Absolute Regression

Episode 181 It’s not a cliff to climb.

Gwonma was in the main training hall.

Dozens of Tekken were practicing their martial arts skills, and Kwon Demon was standing in front of them with his arms crossed.

Danwoogang (段佑强), the undefeated horse.

The strongest fighter known for not having a single defeat.

He was a head taller than me and his entire body was muscular. His bronze skin looked as hard as steel, as if a sword would not penetrate it. In particular, his fists were unusually large; without any exaggeration, they were as big as a woman’s head.

The saying that the body itself is a weapon is exactly what should be used for an undefeated demon.

And there was something that definitely caught my attention. Gwonma looks really scary. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the devils in the paintings and statues of our school were modeled after the face of this demon. A face that makes you think that when a horse war breaks out, the leader must be a champion. How many people in Wulin would dare to see this face?

The horse suddenly turned its head and looked at me.

It doesn’t matter how he feels right now. The very appearance was so scary that even now, it looked like it wanted to fight me.

Of course, I have no preconceptions about appearance. How many times in your life have you experienced that your appearance and personality do not match? Among those who kill people while laughing, how many of them looked fine?

I bowed my head politely.

“See you, Madam Kwon.”

However, Gwonma did not greet me and looked at the Tekkens again. It was an act of complete disregard for me, but I didn’t care.

In the past, this action itself would have been meaningful and would have hurt my pride, but not now. Don’t get upset. Please don’t get upset. In hindsight, it’s nothing.

If this happens on your first visit, there must be a good reason.

I stood on the sidelines and watched the Tekkens practice their martial arts skills.

Under the scorching sun, the Tekkens stood like stone statues in one posture. None of them moved, as if moving would mean the end of the world. Well, no one would dare to move their body even if it is difficult when that scary horse is staring at them.

There was suffocating tension, but fortunately, no one made any notable mistakes during the event.

How much time has passed?

With the spirit of the warrior standing at the forefront, the Tekkens took their next stance. One of the two outstretched fists went towards his waist, twisting his body to the side.

Once again, they took another pose and became stone statues that could never end. They paid great attention to each and every movement.

I think it is proper training. Of course, it is another matter how many people will truly understand the deep meaning of this practice and make it their own.

In this way, one hour of training came to an end.

The Tekkens all dispersed and Gwonma walked to his residence. He completely ignored me until the end.

He must have heard a lot of rumors and news about me recently, so this complete disregard could be seen as a kind of conversation.

I imagined that scary face smiling brightly at me. I imagined him joking with me.

Kwon Ma, if you treat me like this, I am a person who imagines things like this.

I went to see Gwonma again the next day.

But today, just like the first day, he glanced at me and silently watched the Tekkens’ martial arts training.

I was ignored like yesterday, but no one laughed at me. It may be that discipline stems from fear of the demons, but out of all the demons I’ve seen so far, I thought that the most disciplined ones were the iron fists.

It was only when martial arts training was over that Gwonma finally spoke to me.

“Gongja Lee.”

Compared to that scary face, the voice was surprisingly soft. It seemed like a heavy and cold voice, but it turned out to be softer than I expected. He just muttered and it seemed like someone was speaking for him from behind.

“Why do you think I did that yesterday?”

“Is it because I visited during martial arts training?”

Then the horse turned around and walked away as if the answer was wrong. Why don’t you just take it easy? I looked at his back and smiled slightly.

I went to see Gwonma again the next day.

Although it was I who visited, it was Gwonma who prompted my visit.

Today, I went at a different time again before martial arts training. As I sat on the railing in front of the building where my office was located, Tekkens passed by and looked at me.

Although they were ignored by the Kwon Demon, none of the Tekkens showed any disdain. Rather, it contained subtle favor and respect. It could be said that the scientist he was when he returned and the scientist he is now are completely different people.

At that time, a horse came out of the building.

“Did you sleep well?”

He glanced at me and then walked away without saying a word. I followed him as he headed toward the main training ground.

“I thought about the reason carefully yesterday. “Is it because I am not the first of the Magon to visit you?”

Anyway, I met and formed a relationship with all the other mazons, so he was the seventh, excluding the Poison King.

The horse stopped and looked at me with a scary face and asked.

“Do I seem like such a narrow-minded person?”

“Then I guess I am narrow-minded. “I think I would be very angry.”

Gwonma left without saying anything more. I shouted as I saw him walking away.

“See you again tomorrow.”

But I couldn’t see the horse the next day.

Only Tekken players trained in the training hall. Instead of giving advice, I watched them training until the end and returned.

I made a fuss like that for three days in a row. I couldn’t tell if he was avoiding me on purpose or if he had something to do.

‘Are you going to come out like this?’

Anyway, these Mazons are all rough and picky. There really is no easy opponent.

As I turned around to see who would win, one of the Tekkens passed by and quietly spoke to me.

“Mazon is currently in the military training camp.”

When I asked him why he was telling me that, he spoke softly.

“Our family has received great help from the recent work handled by Hwangcheongak.”

After saying that, he bowed and left. It may have been burdensome to say this, but it seems like he was very thankful for Hwangcheongak.

-Thank you.

I expressed my gratitude to him as he went far away.

I went that way to the military camp.

Gwonma sat there alone, lost in thought. It might not seem like contemplation would go well with this tall, rugged person, but surprisingly, the image of him sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed suited him well.

I spoke softly behind him. I spoke to him as if I had seen him yesterday, omitting anything about the three days I had wasted or how I found this place.

“Is it because of you that you want to stay away from me? “You’ve already decided to support your brother, so aren’t you trying not to break that belief?”

Gwonma opened his eyes after a while and said.

“Is that such a great belief that you would disparage someone for that reason? “The people who ruin the world are all people with wrong beliefs.”

It was something unexpected. Just looking at it, it looks like once he makes his mind up, he will stick with it until he dies.

“Then maybe you can support me instead of your brother.”

Then Gwonma closed his eyes again, as if he did not want to talk any more.

I bowed my head politely and said hello.

“I will come back tomorrow to find the answer.”

I could tell. That he was conducting some kind of test. Otherwise, Dankal would have told me not to come. Anyway, not bad. If you look at it often, you will be able to find the answer to your relationship.

After leaving Donggwonmun, I headed to Namdojong to meet Hyeolcheondoma.

Strangely enough, Hyeolcheon Doma was also sitting in the yard, lost in thought.

“Is today a day for mazons to reflect as a group? “Then I’ll have to think about it too.”

I went and sat down next to him.

Hyeolcheondoma spoke softly with his eyes closed.

“You don’t know how to deal with a punch since you’ve only been cutting to death, right?”

Hyeolcheondoma knew exactly my current situation.

“How did you know?”

“How do you know? “There are a lot of rumors that you are going in and out of Donggwon Gate these days.”

“How fast rumors spread. “You’re just like the devils with their mouths dirty!”

“Then you lose all the fish you catch.”

“it’s okay. Let’s go catch it again. “There are only seven, so it should be fun to catch them again.”

“Why seven?”

I quietly looked at the blood chopping block.

“Have you already caught me?”

I laughed out loud at Hyeolcheondoma’s words. Hyeolcheondoma also laughed along, as if he found it funny even after saying what he said.

“I already came to see you because of that. “What kind of person is Gwonma?”

“Usually, people who use their fists are ignorant, but Gwonma is smart. “He is very smart.”

Smart advice. This may be the reason why Chwima said that it is not easy to win unless you are very prepared, or why your father said that even though it is four to three, it is tight.

“A smart person’s fist hurts more.”

“Do you regret it? “I should have caught him before this old man.”

“I have to tell you this first. I’m not sure what kind of person Gwonma is, but this is certain. “I’m not jealous of the ten cutting boards I got first!”

It is not a waste to flatter the Hyeolcheon Doma. Normally, when you flatter someone, there comes a moment when you wonder what you are doing, but this is not the case with Hyeolcheon Doma.

Hyeolcheon Doma is not worried. It’s not because I treat him like a fish he caught, but because I truly like him. When I asked to be the left wing, I said it because I needed Majon.

But now, it doesn’t matter if he is not a mazon or even if he is the stable keeper of the main school. It doesn’t matter if the person has no influence on my becoming a successor. Hyeolcheondoma himself is a good person. As long as this feeling doesn’t change, you won’t have to worry about your relationship with him.

“Do you know why the leader likes Gwonma?”

“Does your father like horseback riding?”

“He doesn’t say it out loud, but he’s probably my favorite among the Magons.”

“Why do you like it?”

“Gwonma is crazy about martial arts.”

Then there is no need to say more. Because it met the top priority of being liked by my father.

“It’s not just crazy, it’s pure crazy.”

“But you’re saying you’re smart, right? “Isn’t it cool?”

“That’s cool. “I met the right person.”

“It’s okay because there’s an elderly person here. “If you really weren’t there, who would I get this advice from and how would I live?”

“I will live well. “Drinking with a drunkard and hanging out with a very evil soma.”

As expected, it was a blood chopping block that was jealous of other mazons. At the same time, he was generously giving information about the horse.

“You can’t say no, right?”

“I’ll come see you again if you need to think. At that time, I will also bring a horse.”

“Good luck!”

That’s how I left Hyeolcheondoma’s residence.

* * *

The next day, I visited Invincible Horse again.

He was neither in the Daeyeon Mujang nor in the Small Yeon Mujang. While searching around, I found him in front of a cliff within Donggwonmun Gate. I knew that the main school was so large that it had a lake and all kinds of other things, but I didn’t know there was even a cliff like this.

“Did you sleep well?”

He didn’t accept my greeting today either. It doesn’t matter though. Just because they allowed me to freely wander around Donggwonmun meant that they didn’t hate me coming there so much.

I stood next to him and looked up at the cliff.

“I think I finally found the answer. Instead, please make me a promise. He said he wouldn’t be angry after hearing the answer. “No, you can be angry, but you won’t hit me with that fist.”

The horse slowly looked at me. He didn’t say he would promise in words, but the way he looked at me was enough.

“He wanted to show it in front of his subordinates. “I’m not saying, ‘I’m a person who can lightly ignore Prince Lee,’ or, ‘I support the Archduke, so you should know that,’ but what I really wanted to say was, ‘I have no interest in your fight for successor.’ Wasn’t it?”

Was it correct? Instead of chasing me away like he had done other times, his gaze returned to the cliff.

I no longer cared about the correct answer and looked up at the cliff together.

“I didn’t know there was a cliff like this on campus. “If you go up there, you can see the whole bridge.”

“The purpose of this cliff is not to climb.”

“Then what is it for?”

Then a surprising answer came out.

“This is a cliff that I will break down with my fist. “In one blow!”

I was surprised because I felt that he meant what he said.

“Don’t you think it’s a ridiculous goal?”

No matter how good of a horse it is, it is impossible to collapse this cliff with one blow. It would be impossible for my father too.

“No, I was wondering why I didn’t have this specific goal.”

I have never had a specific goal in martial arts. Of course, it might have been because a fire weapon was taking that place.

It’s been a really long time since I heard this. An unmanned person talks about a specific goal. That made my heart tremble.

“Can I join in on this goal?”

“Are you going to cut this cliff with one sword?”

“no. “I also want to destroy it with my fists.”

This time Gwonma was surprised. You probably never imagined that I would give that answer.

But what I said now was sincere. I thought that if I could knock down this cliff with my fists, I could beat Fire Mugi. No, I wanted to leave Hwamugi and challenge myself as a warrior. I said something even more surprising to Gwon Ma, who was looking at me with a scary face like a demon.

“Please teach me martial arts.”