***
Between mountain ranges piercing the clouds, at the edge of a sheer, sharp cliff, a diminutive man sat hunched over.
The man was gazing vaguely at the white clouds flowing by without a word.
“......Hm?”
Then, the man’s eyebrows arched, and the words that left his lips lingered in the empty air.
“Yong So-a....... No, should I call you Taecheongsingeom now? A noble person like you has come all the way here?”
No sooner had the man finished speaking than a man in pristine, white martial arts garb appeared before him from the empty space with a swift and elegant movement.
Thud.
The man called Taecheongsingeom asked the man in a voice as thick and heavy as his dignified appearance.
“Are you Jin So-un, the Daeju of the Sojeongdae?”
“Daeju, Daeju...”
The man called Jin So-un asked, still looking at the clouds.
“......Are all the members of the Sojeongdae dead?”
“.......”
“Then I must be the Daeju. If not, then I am not the Daeju.”
“......I asked if you are Jin So-un.”
“You must have known that when you came looking for me, so why do you insist on asking?”
At Jin So-un’s words, Taecheongsingeom drew his sword.
“I came because there is something I must get back.”
“.......”
Jin So-un, who had lifted his head to look at Taecheongsingeom, moved his gaze back to the clouds floating before his eyes.
Even though clear murderous intent was visible, Jin So-un’s voice remained leisurely.
“Didn't I restore all the lost records of the Murim Alliance?”
“There are many records you possess that you should not.”
“The things I restored were mostly useless records and materials, weren't they?”
“I know you remember the materials of the Simhyeongak.”
“.......”
Simhyeongak.
The archive where all the highest-level classified secrets of the Murim Alliance were gathered.
The innermost sanctum of the Murim Alliance, accessible only to the Murim Alliance Leader, the Chief of Staff, and a designated few.
It was the driving force that had moved the current Murim Alliance Leader, Taecheongsingeom, all the way to this place.
Jin So-un said in a hollow voice.
“Damn it all, I said I wouldn't look at them. I knew it would end like this.”
“.......”
“Right...... Did you come all the way here from the North Sea to kill a single third-rate warrior? Avoiding the eyes of the Demonic Cult bastards?”
“For the sake of justice in the Kangho, and above all, because it is a matter that must be dealt with definitively.”
Jin So-un chuckled and nodded.
“What happened to our Sojeongdae guys?”
“I do not know.”
“Heh heh. Well, I suppose so. From the start, dregs like us were nothing more than tools to you all.”
“It was all for the Great Cause......”
The damn Great Cause.
That hollow Great Cause that drove us to our deaths.
Jin So-un’s voice was filled with sarcasm.
“Did you prosper in the North Sea with that high and mighty Great Cause?”
The tip of Taecheongsingeom’s sword trembled.
The master of the Kangho had changed, and the Murim Alliance had been destroyed.
The key figures of the Murim Alliance had merely fled to the North Sea, barely maintaining their survival.
Cough.
As So-un’s diminutive body heaved and leaned toward Taecheongsingeom, Taecheongsingeom stepped slightly aside.
The hem of his pristine white martial arts garb, without a single speck of dust, retreated along with him.
Jin So-un sneered as he watched Taecheongsingeom.
“Yes, in the end, you must have failed.”
“The Murim Alliance will rebuild the foundation of the Murim again.”
“Although I belonged to the Murim Alliance, I hope such a terrible world does not come to pass.”
“......You have been tainted by the Demonic Cult.”
Just as Taecheongsingeom was about to cut his throat with a single stroke.
Stand!
As if he had felt the presence of a ghost behind his back, Taecheongsingeom, who had trembled, turned his head like lightning.
It was the appearance of a person he had never imagined would appear in this place.
“......How could he be here!”
Taecheongsingeom glared at Jin So-un again.
“Had you already been colluding with the Demonic Cult?”
Jin So-un still leisurely turned his head to look at a single point.
“Well, what am I that such a big shot would move for me? It must be a coincidence.”
“.......”
“Anyway, do you intend to stay?”
No sooner had Jin So-un finished speaking than Taecheongsingeom kicked off the ground and vanished.
However, he did not leave completely but positioned himself on a peak overlooking the cliff.
A moment later, the sound of footsteps was heard.
Crunch. Crunch.
This time, a man in black martial arts garb was slowly approaching Jin So-un.
Jin So-un spoke without looking back.
“Black Lion, Gwak Gung.”
At Jin So-un’s call, the man called Gwak Gung could not hide his surprise.
He had clearly been turned around.
“How did you know?”
“There are strangely many guests today. Even though the weather is so nice.”
“I asked how you knew.”
“The Demonic Cult Young Master’s unique footwork, the Blood Snake Dance Steps, has a secret technique hidden within it where you can twist the third step to advance in eight directions.”
Gwak Gung burst into laughter.
“Ha, have we met before?”
“Our Sojeongdae once stood as meat shields to block the Heavenly Demon Black Sword Unit. Do you remember?”
“Heh heh, well. In those days, everyone in the Murim Alliance was nothing more than a meat shield to us. Anyway, it’s surprising that you remember everything in the world.”
“It’s a useless talent for a warrior.”
Gwak Gung’s gaze turned toward Taecheongsingeom, who was standing proudly on the peak, looking down at this side.
“So, did the Murim Alliance come to save you? From the North Sea all the way here?”
At Gwak Gung’s question, Jin So-un shook his head.
“He said there was something he had to take from me.”
“?”
He looked like someone who wouldn't even have a single coin to his name.
“What is that?”
“This worthless head.”
Gwak Gung looked at the peak and clicked his tongue as if he understood.
“Tsk, I heard the Sojeongdae tried to save you to the end because you hold everything of the Murim Alliance in your head?”
“That’s not it...... They said it was because I was the one who wanted to live the most.”
Jin So-un muttered to himself, “Stupid bastards.”
“That’s a tear-jerking camaraderie.”
At Gwak Gung’s words, a fire lit up in Jin So-un’s eyes.
“They are not guys that a Demonic person can easily speak of.”
“Interesting.”
Even though Jin So-un scattered his killing intent, Gwak Gung did not react. Rather, it was as if he were telling him to try more if he could.
But soon, Jin So-un seemed to have lost his energy and withdrew his killing intent.
“......Do you also desire the same thing as Taecheongsingeom? If it’s now, while Taecheongsingeom is watching, I could give you everything from the Murim Alliance.”
“What value does that kind of information have to the current New Cult?”
“......That’s true. Then what is your business coming all the way here?”
“I came to catch the Captain of the Sojeongdae, the most persistent enemy of our New Cult.”
Jin So-un nodded a couple of times.
Gwak Gung could not hide his puzzlement at Jin So-un’s calm attitude.
“Are you not afraid?”
“......Would someone whose life is already hell fear death?”
“You said you wanted to live so badly, yet you say life was ultimately hell?”
“You are competent, aren't you? Imagine a life where you remember everything. A life that remembers only countless deaths and defeats.......”
Gwak Gung, who had paused for a moment, nodded.
“Hmm. You must have lived a difficult life.”
“Kuhuhuhu.”
“What is funny?”
“Isn't it funny that the Demonic bastard I hated is pitying me?”
“You may take pride in it. You of the Sojeongdae were the most persistent enemy of the New Cult.”
“For third-rate warriors abandoned by the Murim Alliance to be acknowledged by the Demonic Cult, the destruction of the Murim Alliance was already decided.”
Jin So-un, who had paused for a moment, opened his mouth.
“But I’m curious. Why did the Young Master come in person to catch a single third-rate warrior? Did you know Taecheongsingeom was coming?”
Gwak Gung pointed at Jin So-un’s hand, as if he had no interest in Taecheongsingeom, the Murim Alliance Leader nearby.
“That bracelet you are wearing.”
Jin So-un lowered his head and looked at the jade-colored bracelet.
A jade-colored bracelet engraved with a strange dragon pattern.
It was something that did not match his shabby attire at all.
“That is a sacred object of the New Cult.”
“......Is that so?”
Jin So-un raised his arm and looked closely at the bracelet.
As if recalling something, his eyes were full of longing.
Countless lives that had faded away, things they had achieved by trading their lives.
“When we caught the Protector King......”
I thought the Murim Alliance and the world would change.
Truly, like a fool.
Soon, Jin So-un let out a snort, as if mocking himself.
“Do you have any last words? If you die by the hands of a member of the New Cult, the Demon God will grant your wish.”
“Heh heh, seeing that faith is created by such absurd doctrines, you guys truly are a group of crazy bastards.”
“Our God is real.”
“A wish, is it...... Yes, in my next life, I want to be born in a world without the Murim Alliance that abandoned us and the Cheonma Singyo that killed us.”
“My, what a truly difficult wish to make. The world is now the Cheonma Singyo’s.”
Jin So-un’s body floated up and was pulled straight into Gwak Gung’s hand.
‘Kuh.’
Immediately after, Jin So-un felt Gwak Gung’s Demonic Qi flowing into his whole body.
The pain felt as if his nerves were being torn to shreds and his joints were being crushed to pieces.
‘Ah, a life full of regrets. I pray that the karma of this life ends with this life.’
His senses began to fade slowly, and the world went dark.
<><><>
“......I clearly remember that happening.”
I clearly died.
My memory was good to begin with, but in particular, the memory of that day I met my death is so vivid that I can even remember the smell of the wind.
So, that bastard clearly appeared and killed me.......
My back felt itchy, so I reached out my hand.
Scratch, scratch.
A cool, refreshing feeling, a sensation that was all too vivid.
“What on earth is going on here?”
I, who had died at the hands of the Black Lion Gwak Gung, was, to my bewilderment, returned to my nineteen-year-old self, thirty years ago.
Not as Jin So-un of the Murim Alliance’s Sojeongdae.
To the days when I was Jin So-un of the Tae-eul Sect.
Not in an era where the Cheonma Singyo had turned the world upside down.
To the days when the Murim Alliance ruled the Kangho.
“Was the talk about the wish true?”
I recall the last conversation I had with Gwak Gung.
From the start, I hadn't believed that such a cult that was indistinguishable from a pseudo-religion would grant a wish.......
Did it really have efficacy?
“But...... True to being a Demon God, he really doesn't listen to people properly.”
I said I wanted to be born in a world without the Murim Alliance and the Cheonma Singyo....... To send me back to before that hellish Great War of Righteous and Evil occurred.
As expected, one should not associate with anything that has the character ‘Demon’ (Ma) in it—be it the Demonic Cult, a Demonic person, or a Demon God.
“Phew.......”
I have regained my youth, but I am not happy at all.
The hellish reality that will unfold over the next thirty years remains vivid in my mind, and I am still just a disciple of the Tae-eul Sect who can at best become a second-rate warrior.
The fact that I have returned to the past like this does not particularly look to me like a signal to save the world.
“If that were the case, you should have at least given me some special ability or attached the soul of the founder, Jang Sam-bong, or something, right?”
Damn Demon God.
In the future, the Cheonma Singyo will reappear.
No, the Cheonma Singyo has already reappeared. It’s just that everyone except me doesn't know it.
The Murim Alliance, which trusted its own power absolutely, is swept away like fallen leaves in the autumn wind.
Those who trusted such a Murim Alliance were swept away with it.
My sect, the Tae-eul Sect, also trusted the Murim Alliance.
So it was swept away together. Damn it.
“The memories alone are painful, but must I watch those horrific scenes again?”
The conclusion drawn by synthesizing everything that happened to me up to this point is one.
So, in a word—
“It’s ruined.”
I have a feeling that the Demon God bastard is somewhere watching this state of mine and laughing.
Why? Because if I were in the Demon God’s shoes, that’s what I would have wanted to do.