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Chapter : 15
My Opportunity Is a Status Window (15)
“Miss Gwak Eun.”
“Kyaah! Don’t say things like that while taking your clothes off…!”
Busy woman—one hand plugging her nose, one hand covering her eyes.
“You can just look.”
It’s fine if you see. It’s not like anything is going to touch you. Hehe.
“Just listen.”
“Y-Yes…”
“I’ll draw your lot stick for you as well.”
“Ah! Really?”
“Yes. It’s not enough to repay you for saving my life, but please accept it as a small return.”
A favor must be repaid.
If she hadn’t thrown that stone…
If Elder Gwak Hoe hadn’t stepped in…
My head would’ve been chopped off by Maeng So-pyeong’s axe.
Dumping yourself into a pit of filth to fetch someone a stick hardly equals the price of a life—but it’s something.
“Oh! If you bring me the stick, I’ll consider us even!”
“Oh? Very well. No taking it back.”
“Of course.”
Good.
With that, the debt’s paid. Hehehe.
She said herself we’re even now.
“Master Tang.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll get yours too—”
Since I was already in it, I figured I might as well get Tang Jisang’s stick…
But he suddenly starts stripping as well.
“Kyaaah! Why are you both doing this?!”
“I’m going in too.”
Oh-ho? Look at this guy’s guts.
“You sure about that?”
“If anything, I should be asking you, Lord Dancheon. Dung poison is still poison. If it gets in your eyes, nose, or mouth, you’ll suffer toxicity.”
Right…
Dung really is poison.
And who better than Sichuan Tang Clan to know poison.
“I overstepped in front of the expert.”
“Haha. I don’t know much about dung poison either—but what’s certain is you must push it away with inner force so it doesn’t enter your body.”
“Through eyes, nose, and mouth?”
“Exactly. Once you enter, eyes shut, breath held tight.”
“Yes. Understood.”
“Move as fast as possible to find the sticks. If it feels hopeless, retreat immediately.”
“Got it.”
All right.
Close eyes, hold breath.
Let’s do this.
I steadied myself and stepped before the giant pit.
Flies, dung beetles, all kinds of bugs crawled over my feet.
“Let’s go, Master Tang.”
“Yes, Lord Dancheon.”
—SPLASH!
We dove in.
This is a mountain stream. A clean valley…
I hypnotized myself. Only way to endure longer.
I raised inner qi from my dantian, pouring it into my limbs as I swam powerfully downward.
Deeper… farther…
The sticks had definitely sunk deep.
I had to reach bottom fast.
Swimming was my strong suit. I could touch the bottom of any valley in moments—and now, with qi reinforcement, my arms and legs sliced through liquid filth.
In no time, I hit the bottom.
Where is it?! Come on…!
Clawing everywhere.
My skin began to burn. Poison seeping in.
Got it!
Something hard grazed my fingertips.
My heightened senses did not lie.
I grabbed again.
A stick!
An acceptance stick.
No mistake—length and weight confirmed.
One secured.
Now one more—
Ah!
Another snag on my left hand.
Feel… yes—that one too.
Two sticks secured in moments.
I kicked off the bottom and shot upward, desperate to escape.
The sting and heat across my body worsened—poison spreading.
—FWOOOOSH!!
I erupted from the pit, blasting filth everywhere.
A wave of dung splashed outward like a tsunami.
“Kyaaagh!”
“Get back!”
“Waaah!!”
Candidates nearby—unsure whether to jump in or not—were caught in the spray and scattered screaming.
I soared upward and landed in style beside the pit.
“Hoo… hoo…!”
I gasped lungfuls of fresh air.
—Shake shake!
Like a mutt after a mud bath, I shook vigorously.
Only a little muck flew off…
I’d need days of scrubbing.
—FWOOOOSH!!
Another body burst out—Tang Jisang.
“Ooh! Master Tang!”
“Haa… haa… haa…”
Tang Jisang collapsed on the ground, clutching one acceptance stick.
“Congratulations, Master Tang.”
“Hoo… hoo… I barely found it. Lord Dancheon?”
“I got mine too.”
“Good.”
He smiled.
What a decent guy.
I like him.
Breathing finally settled…
Now for the grand handoff of the sticks?
Where’s Lady Hwa Ok-bong…?
I looked around for Gwak Eun.
Funny… Weren’t the candidates gathered here?
“Miss Gwak! Where are you?!”
I shouted, and from the far entrance of Bunbu Village, Gwak Eun came trotting over, face scrunched tightly.
“Huh? You’ve got dung water on your head…?”
So she’d been splashed.
Was she trying to go in despite what I said?
“Haa… No—something happened.”
“Really? Here’s your stick. Welcome to the gang.”
Maybe a dung handler splashed her?
Take the stick and forgive us, please.
“Oh! Thank you.”
She took it with just thumb and forefinger.
White Tiger Gang admission test—Yongjeong Park route
Dancheon, Gwak Eun, Tang Jisang—all have sticks secured.
[The narrative shifts to another battlefield]
(Events at Uwangdae, sect faction tensions, ambush by demonic cultivators, battle escalation, someone grabs a stick, cheating accusations, Overseer Umyun-gae arrives.)
Final scene—O-gwi, the demonic rogue, snatches a stick and celebrates:
“I pass! Hahaha!”
At that moment—
A blur.
His stick is stolen.
“Wha—?!”
Umyun-gae appears before him, face icy.
“You’re disqualified.”
“What?! Why?! You took the stick from me!”
“You used violence against another applicant.”
He points at the candidate O-gwi previously kicked.
“That—that was an accident!”
“Is that so? Then try this.”
A dark aura coils around Umyun-gae’s foot.
“This is an accident. Not violence.”
—CRACK!
A lightning-fast kick.
O-gwi’s head separates from his neck and spins into the sky.
