Farewell, My Dao Friend

p>Haa… haa…! Seo Hyeol, Seo Hyeol, Seo Hyeol…! Snap out of it…!

p>Oh Hye-seo panted heavily, turning back to glance at the fierce [something] chasing after them from behind.

p>Kugugugugu!

p>A small moon-sized mass of sword energy was pursuing her and Seo Hyeol.

p>Just the faint aura she could sense told her it was already at the Void Refinement level. If it borrowed even more of Seo Eun-hyun’s power, it would be more than enough to unleash the peak mid- or late-stage Void Refinement might.

p>Oh Hye-seo clenched her teeth and fled with Seo Hyeol in tow.

p>But…

p>The distance between Seo Eun-hyun’s clone and Oh Hye-seo continued to shrink steadily.

p>‘Can’t… I shake it off…’

p>Oh Hye-seo’s face turned deathly pale as she bit her lip hard.

p>Yet she could not be caught.

p>So she devised another plan.

p>Whoong!

p>Pabababat!

p>The light of the Blue Peacock poured out countless times from her body, and before she knew it, Oh Hye-seo had split into dozens of ethereal figures, scattering across the Ilwol Cheonyeok.

p>Fortunately, as she had predicted, the small-moon-sized clone shattered into dozens of pieces and chased after her remnants.

p>The clone’s size, once only as large as a small moon, had shrunk to the scale of China as it pursued her.

p>‘Thank goodness its speed has dropped…!’

p>Oh Hye-seo let out a sigh of relief and sped up even faster.

p>The clone gradually distanced itself from her, and only after completely losing it did she finally return to the core of the dragon vein with Seo Hyeol in tow.

p>Beneath the dragon vein.

p>There, as she waited for Seo Hyeol and his clone to return, Oh Hye-seo brightened her face in delight.

p>“Seo… Seo Hyeol…! You’ve come back! Ho-how did the plan… turn out…?”

p>Oh Hye-seo asked cautiously.

p>By now, the swirling Taiji aura that had once flickered from Seo Hyeol had also shrunk, and he stared at her with increasingly dazed eyes.

p>* * *

p>Seo Hyeol looked at the woman before him with vacant eyes at the chattering sound.

p>He could not even understand what she was saying.

p>No, he didn’t need to.

p>It meant nothing.

p>Seo Hyeol… remembered what he had just witnessed.

p>He hadn’t witnessed it completely, but in any case, Seo Hyeol had succeeded in viewing the Akashic Records once again.

p>And… he had seen it.

p>The [answer] he had sought.

p>“Seo Hyeol, Seo Hyeol?”

p>Slap! Slap!

p>The stinging of Oh Hye-seo’s hand against his cheek brought Seo Hyeol’s hazy gaze back to her.

p>“Seo Hyeol, are you all right?”

p>Are you all right?

p>A meaning of that sort.

p>And Seo Hyeol smiled.

p>“…I am all right, Hye-seo. Please do not worry about me.”

p>However, Oh Hye-seo continued to look at him with uneasy eyes.

p>She had lived her entire life from childhood onward, constantly gauging other people’s reactions.

p>For someone like her, it was easy to sense the gaze of a man who had lost all power and was only now beginning to feel emotions again.

p>“…You’re not all right.”

p>“…Hye-seo. What are you saying?”

p>Seo Hyeol clutched his chest in pain and said, “I am all right. I really am. So please stop worrying. Stop worrying! You don’t understand!!”

p>Startled, Oh Hye-seo only flinched once before returning to her confused expression.

p>“Ah…”

p>Seo Hyeol coughed and smiled again.

p>“Sorry for losing my temper. I just need a little time to think. The plan failed… I need a new one. A new plan to escape Seo Eun-hyun’s grasp…”

p>Oh Hye-seo nodded at Seo Hyeol’s words.

p>“I understand. By the way… a large sphere that looked like Seo Eun-hyun’s clone was chasing after us.”

p>Seo Hyeol was startled by her words.

p>“…I’ll probably be tracked again soon. If it’s Seo Eun-hyun’s clone, it will find the dragon vein quickly.”

p>“What? Is this place not safe?”

p>“It is safe. There is a dimensional transmission gate here that can immediately send you to a distant realm. The transmission core for Jinma-gye is located in the heart of the dragon vein. Even if Seo Eun-hyun’s clone comes, we can outrun him, activate the gate, head to Jinma-gye, and destroy the opposing transmission core. There is no way he can follow us.”

p>“Ah…! I see. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Th-thank goodness…”

p>Oh Hye-seo hugged Seo Hyeol tightly and steadied her breathing.

p>Seo Hyeol looked down at her with a smile he erased the moment her eyes left him, his gaze turning hollow.

p>‘…What I have been pursuing all this time… what exactly…?’

p>He recalled the ‘answer’ the Akashic Records had shown him.

p>Kuuuung!

p>The dragon vein shuddered violently.

p>Seo Eun-hyun’s clone had arrived at the dragon vein.

p>Oh Hye-seo quickly covered herself and Seo Hyeol with the light of the Blue Peacock to conceal their presence, then dove deeper into the underground chamber.

p>Seo Hyeol, whose Sachuk-level cultivation had not yet been fully lost, had nothing left to offer her at the moment, so he followed her down into the underground in silence.

p>And on the surface of the dragon vein.

p>There, the clone of Seo Eun-hyun’s clone had landed and was now slowly approaching the ruins of the burning, collapsed palace, shifting back into human form.

p>Seo Eun-hyun swept away the debris of the palace.

p>Familiar auras remained.

p>And beneath the palace ruins…

p>Two charred lumps of wood lay there—Heon-won and Yeon Wi.

p>Seo Eun-hyun looked at them, dropped to his knees, and mourned his departed companions with a deep sigh.

p>Oh Hye-seo had already confirmed she had come to this planet.

p>Since there was no way to run, mourning and then capturing her here was the only choice.

p>From beneath the underground, Seo Hyeol sensed Seo Eun-hyun’s actions.

p>‘At this point… he’s probably mourning the corpses of Heon-won and Yeon Wi on the surface. He’ll think we’re easy prey, so he’ll have time to activate the transmission gate…’

p>Dozens of plans flashed through Seo Hyeol’s mind.

p>But suddenly he saw himself no longer wanting to think of plans at all.

p>He understood the situation.

p>‘So… I can no longer find any reason to keep living…’

p>He thought of the answer.

p>Seo Hyeol had viewed the Akashic Records and wished to know his own origin, where it lay, and why he had been born.

p>The Akashic Records, pulled by Hong Beom, had not revealed everything, but it had shown him what he needed to know.

p>And that was a horribly empty and painful truth for Seo Hyeol.

p>His origin had not existed in this world at all.

p>The Akashic Records judged a soul by whether anyone had received their heart. No one in this world had ever received ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Seo Hyeol’s heart.

p>Therefore, Seo Hyeol, loved by these virtual personalities as if they were dreams of Mana, had no meaning as a being.

p>And by that logic, the first being to give his heart was…

p>Yu-o, whom Seo Hyeol himself had once thought had corrupted his original body.

p>Because of that, Seo Hyeol’s name had meant nothing, as no one had ever received his heart.

p>What had meaning in this world was…

p>The name Seo Hyeol had personally collaborated with Oh Hye-seo to erase—the name [■■].

p>That was it.

p>Seo Hyeol had, with his own hands, erased the meaning of his life that he had longed for all these years.

p>He had broken his own dream with his own hands.

p>Seo Hyeol, without realizing it, asked Oh Hye-seo.

p>“Hye-seo. There is something I must ask.”

p>“What is it?”

p>“…Do you think we have any reason to keep living?”

p>“Ah…”

p>Oh Hye-seo looked at him and said, “You want to die, Seo Hyeol?”

p>“You’re a good judge. Yes.”

p>“That’s fine. I thought about suicide every day on Earth. If I had taken over my company back there, I probably would have killed myself. But now you’re alive. Why don’t you kill yourself?”

p>“Um… I didn’t kill myself on Earth because I wanted to sit once in the CEO’s chair. That was all. Small, right? But after coming here, things changed. On that world, no matter how much I struggled with the time and resources I was given, that was the highest position I could reach. But this world is different, isn’t it? Here, with effort alone, life, resources, and time all expand. I wonder how high I can go and what I can see. So… I haven’t killed myself yet, Seo Hyeol.”

p>“…Hye-seo. You…”

p>Seo Hyeol asked with a vacant expression, “What meaning is there in all of that?”

p>At those words, Oh Hye-seo stopped and faced him directly.

p>She was pretending to be tired but still hopeful, yet close inspection revealed her eyes were emotionless.

p>“I don’t know.”

p>“What?”

p>“That’s why I’ve been looking. I’ve been looking for a long time. I enjoyed finding out how many teeth people had, reading medical records, digging into other people’s lives, and investigating everything about them. I wanted to know what that thing called ‘meaning’ really was.”

p>“Then you found it? The meaning?”

p>“No. I’m still looking.”

p>“What clue are you following?”

p>“You.”

p>Oh Hye-seo pointed at him.

p>“Once I was just a colleague, but now I’m looking for clues in you. That meaning…”

p>“…What does that mean?”

p>“When I’m with you.”

p>Oh Hye-seo finally reached the transmission core chamber of the dragon vein.

p>The core chamber was built of solid black rock, with skulls exhaling cold air embedded here and there, giving off a very eerie atmosphere.

p>An insidious demonic qi flowed through the air, and horrifying grotesque creatures grew in every corner, making the place appear terrifying to anyone who saw it.

p>And Oh Hye-seo felt her cheeks flush without realizing it in the creepy, terrifying atmosphere.

p>“When I’m with you, there’s no chance of boredom. Suicidal urges drop often, and I never feel the approach of death. I take good care of food, clothing, and shelter, and I help you with your errands too. And somehow… there’s a strange, indescribable warmth deep in my chest. When I’m away from you, it’s the opposite. Suicidal urges rise, and I feel scared. I want to rely on you. My chest becomes cold and freezing.”

p>As her explanation continued, Seo Hyeol lowered his gaze coldly.

p>“Meaning… I read some enormous psychological and philosophical books on Earth and defined it for myself. I think what gives me a positive influence is what we call ‘meaning.’ You… are an existence that gives me a positive influence, Seo Hyeol. So… I will find meaning through you.”

p>“…”

p>Seo Hyeol slowly stroked Oh Hye-seo’s cheek.

p>And Seo Hyeol’s pupils split vertically like a slit.

p>“You’ve regained your emotions, Hye-seo…”

p>“It seems so. I don’t understand the definition of emotion, but…”

p>“…Hye-seo.”

p>Seo Hyeol asked, facing her eyes, “You love me.”

p>Love me.

p>Seo Hyeol did not fully understand the meaning.

p>Precisely…

p>In Mana’s dream.

p>In the first life, he had understood it roughly.

p>But in the lives that followed, he had never felt anything when hearing the word love.

p>Especially now, after the Akashic Records had shown him that his entire life had no meaning.

p>Therefore, Seo Hyeol tore his own pupils apart and thought, ‘It’s fine.’

p>Up until now, Seo Hyeol had been planning how to shake Oh Hye-seo while descending to the underground.

p>‘Seo Eun-hyun wants both me and Oh Hye-seo. It seems both of us are quite important to him.’

p>Therefore, if Seo Hyeol left Oh Hye-seo behind in the dragon vein and headed to Jinma-gye, Seo Eun-hyun would capture her and set aside his matter with Seo Hyeol.

p>Seeding him with false information about Oh Hye-seo would be perfect.

p>Seo Eun-hyun would interrogate her or use his intuition to read history and mistakenly think Seo Hyeol had gone somewhere else.

p>‘Oh Hye-seo must be abandoned here if I want to live.’

p>Seo Hyeol fiercely devised dozens of plans again.

p>A moment ago, he had thought plans were meaningless, but…

p>For some reason,

p>Seo Hyeol began devising plans once more from Oh Hye-seo’s words.

p>‘Yes. This is the best.’

p>Seo Hyeol rapidly calculated and set the optimal plan.

p>To steal Oh Hye-seo’s body.

p>Not just offering her body as bait, but using the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens to create an array, entering his own body, then having one of him escape and draw Seo Eun-hyun’s attention while the original Seo Hyeol in Oh Hye-seo’s body was dragged beneath him.

p>Seo Eun-hyun would check, but it did not matter.

p>If it was one of the other possibilities of the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens he had discovered in the Akashic Records, it could hide even beneath his eyes.

p>Seo Eun-hyun would probably try to refine Oh Hye-seo.

p>If Oh Hye-seo was captured and refined by him, her personality would collapse, but Seo Hyeol was certain he would not let that happen.

p>He would hide beneath Seo Eun-hyun’s lamp for as long as possible, waiting unnoticed.

p>And… one day, when Seo Eun-hyun died or became a great being, or when he stood at one of those crossroads.

p>Seo Hyeol would finally return to the world and infect the universe with Seo Hyeol.

p>‘Yes, that’s the plan.’

p>Suddenly,

p>The question ‘What meaning would there be if I infect the universe?’ floated into Seo Hyeol’s mind, but he ignored it and grabbed Oh Hye-seo’s shoulders.

p>“If you love me, that’s good. Then I have one request. First, my blood…”

p>“Seo Hyeol. Before that, wait a moment.”

p>Oh Hye-seo suddenly grabbed his cheek and said, “I have one question.”

p>“Hmph, what is it?”

p>“I mean…”

p>Her next words made Seo Hyeol narrow his eyes.

p>“I want to know your real face.”

p>“…What?”

p>“I want to know your real heart. I want to see it, Seo Hyeol. Now that you’ve gotten your real body back, so… show me your real heart.”

p>Seo Hyeol suddenly realized he had heard this question before somewhere.

p>‘…Had it been Jeon-hyang?’

p>—Princess of the Sea Dragon King. I love you. Kiss me.

p>—If you don’t want to kiss, Princess, show me your real face.

p>—Princess, princess, princess… Seo Hyeol. I want to see your real heart. Show it to me… Please… If you don’t, I’ll explode the power given by the [Heaven] here.

p>Seo Hyeol recalled the moment he had ambushed and killed her.

p>Even as she died, she clung to him and begged.

p>If he did not show her, she would go mad and scatter strange sorceries, so he had no choice but to show her his true face to Jeon-hyang.

p>The sorcery of Soul Tampering and Soul Observation.

p>A spell that showed the other party the ‘most unacceptable reality’ of existence and maximized the emotion of rejection.

p>Of course, it could only be used to show the ‘true’ form, not illusions.

p>Seo Hyeol had considered it briefly before showing Oh Hye-seo the Soul Tampering and Soul Observation.

p>At the same time, he displayed the ‘most unacceptable’ hatred and pain he felt toward himself.

p>‘…How strange. Is it because of the Ten Thousand Arts Array of Seo Eun-hyun? Why did she ask me to show it?’

p>Seo Hyeol remembered Jeon-hyang’s end.

p>Jeon-hyang, who claimed to love him, had seen the horrible hatred and malice contained within the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens and fled while sobbing.

p>A moment ago she had asked him to kiss her, but after seeing his monstrous side, she could no longer endure it and killed herself writhing in pain.

p>That was Jeon-hyang’s end.

p>‘Oh Hye-seo… cannot accept… it…’

p>That was the moment.

p>The next moment, Oh Hye-seo kissed Seo Hyeol’s lips.

p>Their lips overlapped.

p>A while later, the Soul Tampering and Soul Observation naturally faded, and Oh Hye-seo pulled away from him.

p>“It must have been hard, Seo Hyeol.”

p>“…”

p>“I did the same for my stepfather when I was little. When people are in pain, we comfort them like this. Of course, my stepfather used his forehead, not his lips… but I think you prefer lips. It’s fine, right?”

p>And then, for a moment, Seo Hyeol’s dazed face twisted grotesquely, like a demon.

p>Crack!

p>Seo Hyeol’s grip dug into Oh Hye-seo’s shoulder.

p>“You… what…?”

p>Seo Hyeol’s eyes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were bloodshot.

p>‘Why…?’

p>He himself did not understand.

p>‘It’s strange. My mouth… is not controlling itself. What’s going on!’

p>“Why are you doing this to me…! You love me? Shut up! It’s just a breeding instinct awakening, right! Get away from me! Don’t approach me unnecessarily! Don’t give me any half-hearted comfort!”

p>‘This won’t do. I need to buy Oh Hye-seo’s heart. To steal her body and nestle inside her, I need to find calm.’

p>“I hated you from the start. None of it was to my liking! You kept asking about me and digging into the hidden core of the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens I concealed. Why do you keep digging! Stop digging!”

p>‘Calm down, Seo Hyeol. Laugh like you usually do. Laugh with a cold, hollow chuckle and apologize. Say you lost your mind for a moment because of Seo Eun-hyun’s evil demonic art and whisper kindly into her ear.’

p>“You casually dig into other people’s pasts, casually expose, spread, and distort what was hidden. I… can’t endure your true nature, which is ugly and filthy. But why can’t you expose even your own filthy insides?! Why!!! What part of this is good?!?!”

p>‘Put on the mask, Seo Hyeol. The mask… the mask….’

p>And then, as Seo Hyeol was thinking, he suddenly understood.

p>‘Ah…’

p>The mask.

p>Seo Hyeol had worn a mask his entire life since waking from his dream.

p>A mask that smiled kindly.

p>A mask that gave warm words and captivated others.

p>A mask that made anyone follow him.

p>He had believed that role belonged to the Sea Dragon King, and Seo Hyeol had done his best to act it out.

p>But suddenly,

p>For the first time since birth, Seo Hyeol had poured out words that had no logic or reason to the being before him.

p>He understood.

p>“I… really hate you…”

p>Seo Hyeol lowered his head and gnashed his teeth.

p>“I… myself… am disgusting…”

p>‘To this woman…’

p>“That is why… digging here is… terrifying for me. Showing you this is too horrible, pathetic, and painful…”

p>‘Had I wanted to show my true face… without wearing a mask…?’

p>That was the first confession Seo Hyeol had ever spoken with his own mouth.

p>A confession.

p>Yes, it was a confession of his true self.

p>And…

p>Seo Hyeol’s true self had always been nothing but hatred stacked layer upon layer since birth.

p>Therefore, the ‘true self’ Seo Hyeol could show without wearing a mask was nothing but hatred and malice.

p>Kuuuuk…

p>The hand gripping Oh Hye-seo’s shoulder dug in fiercely.

p>Crack, crack…

p>At the same time, Seo Hyeol’s shadow began to change.

p>Inside the dark corridor, Seo Hyeol’s shadow transformed from his own form into that of a black dragon.

p>Seo Hyeol shed bloody tears and met Oh Hye-seo’s eyes.

p>Whenever his pupils split vertically, they were now completely round.

p>‘Why… does this woman want to see my true face…?’

p>Seo Hyeol finally understood.

p>And at the same time, he realized how terrifyingly poisonous [■■] had left behind for him.

p>—It will not disappear!! Never!!

p>The voice of [■■] seemed to echo in Seo Hyeol’s ear.

p>It was true.

p>[■■] was still inside him.

p>The artificial imprints Seo Eun-hyun had carved into him had probably melted away inside the Akashic Records, but the only will of [■■] remained, faintly awakening him.

p>Existence is formed by whether anyone has received their heart.

p>This was [■■]’s realization while screaming inside Seo Hyeol.

p>And it was the truth Seo Hyeol had directly confirmed in the Akashic Records.

p>Therefore…

p>Seo Hyeol understood.

p>“…But… you accepted me…”

p>He had been loved.

p>Oh Hye-seo’s heart, light and uncertain yet also sparse.

p>Seo Hyeol had received her heart.

p>Thinking it was love for his own ‘mask,’ he had shown his true face through the Soul Tampering and Soul Observation, but she had kissed him anyway.

p>Yes.

p>Today, Seo Hyeol had finally been ‘born.’

p>He now possessed the meaning born from this day by Oh Hye-seo.

p>Drip, drip…

p>Before Oh Hye-seo could speak, Seo Hyeol shed bloody tears and pressed his forehead to her face.

p>“…There is something I must give you.”

p>It was wretched.

p>Since being born in this world, Seo Hyeol had felt the most terrible pain ever.

p>“When I woke up, I swore to my origin that I would deliver my ‘story’…”

p>Crack…

p>It was wretched.

p>The thing he must give to the being who had given him love was…

p>The remnants of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a painful, agonizing past that had choked his very breath.

p>Because it was a vow sworn with his existence, it had to be kept.

p>The fact that the only thing he could give was hatred was terribly wretched.

p>Seo Hyeol honestly resented his past and embraced the pain while kissing Oh Hye-seo.

p>And through Oh Hye-seo’s mouth, everything of Seo Hyeol began to be sucked in.

p>His Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens.

p>The arts, knowledge he had obtained,

p>The spells he had learned, the various shards of Goryeok he had gained from the Water Realm.

p>The almost completely broken [Mana Dream Fragment] that he and Seo Hyeol had faced twice in the Akashic Records.

p>And everything else…

p>His entire life.

p>And Seo Hyeol’s hatred.

p>By transferring it all to Oh Hye-seo, Seo Hyeol’s form began to change.

p>Like his shadow, Seo Hyeol transformed into the form of a Sea Dragon.

p>Hwarururuk!

p>Flames erupted from the body of Seo Hyeol who had become a Sea Dragon.

p>His true origin.

p>Seo Hyeol had given all his life force and lifespan to Oh Hye-seo.

p>To return the lifespan she had taken by offering sacrifices to the owner of the name.

p>Seo Hyeol’s body withered.

p>His flesh and skin gradually disappeared, his blood and organs dried and turned to dust.

p>And what remained was only a massive skeleton left by Seo Hyeol’s body.

p>“…”

p>Seo Hyeol poured his last will inside his bones and said to her.

p>[My… everything has been given to you. I will wait inside you. And… I will be reborn after meeting people. First, go to Jinma-gye… and wait…]

p>Hearing those words, Oh Hye-seo twisted for a moment as if the everything she had received was confusing.

p>And she clutched her chest.

p>“Seo Hyeol, Seo Hyeol… so… you are inside my heart, right? Right? So… if I go to Jinma-gye and spread the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens to the residents there, it means you’ll come back…?”

p>Somehow, Oh Hye-seo began to feel pain in her chest.

p>The pain she had not known was spreading through her heart.

p>But she had no time to investigate it.

p>Kuuung!

p>Seo Eun-hyun’s clone fragment was trying to destroy the dragon vein.

p>The underground world shook, and the transmission core space trembled wildly.

p>“Seo Hyeol, so you’re coming back, right? Huh? No answer… Normally… when I nestle in with the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens… you answer… but… I understand… I’ll go. I’ll go and use my power so you can be reborn. And… just in case, take this…”

p>Oh Hye-seo reached out and stored Seo Hyeol’s bones in her combined domain, then ran to the transmission core and activated it.

p>Flash!

p>Oh Hye-seo headed toward Jinma-gye.

p>* * *

p>The transmission core chamber where Oh Hye-seo had disappeared.

p>There, something began to appear where Seo Hyeol had stood.

p>It was a naked man.

p>The naked man stood up with a faint smile.

p>“Huhu… have I become just a remnant? My memories from my life are vivid, though.”

p>But for some reason,

p>Seo Hyeol no longer saw the hatred that had been seeping from him moments ago.

p>“But… why is my chest so light?”

p>Seo Hyeol pondered for a moment and laughed.

p>“…I see. I entrusted everything to her.”

p>The Ten Thousand Arts Array was a secret art that completed through transmission.

p>And the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens, which was transformed from it, was the same.

p>It was just… that Seo Hyeol had never transmitted it to anyone, so he had not known.

p>The Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens had been transmitted to Oh Hye-seo and completed through that transmission.

p>“…Then, let me devise every plan so she can escape…”

p>Seo Hyeol smiled faintly and picked up a spare set of clothes from the corner of the transmission core chamber and headed for the transmission core to the surface.

p>* * *

p>Kugugugugu!

p>Seo Eun-hyun’s clone was crushing the entire dragon vein and waiting for Oh Hye-seo and Seo Hyeol to emerge.

p>Right then.

p>“Um!?”

p>Something registered in Seo Eun-hyun’s senses.

p>A spatial fluctuation.

p>“This… she used the transmission core. Then…”

p>At that moment.

p>Paaat!

p>Someone appeared before Seo Eun-hyun’s eyes.

p>It was… Seo Hyeol wearing a blue robe, not a black one.

p>His appearance was exactly the same as the first time they had met.

p>“Huhu, hello, Seo… Dao…”

p>Crack!

p>Before Seo Hyeol’s words ended, Seo Eun-hyun summoned the Black Ghost Curse Banner and drove it into Seo Hyeol’s arms and legs, then stabbed his torso into the nearby rock wall.

p>Intense pain assaulted Seo Hyeol, but he did not even blink.

p>Seo Eun-hyun asked, “Are you all right. [Seo Ran]? I’ll pull you out… wait.”

p>And his eyes trembled.

p>Seo Eun-hyun looked panicked.

p>“You…! You’re… a remnant!? Seo Hyeol left behind a remnant?”

p>“Yes. I just committed suicide a moment ago. I am merely the remnant left by Seo Hyeol’s final will. I have carried out the mission he gave me, and I will commit suicide as well.”

p>“…Then, what happened to [Seo Ran]?”

p>“What do you mean, Seo Dao.”

p>Seo Hyeol said with a cheerful laugh, “He was simply one of my other possibilities from the beginning. I only realized it today.”

p>“…You…”

p>“I was surprised by your scheme. You knew, right? That is why you implanted [his] heart into me, wasn’t it? I felt pain because I didn’t know before, but now I don’t. [He] is me. I am [he]. So… separating me and [■■] has no meaning, does it not?”

p>At those words, Seo Eun-hyun grabbed Seo Hyeol’s throat.

p>[Seo Ran] could not be seen.

p>But…

p>Seo Hyeol had realized he was [Seo Ran]’s other possibility.

p>It was because Seo Eun-hyun’s main body had accepted [Seo Ran]’s proposal to merge their personalities to regenerate Seo Hyeol.

p>Seo Hyeol had perfectly achieved what Seo Eun-hyun had wanted.

p>“…Where is Oh Hye-seo. [Seo Ran]?”

p>“Huhu, she… escaped. To another realm.”

p>“…[Seo Ran] does not lie like that.”

p>“I am Seo Hyeol. Because it is a remnant where our hearts mixed.”

p>“…Understood.”

p>Seo Eun-hyun opened his intuition and placed his hand on Seo Hyeol’s head.

p>“Let me check. Stay still…”

p>And at that moment.

p>Crack…

p>“Wha…!”

p>Seo Eun-hyun was shocked.

p>Blood was flowing from Seo Hyeol’s seven apertures.

p>“You… you…!!!!”

p>Seo Eun-hyun shook him in shock.

p>But Seo Hyeol did not answer.

p>Seo Eun-hyun understood.

p>Seo Hyeol had used one of the secret arts he had learned in the Akashic Records to erase his personality and memories completely.

p>And through that, he had made it impossible to read history even with intuition.

p>Seo Hyeol died smiling.

p>He kept Seo Eun-hyun talking with a few words until the spatial fluctuation Oh Hye-seo had taken completely vanished and could no longer be tracked.

p>Seo Hyeol’s life force was fading.

p>As expected, he was dying because he was only the remnant left by his will to fulfill the mission.

p>Seo Eun-hyun looked at the being before him with complicated eyes.

p>With his newly awakened Dancheon-level intuition, he saw that Seo Hyeol’s words—“I am also [Seo Ran]”—were not a lie.

p>Yes.

p>The being before him was Seo Hyeol and also [Seo Ran].

p>Seo Eun-hyun finally understood the whole story.

p>“…So that’s it. [Seo Ran]. Your heart… was left with that fellow. Seo Hyeol… taught him love. That’s what made him commit suicide…”

p>It was the insight he had reached all the way to the Junseon level.

p>He had ignored causality and approached the truth in an instant.

p>“…Was the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens transmitted to Oh Hye-seo? Were you really… going to live inside her as a form of the heart, Seo Hyeol…?”

p>Seo Hyeol had no answer.

p>He was only smiling.

p>Seo Eun-hyun sensed that this was the end of Seo Hyeol.

p>The long, hateful enmity with Seo Hyeol since the first loop.

p>And… the bond that carried memories of Seo Ran.

p>That bond had been severed today.

p>Seo Eun-hyun decided to respect the being who was both Seo Hyeol and Seo Ran.

p>Seo Eun-hyun turned his back, realizing he had put an end to his long battle with the Sea Dragon King.

p>“…Farewell.”

p>Seo Eun-hyun suddenly wondered what to call the remaining being behind him.

p>The thought was short.

p>The being left behind was…

p>“Seo Dao Friend.”

p>Simply his Dao friend.

p>Thus, Seo Eun-hyun left the dragon vein.

p>The dying dragon vein held only the remnant of the being who was both a desk and Seo Hyeol.

p>The corpse of that remnant remained.

p>He had mocked Seo Eun-hyun, holding onto Seo Hyeol’s will to the end, and was laughing.

p>In that way…

p>Seo Hyeol, who was born while having his very life mocked, mocked the world, and finally mocked even himself, closed his eyes.

p>But on this day, his smile looked sincere.

p>Perhaps he had mocked it not for himself, but for the first time, for someone else in life.

p>At the age of over nine thousand years, Seo Hyeol had found rest.