The Distant East Calls Once More
We set out westward.
We had left Byeokna Kingdom, circled Yeon Kingdom, and visited Seongje Kingdom.
The world itself had plunged into war.
“Thirty years ago, the world suddenly became like this. Of course, there have been frequent disputes between sects and clashes among the noble families over the centuries, but the hearts of ordinary people twisting so completely—that only started thirty years ago.”
As I listened to Oh Hyun-seok’s explanation, I stood on the deck of the ship bound for Boryeong Kingdom, thinking to myself.
*Thirty years ago…*
That had been the exact moment when Cheongmun Ryeong’s natural lifespan ended.
*Could there be some connection between the two events?*
A faint possibility lingered. If it were a curse, it might make sense.
After a few days, we boarded the vessel for Boryeong Kingdom.
Even on the ship, Oh Hyun-seok roamed about in search of wealthy passengers, his every step purposeful as he carried the orphaned girl who had survived the fallen village.
But perhaps it was precisely because the people’s hearts had grown so hardened in this era that no one accepted his offer.
“Why do you insist on taking her in, brother? With your status now, couldn’t you raise her yourself?”
“Mm… That’s true, but…”
Oh Hyun-seok smiled bitterly.
“I don’t really know how to raise children.”
“Huh? Didn’t you say you like children?”
While chatting with him aboard the moving ship, I learned for the first time in tens of thousands of years about the events that had entangled Oh Hyun-seok’s family.
“You mean the orphanage our eldest brother runs?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Hye-seo was one of the orphans there, wasn’t she?”
“Y-yes…?”
This was entirely new information to me.
*Oh Hye-seo had been an orphan?*
I was momentarily at a loss for words.
The three major factions that ran the company—Lee, Oh, and Jeon.
Among them, Oh Hye-seo belonged to the Oh clan like Oh Hyun-seok, had risen rapidly in her career, and had always been close to him. It was only natural that I had assumed she was a blood relative of the Oh family.
*She wasn’t even a member of the Oh clan?*
It was a shock.
He scratched his head, feeling awkward.
“My eldest brother took her in after he lost his wife. He gave her the Oh surname because he called her ‘father.’ But I still think I treated her very well. Even though we weren’t related by blood, we were related by name. I raised her like my own niece. From the time she was little, when I would go to the orphanage to volunteer, she always followed me around. Back then, she was the smartest kid there… So I had even planned to give her the name of my daughter.”
“Ah… I had no idea.”
Perhaps that was why Oh Hye-seo had always called Oh Hyun-seok “stepfather.”
“Anyway, I never made a big deal out of it. No reason to brag. But what I want to say is… I know I can’t be a good father.”
He scratched his head again.
“The real good father is my eldest brother. I was more like the neighborhood bully who only knew how to act tough in front of the orphanage kids. Even if I did grow up seeing the orphanage through my brother’s eyes… I can’t treat her any differently from the way I would treat the orphans.”
He smiled bitterly once more.
“I can be a protector for her as an orphan. But I can’t be a father like my brother. That’s simply my limit. So… I’ll find her good parents. Parents better than me.”
“…?”
The words rose to my throat like a torrent.
*In this time of war, where in the world could a better parent than you possibly be?*
But I swallowed them down.
Thus, after listening to Oh Hyun-seok’s worries and sharing various other stories with my companions, we finally arrived in Boryeong Kingdom.
Once there, we toured every corner of the world.
Jeon Myeong-hoon’s memories were gradually returning as he traveled.
Seo Ran, however, seemed strangely displeased.
Boryeong Kingdom itself had not changed.
No, we seemed to be sharing the history of the era we had visited before. The tale of how the Ghost King Seo Eun-hyun had raided the royal palace of Boryeong Kingdom and caused chaos was widely known.
Oh Hyun-seok continued to visit nobles of Boryeong Kingdom in hopes of adopting the girl, only to be turned down each time.
Kim Young-hoon, for his part, sharpened his senses day by day.
And so we spent three full months in Boryeong Kingdom.
“Could I ask you to accompany me for a moment?”
“What business do you have?”
“The higher-ups of Boryeong Kingdom wish to see you.”
We were suddenly guided by soldiers dispatched from the court and led somewhere unfamiliar.
And the place was all too familiar.
The capital of Boryeong Kingdom.
The city nestled at the foot of the Great Salt Mountain.
“Who wishes to see us?”
I asked, but the soldiers gave no clear answer and simply led us toward the mountain in silence.
Yet something inside me told me that I already knew who it was.
After some time, we finally reached the summit of the Salt Mountain in Boryeong Kingdom.
We arrived at the royal palace, where guards in waiting stood.
“…A familiar place.”
“Her Majesty the Queen!”
We were escorted into the guest hall and greeted by the queen herself.
“His Highness the King of Boryeong also arrives!”
The queen and the King of Boryeong Kingdom entered the guest hall.
“Please, sit… No, stand. You are my friends. Today, I wish to forget all formalities and simply enjoy each other’s company.”
“As you wish, Your Majesty!”
After the guards withdrew, I looked upon my old friends after hundreds of years.
“Long time no see, Yuk Yo. How have you been?”
“Yes. Thanks to the guidance of my master.”
“Baek Rin is well as well, I see.”
“Haha, indeed. And how are your friends?”
“They are doing quite well.”
Yuk Yo and Baek Rin.
Once my disciples, and the eel yokai from the world of dreams.
“To think we meet again after ninety years. Truly, people are so unpredictable.”
Both Yuk Yo and Baek Rin had aged with grace.
Their hair was now snow-white, skin wrinkled, faces marked by age spots.
Yet both carried themselves with dignity, and their eyes held no fear.
“…?”
Seo Ran seemed unable to look away from Yuk Yo.
Yuk Yo and I both noticed his agitation, but we pretended not to and continued our conversation.
During those moments, I learned what had happened in the interim.
How Boryeong Kingdom had fared, how our world had fared, and more.
“I hear you came here willingly. Blood Soul Island is encroaching on the Gwanghan Realm, and the Great Chaos is upon us…”
“Perhaps. From my perspective, this world is also showing signs of war.”
“Indeed. Hearts are growing unsteady. And above all…”
Her expression darkened.
“The color of the Hidden Light has begun to change.”
“Mm…!?”
I was startled.
The Hidden Light.
The light of the Salt Mountain’s owner, brought from the realm of light.
It had begun to change color.
“Previously it was white, but now a reddish light has appeared.”
“…Are you alright?”
“Perfectly. According to my mother, the light turned white only recently. In fact, throughout thousands or even tens of thousands of years of history, it was originally a sinister crimson. It has only recently become a clear salt color. It is only now returning to its original hue.”
*The light of the Salt Mountain was originally sinister crimson?*
A strange matter indeed.
“You need not worry. The future king who will become my descendant has sworn to prevent Boryeong Kingdom from being swept away by war. With his abilities, you can trust him.”
“…I see. That eases my mind.”
I nodded and changed the subject.
“Speaking of which, could you perhaps look after that child for me?”
I gestured toward the girl Oh Hyun-seok had brought.
Yuk Yo accepted without hesitation.
“I was in need of a servant. Perfect timing. I will care for her.”
She reached out a kind grandmotherly hand to the child.
Oh Hyun-seok’s face brightened, but problems arose.
The girl refused to let go of his hand.
“Um… what do I do…?”
Yuk Yo smiled gently.
“Then how about this? Duke Hyun-seok, would you remain here with the child and help her adapt to the royal palace? She will feel at ease letting you go then.”
“Hmm…”
Oh Hyun-seok glanced between Yuk Yo and me, then at the girl.
“…Ah… Eun-hyun. I think I should stay a while longer here…”
“It’s fine. Do as you please. I still have some traveling to do in the west, so our reunion may take some time.”
“Mm…”
In the end, Oh Hyun-seok decided to remain in the Boryeong Kingdom royal palace.
He would raise the child with her for a few more years before parting.
We left that place and turned westward once more.
“By the way, Seo Ran.”
“…Yes, Senior.”
I asked her.
“Why were you so agitated when Yuk Yo was there earlier?”
I already knew she had feelings for Yuk Yo.
At first I had thought she was simply flustered by the presence of someone she liked.
But upon second thought, her eyes had been strange.
I separated from Kim Young-hoon and Jeon Myeong-hoon and questioned her.
Seo Ran trembled as she spoke.
“…It was because I hated myself.”
“Hmm?”
And the next words sent a chill through me.
“I wished for her to suffer.”
“What…?”
“When I first saw her… I felt drawn to Yuk Yo. There was an inexplicable sense of kinship. Like a woman who existed completely apart from the entire world, as if she were on a distant island. Even before she possessed the Dragon Blood of the Sea, that unique quality had drawn me to her.”
Seo Ran’s explanation continued.
“Later, when I met her again and learned that she truly wished to return to her ‘home,’ from that moment onward… I began to hate Yuk Yo without knowing why.”
He covered his face with his hands.
“I wanted her not to return to her home. When I heard she had been trapped in prison by her father, I felt strangely relieved. Because she wouldn’t be able to go home. But then… on the day when our colleagues all died at the hands of the [Mountain God], she returned here with Baek Rin. From that day onward…”
His eyes, visible between his fingers, were bloodshot and swollen.
An unknown resentment filled his gaze.
“I wanted Yuk Yo to suffer. In truth, I thought the world I believed was real was actually a dream, and that she had spent her entire life trapped inside it, living in illusions. I wanted her to wake up one day and realize how miserable that was. But… today I saw the truth. Yuk Yo has lived her entire life in this world, and she has been happy all along.”
“…?”
“I can’t bear to hate myself. I don’t understand why. Why should someone I love be happy? Why does it fill me with disgust and hatred? Why do I wish for her to suffer… My own heart is so unbearably painful that I want to strangle myself.”
It was the first time I had ever heard Seo Ran express such thoughts.
To me, Seo Ran had always been the weak half-dragon who sacrificed his life for his friends, served his master Song Jin with utmost devotion, and grieved for his mother.
To see him now, filled with jealousy and hatred toward someone, while simultaneously torturing himself—it was almost as if I were seeing him for the first time.
*What words could I offer?*
I thought for a moment, then silently embraced him.
“It is possible.”
“…?”
“It is possible to dislike someone. I have people I hate and dislike very much.”
For example, Won Rip, Seo Hyoel, and the Mountain God.
Those three were beings I could never forgive from the depths of my heart.
“Still, it’s alright. It’s not your fault.”
Seo Ran began to cry.
“It’s alright to blame yourself. It’s alright to hate. But before all that… remember that I am here by your side.”
“Senior… why are you saying such things to me?”
“What else would I be? Your friend, of course.”
I patted his shoulder and smiled.
He wiped his tears and, with a slightly lighter heart, said,
“Thank you for saying that.”
“A friend can say anything. I can comfort you as much as you like. Don’t worry.”
Why did I always want to meet Cheongmun Ryeong and Seo Ran again, who changed with each life, and continue the relationships I had formed with them?
It was simple.
The truth I had whispered repeatedly beneath the will of Cheongmun Ryeong.
A heart once given and received remained inside me.
And even if the person I met again was different, even if it was someone I had no prior connection with, if that person could give and receive a heart with me, then I would simply forge a new bond.
And the people of future lives whom I would meet again would, even if completely unknown to me, be only those with whom I could exchange hearts.
Thus, while listening to the hidden depths of Seo Ran’s heart, I continued westward.
And nearly two years passed.
“Hmph!”
The day I had been in this world for ninety-two years.
I gazed toward the distant east.
Cheongmun Ryeong’s time had come.
“…I must leave for a while. Master has some business.”
I had been enjoying a game of mahjong with my companions in a country to the west of Boryeong Kingdom when I suddenly sensed Cheongmun Ryeong’s will calling me from afar.
“Go ahead.”
I asked permission from my companions and then used the Cursing Technique to apply the Stabilizing Method. In an instant I traveled the distance to Boryeong Kingdom, Seongje Kingdom, Yeon Kingdom, Byeokna Kingdom, and the Dabcheon Desert.
*Flash!*
At the center of the Dabcheon Desert.
The place where Deungsunhyang had once stood, also known as the Gate of Victory.
At its heart.
In the original Water Realm, where the Ascension Gate would one day open, a grand shrine had been built.
Before the shrine, Gwak-am sat in seiza, eyes closed.
“Senior brother, has the time come for Master to depart? Is Master still within?”
I was rushing inside the shrine when—
*Crack!*
Gwak-am moved his massive frame and blocked my entrance.
“…Senior brother?”
“…I told you not to call me that.”
“…At least let me see Master.”
And Gwak-am looked down at me.
“It is impossible.”
“What…?”
“It seems you still haven’t grasped even a fragment of the Cursing Technique.”
“…I am ashamed to admit it, but that is true.”
“Master sent you on this journey to grasp the Cursing Technique. If you cannot even catch a glimpse of that fragment even now, you cannot enter this place.”
“What does that mean, Senior brother?! How can you prevent me from even seeing Master’s final appearance?!”
I shouted in bewilderment, and Gwak-am snarled at me.
“You who cannot even follow Master’s words properly are not qualified to witness Master’s final moment. If you truly wish to see it, bring the Cursing Technique that Master spoke of. Or at the very least, grasp even a single thread of your own. Only then will I allow you inside.”
“What nonsense…!”
I gritted my teeth and began preparing the Cursing Technique.
“If you continue to block me, I will enter by force!”
“Hah… you?”
*Crack!*
I manipulated the Cursing Technique.
Through the nine seals of the Cursing Realm, I began to vaguely distort the laws of this world.
The Cursing Technique of the element of *Yok*!
*Keyiing!*
The world’s laws grew hazy, and the power and laws I had carried from my original world began to return.
*Crack!*
*‘I won’t reach the Integration stage, but if it’s Four Pillars level strength…’*
And just as I was about to crush Gwak-am with my Four Pillars strength—
*Boom!*
“…!?”
In the next instant, Gwak-am grabbed my shoulder and pressed me down.
At the same time, I felt my knees sink into the ground, and every ounce of my power collapsed within me.
“Do not presume. Why do you think that is the power you possess? Are you aggrieved? You are weak. Even if you bring every bit of strength you cultivated in the outer world into this realm to fight me, I can crush you like an insect whenever I wish.”
Gwak-am glared down at me with a fierce snarl.
“The gap between your strength and mine is so vast that it transcends even your wildest imaginings. I have long since surpassed Master, and I have only knelt before him out of admiration. Please cease your defiance. Please do not provoke my patience. Please do not make me want to kill you here and now.”
*Boom!*
He applied even greater force to his arms.
“Only the wicked are weak. Because you are foolish, foolish, and weak, you do not even qualify to witness Master’s final moment. Leave at once! And grasp the thread of the Cursing Technique! Until then, you will not take a single step inside this place!”
*Boom boom boom!*
I confirmed the vast power Gwak-am had hidden and trembled.
*‘Even at the Fissure Opening stage…? It was that powerful?!’*
It was power so immense that no words could describe it.
Yet Gwak-am only sneered.
“Hah! Are you trying to make me laugh? Leave.”
*Smack!*
He kicked me with his foot.
“Guk!”
I felt my organs twist and coughed up blood.
Gwak-am stood like a mountain at the entrance to the shrine.
*‘Awe-inspiring…’*
What exactly was the nature of this man?
How much power did he hide…?
I gritted my teeth before the awe-inspiring power of Gwak-am and said,
“I will definitely… definitely bring the thread of the Cursing Technique. So please allow me inside today.”
And Gwak-am simply looked down at me coldly.
“It is impossible.”
“…?”
*Crack crack crack…*
I clenched my teeth so hard that blood flowed from my gums.
I spat out the blood pooled in my mouth and rose to my feet.
“I will return today.”
“Today? You will never reach this place until you grasp the thread of your own Cursing Technique!”
*Flash!*
As Gwak-am swung his arm, I suddenly found myself outside the Gate of Victory.
*Crunch…!*
I tried to re-enter from one side.
But the moment I stepped inside, after a few more steps I found myself outside again.
“…!”
I tried entering again, only to be pushed out the same way.
Gwak-am had sealed the Cursing Technique to prevent my entry.
I stared at the inside for a long while, then turned and walked away.
“I will definitely return. Senior brother…!”
My own Cursing Technique.
I would grasp its thread!
* * *
The scent of Cheongmun Ryeong’s Cursing Technique no longer lingered in this world.
I returned to my companions and said wearily,
“…We will continue the journey.”
Cheongmun Ryeong had told me to travel west and grasp the thread of the Cursing Technique.
The thread of the Cursing Technique existed somewhere far to the west.
I would advance for the sake of seeing his remains.
My companions and I continued westward.
And three years passed once more.
Ninety-five years had passed since I entered this world.
*Whoosh…*
I stepped onto the eastern continent once more.
I had circled the entire world.
We toured every corner of the continent and returned the Glorious Sword of the Endless River to the original tribe.
And once more we turned westward.
This time, however, we did not rush through the Dabcheon Desert but headed toward the great grassland.
If we rushed through the desert, we would inevitably meet the Gate of Victory again.
And in the great grassland, I could meet a familiar face.
“Greetings, disciple of Ham-hae. And… Senior Seo.”
It was Changhoza Cheongmun Seon-woo, who had recovered his memories.
In this world, he was known as one of the Three Greats of the Continent.
“You have recovered your memories.”
As expected, the disciples of the Changheon Gaebyeokmun existed in the outer world, so he had recovered them quickly.
*With the Six Great Clans of the Human Race now, the number of disciples has grown so much that it is incomparable to the days of the Water Realm…*
“Greetings, Seon-woo.”
I smiled and greeted him as well.
“Haha, no need to address me with respect, Senior. I am a human from the race of yokai. I should be the one showing respect.”
“It is fine. I will not stand on ceremony. Do not call me Senior.”
I did not wish to be called Senior by him, so after refusing his offer I began to speak with him.
“Even if I am a little higher in this world, in the original world I am the Senior. Besides, I must return to the original world anyway.”
“Then… please call me Seo-sa.”
He drank tea with me and asked.
“Since that is the case, does Senior Seo have any way to return to the original world?”
“…I am seeking one. But there is no hope.”
I knew that learning the Cursing Technique would allow me to distort the laws of this world.
A few years earlier I had used it to pull my original body’s strength to confront Gwak-am.
There was hope that the Cursing Technique could open a door outward.
*Of course… to leave entirely, I would need to fully master my own Cursing Technique.*
“Haha, that is good news. Speaking of which… how is my disciple?”
“He is well. He has recently become the father of a daughter-like child.”
Changhoza smiled gently at that.
From the boisterous laughter that had once seemed likely to burst from him, a warm smile now emerged.
“…That is good news.”
“Good news? Why do you say that?”
“As his master, I have observed him. He always seemed to carry a heavy burden in one corner of his heart.”
“A burden…”
“Yes. And I remember well because I once fought the Jo clan and lost several of my own children. That pain was the pain of losing a child.”
“…?”
“He was always training with all his strength to forget the pain of losing his child, that burden in his heart. And he always followed me, laughing.”
I smiled bitterly.
Oh Hyun-seok laughed quite often, I thought.
He laughed boisterously, just like Changhoza.
But it seemed he had never once laughed with genuine joy.
A forced smile to hide the burden in his heart.
That was who Oh Hyun-seok was.
“If he has a child of his own… he could at least lay down a little of the burden in his heart by raising that child together with others.”
Changhoza laughed heartily and drained his cup of tea.
A side of Changhoza I had never seen before.
*When discussing his own disciple with a third party, he becomes quite serious…*
I stored that image of Changhoza in my heart and parted ways with him.
We continued westward.
And finally… we reached the Seongje Kingdom town of Cheongha-hyeon, where our journey had begun.
It had been exactly ninety-eight years since I fell into this world.
* * *
*Creak…*
I opened Baek Rin’s family door and entered carefully.
The moment I stepped inside, I was slightly startled.
Baek Rin was sitting on a wooden chair, waiting for us.
“You have arrived, Senior Seo.”
“…I am back.”
“Oh…?”
And Kim Yeon emerged from the kitchen to greet us.
Thus, after several years, we reunited.
“You always wait for me every day?”
“Yes, he said he had something important to tell me.”
I looked at Kim Yeon and then at Baek Rin again.
Baek Rin smiled gently and said,
“Yes. I waited because I had something I needed to tell you, Senior. But first… please tell me about your journey. How was the world tour?”
“…Yes, I will tell you.”
I sat beside her for a while and shared the story.
It was about the places in this world.
At the same time, the memories of that time passed before my eyes.
The day I had toured the western end of the Water Realm with Buk Hyang-hwa…
But this world was one that could be crossed beyond the west.
I felt as if I were telling the story of the western end to Buk Hyang-hwa of the tenth loop.
She, who had been trapped in the world tour and could not cross beyond the west, seemed to be listening right beside me.
After the stories of several years of travel ended, I finally concluded with the fact that I had circled the world once more and returned here.
“…I see. In the end, the world always reconnects.”
“Indeed. This is quite an interesting world.”
Seo Ran, Kim Young-hoon, and Jeon Myeong-hoon were all present.
I instinctively knew.
Even though the heavens could not be seen, something felt different.
She would leave today, the day we arrived.
Baek Rin’s breathing grew unsteady.
“Has the story… ended?”
“…It seems there is nothing more to say.”
“Ha… ha… Senior.”
She took my hand and said,
“I had a dream. A very deep dream. Even in the dream, I remember meeting you. You called me by a name other than Baek Rin.”
“…?”
“Do you know anything about that?”
I realized what she wanted from me.
“It will be a long story.”
“It is fine. I can wait.”
“…Very well.”
I began another story.
This was not a journey westward.
From Deungsunhyang until now.
Everything that my companions and I had experienced, excluding my own regression.
As the story lengthened, Jeon Myeong-hoon’s eyes trembled, and Kim Young-hoon clutched his head as if remembering something.
The story was long.
It was short to me, but it covered nearly a thousand years.
It would have been too much to finish in a single day, so the story did not end easily.
We returned to the house at dawn, but it was evening before we finished.
“…That is how we reached this world, fleeing the existence of Blood Soul. That is the end of the story of the world of dreams.”
“I see… Thank you.”
Baek Rin closed her eyes and smiled.
“So the world in the dream is real?”
“In a sense, yes.”
“Then I should tell you this as well.”
She opened her eyes once more.
Her eyes shone brighter than I had ever seen before.
“In the world of dreams, I, who was called Buk Hyang-hwa, had a message I wished to deliver to you before turning into salt.”
“A message?”
“Although it may be insufficient compared to delivering it directly, it is the message that the Buk Hyang-hwa of the dream world wishes to convey to you through my mouth. Listen.”
I listened earnestly to her words and nodded.
“She learned about the true nature of the ancient while researching the stars of the Water Realm, studying amulets, and investigating the connections between the Hyeonggo Paper and the Goryeok Realm.”
“The true nature of ancient?”
“Yes. Ancient is the word for ‘a dream that has ended.’”
From Baek Rin’s mouth flowed the truth that Buk Hyang-hwa had discovered.
“People are dream animals. Especially humans who have evolved the Upper Dantian dream more than other animals.”
*I see.*
Why the character ancient appears in the names of human cultivators.
Because humans are dream animals.
“Yet every dream ends when the light grows bright. Every dream must end, and the power of those ended dreams is called the power of ancient.”
That was it.
The sensation I had felt in this world before was because this world was also a dimension within the dimension sea of the Goryeok Realm.
Her explanation continued.
“And she learned about Goryeok, and realized that her amulet was connected to an immensely large dream. And… she tried to connect to the world of dreams. As you may have noticed, the enormous dream she discovered was none other than this world.”
“…I see.”
A true immortal’s dream, even after ending, left such vast dimensions.
“Then this world is real.”
Seo Ran listened intently to that.
Baek Rin smiled.
“…It is real.”
“Why is that?”
“The dimensions of the Goryeok Realm she discovered are completely ended dreams. But… the dream of this world is being inherited by someone.”
“Inherited?”
“Yes. The owner of the dream passed his dream to someone else. Because it was passed on, this world is real. It exists now not as a simple dream but as a ‘transferred will.’ Because it is transferred, it is not a meaningless world.”
“…I see.”
As I thought about the inheritor of the Goryeok Realm and the meaning of ancient, and the existence who had inherited the world of the Salt Mountain, Baek Rin’s words continued.
“And you are the same.”
“What?”
She took my hand.
“If what I saw in the dream is true… you carry the greatest remorse and pain of anyone in this world.”
“…?”
I remained silent.
Yes.
I had been defeated by the master of Mount Tai and all had been annihilated.
It had been painful.
The pain and remorse at that time had been so intense that my karma nearly extinguished.
“Do not blame yourself.”
“…What?”
“Their hearts remain within you.”
Her touch brushed my chest.
“Stop punishing yourself now. You may lay down the burden in your heart.”
I trembled at her words.
“…But someone must remember.”
With a trembling body I replied,
“Someone must remember this pain, this sorrow… and must…!”
“The dead wished for you to suffer?”
*Touch—*
Baek Rin’s hand stroked my cheek.
I looked at her.
From her face and demeanor, the final form of the Buk Hyang-hwa of the tenth loop passed before my eyes.
“Ah…”
Yes.
The Buk Hyang-hwa of the tenth loop had not been happy that I had cut off Won Rip’s head.
She had simply wished that I would overcome my pain and continue living.
“The death of the dead is painful, that is true. But… forgive yourself now. Because they do not resent you, and they do not wish for you to suffer on their account.”
“Ha, but… I…”
“Already their hearts have been transferred to you… it is meaningless. Just as this real world is.”
Baek Rin’s breathing grew even more unsteady.
“So… learn how to forgive yourself… That is…”
She lay down on the wooden bed and closed her eyes.
“The message… that she… wished to convey to you… is…”
“…?”
“…?”
And Baek Rin fell asleep.
*Tap, patter, patter!*
Raindrops began to fall.
The sky was painted with dark clouds.
Kim Yeon checked Baek Rin’s pulse with a trembling voice and shook her head.
Buk Hyang-hwa, Baek Rin… had left.
“…First, move her inside…”
Kim Young-hoon spoke, and I rose.
“Wait… I have somewhere to go.”
“Hm?”
“Take care of her remains.”
After speaking, I turned and stepped out.
*Flash!*
Using the Stabilizing Method, I crossed Seongje Kingdom, Yeon Kingdom, and Byeokna Kingdom and arrived at the center of the Dabcheon Desert.
I clutched my chest there.
“Senior brother, can you hear me?”
*Tap, patter…*
Dark clouds gathered over the desert and rain began to fall.
“You must allow me inside today.”
*Whoosh—*
*Step.*
I took one step.
Normally I would take several steps and emerge again.
But somehow I felt I understood the principle of distortion that Gwak-am had spread.
*Step, step, step…*
By unraveling the principle of the Cursing Technique, I continued deeper inside the Gate of Victory.
*How dare someone like you enter here?!*
“Yes. I think I can enter now.”
“Hah, to cross this place you must face hell.”
*Whoosh whoosh!*
Flames began to rise around me.
The hot tribulation fire consumed the entire forest and pressed upon me.
Soon the surroundings transformed into a burning hell of smoke.
The area turned to charcoal, then ash.
I continued through the burning hell.
*Crackle crackle—*
At some point the Gate of Victory was entirely aflame, and the nearby area became desert once more.
And in that moment I realized.
*This desert is…*
It was no ordinary desert.
It was a familiar desert.
Not the Dabcheon Desert.
This place was…
Yes.
My Undying Domain, which had not yet received a name.
A world of endless desert where the Great Desert Dead Sea Formation was realized.
Gwak-am’s Cursing Technique had cast me into my own desert.
*Whoosh whoosh!*
I gently touched the hot tribulation fire.
This tribulation fire was the product of my own guilt.
From all sides, monsters formed of charcoal howled.
Those monsters were my own pain.
*Step, step…*
“I ask you to enter. This disciple has grasped the thread of the Cursing Technique.”
I ignored everything and began to walk through the desert.
“Master said the Cursing Technique is to overturn the world with the heart. And I have spent my time learning the basic Cursing Technique and deepening my understanding of it.”
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh!*
The tribulation fire grew hotter.
“And I have wandered the world, pondering what kind of Cursing Technique would suit me best.”
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh!*
The heat of the tribulation fire reached its peak, and the world seemed to turn white in an instant.
At the same time, the desert began to melt.
The charcoal monsters began to condense.
“I had worried whether I would lose more in the future, and how I could protect what I held dear. But… only today do I understand.”
The words Buk Hyang-hwa had conveyed through Baek Rin’s mouth to me.
—Forgive yourself.
A word Changhoza had seemed to say to Oh Hyun-seok and had secretly passed to me.
—Lay down the burden in your heart.
A clue given by Cheongmun Ryeong.
—It is not enough to only strive.
*Tap, patter… patter!*
*Shwaaaa!*
Raindrops began to fall.
Rain fell on the endless desert, cooling its heat.
*Boom, boom, boom, boom!*
My body gradually grew.
The Cursing Technique twisted the world’s laws, and the form of my true body was revealed.
A monster with twenty-one heads.
And that monster split into twenty-two branches.
It was twenty-one corpses and “myself.”
The corpse of the zero loop smiled gently.
I nodded.
Flesh grew on the corpses, and color returned to their veins.
The me of the zero loop walked toward me.
*Shr…!*
The me of the zero loop and the me of now merged.
Next, the me of the first loop rose again and overlapped with me.
The me of subsequent loops also walked toward me and merged.
The traces of twenty-one lives returned to my arms.
The body of the monster, which had once been me, was returning to the form of “human Seo Eun-hyun.”
At the same time, the desert cooled with rainwater, and another form began to appear.
It was an endless sea of glass mountains and seas.
The charcoal monsters condensed into diamonds, and the desert sand melted and formed a forest of glass trees.
The burning desert transformed into a forest of glass.
And the twenty-one corpses of “me” rose again and overlapped with myself.
“So in the end, obtaining one’s own Cursing Technique requires not only effort but also looking deeply into one’s own heart, does it not?”
The moment the forest of glass was completed.
I passed once more through the forest of glass and reached the center of the Gate of Victory.
Before the shrine of Ham-hae.
“I have grasped the thread of my Cursing Technique. When I polish the law I have created, when I reach the realm of true immortality I will surely obtain my own Cursing Technique.”
*Ohwol Ip-do Gyeong.*
*Eumhon Gwijumun.*
*Baekran Chukseongmun.*
*Heuksaek Hyeolluhwa.*
*Ohaeng Hyeoljubeon.*
*Heuksaek Gwijubeon.*
*Myeolgye Yo-ju-beon.*
*Gyeoto Jangseonggong.*
*Gimyoseongsimjeon.*
*Taegeuk Jinroe Shin.*
*Gwanghan Gyeol.*
*Gunma Yongganggwon.*
*Gwisun Gwyamgyeol.*
*Yukgeuk Eumroe Shin.*
*Hofung Eungryongbyeon.*
*Changryeong Seonggwang Ochae Daebop.*
*Taesan Yeolje Gong.*
*Gigoego, Bongryeong-hyu, Yong-hyeong Dun-gap-sul, Eunsik-sul, Hwahonmancheon…*
*Myeonsin Gyeomcheon…*
And *Mansang Inyeondo.*
*Cheonrin Suhae-seong.*
*Dae-mak-sa-hae-seong.*
All the martial arts I had ever learned and seen, melted together into the possibility of my own Cursing Technique.
*Pareo Dohae-seong.*
*Seo Eun-hyun-ryu Original Name Martial Law.*
*Pareo Dohae-seong.*
This was my answer to the Cursing Technique I had offered.
“Now it is finished. I will enter.”
I walked straight toward the shrine that no one protected.
Gwak-am did not stop me.
Inside the shrine.
I finally saw Cheongmun Ryeong’s final appearance.
He sat in seiza with eyes closed.
His corpse still looked as if he had just died.
If there had been no life, one would have thought he was still alive.
“…Master…”
I gazed at Cheongmun Ryeong in a daze for a moment.
And… I performed a bow.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice…
Nine times…
And on the tenth and final bow.
*Flash!*
A white light burst from Cheongmun Ryeong’s body.
“Hah…”
I took a deep breath.
It was Cheongmun Ryeong’s soul.
The soul of Cheongmun Ryeong looked warmly upon me within the light and rose into the sky, scattering like salt dust.
“…Did you wait for me?”
And a voice came from ahead.
“Foolish boy.”
“…Senior brother?”
“Even though Master has passed and his name has ended, he insisted that he would watch as you completed the thread of the Cursing Technique, and in the end he waited for you in that basin.”
I looked ahead.
Into the darkness of the shrine.
There stood Gwak-am.
I blinked.
It was the first time I had seen his true form.
He no longer wore the ragged robes and bandages but a dark crimson robe.
Countless human faces screaming were drawn upon it.
He had long hair reaching his waist, with deep indigo hair.
His face was turned away, so I could not see toward whom he knelt.
Upon the spirit tablet was carved the name Ham-hae Sangje.
“You have things I wished to say to you earlier, and Master’s lingering will has entrusted me. Killing you is something for the distant future.”
“Eh? What…?”
“You said to watch from above, did you not? Foolish boy.”
“…!”
I opened my eyes wide at those words.
There was only one being who had ever spoken to me like that.
“…You… could it be…!”
I recognized Gwak-am’s true identity and felt my eyes fill with blood.
“Why are you here…!”
“Why? Of course. I am the tomb keeper.”
He spoke in a gloomy voice.
“The master of Ham-hae, the owner of the Salt Mountain, and the tomb keeper who guards the spirit tablet of my master. Far better than allowing some snake-like creature to enter this place freely… I am even more devoted as a disciple… How could you, my master, bring in a new disciple… and show a stance that contradicts the final words you spoke to me…”
*Boom!*
“…!”
I felt one arm pulled out.
The bracelet given by Hong Beom rolled on the ground with my arm and turned into red salt.
“Now leave. You have learned everything. Next time, when you come to the spirit tablet, do not use tricks through artifacts but come directly with your own strength. I will face you then.”
*Zut zut zut!*
The surrounding space began to distort.
*This is…*
The entire world grew hazy.
At the same time I felt a sense of foreignness between this world and me.
The world of Boryeong was releasing me.
No, not just me.
I felt Kim Young-hoon, Jeon Myeong-hoon, Oh Hyun-seok, Kim Yeon, Changhoza… and all other beings being released.
I knew who the being who had spoken to me on the first day was.
The manager of Boryeong.
The tomb keeper.
The successor to the owner of the Salt Mountain.
The master of Mount Tai, Gwak-am, was the manager who had inherited this world.
*…I see.*
It felt right.
He wished to compete with me from “above.”
And for that reason, even though he could have killed me at any moment, he had not, and had instead waited for me to learn the Cursing Technique from the lingering will of Cheongmun Ryeong, that is, from the owner of the Salt Mountain.
From that attitude I understood that he hated me but also acknowledged me.
“I will definitely return. I will go and repay my debt to you. Senior brother.”
“…Do not call me Senior brother.”
Although I said that, I felt he had kept me alive because he acknowledged me as a disciple.
*Shiiiiit!*
The entire world receded.
Only the back of Mount Tai, who knelt before the spirit tablet of Ham-hae Sangje, remained clear.
I stared at the back of my senior brother and, within the receding world, performed a final bow toward the one who had been Cheongmun Ryeong and at the same time Ham-hae Sangje.
Toward me, Mount Tai spoke.
*Due to the gift received from Master, an immense great evil stands before you. As one who shares the same Master, I will teach you how to defy Heaven’s mandate. Listen well and survive.*
He whispered knowledge to my ear.
I listened to the knowledge and performed a bow toward my senior brother as well.
Although divided, he was still my senior brother.
Thus, I had finally found what I must dedicate my entire life to—the Cursing Technique I must create.
What I must reach in my entire life—the existence.
And what I must reach with all the time in this world—how to leave the world.
* * *