Surviving as a Cripple in Murim

18 – Giving someone a name (10)

As a pure Go player, Yang Jegal is far superior to me. If I fight 10 times, I will definitely lose 9 times.

In other words, I win once.

I didn’t bet on the game without any countermeasures. There is a certain degree of odds, so I bet on it. I didn’t know it would be used in this way, but I prepared two strategies while grinding my teeth to defeat Jegal.

First. He hid the fact that his Go skills had improved recently against Jegal Yang. It’s not that much of a breath, but it’s a 1 point difference.

I have been hiding one point for an unexpected bet on Go. In other words, it should have been 2 points instead of 3 points.

In a fight between masters, there are times when the difference between winning and losing in Baduk is 1 point, as a few centimeters of the blade determines the outcome.

Go is a game where you win even if you have half a house. It might be just 1 point, but it could be 1 point for the win.

And the other…

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Miss Zhuge couldn’t believe it even after seeing it with her own two eyes. He got stuck He’s a handshake wherever you put him. There is nowhere to put it.

“… How did you predict my tactics?”

“I didn’t expect it. It was induced.”

In my arms, I took out the notes that recorded my match with Zhuge Yang.

“For the old man. Play Go well. You play it so well that you figure out all of your opponent’s weaknesses in the early stages.”

Usually, when playing Go, Zhuge Yang quickly grasps the opponent’s number and uses counter tactics to the opponent’s tactics. If your opponent throws a rock, you make a paper, and if your opponent throws a pair of scissors, you make a fist.

But if you use this in reverse, you can see what tactics Yang Zhuge will use. In the beginning, he takes out the paper and induces him to take out the scissors and hits him with his hidden fist.

Miss Zhuge also frowned when he realized that he had fallen for such a ridiculous gamble.

“If I didn’t try to finish it early and dragged it into a long game, you would have lost without even using your hands.”

“Yes. But you didn’t. There is no ‘what if’ as long as the results are out.”

“… That’s not what I’m after. You’re asking how you noticed I was trying to make the game quick in the beginning.”

“Make the enemy impatient with immediate profit. It is a very simple strategy.”

I swept my hair and raised Yang Jegal up with a shameless smile.

“I am such a mass of charm. It’s good enough to turn a blind eye to.”

Yang Zhuge looked up at him and let out a devastated laugh.

It’s annoying, but you’re right. To be honest, I thought I would definitely win as much as it was a game of Go. I thought that no matter what I prepared, my opponent would not be able to do it. So I wanted to win quickly.

The true weakness of Yang Zhuge, who was stabbed by a knife she sharpened in front of Mancheon, was not impatience, but arrogance that came from her overwhelming skills.

I have to admit. It’s really a long overdue defeat.

“… I lost. Say what you want.”

Unexpectedly, the innocent acceptance of defeat is suspicious, but the old man’s love of Go is real. As such, betting on Go may be thorough.

“Really? Anything?”

“Yeah, anything. I’ll give you my neck if you want.”

I wondered if it was a joke, so I looked at Miss Jegal’s complexion. No matter how you look at it, it wasn’t a joke…. It’s really no joke.

“I don’t know anything else, but I always keep the promise I made with my Go friend. So tell me what you want.”

He listened to everything~ The scale is huge. Almost a blank check.

I have a lot of money at home, so it’s okay. Shall we ask you to tell us about the secret martial arts of the Jegal family? … No this is also

Military martial arts are not unique to Zhuge Sega, and you don’t have to go this far to learn them. In addition, the best of the non-martial arts of the Jegal Sega is footwork.

To be honest, how can a cripple use footwork?

Gyunggong and footwork are different. No matter how good I am with my cane, I cannot step with it while dragging one leg.

That’s why, as long as I had the right to wish, I brought up something I wanted to ask of Miss Zhuge.

“That… Please take good care of me.”

No matter how well I take care of you, I am still an outsider. Have to leave someday As much as Gwahae learned martial arts, it will not go back to the way it used to be, but the situation could get worse because he was used by someone.

Jegalse needs someone to protect Gwahae inside. And if it’s Jegal, it’ll be more than enough to serve as a fence.

As if in surprise, Miss Jegal raises one eyebrow and observes my face carefully.

“Somehow, there must have been a reason for rejecting my granddaughters. I already had another woman in my heart.”

“I don’t mean it that way, but I like it. If you didn’t like it, I wouldn’t ask you like this.”

Crunchy~ Crunchy~ Shashasak-!

Um? What? I heard something moving through the grass. Is it an elk? Let’s turn around and check. It was not a wild elk, but a blushing Gwahae.

“!!!!!”

As soon as my eyes met, Gwahae’s cheeks turned red, and he ran away three times faster than usual. Whether or not I should chase Gwahae, let’s look at Jegal Yang’s notice.

Miss Jegal signaled to go with her jaw as if she didn’t want to look at me.

“I am not interested in the gold that belongs to me. Get out of here.”

“Old man, then I will go. Let’s play Go normally next time.”

Let the mancheon and the excess disappear completely. Yang Zhuge applied the Jinbeop and spoke to the hidden person.

“I know you are hiding. Come out when I say good things, muya.”

At the same time as the space is distorted, a man who had not been there before suddenly appears. Overall, he resembled Jegal Yang, but he was a soft-spoken man.

Jegalmu, the eldest son of Yang Zhuge.

“Even if you coveted talented people, you were too impatient. So run away.”

“… Noisy.”

Yang Jegal got annoyed at his son scratching at his father with a friendly smile, and Jegal Moo looked at the place where Manchun had been sitting until earlier and touched his chin.

“You seem to have a lot of interest in martial arts. Wouldn’t it have been better if I had said that I would rather not bet on Go from the beginning and would be accepted as a formal disciple?”

At the words of Jegalmu, Yang Jegal burst out laughing as if it was not the same.

“Ha! Even now, he’s the guy who turns on his twin heart and rushes at me. Do you think purebreds like you can handle it later?”

Although he was well past the age of being called a purebred by his father, Jegalmu listened to his father’s story without any reaction.

“There are miscellaneous things, but they are Mr. Jegal. I can’t raise someone who could be a danger to my blood relatives.”

“Okay. I can’t tell him about martial arts because I’m worried about future problems, but I covet talented people. So he is the son-in-law to take on the Go apprentice. Even if you play Go, please take care of his granddaughters.”

“… Daryl’s son-in-law, Gunn, was trying to find good grooms for his granddaughters. I’ll put up with it. A clever lame man is many times better than a man with only ancestors.”

She said that, but even thinking about it herself, she thought that her granddaughters were being treated a little harshly because she was in a hurry to pick up the treasure in front of her eyes, so she kept her mouth shut and sipped tea.

I briefly remember the granddaughters talking about wanting accessories from the West Station. I’ll have to send that one too.

***

Run. Run again It runs like an elk until its flushed face calms down.

『I like you』

My heart couldn’t calm down because of the words I just heard. It was snack time, and when she opened her eyes, she couldn’t see Mancheon next to her.

In the meantime, she recalls the time she spent with Manchun.

Helped me. She wasn’t scared Didn’t like it. She laughed She gave me clean clothes. She gave me a snack She gave me letters. She taught martial arts. She gave me a warm meal. Shared warmth. She provided a comfortable place to rest. When she had nightmares and disturbed her sleep, he hugged and comforted her. She patted her on the back. When she was sick, she took care of her. She cured Chirp. It taught me a lot of things I didn’t know. She took me to the festival. She said she was cute. Held her hand made her happy.

… Gave her a name

By chewing over and over again the precious memories that can never be forgotten, Overhae reached a conclusion.

‘Yes… Mancheon likes me.’

If you don’t like it, there’s no way they’ll treat you this well. It is certainly.

She stops running, stands in her place, and puts her hand gently to her heart. She feels her heart beating fast.

‘I like Mancheon too.’

Become clearly aware of the vaguely floating emotions. Suddenly, ten thousand came into my heart. When she closes her eyes, Manchun’s face comes to mind first.

I can’t think of a life without Mancheon now.

No matter how happy and hopeful the future unfolds, it means nothing without Mancheon.

[Then~ it’s decided. Break the cane to keep you from leaving, and break the remaining leg. We’ll be together forever]

Dark ink spreads from inside and a black snake whispers. The fresh feelings that floated around like clouds are submerged in ink.

The first time the black snake appeared in front of Gwahae was in a dream.

In the dream, Gwahae was completely submerged in water, as if he had fallen into a huge bathtub. As they floated around like that, a huge snake with four legs appeared and whispered scary yet sweet words.

[Don’t you want to get revenge on Jegal Sega? What? Not interested? Then~ How about Mancheon? Don’t you want to?]

[You are not a human, but a dragon. You don’t have to follow the ethics taught by Mancheon~ If you want something, take it away]

[Accept me. Then you and Mancheon will be together for the rest of your life~ No one will be able to separate you]

As the number of beings in the world grows larger, the black snake also makes gestures. And these days, I sometimes talk to them not only in my dreams but also in real life.

“Tit! Tweet! Jjjjjjjjjjae~!!”

Gwahae comes to his senses at the sound of a chirp resounding from inside his arms, takes out the chirp and gently strokes it with both hands.

“Chew, what’s wrong? Hungry?”

“Tit! Tweet!”

A chirp looks up at a tree and bursts into a cry. Look at other sparrows. Look at friends

[Oops~ It looks like it’s about to leave~ Over there~ Let’s break the wings just a little bit. Then you won’t be able to fly. I won’t be able to leave]

Gwahae shook his head and shook off the unpleasant voice of the black snake.

Chirp is a precious friend. She must not injure her friends because of her own greed. Gwahae was sad, but he untied his hands that had been holding him dearly and waited for his decision.

Chirp looked up at the warm-hearted girl who had taken care of him wholeheartedly and cried. She flapped her wings and soared into the sky. Flew towards her friends.

And hit the slingshot and fell to the ground.

“Okay! Got it right!!”

“Boy~ I saw it first.”

It’s not that the kids from the collateral line were aiming for the tweets. While shooting slingshots with his friends, Jegalse was playing sparrow hunting in the forest inside.

It was just that a sparrow that had just been healed and was slow to fly was unlucky to see. It’s just a story.

However, dragons are heavenly beings. The circumstances of the insignificant creatures walking on the ground are not part-time jobs.

Han Feizi, famous as a legal scholar during the Warring States Period, said this.

Dragons are gentle creatures. Do not harm humans recklessly. However, under the dragon’s neck, there are scales arranged upside down, about a foot in diameter, called Yeokrin.

If someone touches it, the dragon gets angry and kills that person.

From inside, the emotions I felt for the first time in my life fluctuated. My heart is dyed black. The black snake laughs. Gwahae lost his mind.

The dragon awakens.

***

Hyeonmun Jeongjong Naegongsimbeop is the Taoist Naegongsimbeop. Therefore, it is sensitive to the energy of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements.

Let’s chase the gwahae that runs like an elk and enter the forest to find the gwahae. From the depths of the forest, I felt the energy of yin, cold like the winter sea and dark like the night sea.

The survival instinct gives a signal and the clever brain shouts. It sounds like a fire engine siren telling you to turn around and run away immediately.

Ignore it and move on.

When I reached the center of the aura, there was an excess. Horns grow from above its head, and black scales like obsidian are standing all over its body.

The antlers on the head. An arm covered in scales with sharp adamantine-like claws. A huge tail sticking out of his clothes along his tailbone.

A strange mixture of humans and dragons. Half Dragon.

Bite your tongue lightly with your teeth. Sick. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be a dream this time.

“■■■■■-!!!”

The dragon howls. Contrary to the body trembling in fear, the head calmly grasps the surrounding situation.

Children passed out in tears and urinating, as if their arms and ribs were broken. Dropped slingshot…. Dead chirp.

The situation has been grasped.

Exhaling deeply, gripping the staff tightly, he limped closer to Gwahae.

‘Learn and teach.’

Don’t run away. Don’t turn a blind eye I’m not going to give up.

‘I take responsibility.’

Because you are my disciple. Because I am your teacher