She (3)
I spoke with her through Seo Lip’s face, letting the memories of our past wash over me.
The second time had been different. I had been the one to ask her out.
She had accepted.
And we had been dating again for three days now.
It had been that evening after work.
* * *
Quitting time.
I had walked her home.
For the first time in three days.
“Huu…”
I rubbed the cigarette butt out in the employee smoking area and turned around.
The sunset had almost disappeared, the sky already darkening.
“It should be fine now, right?”
“Yeah. I told you, thanks to you the last three days have been plenty of healing.”
I let out a dry laugh.
No matter how you looked at it, we had become perfect opposites.
She pulled out another cigarette and lit it.
“Go on, then.”
“Be a little careful, idiot.”
“I’m going. You’re just my ex now. Go away and don’t come back. Hway.”
“Three days of dating and then breaking up… probably only we two would do that.”
I chuckled at the strange situation.
In the first round of dating, she had asked me out. When we broke up, I had. But this time it was the opposite.
“What dating? I just received perfect psychological treatment. I’ll deposit the fee later.”
“Even if I say it…”
“Why? If I actually send it, it hurts too much?”
“Fine. I’m leaving.”
I opened the smoking area door.
From behind, Kang Min-hee’s voice reached me.
“Since my psychological treatment is over, take care of my junior a bit, you bastard. Seeing you makes my chest tighten.”
“Um? Who? Jo? Kim?”
“Kim Yeon, you idiot. Jo is a guy, why do you care? What she shows you at lunchtime isn’t because she’s a Michelin chef, it’s because she wants to eat lunch together with you?”
“…?”
“Aren’t we all supposed to eat lunch together during office outings? Why does Yeon keep telling me to look after her? She’s been having a hard time lately?”
“Ha, fuck… you bastard… just get out already. I’m about to burst. See you tomorrow, Team Leader Seo.”
I greeted her as she made pointless comments, then turned away.
“Yeah~ See you tomorrow, Deputy Director Kang.”
That day had been the last day we had been this close.
* * *
‘Hmm, thinking about it, I really was an idiot back then.’
I had only known that Kang Min-hee was joking with Kim Yeon.
At the time, to me Kim Yeon had been nothing more than a cute junior.
Anyway, after that day our relationship with Kang Min-hee had become strange.
Publicly, we were in a terrible position.
But privately, despite what my mouth said, it was impossible to hate her completely.
Yes. The term “opposite” fit us perfectly.
But after we changed from “enemies” to “opposites,” it no longer felt as suffocating or awkward as before.
“…Well, this is all the information I have about the Ghost Realm’s main branch. I know almost nothing about the realm itself, but… one interesting thing is that Lord Heogak told me to stay away from the main branch because I possess a certain talent.”
“Hmm, that’s strange. Why? If it’s the talent that Elder Kang possesses, shouldn’t the Ghost Realm be more suitable?”
“That’s what they say, though. Supposedly, the main branch warned that because the Ghost Realm has ‘high ones’ constantly watching it, going there could actually put me in danger.”
“High ones…”
I recalled information Seo Hyul had given me in my past life.
‘The Ghost Realm is always being watched by Fissure Opening true immortals.’
It was said that the Ghost Realm had a shortcut to the True Immortal realm, and that’s why Fissure Opening true immortals always watched the realm from the Star Realm.
‘If it’s really such a dangerous place, Kang Min-hee going there might actually be risky.’
Kang Min-hee had trailed off while groping around the surroundings.
Clink—
Soon she lifted a long pipe from the nearby table and said, “Fire.”
Chiiii—
Then the goblin fire in the room moved, attaching a blue flame to the end of her pipe.
‘Even in places that aren’t public, there’s no one to notice… so the habit of smoking indoors hasn’t changed.’
“Since it’s my room, I’m going to smoke. Let me know if it bothers you.”
“Haha, this is what the elders requested, so how could I stop you?”
“Um…”
Kang Min-hee looked at me for a moment.
“You, that thing on your face… is it a spell? Let me see it for a moment.”
“Ah… yes.”
I released the illusion covering my face.
My original appearance appeared before her.
“Oh… you really are beautiful. Hmm… but there’s no sense of familiarity at all, why does it feel…”
“Huh?”
“No, it’s just that you remind me a little of someone I knew before. You even handled the part where I subtly said I didn’t like it exactly the same.”
As she said that, Kang Min-hee didn’t extinguish the flame and simply held the pipe to her mouth.
Puff—
The faint blue smoke came from her mouth.
It seemed she was smoking with a lot of spiritual energy mixed in.
‘If she knew I disliked it, she could have put it out a bit more.’
There were no carcinogens like on Earth, but unlike me who only smoked in designated areas, she would smoke indoors or in the car if there was no one to get hurt.
Even during the three weeks we dated, I got so irritated from her driving and smoking in the car that I almost died.
It was my own car, but it was the moment I confirmed that she and I truly didn’t match.
‘I still have quite strong emotions. Even though it’s been over two thousand years…’
How clearly I remembered that Kang Min-hee and I didn’t match.
“It’s Seo Lip, right?”
“Yes.”
“The death aura is so thick I can’t tell what your soul looks like… but if you have that much talent, it looks easy to reach Heavenly Person. Probably soon you’ll catch up to my clone level.”
“Thank you.”
“With proper support, good luck, and if the fortune follows, you might reach Four Pillars within five hundred years… well, anyway. Live well from now on. Don’t mind that I didn’t accept you into my sect, it’s just my rules.”
“Yes, of course I understand.”
Kang Min-hee smiled and patted my shoulder.
For some reason, her touch didn’t make my chest tighten.
“Have we answered all your questions? Time to go.”
I greeted Kang Min-hee and left her office in the Ghost Realm.
Through her, I understood one thing.
‘As expected, nothing has changed in the last hundred years.’
Contacting Jeon Myeong-hoon was the worst choice.
* * *
‘I’m glad I took Yeon with me.’
Kim Yeon was currently registered in the Spirit Realm and receiving investigations about Goe-gun.
I waited in the Spirit Realm and thought.
If I contacted Jeon Myeong-hoon now, both of us would probably get cursed or ripped off and cut contact.
If I forced a meeting under Tae-soo’s order, she would smile on the surface but we would drift further apart privately.
Yeon was still the junior everyone in the department loved, so Kang Min-hee probably wouldn’t get angry.
After some time, Kim Yeon emerged from the Spirit Realm.
“It’s over?”
“Yes.”
I read her resolve and knew she had something she wanted to say.
“What do you plan to do now?”
“…”
Kim Yeon fell silent for a moment, then extended her left arm.
“Eun-hyun oppa, you’ve also… I don’t know why, but you’ve learned the Strange Star-Mind Scroll, right?”
“Yeah. Because I reached In-yeon.”
“Then, no matter what, you’ve seen the enlightenment contained in that left arm of mine, right?”
“That’s right.”
She looked at me.
And in her eyes I felt a sharp surprise.
Her gaze burned with a passion I had never seen before.
“I’m going to find out.”
Squeeze…
I gripped her left arm tighter and Kim Yeon’s burning eyes burned even hotter.
“The ultimate of the Strange Star-Mind Scroll left behind by Goe-gun. What exactly does that scene symbolize? Why did the mad Goe-gun do that? What did he gain and lose that drove him to that?”
Why?
This was a stronger resolve than I had ever seen in any life before.
Why had she changed from the previous lives?
I pondered for a moment and immediately understood the reason.
‘This life’s Kim Yeon… even though I guided her, she reached her peak through her own strength.’
What was martial arts?
There were countless definitions, and one was clearly ‘making oneself strong.’
The art and science of tempering oneself.
That was martial arts.
She had reached her peak through her own strength.
It wasn’t just a little stronger.
Countless acts of self-discipline were required.
Of course, even with that, she might still have gone mad.
But because I was connected to her and appeared in her dreams, endlessly conversing with her, and helped her not be stained by Goe-gun’s madness…
This life’s Kim Yeon was the most perfect version of herself.
“I’ll find out the truth about Goe-gun… and.”
Kim Yeon stated her firm resolve in front of me.
“I’ll get revenge.”
“Revenge?”
“Yes. The maximum revenge I can take on him.”
Even though it was revenge, her resolve felt calm and free of malice.
I nodded.
If she had decided something about Goe-gun, I had no need to interfere with her attitude.
When we returned to Cheonin-do Heavenly Mountain, the Heavenly Venerables welcomed me.
Kim Yeon began training with Jeon Myeong-hoon, Hong Beom, and others near Heavenly Mountain.
However, Hong Beom was in the Land of Absolute Dominance and Jeon Myeong-hoon visited the ruins of the Golden Spirit Thunder Gate almost every day, so the three rarely met.
‘I’ll be able to meet Kang Min-hee through Kim Yeon…’
Unexpectedly, the Heavenly Venerables’ assembly was suddenly called.
I was summoned to the peak of Heavenly Mountain.
There, eight Heavenly Venerables’ projections appeared.
Whoong—
Among them were the projection of Heon-won from Geongon City and Tae Yeol-jeon, the secret-minded disciple. Both were urgent matters that required their participation even though Heon-won was recovering in Geongon City and Tae Yeol-jeon’s projection was hard to send.
I ignored Heon-won’s strange gaze and took my seat.
“Then let’s begin the assembly. Thank you all for coming. Team Leader Seo and Elder Heon were out of town, so you didn’t know, but a report that cannot be ignored has been submitted.”
Junje, the Alliance Master, began the meeting in a heavy voice.
“It’s… information that the Dragon King Hyun-eum of the Black Dragon race, who was our ally, has betrayed us.”
“!!”
“What kind of…”
The assembly buzzed.
Wi-ryeong-seon let out a heavy sigh of worry,
Heon-won crossed his arms and tapped his finger on his elbow without expression,
and Tae Yeol-jeon, who had been silent, finally spoke.
His projection was not clearly formed like the others and was hard to make out.
However, I could tell from his voice that he was a woman.
“Shall we punish them as a warning?”
“We’ll discuss that after the assembly. First, let me give the outline of the incident. A few days ago, we received a report that the entrance to the Demon Realm had collapsed. And we received information from the Four Pillar cultivators guarding the entrance that a dragon race named ‘Seo Hyul’ had, ‘on the orders of the Black Dragon King,’ collapsed the entrance.”
It seemed this assembly was because of what I had done.
“And when we asked the Land of Absolute Dominance, they said the name of the army commanded by the Sea Dragon race is Seo Hyul, and that he has been missing recently. Wi-ryeong-seon was dispatched to investigate the site and used a soul fusion method to examine the souls of the Four Pillar cultivators and read their memories. According to information from a spy in the Land of Absolute Dominance, the face of Seo Hyul and the dragon race that attacked the entrance were identical, and Wi-ryeong-seon found a large amount of remaining spiritual energy and remnants of spiritual power near the entrance.”
Junje’s words were taken up by Wi-su, the Alliance’s Chief General and Wi-ryeong-seon’s younger brother.
“The recently missing Seo Hyul, the strange person who attacked the Demon Realm entrance, the Sea Dragon race who are the descendants of the Black Dragon race, the Black Dragon King behind it all, and… the Black Dragon King’s subordinate organization Black Lin’er Ling Temple, which is currently receiving orders from the Land of Absolute Dominance and completing some kind of curse… when we put all this together, the Black Dragon King Hyun-eum has a high probability of betraying us.”
Tae-soo Yeon asked cautiously.
“Couldn’t the strange person who called himself Seo Hyul not be Seo Hyul himself? Could the Land of Absolute Dominance’s internal faction have imitated Seo Hyul to frame him…”
“From the memories I read with my soul fusion method, Seo Hyul revealed his name and background, but immediately tried to destroy the evidence with all his heart. Fortunately, he was poisoned by the Four Pillar cultivator’s poison and had no choice but to let go of their souls. Therefore, while we cannot rule out the possibility that someone framed Seo Hyul, he could very well be the real Seo Hyul.”
The expressions of the Heavenly Venerables in the hall worsened.
Jeon sighed.
“The Black Dragon King… even among the Integration stage experts, he had outstanding combat power. Why at this time…”
At that moment Heon-won said coldly with arms crossed.
“We should have killed him back then. We only talked about using his value and he stopped me, making everything complicated.”
Heon-won had clearly fought the Black Dragon King before and chased him to the brink of death.
Yeon recalled something.
“Ah, I’ve heard of it too… was it forty-three thousand years ago? The engagement between Elder Heon and a senior sister of his combined forces to gain a miraculous advantage against the Black Dragon King…”
And at those words, Heon-won suddenly straightened his face and glared at Yeon.
I could feel the immense anger of resolve rising from Heon-won’s projection.
The Wi siblings said to Yeon at the same time, “Head hurts!”
“Elder Yeon! Have you forgotten that speaking about ‘Her’ in front of Elder Heon is forbidden?”
At those words, Yeon cleared his throat and looked away.
“Hmph. Sorry. I’ve been so busy with work lately that I forgot.”
However, Heon-won snarled and spat at him.
“Forgot? How?”
“No, Elder Heon. Sorry, I spoke out of turn.”
“Busy with work? Do you have more work than me, the master of Geongon City? You won’t forget even after your eyes are gouged out, like me.”
Kugugugug!
Yeon jumped and trembled from the killing intent sent by Heon-won’s projection.
Junje frowned and cleared his throat.
However, Heon-won did not ease his pressure even looking at Junje.
At that moment.
“Elder Heon.”
A bright voice reached Heon-won with Tae Yeol-jeon’s voice.
She had already approached Heon-won’s projection.
Startled!
And I felt a chill.
‘Wait! That Tae Yeol-jeon…’
“Calm your anger. Elder Yeon is still a young elder with only eight thousand years, so please understand.”
“…”
Heon-won flinched at her words, glared at Yeon once, then suppressed his anger.
It seemed he instinctively feared her.
Junje looked at Tae Yeol-jeon.
“Tae Yeon, don’t put too much pressure on Elder Heon. It was quite painful for him. Elder Yeon, be careful from now on. Several hundred years ago there was also such an incident at the assembly with Elder Heon…”
It seemed Junje was looking at Heon-won’s expression.
From reading his resolve, it seemed he was more concerned about something related to Heon-won than Heon-won himself.
Tae Yeol-jeon returned to her seat.
I stared at her for a long time, and she felt my gaze, gave me a brief look, then turned her head with a surprised expression.
Junje cleared his throat and changed the topic.
“So, no matter what, let’s discuss what to do about the Black Dragon King Hyun-eum’s betrayal.”
* * *
The assembly split into punishing the Black Dragon King Hyun-eum and first watching the situation.
And in the end, it was decided to capture Seo Hyul, investigate the matter with soul fusion, and simultaneously strongly protest the Black Dragon King and the Black Dragon race.
If the Black Dragon race openly revealed their betrayal without any excuse to the Alliance, then Tae Yeol-jeon would go to punish the Black Dragon King and the assembly would end.
“Then, as discussed, Elder Wi will convey the message to Hyun-eum. With that, today’s assembly is dismissed.”
The projections gathered on the peak of Heavenly Mountain disappeared.
Heon-won glanced at me briefly before disappearing almost at the end, and Tae Yeol-jeon struggled to handle her opaque clone.
“Tae Yeon, it must be difficult to handle your clone?”
“Ah, Team Leader Seo. Please understand. The method for sending clones or projections is not my specialty.”
“I see… Tae Yeon, may I ask one thing?”
She smiled at my question.
“It seems you’ve guessed. When I first entered the assembly, everyone was shocked. Even Elder Yeon was shocked when he first became a Heavenly Venerable and heard my true identity.”
“Team Leader Seo must be the same, right? No, Team Leader Seo might be a little different since we’re the same…”
I let out a small sigh at her words.
“Tae Yeon, you… are you also a Soul race?”
She was a Soul race.
Moreover, an Integration stage Soul race who had reached the level of the Emperor’s first inspection.
Her next words told me Tae Yeol-jeon was an enormous existence.
“That’s right. Because I lack the talent for Soul Fusion, I’m at the Core Formation level… but by chance I entered the path of the Soul race, received a transmission of the Fusion Soul from the Venerable, and finally reached this realm.”
Tae Yeol-jeon smiled with her clone.
“Since I’m seeing you for the first time today, I’ll introduce myself properly. My name is Tae Yeol-jeon. One of the twenty-three direct disciples of Venerable Hamcheon.”
Whoong!
I saw the terrifying spiritual energy from her clone cut my throat in an illusion.
Whoosh—
Her clone grasped the air, gathering heaven and earth spiritual energy to create a long sword.
“If a Soul race who happens to meet another Soul race on the way, they should do what’s necessary, right?”
I broke into a cold sweat from her killing intent and felt a thrilling excitement at the same time.
“The honor is mine. Please teach me a move.”
* * *
The Land of Absolute Dominance, the eastern part of the Black Dragon race.
Inside, the Black Dragon King Hyun-eum frowned while receiving reports from his subordinates.
“Why the hell are things turning out like this. Where is Seo Hyul now, and why did that bastard collapse the Demon Realm entrance while shouting my name?!”
He clutched his throbbing head and scolded his subordinates.
“You bastards… why the hell did this happen… the plan is ruined.”
After sitting alone for a while, Hyun-eum closed his eyes and opened them.
He stepped down from his seat with a grim face and descended to the underground below his eastern part.
“I’ll have to communicate with the main body…”
In the eastern part of the Black Dragon King, silence descended.
For a few shichen.
Kwaaaaang!
A mysterious ray of light came flying from somewhere and struck the eastern part of Hyun-eum.
Kkrek krek krek krek…
A strange castle flew into the eastern part of the Black Dragon King.