Star Instructor, Master Baek

TL: FoodieMonster007

SNORE… PHEW… SNORE… PHEW…

Gazing at his seniors and classmates sleeping so soundly that not even a kidnapping attempt would wake them, Ya Suhyeok clicked his tongue in disdain.

"Just exhausted do you have to be to sleep this soundly in a bandit lair?"

Since the mountains were no different from his hometown, he was as energetic as ever, so he had volunteered to take the first watch.

I wasn't sleepy anyway.

He quietly exited the barracks. Torches flickered everywhere, illuminating the area around the keep as a precaution against the Horned Snake.

Spotting Ya Suhyeok, the bandits on patrol sprang to attention.

"Everything's normal! Nothing unusual sighted, sir!"

Ya Suhyeok nodded and climbed the tallest watchtower. Being in a bandit keep made him reminisce about his hometown.

Maybe it's because this is the first time in a while that I've hung out with people in the same line of work…

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"Hyung-nim, looks like a tiger attacked this place. It's the woodcutter's house I told you about before…"

"Huh? Hey, there's a kid over there…"

After the tiger attack, the trembling Ya Suhyeok was discovered by sinister-looking, rugged men with menacing physiques. From the axes and daos they carried, it was obvious that they were bandits.

"Poor kid's lost his mind with grief…"

At that time, Ya Suhyeok was too distraught by the sight of his father being eaten by a tiger to feel any fear. In fact, his clothes were still soaked in his father's blood.

"Poor thing."

"That damn tiger! Just how many has it killed now?"

"What should we do with this kid? We can't leave him here, the animals will eat him…"

"I'll take care of him."

A man who looked like a scholar strode forward, and the burly bandits immediately stepped aside to let him pass.

Crouching down, he gently wiped the blood off of young Ya Suhyeok's face, asking, "Do you have relatives or someone you know in the village below? I'll take you there." ŗ

"……"

"No? Then how about coming with us? You won't starve to death at least."

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"……"

"If you wander around by yourself, you'll end up begging for scraps. You might even get beaten to death by the local thugs. Well, you've got a good build, so you might be able to join the Beggars' Gang in Chengdu…but do you think you'll be lucky enough to make it there?"

"……"

"Hmm, cat got your tongue…?" The man paused for a moment, thinking, then asked, "Do you want revenge on that tiger?"

Ya Suhyeok's eyes widened, and he snapped out of his trance. "…Y-Yes."

"Oh? You might be small, but you've got spirit. Come with me."

Back then, he hadn't known where they were going. He most certainly hadn't known that these men were an infamous group even among the seventy-two gangs of the Viridian Forest Bandit Alliance.

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The scholarly man reached out and took young Ya Suhyeok's hand. "From now on, call me Big Bro."

"…Yes, Big Bro."

One day years later, after Ya Suhyeok finally killed the tiger and avenged his father, Big Bro summoned him.

"Go enroll at the Azure Dragon Academy. I've taken care of the paperwork, so you just need to pass the entrance exam."

"What? Why?"

Big Bro was a well-educated man, not the kind of person anyone would expect to be the leader of a bandit gang. Rumor had it that he'd passed the first and second stages of the Imperial Examination, but no one knew why he gave up a government career to become a bandit.

Big Bro looked at Ya Suhyeok with a serious expression. "To survive, us Viridian Forest Bandits need to become more educated. Go to the Azure Dragon Academy, and learn the orthodox's martial arts, their ways of thinking, and their organizational structures. It will help us later."

"…Can I refuse?" Ya Suhyeok protested, sulking.

Big Bro put an arm around the boy's shoulders and grinned. "Of course you can. Even though I brought you in when you were just a snotty brat, fed you, clothed you, educated you… but hey, you know me. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to."

"Fine! I'll go!"

In the end, Ya Suhyeok couldn't refuse Big Bro's request and agreed to go study at the Azure Dragon Academy.

"Pwahahaha! He's going to a murim academy? Him?"

"I'll bet my entire fortune he gets kicked out in a fortnight!"

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"A fortnight? Five days is enough!"

"Don't pick fights with those orthodox pushovers."

"No brawling."

"Don't talk too much to them. They'll figure out you're a bandit in no time."

On the day he left home, his hyungs simply couldn't stop teasing him.

"Alright, alright, let's not hold the kid back." Big Bro interrupted, stepping forward in the green scholarly robe that had earned him the alias, Viridian Scholar.

"Youngest."

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"Yes, Big Bro?"

"Suhyeok."

"…Yes, Big Bro."

The Viridian Scholar grinned mischievously. "How long are you going to keep calling me that? I told you to call me Father years ago. Why is it so hard?"

"I don't know, it just… feels weird."

Amid the surrounding bandits' good-natured laughter, the Viridian Scholar chuckled, approached Ya Suhyeok, and pulled him into a hug.

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"Well, we can talk about that more when you get back. Take care, Suhyeok."

"…Okay."

WHOOSH!

Ya Suhyeok's reminiscing was cut short by a presence behind him. The furball had once again tried to cling on his back, but he dodged the fluffy projectile and grabbed it.

"MREEEEOW!"

"This little thing just never gives up, does it?" he grumbled, wondering if he should lock the tiger cub up somewhere.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Yaaawn… You still awake?"

Ya Suhyeok turned around. For a moment, he thought a bear had snuck up the watchtower, but it was just Geo Sangwoong.

"What are you doing up here, Senior?"

"I went to pee, but you weren't in the barracks, so I came looking for you… Hmm?" Noticing the furball in Ya Suhyeok's hand, Geo Sangwoong chuckled. "Looks like it's really taken a liking to you."

Ya Suhyeok glared at the furball. "It's annoying as hell."

Recalling that a tiger had killed Ya Suhyeok's father, Geo Sangwoong asked suspiciously, "…You're not going to kill it, are you?"

"No," Ya Suhyeok replied, tossing the furball to Geo Sangwoong, who caught the creature and cuddled it. "I heard that its mother saved our men. We can't kill someone who helped the Viridian Forest Bandits for no good reason."

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"You're not bothering to hide it anymore, huh?"

Ya Suhyeok looked down at the base of the watchtower, where the graves of those killed by the Horned Snake lay.

Seeing corpses was nothing new for him. It was part of life as a Viridian Forest Bandit, who constantly risked life and limb against wild animals, insects, disease, and the occasional martial artist.

He felt no sadness at their deaths, but…

"I'll definitely catch that blasted Horned Snake. The Viridian Forest Bandits always repay their debts," he whispered, his eyes glinting dangerously.

He would probably hate to hear it, but he has the disposition of a tiger. Maybe that's why the furball's following him around, Geo Sangwoong mused.

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Stretching, he groaned. "Yaaaaawn. I'm tired, so I'm heading back to bed. You should get some sleep too."

"Go ahead."

When Geo Sangwoong had gone, Ya Suhyeok lay down and gazed up at the sky.

"Purr…"

At some point, the furball had come running back by itself and curled up on top of Ya Suhyeok's stomach.

"…So annoying."

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For a moment, he considered throwing the creature off of the watchtower, but eventually changed his mind and closed his eyes.

The furball fidgeted nervously in its sleep, as if it sensed danger.

"Damn, I couldn't find it. It must be in hiding."

The next morning, Baek Suryong returned to the bandit keep, sighing. He had searched all around the lair, but there was no sign of the Silver Tiger mother or the Horned Snake.

Maybe it's hiding somewhere I'd never expect… Or it could be using sorcery…

Since continuing to search alone would be futile, he returned to the keep and gathered his students.

"I'm sure you've all heard from Suhyeok about what's going on."

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The students nodded in unison.

"Good… But have you all decided to become bandits in one day?"

Baek Suryong stared at the students dressed in patched-up animal hides skeptically. If he hadn't known better, he would've thought they were bandits about to head out on a raid.

As the saying goes, the clothes make the man…

He was speechless. The sight of these delinquents in bandit outfits was surprisingly convincing, especially Hyonwon Kang, Geo Sangwoong, and Ya Suhyeok…

"Mr. Baek. Have you ever been chased by a tiger with your inner arts sealed?" Hyonwon Kang complained.

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Geo Sangwoong mumbled. "I at least managed to keep my pants intact. Had to preserve some human dignity…"

"You don't look all that human even now, Senior," Yeo Min remarked.

"These are the clothes I usually wear at home," Ya Suhyeok added.

"……" Wiji Cheon kept quiet. He was the only one whose clothes were in good condition.

The bait mixture that Baek Suryong had used on them was so effective that wild animals had chased them all the way to the bandit keep. With no inner arts, they had no choice but to do battle or escape with their physical abilities alone.

As such, it was only natural that their clothes didn't stand a chance. As soon as they arrived at the keep, they had gotten new clothes from the bandits.

"Graagh… Ptooey!" Hyonwon Kang cleared his throat and leaned against the wall, looking like a seasoned bandit. Pretending to stare down Wiji Cheon, he threatened, "Heh. You there, hand over your valuables if you want to live. If not, I'll leave a scar on that pretty face…"

THWACK!

Baek Suryong smacked Hyonwon Kang on the head. "Anyway, where's the Silver Tiger cub?"

"MEEEEOW!"

Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear. The furball came running out of the keep, jumped, and landed on Baek Suryong's shoulder smugly like it was the king of the mountain.

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A moment later, however, it was unceremoniously grabbed and pulled down by the scruff of its neck.

"Whimper…"

Baek Suryong stroked the furball's surprisingly soft head. "Hmm? Did someone apply ointment on it? Ya Suhyeok?"

"I'm not that bored, sir."

"This is weird, why is it so docile in front of you?"

"I guess it can tell it shouldn't mess with me."

"A spirit beast is a spirit beast…"

The students gathered around to gawk at the now tame furball.

Baek Suryong sighed. "You guys are never this focused during class…"

Cradling the furball in one arm, he traced a rough map in the soil with his finger.

"Right now, we're in the Tianzhu Mountain Range. This spot marks Mount Tianzhu, and I believe the Horned Snake approached the keep from this direction. After it encountered the mother tiger, the tracks continue in this direction… and then abruptly stop here. This was likely the location of the final confrontation."

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He had spent a whole day searching for those tracks, and the place where they ended was half a day's march away, proving how intense the battle between the Horned Snake and the Silver Tiger mother had been.

"I climbed the highest peak around there, but there was no sign of the Horned Snake or the mother tiger."

The dense forest obscured his vision, and the natural energy emanating from the ruined mountain clouded his senses. If the Horned Snake had burrowed into a cave or the ground, or used sorcery to hide, even he would need a long time to find it.

"We have to find it quickly. If the mother tiger killed the snake, then it's fine, but if the Horned Snake recovers and attacks a village…"

The students stiffened in horror.

"We have to stop it."

"But the search area is so large…"

"We're going to need more people…"

"What should we do…?"

A spirit beast that could hide its presence rendered their sensing abilities useless, so they would need to search every inch of the mountain.

Suddenly, Ya Suhyeok suggested, "Mr. Baek, why don't we consult the mountain experts?"

"Experts? Who?"

"No one knows the mountains better than bandits." Ya Suhyeok turned to the underboss. "Hey, lieutenant."

"Yes, Boss!"

No one seemed to find it odd that Ya Suhyeok was calling the underboss 'lieutenant', or that the bandits had somehow ended up with a new boss overnight.

"How many bandit keeps are there around here?"

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Translator's Note: Just realized that the site was attacked by Naver bots for 10 minutes straight last night, literally right after the manhwa release, so if the loading speed is slow, you know what's going on… I block all Korean IPs so they kind of just bounced off though…