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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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“Brother Ya, I look forward to your guidance again today.”
After pondering for a whole day, Ho Cheon-an finally faced Tang Do-gyeong at the shell game table with sleepless eyes.
He had spent the night considering several hypotheses about why Enlightenment hadn’t been transmitted yesterday.
The first premise to be confirmed was that Enlightenment doesn’t change.
In over 10 years of playing Murim Cheonha, there had never been a time when Enlightenment didn’t work.
After memorizing the enlightenments of useful characters through enlightenment quizzes, he immediately injected Enlightenment into characters he recruited as companions.
No character’s Enlightenment had ever changed.
The first hypothesis was that there might be a change in the Murim Cheonha that had become a reality.
However, he had to shake his head despite considering this possibility for quite some time.
Ho Cheon-an had done everything possible to surpass the second rate for two years.
He had taken medicinal pills and tried every trick to create the qi-filling phenomenon… He had mobilized everything imaginable and feasible to find a hole in this Murim Cheonha that had become a reality.
Still, he hadn’t even seen a glimmer of hope.
If the real Murim Cheonha had changed, he would have inevitably felt that change during those two years.
Wasn’t the reason he had spent those two years doing seemingly futile things because he was confident in the thought that [since it became a reality, something must have changed, and I might be able to find a gap]?
This was the result of two years of risky verification.
The laws of this Murim Cheonha were so solid that even Ho Cheon-an, a 10-year veteran, had failed to circumvent them despite his best efforts.
It was nonsense to think that Enlightenment would suddenly change now.
Then why?
Why hadn’t Tang Do-gyeong gained Enlightenment from seeing yesterday’s writing?
‘It could be because it was written.’
The second hypothesis was that yesterday’s delivery method was wrong.
After all, giving Enlightenment through chat is a [hidden piece].
Understanding martial arts principles by just reading sentences cannot be considered truly understanding them.
If one could unconditionally grasp martial arts principles just by reading, the greatest masters in this Murim Cheonha would be the librarians of the Murim Alliance or the Shaolin Sutra Hall.
Reading and understanding are different things.
Let’s think of it like a mathematical theory.
Can you solve problems just by reading a math theory?
Absolutely not.
You might read the characters but not understand their meaning – that’s what mathematical theories are like.
You might eventually [understand] the theory as you solve problems and apply formulas.
The principles of martial arts are the same.
Those who understand martial arts principles the moment they see them have built up the foundation to understand these principles.
All the pieces are in place, so they understand when they hear it.
Could it be said that the definition of [Enlightenment given through chat input] is to unconditionally acquire the [principle of martial arts] corresponding to [Enlightenment], one per character?
In the game, chat is equivalent to voice in reality.
So does this mean that Enlightenment must be conveyed orally for Tang Do-gyeong to understand?
“Brother Ya, you look tired… How about skipping today’s shell game?”
“No, that’s not necessary.”
The shell game didn’t matter either way.
At least, that was true until yesterday.
Although the hypothesis that Enlightenment couldn’t be gained unless conveyed orally seemed plausible, it was still his conjecture.
In fact, [giving Enlightenment through writing] was an action not supported by the interface of the game Murim Cheonha.
No matter the degree of freedom in Murim Cheonha, it couldn’t have implemented every action possible in reality into the game.
What need was there for a character to compose sentences directly in the game?
It would be enough to just provide interface options.
So, he also considered a third hypothesis.
If there was no problem with the Enlightenment, the problem must lie with the person himself.
Perhaps Tang Do-gyeong was currently in a state where he couldn’t accept anything. In other words, he is in a state of letting things wash over him.
When one is focused on something or unable to concentrate on anything else, no matter how much someone beside them talks, they can’t understand what’s being said.
When one’s mind wanders, the words read don’t remain as information in the brain.
Although he might appear fine on the outside, he could be in a state where he can’t accept information due to intense inner emotional conflict.
It was certainly an environment where he could be in such a state.
This shell game was an excellent opportunity to test this.
An opportunity to immediately know if Tang Do-gyeong was not in a normal state.
“Here.”
The cup Tang Do-gyeong pointed to contained the dice.
“Ho, are you finally going to win?”
Tang Do-gyeong’s eyes wavered.
Although there was a hint of anger in Tang Do-gyeong’s gaze as he looked at me, I smiled shamelessly.
“Brother Ya, didn’t we agree to do our best against each other?”
“Of course, I did my best. That’s why you got it right, isn’t it?”
“This wasn’t due to my skill.”
“Luck is also part of gambling.”
“You know that’s not what I mean!”
“Brother Tang. How many rounds of shell game do you think we’ve played? Hasn’t it been at least hundreds of rounds? Why do you think you haven’t won a single round out of those hundreds where you only had to choose one out of four?”
Of course, it was because Tang Do-gyeong had concentrated until the end and was ultimately deceived by me.
If one were to repeatedly choose randomly unless I was genuinely cheating by not putting the dice in any of the cups, such a result would be impossible.
“That’s…”
“It’s because you focused on my hand movements rather than the principles of gambling at the gambling table. You’ve finally achieved a 25% win rate in a game where you should normally win one out of four, so you’ve made progress as a gambler.”
Tang Do-gyeong’s eyes wavered.
It was because I had held out the Blood Jade Plaque.
“This is a fair match…”
“Is that for you to decide?”
Tang Do-gyeong closed his mouth at my rebuke.
“Weren’t we betting now? I was quite lenient with you on the first day. Each time, you uncannily noticed and angrily refused to choose a cup. So the next day, and the day after, I didn’t go easy on you and competed with all my strength, and today is the same.”
“I didn’t go easy on you at all. The fact that you won today means you gambled with luck rather than skill. Isn’t a match left to luck still a match? You chose the cup yourself and won, so how can you claim it’s invalid?”
Tang Do-gyeong hadn’t been able to concentrate on the match.
He hadn’t fallen for my masterful deception and chosen an empty cup but had simply lost track midway and just guessed without even having an idea where the dice were and happened to get lucky.
It was evidence that his mind was elsewhere.
So, I decided to apply shock therapy.
Handing over the Blood Jade Plaque and making him aware of his state so he could recover…
After pondering for a while, Tang Do-gyeong silently took back the Blood Jade Plaque and put it back on the table.
“Come to think of it… Brother Ya has given me a chance once, so how about we have a real match from now on?”
I considered it for a moment.
Which choice would help Tang Do-gyeong return to normal?
Gambling can be surprisingly stressful. The bigger the stakes, the more thrilling it is and the more burdensome.
“Alright. Then how about this? The Blood Jade Plaque and 100 taels of gold. We’ll have a final match whenever you want, and the winner takes all. I feel a bit awkward going all out against a novice gambler, given that you’ll need time to grow too.”
“Haha, you said yourself the probability is 1/4, yet you propose such a gamble?”
“It’s a rule for shell game operators to never do anything that loses money. Will you accept?”
“Of course.”
“Then let’s start practicing.”
An hour of practice time passed.
Tang Do-gyeong had won against me several times.
It seemed that some extraordinary measures were needed.
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The speculation that the Sacheon outcast Ho Cheon-an had some connection to the [Gambling God] made Black Cat a Sacheon outcast.
That fact alone was incredibly intriguing.
However, when you dug deeper, nothing was as ambiguous as Enlightenment.
Being able to give Enlightenment to others?
Just hearing it was undeniably appealing, but it was a different story when applied to reality.
Martial artists’ expectations for Enlightenment were infinitely high.
A single moment of insight could raise one’s realm, perfect martial arts, and acquire new martial arts principles… but there weren’t many such enlightenments in the world.
‘It’s not like enlightenment has grades like special grade, first grade…’
Even insignificant things, like suddenly realizing a martial arts principle about wrist rotation while walking down the street, were also enlightening.
People humbly say they’ve [acquired a principle of martial arts] when they grasp such small martial principles.
Still, others say, ‘Oh, you’ve gained Enlightenment and made progress in your martial arts. Congratulations!’
While the truck-hit Ho Cheon-an had [Enlightenment] and [principles of martial arts] conceptually separated, it wasn’t so for the people of this Murim Cheonha.
To them, martial arts principles were Enlightenment, and Enlightenment was principles of martial arts.
If one could see insignificant enlightenments, how was that different from a master?
Naturally, while learning martial arts from a master, one would also understand the principles of martial arts.
This ambiguity stimulated Black Cat’s curiosity, making her pretend to be an outcast and stick by Ho Cheon-an’s side, even going so far as to become the best Sacheon outcast.
She also calculated that if Ho Cheon-an could give Enlightenment, wouldn’t he provide at least one to his direct junior?
‘I thought he might have given enlightenment to that Kang Jun from the Taegyeong Sect…’
She had wondered if the Enlightenment he had given so far was just too small to be noticeable.
But when she investigated the Taegyeong Sect, it was not the case at all. Kang Jun had received all kinds of support from his sect due to his suddenly increased fame but had made no achievements.
‘Until now, I just watched because it was interesting.’
The dynamic life as a Sacheon outcast was quite enjoyable for Black Cat.
To her, Ho Cheon-an was a ball of yarn that showed new aspects the more it rolled.
She knew from information that Ho Cheon-an frequented gambling houses.
She also knew that he ended up losing everything and becoming penniless.
She hadn’t paid much attention to it, judging that he must have made frequent mistakes in his techniques or had poor judgment, leading him to bet big and lose it all.
‘I thought he had tried to run away to avoid fame after making a big score at Youngsang Pavilion, but failed.’
That’s what Black Cat had thought when she heard about the commotion at Youngsang Pavilion.
She thought he had tried to make a big score through gambling to run away but failed and got stuck at the Outcast Inn.
A gambler who tried to make it big but lost his edge and was defeated. That’s all she thought he was.
But the gambling skills of Ho Cheon-an that Black Cat witnessed firsthand were at a level where losing money at gambling tables seemed impossible.
Even during the magic performance, she couldn’t correctly grasp his techniques despite watching from the closest position behind him.
At the shell game table, she was completely fooled.
And what about after that?
Didn’t he toy with Tang Do-gyeong for a whole hour, even when Tang Do-gyeong was using his internal energy to the point where blood vessels in his eyes were bursting?
A gambler who could pick someone’s nose right before a supreme master with their eyes wide open, losing money at a gambling table?
He must have let them win.
But why?
She could understand if he always let others win.
Plenty of people wanted to remain hidden masters without revealing themselves.
But what about that game at Youngsang Pavilion?
Why did he lose the game that made Do-gwi a legend of the gambling world?
Wasn’t it supposed to be a game to earn escape funds?
Why did he let himself lose after setting up such an elaborate game?
After witnessing Ho Cheon-an’s gambling skills, Black Cat became unbearably curious and conducted additional investigations.
She investigated so thoroughly that she could even find out the color of the underwear the spectators wore at that gambling table that day.
‘In the end, did he save Do-gwi’s life?’
There were countless clues about the fate of Do-gwi, who had lost to Ho Cheon-an in gambling.
Ho Cheon-an, who had frequented countless gambling houses, must have met assassins at the door, encountered Do-gwi, who already looked like a dead man, and noticed the gaze of the Youngsang Pavilion owner filled with killing intent.
Above all, the conclusion of the game was so irrational and dramatic.
He had softened his heart and saved Do-gwi.
Black Cat couldn’t help but draw this conclusion.
‘Literature Day, huh…’
Black Cat looked at the phrase Ho Cheon-an had written.
Was that the Enlightenment he was trying to give to Tang Do-gyeong?
He looked devastated when he heard that Tang Do-gyeong had read all the phrases and had been agonizing all day…
And then, as if struck by some inspiration, he started the magic performance.
“Now, this is where the flute comes in!”
“What?”
“How is it the flute again!”
It was Ho Cheon-an’s effort to somehow relieve Tang Do-gyeong’s stress.
“Now, Jeong Sam, I’ll give you a special chance! The rest of you, even if you see, don’t say anything! Now, watch carefully! In which hand is the dice, or is it not there?”
Ho Cheon-an put his hand in his pocket and separated it with a subtle hand movement.
“It’s this one.”
“Wrong. One more time.”
He separated it again with a subtle hand movement, and Jeong Sam failed to guess correctly again.
“Now, this time, really really watch carefully!”
He said, making exaggerated hand movements, and in between, he threw the dice behind Jeong Sam’s back.
Black Cat, the magic assistant, quietly caught that dice.
“It’s this one!”
“Haha, wrong again. Watch carefully.”
When Ho Cheon-an opened both his hands, naturally, there were no dice.
“No way?!”
While Jeong Sam jumped up in surprise, the outcasts held back their laughter.
After seeing Tang Do-gyeong smiling slightly and feeling inwardly relieved, Ho Cheon-an glared at Jeong Sam, who was persistently searching his sleeves.
“Oh my! I’ll just roll them all up for you.”
“This, this can’t be…”
Ho Cheon-an, who had rolled up his clothes to his shoulders, exposing his forearms, muttered in an eerie voice.
“Actually, I put that dice earlier into your ear because I was annoyed that you didn’t believe in magic. Oh! Don’t touch your ear! You might get hurt!”
“H-how can a dice enter a person’s ear! Without them knowing, at that!”
“Huh, this person needs me to take it out to believe. Don’t move, it might go wrong while I’m taking out the dice.”
While Jeong Sam was frozen in surprise, Ho Cheon-an’s hand went behind his ear, and Black Cat quietly placed the dice in Ho Cheon-an’s hand.
“Ta-da! Look, the dice came out of your ear.”
“H-how is this possible! There was nowhere to hide it, but the dice really came out of my ear!”
“Puhahahaha!!!”
“Wahahahaha!!”
The outcasts couldn’t hold back and laughed at Jeong Sam jumping up with his eyes bulging.
Even Tang Do-gyeong was laughing, slapping his knee.
‘Most worries and concerns disappear after a good laugh, chatter, and enjoyment.’
Ho Cheon-an, who had planned the magic performance to eliminate Tang Do-gyeong’s worries, sighed in relief.
Humans were simple creatures; even if the fundamental cause wasn’t gone, when current emotions calmed down, their minds tended to clear accordingly.
‘Let’s wrap up the performance. Then have a delicious lunch, and after that, try to guide him to look at the phrases again.’
Just as he was thinking about slowly concluding the performance…
“Brother!”
A person from the Tang family burst into the Outcast Inn.
“Brother Do-gyeong! The family head… the family head has collapsed!”
Tang Do-gyeong’s face turned pale at those words.
“What? What happened to the Head?”
“We don’t know the details yet. He suddenly collapsed while in a meeting. The family doctor says it’s serious…”
Tang Do-gyeong’s expression hardened.
He turned to Ho Cheon-an with a conflicted look.
“Brother Ya… I…”
Ho Cheon-an nodded, understanding the situation.
“Go. Family matters are important.”
Tang Do-gyeong hesitated momentarily, then bowed deeply to Ho Cheon-an and the other outcasts.
“I’m sorry, everyone. I must leave immediately. Thank you for everything.”
Tang Do-gyeong rushed out of the Outcast Inn with the Tang family messenger.
The atmosphere in the inn became heavy with their sudden departure.
Ho Cheon-an stood there, stunned.
These unexpected events disrupted his plans to give Enlightenment, the shell game, and everything.
Black Cat approached him, her expression unreadable.
“Senior, what will you do now?”
Ho Cheon-an sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“I don’t know. This changes everything.”
He looked around at the outcasts murmuring among themselves, clearly upset by Tang Do-gyeong’s abrupt departure.
“For now, we wait. There’s nothing else we can do.”
As the commotion settled, Ho Cheon-an couldn’t help but wonder if this was the end of his attempts to give Tang Do-gyeong Enlightenment.
The path forward was now uncertain, clouded by the sudden family crisis that had pulled Tang Do-gyeong away.
He could only hope that, somehow, he would get another chance.
But for now, he could only wait and see how events would unfold.
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