Doing any more would only hurt them.
At the Ascension Officers’ words, Jeok Wigang snickered.
“What are you talking about? I’m in the middle of evaluating you. The evaluation isn’t over yet.”
“Evaluation?”
“What are you saying?”
“There’s something like that. So—want to start again?”
“H-Hold on!”
“Why?”
“We... don’t even have the strength to move. So stop here and tell us what you want.”
“If it’s something we can do, we’ll do anything.”
“What. You’re folding over this? I thought you had more backbone than that, so I actually liked you.”
At my words, maybe because they were ashamed, they all lowered their heads.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not stopping just because you’re doing that.”
When they saw me grin and walk toward them, the Ascension Officers tried to drag their uncooperative bodies away, forcing themselves to crawl.
“S-Stop!”
“Nope.”
CRUNCH—.
“KAAAAH!”
I stepped right on the leg of an Ascension Officer who was crawling away.
“Does it hurt?”
Even in the pain, it was absurd.
Did he not hear that scream just now?
Does he think I screamed for fun?
Something surged up in my throat.
If I could move, I would’ve lunged at him.
When I glared at him with eyes full of poison, he grinned.
“Yeah. That look. Now you’re starting to please me again.”
“You’re going to play with us! Just kill us instead!”
“I’m not going to play with you. I’m going to knock some sense into you. You’re done, so take a break.”
SMACK—.
THUD—.
One of my blows, and the guy passed out on the spot.
The other Ascension Officers glared at me like they wanted to kill me as they watched their colleague lose consciousness.
And they looked completely dumbfounded—because I seemed to like that look.
“Hold onto that glare for a long, long time. Got it? I like all of you, so I’ll let you rest for a bit.”
That was the last thing the Ascension Officers heard before they blacked out.
*****
“Ughh!”
Groans rose from all around as people came to.
They looked around, and an empty atmosphere pressed down on them.
“Where is this?”
“Doesn’t look like Martial Star Hall.”
“Feel the flow of energy. I think we’re inside a formation right now.”
“A formation? Why the hell...?”
“I don’t know.”
“That bastard probably locked us in here.”
“Is there a way out?”
“I don’t know formations.”
“Ha... what the hell is this mess?”
There wasn’t a single place that didn’t hurt.
“How the hell did he hit us for it to hurt this bad?”
“There’s nothing on the outside. Not even bruises, but the pain won’t go away.”
“I’m dying. I can barely move.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s probably watching us from somewhere.”
“Why’d he trap us in a formation?”
“So he can watch us suffer.”
“Damn it. We got caught by some pervert.”
“Heh.”
“You’re laughing? You can laugh in a situation like this?”
“Still... doesn’t this remind you of the old days? Back then, we were always getting thrown into dangerous situations like this.”
At that, the other Ascension Officers let out small, bitter laughs.
“Yeah. Back then we really went around risking our lives.”
“How did we end up in a job babysitting brats?”
The Ascension Officers sighed.
“Hey. Enough reminiscing. Let’s think about how to get out of here.”
“Anyone know formations?”
They all shook their heads.
“What, so we’re just dead.”
“This is what we get for slacking off on training.”
“Even if we trained properly, I don’t think we could’ve beaten that bastard.”
“That’s /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ true. He was strong.”
“And he seems to care about Heavenly Martial Castle a lot.”
“Yeah. Looking at the way things are, I thought it was about to collapse any day now. Guess not.”
“We used to be like that too.”
“Exactly.”
Since none of them knew anything about formations, and looking around wouldn’t magically create an exit, they just lay there.
“Still... if you think about it, isn’t what we do important?”
“Huh?”
“We’re raising the pillars who’ll carry Heavenly Martial Castle’s future. What could be more important than that?”
“True.”
“But we were taking money and ruining it.”
Silence fell.
“We were chewing away at Heavenly Martial Castle’s future with our own hands.”
“Damn it. You don’t have to say it that bluntly. We all get it.”
“If we were given another chance, could we do it right?”
“Even if we do it right, that won’t solve everything.”
“Yeah. If the promotion system doesn’t change, more bastards like us will always pop up.”
“And the people above will send guys like us—who don’t do what they say—somewhere else.”
“Honestly, it’d be better to get sent somewhere else.”
They all nodded.
That was when—
“What? You’re lying down and getting a proper rest?”
At the familiar voice, the Ascension Officers all lifted their heads at once.
I was standing there, grinning.
To an Ascension Officer glaring at me with a frightening expression, I crooked a finger.
“Come at me. If I end up acknowledging you, I’ll let you out.”
At my words, the Ascension Officers rose one by one, eyes brimming with poison.
Then they looked around.
“Looking for weapons? Pick whatever you like from what’s over there.”
Where I pointed, there was a box.
They opened it, checked the weapons inside, and jolted.
“W-What...?”
“These—these are this good?”
“Insane...!”
The box was packed with weapons that were too good.
They stared at me with faces that couldn’t believe it.
“Y-You really want us to use these?”
“Yeah.”
“Why are you doing this to us?”
“To make you into people.”
At that, their expressions hardened.
Without another word, they carefully chose their weapons, then faced me.
“If you’re ready, come.”
At my words, they tightened their grips and charged.
“DIE!”
They unleashed their weapons at me, spitting poison.
WHOOSH— WHOOSH—!
Weapons came at me from every direction, and I avoided them as casually as if I were out for a stroll.
While I did, I was already seeing exactly what they lacked.
“I can see everything.”
THUD—.
“Kgh!”
He thrust his sword, and my fist drove into his armpit.
The pain felt like his arm was being torn out.
He dropped the sword and twisted in agony.
SHHK—.
I caught a spear flying in from behind, yanked it forward, and punched the spearman in the face as I spoke.
“When you thrust, your center of gravity pitches forward—so if I pull like this, you just get dragged along.”
CRACK—.
“Khehk!”
WHUMPH—.
A massive saber came down over my head.
I slipped aside and hammered the side of the Ascension Officer who swung it.
“Your side defense is weak.”
Like that, I rotated through them, pointing out their weaknesses while never stopping my beating.
After two hours of taking nothing but hits, the Ascension Officers collapsed, exhausted.
“Hah... hah... hah...!”
They panted, unable to even hold themselves upright.
Watching them, I snickered.
“Since today’s the first day, should we stop here?”
Today’s.
So how long was this going to go on?
Not knowing when they’d be able to leave made them even more frustrated.
*****
“Ugh...”
“Ghh...”
“Ah, damn...”
Groans came from all sides.
The Ascension Officers had rushed me and gotten smashed to pieces without even touching me.
All they could do was lie there and endure the pain rising through their bodies.
Then I approached with something in my hands.
“You hungry? Eat.”
What I set down on the ground was a spread of different foods.
But they couldn’t move from the pain.
“If you don’t eat, we start again?”
Before I even finished the sentence, they sprang up with groans and stumbled over to the food.
They shoved whatever they grabbed into their mouths.
CHOMP CHOMP—.
SMACK—.
SLURP—.
The food vanished in an instant.
With their stomachs full, the pain felt a little less severe.
In truth, I’d mixed a sleeping drug that also dulled pain into the food.
I made it fade slowly on purpose.
After they slept and woke up, they’d feel better.
When the Ascension Officers finished eating, they collapsed like they’d passed out and fell asleep on the spot.
Someone cleaned up what was left after they ate.
Tak Yeong.
“Starting tomorrow, you participate too.”
“...Me?”
“Why. You don’t want to?”
“Th-That’s...”
“If you don’t want to, then you should die.”
“N-No! I do! I wanted to participate!”
“Right?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Good. Then you sleep too.”
“...What?”
THUD—.
Tak Yeong dropped unconscious from my punch.
*****
The next day.
The Ascension Officers glared at Tak Yeong with murderous eyes.
“I’ve wanted to see you real bad.”
“Haha... th-that is... I’m a victim too. I got threatened too.”
“Yeah? And that means you sell out your comrades?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Hey. Enough. We need even one more person’s strength, so it worked out.”
“Tch. Consider yourself lucky.”
“Go all out today. If you don’t, we’re not letting it slide later.”
“O-Okay. I’ll put everything I’ve got into it.”
Tak Yeong sighed and picked a weapon that fit him from the box.
I’d felt it yesterday too, but... these were truly ridiculous weapons.
“Where the hell did you even get weapons this insane?”
“This is making me think of the guy who made us like this. He got in on Master Smith Cheon’s recommendation, right?”
“Ah! That’s right!”
“No wonder the weapons are insane. Did Master Smith Cheon make them?”
“As if. They were probably made in Heavenly Forge.”
“At least we get to use great weapons to our hearts’ content.”
“Then who the hell is that monster who breaks those great weapons like they’re nothing? Master Smith Cheon’s grandson?”
“No idea. But one thing’s for sure—he’s got brute strength.”
“If he’s Master Smith Cheon’s blood, then yeah, he’d be a brute.”
The Ascension Officers tossed around their theories.
Then my voice reached their ears.
“What are you guys talking about so happily this early in the morning? You look full of energy.”
The moment they heard my voice, they clamped their mouths shut.
Was it already time?
“Seeing how full of energy you are, I guess we can go a little harder today. Now—shall we begin?”
Full of energy?
When they were in this much pain—
“Huh? Why doesn’t it hurt?”
“Yesterday it hurt like hell...”
“It healed in one day?”
They inspected their bodies like they couldn’t believe it.
“Stalling? Hurry and pick your weapons. Or I’m going in as-is.”
At my words, they hurriedly ran to the box.
A full week had already passed since they’d been trapped in the formation.
It was miserable, for sure—but strangely, their bodies kept getting better, and their martial arts kept improving.
Every night, they fell asleep in pain... but every morning, they woke up so refreshed it was insane.
Anyone with half a brain could tell I’d done something for them.
When I appeared, the Ascension Officers asked with resolved expressions.
“Why are you treating us well?”
“Unless we hear the reason, we won’t move even one step.”
They no longer looked down on me.
If anything, they were treating me as someone above them.
“What am I doing that’s treating you well? I only remember coming in every day and beating you.”
When I tilted my head, they spoke with faces that said we knew it.
“We’re not letting it slide today. Tell us why you’re treating us well.”
“When did I ever treat you well?”
“You mixed spirit medicine into the meals, didn’t you?”
I grinned.
The Ascension Officers took it as confirmation.