Genius Martial Arts Trainer

I blinked.

A dense green thicket stretched out before my eyes.

And beyond the thicket, a mountain towered in the distance.

Just one second ago, I had clearly been inside the cramped office of my gym.

“Hah.”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

“My life. Seriously.”

Last time, I was dragged into a martial arts novel, and now it was a gate?

Well, my life as Mujin had been fairly happy in its own way.

Perhaps I should at least consider myself fortunate.

There was no need to remain inside a gate for long.

Gates allowed travel in both directions.

Even if someone was accidentally swept into one, all they had to do was leave through the same entrance they had come through.

That was why people these days said that even if you were dragged into a gate instead of a tiger’s den, you would survive as long as you kept your wits about you.

There was only one small problem.

No, perhaps it was an extremely large problem.

In any case, since a gate had opened inside my gym, I had to report it to the Hunter Association.

The fact that travel was possible in both directions meant monsters could also emerge through the gate.

It also meant I would have to close the gym until hunters came and cleared it.

“Business is ruined for the day.......”

The gym was already on the verge of bankruptcy.

It was as though someone were chanting prayers for me to shut it down completely.

I turned around to leave through the gate again, only to notice something unusual.

“Hmm?”

Between each inhalation and exhalation, I sensed an extraordinarily refreshing energy.

The natural energy was absurdly dense.

Far denser than it had been on Mount Song, where Shaolin was located.

I inhaled until my stomach felt ready to burst.

“Sssup.”

An enormous amount of energy was drawn deep into my lungs along with the air.

Following the principles of the Buddhist Heart Method, I began guiding that energy.

The refreshing energy raced through my acupoints, pushing out the impure energy.

An invigorating sensation swept across my entire body.

“Now this is real qi circulation.”

A small desire naturally arose within me.

“Should I do just a little more?”

Under ordinary circumstances, that would have been an extremely dangerous thought.

If someone disturbed you while you were immersed in practicing a heart method, you could suffer qi deviation on the spot.

On top of that, this was inside a gate. There was no telling where a monster might appear from.

However, I had given it some thought.

I drew in another deep breath.

“Sssup.”

Dense energy entered deep into my lungs.

I circulated that energy through my acupoints.

All while keeping my eyes open and thoroughly watching my surroundings.

Moving cultivation.

Rather than sitting still with one’s legs crossed while circulating energy, it involved practicing a heart method while moving the body.

For someone like me, who had already reached a high realm while living as Mujin, it was not particularly difficult.

“Sssup. Hoo.”

As I continued practicing the Buddhist Heart Method, the impure energy accumulated inside my body was rapidly washed away.

An estimate naturally formed in my mind.

At this rate, it would not take very long to drive the impure energy out of my body.

What if, after expelling the minimum amount of impure energy, I continued cultivating with a higher-level heart method?

“I think I could reach the level of a C-Rank hunter after training for about a month.”

And if I trained for another few months after that, could I not reach a fairly high level?

My only problems were my body and lack of inner energy. It was not as though I lacked enlightenment in the first place.

And if I became a high-ranking hunter, I would no longer have to struggle to keep the gym running like this.

However, there was one thing I had to check first.

After organizing my thoughts, I began walking.

Step. Step.

At the same time, I drew in a deep breath.

“Sssup. Hoo.”

I continued practicing the Buddhist Heart Method.

After all, I had already confirmed that moving cultivation was safe.

That did not mean I had started walking merely to practice moving cultivation.

I was looking around in preparation for any unexpected situation.

I needed to check whether there were monsters nearby.

If I wanted to continue training, I would have to hide this gate.

The moment I reported it to the Association, hunters would come to clear it.

On top of that, the worst-case scenario could occur.

What if I hid the gate, only for monsters to come pouring out of it?

It would not only affect me. Other people could also be killed by the monsters.

No matter what, I was a former Leader of the Zhengmu League and a Buddhist. I could not allow innocent people to be swept up and killed.

How long had I wandered through the thickets inside the gate?

“Wow. There really aren’t any?”

I did not see a single monster.

I had explored with the mindset of buying a lottery ticket and testing my luck, but I had not expected there to truly be none at all.

“Are there normally gates like this?”

I had not traveled particularly far, but I was at least certain that there were no monsters near the entrance.

Once I confirmed that, I felt considerably more at ease.

“Ah. I want to lift iron.”

How good would it feel to lift weights here?

I could build muscle and increase my inner energy through moving cultivation at the same time.

“Should I take this opportunity to resume external cultivation as well?”

My specialty had always been external cultivation rather than inner energy in the first place.

However, external cultivation was nearly impossible on Earth.

Shaolin’s Iron Shirt, which I had learned, was one example.

It was an external cultivation art that strengthened the skin by striking it.

However, the training only had meaning when combined with reciting the formula and absorbing energy through the skin.

Without the formula and natural energy, striking the skin was nothing more than self-harm.

And with the natural energy in this place, external cultivation seemed entirely possible.

“This actually worked out well. I’ll bring over some dumbbells for now.”

I could bring the chunks of iron inside and combine strength training with moving cultivation.

While I was at it, I could also strike my body with the iron and practice external cultivation.

I immediately ran toward the gate entrance.

The thought of combining lifting iron with moving cultivation for the first time in ages put me in a good mood.

“Hehehe.”

In my heart, it felt as though I were unfolding the Mountain-Shattering Divine Steps I had learned during my days as Mujin.

Pat.

When I passed through the gate entrance and returned outside, a familiar sight entered my eyes.

The gym office where I had been standing.

The Buddhist altar set up in one corner came into view.

I readily pressed my palms together and bowed my head toward the Buddha statue.

“Amitabha!”

Perhaps this was all thanks to the diligent prayers I had offered until now.

“Hehehehmm~”

Humming to myself, I left the office.

The gym was free of both dust and people.

Normally, it would have been a source of stress, but right now, I did not care.

So what if there were not many people?

I immediately headed toward the free-weight zone.

Just as I picked up several dumbbells and was about to carry them toward the office.

Vwoooooom.

The gym door opened, and two men entered.

One of them was a familiar face.

He was one of our precious members who had irritated me by saying how wonderful it was that this place had no people.

The moment our eyes met, the member greeted me.

“Hello, sir!”

“Yes. Hello.”

After exchanging greetings, I lowered the dumbbells I was carrying.

No.

I needed to lower them, but my body refused to cooperate.

Haa. I had only just been about to start lifting iron.

It felt as though my workout routine had been ruined.

I forced my body to move and put down the dumbbells.

Then I turned toward the two men again.

Hmm?

The face of the man who had come with the member seemed strangely familiar.

However, something else concerned me even more.

Perhaps because I had entered the gate and expelled some of the impure energy, my energy senses had become sharper.

Thanks to that, I could feel it.

The energy gathered within the man’s body.

That man was a hunter.

But why had a hunter come to my gym?

Ah.

Could the gate have already been discovered?

I whipped my head around and looked out the window.

The sky was dyed red.

The sun was setting.

That meant several hours had passed since I entered the gate.

What if that damned oblivious member had gone all the way into the office during that time and discovered the gate?

Had the member reported it to the Association, causing that hunter to be dispatched here?

My grand dream of restoring my external cultivation and inner energy was in danger of collapsing.

Hoping that was not the case, I asked the man.

“By the way, who is the person beside you?”

“Ah! He’s a close older friend of mine! He said he was thinking about starting to exercise, so I recommended this place!”

Hmm?

A hunter had deliberately come to work out at my gym?

More importantly, that oblivious member of ours had actually recommended someone?

“This place is quiet because there aren’t any people, the equipment is good, and it’s cheap, right? There’s nowhere better. Hahahaha.”

“.......”

***

I showed Kim Jicheol, whom the damned oblivious member Yang Hyeonsu had introduced, around the gym.

After looking around the gym for a while, Kim Jicheol asked me.

“The facilities really are as good as I heard. May I ask how much the membership fee is?”

“It is normally two hundred thousand won per month, but if you pay for at least three months, we discount it to one hundred fifty thousand won per month.”

“It’s just as Hyeonsu said. Then I’ll pay for three months for now.”

After completing the payment, Kim Jicheol began exercising with Yang Hyeonsu.

Around thirty minutes passed.

My leg kept shaking without me realizing it.

I felt the urge to bite my fingernails.

Symptoms of anxiety were slowly creeping up on me.

Was I anxious that the hunter might discover the gate?

That was one reason, but there was another.

Ah. I want to lift iron.

I had only just entered the gate and been about to begin lifting in earnest.

It felt as though I had been caught just as I was about to go to the bathroom.

This ominous feeling that I would lose muscle unless I exercised immediately.

Of course, I could begin exercising here right now.

However, that would be a terrible idea.

Why would I exercise here when such a wonderful gate was right there?

Lifting iron was not something that became better simply because you did more of it.

Muscles grew larger and stronger during the process of recovering after they were torn.

That also meant they should only be pushed to a level from which they could recover.

In the end, exercise had to be performed as efficiently as possible.

That was also why fitness fanatics were so obsessed with their routines.

Therefore, I could not lift iron here while leaving such a wonderful gate unused.

At the same time, I could not leave those people to exercise and go into the gate.

Kim Jicheol was a hunter.

What if I was discovered while repeatedly entering and leaving the gate?

For those complicated reasons, I could only shake my leg and watch the members exercise.

After observing them for quite some time, I noticed something unusual.

Kim Jicheol looked terrible while lifting iron.

Of course, most people’s form looked terrible to me.

Unless they were highly trained professionals.

When I said he looked terrible, I was not talking about his form, but his condition.

His breathing was unstable, and his complexion looked poor.

It was enough to make me wonder whether that man was really a hunter.

Even the energy accumulated inside him seemed unstable.

Just then, Yang Hyeonsu headed toward the water dispenser.

I quietly approached Yang Hyeonsu and asked him.

“Does Mr. Kim Jicheol have health problems?”

For some reason, Yang Hyeonsu glanced toward Kim Jicheol to check his reaction.

Then he carefully whispered into my ear.

“You absolutely have to keep this secret. I’m only telling you because you’re the gym owner.”

“???”

“The truth is, Jicheol is a hunter.”

Ah, yes.

I see.

“He is a hunter, but he seems to have some difficulty moving.”

“That’s because Jicheol has an incredibly strong sense of duty and justice.”

Was he speaking an alien language?

Why could I not understand him?

Fortunately, our member Yang Hyeonsu provided an additional explanation.

“You see, he awakened during the early days of the gate crisis. Hunters didn’t make much money back then, right? Even so, he went out every day to fight monsters because he wanted to save people.”

The fighting continued day after day, and he was injured countless times in the process.

And even with his injured body, Kim Jicheol returned to the gates to fight monsters again.

To protect people.

Naturally, his injuries could only continue accumulating.

“People say hunters make a fortune these days, but because he suffered so much back then, he can barely work as a hunter now.”

Yang Hyeonsu looked at Kim Jicheol with a regretful expression.

I also turned and looked at Kim Jicheol.

“Haa.”

He let out a deep sigh.

He stood there with a listless expression for a moment.

Then he bent down again and picked up the dumbbells.

He was trying to continue exercising somehow.

For some reason, he reminded me of my former self.

I remembered when I had suffered a severe injury while serving in the special forces.

And I remembered the period when I had intensely studied exercise in order to recover.

I began walking toward Kim Jicheol.

Perhaps I was being unnecessarily meddlesome, but a thought occurred to me.

I did not know whether I could cure him completely, but could I not at least fix him to some extent?

Of course.

I had even succeeded in treating Grandfather Hyungwang, so why would someone in that condition be beyond me?

“Sir.”

Kim Jicheol, who had been about to begin lifting iron again, turned his head.

“Yes, sir.”

“I just remembered something I forgot to mention. If you pay for three months, I provide two complimentary orientation sessions to help you with your exercise.”

At that moment, Yang Hyeonsu hurriedly approached from behind and spoke.

“Come on! Why are you doing this, sir? You can’t use those old tricks anymore! You never used to pressure people into personal training!”

As expected.

He was a damned oblivious member.