The Martial God with Psychic Powers

“Something you’ll regret?”
A sharp aura flared from Jin Jo’s body.

“I told you—I don’t acknowledge you. Don’t give me orders.”
Seon Woo Baek hesitated, unsure of how to handle Jin Jo.
Was it the right move to fight him here?

—What are you doing?
Yeon Woo Jin’s voice echoed in his mind.
—Why are you hesitating? That’s disappointing.

Disappointing…
He had just earned Yeon Woo Jin’s trust.
He couldn’t afford to lose it.

Seon Woo Baek’s eyes changed.
“I warned you not to do something you’ll regret. Didn’t get the message, huh? Step up.”
Jin Jo gave a scoffing laugh.

“You think I won’t?”
His confidence had grown after training under Gwak Pyeong.
He was stronger now.

And since Seon Woo Baek hadn’t trained under Gwak Pyeong, Jin Jo was sure he had the upper hand.
That’s why he could speak so boldly.
“If I win, you come clean our classroom every morning. Got it?”

Seon Woo Baek responded,
“If I win, you follow every order I give. No questions asked.”
“Fine.”
The two stepped into the sparring grounds.

Jin Jo stood with a cocky stance and said,
“How about it? Want me to let you strike first?”
“Sure, I’ll take that offer.”

Whoosh—
In a flash, Seon Woo Baek moved, slamming his palm straight into Jin Jo’s stomach.
CRACK—

“Guhk!”
Normally, when someone offers the first strike, pride makes you decline.
Not Seon Woo Baek.

CRASH—
Jin Jo went tumbling across the floor like a ragdoll.
Grinding his teeth, he stumbled to his feet.

“Cowardly…”
“What are you talking about? You said you’d give me the first strike.”
“I-I was just saying that—”

“Oh yeah? Just saying it, huh?”
“…No. I meant it. I offered the first move.”
“Right.”

Each of Seon Woo Baek’s calm replies made Jin Jo boil with rage.
“You’ve got decent durability. Must be because your family’s main technique is defense-oriented.”
“It’s not my family’s technique. You’re just weak.”

With that, Jin Jo burst forward from a low stance.
Whip—
Whap-whap-whap—

He jumped and unleashed a flurry of spinning kicks at Seon Woo Baek’s upper body.
“Whirlwind Rush Kick!”
The move had a pulling force. Seon Woo Baek’s body tilted forward slightly in response.

But he didn’t care. He thrust both palms toward Jin Jo.
“Jincheon Twin Tiger Palm!”
CRACK—

“Gahhh!”
CRASH—
THUD—

Jin Jo went flying from the force of the Twin Tiger Palm, collapsing weakly to the floor.
There was no way a half-baked Whirlwind Rush Kick could contend with the power of Jincheon Taeil Fist, especially now that it had been reborn by Yeon Woo Jin’s guidance.
Jin Jo, who had taken the full brunt of the blow, twitched a few times on the ground… and then stopped moving.

Silence fell over the area.
Seon Woo Baek turned to Jin Jo’s followers.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and get him to the medical hall.”

“H-huh? Oh—on it!”
The crew scrambled to carry the unconscious Jin Jo away.
Then Seon Woo Baek turned to the rest of the Jujak Class.

“Treat your classmates well. If anyone starts bullying others—come find me. Got that?”
The students all nodded.
Only then did ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Seon Woo Baek leave to visit the next class.

 
****
“Goddamn it! That bastard Seon Woo Baek!”

Jin Jo had regained consciousness. By his side were Gwak Oh, the top student of Cheongryong Class, and Heo Uk, the top of Baekho Class.
“What happened? You fought Seon Woo Baek?”
“Yeah. He came into our class and started interfering. Just pissed me off, y’know?”

“So you picked a fight and got knocked out in one hit?”
“W-who said that?! That’s not what happened!”
“Everyone who saw it says otherwise.”

“They must’ve been seeing things! That’s not what happened!”
“You’re literally the weakest among us. Why pick a fight and get embarrassed? If you’d waited, I could’ve handled him myself.”
Jin Jo couldn’t say anything back to Heo Uk.

He was stronger than Jin Jo—and was only getting stronger.
Even Gwak Pyeong had praised his talent.
Heo Uk examined the mark left where Seon Woo Baek had hit him.

“He’s gotten stronger too. That palm print is clearer than before.”
“Yeah, he’s strong. He completely ignored my Whirlwind Rush Kick.”
“Of course he is. He’s the guy who beat me.”

At that, the silent Gwak Oh spoke up.
“Think you can beat him?”
Heo Uk smirked confidently.

“Obviously. Just wait a bit. My father taught me the second half of the Langya Pungcheon Fist. Once I master it… Seon Woo Baek won’t stand a chance.”
Jin Jo looked at him and said,
“You have to get revenge for me. If you do, I’ll acknowledge you as the leader.”

Heo Uk’s grin widened.
“Just trust me. But first, worry about yourself.”
“Me? Why?”

“The senior knows what happened today. You better be ready.”
“W-wait—seriously?”
Heo Uk nodded.

“He’s really pissed. You better brace yourself.”
Jin Jo’s face collapsed into a look of pure dread as he bowed his head in defeat.
 

****
Before a vast, endless cliff.
A crowd of students stood murmuring among themselves.

“Why were we called here?”
“No clue. They just said to gather.”
“Judging by the look on Woo Baek’s face, it’s not for anything good.”

“When have we ever been summoned for anything good? What kind of training-from-hell are they going to use as an excuse this time?”
“Sigh…”
These were the very same kids who once bullied Jang Un alongside Seon Woo Baek.

Gok Yang-woo stood silently among them.
“You haven’t said a word.”
“Me? My father said… just shut up and obey. If I don’t… he said he wouldn’t care if I was his kid or not.”

“Your dad said that?”
“Yeah.”
“That doesn’t sound like him.”

“Right? He’s never like that… But when he warned me that time, it was real. Scared the hell out of me.”
Jang Un, overhearing them, leaned in and whispered to Seon Woo Baek.
“They really don’t know what today’s training is, huh?”

“Nope.”
“You didn’t tell them?”
“Why would I?”

“Huh?”
“We didn’t know what was coming when we got dragged into it either. They can do the same.”
“…Fair enough.”

Jang Un gave a small chuckle.
Just then, Yeon Woo Jin’s voice rang out.
“Seeing how chatty you all are, I take it you’re feeling lively today.”

At Yeon Woo Jin’s appearance, the murmuring died instantly.
The kids stared at him, stiff with tension.
“Why are you all looking at me like that? Someone might think I’m tormenting you or something.”

You are!
The words rose up their throats—but by some superhuman effort, they swallowed them back down.
“I’m doing this for your own good. You’ll thank me later.”

They all vowed silently: That will never happen.
Yeon Woo Jin caught the flood of dissatisfaction written all over their faces.
He smirked and pointed off to one side.

“See over there? Go grab one of those and strap it on.”
Looking in the direction he pointed, they saw rocks—rigged with harnesses so people could carry them on their backs.
“W-we have to carry that?”

“Yup. Carry it. Anyone slow gets a private talk with me.”
The moment he finished, they all rushed to the rocks in a panic, strapping them on their backs.
As they stood there burdened, Yeon Woo Jin pointed toward the cliff.

“Climb.”
“…Huh?”
“I said climb. To the top.”

Whooosh—
The moment they looked up, a sharp wind gusted over the cliff, as if mocking them.
“W-what if we fall…?”

“You won’t die.”
How the hell would you know?!
…was what they wanted to scream.

Instead, they dropped to their knees and crawled toward Yeon Woo Jin, pleading.
“P-please spare us! I—I don’t wanna die yet!”
“I’ll live quietly! Like a mouse, I swear! You won’t even know I’m alive!”

“If I bully anyone ever again, you can rip all my limbs off! For real! P-please, just let me go!”
They were convinced Yeon Woo Jin was about to kill them.
“I told you—I’m not going to kill you. If I wanted to kill you…”

Fwoooom—
A massive wave of killing intent exploded from Yeon Woo Jin’s body.
“…would I go to all this trouble?”

It was a terror so real, they felt like their heads would roll any second.
Then, the aura vanished. He smiled.
“I’m not killing you. Trust me and climb. Now, if you don’t climb, I can guarantee you’ll beg me to kill you.”

Their whole bodies trembled.
Just then, Gok Yang-woo stepped forward and grabbed onto the cliff—then started climbing.
The other students lowered their heads and followed, walking toward the cliff like livestock headed for slaughter.

Jang Un and Seon Woo Baek knew the truth.
You didn’t die if you fell off this cliff.
The moment you dropped, an invisible force wrapped around your body, slowed your fall, and gently lowered you to the ground.

You’d think you were lucky to be alive… until you realized you had to start climbing again.
At first, Seon Woo Baek had thought it was a punishment for his own wrongdoings.
But it wasn’t.

Jang Un had been climbing next to him too, gasping just as hard.
“Brings back memories. You almost passed out trying to get up the first time.”
“Like you were doing much better, chasing after me the whole way.”

Their eyes met midair, sharp with challenge.
“Memory problems, huh? When was I ever the one chasing you?”
“Look who’s talking. Forgot how you begged me to slow down?”

“You trying to start something?”
“Already started.”
“Strap up.”

“Just don’t cry when you lose.”
With fierce, burning eyes, the two slung their rocks over their shoulders and stepped to the cliff.
“Loser buys dinner tomorrow night.”

“Great. I’ll thank you in advance for the meal.”
“No, I should be the one saying that.”
“Shall we begin?”

“Let’s go!”
Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!
Before the word start even left their mouths, the two of them shot up the cliff at ridiculous speed.

The other kids, struggling to climb even one step, stared up at them in disbelief.
“They can do that?”
“Wait, that’s possible?”

“They’re going that fast?! Are they using internal energy?”
“What, are you crazy? If they did that, Woo Jin would destroy them.”
“Then you’re saying they’re just using raw strength?”

“This is insane. I was gonna pretend it was humanly impossible, but…”
Realizing all hope was gone, the kids broke down and started climbing, tears welling in their eyes.
 

****
“Aaaaaaah!”
One of the kids finally lost his grip and fell from the cliff.

Everyone squeezed their eyes shut.
With a rock strapped to him, he fell fast. If he hit the ground at that speed, it was instant death.
But…

Even after several seconds, no impact came.
They slowly opened their eyes and looked down.
And saw something absurd.

The falling student was… floating.
Suspended in midair, he was slowly descending like a feather.
The kid himself was looking around in utter confusion.

“L-look! Over there!”
All heads turned.
Yeon Woo Jin stood off to the side, arm outstretched.

As he moved his hand, the falling boy’s body shifted in the air accordingly.
Now it was clear.
Yeon Woo Jin had caught him.

And the way he did it was… completely insane.
“Holy shit! Did he just catch someone in midair using Elemental Telekinesis?!”
“C-catching someone falling with telekinesis?! Is that even possible?!”

“At our age? Not a chance. Not even across the whole Central Plains could you count more than a few people who can control Elemental Telekinesis like that!”
“We… we’re never escaping that monster.”
The students sank into despair.

“…Let’s just keep climbing. At least now we know falling won’t kill us.”
“Wait. If we fall… maybe we won’t have to climb again?”
Everyone immediately looked toward the student who had fallen.

He landed safely on the ground, letting out a huge sigh of relief—when Yeon Woo Jin smiled and said,
“Done resting? Good. Back up you go.”
“…Huh?”

“What are you waiting for? Climb.”
“A-again? But I just fell…”
“Yeah. That’s why you have to climb again.”

“M-my fingers… they’re numb…”
Yeon Woo Jin calmly touched the boy’s arm.
“There. Feeling’s back now, right?”

“…Huh?”
From the stunned look on his face, it was clear—he really had regained his strength.
As the boy groaned and reluctantly started climbing again, the others looked up the cliff in pure despair.

“…Honestly, at this point, it’s better to climb like our lives depend on it than fall and have to do it all over again.”
“Right. Let’s go…”