Book 26 Chapter 12

Alkkagi

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In fact, Hyunwoon had thought something was strange for a while now.

The projectile technique of Namhaewang Jeonhon was something Hyunwoon had never encountered before. This was because very few people used coins as weapons in Baekdo. Although Sachondanga was a renowned family of hidden weapons, he hadn't seen such a projectile skill. Moreover, Sachondanga's hidden weapon techniques truly shone when using the hidden weapons they manufactured themselves. However, what Jeonhon was using now was a real coin used for everyday transactions. Given his personality, he wouldn't have used counterfeit money.

'And yet…'

And yet, his body was reacting to the projectile technique unconsciously. As if he had experienced it many times before. Otherwise, he might have been captivated by the first yangjeon. It was most dangerous when one was completely unprepared. So, he had pondered why this was happening, in the back of his mind. And then, a memory buried deep within his mind resurfaced.

'That's right! Alkkagi!'

Why hadn't he realized it until now? The dreadful 'Alkkagi' he had played with his eldest senior brother, Biryuyeon.

He didn't know why it was called Alkkagi. However, the Alkkagi his eldest senior brother played was on a completely different level from the usual Alkkagi. In regular Alkkagi, one flicks white and black stones with their fingers, and the one whose stone is flicked out of the Go board first loses. But it wasn't like that with the Alkkagi his eldest senior brother played.

First, he would line up ten Jujakdan members ten paces away.

Then, he would place the same number of Go stones on the Go board. And then, resting his chin in one hand, he would hum a tune and flick the Go stones.

Those Go stones would then fly at immense speed, as if they were lightning. One had to skillfully block them with a sword.

The power of those Go stones was such that once, when he dodged an Alkkagi attack, the stone burrowed straight into the rock behind him. Getting hit directly by something like that could be fatal. However, his eldest senior brother would dismiss their anxiety and fear with a simple remark, "Don't worry, I adjusted the strength so you won't die."

Playing Alkkagi with his eldest senior brother was a matter of life and death.

"Why are you doing this, eldest senior brother? Do we really have to?"

"This is what will become blood and flesh later. It's not like I'm doing this because I'm idle and just killing time."

He had answered like that, yawning heartily.

'Was it just to kill time!'

The poor Jujakdan members screamed inwardly.

"If you're bored, why don't you play Go? It's perfect for killing time."

"No, I don't really like Go."

"If you don't know how, I can teach you."

His Go skills were quite high, to the point where he played against their master on Mudangsan.

"Hyunwoon, do you think I don't know about Go?"

"N-no, that's impossible."

"It's not that I can't play Go, that's why I'm doing Alkkagi. I'm telling you, it's all for you to gain blood and flesh."

He emphasized blood and flesh once more.

"I'm worried we'll end up spitting blood and dying before that."

That worry wasn't unfounded, as the power of the incoming Alkkagi Go stones was terrifying. Then, Biryuyeon waved his hand and said,

"Ah, you're so easily scared. You won't die, never. It will all help you dodge hidden weapon attacks later. This is all training, training. It's all for you. Do you think I'm not tired? My whole body aches, it aches."

Saying that, he yawned again, "Haaam."

"To think I wouldn't understand such a deep intention from my eldest senior brother. This won't do. I'll have to triple the number of Go stones you have to dodge."

It was natural that screams erupted from all the Jujakdan members. After that, no one dared to complain. Indeed, as their eldest senior brother had said, they were not impaled by the flying Go stones. They didn't die even if they were hit, but even though they were hit by a small Go stone, the impact was like being hit by a full-power punch from a master. The bruises weren't small dots but large splotches like those from a punch. The bruises that didn't disappear for a month were proof of losing in Alkkagi, and they called them 'Death Al-bruises.' Women, in particular, hated having those Al-bruises linger for a month more than death, so they remembered dodging them more desperately than the men.

There was only one way to escape that deadly Alkkagi. Starting from ten paces away, if one could flick away the incoming Go stones and survive, they would then advance one step at a time. And only the last remaining person could be exempt from the next Alkkagi match. Therefore, everyone had no choice but to be desperate enough to have fire in their eyes.

And Hyunwoon's Alkkagi performance…

"I see it!"

Tang tang tang tang tang tang tang!

Hyunwoon swung his sword like the wind, precisely deflecting the incoming Chilyeonbiseong. Moreover, this time, he wasn't pushed back by the projectile's force. This was thanks to his accurate breathing and precise angle. The highest difficulty in Alkkagi was deflecting and dodging ten Go stones flying from five paces away. Of course, no one had ever succeeded… but still, he could deflect more than seven.

'To think my eldest senior brother's casual torment would be helpful here… Could he have been aiming for this?'

But he soon shook his head vehemently.

'It's a coincidence. Yes, a coincidence. There's no way eldest senior brother would have done that with this situation in mind, right? It was clearly just to pass the time. No doubt about it.'

He decided to dismiss any lingering thoughts as mere coincidence.

"Impossible! To precisely deflect my Maeonjeon, and even Chilyeonbiseong like this… You are the first to show such a miraculous technique. I admit that much."

Namhaewang Jeonhon's complexion was very grim.

"It's a shame. If you were to come to Cheonmu Academy, I would see you often…"

If one was a Jujakdan member, they had to be able to do this much to survive under the brutal, ruthless, cruel, and unreasonable eldest senior brother. To survive their eldest senior brother's torment, they couldn't neglect their training for a single day.

"It seems I misjudged your price. You can't get the item you want if the price isn't right."

Then, he opened another pouch he was wearing at his waist.

"What's that?"

He took out money from that pouch again. However, this time, it wasn't coins but silver coins (eunjeon).

"Ah, as you can see, this pouch contains silver coins. Because the price of your life seems too expensive to buy with mere coins. Then I must change the payment method."

The Namhaewang couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart as he had to pay more than he expected.

"Does changing from coins to silver coins make any difference?"

Such an absurd thing was unlikely to happen.

"Well, what do you think? Does it justify the price as it's more expensive? Why don't you test it with your own body!"

Swoooosh! Swoooosh!

Without any preparatory movement, Namhaewang Jeonhon unhesitatingly shot two silver coins at Hyunwoon.

"Something like this!"

Hyunwoon, whose eyes were already accustomed to the speed of Maeonjeon, was confident and swung his sword.

Clang! Clang!

He clearly deflected the two Maeonjeon with his sword. However, they didn't bounce off.

"Gasp!"

Hyunwoon couldn't help but cry out as his internal organs churned from the shock transmitted through his sword.

"Th-this is impossible…"

Hyunwoon, holding up his Cheongsonggogeom, could only stare in disbelief. Embedded in the sword blade, which he cherished and had received from his sect, were two coins.

"What in the world…"

When he had used coins just a moment ago, he could definitely deflect them. And they were definitely deflected. But this time, although the speed was the same, the force contained within was entirely different.

To so cleanly pierce a sword infused with sword qi… It was impossible without a significant amount of compressed qi being infused. That's right. At least…

"Could it be… Geomgang?"

Hyunwoon uttered the words without realizing it. Without that level, one couldn't easily pierce metal like tofu.

"You're correct. More precisely, you should say 'Jeongang'."

It meant qi infused into money.

"This is my ultimate technique, 'Talmyeongmaehongganggijeon'! It's a secret payment method that I can guarantee will save anyone's life. A flash of a spear that pierces everything, impossible to block!"

It was this Ganggijeon that had broken Namgungsansan's sword just a moment ago.

"To infuse Ganggi into coins and shoot them…"

For Hyunwoon, who had always thought that Ganggi was typically infused into swords, sabers, or rarely, spears, this was a tremendous shock.

"Against this Ganggijeon, almost all defenses are useless. Now, can you truly withstand the baptism of this Ganggijeon?"

"Kruugh…"

Honestly, he wasn't confident.

"It seems your life will be priced soon! Don't you think so?"

Again, Jeonhon unleashed a barrage of Ganggijeon from his hand. Judging that blocking was dangerous, Hyunwoon chose evasion over defense. Hyunwoon used the Jeunjeong to somehow evade the incoming Ganggijeon. It was possible because it hadn't tripled in speed. However, he couldn't do anything if he just kept evading. Hyunwoon gritted his teeth.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! If you use Ganggi, I have no choice but to respond with the same Ganggi!"

The sword qi that had gathered on Hyunwoon's Cheongsonggogeom emitted a clearer light, forming a bluish Ganggi.

"To be able to use Geomgang at your age, the reputation of Cheonmu Gurong was not in vain. However, even if it's the same Ganggi, the concentration is different!"

Fwooosh!

As if challenging him to block it if he could, Jeonhon's Talmyeongmaehongganggijeon flew towards Hyunwoon's front.

"I've already seen through it!"

Hyunwoon slashed through space with his Geomgang-infused sword to deflect the incoming Ganggijeon. However, that Ganggijeon suddenly dropped downwards. The Ganggijeon, which had been aimed at his chest, suddenly changed course and attacked his danjeon. Hyunwoon hastily changed the trajectory of his sword to block the attack.

Kaang!

A fearsome roar echoed.

"Kruugh!"

Hyunwoon almost vomited blood. The terrifying force had shaken his internal organs. Sharply changing the sword's trajectory had been a mistake. And moreover…

'Did it suddenly get faster?'

The speed as it dropped and flew was much faster than any speed before. He had almost missed it.

Furthermore, the sword blade was also damaged.

'Did I lose in terms of power…'

It seemed that the intensity of the Ganggi, concentrated on a single point of the Ganggijeon, had surpassed the intensity of his Geomgang. If they had the same level of internal energy, concentrating Ganggi on a single coin would be much stronger in terms of intensity than covering the entire blade with Ganggi. The Ganggi concentrated on a single point had pierced Hyunwoon's Ganggi like the tip of a needle.

'Beyond swiftness, extreme swiftness!'

Namhaewang Jeonhon's Talmyeongmaehongjeon, which takes 'extreme swiftness' as its foundation, was the worst possible opponent for the Mudang Sword, which uses 'yielding strength to overcome hardness' (nayugijeong) as its core principle. They could be called natural enemies.

'And with unexpected changes…'

He thought he had overcome the crisis, but the situation was once again turning unfavorable for Hyunwoon.

'I need to find a way, a way.'

If it continued like this, Hyunwoon's inevitable defeat was as clear as daylight.

'The ultimate art of the Taegeuk Hyegeom, is that the only way left?'