Chapter 190: Can You Deny It?

[Martial-World Info] Who Is the Veiled Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman?

First, I’m a martial artist with ten years in one of the Eight Great Sects, and I pride myself on knowing the political currents and balance of power in the Korean martial world inside and out.

So who is this Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader mentioned?

Now, let’s think again about what the reporter’s question was.

→ Which junior is most likely to become a peerless master after you?

The Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader is famous for almost never coming out of her sect.

There are so many official Eight Great Sects events, but you barely see her once a year, if that.

In other words, if we narrow it down to swordsmen among juniors in their late twenties to mid-thirties who are active enough for her to know about......

Jung Hyunho. Won Myeongjin. Jin Heeseo.

It has to be one of these three.

I’m not accepting objections.

└ You’re Jung Hyunho, aren’t you?

└ Bullshit, nope. All three have been stuck at pinnacle expert for years.

└ Is there even anyone among the supreme masters younger than the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader?

└ Looking at potential, Bu Yeonha of AZURE SKY SWORD GATE has a chance.

└ See here! How dare you call AZURE SKY SWORD GATE’s best young rising star the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman!

└ For real, the title sucks ass. Why is “strange” even in there?

└ Why leave out people in their early twenties? There’s Kim Muhyuk, who became the youngest pinnacle expert, Shin Kangheon, Song Junho, Yang Hayun, and so on. They’re supposed to be the golden generation, aren’t they?

└ Why are you including kids who aren’t swordsmen?

└ The later waves of the rivers and lakes push on the earlier waves, or however it goes......

Kim Muhyuk turned off the community after looking at the reactions.

Luckily, perhaps, there were not many cases where his name was mentioned.

But he could not erase the oddly uncomfortable feeling.

“......Is it me?”

The single phrase Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman, spoken by Sunwoo Jeha, had caused an enormous issue in the Korean martial world.

Every related community, social media site, YouTube, and so on was in chaos with people trying to guess the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman’s identity.

There were more than a few people claiming to be the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman just to attract attention, but......

No matter how I think about it, it seems like me.

Intuitively, Kim Muhyuk had the feeling that Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman was the title Sunwoo Jeha had attached to him.

It was only natural that the Korean martial world would show great interest in the symbolic meaning of the Strongest in Korea personally giving someone a title, but......

Kim Muhyuk himself looked displeased.

It’s kind of bad.

It felt more suited to an unorthodox martial artist than an orthodox one, so he did not like it very much.

Was it really any better than his title from his previous life, The Lone Ghost?

“It would have been nice if she’d dropped the ‘strange’ and just made it Sword Heroic Swordsman......”

For martial artists, once a title was attached to them, it often lasted their whole life, so the beginning had no choice but to matter.

I’ll just stay quiet.

After thinking it over, Kim Muhyuk decided to ignore the title Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman and pretend he knew nothing about it.

Since people did not know it was him anyway, would it not be fine?

Considering his usual image as a model young rising star of the orthodox faction, no one would be able to connect Kim Muhyuk with such an unorthodox-sounding title.

If I wait, I’m sure I’ll get a title more fitting for an orthodox martial artist.

Unlike Kim Muhyuk, however, there was someone else drooling over the title given by the Strongest in Korea.

“I’m sure everyone has noticed already, but......”

The Blue Wolves crew members had gathered in the same hospital room after breakfast.

Shin Kangheon lowered his voice as if he were revealing an important secret.

“The Strange Heroic Swordsman the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader mentioned is actually me.”

“Why are you casually leaving out the sword in the middle, young saber user?”

Hwang Suksu asked with a sarcastic expression, but Shin Kangheon shamelessly shot back. It was definitely an answer he had prepared in advance.

“Because Strange Saber Heroic Swordsman sounds weird, you know? Like some kind of thief association. And if you look at it broadly, a saber is basically the same as a sword, isn’t it?”

“Go say that to saber users. You’ll probably get beaten to a pulp.”

Despite Han Jaechun’s scolding, Shin Kangheon kept insisting that he was the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman.

“I don’t care! I’m Shin Kangheon the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman!”

All while constantly glancing at Kim Muhyuk, who was not even particularly interested.

Choi Geon, who had come to visit the crew members at just the right time, saw that and chuckled.

Then he asked his disciple in a subtle voice.

“Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman. Do you like your first title?”

“......That’s not me, though?”

“Teacher! I’m telling you, I’m the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman. Don’t play favorites just because Kim Muhyuk is your disciple!”

Kim Muhyuk denied that he was absolutely the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman, shaking his head with wavering eyes.

And Shin Kangheon immediately insisted with all his might that he was the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman.

Seeing the two of them, Choi Geon muttered with a dumbfounded expression.

“Seeing how energetic both of you are, you should be discharged soon.”

“Sir, the food is good here and everything. How about we settle in for about a month? Transcendent Extremity Gate is paying all the hospital bills anyway......”

Hwang Suksu offered an opinion like a malingerer trying to extend his hospitalization, but he soon failed to get even his original investment back and went pale.

“You’re starting to get restless, you say? As it happens, I have special training prepared for the two of you, so you can look forward to that.”

“What? When did I ever......”

“Did you not say you wanted to stay another month? Did that not mean you wanted me to put you back in the hospital?”

“Hiiik!”

Everyone had gathered and was talking noisily, but for some reason, Kim Bokja alone was unusually quiet today.

“.......”

Kim Muhyuk poked her in the side and asked.

“Why? Are you worried about something?”

“Why is the nightmare still...... Haah, this is all because of you, you know!”

Kim Bokja’s eyes, which suddenly snapped toward him in a glare, were full of distress.

Why the hell is she acting up this early in the morning?

Kim Muhyuk was dumbfounded that she was blaming him without his even knowing the reason, but since this was hardly the first or second time, he simply shrugged and let it pass.

After enough rest and recovery, the Blue Wolves crew members were safely discharged.

And the day after Kim Muhyuk returned home, the Azure Sky Sword Elder came to the Blue Wolves Office.

*****

“Heh-heh. You’ve decorated it well. It may be small in scale, but I can feel affectionate touches all over the place.”

Na Ilcheon smiled as he slowly looked around the Blue Wolves Office.

Kim Muhyuk set tea down in front of him and said,

“It’s a bit messy, isn’t it? Everyone keeps bringing their own things in and leaving them wherever they want.”

Here and there around the office were the dolls Kim Bokja had brought, Shin Kangheon’s contest trophy, books Choi Geon was reading, and more.

“On the contrary, it is not bleak like the office of a large sect. I like it because it feels like a space used by one family.”

Na Ilcheon smiled and shook his head. He took a sip of the tea Kim Muhyuk had brewed himself, then continued with a mischievous smile.

“Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman...... You received quite a fitting title, didn’t you?”

Flinch.

Kim Muhyuk, who had unconsciously twitched, answered with an expression as if he had no idea what Na Ilcheon was talking about.

“......A title?”

“There is no need to be modest. How many juniors do you think the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader has paid attention to recently? And among them, who is a swordsman? And moreover, who went with her to hunt a Great Anomaly?”

Kim Muhyuk managed to think of one person.

“There’s a senior named Woo Hyunje at Transcendent Extremity Gate who’s a supreme-master swordsman. Couldn’t it be him?”

In reality, public opinion was also solidifying around the theory that the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman was Woo Hyunje.

A master who acted as the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader’s proxy and was all but certain to become the next sect leader.

The opinion that Sunwoo Jeha had newly given him a title to lend strength to her successor carried strong persuasive force.

“Hmph! Is the Transcendent Extremity Gate sect leader the sort of person who would do that? That is merely chatter from people who know nothing.”

However, Na Ilcheon snorted and dismissed that argument as nonsense.

He sighed, saying he felt sorry that Kim Muhyuk was in a situation where his precious title had been stolen from him.

“Do not worry too much. Everyone who needs to know who the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman is likely already knows. In the end, the truth is bound to come to light. If they refuse to recognize it to the very end, I myself will step forward and......!”

Kim Muhyuk worked hard to calm Na Ilcheon, who was getting excited.

“Sect Leader! I’m fine. Truly. What is a title to a martial artist? I would rather someone else be called the Strange Sword Heroic Swordsman, so I don’t get swept up in pointless arrogance.”

Na Ilcheon let out a deep sigh at Kim Muhyuk’s attitude, which felt frustrating.

“Tsk, tsk. Unlike your first impression, you are too kind for your own good.”

“......?”

Could he have come here knowing everything, just to scrape at his insides on purpose?

When Kim Muhyuk looked at him suspiciously, Na Ilcheon naturally changed the subject.

“By the way, where is the Namcheon Sword? Since I came here, I was going to take it back, but I do not see it.”

“......Ah.”

Kim Muhyuk stood up, went to the wall in the corner of the office, and brought back the Namcheon Sword and Phantom Dream, which had been stuck side by side in an umbrella stand.

Seeing that, Na Ilcheon’s mouth fell open.

“You kept AZURE SKY SWORD GATE’s sacred object in an umbrella stand? If the founding ancestor knew, he would rise from his grave, you brat!”

“There wasn’t anywhere good to stand both of them at the same time...... Thanks to it, we were able to extinguish a Great Anomaly. Thank you, Sect Leader.”

The Namcheon Sword, returned to its master’s hand, rang out strongly with a Woooooong! as if mortified.

Phantom Dream, on the other hand, remained calm, as if it was used to this treatment.

“Good grief. This is my first time seeing a martial artist treat sacred weapons this way. Yet they do not hate you for it......”

Na Ilcheon looked at Kim Muhyuk with an expression that said the sight became more fascinating the more he saw it.

On both of Kim Muhyuk’s shoulders, at some point, the spirit bodies of the two sacred weapons had appeared in palm-sized forms and were arguing.

Master! Can’t you send this one home already? It nags every day and it’s so loud I’m going to die!

How dare you call me “this one”? It seems your etiquette education is still lacking. You need to learn for quite a while longer.

Aaaaaaah! Let’s just fight instead!

The sight of two sacred weapons fighting in spirit-body form—though Phantom Dream had charged in on its own and was getting beaten one-sidedly—was a rare spectacle even for Na Ilcheon.

“Stop it already.”

And so was the human who grabbed one spirit body in each hand and stopped them.

His ability to handle anomalies has grown even further. He truly is a Strange Sword.

Thinking that the Strongest in Korea’s eye for people had not been wrong, Na Ilcheon quietly nodded.

Then he remembered something he had briefly forgotten.

“......Ah, I nearly forgot. In truth, I came to tell you to be careful.”

“Yes?”

At Na Ilcheon’s unexpected warning, Kim Muhyuk’s expression grew serious.

“Recently, I have been hearing many rumors about Blue Wolves here and there. Even though I was not going out of my way to seek them out.”

“.......”

Martial Crew Blue Wolves.

Information about them had been spreading bit by bit through word of mouth, but with their recent achievements added on top, their evaluation had risen sharply.

“The recent Sun and Moon Gate incident, the death of the Black Heaven Society’s society leader, and this Great Anomaly hunt. You cannot cover every watching eye, so the stories that leaked out little by little must have been pieced together and inflated.”

It was not welcome news. Na Ilcheon looked at Kim Muhyuk with concern mixed into his eyes and continued speaking.

“Many forces will be watching you from now on. The Eight Great Sects, of course, as well as the Five Great Unorthodox Sects, and others with power. They will try to dig into your background or find your weaknesses.”

“......Are we on a scale worth checking for them?”

Kim Muhyuk asked with a somewhat uncomprehending expression.

At most, there were not even ten crew members.

They were not an official sect or a force with any particular objective. If one had to define them, were they not closer to a club?

“Huh. Could it be that you truly had no idea?”

Na Ilcheon looked flustered, then pointed out something Kim Muhyuk had never seriously considered.

“Blue Wolves is now being evaluated as a fighting force above most mid-sized sects. There are even people who expect it will soon be comparable to the Eight Great Sects.”

“Haha, surely not.”

“Do you think that is not true?”

“.......”

Kim Muhyuk evaluated Blue Wolves’ objective fighting strength for a moment.

Choi Geon, who could wipe out a mid-sized sect by himself.

Kim Muhyuk, who could temporarily display power comparable to a supreme master if he borrowed the abilities of sacred weapons.

Shin Kangheon, who could handle fire on a scale close to a disaster by himself.

Kim Bokja, whose talent had shocked even a Grand Spellcaster.

Apricot, a Great Anomaly that might possess potential surpassing even the Giant Tree Ghost.

On top of that, the current-and-former wandering duo did not have powerful martial arts, but they could replace dozens of people across a wide variety of fields.

“Whether you have such an intention or not, if Blue Wolves truly sets its mind to it...... it may be able to overturn the balance of the Korean martial world.”

Na Ilcheon, sect leader of AZURE SKY SWORD GATE, one of the Eight Great Sects, looked at Kim Muhyuk with deep, transparent eyes and asked,

“Do you think that is impossible?”

At Na Ilcheon’s quiet question, Kim Muhyuk could not answer easily.