Chapter 691

Sometimes, it’s like that.

A dream is so good, so nostalgic, that I don’t want to wake up. Even after I do, I keep my eyes closed for a long time, savoring what happened.

But, as always, the world doesn’t go the way I want it to.

“Jin Taekyung!”

-Krrr.

With a scream-like shout, one large figure and one small one came charging at me. It wasn’t hard to guess what was about to happen.

And stopping it wasn’t hard, either.

Thud, splash!

I quickly tripped Yohee as she rushed in, then shoved Muyaho’s drooling snout aside as it barreled toward me.

Then I closed my eyes again and said,

“Three seconds. Just don’t touch me for three seconds.”

I counted to three in my head—slowly—replaying the dream, tucking it away, then opened my eyes.

At the same time, an unfamiliar sky—one where I couldn’t even tell night from day—filled my vision.

‘An unfamiliar sky.’

That’s new.

I didn’t think the sky I saw every day could ever feel unfamiliar, but there it was, plain as day.

I pushed myself up, my body throbbing, and spoke.

“First, let me ask. You’re not going to tell me Dark Heaven took over the Southern Barbarian Region while I was unconscious, are you?”

Yohee, soaked after falling into the pond, shot back with a dumbfounded look.

“Is that what you say after tripping someone the moment you open your eyes?”

“I tripped you because you rushed me the moment I opened my eyes. And look at the sky. I’d believe you if you told me this was hell.”

“What if it is hell?”

“I don’t know.”

I looked around.

A pond of clear water, lush greenery, and thickets full of chirping mountain birds. Somewhere in that brush, animals watched with curious eyes.

‘Too pretty for hell.’

I muttered to myself and shrugged.

“What can I do? I’m already dead. Might as well go back to sleep.”

“…Sleep? Are you out of your mind?”

“No. I’m still dizzy.”

That part was true. Just sitting up made my entire body throb, and vertigo rolled through me.

Still…

“I think I’m alive. Definitely.”

Yeah. I survived again.

The pain creeping in even now, and the system notifications ringing in my ears, were proof.

Ding.

[There are unread notifications.]

[Would you like to check the new notifications?]

[Y / N.]

I was about to open the system window right away, but something I’d forgotten surfaced, and I turned my head.

Blue-white eyes, bright with caution. A tail spinning like a propeller.

I chuckled.

“Yeah. I’m alive because of you, Muyaho.”

-Krang!

Wham!

As if he’d been waiting for those words, Muyaho’s massive body slammed into me.

My half-recovered body screamed under the weight, but it was fine. It was the kind of pain that reminded me I was still alive.

Grrrk.

Crunch.

“…Ah.”

I’m starting to feel a little worse.

—

Fortunately, the assassination attempt I’d suspected might be Dark Heaven ended in failure. After confirming my ribs were still where they belonged, I asked the most urgent question.

“But what about Heukung? Why isn’t he here?”

The moment those two syllables left my mouth, I saw it—Yohee’s face hardening.

“Don’t even mention that bastard.”

“Wait. Don’t tell me…”

“Yeah. It’s what you’re thinking.”

“Heukung proposed?”

“You crazy bastard. No matter how much you like someone, how do you propose in that situation?”

Yohee stared at me like I’d lost my mind, then spoke again, her voice tight.

“He wasn’t the Heukung we knew. We were all fooled.”

“He was. He was kind of heartwarming when he used Bone Contraction Art.”

“…Bone Contraction Art? You knew?”

“I knew. He even sent me a secret letter. We met.”

“So you knew he was a spy planted by Dark Heaven?”

“Of course I knew that too, what?”

…What did I just hear?

After a moment of blank staring, my mouth opened, heavy.

“Is it true?”

“Do I look like I’m lying?”

Shibal. It’s true.

And all at once, the Tracking Incense quest clicked into place.

I finally understood why the system had singled out Yohee.

“Okay. I take it back. The part about Heukung looking heartwarming. With a polite apology.”

I never should’ve said it.

Heartwarming or not, the air had frozen solid. Yohee let out a sigh.

“It doesn’t matter. I lived thanks to you.”

“Ah. I’ll apologize for the proposal thing too.”

“It’s fine. It’s true he proposed.”

“What?”

“It happened. To be exact, it was closer to a threat—like he had my lifeline in his hand—than a proposal.”

“D-did you accept?”

“I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier. Are you really a crazy bastard?”

“Oh. Sorry. My head’s so messed up I keep saying stupid things.”

The back of my head still tingled.

I’d suspected Heukung once, sure. But after meeting the two Old Monsters in the Poison-Blooded Land, I’d erased even that faint suspicion.

‘But that bastard was a pawn of Dark Heaven.’

In the end, Heukung had been a knife hidden up the sleeve—something the Southern Demon Empress had held onto until the very end.

And now the question came back around: how did Yohee and Muyaho avoid that move?

From what she’d said earlier, it sounded like they’d been cornered hard.

“What happened to Heukung?”

“He’s dead.”

After a beat, Yohee added,

“Probably.”

“Probably?”

“We don’t know the details. Muyaho was on the verge of death, and I passed out because of the elixir pill that bastard gave me. When I woke up, we were here.”

After that, Yohee’s story was short. She didn’t know where this place was, or how much time had passed outside.

And somehow, both Muyaho—who’d clearly been at death’s door—and me—half-dead myself—had survived thanks to this mysterious pond.

“I know it sounds like unbelievable nonsense, right? But really—”

“I understand.”

“What?”

“I said I understand. Everything.”

A pond that heals wounds like a potion?

The only people who couldn’t accept that were the people of this world.

I’d come from a modern world where potions and magic, monsters and gates existed. I was confident I wouldn’t even blink if a few orcs crawled out of those bushes right now.

…No, I’d blink. Orcs in Murim isn’t normal.

‘Unless a real gate opened like in the modern world.’

Swish.

I skimmed my fingers across the calm surface.

A mysterious pond with potion-like effects.

Maybe the reason I could shake off the fatigue piled up in my body and mind wasn’t just because my father had shown up like General Kim Jwa-jin.

‘Item Appraisal.’ Beep.

[Mysterious power rejects the system!]

[Cannot identify the target!]

There it is.

I’d expected as much, but still—unknowns stacked from one to nine.

And now, the tenth fact slipped from Yohee’s lips.

“I saw the Black Tiger. A black tiger that felt stronger and more special than any beast I’ve ever encountered.”

Chwarreu.

My fingertips trembled without me realizing it, disturbing the surface as ripples spread outward.

‘Wraith of Mount Aino…’

The massive Black Tiger I’d only seen once—but could never forget—flashed through my mind.

That bastard had appeared like a ghost and vanished like a ghost, living up to the name Wraith.

‘And that was the first and last time.’

That night, Beast Miao King and I had discovered the Poison-Blooded Land while chasing it, but we’d never found the bastard again.

The same went for the Southern Barbarian Region and Water Palace teams dispatched right after the fight with the Millennial Poison Spider.

The Wraith lingered in the back of my mind for a while, then got buried under the string of disasters that followed.

But now it showed up here?

‘And from the sound of it, it saved us.’

I didn’t know its intentions. I didn’t know what it was.

I frowned, then spoke the words I’d been holding back.

Notification Check

Ding.

Along with the clear chime only I could hear, the hologram windows popped into the air.

[Level Up!]

[Some injuries have recovered due to the effect of Level Up!]

[Some abnormal statuses are removed due to the effect of Level Up!]

[You have achieved a very outstanding achievement, [Legend of One Against Two]!]

[Achievement reward is given!]

[Bonus points have been acquired!]

[A large amount of experience and fame has been acquired!]

[Sudden Quest, [Knife in the Sleeve] has been created!]

[Sudden Quest has been forcibly canceled!]

[Discovered [???]!]

[Sudden Quest, [???] is on standby. It will proceed when all quest activation conditions are met.]

So the system had been working perfectly even while I was unconscious.

The problem was, even the system—omniscient and omnipotent like a god—couldn’t give me a definite answer.

‘Those question marks are supposed to be annoying, right?’

And as I stared at the last two notifications—the ones that bothered me the most—Muyaho, who’d been circling me this whole time, lowered his massive head close.

-Kkeueu-eung. Keung.

“Do you need to poop? Go over there. I’m busy.”

-Kkiiiiing.

“I said I’m busy…”

My words cut off, and I lifted my head.

At the same time, I saw it—clear as day.

Above the cliff that surrounded the pond, something watched us from on high, without a trace of presence.

‘That…’

Before the thought could finish, an unexpected voice echoed in my head.

-You have awakened, human.

-Come up. I have something to tell you.

And in that instant, I remembered a moment from only a few months ago.

The time the imoogi—unable to become a dragon in that wide, deep river—had spoken to me through telepathy.

—

I climbed the cliff alone, leaving Yohee and Muyaho behind.

When I hauled my injured body over the moss-covered edge, I finally faced the massive Black Tiger that looked like darkness given form.

Wraith of Mount Aino.

Yeah. It was that bastard.

“What… are you?”

At my first words, the Black Tiger stared at me with eyes so deep I couldn’t read them.

-I do not know.

“What?”

-Even I do not know what I am. Too much time has passed to remember everything, and I have been called by many names.

“…Wraith of Mount Aino.”

-That name. It has been a long time since I have heard it. Perhaps two hundred years?

The Black Tiger spoke calmly through telepathy and took a step.

It clearly existed, yet its movement carried no sign, no sound—ghostlike.

My hair stood on end, and the telepathy continued.

-But, human. You will know what kind of being I am.

-It is useless to deny it. I have already confirmed his existence through you.

The Black Tiger turned slowly, then opened its mouth.

Inside was a dazzling, blue and transparent object.

Azure Dragon God’s Elixir.

“You bastard. When did you steal it?”