Chapter 21: Harmony in Chaos

– The Value of Practice

1.

The special training in the practice room was highly effective.

With no need for sleep, showers, or meals, the convenience allowed for a curriculum of 20 hours of instrument practice a day.

Out of the remaining 4 hours, 1 hour was designated for smoking to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

The other 3 hours were divided into 1 hour each for inner strength training, martial arts practice, and physical training.

Even if I raised my level immediately, martial arts are such that if I get lazy even for a day, my performance gradually declines, so I didn’t want to be lazy even for a moment.

[Sound Technique]

[Pi-pa Kyub-Ran] (7 Stars) (Third Rate)

[Tongso Tongbi] (7 Stars) (Third Rate)

Pi-pa Kyub-Ran.

A maddeningly chaotic pipa performance.

Tongso bi.

A profoundly sad performance on the tongso.

Both naturally open human senses,

instantly hitting high notes or deafening sounds to incapacitate.

It is a martial art that aligns with the purpose of sound techniques.

Hao Mun taught such martial arts to courtesans and libertines,

and sometimes, during a performance, an esteemed guest would have their eardrums burst from a combined sound attack and die, or be killed by the skilled members of Hao Mun in a weakened state.

‘This shows that sound techniques demonstrate their greatest power when the opponent is caught off guard.’

Conversely, if the opponent tightly closes their ears and prepares from the start,

forcing a sound technique becomes inefficient.

Can effective damage be inflicted, despite the low efficiency?

The difference between third and second-rate sound techniques stems from that.

‘If one’s playing skills are excellent, the timbre itself can unlock the heart’s lock.’

With diminished intelligence and weakened memory compared to the martial world,

it was difficult to recall the old teachings of Hao Mun Zhu.

A week has passed, but it still seemed like it would take more time to achieve greatness.

‘There are also annoying people.’

Even if I wanted to enjoy the smoking room alone at a time when no one else was around,

my unnecessarily remarkable charm seemed to attract people,

with someone popping up from somewhere to increase the audience.

“Cough, cough.”

“…”

“Oh, please don’t mind me. I’ve never smoked, but they say passive smoking is less dangerous than inhaling car exhaust.”

For someone who doesn’t even smoke to come into the smoking room just to watch, it was self-explanatory.

“Could you please take my business card if you don’t mind…?”

“Ah, thank you! Please contact me if you’re ever looking for an indie band!”

As soon as I tried to sort things out in my head,

I was suddenly bombarded with business cards.

There are only 20 rooms, so why have I received more than 50 business cards?

I was scared to think about where these people came from.

And that wasn’t all.

“Here, have some doraji tea. They say there’s no better tea for the bronchial tubes than this.”

“Oh, the boss is the best!”

“Not you guys. I brought this for Ha Eung Eung.”

The boss’s biased kindness.

“Here, have some tteokbokki while you work. If you don’t eat, it’s bad for your practice.”

Jang Geon-young from Room 7 kept treating me to food.

“Sister, I came again today!”

Once a day.

Joo Ahyoung even came by as if she were stamping her attendance.

There were too many people attracting attention.

“I found you.”

That might have been the reason.

“Is that you? The one who touched our guild member.”

From the filthy Mingho Guild, someone had found Ha Eung Eung.

2.

With eyes sharp as a snake’s,

a coat with sharp edges.

A swordsman wielding a curved sword.

‘He looks even better than I imagined. Our kid could definitely cause trouble.’

His gaze pierced through Ha Eung Eung.

She did not avert her eyes either.

The man’s eyes narrowed gradually.

An ominous confrontation for some unknown reason.

The unsettling silence, which felt like something would erupt at any moment, was shattered by the practice room owner, Im Seong-tae.

“Customer? I don’t know why you’ve come to our practice room, but you shouldn’t do that here.”

“I’m the owner of Room 20 in the comprehensive practice studio. Pure monthly income 3.5 million. Vacancy rate 0%. Current sole proprietor, former chief manager of Midas Entertainment. Even now, I’m placing promising kids in Midas. Isn’t that right?”

“…Who the hell are you?”

Im Seong-tae flinched.

Although he glared fiercely with burning eyes, the man with the snake-like gaze remained unfazed, sneering coldly.

“Vice Guild Leader of Mingho Guild, Kim Chang-sik.”

“Ugh!!”

Im Seong-tae collapsed, his strength leaving his legs.

Fear was unmistakably etched in his eyes.

“Oh, it seems you’ve heard my name somewhere?”

Im Seong-tae was sweating coldly.

‘Last year, there were rumors that he had thrown three civilians into a gate without a trace, claiming they were obstructing his guild business. It wasn’t just gossip.’

If this guy did it, he would surely have the guts to do it again.

If he gets marked, not only would his business fail,

but his life could be at stake.

“If you’ve understood, get lost. Your business here is with that woman over there, not with you.”

Though he didn’t want to cave to the threat, it was a humiliating situation he couldn’t escape.

Im Seong-tae bit his lips and stepped back.

“Yeah, now it feels like the two of you have become one. Should we try here, or should we go up top?”

Hae Eung Eung pointed upward.

The two stepped outside the building instead of the practice room hallway.

Outside, around a dozen members of the Myungho Guild, led by Kim Chang-sik, were controlling the surrounding roads and buildings.

A tense atmosphere.

An air of vigilance.

Intense pressure.

In a situation where a regular person might have collapsed like Lim Seong-tae, Hae Eung Eung stood with her instrument, showing no sign of unease or wavering.

“Talk about guts. You’re in Myungho-dong, the courtyard of the Myungho Guild, and you’ve messed with our people, yet you’re playing music so casually?”

“…”

“These days, even boys don’t act that boldly. So brazen. That’s what makes it all the more suspicious.”

“…?”

“You don’t have a name in the association’s registry, and until last month, there were no activity records. There’s not even a clue like a residency registration or tax payment record.”

Kim Chang-sik asked.

“What are you? Where did you pop out from?”

Having survived for 20 years in the martial arts world,

with her gender, birthplace, and even residency all changed,

Hae Eung Eung had no past to speak of.

Kim Chang-sik felt even more suspicious due to that clean record and decided to investigate personally.

Now that he had come to confront Hae Eung Eung, he was inwardly convinced that his decision was correct.

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it. Government-affiliated Awakeners erase their identities and get assigned secret missions.”

“…33”

“Doesn’t that sound just like your story?”

“…”

“Just staying silent doesn’t resolve anything, kid. That ridiculous name ‘Hae Eung Eung’ is clearly a pseudonym. We’ve already figured it all out.”

If he had seen a foolish kid, he might have left it at that.

Without even exchanging a single blow, he could tell.

This woman is strong.

In Kim Chang-sik’s judgment, she might even be above the first-rate guild members mobilized for raids, not just the second-rate guild members who go in and out of gates.

But could that strength surpass his?

He didn’t think so.

“You need to tell me what the government had you do, sneaking into our guild’s courtyard and what you were plotting. If you cooperate, no one will get hurt.”

What if she refused?

Hae Eung Eung remained silent, as if asking that question.

A smirk deepened at the corners of Kim Chang-sik’s mouth.

“That’s the easy way, and if you want the hard way, you’ll have to make a different proposal. Bring her out.”

“Ugh! Mmmph!”

“Take off the tape.”

“Sis, run away! Kim Chang-sik from Myungho Guild is over level 150! He’s strong!”

With tape on her mouth and ropes tied around her wrists,

Joo Ahyoung was being held hostage.

“I’m sorry, sis. If I’m alive and that puts you in danger… I’m so sorry…”

A memory of devastating destruction flashed before her eyes,

a heart-wrenching recollection she had witnessed once before.

It felt as if that outcome might repeat itself.

An ominous situation.

Though it was a different world, a different timeline,

it was clear that if they didn’t respond well, irreversible things could happen.

That alone was evident.

“If you cooperate, we’ll release the woman. If you resist or try to escape… well, I wouldn’t recommend that, but if it comes to that, you can look forward to it.”

“You’ll find out what it’s like to be dragged into a gate without any CCTV as a civilian.”

In the deep of night,

with no one watching,

Kim Chang-sik had executed a perfect ambush

while she settled into her routine.

He had been consistently digging around, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

‘So, will you draw your sword, or will you escape?’

Either choice was fine with him.

He was confident.

Confident that he could win in a fight and that he could track her down if she tried to flee.

As Hae Eung Eung raised her hand,

the Myungho Guild members aimed their weapons at her.

Their faces quickly displayed disbelief.

“A musical instrument?”

“What the heck? Isn’t that a tennis racket?”

Surprised glances flew from all directions.

Even Kim Chang-sik wore a confused expression.

Only Joo Ahyoung looked at her sister with a face that said, ‘You can’t be serious?’

‘Are you really going to do this?’

Hae Eung Eung began to play.

“What is she doing?”

Kim Chang-sik was flustered.

This was not part of the plan.

A fluid melody unfolded,

and with the tempo and rhythm gradually increasing, the Myungho Guild members began to nod along, lost in the unexpected street concert.

“I’m free!”

At the moment Joo Ahyoung cut the ropes on her wrists and covered her ears,

the sound from the five strings of the biwa

swelled fiercely like thunder behind dark clouds,

and the power stemming from her five years of training erupted into a cacophony at explosive speed.

Jeeing——!

It was a deafening sound that felt like it would shatter eardrums.

Extreme dizziness made it hard to aim their bodies.

“Ahhh! My ears!!”

“Someone stop that!!”

“I feel like I’m going to lose my mind!!”

Those who had foolishly exposed their ears to that sound

clutched their heads in pain, writhing,

instantly neutralizing their numerical advantage!

“Grrk…”

Even high-level Kim Chang-sik was no exception.

No, because he was high-level, he suffered the most severe damage among the Awakeners gathered there.

As levels increase, so does combat power.

Hearing ability was no exception.

With concentration, he could hear a coin dropping from 100 meters away, but with his seven-star hearing, he received the full brunt of the biwa’s sound waves at 120% efficiency.

Soon enough, blood began to trickle from his ears, and he even suffered mild concussion symptoms.

When the playing stopped,

the street was filled with Myungho Guild members lying on the ground, groaning,

and Joo Ahyoung was able to return to Hae Eung Eung’s side without any trouble.

Hae Eung Eung looked at Joo Ahyoung with concern in her eyes.

Joo Ahyoung found it both astonishing and moving.

“Wow… Sis. This works on people too?”

Just a week ago, what had been unbearable discord was now shocking to face.

Even with her ears covered, the buzzing in her ears was still painful.

Thinking of how much damage the Myungho Guild members, exposed to that deafening sound, must have taken was frightening.

[Are you okay?]

“I’m fine, sis!”

[What if they report this to the police?]

Ah, she wasn’t worried about me.

For a moment, Joo Ahyoung pouted, feeling a bit disappointed.

But realizing that this was not how she should appear before the sister who saved her, she chuckled and said,

“If they report this, they’ll spill everything they’ve done to me. Unless we report them first, the local police won’t act on this.”

[So there’s no aftermath?]

“I doubt they’ll try anything again after experiencing this.”

Looking at the guild members crawling on the ground,

or the ones swaying and dropping their weapons,

it seemed likely they would be fine for a while.

Kim Chang-sik, with his eyes glaring at Hae Eung Eung with a mixture of fury and terror, couldn’t hide his fear.

In a world governed by the logic of power,

a stronger opponent symbolized fear.

Hae Eung Eung’s biwa performance was enough to instill fear in the Myungho Guild.

Thus, the dozen members of the Myungho Guild,

along with their vice guild leader, Kim Chang-sik, retreated.

“Wow!”

“How did you do that just now?”

“I know! That’s the sound wave thing from martial arts movies, right?”

The enthusiastic cheers from the spectators hiding at the entrance of the practice room erupted.