Martial Arts Ain't That Big of a Deal

Chapter 7

"Take your shoes off before you come in, you bastards!"

At Seo-jun’s shout, the man leading the group blinked.

"Did this little punk just say that to me?"

"It seems so, boss!"

"Unbelievable."

The man frowned deeply, slinging a large machete over his shoulder. It was similar to the ones Seo-jun had seen the two criminals wield earlier.

"I'm Jang Chun-deuk from the Black Tiger Clan, you little shit."

Should I respond with, "I'm Geum Chun-bong from between your mother's legs"? Probably not a good idea.

Understanding the situation, Seo-jun scowled.

"So, what are you going to do about our wall, you little shit?"

"The machetes over there look like they belong to our boys. Explain how that happened, and maybe I'll let you live."

"No, seriously, what are you going to do about the wall!"

Jang Chun-deuk clicked his tongue. With a flick of his hand, a group of burly men rushed into the house.

"They'll spill everything after getting beaten within an inch of their lives. Go on, boys."

As the thugs rolled up their sleeves and advanced, Seo-jun exchanged a glance with Chun-bong.

'What should we do?'

'We obviously need to run!'

'We fight? Okay!'

Of course, they didn’t have the ability to communicate telepathically.

Seo-jun kicked up the sword he had placed on the ground, catching it mid-air, and spun around to slash at one of the men.

Thud— Thunk—

As a head separated from its body, the room fell silent. The occasional splatter of blood served as background music.

"...Screw it. Just kill them all!"

Jang Chun-deuk's face turned beet red as he raised his machete and stomped forward. Seo-jun stepped in front of Chun-bong, who sighed.

"Haa... Yeah, this seems about right."

"Doesn’t it?"

"If they had taken us, we wouldn’t have come out in one piece anyway."

Chun-bong gripped one of the machetes that had been leaning against the wall and whispered quietly,

"Fight for a bit, and if you see an opening, run. I can get away on my own."

"Chun-bong."

"What?"

"Geum Chun-bong, my dim-witted little sister."

Seo-jun raised his sword high, the tip pointing toward the sky, his eyes fixed on the approaching Jang Chun-deuk.

"A real man doesn’t run away alone."

Voom—!

Jang Chun-deuk's swinging machete came into view. Just like before, Seo-jun could see the trajectory clearly as if it were being drawn in the air.

If I can see it, that’s enough. Seo-jun swung the sky-bound sword down to the ground.

The sword’s path intersected with the machete.

Clang—!

"Ugh...!"

Sparks flew as Jang Chun-deuk was pushed back. A crack appeared on the machete, and then it shattered into pieces.

"W-what the...?"

Jang Chun-deuk hesitated, stunned. Fights are all about momentum. Even without much experience, Seo-jun had heard as much.

Seo-jun quickly stepped forward with his left foot, twisting his waist. His legs firmly supported his body, transferring power through his waist. His arms, now relaxed, guided the sword, which smoothly sliced through bone and flesh.

Slash—!

A man was split in half. Blood and entrails spilled onto the floor. Seo-jun grinned.

"Too bad."

Jang Chun-deuk had quickly retreated, leaving one of his lackeys to take the fatal blow.

There were already two corpses. Panic gave way to rage as the men charged all at once.

Clang—! Clang—!@@@@

His view blocked, Seo-jun remembered where Jang Chun-deuk was and unleashed another qi blast.

Whish—

He couldn’t see the result with his eyes.

"Boss...!"

But the panicked voice was enough. Confident in Jang Chun-deuk’s death, Seo-jun pulled out his sword.

Splurt—!

The man whose stomach was pierced collapsed, spilling his guts. Seo-jun grabbed the falling man by the hair and, with a swift slash, severed his head, raising it high.

"Hahaha!"

Seo-jun threw the head toward the remaining men. Their expressions crumbled. Seo-jun took a step forward, and they retreated.

"Raah!"

He let out a roar, causing them to scatter in fear. Their retreat was so comical that Seo-jun laughed until his stomach hurt.

"...Hey!"

His head was hot. He wanted to keep slashing, no matter what. Should I chase them down and kill them all? It seemed like a great idea.

Thwack—!

Just as he was about to move, his vision shook.

"Snap out of it, you idiot!"

Chun-bong’s angry face was in front of him. What’s her problem now?

"Do you think you’re some kind of killing god? Stop grinning like that, it’s scary as hell!"

"Why? It’s fun."

At that, Chun-bong slapped her forehead.

"Good grief. You’re going to get yourself killed if you keep this up."

But Chun-bong didn’t look well. Her face was deathly pale, just like it had been before.

“There’s a demonic nature in blood. If you get consumed by it, you’ll become a demon. You always need to be careful.”

“You should be more worried about yourself.”

“I’m fine... Urgh—!”

Suddenly, blood poured from Chun-bong’s mouth like a waterfall. Perhaps because he had seen it before, Seo-jun didn’t panic. Instead, he calmly patted her back.

“Just circulate your energy, will you?”

“Y-you... Ugh... Be careful, okay?”

“Got it, now hurry up.”

After a few prompts, Chun-bong sat down in the lotus position and began to circulate her qi.

It seems like this happens every time she uses martial arts. Is there something wrong with her body? Seo-jun looked at the top of her head with concern and sighed.

“Tsk, tsk.”

Staying healthy is the greatest act of filial piety, but it already breaks my heart that my little sister is suffering.

“Aigo...”

Maybe because the tension had finally eased, but his body started to ache all over.

Seo-jun slumped to the floor and began counting the bodies strewn around.

“One, two, three... seven. I killed quite a few.”

The floor was in a terrible state. Blood, guts, and corpses were everywhere, and a few severed heads rolled around separately.

Come to think of it, I just fought off almost 17 to 1 and won. The day I got slashed by those criminals now seems like a distant memory.

‘I joked about it before, but do I actually have some talent?’

Seo-jun nudged one of the rolling heads with the sheath of his sword, sending it further away.

“Hmm.”

Nine people dead since I landed in this martial world. In the world I came from, this would have been headline news.

Am I weird for killing so many people and feeling nothing?

‘That’s probably true.’

I’m definitely strange, but I don’t know if I was always like this, if something broke in me after coming here, or if there’s some other reason.

“Who cares.”

Seo-jun lay down on the floor. I’ll just rest until Chun-bong gets up.

What should I do when she wakes up? Should we move? Was that all the Black Tiger Clan had? No, was it Black Tiger Sect?

As Seo-jun’s thoughts spiraled into endless questions, his consciousness slowly began to fade.