Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 276

276. Self-Blame and Fury

Ho Yeon-gi smirked and said to Woon-hyun,

“Why am I doing this? I already told you. It’s because you’re too rude.”

“Rude?”

Woon-hyun was dumbfounded.

Ho Yeon-gi was the one who started the trouble from the beginning.

But now, there was something more important than arguing about right and wrong.

“Let him go.”

Woon-hyun said, looking at Ho Yeon-gi’s hand on Head Attendant Kang’s shoulder.

Ho Yeon-gi smiled.

“Ah, this hand? Letting go is simple, of course, but…”

“Kugh.”

Head Attendant Kang’s face contorted in pain, and a groan escaped his lips.

Ho Yeon-gi’s hand dug even deeper into Head Attendant Kang’s shoulder.

Head Attendant Kang’s shoulder was tilting as if it would touch the table.

“Shouldn’t your request be a little more polite?”

Ho Yeon-gi’s eyes gleamed as he looked at Woon-hyun.

Clack.

Woon-hyun stood up from his seat.

And taking a step forward, he reached out his hand towards Head Attendant Kang’s shoulder.

“Uh-huh, where do you think you’re going?”

In an instant, Ho Yeon-gi’s hand moved with surprising speed.

Swish.

Ho Yeon-gi tried to knock away Woon-hyun’s hand using a Geumna-soo technique [a pressure point strike] and return it to the head attendant’s shoulder.

To provoke Woon-hyun’s anger even more.

But it didn’t work out that way.

Thud.

Ho Yeon-gi’s hand, which was reaching towards Woon-hyun, suddenly bounced off.

Because just as his Geumna-soo was about to strike Woon-hyun’s hand, Woon-hyun subtly brushed Ho Yeon-gi’s hand aside.

‘Ugh.’

Thanks to that, Ho Yeon-gi’s hand flailed in the air, and he had to step back a few paces to regain his balance.

Of course, he lost his grip on Head Attendant Kang’s shoulder.

Tak.

‘W-What is this…’

“Are you alright, Head Attendant Kang?”

In the meantime, Woon-hyun was supporting Head Attendant Kang as if nothing had happened.

Head Attendant Kang couldn’t move one arm, as if his shoulder was severely injured.

“You bastard!”

In a fit of panic, Ho Yeon-gi reflexively threw a fist at Woon-hyun.

Pow!

His fist struck Woon-hyun’s face.

It wasn’t infused with internal energy because it was thrown reflexively, but it was still a strong punch.

Woon-hyun’s head snapped around, and his body staggered.

Swish.

But Woon-hyun didn’t fall or step back.

Woon-hyun slowly straightened his head.

His lip was split and bleeding, but Woon-hyun didn’t seem to care.

“……Is that enough now?”

There was no anger in his eyes.

There was only a chilling emptiness, but that fueled Ho Yeon-gi’s anger even more.

“How dare you, you bastard!”

Ho Yeon-gi turned his body and kicked out strongly.

Pow.

“Kyaaak!”

Crash.

The table was overturned, and food plates were shattered.

Amidst the screams of other guests, Woon-hyun, who had been hit in the chest and collapsed, staggered to his feet.

Woon-hyun’s clothes were a mess from the spilled food, but his gaze towards Ho Yeon-gi was still cold.

Gritting.

Although Woon-hyun was the one who was hit, it was Ho Yeon-gi who gritted his teeth.

‘This bastard, still!’

Ho Yeon-gi could never be satisfied with this much.

He had to make that obnoxious look submit and show Ha Young-ryung that he was the overwhelmingly stronger man.

To her, who might be looking down on this place right now.

Step.

Ho Yeon-gi walked towards Woon-hyun.

Internal energy was already gathering in his clenched fist.

***

“Wow! As expected of Nanhwa Restaurant!”

Dam So-ha looked around in amazement.

Jang-ik, Jin Ye-rim, and Dam So-ha came to Nanhwa Restaurant after their meal.

Because Dam So-ha insisted that it was a must-see place in Gwangju.

Since it was before the start of a new mission anyway, the three came to Nanhwa Restaurant with light hearts.

“Well, it’s just so-so.”

Jin Ye-rim said dismissively.

But she, too, was busy looking around.

“Now, let’s order something light before Sir Jo arrives… Huh?”

Jang-ik’s expression hardened as he spoke with a smile.

And the next moment.

“Kyaaak!”

Crash.

A startled scream was heard along with the sound of something breaking.

Jin Ye-rim and Dam So-ha turned their heads.

“……It looks like a fight broke out.”

Dam So-ha said, examining the situation with a sharp gaze.

“That kind of thing is common in bars… Huh?”

Dam So-ha smiled and turned to Jin Ye-rim.

“Is that the same person again? A man your sister knows.”

Jin Ye-rim’s expression was already distorted.

“……That’s right. Why is that man always getting beaten up in front of me?”

She had every reason to say that.

Because the person who was kicked in the chest and sent flying was none other than Woon-hyun.

“Isn’t this some kind of fate? Hehe.”

It was when Dam So-ha said playfully and Jin Ye-rim raised her eyebrows.

“……That person.”

Jang-ik, who always smiled despite his large build, said with a stiff expression.

“He subtly adjusted his body a moment ago. At the precise moment he was kicked.”

“Yes?”

Dam So-ha and Jin Ye-rim turned their heads again.

Woon-hyun was staggering to his feet amidst the broken table and spilled food.

“Aren’t you mistaken?”

If Jang-ik’s words were true, it meant that Woon-hyun had intentionally deflected the opponent’s power.

Even if it wasn’t perfect.

“No.”

Jang-ik narrowed his eyes.

“It’s clear. That person is hiding something.”

Jang-ik usually seems like a nice person, but his martial arts skills are by no means ordinary.

“Really?”

Dam So-ha and Jin Ye-rim turned their heads again to look at Woon-hyun.

But in their eyes, he just looked like a weak scholar who had just been assaulted.

***

Woon-hyun staggered to his feet.

His clothes were a mess, but he felt almost no impact.

Because he could clearly see the kick coming, and he had even pulled his body back instinctively.

Thanks to that, the sound was loud, but he wasn’t actually hurt.

Step, step.

When he raised his head, Ho Yeon-gi was walking over.

“You, you bastard!”

Ho Yeon-gi’s eyes, gritting his teeth, were blazing with anger.

He could clearly see that internal energy was gathering in his clenched fist.

The emotion Woon-hyun felt from that appearance was futility.

‘Huh.’

Woon-hyun couldn’t understand.

Why was he pouring out such anger on him, someone he was seeing for the first time, who had no connection to him, let alone any grudges?

Where did the murderous intent that seemed like he would kill Woon-hyun right away come from?

Even if he explained that this was wrong, would the other person really be convinced and understand? No, would he even listen?

Step, step.

Swish.

Ho Yeon-gi walked over and slowly channeled his internal energy.

Woon-hyun knew from his eyes that he intended to kill him.

But Woon-hyun rather let out a hollow laugh.

‘Why on earth…….’

He tries to kill someone he’s met for the first time.

For no reason at all.

‘……No, maybe reasons themselves are meaningless in the first place.’

Maybe fights are originally like that.

Like Ho Yeon-gi’s senseless murderous intent towards him, maybe the battle in Hangzhou was also like that.

Fighting, dying, getting hurt, and wasting blood and lives in vain for no reason.

‘Because of these meaningless reasons…….’

Numerous lives were hurt, bled, and perished in Hangzhou.

Many people killed each other for something that meant nothing.

And Dokgo-rang died.

For nothing other than himself, because of nothing other than himself.

Hoo.

Something hot surged up from deep within Woon-hyun’s chest.

It was anger.

Anger towards himself and towards everything in this absurd world swallowed Woon-hyun in an instant.

“Prepare yourself, you bastard!”

Suddenly, Ho Yeon-gi’s angry voice was heard.

And a fist infused with internal energy hurtled towards Woon-hyun.

Boo-ook.

It was the Ho family’s technique, the Ho Family Three-Strike Fist.

A clear assassination technique that could even take the life of an ordinary person.

But Woon-hyun’s eyes, looking at it, were flickering with a cold light.

“Haaaa!”

With Ho Yeon-gi’s shout, his fist flew towards Woon-hyun’s face.

But his Three-Strike Fist didn’t even land the first strike properly.

Swish.

Woon-hyun moved his head slightly.

Ho Yeon-gi’s fist vainly cut through the air.

“Eek!”

He immediately threw the second fist.

But that fist was lightly deflected by Woon-hyun’s swinging hand.

“Heok!”

Ho Yeon-gi’s hand waved in the air, and he stepped back three steps in an instant.

Tak, tak.

Ho Yeon-gi couldn’t believe what had happened before his eyes.

Woon-hyun seemed to lift his fist slightly with the back of his hand, and his body lost its balance greatly.

“Is that all?”

Woon-hyun said with cold eyes.

“With just that, you thought there was nothing to fear in the world?”

“Shut up!”

Hoo-oong.

Ho Yeon-gi rushed towards Woon-hyun and threw a fist.

Originally, the essence of the Ho Family Three-Strike Fist lies in the sharpness and power of the successive fists.

But Ho Yeon-gi had neither the skill to bring out the essence nor the self-control.

Ho Yeon-gi’s movements were large, overly forceful, and too easy to read.

Whoosh.

Ho Yeon-gi’s fist vainly cut through the air, and Woon-hyun shouted.

“Is that all you’ve got!”

Woon-hyun, seized with anger, shouted.

“You thought you were a great person with that kind of skill?”

Woon-hyun’s shout was fierce.

“You were arrogant enough to think you could save people with that little talent!”

“Can’t you shut up!”

Ho Yeon-gi shouted and punched like crazy.

Now there was no Three-Strike Fist or anything.

His face was flushed with shame, and his anger towards Woon-hyun was at its peak.

But Woon-hyun’s expression was even more miserably distorted than that.

Whoosh.

Woon-hyun, who had avoided Ho Yeon-gi’s fist, initiated a body check.

It was a completely unexpected, perhaps self-defeating choice.

Thud.

The two people’s bodies collided violently.

Ho Yeon-gi, who was shocked, tumbled backwards in an unsightly manner.

Woon-hyun was the same.

Woon-hyun, who hadn’t even taken a special posture to brace for the impact, staggered back and fell over.

Crash, thud.

Dishes were broken and food splattered.

Ho Yeon-gi’s appearance was truly a mess.

Clatter.

Woon-hyun, who had also tumbled backwards, slowly raised his upper body.

But he didn’t look at Ho Yeon-gi or the surprised people around him.

Kneeling on the floor, which was dirtied with broken dishes and food, Woon-hyun gritted his teeth.

“……With just that kind of ability.”

Woon-hyun slowly raised his fist.

And he slammed it down on the floor.

Bang.

“You stupid bastard! Idiot! Moron!”

Bang, bang.

Woon-hyun slammed the floor with his bare fists several times.

His fists were soon stained with blood.

Bang.

“You trashy son of a bitch!”

It was a cry directed towards none other than Woon-hyun himself.

Silence fell.

Thud.

Ho Yeon-gi picked himself up.

And with a stiff expression, he drew his sword.

Swish.

“……I don’t know what you’re talking about, but.”

Ho Yeon-gi said, looking at Woon-hyun.

“You’ve humiliated me, so you’ll have to pay the price.”

Ho Yeon-gi’s expression was cold, and his eyes were murderous.

It was clear that Woon-hyun had some kind of story, but it didn’t matter.

The important thing was that he had been humiliated by him.

If he didn’t kill Woon-hyun here now, he wouldn’t be able to hold his head up in Gwangju anymore.

Because the descendant of the Ho family was defeated by a mere scholar and tumbled on the floor.

Step, step.

Ho Yeon-gi slowly approached Woon-hyun.

The blade in his hand was shining eerily under the colorful lights.

But Woon-hyun didn’t raise his head.

No, maybe he didn’t care anymore.