Star Instructor, Master Baek

TL: FoodieMonster007

“Fuck, did something get in my eye? Why now, of all times…?” Cheoldu grumbled, clumsily rubbing his reddened eyes with the back of his hand.

Tears were streaming down his face, but he couldn’t understand why. He hadn’t even shed a tear when Jangsam died. Hell, he’d endured stabbings, burns, and every other kind of pain life threw at him, but each time he’d gritted his teeth and soldiered on.

Yet now, I’m crying over a few words from that bastard?

Cheoldu couldn’t accept it. Just the thought that some pretty boy, who’d appeared out of nowhere and knocked him down, could stir up his buried emotions was infuriating.

Raising a hatchet, he pointed it threateningly at Baek Suryong’s forehead.

“Bullshit,” he spat, glaring fiercely at the man. “What kind of nonsense are you spouting? You think I’ll believe you’ll give me a job if I come under you?”

“I know it’s hard to believe, but hear me out first,” Baek Suryong said calmly, then recounted what he had told the old woman at the Rogues’ Guild. Unfortunately, Cheoldu wasn’t interested in listening to anything he had to say.

“You…” Cheoldu sneered, spitting on the ground and letting a trickle of blood escape from between his teeth. “You look like one of those spoiled brats from a good family who picked up a few martial arts tricks. What, are you planning to gather a bunch of lowlifes so you can have fun playing the leader?”

Visibly unimpressed by Cheoldu’s defiance, Baek Suryong crossed his arms and sighed, “Maybe his skull is just too thick. He doesn’t seem to understand human language. Perhaps some more beatings will do the trick?”

“Stop talking shit and come at me!” Cheoldu roared, charging at Baek Suryong again. Deep down, he knew he couldn’t win, but running wasn’t an option. With a hatchet in each hand, he charged forward like a bull, headfirst into danger.

Even if I die here today, so be it! I’ll at least take a limb, no, a finger from him!

At that moment, Cheoldu’s concentration reached an all-time high. Injuries be damned, he abandoned all attempts at defense and swung his hatchets with surprising speed, drawing a brilliant trajectory as they ripped through the air.

“You’ve got a real knack for axe arts,” Baek Suryong murmured, effortlessly dodging the attack.

As if anticipating Baek Suryong’s sidestep, Cheoldu threw his hatchets and lunged forward, his head shooting forward like a cannonball toward his opponent’s chest. It was a reckless move, without regard for his own safety. If he missed, his head would smash into the wall behind him and split open like a ripe watermelon.

“What you need is a straightforward, powerful martial art… One that matches your killing intent… I know! The Thunderclap Axe is just right for you,” Baek Suryong murmured, even as he drew a smooth circle with his hand, skillfully demonstrating a Taoist technique to effortlessly deflect Cheoldu’s head to the side.

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Disoriented, Cheoldu spun around in the air, feeling as if he was defying gravity for a moment, then crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

“Ugh…” Cheoldu sat dazed on the ground, struggling to gather his senses. He stared at Baek Suryong, who had subdued him without a scratch, as if he were staring at a ghost. “Who the hell are you? Just fucking kill me already! I’m not your plaything…”

BONK!

Baek Suryong struck the crown of Cheoldu’s head with the Black Dragon Pointer. “Why don’t you try using that iron head of yours for something other than headbutting people?” he asked incredulously.

“…What?”

With eyes as cold as ice, Baek Suryong looked down at Cheoldu. “If I were just gathering thugs for fun, do you think I’d bother keeping you alive?”

Cheoldu glared daggers at Baek Suryong, but Baek Suryong met his gaze with a firm, unyielding stare.

Finally, Cheoldu caved in. “So… What is it you’re trying to do? Why would someone like you be in a place like this…?” he asked in resignation.

“I’m going to unite the forces in the slums and form a proper sect.”

“A sect?” Cheoldu’s eyes widened. He’d assumed Baek Suryong was just another power-hungry thug, looking to control the slums and collect protection money.

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Baek Suryong nodded. “Yes. I plan to gather thugs like you and teach them martial arts. However, I won’t accept everyone. Those beyond redemption will be swept up and handed over to the authorities. Only those who can be reformed will undergo rigorous training.”

A wicked smile spread across Baek Suryong’s lips, already imagining the hell awaiting the new trainees.

Cheoldu blinked in confusion. “Why would you do something like that?”

“You don’t need to know the details. What’s important is this.”

Baek Suryong drew his sword, Moon Shadow.

Cheoldu flinched, expecting an attack, but his gaze quickly locked onto the dazzling crimson sword qi dancing along Moon Shadow’s blade. Having never seen sword qi up close before, he was completely captivated by the sight.

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“If you come under me, I’ll teach you real martial arts. Not the third-rate garbage sold in the streets, but techniques that’ll make you a true master,” Baek Suryong tempted.

Entranced, Cheoldu could only mutter, “Real martial arts…”

Baek Suryong smiled, satisfied. As long as he thirsts for power, I knew this would work.

Cheoldu had plenty of combat experience and a fearlessness that made him charge headlong into danger, but it was clear that he’d never encountered high-level martial arts before.

With his potential… If he was part of the old Blood Cult, he would’ve at least become a squad captain. What he needs now is a martial art that suits him perfectly, and I know just the one.

“I’ll teach you how to wield those axes properly,” Baek Suryong said, glancing at the hatchets Cheoldu had dropped. The Thunderclap Axe was a fiercely practical, offense-oriented technique, and he was confident that if Cheoldu learned it, he’d become a master in no time.

Cheoldu looked up at Baek Suryong, bewildered. “…Are you saying you’ll teach me advanced martial arts? Why? Advanced techniques are so precious you can’t even buy them with money.”

Everyone knew that advanced techniques were so rare that most martial artists were willing to risk their lives to obtain them. Even between master and disciple, such skills were rarely passed down.

However, Baek Suryong wasn’t someone bound by common sense.

I know a lot of martial arts, but I can’t use them all myself.

The Thunderclap Axe was one of the Blood Cult’s martial arts. To be more precise, it was a technique that the Blood Cult had acquired for research, but it wasn’t a demonic art, so there was no problem with him spreading it.

Although, I might have to omit some of the more brutal techniques.

Most students at the Azure Dragon Academy were already learning advanced martial arts from their families or sects, so there was generally no need to teach them new techniques. In contrast, the sect Baek Suryong planned to establish in the slums required a different approach.

I can teach some of the many martial arts I know to these people. Though they might not be as talented as the students at the Azure Dragon Academy, they more than make up for it with sheer numbers and the fact that they would be entirely under my control. Of course, all this will have to remain a closely guarded secret for now.

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In this plan, Cheoldu was the person Baek Suryong had in mind to lead this new sect. He remembered what the old woman from the Rogues’ Guild had said about him.

“Cheoldu, huh. He’s loyal and, contrary to his appearance, he doesn’t kill just anyone. He only collects half as much protection money as other gangs. Sometimes he even exempts those who are really struggling. That’s why he and his people are still poor.”

Despite his intimidating presence, Cheoldu was actually one of the nicer people in the slums.

Baek Suryong smiled. “I’ve said all I needed to say. The choice is yours now.”

“……”

“I’ll be waiting at that inn with the shitty noodles until morning.”

With that, Baek Suryong turned and walked away without looking back.

As soon as he disappeared around the corner of the alley, Cheoldu’s strength gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground with a thud, sighing, “Haa… Have I been tempted by the devil…?”

He stared blankly at the pitch-black sky, where countless stars twinkled as if they were about to fall.

Suddenly, a shooting star streaked across the sky, leaving a long trail behind it. For a moment, Cheoldu was reminded of how he used to make wishes to shooting stars when he was very young, praying to escape his miserable life.

“Damn it. What’s the point now?” Cheoldu chuckled to himself.

His body was so drained of energy that he couldn’t even lift a finger. How long he lay there, he didn’t know.

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A rough voice eventually roused him, saying, “You fool. You’ll freeze to death like that.”

“Old lady?” Cheoldu exclaimed, shocked.

It was the old woman from the inn known for its shitty noodles. She was rumored to be mute, but it wasn’t her voice that surprised Cheoldu. After all, he was one of the few who knew that she wasn’t really mute, and that she was a member of the Rogues’ Guild. Rather, he was surprised that she approached him of her own accord.

“What brings you here, old lady?” he asked.

“The guy who beat you up, his name is Baek Suryong.”

“…Is he famous?”

“He’s a new instructor at the Azure Dragon Academy, and he’s been causing quite the stir lately.”

“So, he’s a big shot. Figures.”

Cheoldu had heard plenty about the Azure Dragon Academy. People said that if you learned martial arts there, you could fly through the sky and smash rocks with your bare fists. To someone like Cheoldu, who had only picked up rudimentary fighting skills, it was like hearing about another world.

“Old lady, that guy… he said he’d teach me advanced martial arts.”

Cheoldu had long given up on getting into the Azure Dragon Academy. The stigma of being from the slums and his troubled past, which involved run-ins with the authorities from a young age, held him back. Not only the Azure Dragon Academy, but even the countryside martial arts academies had rejected him.

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“…I can’t teach martial arts to someone like you.”

“You? Learn martial arts? You’re bound to become a demon someday.”

“Get lost! Your eyes are filled with killing intent!”

“Do you know where you are? Get out of here right now!”

As he recalled these bitter memories, Cheoldu smiled wryly. “If someone like me learns advanced martial arts, I might end up becoming a public enemy of the murim.”

“What nonsense are you blabbing? Get up, you fool,” the old woman said, poking him with her cane until he groaned and struggled to his feet. Watching him with a steady gaze, she then asked, “What are you going to do? Will you join forces with Baek Suryong?”

“…Honestly, I don’t know if I can trust him.”

Seeing Cheoldu’s confusion, the old woman decided to offer some advice. “That man said something interesting. He told me not to trust him, but to trust Cheong Cheon instead.”

“…Cheong Cheon? The constable?”

“They seemed close.”

Everyone in the slums knew Cheong Cheon. He was one of the few who had risen from these very streets to make something of himself and was always there to help when problems arose.

“So, Cheong Cheon…”

“But you know, I’d rather put my trust in Baek Suryong than Cheong Cheon.”

“Why?”

The old woman chuckled at Cheoldu’s uncharacteristically innocent question. “Because ever since Baek Suryong appeared, Cheong Cheon’s face has brightened. Isn’t that reason enough?”

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“……” After thinking for a moment, Cheoldu finally said, “Old lady, I’m hungry. Can you get me something to eat?”

“Alright. I’ll make you a bowl of those shitty noodles back at the inn.”

The two of them headed back to the inn together.

When they entered, they found Baek Suryong reading some documents given to him by the Rogues’ Guild.

“You’re here?”

“…I just came here to eat.”

“Suit yourself.”

Baek Suryong smirked and returned to his documents.

Meanwhile, Cheoldu forced down a bowl of the shitty noodles that the old woman had prepared for him. Only after he had stuffed himself full did he walk over to Baek Suryong and sit down across from him.

“Tell me. What do I need to do?” he asked.

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