Chapter 88
“Hah… hah… hah…”
Wi Gwakdu slowly straightened his hunched back.
Beneath his ragged breaths, the blood-soaked Baeksan Guild Shadow at his feet was flickering out.
He tried to wipe the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, but with no sleeve left, his blood-smeared forearm only made him look more brutal.
“Hoo!”
Smack!
Slapping his own cheek to keep himself awake, Wi Gwakdu pulled out a potion, drank half, and poured the rest over his body.
Then he spat a single word.
“Monster!”
Grit!
Hyuk-min yanked his sword free from the back of the last special strike team member and met Wi Gwakdu’s gaze.
“So you were holding back.”
Heh.
“Holding back? You’re not even tired. Looks like you were the one holding back.”
“Not at all. I’ve just adapted.”
Now considerably calmer, Hyuk-min scanned the surroundings.
“Since the Public Security Bureau hasn’t shown up despite all this, I have to assume there was a mole.”
“If there is, it’s probably Baeksan.”
“Are you thinking of the Unrivaled Guild?”
(T/N: Switching from Invincible Guild to Unrivaled Guild since the ‘Unrivaled’ term is more common in Chinese Murim stories than Invincible)
“The only guild with a tight grip on China is the Unrivaled Guild. And the one with close ties to the Unrivaled Guild would be the Baeksan Guild. Isn’t the answer obvious?”
Hyuk-min stored the [Immortal Demon Sword] in his [Inventory].
“Then the Public Security Bureau will handle the cleanup.”
“I suppose so.”
“But there’s another problem.”
“What problem? When this blows up, the Unrivaled Guild and the Baeksan Guild are the ones who’ll take the hit. They’ll clean up their own mess one way or another.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Hyuk-min pointed not at the battlefield, but at Wi Gwakdu.
“When I go back, I’ll be cut off from the world for at least a month.”
“Ha! Are you worried about me right now?”
“That thought you had at first. I’m telling you to go through with it.”
Wi Gwakdu’s eyebrow twitched.
Just moments ago, this had been a true battlefield where lives were on the line.
For this brat—barely in his early twenties—to notice right away that Wi Gwakdu had been planning to retreat meant he’d grasped the entire situation the instant he’d rushed in.
‘Battlefield assessment is a skill even seasoned veterans can’t easily master without command experience. But that young brat already has it?’
The habits. The aura.
Everything about him was impossible for someone his age.
For the first time, Wi Gwakdu felt genuine shock.
It was like his head was rejecting what his eyes were seeing.
His file clearly stated he was a kid in his early twenties with no combat experience.
But in person, he didn’t look like someone in his early twenties.
He looked like a man in his fifties—someone who’d been through every kind of trial and tribulation.
How could that not be strange?
And more than that…
How could he not feel greedy?
“Hey, old man in a kid’s body. We’ll take care of ourselves. I hope you make good use of those three months.”
As if he meant it, Wi Gwakdu turned his back without hesitation.
Heh, heh.
He walked on and on through the bamboo forest, thick with the stench of blood, trying to suppress the laughter spilling from his lips.
Ssk.
When he glanced back a moment later, Hyuk-min was already gone.
Wi Gwakdu immediately pulled out his phone and called the Minister of National Defense.
“Secure line, Major Wi Gwakdu. Situation resolved. Priority One and Priority Two are both safe. I request an urgent information update.”
Grin.
“I think we can swap Priority One and Priority Two. Bang Hyuk-min… is definitely not Priority Two.”
= = =
“You’ve come.”
Hyuk-min appeared at the horizon beyond the long stone staircase leading to Taebudong.
The thick stench of blood, utterly unfitting for the tranquil Great Buddha Temple, carved a deep displeasure into Mantae’s face, but with a major event at hand, he said nothing.
“You’re back sooner than I expected.”
“Yes.”
Hyuk-min looked a little tired, as if he’d just come from a brutal fight, but Chang-kyung offered him a gentle smile.
“You look refreshed.”
“I feel more unburdened than ever.”
“Being outstanding invites trouble. I don’t know about usually… but for this time, at least, set everything aside for a while.”
Hyuk-min knew well what kind of place Taebudong’s back gate was.
Hadn’t he experienced it once in his past life?
But having done it once didn’t mean it would be easy again.
And unlike his past life, Hyuk-min’s potential was now unlimited, which meant Taebudong’s trial would have grown stronger as well.
‘I can say I’m plenty strong right now.’
Walking slowly, he began erasing the countless plans and simulations floating in his mind, just as Chang-kyung had said.
Thud. Thud.
Through the wide-open stone gate, the dark interior of Taebudong’s back gate was visible.
It was only a small stone chamber lit by a faint, unknown glow, but Hyuk-min’s steps as he entered were more serious than ever.
‘The chances of success are always higher when you’re superior to whatever you’re aiming for.’
Squeeze.
Hyuk-min clenched his fists as he strode forward.
Thud!
He stopped, standing neatly inside the stone gate—just as he had before he left.
The plan was not yet over.
The war that would break out on December 26th.
And the many events that would follow from it, along with countless large and small changes tangled within.
“I will see you in a little while.”
“Yes. Let’s see each other again.”
Not a single mistake could be made.
Only then…
Could he protect everything he had guarded through a past life shrouded in regret.
Only then!
Would he not regret this new life he had been given.
“I’m closing the stone gate.”
Rrrrrumble.
Mantae began pushing the stone gate with all his might.
Leaving the narrowing sliver of light behind him, Hyuk-min strode confidently toward the center of Taebudong’s back gate.
Then, though it was late, he faced the wall and silently cheered for Hyun-jung and No Death.
‘You’re not weak. You can do it.’
= = =
Thud!
As the stone gate closed, silence fell as if the world had been snuffed out.
“I can do it. I have to. That’s how… I can be of help to Uncle.”
Inside the pitch-black sealed room, a thin sliver of light guided Hyun-jung’s steps toward the center.
As she clenched her fists, scenes from the past flashed through her mind.
The day she first held Hyuk-min’s hand.
The day she realized her talent for guns.
The day she cleared a Dungeon, perfectly living up to Hyuk-min’s expectations.
The day a new rival named No Death joined them as a comrade.
And finally…
The day she despaired—unable to help Hyuk-min in any way, unlike No Death.
“Get a grip!”
Smack!
Had the trial already begun?
The anxiety from that day—something she had forced deep down—began to creep back out.
Hyun-jung slapped her cheek until it reddened, then snapped open her tightly shut eyes.
“W-what is this…”
The scenery of the dark, sealed room vanished, and a strange, unfamiliar world unfolded before her.
Plink. Plip-plop.
Raindrops began to fall from the sky.
At first, she thought it was an illusion.
But the sting of the raindrops on her skin and the chill seeping into her as her body temperature dropped began to change her mind.
“What is happening…”
It was then.
“Hi?”
“Aah!”
Startled, Hyun-jung jumped and instinctively kicked at the dark shadow that had suddenly shoved its face toward her.
Thwack!
The shadow easily blocked her foot and grinned.
Only then did she see its form.
“You’re…”
“That’s right. I’m you.”
It was made entirely of darkness, so it wasn’t perfectly clear, but it was unmistakably Hyun-jung’s own shape.
“Wanna play a game?”
= = =
A heat like a desert beneath a blazing sun—so intense it dried out the mouth.
Hyun-jung wasn’t the only one thrown into a realistic illusion by Taebudong’s trial.
“So what the hell are you?”
No Death had simply closed his eyes and opened them, and the sealed room was gone—replaced by a desert.
And in that desert stood a dark, shadow-like No Death, striking the exact same irritating pose.
“I told you. I’m you.”
“Cut the bullshit.”
“Just believe me. Why would I lie in a situation like this?”
“Ah… this is annoying.”
“I’m annoyed too, so let’s get this over with. There are two games. It’s simple. For the first game, you just have to give me the answers I want to my two questions.”
No Death’s eyebrow twitched.
“What kind of logic is that? You want me to give you the answers you want?”
“Chinese?”
“Hah… annoying again. So what if I can’t give you the answer you want?”
“You die.”
“Oh-ho!”
“But you can’t die, can you.”
“Ah…”
In this absurd exchange where amusement and irritation overlapped, the dark No Death used [Spirit Materialization], instantly turning the desert into night.
“It was too bright.”
“I agree with that.”
“Alright. First question.”
As he nodded, the dark No Death stared straight at No Death and asked.
“Do you… really want to die?”
“What, you call that a question?”
“This is a pain. Are you going to answer or not?”
No Death scoffed.
“Like this is hard. Yes! I want to die! Very much so!”
“Correct.”
“Ha!”
“Last question.”
Just as No Death was shaking his head at how easy it was—
A sandstorm rose in the desert, growing colder as night fell, and from the center of that storm appeared a face he had longed for.
A woman walking gracefully, leaving small footprints in the soft sand.
A woman whose smile under the moonlight pierced No Death more deeply than the moonlight itself.
“Oppa…”
“Elina…?”
It was Elina—his woman, the one No Death could never forget for the rest of his life.
“Aah…”
No Death, who had been holding himself together, couldn’t anymore. He tilted his head up, and tears finally streamed down his cheeks.
“Wait.”
Moonlight. The desert.
And night.
At that unforgettable combination, No Death’s eyes widened as far as they could—and then it happened.
Vroom! Vroom!!
Six vehicles came racing across the desert in the late evening.
“No!!”
The moment he spotted them, No Death ran forward and tried to open his [Inventory].
“[Inventory]! [Inventory]!!”
But no matter how much he shouted, there was no response.
He gritted his teeth.
Vroom! Vroom!
The six vehicles drew closer.
“Oppa?”
Standing in front of the vehicles to protect Elina, No Death bit his lip as he looked at her innocent face.
“I’m different from back then. Bring it on. Go ahead. I’ll send you off even more brutally.”
“Oppa, there are cars coming.”
“Elina! Don’t go far. Stay close to me…”
Just as he was about to finish—
VROOOM!
Snatch!
Without him sensing a thing, one of the speeding vehicles swept past and instantly snatched Elina by the wrist.
“Kyaaaaaak! Oppa!!!”
“Elina!!!!”
Bang!
“Ah…”
A deep pain stabbed into his chest, and strength drained from his legs.
Just like that time…
Just like that day…
Unable to do anything, he bit his lip as he watched Elina face a terrible fate in front of the stopped vehicles.
Ssk.
In the frozen world where he couldn’t even twitch a finger, the dark No Death appeared.
“The last question will be easy, too. It’s a question you’ve already answered.”
Snap!
The dark No Death snapped his fingers, and time began to flow again.
Elina screamed as hands tore at her clothes.
“Oppa!!! Oppa!!!! Kyaaaaaaak!”
Amidst this hellish scene, the dark No Death’s question continued.
“Do you really want to die? And leave that child behind?”
To look back on one’s life, and the life changed by the fates acquired within it.
In other words, to acknowledge those lives and accept one’s destiny.
This was Taebudong’s trial.
“Hurry up and answer. Let’s get this over with.”