Chapter 120: Choice-1
Chapter 120: Choice-1
The moment Gwanggeom vanished, Dang Yeoeun spoke with a visibly urgent expression.
"Gongja, we need to move quickly. We have to pass through the Two Person Gate before Mak Woo-jeon does."
Seonwoo Jin immediately nodded in agreement.
"We must. Let's move for now."
The two of them immediately launched themselves toward the burning village. Whether they were saving people or pursuing the man Gwanggeom called his enemy, they had to reach the village first.
At that moment, Dang Yeoeun asked as she ran like the wind.
"Capturing that man as fast as possible is the way to pass this gate, right? Earlier, Gwanggeom himself said the version of himself who missed that man because he was busy saving the villagers was a fool."
At her words, Seonwoo Jin let out a low, pensive hum.
"Hmm."
Judging by Gwanggeom's disposition observed up until now, combined with what he had just said, Dang Yeoeun's logic certainly seemed correct.
But Seonwoo Jin could not bring himself to agree with her. He only muttered with a heavy tone.
"I'm not so sure."
At that, Dang Yeoeun even slowed her running pace and asked with a startled expression.
"Don't tell me you're thinking of saving the villagers first?"
Seonwoo Jin couldn't bring himself to answer that question.
It was because he had not yet settled his mind on what to do.
Dang Yeoeun then spoke again with a worried expression.
"Seonu Gongja, I understand your chivalrous spirit, but this is a matter of our lives at stake. Besides, if we fail, it's not just us dying in the end—we might end up handing Gwanggeom's secret manual over to a villain like Mak Woo-jeon. So for this once, I think it's right to prioritize the urgent matter. And besides... the people in that village aren't even real people."
That was true.
Her words were undeniably correct.
But even as his head acknowledged that she was right, his heart felt unsettled for some reason, unable to be at ease.
The thought occurred to him that perhaps this was a warning being issued by his own intuition.
Or, it could simply be a rejection of having to turn his back on suffering people.
While Seonwoo Jin was still unable to make up his mind, the two of them finally entered the burning village.
Immediately, cries of chaos rang out from all directions.
"Fire!"
"Please save us!"
"Mother! Help! My mother is inside the house!"
"My baby! My baby!"
The village was truly a scene of hellish pandemonium.
There was not a single person who was not in danger.
At that moment, Dang Yeoeun suddenly pointed a finger toward the opposite side of the village and shouted.
"Look over there! I think it's that man!"
He looked toward where Dang Yeoeun was pointing.
He could then confirm that a man who looked to be in his thirties spotted the two of them and immediately fled.
A martial artist who ran away the moment he saw them.
It seemed certain he was the man Gwanggeom had spoken of.
Furthermore, his level of cultivation did not look low at all.
Judging by his considerably fast speed and movement technique, he appeared to be a martial artist who had at least reached the peak realm.
If he wasn't chased right now, he would surely get away.
Dang Yeoeun looked at Seonwoo Jin with urgent eyes and shouted.
"Gongja!"
At that, Seonwoo Jin quickly took in the sight of that man and the village scenery, and he finally made his decision.
Then, he spoke to Dang Yeoeun.
"Lady Dang, the fact that this gate is the Two Person Gate surely means there was a reason it required two people. I think it's because both tasks must be resolved. So, Lady Dang, please chase down that bastard first. I will save the people and then follow you as fast as I can."
Even as he spoke, Seonwoo Jin himself knew.
That there was a high probability this was just an excuse to rationalize his decision.
But even though he knew time was pressing, and that the villagers were not real people, he simply could not bring himself to turn away from them.
Because he absolutely could not stomach it.
This feeling could be a warning from his sixth sense, or it could stem from a desire to join Geomseong's ideal of creating a world where chivalrous righteousness was alive and well.
But now, the reason no longer mattered.
Because he had decided not to do otherwise.
"Gongja...."
Dang Yeoeun looked at Seonwoo Jin for a moment with wistful eyes.
Seonwoo Jin could clearly feel the sense of disappointment seeping from her gaze.
But as if she had no choice, she soon nodded and spoke.
"I understand. You must come quickly."
"Yes, Sojeo. If he proves too difficult to handle, just slowing his steps will suffice. I will be there as fast as I can."
Dang Yeoeun hastily turned her body and chased after the bastard.
But Seonwoo Jin, who had been about to immediately go save the people, suddenly froze in place and could not move his body right away.
'No way?'
It was because of what he had just seen in her eyes.
Seonwoo Jin, his face stricken with shock, could not tear his eyes away from her receding figure.
'No way, it can't be, right?'
What Seonwoo Jin had just witnessed was a red energy.
A red energy that had faintly settled in Dang Yeoeun's eyes.
Similar to the red energy that had settled in the eyes of Mak Woo-jeon or Ga Yoo-ak earlier, a red energy had also settled in Dang Yeoeun's eyes.
His saliva reflexively went down his throat with a gulp.
At that moment, a desperate voice rang out again.
"Help! Please, help me!"
"Ah!"
Snapping back to his senses, Seonwoo Jin gritted his teeth and launched himself toward the place calling for help.
There was not a moment to waste.
But even as he flew through the air, Seonwoo Jin's mind churned chaotically like raging waves.
'It must have been an illusion. It was just an illusion.'
The thought suddenly surfaced in his mind that Dang Yeoeun was exceedingly tender-hearted, and that she had easily succumbed to Ma Yu-gyeom's suggestion technique in the past.
But he shook his head fiercely and tried hard to ignore it.
There was no way that was it.
He wanted to trust her.
Seonwoo Jin did his best to save the people.
He rescued elderly people and children trapped in the flames, and he fired off sword qi to open paths so people could escape.
But the village was wider than expected, and places needing help were scattered everywhere.
So Seonwoo Jin used his outstanding movement technique to dart here and there, yet even so, he could not save everyone.
This was also the reason Seonwoo Jin had sent Dang Yeoeun ahead earlier.
He had briefly considered chasing the enemy himself and asking Dang Yeoeun to handle the rescues, but he thought her movement technique would likely be unable to save many people.
However, by the time Seonwoo Jin had saved everyone that he could, a considerable amount of time had passed.
"We're saved!"
"Thank you, Daehyeop! Truly, thank you!"
"Mister, thank you."
The villagers shed tears of gratitude and expressed their thanks to Seonwoo Jin.
But he did not have the presence of mind to accept those greetings.
He immediately launched himself after Dang Yeoeun.
He had already consumed far too much time.
The only comfort was that he felt absolutely no lingering effects of his internal injuries.
'Lady Dang, please!'
Seonwoo Jin prayed in his heart only for her safety as he ran like the wind.
After a while of doing so, Seonwoo Jin was finally able to spot her figure.
'Lady Dang!'
But the situation was by no means good.
She appeared to have fought a fierce, desperate battle, her attire a mess, and was cornered against the rocks.
She had even dropped her sword far away, suggesting she had been defeated in the fight against the bastard.
With his sword aimed at her neck, a man who looked like a weasel was letting out a lecherous laugh.
"Uheuheuheu! I've never seen such a pretty bitch before."
He then lightly sliced downwards with his sword, cutting the front collar of Dang Yeoeun's chest.
Swaak!
At that, the neckline of her clothing split to both sides, and the garment covering her chest fell loose.
"Kyaaak!"
Dang Yeoeun screamed and wrapped her arms around herself to hold up the slipping clothes.
The bastard swallowed his saliva, laughing greedily.
"Uheuheuheuheu! Even your scream is thrilling."
The man swept his greedy gaze over Dang Yeoeun's entire body, and her face was etched with unbearable shame.
Seeing that, the killing intent in Seonwoo Jin's eyes exploded.
"You bastard!"
Paang!
His already fast speed accelerated even further.
It was the fastest speed he had ever produced, a movement truly akin to a flash of lightning.
At that moment, the man turned his head, spotted Seonwoo Jin, and in startled alarm hastily took a defensive stance.
But his taking a defensive stance and Seonwoo Jin pouncing on him occurred almost simultaneously.
"You son of a bitch!"
Kwaang!
A thunderous strike swung down like lightning.
The bastard was sent flying backward.
"Keu-euk!"
It was a single blow utterly unlike Seonwoo Jin's usual style, driven purely by speed and power.
And it continued immediately after.
He pursued the bastard like a shadow and brought his sword crashing down like lightning once more.
"Haaap!"
Kwaaaang!
"Eu-euk, you bastard!"
And once more.
Syuhahak!
When the same type of heavy strike followed for a third time, the bastard's eyes now flashed as he swiftly scattered sword strikes.
It was a technique meant to deflect Seonwoo Jin's simple sword blows and launch a counterattack.
But in that instant, Seonwoo Jin's sword split apart like an illusion.
The thirteenth form of the Seon-woo Thirteen Swords.
Illusion Sword.
Sswaaaaaaa!
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of swords surrounded him.
It was an illusion sword technique the man had never seen nor heard of before.
The bastard, momentarily panicked, gritted his teeth and swung his sword again.
Because he had realized they were ultimately just illusory swords.
"Where do you get off using petty tricks!"
But in that moment, the illusion swords that had filled the surroundings materialized into reality.
And from all directions, they poured down upon the bastard.
The fifteenth form of the Seon-woo Thirteen Swords.
Emptiness is Form.
Syuhaaaak!
Pupupupupuk!
"Keu-heo-eok!"
Hundreds of sword qi pierced through him.
His entire body was riddled like a porcupine's.
There was no way he could survive in that state.
He looked at Seonwoo Jin once with eyes that seemed unable to believe it, then collapsed slowly as blood poured from his entire body like a fountain.
Puhwaak!
Teolsseok!
His level had seemed to be roughly around eighty years of internal energy.
A martial artist at a similar level to the current Seonwoo Jin.
To have slaughtered such a martial artist so instantaneously was an incredibly encouraging result.
But Seonwoo Jin did not look at him.
He immediately ran to Dang Yeoeun.
"Lady Dang! Are you alright?!"
Fortunately, Dang Yeoeun did not appear to have suffered any major injuries.
But her expression, as she wrapped both arms around her torn front bodice, looked exceedingly dark.
Dang Yeoeun answered quietly without even properly meeting Seonwoo Jin's eyes.
"I'm fine. You were... a little late."
She looked as though she had been deeply wounded in spirit.
Seonwoo Jin had no idea what he ought to say.
After all, sending her alone had been his own choice, and being late and causing her to suffer such shame was ultimately also due to his own choice.
Moreover, Seonwoo Jin was now looking into her eyes.
At the faint crimson energy that was unmistakably visible within them.
What he had seen earlier had not been a mistake.
"Lady Dang...."
Seonwoo Jin felt a sense of utter desolation before his eyes.
He had to deal with that crimson energy somehow, but he had no idea what words he ought to broach first.
He carefully opened his mouth.
"Lady Dang, the Great Calm Mind Technique...."
But it was at that moment.
The environment suddenly flipped once more.
The place where the two stood was now the forest from earlier again.
They had returned to the place where they had first met Gwanggeom.
And before them, Gwanggeom once again emanated overwhelming killing intent as he gazed upon them.
Seonwoo Jin and Dang Yeoeun looked at him with tense eyes.
They could not interpret the meaning of Gwanggeom's gaze as he looked at them.
Had they truly passed the Two Person Gate?
Before Mak Woo-jeon?
As the two waited with uneasy eyes for the words that would emerge from his mouth, he finally spoke.
"Congratulations on passing the Two Person Gate."
In that instant, a sigh of relief burst out.
"Hoo-ah."
"Huuu, we survived."
It seemed that the judgment Seonwoo Jin had made had matched the answer to the gate that Gwanggeom had set.
It was an enormous relief.
Dang Yeoeun now asked Gwanggeom in a relieved voice.
"Then did we pass the gate before the other two?"
At this, Gwanggeom shook his head again.
And at the answer that followed, Seonwoo Jin and Dang Yeoeun could only freeze up once more.
"No, they passed the gate far earlier."
"...Pardon?"
The two stared at Gwanggeom with horrified eyes.
They had passed the gate first?
Gwanggeom had clearly said earlier.
That only two would survive and remain after the Two Person Gate.
But if they had passed the gate first...
Just as Seonwoo Jin and Dang Yeoeun were conjuring up despairing thoughts, Gwanggeom opened his mouth again.
"And the two of them fought, so only the one called Mak Woo-jeon remains. So now, only one of you two must remain as well."
"...What?"
For a moment, Seonwoo Jin and Dang Yeoeun could not immediately comprehend the meaning of those words.
The two fought and only Mak Woo-jeon remained?
And only one of us must remain too?
What in the...!
But Seonwoo Jin's sharp mind soon interpreted the meaning of those words.
He muttered as if letting out a groan.
"Two... remaining did not mean one side out of them and us would remain. It meant one from each side must be left..."
His mind went blank as a sheet of white paper.
Yet even in the midst of that, Seonwoo Jin's memory recalled exactly what Gwanggeom had said at the beginning.
'Keep in mind that only two shall pass the Two Person Gate. Only two among you will survive.'
That was what he had said.
He had only said that only two out of the four would survive, and had never once said that the side that passed the gate first would survive.
That had simply been their own misconception.
Seonwoo Jin looked at Dang Yeoeun with a dazed face.
She too was looking at Seonwoo Jin with tears welling in her eyes.
Gwanggeom was telling Seonwoo Jin directly to fight Dang Yeoeun and kill her.
So the Two Person Gate, which had required two people, had been designed from the very beginning to leave only one of each pair alive.
It was an utterly vicious gate.
Seonwoo Jin gritted his teeth and answered.
"No. We will not do it. We will absolutely never kill each other."
To kill Dang Yeoeun with his own hand—he would sooner die than do something absolutely impossible.
At this, Gwanggeom smiled sinisterly and asked.
"Is that so? Will you really be able to hold to that?"
Seonwoo Jin was horrified by his smile.
It was the first wicked smile he had shown since they had arrived here.
The thought crossed his mind that perhaps this was his original expression all along.
Gwanggeom, now laughing with an expression truly like that of a demon king, snapped his fingers once more. Ttak!
Then the surrounding environment changed again.
And at the sight of it, the eyes of the two filled with the light of despair.
"This is..."
Their surroundings had become a lava lake boiling and bubbling on all sides.
Heat that felt as though their flesh would cook, and an acrid stench that invaded their nostrils.
In the middle of that vast lava lake, Seonwoo Jin and Dang Yeoeun stood upon a stone floor like a small island.
But that small island looked unstable, as if it would sink into the lava at any moment.
At that moment, Gwanggeom, who was floating in the air watching them, opened his mouth.
"With each passing of one tea time, the floor will gradually shrink. Likely before a half-watch passes, there will be no place left to stand. By then, only one of you two must remain. Because if not, both of you will die."
With those final words, he simply vanished.
Now left utterly alone, Seonwoo Jin and Dang Yeoeun looked at each other with expressions of devastation and despair.
There was nothing they could do.
In the midst of that, it was Dang Yeoeun who made up her mind first.
Chyang!
She drew her sword and shouted to Seonwoo Jin.
It was the sword with the red silk thread, the paired match to Seonwoo Jin's sword, which they had brought in order to play the role of the Cheonghong Ssanggeom.
"Gongja, draw your sword at once! One of us must survive no matter what!"
Seonwoo Jin looked at her with regretful eyes.
Within her eyes, a crimson energy rippled, far more vivid than before.
