Chapter 34: The Slacker’s Divine Might (3)
"It's not that poison doesn’t work... hmm..."
Wi Yeonho lazily lifted his broom.
In that instant, his body stretched like rubber and suddenly appeared right in front of the Black One’s face.
“Gah!”
Startled, the Black One raised his dagger to block Wi Yeonho’s incoming broom.
But that wasn’t the end.
The broom relentlessly targeted the Black One’s entire body. A single lapse in tension, and his whole body would be pummeled. It was a fierce barrage of attacks that left no room to breathe.
‘Tch!’
Swinging his broom, Wi Yeonho spoke.
“My master once said, when your opponent looks like they’re preparing something big, don’t wait around—just beat them down.”
Smack!
Smack!
Wi Yeonho's broom moved even faster.
The Black One, his hands thrown into confusion, couldn't block all of the strikes and began getting hit all over.
“Guh-ah!”
Even as the Black One screamed in pain, Wi Yeonho’s broom showed no mercy.
The Black One frantically tried to block the attacks.
But the more time passed, the faster the broom moved—and the more hits landed.
‘At this rate…’
If this kept going, he’d end up like a beaten dog without having landed a single counter.
His entire body might get crushed to pulp.
“Uwaaah!”
The Black One made up his mind.
It's just a broom anyway!
Taking hits here and there meant the damage wouldn't be fatal.
If he could just let a few strikes through and land a single blow—he’d win.
Resolved, the Black One lunged forward and thrust his dagger.
Or rather, he tried to.
At that moment, Wi Yeonho's broom filled his vision.
Thwack!
The broom struck the Black One square in the face. He crumpled to the ground, slowly.
Thud.
As the Black One collapsed, Wi Yeonho clicked his tongue and lowered the broom.
"This guy... I was going easy on him, and he tries to play rough."
Grumbling, Wi Yeonho casually kicked the fallen dagger far away.
And Nok Mokpung, who had watched everything unfold, couldn’t help but be horrified.
Who was the Black One?
He was the head of Black Darkness, painstakingly cultivated over decades by Nok Gi, Nok Mokpung’s father.
Black Darkness was a secret organization built with massive investments of time, manpower, and resources by Nok Gi.
Though small in number, their power was overwhelming enough to handle the martial officers of both the Royal Inspectorate and the Inner Court Guards in an instant.
And yet, the leader of such a force, the Black One, had been toyed with and dropped by a young man who hadn’t even shaken off the brashness of youth.
Nok Mokpung rubbed his eyes.
He couldn’t believe the reality playing out before him.
But no matter how much he blinked or pinched his cheeks, nothing changed.
What made it even more absurd was the fact that this young man, who just moments ago had made a fool of himself on the wall, was that very same person.
“Urgh...”
Wi Yeonho grinned slyly at Nok Mokpung.
“If you back off here, things could end smoothly for both of us, don’t you think?”
Absolutely out of the question.
Retreating now would only give the Second Prince the upper hand. Ju Ryun would seize upon this incident to eliminate them, and at worst, even cause Nok Gi to lose everything.
Even if Nok Mokpung was adopted, he’d never survive such a downfall.
“What are you doing?! Kill him!”
As soon as Nok Mokpung’s command rang out, the men in black surged toward Wi Yeonho.
“Huh?”
Seeing the rush of black-clad attackers, Wi Yeonho looked troubled.
Then he turned to Mun Eunji.
“There’s a problem.”
“Ah! Where are you looking?!”
As he turned his head, blades of the black-clad fighters pierced through where his body had been.
But Wi Yeonho’s form vanished like a ghost—and reappeared right in front of Mun Eunji.
“Kyaaah!”
“I said there’s a problem.”
“W-What are you?! How did you do that?!”
Wi Yeonho shook his head.
“That’s not the point. The point is, we have a problem.”
“A problem?”
He spoke with a serious expression.
“I’ve never fought against multiple people before.”
“......”
“This is kind of a crisis.”
Mun Eunji’s face twitched.
Tied up and unable to use her hands... should she just bite him?
“So?”
“What do you mean 'so'? I said it’s a crisis!”
“Then what do you want me to do about it?!”
Wi Yeonho spoke curtly.
“Well, this just means I’ve got more work to do, so...”
“There’s nothing else I can do for you, and nothing I want to do! Just fight already!”
“Tch.”
Clicking his tongue in disappointment, Wi Yeonho stood up.
“But seriously, I’ve never fought a group before.”
Once more, the black-clad fighters rushed in.
Wi Yeonho stepped forward with a slight smile. Though inexperienced in group combat, he had something to rely on.
His master was Baek Muhan!
A man renowned as the Greatest of All Time in tormenting humans. There was no way someone like that wouldn’t have taught him how to handle this kind of situation.
“Master always said: a human can only be attacked from four directions—front, back, left, and right. As long as I can block all four at once, fighting multiple opponents isn’t hard!”
Wi Yeonho looked at the incoming blades.
Two in front.
Five to the left and right.
Three from behind.
Two from above.
“Huh?”
A total of twelve blades were flying at him to turn him into a human skewer.
“He said only four! Damn it...!”
Wi Yeonho’s broom trembled in midair—then suddenly exploded into countless afterimages in every direction.
“You cheat...!”
Papapapapap!
Wi Yeonho’s broom completely engulfed the surroundings. It looked as though hundreds of brooms had filled the world, making it feel like the courtyard was being cleaned spotless.
“Gyaaah!”
“Aaaargh!”
Black-clad men struck by Wi Yeonho’s broom were flung in all directions. After knocking out twelve in a single moment, Wi Yeonho retracted his broom with a dissatisfied expression.
“That old man really can’t be trusted.”
The remaining black-clad men who had escaped the broom’s reach stared at Wi Yeonho with trembling eyes.
One exchange.
Just one, and twelve were unconscious and down.
“Ooh…”
Even the Second Prince looked on at Wi Yeonho, mouth agape.
Given his position, he had met many with exceptional martial prowess. Even to his eyes, Wi Yeonho’s skills were anything but ordinary.
He was effortlessly crushing the black-clad elites that even the Royal Inspectorate’s martial officers couldn’t handle.
How in the world had someone so young developed such martial prowess?
“Amazing.”
The Second Prince glanced at Mun Yuhwan.
Mun Yuhwan was smiling.
“I told you he was something special.”
“Ahem! Ahem!”
The Second Prince turned away in a huff.
It was good that he was capable, but it would’ve been even better if that damn personality could be fixed.
‘And that sick-chicken expression too…’
Regardless of what the Second Prince thought, Wi Yeonho looked at the black-clad men with a face radiating pure laziness. He had only swung his broom once, but his entire body now felt slack and heavy. It was as though his entire daily quota of activity had been exhausted in that one moment.
“Not coming?”
“……”
“I’d like to wrap this up and get back to sleeping.”
The black-clad men bit their lips.
He was openly mocking them.
They wanted to kill him on the spot.
But remembering what Wi Yeonho had just shown, they simply couldn’t bring themselves to charge.
“If you won’t come, I’ll go.”
“Gah!”
At that moment, Wi Yeonho’s body stretched like taffy.
Whack! Thud! Wham!
Explosive impacts rang out from every direction.
“Gyaah!”
“Aaargh!”
Screams echoed everywhere at once.
Wi Yeonho darted back and forth between the black-clad men, pummeling them with his broom.
He seemed to appear one moment on the left and, in the next instant, was attacking from the right. Some thought, “It can’t be me,” only to find a broom swinging right in their face. None of the black-clad men could even mount a decent resistance as they were beaten to the ground.
“Urgh!”
“Guh…”
Before long, every one of the black-clad men lay sprawled across the floor, clutching a limb or some part of their body. Not even knowing how they had been hit, they lay there in a mixture of pain and disbelief.
“Hmm…”
Wi Yeonho stood in front of the last remaining man.
The black-clad man, realizing what was coming, broke into a cold sweat. He would soon join his comrades on the floor.
He didn’t even dare to resist.
“Hmm…”
Wi Yeonho looked around before speaking to him.
“Mister.”
“Ah!”
“Why are you so scared?”
“Uuh…”
Wi Yeonho shrugged and continued.
“Mind gathering these guys up for me?”
The black-clad man’s face went rigid.
Was he being told to clean up his fallen comrades?
It was humiliating.
“Stack them neatly in that corner, please.”
“Me?”
“Or would you rather lie down with them?”
Wi Yeonho gave him a once-over.
“Head, chest, arms, legs… which part would you prefer?”
The man’s head drooped.
Dragging his feet, he began dragging all the groaning black-clad men to the corner.
Watching the sight, Wi Yeonho turned his head.
His gaze met that of Nok Mokpung.
Wi Yeonho had intended to relish the twisted expression Nok Mokpung would no doubt wear—but unexpectedly, Nok Mokpung looked at him with a wide smile. Of course, it was hard to tell through all the flesh, but still.
Nok Mokpung spoke.
“Impressive.”
“Huh?”
Nok Mokpung nodded repeatedly in admiration.
“To possess such martial prowess at that age, truly remarkable.”
Wi Yeonho looked at him wide-eyed.
What was he suddenly talking about?
“I didn’t believe there could be a young martial artist who could fight the entirety of Black Darkness. But you not only fought—you toyed with them single-handedly. You’re a truly exceptional talent.”
Wi Yeonho scratched the back of his head with a wide grin.
“Well, I guess so.”
Mun Eunji screamed.
“What are you so happy about?!”
Wi Yeonho replied nonchalantly.
“He’s praising me.”
“Ugh…”
Nok Mokpung smiled.
“It’s unfortunate that I’ve lost Black Darkness here. And it’s a great shame they failed to bring down even you. But on the flip side, having met someone of your caliber, I’d say it was all worth it. What do you say—why not come work for me?”
“Huh?”
At that moment, Mun Eunji shouted.
“What kind of nonsense is this?!”
Nok Mokpung ignored her and continued.
“What do you say? Come with me. I’ll give you things beyond imagination. Power to seize the world, and wealth enough to build mountains of gold.”
In that moment, Mun Eunji saw it.
Wi Yeonho’s ears perked up.
‘Danger!’
Wi Yeonho’s mouth slowly opened.
Wearing a huge grin across his face, he lowered his broom.
“No one says no to money.”
Mun Eunji clutched her head.
“You damned idiot…”