The appearance of the final candidate for the new instructor position was so unexpected that everyone present was momentarily speechless.
"Sorry for being late. I’m Baek Soo-ryong."
His clothes were covered in dust, and the smell of gunpowder wafted from his body.
Brushing off the dust, Baek Soo-ryong smiled awkwardly and asked, "The demonstration lecture hasn’t ended yet, has it?"
Only then did the delayed reactions burst out.
"Brother!"
"Baek hyung!"
"You... you rascal!"
The three who had been anxiously waiting for Baek Soo-ryong—Ack Yeon-ho, Myung Il-o, and Mae Geuk-ryeom—shouted simultaneously.
All three looked like they wanted to rush over and scold him immediately, but before they could, Kwak Cheol-woo roared.
"Baek Soo-ryong! What took you so long?!"
"Something came up, so I was delayed."
"And what was that just now?! How did you fly through the sky?!"
"I was in a hurry, so I borrowed a bit of gunpowder's power... I flew about fifty sheets of distance, so I’m feeling a bit dizzy now."
"G-gunpowder?!"
"A friend of mine is an explosives expert, so he helped me out..."
"Ugh!"
Kwak Cheol-woo clutched the back of his neck at the casual way Baek Soo-ryong spoke.
Namgoong Soo, standing beside him, glared at Baek Soo-ryong with icy eyes.
"Is that the attitude of someone who’s late?"
"I just answered your question. What’s the problem?"
The icy gaze of Namgoong Soo and Baek Soo-ryong’s expression, as if he were looking at a barking dog, clashed.
Seeing this, Kwak Cheol-woo exploded again.
"No need for further discussion! You’re disqualified—"
"Puhaha! This is entertaining!"
The laughter of Noh Gun-sang, the head of Cheongryong Academy, cut Kwak Cheol-woo off mid-sentence.
The old man, well past eighty, chuckled with amusement.
"In all my years as the head of Cheongryong Academy, I’ve never seen such an entertaining sight! Young Baek, are you ready for your lecture?"
"Headmaster?! This is unacceptable! This insolent—"
"I am the headmaster."
"..."
With just one sentence, Noh Gun-sang silenced Kwak Cheol-woo.
He then turned his bright, childlike eyes back to Baek Soo-ryong.
"Young Baek, you seem different from the last time I saw you. Can I expect something good?"
"Yes. I’ll show you something."
With a confident smile, Baek Soo-ryong looked around.
About ten students were staring at him with expressions of confusion, interest, or hostility.
‘I see some familiar faces.’
Hwonwon Kang glared at him openly, while Peng Sa-hyuk hid his killing intent behind a calm gaze.
There was also a girl with fiery eyes, no less intense than the other two.
‘Was she the vice president of the student council?’
Dang So-so stared at him with a piercing gaze that somehow felt even more dangerous than the others.
...
Her breathing was slightly ragged.
‘What’s with her? She’s scary.’
Avoiding Dang So-so’s gaze, Baek Soo-ryong walked toward the students and said, "Since this is an external martial arts class, I’ve prepared a lesson where the students can actively participate. Let’s have some fun together."
"..."
As Baek Soo-ryong approached, tension appeared on the students’ faces.
Despite being the last to arrive, Baek Soo-ryong didn’t seem nervous at all—he appeared relaxed and at ease.
Step, step.
As he walked, everyone’s eyes followed him.
Not just the students and instructors in the training hall, but even students in the dormitories opened their windows and peeked out.
Murmurs filled the air.
"What’s going on? What’s all the fuss about?"
"The demonstration lecture? It’s still going on? What’s so fun about that...?"
"That guy’s the last candidate. He flew here, they say."
"... Flew here? You mean like the legendary Void Steps?"
"No, not like that..."
"Hey! Isn’t that the handsome teacher from before?!"
The entire academy’s attention was focused on one person.
Watching this, Noh Gun-sang let out a small sigh of admiration.
‘That’s talent.
Or was it intentional?’
By now, Baek Soo-ryong had arrived in front of the students.
He smiled softly and looked around.
"Since this is a participatory class, it’d be even better if there were appropriate rewards based on performance, right?"
His voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear and easy to hear.
His movements weren’t exaggerated, but every gesture and glance stimulated the audience’s interest.
It felt like watching a well-choreographed sword dance.
The more Noh Gun-sang watched Baek Soo-ryong, the more impressed he became.
‘Huh! He’s from a rural martial arts school, so he shouldn’t have experience handling so many people’s attention...’
Why did he seem so accustomed to it, as if he’d done it countless times before?
‘It’s like watching Instructor Namgoong’s class.’
Curious, Noh Gun-sang turned to look at Namgoong Soo, only to find his expression stiff and unyielding.
Even Cheongryong Academy’s top instructor couldn’t take his eyes off Baek Soo-ryong.
"Since this is the first class, I’ll offer a simple prize to liven things up."
"A prize?"
Baek Soo-ryong drew his sword, still in its sheath, and drew a circle about ten feet in diameter on the ground around him.
"All of you, using only external martial arts, must make me take even a single step out of this circle. If you succeed, I’ll give each of you a hundred silver coins."
"!!"
At the mention of a hundred silver coins, everyone’s eyes widened.
A hundred coins was enough for an ordinary family to live on for a year.
Even the children of wealthy martial arts families couldn’t easily get their hands on such a sum.
"Really?"
"Are you serious?"
"Does that mean you’ll only use external martial arts too?"
Baek Soo-ryong nodded.
"Of course, I’ll only use external martial arts. If I’m forced to use internal energy, that will count as my defeat."
"..."
While the students hesitated, Baek Soo-ryong tapped the ground with his sword sheath.
"The class only lasts for two hours. The sooner you move, the better your chances..."
"Kukuku. This’ll be fun."
While everyone else hesitated, Hwonwon Kang, the troublemaker from the Hwonwon family, charged forward like a gust of wind.
Whoosh!
Baek Soo-ryong watched as Hwonwon Kang’s fist shot toward his face and curled the corner of his mouth.
"Right. I knew you’d be the first."
In an instant, Baek Soo-ryong’s hand shot out like lightning, grabbing Hwonwon Kang’s collar and slamming him to the ground.
Crash!
Hwonwon Kang’s back hit the ground, and he bounced up about half a foot before falling back down.
"Kuh...!"
"Take a break and come back when you’re feeling better."
Baek Soo-ryong casually kicked Hwonwon Kang aside and looked at the other students, who were still standing in shock.
"What? Did you think earning money would be easy?"
Thwack!
Hwonwon Kang, who had just been slapped on the forehead, jumped up as soon as he hit the ground.
"Gah! Damn it!"
"Tsk. You only focused on attacking while neglecting your footwork. You should’ve thought about the counterattack."
As he spoke, Peng Sa-hyuk’s kick came flying from the side.
Whoosh!
I swung my sword sheath to block the attack, then kicked the back of Peng Sa-hyuk’s knee, causing him to lose balance.
"Ugh!"
As Peng Sa-hyuk tried to force himself to stay upright, I struck his exposed side with the sheath, completely destabilizing him.
Then, I lifted my foot and kicked his chin with the tip of my toe.
Thud!
As Peng Sa-hyuk soared into the air, Dang So-so, who had been hiding behind his large frame, threw hidden weapons and charged in a suicidal attack.
But her eyes were strangely filled with a dark aura.
"Teacher! Hit my forehead too!"
...
Is this some kind of advanced psychological warfare?
Anyway, after deflecting all the hidden weapons with my sheath, I sidestepped to avoid Dang So-so, who was charging at me with a strange look of desire in her eyes.
Then, I struck her exposed back with the sheath and pushed her away.
Thud!
After being pushed back, Dang So-so spun around and shouted fiercely.
"Why! Why do you keep pushing me away?! Give me a fair chance too! Just a few strands of hair would be enough!"
"... Why hair?"
"To keep in my pillow!"
...
As expected of the daughter of the notorious Sacheon Dang family, known for her vicious and persistent nature, she’s quite skilled in psychological warfare.
‘I absolutely can’t let her get close.’
While I was momentarily distracted, an unknown male student attacked from behind.
"Good attempt at a sneak attack, but your movements are too big."
I turned and swung my sheath.
However, the student tried to dodge by twisting his body, but instead—
Thwack!
"Gah!"
The student, hit in a very unfortunate place, clutched his groin and rolled on the ground.
His eyes were half-rolled back.
"Kuh...! T-that place...!"
"... Sorry. It probably didn’t burst."
After gently tapping the student’s buttocks a few times with the sheath, I carefully pushed him away.
A few more students tried their luck, but I remained within the circle.
"Pant... pant..."
"Damn it. He’s as slippery as an eel..."
"If only we could use internal energy..."
The young students ground their teeth in frustration.
But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t push me out of the circle.
‘I’ve done this kind of training countless times in the Blood Sect.’
Back then, when my dantian was injured and I couldn’t use internal energy, I was practically in charge of the external martial arts training for the disciples.
After developing this training method, I had never been pushed out of the circle.
‘If those three worked together, it wouldn’t be impossible...’
I glanced at Hwonwon Kang, Peng Sa-hyuk, and Dang So-so.
All three had considerable skills.
If they coordinated, they could pose a real threat to me.
There was only about half an hour left.
"You guys. If you want to win, wouldn’t it be better to attack together?"
I suggested it outright, but the responses were negative.
"I fight alone."
"Only if they’re on my level."
"... I’d rather not."
I didn’t know what their relationship was like, but it was clear it wasn’t good.
"Fine. Then keep getting beaten up."
I chuckled and put my left hand behind my back, signaling that I wouldn’t use it from now on.
"For the remaining time, I won’t use my left hand. If that’s still not enough, I’ll stop using my left foot too..."
"Damn it! Shut up!"
Led by Hwonwon Kang, who charged like a mad dog, the students attacked from all sides.
"Kill him!"
"Push him out no matter what!"
"Ugh! This is so frustrating!"
But a disorganized group relying solely on numbers wasn’t much of a threat.
Whoosh! Swish, swish, swish!
I leisurely blocked, dodged, and counterattacked, guiding the students to crash into and hinder each other.
As I got used to their movements, I even had time to look around.
"Wow!"
"This is amazing! That teacher is no joke!"
"Even Peng Sa-hyuk and Hwonwon Kang are getting beaten like this..."
Cheers and exclamations poured from the students who had opened their dormitory windows to watch.
‘They’re making a big deal out of nothing.’
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Curious about the instructors’ reactions, I turned to look at where they were gathered.
Just then, my eyes met Namgoong Soo’s.
"..."
With a stiff expression, as if he’d bitten into something unpleasant, Namgoong Soo didn’t look away.
It was as if he was challenging me to a staring contest.
‘What a funny guy.’
I chuckled and turned to look at the other instructors.
Noh Gun-sang was observing me with interest.
Kwak Cheol-woo was fidgeting, clearly uncomfortable with Namgoong Soo’s mood.
The other instructors wore expressions of pure admiration or unease.
‘Hmm? Killing intent?’
To Namgoong Soo’s left, an instructor with an even more displeased expression was glaring at me.
He was a large, burly man whose physique screamed, "I’ve trained in external martial arts!"
While blocking the students’ attacks, I kept an eye on the burly man who was radiating killing intent.
But at that moment, I noticed the burly man’s lips twitching slightly.
‘Sound transmission?’
The burly man was sending a sound transmission to someone.
I couldn’t tell who it was, but the content was probably curses directed at me...
‘Wait.
Is he glaring at me?’
Now that I looked closer, the burly man’s gaze was slightly off from mine.
His expression twisted as if he were gritting his teeth, clearly engaged in a conversation via sound transmission...
"Die!"
"Ugh!"
At that moment, Hwonwon Kang and Peng Sa-hyuk attacked me simultaneously.
‘These guys.
They said they didn’t want to team up earlier, but now they’re sneakily coordinating.’
But between their attacks, a sharp blade wind flew toward me.
‘Well, well.’
Blade wind was a technique that required internal energy, just one step below the level of a sword aura.
It was a technique that could easily kill someone.
"Ha."
I couldn’t help but laugh.
They were willing to cheat just to push me out of the circle.
"I told you I’ve never stepped out of the circle."
Muttering to myself, I drew my sword from its sheath.