episode_0009

You can’t stop a friend from being hurt by baseless rumors.

Acheong took an active stance to prevent future misunderstandings.

“Oh, is that a personal experience? Are you well-versed in the ways of love and relationships?”

“Uh… it’s a story I heard from my father.”

“Even if it’s just a story, what if my friend has feelings for someone else?”

“Huh?”

“Once words are out there, they can spread like wildfire. What if my friend ends up alone, reminiscing about the past, thinking, ‘If only my friend hadn’t spread rumors, I wouldn’t be so lonely and miserable, eating alone’? How would you take responsibility for that?”

“Oh! I apologize!”

Hwang Bo-woon-chuk crumbled under Acheong’s attack.

“Ouch! I’m sorry too! I almost made you grow old and lonely all by yourself!”

Pang Dae-san raised an eyebrow.

“Why do I feel uncomfortable accepting your apology? It feels like this has happened before.”

“Pang-hyung, that’s a premonition. It’s like predicting a brief moment of possibility when the upper realm breathes. It aligns with the Cheonan passage in the Book of Fire, where one foresees the future, knows their past lives, and transcends them through enlightenment, using the three gates of birth, life, and death to freely manifest premonitions…”

“This is insane. Seriously.”

As the familiar story emerged, Jegal Yi-hyun interjected, moving his lips rapidly.

Yes, he was that kind of person.

At that moment, Acheong abruptly stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“To take a dump.”

Pang Dae-san rubbed his forehead.

Is this guy insane?

“Seriously, he’s a crazy bastard!”

“…Can you see that as crazy?”

“I don’t know!”

Acheong hurriedly left.

Hwang Bo-woon-chuk brought up another topic.

“Anyway, this is a good thing! Pang-ah-woo, are you heading to the volcano? Then we should move together from now on!”

“Hwang-hyung, are you going to the volcano too?”

“Of course! Otherwise, why would I be here?”

While Hwang Bo-se was not part of the Five Great Families, he belonged to the Ten Great Families of the Central Plains.

This meant that he had turned the opening of the Swordsmanship Wall to the Ten Great Families.

Why did he want to borrow the power of the Ten Great Families?

Perhaps something unsettling was happening in the Gangho Murim.

And indeed, something unsettling was happening behind the scenes.

—-

One thing Acheong could never tolerate in the Central Plains Murim was the latrine.

But Acheong was powerless.

If he couldn’t tolerate it, what could he do?

He couldn’t fight the latrine.

But he wouldn’t endure it forever!

When he became a top master and seized control of the Murim.

He would continue the legacy of the modernization of the Central Plains latrine, led by the late Sim Jae-duck, former mayor of Suwon, founder of the Korean Toilet Association, and founder of the World Toilet Association.

His ambition was grand, but it did not immediately solve the pressing crisis before him.

A problem involving human dignity, that was-

“It must be clean. Please, please…”

A filthy latrine kills a person’s spirit.

Acheong steeled his resolve and grabbed the door of the latrine.

That’s when it happened.

“You.”

At the chilling voice, Acheong turned around.

A woman, who looked like a bad woman, was pointing her finger at Acheong.

She had two shady-looking men standing on either side of her.

She was clearly a bad woman with a thug-like appearance.

But one should not judge a person based on appearances.

Perhaps she was suffering because of her unpleasant face, even if she was virtuous.

Instead of reading her face, Acheong checked her karma.

-498. Left: -621, Right: -455.

Ah. She’s a bad woman indeed.

Face reading is truly a science!

A statistical truth that has lasted for over 2000 years!

In modern terms, it was a 2000-year-old big data.

Acheong does not tolerate evil in front of him.

Even if it is a beautiful beauty.

But Acheong was currently facing a great crisis.

It was a matter of dignity of one’s personality, that the changing room might be dirty.

Before opening the door of the changing room, the state of the changing room exists in a state where cleanliness and dirtiness coexist.

This is called coexistence, or mixing, and depending on the observer’s observation, this imperfect state is fixed in one direction in reality.

Humanity has long wanted to overcome this chaos.

Believing that doing good deeds brings blessings was the result of that desperate effort.

By modern times, this methodology had evolved into reading the form of a coin graph and fixing the overlapping states of rise and fall to the former side, or spinning a gacha while listening to adventurous music with a picture of a game developer.

Cheong also followed such a methodology.

If she could welcome a slightly cleaner changing room with generous behavior, Acheong could also be kind to a villain.

“If it’s a small matter, please go in first.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You can’t handle the big ones. If you’re confident enough to finish it in one go…”

The following crazy words made the beauty exclaim.

“Do you even know who I am?”

People also speak through their expressions.

Acheong’s expression was like that. How could I know that?

It wasn’t the woman who answered, but the one next to her on the right.

“This person is Lady Yeongae of the Black Shadow Society. Your highness should not dare to even meet her eyes.”

Acheong heard with one ear and let it out with the other.

If you can’t meet eyes, it’s better to choose the eyes.

Or maybe it’s Mr. Michael Jackson.

If Acheong met eyes with Michael Jackson, she was confident she would faint like a fan from that era.

“Oh, that. It’s a bit embarrassing to reveal your identity yourself, right?”

“What…!”

“Madam, please calm down. You don’t need to directly associate with such things. If there’s a disturbance, won’t even Confucius know?”

“Ah, yes. You’re right.”

The evil lady of the Black Shadow Society clicked her tongue.

The villain called Nogal (the one on the right earlier) threw a purse. There was a jingling sound of money falling.

Surprisingly, what fell right at Acheong’s feet was not something thrown a couple of times.

“Pick that up and drop it cleanly.”

Acheong picked it up briskly and checked inside. Among the silver, there was just one yellow thing.

A smile spread across Acheong’s lips.

Oh, throwing a whole purse through the window asking for a concession at the changing room. Is this the dignity of the rich?

Of course, it’s not just about concession.

I thought it might include the cost of keeping one’s mouth shut.

It would definitely be a bit, no, very embarrassing scene for the lady of high status to come and go in the changing room.

Or maybe she’s a bit constipated.

“Oh, I didn’t see the nobleman. I didn’t see anything. Please forgive me. Madam.”

Acheong bowed down to her waist and stepped back.

—-

This is exactly what is called the return of the golden phoenix.

Acheong returned with a grand chest, smiling brightly and confidently.

All three men avoided eye contact.

Acheong knew where she was coming back from.

Acheong accepted the treatment of those gazes differently.

Since men were gathered together, they were definitely sharing some scandalous stories.

Acheong also liked scandalous stories.

How could they discuss such important matters without me!

But originally, sharing scandalous stories has a nature of being uncomfortable to share with someone who doesn’t know well.

I had no choice but to endure the disappointment.

Instead, Acheong proudly took out her purse.

She showed it to them and even untied it up to the entrance.

When Paengdaesan looked inside, it was a small amount of money.

For the successor of the greatest fortune teller in the world, it was not even a day’s allowance.

It was a bit cute to be so proud with that little money.

Suddenly, Paengdaesan felt a chill and froze.

What was that just now?

During the time when Paengdaesan was facing cosmic terror, Cheong proudly declared,

“Look at this. I’ve earned some money.”

“No, miss.”

“Miss?”

“If you are a friend of Paeng’s, shouldn’t you call me miss?”

The title of “miss” felt particularly unfamiliar.

But still, it seemed better than being a soldier.

“Oh. Then can I speak freely?”

“Of course, what do you mean? How did you manage to earn such an amount in a short time?”

“Who gave it to me? Maybe they were in a hurry and offered it as a favor. They said they would give me money. I’ll go back later.”

“No, really. How urgent was it…?”

Jegal Ihyeon trailed off.

Even in the eyes of Jegal Sae-ga’s forbidden leaf, Jegal Ihyeon, it was indeed a small amount that wouldn’t even cover a day’s allowance.

But he knew it was too much to earn in one go.

Income and economic concepts were different things.

At that moment, the young Hwang Boon-chuk chimed in.

“Soldier, taking advantage of a difficult situation to gain profit is not a righteous act.”

“But, he was a noble from a wealthy family, right? I’m the one in a difficult situation. I’m just taking advantage of a friend’s kindness because I don’t have money.”

“Regardless of wealth, gaining unfair advantages is not right, is it?”

“Oh, how can you separate wealth? What about mutual aid? If you’re about to soil your pants right before going to the bathroom, what would you do?”

“That’s…”

“If mutual aid soils his pants and goes out, how would the world see him? Of course, they wouldn’t say it to his face, but behind his back, wouldn’t they mock him for his misfortune?”

“Well, that’s true.”

“I see that as a social death sentence for him. Have you ever heard the saying that a person dies not when their life ends, but when their name is forgotten? If you’re remembered as a dirty person, isn’t that a greater disgrace than death?”

“That’s obvious.”

“So, I think I’ve protected the value of life more than life itself for him, and isn’t this a gesture of gratitude for that? There’s only one gold piece as a token of appreciation from him, right? So, wouldn’t it be rude of me to blame him for the amount being small?”

Acheong interjected sharply.

Hwang Boon-chuk responded with a serious expression,

“Indeed! Soldier’s generosity is as vast as the sea! I have committed a great offense!”

Jegal Ihyeon, who was standing beside them, also marveled,

“Amazing! Miss! Leading the conversation from natural nonsense to the realm of inevitable logic with a leap of logic! Despite that, the natural elevation of oneself to the level of the expected is truly unpredictable, a transformation beyond imagination, a miraculous fusion of contradictions! It was an excellent debate that reached the pinnacle of eloquence!”

Acheong’s ability to gauge the situation was well-known even before his military service.

He was a top-notch tactician who observed his opponent, subtly prodded to see how far he could go, and accurately determined the exact line to cut.

He was a giant in the world of the military, joking and exchanging banter with the tough private Kim, whose temper was like a bastard, during his military service.

And now, that giant stood tall in his place.

“Miss? Why are you suddenly like this?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I have unfinished business to attend to.”

“Oh.”

Jegal Ihyeon blushed.

Acheong slipped out through the back door of the main hall.

As if the timing was perfect, she ran into the person she was grateful to.

She trembled and pointed her finger at her.

“You, you woman! How dare you deceive me?”