Chapter 14: Believe in the Me Who Believes in You

Saaa-.

As soon as the talk of a ranking battle came up, the atmosphere around Crimson Beard Axe changed drastically.

‘Hooh…?’

I couldn’t help but be a little impressed. It was because his aura was extraordinary.

‘Seems like he’s learned some martial arts?’

It seems that even a mountain bandit can’t just become a boss.

Churuk-.

After taking a big gulp of alcohol, Crimson Beard Axe lowered his voice and spoke to me.

“Heh heh… Our little brother is quite ambitious. Talking about a ranking battle as soon as you join our Brotherhood of Mount Muak…? Originally, our tradition is that newcomers start from the bottom…”

“Hey, I used to be a boss too, how can I start from the bottom?”

“……”

Crimson Beard Axe seemed to think my words made sense and nodded.

“…Alright. Since our little brother brought us such precious gifts, we should give you some special treatment. Our Brotherhood of Mount Muak has a total of 43 members… How about ranking you at 15th?”

“Hey, that’s a bit stingy, isn’t it? You should rank me higher.”

“Are you saying you want to be in the top 10 on your first day? That’s too…”

Tak.

“Big Brother.”

I placed my glass on the ground and spoke.

“Hey, we’re martial artists, shouldn’t we settle this with more than just words?”

“That bastard-!”

Eung-chil, the deputy leader of the Brotherhood of Mount Muak, cursed and drew his blade, but Crimson Beard Axe raised his hand to stop him.

“Alright, our little brother is right.”

But that didn’t mean he was in a good mood.

“We are martial artists, so we should communicate with swords, blades, and axes.”

“Haha, isn’t that right?”

His eyes were brimming with burning anger.

“When martial artists communicate with their bodies, injuries can happen. Right?”

“Haha, of course.”

He was gripping his axe and glaring at me, seemingly trying to intimidate me, but naturally, I wasn’t scared at all.

As I continued to respond nonchalantly, Crimson Beard Axe seemed to get heated up and shouted as he stood up abruptly.

“Boys-!! This newcomer here wants to cross swords with us-!!”

Swish-.

With his thunderous words, over forty pairs of eyes turned towards me. Dongryong, who was next to me, whispered anxiously at this somewhat eerie sight.

“Boss…! What exactly are you trying to do by stirring things up like this!”

“……”

“Huh? Boss…! Don’t just keep drinking…”

As I continued to drink without answering him, Dongryong, seemingly frustrated, started gulping down alcohol himself.

At that moment…

“So, little brother. You seem quite confident in your sword skills… What rank should I give you? What rank are you aiming for?”

“Well, since we’ve started something big, we should go all out. From rank 2 to 5 all at once…”

“You’re saying you’ll face ranks 2 to 5 all at once…?”

I boldly said to Crimson Beard Axe, who was feigning surprise.

“Yes, ranks 2 to 5 all at once… My subordinate Dongryong will face them.”

“Pffft-!”

At my declaration, a fountain show suddenly erupted beside me.

Dongryong, who had been continuously drinking alcohol due to the frustrating situation, spat it out towards the Brotherhood of Mount Muak guys.

“……B-Boss.”

Dongryong, seemingly shocked, ignored the guys who got hit by his alcohol spray and looked straight at me.

I kindly repeated myself for Dongryong’s sake.

“Dongryong, you go and face them.”

**

The stage was set shortly after.

In fact, there wasn’t much to prepare. A fight to determine the ranking among mountain bandits.

Just forming a circle and leaving the center empty was enough to make an arena.

Eung-chil, the deputy leader of the Brotherhood of Mount Muak, along with the members ranked 2nd to 5th, came out and started warming up. Dongryong, who was caught up in the situation, also stood in the arena with his blade.

Crimson Beard Axe, not wanting to waste time, spoke to the surroundings.

“Alright, since it seems we’re all ready… Let’s start…”

“Please wait a moment.”

Dongryong pleaded with Crimson Beard Axe and then approached me. I was still drinking.

“…Boss. Are we really doing this? Not just one, but fighting those ranked 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th all at once?”

“Dongryong. You are the deputy leader of the Mount Hyeongak Green Forest Hideout. Of course, you should fight those four.”

As I spoke as if it was obvious, Dongryong looked at me with a frustrated expression.

“What are you talking about…? We’re all mountain bandits, what’s the difference…”

“The difference is the boss, you idiot. Am I the same as that red-bearded uncle?”

Dongryong mumbled in a low voice, lacking confidence.

“I know the boss is extraordinary… But I’m just ordinary…”

“But I trained you, didn’t I?”

“No… What did you ever teach me, boss…?”

“What did you say, you bastard?”

No matter what I said, Dongryong’s expression didn’t change easily. So, I took another sip of alcohol and patted his shoulder.

“I believe in you. So, believe in yourself too.”

“No… I can’t believe in myself.”

“Haa… Dongryong. If you can’t believe in yourself…”

At that moment, a brilliant line to boost Dongryong’s confidence came to my mind.

It was a famous line from an anime character in my past life, and I never thought I’d use it here.

With a slightly serious expression, I spoke to Dongryong.

“Believe in the me who believes in you.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“Wasn’t that a bit off?”

“Ah, damn it, why are you joking around in this situation. Damn it, if you weren’t the boss…”

…It seemed a bit off, as Dongryong, who usually maintained his manners in front of me, cursed heavily.

Ah, damn it. I felt my face flush with embarrassment for the first time in a while. To forget the embarrassment, I took another sip of alcohol and pushed Dongryong with my foot.

“Ah, just get out there. Damn it, I try to cheer you up, and you complain. Remember, if you lose to them, you’re dead meat. Just remember that.”

“No… Ugh…”

As I forcefully pushed him, Dongryong sighed deeply and walked forward, seemingly resigned.

Even though I tried to cheer him up, his shoulders were trembling with anxiety.

“Ugh… And he’s supposed to be the deputy leader…”

I watched Dongryong and took another sip of alcohol.

“He can’t even objectively assess himself.”

Of course, I had no worries at all.

**

Dongryong wasn’t originally a mountain bandit.

At 28 years old, he had been living as a mountain bandit for a year, following the boss, but before that, he was a martial artist of the Orthodox Sects.

He was a martial artist from a prestigious family that anyone would recognize by name.

Although he didn’t hold a high position there, he had been training in martial arts for over ten years since he was a child.

Despite that, Dongryong had very low self-esteem and confidence.

The reason stemmed from his time as a martial artist in the Orthodox Sects.

‘Hey, weakling. Can you even swing that blade with your build?’

Compared to ordinary people, Dongryong had an average build, but in the prestigious family he was in, he was considered quite small.

Because of that, the other martial artists in the family ostracized him, and he couldn’t perform any proper missions until he was expelled from the family.

Dongryong, who was used to training alone in silence, was very unfamiliar with fighting for life and death with someone.

‘Four people in front of me… Can I win?’

So, Dongryong couldn’t help but tremble as he looked at the four fierce-looking opponents in front of him.

‘I trained you.’

‘Believe in the me who believes in you.’

Recalling the boss’s words, Dongryong grumbled inwardly.

‘What did the boss ever teach me…?’

Dongryong had never neglected his training, but he didn’t think he had done anything particularly special under the boss.

At most, he had increased his physical training and learned a new cultivation technique from the boss.

Although he had learned the essence of a lower-level cultivation technique from the prestigious family, it wasn’t enough to accumulate much inner qi.

So, after meeting the boss and learning an unknown cultivation technique…

‘But I’ve only learned it for a year.’

…Although he had accumulated some inner qi, Dongryong didn’t feel a significant difference compared to before.

‘And the martial arts training was just an excuse for him to beat us up.’

No matter how he thought about it, the past year didn’t seem to have given him any meaningful growth. So why did the boss push him into such an unreasonable fight?

While Dongryong was lost in his thoughts for a moment…

“I think we’ve given enough time… Let’s start now.”

Crimson Beard Axe, seeing the nervous Dongryong, chuckled and spoke. His attitude showed that he had no doubt his subordinates would win.

Seeing his confident demeanor, Dongryong’s confidence dropped even more, but there was no way to stall for more time.

“…Let’s do it.”

“Alright. Then let me explain the rules. It’s simple. You win by subduing your opponent and making them surrender…”

Crimson Beard Axe’s gaze shifted to Dongryong’s arms and legs.

“…Or by inflicting injuries severe enough that they can’t get up again. No one will be held responsible for any accidents that happen during this duel.”

Angered by the sudden ranking battle, Crimson Beard Axe secretly hoped his subordinates would thoroughly crush Dongryong.

Knowing his thoughts, the four opponents facing Dongryong were also highly motivated.

“Heh, you. We’ll punish you for having a bad boss.”

“Don’t expect to walk properly today.”

“You look like a bottom-rank just by your face.”

Ignoring their taunts, Dongryong focused on planning his movements.

Soon… Everyone was ready…

“Alright then… Begin.”

At Crimson Beard Axe’s shout, everyone leaped from their positions.

Tadat-!

“Hmm…?”

Dongryong immediately sensed something was off.