***
"Hmph! Just as I thought! You pathetic piece of shit!"
At that moment, Hwang Cheon flicked his finger toward An-jeong.
Ting—
Then, something sharp and solid shimmered at the very tip of his finger before flying out in an instant and striking An-jeong’s abdomen.
Thwack—
"Argh! Blegh—!"
An-jeong clutched his stomach and doubled over, vomiting from an impact that felt as though he had been struck by a heavy hammer.
Even in that state, the energy that had appeared at the tip of Hwang Cheon’s finger just a moment ago flashed through his mind.
'Ugh—was that, by any chance, that Spirit Qi Technique? Does that mean this brat was already a Qi Refining stage cultivator?'
Because there was nothing in his stomach to begin with, only bitter bile flowed out from his mouth.
"Alright! Everyone, stomp on him properly! Make sure he can never crawl back up again!"
"Got it, Hwang Cheon!"
Hwang Cheon’s followers then proceeded to beat An-jeong for a long time. While lying collapsed on the ground, An-jeong had to endure a continuous beating once again, only hours after the last one.
'Dammit, fuck! These crazy bastards!'
As soon as he had dropped into this Xianxia world, he was being beaten repeatedly by little brats, and the frustration and sense of injustice made him feel like he was going to lose his mind.
He lifted his head and looked toward the fourth-generation disciples who were managing the labor training nearby.
Below the main mountain gate where the miscellaneous disciples stayed, about ten fourth-generation disciples had been dispatched to oversee the area.
In Xianxia novels, weren't there usually rules that prohibited fighting between disciples within the sect?
With that thought, he hoped that a fourth-generation disciple would intervene and mediate, but they maintained indifferent expressions, not even casting a single glance in his direction.
'Is it possible there aren't even any regulations like that here? Then how is someone like me supposed to survive?'
An-jeong felt so wronged and enraged by this irrational sect and world that he felt like he would go crazy.
But there was no way out. Just by looking at them, it was clear that they had all reached at least the 1st Star of the Qi Refining stage.
They were using the powerful force known as Spirit Qi.
An-jeong was in immense pain, but he was so humiliated to be beaten by such young children that tears welled up in his eyes.
Inwardly, he wanted to pour out even more curses, but he kept his mouth shut and endured it.
He had no choice but to curl his body as much as possible to protect his head and stomach while taking the blows.
An-jeong was in so much pain that a groan threatened to escape him, but he clenched his teeth and held it in.
But it was at that moment. Someone’s voice suddenly rang out.
"S-stop it!"
When he turned to look, the owner of that voice was, surprisingly, Mak Cheong-un.
Even though his face was filled with terror and he was trembling with fear, Mak Cheong-un was trying to stop Hwang Cheon.
Hwang Cheon furrowed his brow as if he found the situation absurd and let out a huff of disbelief.
"Hey! Mak Cheong-un... have you lost your mind?"
At those words, Mak Cheong-un flinched and retreated with a frightened face.
Although he had stepped forward, the moment he faced Hwang Cheon, fear had gripped his heart once again.
"Ha... look at this guy. I was going easy on you because you're So-hyang's cousin, but you dare to crawl up to me?"
With those words, Hwang Cheon’s face turned vicious as he lunged toward Mak Cheong-un.
Ta-tat—
Closing the distance in a single breath, Hwang Cheon showered Mak Cheong-un’s body with punches and kicks.
"Argh! Ugh—!"
Fists and feet buried themselves relentlessly into Mak Cheong-un’s thick frame.
Before long, Mak Cheong-un’s body had become a miserable sight, just like An-jeong’s had been earlier.
But then, someone reached out and stopped Hwang Cheon’s hand.
It was none other than Mak So-hyang.
"Hwang Cheon! Stop. He’s still a member of our Mak family. Let’s just let it go. You’ve already beaten him enough, haven't you?"
At her words, Hwang Cheon nodded and burst into a loud laugh.
"Haha—alright. Out of respect for our So-hyang’s dignity, I’ll let it slide for today! But if you do this again, I’ll turn you into a complete cripple! Do you understand?"
After issuing that threat toward Mak Cheong-un, Hwang Cheon placed his hand back on Mak So-hyang’s shoulder and returned to his spot with his followers.
An-jeong, clutching his throbbing body, gnashed his teeth as he watched Hwang Cheon and his gang.
'You sons of bitches! Someday, I will pay this revenge back several times over with interest!'
An-jeong was so heated inside that he could hardly stand it, but he suppressed it and stood up.
His legs were shaking and his arms lacked strength, but he endured it with effort.
Then, he helped up Mak Cheong-un, who was lying on the ground nearby, squirming.
"Hey, Mak Cheong-un. Are you... okay?"
"Yeah..."
Even as he said that, Mak Cheong-un wiped the tears flowing from his eyes and wore a miserable expression.
"Anyway... thanks... You got beaten up because of me. Fuck... how embarrassing..."
"N-no. It’s not something to be th-thankful for..."
At the word of thanks, Mak Cheong-un scratched his head and spoke awkwardly.
'This guy is a truly pitiful fellow, too. It looks like he’s from the same family as that Mak So-hyang girl, but he’s being ostracized even there... and he has zero talent on top of that...'
While having such thoughts, An-jeong silently crouched by the valley stream and began to do the laundry. The strange thing was that as he moved bit by bit, the throbbing sensation subsided and the pain gradually vanished.
'It was like this yesterday too; this one thing is quite mysterious. Is it because this body is so used to being beaten that its recovery power is good?'
It was just as An-jeong was having that thought.
Swoooosh—
A strange pattern flashed and appeared on the back of An-jeong’s hand as it was gradually recovering, only to vanish immediately after. However, because it happened in such a fleeting moment, An-jeong failed to discover the phenomenon.
'God dammit! This crazy Xianxia world!'
After suffering a series of humiliations, An-jeong felt his situation was so wretched and his self-loathing was so intense that he felt like he would go mad.
He cursed countless times in his heart. An-jeong already felt a surge of disillusionment toward this insane Xianxia world.
The cultivators, who seemed to be the elders of the sect, slapped his cheeks under the guise of waking him up. The little brats, who were his fellow disciples, beat him up for no reason at all.
In the midst of it all, he felt his own powerless and insignificant situation was truly miserable.
It was then that the unexpected sounds of conversation from the children nearby reached An-jeong’s ears.
"Phew... I heard that Baek Myeong and No Geon eventually had to descend the mountain?"
"Yeah. Even though they worked hard for three years, they ultimately failed to enter the 1st Star of the Qi Refining stage!"
'Descend the mountain? Because they failed to achieve the 1st Star of Qi Refining?'
An-jeong leaned in to listen to their conversation.
"Among the kids reaching their third year next month, there are fifteen who haven't reached the 1st Star yet, including Ju Ok-dan over there, right? From the looks of it, it doesn't seem like any of them will avoid descending the mountain."
The boy who said that cast a mocking glance toward several other children.
At that, those children’s faces hardened and they took on gloomy expressions. Then, one of the children who had been spoken to earlier flared up and shouted.
"To make someone descend the mountain after only three years just because they have no talent! Honestly, isn't that too much? We've done all this menial labor as miscellaneous disciples!"
"Too much? Imagine if this were a demonic sect! Instead of descending the mountain, you would have been turned into medicine while still alive or had your soul ripped out!"
"Phew... that’s true. But since it’ll be my third year in just three months, I’m getting anxious. You must be at ease since you rose to the 1st Star of Qi Refining last month. Phew..."
Looking at the boy who spoke while letting out a deep sigh, An-jeong was suddenly reminded of his days as a high school senior.
The children worrying about descending the mountain looked exactly like his friends who had worried about what they would do if they failed the CSAT and had to retake the year.
'Dammit! I escaped the hell of entrance exams only to find myself in a hell of cultivation this time?'
When he looked around, most of the miscellaneous disciples who had realized the cold reality were wearing gloomy expressions.
They looked exactly like his friends he used to see in study rooms and exam academies.
No wonder every person he encountered seemed to have a trashy personality.
He thought that perhaps it was because they were being pushed into such infinite competition.
At that moment, it occurred to him that this boy An-jeong’s body had a lowest-grade miscellaneous spirit root.
'Wait a minute... then that means my chances of becoming a 1st Star of Qi Refining will be even lower than the other kids, won't it?'
He suddenly remembered that Mak Cheong-un, whom he had met earlier, had not been able to feel Spirit Qi for two years.
If even Mak Cheong-un, who had a higher-ranking low-grade four-element root, was like that, how much worse would it be for himself with a lowest-grade miscellaneous spirit root?
Upon realizing his desperate situation, An-jeong’s heart began to race with urgency.
But at the same time, memories of his time as a high school senior in Hell Joseon surfaced, and a sense of spite flared up within him.
'Fuck! I’m someone who has experienced being a high school senior in an even more hellish Hell Joseon, aren't I? Just you wait! I’ll show you the true power of a Hell Joseon high school senior! I’ll make sure to achieve the 1st Star of Qi Refining within three years, just you watch!'
An-jeong gnashed his teeth and made a vow.
That night was his first day in the Xianxia world, so it felt foreign, but he was also so enraged and his heart was so bitter that he tossed and turned for a long time before finally falling asleep.
However, because he had suffered all sorts of hardships throughout the day, once he did fall asleep, he plunged into a deep slumber in an instant.
<><><>
From the next day, An-jeong clung to cultivation like a madman.
He was enraged by the fact that he had been beaten by little brats because of his lack of skill, but once he learned that he would have to descend the mountain if he didn't achieve the 1st Star of Qi Refining within three years, he became even more alert.
It was because it was clear that if he returned to a life as a wandering beggar, he would have to live a truly miserable, bottom-tier existence.
He had finally possessed a body in a Xianxia world, and he had no desire to live in such a pathetic state.
After tossing a few Inedia Pills into his mouth to fill his hungry stomach, he pulled out one low-grade spirit stone again.
"To hell with it! Let’s just pour it all in! I’ll do it with three spirit stones at once! Who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to feel it better if I use three?"
With that sudden thought, An-jeong quickly lifted his storage bag to take out the low-grade spirit stones and poured everything inside out onto the floor.
Rumble-clatter—
However, the expression on An-jeong’s face as he stared at the items that had spilled onto the floor changed strangely.
It was because items he had never even imagined would be there had popped out of the storage bag.
"What? EBS CSAT Special Lecture textbooks and even Hot6X? These were the things that were in my backpack, weren't they? Why is all of this here?"
Surprisingly, they were the items that had been in his backpack before his possession.
Among them, there were even three-month supply bottles of InXX and ConXX that he had been prescribed not long ago.
"What? Are you telling me they sent this crap along as a reward instead of a System or a stroke of luck? What the hell am I supposed to use this for?"
In the moment he was flaring up with absurdity, a certain thought suddenly flashed through An-jeong’s mind.
"Wait? Hold on a second...!? What if I take these while I’m training?"
Before he knew it, his gaze was fixed on the energy drinks and medicine packets lying on the floor. It had suddenly occurred to him.
The fact that his body was one that responded exceptionally well to the "drug effect."
<><><>
The top-tier instructor at the CSAT academy An-jeong had attended used to say this openly to the students:
— Alright! The teacher is going to set your daily routine perfectly! As soon as you open your eyes in the morning, start by taking 27mg of ConXX and 10mg of InXX! Then your CSAT grade will go up by at least one level! You think I’m joking? Just try taking it once, as if you’re being fooled! Later on, you’ll come looking for a teacher just to bow down to me!
At the time, as soon as he heard it, An-jeong had thought, 'Did that guy take some under-the-table money from that pharmaceutical company?'
But a short while after that.
From the day he began taking those two medications from the packets he had received at the psychiatrist’s office, he came to believe that those words were not a lie.
No, he came to believe in them with a fanatical devotion.
Because the moment he took those two medications together, he fell into the illusion that he had become a genius.