Jegal Yeon Ji easily defeated her third opponent.
Contrary to her trembling appearance beneath the martial arts stage, she ruthlessly overpowered her opponents when she stepped onto the stage.
Her first opponent will be bedridden for a few days too.
She struck her in the chest with her palm technique. Her blood and internal energy flow must have been completely disrupted, and a few days might not be enough to recover.
After hearing the announcement of her final victory, Jegal Yeon Ji quickly approached Baek Woo Jin.
“Yo-Young master Baek.”
After calling Baek Woo Jin’s name, she did nothing else. She stood there quietly as if expecting something from him.
“Well done.”
“Hee…!”
A rare smile appeared on her lips. How could his praise make her so happy that she wore such an expression?
“S-So, you will be granting my wish… right?”
Her eyes which were filled with longing sought an answer. She wondered if she had asked too hastily, given how much weight she had put into her request.
“I’ll grant it, as long as it’s something I can do.”
“Yes, yes…!”
Her nodding, as if that was more than enough, was quite amusing to see.
At that moment,
“Woo Jin-ah!”
Baek Moo Hyeok who had gone to watch Shin Ye Hwa’s match pushed through the crowd and approached them.
“Congratulations, Miss Jegal.”
“Th-Thank you…”
Baek Woo Jin looked around. Baek Moo Hyeok being here meant Shin Ye Hwa’s match had ended, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Ye Hwa?”
“She said she was tired and went back to the dormitory first.”
“…She didn’t lose, did she?”
“Haha, don’t worry.”
It was puzzling. She had advanced to the finals and should be in a good mood, yet she missed the chance to spend time with Baek Moo Hyeok. If it were a chance to be with someone you liked, anyone would normally endure a bit of fatigue.
She must have been really tired.
He decided to think so.
“Sorry to interrupt your time together, but Woo Jin, you need to come with me for a moment.”
“Where to?”
“Father has been here for two days already. You should at least show your face.”
As Baek Woo Jin’s unspoken feelings were clearly reflected on his face, Baek Moo Hyeok gave a bitter smile. He wished their family relations were better, but it didn’t seem easy.
Baek Woo Jin scratched the back of his head and spoke to Jegal Yeon Ji.
“Sorry, I have to go.”
“It’s, it’s okay!”
“See you tomorrow then.”
“Yes.”
Leaving Jegal Yeon Ji behind, Baek Woo Jin set off with his older brother.
Some of the people who visited the academy were staying in pavilions built outside the main hall. Baek Young Hak, the head of the Baek clan, was also staying there.
The two of them stood in front of a room a little away from the center on the second floor of the pavilion, and Baek Moo Hyeok knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
As if he knew who it was without asking, the voice inside immediately instructed them to enter.
Baek Moo Hyeok opened the door and stepped inside with Baek Woo Jin following right behind him.
Inside the luxuriously decorated room, a middle-aged man was sitting in a chair and drinking tea.
Despite his graying hair, his eyes gleamed with a fierce intensity. Though he was in his fifties, his appearance was that of a man in his mid-thirties and he exuded an aura that was impossible to ignore.
Baek Young Hak was the current head of the Shaanxi Baek clan and one of the top masters in the martial arts world.
His gaze skimmed over Baek Moo Hyeok before stopping on Baek Woo Jin.
“It’s hard to see your face around here.”
It was a reprimand for Baek Woo Jin’s insolence in only visiting after two full days had passed.
Normally, the old Baek Woo Jin would have shown a cowering attitude following these words.
“Yes. Well, I’ve been busy with this and that.”
Yet instead of cowering, he spoke boldly.
Seeing this, Baek Young Hak’s eyes grew a bit sharper.
“I heard you went missing and came back.”
“Yes.”
“And from the lowest-rank mission at that.”
Even under his father’s reproachful gaze, Baek Woo Jin didn’t waver.
“Oh, those guys turned out to be stronger than I thought. The mission difficulty was set wrong.”
The bandits were no joke.
As Baek Woo Jin exaggerated the situation with a falsely casual tone, a change finally appeared on Baek Young Hak’s stern face.
It was a small flicker of anger.
Bang.
As the teacup was set down, the table dented.
“……”
Only those who had reached a significant level of mastery could perform such feet. If someone less skilled attempted it, the teacup would shatter, and the table would not just be dented but completely split apart.
“Do you call that an excuse?”
Even though his voice carried a surge of fierce energy that was potent enough to make even the highly skilled Baek Moo Hyeok flinch, Baek Woo Jin met his gaze with a calm and indifferent gaze as if nothing had happened.
“Do I have any reason to make excuses?”
“What?”
“If a child went missing, what would be the first question a father should ask?”
“You want me to ask if you’re okay or if you were hurt?”
“Well, I know you’re not the kind of person to ask such things.”
He was a man who spent his entire life contemplating how to raise the Shaanxi Baek clan to the ranks of the Five Great Clans. Anything else held no value to him.
“I expect nothing from you, Father, so don’t expect anything from me.”
“You insolent…!”
“Father!”
The enraged Baek Young Hak sprang from his seat and swung his hand at Baek Woo Jin.
“Oh my!”
Baek Woo Jin let out a ridiculing scream as he dodged his hand. Baek Young Hak’s face was filled with something other than anger.
He dodged it?
Though it carried no internal energy, it was still a slap from a supreme master. It was something the Baek Woo Jin he knew could never evade.
Before he could resolve his doubt, Baek Woo Jin spoke first.
“Oh, there’s something else I need to tell you.”
Baek Young Hak lowered his hand.
“I decided to break off the engagement with Yoo Hwa Yeon.”
“What…!”
He raised his hand again.
“You insolent brat!”
“Father!”
This time, Baek Moo Hyeok blocked Baek Young Hak, whose movements were on a different level from before.
“Move aside.”
“Please, calm down.”
“Calm down? Did you just say calm down? After hearing what that brat said…!”
“How about hearing the full story first?”
Baek Moo Hyeok stood firm with a resolute gaze that made it clear he wouldn’t back down. Baek Young Hak let out a heavy sigh, then sat back in his seat while glaring daggers at Baek Woo Jin.
“Does breaking off the engagement mean that the Yoo clan also agreed to it?”
“That’s right.”
He just broke off the engagement on his own?
Baek Young Hak felt as if his patience was being tested to its limit. Every single word was getting on his nerves.
He suppressed his anger as much as possible and asked again.
“What’s the reason?”
“Men and women can meet and part ways. Is there really a need for a reason?”
When Baek Woo Jin responded casually, as if it were no big deal, Baek Young Hak shook his head with a firm expression.
“You might be able to think that way, but Yoo Hwa Yeon, that girl would never do that.”
Yoo Hwa Yeon was the most intelligent and ambitious girl among the juniors Baek Young Hak had seen.
She always seemed to keep her true intentions hidden, but he could tell. Yoo Hwa Yeon was as deeply immersed in the pursuit of power as he was.
There’s no way that girl would abandon the Baek clan of Shaanxi…
Just when he was about to firmly declare this, Baek Young Hak suddenly realized something. This was the Jeongmu Academy, and though few in number, there were juniors here from prestigious clans and large sects that surpassed the Baek clan.
Moreover, a fiancé who had gone missing during a lowest-rank mission in a disgraceful manner would not satisfy her standards.
“So, you’ve been thrown aside, huh?”
When Baek Young Hak spoke with a confident tone, even Baek Moo Hyeok who had been bracing himself for another attack turned to Baek Woo Jin with a look of astonishment on his face.
“Something like that, but in any case, I agreed to it as well.”
“Who is it?”
“Even if you knew, there’s nothing you could do.”
“That’s for me to decide. So, speak up.”
“I have no intention of telling you.”
“You insolent…!”
The veins on Baek Young Hak’s hand that was resting on the table bulged with anger. His eyes widened as if they might burst at any moment, and Baek Woo Jin finally spoke.
“As I said before, don’t expect anything more from me. I don’t expect anything either.”
“Woo Jin-ah!”
Before Baek Young Hak could respond, Baek Moo Hyeok intervened.
“How dare you show such disrespect to Father!”
His voice carried the tone of rebuke, but the gaze directed at Baek Woo Jin was filled only with concern.
“Apologize to Father, now.”
Quickly.
Baek Moo Hyeok winked one eye.
Though a sense of reluctance weighed on him, he decided to play along and bowed his head.
“I apologize.”
Baek Moo Hyeok then turned to Baek Young Hak and spoke.
“It seems today isn’t the right day, so let’s leave it at this. I hadn’t mentioned it yet, but Woo Jin has advanced to the finals of the Martial Arts Tournament. It might be best to let him focus on that for now.”
Baek Young Hak’s eyes widened slightly when he heard that Baek Woo Jin had advanced to the finals.
He had thought Baek Woo Jin was quite skilled after dodging his slap earlier, but he hadn’t expected him to make it to the finals.
It was a pleasant surprise from a son he hadn’t anticipated much from, so his mood improved a little.
He waved his hand dismissively as a signal for them to leave.
“Go now.”
“Then we’ll take our leave.”
The two bowed their heads slightly to Baek Young Hak and left the pavilion.
“Why did you do that?”
When Baek Moo Hyeok lightly reproached him like that, Baek Woo Jin shrugged his shoulders and answered.
“Who knows.”
He had reacted too strongly, and he couldn’t deny it.
How could I not be angry?
Everything Baek Young Hak had done was directed at the “Baek Woo Jin” who was already dead, not him. Strictly speaking, there was no reason for him to be angry.
But the reason he had lashed out was simple. Baek Woo Jin despised people like that.
To Baek Woo Jin, family meant those who would always stand firmly by his side.
People who would scold him harshly for his mistakes and praise him with joy for his good deeds.
Baek Woo Jin had never had a family, neither on Earth nor in the first otherworld he was reincarnated into.
People tend to hold a small fantasy or ideal about things they don’t have. The longing for something he had been denied in both of his lives, on Earth and in the fantasy world, remained the same.
So when he first saw Baek Moo Hyeok, he didn’t show it, but he was overjoyed to have a family that was so happy about his return to life.
Of course, they’re not my real family.
Even if it was a false relationship rather than a genuine one.
“It is really hard to have a harmonious family.”
When Baek Moo Hyeok said that with a sigh, Baek Woo-jin nodded his head as well.
“It really is.”
He wholeheartedly agreed.
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