Lee Sungmin raised his head. Standing in front of him was the Silent Flare, Baek Sogo. Her arms were full of flowers. The head full of white hair, which did not seem suitable for her age, fluttered in the breeze, and the clothes she wore were neat, unlike the old clothes she had worn on Mush’s mountain.
“… Baek Sogo…?”
Lee Sungmin was surprised to see her. Baek Sogo looked at Lee Sungmin’s face without saying anything. She walked forward after a short while. Her face, as she walked forward with small footsteps, became more and more drenched in melancholy with every step.
“Why… are you here?”
“I heard rumors.”
Baek Sogo said in a small voice. She turned around to look at Lee Sungmin and saw the dead body of Ghost Blade lying on the side. Even if Ghost Blade was a vampire, it was impossible to revive him once he had burnt the remnants of his inner strength.
Ghost Blade was dead.
Baek Sogo’s feet stopped in front of Ghost Blade’s body.
“… In the end, it was futile… Should I sigh?”
Baek Sogo’s words held a question. However, it sounded like she was asking herself the question. Lee Sungmin said nothing and put the spear down.
“… Lee Sungmin. Long time no see. Has it been… five years? I never thought I would meet you again under these circumstances.”
Baek Sogo looked at Lee Sungmin with eyes filled with gloom. It was the same for Lee Sungmin, who never thought he would see her again like this.
“You’ve become strong.”
Baek Sogo nodded and said.
“I mean… It may sound a bit cruel, but I had been watching the fight between Master Sungha and Ghost Blade. I also saw him in danger of being killed by Ghost Blade.”
(T/N: she refers to Master Sungha as priest in the raws here)
“Why do you say I might find it cruel?”
“Master Sungha was about to be killed by him. But Ghost Blade didn’t kill him. I was helping him.”
Baek Sogo muttered in a small voice.
“I thought I shouldn’t interfere. The gap between their level of skill was clear, but … I couldn’t get in. I thought it would be an insult to their dignity if I interrupted the duel.”
“I have no intention to blame you.”
He did not know Baek Sogo’s heart. Baek Sogo was also a martial artist. Born and raised in Murim and summoned to Eria, she was very knowledgeable about this sort of problem. Baek Sogo was the kind of person who did not regret their actions even though they felt helpless at the situation.
“Because you didn’t die.”
‘Was it alright for me to have lived?’
Lee Sungmin thought for a moment. But that thought was immediately erased. Baek Sogo looked at Lee Sungmin’s face and slowly raised her head and laughed.
“So… I’m glad. If you had died here, I would not have been able to stop your death… And I would have been very sad after that.”
“Would you have intervened?”
(T/N: He’s asking her whether she’d intervene on his behalf to save him. Since she didn’t even intervene for Master Sungha. Ouch.)
Lee Sungmin asked her unconsciously. He thought it was an unfair question, but the words had already left his mouth. After asking, he wanted to apologize, but surprisingly, Baek Sogo didn’t look embarrassed. Rather, she nodded.
“Even if you hadn’t been fighting him… I came here to stop him. Ghost Blade Dok Bejun had lost his path.”
“What was wrong with it?”
That being said, Lee Sungmin also knew. Ghost Blade was not right. It was dirty. Dangerous. His thoughts went back to what Master Sungha and Ghost Blade had said.
“It wasn’t that it was incorrect for Ghost Blade to choose a path other than martial arts, but it wasn’t right to harm an innocent person. Like Master Sungha.”
Baek Sogo raised her body and shook her head.
“I don’t know what grievances he had. I don’t even know why he did this. I… just. After he murdered the leader of the Volcano Sect, Master Sungha, he was pursued by their warriors. I only came here after hearing that the warriors on pursuit were killed.”
“… Is that right?”
“Lee Sungmin.”
It was a reunion after 5 years had passed. Lee Sungmin had imagined the moment he would meet with Baek Sogo again many times after they went their separate ways. Up to this point in his life, even counting his past life, Baek Sogo was one of the people who had had the most influence on him, right after Wijihoyeon.
Lee Sungmin had learned martial arts from Wijihoyeon. They learned each other’s weaknesses together. At the same time, he also came to know the feeling of inferiority when meeting a real genius.
He had learned to interact with others from Baek Sogo. Humans could never continue to live alone forever.
After that, he learned about ‘his’ shortcomings and deficiencies through the teachings of Grandmaster Bulyoung.
To Lee Sungmin, Baek Sogo was an unreachable figure, like a flower on a high peak. That’s why he didn’t want to see Baek Sogo die. So he wanted to stop it. He wanted to stop Baek Sogo’s death, by hook or crook. Somehow.
If they met again.
What did ‘he’ want to say to her?
“Everyone has their own ideals.”
Baek Sogo sighed.
“My ideals may be different from yours. My definition of justice is a measure of how humans behave. I don’t know with what kind of intentions you came here to block Ghost Blade. I don’t even know why you had felt so strongly about Master Sungha. Likewise, you won’t know why I’m here or how I felt about the Ghost Blade either.”
“I… I felt responsible.”
“You have grown up.”
Baek Sogo nodded with a soft smile. It wasn’t sarcastic. Those words were sincere.
“When viewed from Mush’s mountain, you always felt like you were pushing yourself. It felt like you wore mismatched clothing, trying to imitate others and deceive yourself. But now… I think it’s a little different. You have become honest with yourself.”
“… You said you were here to stop Ghost Blade. If it’s okay, can you tell me your rationale?”
“I belong to the Murim Alliance.”
Baek Sogo replied.
“I thought that the Murim Alliance was the best organization for my ideals – and it was. Thanks to that, I was able to quickly access information about Ghost Blade’s movements. Ghost Blade and I… we were old acquaintances from the mountain. At the very least, I wanted to give him a fitting end with my own hands. I didn’t know you would be here.”
“… Baek Sogo.”
Lee Sungmin hesitated and called her name.
“We haven’t met in a long time… How have you been?”
“Many things have changed.” She replied.
She lowered the flowers in her arms onto Ghost Blade’s body and continued.
“Your techniques have improved from how you were on the mountain. At that time you were too pessimistic and harsh on yourself. I’m glad you got the reward for that.”
‘No.’
“Lee Sungmin. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can catch up for long. I was in a hurry to do what I must. Now that things are sorted here… I have to go back.”
“… Baek Sogo.”
Lee Sungmin barely managed to voice out.
“What are you here to do? Can you let me know?”
“I’m chasing Wijihoyeon right now.”
Baek Sogo answered with a clear voice.
“I can’t tell you the details right now. But next time… See you again next time, Lee Sungmin. I am too busy to promise you a specific day. But we will be able to meet again someday.”
Baek Sogo left after leaving those words. The flowers left by Baek Sogo remained on the corpse of Ghost Blade. He had wanted to talk more with Baek Sogo. But now, Lee Sungmin didn’t have a reason to detain her.
‘She’s chasing Wijihoyeon… ?’
Information from his past life tangled into a knot in his head. Ghost Blade, who was supposed to enter the dungeon along with Baek Sogo, had been killed by his hands. There was no intervention by Lee Sungmin in his becoming a vampire. The Ghost Blade, who died at the hands of Wijihoyeon in the previous life, must have been a vampire.
Then what about Baek Sogo? She entered the dungeon with Wijihoyeon and was killed because she was chasing Wijihoyeon on the orders of the Murim Alliance.
If this was true, Lee Sungmin could not persuade Baek Sogo. Didn’t she say it herself? Everyone has different ideals and definitions of justice. For Baek Sogo, it was a constant, unshakeable belief.
Lee Sungmin had no such belief. He had no absolute unshakeable belief like Baek Sogo. So he couldn’t stop Baek Sogo from leaving.
Even so.
He knew for sure.
What he needed to do. What was lacking in ‘him’? What did ‘he’ do to escape death and live? It wasn’t important to have come back from the other side of death. It wasn’t important that he had lived for decades.
He had to throw it away.
He had already abandoned it.
When he returned to being 14, Lee Sungmin had a past. His personality was formed by his experience of living as a mercenary. The self-deprecation and sense of inferiority, the life of a third-class, or second-class, had carved his personality into that state.
That ‘him’ was quite insignificant. He was the product of a shallow past. The personality formed in that life was narrow, and the world he knew was small. Xeon, whom Lee Sungmin admired and wanted to be like, was not that great.
The world was wide. He kept learning more. As he became more aware, that insignificant ‘him’ began to disappear. He had to do it. He had to abandon that self. Inferiority, self-deprecation, all of it. That Lee Sungmin, who lived as a ‘mercenary’.
The current ‘him’. He had to be a new person, not the ‘him’ from when he was a mercenary.
But when had it turned out like this?
Since when did he decide to throw it all away?
When did he become the person summoned to Eria at the age of 14 and not Lee Sungmin, who died after being a mercenary for 13 years?
It was when he first realized that the world was wide. When he thought he should change. He had come a long way, and at the end, there was Wijihoyeon.
He wanted to meet her.
“It’s quite noisy these days.”
It had been four days since he had seen Denir, but Denir’s face was dull. He hadn’t promised to come back anytime in advance, but Denir opened the door to greet Lee Sungmin without playing any tricks.
“You killed Ghost Blade. It’s an amazing feat. Ghost Blade was much stronger than you. Even if there were ten of you, you normally wouldn’t have been able to kill him.”
Lee Sungmin had been thinking a lot over those four days. He was distorting the flow. He was stricken by a sense of responsibility and a self-satisfaction full of contradictions.
Fighting Ghost Blade, killing Ghost Blade. What did he feel? The last thing he felt was guilt. It wasn’t the guilt that came from killing Ghost Blade. It was the feeling of guilt because he betrayed Ghost Blade’s expectations.
The guilt he felt was for being weak.
“So. What did you come back to say to me in four days? Do you want to talk about your daily life again? It has to be said that you’re not the most pleasant friend. But then again, neither am I.”
“I want to take the trial.”
Lee Sungmin had hardly slept for four days. His cheeks had hollowed out, and the area around his eyes were darkened. The Volcanic Sect had sent out an announcement saying that a young hero called Lee Sungmin was the one who had killed Ghost Blade alone. Information guilds had spread the news of Lee Sungmin killing Ghost Blade, and Ghost Blade being a vampire. The rumour spread that he had been killed on the night of the full moon.
“Foolish.”
Denir opened his mouth.
“My trial is not as merciful as Mush’s. I already told you about it. Ten people. Ten geniuses challenged my ordeal, and only three survi-”
“Just give it to me.”
Lee Sungmin cut him short. Denir closed his lips and stared at Lee Sungmin’s face. He laughed as he looked at his eyes full of enthusiasm.
“Bastard. You don’t know the situation and want to die.”
Denir muttered.
“Keep this in mind. This death will be neither merciful nor quiet. I bet you, the pain you’ll feel through this ordeal will be different from any of the pain you’ve ever experienced.”
“It’s me who’s going to suffer.”
Lee Sungmin replied after biting his lips.
“So give it to me.”
“Alright!”
Denir yelled. As he raised his hand, the surroundings turned like an hourglass.
Everything turned upside down, and Lee Sungmin stood in a pure white space.
“This is the world of your subconscious.”
Denir said.
“Training here has no effect on your body in reality. It is a place where only your subconscious is trained endlessly. You can’t see the effect of the status window and skills that you otherworlders are proud of here. Do you know what I mean? You have to train, purely on the basis of your own memories and talents.”
Lee Sungmin looked around slowly. There was only empty space.
“This is a place where you don’t need to eat, drink, sleep, and cook. No matter how many years you spend in this world, the time, in reality, will be less than a second. Only your consciousness is in this space, and the time that your subconsciousness feels stretches on for eternity. Even if you spend 100 million years here, time in reality, won’t pass at all.”
Lee Sungmin felt like he knew what Denir meant by ‘harsh’. Denir put down a small hourglass in front of Lee Sungmin.
“When the sand of this hourglass runs out, you will have spent 100 years in this world.”
“… After that?”
“Up to you. Will you come out of this world or spend another 100 years here again? If you flip the hourglass again, it will be another 200 years. And the next will be 300 years.”
It was a terrible trial. The world of his subconscious. Every 100 years, he could choose to escape or live on in this world. No matter how he trained his martial arts in this way, it was impossible to confirm any improvement in martial arts or use them easily without seeing the help of the status window and skills.
Even if it lasted 100 years, his performance in the world of consciousness would not reflect in reality. It would just… remain in his memories.
“Even if there is no need to eat and drink, the choice is yours. You are the master of this world. Anything is possible. You will be the same as yourself. Let that be understood as you live in this world in the future.”
Denir said, touching the hourglass with his feet.
“It’s entirely up to you how you’ll spend 100 years or more of your time here. It’s also up to you to reflect on what you possess in your body. Shall I tell you a little more? Seven out of the ten who failed went insane in this world of stagnation for 100 years. In those 100 years, they couldn’t meet anyone, they practiced like a machine, and didn’t even know whether they would get something from it… They went crazy in despair and died. It was a pretty enjoyable sight.”
Denir laughed.
“For the rest, the first 100 years go by pretty fast. So then they turn my hourglass upside down with confidence. And in the middle of the next 200 years… That’s when they really start to go crazy.”
Denir turned with a smile.
“How many years will you last?”
Denir disappeared. Lee Sungmin stared blankly at the sand pouring down. He wasn’t holding anything, but the moment he thought ‘spear’, a spear appeared in his hand. He understood what Denir said to an extent. This was his consciousness. Anything was possible.
“… Well… In that case…”
Lee Sungmin held the spear tightly while breathing out lightly to steady his breathing.
The first day of 100 years began.
Comments