Chapter 24: Jegal Tan (1)

“What’s with the gloomy atmosphere here?”

Cho Un-hwi’s sudden appearance made Chung-hyeon massage his temples.

“Instructor Cho, have you no sense of timing?”

“I’ve been told that a lot. Hahaha.”

“That wasn’t a compliment!”

Chung-hyeon snapped as Cho Un-hwi chuckled and scratched his head.

“Why did you skip the morning meeting?”

“And yesterday too! I told you to come see me after work because I had important announcements!”

“Are you only here to eat and sleep? Is that it?”

Cho Un-hwi defended himself.

“You told me to fix the training dummies.”

“Yes, but you should do it in your spare time! Being an instructor is a real job!”

“Chief Instructor Yeom said fixing the dummies was a top priority…”

“Who said that?”

“Chief Instructor Yeom.”

“That damn… Chief Instructor Yeom! are you trying to drive me crazy?! are you still obsessed with picking on new instructors?!”

Yeom-gwang, who had a history of targeting new instructors, gritted his teeth.

‘That bastard…’

He was furious.

He was annoyed by Cho Un-hwi’s constant tattling, but he was even more annoyed by the fact that he was now stuck with Jegal Tan because of Cho Un-hwi’s antics.

If he had known that yesterday’s urgent announcements were about Jegal Tan, he would never have let Cho Un-hwi waste his time fixing dummies.

Every interaction with Cho Un-hwi seemed to lead to more frustration and headaches.

It was all his fault.

“Grrr…”

He glared at Cho Un-hwi.

Yeo Mae-hong, sensing the rising tension, nudged Cho Un-hwi in the ribs.

“Instructor Cho, read the room!”

“Why are you always picking on me?”

“Please…”

Cho Un-hwi, oblivious to the tense atmosphere, set down the training dummies he was carrying.

“There, I fixed four broken dummies. As promised, please remove four demerit points from my record.”

“Good grief.”

“I’m getting pretty good at this. I’ll fix ten next time.”

“Get out!”

Chung-hyeon clutched his head and slumped in his chair.

“Ugh, my head…”

He groaned.

But one person in the room was watching the spectacle with amusement.

‘What’s going on here?’

Jegal Tan chuckled as he observed the chaos Cho Un-hwi had created.

‘He just completely changed the mood.’

The tense atmosphere, which had been on the verge of erupting into violence just moments ago, had vanished.

“I knew he would cause trouble.”

“He can’t go a day without upsetting the Head Instructor.”

“What are the ghosts doing? Why haven’t they taken him away yet?”

The instructors were now united in their mockery of Cho Un-hwi.

Jegal Tan, who was usually the one who instigated such behavior, was intrigued.

He was particularly interested in the other instructors’ assessment of Cho Un-hwi.

‘So he wasn’t just putting on an act.’

When they first met, Jegal Tan had assumed that Cho Un-hwi’s indifference was a deliberate attempt to intimidate him.

But judging from the other instructors’ reactions, it seemed that Cho Un-hwi had always been an oddball.

Jegal Tan found it refreshing to meet someone who was so genuine and unpretentious.

‘But why did Yun-ho praise him so highly?’

He knew his friend well.

Namgung Yun-ho, like him, had been disappointed by the world countless times, and he didn’t trust people easily.

And yet, he had said…

*Meet my instructor. He’ll help you.*

There had been conviction in his eyes.

“Interesting.”

Jegal Tan grinned.

He turned to Yeom-gwang.

“Chief Instructor Yeom, can I ask you a favor?”

***

Mo Yong So-hye’s jaw dropped.

She was staring at a mountain of broken training dummies.

“Oh my god! What happened here?”

“These are my demerit points. And your new project. Let’s get to work, Master Wooden Deity.”

He wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore.

He was clearly using her to clear his demerit points.

‘I heard he’s notoriously lazy…’

Even though she was just a student, she knew how things worked in the academy.

The instructors were supposed to be role models for the students, and they were subject to strict rules and regulations.

Some instructors even had to perform community service to clear their demerit points.

So, she had no expectations of Cho Un-hwi being a model instructor.

“There are exactly one hundred dummies. If you fix all of them, I’ll be halfway to clearing my demerit points.”

“Oh my god. How many demerit points do you have?”

“Please help me. I’m still on probation, and I’ll be fired if I don’t clear my demerit points by the end of the month.”

She wondered if it was wise to learn from such a person.

He might be able to teach her some martial arts, but she might also lose sight of what was truly important in life.

“Please, Master Doll Healer.”

She honestly wanted to run away.

But she was too kind to abandon him.

“Ugh, this won’t fit…”

He looked pathetic, struggling to attach a dummy’s arm at an impossible angle.

‘Sigh, I guess I have no choice. I promised to help him, so I’ll see this through.’

He had accepted her as his student instead of the infamous Instructor Hunter.

She wasn’t heartless enough to betray his trust.

And besides…

‘I like fixing things.’

It was a shame that she wouldn’t be learning much martial arts, but she would make the best of the situation.

She found a spot and got to work.

“That’s not how you do it. Let me show you.”

“Thanks.”

She removed the broken part of the arm, inserted a new piece of wood, and reattached it.

“There, good as new.”

“Wow! You’re amazing!”

Cho Un-hwi clapped his hands enthusiastically.

Baek Ri-seol, who had been watching them with a scowl, suddenly rushed over and squeezed herself between them.

“Hmph! I can fix that in a second!”

She was full of confidence.

But her skills didn’t match her bravado.

Crack!

The dummy’s arm broke.

Snap!

Then the leg.

The dummy was now a cripple.

Grrr…

Now the neck.

It was beyond repair.

The headless dummy slumped to the ground.

Cho Un-hwi’s face fell.

“My salary…”

“I’m sorry.”

“I was supposed to be promoted to a full-fledged instructor this month.”

“Waaaaah! I’m so sorry!”

“It’s over. I have too many demerit points. I’m going to be fired. Goodbye, everyone.”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Baek Ri-seol clung to him, her voice trembling.

“Sigh.”

Namgung Yun-ho, who had been practicing his swordsmanship in a corner of the training ground, rubbed his face in exasperation.

Despair emanated from Cho Un-hwi, panic and begrudging admiration from Baek Ri-seol, and resignation from Namgung Yun-ho.

Mo Yong So-hye burst out laughing.

She had never seen such raw and unfiltered emotions before.

It was a refreshing change from the polite and restrained interactions she was used to.

“Hahaha!”

And then…

A discordant note disrupted the cheerful atmosphere.

Mo Yong So-hye turned her head.

The cynical young man from yesterday was standing there, his body radiating a dark aura.

“This place hasn’t changed a bit.”

The Instructor Hunter approached them, a sinister smile playing on his lips.

He tossed something at Cho Un-hwi.

“What’s this?”

“My enrollment plaque.”

“Why are you giving it to me?”

“Why? Because Chief Instructor Yeom approved it. And you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

Jegal Tan grinned.

“Nice to meet you, Instructor.”

***

What was he going to do?

Jegal Tan waited for Cho Un-hwi’s reaction.

Would he reject him?

Or would he reluctantly accept him?

But Cho Un-hwi’s response was unexpected.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“I told you, Chief Instructor Yeom approved it. And the Head Instructor approved it too.”

Cho Un-hwi scratched his ear and tilted his head.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

Was he in denial?

Jegal Tan lost his patience.

“Stop trying to avoid me! It’s already decided!”

“I’m not going to teach you.”

“I know. But let’s see how long you can resist.”

Jegal Tan was confident.

He was a talented martial artist.

He might not have stood out in his family, which was full of prodigies, but he had been considered a child prodigy himself.

And…

‘If all else fails, I can always use my family’s name to threaten him.’

He could always resort to force.

Cho Un-hwi was just an instructor at Dongcheon Hall.

He was nothing compared to the masters Jegal Tan had grown up with.

‘Yun-ho said he would be helpful. I hope he’s right. But even if he’s not, it doesn’t matter.’

He had lost his family’s support and was starting to doubt his own abilities.

He was bored and disillusioned.

He was willing to try anything to break out of his rut.

“Namgung Yun-ho.”

He grinned at his friend, who was shaking his head.

‘Don’t worry, I won’t break your precious instructor too badly.’

He decided to observe Cho Un-hwi’s training methods for a while.

***

Day 1.

Jegal Tan found a spot in a corner of the training ground and watched as Namgung Yun-ho and Baek Ri-seol trained, their faces dripping with sweat.

‘Baek Ri-seol, was it?’

He had a good memory.

He could remember people he had only met once.

It was easy for him to recall the girl from the Baek Ri Clan.

‘What is she doing?’

She was covered in needles, dozens of them embedded in her body.

The Jegal Clan also used needles to stimulate acupoints, but they didn’t go to such extremes.

And those needles were inserted in death points!

He had memorized all three hundred and sixty-five acupoints in the human body.

He wasn’t mistaken.

‘He’s teaching my friend this barbaric technique?’

It was a dangerous technique that could cause serious injuries.

He glared at the instructor, but Cho Un-hwi was too busy admiring the five wooden dummies he had repaired.

“Wow, I’m a genius.”

“You’re amazing, Instructor.”

Should I flip a table?

He was about to act when he saw Namgung Yun-ho shaking his head.

He chuckled.

He would let it slide for now.

Day 4.

He watched as Namgung Yun-ho and Baek Ri-seol hesitated, holding small, round pills that looked like rabbit droppings and smelled like rotten eggs.

The stench was so strong that he could smell it from his spot in the corner of the training ground.

“Are you sure these are safe to eat?”

“I’ll eat anything Instructor Cho gives me! Here goes!”

Baek Ri-seol swallowed the pill in one gulp.

Namgung Yun-ho followed suit.

Their faces turned pale.

“It’s poison!”

Namgung Yun-ho exclaimed.

“B-but I can’t spit it out! I have to swallow it!”

They sat down in a meditative posture and started groaning.

Jegal Tan was speechless.

“He’s insane.”

There were some martial arts techniques that involved using poison, but they were extremely dangerous and were only practiced by highly skilled physicians.

Even the Sichuan Tang Clan, renowned for their mastery of poisons, exercised extreme caution when using poison in their training.

They would never leave their students unattended like this.

He glanced at the instructor, who was too busy celebrating the fact that he had repaired five wooden dummies.

“At this rate, I’ll be able to clear my demerit points in no time.”

“Yes, that’s great.”

“Let’s take a break. Let me see your hand.”

He was massaging Mo Yong So-hye’s hand, seemingly oblivious to his other students’ suffering.

Jegal Tan’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

***

Day 5.

Jegal Tan finally snapped.

He watched as Cho Un-hwi instructed Namgung Yun-ho and Baek Ri-seol to insert large, menacing needles into their bodies and perform strange movements.

“Hey, Instructor! Are you out of your mind?!”

Cho Un-hwi grinned.

“What now?”

“You’re teaching them some half-assed techniques you learned from who knows where. You don’t actually believe this will make them stronger, do you?”

“It works.”

“Sigh, you’re unbelievable.”

Jegal Tan cracked his knuckles menacingly.

“I was trying to be patient, for Yun-ho’s sake.”

“But?”

“This is just ridiculous.”

He cracked his neck.

Just then…

“Instructor, I brought the repair tools.”

“Oh, great!”

“What are you doing? Can’t you see I’m talking?”

“Go away, kid.”

Slap!

Jegal Tan’s vision went black.

(TLN: RIP Jegal tan)