Star Instructor, Master Baek

“Who the fuck are you?” The leader of the freelancers shouted when he saw me. It was the druggie who had been thrashed by Old Man Wi.

With bloodshot eyes and a stench reeking of drugs, he raised his dao and pointed it at me. “Hey, do you really think you can take us on alone?”

“Eh? Why not?”

“You’re crazy. Don’t you see how many people we have? Get the fuck out of here and I’ll pretend I didn’t see you.”

“I don’t want to.” I smirked and strode briskly toward the men.

The druggie must have sensed something in my nonchalant demeanor, because he started trying to bribe me. “You seem very confident in your abilities…but what does that matter in the face of overwhelming numbers? Instead of getting hurt senselessly, how about joining us and getting a share of the profits?”

“……”

“Well? You’re here to get a sword from the old man anyway. Why don’t you just kill him and take it? I won’t interfere.”

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“Wow, I haven’t seen such a self-righteous scumbag in a very long time.”

“Heehee, that’s the best praise a lowlife like me can get! Even if the old man dies here, no one will ever look for his body.” The druggie grinned, revealing a gap in his teeth. He obviously didn’t know what sarcasm was.

He motioned with his hand and ordered his men to surround me. Then, thinking he had the upper hand, he sneered, “I’m going to give you one last chance to switch sides before I change my mind. You look pretty young; do you really want to ruin your future because of some random old man?”

“Hmm…” I feigned indecision and secretly observed the freelancers, but my heart quickly sank in disappointment.

There isn’t a single decent warrior among them. Their skin is red, yellow, or black from drug abuse, the tips of their swords are wobbly, and they all seem lethargic. Some of them are even panting from the short hike.

All my motivation and excitement evaporated in an instant.

“No one in their right mind would take on such a shitty job,” I said. Even the rough-and-tumble freelancers had their own rules. According to Bok Man-Chun, those who attacked others during the Freelancer’s Bazaar would be looked down upon by their peers.

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In other words, the men gathered here were all trash. Holding the sword that Old Man Wi had given me loosely, I strode toward them. “Tsk tsk, if I don’t send you all to the afterlife today, you’ll just continue to cause problems for everyone else.”

“Ptooey! Kill that bastard first!” The druggie spat on the ground and yelled, hiding behind the other freelancers.

Before the rain of blades could fall on me, I sprang forward like a charging tiger and slammed into the freelancer in front of me.

SWOOSH!

“Ugh!” The man in front of me widened his eyes in terror as I swooped down on him. He raised his sword in panic, aiming for my shoulder.

That brief moment of hesitation was enough for my sword to carve a red line across his neck.

SPURT!

“KEUAK…!” The freelancer screamed as he desperately tried to stop the bleeding from the two-inch gash on his neck. Unfortunately, it was too late. The light in his eyes was already fading.

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SMACK!

As he staggered off balance, I kicked him into another freelancer and used the opening to slash at the other startled enemies.

SWISH! SWOOSH! WHOOSH!

In an instant, two more were down, their carotid arteries severed. Decapitating them was a waste of energy, and letting them stumble around causing confusion before they died served as a good shield for me. Just like that, I used their numbers and lack of cooperation to my advantage, easily outmaneuvering them and killing three more.

“Shit! Get out of the way, asshole!”

“If you’re going to die, die alone!”

Harsh expletives were yelled from all around me as the encirclement lost its meaning. Some freelancers had even started slashing at each other in the chaos.

I don’t need qi to defeat these thugs; the physical enhancement from the Eighteen Strikes of the Viridian Forest is enough.

I launched myself into the air, twisting my body to dodge spears and swords from both sides.

CRASH!

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I kicked away the weapons coming at me with both feet, somersaulted through the air like a cat, and stabbed the fool who tried to attack me from behind.

CRACK!

As my sword sliced through his skull, his face instantly paled in shock. I landed on the ground, pulled out my sword, and pushed the dying man away from me.

In the light of the flickering torches, I could see my face reflected in Moon Shadow. This is a much better sword than I thought. It’s as light as a feather, yet it can cut through a human skull without leaving a single nick or dent.

“Die!”

“Don’t you idiots even know the basic tactic of taking your enemy by surprise?” With a small sigh, I ducked low to avoid the incoming attack and stuck out my foot in a low sweep.

Two freelancers immediately tripped over my leg.

THUD! SPURT!

I quickly stabbed them in the heart and sprang to my feet, just in time to dodge a mace that whizzed past my face and smashed the head of one of the fallen men.

SCREECH!

I slid my sword into the mace’s chain and yanked the wielder toward me.

“Ugh!”

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I slammed the mace into his neck, breaking it, then spun around to face another enemy as I pulled my sword out of the chain.

Huh? Why did they suddenly stop attacking?

“……”

In the blink of an eye, seven of the freelancers were dead, intimidating the rest of the rabble.

“He’s a monster…”

“I thought our target was supposed to be just an old man!”

“All I wanted was to make some money for drinks…”

In the first place, they were all there to make a little bit of pocket change. There was no sense of camaraderie among them, and they had no reason to risk their lives to kill me.

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“C-Count me out of this.”

“Me too…”

One by one, they took a few steps back before abruptly fleeing in all directions. It was a hell of an amusing sight.

Should I hunt them all down and kill them? The thought crossed my mind, but I decided against it. It would be tiring to chase freelancers through the mountains at night.

“You’re the only one I can’t forgive,” I said, hurling my sword at the mastermind. To no one’s surprise, he was also the first freelancer to abandon ship.

THUNK!

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“Kwee!” The druggie let out a bizarre screech and fell forward, a sword in his back.

I walked over to him, retrieved my sword, and then returned to the tent where Old Man Wi and Bok Man-Chun were waiting, staring at me with their mouths agape.

“If you two don’t close your mouths soon, a fly might get inside.”

Bok Man-Chun snapped his mouth shut and muttered through pressed lips, “Boss… I knew you’d learned martial arts, but I had no idea you were a hidden master…”

“I guess you’ll have to scrap your plans to assassinate me in a dark alley now, huh?”

Bok Man-Chun flinched exaggeratedly. “How did you know about that? I was going to do it tomorrow, so I’m glad I found out about your abilities today.”

I exchanged a few more ineffectual jokes with Bok Man-Chun, until finally, Old Man Wi approached me.

With a hint of anticipation, I asked, “What do you think?”

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“I’m afraid my eyesight has deteriorated. I couldn’t even recognize a refined blade when it was right in front of me.”

Knowing that this was the highest praise Old Man Wi could offer, a broad grin spread across my face. “You flatter me.”

“I am not.”

“Yeah, I know, I was just trying to be humble.”

“Seriously, you… You’re unbelievable. How can you be like this at your age…”

I had something that Old Man Wi could never see with the eyes of a master: The experience that I had accumulated in my previous life. As a person who was absolutely confident in my own field, I could understand his frustration.

“I was arrogant. I’ve seen a lot of experts in my life, including many stronger than you, but I’ve never seen anyone move their body like you did. To attribute that intricate control to mere technique is inadequate.”

“It’s because I had good teachers.”

What I had just shown him was the greatest external art in the world, created by none other than the Bandit King himself. Not only that, to be able to teach the martial arts of the Four Masters, I also studied them in detail and practiced them over and over again.

Right now, I’m barely able to apply what I’ve learned, but I’ll get better bit by bit.

Suddenly, Old Man Wi narrowed his eyes. “By the way… Why didn’t you use your qi during the fight just now? Or is it something you can’t use?”

He doesn’t seem to have figured out the truth yet, but damn, this old man’s senses are sharp!

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Bok Man-Chun asked incredulously, “What? Are you saying that Boss didn’t use qi just now? He cracked a man’s head open…”

“That’s because he used a sword I forged. If it had been made by someone else, it would have been difficult for him to cut a person’s bones without qi, but with my sword, it’s a piece of cake.”

Hearing Old Man Wi’s shameless self-praise, Bok Man-Chun’s jaw dropped. “Eh…”

With a serious, desperate look on his face, Old Man Wi asked me, “Answer me. Young Warrior, are you suffering from a condition that prevents you from using qi?”

“Do I have to answer that?”

“Yes.”

“About that…” My guts told me that Old Man Wi’s insistence was related to his “request,” and if I wanted to earn his trust, I needed to answer his question with sincerity.

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I glanced at the box of Seven Stem Nine Leaf Grass that was still in Bok Man-Chun’s arms. Once I ingested the spiritual herb, I’d be able to advance the Heaven Defying Divine Art to the next level.

“…I can’t use it right now, but it’s only temporary.”

“…….” Old Man Wi was silent for a while, as if he was making a difficult decision. Finally, he said: “I’m sorry, but I want to take back what I said earlier… Are you interested in accepting my request?”

I smiled broadly. “Of course.”

“I want you to kill a person for me.”

Inside Old Man Wi’s tent, all kinds of weapons were displayed in an order only he knew. The three of us sat around a small table in the middle of the tent.

“A murder contract… Who is the target?” Bok Man-Chun asked, a dangerous gleam in his eyes as he tried to find out how dangerous this job was. Depending on the target, the risk could be high or low.

Old Man Wi winced, then said hesitantly, “I can’t tell you that until you come with me to kill him, and I’m looking for someone who can do it as soon as possible.”

“I have to go with you?”

“Yes. I need to see him die with my own eyes.”

“…….”

“If you kill him, I will do everything in my power to make the weapon you want.”

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With that, Old Man Wi said nothing more. This was as much as he wanted to disclose.

“Hmm…” Bok Man-Chun scratched his chin indecisively.

I stared at Old Man Wi’s rigid expression for a moment, then said to Bok Man-Chun, “Administrator Bok, could you step outside?”

“Boss, you can’t decide this on a whim…”

“That was an order,” I interjected sternly.

“…I understand.” Bok Man-Chun got up and left the tent with a worried look on his face.

When Bok Man-Chun was out of earshot, I said in a low voice, “I have a question for you.”

“I have said all that I have to say.”

“My question has nothing to do with the request.”

“Fine… If it’s something I can answer, I’ll answer it.”

As soon as Old Man Wi let his guard down, I caught him unprepared, asking, “How did you end up in a place like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Allow me to put it more clearly. How did the Clan Head of the Wi Clan, one of the Eight Clans of the Blood Cult, end up in a place like this?”

With lightning speed, Old Man Wi lunged at my throat.