Mok Gyeong-un died with his neck snapped. For a brief moment, the mysterious man was stunned. But it did not last long.
“You son of a bitch!”
Zip!
The man, his anger flaring to the heavens, instantly reached out for the boy, grabbed him by the throat, and slammed him against the wall.
Thud!
It was absurd. Even if Mok Gyeong-un was a mere third-rate martial artist, a mediocrity in the martial arts, this boy was an ordinary commoner. Even for a death row inmate, the difference between him and one who had learned martial arts should have been stark.
How could Mok Gyeong-un’s neck be snapped in an instant, no matter how much of a surprise attack it was? As he stood there dumbfounded, the boy spoke to him with an expressionless face.
“... Even if you’ve lit sleep incense, you shouldn’t be making such a disturbance, should you?”
“What? How dare you say such a…!?”
The mysterious man frowned. He was clutching the boy’s throat, yet there was no sign of suffering. On the contrary, he spoke perfectly fine.
‘Come to think of it, why is his neck so…’
His neck muscles were remarkably developed, as if he had trained in external arts. At this level, it seemed one would need to properly infuse their internal energy to break it.
‘Don't tell me he practiced external arts? No. If he had, he should have at least some internal energy.’
External arts also required a foundation of energy circulation. But this one truly had no internal energy. It seemed he was no ordinary boy.
The mysterious man’s mind grew complex, but that was not what was important right now.
“You crazy bastard. The Young Master gave you a chance, yet you’ve truly lost your mind. To turn on the very person who gave an opportunity to a mere death row inmate…”
“Have I misunderstood the purpose of being a double?”
“What?”
“In the first place, being a double means taking risks in place of the real person. Of course, for me, it is an opportunity to extend my life by about three days, but if you went so far as to break a death row inmate out of prison to serve as a double, doesn't that also mean you can get rid of me whenever you please?”
“...”
The boy spoke in a calm, measured tone. At his words, the mysterious man was momentarily at a loss. This kid was smarter than he looked.
An ordinary commoner, a typical death row inmate, would have been desperate to survive this immediate crisis.
‘No, could they have even pulled something like this in the first place?’
Yet, this boy had not only grasped the situation in an instant but was also taking a gamble. Even though he himself could be killed on the spot.
‘What kind of person is this...’
As he stood there flabbergasted, the boy opened his mouth.
“May I ask you something?”
“You little brat, do you not understand the situation…”
“You said you were a guard, but you seem remarkably calm for someone whose master has just died.”
“This bastard…”
“If you have this much rationality left in a situation where you should want to kill me, it doesn't seem like you had much affection for your master, does it?”
“Ha!”
At the boy’s words, the mysterious man was dumbfounded. The boy had grasped his state of mind to an unsettling degree. Just as the boy said, the man held no great affection for this Young Master, who was no better than a hooligan.
He was merely bewildered and angered by this unexpected situation. Of course, his judgment was not so clouded as to kill this boy on the spot and try to escape the government prison.
‘This is quite a spectacle.’
To think he was being swayed by a mere death row inmate. As the boy said, now that things had come to this, killing him was the right thing to do. However, with the Young Master dead, if he lost this boy as well, the Lotuswood Sword Manor would surely hold him accountable with his life.
‘Dammit, this is a real mess.’
His plan to make the third young master the family head, become the chief steward of the Lotuswood Sword Manor, and spend his old age in leisure was about to go up in smoke. All his investment up to this point was ruined because of this damn death row inmate kid. To the despondent man, the boy spoke.
“If you have no particular affection for him, how about switching carriages?”
“Switching carriages?”
“Wouldn't it be easier to think of the one lying on the floor as a prisoner who was to be executed in two days?”
The boy spoke nonchalantly. Looking at him, the mysterious man was both flabbergasted and, for some reason, felt a chill run down his spine. This damned death row inmate was as good as saying he would become Mok Gyeong-un.
Squeeze!
The mysterious man tightened his grip on the boy’s throat.
“Kugh…”
Only now did the boy let out a groan, as if in some pain. The mysterious man glared at him and spoke.
“Did you kill the Young Master with that in mind, you damn death row inmate?”
At his words, the boy smirked and said.
“Is there… any other… reason?”
‘!?’
At the boy’s words, the mysterious man swallowed hard. What kind of person was this? His way of thinking seemed to be on a completely different plane from that of ordinary people.
His cunning was extraordinary. Or perhaps that was why he was here as a death row inmate in the first place.
‘This one is dangerous.’
Regardless of whether the Lotuswood Sword Manor would hold him responsible, he felt it might be better to kill him now. His intuition was telling him strongly. Regardless of martial arts or age, nothing good would come from getting involved with this boy.
Squeeze!
“Keuk!”
He put more strength into his hand. It would be hard to withstand the force imbued with internal energy.
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s better for you to just die here.”
Kill him.
Even if it means starting over. At that moment, the boy suddenly grabbed his wrist.
Pak!
“It’s useless. I don’t know if you killed the Young Master by a stroke of luck, but I am different.”
He tried to lightly swat the boy’s hand away with his other hand, which was infused with internal energy, but— Pak!
‘This kid?’
He held on. It felt like hitting a thick, old tree trunk. He could feel a resilience from the wrist; the muscles were incredibly firm.
Firm enough to withstand a force infused with internal energy. In an instant, the mysterious man’s hand moved swiftly, tearing the sleeve of the boy’s inmate robes.
‘!?’
The mysterious man’s eyes wavered. The form of the dense muscles was clearly visible. He almost let out a gasp of admiration at the developed muscles, which looked as if the boy had trained in nothing but external arts for over a decade.
Now the secret was revealed.
‘…It’s understandable that the Young Master fell to him.’
It was not just luck from a surprise attack. Looking at this boy’s muscle density, it seemed difficult to inflict any damage without a considerable level of power. His body alone was beyond what a third-rate martial artist could handle.
‘If a guy like this had properly learned martial arts…’
He might have become a master of a considerable level. But to properly learn internal energy, one had to start between the ages of 5 and 10 at the latest. Any later, and impurities would build up in the meridians all over the body, slowing the circulation of internal energy.
Squeeeeze!
Just then, a pain shot through the wrist that was clutching the boy’s throat. The boy was applying force, trying to pry his hand away.
‘What is this kid’s strength?’
He was using seven-star power, yet the boy was trying to break free with sheer force. It would not be an exaggeration to call him a man of immense strength. If he let his guard down, the boy might actually break free.
‘This won’t do.’
At this, the mysterious man executed a grappling technique. He let go of the boy’s throat, grabbed his wrist, and twisted the joint, forcing it toward the small of his back.
‘Uh?’
It happened in an instant, and the boy’s arm was twisted helplessly.
‘How did he do that?’
Is this also a martial art? If so, it seemed wondrous. He had used the boy’s own strength to twist his arm.
But thanks to that, the hand gripping his throat was released, making it easier to breathe and speak.
Shing!
The boy saw the mysterious man pull something from his waist. It was a dagger. It seemed he intended to stab him with it.
At this, the boy spoke.
“Is there really a need to kill me?”
“What?”
“I’m a body that will die without the antidote, so I have no choice but to listen to your words, do I not?”
At those words, the mysterious man paused his attempt to stab with the dagger. This situation was so absurd that he had forgotten, but the boy had taken the poison pill he had brought. But remembering this made it even more preposterous.
‘Ha!’
To think a man who had even eaten a poison pill would do something so crazy. He was at the point of wondering why someone who couldn't live anyway unless he gave him the antidote would do such a thing. 'Is he thinking that if the Young Master dies, he is the only replacement?'
His cunning went beyond all bounds. Just then, the boy spoke.
“I have no interest in the Lotuswood Sword Manor or the third young master.”
“No interest? Then why this…”
“I just have a reason to live a little longer.”
“Live longer?”
What on earth was he talking about? As he wondered, the boy spoke in a meaningful voice.
“You have the antidote, so you can control me like a puppet as you wish.”
At the boy’s words, the mysterious man paused. He had only thought that his retirement plan was ruined. He wanted to live a peaceful life, unlike in the past.
The thought of going somewhere else and investing time all over again was tiresome. How much research and time had he spent to find the place he considered most ideal.
‘Control him as I wish…’
He was momentarily lost in thought. It was a tempting proposition, but he was no fool. Though his experience was brief, this boy was exceedingly dangerous.
He was cunning and difficult to control. But if he was this obsessed with his life, he wouldn't be able to defy him for a while, at least because of the poison pill.
‘…Should I take this as an opportunity to switch allegiances?’
The reason for seeking a double in the first place was singular. It was to save the Young Master’s life. But the Young Master was already dead.
In that case, using this boy to switch his allegiance was also a good method. Trying to control this boy from behind the scenes after becoming a man of power would only lead to more headaches down the road.
‘Right. I’ll use him and then discard him.’
After a moment of deliberation, the mysterious man made his decision. He would use the boy only until he could switch his allegiance. The mysterious man warned him.
“If you show even the slightest sign of defiance, you die. If you disobey my orders, you also die.”
“Understood.”
The boy answered without a hint of hesitation.
“If you don’t take the neutralizer for the poison pill within twelve hours, the poison will spread through your five viscera and six bowels, so you’d better remember that well.”
Pak!
Finally, the mysterious man released the arm he had been twisting. He then spoke to the boy, who was getting to his feet.
“From this hour on, you are… Mok Gyeong-un.”
“Understood. Should I call you Guard Gam?”
“Yes.”
“In front of others, it would be fine for me to speak down to you, correct?”
“…Yes.”
He did not want to be treated condescendingly by the boy, but there was no harm in making things clear. At that moment, the boy, no, Mok Gyeong-un, approached the fallen ‘real Mok Gyeong-un.’ Then he began to strip off his clothes.
‘Hmm.’
Guard Gam watched this with a look of displeasure. To see him swapping clothes with the real one without even being told, he was truly cunning to the core. He could only feel pity for the dead ‘real Mok Gyeong-un.’
Rustle, rustle!
Mok Gyeong-un took off the top of his inmate robes.
‘…Look at this one.’
His upper body was covered in highly developed, dense muscles. Even with a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his chest and abdomen, the shape of his muscles was so distinct that one could guess their extent.
‘To think this is a body that hasn't trained in external arts.’
He had thought so before, but seeing it now was even more surprising. Guard Gam, who had been staring intently at Mok Gyeong-un’s torso, narrowed his eyes.
‘But it looks like he suffered a wound serious enough to need a bandage like that, so why does he look perfectly fine on the outside?’
That was the question. It would be different if it were an old wound, but this one was recent. Yet Mok Gyeong-un’s complexion and movements seemed perfectly normal.
‘What in the world?’
He began to wonder what this boy had done to be captured and put on death row. It seemed he would have to meet with his acquaintance at the government office again. At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un, who had changed his clothes, turned his head to him and spoke.
“May I borrow the dagger?”
“The dagger… why that?”
Mok Gyeong-un pointed toward the head of the dead ‘real Mok Gyeong-un’ and said nonchalantly.
“The Young Master’s body is more frail than mine, so I think I should take the torso but leave the head.”
“…”
His words certainly had a point, but this boy was still unsettling. It seemed that switching allegiances quickly was the best course of action.