Songs in the Void

ICDS Universe, Earth, South Korea, Seoul. 

After meeting both Mrs. Kang and Shin's younger sister, Yua, Tatsuo, Sumire, and Hwaya were invited into the Kang's home to sit down and talk. However, Sumire and Hwaya ended up feeling uncomfortable. And the reason for that was rather simple. Both Kang ladies were judging them. Though, there reasons were totally different. 

"So, which of you is my son's girlfriend?' Mrs. Kang suddenly asked with a smile on her face. 

*Cough!* x 2 

Immediately, Sumire and Hwaya coughed from the shock. Hwaya even spewed a mouthful of tea all over the coffee table. 

Meanwhile, instead of trying to help his companions out of the situation, Tatsuo laughed happily, somewhat mesmerizing all the women who saw it. However, before he stopped his laughter, everyone managed to come back to their senses. 

"I think you're misunderstanding something." Hwaya said with her face slightly red from all the coughing. "Neither of us even know your son. Well, Tatsuo might. But Sumire and I definitely don't." 

Hearing that, both Mrs. Kang and Yua narrowed their eyes. Then, they looked both Sumire and Hwaya over with discerning gazes. And from what they could tell, that was not a lie. 

After coming to that conclusion, Mrs. Kang let out a disappointed sigh. However, she still had a bit of hope shining in the depths of her eyes. Yua, on the other hand, continued looking at the two ladies skeptically. However, when she glanced at Tatsuo, her gaze was not quite as indifferent, as he had not told these two thieving cats about her brother being Yeon Hwawoo. 

Feeling Yua's gaze, Tatsuo turned his head in her direction. Then, he showed her a very friendly smile. In response, Yua turned her head away quickly with a blush on her face. The fact that Tatsuo had so blatantly pointed out that she had a brother complex still making her embarrassed. 

Unfortunately, Mrs. Kang completely misunderstood Yua's reaction. As a result, her eyes lit up rather brightly. And that made things quite awkward for Yua. 

Luckily, before Mrs. Kang could put her misunderstanding into words, the house's front door was opened from the outside. And to know one's surprise, Shin was the one who walked in. On top of that, he also carried a large bag filled with several boxes of fried chicken. 

"Hey, I'm back.' Shin said with a smile as he walked into the living room where everyone was gathered. "Yua told me that Father brought guests, so I picked up more chicken." 

As soon as Yua saw Shin, her eyes lit up with an absurd amount of happiness. However, she happened to glance at Tatsuo. And when she saw him nodding in understanding, her face reddened once again. 

Seeing that reaction, Sumire, Shin, and Hwaya narrowed their eyes. Meanwhile, Yungoong did not know what to think. Though, he was leaning towards beating up Tatsuo. Mrs. Kang, on the other hand, smiled happily. 

'It looks like Tatsuo-Kun was wrong.' Sumire thought to herself with her eyes narrowed. 'It looks like that girl is aiming for him, too.' 

'Seeing my cute Yua blushing at him like that, should I beat him up?' Shin thought to himself while his gaze shifted between Tatsuo and Yua. Then, an enlightened expression appeared on his face as his thoughts continued. 'Didn't he say he wanted to spar with me? This is the perfect opportunity.' 

'It looks like this Kang Yua is interested in Sumire's man.' Hwaya thought to herself. 'I'll have to help Sumire keep her in check.' 

'Finally, Yua is looking at someone other than her brother with those eyes.' Mrs. Kang thought while her smile widened. 'Thank goodness. Now there won't be an incestuous relationship in our family.' 

'It looks like they're all misunderstanding the situation.' Tatsuo thought to himself after seeing everyone's expressions. 'Whatever, at least this will probably be entertaining at the very least.' 

With that, the group of seven eventually gathered to eat the chicken Shin brought home. And although they had differing thoughts, the meal went on harmoniously. Then, after the meal, the group moved to the Kang Family Dojo so that Tatsuo and Shin could spar. And because Tatsuo was not expecting to spar when he left Japan, he had to borrow a set of training clothes from Shin. 

While the two combatants went to change, Sumire, Yungoong, Yua, Mrs. kang, and Hwaya waited in the dojo and chatted. 

"So, who do you think will win?" Mrs. Kang asked with a smile on her face. 

"Oppa, naturally." Yua said confidently. 

"No, I think Tatsuo-Kun will win." Sumire replied. 

Sumire's rebuttal caused Yua to turn her eyes in Sumire's direction. And when she saw Sumire's expression, she completely put down her wariness towards the older girl. Even so, her eyes narrowed. She was not happy that someone was doubting her brother. 

"I think Tatsuo will win, too." Hwaya added. "He's really strong, after all. Even if he looks to be a few years younger than Kang Shin." 

Immediately, Yua's glare snapped towards Hwaya. However, because she could not see through this woman, her wariness only increased. 

"Why would you say that, Unni?" Yua asked with a sweet smile on her face. "Oppa is really strong, too. And you've never seen him fight before, right?" 

"That's true." Hwaya replied calmly while nodding her head. "But I have seen Tatsuo fight. And with my experience, I don't' know many people that could win against him." 

"But Unni's not a martial artist." Yua argued back. "So, your words are only those of a layman, right?" 

That statement caused Hwaya to narrow her eyes. As she stared at Yua, who was smiling sweetly. However, anyone with half a brain could tell that there were no friendly intentions behind that smile. 

All the onlookers could only watch in disbelief as the two glared at each other and sparks formed where their gazes intersected. However, before the situation could escalate, Yua broke eye contact with Hwaya and turned her attention towards her father. 

"Father, who do you think will win?" Yua asked. "As the most accomplished martial artist here, I think your insight would be the greatest." 

It was clear that Yua expected her father to be on her side. Especially if you consider how much he usually doted on her. Unfortunately, Yua was destined to be disappointed. 

"Honestly, I'm not sure.' Yungoong replied. "Although I know Shin's level of skill quite well, I know very little about that boy, Tatsuo." 

Yua opened her eyes wide in surprise when she heard that. From a young age, she had heard how Shin was undefeated among martial artists in his age range. Yet, her father was unsure if he could defeat a boy that was even younger than she was. 

At that moment, Shin, closely followed by Tatsuo, walked into the dojo, both wearing training clothes. On top of that, Shin held a wooden spear over his shoulder while Tatsuo carried a pair of wooden daggers in his hands. 

'I never thought I'd ever use these wooden daggers I got from the Dungeon when I first entered.' Tatsuo thought to himself as he weighed the weapons in his hands. 'But I really don't like them, they're way too light.' 

Seeing Tatsuo's frown and the way he tested the feeling of the weapons in his hands, Shin could not help looking at him with sympathy, as he was feeling the same way. Especially since he would much rather test out the spear he got as a reward for clearing the Event Dungeon. 

"Are the two of you ready?" Yungoong asked shortly after Tatsuo and Shin entered the dojo. "If so, take your starting positions. I'll act as the referee." 

Hearing that, both Tatsuo and Shin nodded. Then, they took positions in the middle of the dojo. Meanwhile, Yungoong stepped between them. After that, he gave a quick rundown of the rules. For example, no striking each other's privates and not intentionally trying to maim the other. 

Actually, those were the only two rules. Since Yungoong was aware that both Tatsuo and Shin were Dungeon Explorers, he knew they could just drink a healing potion if they were injured. Then again, with how strong they both were, wooden weapons would probably break well before either of their bones did. 

"The match will end when one of you lands an attack on a vital area." Yungoong said, concluding his explanation of the rules. "Then, you may begin whenever you're ready." 

With that said, Yungoong quickly backed up. 

At the same time, Tatsuo immediately dashed forward with the two wooden daggers held in reverse grip. However, before he could get too close, He was forced to tilt his head to avoid a thrust from Shin's spear. 

However, Tatsuo did not only have to dodge one thrust, as Shin's speed at both thrusting forward and retrieving his spear were both lightning quick. 

'I knew he would do this, he's taking advantage of the length of his weapon.' Tatsuo thought to himself as he narrowly dodged multiple thrusts from Shin's spear. 'It's the basics, after all. But that's not enough to stop me.' 

*Clack!* 

For the next few moments, Tatsuo continued to dodge the incoming thrusts. However, once he found the rhythm, he dodged another one of Shins' thrusts. Then, while Shin pulled his spear back, he swung the dagger in his left hand, slamming the flat of its blade against the tip of the spear, adding extra momentum as Shin pulled it back. 

The extra force naturally through off Shin's balance, though only for an instant. However, as Tatsuo was only looking for that instant, he did not let the opportunity go. So, he followed the spear to close the distance 

Then, once Tatsuo was in range, he flipped the dagger in his right hand, holding it with a normal grip, and stabbed it towards the left side of Shin's chest. 

Reacting quickly, Shin rode the momentum of his spear being pushed back, spinning his body to the right. At the same time, he used the tip of his left elbow to strike the flat of the dagger in Tatsuo's right hand. Then, while continuing to spin, he swept his spear at Tatsuo's lower body. 

Realizing that Shin had just done the exact thing he had just done, Tatsuo clicked his tongue mentally. However, he also copied Shin's actions, riding the momentum to avoid the leg sweep by twisting his body and leaping into the air to whip his left heel at the side of Shin's head. 

Having expected Tatsuo's reaction, Shin lowered his body, avoiding the kick. Then, he jammed the tip of his spear into the floor before whipping it back at the airborne young man. 

*Clack!* 

Luckily, Tatsuo was able to react quickly enough to cross his daggers in front of him, blocking the spear. Unfortunately, because of the force behind the attack, he was sent flying backwards, completely erasing the work he did to get inside the spear's range. 

"Tch! Back to square one." Tatsuo muttered as he stabilized his footing. "And that's definitely not gonna work again." 

While Tatsuo was grumbling to himself, Shin took the initiative, stepping forward into thrusting range. However, instead of thrusting his spear forward, he swung it down from above. In response, Tatsuo side stepped the overhead swing. 

Then, instead of letting the spear smash into the floor, Shin stopped it less than an inch from the floor. He then drew it back and thrust at Tatsuo once again. 

*Clack!* *Clack!* *Clack!* *Clack!* *Clack!* 

That led to a flurry of thrusts, sweeps, flicks, and other attacks from Shin that Tatsuo was forced to dodge, parry, and block. Tatsuo was even able to shorten the distance a few more times. However, neither of the two was able to land a decisive blow. As a result, the spar continued for more than ten minutes. 

"Wow!" Sumire, as a practitioner of the spear, exclaimed in excitement. "Kang-San is really skilled." 

"Yeah, he really is." Hwaya said with a nod. She then continued in a skeptical tone. "If he didn't have so much mana, he wouldn't be able to keep up with Tatsuo, though. No matter how skilled he was. But now that I think about it, why does his mana feel so familiar? It feels like someone I know. But I can't put my finger on it." 

"Now that you mention it..." Sumire muttered. "It really does feel familiar. But I can't think of who, either." 

Hearing that, Yua frowned slightly. 

'Neither of these women live in Korea.' Yua thought to herself. She then narrowed her eyes and glared at Shin. 'So, why would they feel that Oppa's mana was familiar? Is Oppa keeping secrets from me? Has he been secretly meeting women behind my back?' 

Unfortunately, that glare was enough to break the stalemate between Tatsuo and Shin, as Shin's heightened senses caused him to go on high alert, taking some of his concentration away from his match with Tatsuo. 

And Tatsuo was trained to not miss opportunities like that. So, as Shin's speed of retrieving his spear after a thrust was a split-second slower, Tatsuo knocked it to the side with one of his daggers. Then, he stepped forward and pressed the edge of his dagger against Shin's throat. 

"You lose, Kang-San." Tatsuo said with a grin. 

"*Sigh* I did." Shin replied. 

While Shin wondered what that awkward feeling was, he did not make any excuses. Instead, he simply lowered his spear and accepted his loss. Though, he was rather upset that he had received his first defeat in an official match. 

"Winner, Soramoto Tatsuo." Yungoong said, making the official ruling for the match. 

That caused Sumire and Hwaya to cheer. Yua, on the other hand, frowned. However, she smiled sweetly once again when she looked at her brother. 

'I'll find out the truth later.' Yua thought to herself. 'I won't let any of these thieving cats have my Oppa. But for now, I need to comfort Oppa in a way that only a younger sister can.' 

Meanwhile, Shin shook off the disappointment of losing. But then he felt that same cold feeling once again. So, he looked around for it. However, the only thing that stood out to him was Yua smiling at him sweetly. 

'*Sigh* Yua's smile is soothing my heart.' Shin thought to himself. 'But why do I feel so cold when I see her smile? Did Yua awaken an ice-type ability?'