Chapter 329 – Side Story. Dream of Return (10)
“Save them!”
I shouted loudly, as I did in my past life.
But none of the bulky men blocking the alleyway were flustered or stepped forward.
They just silently held their ground.
As Park Soo-ho looked puzzled by this, Sammayeoryeong, who was looking around, explained the situation.
It wouldn’t reach Park Soo-ho, though.
“Jinbeop?”
“Yeah. It’s like a slightly modified version of the Mirojin? So that not only the people inside, but also the sound can’t escape.”
“I see. That’s why they’re so calm.”
Even if I shouted as loud as I could in my past life, I knew it would be meaningless.
Park Soo-ho began to gauge the height of the wall next to him, sensing that something was wrong.
He might even try to escape by climbing the wall, but…
“It’s useless.”
The bulky man reciting Park Soo-ho’s personal information smirked.
“You’re already under the influence of the Shipyunjinbeop. Even if you manage to take us all down, you won’t be able to escape if you don’t know the exact method.”
“Jinbeop…?”
I made a face that was more surprised than when I found out that the end of a male duck-billed platypus’s penis was bifurcated, and that it had a pouch to carry around in everyday life.
But there was someone who was even more surprised than me.
“What?! Shipyunjinbeop? This? Just this?!”
I don’t know what she did or how she did it, but Sammayeoryeong jumped up with her two-pronged hair standing up.
As the other women’s eyes turned to Sammayeoryeong’s sudden reaction, her raised hair slowly fell back down.
I brushed Sammayeoryeong’s hair back and asked her.
“Yeo-ryeong, what’s so surprising about the Shipyunjinbeop? Is it a great technique?”
“Uh… it’s pretty amazing. I heard about it from Myeongwoljin. It’s the most perfect technique that combines all the ideologies that make up the foundation of Taoism.”
Ilwon, Taeguk, Samjae, Sasang, Ohang, Yukhap, Chilseong, Palgwa, Gugung, and Shigan.
These ideologies that make up the foundation of Taoism were combined to create the most perfect technique.
“But it failed. If it had succeeded, it would have been like creating a small universe, but that’s impossible, right?”
An independent space that contained all the laws. It was no different from creating a new world, and such a feat was not allowed even for gods, let alone humans.
“Even though it failed, the Shipyunjinbeop is still the closest technique to perfection,” Sammayeoryeong said, her hair standing on end.
It was a technique that allowed one to control everything according to their will, except for some major natural laws like resurrecting the dead or reversing time.
“But look at these guys! They’re using this shoddy technique and calling it the Shipyunjinbeop? This? This isn’t how you use a technique…! Ahh! Ugh!”
As she spoke, Sammayeoryeong’s anger seemed to rise again, and she began to jump around in place.
I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, as if someone had insulted me by calling a leaf-cutting sword a simgeomi.
As I tried to calm Sammayeoryeong down by patting her back, the confrontation between my past self and the mysterious men continued.
By the time Park Soo-ho realized that the martial arts world he had only known as a fantasy was real and that the men who had captured him were part of it, one of the bulky men stepped forward and spoke.
“I think we understand the situation now. The martial arts world exists, but it’s slowly declining.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Listen to me until the end. Naturalists are becoming rarer and rarer, and talented people are not being born. We have no choice but to pass down and refine the martial arts that have been lost, but even if we manage to do that, we are being pushed aside by modern weapons. The number of martial artists is decreasing, and if this continues, the lineage will be cut off in a hundred years.”
I had no idea things had gotten this bad. It seemed like the future had indeed unfolded as Hemma had predicted.
But what the next bulky man said was beyond my imagination.
“So, the princess has decided to carry out the Martial Arts Preservation Project.”
“The Martial Arts Preservation Project?”
“Yes. We will analyze the bodies of those born with special constitutions and cultivate artificial talents. Then, we will restore the original form of the lost martial arts and find the power to replace the declining naturalists. That’s the will of the current martial arts princess, the Sword Master.”
“….”
Wow.
What kind of crazy plan was this?
Of course, those with power would never willingly give it up.
If the martial arts world still existed, I expected some kind of resistance.
…I just didn’t expect it to be like this.
Feeling like I had been hit in the back of the head, I scowled even more than my past self.
“So what? I still don’t see how this concerns me.”
“Park Soo-ho. You were born with a special constitution.”
“What nonsense is this?”
“I understand that you may not be convinced. With weakened naturalists and fewer people with special constitutions, it’s not uncommon for people to have underdeveloped physiques. You probably think of yourself as a normal, healthy person.”
That was true. I had never considered myself special in my past life.
But wait, this was ridiculous.
I had no talent, so why was my past self born into a wealthy family with some kind of special constitution?
It was ridiculous.
It was so ridiculous because it was my past life.
The bulky man reached out towards my past self as I doubled over in pain.
“Now that you understand, come with us, Park Soo-ho. You were born with a special talent. Let us cultivate it and develop you as a martial artist.”
“What happens if I refuse?”
“You’ll have to come with us to the martial arts world.”
“What about my family?”
“We’ll make it look like you disappeared or committed suicide. You can leave a will if you want.”
“I’ll never see them again?”
“It can’t be helped. We can’t show ourselves to society yet.”
“….”
My past self thought in silence.
But the answer was already decided.
Even though our bodies, talents, and the worlds we lived in were different…I was still Park Soo-ho. That much was certain.
“I refuse.”
I would never accept this.
Everything I had to protect was here.
“Do you know why we’re all gathered here?”
“Yeah. If I refuse, you’ll try to take me by force.”
The goal of the martial arts princess or whatever was to preserve the martial arts, not to revive them.
Whether or not my past self learned martial arts was not that important.
As long as I had a body, research was possible.
They might not even care about life or death.
But most importantly…
“Most importantly, the atmosphere is really creepy. Don’t you have any intention of hiding the fact that you’re not proper people?”
The bulky men had been exuding a dangerous aura from the beginning.
Even my past self, who was just an ordinary person, could sense it.
The bulky man, who had been expressionless, raised one corner of his mouth at my firm response.
“I guess there’s no helping it…let’s persuade him a little.”
He rolled his shoulders and charged towards my past self at a decent speed.
“Even if you have talent, it’s meaningless if you don’t hone it. Feel it for yourself! This is martial arts!”
He stepped forward and performed the Gugungbo.
Even though it had declined, it was once a technique that was highly regarded even among the Hwasan faction.
The bulky man clenched his fist and charged towards my past self.
Of course, this was only from my current perspective. To my past self, it must have looked like teleportation.
Bam!
I braced myself for impact, but still fell to the ground with a thud.
Taking advantage of the opening, the bulky man relentlessly kicked me while I was down.
Thwack! Thwack!
“Hahaha! How dare you defy the princess’s will! What? You refuse? Did you think you had a choice?”
He spat out words that seemed to be mixed with personal feelings as he mercilessly beat my past self.
Of course, Park Soo-ho didn’t just take it lying down.
He tried to lessen the impact by crouching down and enduring the pain, and even tried to get up.
But those clumsy movements were no match for someone who had truly mastered martial arts.
The bulky man was at best a first-rate fighter, and his martial arts had deteriorated over time.
However, he had learned what was once called the Divine Martial Arts.
If you crouched down and guarded yourself, he would relentlessly attack your weak points with his feet.
If you tried to stand up and stumbled, he would kick your legs with all his might and knock you down again.
My body was quickly breaking down.
Was this how I died in my past life, beaten by these mediocre men?
The thought of dying at the hands of such pathetic people made me sick to my stomach.
But at the same time, as I watched myself crumble, I couldn’t help but think that there was nothing I could do.
“Huh?”
Something strange happened.
