The Rebirth of the Heavenly Sword (2)
I wonder what happened after all…
I used the Imperial Sword Form to pummel the Clan Chief until I seized the stolen treasures.
“How… how can you use that art?”
“Only you idiots who focused purely on destruction and territory could never obtain it.”
I didn’t even feel like teaching the Clan Chief the roots and purpose of the Namgung Clan.
So I muttered something and headed toward the Elders’ Council.
I smashed the elders’ dantian and snatched one eyeball each, creating the impossible structure where direct and collateral lines must compete.
“My… my eyes… You bastard! Heaven’s punishment will befall you!”
“Punishment should fall on old fools like you. It’s what my brothers who died received.”
“Ugh… uwaaaak!!”
I don’t remember it exactly, but with the strength I gained and no vision left, I remember I left it as half-blind as possible.
To leave a life as a maggot that can’t survive without others’ help.
“Umm…”
It was an incredibly pleasant memory.
It was a perfect memory with not a shred of guilt or regret.
Slowly opening my eyes, I saw a completely ruined room.
On top of that, two mothers stared at me with mouths wide open.
“What’s wrong with both of you?”
I was about to say more when I realized I was floating in the air.
“Huh.”
The moment I noticed, I crashed down with a belly flop.
“Aaaah… why did it come back to me?”
“G-glance in the mirror, honey.”
At Hwa-ryeon’s words, I looked in the mirror and saw myself completely back to my prime in my twenties.
“What…? My skin is completely baby skin. Hwan-gol-tae-tal… Then…”
I immediately looked down at my legs, but the steel prosthetic was still there.
‘It’s not to this extent.’
Still.
I felt the inner energy overflowing in my dantian.
When I clenched my fist, blue qi flowed out.
My bones had been remade for combat and my entire body’s blood vessels had widened.
My body felt incredibly light, as if it could fly.
“At this level, it’s about thirty percent of my peak. In rank, it would be around C-rank?”
“As expected of my husband.”
Hwa-ryeon smiled and hugged me.
“First, let’s shower. Tomorrow, let’s go home.”
Stains from the dirt were scattered across my clothes.
Hwa-ryeon tilted her head after hearing my words and asked.
“Home? Wasn’t this home?”
“This is just temporary; we need to buy a house for us. But how much time has passed? The outside is bright.”
At the mention of time, Hwa-ryeon pointed at the clock.
“Two full days passed.”
“Yeah…? Then… we have to go out here?”
I had only paid for one day.
“Phone calls must have come…”
“Phone? Ah, there’s that strangely shaped machine that kept beeping weirdly, so I smashed it.”
Looking at the smashed hotel phone, I grabbed my head.
‘The extension and repair costs… it’s going to be a lot…’
***
“Nothing?”
Ju Tae-jin clicked his tongue while staring at the empty house.
In the ambiguous one-room that was neither small nor big, there were only a few clothes and a shelf of ramens; nothing else.
‘Where did they go?’
I found Kim Min-su’s house, but no one was there.
He never answered calls, so he might have been swept up in some big incident.
‘First…’
As Ju Tae-jin was about to call someone, Yoo Na-ra, wearing a weird device, urgently pulled him aside.
“Head… Head!”
Ju Tae-jin frowned, thinking it was another fuss.
“What?”
“Here… the readings are off.”
The measurement device was for sensing the unique material that flows from gates—inner energy, often called mana, qi, or chakra.
This device could predict gate ranks and even locate where gates would open by forecasting the flow of fine inner energy.
“Readings above average are coming in.”
“Above average… but I don’t sense any sign of a gate opening.”
“The measurement device shows no gate activation signal… What could this mean?”
No sign?
Yet the device was rising above average.
“This… it must be residual energy after a gate closed.”
“Eh? …In this one-room?”
Yoo Na-ra knew exactly what she was about to say.
If a gate appeared, it would have swallowed the building and grown massive.
Above all, no traces of monsters were visible, even if you washed your eyes.
“As expected, there’s something.”
“You want me to report this?”
“No, don’t report it to the higher-ups. This should stay between us.”
“Understood!”
It was almost betraying the higher-ups, but Yoo Na-ra accepted it happily.
Due to the years we had spent together, I had built up trust that surely had a reason.
Exactly as I thought, Ju Tae-jin had plans.
‘This could stir up the higher-ups’ irritation if mishandled.’
If I reported and they rushed in, I might lose the fish I had caught.
He remembered the words from yesterday’s report.
—Unregistered hunter… at least S-rank?
—Why wouldn’t an S-rank register?
—No, wait… does that mean an unidentified person who can massacre hundreds is walking the streets?! We have to eliminate it immediately!!
The board directors with tight heads were demanding to remove dangerous elements and going into a frenzy.
I agreed to a point, but rushing to handle the unidentified threat…
“I might be eaten instead.”
Only after properly assessing the strength could I approach very cautiously and slowly to read his intentions.
“We’ll tail him according to our plan. First, something related to Kim Min-su is clear.”
“Yes!! Then, shall we chase after him!”
The two of them left the house after cleanly erasing their traces and closing the door.
***
After checking out of the hotel, the two of them told us to stay in my old studio for a while.
‘I’ll manage even if it’s a little uncomfortable.’
I immediately headed to Jacob’s basement.
“Here, the promised money and fake IDs. I even registered it on the portal, so you can use the government app.”
Jacob handed over one dummy account and two fake IDs.
“Thank you, Jacob.”
“Ah, right. I left the phone behind.”
“Phone…?”
I had completely forgotten.
I had been so consumed with worrying about Hwa-ryeon and So-ye that I forgot the phone existed.
“Thank you.”
“It’s been ringing since last night; check it.”
“Yeah? Ah, right. I’ll have a food delivered later. Come once then.”
“Food? I remember your taste perfectly. I’m looking forward to it.”
After saying goodbye to Jacob, I tucked the accounts and IDs safely into my pocket and took the phone as I left the basement.
“Where…”
At that moment, five text messages and thirty texts to my sister Kim Min-seo and twenty phone calls from the Special Hunter Crime Department arrived.
“Twenty…!?”
-Ya. Mom wants to know if you’re okay. A gate popped up nearby.
-Why aren’t you reading the texts. Mom’s worried, you know?
-Ya!! Don’t ignore the phone either—what are you doing? Pick up quickly.
—Don’t test my patience and pick up already?!
Since I didn’t answer, a string of texts at one-hour intervals appeared.
‘Whoa, the qi is already fast.’
And the last text caught my eye.
—Just waiting. I’ll be there.
That text had been sent last night.
If Kim Min-seo, known for her quick temper, took a train from Seoul after leaving at dawn, she was likely to encounter us in my studio right now.
“Every time I come here, something happens… hah…”
My dry throat started to hurt.
***
The only thought in the heads of the Blood Demon mother and daughter when they returned to the studio was one thing.
‘I want ramen.’
The ramen he made on the first day still lingered in my memory.
Especially since they hadn’t eaten anything for two full days while serving as his escorts, hunger was at its peak.
Gurgle…
A stomach clock went off in Hwa-ryeon’s belly.
Jeok So-ye opened her mouth upon hearing it.
“Um, Mother, shall I cook ramen once?”
“Cook…? Can you do it?”
“I remember it well since I saw it once.”
At those words, Hwa-ryeon’s pupils sparkled.
“Then do it. I trust our daughter.”
“Yes!”
With a solemn expression, Jeok So-ye stood in front of the kitchen, took out a pot, and filled it with water.
It was an expression that reminded me of the time I infiltrated the North Sea Ice Palace to find the relic—unusually serious.
‘It was exactly the right midpoint.’
After receiving the water, she opened the shelf and took out two packets of ramen.
“And… the gas…”
She turned the valve on the gas stove exactly as Kim Min-su had done.
Tatatatak.
It made some noise, but no flame came out, unlike what he had done.
“Eh… huh? When Father did it, there was a flame…”
Jeok So-ye looked down at the gas stove with a panicked expression.
Seeing her, Hwa-ryeon stood up.
“You want to heat this water?”
“Yes…”
“Wait.”
Sam-mae-jin-hwa.
A technique that could only be created with high-level inner energy.
It was burning to cook the ramen.
Just as Hwa-ryeon was about to bring the flame from her hand into the kitchen—
BANG—!!
The front door opened and a woman suddenly poked her head out.
“Ya! Kim Min-su!! Why aren’t you answering the phone?!”
The mother and daughter and Kim Min-seo froze in place, eyes wide.
The only thing flickering sadly in Hwa-ryeon’s hand was the flame.