Possessing Nothing Novel (쥐뿔도 없는 회귀)

Chapter 78 - Shaolin

"You fought with Jihak?" Namgong Hee-won exclaimed.

He had been with Scarlett all this time. Namgong Hee-won listened to Lee Sung-min with his mouth wide open. Namgong Hee-won, who had been watching Lee Sung-min for a while, shook his head.

"What Grand Master of Shaolin? He's just a dog-like old man. I told him he couldn't ask Jihak to do that!" he said.

"Did you know who he was?" asked Lee Sung-min curiously.

"I know. Jihak is the future of Shaolin and a direct student of the Grand Master. No, that's a bit wrong... Jihak has learned martial arts from all of Shaolin's great "monsters" ever since he was a child. They are the elites of Shaolin."

Namgong Hee-won sighed as he said:

"The successors of the four households are quite excellent. But they pale a bit in comparison to Shaolin's well-established practices and masters. Shaolin's knowledge, clarity in martial arts and versatility. The people that master these three are said to be the future of Shaolin."

These were terms he had never heard of. In his previous life, Lee Sung-min lived as a mercenary and heard about various titles, but he had never heard of Shaolin's knowledge, the clarity in martial arts, and versatility.

"I've never heard of these."

"Jihak has mastered all the three. These three sound simple, but they form the base to any martial arts. It's like a secret weapon of theirs. Most cultivators who aren't even thirty years old, get stuck in a bottleneck and learn nothing.."

Namgong Hee-won muttered and shook his head.

"Every year I come to Shaolin, I've heard about Jihak. I really wanted to have a duel.

Who would win if Namgong Hee-won and Jihak fought? Lee Sung-min had never seen Namgong Hee-won's true strength. Likewise, he had never seen Jihak at his best either. However, if he had to make comparisons, he assumed Jihak would have been stronger than Namgong Hee-won.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"... I'm going to stay in Shaolin for the time being."

Scarlett opened her eyes at Lee Sung-min's answer and stared at him, her gaze piercing into him.

"What? You'll stay here?"

"Yes. There's a lot to think about, and a lot of things I want to improve. Fortunately, we met Brother and were able to enter Shaolin."

"I really like this brother."

Namgong Hee-won said ruefully.

"If I knew that my brother was such a good guy, I'd take him to the Namgong household," he said suggestively.

"... If I get a chance later, I'll go there. What happened to you?"

"Me? It's just like last year. Show a bit of my skills to Grandmaster Bul-yeong and that's all. We are all incapable of being a Heavenly Demon, or even close to one. On the other hand, I can't win against my father."

Lee Sung-min felt a little lost after hearing him..

The world was really too vast. Namgong Hee-won, who fought with Lee Sung-min, was weaker than Jihak. And Jihak was devastated by Wijihyeon. Namgong Hee-won couldn't even beat his father, Namgong Baek.

'I'm... too weak.'

Is it because my status is different? Or because the perspective I'm looking through is different?

Compared to his previous life, the world seemed to have grown exponentially in his eyes. So many people, such great power, endless competition. It was obvious. He had never experienced such incidents as a Class C mercenary.