'Su Yeohyang?'

The one who had screamed was the great disciple of the Emei Sect, Su Yeohyang.

As soon as she met Baek Yoonjun's eyes, she was startled, then closed the door and seemed to be standing in front of it.

'Hmm, for now, since I was soaking in the water, she wouldn't have seen anything.'

Fortunately, Baek Yoonjun was soaking in the bathtub, and from Su Yeohyang's point of view, she would not have seen anything other than his upper body.

'Although it's embarrassing, there's no particular problem.'

Baek Yoonjun looked at the closed door with an awkward gaze.

Su Yeohyang's shadow was cast on the other side of the door.

Seeing her twisting her body this way and that, it seemed she was shuddering, not knowing what to do, even without looking.

"Ugh!! Ah! Hiiiii!"

In fact, even without looking and just listening to the sound, one could tell that she was shuddering.

Baek Yoonjun briefly considered whether to say something, but.

'Let's just leave her be.'

It was burdensome to speak due to his timid nature, and it was even more burdensome to speak to an opponent who was making a fuss.

And so, after a while, the number of times the shadow in front of the door twisted decreased.

"Um... Great Hero Baek..."

Su Yeohyang's voice, which seemed to be crawling, was heard from the other side of the door.

"Yes, what is... what is it?"

Baek Yoonjun unconsciously used honorifics, then remembered that they had decided to speak informally before and hastily lowered his speech.

"I'm sorry!!"

Su Yeohyang's resounding voice echoed from the other side of the door.

'Is there a reason to gather all the people in the neighborhood?!'

At the loud voice, Baek Yoonjun was startled inside and hastily gave a warning.

"Don't raise your voice."

"I-I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, so please lower your voice a little."

"I... understand."

As Su Yeohyang's voice lowered, Baek Yoonjun was finally relieved.

"Um... I'm sorry for many things."

"There's nothing to apologize for, so stop it."

"Yes... I'm sorry."

Although Baek Yoonjun felt a sense of kinship as an introvert at Su Yeohyang's dispirited appearance.

'No. This kid is dispirited now, but wasn't her essence like a middle school or high school girl?'

Recalling Su Yeohyang's past appearance, the sense of kinship evaporated as if washed away.

'But why isn't she leaving? I want to wash up comfortably.'

Baek Yoonjun quietly glared at the door.

No matter how he looked, Su Yeohyang showed no signs of leaving.

'It's a bit much to tell her to go outright...'

Baek Yoonjun brought out the most extreme form of telling someone to leave that he could.

"But what brings you here?"

Of course, it was only telling someone to leave by Baek Yoonjun's standards.

Naturally, Su Yeohyang, who did not understand it as telling her to leave, hesitated for a moment and then.

"Uh... well, you see..."

She answered Baek Yoonjun's words.

"There was no one using the bath here, so I was the only one using it."

Baek Yoonjun briefly thought, 'Why isn't this kid leaving?', but gave up after seeing that she still wasn't leaving.

"No one was using it?"

"Yes. It was really just me. I was surprised to see you here today, Great Hero Baek."

"It's quite nice, but it's a shame that no one is using it."

"Right?!"

Baek Yoonjun was startled by Su Yeohyang's suddenly lively appearance.

Of course, as always, it didn't show on the outside.

"People don't know the charm of a large bath. Just at our Emei, we dug a hot spring and made a large bath, and it was so nice. I was really happy to see a large bath here too!"

His mind becoming dizzy at Su Yeohyang's suddenly fast speech, Baek Yoonjun carefully tried to cut her off.

"...A hot spring?"

"Yes! You don't know how good the water is! You'll be surprised if you visit our Emei sometime and soak your body, Great Hero Baek."

Baek Yoonjun's attempt returned to nothing.

Slightly fed up with the continuous verbal assault, Baek Yoonjun frantically racked his brain.

'Can't I end this story with this?'

He came up with what was, in his own way, a brilliant idea.

"Can't men enter there?"

"Ah..."

Baek Yoonjun's intention hit the mark exactly, and Su Yeohyang shut her mouth, letting out a pitiful groan.

'Phew, I can finally breathe a little.'

Baek Yoonjun's mind became at ease.

But that also did not last long.

"I can just become the sect leader and change the rules!"

Words that Baek Yoonjun could not understand with his common sense came out of Su Yeohyang's mouth.

"Isn't that something you can't change as you please?"

"Eh, what does it matter? In fact, when you think about it, although our sign is plausible, we're no different from a Yangjewon with only girls."

Baek Yoonjun thought, 'What is a Yangjewon?' in his head.

'Is it something like an orphanage?'

Although he guessed from Su Yeohyang's tone that it was something like an orphanage, he could not know its exact identity.

"I don't have parents, and the other senior and junior sisters don't have parents, and my master didn't have parents either."

Baek Yoonjun's mind became dizzy at Su Yeohyang's continuous words, which were like a Paedurip.

However.

'It seems a Yangjewon is indeed an orphanage.'

He was able to know the identity of the unknown word.

Of course, it was a word he didn't particularly want to know.

"Anyway, as for us. When you think about it, we have no roots. So there's no one to say anything even if we change those roots!"

Su Yeohyang's spirit was as confident as if it would pierce the sky.

A spirit like that of a high school girl who could catch a tank if three of them gathered was glimpsed.

However.

"Miss Yeohyang."

"Ah, my name is Hyang. Su Yeo is my surname."

"Is that so? Anyway, Miss Hyang. How about rethinking what you just said?"

"What I said?"

Baek Yoonjun touched his forehead and quietly pointed out her words.

"No matter how I think about it, isn't it a bit much to say you have no roots or no parents?"

"Yes? Uh... umm..."

Su Yeohyang fell into thought.

At that sight, Baek Yoonjun had a hunch.

'This kid had no thoughts.'

A truly child-like appearance.

To Baek Yoonjun, who had only seen children who were not like children even though they were children, it looked quite different.

"Ah! Ah! Huh? W-well, that's!!"

A moment later, Su Yeohyang, who seemed to have realized what she had said, began to panic like crazy.

"N-no! That's not it! Ugh, I said they were gone because they were really gone... Of course, I had no intention of belittling anyone..."

At Su Yeohyang's flustered appearance, Baek Yoonjun felt a small satisfaction.

'It's my victory for being calm.'

While Baek Yoonjun was savoring a very petty sense of victory, Su Yeohyang's flustering continued.

"W-well, then I'll be off to practice my swordsmanship!"

In the end, unable to bear her own mistake, she hastily left the place.

'I won!'

Although he didn't know what on earth he had won, Baek Yoonjun tasted a great sense of victory beyond a small one.

And after that, a small question arose in Baek Yoonjun's mind.

'A sword? Isn't Emei still a Buddhist sect?'

Although Shaolin, which was the same Buddhist sect, had used bare hands or weapons without blades, Su Yeohyang had just mentioned a sword.

'Come to think of it, it seems she used a sword before too.'

As one question arose, another question followed.

'At the drinking party before, didn't Miss Hyang also drink alcohol?'

Since she had blended in so naturally, Baek Yoonjun only now felt a sense of incongruity.

'Is the Emei Sect okay like this?'

The sense of incongruity led to worry, and Baek Yoonjun quietly offered a silent prayer for the Emei Sect.

Of course, even Baek Yoonjun didn't know if the Emei Sect was in the direction he had bowed his head.

'Should I get out soon?'

Having finished his silent prayer, Baek Yoonjun stood up from the bath.

At that moment.

Creak.

The door opened, and Tang Yuhwa with a sullen expression appeared.

Baek Yoonjun, who had met Tang Yuhwa's eyes, froze as he was.

"Excuse me."

Creak.

Whether that was the case or not, Tang Yuhwa closed the door and left the place as if nothing had happened.

Baek Yoonjun, still frozen, looked at the closed door and resolved.

'See if I ever use a facility with 'communal' attached to it again.'

Baek Yoonjun quickly washed his body, got dressed, and left the bathroom.

He had definitely enjoyed the bath, so his fatigue should have been relieved, but for some reason, he felt even more tired.

And so, Baek Yoonjun, who had returned to his room, felt a sense of incongruity again.

'My body is tired?'

It wasn't mental fatigue, but his body was tired.

Of course, when he had just reached the second-rate, his body had become no different from an ordinary person's due to not being used to it, so he had felt hunger or fatigue.

But as he became used to the use of the Heart Sword and gradually adapted to the realm of the second-rate, he was regaining his old senses, but.

'My current state seems similar to when I was inside the Sigongjin and couldn't use the Heart Sword.'

When he had just come out of the Sigongjin and when he was taking a bath, he had just thought, 'The influence of the Sigongjin must still be remaining,' but the fact that his senses had not returned until now was clearly a strange situation.

Baek Yoonjun quickly contemplated his inner self.

'Fortunately, the Heart Sword exists, but.'

Having contemplated the Heart Sword, Baek Yoonjun carefully tried to move the Heart Sword.

'Why isn't it moving?' 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

The Heart Sword had definitely not disappeared.

But now, unlike usual, it didn't even budge.

'Could it be the effect of using it for the Sigongjin?'

Although Baek Yoonjun was flustered, he contemplated and diagnosed himself as calmly as possible.

The conclusion that came out was.

'It seems to be the effect of maintaining the Sigongjin, and it seems it will return to normal in a few days.'

Fortunately, since it wasn't permanently unable to move, Baek Yoonjun was relieved.

But like a homebody introvert, worries quickly filled his mind.

'It doesn't seem like it will recover by the day after tomorrow, does it?'

At the thought that recovery would take at least a few weeks, Baek Yoonjun fell into deep thought.

'The life-and-death duel the day after tomorrow. Although I'm not participating, I'm still worried.'

Tomorrow might be fine if he didn't leave his residence, but the day after tomorrow, there was a high possibility that he would have to go out.

'I never thought of such a side effect, what do I do?'

In Baek Yoonjun's heart, worry began to grow into a sense of fear.

'I am powerless now. If a martial artist who is not even a third-rate swings a sword next to me right now, I will be cut down.'

Even inside the Sigongjin, the state of being no different from an ordinary person was the same, but at that time, it was okay because he was protected by the formation.

But now, it was outside.

Literally, the outside.

Baek Yoonjun felt as if he had been thrown into the middle of the sea with his bare body.

'Me.'

He immediately dug into the bed on the spot and covered himself with the blanket up to his head.

Even so, the anxiety did not disappear easily, and his whole body even trembled.

'A martial arts eunuch!'

Feeling anxious just by covering himself with the blanket, Baek Yoonjun rolled up the blanket.

'No, I can still use martial arts, and the Heart Sword will recover, so I'm not a eunuch! Agh! Damn it!'

Fear had always been with Baek Yoonjun.

But the sense of powerlessness that came from a state without internal energy or the Heart Sword was on a different dimension.

A fear like that time.

The fear when he first saw a strongman who shattered a human-sized rock with his bare hands.

-Now, it's not something that comes every day! If you take this medicine, you'll be like me, a rock is just one shot! This miracle medicine is only one silver coin!

At that time, one silver coin was a huge sum of money for Baek Yoonjun, but unable to overcome that fear, he had bought and drunk the medicine.

'It had no effect.'

Feeling that it had no particular effect, Baek Yoonjun fell deep into fear.

At the stories related to martial artists that he heard from the surroundings, Baek Yoonjun fell even deeper into fear.

'People! I have to go to a place with no people!'

Baek Yoonjun scraped together all the money he had, bought all the household goods and the martial arts manual with the three misfortunes that Zhuge Hyun was selling, which was lying around on the street at that time, and wandered around looking for a mountain to hole up in.

And so, after holing up in the mountain, he practiced martial arts.

The driving force of fear was stronger than any other motive, and Baek Yoonjun devoted himself to training like a madman.

And so, he had become a third-rate.

'Right. It was like that then.'

Baek Yoonjun regained his original intention.

'And yet now, I'm leisurely raising disciples and mingling with people!'

Of course, depending on the person, the original intention was not necessarily a good thing.

'Don't forget. The fear of martial artists. The fear of people.'

In Baek Yoonjun's case, it could be said that he had reached the extreme even among that bad side.

Baek Yoonjun continued to repeat to himself.

The fear of martial artists, the craving for martial arts.

And.

'I want to go home and hole up in a corner of my room.'

He repeated his true feelings based on his original intention.

For some reason, this part remained unchanged even after becoming a martial artist.

And so, time passed.

'I can't fall asleep now! If I fall asleep, I don't know what will happen!'

Unable to overcome his drowsiness, Baek Yoonjun fell asleep.

Perhaps because of the mental fatigue from the weakened body and fear, he fell into a deep sleep, to the point that he wouldn't know if someone carried him away.

And so, as Baek Yoonjun was sleeping deeply.

Creak.

The door of Baek Yoonjun's residence opened.

Swoosh.

A figure stepped into the dark room.