“Yes, that’s a good point… What, what did you say!?” Hyun Seong exclaimed in disbelief at Mu-jin’s response, but Mu-jin’s face remained composed.
“I mentioned it’s impossible for me to teach the other children.”
Why should he teach the others when he barely has enough time for his own training?
However, Mu-jin, having spent a decade in the service industry, was well aware of the potential consequences of such a refusal, unless one was a fool.
Therefore, Mu-jin added an excuse to persuade Hyun Seong.
“Realistically, it would be difficult to achieve proper results if I were suddenly responsible for as many as seventy-two novice disciples.”
And Hyun Seong took the bait Mu-jin had laid out.
“Hmm. You can produce results with three, but not with the others? What does that mean?”
“The three who are currently with me, Mu-yul, Mu-gyeong, and Mu-gung, have seen results because they trusted and followed my training. But what about the other children? I’m well aware that they regard me as a lunatic because of past incidents. Do you really think they would follow the training of someone they consider mad? I don’t think so.”
Master Uncle Hye-jeong coughed at Mu-jin’s blunt expression, but he could not wholly deny Mu-jin’s words.
He was aware of the atmosphere among the novice disciples responsible for their training.
The intensified training and the hushed atmosphere due to the previous incident involving Mu-gyeong were well known.
And regardless of Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s coughing, Mu-jin continued speaking.
“I understand that introducing a different kind of training in Shaolin, not the traditional Shaolin training, is a significant risk. But if I were to undertake such a task with children who don’t properly follow along and then fail to produce results, who would bear the responsibility?”
Hyun Seong was left speechless, merely swallowing his words.
After all, wasn’t he acknowledging that changing the novice disciples’ training was a risk?
“To think that this young child shares my thoughts.”
Yet the sigh Hyun Seong released was merely to conceal his true feelings; in fact, his desire had only grown stronger.
Such a young age, and he possesses such a profound level of insight. This only increased Hyun Seong’s trust in the child and his training methods.
“There is no need to worry about that. As the Ban-dangju of the Arhat Faction, my endorsement of you leading the novice disciples’ training is official. The novices wouldn’t dare to defy it.”
Hyun Seong intended to support Mu-jin, but Mu-jin was not satisfied with just that.
“That alone is insufficient. In addition to your endorsement, Ban-dangju, I request full authority over the morning training.”
“Yes. As the novice disciples are young, they are more likely to be swayed by emotions rather than rational judgement. Besides official recognition, I also require the authority to discipline those who do not participate properly in the training.”
Both Hyun Seong and Master Uncle Hye-jeong let out a sound akin to a sigh.
While Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s was more of a chuckle, Hyun Seong’s was a sigh of contemplation.
He was genuinely pondering whether it was right to grant such authority to a young child. It was a heavy responsibility, but…
‘If introducing this child’s training is already a gamble, what is there to ponder about authority now? Hehehe. Hyun Seong, Hyun Seong, you still have much to learn.’
Having stepped too far to turn back, Hyun Seong concluded that if he was going to gamble, he might as well bet everything.
It was the kind of thinking that would make one an easy target in a gambling den.
And Hyun Seong, a monk who had never gambled in his life, ultimately accepted Mu-jin’s proposal.
Master Uncle Hye-jeong, a middle-aged monk, cried out in surprise, a reaction unbecoming of his years of religious devotion.
But it was too late to dissuade Hyun Seong, who had already made up his mind.
“If Mu-jin misuses his authority for unjust reasons during training, there will be time to intervene. Until then, you must support this child in leading the training, at least until he commits a wrongdoing.”
“…I will follow the Master’s command.”
Unable to refuse his master’s directive, Master Uncle Hye-jeong replied with a bow, and Hyun Seong looked back at Mu-jin.
“Is this sufficient for you?”
“I will strive to live up to the Ban-dangju’s decision and expectations.”
Mu-jin also replied with a bow to Hyun Seong’s question.
In fact, for Mu-jin, the opportunity to train the novice disciples wasn’t necessarily a bad thing at all.
Mu-jin wasn’t so naive as to let the children’s chatter go unchecked.
“Starting today, I will be in charge of the dawn training.”
Saying this, Mu-jin slowly turned his head to survey the children gathered in the training ground.
However, the look in Mu-jin’s eyes as he observed the children was entirely different from usual.
If his usual demeanor when interacting with Mu-gyeong, Mu-yul, or Beob Gang was closer to that of Choi Kang-hyuk, the fitness trainer, his current demeanor was more akin to Choi Kang-hyuk during his time in the special forces.
‘Ha. Such a young kid with barely any internal energy, yet his gaze is so alive.’
Even the Second-class Disciples were taken aback by the intensity of Mu-jin’s gaze.
Having instantly dominated the room, Mu-jin spoke again, this time in a heavy tone.
He didn’t shout as he had initially. After all, shouting only works if used sparingly. Continuously shouting just makes one noisy, not intimidating.
Instead, it was more effective not to shout when trying to draw someone’s attention.
“Though I will be training alongside you as a fellow novice disciple, during the dawn training, I will be implementing physical conditioning methods passed down from my family. Therefore, during dawn training, you should regard me not as a fellow novice but as an instructor.”
Mu-jin’s grave tone filled the training ground, an unusual weight for someone his age.
However, there’s always that one kid who lacks awareness, no matter where you go.
A small laugh leaked out in the training ground, momentarily quieted by Mu-jin.
The thoughtless child, assuming others would join in the laughter, looked around in panic when the surroundings remained silent.
It would have been better if it was just silence; the eyes of everyone in the training ground were on the thoughtless child.
Once again, Mu-jin’s heavy voice permeated the training ground.
The child who had laughed, along with everyone else, turned their gaze back to Mu-jin.
“Let’s see if you can still laugh after today’s training is over.”
They were then faced with a smile on Mu-jin’s face that resembled that of a fierce demon.
“There must be many among you dissatisfied with me taking on the role of instructor. So, I’ll give you a chance. Those who are confident in their skills, step forward now.”
Upon saying this, Mu-jin pointed at the child who had laughed.
“That includes you. Step out now.”
The child who had laughed hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Master Uncle Hye-jeong and the Second-class Disciples didn’t intervene, stepped forward.
As that child stepped out, others, confident in their abilities, began to step forward one by one.
They were all children from martial families, like Mu-gung, who had been learning martial arts in their respective families before entering Shaolin.
Naturally, they were discontent with being trained by a peer of their age in the dawn training. They had joined Shaolin to receive the renowned training of the temple, not to be trained by a kid their own age.
“That’s enough. Good. Including the one who laughed first, ten of you. I will spar with you now. And if I lose even once, I will relinquish my role as an instructor and train alongside you as a fellow disciple.”
After addressing the children in the training ground, Mu-jin looked at the ten who had stepped forward before him. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel{f}ire.net
In truth, there was no need for a sparring match.
He had been delegated the authority over training and the power to punish. He could simply discipline those who did not listen.
However, that approach would inevitably lead to rebellious behavior and reluctance to fully engage in training.
Controlling as many as seventy children during training, even a single rebellious one could disrupt the atmosphere.
In an army of adults, if physical control isn’t exercised, there will always be those who act out. Now imagine trying to control seventy children just entering their teenage years.
Mu-jin believed that he needed to assert dominance from the very beginning to control these rambunctious kids.
Originally, Mu-jin had insisted to Master Uncle Hye-jeong on waking the children a quarter hour earlier than the usual training time to make space for Close-Range Spear Technique as a warm-up.
But at least for today, he decided to use that time to assert his authority instead.
The shouting at dawn and making the children rush to the training ground were all part of establishing control.
It was a strategy to subconsciously implant in their minds that they were already following Mu-jin’s orders without realizing it.
This was also a common practice in special forces boot camps when training new recruits.
Now, for the final step in asserting dominance, he only needed to physically subdue those who confidently stepped up as representatives.
Of course, there was a possibility that he could lose and his efforts to assert control would be for naught.
“Let’s start with you, the one who laughed earlier.”
Mu-jin was not uncertain.