Murim Troubleshooter Dan Mujin-Chapter 131 : The Pioneer

Chapter 131: The Pioneer
After the commotion with the loan sharks—
“You've really become a true expert, haven't you?”
That was the first thing Neung Jinsam said after returning safely to the office.
Last time he saw me, I was just a fledgling wanderer. Now, somehow, I'd turned into a troubleshooter capable of making even loan sharks flinch—it must have been surprising to him.
“Right? I told you, we're not called the School-Breaking Fiends for nothing.”
Jo Harang, who had stayed behind to train, greeted us with a grin, as if to say, You only just realized that?
“Why do you keep bringing up that alias?”
“Because it's cooler than Dog-Beating Dragon. It’s got that fresh vibe.”
She muttered from the front yard as she wiped sweat from her forehead.
Judging by her expression, she truly meant it. Honestly, what a peculiar taste she had.
Shaking my head, I plopped down into the office chair.
“Ilhong, that thing.”
At my signal, Ilhong began unpacking the bundle we’d bought at the market on our way back.
From the bundle, the red-combed head of a chicken suddenly popped out.
“…What is this?”
“What do you mean? It’s a chicken, one of the Twelve Zodiac Beasts.”
Wasn’t this the animal he used to love so much—the ones with thick fur?
He used to light up at the sight of even a street mutt.
“What does this make you think of?”
“Liquor and grilled chicken.”
But now, it seemed he’d been too worn down by worldly life.
Neung Jinsam stared at the chicken like it stirred nothing in him.
“To be honest, I thought the same thing, Captain,” muttered Ilhong beside me, like she was confessing a sin.
“Don’t you feel sorry for the chicken?”
“Well, if you're that full, should I cook it as Galjeotang for dinner?”
Such a heartless subordinate.
“No, grilled is better.”
I didn’t want that soggy, watery dish that barely filled your stomach anymore.
“Phew, how did I end up like this? I used to be obsessed with their soft feathers, those wrinkled combs, those ruby-like eyes…”
He placed his brush and ink-filled pen case onto the desk with a ‘thud’ and muttered self-deprecatingly, as if no one could understand him.
It seemed his interest in animals had somewhat faded overall.
“Still, what’s the point of drawing hard? I’ll just be overshadowed by more famous painters again. What’s the meaning of it all…”
Why would someone suddenly lose all passion and interest in something they were once so devoted to?
That usually stemmed from deep despair.
“Could I ever defeat them with my Beast Paintings?”
“Then just draw landscapes or portraits.”
“Like that would work. I was never any good at that either.”
Even when I tried encouraging him, he only shook his head, utterly disheartened.
He was clearly stricken with a severe artist’s ailment.
In short, it was inner demons.
“Then let’s try this.”
“Try what?”
“A portrait. Please draw Jo Harang over there.”
In times like these, extreme remedies were necessary.
I motioned with my chin toward Jo Harang, who was diligently tending to her broadsword.
“M-Me? That’s kind of embarrassing… I’ve never had one done in my life.”
“Then it’s a good opportunity. Might as well ask a famous Beijing painter for your first one.”
Though more famous for his Beast Paintings, a painter was still a painter.
Jo Harang, who’d lived her whole life detached from upper-class culture, looked bewildered.
“Why me though? Why not you?”
“Well, I figured you’d look prettier and suit it better than I would.”
Extreme remedies worked best when paired with beauties.
Perhaps she interpreted my words in her own way, because she sat quietly in the chair opposite Neung Jinsam with a slightly shy look.
“…You ask so earnestly, I guess I can’t refuse. Alright.”
Maybe she liked the part about being pretty and suiting the portrait. Her lips kept twitching upward.
“I want one too next time, Captain.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
If someone volunteered, that only made things easier for me.
After reassuring Ilhong, who looked like she wouldn’t lose to anyone, I tasked Neung Jinsam with drawing the portrait to the best of his ability.
He started sketching Jo Harang with the reluctant attitude of a student forced to study.
Since he had a solid foundation as a painter, the portrait turned out quite well despite his low enthusiasm.
And Jo Harang, holding a painter’s portrait for the first time in her life, beamed as she admired it.
“What do you think, Young Master Mujin? Of my work?”
“Hmm, it's well drawn… but it lacks spirit.”
I gave a lukewarm review to the otherwise decent portrait.
“Right? People always said that about my art. Some even said… it lacked soul.”
Clearly, this man didn’t care much for people.
Being forced to draw others must’ve always been torture for him, even in his art school days.
“But what about this?”
I took the brush from his hand and added a few touches to the finished portrait of Jo Harang.
Tufts of fur sprouting from both sides of her head. A long tail extending from her lower back.
With each stroke of the brush, Neung Jinsam’s eyes widened further.
“Gasp. T-This is…!”
He gasped as if witnessing something that defied all logic.
“M-Mujin, what the hell is this? Why are there animal ears and a tail on my portrait?!”
If his Beast Paintings once evoked a sense of strangeness by painting beasts acting like humans—
Then this was a new method—starting with a human and adding animal features.
“Isn’t it neat?”
“Neat?! It’s obscene! I’m not some kind of spirit beast or anything!”
She pointed at the portrait with the fluffy tiger ears and tail, shouting in disbelief.
“What’s the big deal? It’s cute.”
“Ugh! That kind of talk doesn’t work on me. Erase it now!”
She started smacking my back, saying it made her feel like some freak from a fairy tale.
Eventually, she reached for the brush, clearly intent on undoing it.
But then, a hand shot out and grabbed Jo Harang’s wrist.
“To anthropomorphize animals was one thing… but to animalize a human… What a genius concept!”
The owner of that hand—our very client.
Painter Neung Jinsam now wore the expression of a man who’d passed through a long, dark gorge of torment and finally reached enlightenment.
“I’ve found it! My new inspiration!”
***
After unlocking the second taboo that shouldn’t exist in this era, Neung Jinsam suddenly seemed to regain his motivation.
“The face is the same, yet just by adding parts of an animal, elegance and beauty are so much more pronounced…”
He still couldn’t hide his amazement at the ‘new path’ I’d shown him.
“But, Young Master Mujin. While I’m thoroughly captivated by this new direction, will others feel the same? That’s what worries me.”
Yet, amidst his ecstasy, reality seemed to hit him, and Neung Jinsam expressed some doubt.
It was a valid concern. Unlike Beast Paintings, this Beastman Art could appeal to a broader audience—but broader reach often meant shallow impact.
“Then it’s time to use a cheat card.”
“A cheat… what?”
“A sure-win move that people won’t be able to resist.”
Where Beast Paintings were based on animals, Beastman Art began with people.
Thus, depending on who served as the base, its impact varied immensely.
“You realize this is Cheonhwa Pavilion, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“You said you needed a cheat card, and suddenly you bring up a brothel…”
Because the sure-win move that could stir people resided here.
If you want to persuade someone to invest in a new business idea, you need a clear specimen.
I asked for permission to meet with Yeryeong, the floor master of Cheonhwa Pavilion.
“Young Master, I understand your situation, but she’s an incredibly busy girl. It’s hard to make special time for her.”
But seeing her wasn’t easy.
As expected of the most popular celebrity in Beijing these days.
She was fully booked—it wasn’t going to be simple.
“Floor Master, it’s alright. I can postpone my other appointments.”
Then a young woman poked her face out and said this after hearing my voice.
“Are you sure it’s okay…?”
“Of course. He’s already saved my life twice over, you know.”
Truly, she was a girl who made you feel it was worthwhile to have rescued her.
Still, I didn’t get why Ilhong and Jo Harang kept eyeing her so suspiciously. Tsk tsk.
“Hmm, if that’s the case, there’s no helping it. But the higher-ups might get upset, so don’t spend too much time, alright?”
“Yes, Floor Master.”
After answering, the top courtesan of Cheonhwa Pavilion walked up to me with graceful steps.
Her smiling eyes locked onto mine.
“You’ve returned again, great hero. What brings you this time?”
“It’s nothing much—would you like to pose for a portrait, Juwol-a?”
She was well-versed in poetry, calligraphy, and painting to converse with nobles, so the idea of being painted piqued her interest.
“Oh my, are you trying to immortalize my beauty on fine paper, great hero?”
Apparently, other high-ranking officials had tried similar requests in the past.
Though my purpose was entirely different, I nodded along for now.
“Well, something like that.”
At that, her eyes curved like crescent moons.
Pleased, Juwol-a turned halfway, lifting her chin slightly into a pose—like she knew exactly which angle made her look most beautiful.
“Juwol-a… to be able to draw her up close like this…”
“Snap out of it.”
“Ah, right. Of course.”
It must’ve been quite the emotional moment for him.
With his passion fully rekindled, Neung Jinsam began sketching eagerly.
With a serious look, he darted his eyes between the paper and Juwol-a, devoting all his energy to it.
Sketch, stroke, sweep.
“Juwol-a, do you have a favorite animal?”
“Of course. I love fluffy rabbits the most.”
She answered with a soft smile.
I nodded, then whispered this fact to Neung Jinsam.
At once, his eyes lit up like sparks—he was delighted.
Sketch, sweep.
And finally, the portrait was complete.
Like a historic painting of a famed beauty, it captured Juwol-a’s elegance in intricate detail.
And to top it off, a pair of white bunny ears and a soft fluffy tail.
“Great hero, what is this…?”
Juwol-a’s expression shifted as she rushed over, excited to see the finished work.
Her face turned subtly strained with rising confusion.
“Young Master Mujin, what do I do? I can’t take my eyes off my own painting.”
Despite being the one who painted it, the artist himself showered it with praise.
A breathtakingly beautiful face, coupled with the mischievous features of a beast—together they brought out an eerie allure unseen in any other work.
For those with the right taste, this painting could pierce straight through the heart.
Realizing this, Neung Jinsam wore an enlightened smile, as if he could now die without regrets.
“…What devastating impact.”
And I, too, couldn’t take my eyes off it, stunned by how powerful the result was.
A portrait so peculiar, it would stop people in their tracks.
“Great hero, are you listening? There’s something weird on this painting!”
“Weird? I think it’s adorable.”
“Not adorable! It makes me look like a demon fox or something!”
A demon fox, she said. True—there was a hint of that seductive mystique that stole men’s hearts and souls.
“This—this has to be cancelled!”
“Hey now, no takebacks once it’s done.”
A once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece.
Neung Jinsam and I hurriedly secured the finished portrait.
Meanwhile, Juwol-a was patting my back with her fists, insisting we get rid of it, while we fled to find someone who might help launch this new project.
“So… that’s why you came to me?”
In the neat atmosphere of the Eunseong Trading Company’s Trading Lord’s Office—
Eun Hwaran looked bewildered as we suddenly dropped a new business pitch on her.
“What on earth is this…?”
She’d had the same expression last time when I asked her to connect Beast Paintings to Beijing’s wealthy elites.
“It’s called Beastman Art.”
“……”
Once again, Eun Hwaran stared at us with a dumbfounded expression.
“And this… you think it’ll make money?”
“Yes. In fact, it might sell even better than Beast Paintings, since the target audience is broader.”
“…The world really is going downhill.”
Pioneers are always persecuted in any age.
But all that matters is proving yourself in the end. Even Beast Paintings, once so ridiculed, became profitable.
“Still, I mean—come on. Animal fur on human faces? It’s absurd.”
“But it’s pretty, isn’t it?”
“Well… it is. It’s the portrait of Juwol-a, one of the famed Four Flowers of Beijing.”
Wasn’t she the one all the high-ranking nobles were desperate to even glimpse?
Now add those risqué features on top of it—this could outshine Beast Paintings in popularity.
When I emphasized this, Eun Hwaran sighed and held her forehead, her sense of reality shaking.
“Brother, I’m feeling a little dizzy.”
“Then take a breath. There’s still more to see.”
With that, I signaled Neung Jinsam, who then pulled out the other Beastman Art portraits we’d trialed at the office.
“Sister products—portraits of Jo Harang and Ilhong.”
They were familiar faces, but now with distinctive features—one as a tiger, the other as a cat—adding a whole new flavor.
The painter clenched his fists and stared, as if to say Well?
“…Oh, Primordial Heavenly Lord…”
Even those without religion found themselves invoking the divine.
It seemed we had once again sparked a firestorm that could shake the world.