The Confession and the Knight
The sudden kiss and confession from Hwa-young left Cheon-seong bewildered. He touched his lips, still warm, and thought to himself.
*When did this even start? No, more than that—who the hell even cares why?*
He simply couldn't understand why Yoo Hwa-young was saying all this to him.
*Maybe she's worried I'll leave her here and go somewhere else?*
Hwa-young knew the dangers of this dungeon and would sell her body if it meant getting them out… No, that couldn't be it. No matter how he thought about it.
Everything Hwa-young had said and done carried not a shred of pretense.
He'd seen far too many monsters who sold their bodies to cling to anyone just to survive. That particular brand of sycophancy and raw survival instinct was obvious in them.
But Hwa-young wasn't like that.
She wanted to live, sure, but there was no trace of that desperate, fawning weakness that defined the others.
*If she's genuinely confessing to me right now… then why?*
No matter how hard he thought, if Hwa-young hated him she hated him. She had never done anything that would make her fall for him.
The only thing she might have felt back then was during the dungeon incident when he tried to save her. Honestly, even that didn't seem like enough for the Hwa-young he knew.
Back in his past life, the war with the Celestials had exploded before these academy students could fully mature into heroes. And there was no record of Hwa-young ever needing help to survive it.
If she had fallen for him just because he saved her life, she must have already been in love with someone else back then.
*Besides, there's no time for this kind of thinking right now.*
Whether Hwa-young loved him or not, his answer was already decided.
He already had two women—Yuna and Beatrice—who were far too good for him.
So this confession from Hwa-young was just—
—Cheon-seong.
You don't have to force me away because of us.
*…Shit. Why is Yuna's voice suddenly echoing in my head?*
The image of Yuna smiling gently at him crossed his mind, and Cheon-seong gritted his teeth and turned to Hwa-young, who had been grinning at him the whole time.
"I don't know what suddenly got into you, but this confession—"
*You’re going to reject me? If it were anyone else, sure. But I’m not giving up.*
"…"
The way she cut him off and declared she wouldn’t give up no matter what left Cheon-seong speechless.
He knew Yoo Hwa-young. Once she locked onto something, she never let go.
The level of transcendence, a realm where even killing Celestials was considered impossible at the time, and yet Hwa-young had pushed herself to the very edge and become the first human to slay one.
Honestly, the image of her giving up because he rejected her confession just didn’t fit.
Even now, Hwa-young was the stubbornest woman alive.
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Kiiiieeeeeeek!!!
Another Shadow Stalker collapsed the moment Cheon-seong struck, its life force snuffed out.
Cheon-seong approached the dead monster and formed a mana blade in his hand, then slid it into the location of the magic stone.
Puk!
Black blood splattered across him, but he didn’t hesitate. He plunged his hand in deep, gripped the stone, and pulled it free.
He immediately popped it into his mouth and swallowed.
Hwa-young, watching, frowned and walked over.
"Hey, at least wipe off the monster blood before eating it."
"Since the poison is neutralized anyway, no point, right?"
Cheon-seong answered while wiping the Shadow Stalker's blood from his lips.
Hwa-young let out a long sigh and stepped closer to clean the blood from Cheon-seong's cheek.
"I hate seeing it on you. And you said the poison gets neutralized. So there was actual pain, right?"
"Well… yeah."
Just like how swallowing poison and immediately taking an antidote doesn't mean there won't be aftereffects or pain, eating a magic stone and purifying the poison with Five Colors comes with that burn too.
But compared to him it was bearable, and the poison in monster blood was weaker than the one in magic stones anyway. Honestly, wiping monster blood off himself with mana was enough.
If anything, it only reduced the pain by maybe one in a hundred.
At those words, Hwa-young narrowed her eyes and realized Cheon-seong had no choice but to use his final card.
"Keep doing that and I'm telling Yuna everything that happened today."
Shiver!
"Hey, hey! You said you'd tell someone and not let it go, right?"
"I did. And I can't stand the thought of my beloved man suffering and not even caring."
"Insane woman. Give it up already. I clearly said I won't accept your feelings."
"Ah, you love me? I love you too. So from today, is it day one?"
"You crazy bulldozer!"
After one confession she was already acting like she had never been rejected, and when Cheon-seong told her to give up she just took it as a challenge and charged at him like a bulldozer.
Cheon-seong sighed and raised both hands in surrender.
"Okay, fine. I'll wipe the monster blood from now on. Just stop."
"Hmph. About time. So from today, day one?"
"Not happening. Don't try to sneak stuff in."
"Chet!"
Even though he seemed to have given up, Hwa-young was still sulking behind him as Cheon-seong resumed walking.
"Hehe~ Why are you leaving me?"
"If I could leave you, I would."
"Aish, being with a girl as pretty as me is a blessing, right? And one of the biggest male fantasies is a harem."
"I don't care about that. And walk a little farther away."
Cheon-seong had been about to say he didn't care about the harem comment, but with Yuna and Beatrice already in his life he hesitated and quickly changed the subject.
Even though he had changed the topic, every word he spoke was serious. And ever since Hwa-young had confessed, their distance had shrunk noticeably.
Close enough that if he moved his arm just a little, it would brush against her chest. Hwa-young knew exactly how close it was.
Instead of obeying and stepping back, she smiled with a mischievous devilish grin and looped her arm around his.
"Whyy? You getting flustered? Even if I'm smaller than Yuna, I won't get stuck anywhere. What do you think?"
Cheon-seong stopped, looked down at her, and answered.
"Not much. Just stop dreaming, idiot."
Thud!
"Ow! Why?! I'm not that bad!"
"Is that what you say to your boyfriend?"
He gave her forehead a light slap and drew the line.
Hwa-young pouted, put on an exaggerated dramatic face, and stuck her tongue out.
Even though she looked a little pitiful, it still didn't change anything.
Hwa-young was undeniably a good woman, but there was no room for her in his heart.
To put it plainly, Yuna and Beatrice were too good for him.
Someone who was already receiving such overwhelming love from them—how could he possibly accept Hwa-young's feelings?
He had no love for her, but he had started to care for her.
He had once hated Hwa-young in his past life because she possessed everything he didn't—his pathetic jealousy.
But even now, she was only a woman a little closer to him than others. Nothing more, nothing less.
If he had to choose who to save when both Yuna and Hwa-young were in danger, he would pick Yuna without a second thought. Even if it was Beatrice, Hana, or Mir—no hesitation.
Of course, considering Hwa-young's family background and talent, he could have accepted her as a lover if he wanted, and there would be plenty of benefits. But for some reason he didn't want to.
In his past life, before he had ever truly been loved, he probably would have used her feelings.
But after receiving the love of Yuna and Beatrice, the pain of realizing it had been fake was unbearable. He had wished Hwa-young had never felt that pain.
He didn't know why. He himself was clumsy with love and didn't fully understand what it was.
Love was a complex emotion that defied full understanding.
So the distance with Hwa-young was just right.
***
It had been roughly four hours since they entered the dungeon.
He had passed out at some point, so he didn't know the exact time, but Hwa-young said it had been about an hour since then. There was some margin, but it was close enough.
The mana inside him had recovered to about half thanks to the magic stones harvested from the monsters they encountered.
It was still too early to be certain they could defeat the boss, but it wasn't impossible.
The long, winding corridor had narrowed until only two paths remained. They were clearly getting closer to the dungeon boss.
A scorching, overwhelmingly powerful aura emanated from ahead.
Hwa-young, who had been following him while constantly trying to lure him with that same aura, was now sweating profusely, her tension palpable.
By aura alone, it was at least stronger than the Doppelganger boss he had faced in Seoraksan.
The Doppelganger had been stronger than his peak back then, but now that he was stronger than that, beating it shouldn't be hard.
Still, judging pure strength by aura alone carried too much margin. Unless he deliberately pushed his power to the absolute maximum, he couldn't gauge the opponent's true strength.
Dungeon bosses, upon entering the boss room, would recognize their opponent instantly. This was simply the natural aura leaking from a resting boss.
Moreover, unlike when he could use the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, he couldn't use it now.
Even though he had told Hwa-young he could absorb magic stones, that was separate from the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
The legendary martial art that had once dominated the Central Plains, now lost.
The Heavenly Demon himself was too ancient a figure, and Hwa-young might not recognize the technique anyway. She would only use it in a life-or-death crisis, but he really didn't want to reveal it.
Cheon-seong turned his gaze sideways and quietly placed his hand on Hwa-young's forehead, where her body trembled slightly, and stroked it gently.
Hwa-young's eyes widened in surprise, then she looked up at him with a stunned expression.
Cheon-seong glanced at her for a moment, then said casually, "Don't be scared. I'll protect you."
The fear clinging to her ankle vanished. Hwa-young's face flushed crimson with warmth.
"…Yeah. Thank you."
Cheon-seong wondered.
Did he not realize that every single one of those actions was only making her feelings grow stronger? That they were making it impossible for her to give up on him?
'But I like every single one of those things about you.'
Cheon-seong didn't know that his small, gentle actions were only making Hwa-young's feelings for him grow even larger. He continued stroking her hair until they stood in front of the door that led to the dungeon boss—the only way to escape the immersive dungeon.
The two of them stood before the door, the terrifying aura pressing down even more heavily. Cheon-seong swallowed hard.
He looked at Hwa-young without a word, and she gave him a deep breath and nodded.
"Hoo… Hup!"
Screeech—
The door to the boss room opened with Hwa-young's signal. The moment it did, the boss's aura exploded outward like a raging wave.
Kwaaaaaaaa!
"…Holy shit. Is that even possible?"
"…Eh, how… why is that thing…"
"What? What are you talking about? Hey, you okay?"
Hwa-young, pale as a ghost from the explosive aura she had never felt before, asked if it was possible, but Cheon-seong's trembling voice denying reality made her stare at him.
"Why… why is that thing… why…?"
Even with Hwa-young asking if he was okay, he simply stared at the white knight standing imposingly before them and refused to acknowledge its existence.
"Hey! Snap out of it! Snap out of it, Cheon-seong!!"
"…No… why… why is that thing already—"
"Haa… really."
No matter how much she shouted, Cheon-seong showed no reaction. Hwa-young sighed, grabbed his tie, and pulled him hard toward her.
Swooosh—
She kissed him fiercely.
Cheon-seong's eyes, filled only with despair, finally widened in shock.
Pwah!
"You, what are you—"
"Hah. Finally snapped out of it. You said you'd protect me—if you get any more scared, what then?"
Cheon-seong recalled his earlier embarrassment and answered while avoiding her gaze.
"S-sorry, I'm fine."
"I wanted to hear something other than that, but anyway. Do you know what that thing is?"
Hwa-young pointed at the white knight quietly watching them.
Cheon-seong slowly nodded.
How could he not know? How could he ever forget?
The monster that had been unleashed into the world by a few foolish Celestials who couldn't control their curiosity in his past life.
One of the four monsters that humans had hunted, despite the Celestials' numbers not dwindling. Each of them had slain tens of Celestials on their own.
The 'white knight' among the monsters that even Cheon-seong with his Heavenly Demon Divine Art and spatial magic couldn't defeat alone in his past life.
Beside it stood a subordinate in white armor, guarding the armored knight, and slicing through upper-rank experts with a single swing. The subordinate now stared at Cheon-seong and Hwa-young, black blood dripping from its body.