Chapter 2: What Should I Do Now?
Chapter 2: What Should I Do Now?
One month can be short, or it can be long.
It is definitely enough time, though, to understand that I had died and reincarnated in another body. It’s also enough time for me to adapt to my new body and environment.
“…Please try coming up with an excuse.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, opening my eyes.
The middle-aged man in front of me furrowed his brows. His name was Baek Muheun, and he was the father of my new body as well as the director of the Baek Academy.
“Do you really not know?”
“Nope, no idea.”
In response to my frank answer, Baek Muheun sighed.
I sat up straight and stared at him.
I had nothing to be ashamed of, because I don’t remember doing anything wrong!
“Earlier, Mr Jang, the owner of the cloth shop, came to visit. His second son, a disciple at our academy, went home exhausted from doing squats.”
“……”
“Do you still have nothing to say for yourself?”
“So? What’s the problem?” I shamelessly raised my voice, saying, “When learning martial arts, one must be prepared to endure a lot of physical and mental pain. I trained those kids hard so that their parents won’t feel like their money was wasted. As thanks for my efforts, Mr Jang should be sending me silks instead.”
“Why you little!”
BONK!
Ahh, my vision is spinning and I hear birds chirping around my head.
It didn’t really hurt, but naturally, I was quite upset.
Hmm, I can definitely see the attack coming, but I can’t dodge it.
Then again, even if I could dodge, taking the hit was still the logical choice. That’s because if I dodged, I’d end up having to witness my father sprinting wildly down the street with bloodshot eyes.
“You seriously treated ten-year-old children like they were martial arts disciples? Why the fuck did you do that? As for thanking you? Who on earth would thank such a careless, stupid instructor!”
Baek Muheun waved the teacher’s stick he was holding in the air, threatening to bonk me in the head again if I didn’t give him a satisfactory answer.
Why the fuck did I do that? Because that’s exactly what I did every single day in the Blood Cult…
Tsk. Even though I actually went easy on the brats and only made them do half the usual training. I also didn’t pull their nails out because they couldn’t endure the training, or threaten the ones who dared to sit down during training with, “No dinner for you tonight!”
For the last few days, the sniveling brats kept nagging me about wanting to properly learn martial arts, so I only did as they asked and taught them properly!
Those damn brats went complaining to their parents just because it was hard? Sigh, kids nowadays…
“Are you listening to me?”
“In the past, I’d definitely have… Yes, I’m listening.” My thoughts were elsewhere, but I still shamelessly nodded and replied yes.
With a skeptical expression on his face, Baek Muheun looked at me and said, “Nope, you’re not. Everything I’ve just said has gone in one ear and out the other. After you died and came back to life, I can’t understand you anymore. You’ve changed so much that I sometimes wonder if you’re really my son…”
Hell, can this man read minds?
My father sighed again.
I lowered my head and apologized, “I’m sorry, I failed to consider the consequences. I won’t do it again.”
“Suryong.”
Suddenly, he called my name, a serious look on his face.
Baek Suryong.
That was the name of this body’s original owner, and it seems that I’m twenty-seven this year.
In this remote village in the middle of nowhere, there aren’t any decent martial arts academies. My father is hardly an expert, and our only students are the sniveling brats in the village. Life here is far removed from that of a murim expert, and none of the so-called martial artists here are strong enough to even be considered third-class warriors.
“Yes, Father?”
Baek Muheun seemed a little upset by my simple answer. He hesitated for a moment, before continuing, “Since you woke up, you’ve been spacing out very often. I’m sure you’re worried about what happened. It must be traumatizing…”
One month ago, Baek Suryong died and came back to life.
To be precise, Baek Suryong died, and I reincarnated into his body.
“You know you can confide in me if you’re worried about anything, right? No matter what, you’re my only family, and we’ve only got each other to depend on.”
Baek Suryong’s one and only family member. That’s exactly why I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth, to say, “Your son Baek Suryong is dead.”
Ever since he was born, Baek Suryong has been sickly. His weakness was caused by a blocked meridians disease so rare, no one could name it. His similarly sickly mother, who passed away a few years after giving birth to him, had suffered from the exact same disease.
Baek Muheun took his son to consult every physician he could find, searching for one who could save him even if he had to sacrifice his own life in the process. He also fed all sorts of miracle medicines to the boy, but his son only told him, “There was no effect.”
In the end, for the sake of his weak son, Baek Muheun decided to move to the countryside where the air was fresh and the water was clean. There, he set up a small martial arts academy.
However, when his son saw the academy, he said to his father, “You miss life in the murim, don’t you?”
“……”
Despite his illness, Baek Suryong had always dreamed of becoming a martial artist of the murim. However, due to his blocked meridians, he could not learn any qi cultivation techniques. Instead, he focused on training his body while constantly searching for a way to heal his disease.
Finally, a few months ago, Baek Suryong got his hands on a certain qi cultivation technique.
I can’t believe that guy was stupid enough to attempt learning a demonic art with a body like this.
Demonic Arts.
Although not all demonic arts were detrimental to the practitioner, they all caused significant side effects. Unfortunately for him, the one Baek Suryong found was a shit-tier demonic art that was extremely harmful to the practitioner’s body.
Thus, in the end, while trying to circulate his qi by force, Baek Suryong coughed up blood and collapsed.
…Well, actually, he died.
When he resolved to learn the demonic art, he was already prepared to die.
[I’d rather die trying than give up on my lifelong dream.]
Those were the words written on a bloodstained will next to where Baek Suryong died.
After he died, I woke up in his body, and for the last month, I pretended to lose my memories and lived as Baek Suryong. Little by little, I learned more and more about the former owner of this body.
“Even now…you still won’t give up?”
“……” I hesitated.
Baek Muheun’s face darkened. He was probably wondering why his son refused to give up on his dream despite having a near-death experience.
I thought for a while, then replied, “I’m not sure.”
I didn’t say this only to reassure Baek Muheun. This was how I truly felt.
Is there any meaning to becoming a murim warrior again?
In my past life, as a disciple of the Blood Cult, I practiced martial arts, killed people, and then, after my qi center was destroyed, I became a martial arts instructor and researcher who taught others how to kill people. I did all sorts of horrible things and constantly risked my life, all in the name of survival.
But what about now?
Do I really need to become a murim warrior?
I knew a total of five top-level martial arts. However, becoming a murim warrior means that I’ll have to go back to a life where I could die anytime.
Do I really want to live like that again?
To me, who had already experienced an entire lifetime living on the edge, that was not the most pleasant thing to go through again.
A leisurely life spent teaching little brats actually sounds like a great idea.
This rural village where the Baek Academy is situated is a comfortable, quiet place.
Nevertheless, I hesitated. My reply to Baek Muheun’s question was not “Yes, I’ve given up.” Instead, it was, “I’m not sure.”
Surprised by my answer, Baek Muheun’s eyes widened. He asked again, “…You’re not sure?”
“Yes.”
This village is a very comfortable place to live. I feel like I’m enjoying the life of a retiree every day. Still, I have no idea what the future holds for me.
Well, it’s a new life.
There’s no need to make a hasty decision.
“I need more time to think about what I want to do in the future.”
“……”
Baek Muheun gave me a complicated look consisting of a mixture of relief, and sympathy for his son who had to make the terrible decision on whether he should give up on his dream.
I met his gaze directly.
Eventually, with a heavy heart, he nodded and said, “…I understand. Also, you haven’t fully recovered yet, so be sure to tell me if you’re not feeling well, okay?”
“Okay.”
“One more thing. Next time, if the children nag you about learning martial arts, just give them a ball and ask them to play soccer as training.”
“…I’m going to say this again, but when learning martial arts, one must be prepared to endure a lot of physical and mental pain…”
“What do you think our academy is, Shaolin Temple? If you push the kids too hard, all of them will quit,” said Baek Muheun, raising a hand to stop me from arguing back.
I got up from my seat, pouting.
“If that’s all you have to say, I’m leaving.”
“Fine.”
As I spun around and walked out of the room, I heard Baek Muheun sighing and mumbling to himself behind me.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do anything for you even though I’m your father…”
I pretended not to hear him and picked up the pace, walking back to my room.
***
As part of my daily routine, I stood in front of the mirror in my room and took off my shirt to check my physical condition.
My new body is that of a spoiled brat who has never experienced any kind of suffering before. Like his father, he was tall, with long limbs. He was a little too thin for a man, but he was extremely handsome.
Ever since waking up in this body, I have been exercising every day. As a result, my physical condition right now is pretty good.
If not for the blocked meridians disease, this body is extremely suited to martial arts. However, in addition to the problems caused by the disease, my blood is filled with contaminated qi from the demonic art that killed this dude.
I spent a lot of effort healing over the past month, and it seems that the results are showing. Still, this body is hella rotten. In my current state, I probably couldn’t beat even a third-rate warrior.
…Actually, third-rate warriors can use qi, even if the amount is miniscule. Therefore, even fighting a third-rate warrior would probably be pushing it.
The worst thing is, if I let things continue as they are, I’m probably going to die within three years.
…I wonder if this is a simple coincidence, or if it was a quirk of fate. It just had to be the Heavenly Yin Blocked Meridians.
I knew the name of the disease that Baek Suryong suffered from.
The Heavenly Yin Blocked Meridians.
It was a name that most physicians in the world had never heard of. Even if they knew of it, they considered it an untreatable disease that would kill the patient before the age of thirty.
I looked at the reflection of the young man in the mirror and clicked my tongue.
You knew that you did not have much longer to live. Is that why you decided to take a gamble?
Unfortunately, Baek Suryong lost the gamble and died. My soul then reincarnated in his body.
“Thank you. From now on, I will use this body well.”
The dead rest in peace, while the living struggle to live.
Fortunately, I knew how to treat this disease.
The Heaven Defying Divine Art was the key. It was a top-level martial art that was only taught to the Cult Leaders of the Blood Demon Cult, and among the five top-level martial arts in my head, I considered it to be the best one.
But that was not all there was to it. In the manual of the Heaven Defying Divine Art that I found in the martial arts library of the Blood Cult, I remembered reading the following lines:
This sounds extremely confusing, but to put it simply, the Heavenly Yin Blocked Meridians is the best type of physical constitution for learning the Heaven Defying Divine Art. The reason for this is because the creator of the martial art, the first-generation Blood Demon and the founder of the Blood Demon Cult, suffered from the Heavenly Yin Blocked Meridians.
I wonder if there’s a connection between me using the Heaven Defying Divine Art until right before I died, and me reincarnating into a body with the Heavenly Yin Blocked Meridians.
That was just a wild guess. I couldn’t possibly know the truth.
Anyway, the most important thing right now, was that I knew how to convert the Heavenly Yin Blocked Meridians into the Heavenly Yin Divine Meridians.
There was only one problem…
I frowned and muttered to myself, “Fuck, I’m broke.”
In order to learn the Heaven Defying Divine Art, I needed money. Not just a lot of money, but A LOT OF MONEY.
Among the long list of herbs and elixirs I needed, the number of names that a normal person would recognize could be counted on one hand. In addition, I needed a ton of other supplementary materials. The total cost of everything would be enough to make a prominent clan go bankrupt.
My father runs a small, shitty martial arts academy in the countryside. There was no way we had that kind of money.
“What should I do…?” The handsome face I saw reflected in the mirror furrowed his brows.
Suddenly, I heard a scream from outside.
“Master!”