it from the assassin’s guild, wasn’t it a secret technique of the Heavenly Death Star? It’s incredible that she’s teaching me such a remarkable thing.

Looking at her, she seemed to be expecting something, piercing me with her gaze.

Should I thank her? But that doesn’t seem enough for such a secret technique.

Ah! Suddenly, a good idea struck me.

“Sohee, thank you so much. But have you thought of a name for this inner energy technique?”

“No.”

“How about naming it ‘Soyun Sim Sang Gyeol’ after Sohee and me?”

‘Soyun’ (韶允) means ‘beautiful truth’. It’s like a name reflecting our relationship, full of nothing but truth.

“Named after me and Yunho?”

Her eyes widened slightly.

“You don’t like it?”

“No, it’s fine.”

She smiled softly and shook her head. Lucky, I was going to change it if she didn’t like it since I made it up on the spot.

“Then from now on, this inner energy technique will be called Soyun Sim Sang…”

“But Yunho.”

Suddenly her voice became serious.

“Yes?”

“Why include ‘Sim Sang’?”

This is why I don’t like the quick-witted Heavenly Death Star.

Of course, the ‘Sang’ is for her. She’s 80% of this inner energy technique, so I can’t leave her out. But telling the truth here would be foolish.

“I named it Sim Sang Gyeol because we feel the flow of inner energy and use it for Small Circulation. Does it sound odd?”

I’ve already used terms like blue spear tip and truck as images.

“No, it’s fine.”

She withdrew her suspicious gaze and smiled again.

Lucky. Naming it Soyunsangahgong would have been a disaster.

“Really, thanks to Sohee, my long-held wish has been fulfilled.”

I smiled brightly and thanked her again.

“From now on, use the technique I taught you, not the old one.”

“Of course. I’ll always think of Sohee when I use this technique.”

And sometimes think of her.

“Okay.”

She seemed satisfied and smiled gently at me.

As soon as I learned the inner energy technique, Sohee began to teach me martial arts in earnest.

“From today, I will teach you a martial art and a self-defense technique.”

She took me to the training ground and began to explain what we would do today.

“Is that medicine in the big basin used for martial arts?”

“Yes. The martial art I’m going to teach Yunho is the ‘Jade Face Self-Protection Technique’.”

It sounds like a name some annoyingly handsome guy would use.

She started to explain to me about the Jade Face Self-Protection Technique.

Listening to her, the identity of this annoyingly handsome guy’s martial art turned out to be an external martial art.

To be exact, it’s external Qi Gong .

While most martial arts use inner energy to unleash superhuman attacks, the Jade Face Self-Protection Technique strengthens the skin.

“Applying the medicine and absorbing it makes the skin tough.”

If practiced correctly, even a clumsy knife won’t be able to cut through the skin.

Hate to be hit, huh? Never thought she’d bring a self-defense technique that makes me invulnerable to those third-rate ruffians.

After explaining the Jade Face Self-Protection Technique and demonstrating how to use internal energy, Sohee started applying the prepared medicine to my body.

It felt like applying menthol all over. It was quite refreshing.

Thus, I began learning the external martial arts and self-defense techniques from the Heavenly Death Star.

On a day dedicated to recovery and martial arts training.

“You’re quite diligent!”

Who was that? While I was learning self-defense techniques from Sohee, an unfamiliar middle-aged man appeared.

“What’s the matter?”

Sohee asked the suddenly appearing middle-aged man in a business-like tone.

Was he someone the Heavenly Death Star knew?

“Ah, so this is what you look like. Hmm. Indeed. Worth hanging for.”

Ignoring Sohee’s words, the man scrutinized me and then chuckled inexplicably. What was he talking about?

“If you don’t want to hang, just state your business.”

“When asking for a favor, at least. You’re too harsh.”

Did they know each other well?

Sohee’s sharp attitude seemed to be effortlessly deflected by the man’s playful demeanor.

“……”

Sohee seemed to choke on something in response to the man’s words.

“I’ve come on important business.”

The man dropped his smile and spoke to Sohee with a serious expression.

“What’s the matter?”

Sohee said this while glancing at me.

Should I step aside?

“I’ll give you some space.”

“You should listen too.”

“Then I’ll listen attentively.”

I stopped and looked at the middle-aged man.

“A polite young man, indeed.”

After praising me, the man straightened his back and looked back and forth between us, pausing for a moment.

Anxiously, what was this all about?

The man, thinking we were ready to listen, began to speak in a grave tone.

“I’ve come because of the Cheongsapa massacre.”