Chapter 163: The Newcomers (5)

In the afternoon, after the exchange matches had ended.

"Huaaah."

Il-mok, who had already dozed off for two hours during the tournament, yawned lazily as he headed to the club room.

Since he'd been sleeping while standing anyway, Il-mok didn't count those hours as actual rest.

‘If I get a solid hour of sleep during club time, I'll feel perfectly refreshed.’

But when he opened the club room door in high spirits, Il-mok's face immediately scrunched up.

‘...Why are there so many people?’

The club room was swarming with people like bugs.

The space that used to be occupied by just five people was now packed with over ten people.

And when Il-mok appeared, the swarm of bugs filling the room suddenly went into a frenzy.

"We greet the Eighth Young Master!"

"Eighth Young Master! We watched your sparring match earlier today!"

They were all new recruits.

Having witnessed Il-mok's ridiculous skills at the tournament, they'd tracked down his club and joined while hoping to build connections with him.

‘Fuck. Did they not even shower after the matches?’

The thick smell of sweat wafting from the new recruits who'd suddenly latched onto him made Il-mok's vision go dark.

The one who saved him from this predicament was Chu Il-hwan.

"Anyone not back in their seat before I count to three gets roasted alive."

Though his playful smile made it sound like a joke, the black lightning crackling in his hands guaranteed he was dead serious.

Unable to withstand the threat, the new recruits returned to their seats. Chu Il-hwan grinned and continued his threat.

"I'm starting to suspect some idiots joined without even knowing what this club is called."

He was telling them to meditate quietly, as befitting the name "Meditation Club."

Unwilling to be treated as idiots, or perhaps unwilling to be burned to death by Chu Il-hwan’s black lightning, the new cadets avoided his gaze and subtly turned their heads away.

Phew.

Finally free from the new recruits' body odor, Il-mok let out a light sigh and scanned the club room.

Since there are so many people here compared to the available space, Il-mok was forced to a situation where he had no choice but to sit right next to someone.

Il-mok found a spot next to the cleanest-looking recruit he could find.

"It's an honor to see you again, Eighth Young Master."

As soon as he sat down, the neatly dressed new recruit beside him offered a greeting.

It was Cheon Su-ryong, the one who had coughed up blood and passed out during the match.

He’d left the infirmary and immediately changed out of his bloody clothes. He even washed up before coming straight to the club room.

Only after receiving the greeting did Il-mok realize this was the new recruit he'd sparred with earlier, and asked after his condition.

"Ah... Are you feeling alright?"

“Thanks to the physician in the infirmary, I believe I have recovered well.”

"I-I see."

Il-mok answered halfheartedly.

So Seo Jae-pil might talk like a quack, but he's actually a decent physician.

After finishing his greeting, Cheon Su-ryong's face turned red as he spoke up.

“I-If it is possible, would you grant me another match with you next time?”

He was embarrassed to be requesting a match when his skills were so far below Il-mok's level.

It was purely his desire to grow stronger that made him swallow his pride and make such a request.

At Cheon Su-ryong's request, Il-mok felt goosebumps run up his arm.

‘You've gotta be kidding me. Is this another guy who likes getting hit?’

Il-mok couldn't comprehend the mental state of this junior who was blushing while asking to get beaten up again.

As Il-mok was contemplating what to do with this crazy bastard, Chu Il-hwan's stern command fell once more.

"You two over there. Looks like you want to get roasted."

At Chu Il-hwan's threat, Cheon Su-ryong answered with a face full of reluctance.

"My apologies, Instructor."

Even after that, Cheon Su-ryong kept glancing at Il-mok beside him with a puppy-eyed look.

‘His stare is going to burn a hole right through me at this rate.’

Il-mok considered giving him the same physical "education" he'd given Choi Woong's trio.

‘...But if he's a masochist, that would backfire, wouldn't it?’

Realizing this was a bad move, Il-mok let out a light sigh.

‘Right. Since he’s a guy who likes getting hit, not hitting him is its own kind of revenge. Heh.’

If Cheon Su-ryong, who was dreaming of sparring with Il-mok, had known this conclusion, he would have wept tears of blood.

***

As life at the Hall of the Demonic Way passed the one-year mark and juniors started arriving, various changes came to Il-mok and his peers' daily routines.

For Il-mok, who suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder, this was an unwelcome situation.

For someone with OCD, change meant triggering severe Qi Deviation.

Going out for field training was one such thing, and being swarmed by the newcomers at club time was another. On top of that, a change occurred in the content of their classes.

"In a year, you will all become talents who will lead the Cult while serving in its various organizations. Furthermore, as you must go on four more field training, you are scheduled to learn things that will be of more help in actual combat.”

Right after Instructor Eun Ryeo finished her lengthy explanation in her usual cold tone, an assistant brought in some pills and distributed small pieces to each recruit.

‘What is this? An elixir? But will it still work if broken up like this?’

Il-mok's question was soon answered.

"Those pills we distributed are poison pills obtained from the medical wing of the headquarters. From now on, you will learn how to deal with poison."

Learning that what he'd thought was medicine was actually poison, Il-mok set down the piece of poison pill he'd been holding.

He had an uneasy feeling it might be absorbed through his skin.

Meanwhile, Instructor Eun Ryeo continued her explanation.

"There are various poisons in the world, and we cannot have you experience and practice countermeasures for every single one. So you will experience the energy and symptoms of representative poisons and learn universal countermeasures. After listening to my full explanation, each of you will ingest the poison pill you were given, feel how the poison spreads and what symptoms it causes, then proceed with detoxification. Understood?"

"Yes, Instructor!"

While everyone answered energetically, only Il-mok kept his mouth shut, glaring at the poison pill.

‘Now, of all things, I have to voluntarily eat poison.’

For Il-mok, who suffered from hygiene-related OCD, this was too big a change.

Was it because of all the recent changes? Il-mok lifted his head and stared into space.

‘I really want to convert to another religion.’

Even after years, he felt like he'd never adapt to this damned Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

While Il-mok was having his moment of existential crisis, Instructor Eun Ryeo's voice echoed through the room.

"The poison pill we've given you this time is a Paralysis Pill. If you eat an entire pill, your whole body will be paralyzed and you could die from respiratory failure."

Hearing that the very first practice involved potentially lethal poison, Il-mok squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Instructor, you're going way too fast with the curriculum.’

As if hearing Il-mok's inner thoughts, Instructor Eun Ryeo added more explanation.

"But don't worry. The amount we've given you will at most cause some tingling in your limbs. Even if you have a sensitive constitution to poison, it won't be enough to kill you, so you can be at ease.”

At this truly reassuring news, Il-mok almost let out a sigh without realizing it.

"You will now ingest this poison pill and observe how the poison's energy spreads after going down your throat, and how it tries to destroy your body. Then, after I give the signal, each of you must circulate your internal energy to push that energy out of your body."

After saying so, Eun Ryeo suddenly shoved an entire poison pill into her mouth, chewed it a few times, then swallowed it.

A moment later, black droplets began dripping from her right index finger.

“I have condensed the poison energy into one spot and expelled it. However, this feat is only possible if you can accurately sense the poison energy and wrap it with your internal energy before it spreads. Your priority is to observe the poison spreading, so rather than trying to gather what's already spread, you should expel it through multiple points like this."

As she spoke, black droplets were also dripping from Instructor Eun Ryeo's left ring finger.

And as if that was enough of an explanation, Instructor Eun Ryeo called out coldly.

"Now, everyone ingest the poison!"

As soon as her command fell, the nine recruits of The Upper Class immediately tossed the poison pieces into their mouths without hesitation.

Watching this bold scene, Il-mok muttered a curse under his breath.

"Fuck."

After mumbling in Korean so others couldn't understand, Il-mok let out a deep sigh and swallowed the poison pill.

After confirming everyone had swallowed their pills, Eun Ryeo shouted.

"Focus on how the poison spreads! To expel the poison later, you must be able to accurately distinguish the poison energy!"

Even as the disciples were gradually being poisoned by the Paralysis Pills, Eun Ryeo continued her advice.

"When pushing out the poison energy, you must always wrap it with your internal energy before expelling it. If you push it out without wrapping it, the meridians or organs that touch the poison could be damaged, so be careful."

After continuing with other important advice, Eun Ryeo checked the hourglass and shouted.

"Begin detoxification now!"

Simultaneously, all the recruits began circulating their internal energy, and Il-mok was no different.

Despite his limbs tingling, Il-mok moved boldly.

‘I've already located all the poison energy anyway.’

It was thanks to his excellent qi perception, which even An Jeok-un, the direct descendant of the An family and Master of the Eight Trigrams Hall's Wind Thunder Chamber, had called a prodigy.

The internal energy in his dantian rushed out at once, racing through the wide meridians cleaned by the Bone Washing and Marrow Cleansing.

By the time the vast internal energy had circulated once through his entire body according to the principles of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, all the poison energy that had spread throughout had been enveloped by that internal energy. And the place where that massive internal energy headed last was none other than Il-mok’s right index finger.

Drip.

Drip.

The quiet sound of black droplets flowing down Il-mok's right index finger broke the silence.

When Il-mok opened his eyes after expelling all the poison at once, the other disciples were still engaged in a bloody battle with the poison energy with their eyes closed.

Instructor Eun Ryeo, confirming that Il-mok had expelled the poison first, spoke up.

"Excellent."

Though she didn't like his casual attitude toward women, she was someone who clearly distinguished between public and private matters.

"But be careful in real combat situations. If you try to gather paralysis poison toward your right hand that holds the sword and make even a tiny mistake, your right arm could go numb and put you in danger."

"Then would it be safer to send it to the left hand?"

"If we're only talking about arms, yes."

"???"

"If you lose control of the poison energy gathered near your heart while trying to expel it through your left hand, you could have a heart attack, so be careful of that."

"......"

Il-mok looked at his right hand with a complicated expression. Specifically, at the poison that had flowed below his index finger.

Since he practiced the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword with his right hand, he had habitually expelled the poison through his right hand following the sword art's principles.

What if he'd tried to push it to the left? What if he'd made a mistake in the process?

‘…That means I could have fucking died, doesn’t it?’

As expected, the Demonic Cult’s educational methods were insane.

Il-mok felt disillusioned by the Demonic Cult's educational methods and was suffering from the urge to convert, but there was a slight misunderstanding here.

Instructor Eun Ryeo had mentioned heart attacks only as a precaution for future real combat situations.

In the first place, the Paralysis Pill was a weak poison that could barely kill one person even if the entire pill was used.

There was almost no chance of getting a heart attack from the poison in a small piece of Paralysis Pill unless you were incredibly unlucky.

Of course, decades ago at the Hall of the Demonic Way, they used to use whole Paralysis Pills for training.

This too was a result of the current Heavenly Demon, whose mercy reached the heavens, drastically lowering the difficulty of the curriculum to save at least some of the Hall's talents who were dying pointlessly.

If Hall Master Yeom Ga-hwi had heard Il-mok's complaints, he probably would have reminisced about the old days with full boomer energy.