Chapter 38: Serial Runaway Event (1)
“You indeed have the same temperament as us.”
Me, having the same temperament?
I didn’t know what kind of light Cheondo and Baekdo saw me in. I could only vaguely guess that they must have somehow seen through my potential.
However, being compared to Baekdo was absolutely absurd.
“The only temperament I have is anger management issues and being lascivious.”
“What kind of temperament is that? What I’m talking about is not such a vulgar temperament!”
Baekdo, surprised, quickly added an explanation to her statement.
“Third disciple. What I wanted to say is you are a born fighter. You are aggressive and have an innate sense. Obviously, you must have killed someone, haven’t you?”
“Yes, I have.”
“I thought so. I don’t like it, but you definitely have talent.”
Why was she praising me all of a sudden?
Looking at Baekdo, who was smirking confidently, I realized she was offering me something.
“So, if you acknowledge the greatness of this uniform, I will take you as my direct disciple. It’s an offer from the woman called the strongest in the world. How about it? Tempting, isn’t it?”
Baekdo smirked triumphantly.
‘So that’s why she praised me. Just flattering to raise her own value.’
I looked at Baekdo with a wry smile.
-Hee hee hee.
Even without laughter, I could hear her giggling. I took a breath and answered coldly.
“I don’t want to.”
Baekdo’s face stiffened in an instant.
“What, what? Hold on. It’s my offer. Are you really refusing?”
Baekdo asked me several times as if refuting my words.
“Don’t you think you are too ignorant? If you go to a Taekwondo gym in Seoul, they lure in disciples with uniforms and drinks.”
“A Taekwondo gym, you say?”
“Yes. Even academies offer generous support to students with good grades. Do you know what this means?”
Baekdo’s face filled with question marks, and I shrugged my shoulders.
“Times have changed. There are many people who can teach besides you, Baekdo. You need to respect your disciples. What is there to learn under a master who does not respect her disciples?”
I spat out the words to irritate Baekdo.
“Hmm.”
Baekdo put her finger on her lips and groaned.
“Are you serious about this? It’s a technique that you cannot learn even if you want to. And you say I should pamper you?”
“Yes.”
“Ugh!!! Where is such forced logic!”
Here it was, obviously. Honestly, it was a tempting offer, but my pride wouldn’t allow it.
“Fine. Conduct today’s training among yourselves! I’ll be back after going outside for a while.”
“Are you upset?”
“Shut up!”
“Sensitive. Angry. Okay, I’ll consider it. If you acknowledge the taste of water, I will become your disciple.”
“Ugh!!!”
Baekdo, not wanting to hear anymore, quickly covered her ears and descended the mountain. Sansuyu alternately looked at me and Baekdo.
“Shiheon.”
“Hm?”
“…Both are strange.”
She tilted her head, subtly criticizing us. I nodded silently.
“Friends’ fights are usually childish.”
“Is it like that?”
“That’s right.”
As I nodded in agreement with her ridiculous statement, Sansuyu crossed her arms and glanced at me.
“Well, I like the uniform following the master.”
“What?”
“I hate water.”
Saying so, Sansuyu mimicked Baekdo’s annoyed face and entered the shack.
-Thump.
The sound of the door closed with what seemed like anger. I found her actions absurd.
“…I must have taught my friend wrong.”
[Accept that man as a disciple. His talent is definite. He’ll probably complement your power well.]
Baekdo read the letter left by Cheondo multiple times. Veins were visible between her frowning brows. Her white hair was disheveled, and a decadent aura surfaced on her face.
“…Cheondo, that evil woman.”
She disliked Cheondo. How dare she suggest accepting a man, who was already infuriating at first sight, as a disciple? She thought a proper master-disciple relationship would never form between them.
“Lee Shiheon, Lee Shiheon….”
She murmured the name with a cold voice.
She thought that his talent was clear. Someone who could replicate anything at first glance, a real deal. Was Shiheon’s talent just that? His well-trained body and personality were also of first-class temperament.
The person Cheondo and Baekdo were hoping for was Lee Shiheon.
[Sansuyu also has talent, but not like Lee Shiheon. It’s hard to take her away from her family. You must accept Lee Shiheon as a disciple.]
“I really don’t want to…”
As if reading her mind, Cheondo’s letter contained such words.
-Or do you know what will happen?
A kind of threat. Baekdo closed her eyes, recalling past events. When Cheondo, with caterpillars all over her, lost consciousness. Baekdo despised insects. The sight of those hairy bugs horrified her. She even fainted. That vision still haunted her dreams.
Baekdo, never wanting to experience that again, shivered.
She had to get the flower named Lee Shiheon. However, it wasn’t as easy as deciding to do it.
“How should I do this…”
She couldn’t forsake her hard peach, it was her identity and life companion.
‘I’d rather touch caterpillars with bare hands than forsake my uniform.’
Thinking of the uncomfortable caterpillar, she shook her head.
‘On second thought, giving up the uniform might be better than touching caterpillars…’
It was a trivial thought, but it was more important than a summit meeting for her. Those who reached the top often worried about trivial things.
“Ugh, the third disciple, that evil guy.”
Baekdo, almost at the peak of resentment, ruffled her hair again. Who would have known he would speak such harsh words?
She knew they were not a match from the first day they met.
Ah. They would never understand each other in this lifetime. When together, they were enemies biting each other. Like parallel lines never meeting, she was sure her relationship with Shiheon would never intersect.
‘He doesn’t even know my feelings.’
Baekdo puffed her cheeks, sulking internally. Even if she refused, Cheondo kept repeating to secure Shiheon.
‘Ugh.’
Baekdo found Lee Shiheon repulsive, but she had no choice but to follow Cheondo. Baekdo admired Cheondo, who was born with the demeanor of a great leader and wanted to be like her. Baekdo’s way of speaking was initially similar to Cheondo’s because she deliberately modified her speech to match hers.
People of this world assumed that Baekdo was the master of this body, but Baekdo thought otherwise.
Baekdo, being in this position, being looked up to as the strongest woman, and earning the ominous title of Undefeated Peach Tree, was all according to Cheondo’s plan. Didn’t Cheondo end up establishing a mercenary group called “Spring Peach Blossom” according to her plans?
“Sigh. I have to follow it. What can I do?”
Baekdo murmured, and a cute voice could be heard from inside.
-Baekdo, don’t hate our little brother too much.
‘Hwangdo, you don’t know anything.’
-He’s a good kid…
‘He touched my chest and got excited.’
-That, that’s because you passed him on to me! Are you really going to keep doing this to me?
‘So, you weren’t excited?’
-….
‘Pretending to dislike while doing everything that excites, what a devious woman.’
-Waah.
When Hwangdo’s crying sounds filled the air, a calm voice interrupted.
-What’s the commotion now?
It was Cheondo.
‘Cheondo… Does it have to be that guy?’
-Lee Shiheon has ten times more talent than your current disciple.
‘No, I really think I won’t get along with him. That’s what I’m saying.’
-What are you talking about? You, of all people, Baekdo? Personality-wise, you two would get along the best.
‘What nonsense.’
Baekdo rubbed her eyes and stood up. The scenery of the piled-up mountains came into her view as she sighed at the great height she was at.
-Beep beep.
The alarm rang, and Baekdo checked the caller ID on her phone.
-010-235x-21xx [First Disciple]
She sighed heavily and answered the phone. Soon a bright woman’s voice rang.
[Master, there’s been an incident. I think you should come.]
“What do you mean?”
[Well, there’s been a series of rampages in Seoul…]
Wooden Rampage Incident. So, an Ent. A term referring to corrupted tree people.
If ‘Liberation’ or ‘Woodification’ was a unique ability of the tree people who fully drew out the power of the World Tree, ‘Ent’ referred to those who couldn’t bear woodification, lost their sanity, and became monsters.
However, most tree people, with their thin World Tree blood, couldn’t even draw out nor endure the power of woodification. So, these serial Ent incidents indicated that someone was intentionally making tree people rampage. It was the most heinous crime in modern society.
[Anyway, I think you should come. We’ve dealt with over five cases today.]
“Five cases?”
An average of ten cases occurred per year, but five in one day? Baekdo frowned and descended from the peak.
“Okay.”
[Please, Master. All the Spring Peach Blossom mercenaries are here, so only you need to come.]
Then Cheondo spoke.
-This works out well.
‘What?’
-Sansuyu and Lee Shiheon lack practical experience; this will be a great opportunity for growth.
‘What are you saying? They’re Ents, Ents! Not just monsters.’
-That guy can do it.
Baekdo, with a baffled face, let out a sigh.
“Really.”
[Master?]
She finally conceded.
“Listen. Two more are joining us.”
[Huh? Suddenly? We are short of hands, but are they competent?]
“Probably.”
[…Probably? Master, you said probably? The last weird disciple you brought nearly died.]
“Quiet. Hang up. Roshi.”
[No, Master! Wait-]
-Click.
Baekdo, putting her phone back, looked up at the sky with a blank face.
“Is it because I’m stressed? The sky looks yellow.”
-Don’t make a fuss, Baekdo.
-Exactly.
Baekdo cried internally. Not just crying, but really wailing.
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