Chapter 685
Whir, kwaaaang!
A blue-white blaze filled Taekyung’s vision.
With an explosion that felt like the end of everything, the old frame flew through the air and crashed into a massive boulder.
Kwaduk.
Its blood-soaked vision blurred. Every sound felt distant, as if echoing from hundreds of miles away.
But why? Even like this, its consciousness burned bright.
Like a candle flaring fiercely just before going out.
‘Hwigwangbanjo (Last Flicker).’
The four characters flashed through Great Snow Demon’s mind. Heat surged up its throat.
Cough.
Dark red blood drenched its lower body. Staring blankly at the mess—chunks of its own organs mixed in—Great Snow Demon realized something.
No, it was certainty.
A certainty that would not waver now.
‘It’s over. All of it.’
Ironically, the moment humans confirm their own existence is when they feel pain.
But even with every vessel ruptured by Scorching Yang Energy, flesh torn and bones shattered, Great Snow Demon felt no pain.
Only one emotion remained.
Fear.
Fear of the death finally catching up.
Fear of the person walking toward it through the blood-red haze.
“Jin… Taekyung.”
A groan slipped from broken lips.
But the dying man received no answer.
No—more accurately, the other man could not answer.
Thud. Thuk.
With every staggering step, blood dripped. A figure barely standing. Eyes clouded, body swaying.
Yet Jin Taekyung was undeniably alive.
With his cherished spear still jammed between his ribs. Even while brushing shoulders with death, he walked toward Great Snow Demon.
‘How…’
His body trembled—not only from cold, not only from death.
It was fear.
And, strangely, curiosity.
How could a human made of the same flesh remain standing after suffering such injuries? What had brought the two of them to this final moment?
‘Where did it begin? Where did it go wrong?’
For fifty years, he had left his hometown behind—family, subordinates, friends—and walked alone.
To overcome his limits, he created new martial arts and devoted everything to perfecting them, crossing countless lines between life and death.
The righteous path? He couldn’t care less about hypocrites and their words.
He only needed to survive. To one day return home. To grow strong enough that no one could ever disregard him again.
That single obsession was why he accepted the hand Dark Heaven extended decades ago.
‘The day the Celestial Lord descends, everything you desire will be granted.’
‘Everything?’
‘If that is your wish.’
He believed it. He pledged allegiance. He even took a successor he never wanted, passing down the martial arts he forged with his own hands.
All while waiting for “that day.”
And yet, how had it come to this?
“Why… why must I die by your hand? Why!”
With a hoarse scream, Great Snow Demon lifted its head—only to see a pair of eyes still burning with unextinguished fire. A faint whisper followed.
“Because I have a reason.”
“What?”
“A reason to survive no matter what. A reason worth risking even death.”
“I…”
“That’s the difference.”
Jin Taekyung’s trembling fingers reached out. His blood-soaked hand wrapped around the spear sunk into his chest.
Pu-hwak. Tooduduk.
As the spearhead slid free, the blood that gushed out splattered across Great Snow Demon’s face.
At the sight of Jin Taekyung convulsing with unbearable pain, Great Snow Demon laughed—a broken, deranged sound.
“Don’t be late. Follow me soon. I’ll be waiting in the afterlife. Heh.”
Instead of answering, the spear tip touched his throat. Jin Taekyung muttered tiredly:
“Idiot. Go find your parents.”
And that was the end.
Pyoong.
A cold blade pierced his Adam’s apple.
Time slowed. Darkness seeped into the edges of his vision.
Too little time to reflect on a hundred years.
Damn it.
With a curse stuck in his throat, the old monster who once ruled an era fell into darkness.
—
No one survives a spear through the throat.
Not even an absolute master overflowing with Yin energy, nor a monster who lived nearly a hundred years.
Just like now.
Pheu.
The clear spearhead pierced his Adam’s apple, and that was the end.
The being once called Great Snow Demon no longer existed.
Staring blankly at the corpse with wide-open eyes, I let out a faint breath.
“…Ah.”
It’s over. Finally.
As the realization settled in, the world tilted.
Seureuk.
No—my body was tilting.
I tried to brace myself, but it was hopeless. The spear slipped from numb fingers.
Kung.
My vision dimmed. Pain and exhaustion I had forgotten for a moment crashed back, weighing down every part of me.
Collapsing, I looked up at the sky.
You have defeated [Lv155. Han Baek]!
You have gained a huge amount of experience!
You have gained a huge amount of fame!
That was it.
Three numbers hovered in the hazy hologram. No level-up message. The system stayed silent.
And I…
‘If this is a hidden camera prank, it’s not funny.’
I laughed weakly at the absurd thought. For no reason, my cracked lips lifted into a smile.
Shibal. Hidden camera my—
‘I see. So that’s how it is.’
How long can I last like this?
An hour? Half an hour?
‘At least Muyaho escaped… that’s good enough.’
Strangely, even though the last bit of hope had collapsed, my mind was calm.
Maybe I had already known.
‘Luck doesn’t come twice.’
The level up after defeating Black Hand Demon Fist—that had been nothing but a gamble.
I couldn’t see my exact experience, so I had guessed.
It turned out I guessed wrong.
Great Snow Demon gave a massive amount of experience, yes—but less than what I earned marching to the Poison-Blooded Land combined with Black Hand Demon Fist.
Or maybe the requirement had increased after last time’s “lucky break.”
Either way, the result was simple:
The first gamble succeeded.
The second gamble failed.
As if fate had decided it from the start.
‘Damn fate.’
I’ve hated that word for as long as I can remember.
People use it casually, but I always thought it was a word used to excuse the world’s cruelty.
Some things are too bitter and hopeless to be labeled as fate.
Like that day burned into the corner of my memory.
“Mr. Kim?”
“Yes, Vice Principal—what’s going on…?”
“I’m sorry to interrupt. Can we talk outside?”
A shabby black-and-white movie.
Scene one: the bald Vice Principal, coughing, calls the homeroom teacher outside.
Scene two: through the glass door, the teacher’s bewildered face turns grim.
Scene three: he returns and calls a single name.
“Taekyung. Come outside for a moment.”
Just like that, I became the protagonist of a movie I never auditioned for.
If it were truly a movie, I would’ve half-killed the writer and director for this nightmare script.
But life is a one-take.
No retakes. No cuts.
Every moment flows forward on its own.
I had coasted through life without thinking deeply, until I saw my father’s body under a white sheet.
The cause: a monster wave.
The cause of death: crushing.
Fate, they said.
Because of that damn word, my father’s story ended. Because of that word, mine began.
“…Cough.”
Chwareuk. Tooduduk.
But I refuse to let my story end with me dying on the ground, bleeding from every orifice.
I refuse the ending credits rolling with my family and friends’ names behind soft piano music.
I still have a chance—a final chance—to spit in fate’s face.
‘I want to live.’
That was it. The only thought left in my head.
I don’t want to die. Not like this. Not with so much left undone.
Eudeuk.
I bit my tongue, forcing a jolt of pain through my fading mind. My vision sharpened slightly.
Now.
With trembling fingers, I reached out.
‘Inventory open. Summon.’
Seureuk.
Cool, soft glass touched my palm.
Then—
Tting.
You have successfully summoned [Azure Dragon God’s Elixir]!
Bbibik!
Warning: Immense water-type energy detected.
Your [Scorching Yang Energy] is incompatible. Consumption is extremely dangerous.
I know.
This is insane.
This is an act that spits on the foundations of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements.
Pouring water on fire. Like trying to evolve a Charizard into a Blastoise.
But—
‘There’s no time.’
Either I die in an hour from blood loss,
or explode trying to absorb this elixir.
Both end in death.
I’d rather gamble on the option with a sliver of survival.
Ulk.
Spitting out fresh blood, I forced myself upright.
Cross-legged, fighting searing pain, I stared at the sky one last time. Shibal—look at those clouds. Of all days, it has to be this dark.
No one is watching. No one is here to hand me a last cigarette.
Even if they were, they wouldn’t smoke it.
Huu.
Instead of smoke, a trembling breath flowed into the air.
My vision darkened—not because of the night sky, but because I was dying.
Fast.
The final gamble stood before me.
Right now.
I lifted the elixir to my lips.
And swallowed it.
Or I tried to.
Until a cold force burst from somewhere and wrapped around my body.
Pyeong! Aagh!
What—?
My hair stood on end. I froze.
And then, a roar from far away shattered my confusion.
Kuaaaang!
Ugh!
It returned?
I thought it escaped. I thought at least that guy lived.
‘It’s back.’
Even through my blurry sight, the shining white body was unmistakable.
Muyaho.
And the two people riding on its back.
Heukung. And Yohee.
Seeing their faces rushing toward me, something clicked in my head—something I’d forgotten.
I looked up at the sky and murmured:
“I knew it. Today’s the worst day to die.”
Tting.
Mission: Yohee Discovered (Completed)
Tracking Incense has completed its role.
Significant experience gained.
Significant fame gained.
Level Up!
Warmth rushed through me, filling my broken body. Death retreated.
Tting. Tting. Tting.
Under the clouded sky, the bright chimes rang out.
Seureuk.
My eyes slowly closed.
Sleep descended—so much heavier than any enemy I had ever faced.