Even My Life Is Yours Chapter 60

The brief eye contact ended, and reality immediately set in. Hongyo looked at the man in front of her. She didn’t know the reason, but she hadn’t expected to face Jang Daeho so soon. But there was no time to get lost in thought.

Before the match, Hongyo gave a short, silent bow as a courtesy to her opponent and then gripped her wooden sword, looking at the guy who, unlike her, still held his neck stiffly. Honestly, even as she held the sword, she couldn’t judge that she could win. She couldn’t say she had fought Jang Daeho during the hazing, but she knew the strength he possessed. Moreover, she was even more intimidated knowing how overwhelmingly Jang Daeho had crushed his opponent in the match she had watched before the third round. But to call for a forfeit now was something her pride would not allow.

As Hongyo gripped her sword and took her stance, the gong rang out loudly. Unlike her expectation that her opponent would charge immediately, he just stood there, watching her leisurely. There was no tentative walking, no probing attacks. He just stood in his spot, calmly observing her movements.

Seeing that, a strange sense of déjà vu enveloped her body. Wondering where she had felt this sensation before, Hongyo soon realized it was similar to when she had faced the tiger. The fear and tension of not knowing when, where, or how it would pounce made even the fine hairs on her body stand on end. Her heart pounded so fast she felt she couldn’t run any faster, and her sword-wielding hand grew sweaty.

One, two, three… Counting inwardly, Hongyo took a defensive stance. In the blink of an eye, Daeho rushed right in front of her and brought his sword down from a high stance, and the sound of the wooden swords clashing loudly was heard. Pushed back by the force, Hongyo lowered her stance and pulled back. If they had been real blades, the force would have been enough to create sparks, and just from that one blow, Hongyo felt a tingling in her palm. But this was just the beginning.

Following that, a series of attacks came in, just like in the third round, but what was different from then was that unlike the random barrage of attacks meant to prevent her from attacking, there seemed to be a certain rhythm to it. After receiving one sharp blow, before the next attack followed, the wooden sword would fly towards an unpredictable part of her body as if he were catching his breath and assessing her movements. The man’s movements were not of someone who trusted his sword, but of someone playing with it.

Hongyo stepped to the side, dodging the wooden sword that flew right past her face. Then, as if he had expected it, the sword came down towards her leg. Before she could be surprised by the agility that didn’t match his build, Hongyo barely dodged the sword that had swiftly dug into her side and lowered her stance, bending one knee. Then, as if granting her mercy, the guy who had been relentlessly attacking without rest lowered the tip of his wooden sword to the ground and looked down at Hongyo.

“It’s still a long way from being over.”

The overbearing manner of looking down on her was overwhelming with just his gaze alone. Hongyo looked up at her opponent, still on one knee. If he too was human, he must have a weakness. Hongyo stood up and swung her sword. But before it could even get close, her sword was blocked, and Hongyo, losing her balance, staggered. The man then struck her waist with the hilt of his sword. Quickly turning her back, Hongyo faced Daeho. And as the attacks resumed, a few more exchanges passed.

Ducking to avoid a sword thrusted straight at her, Hongyo dropped her wooden sword to the ground. At the same time, from the outside, she grabbed the man’s sword-wielding arm with both of her arms as if to embrace it and bent it outwards. Indeed, it was better to tie up his arms. In the brief opening created by the first meaningful attack that landed, just as the man, who had also ducked, was about to strike her face with his other arm, Hongyo barely managed to pull back.

After that blow, Hongyo and the man faced each other, catching their breath. The murmuring crowd, surprised by the unexpectedly evenly matched fight, had gone quiet as if water had been sprinkled on them. Hongyo glared at Jang Daeho, waiting for an opening. Having exchanged blows, she now had a slight idea of where his weakness might be.

As big and tall as Jang Daeho was, he was weak in a low stance. But being weak only meant she could buy about a second of time; it didn’t mean it could decide the outcome of the match. However, if she could create even that one-second opening, it was a worthwhile attack.

Hongyo maintained a low stance and moved back, dodging the sword that drew an arc right in front of her nose. Then, placing one hand on the ground, she rolled her body and picked up the dropped wooden sword. And she immediately aimed for Jang Daeho’s knee. But Jang Daeho, having read her move, took a step back while simultaneously extending his sword downwards. Dodging it with an even lower stance, Hongyo this time rose to her feet and, at the much closer distance, slashed her sword sideways. But just as Jang Daeho stepped back again and faltered for a moment.

Hongyo dropped her sword and immediately grabbed his right arm, pulling it into an embrace and pressing her back against Jang Daeho’s chest. Then, twisting and bending his wrist, she broke free from the embrace and struck his chin with her free fist. Please, please…! And just as the guy staggered, indicating it had landed properly. Hongyo, gripping her wooden sword again, swung it straight ahead.

But the wooden sword was stopped dead in her hand, unable to budge. As Hongyo panicked, Daeho, spitting out the blood that had pooled in his mouth, moved aside the wooden sword he was holding and was about to strike the staggering Hongyo’s face with his remaining fist.

In that moment, the first thought that came to Hongyo’s mind was, if I get hit by that, I’ll die. At the very least, the bones in her face would be crushed. But the distance was too short to dodge. Hongyo froze as the fist flew right before her eyes. It was a punch so powerful she could feel the wind right under her skin. But just as she thought she was going to be hit, the fist that seemed about to connect somehow stopped in place.

Startled, Hongyo looked up at Jang Daeho. The guy’s expressionless face was impossible to read. But she couldn’t just stand there idly. Hongyo raised the sword she had lowered and pushed it against the guy’s neck, pressing forward. Then, Jang Daeho, who yielded so meekly it was hard to believe his earlier strength, was pushed outside the marked line.

“Yeo-ga Hongyo, victory!”

It was Hongyo’s victory. But even after hearing she had won, Hongyo couldn’t move an inch from her spot. Even as she gasped for breath, a fear that if she lowered her sword and stepped back now, she would be grabbed by her topknot and forced to her knees, enveloped her body. The pupils of the eyes that were calmly looking down at her, with no telling what he was thinking, darkened. As she flinched at that chilling smile, Jeonghwan, who had come down from the high pavilion into the arena, separated the two.

“The first round is now over. The next round will be held in one gak, so prepare yourselves.”

Only then was Hongyo able to get away from Daeho. But even as her peers rushed out, patting her shoulder and congratulating her on her unexpected victory, Hongyo couldn’t smile at all.

‘He let me win on purpose.’

Hongyo looked at the man sitting on the opposite side. She couldn’t understand why he had let her win, but there was not a trace of defeat in the eyes that looked back at her leisurely from the other side.

Hongyo stood up and looked at the spear in front of her. Then she looked at the man sitting on the opposite side again. The man, who had already readjusted his grip on his spear, was looking at Hongyo. Soon, the sound of the gong announcing the second round echoed through the arena, and a few minutes later, Hongyo realized why this man had let her win the first round.

“They said your spear technique was terrible, and it was true.”

The spear that had flown far away was lying wretchedly in the arena. The sword skills that had been evenly matched until just now were useless in front of Daeho, who wielded the spear with ease. The spear had a longer range of attack than the sword, and just by changing the grip on the front and back, the attack variables were much wider.

Hongyo looked up at the man, sprawled out like the weapon she had just been holding. So, the reason he had intentionally lost the first round was…

“Get up. You need to entertain me more.”

Jang Daeho simply wanted to play this ‘game’ longer. He knew he would obviously win in the spear round, so he had intentionally lost the first round to extend the match to three rounds. Just like how he had aimed for her pouch until the very end, even after collecting more than enough pouches to pass the hazing.

Hongyo roughly pushed aside the spear tip aimed at her forehead as if it would pierce her face at any moment and stood up. At that, her head spun and her vision blurred. Hongyo forced strength into her legs that were about to stagger ungracefully and stood up straight. Then, looking at the disgustingly innocent smiling face, she said.

“You want to lose again?”

At that, the smiling face returned to its original expressionless one. Staggering, Hongyo walked over and picked up a bow. It was different from the hunting bow she usually used, but a bow was a bow. Hongyo placed her fingers on the bowstring. It was a bow she had used her whole life. A sense of stability different from that of a sword or spear was transmitted through her fingertips.

After plucking the bowstring a few times, Hongyo picked up an arrow this time. A light but powerful feather. The wind was also not as harsh as it could be for winter.

Finally, it was the last round.