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This was their second get-together. On the surface, it didn\'t seem any different from their first one... But even an idiot would\'ve noticed that the atmosphere had changed quite a lot this time around.

First of all, Lee Jung-Geol was a lot more relaxed than before. On the other hand, the directors and elders were making slightly stiff expressions. It seemed that hiding their anxiety was not as easy as they thought.

“Have you been well, sir?” Director Jo good-naturedly asked as if his job was to enliven the mood.

Lee Jung-Geol chuckled. “Yes. At my age, not dying should be considered being well.”

“Don\'t say that, sir. I\'m certain that you\'ll remain healthy and robust for the next fifty years!”

“Fifty years?” Lee Jung-Geol guffawed. “If I can live for that long, I\'ll surely accomplish so many more wonderful things. Unfortunately, that would be nothing more than an old man\'s hopeless greed, Director Jo.”

“No, sir. I think it\'s definitely possible.”

Lee Jung-Geol smiled meaningfully back at Director Jo. “Well, if such a thing is possible, then yes, I shall plan ahead for many more things. However, thinking that far ahead is difficult, even for me. So, let us focus on dealing with the matter right in front of our faces first, shall we?”

“You\'re right, sir.”

“Well, then...” Lee Jung-Geol glanced around.

Everyone attending this meeting carried a certain dangerous look in their eyes. People riding the tiger\'s back might make such expressions, Lee Jung-Geol mused inwardly.

Humans believed that their choices were solely of their own. That they were responsible for making those decisions. However, they were sorely mistaken about that.

Choices were inevitably influenced by the environment. One\'s decisions were bound to change depending on their circumstances. In that case... Forcing someone to make certain choices wouldn\'t be that difficult as long as their situation and environment could be manipulated to some degree.

That was the story for these directors and elders. After being abandoned, these older folks were steadily becoming more irrelevant every day, with their grip on power gradually slipping away. And now that they had reached out to Lee Jung-Geol... There was no other choice left for them. Giving them a little time to think it over solved their vague anxiety and worries, too.

With things like this, they would never betray Lee Jung-Geol now. Actually, anyone thinking of betrayal would\'ve rushed to Kang Jin-Ho or Bang Jin-Hun as soon as Kang Jin-Ho\'s name was uttered. But no one did.

They now all knew. Even if they were to prattle to Bang Jin-Hun now, it\'d still be too late to escape suspicion.

This left them with only one path to take. And those who had chosen their path would always become stronger. More determined.

Lee Jung-Geol forced his laughter down while noticing all the killing intent and will burning in the eyes of these old men. They hadn\'t even noticed all the strings manipulating them like puppets and still firmly believed their decisions were their own. Of course this spectacle was deeply humorous in Lee Jung-Geol\'s eyes.

\'Pathetic fools...\'

Lee Jung-Geol brought a cup filled with expensive liquor to his lips. He had spent his entire life with these people. Once upon a time, he even saw them as dependable pillars of support, too. But now...

\'Is this all you amount to?\'

The house of cards. That was what he had built here.

Eventually, Lee Jung-Geol failed to suppress his laughter, letting just a little hint of it escape from his mouth.

Director Jo slightly tilted his head. “Sir? You seem to be having fun.”

“...Well, I never imagined we\'d be in a gathering like this again. So, to have everyone present like the good old times... I can\'t help but smile.”

“Hahaha! That\'s true. We should have a get-together more often, sir!”

Lee Jung-Geol gently smiled while nodding away.

His defeat was inevitable. How could it not be, when Lee Jung-Geol thought the sand castle built with these people\'s help would last forever? He was an idiot for living like a king inside a fragile castle that even a simple wave could knock over.

The story now hadn\'t changed much, either. Just because Lee Jung-Geol decided to lead them once more, these people were filled with greed again despite not even knowing what they were about to do. Did such people deserve Lee Jung-Geol\'s sympathy?

\'Well, I\'m not all that different from them, now am I?\'

Lee Jung-Geol couldn\'t confidently say his decision to act had not been triggered by his own situation and environment. What about his anxiety over the Martial Assembly\'s future? Could it be his way of showing dissent at all this sudden change?

\'Who knows...\'

If Kang Jin-Ho and Bang Jin-Hun had treated him better, would Lee Jung-Geol be thinking about betting everything of his and opposing them like this? He couldn\'t readily answer that.

All he could do for now... was to desperately comfort himself by thinking that he simply had to make this choice.

Lee Jung-Geol slowly rubbed his eyes when his vision got cloudier.

\'Right. Things can\'t remain the same as before...\'

Even these directors and elders were probably not the same as their old selves. No, wait... That was a foregone conclusion, now wasn\'t it?

These men were being treated as has-beens waiting for their expiration dates in some forgotten place. However, no one should forget that they used to wield enough influence to flip this country on its head once upon a time.

They were dependable warriors who endured the hellish periods plaguing post-war South Korea to build the Martial Assembly into its current form.

Look at all those wrinkles on their faces. Look at all the crust and ooze around their eyes! In the past, their bodies were rippling with muscles and fighting spirit, but now they had withered into the shells of their former selves. Their scar-filled hands attested to how much pain and suffering they had to endure.

\'...This will not do!\'

Lee Jung-Geol stared at his hands and saw all those ugly scars pock-marking his wrinkled skin.

He was not wrong. These men were not wrong! The only thing they were guilty of was losing their youth. That was all!

The world was busy telling them to stop and retire. It said their time was long over, that their glory days would never come around again. All those enemies they had fought, all those allies, even those they had not spared one iota of attention...

The era where all these people coexisted more or less in harmony was over. So, they should stop and take a bow, then watch the youth transform the world anew. That was what the world was saying to Lee Jung-Geol.

\'But, why...!\'

Lee Jung-Geol gritted his teeth.

Wasn\'t this ironic? Only by reaching this far in his latest scheme did Lee Jung-Geol discover the truth about his motivation. Was it to seize power? No, not quite.

Lee Jung-Geol had already experienced what it was like to wield the power of a king. Maybe, the power he wielded now was mightier than when he was still the Assembly Master. Back then, the Martial Assembly only ruled half of South Korea, after all!

In that sense, being an adviser to the current Assembly that had unified South Korean martial society could be an honorable position filled with prestige and fame.

So, Lee Jung-Geol\'s motivation couldn\'t be power.

“...Everyone, I\'m not doing this because I desire power,” Lee Jung-Geol\'s quiet voice echoed in the meeting venue. “Let me be honest with you all. I\'m not doing this for a great cause, either.”

The directors and elders glanced at each other, wondering what Lee Jung-Geol was trying to say here.

“No, I... I wish to resist. That is all. To say out loud that we\'re not has-beens! Youth? Yes, being young is great. If I can sacrifice everything of mine right now in exchange for getting back my youth, I will unhesitantly choose that. And those men... Those who still possess youth that we no longer have, aren\'t they shining blindingly? Don\'t you think so?”

Some agreed, but some also seemed unhappy. The word \'youth\' spread various types of ripples within Lee Jung-Geol\'s audience.

Regardless of how they reacted, though, one thing would never change. No matter what they did, these people would never be young again.

These old people were powerless against the sense of loss, their grief and anger, and the ruthless suppression of their fate, which all had been packaged nicely into the phrase, \'This is how the world works.\'

“The old man\'s wisdom...?” Lee Jung-Geol muttered, then smirked helplessly.

The world was now demanding this thing called wisdom from old folks like him as if it was compensation for having their youth stolen from them. This thing that... tasted like a cold, unappetizing ball of rice casually thrown in the way of a man starving for their youth!

“I...!” Lee Jung-Geol gritted his teeth even harder. “I cannot, no, will not acknowledge the fact that I must step back because of my age!”

Everyone in the room nodded simultaneously. At least, they all seemed to agree with this sentiment.

“I have no desire to act like a wise old man who hands over his place to someone younger with a stupid smile on his face! And I will not, under any circumstances, acknowledge that I\'ve become a has-been who is only good for being discarded in some dark back room! Not with my own mouth or through my actions! And... And if they want to do that to me...!” Lee Jung-Geol tightly clenched his fists.

“They better push me out first! Try to cut off my limbs and drag my unwilling body away! That is the only way. I will never grin and bear it. I will never compliment them while obediently handing over my position, my spot! Why, you ask? Because I\'m not a nice man! They want me to act my age? Hah, fat chance! I will never do that!”

As he shouted, Lee Jung-Geol\'s voice grew more heated and agitated.

“Everyone, I will keep fighting. And I will tell those who wish to steal my position. That I\'m not weak enough to be pushed around by anyone! And the wisdom of the old they wanted to exploit me for? I will show them it can come back to haunt them like a noose about to tighten around their necks! And lastly!”

The cup in Lee Jung-Geol\'s trembled powerfully. Everyone in the room held their breaths. These elders and directors of the Martial Assembly resembled quiet church mice when their leader cast aside empty pep talk and preamble to go straight to the point. And the vivid rawness in his words and emotions left them stewing in anticipation of what was about to come.

“Let\'s not fool ourselves, everyone. My granddaughter told me something recently. That her dear ol\' granddad was merely hankering for power again. What do you think my response to her was?”

“...?”

“I denied it. I told her that\'s not why I\'m doing this. That I have a far more impressive reason. However... What do I really have?” Lee Jung-Geol bared his fangs in a ferocious smirk. “Have we gathered here out of our undying loyalty toward the Martial Assembly? I don\'t think so.”

He paused for a brief moment before he continued, “Of course, I used to think that way. However, when I looked back at myself, that was just a lie. If we really think the Assembly\'s current direction is wrong, there should be plenty of other ways to fix it. In other words, that\'s not a reason for us to be in this room, having a secret meeting like this! So, I accept the truth now. I admit that my grandchild was right. That I am indeed fighting for power like an unsightly fool!”

Gulp...!

The sound of someone nervously gulping back echoed in the room.

In the proverbial blink of an eye, Lee Jung-Geol had become the sole focus of this meeting. Even Director Jo paid his utmost attention to Lee Jung-Geol\'s voice, unable to think about anything else.

Whether it was intentional or not... Lee Jung-Geol\'s charisma had come through to shine brightly at this very moment!

“So, let\'s not try to pretty this one up, everyone. Let us simply accept that we\'re old and petty people lusting after power! And then... Let\'s seize it all!” Lee Jung-Geol held the gazes of every elder and director in this room while chewing out his next words.

“Now that we\'ve come this far... We must win, no matter what! Don\'t be timid about what happens afterward under the pretext of thinking about some useless great cause! Our defeat this time will herald our doom. Our death! So, anyone who wishes to live on even if they are pushed out, anyone who wishes to live on as an aging retiree and not as a martial artist... You\'re free to leave now. I have no desire to associate with someone like you.”

Unsurprisingly, no one got up. Even if someone was thinking about it, they would never act upon it in the current atmosphere.

“There is no one?” Lee Jung-Geol asked again.

And no one answered him.

With his eyes burning with killing intent, Lee Jung-Geol scanned his audience, then weightily nodded. “In that case, I shall consider all of you comrades in this journey. With that... No one will be allowed to back out from this moment on!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Sharpen your blades, everyone. You need to sharpen your bodies and minds, which have gotten duller and softer over the years. The enemy we\'re about to fight is in a different realm altogether compared to the ones that came before him! Of course, everyone here knows this, yes?”

“Yes, sir!” Director Jo replied in a grave-sounding voice.

Indeed, everyone knew who they were dealing with. And that individual was Kang Jin-Ho. And they amply knew what it meant to oppose that man! Several faces in the audience darkened after being reminded of that fact.

“Sir, may I ask you something?” One of the directors raised his hand.

“Yes, please go ahead,” said Lee Jung-Geol.

“My apologies, but I must simply ask you. Just how are you planning to fight Kang Jin-Ho? I\'m not looking for an abstract response but a realistic solution, sir.”

Everyone focused on Lee Jung-Geol once more. And as if to reward them for their attention, Lee Jung-Geol leisurely raised his voice.