LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 59 - Mental Asylum (4)
Chapter 59: Mental Asylum (4)
Dokgo Pae, misinterpreting Il-mok’s compliment as sarcasm, shouted with a reddened face. “Gah! Just you wait!!”
As Il-mok chuckled at the utterly clichéd line, Dokgo Pae turned and stormed back to his room.
After a moment of contemplation, Il-mok shrugged and returned to his own quarters.
‘Well, at least he’ll stay quiet out of shame for a while.’
He decided to consider it a blessing in disguise.
‘My stuff’s mostly unpacked, and there’s time before dinner. Might as well wash up.’
The lightness skill training and the duel with Dokgo Pae left an unpleasant stickiness covering his entire body.
Grabbing fresh clothes, he stepped out—only to nearly collide with a spear-carrying woman.
‘Isn’t that the one who was throwing up earlier?’
She was the underachiever who had arrived last at the Hall and immediately started with a bout of vomiting.
“Haa.”
Il-mok sighed, thinking that even this underachiever wanted to duel with him.
While he now knew fighting these cadets wouldn’t trigger another wave of enlightenment, it was still a hassle.
And right now, bathing took priority.
‘Let’s pretend I didn’t see her.’
He tried to ignore the woman right in front of him and walk past, but she smiled brightly and spoke to him.
“I saw your duel, Young Master! You were amazing!”
“…We’re equals here. No need for honorifics.”
“Don’t sweat the small details, Young Master. I never imagined you would defeat the Dokgo Family’s eldest grandson so easily.”
“Is that so?”
Il-mok gave a half-hearted response and quickened his pace to escape this situation. But she persistently followed, chattering away without pause.
As he walked while trying his best to ignore her, Il-mok belatedly realized something strange about her. Besides her initial comment about Dokgo Pae, she hadn’t mentioned a single word about the duel.
Instead—
“By the way, I heard that Young Master’s maid is named Jin Hayeon.”
“They say she’s breathtakingly beautiful—is it true?”
“Do you know what kind of food she likes?”
The longer she spoke, the more frequently Jin Hayeon was mentioned. Intrigued by this odd behavior, Il-mok turned and faced her directly.
“Young Master! I plan to go to the Hidden Guard Pavilion after graduating from the Hall. Please accept me as your maidservant and Miss Jin Hayeon’s junior!”
The woman’s eyes sparkled with a manic glint as she said this.
And Il-mok recognized that look.
‘…Was it back in university?’
He had a classmate from university, who normally gave the impression of being plain and modest, but he’d had one shocking experience with her. During a casual conversation in the department lounge, the topic of a certain idol group had come up. Her pupils dilated, and she’d launched a speech befitting that of a zealot.
And the look in the eyes of this woman talking about Jin Hayeon right now was exactly the same as that female classmate.
Il-mok realized instinctively.
‘She is the same breed as Ouyang Mun.’
Do talkative and energetic people generally pick women like Jin Ha-yeon as their ideal type?
Amusingly, the fact that this admirer was a woman hardly seemed worth noting.
How to put it—
‘Hmm… Actually, her odds might be better.’
The chance of Jin Hayeon being into women seemed higher than her ever reciprocating Ouyang Mun’s feelings.
The possibility that Jin Hayeon might be interested in women seemed at least higher than the possibility she would ever fancy Ouyang Mun.
But that was the extent of Il-mok’s interest.
Right now, he had more pressing matters.
After continuing to walk while enduring her chatter for a while longer, Il-mok finally turned to her with an awkward expression.
“Would you mind leaving now?”
As he said this, he pointed to the bathhouse entrance right in front of them. “I’d like to take a bath.”
But instead of leaving, the madness in her eyes intensified as she replied, “Don’t mind me, Young Master! Gender is irrelevant to a martial artist! Besides, once I become your maidservant after graduating from the Hall, attending to your bathing needs will be part of my duties. There’s no need for modesty!”
“…But I find it uncomfortable.”
“It’s fine! I have zero interest in men anyway!”
“……”
Il-mok felt a headache coming on.
Miss Jin, seems you’ve got another lunatic incoming.’
For the first time, he almost pitied Jin Hayeon.
Almost.
***
Meanwhile, several hours earlier.
After Il-mok’s departure from Windrock Palace, the others who had gathered there gradually dispersed.
Only Jin Hayeon remained alone in the Windrock Palace, sighing as she took in the scenery.
‘Pathetic.’
Memories of her repeated failures to protect Il-mok weighed heavily in her mind.
Just then, a woman entered Windrock Palace.
Startled by the sudden presence, Jin Hayeon turned and quickly bowed upon recognizing the woman’s face.
“Greetings, First Squad Leader.”
The First Squad Leader of the Hidden Guard Pavilion, Dam Bin, was a figure of immense authority for Jin Hayeon.
“How was your year serving the Eighth Young Master?”
Tam Bin asked in a voice that, while not intimidating, carried an air of dignity.
Jin Hayeon, adopting a formal tone befitting a report to a superior, recounted the events that had transpired and her own feelings about them.
While she spoke of her feelings, her report was devoid of emotion.
“I dedicated myself wholeheartedly to serving the cult, but watching the Young Master made me realize. Brute force alone can only carry you so far. I never once thought about matters such as the school program or the Pure Mind Hall. Instead of contemplating matters that benefitted the cult, I focused solely on improving my martial arts skills.”
“On the day the first assassin infiltrated, I understood how naive I’d been.”
She objectively described Il-mok’s remarkable feats, his occasional laziness, and admitted her own shortcomings without filtering anything.
Her dispassionate account continued for a while.
“Far from being worthy to serve the Heavenly Demon, I felt I was still woefully inadequate even to serve the Young Master.”
When Jin Hayeon finished her self-reflection, Dam Bin nodded with an impassive face.
“It’s fortunate that you are able to recognize your own flaw. Only by acknowledging our flaws can we strive to improve.”
“I will devote myself fully to my training.”
Dam Bin nodded at her resolute answer.
“This is the Heavenly Demon’s command. From now on, I will personally oversee your training. Dedicate your heart and soul to improve.”
A flicker of surprise appeared in Jin Hayeon’s eyes before quickly vanishing.
‘When the Young Master returns in two years, I will not disappoint him.’
She bowed deeply, and she responded with her characteristic emotionless tone, “I will follow your command with my life.”
***
Meanwhile, around the same time.
Swoosh!
In a training ground of the Hyeokryeon family, a young girl emanating a red aura around her darted back and forth, her hands a blur of motion.
Crack!
The red energy swirling around her fingertips cut through and pierced the wooden dummies, producing a series of chilling sounds.
Hidden behind a wall, a woman and an elderly man secretly observed the young girl’s vigorous training. They were Seon-ah’s mother and grandfather.
With complex expressions mixing worry and relief, affection and sorrow, they watched Seon-ah train.
Only when Seon-ah stopped her movements and assumed the lotus position did the two sigh in relief.
“There are no signs of Qi Deviation.”
“Fortunately, our immediate concerns seem unfounded, Family Head.”
In truth, both had been too worried to sleep properly since the previous night. For nearly a year, the family’s precious jewel had spent nearly every waking moment with the youngest disciple of the Heavenly Demon.
Although limited to two hours each day, it had been a significant concession for the Hyeokryeon Family. It was a time when she should have been forming attachments to objects or dolls, yet they had allowed her to develop a bond with a person.
And the person to whom their precious jewel had formed the deepest attachment had now left for two years.
Considering the potential side effects of the Blood Fox Crimson Claw Art, their worry was understandable.
However, the child had shown no signs of distress upon returning to the family.
No, far from having breakdowns, the child who returned to the family had simply woken at dawn and trained harder than ever.
“Whew.”
Watching his granddaughter rise again and resume practicing the Blood Fox Crimson Claw Art, Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang pondered.
‘I don’t know what kind of trick he used, but I must acknowledge his influence.’
That the youngest young master was truly someone beneficial to his granddaughter.
***
Later that night.
After four hours of grueling training and study, Hyeokryeon Seon-ah, after cleansing her body, headed to her room.
The door was unusual, to say the least.
It was sealed with locks and wire, and the atmosphere surrounding the room made it as though something dangerous was sealed within.
Click.
Seon-ah unlocked the padlock with a key she kept in her sleeve and entered the room.
Then, after closing the door, she used the locks and wire she had brought to secure the room from the inside.
She cautiously approached a large wardrobe in a corner of the room.
Moving aside the clothes and blankets inside, she took out a hidden wooden box. She retrieved another key from her sleeve and carefully opened the wooden box.
This box held the items she had received from Il-mok, each one treasured and kept secret. The most prominent item in the box was, of course, the doll that resembled Il-mok.
She carefully took out the stuffed doll as if she were handling a sacred artefact and then held it close as if she would never let it go anywhere.
Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang, Lady Cheonghwa, and even Il-mok himself were all mistaken.
She hadn’t overcome the pain of Il-mok’s absence. She was simply wise beyond her years.
Instead of just whining, she had tried to find a solution.
And the solution the young girl came up with was simple.
‘Big Brother left because I’m weak.’
It was a solution befitting a member of the Demonic Cult.
‘I’ll become stronger. Strong enough to protect him. In two years, no one will take him from me.’
Stroking the doll’s head, Seon-ah’s pupils and hair burned redder than ever.
***
“Ugh.”
Ilmok, who had returned to his room after bathing and having dinner, rubbed his arms against a sudden chill.
‘Did I catch a cold?’
This was the third chill he had experienced today. The signs weren’t good at all.
‘Well, I’ll just write this down and get some sleep.’
Dipping his brush into the prepared ink, Il-mok began to write neatly in a blank book.
Il-mok dipped his brush in the prepared ink and neatly wrote on a blank book. Like leaving the first footprints on an untouched, snow-white field,
—Day 1 in the Mental Asylum.
—As expected, there are only lunatics here.
—From a gay instructor, a high school bully, and even an idol stalker. Just imagining how many more lunatics I’ll meet makes my head ache.
Il-mok was trampling the pristine snow field with anger and malice.