Nano Machine Chapter 3: Who Told You to Memorize the Book? (A)

Although Cheon Yeo Woon was just a teenager in age, he wasn't as ignorant as he looked.

At a young age, he had escaped the throes of death time and time again from would-be assassins and, in the process, had learned the importance of never showing others his hand.

Therefore, he instinctively knew that he had to keep under disguise this monumental hand that was dealt to him, which felt like the first fortunate event that had ever happened in his life.

-I need to hide the fact that this nano machine thing exists inside my body.-

Although Cheon Yeo Woon had no idea of this, with contemporary medical technology there was no way for anyone to discover the nano machine's existence anyway.

So, in his unenlightened mind, it was natural for him to be wary of Doctor Baek who was doing a routine check-up on him at that moment. Cheon Yeo Woon was fully aware that the doctor was a product of the Dok Ma clan which was one of the six clans that served as the foundation for all the doctors in the Ma faction.

-Please don't find out about it. Please.-

Although Cheon Yeo Woon did his best not to show it, his face looked unnaturally rigid.

At the time, he was under strict orders to be kept from any kind of training before he entered the Ma Fighting Academy.

-Hmmm… it seems very likely that he received some type of help from someone.-

The Doctor of Misfortune, Baek Jong Woo, regarded the change in Cheon Yeo Woon's body to be quite peculiar.

When he was younger, Doctor Baek took a look at his small frame and wrote him off as a kid incapable of even the most basic training who would eventually be eliminated in the war of succession.

But, looking at him now, even when compared to the other gong jas from the Cheon family, his physical state was even at par with them.

Nonetheless, he was still at a huge disadvantage.

Even before entering the Fighting Academy, the other Cheon gong jas had been training themselves and strengthening their inner power. Not only that, they already had a stalwart fighting force behind them.

-He acted ignorant to it before, but maybe he is beginning to notice it now?-

Then Baek Jong Woo made an erroneous assumption.

He assumed that Cheon Yeo Woon's physical improvements were the result of the Grand Master Cheon Yoo Jong's secret benevolence.

-Hey, who could blame him? The kid's still his blood.-

If it was indeed the Grand Master who had a hand in all this, there was no reason for the doctor to act surprised and make mention of it.

After prescribing to him a medicinal herb that was good for reviving his energy, the doctor left without saying a word.

Only after he left did Cheon Yeo Woon let out a sigh of relief.

"Sir gong ja."

"Master Jang."

He had forgotten to even thank Master Jang for his help.

Although it was ultimately the nano machine that revived him, it was difficult to know what might've happened to him out in the woods if it weren't for Master Jang.

"Thank you for bringing me to…"

Even before Cheon Yeo Woon finished his last word, Master Jang sternly cut him off.

"I'm sorry, Sir gong ja! Before all that, let's get you into a bath!"

"… I couldn't agree more."

Even though the stench was coming from his own body, it truly reeked.

Master Jang called in the servants to wash the stained bedding and had Cheon Yeo Woon ready for bath.

Cheon Yeo Woon wore a peculiar expression on his face his while being dunked in the warm bath.

-Is heaven trying to change my fate?-

His fate had already been decided the day he was born from a servant girl.

The Ma faction, which was broken up into six different lineages or clans, had a system of picking out one of their best fighters in the Cheon lineage to become a Grand Prince who eventually would serve directly under the Grand Master.

But, Cheon Yeo Woon did not have any social standing, did not belong to any of the six lineages, and, worse yet, was born into a family of servants.

The fifteen years that he had lived was a truly desperate existence as each day was just a struggle to survive.

-Hey nano machine.-

[Yes, my lord?]

She had been silent for quite some time now.

To his surprise, for the most part the nano machine kept to herself unless the conversation was first initiated by Cheon Yeo Woon.

Fortunately, he was able to finally throw off the icky feeling that he was under constant surveillance.

-You told me earlier that you restored my body. To what extent can you heal me?-

[Any superficial wounds caused by blunt force and punctures, or damage to the internal organs can be easily healed through auto-recovery. However, such injuries as major blood loss or limb amputations take a significant amount of time because of the cell division process.]

-Oh…oh, yeah?-

Despite the data transfer that the nano machine performed, this was still all too much for him to take in mentally.

-You don't mind if I test it out, do you?-

[I don't encourage self-inflicted pain, but if you really want to test it out then I recommend a superficial wound.]

Cheon Yeo Woon took the sword that he left on top of his pile of clothes and took it out of its sheath.

He hesitated for a moment, but quickly cut himself on the palm of his hand with its sharp blade.

*- Slice! -*

"Ugh!"

He sliced himself courageously, but nonetheless it was still really painful.

[Initiating auto-recovery for the injury on the user's left hand.]

With the mechanical words spoken by the nano machine, he felt an itch on the right hand from which he was bleeding. Shortly afterwards, the flow of blood stopped.

In an instant, the wound went away as though it had never been there.

"Ha ah. I can't believe my own eyes."

It was incredible in itself that the nano machine had the ability to heal his injury so quickly, there was something even more unbelievable than that. According to the information transferred into his brain by the nano machine, there were still hundreds of capabilities she had that were still unseen.

-Healing is one thing, but is it true that you are capable of doing all the things recorded in the manual that you transferred into my brain?-

[Yes, I have the capacity to do everything the manual says.]

-Okay then, after this bath let's give this thing a whirl.-

[As you wish.]

Right after the conversation, Cheon Yeo Woon once again dunked his body into the warm bath as he clenched his two fists.

-If I can truly utilize nano machine's full capacity, it will be a piece of cake for me to pay back all the misery I've had to endure until now, as well as have an exponential advantage in the war of succession towards reaching my goal in one day becoming the Grand Prince.-

~~~~~

Elsewhere, in the direction Southeast of the Ma fortress, there existed the stronghold of the Buk Ma clan, one of the six clans acting as the pillars of the Ma faction.

Situated next to the Buk Ma's fortress was a house where the Grand Prince candidate from their clan lived.

In the front porch of the house was standing a heavily freckled, teenage boy who looked about sixteen years old or so. Next to him, a masked man lay prostrate on the ground.

"You know, that's really funny. Do you think it makes any sense?"

The boy was so enraged that his eyebrows were set on edge as he berated the man.

The masked man couldn't respond one word to the boy's browbeating as he just groveled in fear.

"I've asked you to do one thing, to get that annoying little twerp out of my sight. But, what? All five of them were killed? Ha ah."

"It seems as though some unknown master came to his aid, gong ja Moo Geum, sir."

"How dare you call me by my name!?"

"I'm sorry, Sir gong ja Cheon."

The boy's name was Cheon Moo Geum.

Cheon Moo Geum belonged to the South Ma clan through a politically-inspired marital union and was third in line to the Grand Prince.

The aggressive and cunning Cheon Moo Geum had planned to dispose of Cheon Yeo Woon even before the Ma Fighting Academy commenced, but the plan didn't pan out as he hoped.

"I thought with his ignoble background that he'd have nothing to show for his upbringing. But he must have some secret weapon up his sleeve."

The outcome completely threw him off.

He even had a diversion to keep Master Jang at bay, but the fact that his plan had failed meant that there was still someone else who had Cheon Yeo Woon's back.

"Did father arrange something for his protection?"

The person who brought on the most suspicions was the Grand Master, but, no matter how arrogant and domineering Cheon Moo Geum was, he wasn't going to dare make verbal mention of it to anyone.

"I guess I have no choice. I'll just have to take care of him once we're in the academy."

All of his outside protection would be negated once they were in the Fighting Academy.

Up until then, all the Cheon gong jas were protected by the masters specifically assigned to them by the Grand Counsel, but once they entered Ma Fighting Academy the masters were required to disengage.

"I didn't want to dirty my own hands, but I'll make sure to kill you when we're in the academy."

Although still very much a young boy, there could be seen murderous intent in the eyes of Cheon Moo Geum.