A month.
If it's short, ... and if it's long, it's long.
It was enough time for him to accept that he had woken up in another body and adapt to his new body and environment.
"… … At least try to make an excuse."
"What are you talking about?"
As I asked with my eyes wide open, the middle-aged man sitting in front of me furrowed his eyebrows.
He was Baek Mu-Heun, the father of this body and the head of Baekmu-gwan.
"Are you really asking because you don't know?"
"Yes. I don't know."
Baek Mu-Heun grabbed the back of my neck at my confident answer.
I sat up straight with my back straight and stared at him.
I was confident.
At least I don't remember doing anything wrong enough to warrant an excuse… ….
"The lumber shop owner came to see me earlier. He said that the second son who was sent to the military came back as a corpse."
"… … ."
"You still have nothing to say?"
"What's the problem with that?"
I rather raised my voice and spoke in a counter-argumentative manner.
"To learn martial arts, you must have the attitude and effort to cut your bones and flesh. That way, the time, money, and effort you put in will not be wasted. Rather, you cannot express your gratitude by offering good silk… … ."
"This guy!"
Taaak!
For a moment, stars flashed and a cheerful sound came from my head.
It didn't hurt that much, but I couldn't help feeling uneasy.
'Ugh. I can see it, but I can't avoid it.'
Well, even if you could avoid it, it would have been better for your health not to avoid it.
That is if you don't want to see your father running wild with bloodshot eyes.
"What? You made children under ten years old do a one-hour training session? Are you grateful? Where in the world would you find a master who would make such foolish training sessions!"
Baek Mu-Heun swung the staff in one hand threateningly in the air as if he was going to strike my head at any moment.
'No, we do it every day in the Blood cult… … .'
Even that is only half the two poems.
I didn't pull out my fingernails like I used to in the blood cult, and I didn't yell at the guy who collapsed that there would be no dinner tonight.
These past few days, the runny-nosed dogs have been wanting to learn martial arts properly, so I just taught them a little bit more seriously.
'You're just going to run to your parents and complain because it's so hard? Anyway, kids these days... ... .'
"Are you listening to me?"
"If it were like the old days… … . Yes. I'm listening."
When I, who had been absentmindedly thinking about something else, shamelessly nodded, Baek Mu-Heun looked at me with a look of astonishment.
"Do you not know that you are listening with one ear and letting it out the other? I don't know what he was thinking after he died and came back to life. Sometimes I wonder if he is really my son… … ."
This guy is a ghost.
I bowed my head to the father of this body who was sighing deeply.
"The boy was short-sighted. I will make sure that something like this never happens again."
"Su-ryong-ah."
Suddenly he called my name with a serious expression.
Baek Su-ryong.
This is the name of the original owner of this body.
Twenty-seven this year.
A boy who was raised by a father who had no real nickname and worked as a small-time official in a rural area, and who also had no real skills and taught only the neighborhood's snotty kids.
A life that is too distant from the flying and soaring masters of the martial arts world.
He's a guy who wouldn't even be third-rate if he were unmanned.
"yes."
Baek Mu-Heun's expression became slightly clouded at my plain answer. He hesitated for a moment before continuing.
"I know you've been dazed a lot since you woke up. You probably have your own set of worries. You went through a big thing a while ago… … ."
A month ago.
Baek Su-ryong came back to life from the dead.
To be exact, Baek Su-ryong died, and I woke up in his body.
"If you have any concerns, you can be honest about it. After all, isn't this father your only blood relative?"
Only blood relative.
That's why I couldn't speak honestly.
'Your son Baek Su-ryong is dead.'
Baek Su-ryong was weak from birth.
It is said that he was born with a rare arrhythmia of which the name is unknown.
Likewise, his mother, who was of weak health, died a few years after giving birth to her son.
Baek Mu-heun went to see a doctor who was said to be brave and fed him all kinds of medicinal herbs in an attempt to save his son who was a lump of flesh.
'It was no use.'
In the end, Baek Mu-Heun came down to the countryside with good water and air to become a military officer for his son who was weak.
But his son,
"Do you still have an interest in martial arts?"
"… … ."
Despite his natural constitution, Baek Su-song seems to have wanted to become a martial artist.
It is said that even though he could not learn proper internal energy techniques due to his arrhythmia, he trained his body every day and searched everywhere for a way to cure his illness.
A few months ago, Baek Su-ryong finally obtained a copy of the Internal Energy Method.
'You foolishly touched magic.'
Magic.
Not all magic is dangerous and has serious side effects, but the one Baek Soo Ryong touched was of a particularly bad quality.
In the end, Baek Su-ryong collapsed after spitting up blood from excessive exercise.
… … No, he died.
It was a death that he had prepared himself for.
[I'd rather die after trying to make a move than spend my whole life giving up on my dreams.]
At the spot where Baek Su-ryong fell, a bloody suicide note with that written on it was left behind.
After that, I woke up in his body and a month had passed.
Waking up in an unfamiliar body, I pretended to have lost my memories and gradually learned the story of the guy who had been the owner of my body.
"Still… …you can't give up?"
"… … ."
When I didn't answer, Baek Mu-Heun's expression darkened.
I thought that even after her only son nearly died, she couldn't give up her vain dream.
I opened my mouth slowly.
"I don't know."
It was not said to reassure Baek Mu-Heun, but out of sincerity.
'Do you have any interest in martial arts?'
In my past life, I crossed the line of death every day just to survive in the Blood Cult.
Learning martial arts, killing people, and becoming an instructor who studies and teaches martial arts after injuring his dungeon were all for survival.
But what about now?
'Is it necessary to become a martial artist?'
There are five world-class divine techniques in my head right now.
However, becoming a martial artist inevitably means that there are many instances where your life will be in danger.
'You want me to live like that again?'
For me, who lived a life of walking on the edge of a knife every day until the day I died, that wasn't a very pleasant thing.
'It might not be a bad idea to just teach these runny noses and live a leisurely life.'
This village, where the Jinmu Hall is located, was a truly peaceful and quiet countryside.
However, instead of saying, "I have no interest in martial arts," I said, "I don't know."
My answer seemed surprising to Baek Mu-Heun.
He opened his eyes wide and asked again.
"… … Did you say you didn't know?"
"yes."
Right now, it feels comfortable here, like I'm on vacation, but who knows what might happen later.
It's a new life.
There is no need to make a hasty decision.
"I'll think more about what I want to do in the future."
"… … ."
Baek Mu-Heun looked at me with a complicated expression, seemingly relieved but also feeling sorry for his son who was about to give up on his dream.
I looked at him without avoiding his gaze.
"...I get it."
Eventually, he nodded heavily.
"I'm not fully recovered yet, so if you feel anything unusual, tell me right away."
"yes."
"If you're going to make the kids do the math, you might as well throw them a ball and have them kick it."
"… … Let me say it again, to learn martial arts, you must have the attitude and effort to cut through your bones and flesh… … ."
"Do you know what kind of Shaolin Temple this is? Then, all the few students will leave."
Baek Mu-Heun waved his hands, saying he didn't want to hear it.
I got up from my seat, smacking my lips.
"Then let's go out and see."
Okay."
As I turned and left the room, I heard a sigh and muttering to myself from behind.
"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do for you… … ."
I pretended not to hear and quickly walked back to my room.
* * *
When I returned to my room, I took off my top and stood in front of the mirror.
It was a daily routine to check my physical condition.
'He's a parasite brother who's never suffered before.'
Like his father, he was tall and had long, limbs.
Although he was skinny for a man, he had a very handsome face.
Since I woke up, I've been exercising consistently, so my physical condition is not bad now.
'If only the pulse could be fixed, it would be a great muscle and bone.'
The problem is inside the body.
Even without that, my body was unable to properly use its internal energy due to vein stasis, and as a result of the aftereffects of the demonic attack, my blood vessels were filled with turbid energy.
This is the extent of my improvement after recovering for the past month.
I find myself clicking my tongue at the sight of the inside of my body, which is no better than a rotten thing.
"Tsk. You're worse than a third-rate drone."
For now, even third-rate people are viewed favorably.
Even a third-rate warrior can use even a small amount of internal energy.
Besides, if I leave it like this, this body will die within three years.
'Is this a coincidence or fate... ... Of all places, it has to be Heavenly Yin, Absolute Vessel.'
I knew the name of the arrhythmia that Baek Su-ryong was suffering from.
The Cheon-eum-jeol-maek (Heavenly Yin Absolute Vessel).
A terrible natural disaster that most of the world's most famous doctors have never even heard of, or even if they do know about it, they cannot do anything about it.
People born with a Thousand-Eum vein usually die before they reach the age of thirty.
I looked at the young man in the mirror and clicked my tongue.
'You were destined to not live long anyway. Did you know that and still struggle?'
Perhaps Baek Su-ryong instinctively felt that he did not have much time left and made an extreme gamble.
But that gamble failed, and instead, my soul entered this body.
'I will use this body well from now on.'
The dead are dead, and the living must live.
Fortunately, I knew how to treat the Cheon-eum-jeol-maek.
Reverse Heavenly Divine Skill.
It is a peerless martial art that has been passed down only to the leaders of the Blood Demon Sect for generations, and it is a divine art that ranks high among the five martial arts in my head.
The secret recipe for the Reverse Heavenly Sword that I found in the Blood Cult's martial arts library had this written on it:
-The body of the Heavenly Yin Absolute Vessel is cursed by heaven,
-Yeokcheonsingong (逆天神功) is a martial art that goes against heaven.
-When these two meet, the absolute vein becomes a divine vein, and they will gain the power to break the heavens.
Although it may be grandiose, to get straight to the point, it meant that the Cheon-eum-jeol-maek type is the best constitution for learning the Reverse Heavenly Sword.
In the first place, the first blood horse of the Blood Demon Sect was Cheon-eum-jeol-maek.
'Is there any connection between using the Reverse Heavenly Sword before I died and waking up in this body?'
I could only guess, I couldn't know that far.
The important thing is that I have the martial arts and knowledge to change the Cheon-eum-jeol-maek into the Cheon-eum-shin-maek.
There's just one problem… ….
Ugh. I muttered, smacking my lips again.
"I don't have money."
It costs a lot of money to learn the reverse heavenly sword.
It's not just a lot, it's a huge amount.
A famous elixir that you would know just by hearing its name, and a doctor who is one of the best in the Central Plains.
Materials to be used in various great dharmas are also needed here.
Even the most famous families in the region are at a level where their roots can be uprooted.
There was no way his father, who ran a small military office in the countryside, could have that much money.
"What should I do with this… … ."
It was when the handsome face in the mirror was frowning with worry.
"Master!"
A scream-like cry was heard from outside.