Episode 5
The first test was held in various parts of the country.
First, a ‘grading’ process was being carried out on the applicants who passed the test and entered the group.
The purpose was to organize teams to carry out tasks fairly in the upcoming secondary exam.
This is a test that evaluated the basic qualifications that a person must have as a fighter, such as the musculoskeletal test, lightness, body acuity, internal strength, and external strength.
The musculoskeletal test was literally where the examiners poke around here and there on the candidates. They consider the thickness of their bones, the length of their arms and legs, the width of their shoulders, the length of their fingers, etc., and assign them grades such as A, B, C, and D.
Song Yi-yeon, whose turn it was, stood there with a nervous expression. The examiner in charge of his musculoskeletal examination was Zhuge Liang.
“Please take care of me.”
“Yes, what…”
Zhuge Liang, with a trembling expression, extended her white hand.
The candidates who had been assigned other officers looked at Song Yi-yeon with envious eyes.
However, Song Yi-yeon had an indifferent expression even at the touch of a beautiful woman like Zhuge Liang.
It was because of his unique Beakno characteristics.
After touching Song Yi-yeon here and there for a while, Zhuge Liang let out a deep sigh and said.
“Song Yi-yeon, class A…”
Song Yi-yeon smiled brightly after receiving the wooden board with the letter ‘A’ written on it.
“Is it such a big deal that I received an ‘A’?”
“Of course not.”
Even though she said that, Zhuga Liang’s expression was still gloomy.
In addition to the wooden board he had just received, Song Yi-yeon waved two more wooden boards in front of Zhuge Liang.
After completing the internal energy and light energy evaluation, he received two wooden boards that had ‘A’ written on them.
The applicants nearby looked at Song Yi-yeon with envious eyes.
“That person will be the most famous this year.”
“He’s already famous. Look at that face. I heard that his name is known not only among the applicants but also among the members of the martial arts world. If he’s that handsome, shouldn’t he at least have talent to match his looks?”
“Oh, please, he should be less arrogant.”
Somehow Song Yi-yeon became the public enemy of the male applicants.
But whether it was true or not, Song Yi-yeon was happily enjoying the envy and jealousy of those around him.
Bang!
Suddenly, there was a huge explosion of noise and the students’ cheers and exclamations erupted somewhere in the hall.
Naturally, Song Yi-yeon’s and Zhuge Liang’s gazes also turned there.
“Wow, crazy!”
“Who is that?”
“I don’t know, but they’re all ‘A’, right?”
In the place where everyone’s eyes were focused, a man was standing with a calm face, gray powder gently scattered at his feet.
The last step in grading was the external strength evaluation.
In that test, you need to break a rock much larger than the torso of an average man by any means necessary.
Song Yi-yeon said with a hollow laugh.
“Cheon Woo-jin is a small-scale criminal. I told him to break the rock, but he just turned it into dust…”
What was even more surprising was that what he was holding in his hand was not the black iron staff he always carried around, but a white fan.
The middle-aged examiner who approached Cheon Woo-jin spoke with a somewhat bewildered look on his face.
“Can I ask you just one thing?”
“Yes… ”
“It would have been advantageous to break it with the pole on your back, so why did you insist on using the white fan?”
“It’s more fun, isn’t it?”
“…Well.”
The examiner let out a hollow laugh at Cheon Woo-jin’s calm answer.
It was definitely fun. Originally, a fan was not a weapon for external attacks.
However, this young warrior swang the fan with a bang and the rock was shattered into pieces.
It was a sight that even he, who had been rolling around in the Murim Alliance, had never seen before.
The middle-aged examiner looked at Cheon Woo-jin’s face intently as if trying to remember it, then handed him a plaque with the letter ‘A’ written on it.
“Congratulations. You got A in every category. Has it been twenty years?”
The grading system of the Murim Alliance was rather ruthless.
Being rated as “A” in three categories would earn one the title of a prodigy, four “A”s meant a genius, and receiving “A”s in all five categories was deemed a “Heavenly Martial Body.”
This designation was given because such talent could see the pinnacle of any martial art they pursued.
In the centuries-long history of the Murim Alliance’s selection test, only five individuals had ever received “A”s in all categories.
The most recent was a man who appeared like a comet twenty-three years ago and now exerts the greatest influence over the entirety of the righteous Murim.
The leader of the Murim Alliance, Buk Li-cheon.
The examiners and the judges who remembered his name looked at Cheon Woo-jin with strange faces.
But Cheon Woo-jin was just taken aback by the unexpected interest.
He just scratched his head.
It was then.
Craaaash…
At another place, a truly enormous explosion erupted.
Hundreds of pieces of rock splintered into smaller pieces and hurled themselves like lightning in all directions.
The instructors nearby quickly stopped it.
Soon the thick dust cleared, revealing a large man smashing through the rock.
Unlike his fierce appearance, which makes one wonder if he is the leader of the underground, the large man was wearing an old-fashioned silk outfit.
He was glaring at Cheon Woo-jin for some reason while brushing away the stone fragments stuck on his fist, which was as big as a pot lid.
“Gu, Gu Jin-seok. Grade A.”
The young officer watched him closely and handed him the plaque.
Gu Jin-seok, who accepted the plaque without even looking at him, glared at Cheon Woo-jin and then walked towards him.
Step, step.
A huge body and a unique ferocious aura.
The atmosphere was so rough that everyone gathered there became nervous, even though he was just a participant in the test just like them.
However, Cheon Woo-jin just looked at him approaching with an indifferent face.
Gu Jin-seok, who had come close to his nose, looked down at Cheon Woo-jin.
Cheon Woo-jin was also taller than most men, but Gu Jin-seok was taller than Cheon Woo-jin by at least two heads.
Gu Jin-seok spoke with a thick voice that suited his size.
“Cheon Woo-jin. It’s a name I’ve never heard of before.”
It was an obvious provocation. The applicants knew it, and the instructors were worried about whether they should stop it.
However, Cheon Woo-jin did not know. Basically, a fight started with threatening the opponent, but he did not feel any sense of threat.
Cheon Woo-jin scratched his cheek with his index finger and then said.
“Do you go around memorizing the names of all the people in the world?”
“… If one was a master who received ‘A’ in all categories without being one of the main clans or big families, they would already be famous.”
Gu Jin-seok continued speaking as if he was telling the other applicants to listen.
“Have you all heard of the name Cheon Woo-jin?”
Of course no one has.
Because Cheon Woo-jin came down from the mountain recently.
Gu Jin-seok, who was observing people’s reactions, burst into laughter.
“Is it possible that some great master secretly raised his disciple in the mountains?”
Of course, it was a sarcastic remark. It was the kind of nonsense that would come out of a martial arts novel. In reality, most of the masters who lead the world were people with solid backgrounds.
However, Cheon Woo-jin looked at Gu Jin-seok with a genuinely surprised expression and touched the pole behind him.
‘How did he know?’
Gu Jin-seok burst into laughter when he saw that expression.
“We’ll find out soon enough. Either he’s a new hero, or he’s a spy who works under another group with a purpose.”
Gu Jin-seok, of course, emphasized the latter.
Since an unknown warrior, whose name and face were unknown, showed surprising results out of nowhere, he was hinting that the latter was more likely.
It was a remark that drove Cheon Woo-jin into a corner, so Song Yi-yeon, who was listening to it, got angry and stepped forward.
The moment Song Yi-yeon took a step forward.
“No, that kid… ”
A small shadow passed by Song Yi-yeon. Song Yi-yeon looked at Zhuge Liang’s back with a dumbfounded expression.
Zhuge Liang, who was walking towards Gu Jin-seok with rough steps, said.
“Applicant Gu Jin-seok. What are you doing now?”
“I was just talking to the young hero here.”
Zhuge Liang frowned at that confident attitude.
‘Does this guy have some kind of great background?’
He was wearing clothes that looked quite expensive, despite his appearance. Of course, it was just ridiculous, but his background could not have persecuted Zhuge Liang.
She was also a vice-captain of the Murim Alliance and a member of the Zhuge family, one of the five great families in the martial arts world.
“Is this just a conversation? It’s obvious to anyone that you’re picking a fight. Do you think the Murim Alliance is that vulnerable?”
“I was just raising a reasonable doubt.”
“Oh so, you little thing think that the Murim Alliance can be taken down by a single participant?”
“…”
Gu Jin-seok shut his mouth.
Even Gu Jin-seok, who was born into a fairly well-to-do family, had great talent, and lived like an arrogant person with his characteristically rough personality, could not openly disparage the Murim Alliance.
Zhuge Liang, who was glaring at Gu Jin-seok, spoke to Cheon Woo-jin.
“Why are you just listening quietly, candidate Cheon Woojin? You could have just said something in rebuttal or left the room.”
“Why?”
“Uh?”
Zhuge Liang said cautiously.
“Right now, candidate Gu Jin-seok was threatening you.”
“Threatening?”
Cheon Woo-jin blinked.
I knew he was trying to pick a fight, but it didn’t really seem like a threat.
And most of all…
“Teacher told me not to mess with the weak.”
As Cheon Woo-jin said that, he pointed to the five wooden tags hanging from Gu Jin-seok’s waist.
Four As and one B.
Gu Jin-seok was the only one to receive a grade of B in the lightness evaluation test.
Although he was truly a talent worthy of being called a genius, to Cheon Woo-jin, he was nothing more or less than a dullard due to his size.
Cheon Woo-Jin said to Zhuge Liang, who had a bewildered expression.
“Anyway, I think there’s a lot of commotion because of me, so I’ll stay in the temporary residence. My evaluation just finished anyway.”
“…Uh, okay.”
Zhuge Liang nodded with a blank expression.
The same was true for other instructors and students who were watching the commotion.
In the meantime, Song Yi-yeon burst into laughter.
“Wow, did that big guy know that he’d be treated like a weakling after receiving four As?”
At those words, the applicants nearby burst into laughter.
No matter who Cheon Woo-jin was, it was strangely refreshing that Gu Jin-seok, who had caused a commotion, had been hit in the face.
Cheon Woo-jin thought as he headed towards his residence, leaving everything behind.
‘Should I just find that person quickly and go?’
Originally, he didn’t plan on joining the Murim Alliance.
He felt bad about completely ignoring the fact that Master Baekno had designed it this way, so he decided to at least take a test.
But it seemed like the tiring things would just keep happening.
‘Especially that guy Gu Jin-seok, he had already tried to start a fight with me once…’
At that moment…
Cheon Woo-jin felt a fierce momentum behind him.
Cheon Woo-jin looked back casually. The large Gu Jin-seok was openly showing a murderous aura. He looked like he was going to attack at any moment, and the instructors around him were wary of his impulsive actions.
– Woojin, people in the martial arts world must protect the weak.
– Those who choose to harass the weak, instead of protecting them, are not evil people, they are sick people.
This was what the two teachers always said.
But one day the conversation took a different turn.
– However, if your opponent is a martial artist and overconfident in their own strength without a good reason, and persecutes you, even if they are weak, it is a different story.
– Those guys should be killed without hesitation. Why are you rambling on and on?
Master Baekno always had many worries.
He wanted to teach goodness to Cheon Woo-jin, but he was worried that after the two teachers left, there would be those who would take advantage of his disciple’s nature.
As Heukno said, there were not only evil people in the world, but that did not mean they were all good people.
After a long and heated debate with Heukno, Baekno managed to come to one conclusion.
– If there is a martial artist who is determined to kill you even though it is not Woojin’s fault, then they can be said to be in the category of an evil person.
– Hahahaha. That’s right. Those guys deserve to have their heads smashed in.
Cheon Woo-jin, who had been thinking about his teachers’ conversation for a moment, looked blankly at Gu Jin-seok.
His murderous spirit was tickling his neck.
It wasn’t particularly threatening, but it was obvious that if he left it like this, it would only get more annoying in the future.
It’s been a while since I’ve heard my teachers words…
Cheon Woo-jin took out the Crescent Moon Stick that was behind his back.
At the same time, the air around them became heavy.
Even though he was just standing still with his pitch-black pole hanging down, Cheon Woo-jin’s presence weighed down on the entire training ground like thick fog at night.
Even the instructors gulped.
Zhuge Liang, who was looking at this, got slightly excited without realizing it.
‘…He became a completely different person.’
Cheon Woo-jin walked with slow steps.
Until he reached Gu Jin-seok, no one could block his path.
