As soon as Chun-bong returned home, he thrust a twig he found on the ground at me.

“Swing it.”

“What? You’re not even going to tell me how?”

“Just try it out, will you?”

This kid really has no manners. I grumbled while clutching the twig and started swooshing it around in the air.

But hey, it felt pretty good in my hands. This must be some rare twig he stumbled upon.

Yet, it seemed like Chun-bong wasn’t impressed at all.

“Meh… it’s pretty ordinary.”

“So what? Just because I’m holding a twig doesn’t mean I’m gonna slice the sky open!”

“There you go again, talking nonsense.”

Chun-bong sighed and glared at me.

Honestly, the more I thought about it, the more suspicious this Chun-bong kid seemed. He didn’t look like your typical alley rat. There was a certain decorum when he ate, not exactly royal, but enough to raise an eyebrow.

‘Is he from a distinguished family? But he doesn’t have any signs of martial arts training…’

Clucking his tongue, Chun-bong jabbed my side with the twig.

“Oof! What the heck!”

“Shut up. That’s enough. Sit over there.”

‘Well, he seemed decent enough. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to teach him a thing or two about the Three Calamities Sword Technique.’, he thought.

*

What a moody kid. Is he going through some kind of phase?

I plopped down where Chun-bong pointed.

‘But I gotta admit, he’s kinda cute in a weird way.’

At first, he seemed wary of me, but after a few days, he’s been following me around like a little puppy dog. Life in these back alleys must’ve been tough for him at such a young age. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was craving affection.

“First, shut up and listen. It’s not that hard, so you’ll memorize it quickly.”

With that rare twig, Chun-bong started drawing some diagrams in the dirt, looking like he was about to teach a grand lesson.

“Okay, can you read this?”

“Sky, Earth, Human?”

“What? You can read? This is suspicious.”

“Come on, even the kids in the neighborhood can read this much.”

天, 地, 人

Basic Hanzi.

Oh wait! They don’t even use Korean here, huh? Thinking about it now, it’s pretty cool that I can still understand the language. Is this that whole possession buff thing?

“What about this?”

Chun-bong had drawn some strange symbol on the ground.

“What is this?”

“Grapes 葡萄.”

“This is tough. Anything else I might guess?”

“Whatever.”

Chun-bong sighed and pointed at the character for ‘sky.’

“The Three Calamities Sword Technique consists of three basic forms derived from Sky, Earth, and Human, which form the foundational theory, the Calamity Mental Technique.”

“Oooh, Mental Technique.”

“It’s nothing special; stop looking so amazed. Anyway, there’s a formula for it that you have to memorize.”

Ahem, Chun-bong cleared his throat and continued.

“Originally, humans are lowly creatures trying to rise from the earth to the sky; when they touch the sky, they become celestial beings…”

It wasn’t that long. Once I got into the flow, I could probably read it in about three minutes.

But memorizing it all at once was a whole different ballgame.

“Whoa, wait a minute. Start over.”

“Originally, humans are…”

“Ugh… can you repeat the part about touching the sky?”

“I said when they touch the sky and become celestial beings…”

After quite the struggle, I managed to wrap my head around the formula.

“Why do I have to sit here and memorize this?”

“Actually, you don’t have to memorize it.”

“What did you say, you punk?”

I barely restrained the urge to slap the kid. Good job, Seo-jun. Hitting a kid? That’s just wrong.

“But if you don’t memorize it, it’s also true that you’ll be an idiot. Just memorizing the formula will help build some fundamental martial arts awareness in your subconscious. Plus, if later on, you find yourself in a sticky situation or caught by some spell, that discourse will aid you.”

This wasn’t just meaningless chatter.

Chun-bong lightly tapped my head with the twig. The kid is surprisingly sharp.

“Were you really from a respectable family?”

“W-who? Me? No way!”

“Ah, okay.”

“Why is that okay?”

Chun-bong jumped up, looking all flustered, and I just raised an eyebrow at him.

‘Wait, he understands ‘okay’? This must be some real shady martial arts stuff.’

Did China really have exchanges with the West back in those days? I’m not a history buff, so who knows? For all I know, this world might not even follow the history I know!

“Alright, Sensei. Should we try this mental technique out now?”

“Ugh…”

Chun-bong gritted his teeth, standing behind me and placing his palm on my back.

“First, you need to feel your Qi. If you can’t do that, you’re just wasting your time.”

“I’m good, I think I’ll nail this.”

“What kind of baseless confidence is that?”

Chun-bong chuckled as he explained.

“I’m going to infuse you with Qi, but it’s probably going to be weak, so it won’t help much. Just try to sense it.”

“That’s some irresponsible talk!”

“Here it goes. Focus hard, since I won’t be able to hold it for long.”

I closed my eyes. I felt warmth radiating from Chun-bong’s palm through my clothes. As I concentrated, I sensed a tickling sensation within that warmth.

‘Is this what Qi feels like?’

Following that vague feeling and expanding my perception, I realized this energy was all around me. The strongest presence was within my own body. Once I firmly grasped that presence, I opened my eyes.

“What? Why did you open your eyes already? You have no concentration.”

“I think I got it?”

“What? Seriously?”

Chun-bong scoffed, applying more pressure with his palm.

“You’ve barely kept your eyes shut for a minute! If you really sensed it already, I’d bet you’d be able to light a candle on my palm.”

“Hmm… maybe that’s not it?”

“Try moving a bit. If you sensed it, you should be able to move it somewhat as you wish.”

Well, I didn’t have much hope in this. Even the legendary Martial God wouldn’t have sensed their Qi in just a minute.

Chun-bong clicked his tongue.

*

“What the hell?!”

Is this kid seriously trying to pull a fast one on me?

Chun-bong’s jaw dropped, unable to close as he stared. Because right then, he felt my Qi moving freely under his palm!

From his perspective, it was impossible for someone who wasn’t from a noble family to pull this off. He couldn’t help but doubt whether I was playing tricks on him.

But if I were truly from a noble family, would I be this sloppy in tricking someone? Seriously, there’s got to be some level of convincingness to a deception.

I’m not some genius from the history books either. If I were, it would just make me look like a fool.

“I’m going to be a MUGONG master~.”

“…What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Ta-da-da, ta-da!”

“…Are you out of your mind?”

“Ta-da-da, woo-ta!”

Well, this isn’t exactly what you would imagine—a fool, perhaps? But how could a complete idiot come from a noble family? Yeah, that’s just too much.

“Guess luck was on my side.”

“Hey, Chun-bong.”

“What?”

“Do you have a heated iron or something?”

“Heated iron? No, why?”

Without warning, I jumped up and grabbed Chun-bong’s wrist. He freaked out, yelling,

“What are you doing, you lunatic!?”

“Just trying to impress you!”

“…Seriously?!”

Chun-bong’s eyes were wide with panic. But then he clenched his eyes shut and extended his palm out to me.

“D-do whatever you want!”

“No way, man. I’m not a psychopath!”

“Psycho… what?”

“What? You guys don’t know that word either?”

“What the heck are you talking about?”

With a sigh, I waved my hand.

“Fine. So does that mean I’ve mastered the mental technique?”

“No? What kind of nonsense are you spouting? We’re just getting started.”

Now that I sensed my Qi, it was time to build my dantian.

“Ugh….”

I slapped my forehead, already feeling exhausted.

*

That day evaporated once I started working on my dantian.

The next morning, I woke up to sunlight streaming through the holes in the ceiling.

“Strong and good morning!”

As I sat up and stretched, I felt inexplicably refreshed. It felt like I had an extra boost of strength.

“Is this what martial arts feels like?”

Now I’m a martial artist! How thrilling! Just when I was about to relish the excitement, a deep sigh echoed in my ear.

“Sigh… Aren’t you tired already? You’ve barely just started.”

Chun-bong ruffled his hair as he lazily stood up, yawning loudly.

“Since you’re awake, you’d better start pulling your weight around here. Time for you to earn your keep while I sit back and relax.”

“Sure thing. An agreement with no permanent commitments! It’s on my bucket list!”

“Stop with the nonsense.”

I swiped away my sleep crusts and chugged the dirty water from a cracked bowl.

“Ugh… Drinking this stuff will get me sick quicker than I can even plot a heist.”

“That’s why everyone dies young around here.”

“Really?”

I swallowed the foul taste left in my mouth and stretched again.

“Well then, let’s get going.”

In fancy words, I would be a gentleman. In simple terms, I’d be a thief. Today marks the day I embark on my first job.