CLS-Chapter 196

Chapter 196

Cho Hyeon cleared his throat to lighten the atmosphere and continued speaking.

“Fame is of little use within one’s household. But outside the home, that’s a different story. Haven’t you seen how your father is treated outside the house?”

“I have.”

“And how was it?”

Wei Yan-ho seemed to ponder for a moment before opening his mouth.

“He got beaten by the military officer and ended up with black eyes…”

“Stop.”

Cho Hyeon raised his hand to cut off Wei Yan-ho’s words.

Then he silently poured tea into the empty teacup.

They say you never know how worldly affairs will turn out, but thoughtless actions come back like this.

His disgust toward Wei Yan-ho and the renewed guilt toward Wei Jeong-han left Cho Hyeon unable to do anything.

‘Back to basics, back to basics.’

Cho Hyeon gritted his teeth after calming his insides with tea and continued.

“A-anyway, fame is that important. You may not fully grasp it yet, but in the martial world, fame is extremely convenient. That’s why martial artists make every effort possible to gain fame. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“I think I get it roughly.”

Cho Hyeon smiled with satisfaction.

Though the slippery fellow kept dodging well, everyone knew that loach wasn’t actually stupid. Being clever, no matter how much he tried to avoid it, he wouldn’t be able to pretend not to understand the core meaning hidden in Cho Hyeon’s words.

“You are lazy. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

Wei Yan-ho answered confidently, as if he felt not a shred of shame about being lazy.

“Being lazy is not good. But for you alone, it’s already meaningless to discuss laziness. No matter what anyone says, it won’t be fixed, and you don’t think being lazy is a problem yourself. Isn’t that right?”

“Hey, no matter how worthless I am, I do think being lazy is a problem.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“I just have no will to fix it.”

That’s even worse, you bastard!

Though various things kept bubbling up inside him, Cho Hyeon was a quick learner. By now he could calm himself to some degree.

“…R-right, I see. Anyway, you’re a lazy bum, aren’t you? The lazier a person is, the more they should avoid troublesome matters.”

“That’s right.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded as if agreeing. Seeing him nod with just his face poking out from under the blanket made one doubt whether he truly understood.

“Think about it. How much easier would your life become if you had fame? When someone without fame acts lazy, they become human trash, but when someone with fame acts lazy, that becomes the leisure of the strong.”

“…Really?”

Lazy is lazy either way, where does that logic come from!

When they say being able to speak differently from one’s true feelings is a virtue of strategists, Cho Hyeon could be called a true strategist. Despite his inner thoughts, he maintained a gentle and soft smile.

“Of course! If you act lazy, people will point fingers at you, but what if the Alliance Leader acts lazy? They’d think, ‘Ah, that gentleman is meditating to enter a new realm,’ or ‘He’s trying something new to grasp the edge of a new realm.'”

“Hmm.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded as if finding it persuasive.

In fact, though he had been lazy until now, it was also true that he received excessively harsh evaluations due to the perception of being a lazy bum stuck in people’s minds.

If Wei Yan-ho had fame, would people look at him with the same eyes as now?

‘He’s coming around, he’s coming around.’

Cho Hyeon clenched his fist tightly.

That lazy bum who seemed impregnable was finally starting to show cracks. If he could properly seize this opportunity, for the first time he’d be able to move that lazy fellow according to Cho Hyeon’s will.

“Even for lazy people, no, precisely because they’re lazy, fame is all the more necessary. If you gain fame, how much easier will your future life become?”

Wei Yan-ho’s eyes widened slightly.

Cho Hyeon was certain that reaction meant he was starting to be tempted by his words.

“But!”

This was when he needed to deliver the decisive blow.

Cho Hyeon shouted at Wei Yan-ho with the heart of a hunter who corners his prey and cuts off its breath in one stroke so it won’t resist.

“If gaining fame were easy, there’d be no reason for people in this world to crave fame so desperately!”

“That’s true.”

“Exactly. Fame naturally follows success, but surprisingly, when you try to obtain it, it becomes like a mirage you can’t catch. Intentionally gaining fame is extremely difficult. Usually you need positions and achievements. But positions and achievements require time.”

Under Cho Hyeon’s dazzling barrage, Wei Yan-ho wore a blank expression.

Cho Hyeon secretly clenched his fist. That face was exactly what people being conned by fraudsters look like. The face that says ‘You know a world I don’t know’ and ‘If only I’d known this earlier, the results would have been different’!

Thinking the match was already half won, Cho Hyeon delivered his decisive strike.

“But! This time, an opportunity has come for you to gain that fame very easily. It’s as if the world is shouting at you, ‘Here, take this fame!'”

“What is it?”

“The martial arts tournament.”

Just as Wei Yan-ho was about to say something, Cho Hyeon quickly continued without giving him a chance to counterattack.

“Now now, think about it. If it were just any martial arts tournament, you might just waste your energy for nothing. You might even meet a strong opponent like the Alliance Leader in the finals. But this is a Late-Stage Youth martial arts tournament! Late-Stage Youth! Do you think there’s anyone of similar age who could match you?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“There isn’t.”

Cho Hyeon cut off his words decisively.

“You can be confident about this. If you don’t believe me, I’ll stake my name on it. I’ll guarantee it with both the name Divine Strategist Cho Hyeon and my position as strategist of the Orthodox Alliance. There’s no one among the Late-Stage Youth who can match you.”

“…What if there is?”

“I’ll grant you one wish.”

“Hmm…”

Wei Yan-ho’s body trembled.

As Cho Hyeon shouted like a madman, Wei Yan-ho couldn’t bring himself to argue back.

“If participating in a tournament where victory is guaranteed and winning it alone guarantees lifelong fame, how is this not a profitable deal? Moreover, this tournament is likely to become the largest Late-Stage Youth martial arts tournament in history, with not only the Orthodox Alliance and Heavenly Medical Alliance and other organizations participating, but even the Nine Sects. Then the fame you can gain from winning that tournament will exceed your imagination. You’ll be able to obtain the recognized position of the greatest in the world among the younger generation. How about it?”

Wei Yan-ho nodded with an excited expression.

“That’s amazing.”

“Right?”

Cho Hyeon said with a pleased smile.

“So you must participate in this tournament. Gain fame and make your future life more enjoyable. If I didn’t have favorable feelings toward you, I wouldn’t have bothered telling you about this. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes. I think I understand.”

Thinking the rice was cooked and properly steamed, Cho Hyeon picked up the ladle.

“So? What do you say? You’ll participate in the martial arts tournament, right?”

Wei Yan-ho nodded his head frantically. Then he shouted in an urgent voice as if excited.

“No!”

Crash!

The teacup in Cho Hyeon’s hand shattered.

Tea water splashed up and wet Cho Hyeon’s beard.

“Oh my, are you alright?”

“…But you were nodding?”

“Your words sounded so plausible that my body moved that way. Sorry for causing a misunderstanding.”

Cho Hyeon stared at Wei Yan-ho with a blank face, then opened his mouth as if he couldn’t understand at all.

“Why… why won’t you participate?”

“I thought about it.”

“Yes.”

Wei Yan-ho said with a bright smile.

“To gain fame, I’d have to participate in the martial arts tournament, right?”

“Right.”

“If I participate in the tournament, I’d have to fight, right?”

“Of course. It’s called a martial arts tournament, we can’t decide winners and losers by marble tossing.”

“Yes, that’s the problem. I hate fighting, you see.”

“Huh?”

Cho Hyeon looked at Wei Yan-ho with a sour expression.

What exactly had this donkey-like fellow been listening to all this time?

“Did you not understand what I said? If you endure that brief inconvenience, your future life becomes easier! Don’t you know that’s a much better way to live lazily? Don’t you understand?”

“I understand. I know what you’re saying. And I fully understood that it would be much more beneficial.”

“Then?”

“Hey, you’re saying strange things too, Military Officer.”

“Huh?”

Wei Yan-ho chuckled and opened his mouth.

“If I moved by calculating benefits like that, I wouldn’t be lazy in the first place. Anyone can see it’s more beneficial to live without being lazy, but I live like this.”

“…”

“If I was going to move knowing that moving a little now would make later easier, I wouldn’t be called a lazy bum. I live like this because immediate comfort is more important.”

There are many lazy people in the world.

Perhaps one could find someone as extremely lazy as Wei Yan-ho. But Cho Hyeon could confidently assert that there would never again be such a logical lazy person.

“I understand what you’re saying, but I just want to live like this. Actually, even if I gained fame, I don’t think I’d particularly benefit from it.”

“H-how so?”

“Because… I don’t go outside the house. You have to go around outside to get involved with people and get into disputes, but I rarely encounter other people. So I think it’s better to just live like this.”

“Wh-what do you gain from living like that!”

“Hey, why are you pretending not to know? It’s comfortable right now.”

“…”

“People should live looking at the present. If you clumsily sacrifice the present while looking at the future, you’ll only see terrible things and live a difficult life. I’m not dissatisfied with the present, so I’ll just live like this. Hehe.”

Cho Hyeon stood up.

‘What am I doing at my age?’

Even though he had risen to the lofty position of strategist of the Orthodox Alliance, he felt pathetic for trying to con and cajole that one lazy child.

“Are you leaving?”

“…Yes.”

“I won’t see you out. Take care.”

“I didn’t expect you to!”

Bang! Cho Hyeon slammed the door shut and came outside, looking around. He needed something to resolve this boiling anger. Otherwise, he’d soon scream right here, and rumors that Cho Hyeon had gone mad would spread.

“Oh, Military Officer?”

Just then, someone approached Cho Hyeon innocently.

Cho Hyeon saw Wei Jeong-han bowing deeply toward him with a smile and beamed.

“What brings you here so early in the morning… Sir? No, why do you keep approaching? Sir? No…”

“Isn’t it enough to just give birth to him, you damn bastard!”

That day, all the dust accumulated on the eaves of the hall where the Orthodox Alliance’s guests stayed fell down cleanly.

“My, how noisy. I can’t even sleep.”

And Wei Yan-ho, who had caused this entire situation, calmly pulled up his blanket, unaware of what was happening outside.