Surviving in a third-rate martial arts world
Vol. 1 - Ch. 7

What are some ways to become friends with teenage boys?

That is, if the boy is a special child who lives trapped in a cave, doesn’t know anything about the world, and has memories of his past life from a hundred years ago.

There might be various answers, but this is what I think.

Feed them well, clothe them well, and sleep them well.

In other words, it means taking good care of food, clothing, and shelter.

In that sense, there was no other reason why I placed the bowl of porridge on the table and shook Ja-hyun awake.

“Yah, I told you to come to your senses.”

“….”

His breathing was even, and his lower eyelashes didn’t even move.

If anyone had seen this, they wouldn’t have thought he was in deep sleep, but I knew. He was pretending to sleep.

A little while back, I heard from physician Noh, who had seen Ja-hyun off in front of the guesthouse, that Ja-hyun was awake and fine.

And then he added… What was it?

Ah, right. I am going to send medicine with the servant, so give him something to eat before that. He said something like that.

Thanks to that, I was able to avoid being fooled by Ja-hyun’s clever acting.

“I know you are awake, so wake up now.”

I grabbed Ja-hyun by the shoulder, who was lying on the back, and shook him gently.

“Stop pretending, uh?”

Ja-hyun must have realized that I had no intention of giving up, and only then did he turn over and lie down.

Afraid of interfering with wounds, I quickly withdrew my hands.

“What is it?”

The eyes visible through his hair were extremely fierce.

I knew it. There was no trace of sleep in those clear eyes.

I was scared for a moment and almost stayed polite, but I figured that in order to increase intimacy, it would be better to use informal language like Eun-ri in the original, so I stuck to informal language and tried to smile brightly.

“Sorry. Still, you need to eat something and sleep. Here, I made porridge. Just eat this and sleep.”

On the table for two, a little distance from bed. When I pointed to the steaming white porridge, Ja-hyun frowned.

It was the moment when I unconsciously stretched out my hand to grab him as he was about to lie down.

The back of my hand felt tingly, but before I knew it, my hand was wandering in the air.

I looked at him with surprised eyes and saw Ja-hyun, who was sitting with his back against the railing at the head of the bed, glaring at me, not liking me, wondering when he woke up.

“Don’t touch me.”

Ah, yes.

I wiped the back of my hand with a shy look. Still, judging from the fact that it didn’t hurt much, it seemed like he controlled his strength.

“Put that away too.”

What Ja-hyun pointed to was the porridge on the table.

“What? Why?”

I ended up speaking loudly.

“…”

And the silence followed.

This time, it wasn’t Ja-hyun’s turn, but it was Ju Eun-ri’s turn to make an impression, who had been carefully making the porridge for him in the hot kitchen.

“Well, I do understand how you don’t want to eat anything because when you are sick, you lose your appetite, but if you want to get better quickly, it is better to eat something.”

“There is no need to do anything useless.”

Cut. My words got cut!

No, even if he cuts it off, it's useless.But isn't he being too harsh?

Ja-hyun, who had this pale look, didn’t care whether I frowned or not and just pointed at his temple with his long, thin fingers.

“Even if you don’t do this, I will leave right away.”

“What?”

I screamed in shock.

“No, what do you mean? How can a patient say he will leave?”

“See here…”

"You mentioned something not long after you opened your eyes, and that doesn't even make sense.”

“>..”

“Did you even hear from the physician? How bad is your condition? He said you were lying down sick for 5 days without even opening your eyes. I know because I was by your side day and night, but it isn’t something that will get better just because you woke up. So don’t say something odd and just eat this porridge before it gets cold!”

Should I just get a bowl of porridge and force him to eat it?

It isn’t that I didn’t think of it, but if I did that, this guy might end up spilling the bowl of porridge on the blanket, so instead of taking action, I could only repeat the same thing.

Go ahead and eat the porridge. That is how you take medicine. Don’t think of going anywhere until you are fully healed. Does it hurt? Why aren’t you answering? Did I do something to upset you?

“You talk a lot.”

Ja-hyun suddenly said.

“…”

I don’t know if I saw it wrong, but I think he just looked so done with me.

“I guess you don’t remember what he said?”

“Uh?”

Him? What about him?

I couldn’t understand what he meant and just stared at him when Ja-hyun removed the hand from the temple and clicked the tongue, as if feeling pitiful.

“Last night. Didn’t he say it? You better send me out the moment I open my eyes.”

“Ah…”

Right, I remember. Mu Myung did say it, right? And this guy was pretending to sleep and listening to it all?

“Right, I remember.”

Slowly, I nodded my head.

I didn’t think of kicking him out, so I just ignored it, but Ja-hyun seemed to be thinking about it.

Um, so the meaning of Ja-hyun was… I will leave before you kick me out, so don’t bother with these unneeded tasks and let me take a rest. Only then can I recover my condition a little.

I snorted at that.Tthis was fucking funny. Who does he think he is?

“But what of it?”

No matter what I was feeling on the inside, I put on a serious expression on the outside and extended my hand to Ja-hyun once more.

Unlike before, Ja-hyun, who was staring at the trace of the hand with a strange look, didn’t push my hand away, which rested on his forehead.

It seemed like he was just going to wait and see what I would do.

The gaze, which seemed to be judging my every move, pierced my face.

But I didn’t give in to that, and while making porridge, I slowly said the honest words I thought of in advance.

“He was someone who tried to hurt you. I don’t care what that person said.”

“…”

“Although I became attached to him since he stayed at the guest house, he was a suspicious person from the start… As a result, I cannot believe anything he says when I see him threaten a dying person with my own eyes.”

“Hmm...”

“So you too. I might be an accomplice to him. Well, I hope you don’t have such vain illusions.”

After firmly saying it, I took my hand away from his forehead and mumbled softly.

Woah, his fever is up again. I thought it was done.

“Anyway, it isn’t like I cannot guess why you are so wary of me.”

“…”

“I unintentionally saw the wounds on the body while changing your clothes. Falling into a river like that… I don’t know for sure, but it means something bad happened to you.”

When I glanced at him, there was no expression on his face.

Even though I was talking about him, he seemed unimpressed.

Suddenly, I became curious. Was this guy even listening to me?

“So the end line is, I have no intention of kicking you out.”

So don’t worry; don’t think of going out; just stay here and take care of yourself. Just as I was about to conclude it like that, Ja-hyun, who was silent, asked.

“Why?”

“Uh?”

What? I asked back, and Ja-hyun answered kindly in a voice that couldn’t be called kind.

“I asked why.”

“Why…”

I couldn’t answer and just pursed my lips.

Actually, the answer was simple.

Ja-hyun was the MC of <Return of the Heavenly Demon >. Just for that reason.

But I couldn’t talk about him being an MC to his face.

But I didn’t know that if I did try to lie, he might threaten me again, so I hesitated, and the second reason I managed to get it was.

Uh, so even if Ja-hyun wasn’t the MC to the <Return of the Heavenly Demon>, if I had a reason to help him in a situation, it would be…

“Well, because you are still young.”

Right, this had to be the only way.

Ja-hyun’s youthful face looked 5 years younger than mine.

Even if he didn’t know his age, after escaping from that hellish word, his age never got mentioned directly, so I had to judge his age by his appearance.

And when I looked at him, he would probably grow a lot later, but right now, he appears to be just 15 years old.

Both before and after possession. As a full-fledged adult, I had the moral responsibility to take care of him, who was still a minor.

This is even more so if this is a Murim world, instead of a police station where I can find his parents or put him into childcare.

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

To me, I thought it was a very wise answer, but to Ja-hyun, it seemed like he wasn’t satisfied with it.

I couldn’t help but smile shyly at the intense gaze that was piercing through my bangs.

Ja-hyun said.

“I am not that young.”

It wasn’t a very unpleasant voice.

You aren’t young, but you look young. And in reality, I know for sure he isn’t an adult, so what?

It was a bit funny to see Ja-hyun of this world tell me he wasn’t young, so I bit my cheek to keep myself from laughing.

“Ah… okay?”

“Then, how old are you?”

“…”

Ja-hyun stayed silent for a while.

“Excuse me…”

“…”

“…”

Well, right.

Because the setting is something I cannot remember except for my name.

It was highly unlikely for him to remember his age before he was kidnapped.

Even if he were to remember, it would be difficult to count the days he spent in that hellish world.

Ah, now that I think about it…

As my mind wandered over that word, I opened my mouth, and this fact occurred to me.

Now that I thought about it, it occurred to me that we hadn’t spoken to each other.

‘I almost got myself into trouble. He didn’t even reveal his name, but if I called him Ja-hyun without him telling…’

When we first met, it was clear that he was angry with me.

‘Woah, it is so annoying to picture him angry.’

In that sense, I thought it would be better to have a clear talk with me before I made any mistakes.

After coming to that conclusion, I was just about to speak.

“You?”

Ja-hyun was a step ahead and said.

“Me?”

“Yes, you. How old are you this year?”

“”Ah, age… I will be 20 this year.”

20

By this standard, I was at the age where it wouldn’t be odd to be married and have kids.

Of course, it is said that the kids of famous families are trained in martial arts, be they men or women, but unlike them, I am an ordinary person who doesn't even have any martial arts skills.

Lately, my stress has been at its peak because Ju Cheol-rim has been pushing me into marrying.

But I decided not to show all those uncomfortable feelings within me and answered with a calm expression.

“Then I will be 20 too.”

So at least that is what I thought until I heard that statement.