Nano Machine Chapter 10: The First Qualifying Stage is a Complete Freebie (C)

The Lord of the Underworld, Yi Hwa Myeong, instantly knew what was about to go down as his face betrayed a look of discomfort. Yi Hwa Myeong wasn't blind to this bewildering situation, nor unsympathetic towards the humiliation Hang So Yoo was feeling, but what about all the rest of the contestants in the arena? She was so blinded by her own pride in that moment that she was disregarding the whole cohort of young contestants there.

*Twaangggg!! Twang!!!*

The music rang out vengefully.

Without even the chance for the second major note to fade out, the Grand Soloist Hang So Yoo began to frantically play her next piece. She was now delivering half of her full output. It was extremely difficult for any master below the elite level to withstand the sound waves coming from the ornate harp of Hang So Yoo, who in her own right had the inner power of about sixty-years' worth of training under her belt.

"Aghh!"

The faces of the contestants from the elite clans, who had been holding up quite well up until this point, began to turn blue. As their internal organs twisted and pulled within them, they began to spew out vomit and blood from their mouths. This wasn't just the case with the those of the elite clans.

*Heupp*

No matter how much training the candidates had gone through to build their inner power, there was no way they were going to stand against Elder Oh's energy. With the increased force of the sound waves hitting them, they were beginning to gasp for air as their heart rates started to pick up speed. They were all straining to hang on for dear life by employing high-level breathing techniques, but it was to no avail.

*Kul-luk, kul-luk!*

Cheon Jong Seom of Dok Ma clan, considered to have the weakest inner power out of all the six candidates, began to cough uncontrollably. West Grand Lord Yi Hwa Myeong took this as the final straw and decided to stop the madness.

"That is enough! Any more and you will kill them, Elder Oh!"

*Tik!*

At Yi Hwa Myeong's words, Elder Oh lifted her fingers off the strings as she saw the extent of damage that was being done by her performance. As soon as the music faded away from the arena, all the boys and girls who were holding on by a thread fell on their knees in sync.

If she had kept going, there was a good chance that every single one of the contestants would've fallen to the ground and been disqualified from the second round right there and then.

No doubt Elder Oh Hang So Yoo was embarrassed by her lack of control and the fact that she almost jeopardized the whole program, but it didn't lessen her fury towards Cheon Yeo Woon one bit. She was sure that Cheon Yeo Woon had broken faith with the six wives of the Grand Master by engaging in training.

It was in that moment…

*Puh… wooh… woohot!*

The face of Cheon Yeo Woon, who was awkwardly standing all the way in the back of the arena, suddenly turned bright red, then blue, as he began to shoot out a stream of blood from his mouth like a fountain.

The onlookers Yi Hwa Myeong, Hang So Yoo and the other Grand Master candidates looked stupefied as they wondered what in the world was going on.

"What the hell?"

It was incredible to think that so much blood could actually flow out of a person's body from the mouth. If it was a minor cut in one of the upper organs, blood should just be subtly dripping down his cheeks, but no, he looked like a bloody fountain.

"Maybe he wasn't really holding out as well as it seemed?"

The amount of blood coming from his mouth destroyed all suspicion that he was acting or putting up some ruse.

After shooting up a fountain of blood, Cheon Yeo Woon wobbled to his knees as his palm hit the ground. He seemed to have incurred the most injury out of everyone on the field.

-Nano…you…you little…-

[I carried out your order. A sufficient level of damage was done to your internal organs in order to produce the greatest pressure of blood for projectile vomiting.]

-You crazy son of a…!! I…I almost freaking died!-

It is painful just in and of itself for anyone to vomit. Even when masters spit out blood from their mouths they too feel the burn inside; how much more painful it must've been for Cheon Yeo Woon who shot pints of blood out from his esophagus.

*Ggeuu…uuhhh…uhkk!*

Cheon Yeo Woo expelled the last remaining blood that was hemorrhaged from his organs.

There were pools of blood everywhere within his vicinity. Without a strong stomach it was hard not to feel sickened by the spectacle.

*Chit!*

Unlike Elder Oh, who was left speechless and frozen in place by what she saw, West Grand Lord Yi Hwa Myeong was in a different position. The beef between the six Grand Master candidates of the six pillar clans and Cheon Yeo Woon, the odd one out, was not Yi Hwa Myeong's business, but it would unnecessarily become his business if Cheon Yeo Woon ended up dying during the competition because of it. If he weren't an offspring of the Grand Master he wouldn't have made such haste, but as it was, within seconds Yi Hwa Myeong air traveled to Cheon Yeo Woon to check up on him.

"Hey, pipsqueak! Are you okay there? Hey, hey!"

Cheon Yeo Woon felt extremely light-headed from all the blood he lost.

As he staggered and began to fall forward, Yi Hwa Myeong caught him by the shoulder.

[You are experiencing an episode of dizziness from the 7% blood loss from your body.

[I will initiate auto-recovery on your injured organs and blood count restoration.]

Cheon Yeo Woon interrupted Nano's healing process as he tried to gain some composure.

-Not yet! Don't do it yet.-

[My lord, you might fall into a critical condition.]

-Just wait a little bit longer.-

At Cheon Yeo Woon's strong insistence, Nano suspended her initiation of the auto-recovery and blood restoration process.

Although his eyes were open, his face was as pale as snow when suddenly Yi Hwa Myeong looked at him and said, "You're quite the resilient one, huh? Why not just fall to the ground like everyone else?"

As Yi Hwa Myeong held on to him he discreetly felt for his pulse. Unlike his general assumption that Cheon Yeo Woon probably trained his inner power, allowing him the resilience to be able to withstand Elder Oh Hang So Yoo's sound wave attack, to Yi Hwa Myeong's great surprise, he really was devoid of inner power.

-Huh? He has none.-

Even after blowing a small flurry of his own inner power into Cheon Yeo Woon's body to test the resistance coming from it, there was nothing there.

That meant that Cheon Yeo Woon had withstood the powerful sound waves coming full force at him with nothing but sheer grit. And, as though he was paying the consequences for his insolence in facing the sound waves head on with only a dogged determination, he had incurred serious internal injuries.

-Crazy… He must have truly lost his mind. Without any inner power, how on earth did he have the discipline and fortitude to not buckle under? Truly fascinating.-

He was unable to hide his awe. The kid really advanced through the first round with only his grit and maybe a loose screw in his head. The only image West Grand Lord had of him were negative thanks to all the bad rumors and stories he had heard about Cheon Yeo Woon, the unfortunate kid who was seventh in line in the war of succession. Who would've thought Cheon Yeo Woon, the one everyone despised as having "filthy" blood, would possess such extraordinary mental fortitude.

Yi Hwa Myeong gestured with his hands in the air for the academy instructors to come.

"Transport this kid to the academy's dispensary immediately."

As soon as Yi Hwa Myeong's command rang out, the instructors came and moved Cheon Yeo Woon on a stretcher-like board and carried him out.

As Cheon Yeo Woon was being carried to the dispensary, he mentally whispered to Nano.

-Okay…now's a good time to heal me.-