Ten Paths of the Master - Chapter 11

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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 11. Did I really meet with the instructor?
Third-generation trainee Yu Jacho’s sense of victimhood was no delusion born of inferiority.
In daily life, his pockmarked face had cost him dearly.
All of it stemmed from Byeongma-chong’s peculiarly permissive atmosphere.
One mustn’t mistake Byeongma-chong for some secret training ground of the Assassin Organization.
Ha Omun ran the place with a loose hand.
Thanks to this, the trainees could manage well enough, barring the ten years of mandatory dormitory confinement.
Why was that?
Because there was no reason to drive the trainees to the brink of death.
Ha Omun’s ambitions were incomparably modest compared to those of orthodox sects.
All they wanted was control of Ha Omun’s territory on Sip-do.
Don’t mistake it for dominion over the entire Murim.
Moreover, Ha Omun possessed neither accomplished masters to cultivate the next generation nor secret martial manuals.
The six instructors of Byeongma-chong taught only what they themselves knew.
The rest, the trainees had to learn from written texts and master on their own.
After their morning and afternoon lessons ended, the trainees enjoyed free time for themselves.
What happens when boys and girls are locked together in a confined space for ten years?
The phrase “Three Great Beauties of Byeongma-chong” didn’t come from nowhere.
Were there only three great beauties?
People say butterflies seek out flowers, but flowers have eyes too.
The girls likewise cast their gaze upon handsome boys and ranked them among themselves.
First-generation trainee Dan Yeop, though derided as a “stupid ape,” possessed fine features that earned him quiet favor among the girls.
Meanwhile, third-generation trainee Yu Jacho—pockmarked as he was—found himself spurned by the girls despite his superior martial prowess.
Seven years: that was how long Yu Jacho had endured such treatment.
The anger accumulating all that time flowed toward Dan Yeop.
Yet people like Yu Jacho weren’t the only kind around.
Throughout history and across all lands, the world treats beautiful men and women with kindness.
Though she showed no sign of it, not a few girls harbored feelings for Dan Yeop.
Geum Seojin, a third-generation trainee, was one of them.
Ordinary in both appearance and martial skill, she was hopelessly smitten with the hapless but good-natured Dan Yeop.
So the moment she heard that “Yu Jacho means to punish Dan Yeop,” she set out to find him.
“Shh—be quiet. It’ll all be over soon. Just die, please die…….”
“Gasp!”
Dan Yeop struggled desperately to break free from the woman’s grip, but her hands clung to his throat, unyielding.
“Uuuugh—.”
As Dan Yeop gasped in suffocating agony, a voice called from afar.
“Senior Dan, Senior Dan…….”
At the persistent summons, Dan Yeop’s eyes snapped open.
“Hah! Hah! Hah…….”
As Dan Yeop breathed heavily, cold sweat beading his brow, Geum Seojin spoke.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
Slowly coming to himself, Dan Yeop turned his head toward the bedside.
When his eyes met the familiar girl’s, he quickly looked away.
“……Who are you?”
“I’m Geum Seojin. A third-generation trainee.”
“Oh! A third-gen……, why?”
“I came to warn you that Yu Jacho is targeting you.”
“Huh? Why would he?”
“Well, obviously because you hit Jeon Jung. Word got out that a third-gen took a beating from you, and it’s bad for our reputation…….”
“I hit Jeon Jung?”
“You don’t remember? You fought him this morning.”
Dan Yeop looked at Geum Seojin again in surprise.
Her expression didn’t seem mocking, yet he couldn’t quite believe it.
“I never did anything like that.”
“What? You didn’t? That can’t be right. Then did Jeon Jung lie? But why?”
Geum Seojin’s mind raced.
The Dan Yeop she’d watched for seven years wasn’t the type to lie over something trivial.
Then Jeon Jung must have lied—but she couldn’t fathom why.
“I’m serious. I’ve never even met with Jeon Jung separately until now.”
“Still, that’s the rumor among the third-generation trainees. And it’s true that Yu Jacho is targeting you.”
Dan Yeop couldn’t bear lying in bed any longer, so he slipped down quietly.
“Thank you for telling me, anyway.”
“For now, it would be best to avoid Yu Jacho.”
“Yeah. I’ll do that.”
Naturally, Dan Yeop had no desire to run into Yu Jacho.
He hadn’t even considered meeting him to clear up the misunderstanding.
He believed the matter with Jeon Jung was merely a pretext for Yu Jacho to fight him.
Dan Yeop wasn’t a fool, merely lacking in focus and memory.
“Well, I should be going now.”
Geum Seojin, who had been stealing glances at Dan Yeop’s face, bid her farewell and departed.
As Dan Yeop turned to lie back down, he jolted upright in alarm.
“What? When did I come back to my quarters?”
He’d been cultivating in the Stone Chamber at the far northern edge.
He remembered his eyes flashing bright while he was practicing Hoigwang Banjio.
But that was all he could recall.
He must have fallen asleep until Geum Seojin woke him, yet he had no memory of returning to his quarters.
“Why can’t I remember?”
Suddenly, Dan Yeop’s face hardened as he recalled Dan Bulwi’s words.
―It meant the technique was perfectly suited to inducing Demonic Cultivation through careless practice.
The memory had vanished after he saw the flash of light during his Bunsim-gong cultivation.
Could this be Demonic Cultivation?
Trembling with unease, he resolved to seek out Dan Bulwi and ask.
***
The A-mun Training Hall.
Once the last trainee left, Dan Bulwi stepped into the center of the hall.
It had been twelve years since the Century Plan began.
With ninety-three trainees graduated so far, it was time to make a move.
No, they had to make a move without fail.
The graduated trainees might pick fights in their youthful vigor.
If that drew attention, the Century Plan would be jeopardized.
Ha Soran, with her sharp mind, couldn’t possibly be unaware of this.
‘She’ll suggest taking control of Ha-dong-do before long, I’d wager.’
Dan Bulwi murmured to himself, then slowly began to unfold the Chilsang Sword Art.
Whoosh—! Slash!
His movements were flawless, yet his expression remained indifferent.
Compared to Dan Yeop’s Chilsang Sword Art, he felt his own lacked sharpness.
Unsatisfied with his technique, he swung the Straight Blade without rest.
If the Century Plan were executed, the instructors could be mobilized as well.
His goal was to build merit and become the clan leader.
Just as his breath reached his throat, someone entered the training hall.
It was Dan Yeop.
Recognizing his visitor, Dan Bulwi quietly lowered his blade.
He couldn’t bear to continue against someone of inferior skill.
Dan Bulwi set the Straight Blade in its stand and turned, offering an awkward smile.
“What brings you here?”
Dan Yeop, hesitating, began carefully.
“Instructor, I believe something has happened to me.”
…….
Dan Bulwi stared at Dan Yeop with astonishment.
He’d called him “Father” this morning, and now it was “Instructor”?
“Yesterday afternoon, I was cultivating Bunsim-gong in the Stone Chamber on the northern edge, and when I opened my eyes, I was in my quarters on a bed. I have no memory of when or how I returned. Could this be what you mentioned about Demonic Cultivation?”
“From what you’re saying, you don’t remember meeting me this morning either, do you?”
“Did I meet you this morning, Instructor?”
Dan Yeop blinked blankly, his expression vacant.
Dan Bulwi felt irritation rise at that foolish face, but he swallowed his frustration.
Now he understood exactly what had happened to Dan Yeop.
A Personality Split caused by the side effects of Bunsim-gong—that much was certain.
‘Hell. I’ve heard tales of people who went mad learning Bunsim-gong, but……’
A personality split was unprecedented.
One personality possessed genius-level talent, while the other was a dullard.
To the former he was ‘father,’ and to the latter, an ‘instructor.’
Why not just have the latter call him father as well?
No matter how thick-skinned he was, that was impossible.
Dan Yeop was genuinely slow-witted, and he shared nothing but the relationship of martial teacher and student with him.
Besides, Dan Yeop wasn’t stupid—just untalented.
If he let his mouth run carelessly, he risked exposing that he’d deceived ‘the genius Dan Yeop’ into becoming his adopted father.
‘The matter of titles can wait. It’s not urgent right now.’
Dan Bulwi gathered his thoughts and spoke.
“We did meet. Don’t you remember?”
“Yes…”
“Right, I understand the situation now. Your personality has undoubtedly split due to the side effects of Bunsim-gong. Didn’t I tell you not to practice it? It’s a martial art fraught with problems.”
“…”
Dan Yeop bowed his head low.
He knew it, but he’d pushed himself because he wanted to graduate like everyone else.
All for the desire to master the Chenji Sword Art—and he’d ruined his body for it. Tears welled up in his eyes.
Then curiosity got the better of Dan Bulwi, and he asked casually.
“You said you don’t remember meeting me? Can you perform the Chilsang Sword Art?”
“I can manage the first form, at least.”
“Show me.”
Dan Yeop took the Straight Blade from its stand and began the sword art.
His power was so weak that the blade didn’t even cut through the air with a sound.
Watching the clumsy, stuttering movements, Dan Bulwi stopped him short.
“Enough! That’s enough.”
Dan Yeop returned the Straight Blade to its stand and spoke as if making excuses.
“Still, the Chenji Sword Art is a bit better. I’ll work hard and make sure to graduate.”
“You want to graduate?”
“I have to.”
Dan Yeop intended to graduate no matter what—he was too embarrassed to face the junior students otherwise.
Dan Bulwi stared at the slow-witted Dan Yeop with a rueful expression.
‘Two personalities in one body—the genius wants to stay at Byeongma-chong, and the fool is desperate to graduate…’
He couldn’t believe such a situation existed.
“Tch! Right now, two personalities live in your body. Each lives a different life, and neither remembers what the other has done.”
“Instructor! What should I do?”
“Count yourself lucky. Many people have gone mad learning Bunsim-gong. You’re not in that state, are you?”
“…”
Dan Yeop said nothing and hung his head low.
His chest already fluttered and his mind went blank whenever he tried to do anything, and now his personality had split in two…
‘Was I someone who should never have been born?’
Looking at how twisted his life had become, it seemed that way.
Dan Bulwi spoke to the dejected Dan Yeop.
“Why is a young man like you so spiritless? I said you’re better off than someone mad.”
“Isn’t having two personalities in one body the definition of madness?”
“It’s different. I’ve seen mad people before—their very speech is incoherent. But you talk fine.”
“Well, I’m the original personality, so of course I’m coherent. But the other one…”
“The Dan Yeop I met this morning was just as coherent as you.”
Dan Bulwi had much he could say about the genius Dan Yeop, but he held his tongue.
“Really?”
A flicker of life returned to Dan Yeop’s dying face.
He’d been worried the other personality might do something mad while he wasn’t aware of it, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. He felt as if he’d been granted a second chance at life.
Dan Bulwi, watching Dan Yeop, asked casually.
“When you were practicing Bunsim-gong, did anything strange happen? Anything unusual?”
“Yes—when I was guiding my inner energy to the Celestial Eye between my brows following the incantation of Hoigwang Banjio, light flashed before my eyes. I shut them tight without thinking, and when I opened them again, I was back in my quarters.”
“Hmm! Then your personality must have switched in that split second. If you stop practicing Bunsim-gong, you might recover.”
“Really?”
“The problem came from Bunsim-gong, so avoiding it should solve it, shouldn’t it?”
Dan Bulwi offered a solution reluctantly.
He enjoyed seeing the genius Dan Yeop, but the despairing Dan Yeop’s plight moved him to pity.
“Ah! Now that you mention it, that must be it. Thank you so much. I won’t practice Bunsim-gong again.”
“If your worry is settled, you should go rest now. I need to rest as well.”
“Yes, rest well, instructor.”
As Dan Yeop receded into the distance, Dan Bulwi muttered under his breath, his expression sour.
“Does Bunsim-gong really have the function of creating geniuses? Maybe I should learn it myself. No, wait—what good is being a genius if you can’t even remember anything…….”
Genius Dan Yeop and dull-witted Dan Yeop knew nothing of each other’s worlds. And so their lives were bound only to grow weary beneath the weight of entangled grudges, tangled like threads in a chaos knot.

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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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