Surviving as a Rival in a Martial Arts Novel

Chapter 7 – Unexpected Developments (01) (Revised on 22.03.02)

Cheol Simjungkweon (Iron Heart Heavy Fist), Ban Gyu-seong.

He was the protagonist of this martial arts novel and the rival of Yeon Cheong-ha.

‘Finally!’

Though a couple of years younger than the ambitious youth Yeon Cheong-ha, they were so close that, had it not been for a clash involving Han Soso, they would have become sworn friends willing to risk their lives for each other.

Initially, it started with Yeon Cheong-ha seemingly desiring Han Soso, prompting Ban Gyu-seong to step in to protect her. However, as they bickered and grew closer in those situations, feelings for her blossomed, and eventually, admitting his affection, Ban Gyu-seong engaged in a friendly competition with Yeon Cheong-ha.

Caught in the scheme of the cunning woman Jeon Nang-hyun, they found themselves targeted by the thugs of a dark organization. Facing imminent danger and exhausted, they stood back-to-back, ready to die when reinforcements arrived. It was in this dire situation that Yeon Cheong-ha appeared, rescuing them in the unfolding story in Sacheon.

“Ha… Just thinking about this guy all this time makes me want to pretend I know him already.”

His opponent, Ban Gyu-seong, might not know me, but since I know that guy, I somehow… feel a sense of familiarity all by myself.

It’s not advisable to act like you know him already without being noticed.

“I’ve been dragged into this, too.”

“Looks like the soldiers you’ve got in your grip don’t like it.”

“I was the one who got attacked first…”

However, being the type who doesn’t listen to others, he slowly started threatening me with punches.

“Yeah, that’s Ban Gyu-seong for you… stubborn as a mule.”

He’s even more stubborn than a stubborn person.

To fend off Ban Gyu-seong approaching me, I swing my sleeves, and the real sparring begins.

‘Since we’re recreating the original, let’s see how the original protagonist is doing now. Let’s start with… Was I shooting a gust of wind?’

Sweeping away the bugs with a casual swing of my hand, the gesture was imbued with inner strength. Nearby drinkers felt the wind and were pushed back, but the protagonist blocked the attack by crossing his arms and counterattacked.

Thud!

The gust of wind and the collision of human arms reverberated with the sound of steel meeting steel. As I turned my gaze to block Ban Gyu-seong, who was rushing towards me, attempting to swing his fist, the momentary distraction made me think, “What was it again? I vaguely remember the fight scene… Eek!”

“Danhayu Jeokgeom!” [TN: “Danhayu Jeokgeom” is a fictional weapon name]

Sak!

A thin sword suddenly shot up from the space where I had just been holding Han So-so. It aimed to take away at least one of my arms, and although I didn’t intend to let it reach my flesh, Han So-so swung his sword with the intention of counterattacking when his surprise attack failed. But I was a little faster in my movement.

“I can’t subdue him here. I have to engage in this one-on-one battle…”

I deliberately turned my gaze away as if my attention was caught by Ban Gyu-seong’s fast approach…

Pyeok!

“Oof!”

I delivered a blow to his shoulder, trying to deflect the impact, but I received a heavy blow that made me feel like I had been hit by a hammer. My body was pushed back, and I took advantage of this opportunity to release my grip on Han So-so.

Meanwhile, I stepped back and checked my physical condition.

“Is this the result of my internal energy?”

When practicing martial arts and sparring, we would strike each other with controlled force, never intending to kill or seriously injure. During training, accidents where we accidentally hit too hard or cut with a sword did happen, but neither I nor Sammae had the skill to kill with a single blow.

In other words, this strike I just received was the very first blow I had taken since entering the world of martial arts novels.

“It’s quite… painful, isn’t it?”

It literally hurt to the bone.

The bruises on my skin were already visible, and I could feel my shoulder swelling, indicating that my body had been slightly injured. Later on, I would understand why I earned the nickname “Iron Fist” because getting hit by it was excruciatingly painful, as if iron had been driven into my fist…

“Ha! This guy… he looks like he needs a good beating, doesn’t he?”

Although it was a line from the original work, seeing it like this made me sympathize with Yeon Cheong-ha’s desire to beat him up.

He’s just an ugly face, that guy!

“I didn’t need your help.”

“I understand. But it seems like I’m needed now.”

“Hmph, you’re good at minding your own business.”

As Ban Gyu-seong and Han So-so had already taken their positions, ready to attack me, I quickly recalled their settings.

Ban Gyu-seong’s master was a top-notch master who had almost reached the level of a first-class expert but couldn’t break through the barrier and gave up. He had passed on his mediocre external techniques and clumsy internal energy cultivation methods, but thanks to Ban Gyu-seong’s genius, he had realized the intricacies of that martial arts on his own, completing his external techniques and developing his internal energy beyond his master’s, in a process of rapid growth.

“Hoo…!”

However, as his disciple, Ban Gyu-seong possessed exceptional talent and quickly surpassed his master’s level after receiving training. But because his master, who lacked perceptive eyes, instilled fear into Ban Gyu-seong by thinking about his own affairs, Ban Gyu-seong believed that he was weak until the time he set out on a martial arts journey.

It’s like the story of a flea that jumps inside a cup and can’t jump any higher, defining its own limits.

“I am indeed weak.”

Is it because I’m stronger than in the original work, or is it because I feel relatively at ease without any internal turmoil in my heart?

The joint attack of Ban Gyu-seong and Han So-so didn’t feel particularly threatening.

“Haat!”

Han So-so, who has a quick temper, rushed forward first, swinging her sword. But her footsteps lacked strength, and her light movements seemed like she was trying to deceive, as she wasn’t gripping the handle tightly but shaking her wrist and spreading her fingers wide.

“I might be deceived by her deception, but before Han So-so can mix deceit into her deception and attack, Ban Gyu-seong should intervene, causing our attacks to intertwine, and then I should counterattack after being hit by Yeon Cheong-ha… I should suppress them… Well, since they’re hitting me, I should just deflect them enough and end in a draw.”

In the original work, the protagonist was declared the winner, but in reality, it was almost a draw. But I can just fit the results as I want.

No, it’s not because I’m the rival, but the description really said it was close to a draw. I just have to fit the outcome.

“Hmm?”

But there was a problem.

Bangyuseong didn’t move.

Originally, I should have retrieved my sword, fearing that Bangyuseong might counterattack, but he was just staring at me, and Hansoso was demonstrating her swordsmanship alone, so I had no choice but to block her with all my might.

“Am I remembering wrong? Or has something changed?”

First, I had to block the sword flying towards me.

“A sword that cuts through the air, light in weight… Among them, the only one that seems to seize the opportunity…”

There was only one strike that I could sense inner strength in.

It was a low, sweeping strike from the bottom left to the middle right. Normally, Bangyuseong should have intervened and tangled with it, but the situation had changed, so I quickly approached before Hansoso could swing her sword and entered her range.

“Ah!”

Then, I caught her wrist holding the sword and lightly twisted it. As her hand bent, she ended up dropping the sword. She probably thought that even if her arm broke, she didn’t want to let go of the sword, but the difference in inner strength was too great for me to block.

It was like an adult slowly prying open the fingers of a child tightly gripping something and taking it away.

“Here it comes!”

Just before Hansoso dropped the sword and was about to be subdued, Bangyuseong moved.

Spreading both legs wide and stomping on the ground forcefully, he gathered the upward shock as a reaction, stimulated his danjeon, and explosively unleashed his inner strength in one strike.

It was Bangyuseong’s initial finishing move, the Cheolseom Ilgwon (Iron Flash Fist). It was a simple strike, but its power was tremendous, capable of overpowering even a superior master with one strike.

Originally, this was supposed to be the finishing blow of our duel.

“Should I use it after a few more exchanges?”

Thud!

“Although the process was skipped, if Yeoncheongha had been trying to subdue Hansoso and got hit by the Cheolseom Ilgwon, then our first encounter would have ended outside the tavern.”

Nearly reaching the point of suppressing the two almost pleading figures, I was struck with a significant shock as I took this hit and flew backward.

Certainly, with Yoncheongha’s skills, I could have easily avoided it under normal circumstances. However, due to a dulled reaction, I ended up taking the blow, leading me to wonder, ‘Have I deteriorated to this extent?’

Although it was a defeat, it marked a crucial moment where I resumed martial arts training, and in my heart, I acknowledged Ban Gyuseong as the protagonist.

‘But since I don’t want to take hits, I’ll limit myself to the level of internal energy emitted by Ban Gyuseong… That way, I won’t deviate too much from the original work.’

Considering that herbivores are simple and slow, it was a time when adapting to their movements didn’t seem too difficult.

“Execution! It’s dangerous!”

‘Massacre?!’

At the entrance of the inn behind me, I momentarily lost concentration due to the screams of massacre, causing me to miss the timing to avoid Cheolsom Ilgwon.

Now, I couldn’t pretend to be casually limiting myself. It was either dodge or block, but if I dodged Cheolsom Ilgwon now, its aftermath would head towards the massacre behind me.

As the situation became perilous with the massacre, without calculating whether it was the original, a draw, or a win, my hand reached out involuntarily, wrapping Cheolsom Ilgwon.

Tooooom!!

The massive blanket, with the hammer thrust into it as if trying to break a wall, was about to make a resounding noise, but it was forcibly grasped and crumpled in my palm.

“Argh!”

And Ban Gyuseong, spewing blood from his mouth, was actually pushed back, shattering the table of the two middle-aged men who were watching the fight. They were thrown into the inn wall.

Thunk!

I broke through the entrance of the inn, rolled on the floor, received mockery from the people in Sacheon, and amidst it all, the acquaintance I made at the inn, a nun who became friends with Kiru, intervened to protect Yoncheongha, causing the protagonist to step back.

With this victory, Yoncheongha began training in martial arts again, sharpening his body. However, the use of the Qingxin Yurigong remained challenging, so he continued to cultivate his strength through heterodox martial arts in the introductory part of the story…

“Ah…”

The situation had reversed.

I emerged victorious.

If it were according to the original, I should have accepted this and lost, but instinctively, thinking that engaging in a life-and-death struggle is dangerous, I grabbed the Cheolseom Ilgwon and counterattacked with my internal energy. I sent back a counter blow to the opponent and blew away the reversed energy.

It wasn’t a draw, nor was it a one-sided victory. It was truly the worst destruction of the original.

“Are you okay, sentenced to death?”

Due to the massive collision of energy, the area near the entrance of the tavern was in chaos, and Sa-mae approached me with a tearful face, holding my hand.

There were no major injuries, but due to the clash of internal energy, my fingers were slightly torn. Sa-mae seemed worried about it, and tears were welling up in her eyes as if she would cry at any moment.

“I’m fine.”

The wound on the palm healed quickly as I raised my internal energy, and apart from a slight stinging pain, it was resolved. However, the real problem was from now on.

“Cough!”

Seeing the reversed energy spitting blood from the mouth, it seemed impossible to stand up again and continue the second round, dragging it out similarly.

“Oh my!”

However, I couldn’t just leave the protagonist to die, so I rented an empty room in the tavern and sat Reversed Energy down. I placed my hands on her back.

‘But this guy… was she originally this thin?’

Whether it was Sa-mae or Han So-so, even if it was a novel cover and the actual impression was different, it seemed unexpectedly smaller in height and physique.

After forcing Reversed Energy to sit down, making her twist her upper body, and putting my hands on her back, she seemed startled, as if wondering if I was going to attack again.

“Stay still. I’m trying to help.”

To blow in internal energy, it was necessary to remove the clothes, and as I tried to undress, it seemed like she was trying to escape from my touch, perhaps because she didn’t want to jump around in front of someone who had just suffered an injury.

“Damn it! It’s so annoyingly troublesome!”

Since I couldn’t use strength against a patient, in the end, through a mediocre agreement, I lifted the clothes to expose them and inserted my hand inside the clothes to blow in internal energy directly.

‘What’s the problem with a man laughing while undressing…!’

As I placed my hands on her back to treat the wound, it felt like a subtly pleasant scent was emanating.

It doesn’t seem like the nauseating smell I expected from that guy; it’s something between a foul odor and a sweet fragrance.

‘This pattern… feels uneasy.’

Even if the original content has changed, it won’t suddenly turn into a same-s*x romance genre, right? It shouldn’t.

And why is this guy’s waist so slender?

‘Good grief… let’s keep him alive for now and avoid approaching for a while.’

When a novel doesn’t go as the author originally thought, they often resort to desperate measures. Worried about how the world in this novel will change, cautiously, they injected expertise into the unpredictable plot.

“…I’m not doing this because I like it, so stay still.”

“Cough…!”

The world in this novel has been strangely off from the beginning.