Chapter 10
Although I spoke curtly, I couldn’t help but be surprised when I saw the Dongdong Brothers.
‘They have the physique of natural-born fighters. All three of them……’
There were a few guys with similar physiques in the Assassin’s Guild I belonged to in my past life.
Of course, a fighter’s physique isn’t suitable for an assassin who needs to be stealthy, conceal their presence, and track, but it’s the perfect body for practicing external martial arts.
Especially the eldest, Il-dong, had an outstanding physique rarely seen in the world.
Not to mention his broad shoulders, his wrists and ankles, which are the foundation of unarmed combat, were thick, and his neck was as thick as a bull’s. Wouldn’t he be able to withstand most attacks?
‘To think that with such a body, they’re just doing petty thuggery.’
Once again, I think that life is half ‘luck’.
If talented martial artists like the Dongdong Brothers had been born into prestigious families, would they have become thugs?
They wouldn’t have.
Even I’m like that, aren’t I?
I, who was an assassin in my past life, now sell things in the market, buy a house thanks to my daughter who suddenly appeared, clean, cook, and even sing lullabies and tell old stories.
In the end, it seems that depending on the environment, situations are created for humans, and consciousness is also defined by existence.
“Are you…… messing with me? You little anchovy head?”
Of course.
But that doesn’t mean I need to understand the Dongdong Brothers.
Anyway, they’re glaring at me with eyes that look like they want to eat me alive.
“Why would I mess with you?”
Seeing them looking like they were about to charge at me like wild boars made me laugh.
In my past life, I lived like a killing machine, so there was nothing to laugh about, but this life is a series of laughter every moment.
“Brothers! There’s no need to talk anymore. I’ll crush this bastard!”
At that moment, Sam-dong, who seemed to be the youngest, charged at me with his bulging biceps and veins popping out.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Seeing Sam-dong, who seemed to weigh twice as much as an average person, running towards me, reminded me of a wild boar. I lightly moved sideways to avoid his charge and gently tripped him by hooking my leg around his ankle.
Thump!
With a loud thud, as if a lump of iron had fallen, Sam-dong rolled on the floor.
“You son of a b*tch!”
However, Sam-dong quickly got up and attacked again, this time swinging his massive fists left and right, aiming for my face.
I didn’t move much this time either. I just took a few steps back, moved sideways, then stepped forward again, dodging all his punches by stepping around.
Only then did tension appear on the faces of Sam-dong, as well as Yi-dong and Il-dong.
“Who the h*ll are you……?”
Sam-dong, who had thrown twelve punches in vain, stammered and asked.
“Me? What?”
“Who are you?”
“A resident who moved in today.”
Now it’s my turn.
I carefully looked at the Dongdong Brothers’ necks, which were as thick as tree roots. I wondered how much those thick necks would absorb the impact.
Swish!
So, I thrust my fist, carrying quite a bit of force, into Sam-dong’s throat.
It wasn’t the ‘One-Strike Kill’ technique of the Strong Fist, but since I thrust my fist at the moment Sam-dong inhaled, the impact would be five times greater than when he exhaled.
Bang!
“Cough!”
As expected.
No matter how strong you are, you can’t withstand a ‘fist during inhalation’.
As expected, Sam-dong couldn’t withstand the single punch and collapsed, gasping for breath.
“Cough, cough!”
He probably won’t be able to breathe properly for a while.
In the realm of civilian fights where internal energy isn’t used, this trick is an excellent tactic that overcomes size difference.
Of course, it’s a tricky attack that requires inducing ‘inhalation’ and not missing the moment, but once it hits, it becomes a deadly technique where even a small person can take down a large person with a single blow.
“Dongdong Brothers. Come at me together this time. Let’s finish this quickly.”
I beckoned Il-dong and Yi-dong, who were speechless with disbelief.
◈ ◈ ◈
‘These kids…… their spirit is better than those righteous faction bastards.’
I was surprised by the Dongdong Brothers once again.
They clearly saw Sam-dong getting knocked out, so I thought they would run away or attack together, but they’re challenging me to a one-on-one fight, acting all tough.
Well, of course, Yi-dong, who was next, was no different from Sam-dong and collapsed, clutching his chest after a single ‘fist during inhalation’, but surprisingly, the eldest, Il-dong,
“Ugh! Die, you bastard!”
Whoosh!
Showed incredible spirit by counterattacking immediately after getting hit in the jaw.
Swipe!
I dodged it by shaking my head, but I almost got hit by that monstrous fist.
‘Il-dong, this guy…… is interesting.’
Suddenly, I became curious.
Usually, when a person gets hit in the jaw, they can’t react immediately.
Even a martial artist who has learned martial arts properly would probably collapse if I hit them in the jaw.
It seems Il-dong’s resilience is far beyond my expectations.
So, this time, I landed a powerful blow to Il-dong’s face.
Kaboom!
Elbow.
When the body is used as a weapon, the elbow is the part that corresponds to a sword, possessing the sharpness of a one-strike kill.
Therefore, if you hit properly, it can tear the skin apart. As expected, Il-dong’s forehead was also torn, and blood trickled down.
“B-Brother!”
“Brother Il-dong!”
Yi-dong and Sam-dong, who were watching our fight, cried out in shock.
“It’s not over yet!”
Perhaps encouraged by his younger brothers’ shouts,
Despite bleeding, Il-dong didn’t give up and pressed his body against mine, trying to grab my shoulders.
“Il-dong, you’re not just tough, but your heart is like a beast too?”
It might sound like I’m teasing him, but I was actually impressed by his tenacity and gave him my own kind of compliment.
However, Il-dong, as if offended, kept cursing and attempting reckless charges to grab me.
I stepped back from his charges, contemplating where to hit him.
“You twig-like bastard! How long are you going to keep running away like a loach?”
Ah……
Did it look like I was running away?
I was just looking for the right moment to hit him during his ‘inhalation’.
It seems Il-dong wants a quick fight, so I need to change my strategy.
Grab!
Since he wanted a heated fight, I took three steps forward and grabbed his shoulders.
In short, I ended up in a power struggle with Il-dong, who was a head taller than me.
“Hehe. You bastard, it’s over now.”
“B*llshit.”
“I’ll flatten you like a rat, you bastard.”
Il-dong seemed quite confident in his strength.
It’s natural.
Just looking at his size, it seems like he’s never lost in a power struggle in his life.
And his strength was truly formidable.
I’ve never seen or heard of a human without any internal energy having this much strength.
But I couldn’t just let him win.
From the beginning, when I grappled with this monstrous guy, I had a plan.
“Groan!”
“Il-dong, it’s no use even if you try.”
My body possesses the Force attribute among the five attributes of the Nature Meridian.
When I first cultivated the Nature Meridian at Master Yi Si-jin’s mountain villa, it was the size of a millet grain, but through constant effort, I’ve now planted a Force attribute mass almost the size of a fingernail in my lower dantian.
So, there’s no way I would lose in strength.
Right now, I wouldn’t be significantly weaker even in a power struggle with a master of orthodox external martial arts.
“T-This guy!”
Il-dong’s eyes were bloodshot.
A sweet smell emanated from his clenched teeth, and blood and sweat mixed together and poured down like rain from his torn forehead.
He’s probably using every ounce of his strength right now.
“Il-dong, there are many people in the world stronger than you.”
Squeeze!
Suddenly, I infused a bit of Force attribute energy into each of my fingertips that were gripping Il-dong’s shoulders.
Then, my fingers exerted pressure like the Shaolin’s Great Strength Diamond Grip, mercilessly pressing, twisting, and squeezing Il-dong’s shoulder blades.
“Groan!”
However, Il-dong didn’t collapse despite groaning.
I intentionally twisted a part that wouldn’t break his bones, but since I directly targeted his muscles and ligaments, the pain would be more intense than a fracture.
Yet, Il-dong was still struggling to push me away.
‘This guy…… to make him submit with strength, I’d have to rip his arm off?’
It was a bit absurd.
A big oaf who has never formally learned martial arts is enduring this kind of pain?
Compared to the Black Society guys who were groaning after getting beaten up by me last night, Il-dong had a mental fortitude on the level of Diamond Indestructible Body.
‘But I can’t really rip his arm off.’
I didn’t want to cripple Il-dong.
He’s just a neighborhood thug, not a heinous criminal. It would be too much to make a civilian handicapped.
Kaboom!
Therefore, I stopped the power struggle and abruptly kicked Il-dong’s groin.
Even the Great Immortal wouldn’t be able to withstand this.
Tell me if there’s anyone in the world who can endure a groin kick.
“Groan!”
As expected, a faint scream escaped Il-dong’s lips.
Just because the scream is faint doesn’t mean the pain is faint.
On the contrary, it’s probably because it hurts so much that he can’t even scream properly.
Kaboom!
This time, I curled both my fists into the shape of Praying Mantis Fist with the middle fingers slightly extended and struck Il-dong’s temples.
I heard a thudding sound in my ears, but Il-dong would have heard a ringing sound like a gong.
Stagger!
Il-dong, hit in the temples, immediately lost his balance and stumbled.
Temples are this scary.
Usually, fighters consider the groin, philtrum, and solar plexus as the weakest vital points of the body, but for someone like Il-dong with incredible resilience, it’s best to hit the temples to shake their mind first.
Pow, pow, pow!
But the discipline wasn’t over yet.
I felt it wasn’t enough to instill fear in Il-dong with this much.
“Ugh!”
I landed seven blows to Il-dong’s abdomen, alternating between my fists.
Il-dong vomited everything he had eaten and showed the disgrace of burying his face in his own vomit.
“Brother!”
“Brother Il-dong!”
At that moment, Yi-dong and Sam-dong rushed over to help Il-dong up.
I landed a couple of clean hits on their abdomens as well, using my knees and kicks.
“Ugh!”
“Cough!”
As expected, Yi-dong and Sam-dong also couldn’t hold back their nausea and vomited.
“As you’ve experienced, you can’t even touch a hair on my head, even if you’re reborn. In other words, if you try to get revenge again, you’ll really become handicapped.”
I showed mercy.
If it were my past life, I would have just grabbed a dagger and slit their carotid arteries, sending them to the afterlife.
However, I won’t commit unnecessary killings in this life, and since this Sodam Village is where So-yun will grow up, I intend to avoid bloodshed as much as possible.
“I’ll say it again, from now on, I’m in charge of the neighborhood’s safety. Don’t get drunk and pick fights with people, and don’t go around with your eyes full of arrogance, Dongdong Brothers.”
I turned around, leaving the Dongdong Brothers still collapsed and vomiting.
◈ ◈ ◈
The next day.
“So-yun, are the noodles delicious?”
“Yeah!”
“Eat a lot. We have to move around a lot today.”
“Where are we going?”
“To find a job.”
“A job?”
“Yes.”
I woke up early in the morning, greeted by the morning dew, and made noodles for the first time in a while.
I learned everything from kneading the dough to cutting the noodles while living at Master Yi Si-jin’s mountain villa. Perhaps because I’m a swordsman, I was also amazing at cutting noodles.
Slurp!
That’s when it happened while I was slurping the noodles.
“Is anyone there?”
A loud shout came from outside the gate.
‘Sigh……’
I knew it instantly.
Who the owner of the shout was.
I opened the gate in disbelief, and as expected, the Dongdong Brothers, with their faces swollen, were standing there.
“Have you…… eaten, Brother?”
“Brother?”
“Hehe.”
“……???”
“Please take us in, Brother.”
“Are you guys…… crazy?”