Chapter 573. Advancing (3)

“This is so weird...”

Yi Myeong-Hwan was grimacing deeply after realizing something. A few seconds ago, he closed his eyes to focus on sensing the flow of qi inside his body and discovered it was boiling like crazy. If this happened in the past, he might have freaked out at his qi escaping his control.

The state of qi running out of a martial artist's control was called 'qi deviation'. The past Yi Myeong-Hwan would've been writhing on the floor in sheer pain by now with the status of his qi flow. But now? This weird behavior from his qi happened more frequently after he mastered the demonic cultivation method.

Yi Myeong-Hwan still could vividly remember the first time he noticed this phenomenon. Rather obviously, he freaked out and rushed to Kang Jin-Ho to get help. But the response he got after desperately reporting his status was completely out of his expectations.

Kang Jin-Ho said, “What about it?” while making a slightly confused face.

Yi Myeong-Hwan could only slink off in silence afterward. Besides, he had nothing to complain about since no discernible problem occurred to his body.

That was the story then, and even now, Yi Myeong-Hwan's qi was boiling unsteadily away.

'Could this be because I've become a bit... short-tempered?'

If he was being honest, Yi Myeong-Hwan felt like there was a bomb inside his gut. An unstable ticking bomb that might go off at any second! With that kind of feeling always hanging around him like a bad odor, how could Yi Myeong-Hwan let his guard down? Especially when something as simple as accidentally bumping shoulders could lead to murder!

'No, hang. That shouldn't happen... Right?'

Yi Myeong-Hwan's educated guess sounded somewhat logical. But it was still inadequate to explain why so many martial artists starting their cultivation journey with demonic arts became violent lunatics. Those who had never known what a stable qi flow looked like wouldn't grow anxious just because their internal energy was boiling unsteadily, anyway...!

“But... Does the reason really matter, anyway?”

Regardless of what, though, Yi Myeong-Hwan's nerves growing tauter and his temper getting shorter was not a product of his imagination. Things he would've brushed aside without much care in the past would now automatically make him want to beat someone up to a pulp.

Yi Myeong-Hwan might be a martial artist but still despised the mindset of using violence to solve every situation. Lately, though... He found himself becoming several times more violent than those he despised.

Yi Myeong-Hwan unhappily scratched his head. That prompted other martial artists nearby to sneakily distance themselves away from him.

“Uh-whew..” Yi Myeong-Hwan could only sigh at length at this scene. He didn't blame his peers for their cautiousness. Even he would back away first after seeing a scowling dude wielding a knife. Questions like 'Who is stronger' or 'Would I win' were secondary since fighting against a lunatic was a loss-loss situation. Even if he could suppress the lunatic without injuries, it'd still be a waste of his valuable time and energy.

And others must be thinking that way while staring at Yi Myeong-Hwan. The only difference in this situation was that, instead of a knife, demonic qi was constantly leaking out of Yi Myeong-Hwan. And this energy should feel several times more dangerous than any knife to martial artists.

Yi Myeong-Hwan rubbed his face hard. Was it a misfortune, or should he be glad about still being able to recognize his situation as sh*tty? Sure, it was unfortunate to be stuck in this state. There was no denying that. However, Yi Myeong-Hwan should still be glad about being able to recognize that he was a nuisance to his surroundings and that people ostracized him for it.

'If this keeps up and demonic qi cooks my brain... What will happen to me?'

Kang Jin-Ho said not to worry about such a thing, but Yi Myeong-Hwan still couldn't stop getting nervous about it as a martial artist cultivating demonic arts. For instance, what if something bad happened to Yi Myeong-Hwan, but Kang Jin-Ho pretended he couldn't see anything? Who would take the responsibility in that case?

Due to the Martial Assembly's position as the ultimate controlling force of the Korean underworld, Yi Myeong-Hwan had the privilege of running into several demonic arts practitioners before. And those folks didn't deserve to be called human beings anymore. After training in some shoddy demonic arts, their minds were no longer capable of rational thoughts, and their motivations came from incomprehensible basic urges.

'No, I'm sure that won't happen to me...!'

Yi Myeong-Hwan kept telling himself that he'd be spared from that fate. Kang Jin-Ho declared confidently that his demonic cultivation technique was a totally different beast from all the shoddy crap Yi Myeong-Hwan encountered or heard about.

Did that mean Yi Myeong-Hwan believed Kang Jin-Ho's words, though?

'No, not really...!'

What Yi Myeong-Hwan believed in wasn't Kang Jin-Ho the person, but Kang Jin-Ho's strength. And Kang Jin-Ho's rational mind.

Didn't everyone see it already? 'It' being the demonic arts practitioners who had lost their minds and let instincts and urges dictate them. If Kang Jin-Ho was serious about strengthening these younger-generation martial artists and using them as his pawns, he wouldn't want his soldiers to become mindless beasts. A combat force that could not be controlled was utterly useless, after all!

Yi Myeong-Hwan's head, his logical mind, had already answered this question. Unfortunately, humans were surprisingly irrational animals. And Yi Myeong-Hwan wasn't able to transcend past the limitations of being a human. Even if he tried not to think about it, anxiety kept invading his mind.

“Bloody hell, gimme a freaking break...” Yi Myeong-Hwan scanned his surroundings as his eyes became slightly bloodshot. He was searching for something to vent his steam, but then...

“...Mm?”

Yi Myeong-Hwan's brows rose up a little at the sight of a crowd gathering in front of the Assembly HQ's main building. More specifically, they were crowding in front of a noticeboard.

'What's going on over there?'

What a strange sight this was. Although that was indeed a noticeboard, people didn't have a reason to crowd in front of it in the digital era. The higher-ups were still stuck in the past and used that noticeboard, but the younger generation would just snap a couple of photos of any new orders or public notices posted there and upload them online to share with their peers.

In that sense, it might be possible that the public notice on the board hadn't been uploaded online yet as it was still brand-spanking new.

What Yi Myeong-Hwan found strange in this scene was the response of the martial artists staring at the noticeboard. After all, the contents of the notices should be pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain. The higher-ups either didn't want to see this and that kind of behavior or wanted so-and-so done.

Even those most loyal to the Assembly would start swearing the moment they clapped their eyes on most of those public notices, so to see the crowd respond so viscerally like that?

Unable to win against his curiosity, Yi Myeon-Hwan also crept closer to the noticeboard. “Excuse me... Let me through, okay? I want to take a look.”

“What the f*ck, man?”

“Hey, stop pushing! Have you lost your goddamn mind?!”

“Which motherf*cker pushed me?! Who was it!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan smiled contentedly.

'Yup, this is the expected reaction.'

How long had it been since he last experienced this type of rough response? It seemed his fellow martial artists were less affected by Yi Myeong-Hwan's demonic qi as there were a lot of people crowding this place, making it difficult to look behind them.

Obviously, Yi Myeong-Hwan wasn't a pervert. Even so, he still felt happy to experience this response again after such a lengthy absence!

“I'm really sorry about this. But I gotta check, too. Sorry!”

“Argh, seriously?! F*ck!”

Martial artists exploded in irritation when someone pushed at them from behind to invade their spaces. However, they immediately stepped aside after confirming the intruder was indeed Yi Myeong-Hwan. Ignorance was bliss, and since they had seen Yi Myeong-Hwan's face, they were no longer brave enough to hurl insults in his way.

Yi Myeong-Hwan grew a little depressed by their behavior but kept advancing to reach the noticeboard.

“Just why are there so many people... Eh?” Yi Myeong-Hwan's eyes finally landed on the public notice plastered on the board. And when he confirmed the contents printed on this colorful poster, his entire body began trembling in shock. “W-what is the meaning of this?”

Announcing Mister Wiggins' new, exciting curriculum!

Good day to you, this is Wiggins, an official member of the Korean Martial Assembly and an expert in Western martial arts. You can call me Mister Wiggins, thank you.

I have entered a new chapter in my life's journey and would dearly love to open a class teaching Western martial arts to any young Assembly-affiliated martial artists interested in broadening their horizons. If the prospect sounds appealing to you, I invite you to apply for a spot in the class.

I assure you, my class is not a one-off sideshow. We will continuously support your advance throughout the curriculum, and the plan is to continue consulting with the Martial Assembly to gradually add more suitable subjects to my class.

I'd like to strongly advise against anyone applying out of casual curiosity. Please only apply after objectively evaluating yourselves thoroughly first. Thank you.

Application window: From today until next Friday.

Applicant eligibility: Any current member of the Martial Assembly below the age of thirty.

Application method: Please complete the application form found at the main building and submit it to the accounting department.

The application process will involve:

1. All submitted application documents will be vetted first.

2. The vetted applicants will be interviewed.

3. The passing applicants will be notified individually.

You must be able to hold conversations. No exceptions. Applicants who can converse in English will be given preference.

If you wish to learn more, please visit the temporary office for non-executive directors located on the floor right below the Assembly Master's office.

“W-what the f*ck?” Yi Myeong-Hwan's cheeks twitched noticeably.

What was up with this... this insane advertisement?

As if to ram the point home for this public notice, the upper half of the poster featured the image of charismatic Mister Wiggins' smiling mug that could've belonged to a Hollywood actor. Just looking at his carefully groomed white beard almost compelled Yi Myeong-Hwan to rush to the main building and get his hand on the application document! That was how trustworthy that man's face looked on the poster.

Also, why were the words 'who can converse in English will be given preference' highlighted in red?

'Huh. I wonder how many people in the Assembly are bilingual and can speak English?'

Yi Myeong-Hwan chuckled in dismay. He didn't mind the advertisers resorting to various methods to pull the punters in. Even so, who would be dumb enough to apply to a public notice like this? Less than a handful? After all, who would even believe this nonsense?

Not just Yi Myeong-Hwan, but everyone here had never heard of this Mister Wiggins until now. So, how many people would be dumb enough to learn from a teacher they didn't know?

That was what Yi Myeong-Hwan thought. Who would fall for something this stupid and...

“Get out of my way! Hey, I said, get out of my way! You deaf?!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan looked behind when a shrill yell pierced his hearing. “Mm?”

That was when he noticed Lee Hyeon-Su scowling unhappily and striding toward the noticeboard.

“Oh, Branch Director, sir...”

“Get out of my way, you dipsh*ts!” Lee Hyeon-Su angrily waved his hands as if to shoo annoying flies away, causing the crowd to split apart like Moses' miraculous parting of the Red Sea.

'Huh. I guess cultivating demonic arts isn't such a big deal, after all.'

Yi Myeong-Hwan thought people had been avoiding him like a plague lately, but that was nothing compared to Lee Hyeon-Su's power. If Lee Hyeon-Su was a knife-wielding lunatic, then Yi Myeon-Hwan would be a stray mutt with slightly-sharper fangs.

“Tsk..” Lee Hyeon-Su tutted in irritation. As for his expression, it had already reached the realm of yelling, 'Aaaargh, f*cking hell! Why do I need to do this, too?! When I'm so busy already! This is driving me nuts!' and clearly enunciating every syllable in the process!

After realizing Lee Hyeon-Su's mood was in the pits, everyone hurriedly lowered their heads to avoid getting noticed by him.

Lee Hyeon-Su walked briskly past the crowd and arrived at the noticeboard, then pulled out the rolled-up poster by his side. The next thing he did was... plaster that poster smartly next to Mister Wiggins' curriculum announcement.

“Okay, done! Take a good look, then start applying!” Lee Hyeon-Su yelled loudly.

“Sorry?”

Everyone's attention automatically focused on this new poster. And then...

“Heol...?!” Yi Myeong-Hwan's jaw slowly dropped to the floor.

So, the announcement came in a set, then. And this new poster explained why there had been zero character introduction for this Mister Wiggins on the previous poster!

Yi Myeong-Hwan's cheeks twitched even more than before. This new poster only had one image printed on it. And it was an image of two men. Two men shaking hands while looking at the camera, that was!

One of them was Wiggins, the main character from the curriculum announcement poster. As for the other dude...

“...Kang Jin-Ho?”

Yi Myeong-Hwan's voice sounded stupefied even to his ears.

Kang Jin-Ho in the photo was making a very awkward face while performing a thumb-up toward the camera. Even a stranger walking on a street wouldn't make such a face when forced into a photo shoot! However...!

'That's not the important part here!'

No, what was really important were the words printed below that photo.

Mister Wiggins' curriculum.. Guaranteed by Mister Kang Jin-Ho!

“...Why is this advertisement so amateurish?”

Did a blind moron design this poster? Was that how it was?

The sheer shoddiness of the advertisement meant Yi Myeong-Hwan's trust meter was nosediving even further instead of the intended effect of rising up even higher. It was as if he was looking at a traveling snake oil salesman doing his shtick! Who would be insane enough to apply after looking at this...

“Hey, where can I find that application form, again?”

“What? Didn't you read that bit about English speakers getting preference?”

“So what! I can always learn later, right? The deadline is until next week, anyway! Imma enroll in an English language course! Right now!”

“...Can we really believe this, though?”

“What the f*ck?! Listen here, you moron! The Big Boss took that photo even though he had to make that weird face! Obviously, he didn't want to take that damn photo but couldn’t say no when that Wiggins or whatever his name was asked! That man can ask the Big Boss to do stuff like this, so who needs approval or proof of strength! Just do it! That photo is proof enough!”

“Eh? Now that you mention it, isn't that true? W-where's the application form?”

“Over there! It says at the main building! Let's go and grab some! Even if we change our mind later, it's better to hold onto the form, at the very least!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan watched his peers rush toward the Assembly HQ's main building and wordlessly slipped his hand inside his pocket. He fished out a cigarette, mouthed it, then lit it up before closing his eyes.

“Hah, this goddamn life...”

Yi Myeong-Hwan—who boasted a TOEIC score of over 900, thus not requiring extra English lessons—could only depend on his cigarette to cool his boiling frustration.L1terary-N0v3l hosted the first appearance of this chapter at N0vel.B1n.