Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 119

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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 119

Seventeen-year-old Tae-woo took a moment to breathe deeply in front of the main gate before stepping into the Classroom for the first time.
His first day commuting to High School in his life.
A new school. A new semester.
There were few people who wouldn’t feel nervous.
If a close friend from Middle School had been assigned to the same school and same Classroom, the pressure would’ve been lighter. But he’d been assigned to a school far from home.
He likely didn’t know a soul in the Classroom, even if he knew the school.
When he stepped inside the Classroom, nearly every seat was taken. An expected result.
‘I’m a bit late.’
Despite having walked the route several times before the semester started and using the map embedded in that godly instrument of civilization known as a smartphone, Tae-woo had gotten lost multiple times on the way to school today, arriving late as a result.
Thank goodness he hadn’t done a late-night broadcast yesterday, so he’d been able to leave home with a little extra time this morning.
‘Otherwise, I’d have been tardy on day one.’
No matter how much you travel in this world, there’s no familiar or easy road! So you have to leave early! And yet it’s always a close call!
That was Tae-woo.
School held morning assembly at 7:40 and first period started at 8:10.
The current time was 7:38.
So only three seats remained.
He didn’t know how many more students would arrive, but Tae-woo had only two choices available to him.
‘Sit next to that guy, or sit alone like he’s doing.’
The only student sitting by himself looked exceptionally handsome at a glance.
And unlike the other students in the room, who were subtly assessing each other, he was maintaining an upright posture and reading peacefully.
There was an aura about him that made it difficult to approach.
He probably had good reason to be sitting alone.
But Kim Tae-woo was a contradictory sort—a homebody who loved games and preferred being alone, yet couldn’t stand actually being by himself.
So he sat down next to the one remaining person.
“Hey.”
Tae-woo’s voice trembled slightly as he greeted this stranger, and the handsome boy nodded back with ease.
“Hey.”

* * *

What exactly was he reading?
‘A martial arts novel?’
True, there were no classes on opening day, but when the teacher spoke at the front of the room, everyone still paid attention.
Even delinquents became model students on the first day.
But the boy sitting next to Tae-woo was different.
‘His name was Seo Jun, wasn’t it?’
Even his name seemed handsome. This is why appearance matters. Damn it.
Anyway.
This guy was something special.
He kept the book on his lap during class, and even sitting right beside him, there wasn’t the slightest hint of awkwardness in the way he managed his gaze.
‘What kind of technique is he pulling?’
Tae-woo thought that Seo Jun’s skill at subtly doing something else was no less impressive.
‘This bastard’s the same type as me.’
Intuition.
The unconscious signal sent by someone who handles massive amounts of information—a kind of big data instinct.
That intuition was now telling Tae-woo that Seo Jun would make a pretty good friend.
‘Wait. Is he actually not studying better than me?’

* * *

Two o’clock came, and they headed to the Auditorium for the opening ceremony.
Tedious, sleep-inducing procedures took place, and the turn came for the Freshman Representative to take the oath.
When the Freshman Representative came up to the stage to recite the oath, Tae-woo’s eyes, which had been drooping with a yawn, suddenly widened.
It was Seo Jun.
Even if he showed no interest in studying, Tae-woo knew that this kind of position typically went to the top student in the school.
‘What the hell. That’s annoying.’
It was pure admiration, really.
With just a touch of jealousy about his looks mixed in.

* * *

Three days had passed since school started.
They were busy adjusting to their new environment, though things were starting to settle into place.
The teachers they were now meeting for a second time began their actual lessons.
And.
From the moment Seo Jun arrived in the morning until he left in the afternoon, he hadn’t stood up from his seat once over those three days—only read.
Occasionally he’d close his eyes and sink into thought, but he never left his seat!
‘A true model student!’
His ability to sit still was impressive.
During all that time, no one approached Seo Jun first, and he didn’t approach anyone either.
He hadn’t even eaten lunch.
He wasn’t studying, exactly, but still.
Not humanities texts, just what looked like martial arts novels, but still.
He kept reading through class, but still.
‘Since he’s the Freshman Representative, he must have some study technique.’
Maybe it was a concentration-building exercise?
Tae-woo thought he was amazing, so every time he stopped at the School Canteen, he bought a Beverage for Seo Jun and handed it to him.
Direct bribes were always the most effective.
“Here, buddy. Take this.”
“Thanks.”
Seo Jun accepted the fifth Beverage and replied simply.
Then in the next class period, Seo Jun apparently finished his book and closed it for the first time, putting it into his bag.
After stretching, Seo Jun said quietly:
“What’s for lunch today?”
The question students asked most often! The Cafeteria menu for today!
For the first time, Tae-woo felt that Seo Jun was just a regular student like him, and he excitedly told him the menu and suggested they eat together.
Seo Jun nodded in agreement, and Tae-woo told the friends he usually ate with that he’d skip them today, then headed down to the Cafeteria with Seo Jun during lunch.
Today’s menu featured Chicken Legs, a dish hard to mess up, and after being served, Tae-woo headed toward an empty table.
After sitting across from Seo Jun and chatting while eating, someone who was leaving to dispose of their tray suddenly bent their torso at a ninety-degree angle in front of their table.
“Hello, sir!”
What?
And.
‘Who is this?’
Since only the two of them occupied the table, the greeting was clearly directed at Seo Jun.
But the Name Badge color of the people bowing was different from theirs.
A different Name Badge color from first-year students like them meant these were upper-classmen.
Were they just joking around because they were close?
But the atmosphere didn’t feel playful at all.
When Seo Jun acknowledged their greeting while eating his Chicken Leg, they disappeared.
But this was only the beginning.
The table where they sat was near the area for disposing of leftovers, and the upper-classmen who’d been eating at the front were now finishing up and heading that way to dispose of their trays.
So many people passed by their spot, and upper-classmen kept appearing to greet Seo Jun at the rate of roughly one out of every ten passing students.
“Senior! Hello, sir!”
With menacing expressions, and
“Um, uh, you’re here?”
Imposing builds.
Their common trait was that they all looked rough and gave crisp, ninety-degree bows to Seo Jun.
With each greeting, Tae-woo’s expression darkened.
‘This is bad.’
A junior constantly being greeted by seniors who looked like thugs?
First, he had to question whether this guy was even actually a junior.
‘Did he cause trouble and get held back a year?’
This seemed like the most likely possibility.
If so, that would explain why he’d been so calm and composed all this time.
High School wasn’t Seo Jun’s first time.
And given how well-known he was, he’d probably caused some serious trouble.
From that point on, Tae-woo’s words grew scarce.
After finishing his meal, Seo Jun asked Tae-woo:
“Hey, buddy. Want to hit up the Canteen?”
Seo Jun was trying to return the favor.
But Tae-woo interpreted it differently.
‘I’m doomed. This is bad.’
Remembering how he’d brought Seo Jun a Beverage these past three days and called him his friend, Tae-woo decoded Seo Jun’s words this way:
‘He’s saying if I want to stay his friend at all, I should buy him stuff from the Canteen.’
The damage was already done. So to get through the rest of his high school years as smoothly as possible, what should he do?
Tae-woo drew on quick thinking and did what he could do best at that moment.
“A Beverage isn’t enough—how about some bread for dessert?”
“Sounds good. Then I’ll—”
“No way! You head back to the Classroom and wait. I’ll go grab something right now!”
From that day on, the types of food Tae-woo brought back included several kinds of bread, popular items from the School Canteen.

* * *

[‘OO’ has donated 50,000 won!]
[How did Tae-woo and he become close in the first place?]

Upon seeing the Donation, Tae-woo silently shed tears as he recalled the past.
‘I brought him so much bread for a while there.’
Those were memories worth having.
Memories of being so worried about how to spend the remaining three years of High School that he couldn’t even broadcast properly.
Would that guy even remember it?
Tae-woo shot Seo Jun a meaningful look.
The Middle School that Seo Jun had attended was right next to the High School that Tae-woo went to, so it was easy for Tae-woo to pick up information about Seo Jun.
He learned that it wasn’t Grade Retention or any incident, fortunately, but the reputation was still poor.
People who weren’t close to Seo Jun said that since he hung around with some delinquents, it was better to keep a distance.
And the delinquents themselves, those who’d been dragged along with Seo Jun, put it this way:
‘Don’t get involved. Just don’t ask and don’t get involved.’
‘Have you ever seen hell?’
‘I didn’t even know I’d end up studying.’
‘Us? Seo Jun’s friends? No way.’
‘Right. If we were his friends, we’d never have become like this.’
Seo Jun had overheard their conversation from behind, and so Tae-woo had become his one and only friend.
The next day—and in retrospect, certainly those guys who’d been Seo Jun’s friends before being dragged to what was clearly the gymnasium—kept coming back during every break, begging him to just take one more look at them, acting as mediators to reconcile.
Lazy student who doesn’t study → insane concentration with Top Student in School record → delinquent who caused trouble and got held back → ???
Having gone through such a shift in perception, Tae-woo gave up trying to figure Seo Jun out and just kept faithfully making trips to the School Canteen.
“Oh. Tae-woo has a kind heart. He brings bread every day and shares it—what’s the deal with that weird guy? Anyway, we just became close.”

-Won him over with bread lol
-Is that friendship tax? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You really just brought it on purpose, right?
-Is Tae-woo a natural bread courier? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-The bread courier thing would actually be controversial, wouldn’t it?

“A bread courier? No, I never said anything like that. And I don’t even particularly like bread.”
Unable to listen any longer, Tae-woo spoke up.
“Then why didn’t you tell me to stop bringing bread?”
“Well, I hadn’t seen you in a month, and since you kept bringing it, it felt weird to just refuse.”
Fair enough.
“That’s a fair point.”
Really, it was.
Tae-woo looked up at the ceiling, trying to hide his tears.
Why was this guy so strange in every other way, yet so normal about something this pointless?
He really wondered.
“Oh? Did the Chicken arrive? Thank you all for your hard work.”
“I’ll bring it right away!”
Tae-woo’s body reacted with an ingrained habit.

* * *

The next day.
While heading to a lecture, Seo Jun nostalgically recalled his High School days and smiled contentedly.
‘He was sincere and honest and quiet and kind and ordinary.’
And he was also a student who had a positive influence.
Originally, displaying exemplary conduct and guiding juniors was a senior’s natural duty.
There was no violence or selfish intent. Really.
He wasn’t saying this out of guilt.
‘Anyway, why did Director Oh Ji-hye call for me?’
Originally they were supposed to meet in a few days, but she’d asked Seo Jun if he could come today.
Since it was near the University, it didn’t really matter when she called him.
‘Is it because of Aulus?’

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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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