“Dokgo Sojeo! Do you need directions?”
Suddenly, the one who spoke to us while we were taking a break was Cheongsong, a male student from our class.
He was the same guy who had challenged me during the last class president selection and got completely wrecked.
I thought he had already dropped out because he was so inconspicuous, but it turns out he was still here, shamelessly keeping a brave face.
“By the way, isn’t he a direct disciple of the Hwasan sect?”
Anyway, seeing him relentlessly approach Dokgorin again showed that his tenacity was something I had to acknowledge.
“No, I don’t need it. It’s not my first time here.”
Her wall of ice was as sharp as ever.
“That can’t be!”
Cheongsong, with a disappointed look, returned to his seat.
I followed his retreating figure with my eyes and asked Dokgorin, “Have you been to Hwasan before?”
“Well, technically, I dropped by briefly before I regressed. Weijichun’s underlings were in Hwasan.”
Ah, I think I know who she’s talking about.
In the original story, there was a sub-boss character from the Hwasan sect.
‘Fungunseongma Ryujeonghak.’
He was a character who didn’t know his own worth, trying to burn Dokgorin but ended up getting sliced to bits as a power-leveling experiment.
He managed to cozy up to the Hwasan sect and Weijichun because he had lots of money at home.
‘According to the setup, his family was a wealthy merchant household.’
Because of his womanizer nature, he seemed to fit well with Weijichun, but I wonder what happened to him now.
Weijichun has been dead for a long time.
“Do you think that guy knows anything about Weijichun’s backing?”
Dokgorin furrowed her brow in thought at my question and shook her head.
“I wouldn’t share something that important with my subordinates if I were him.”
“…True.”
Weijichun had kept his identity as a spy in the royal family secret for decades, so he wouldn’t leave behind traces that easily.
Thinking back, I realized I had asked a rather foolish question, which left me feeling a bit embarrassed.
“What were you two whispering about so seriously?”
“Nothing much.”
Just then, Dansoso approached with a puzzled look, and we waved our hands as if nothing had happened.
*
Hwasan is mostly a rocky terrain filled with steep cliffs.
Naturally, the higher we climbed, the rougher the terrain became, but in this age, there was no such thing as safety measures, so even on a decent path, it felt like we were risking our lives.
‘No wonder Hwasan sect members are strong in real combat.’
If you casually hop around the peaks of such a high mountain, you’d naturally gain some courage.
Following our instructor Soyucheon, we began to ascend the mountain and reached the summit, Yeonhwa Peak, about two hours into our climb.
“Finally made it….”
As I muttered and looked around, everyone sighed in relief upon seeing the plaque hanging at the main gate of Hwasan sect.
Honestly, I thought we’d be camping out for three days straight, so I was relieved we arrived before sunset, meaning we could sleep indoors today.
Entering the massive guest hall, which was hard to believe was built on the mountain, a middle-aged Taoist waiting for us came out.
“Welcome, Master So.”
“It’s been a while, Taoist Baek.”
Our instructor Soyucheon said that and bowed his head, then explained about the middle-aged Taoist to us.
“This is Taoist Baek Gyeong-ho, one of the elders of the Hwasan sect. Please be mindful to avoid any disrespect.”
“Yes!”
As the students of the VIP class responded in unison, the middle-aged Taoist named Baek Gyeong-ho gave a pleased smile and cleared a path.
“Since you’ve come a long way and must be tired, please follow me. I have prepared a meal for the students.”
“Thank you, Taoist Baek.”
“Haha, since I promised to provide a training location, this much is only natural.”
As he said this while looking around at the students, his expression lit up when he spotted a familiar face.
“Ah, it’s been a while, Cheongsong.”
Cheongsong performed a bow and lowered his head.
“Hope you’ve been well! Master!”
“Yes, I’ve been well. You seem to have grown quite a bit since we last saw each other.”
“Thank you for the compliment!”
“Haha, there’s no need to be so formal in front of friends.”
The two seemed to share a close relationship, casually exchanging words.
Then, realizing we were waiting, Baek Gyeong-ho suddenly exclaimed in surprise and apologized.
“I got so caught up in the reunion that I forgot to guide you. Please follow me this way.”
As Taoist Baek led the way, we quietly followed behind him.
*
The dinner prepared by the Hwasan sect was quite ordinary.
To be precise, it seemed they simply provided us with the same food they normally ate, but in larger quantities.
One meat dish and three side dishes of vegetables.
The soup was a mushroom broth, which smelled quite pleasant.
As we gobbled down the food like it was nothing, we enjoyed a slice of apple that was served for dessert.
“Now I will assign your rooms.”
The Hwasan sect provided a total of six rooms, each accommodating five students.
Among the male students sharing my room, the only familiar face was the monk Hyecheong from the Shaolin temple.
“I look forward to the next four days together.”
Bowing my head politely to the boys in my room, I felt once again that he had a great character.
Usually, those with high martial arts skills have strong egos and seldom bow their heads to others, but he showed humility despite being one of the top four martial artists in the class.
Perhaps the other three had similar thoughts, as they responded warmly to Hyecheong’s greeting.
Anyway, for the next four days, whether I liked it or not, I would be living with them, so I’d better try to get closer.
After all, since enrolling, I had mostly spent time with Dokgorin, Dansoso, Samajak, and Namgoong Ruby, which left me little chance to bond with the boys.
*
Dokgorin felt the hand of fate at the sight of the people she would share a room with.
“You guys again?”
When Dansoso muttered this, Dokgorin sighed inwardly, feeling as if her thoughts were perfectly mirrored in his words.
‘They must have deliberately packed us all into one room.’
I had already been aware that our instructor, Soyucheon, had been watching us four closely from the beginning.
It’s presumed that he made such a decision for the sake of convenience in management.
While I wasn’t particularly pleased, I thought it was better than sharing a room with strangers, so Dokgorin quietly approached a corner of the room only to spot one person sitting alone like a straw bag.
‘Wasn’t her name Moyong Bi?’
I knew she was a quiet student who often read during breaks, so intrigued by her, Dokgorin quietly sat next to her.
Startled, Moyong Bi flinched and moved sideways, then carefully started to speak.
“Ah, hello….”
“Hi.”
When Dokgorin replied briefly, Moyong Bi appeared slightly daunted but soon tried speaking again.
“It’s, um, nice weather, right?”
Weather?
I didn’t expect a weather topic to come up in the middle of the night, so I hesitated for a moment before responding casually.
“It wasn’t bad.”
Then, thinking Dokgorin was ignoring her slip-up, Moyong Bi cautiously glanced around before speaking again.
“You’re nice, Rin.”
“…Me?”
“Yes, hee hee.”
Moyong Bi, who shyly smiled, glanced at Dokgorin and added, “I have a good feeling that this training camp will be fun.”
*
The next day.
Opening my eyes, I found a shiny bald head right in front of me.
“……”
Realizing a beat late that this bald head belonged to Hyecheong, who was sharing my room, I quickly got up.
“Yawwwn~”
One of the guys was snoring very loudly last night, so I ended up sleeping late.
I wasn’t in great condition, but still didn’t want to skip my daily training, so I quietly closed the door and stepped outside.
Chirp chirp! Chirp chirp!
The sound of sparrows chirping filled my ears.
Maybe because we were at a high altitude, the thick fog covering the yard created a rather mystical atmosphere.
‘This is probably why it’s called a sacred place for practitioners.’
Thinking that to myself, I stepped into the yard in front of the accommodation and began my usual modern-style strength exercises.
From sit-ups to push-ups, lunges, and squats.
As I lost track of time while training my body, I sensed someone approaching from behind.
“Excellent.”
Curious, I turned around to find Taoist Baek Gyeong-ho standing there, the same one I saw yesterday.
“Hello.”
As I reflexively bowed my head, he said it was fine and asked me.
“You there, would you mind explaining the exercises I just did?”
“Why all of a sudden…?”
“Because I’m personally interested.”
Seeing his eyes light up with enthusiasm made me feel like something was off, but it was already too late to run away.
