Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 146

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 146. Galaxy Martial God Hall – Branch Family (7)

Raised voices erupted from where Cheon So-yeon was surrounded by students from other schools.
“Hey, you bastard! What the hell did you just say!”
It was Cheon Myeong-tae who’d shouted, his face flushed with anger.
“What’s wrong with what I said! There’s all this talk about her, but she hasn’t really shown anything yet—so what’s wrong with wanting to see what she can do already?!”
“The way you’re talking is disrespecting So-yeon!”
From the raised voices, I could piece together what was happening.
Someone had questioned Cheon So-yeon’s martial prowess, and Cheon Myeong-tae, who harbored feelings for her, had bristled and snapped at them.
“Those two are always stirring up trouble of some kind.”
At my words, Cheon Ha-sung looked away, stung by the observation.
I sighed and sent a text to Teacher Kim Do-hwa.

-When are you coming? Looks like another problem’s about to blow up.
-Why? You said you handled the Cheon Ha-sung situation fine.
-Turns out it’s not just our class causing trouble.

Watching how things unfolded, it seemed clear: they were picking a fight because they were curious about Cheon So-yeon’s abilities—the one openly being favored and protected by the Family Head and clan—while also being envious of her special status.
When I reported the facts as I saw them, Teacher Kim Do-hwa texted back.

-What about the other teachers?

At the teacher’s question, I checked where the faculty were stationed.

-They seem to be waiting and watching too. Probably curious about So-yeon’s abilities themselves.

There was no immediate reply, but I could almost hear Teacher Kim Do-hwa cursing.

-I’m heading over now. For now, stall things as much as you can so it doesn’t escalate.
-Yes! Understood.

I’d have to add this to my debt ledger.
I quietly made my way through the crowd of students and headed straight for the center of the disturbance.
Looking at Cheon Myeong-tae, who seemed ready to throw a punch at any moment, and the female student from the other school, I turned to Cheon So-yeon.
“Try to hold Cheon Myeong-tae back for now. At this rate, he’s actually going to throw a punch.”
Cheon Myeong-tae was the type who’d raise even more hell if I said anything, so I left him to So-yeon and slipped right in between the two students, who were currently locked in a tense standoff.
“Who are you?”
The female student from the other school.
Judging by the crest and nameplate on her uniform, she was Cheon Da-rim from Cheonmu Elementary.
The way she naturally released a suppressive aura told me she was at least a seasoned 2nd Rank.
Even compared to Cheon Ha-sung or Cheon Gong-hu, her potential wasn’t lacking.
“Hey! Cheon Ji-woo, get out of the way!”
Sure enough, Cheon Myeong-tae flared up the moment I inserted myself.
From his perspective, I must have seemed like a thorn in his side, but to me he was nothing but a bothersome pest.
As Cheon Myeong-tae glared at me, his body moving reflexively to keep me from stealing any chance to show off in front of Cheon So-yeon, she grabbed his arm.
“Don’t fight because of me.”
“Uh, w-well…”
When Cheon So-yeon took his hand and shook her head slightly, his cheeks flushed crimson and he froze in place.
For a pest, the guy’s surprisingly sincere when you look at it that way.
Shame he’s a nuisance to me.
After leaving Cheon Myeong-tae in So-yeon’s hands, I turned to Cheon Da-rim, whose sharp eyes gleamed with keen intensity.
“Looks like you’re competing in the Exchange Meeting. Why risk a scuffle here and sapping your energy? You clearly have the skill to win the whole thing—wouldn’t it be a waste to use up your strength on that idiot and then lose the championship?”
Cheon Da-rim, who’d been wary of me, found her lips curling slightly upward at my compliment.
“You’re the one who let loose that killing intent earlier. That was you, wasn’t it?”
I’d thought only teachers at the Pinnacle Realm would’ve recognized it, but I hadn’t expected a student to catch it.
This girl might actually have a real shot at winning it all.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I flashed a deliberately innocent smile.
“That fool is a fool, sure enough, but he’s got a knack for martial arts that actually stands out. If things come to blows here, he’ll take a beating—but you won’t come away unscathed either, understand?”
Cheon Myeong-tae bristled at my words, but once Cheon So-yeon intervened, he settled down again.
Watching this, Cheon Da-rim seemed to regard her own decision to cross swords with such a person as beneath contempt, shaking her head in slow, deliberate arcs.
“Still, I’m confident enough to take the tournament.”
At Cheon Da-rim’s unshakeable conviction, I nodded.
“True—it doesn’t look impossible. Not if the roster stays the same.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our side’s entry has changed. To someone definitely stronger than that fool—strong enough that even you’d have to stay sharp.”
My words drew a laugh from Cheon Da-rim, one full of intrigue.
“Cheon So-yeon, then?”
“Ha. Hardly. It’ll be Cheon Ha-sung—number two in our class. He’s always trading second place with Cheon So-yeon.”
Though “trading” was generous; the gap between them yawned wider than that between a newborn and an adult.
“Why cause trouble here? Why not measure yourself against him instead, get a sense of her that way?”
At my suggestion, Cheon Da-rim’s eyes flicked toward where the teacher stood.
Had a teacher actually put her up to provoking Cheon So-yeon?
Just then, the door burst open and Teacher Kim Do-hwa stepped inside.
The moment Kim Do-hwa returned, my Spiritual Sense caught someone sending a Telepathic Transmission to Cheon Da-rim.
Unfortunately, I lacked the ability to eavesdrop on the message itself—I could only pin down who’d sent it.
I’d have to mention it to Teacher Kim Do-hwa later.
“Fine. Measuring myself through Cheon Ha-sung sounds worthwhile.”
At Cheon Da-rim’s words, the students who’d been loitering in hopes of a fight seemed to lose interest, scattering and turning their attention elsewhere.
Cheon Da-rim asked me casually.
“But why aren’t you competing? You seem plenty strong.”
Clearly she wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
“Me? I can’t enter tournaments like this—I have circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
To her question, I answered plainly.
“My Dantian is almost completely sealed due to health issues.”
The fact that my Dantian bore a Seal was something anyone who cared to know already did—hardly a secret.
Even a cursory investigation would turn it up; hiding what was so easily found would be foolish.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Despite her fierce eyes, I hadn’t expected an apology, yet Cheon Da-rim offered one with apparent sincerity.
She looked at me like I was someone stricken with a grave illness—when really, I just had far too much Internal Energy.
“No need to apologize. Since you understand, I should get back.”
As I turned to retreat to my corner, Cheon Da-rim caught my arm.
“It’s an Exchange Meeting. Come hang out with us.”
For some reason, Cheon Da-rim had taken a liking to me.
“Sure, why not.”
The second period wasn’t going to last much longer anyway, and some socializing wouldn’t hurt.
Still, I felt Cheon So-yeon’s gaze burning into me.
Well, I’d saddled her with Cheon Myeong-tae—that parasitic pest—and had no intention of prying him loose again, so I couldn’t blame her for that reproachful look.
Cheon So-yeon didn’t show it outwardly, but she disliked Cheon Myeong-tae.
She was simply ignoring his advances to keep things cordial, since they’d continue sharing a class and she wanted to avoid poisoning the atmosphere.
Poor bastard, Cheon Myeong-tae.
But if I tried to wrench him away from Cheon So-yeon, it would only stir up more trouble.
I’d already put myself in debt to Teacher Kim Do-hwa; I wasn’t about to compound that debt with fresh chaos.
By way of asking Cheon So-yeon to bear with it a little longer, I flashed her a grin—which she met with a dismissive snort and a sharp turn of her head.
She seemed genuinely put out. I’d have to smooth things over later. What else could I do?

* * *

The third section—the Martial Arts Tournament—was held in the same Indoor Gymnasium where the opening ceremony had taken place.
Since watching mediocre students fight wasn’t particularly entertaining, I texted Teacher Kim Do-hwa to let her know which teacher had sent the Telepathic Transmission to Cheon Da-rim.

—How’d you know that?
—I may look useless, but my Spiritual Sense is right up there with Cheon So-yeon’s.

At my boasting, Teacher Kim Do-hwa saw the message and let out a quiet laugh.
Her gaze—as if to say, *as if*—made me pout.

Cheon So-yeon told me.
Well, of course she did.

Since I couldn’t convince him with my word alone, I’d given him a reasonable excuse to accept.
In truth, looking at my test results, disbelief was the only rational response.
The Heavenly Martial Body is the supreme constitution for mastering martial arts.
There were other rare constitutions that could rival it, but each came with either a narrow specialization, severe drawbacks, or both.
The Extreme Yin Constitution and Nine Yin Meridians, for instance, were said to be equal to or even superior to the Heavenly Martial Body when studying ice techniques.
But they lacked talent for other martial arts and were physically frail—making the early stages of training extraordinarily difficult.
Only the Heavenly Martial Body possessed supreme quality without a single constraint or weakness.
There was no way I could believe that my Spiritual Sense was equally exceptional.

I’ll investigate it later. You’ve worked hard today.
No, I’ll be satisfied if you don’t forget the debt.

Teacher Kim Do-hwa glared at me, but I pretended not to notice and kept my eyes on the tournament stage.
The fourth-year finals were already underway.
The finalists were Cheon Ha-sung and Cheon Da-rim.
I had eyes to see.
Their swords clashed rapidly, displaying skill beyond expectations.
The two of them burned with competitive spirit as if facing worthy opponents, their clash growing fiercer by the moment.
“Who do you think will win?”
At my question, Cheon So-yeon glanced at me with a pout before answering.
“Cheon Ha-sung will.”
“Figured as much.”
Cheon Da-rim’s skill was considerable, but she was overpowered by Cheon Ha-sung’s raw strength—his Secondary Sexual Characteristics had clearly begun to manifest.
They say that with Internal Energy, the difference between male and female martial artists nearly disappears, but biological differences couldn’t be ignored.
It wasn’t for nothing that martial arts tailored to one’s body differed by gender.
In elementary school, Secondary Sexual Characteristics hadn’t yet become pronounced, so they learned shared foundational techniques; but by middle school, training would be customized based on gender, individual aptitude, and traits.
Sure enough, Cheon Ha-sung knocked Cheon Da-rim’s sword aside, brought his blade to her neck, and the match was decided.
“Cheonmu Elementary! Cheon Ha-sung wins!”
“Aaaaah!”
Cheon Ha-sung roared with genuine joy.
He could finally resolve the penalty points he’d been worried about, so his delight was natural.
The defeated Cheon Da-rim shed a few tears of frustration but composed herself and shook hands with Cheon Ha-sung as the loser.
The fifth-year matches that followed were unremarkable.
Even the top performers in fifth grade hadn’t surpassed 2nd Rank, so there was little to help it.
The sixth-year finals, though, showed more to observe than expected.
Cheon Ja-geon, the top-ranked main branch sixth-grader, and Cheon Gong, from the branch family, had just reached 1st Rank Level—a tier similar to mine or slightly higher—which made the match worth watching.
Once the Exchange Meeting concluded, all the students rose from their seats and prepared to return to school.
I watched Cheon Ha-sung, drenched in sweat yet grinning widely, and asked him.
“You’re that happy?”
“Of course. The club senior definitely promised to write a petition on behalf of the club. And you wouldn’t know because you’re stuck next to Cheon So-yeon eating scraps, but Elixirs are rare.”
He wasn’t really saying this from knowledge—he was parroting gossip about our club that he’d heard from seniors in other clubs.
No one except the Principal, Teacher Kim Do-hwa, and the instructor who teaches Elixir manufacturing knows what support our club receives internally.
“Scraps or not, there’s nothing particularly different from other clubs. For a small club, we get a bit more—if anything, you probably receive more support than I do.”
Cheon Ha-sung was a strong candidate for next vice-captain of the Sword Arts Club, the largest club, so he received more support than most students.
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
The way he accepted my words so readily was proof he had no idea how much support actually flowed to our club.
It was also why I didn’t face much resentment even when Elixir did trickle down to me.
If he saw the quantity I consumed, he’d cry foul.
But life was fundamentally unreasonable.
“Anyway, I’m grateful for your help.”
At Cheon Ha-sung’s words, Cheon Ga-ryeong spoke up.
“Hey, you know I gave it up for you, right?”
“You got paid and handed it over.”
As Cheon Ha-sung and Cheon Ga-ryeong bickered playfully, heading toward the buses, Cheon Da-rim broke away from her class line and rushed over to us.
Cheon Da-rim looked at Cheon Ha-sung with a slight glare and said.
“Next time, I won’t lose.”
“Hah! I’ll beat you next time too.”
“Hmph!”
Cheon Da-rim snorted in exasperation and handed me a slip of paper.
“It’s my contact information. Call me.”
With that, Cheon Da-rim turned on her heel and rejoined her class formation.
Cheon Ha-sung watched her go, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Wait, I’m the one who fought with her. Why’s she giving you her number? Shouldn’t contact information go to a rival?”
At Cheon Ha-sung’s words, Cheon Ga-ryeong let out a soft laugh.
“Because of your face, obviously.”
“Hey!”
Cheon Ha-sung yelped in protest, but Cheon Ga-ryeong was already sprinting toward the bus, laughing, with him chasing after her.
I chuckled and followed them onto the bus.

(To be continued)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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