Chronicles of the Lazy Sovereign

Chapter 12: The Slacker Meets His Match (1)

“Wake up.”

Startled!

As soon as Baek Muhan’s words fell, Wi Yeonho shot up and sat upright. He moved so quickly that dust swirled up around him for a brief moment.

“Had enough sleep, I presume?”

‘Damn old man!’

Wi Yeonho pouted, but didn’t dare talk back.

Of course he didn’t.

He had almost died from the beating yesterday—how could he possibly resist?

“I asked if you had enough sleep.”

“…I barely slept for two hours.”

“That’s more than enough.”

“Two hours?”

“Considering how much you’ve slept until now, it’s more than enough. Ahem! Just make up for the rest with the sleep you got last week.”

“How is that even possible?!”

“Is it not?”

“Of course not!”

Smack!

“Argh!”

“Is it not possible?”

“Now that I think about it, it might be possible after all.”

“There you go. Nothing is impossible for a martial artist.”

Wi Yeonho shut his mouth in front of Baek Muhan’s stone-like fists. Then and now, there was no such thing as winning against a beating.

“Listen carefully.”

“Yes, sir.”

“There are no shortcuts in martial arts. No tricks. Only steady training leads to progress.”

“Right.”

“To master my martial arts in five years is absurd.”

“You’re not saying it’s going to take even longer now, are you?”

“Can’t I?”

“Well, I guess you could, but…”

‘You wicked old man!’

Wi Yeonho wanted to cry.

If things went wrong, he might spend decades stuck in this dark cave without ever getting married.

“Tsk. No need to worry. I am Baek Muhan. No matter what, I always keep my word.”

“Yes!”

Wi Yeonho brightened.

“However!”

Baek Muhan smiled.

“What others learn in thirty years, you’re trying to master in five. Of course it won’t be easy. From now on, you’ll face a hell where sleep is a luxury! While others sleep, you will train! While others eat, you will train! Your life will be—by training, for training, of training!”

Wi Yeonho quickly changed his tune.

“Now that I think about it, maybe learning fast isn’t necessarily better. In my opinion, taking a bit more time and learning properly would be the better approach!”

Baek Muhan smiled.

“Let me repeat: I. Will. Keep. My. Word. No. Matter. What.”

“……”

“So you’d better be ready.”

“Ugh…”

Wi Yeonho looked like he was about to cry. And thus, hell began.

Thud.

Wi Yeonho collapsed to the floor.

After just half a day of training, he had been reduced to a ragged mess, twitching weakly.

“Kkuuuu…”

Baek Muhan chuckled smoothly.

“Is it tough?”

“Of course it’s tough! How could it not be?!”

“Really? You should at least be able to push through this much. Looks like your physical conditioning is lacking. In that case, I suppose we have no choice but to—”

“Your disciple is not tired in the slightest, Master!”

“Good. That’s a relief.”

“Sniff.”

Wi Yeonho wiped away a tear. There was no escaping from the hands of that demon-like old man. He had no choice but to continue this hellish training.

‘Mom!’

He just wanted to go home.

A place with a warm bed and warm meals.

They always said leaving home brought hardship—he now truly realized that a house without someone tormenting him was paradise.

But going home now was nothing more than a distant dream.

“Could I at least get something to eat?”

“Something to eat?”

“I’m out of all the rations I brought. You must have some supplies prepared.”

“That’s true. Open that jar over there.”

Wi Yeonho struggled to his feet and staggered toward the jar in the corner.

Then he opened the lid.

“Um… Master.”

“Yes?”

“Is this really what you were talking about?”

“That’s right.”

“This?”

“What’s the matter?”

Wi Yeonho spoke with a flat expression.

“You might want to come take a look at this yourself.”

“Hm?”

A jewel flew through the air.

“Seriously, you’re no ghost—you’re something worse.”

Wi Yeonho shivered. It was a sight he’d grown used to seeing by now, but one he could never truly get used to.

The jewel that flew through the air hovered above the jar.

“…Why is it like this?”

There was nothing inside the jar.

At best, there was something pitch-black and dried at the bottom, but if that could be called food, then anything in the world was edible. Even weeds growing on the roadside or hard pieces of wood could fill a belly in that logic.

“I’m sure I filled it to the brim with rations…”

Wi Yeonho’s face stiffened.

“Did you really think dried rations would stay fresh for three hundred years?”

“Didn’t they?”

Wi Yeonho gave a sweet smile.

“Well, that can’t be helped then. Please open the door. I’ll head to the village and fetch some rations.”

“You think I’ll fall for that?”

“I can’t starve to death like this! If I die, how will your martial arts be passed down to future generations?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Exactly! So please open the door. I swear on my name—I won’t run away.”

“I’d like to believe those words.”

“Right?!”

“Yes. Utter nonsense, of course, but right now I want to believe them.”

“…What do you mean?”

Baek Muhan spoke in a serious tone.

“I can’t open it.”

“…What?”

“With my current ability, I can’t lift that heavy thing. Nor can I break it.”

“Ehhh?! What are you talking about?!”

“If I were in my true form, I could lift it easily. But right now, I’m nothing more than a remnant will. I don’t have the strength to lift that.”

Wi Yeonho turned pale.

“Then… are you saying I’m just going to starve to death like this?”

“……”

Even Baek Muhan couldn’t come up with a solution. He remained silent.

Wi Yeonho, his eyes wild, screamed in frustration.

“Aaaaaargh! You crazy old man! I knew it! I knew something like this would happen! What are you going to do now?!”

“Enough with the noise!”

“Aaaaaaah! I’m going to die in this dark, musty cave! I’m really going to die here!”

“I said shut up!”

“Then what are we going to do?! I won’t last ten days before I drop dead!”

“Who said you were going to die?”

“Then you’ve got a solution?”

Baek Muhan answered nonchalantly.

“Open your mouth.”

“…What?”

“You want me to make you open it with a punch, or will you just open it yourself?”

Maybe it was the aftereffects of being beaten for two days, but Wi Yeonho’s body moved before his brain could even think. Without a word, he opened his mouth.

In that instant, the jewel hovering above the jar shot through the air and plunged itself into Wi Yeonho’s mouth.

“Mmph!”

Before he could even react, the jewel slid down his throat and into his stomach.

“Kehhk!”

Choking on the pain of the jewel forcing its way down, Wi Yeonho gagged and shouted.

“What did you just do to me?!”

Baek Muhan replied with a grimace.

“If there’s no food, you just don’t eat.”

“Then I’ll die!”

“I’ll infuse and regulate qi inside your body from within. You’ll be fine.”

“Does qi keep someone from starving?”

“Of course not.”

“Then what’s the point?”

“I can sustain your body for about five years by drawing in external energy. My Inner Core still holds the inner arts I had in life.”

“This is an Inner Core?!”

“Yes.”

“But isn’t taking an Inner Core supposed to make you super strong or something?”

“You sound very eager to see me disappear.”

Wi Yeonho gave an awkward laugh and shook his head.

“No way, not at all.”

“Hmph.”

Baek Muhan scoffed.

As if he’d believe anything Wi Yeonho said.

“If you absorb the energy from the Inner Core, I won’t be able to maintain my remnant will any longer. Remnant wills only survive as long as they have energy.”

“Really?”

Wi Yeonho’s eyes sparkled.

“Yeonho.”

“Yes?”

“Let go of your inner qi… I’m not going to be absorbed that easily.”

“Hehe…”

Wi Yeonho, who had been sneakily trying to siphon off the Inner Core's power, muttered with a sour expression.

“Still, I really don’t like this. Having Master inside my body… Not even a woman, but an old man!”

“……”

“You’re not planning to take over my body, are you?!”

“Oh?”

“I knew it!”

“As if something like that were even possible! I told you—I’m already dead!”

“You’re a ghost. What can’t you do?”

“Grrr…”

After groaning for a moment, Baek Muhan soon smiled faintly again.

“Well, in any case, now that you can train without eating, it all worked out for the better.”

“Ugh…”

“Come now, let’s begin!”

Wi Yeonho looked like he was about to cry. But in this situation, resistance wasn’t even a dream he could afford. That jewel had been terrifying enough outside his body—now that it was inside, there was no telling what it might do. If it even squirmed in his stomach, his guts could burst on the spot.

Whether he understood Wi Yeonho’s terror or not, Baek Muhan spoke with perfect composure.

“First, the martial art you need to learn is called Dream Training Technique.”

“Dream Training Technique?”

“That’s right.”

“Don’t you have something that sounds a bit more impressive? Like, I don’t know, Heavenly Peerless Dream Training Divine Art?”

“You want to learn it with a beating?”

“No, sir. So… what kind of martial art is this?”

“It’s a energy breathing technique that lets you train even while asleep.”

Wi Yeonho immediately understood what that meant.

“…Can I not learn it?”

“I’d rather have you cut down your sleep and train while awake than push such inefficient methods. But if I think it through… If you just keep training like that and leave the cave after five years, you’ll probably end up weaker than you started. So you’re learning this.”

“Yes, understood.”

Wi Yeonho smiled.

‘No matter what it’s called—Dream Training or whatever—it’s useless if I just don’t activate it.’

“Just so you know, once you start learning this martial art, you can’t stop until you’ve reached complete mastery. If you don’t want to keep training in your dreams, your only option is to reach full mastery.”

“Ugh…”

He really was something worse than a ghost.

“I really wouldn’t mind getting stronger slowly, you know.”

“I would mind.”

Baek Muhan smiled faintly.

“Let’s begin, then. If you truly want to master my martial arts in just five years, there will be no day or night for you. You’ll train in your dreams, and suffer hell when you’re awake. But if you surpass all that…”

Baek Muhan spoke with absolute conviction.

“There won’t be a single soul under heaven who dares to speak of the sword in your presence!”

It was a statement bordering on madness.

Wi Yeonho answered him honestly.

“I mean… I wasn’t planning on talking about swords anyway.”

Baek Muhan’s face twisted in fury.

This clueless brat!

“Fine! Let’s see if you’ll still have nothing to say after this!”

With giant rocks shaped into fists, Baek Muhan charged at Wi Yeonho with his astral body.

“Aaaagh! I was joking! I was joking, Master! Aaaagh! Master!”

Wi Yeonho screamed in sheer desperation, but Baek Muhan showed no mercy as his fists rained down.

Baek Muhan’s training never ceased.

By day, Wi Yeonho didn’t rest for even a moment, constantly drilling sword techniques. By night, he discussed the sword and swung it even in his dreams.

His routine became the sword. His life became the sword.

There wasn’t a single moment left for slacking off.

And so, time passed.

A day went by…

Then a month…

Spring faded and summer came. Autumn passed and winter approached.

In a place without day or night, without even seasons, Wi Yeonho lost track of time and immersed himself in training. The sword became him, and he became the sword. The boundary between them blurred more and more.

And so…

Five years flew by like an arrow.