9. Seonjupilsung (Victory through Preemptive Strike)

I was startled to meet my senior brother.

This was originally the time when both the master and the senior brother were asleep.

I had checked in advance that it was everyone’s sleep time, so I could sneak out and exercise.

The reason for sneaking out to exercise was simple.

During the day, I was too busy with training and chores to have any time for personal training.

Moreover, Jeonyeong had a personality that strictly adhered to principles to the point of being old-fashioned.

If Jeonyeong knew that I was doing more training than necessary?

He would definitely nag me for hours, saying that excessive training is harmful to the body.

After that, additional training would naturally be prohibited.

Rather than seeing that happen, it was more efficient to sneak out and exercise during sleep time.

Just doing the training that Jeonyeong ordered would not make me a bodybuilder, a stamina king, or the grandmaster of the Seokdo.

At best, I could only become an ordinary master with a decent body, scattered throughout the martial world.

An ordinary master.

I refuse such a dreadful future.

Just thinking about it made my hands and feet tremble, but I endured it with superhuman patience.

‘That won’t do! With an ordinary good body, I can’t surpass my senior brother and win the heart of the peerless beauty!’

So, ordinary external training won’t suffice.

I must train beyond my limits.

Only then can I achieve the ultimate physique that overflows with muscular beauty, like the ancient Greek statues of gods that make women fall in love at first sight.

Through improving my cardiovascular endurance, I can also enhance my stamina.

It was with this mindset that I continued my nightly runs.

Was it my slight relief after doing this for over two months that caused my downfall?

‘Damn it, if I had even a year’s worth of internal energy, I would have sensed my senior brother’s presence with my sixth sense.’

The efficacy of internal energy is not limited to granting the user superhuman strength.

As internal energy increases and the depth of one’s mental cultivation deepens, not only do the five senses become more acute when drawing upon the energy, but the sixth sense, known as the sixth sense or sixth sense, also becomes activated.

And in the martial world, this sixth sense is most frequently used to detect the presence of others or ambushes.

In modern terms, the sixth sense can be described as an internal energy radar that spreads the energy like waves to detect targets.

But now, I was only practicing the breathing technique.

No matter how skilled I was in my past life, that was only in my past life.

With my current body, which lacks even a handful of internal energy, it was impossible to use the sixth sense, a derivative function of internal energy.

That’s why I couldn’t sense my senior brother’s presence.

In any case, the situation was already irreversible, like spilled water that cannot be gathered again.

It was fortunate that I was caught by my senior brother, who was open to negotiation, rather than my stubborn master.

‘It’s not the worst.’

After stopping in front of my senior brother, I took a deep breath and spoke in a calm voice with a composed expression.

“Good evening, senior brother. The moon is bright tonight, and I couldn’t sleep. Moreover, I always felt that my training was lacking, so I was doing some additional training on my own.”

A response close to the truth.

But I knew that my senior brother wouldn’t back down so easily.

Perhaps what he would say in response to my words…

My senior brother’s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing my words.

His delicate lips parted.

“But, brother. Master said that training beyond the limits of the body would only harm it. I understand your dedication to martial arts, but additional training won’t speed up your internal energy cultivation. So, I hope you stop this excessive training.”

Brother said with a slightly worried expression.

Even his worried expression looks like a handsome man filled with melancholy and agony.

Damn it.

Look at the difference in our faces.

I feel like a squid in real-time.

Anyway, brother’s answer was exactly what I expected.

It was so exemplary that if this were a college entrance exam, it would have been a headline as the easiest exam ever.

‘But I can’t just give in to brother’s words.’

If I agree with him, I won’t be able to do night runs ever again.

If I can’t do night runs, I’ll naturally lose my stamina.

I can’t let that happen.

How hard did I work to build this body? How much did I enhance my stamina?

If I say okay and get caught going out again tomorrow?

Brother would definitely tell Master, and I’d get scolded and banned from running.

So, it’s time to start the act I prepared to persuade brother.

“······I’m sorry for causing you concern, brother. But I’m not doing additional training for internal energy cultivation.”

Brother’s eyes widened at my words.

Well, most 13-year-olds would want to finish the boring external training quickly and start internal energy cultivation.

But I wasn’t an ordinary 13-year-old.

I threw a topic at brother, who tilted his head at my serious expression.

“Brother and I are different.”

I recalled sad memories to prepare for my tearful act and stimulated my tear glands.

I replayed the terrible memory of being sold to a damn merchant and forcibly castrated when I suddenly found myself in the martial world in my previous life.

The memory of my testicles and penis being cut off on a blood-stained wooden surgery table with no hygiene in sight!

And the terrible memory of a metal skewer being stuck into the exposed urethra of the severed area made tears pour out reflexively.

“Sa, Sa-je…”

When I started crying, Sa-hyung waved his hand in a flustered voice.

I must not stop crying here.

I sat down on the spot and cried sorrowfully like a 13-year-old child.

“Sob sob… Genius Sa-hyung will never understand the feelings of a dullard like me… If I don’t do this, I can’t keep up… If I fall behind, then here… I might be kicked out and end up back on the streets…”

Until now, I had lived in the sect as a precocious character for my age.

For someone like me to suddenly cry and show the appearance of a child of that age?

If someone who usually doesn’t act like this suddenly does, it’s only natural to think, “Did I do something wrong?”

Especially if the person is just one year older than me.

No matter how much of a future martial arts master he may be, right now, he’s just a 14-year-old child.

Taking control over someone like that is a piece of cake.

Compared to my past life, where I dealt with high-ranking officials in Beijing and engaged in political rhetoric with a smiling face while stabbing each other in the back, dealing with young Sa-hyung is literally child’s play.

Indeed, the first strike is always a sure win.

“Sa, Sa-je. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry… Don’t cry, Sa-je…”

Sa-hyung’s face was filled with guilt as he watched me sit and cry.

But I can’t stop here.

“Waaah… Sa-hyung… I don’t want to be kicked out… I finally found a place to stay… I want to become a proud disciple of our sect too… Sob sob…”

I cried even more sorrowfully, making a lisping sound.

Sa-hyung’s handsome face was filled with even more confusion and guilt as he watched me.

Yes.

Judging by Sa-hyung’s face, this is just right.

After spending two months together, I realized that Sa-hyung was the type of person whose emotions were clearly displayed on his face.

I even wondered if the reason he wore a hat with a net in his past life was not because he was handsome, but because his emotions and thoughts were too easily read from his facial expressions.

So, judging by Sa-hyung’s face meter, now is the time to stop the tearful act to achieve the maximum effect.

Just as I was about to stop my tearful act.

Hug.

Suddenly, Sa-hyung hugged me tightly.

What the heck.

What’s wrong with him?

Why is he suddenly hugging me?

“`

I struggled to break free from his embrace, but the more I did, the tighter his arms bound me.

How could such monstrous strength come from such thin arms, almost like a woman’s?

Could he be using inner strength?

Damn it.

Of all things, a hug from a man! My first hug taken by a man!

This can’t be happening.

I had decided that my first hug would be with an absolute beauty. But to have it taken by a man!

The subtle scent of wildflowers emanating from his body stimulated my sensitive sense of smell.

Moreover, his embrace was unnecessarily soft and warm, making me feel good, like the embrace of a woman I had imagined countless times in my head, which made me feel even worse.

“Ugh… Hic…”

Hot tears of genuine sorrow, not acting, streamed down my cheeks.

Logically, I think I understand why he hugged me.

If I were to guess the psychology of my senior, who is still just a young boy, he must have been flustered, thinking, “How do I comfort my younger brother who is crying so sorrowfully?” and in a state of brain freeze, he hugged me to comfort me somehow.

But emotionally, I cannot accept this hug.

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This can’t be happening.

How could my first hug, which I had guarded so carefully…

I had decided that my first hug would be with an absolute beauty with whom I shared mutual affection…

How could… a man…

Take my hug…

It’s sorrowful.

Damn sorrowful.

Even if I want to escape, damn it, my senior is holding me so tightly that I can’t.

All I can do, having my first hug taken by a man who smells like flowers, is to shed tears of anger and frustration while being held in his arms.

“Junior. It’s okay. It’s okay. Don’t cry. Stop. I’m sorry.”

He stroked my head while holding me.

His voice, unnecessarily androgynous and beautiful, made me even more furious.

“…Don’t cry… I was wrong… I didn’t know you were struggling with such worries until you told me.”

He whispered softly into my ear and gently patted my back.

He was right.

I had to stop crying.

“`

That’s the only way I can escape this f*cking man’s embrace.

But once the real tears started flowing, unfortunately, they didn’t stop and kept streaming down as if I had been hit by tear gas.

This all happened because I acted too well, creating an overly dramatic effect.

I never imagined that my senior brother would hug me here.

“Ugh… Damn it…”

I thought, cursing in Korean while crying, forcibly held in my senior brother’s arms.

Usually, a well-built setup leads to certain victory.

But an overly well-built setup that becomes excessively strong brings about an even more devastating defeat.

It was only in my second life that I finally realized this.

That day, I lost the pure love I had cherished for over 50 years to my senior brother.

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