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Chapter 2
“Hey, if you were watching, come on out.”
Cheon Mujin stood up, leaving the unconscious So Younghyun behind, stretching his stiff body.
Apparently, he really hadn’t trained at all—his whole body ached just from moving a little.
Tilting his head lazily, Cheon Mujin chuckled as he watched someone emerge from a nearby barrack.
“You don’t look like you’re out fetching drinks. What, hoping for scraps?”
“…What the hell is this?”
“What do you mean? We just had a nice little conversation and decided to take a break.”
“Don’t mess with me. Even if you’re the Great Young Master of the Cheon Clan, this is blatant insubordination.”
“Hm. What was your name again?”
“You don’t even remember your peer’s name? It’s Baekwoo.”
“Ah, right. Baekwoo. Now I remember. Upright guy.”
So upright, in fact, that he was too rigid to get promoted—one of those types.
“No need to overreact. As long as you keep your mouth shut, none of these guys are going to spill what happened.”
Getting beat up by the ‘Third Young Master’ wasn’t something that ended with mere embarrassment.
It invited bullying—and might even cause the patrons backing them to abandon them.
Even if people asked, they’d just say it was a fight among themselves. No one would dare admit they were beaten by Cheon Mujin.
So.
“You’ll keep it a secret, right? They say loving your peers is loving your country.”
“Don’t give me that crap. While you were slacking off, who do you think was covering your duties?”
“These guys?”
“No. Us. Those punks didn’t do a damn thing but strut around.”
Figures.
So that’s why they were tailing me—trying to catch something they could report.
Looks like they were hoping to find an excuse to get me booted.
“Unfortunately, my relationship with these guys ends here. So, I’d really appreciate it if you stayed quiet about this.”
“No. I refuse.”
“You should hear me out first.”
As Baekwoo firmly shook his head, Cheon Mujin slowly stepped closer.
“This is an offer. One that might pique your interest. You really want to cut me off before I even start?”
“Save it. There’s nothing you can offer me.”
“Oh, come now, that hurts.”
Baekwoo.
The upright Baekwoo had one fatal weakness.
An obsession with martial arts.
A yearning for strength.
Wham!
In a flash, Cheon Mujin’s fist slipped through a gap and grazed Baekwoo’s jaw.
Caught off guard by being struck—even if only briefly—by someone of supposedly lower skill, Baekwoo staggered.
Stumble!
His eyes widened as his legs buckled.
Just from that light blow…?
The surprise was fleeting.
He tried to stabilize by stepping his right leg back and tensing his lower body.
Thud!
A fist struck his right side, knocking the wind out of him.
A clean hit to the liver.
The strength behind the punch wasn’t overwhelming, but—
Internal shock…!
The formless energy that rattled his insides was enough to make Baekwoo bend over.
He was overwhelmed by the unexpected finesse and the unnatural pain.
Which meant—his response was delayed.
Crack!
The price for that delay was a clean shot to the jaw.
This time, the blow shook his vision. Gritting his teeth, Baekwoo tried to regain his stance.
Whap!
A light hit knocked his shoulder back.
What the…?
Before he could steady himself, his balance crumbled again.
Cough!
Another hit to his torso made him cough dryly.
Several more punches followed, and just as he was about to recover—
Tap!
A light step.
Not even a kick.
Cheon Mujin’s foot gently tapped Baekwoo’s left foot, sending him off balance.
It wasn’t enough to make him fall, but it absolutely shattered his stance.
…Ha.
With a bitter smile, Baekwoo’s vision went dark as another fist came flying.
The most painful one yet.
“You’re wondering why you’re getting your ass kicked? Want to know what I did? Then learn your place.”
With that, Cheon Mujin’s fists continued raining down until Baekwoo’s consciousness finally gave out.
—
—
“Man, what a pain.”
Cheon Mujin dragged the unconscious bodies into a secluded corner and dumped them there before clicking his tongue inside the barracks.
“Tough bastards.”
They’d trained hard, clearly.
While punching the trio earlier was manageable, beating Baekwoo pushed his limits.
His fists were now badly bruised and bleeding.
Looking at the mangled mess, Cheon Mujin turned to the only piece of furniture in the barracks.
“Well, at least this much is here.”
Opening a drawer, he pulled out some first aid supplies and skillfully treated and bandaged his hands.
It was a sight that completely clashed with the image of the scorned Third Useless Young Master (삼무공자).
“Hm?”
While returning the supplies, he spotted a piece of paper in the upper drawer and scoffed.
This was—
“…A duty roster?”
Why is a duty roster—which should only be in the command tent—here?
But more importantly…
“I’m up for patrol soon?”
—
—
“Cheon Mujin skipped again?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Of course. Always slacking. Just fill in the numbers and—”
“Apologies for the delay. Cheon Mujin, reporting in.”
“…Huh?”
The senior who was about to scold someone looked up in surprise at the unexpected voice.
“W-wait, he actually showed up?”
“Y-yeah…”
The guy hadn’t shown his face for three whole months. What the hell was going on?
Confusion rippled through the patrol unit, but only for a moment.
With patrols imminent, the squad leader chose action over questions.
After reporting to the team lead, they headed out of camp.
The atmosphere was tense and stiff.
Everyone was wondering why Cheon Mujin suddenly appeared, but no one knew him well enough to ask.
That was when—
“S-Senior! Cheon Mujin is gone!”
“What? What do you mean gone—wait, where the hell did he go?!”
When?
No one even sensed him break formation!
Their first thought was confusion over how he escaped unnoticed.
But then a single horrifying word dominated their minds.
Desertion.
“Sh-sh-sh-shit! Find him! Everyone, reverse course and sweep the path back!”
“Yes, sir!”
Even if the clan had abandoned him, he was still the Cheon Clan’s heir.
If he died after deserting…
Forget the commander—I’ll be the one who gets killed!
They had to find him. No matter what.
—
—
Didn’t expect the opportunity to come this soon.
Slipping away mid-patrol, Cheon Mujin climbed the mountain with practiced ease.
It was as if he knew the terrain like the back of his hand.
Eventually, he reached a decent height and paused to catch his breath.
“Hoo.”
It should be somewhere around here.
He could’ve rested another day, but he’d forced his injured body on patrol for a reason.
An incredibly rare elixir was nearby—something he desperately needed.
In my past life, I was dying of envy over this.
It had sold for such a high price that he couldn’t even dream of buying it.
He’d desperately searched for this elixir during his most powerless days.
Who would’ve thought it’d be here?
Growwwl.
Just as he caught his breath and resumed moving, a low growl caught his ear.
“Hoh.”
A hidden cave, obscured by trees, echoed with a growl.
If it had stayed quiet, he might have passed it by.
“You can see, huh?”
Grrrrrrr!
Open hostility.
A fight was inevitable.
Grinning, Cheon Mujin pushed aside the branches and entered the cave.
Amber eyes gleamed sharply from within the darkness.
“Hm.”
Too dark to see.
Strange, considering the cave wasn’t that deep.
But sight wasn’t the only sense.
As he ventured deeper, the floating amber eyes vanished.
“Impressive.”
He didn’t know whether it closed its eyes or hid them another way—but impressive nonetheless.
That’s when something zipped through the air.
A sharp movement, slicing the wind.
This wasn’t some wild animal.
But—
“Unfortunately, you picked the wrong opponent.”
As the beast lunged for his shoulder, Cheon Mujin’s elbow shot up into its jaw at point-blank range.
With a whimper, the beast was sent flying—and Cheon Mujin dashed after it without hesitation.
Startled, the beast’s glowing eyes revealed its position again.
“Turns out I’m as good at beating beasts as I am at beating people.”
Just as the beast tried to leap away, instinctively sensing danger, Cheon Mujin intercepted it and brought his elbow down on its neck.
As it tried to rise again—
“Come on. You know you can’t win.”
Growl.
“Even half-spiritual, you’re still just a beast.”
He hadn’t wanted to kill it.
But he drew a dagger just in case.
He couldn’t kill it barehanded—it would be too slow and too cruel.
So—
“I’ll at least make it painless.”
The moment their eyes met—Cheon Mujin’s calm gaze—
Whimper.
The beast lost its will to fight.
Because it saw it.
Fwoooosh!
Something massive and terrifying, like a mirage, rising above Cheon Mujin.
Something so overwhelming, it couldn’t even look at it.
As the beast trembled—
Flicker!
“…Huh?”
The cave’s darkness vanished.
With his vision now clear, Cheon Mujin went silent.
The innermost part of the cave.
A place sunlight should never reach was now lit by an ethereal glow.
The source of the light—a single flower.
Growing atop a skeleton.
“…It really existed.”
The skeleton wasn’t human.
It belonged to a beast—a massive fox.
What Cheon Mujin had been searching for was the flower blooming above its core.
A flower that had absorbed everything from the spiritual beast.
Oyeong Honghwa (晤瑩紅華).
An ancient elixir that emits its own light.
In his past life, someone had sold this flower for a fortune—two gold crowns.
The end hadn’t been pretty, though.
Whimper, whimper.
The beast that had attacked him—now clearly a fox cub—began crying toward the revealed flower.
Judging by its size, it was likely the dead fox’s child.
Seems his hunch was right.
“Fine. I won’t kill the cub, if that’s what you want.”
He hadn’t planned to kill it anyway.
If he could get the Oyeong Honghwa, that much mercy was a small price.
“…Hm?”
As he approached the flower, he frowned at its solid roots.
“This isn’t enough?”
Not killing the cub wasn’t enough?
Then—
Whimper, whimper.
“…I hate carrying things.”
As the cub crawled to him, Cheon Mujin sighed, looked at the flower, then back at the trembling fox.
“You won’t become a spiritual being. You’ll turn into something closer to a demon. Are you okay with that?”
He wasn’t really asking anyone.
It was more of a muttered thought.
Then—
[That is enough, my King.]
A faint voice echoed as the Oyeong Honghwa lifted from the ground.
Cheon Mujin hadn’t even used much strength.
“…Alright.”
With a bitter smile, he looked at the flower in his hand, then gently patted the cub’s head as it clung to his leg.
“From now on, you’re mine. Your name will be…”
Glancing around the cave, he spotted patches of blue fur.
“…Cheonghwa, after your mother’s color.”
Yip!
“Glad you like it. Now, your first mission.”
He nudged Cheonghwa aside, sat down, and without hesitation, swallowed the flower.
“Watch the entrance. Let me know if anyone comes.”
