Did they say that when a person sees a truly absurd sight, their body reacts on its own?

That was exactly how I felt right now.

"This is a really funny bastard. Who's calling who shameless?"

Even while stepping on Namgung Gipyo, I found it ridiculous.

"J-Jin Sowoon...!"

With his neck stepped on, Namgung Gipyo squirmed like an earthworm.

I put more strength into my foot.

"Lady Seonhwa, why are you just listening to this useless talk?"

"..."

Even at my words, she still couldn't easily raise her head.

I deliberately spoke firmly.

"If you keep your head bowed like that, won't it sound exactly like this guy's words are true?"

Only then did Namgung Seonhwa raise her head.

Her eyes seemed to hold complex emotions.

"Could it be that because of the 'guest invitation' you mentioned before, you were trying not to offend this guy?"

Namgung Seonhwa gave a small nod.

"... I wanted to be of even a little help to Young Master Jin, and I thought it would be better if my grandfather came, just in case..."

That transparent and pure goodwill directed toward me.

A smile formed on my lips before I knew it.

"Lady Seonhwa. I do not want to see you suffer humiliation from an idiot like this because of me."

"I-Idiot...? Jin Sowoon! Release me this instant! Keuheok!"

I kicked the struggling Namgung Gipyo in the face one more time and continued.

"Well, such a thing will absolutely never happen, but I would rather lose the representative position than want anything bad to happen to Lady Seonhwa."

"..."

When I looked into her eyes, she also met my gaze.

I informed her with a clear voice.

"Because to me, Lady Namgung Seonhwa is more important than something like the representative position."

"...!"

From my perspective, developing a close relationship with Namgung Seonhwa was just as important as the representative position.

Because to receive help in the future Orthodox-Demonic Great War, the Namgung Clan's assistance would be desperately needed above all else.

I even prevented the situation where the Namgung Clan was almost half-destroyed by passing on the Destruction Form; wouldn't it be unfair if I couldn't properly use that debt in the Orthodox-Demonic Great War?

"R-Really?"

Namgung Seonhwa looked at me with her face dyed red, as if she couldn't believe it.

"Of course."

A direct descendant of the Namgung Clan, I can absolutely never let her go.

I nodded my head several times for her.

FLUSH.

Perhaps the shame she had endured from Namgung Gipyo's contempt had come rushing in, as Namgung Seonhwa's face flushed even redder.

I deliberately averted my gaze for her sake.

"And even without looking good to a weasel like this, I can easily topple those bastards from the White Path Council."

"W-Weasel?! Jin Sowoon, are you talking about me?!"

I lightly ignored the guy squirming below me.

"So could you promise me that you won't suffer humiliation from a guy like this in the future?"

"..."

Namgung Seonhwa, dyed red all the way to her ears, nodded.

As expected, she is a reliable person who communicates well.

"Good. Then, let us go together."

"Pardon?"

"I will show you how I clean up the White Path Council."

"... Okay."

As I took a few steps forward, Namgung Gipyo, who had been pinned to the floor in subjugation, suddenly jumped up.

"Jin Sowoon! No matter how strong you are, did you think you could just trample me and walk away?"

SHING.

With a footprint left on his face, Namgung Gipyo drew his sword while huffing in anger.

Those consumed by emotion always make the wrong judgment like that.

I pointed at him with my chin and looked at Namgung Seonhwa.

"You should shake off the bad things you heard earlier, right?"

At my words, her eyes sparkled.

"Yes."

When Namgung Seonhwa turned around, Namgung Gipyo laughed coldly.

"Seonhwa! Do you truly intend to turn your back on the family?"

Despite his provocation, she did not flinch.

"I have never turned my back on the family."

Then, she looked at me once and continued.

"Rather, this is the best choice for the family."

"Foolish!"

As Namgung Gipyo unleashed the Cangqiong Boundless Sword Technique and charged in, Namgung Seonhwa's white jade-like hand reached forward.

BAM!

"Heueok...!"

There was no need to even use the Cangqiong Unwi Sword Technique.

Struck directly by the Heavenly Thunder Three Palms, Namgung Gipyo rolled his eyes back, flew five jang away, and fainted.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

"Excellent."

This is how an officer of mine should be.

* * *

"This is..."

The place she arrived at by following Jin Sowoon.

Namgung Seonhwa, who was looking around, let out a question.

"It's a dormitory."

The Murim Academy assigned dormitories based on grades every semester.

Because of this, most of the personnel who swept the top grades were concentrated in the Orthodox Council and the White Path Council.

In particular, the Orthodox Council members considered it a disgrace for themselves to fall below a two-person room dormitory.

"And the Orthodox Pavilion at that."

Because of this, the two-person room dormitory was often called the Orthodox Pavilion.

"That's right. Because there's someone I need to meet here."

"Someone you need to meet?"

Looking at the puzzled Namgung Seonhwa, the corners of Jin Sowoon's mouth curled up into a smirk.

"The person who will be taking responsibility for this situation."

Upon entering the two-person room dormitory, sure enough, people sent flustered gazes at the appearance of Jin Sowoon and Namgung Seonhwa.

Because neither of them had any connection to the Orthodox Pavilion.

Even so, there was no one who stopped or blocked the two.

No, rather, there were occasionally those who gave a nod of greeting and acted like they knew them.

Namgung Seonhwa remembered them too.

They were the very ones who had experienced the incident in Sichuan together with them.

Unbothered by the gathering gazes tinged with goodwill, Jin Sowoon strode through the Orthodox Pavilion.

"Hmm... They definitely said room 404."

Jin Sowoon, who had climbed the stairs without hesitation, banged on the door in front of one dorm room.

It was an imposing momentum, almost as if a creditor had come to visit a debtor.

Before long, signs of presence could be heard from inside.

"Who is causing such a disturbance..."

With that answer, the door opened quietly, and someone wearing monk's robes appeared.

"He is currently cultivating, so please visit another time..."

"Hey! Ilgak is in there, right?"

"..."

At the unhesitating tone, the eyes of the one wearing monk's robes trembled faintly.

No matter how young he was or how low his standing in Jianghu might be, the position of Ilgak, who had learned the Muscle-Changing Classic, could not be compared to the ordinary.

Yet to call out someone who had accumulated such Buddhist power like a neighborhood ruffian.

The Shaolin Sect disciple tried his best to maintain his courtesy as he opened his mouth, but...

"Academy student Jin Sowoon. You are being too rude. The monk is currently cultivating..."

Jin Sowoon waved his hand as if shooing away a fly.

"Whatever. Tell him to clear his karma before he cultivates."

"... Karma?"

"Yeah, massive karma. Tell him it'll be hard to go to paradise if he doesn't clear it."

Fine wrinkles formed on the scalp of the Shaolin Sect disciple.

"... Are you insulting the Buddha right now?"

Jin Sowoon stared at those wrinkles as if fascinated, then soon furrowed his brow.

"Just pass on the message, hurry up. It's urgent."

"..."

The academy student, whose eyes were trembling slightly, closed the door.

"Young Master Jin. What on earth are you..."

Namgung Seonhwa could not make sense of the situation that had just unfolded.

Ilgak was practically the spiritual pillar of the Orthodox Council right now.

Which meant he was no different from the one practically leading the Orthodox Council.

If Jin Sowoon had not taken the representative position, the representative of the Murim Academy this time would have been Ilgak.

That was why the Orthodox Council also faithfully followed Ilgak.

However, to show such rude behavior to that Ilgak...

Sure enough, a commotion gradually began to arise.

"What on earth is going on?"

"Jin Sowoon came looking for Ilgak just now?"

"What? Why him?"

People poked their heads out from other dorm rooms one by one, casting wary glances.

It was a situation where those who had begun to send favorable glances toward Jin Sowoon because of the Sichuan incident might turn away again.

The moment needless anxiety was about to rise in Namgung Seonhwa's heart.

CREAK.

The door opened, revealing the inside of the dorm room.

In the center, Ilgak was reciting Buddhist scriptures with his back turned.

The Shaolin Sect monk gestured to the two of them.

"Please come in."

Guided by the reluctant monk, they went inside, and the faint scent of incense that one would smell in a Buddhist hall wafted over them.

"Benefactor Jin."

Before long, Ilgak, who had slowly turned around to sit facing them, looked at Jin Sowoon with a smile.

However, Jin Sowoon frowned as if he had chewed on shit and spoke.

"Hey, I told you I'm not a Benefactor."

Ilgak pressed his palms together, pretending not to hear.

"What brings the Benefactor all the way here? Could it be that you have developed an interest in the Buddha's will?"

"I don't know if it's the Buddha's will, but I've run into a somewhat difficult situation right now. I'm fine with it, but people around me are worrying so much."

Ilgak asked with a feigned innocent expression.

"Hmm... What matter is causing this?"

"Oh, come on, how about we talk without pretending you don't know?"

"Hmm... I simply have no idea."

As Ilgak tilted his head, Jin Sowoon took a step toward him.

"Strictly speaking, isn't this current issue because of the Orthodox Council?"

Ilgak let out a needless dry cough.

"Keu-heum, what do you... While the White Path Council and the Orthodox Council may cooperate, they are not in a relationship that closely influences one another."

A despicable smile was drawn on Jin Sowoon's lips.

"So you did know, as expected."

"Keu-heum... ahem."

"To feign ignorance like that. Aren't you ashamed to face the Buddha?"

At Jin Sowoon's sarcasm, the monk watching from the side interjected.

"Even if you are Representative Jin, how dare you say such things...!"

However, Ilgak raised his hand to stop the monk from speaking, and Jin Sowoon, seemingly uncaring, continued to only look at Ilgak.

"Benefactor Jin, Benefactor Jin will face ruin one day because of that mouth."

"My very existence is already something meant for ruin, so if I actually face ruin because of my mouth, it wouldn't be unfair for me at all."

Ilgak let out a long sigh, as if realizing he could not possibly win with words.

"Anyway, this current issue is not something the Orthodox Council can step into. In the first place, that friend Zhuge Jeonggi is not someone who will move just because of my words."

"Ah, that's not what I want."

A look of puzzlement appeared on Ilgak's face.

"Hm? Then what..."

Jin Sowoon leaned against the bed with a relaxed gesture and spoke.

"Join the representative officers."

"Gasp!"

"...!"

The monk and Namgung Seonhwa widened their eyes in shock at Jin Sowoon's words.

No matter if it was an officer position, there was the symbolism Ilgak held within the Orthodox Council.

That was simply impossible.

Even if Zhuge Jeonggi were to drive Jin Sowoon out and take the representative position, considering there was absolutely no chance Ilgak would join the White Path Council's representative officers, this was utterly ridiculous.

"What kind of bullshit..."

At the monk's rough expression that seemed to speak for everyone's feelings, Namgung Seonhwa nodded without realizing it.

However, Jin Sowoon shrugged his shoulders, as if wondering what the problem was.

"If the Orthodox Council hadn't screwed up in Sichuan in the first place, there would have been no reason for the White Path Council to step up like that. Isn't that right, Monk?"

"... Groan."

Jin Sowoon pointed his finger at Ilgak and the monk, tapping the air as he continued.

"If I had simply neglected the Orthodox Council dying to the Blood Cult's dark plot, there would be no reason for the White Path Council to act up trying to steal the empty seat like that. Isn't that right, Monk?"

At Jin Sowoon's pointing it out, beads of sweat began to form on Ilgak's shiny forehead.

Watching the beads of sweat roll down quite elegantly, Jin Sowoon drove the wedge in.

"If I hadn't dealt with the Iron-Clad Corpses that the Shaolin Sect and the Mount Cangshan Sect ran into, the White Path Council wouldn't have stepped up like that either. Don't you think so, Monk?"

"..."

Jin Sowoon pushed Ilgak, who still remained silent, even further.

"According to the words of the Buddha..."

"Enough... Please stop, Benefactor Jin. I have understood what Benefactor Jin is trying to say."

Unlike Jin Sowoon, who was grinning, Ilgak was making an agonizing expression as if he were engulfed in immense worldly anguish.

"Benefactor Jin... Rather than me, someone else who possesses representation for the Orthodox Council..."

"Denied! I won't accept them!"

"Or if the Orthodox Council officially supports Benefactor Jin..."

"Denied! I don't need empty support."

At Jin Sowoon's firm attitude, Ilgak let out another long sigh.

"Benefactor Jin..."

However, Jin Sowoon's mouth did not know how to stop.

"Think about it carefully. Think of how much internal chaos there has been all this time just to claim one representative position."

Jin Sowoon intentionally touched on Ilgak's core issue.

"Is that truly the 'path for the Buddha'? Now is the time to make a decision for the greater good."

"..."

Ilgak, who was looking up at Jin Sowoon sitting leisurely on the bed, fluttered his eyelids.

A brief moment of silence flowed.

Ilgak nodded as if he had made up his mind.

"Understood. I will join."

"Gasp!"

"M-Monk! What are you...!"

Regardless of whatever exclamations were made around them, Jin Sowoon extended his hand to Ilgak with a triumphant expression.

Ilgak took that hand in return.

"Benefactor Jin..."

"I'd appreciate it if you dropped that 'Benefactor' talk. Let's work well together from now on."

"Amitabha."

* * *

After Jin Sowoon's storm-like visit had ended.

In the room where silence had settled, only the Buddhist scriptures recited by Ilgak rang out quietly.

It was natural not to disturb him while he was cultivating, but the monk simply could not understand what had just happened.

"Monk... May I ask you one thing?"

Ilgak, who had been reciting Buddhist scriptures with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes.

Then, as if he understood the monk's feelings, he gave a slight nod.

"Are you asking why I joined Jin Sowoon's delegation?"

"... Yes. It was too hasty a choice. Even though the Orthodox Council owes him a debt, absolutely no one in the Orthodox Council will be pleased with Monk Ilgak going to that position."

"I know that as well."

"How could someone who knows that so well..."

Ilgak slowly turned his head to look at the monk.

Overwhelmed by the radiant light pouring from his eyes, the monk almost averted his gaze for a moment, but he desperately held it back.

Ilgak softly murmured while maintaining his unshakeable posture.

"It is because I wish to know."

"... Know what?"

Ilgak cast his gaze far away, like a cultivator wondering what lay beyond a distant mountain.

"Whether he is an 'Enlightened One' or not."

"..."

The monk's hand trembled.

"What do you... No matter how amazing he is, how could you say such a thing about such a vulgar person who only cares about money and rewards..."

"High Monk Cheongwon of our sect also lived his entire life like a beggar."

"... Groan. But that person was..."

Ilgak cut off the monk's words.

"Of course, he also had his faults. Although he lost our sect's sacred artifact, the Tangmaryeongju... Even so, it doesn't mean his enlightenment hasn't been passed down to future generations, does it?"

When the story of Cheongwon was brought up, the monk could no longer open his mouth.

Because he realized that Ilgak's choice was not simply to escape a momentary crisis.

No, because he realized it was a choice for something much greater.

"Then... do you believe he is someone who will change history, Monk?"

When one person's life was changed, it was called destiny, and when the destinies of countless people were changed, it was called history.

Ilgak was saying that he was someone who would change the destinies of countless people.

At that question, Ilgak slowly shook his head.

"I do not know that."

Ilgak squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, as if recalling the past.

It might have been his own illusion, but Jin Sowoon in Sichuan had definitely radiated a brilliant light.

And that was something that could not come from an ordinary person.

Ilgak slowly opened his closed eyes again. His eyes shone transparently, like the eyes of a cultivator thirsting for enlightenment.

"I am only curious as to how far he will go. And..."

He looked at the monk and smiled.

"Wouldn't the best place to see that be right by his side?"

"..."

With those words, Ilgak closed his eyes once again.

He could not erase the smile on his lips, even though he knew full well how great a hardship he would suffer because of his choice.

"Amitabha..."

All the monk could do was recite a Buddhist chant.