Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Chapter 39: Taking Charge of New Students (2)
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Musty smoke.
Corpses burning with a nauseating stench.
In a world reduced to ashes, with every living thing wiped out.
Chu Un-hwi opened his eyes.
'A dream after so long.'
Realizing it was a dream was easy enough.
If it weren't, his viewpoint wouldn't be this high up.
When he lowered his gaze to his hands, he saw charred black skin and hands cracked like old tree trunks.
Both soaked in blood.
[Tch. This is ridiculous.]
A thick voice rumbled from his throat.
Much lower and coarser than his current one.
'Definitely my memory.'
When had this been?
He tried to guess the era from the ash falling like snow from the sky, the thick smoke, and the distant blaze beyond, but it wasn't easy.
His previous life had mostly looked like this.
'Wait. My left hand is pitch black.'
Suddenly, he recalled the time he'd injured his left arm and learned one-armed swordsmanship.
Fuzzy memories surfaced.
But he still couldn't pinpoint the exact time.
Not until the voice came.
[So. Will you take it, or not?]
'Her voice!'
He tried to turn toward the sweet voice of the one he'd longed for in his dreams.
But for some reason, his back was turned, staring silently at the ash-strewn sky, making it impossible.
'Damn it. At least let me see her!'
Not this gloomy sky!
Couldn't he control this body?
It was a dream—couldn't it cut him some slack?
As he cursed the sky pointlessly, the voice rang out again.
[Get lost, wench.]
Damn it. The body was fine, so couldn't the speech be fixed at least?
'You're going to make her hate you!'
Did his wish reach?
The gaze that had been fixed on the hazy sky shifted slightly over his shoulder.
There stood a woman with ash piled thick on her shoulders.
'It's her. Her.'
He knew the instant he saw her.
But seeing her face clearly was hard.
A mere glance only revealed the shadowed tip of her chin.
[You really won't regret it?]
Those words flipped through the pages of his memories like a book.
Fragments of the past flashed vividly in full color.
'Ah. The day we first held hands?'
Everything came back.
Just closing his eyes brought that moment to life.
He even recalled what came next.
'It's the last food.'
[It's the last food.]
'If you don't want it, I'll eat it alone.'
[If you don't want it, I'll eat it alone.]
Off by one word.
But the sight matched his memory perfectly.
A cold, ash-dusted dumpling sat awkwardly on her dainty palm.
The conversation continued.
[Fine. I'll eat it alone. Ahh—]
As the dumpling was pulled away, his own voice echoed.
[Wench.]
An arrogant, savage voice.
[I am the leader of the Blood Cult, the sovereign who subjugated the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.]
The growl turned into a shout.
[My followers number a hundred thousand at my beck and call!]
[A single word from me erases ten thousand lives!!]
Whoosh!
He swung his hand wildly and bellowed again.
[When I stomp, the heavens shake!]
[When I draw my sword, even the world's greatest warriors fall in one exchange!!]
[I am the supreme master under heaven—no, through the ages!!!]
Rooooar.
The inner energy in his voice scattered the piled ash within dozens of paces.
The air resonated, making the sky tremble, and even the soaring flames dimmed before the sheer force.
An overwhelming presence that shook mountains and rivers with voice alone.
Yet Chu Un-hwi thought,
'Oh god.'
If he could move, he'd have covered his face in shame.
The voice came as he remembered.
[So. Got any dumplings now?]
For the first time, his voice softened at her words.
[D-Dumplings?]
She wasn't intimidated—staring him down boldly, a first for him.
He stammered a bit.
[I am the lord of the demonic path. My vaults overflow with gold enough to fill rivers. With a word, delicacies from land and sea...]
[So. Do you have dumplings right now?!]
Her sharp tone deflated his momentum for the first time.
[...No.]
As his voice shrank, she pressed her advantage.
[Hellooo. Blood Cult Leader.]
[...Speak.]
[I was going to anyway?]
Why would I need your permission?
Her retort left him mumbling.
[The martial world is done for now. Almost no one's left alive.]
[...That's true.]
[No one you can trust, either.]
[Right.]
The world had fallen to the Mangcheon Society.
In the mindless chaos, loyal retainers died, leaving only betrayers behind.
Those who spoke of loyalty and righteousness were all gone.
What remained was a martial world of hypocrites weighing gains and losses.
She said,
[I fought to kill you, but now I want to apologize.]
[Apologize? To me?]
[At least you showed your killing intent openly, without hiding your desire to kill.]
Better than allies hiding deceit behind smiles—I figured you'd be more honest in your hate.
[Is that so?]
[Proof of my apology.]
[Half a dumpling? Ha!]
[If you don't want it, I won't push.]
She paused for breath and continued.
[After this last meal, I'm off to fight the rest.]
[Alone?]
[Do what you want. Join Mangcheon or not.]
Who knows?
A leader like you might get a seat at their table.
[Shut up, wench.]
At that moment, she and he agreed on one thing, if nothing else.
[Think I'd ally with those deceitful scum?]
He'd sooner choke down spoiled dumplings than feast with hypocrites.
She laughed at his declaration.
[Worth apologizing after all.]
Her skin, still radiant beneath the soot, stood out strikingly amid the ash.
I'm sorry—
Her retreating figure after the apology felt so forlorn.
[Wait.]
He grabbed her wrist.
A sharp voice snapped back.
[What do you think you're doing?]
[Uh... You have to leave proof of the apology.]
[Heh. Thought you only ate delicacies.]
[......]
Embarrassed, he stared at his feet.
[Here.]
Half a dumpling entered his view.
[It's a bit old.]
[Doesn't matter.]
He replied curtly and brought it to his mouth.
'Tastes just like I remember.'
Sour and mixed with ash—barely edible.
Yet he felt true "hunger" for the first time.
Nothing like the delicacies he'd grown sick of.
For some reason, he savored the shrinking dumpling, even crumbling the last bit to make it last.
'The first time food ever tasted good?'
As remembered, he said,
[Delicious.]
[Not like land-and-sea delicacies, though.]
[It's the best. So...]
Sheepishly, to her,
[Even half of half...]
No, a tiny crumb.
[...Could you spare just a little more?]
He held up a finger shyly, and she burst into laughter.
[Pft. You have a cute side.]
Cute? Me?
[Here! Half out of pity.]
Her radiant smile as she tore off another half, despite the rumble in her stomach.
He stammered again.
[As I said, my vaults have gold piled like mountains, and with a gesture, all sorts of delicacies...]
[Give it here. I'll eat it.]
[...But sometimes these treats are nice.]
He dodged her playful hand and chewed alone.
Still, not wanting to lose pride, he grumbled gruffly.
[What kind are these?]
[From Hongmi Pavilion in Kaifeng City. Famous for noodles, but their dumplings are good too?]
[They're good. Once I rule the world, I'll buy the whole city. So...]
[No more. This is really the last. No conscience?]
[......]
Before he knew it, the ash-falling world no longer felt gloomy.
The endless gray flakes were like snow.
'Not a bad world.'
For the first time, he thought it beautiful.
"Huh. A dream?"
His hazy vision cleared to an unfamiliar ceiling.
Regaining his senses, vitality surged through him, but he lay still, savoring the dream's afterglow.
But dream memories faded soon after waking.
Regretfully, he muttered,
"Cat oracle. Pretty accurate, huh?"
Showing the best of times, as promised.
"Is this what great fortune means?"
Maybe even prophetic.
"Prophetic dream!"
Definitely one foretelling meeting his bride.
Whispering, he rolled around on the bed until the afterglow faded.
Thanks to the good dream, he felt like good things would happen all day.
And they did.
"Sorry. Failed again."
"Forgive us, my lord—."
The assassins hadn't found his bride, but there was good news.
"For some reason, more students are coming to Little Pavilion—."
Short-staffed was pitiful, but more visitors raised chances of her showing up.
"Not just students. For some reason, big shots are flooding in. Can't move as freely as before."
Bad news.
But he'd trust the cat oracle.
"Trials ahead, but no problem."
This body had great fortune.
A man blessed by the Cat God.
It'd lead to good results for sure.
'...Or so I thought.'
Somehow, nothing went right all day.
Unlike usual, Silver Hall instructors caught him eating.
Visiting Yeo Mae-hong, he ran into Moyong Seon-ya and got nagged for slacking.
"Feels like the drug wore off."
Vitality's short-lived. White Cat Oracle.
Heading out for another fortune, he got swept into a pack of cats fleeing Baek Ri-seol.
Arriving ragged at the White Cat Oracle, the worst awaited.
"Crunch. There you are."
He bumped into senior instructor Jang Cheol-sim emerging from a reading.
While his eyes were on the "Career Fortune" and "Comrade Fortune" slips, his collar was grabbed in an instant.
The result.
"......"
Across from him, Jang Cheol-sim rested interlaced hands on the table, glaring murderously.
'Gulp.'
Was this what killing with a look meant?
A terrifying gaze.
After long silence, he spoke.
"You. Where were you hiding amid all this busyness?"
Exercising right to silence only narrowed his eyes.
"Won't help keeping quiet."
"......"
"Playing dumb won't work. Your comrades all squealed."
"!"
No way.
They'd promised to cover vaguely.
Unless martial world's code had collapsed.
"You've got good comrades."
Though not helpful this time.
Jang Cheol-sim bared teeth in a fierce grin.