The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

"This is damn it! Of all things, the winner's benefit is a vacation!"

As Moyong Susu shouted with a rough tone, unlike her usual self, the officials of the Red Team looked at her.

"Isn't it a bad condition for us either?"

At Jong Ryeo'ak's words, Moyong Susu scratched her head.

Surprisingly, Oh Seolhwa had a similar reaction to Moyong Susu.

"Ugh...!"

"Oh, junior sister! What's wrong?"

"...It's nothing."

Oh Seolhwa was half out of her mind.

"First, how about we pick a team leader?"

Hyeok'ugun, leaving Oh Seolhwa, who had become strange, gathered the team members to pick a team leader.

Picking a team leader was not a difficult task.

"I think it would be good for Young Hero Cheon to be the team leader of the Red Team. What do you think, Young Hero?"

As Hyeok'ugun asked on behalf of the Red Team, Cheon Gaseong nodded his head once instead of answering.

While the team leader of the Red Team was being decided like that, the Blue Team was also busy with the movement to pick a team leader.

"The team leader of the Red Team will naturally be Young Hero Cheon. So we..."

The martial artists of the Blue Team looked at Cheon Yerang at the same time.

"How about Young Lady Cheon becomes the team leader?"

All the martial artists of the Blue Team seemed to agree with Go Durim's proposal.

At that, Cheon Yerang slightly opened her mouth.

But before that, Zhuge Ming spoke first.

"I think differently."

This time, everyone's gaze was focused on Zhuge Ming.

"According to the rules of the sparring match, the team leader is likely to appear last. So we should rather put Young Lady Cheon at the forefront and win more victories."

"Mmm."

"That certainly makes sense."

At that, Huang Seohyang raised her hand.

"Then who will be the team leader?"

"The team leader..."

Zhuge Ming placed his hand on the shoulder of Jin Sohyun, who was standing next to him.

"How about Young Hero Jin takes the role?"

"Young Hero Jin!?"

Huang Seohyang narrowed her brow.

"If there's a tie, we have to face the team leader of the Red Team, Young Hero Cheon. But... you're suggesting we put Young Hero Jin as the team leader?"

Although Huang Seohyang's tone was cautious, her inner thoughts were clear.

It meant that they could not put Jin Sohyun against the self-proclaimed best next-generation talent.

'They still don't know Young Hero Jin's strength.'

Zhuge Ming decided to use the rules of the sparring match rather than revealing Jin Sohyun's true value.

"There will be no match between the team leaders. We just have to win more victories in the six sparring matches."

"But then Young Hero Cheon will step up?"

"Then at that time! Young Lady Cheon can step up. Will that be alright?"

Cheon Yerang, who had been hesitating about something, soon nodded her head silently.

"Our strategy is to win more victories and avoid the match between the team leaders. So..."

At Zhuge Ming's continued explanation, the officials of the Blue Team also quickly understood and agreed to his strategy.

"The most important round for us is the first sparring match."

It doesn't matter how many of the fifteen team members step up for the sparring matches.

That means that the management of stamina and the order are important.

"It seems you have all picked your team leaders. Then now, prepare for the sparring match!"

The Blue Team and the Red Team faced each other with the training ground in front of them.

***

Before the first sparring match began, Zhuge Ming picked five martial artists.

The martial artists who were picked were Go Durim, one martial artist from the Kongtong Sect, Huang Seohyang, and two martial artists from the minor sects.

The participation of Go Durim, the second-generation disciple of the Kongtong Sect.

And the four officials who supported him.

Zhuge Ming narrowed his eyes.

'The revealed strength is to our disadvantage. So the first sparring match is the most important.'

Usually, in a fight between many and many, a probing battle would take place first.

Zhuge Ming put five martial artists and Go Durim of the Kongtong Sect in the first sparring match.

Go Durim was a very important force in the Blue Team, so he was not a martial artist to be sent out for a probing battle.

And yet, Zhuge Ming put him forward.

'It's best to win, but it's not bad to lose either. It can be a chance to draw out the strength of the Red Team.'

Zhuge Ming, who was calculating the order in which the officials would step up in his head, felt a certain sense of anxiety.

"...Why is it so quiet?"

Unlike the Blue Team, which was moving busily, the Red Team was quiet.

The team leader, Cheon Gaseong, was standing still, and the rest of the officials were not having any particular conversation.

'Are they planning to hide their strength?'

Whatever the opponent's strategy was, Zhuge Ming could not back down.

"I'm counting on you."

"I'll do my best."

Knowing that the first round was important, Go Durim and the four officials stepped forward, burning with fighting spirit.

As they got on the training ground, Gwak Myeong's expression became interested.

"You've put a lot of effort into the first sparring match. It must be Zhuge Ming's idea, right?"

Although the team leader of the Blue Team was Jin Sohyun, the one who was leading was Zhuge Ming.

A relationship that was like seeing a lord and his strategist.

And in the Red Team...

"This is... unexpected."

Something completely unimaginable happened.

The first martial artist to step up from the Red Team was only one person.

It was Cheon Gaseong.

***

At the appearance of Cheon Gaseong, Zhuge Ming's mouth fell open.

"Young Hero Cheon is the first!?"

The team leader, Cheon Gaseong, stepped up first.

Moreover, he had come up to the training ground alone, which meant that he was going to face five martial artists by himself.

'Damn it! I never thought Young Hero Cheon would come up first... and alone?'

Zhuge Ming bit his thumbnail and was flustered.

Meanwhile, on the training ground, Go Durim did not hide his displeasure and revealed it.

"Don't tell me, you're planning to face the five of us by yourself?"

"Yes."

"We all know that your martial arts skills are outstanding. But I, as the second-generation disciple of Kongtong, will show you that I am no less than you."

Go Durim held a wooden sword in his hand.

He was an outstanding next-generation talent who had a record of killing five unorthodox faction members in the fight against the unorthodox faction that had taken place in Guizhou.

Also, the other disciple of the Kongtong Sect who had come up with him was also a formidable martial artist.

"I will show you the sword of Kongtong clearly."

Behind Go Durim, who was about to step forward, Zhuge Ming's shout was heard.

"Young Hero Go! You must attack together. Never fight alone."

His advice stimulated Go Durim even more.

"I know what you mean, but how can I, a disciple of Kongtong, attack one person with a group?"

"It is the way to victory for everyone!"

"I will not be defeated."

Behind him now were the eyes of the officials of the Blue Dragon Daoist Temple.

Also, Huang Seohyang, whom he had secretly harbored feelings for, had come up to the training ground with him.

He could never show a weak side.

"You all, don't step up."

At the sight of Go Durim, who was determined to fight Cheon Gaseong alone, Zhuge Ming felt dizzy.

But Zhuge Ming quickly regained his composure.

'It's better this way. It's a good opportunity to grasp Cheon Gaseong's full strength.'

Zhuge Ming watched the first sparring match between the Blue Team and the Red Team with wide-open eyes.

"Is everyone from the Red Team out?"

At the question of the instructor who had come up as the referee, Cheon Gaseong answered briefly.

"Yes."

"The basic rules of the sparring match are the same, and all killing moves that could threaten the opponent's life are prohibited. Keep in mind that if you violate this, you will be disqualified immediately."

The instructor, who had explained all the rules, raised the flag he was holding in his hand high.

"Then the first sparring match will begin!"

Along with the referee's declaration of the start, the sparring match between the Blue Team and the Red Team began.

"Ah, damn it."

Zhuge Ming tore his hair, and the faces of the martial artists belonging to the Blue Team hardened endlessly.

This was the same for the Red Team.

"He's doing it all by himself."

At Peng Xiaofeng's mumble, the team members of the Red Team quietly agreed.

The first sparring match between the Blue Team and the Red Team ended as simply as it was in vain.

The one who made the first move was Go Durim.

He showed the strong and upright sword technique peculiar to the Kongtong Sect and seemed to be pressuring Cheon Gaseong.

But.

Cheon Gaseong picked up a wooden sword.

And then he swung it once.

The one sword strike he showed deflected all the several sword strikes that Go Durim had unfolded.

'The forms of martial arts are a kind of flow. Cheon Gaseong has accurately grasped the pulse of that flow.'

Gwak Myeong realized that Cheon Gaseong had cut Go Durim's pulse with a single move.

This was a technique that even the seasoned masters who had made a living in the martial world for a long time would have had a hard time imitating.

"Damn it!"

As his attack was blocked in a single move, Go Durim's face turned red.

A sense of shame and humiliation washed over him.

"Face me properly!"

"If you show me the skills to do so."

"Heup!"

The enraged Go Durim took a couple of steps back and raised his internal energy.

At his rough aura, the hem of his martial arts robe fluttered.

"Haap!"

Go Durim's sword quickly stabbed, aiming for Cheon Gaseong's glabella.

Cheon Gaseong watched this with a dry gaze and then tilted his head back to avoid it.

'He avoided this!?'

Go Durim was flustered.

His original purpose was to use the force of Cheon Gaseong, who was trying to block his sword, to aim for his shoulder.

As if he had noticed this, Cheon Gaseong chose to evade rather than defend.

The sword strike of Cheon Gaseong that followed.

'I have to block...!'

The moment he was about to retrieve the sword that had ended up stabbing the empty air, Cheon Gaseong's sword approached at an amazing speed.

Thwack—!!

"Keo-eok!"

Go Durim, who had been hit in the abdomen by Cheon Gaseong's sword, was sent flying at a high speed.

Go Durim, who had rolled on the ground several times, lay on his back, and the faces of the remaining four turned pale.

'The great Go Durim lost without being able to do anything!'

It was truly a one-sided defeat.

The hand of Huang Seohyang, who was holding a sword, trembled.

At that moment, Cheon Gaseong picked up a wooden sword.

Thwack!

Cheon Gaseong's wooden sword broke in half from the force with which he had hit Go Durim.

"Instructor."

"What is it?"

Cheon Gaseong, who had called the instructor, said with a dry voice.

"I will stop the first sparring match here."

"What... did you say?"

"The wooden sword is broken."

At that moment, something that no one had expected happened.

Cheon Gaseong, who had stepped up first and had defeated Go Durim in one blow, had forfeited the sparring match for the reason that his wooden sword was broken.

"Are you really forfeiting the sparring match?"

"Yes."

As if there was nothing more to say, Cheon Gaseong went down from the training ground.

The instructor, who had been hesitating for a moment, had no choice but to raise the blue flag and shout.

"The winner of the first sparring match is... the Blue Team!"

"Eh?"

The Blue Team, which had won the victory in a daze, had expressions of incomprehension, and on the contrary, the officials of the Red Team, who had been defeated, looked at Cheon Gaseong with incomprehensible faces.

"What is this!"

At the shout of Jong Ryeo'ak, who could not hold it in, Cheon Gaseong did not even answer.

'This brat... did he step up first with this intention from the beginning?!'

Jong Ryeo'ak noticed that all of this was Cheon Gaseong's plan.

In the first place, there was no way a martial artist of Cheon Gaseong's level would have misjudged his strength and broken a wooden sword.

"It seems he was planning to lose from the beginning."

As Oh Seolhwa spoke with a low voice, Moyong Susu also nodded her head.

"I don't know what his scheme is."

The fact that Cheon Gaseong had stepped up for the first sparring match was his choice as the team leader.

There was no consultation in the first place.

—I will step up for the first sparring match. The rest of you, wait.

After conveying a one-sided notification that was no different from an order, Cheon Gaseong really went up on the training ground by himself.

After this, Cheon Gaseong defeated Go Durim in one move and then forfeited. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

It was a move that was incomprehensible from beginning to end.

Of course, the Blue Team was also frustrated.

"F-Fortunately, we won the first sparring match."

As Yu Useon said with a voice that seemed to be crawling, Zhuge Ming shook his head.

"This cannot be considered a victory."

For the Blue Team to win this sparring match completely, they had to win three more times.

But Go Durim, who was one of the best forces of the Blue Team, could no longer fight.

'I have to figure out Young Hero Cheon's thoughts... but I have no idea what he's thinking...'

Zhuge Ming was frustrated.

He could not read Cheon Gaseong's thoughts at all.

Next to him, who was worrying about how to proceed with the future sparring matches, Cheon Yerang approached.

"Young Hero Zhuge."

"Yes, yes!"

The surprised Zhuge Ming swallowed a dry breath.

Although Cheon Yerang, seen from a distance, was as beautiful as a painting, when he faced her up close, he felt as if he would lose his mind.

"P-Please... speak."

"You don't have to worry."

"What? What do you mean by that..."

"No matter how it goes, the Blue Team and the Red Team will be tied until the sixth sparring match."

While Zhuge Ming was blinking, not understanding, Cheon Yerang said with a dry voice.

"My brother will create a match between the team leaders, no matter what."

"Can I know the reason for that?"

"He's curious."

"What is Young Hero Cheon curious about?"

Jin Sohyun's face was reflected in Cheon Yerang's two eyes.

"Young Hero Jin."

(End of Chapter)