The Novel’s Villain

Chapter 48: Inside the Sect (3)

It was an amount that could be endured and looking at the eys of the swordmaster, Jinwoo was unable to utter, “I trained hard for a few months!”

It was nothing compared to the disciples receiving their training in this sect.

Jinwoo smiled awkwardly; too awkwardly. The swordmaster nodded like an omnipotent being who knew everything.

“He who knows hell does not spit out from his mouth,” the swordmaster laughed.

It would be nothing compared to the disciples who were receiving training here.

Hayeon, stupefied, stared at the swordmaster’s changed form blankly. She was not used to his.

The swordmaster was notorious for his stingy praises. His standards were set too high. It was difficult for one to overcome.

Jinwoo thought it was time to apologize. He needed to end this quickly and go home.

“Well… about those past events…” Jinwoo muttered.

“Hm? Ah, yes. Those things. They happened, didn’t they? Mm… let’s skip over those trivial things. Rather than that…”

The swordmaster looked at Jinwoo with austere gaze, the depths of his eyes a burning ember flame. It was no figure of speech; his eyes did look like it’d explode like a nuclear explosion at this very moment. Even the glass of water in front of him was beginning to boil in heat.

“How about becoming my disciple?” he said bluntly.

Cough!

Hayeon spit out half the water she drunk.

Jinwoo was equally flabbergasted.

A student? All of a sudden?

The unexpected proposal confused both Jinwoo and Hayeon.

“Grandfather, are you serious…?”

“Is there a problem with my decision?”

“A lot! There’s a lot!”

Hayeon’s calm atmosphere shifted.

She and the swordmaster made eye contact. Jinwoo noticed an intense atmosphere flashing right before his eyes, noticing the table shaking faintly. He gulped, scooching back a bit.

“I… I can’t accept that.”

“No need to be flustered,” the swordmaster waves his hand, “It’s something I have already decided.”

Jinwoo saw darkness roam around Hayeon’s aura. He was awkwardly stuck between the two, eyes flicking back and forth and unable to say anything. He was, after all, watching a family affair from the sidelines.

Though he did understand why Hayeon felt that way. Based on his knowledge from the original work, Hayeon had never received any form of instruction and swordplay from the swordmaster.

Later on, when the swordmaster’s martial skill scrolls were stolen by Chinese expert masters, the main character stumbled upon this. It was how her love for him came to be.

‘This is quite annoying.’

The main character had done his best to protect the scrolls, but it was futile. Hayeon’s safety and protection mattered more than the scroll when placed in a precarious situation… a very predictable development.

The last scroll left by the swordmaster before his death were filled with much emotion towards Hayeon.

‘Well… it’s an extra side story but…’

Perhaps the author had been moved very strongly by the development, but that part was full of forced emotion. But regardless, the swordmaster’s sword art was something that could only be passed from person to person. However, his standards were vigorously high that no one could become his successor. Even Hayeon, the word’s greatest swordsman prodigy, could not catch his eye.

The last scroll he had written before passing away was filled with many worries and thoughts about his granddaughter, Choi Hayeon. Later on, it became a situation that the main character mastered the swordplay then taught it to her.

“It’s been twenty years now. I’ve held a sword since the moment I could walk. Yet… you would give such an offer to a person who has never held a sword in their life, grandfather?”

“How long he’s held a sword is of no importance.”

“Then whatisimportant?!”

“Talent.”

At the swordmaster’s words, Hayeon widened her eyes. Blankly, she looked at Jinwoo.

“I don’t fall behind that category. I will never accept it. I won’t. You’d have to prove it to me.”

“Hmm… him becoming my disciple is unacceptable?”

“Yes! Because I am the Choi Clan Sword Sect’s next leader… don’t forget that you, too, are a member of it, grandfather. There is such a thing known as the rules of the family.”

Cold silence fell.

Only

Hayeon and the swordmaster began a staring contest.

The water inside the cup resting on the center of the table boiled elegantly that the cup rose from the table. The sight was rather amazing and wondrous.

The quarrel was unlikely to ever end, but it was a brutal truth that the two had yet to realize.

“Excuse me…” Jinwoo trailed off.

The swordmaster and Hayeon turned their neck towards him, his figure catching their eyes. Their piercing gaze was akin to needles stabbing many layers of his skin.

“I’m very sorry… but I’ll have to refuse that offer…” Jinwoo smiled sheepishly.

“Excuse me?”

“What?!”