Chapter 3: Laying the foundation
Seoa hurried down the mountain and headed straight to her lodging.
The sun had already vanished, painting the sky red.
It signaled the day had fully ended.
Normally, Seoâs daily tasks wouldâve been done before the sky gave such a sign.
Today, though, felt like an unusually long day.
If it were the usual her, sheâd have complained about not lingering in bed longer, but today was an exception.
Her conversation with Noya had granted her an unexpected opportunity.
A trade far more valuable than the comfort of a bed.
âI wish night would come soon.â
Only when everyone slept could she study the martial arts manual without prying eyes.
Today, the wait for night felt especially long.
When Seo reached the lodging, the moon was already visible in the distance.
And Soso, springing up from her bed, rushed toward her.
âHey! Why are you so late? I was worriedâŚâ
âWhat, you were waiting for me?â
âOf course! When your only friend suddenly disappears, all sorts of thoughts creep in. Oh, what if you got kidnapped? Should I tell the head servant? But the sun hasnât fully set yet⌠maybe I should wait a bit? I couldnât rest easy.â
Soso, clearly worried, rambled on.
Her comment about having no friends stung a bit, making Seo consider retorting.
She hesitated briefly but decided to stay quiet, thinking Soso might have a point.
It wasnât like she admitted Soso was right because she hadnât made friends since joining the cult.
Noya could, in a way, be considered her friendâŚ
And alsoâŚ
âŚ
It wasnât her fault that the kidsâ mental age was too low to connect with, right?
It was just how things were.
Soso had been the one to approach her first, like the village kids.
Whether Soso knew her thoughts or not, she continued with a determined look.
âSo, where do you go every day after work without saying a word?â
âUh⌠wellâŚâ
âWait! Donât dodge the question this time. I need an answer.â
Seo pursed her lips.
Her meetings with Noya werenât exactly a secretâŚ
But it wasnât something that needed to be widely known, either.
To be precise, flaunting her connection with a true disciple could make her servant life easier, but it wouldnât benefit her relationship with Noya.
He was a secretive man, reluctant to even share his nameâŚ
He surely wouldnât enjoy attention from many eyes.
Thatâs likely why he went to that secluded back hill.
As Seo searched for a vague excuse, a voice interrupted.
âHey!â
A sharp, venomous voice came from behind.
Seo turned toward it.
A slightly⌠no, very plump servant was approaching.
It was one of the figures from her earlier story with Noya.
The annoying peer who loved scolding her in front of seniors.
Seo spoke.
âDanryang? Whatâs up?â
âYouâre going to Kyomakwan tomorrow, right?â
âThatâs right.â
Soso, frustrated at not getting the answer she wanted, glared at Danryang.
Danryang, unfazed, didnât budge.
âWhatâs with you? Oh, right, youâre going to Kyomakwan too? Come with us.â
Soso, not wanting to deal with the ill-tempered Danryang, crossed her arms and nodded curtly.
Danryang opened and closed his mouth, as if about to say something to Soso.
âHmph. Never mind. Listen up. The head servant said we start at Jinshi (around 8 a.m.) tomorrow, not Myoshi (around 6 a.m.).â
âWhat? Jinshi all of a sudden? You sure?â
Seo questioned, caught off guard by the schedule change.
The distance to Kyomakwan didnât allow for such leisure.
At least not to stick to the planned schedule.
Danryang, hearing this, huffed and suddenly got angry.
âAre you saying Iâm lying?â
âThatâs not what I meantâŚâ
âThen are you saying the head servant is lying?!â
As Danryang raised his voice, his thick flesh jiggled visibly.
Seo suppressed the urge to smack him for overreacting and cornering her.
When she stayed silent, Danryang, feeling doubted, continued more heatedly.
âIâll tell everyone you didnât trust the head servant. Iâll tell them!â
Arguing with this irritating lump of flesh would gain her nothing.
Danryang was skilled at currying favor with seniors and the head servant, painting them as fools.
Theyâd explained themselves multiple times to counter his sly wordplay.
But she and Soso were outsiders, bought into the cult from beyond.
Danryang, though a low-ranking warrior, was a born disciple with a true disciple father.
As the saying goes, loyalty bends inwardâdespite his fatherâs status, the scales tipped toward Danryang, who fawned over them.
So Seo, to calm the fuming Danryang, said things she didnât mean.
âAhem. Danryang, donât get so worked up. I was just⌠jealous that the head servant told you first. Wow⌠Iâm envious. It means you have their trust, right? Thatâs our Danryang.â
Danryang, mollified by her words, nodded with a strange expression.
âY-Yeah⌠Thatâs right. Iâve got the head servantâs trust. Donât question me from now on, got it?â
âYeah, got it, got it.â
âGood. Tomorrow, Jinshi.â
With that, Danryang stepped out to handle some business.
Left alone with Soso, she asked again.
âSo⌠where do you go after work?â
It took some effort to shake Soso off.
In the dead of night, when all were asleep, Seo confirmed everyone was out cold and slipped from the dark room.
Under the starlight, she pulled out the book sheâd carefully tucked away.
The martial arts manual from Noya.
The cover bore only the word âFoundation.â
From the meaning of âfoundation,â it was clear what this book was for.
Or rather, since Noya mentioned the Three Talents Heart Method as an example, it was obviously an introductory martial arts manual.
Using the starlight as her candle, Seo opened the book and began reading.
âMartial artsâŚâ
Her heart pounded wildly.
In any era, the wall of status always existed.
Even in the modern world, it was just fainter, less rigid, but everyone would agree the wall was there.
In this era she lived in, that wall was thicker.
And far crueler to those like her at the bottom.
Reading this book, memories from about eight years after her reincarnation flashed through her mind.
A black-path warrior had come to the village, demanding money.
The sight of him ransacking every shop wasâŚ
How to describe it? To her, still used to the modern world, it was a massive shock.
The image of necks flying through the air for resisting still haunted her.
âThis world is different from the one I knew.â
That was when she first realized her place.
Unlike the modern world, the lives of those like her, the lowest class, were treated like straw in this world.
She felt, unlike the modern world, she couldnât be content with her current lot.
Having died once, Seo understood the value of life early on.
How could she be sure she wouldnât meet such a fate?
She had to rise.
At least enough to protect herself.
She had to seize opportunities.
If a lifeline was thrown to her, she needed the strength to grab it.
After that incident, she lingered around the school, secretly learning to read.
Though she couldnât afford proper educationâŚ
âI gained the strength to seize a lifeline.â
If she hadnât learned to read back then, this chance to learn martial arts wouldâve slipped through her fingers.
Seo swallowed a sigh of relief.
If she became Noyaâs disciple and mastered martial arts to become a first-rate⌠no, even a second-rate warrior, her life would surely change.
She could leap over the thick wall of status, gain true disciple status, and maybe one day wear the head servantâs robes, which seemed impossibly lofty.
âNo, donât get your hopes up.â
Seo calmed her racing heart.
Letâs be honest. She had no talent.
No false hopes.
If she had talent, sheâd already be at Kyomakwan with those kids.
So⌠donât expect too much.
Forget becoming Noyaâs disciple.
Forget breaking through this thick status wall quickly.
For now, justâŚ
If she could even crack this thick wall, even slightly, that was enough.
A sliver of hope would suffice.
Seo sat cross-legged in the grass.
âBreathe in⌠breathe out⌠breathe inâŚâ
She began regulating her breathing.
She tried hard to sense the presence of qi while inhaling.
The foundation of martial arts: the heart method.
The foundation of breathing techniques. To seize this opportunity.
Seo closed her eyes and sat still for hours, unmoving.
As the book instructed.
She simply breathed in and out.
Feeling nothing, she crushed the doubts rising in her mind.
Time passed.
The red sun began rising slowly beyond the horizon.
The darkness lifted, heralding a new beginning on the earth.
Seo squinted at the faint but bright halo of light.
Though she hadnât slept a wink, her expression held more relief and a smile than fatigue.
âPhewâŚâ
She could sleep for an hour or two, right?
Seo headed back to the lodging.
âSeniors, Seo and Soso are here!â
With a hollow expression, Seo turned toward the voice.
Through drooping eyelids, she saw Danryang, slightly⌠no, very plump, looking at her triumphantly.
âAlready Jinshi?â
It felt like sheâd barely lain down for an hour.
âThese two were slacking off here!â
What?