There’s a Monster Inside Me Chapter 2

There’s a Monster Inside Me

Chapter 2

After grabbing Ilpae’s fist, I could gauge the difference.

I was merely a twelve-year-old boy while Ilpae, Ipae, and Sampae were fully grown young men over sixteen.

No wonder I was always getting beaten up.

In my first year at Thousand-Year School, physical training was undoubtedly what I did most.

I grumbled about why a divine person (神人) who needed to develop spiritual power would need physical training, but the academy’s teaching was that one needed a healthy body and mind to attain high spiritual power.

Therefore, all students at Thousand-Year School had to practice martial arts.

During my school days, though not outstanding, I wasn’t clumsy.

So the movements of neighborhood thugs appeared as slow as smoke rising from an extinguished candle.

There was just one problem.

The knuckles that blocked the punch were throbbing.

My young body, malnourished and only reading books, was extremely fragile.

“To struggle against something this insignificant…!”

I clicked my tongue at myself.

I was truly pathetic in my childhood.

To think I only hid like a mouse rather than train despite suffering like this!

“You blocked it? You bastard!”

Ilpae’s angry fist flew toward my chin. It was a decisive blow, but I could clearly see even the subtly changing angle.

As I bent my waist backward and took a step back, Ilpae lost his balance.

“Huh? Wh-what…?”

My foot struck the upper lip of the surprised Ilpae.

CRACK!

I heard something breaking.

Ilpae’s widely opened eyes remained motionless for a while.

“Ugh… urgh…!”

After a bout of convulsions, one tooth fell out.

“If I had applied more force, you could have died.”

I let him know I had shown mercy.

“You son of a bitch!”

“You really want to die, huh?”

Ipae and Sampae thought I had changed, instead they judged that Ilpae had done something stupid.

The two attacked me at once.

Ipae’s fist came up to my face while Sampae simultaneously kicked at my stomach with his knee.

Or rather, they tried. It was an attack far too slow to hit me.

I twisted the approaching fist with my palm and also pushed away the incoming knee.

Almost simultaneously, I jabbed three fingers together into the pressure points below their chins.

“HUP!”

“KUK!”

Their sounds disappeared after a surprised intake of breath. Their faces turned blue in an instant.

I was panting heavily myself.

“Bullying someone small and weak, isn’t that cowardly? Bowing to the strong and trampling the weak… don’t live like that in this world. HUFF HUFF….”

I caught my breath while dusting off my dirt-covered clothes.

All three lying on the ground stared at me as if they had seen a ghost.

A Ghost….

Yes,Having died and come back to life, it wasn’t completely nonsense.

Leaving behind their bulging eyes, I walked out of the village.

I crossed the hill behind the village and walked for quite a while more.

In the distance, a tall rocky mountain appeared.

Matching the steep mountain terrain that seemed sheer, various plants grew abundantly.

“HAAAH….”

I took in a deep breath while flaring my nostrils. Countless fragrances rushed in.

The sixth sense (六感) that reaches the divine beyond the five human senses.

To reach that level, students of Thousand-Year School performed sensory training that transcended limits.

I was particularly sensitive to smell.

Moving from place to place, I analyzed and interpreted everything entering my nostrils in detail. And finally, I found the scent I wanted.

“Let’s go!”

Using a broken branch as a walking stick, I poked the ground firmly.

There was no hesitation in my steps as I entered the distant forest.

I wandered deep in the mountains where even light couldn’t reach for quite some time.

The scent I was looking for was strong in the deep shade where a large cliff protruded.

I approached carefully so as not to damage the roots.

I saw flowers.

Small, white, fluffy flowers were blooming softly in a circle. Soon, red berries the size of beans would form.

This was the wild ginseng field that herb gatherers spend their lives searching for!

After roughly brushing off the soil, I placed exactly five roots in a white cotton cloth I had brought.

“This is enough.”

I covered the young ginseng with soil, promising to return another time.

My steps down the mountain were surprisingly light.

***

“Brother, what is all this?”

“Maru, you didn’t…?”

Yeolmae’s surprised eyes and Master’s worried gaze were directed at me.

When I pulled out handful after handful of coins from my bulging pocket, Master seemed concerned that I might have stolen them.

“Maru, at Thousand-Year School, everything from food to shelter to clothing is provided by the government. Even if we don’t have money…”

Before Master’s words became lengthy, I quickly showed the carefully folded cotton cloth.

I slightly revealed white roots covered with black soil.

“I was really lucky. I dug up five roots, sold four at the pharmacy, and kept the most robust one. Yeolmae, let’s make medicine for Master with this.”

“UH, UHH….”

Yeolmae stared blankly at the pile of coins and the ginseng, as if she couldn’t believe it. Then she turned her head stiffly to look at me.

“So that’s why your clothes are…”

Only after seeing Yeolmae’s fingertip did I realize I was covered in dirt.

It was natural to have rolled and fallen over with my weak body climbing cliffs. There wasn’t a spot on my body that didn’t hurt.

“Brother, you didn’t do this because of the rice…?”

Yeolmae had a face that couldn’t decide whether to cry or laugh.

I recalled Yeolmae’s troubled face from this morning.

Early in the morning after finishing meditation, I went to the kitchen offering to help Yeolmae.

There I saw Yeolmae scraping a small jar. I stopped in my tracks and froze.

The loud scraping sound meant there wasn’t much rice left.

Yeolmae, afraid I might notice, anxiously pushed me away.

Yeolmae, who brought thin porridge for breakfast, said,

“Porridge is best for the stomach in the morning.” 

Hearing those words, my heart burned with anger.

Ah, were we this poor?

How could I have been completely unaware of this fact?

I was dumbfounded by my own stupidity. 

Only now did I realize the situation in Master’s household!

The reason for the tight finances was obvious.

The kind-hearted Master never turned away students who couldn’t pay tuition.

If they explained their situation with tears, he would accept persimmons or eggs instead.

When food was available, he fed those children, and when there was something to share, he shared generously.

So the finances couldn’t improve.

That was why I had searched for the ginseng field today.

“Are you hurt?”

Only after Yeolmae touched it did I notice my elbow was tattered.

A stinging pain came over me.

“You’re badly hurt!”

Yeolmae’s hand was soaked with blood.

“I’m fine. Really. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

I tried to show off, but Yeolmae’s expression didn’t improve.

I quickly changed the subject to shift the mood.

“Oh right! This is for you.”

I unfolded the cotton cloth I had kept close to my chest.

Inside lay a pair of finely embroidered swallow-beaked flower shoes.

“I really wanted to give you this…”

Somehow embarrassed, I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

Yeolmae’s rubber shoes were always hand-me-downs.

Even though she was a girl, she never cared about clothes or shoes.

Had she ever wanted to be anything other than a girl who scrimped, saved, and made do with what she had?

Realizing this made my heart ache.

I still vividly remembered all the things she had given me in my past life, back when I was a fugitive.

In the bundle Yeolmae handed over were precious leather shoes, clothes, jerky, and white rice.

‘You must live. The day will surely come when the misunderstanding is cleared. So, brother, you must survive until the end!’

I still vividly remember Yeolmae’s words as she implored me with tears.

In my past life, it was an undeserved kindness bestowed upon a brother in name only.

“This is for me…?”

Yeolmae’s eyes trembled once. Eventually, Yeolmae quickly stood up and put on the rubber shoes.

Her feet were so small that there was about a knuckle’s length left at the heel.

“Oh, I must have misjudged the size… I’ll exchange them for a smaller pair.”

“No! If I want to wear them for a long time, bigger is better. They fit well, don’t they? If I put some cotton in the front, they’ll probably fit perfectly?”

Yeolmae shook her head while holding the flower shoes to her chest. 

Water shimmered in her large eyes, but she bit her lips and held back.

Over such a small thing…?

“Maru, keep this money. You’ll need it living alone at Thousand-Year School.”

Master pushed the bundle of coins toward me.

“Master, really… You said at Thousand-Year School, the government provides clothing, lodging, and food, so money isn’t necessary. I’m fine, please use it yourself.”

Seeing Master’s face turn red and Yeolmae’s swollen eyes, I couldn’t bear it anymore.

I quickly got up, saying I needed to wash.

As I stepped out and closed the door, I heard a long sigh behind me,whether of joy or sorrow, I couldn’t tell.

I stretched my fingers to rub the bridge of my nose.

A soft chuckle nearly escaped my lips, but I held it back.

***

I wanted to make medicine for Master with my own hands. 

I lit a fire in the middle of the yard and boiled the ginseng with jujubes.

I didn’t extinguish the fire until it simmered to a very thick consistency.

Waiting wasn’t boring.

I built up my strength while disciplining my body that would scream after just one hike.

In the past, learning breathing techniques would have taken days, but since I had learned them before, I mastered them without difficulty.

In just a few days, my body’s sensations and reaction speed improved considerably.

Still, since physical strength isn’t developed overnight, I would need to train continuously until entering Thousand-Year School.

“Brother, hold this here.”

I twisted a cloth bundle containing ginseng and jujubes into a small jar with all my might. A dark red liquid rose.

Yeolmae started boiling the remaining ginseng and jujubes with water once more.

Second brew, third brew… she seemed determined to extract every last drop until no essence remained.

“Grandfather, drink quickly. Quickly while it’s warm!”

Yeolmae borrowed a smooth white porcelain bowl from next door to hold the medicinal brew.

She felt like even a few drops would be lost if it were served in a wooden bowl.

Master, who drank it in one gulp, rinsed the bowl with water and emptied it completely.

“Delicious. Truly delicious!”

“Come on, how can it be sweet when it’s bitter and has no honey?”

“It’s sweet because of your hearts. It’s the sincerity that makes it precious.”

Seeing Master laugh heartily, the bridge of my nose itched again.

Before leaving, I had many things to do. 

Copying books for Master was one of them.

I visited the village bookstore.

However, there was a problem.

I didn’t know at all because I hadn’t gone outside while brewing the medicine. The fact that there was a group waiting eagerly for me.

As I came out of the alley after borrowing books, shadows engulfed the narrow path.