It was quite an unexpected thing.

Guyang Seorin had chosen tonight because her interest in Mumu had only continued to grow.

Even today, countless students began showing interest in Mumu and outright flirting with him. She knew this was just the start.

A 17-year-old man who was close to being the best warrior in Murim.

Few people would let the chance of making this man their own go. This was just the start of this war.

Accordingly, she decided that to prevent that from happening, she would make Mumu hers before the night passed.

‘A close-range attack!’

This was her plan.

From what she had noticed, Mumu was naive, and she had also learned that until he arrived in the academy, he had been in exile alone with just his adopted father. Therefore Mumu had somewhat poor social skills and knew nothing about women.

Perhaps that was why even when he was at an age where his desires would be out of control, he only desired to continue growing his muscles.

‘Then I need to wake up his passion.’

No matter how lacking in desire a man was, their intense need to reproduce would cause their body to react differently when confronted with one of the opposite sex. She planned to awaken that kind of desire in Mumu.

‘Perfect.’

To be honest, she was confident in this plan.

She was intelligent, charming, and had a narrow waist alongside voluptuous breasts. She was proud enough to call herself one of the best beauties.

And tonight, she was determined to ensure Mumu would fall for her.

‘!?’

Guyang Seorin frowned. This was unexpected.

Was there someone else with the same plan as her?

“… Senior Ma.”

“Guyang Seorin.”

The woman she met was Ma Yeon-hwa.

She was beautifully dressed, completely different from her usual dark form.

Ma Yeon-hwa looked to be on alert.

‘What is this?’

Ma Yeon-hwa was quite shocked when she noticed Guyang Seorin.

Normally, she would not wear clothing that would bring out her body’s charms as a woman. However, she decided to do it for Mumu.

She wanted to look good for just one man.

However, she ran into someone else before she could do that. She naturally scanned Guyang Seorin’s clothing and knew.

‘… She is aiming for the same thing.’

Guyang Seorin had a similar purpose to her, and that complicated things.

She never imagined that she would have to compete with another person to seduce a man. The two continued staring at each other before Guyang Seorin eventually opened her mouth.

“Senior… you look breathtaking. Are you going to meet someone?”

Those words made Ma Yeon-hwa’s cheeks go red.

It was because she was conscious of the mention of a man.

She was determined to seduce Mumu, but she was doing this to rebuild her sect. She had never liked anyone until now.

‘She is aiming for Mumu. Contrary to her looks, Senior Ma is quite fox-like.’

Ma Yeon-hwa’s reactions made Seorin certain of this and sent her on high alert.

‘I need to block her off.’

Ma Yeon-hwa was more troublesome compared to other women. Like herself, she was an attractive woman with good features.

She was a dangerous person to compete against in this and was a target that had to be kept in check more compared to other female students in the academy.

Guyang Seorin smiled and said,

“I hoped we wouldn’t meet. I was on my way to meet a man.”

“A man?”

“Uh. It is quite embarrassing, but I am meeting a man younger than me.”

“Younger?”

At her words, Ma Yeon-hwa’s eyebrows shot up.

No matter how much she heard, the only thing she could comprehend was that Guyang Seorin was here to meet with a much younger man.

‘No!’

From what Ma Yeon-hwa knew, Mumu didn’t have any women he liked and was dating no one.

She knew that his only obsession was strength training and Ma Yeon-hwa was on guard.

‘Is this kid doing something to keep me in check?’

Her feelings as a woman were speaking out.

This meant that Guyang Seorin was trying to edge her out. Ma Yeon-hwa had always watched her from the sidelines in the dorms since she was the granddaughter of Elder Guyang.

She had no intention of falling for such an obvious tactic. Ma Yeon-hwa opened her mouth.

“Oh my, for real? How can you be this crafty?”

“Crafty?”

“Like Seorin, I am also aiming for a younger man.”

‘Ha!’

At Ma Yeon-hwa’s words, Guyang Seorin snorted in disbelief.

She had tried to edge her off with light words, but this woman was coming at her head-on.

If that was the case, talking was pointless and a waste of time.

“That’s strange. Something tells me that the young man the senior and I are talking about might overlap?”

“This is what I was hoping to say. Why does it feel like the junior we are talking about is the same person?”

As soon as their words ended, both women began to release their qi.

Before being women, they were warriors. If an emotional conflict was made between them, there was only one way to resolve it.

With their martial arts.

Chak!

The fan that Guyang Seorin held was unfolded.

Similarly, Ma Yeon-hwa also clutched the sword that was at her waist. Guyang Seorin then spoke,

“As a junior, this might be rude, but I will warn you. Mumu is someone I’ve wanted for a long time.”

Clench!

Those direct words only made Ma Yeon-hwa clench her sword more tightly.

Was this girl warning her to step back? Such arrogance to act like this just because of her grandfather.

“My junior has an unusual taste to go after a man who brutally defeated your grandfather.”

These words made Guyang Seorin’s eyes change.

She didn’t express it, but she was extremely displeased at her grandfather’s defeat. Her grandfather was the subject of all kinds of rumors in the academy.

As she had nothing to retort with, it only increased her anger.

“It feels like the senior and I will need to get a conclusion here.”

“Quite interesting. I was thinking the same thing.”

The atmosphere between the two women slowly became suffocating. It would not be unusual for the fight to start at any moment.

But both women, who held their weapons, turned their gazes to something simultaneously.

Wheik!

Their gaze landed on the top of a tree near the training center where Mumu was. Guyang Seorin then swung her fan in that direction.

The assassin’s needles flew quickly from her fan and rushed towards the tree.

Clang!

The things that countered it was none other than the needles of the Tang family. Someone then landed on the ground from the tree.

“So-so?”

Guyang Seorin was shocked.

The person who dropped to the ground was none other than Tang So-so of the Sichuan Tang family. She thought they were a third person aiming to eliminate the two of them. She hadn’t expected it to be her.

Ma Yeon-hwa looked like she was similarly shocked.

‘Tang So-so?’

Ma Yeon-hwa frowned at Tang So-so’s dressed-up appearance. It was clear what she was also aiming for.

“Tch.”

Tang So-so, who got caught, clicked her tongue. She was trying to take advantage of the situation where the two women were keeping each other in check.

She secretly tried to move to Mumu, hoping they wouldn’t notice.

Well, this was only to be expected from two of the top five women of the academy.

‘Now that this happened…’

Pat!

Tang So-so used her footwork.

‘Whoever reaches the target wins.’

She decided that it would be better to move towards Mumu than try to fight against the two of them.

“You!”

“No!”

Guyang Seorin and Ma Yeon-hwa, who noticed this, spread out immediately.

Tang So-so didn’t like to lose.

‘Damned bitches!’

And so, the conflict between the three women began. Of course, Guyang Seorin was the fastest, but Tang So-so was only slightly behind.

Papapat!

‘I am first!’

Tang So-so glanced back to check and noticed the training center was already so close.

Just a little more, and Guyang Seorin could not possibly catch…

Pak!

“Ahh!”

—a mistake.

As she looked back, someone appeared in her path, and she bounced back.

But…

‘I bounced back?’

Tang So-so felt shocked and frowned at who could possibly do that. She looked up to see a strange man who was tilting his head.

His right eye gazed to the right while the left was on Tang So-so.

‘W-what?’

The movement of his eyes was so bizarre that it was terrifying. She was running at top speed, but she ended up being pushed back?

Guyang Seorin and Ma Yeon-hwa also stopped in shock.

Despite not wanting to lose their advantage, the situation was so bizarre that they had no choice but to stop.

“Who are you?”

Guyang Seorin asked the man and…

Roll!

The man’s eyes turned around and turned to Guyang Seorin.

The eyes that moved in different directions made them frown. The man then said,

“… need… to… find… guy… find…”

He ignored their question and tried to move somewhere, heading towards the training center where Mumu was.

Guyang Seorin only felt her doubts increase as she saw the strange man walking away and went to block his path.

“Who are you? Where are you going…”

But before she could finish her question, the man passed by her.

Guyang Seorin tried to grab him by the shoulder, but…

Pak!

‘!?’

The man grabbed her hand before she could even touch him.

Whiek!

He then threw her against the wall of the training center. The force was very strong since Guyuang Seorin had failed to shake off the man’s hand.

Despite being thrown, however, she soon returned to kick the man.

Pak!

Guyang Seorin’s kick cleanly landed on the man’s neck.

But…

‘Uh?’

The man who was kicked didn’t react.

How could this man endure her kick when he didn’t even use a defensive technique or move?

She was flustered as he grabbed her by the ankle.

“Let go of her!”

Papak!

At the same moment, Tang So-so kicked the man on his right rib. She wanted to make sure that he didn’t fully catch Guyang Seorin.

“Uh?”

Instead of being pushed, the man simply let himself be kicked. He didn’t let Guyang Seorin go but slammed her into the ground instead.

Kwang!

“Ack!”

Guyang Seorin was thrown to the ground and groaned in pain. Seeing this, Ma Yeon-hwa realized the severity of the issue and used her sword to cut at the hand that was holding Guyang Seorin’s ankle.

Chak!

The wrist was cut by a sword that moved as gracefully as a butterfly’s wing.

Her blade cleanly cut through the muscles in that hand.

“Take this too!”

Without missing the chance, Tang So-so also used her assassin needles on him.

Pupupupuak!

All of it was thrown accurately at blood points that would halt his movement.

With his wrist cut and blood points suppressed, the man finally let go of the ankle and flinched.

“Uhhh. What is he?”

Guyang Seorin, who clearly looked like she was in pain, was red and flushed. Tang So-so shook her head.

“I don’t know. Why are such people even in the academy?”

This was a face that they were seeing for the first time.

If it was a face that looked to be in its thirties, then it had to be a teacher, staff, or a guard. However, she couldn’t recognize any that looked like this one.

Besides, his eyeballs were moving separately. There was no way such a strange person wasn’t being talked about.

As they paused for a moment in puzzlement.

“Uh? Something feels wrong…”

The veins in the man’s face bulged out. It was a gruesome sight.

Psssss!

At that moment, the needles stuck in the man’s blood points were released. He then punched Tang So-so, who was the closest.

And…

“Ack!”

The strength behind it was so much that Tang So-so was pushed back.

Thud!

She had to roll on the ground before getting up with a questioning face.

She could barely feel any internal energy when she took the blow. This felt similar to…

‘Mumu?’

His strange strength was similar to Mumu’s. She now really wondered who this person was.

Srng!

Ma Yeon-hwa followed her and pulled out her white blade as she went for the strange man.

She quickly unleashed both of her swords and crossed them to utilize a sword technique that created petals that would sweep the man’s body away.

Chachachang!

Wounds made by the swords appeared clearly on the man’s body.

It looked like blood would start to flow, but something else happened.

-ssss!

‘!?’

The veins in his body wriggled visibly, and the sword cuts soon began to mend together as if they had never happened.

At this sight, Ma Yeon-hwa and Guyang Seorin went stiff.

‘The wound…’

‘… is recovering in an instant.’

It was unbelievable. The cuts were healing in an instant.

This was too bizarre for them to understand. As everyone stood in shock, the man’s eyes continued to spin.

And he then mumbled,

“Ex…clu…ded…”

He spoke in a scary voice and moved toward Ma Yeon-hwa.

Ma Yeon-hwa, surprised by the sudden movement, swung her Black Dragon Sword to defend against the attack. However, the man simply came at her with a clenched fist.

Chang!

‘What strength is this?’

At the moment of impact, her swords bounced back. The man’s strength was too much for her to handle.

The sword that had bounced away created an opening in her chest area. He then went for it.

‘No!’

Ma Yeon-hwa hastily stabbed the man’s shoulder.

Puak!

Yet even when her sword penetrated his shoulder, the man didn’t seem to feel any pain and continued his attack.

‘No.’

Ma Yeon-hwa, who noticed this, clenched her teeth and raised her internal energy to defend herself.

At that moment—

Pak!

Before his fist could reach her, the man’s body swelled up further.

‘Uh?’

Swossh!

As his body swelled up, behind him stood a large man that emitted a gray glow with steam rising from his body.

The man holding the head of this unknown attacker—

It was Mumu.

“Mumu?”

Swish!

The man whose head was caught began to struggle.

Mumu asked,

“What is this?”