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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Towards the Peak (1)
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There are two most entertaining sights in the world:
A fight and a fire.
This was proven by the fact that the Martial Arts Debate Tournament had occupied the top five spots in MuTube's viewer rankings for the past week.
It even pushed out fancams of the girl group Dance Princesses from the rankings, proving that a fight was indeed the best spectacle.
Though, until recently, I was the one being watched.
Not anymore.
"Let's go. I know a good pub."
"I knew I could count on you!"
"As expected of Brother Geum!"
Leading the gambling addict who'd successfully multiplied his entire fortune by 1.7x by betting on the Three-Star Old Man, and the other just plain beggar, I grandly relocated us.
We arrived at a pub in Baekhwa City that I had reserved in advance for today.
"A giant screen! What a marvel!"
"Heh heh."
I smiled with satisfaction, seeing the large screen that I had arranged to be installed in advance, utilizing my connections with the Manggeum Hall, to repay Elder Song for his previous kindness.
This is the life of a silver spoon.
I carefully tucked away the questions of how on earth a projector existed in this primitive, ancient, uncivilized China, and why it worked simply by infusing internal energy into it.
After all, videos are best watched on a big screen.
"Young Master, what kind of wine and dishes shall I prepare for you?"
"Oh, please, I told you to speak comfortably. For wine, just give me whatever's left. As for the food, hmm, is Chef Wang here?"
"How could I speak informally to the Young Master? Chef Wang is also on standby."
"Then, I'd like the Hambugi, please."
Despite my insistence that he treat me informally, Elder Song bowed respectfully and went downstairs to the first floor.
Compared to Old Man Crooked-Beard, he was a truly respectable elder.
"What's a Hambugi?"
"Ah, you don't know? Then just wait quietly. You'll taste the most delicious food in the world today."
"Hmm…"
Moyong Taek shook his head.
This is why you shouldn't associate with uncivilized, primitive, ancient Central Plains people, tsk tsk.
Hambugi.
That's right. It's a hamburger.
Since being thrown into Geum Sihyeon's life,
for about a year, I had enjoyed a happy life, savoring Chinese cuisine that wasn't too different from Korean food.
But the Korean soul, deeply slumbering within me, retained a nobility that couldn't be purified by mere Chinese dishes.
So, I proposed a project to my father, which I ambitiously prepared:
Home Cooking Master Geum!
Of course, the term 'home cooking' was a misnomer; I diligently worked with the chefs to recreate Western dishes that were mostly unavailable in China.
It was a miracle to acquire the seeds of *gyeolgu saengchae*, or lettuce, which originated from the Western Regions.
Thus, the Hambugi was born!
Since modern wheat bread couldn't be replicated, I used rice bread with a suitably soft texture as the bun.
After many trials and errors, I managed to replicate the taste of cucumber pickles—pickles.
The patty was kneaded and grilled like dumpling filling, generously topped with traditional cheese from Mongolia, and even included lettuce, which, due to a lack of selective breeding, was a bit lacking in crispness.
Although it was somewhat inferior in taste compared to an original hamburger.
"Ohhh…!"
"What on earth is this taste?! Salty, crunchy, slightly sweet, with a subtle spicy kick…!"
To palates accustomed to grain pills and jerky, it was nothing short of the most delicious food in the world.
"You, Geum Sihyeon!"
"Brother Geum, you have a talent for cooking too? Amazing!"
Praise me more, more.
It was a shame there were no carbonated drinks, but as I munched on the Hambugi, which now tasted about 0.7 of a hamburger,
"The second quarterfinal match! One-Night Dream versus Sweet Mouth, Hidden Dagger! Sweet Mouth, Hidden Dagger versus One-Night Dream! It's happening noooow! The match is about to staart!"
Miss Zhuge Whatever-Her-Name-Is kicked things off with insane energy.
I wondered what Zhuge Liang, Old Man Crooked-Beard's beloved, would think of the current martial arts world and his frivolous descendant if he saw them.
"Go, One-Night Dream!"
At the sudden outburst of nonsense,
Un-hak and I simultaneously glared at the bastard who was worse than a dog.
"Sweet Mouth, Hidden Dagger, wasn't that Sister Seol?"
"The odds were too low. 1.4 times."
"You crazy underdog bettor."
That's why he always gets cleaned out and comes crawling to me, the great Geum Sihyeon, begging for a penny.
Gambling addiction is a disease.
Un-hak and I, with seamless coordination, each smacked Taek on the head and focused on the match.
Overall, the setup felt similar to when I fought Baldy.
Luri, with her cheat-level martial arts that weren't restricted by distance, kept poking and prodding from as far away as possible.
Sister Seol, wielding her twin swords with flashy movements, dodged what she needed to dodge and parried what she needed to parry, steadily closing the distance like a spider weaving its web.
This is really something.
Watching it really makes you want to pick up twin swords.
Their compatibility was definitely not good.
Even though twin swords are supposedly a symbol of defeat.
When they reach the ultimate realm, they become the best sword art.
The reason is simple, the logic is straightforward.
With two swords, you can cut twice as much.
In other words, it means they are the strongest.
"Ah, hot. What are you doing?"
"Brother Geum, why are you suddenly emitting cold energy?"
Without realizing it, I had drawn ice-style martial arts into my left hand.
And fire-style martial arts into my right.
Someday, I'll turn the world into a Punk Hazard with ice swords and fire swords… This is a bit of a dangerous idea, so let's put it aside.
"Ah! She's closed the distance! Finally, One-Night Dream draws her sword!"
Ultimately, Luri, having lost the game of tag, drew her sword and began to clash fiercely, *clink-clash-whoosh-whoosh*.
However, Luri's sword proficiency was only on par with, or slightly above, my own.
She gradually found herself on the defensive against Sister Seol's relentless assault.
It was a matchup where she shouldn't have allowed close quarters in the first place.
She could have easily avoided and chipped away at her.
To my eyes, it almost looked as if she had intentionally given up the distance.
"No!"
Ignoring the wails of the underdog bettor, I began to observe the situation with more concentration.
At first glance, it seemed Luri was being overwhelmed.
But I had a strong feeling that Luri was preparing some kind of trick.
It wasn't like she was being pushed back with 100% of her strength.
More like she was being pushed back with about 80%?
"Ahhh! One-Night Dream! Her chest is open! Her massive chest is open!"
"...Technical advisor. Please moderate your language a bit. However, this is an inexplicable mistake. Sweet Mouth, Hidden Dagger won't miss this opportunity."
No sooner had the Vice-Alliance Leader finished speaking than the sword in Sister Seol's left hand sharply slashed across Luri's chest.
"She's been cutttttt—?! No blood! There's no blood! What in the world is happening?! Could it be, could it be that her chest was fake?!"
"Wow."
A pure exclamation of admiration escaped my lips.
She applied that like *that*?
Perhaps it was a limitation of virtual reality.
It seemed there was no hit detection for the chest area, just like Luri's elbows had met.
"Indeed, it hasn't been fixed yet! I've tricked people like that a few times too. It's implemented so that internal energy is depleted instead of health, which makes it good for creating opportunities. Unfortunately, there's a limit to that, so I ended up being eliminated…"
"?"
"?"
Un-hak.
How do *you* know that?
At the gaze of doubt and contempt that Moyong Taek and I shot at him,
"Well, I thought if I played as a female character in the Martial Arts Debate Tournament, I might be able to understand the female heart a little better…"
"I was friends with a guy like this?"
"You beggar. Move a little further away."
I distanced myself from the net-kama who was spouting such vulgar excuses.
…Honestly, I did consider creating a female character myself.
But the fact that I didn't actually do it makes me a better person than Un-hak.
Even in 'Raising a Martial Artist,' I deliberated whether to change Geum Sihyeon's gender to female but just stuck with the default setting…
Looking back at my entire life, that was probably the best decision.
Of course.
Absolutely.
"You beggar. Why don't you just learn the Sunflower Manual?"
"Nonsense! Brother Geum, aren't your words too harsh?"
"You're right. For once, Un-hak is right. How could we live with our eyes open after seeing the horrible sight of Un-hak turning into a woman? We'd have to pluck out our own eyeballs."
"Hmm… I concede."
"…No, I have no intention of learning it!"
Having found an opportunity, we thoroughly teased Un-hak.
Meanwhile, Luri, who had gained momentum with her 'boob reveal,' took advantage of Sister Seol's unbalanced stance and landed a Demonic Heaven Punch to her abdomen.
"Whoosh! A Whoosh has landed!"
*Pfft*.
Even if they couldn't openly say 'Demonic Heaven Arts' or whatever, what kind of move is called 'Whoosh'?
"…Let's call it a Dragon Ascent Punch."
Just as the Vice-Alliance Leader aptly added, the subsequent two-hit combo of Demonic Heaven Punches instantly sent Sister Seol's body flying into the air.
The ultimate status effect.
Launched airborne!
In an instant, the tide of the battle turned.
Indeed, battles between masters are often decided by a single, tiny opening like that.
"Yes!"
Along with the cry of the madman, blinded by money, who had abandoned all human decency,
The first round went to Luri.
I glanced at the chat.
- It was fake bread? It was fake bread? It was fake bread? It was fake bread? It was fake bread? It was fake bread? It was fake bread?
- This is hell....
- SSSSSS Great Emperor Chun Mong
- What's a boob-rigged match?
- No, does that ruling even make sense?
- Argh, my Booby Chun Mong!!!!!!!!!!!
The cries of the 'Booby Brigade' poured out.
Honestly, it was a bit surprising.
In previous matches, Luri had desperately protected her chest, not allowing any attacks there, but now she suddenly used her chest for a counterattack.
Did she want to win *that* badly?
I can never quite understand the heart of child Luri.
But despite abandoning her dignity,
"The final! The very last moment! In the clash! By a razor-thin margin, Sweet Mouth, Hidden Dagger's sword perfectly sliced One-Night Dream first! The final contestant to advance to the semifinals is Sweet Mouth, Hidden Dagger!"
Luri ultimately had to swallow the bitter taste of defeat in the quarterfinals.
I would have done the same.
From the second set, Sister Seol persistently targeted Luri's knees and elbows.
In other words, where her hands and feet would normally be.
She seemed to adapt well to her strangely elongated body, but the discrepancy between the areas she felt attacked and her virtual reality body created a dissonance that ultimately tripped her up.
To accurately grasp the structure by landing a sword strike to the chest, to precisely analyze the deceptive Luri within Booby Chun Mong, and exploit her weaknesses—
Sister Seol.
She was indeed a fearsome woman.
"Sister won. We should have a drink, shouldn't we?"
"Indeed. Hasn't the name of the Moyong family been elevated?"
"Ugh, ughhh…"
We sipped our drinks, using the underdog bettor's defeat as our appetizer.
"Taek. Is the wine bitter? That's just how life is. Mine is sweet."
"Ughr… hrr…"
Today, my personal assets steadily increased by 1.4 times.
The reason for the low odds was perfectly clear.
Because I had poured in a huge amount of money, watering down the odds.
But investment failure is, by law, an individual's fault.
"Ah, sweet."
It seemed I'd soon be able to generously extract a physical waiver from that Taek.
* * *
Two days passed.
During that time, a random event occurred where a wild Luri popped out about five times, puffing up her cheeks and snatching sweets, which I dealt with without incident.
There was also a 'youth event' where I loitered around the Medical Hall, met the Young Lady, and we attended Dangmok's class together.
I also experienced a training event where Chicken-Beard, who had been muttering, 'If my disciple loses to twin swords, I'll kill him,' grabbed me by the collar and forcibly drilled me in methods to counter twin axes.
I am complete…
[Ice Princess: *Sob sob*]
[Ice Princess: Sihyeon, please go easy on me, okay?]
[Ice Princess: (*Gasp*)]
I'll smash you with my full power and exorcise you.
Ice Princess.