Chapter 348
Chapter 348
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 348
Chapter Title: Interlude–I Am Not a Regressor (3)
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Fwoosh!
The flames danced.
Burning away the space of unconsciousness, they blazed as if to consume the entire world.
“Gasp, gasp!”
Sweat trickled down his spine.
The attacks unleashed by the Cheonma, whose entire body had turned into a dark storm cloud, were as meticulous as a cunning viper and as ferocious as a starving beast.
But.
‘I have to hold on.’
If I die here.
Telling Vega the truth would all have been for nothing.
Oh-jin gasped for breath, glaring sharply at the Cheonma.
If he had fought him for real, he would have had no chance of winning, but.
‘This is my unconscious mind.’
This was a space of consciousness, not reality.
Even if the gap in power between them was as vast as that between an ant and an anteater,
at the very least, Oh-jin was the ‘master’ of this space.
‘If I can control the space with my consciousness…’
Oh-jin watched the fiercely charging black flames and snapped his fingers.
Rumble!
A wall of dark storm clouds shot up, blocking the flames.
“That’s it!”
There was no need to create lightning and fight in a space that wasn't even real.
This was the space of the unconscious.
The dark storm clouds covering everything belonged not to the Cheonma, but to the ‘Black Heaven’ that Oh-jin possessed.
“Hup!”
Thud!
Oh-jin took a short breath and stomped his foot hard.
Rumble! Grumble!
The dark storm clouds churned and surged toward the Cheonma.
He could feel the Cheonma's energy being absorbed through the clouds of Black Heaven.
“Such a pointless struggle.”
The Cheonma frowned and waved his hand lightly.
The clouds of Black Heaven that had been engulfing him scattered in the blink of an eye.
“……”
Although he had escaped the attack, the Cheonma's expression didn't relax.
No matter how powerful he was, it was impossible for the Cheonma to exert his full strength within someone else's unconscious mind—especially Oh-jin's, who possessed a more 'complete' Black Heaven than his own.
It was like fighting with a lump of iron tied to his body, not just a sandbag.
“Still.”
The Cheonma let out a low sigh, his eyes gleaming with blue will-o'-the-wisps as he turned to Oh-jin.
The dark storm clouds that formed his body parted, revealing stark white teeth.
“You're still a long way off.”
Rumble!
The Cheonma's body surged toward Oh-jin.
In an instant, he closed the distance, engaging in close-quarters combat.
A fist made of dark storm clouds struck Oh-jin in the solar plexus.
“Gah!”
Oh-jin was sent flying, his back bent like a shrimp.
He had only taken a single blow, yet it felt as if his internal organs had burst, and a gush of blood surged up.
‘No.’
This isn't reality; it's a space of consciousness.
There's no such thing as internal organs here.
‘The wounds I have now are just things I've created myself.’
It was similar to how he'd been wounded when using a 'lie' on himself, even though he wasn't actually hurt.
‘In that case.’
Oh-jin closed his eyes gently and took a deep breath.
If all of this is a lie I've created myself,
“I am invincible.”
I just need to cover it with a new lie.
“I am immortal, and I feel no pain whatsoever.”
“…What are you doing?”
The Cheonma looked at Oh-jin with a dumbfounded expression.
Seeing him suddenly start hypnotizing himself with claims of invincibility and immortality in the middle of a fight, a hollow laugh escaped him.
“I am faster than light and harder than steel.”
“Instead of wasting time on nonsense, you should focus on the fight…”
BOOOOM!
With an eardrum-shattering roar, Oh-jin's body shot forward.
At a speed far exceeding the sound barrier, the unconscious space made of dark storm clouds parted like the Red Sea.
It was a speed far faster than what the real Oh-jin could achieve in 'reality'.
His clenched fist slammed into the Cheonma's face.
KRAAAAAASH!
A sound that was hard to believe came from a human fist.
Hundreds, thousands of meters of the ground made of dark storm clouds caved in as the Cheonma's body was sent flying backward like a cannonball.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Cheonma skipped across the ground like a stone on water.
Rumble, grumble!
About half of the Cheonma's body, which was made of dark storm clouds, had vanished from that single blow.
Of course, the Cheonma's upper body, which had been blown away by the punch, was restored to normal within a few seconds.
“Kugh! Cough, cough!”
It seemed he couldn't completely negate the impact, as the Cheonma clutched his regenerated chest, gasping for breath.
“What is this…”
The Cheonma stared at Oh-jin with eyes full of disbelief.
One moment he was muttering nonsense, and the next, he began to display overwhelming power, as if he had become a completely different person.
“What, you can't use this?”
“…Use what?”
“Lies.”
“……?”
The Cheonma frowned and tilted his head.
What was this sudden talk of lies?
“Ah, right. It took me a lot of effort to get used to this too.”
It was understandable that the Cheonma couldn't use it if he hadn't undergone continuous training like Oh-jin.
Even if they were both the same 'Oh-jin'.
Just as Oh-jin couldn't do everything the Cheonma could, the reverse was also true.
“Controlling your unconscious by lying to yourself…?”
The Cheonma, who had been pondering what Oh-jin just said, looked at him with a flabbergasted expression.
To deceive yourself with lies to control your unconscious.
The Cheonma himself, having spent long ages in the space of the unconscious, knew best just how absurd that was.
The unconscious wasn't something you could control at will.
For example, if you're told 'don't think of an elephant,' what comes to mind?
Even if you consciously don't want to think of an elephant, you unconsciously picture one.
Getting injured in the space of the unconscious worked on the same principle.
Because it wasn't reality, you weren't actually hurt, but your unconscious mind judged that you 'were hurt,' so you would sustain injuries in this non-real space of consciousness.
‘And yet.’
Oh-jin was perfectly controlling that unconsciousness through 'lies'.
“…I see.”
The Cheonma's lips twisted as he nodded.
“You… are not me.”
Seeing a technique he couldn't replicate, the Cheonma let his arms fall with a look of defeat.
Fwoosh.
The fiercely burning black flames retreated back into his body.
“Weren't you trying to kill me?”
“I will kill you. However…”
It was impossible, at least in this space of the unconscious.
Against Oh-jin, who could freely manipulate his unconscious, there was little the Cheonma, who wasn't the master of this space, could do.
“…So you'll kill me when you return to reality?”
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes and glared at the Cheonma.
He was feigning composure as best he could, but inwardly, his mouth was dry with tension.
Right now, he had absolutely no way of fighting and winning against the Cheonma in actual reality, outside this space of the unconscious.
“Even that seems difficult for now.”
The Cheonma placed a hand over his left chest with a bitter expression.
Rumble, grumble!
In the time that had passed, the corrosion of Black Heaven had grown too strong.
Even if he returned to reality, it would be difficult to regain his sanity for a while.
“Well, in the end, it's just a matter of sooner or later.”
The eerily burning blue will-o'-the-wisps stared at Oh-jin.
“You don't have the right to protect her.”
Now that he knew Oh-jin was a different being from himself.
He couldn't leave Oh-jin by Ha-eun's side.
“We will meet again.”
Grumble, rumble.
Like the breaking dawn, the surrounding dark storm clouds began to scatter, and rays of light started to seep in.
“Whenever that may be, without fail.”
With those parting words, the Cheonma dissolved into the air and vanished.
“Kuh!”
As the dark storm clouds dispersed, Oh-jin's consciousness was forcibly returned to reality.
“……”
He opened his tightly shut eyes to the sight of the ruined Niflheim spread out before him.
The massive tsunami of dark storm clouds that had soared as if to swallow the world had vanished without a trace.
‘Where did he go?’
Oh-jin frowned, activating the Stigma of Canes Venatici to scan his surroundings, but he couldn't sense the Cheonma's energy anywhere.
“Phew.”
The tension suddenly broke, and a wave of deep fatigue washed over him.
“O-Oh-jin!”
In the distance, he saw Ha-eun running toward him.
“Nunna?”
“You, you bastard! I was wondering where you disappeared to, and you were here all along?!”
Ha-eun grabbed Oh-jin by the collar, her face contorted.
When she heard from Liak that Oh-jin had gone alone to stop the tsunami of storm clouds, she'd been so shocked her heart had nearly stopped.
“Hic… sob! D-Do you want me to worry myself flat-chested, you bastard?!”
“…What are you talking about?”
Ha-eun hugged Oh-jin tightly, crying sorrowfully.
Oh-jin placed a hand on her back, patting it gently with a faint smile.
-You don't have the right to be by her side.
The Cheonma's parting words echoed sharply in his mind.
‘Maybe so.’
Just as he said, perhaps I was too greedy.
Perhaps I tried to shoulder too much.
But.
“…Nunna.”
“Mmm, what is it?”
Honk!
Ha-eun, who had just blown her nose vigorously on Oh-jin's shirt, looked up at him with teary eyes.
‘Seriously, what is she doing? This is disgusting.’
Oh-jin frowned, looking down at the thick snot on his shirt, but soon let out a small chuckle.
This kind of unvarnished behavior was quintessentially Ha-eun.
Oh-jin tightened his arm around Ha-eun's waist.
‘Sorry, but…’
He had no intention of stepping away from Ha-eun's side.
“Stay by my side from now on.”
Even if another 'me' appears.
He bitterly swallowed the rest of his thought and buried his head in Ha-eun's shoulder.
“Uh, uhh?”
Ha-eun's eyes darted around, her expression flustered.
“I-Is this… what is this? Did you just propose to me?”
That's not what I meant.
“Hey, hey, you bastard! You're supposed to do this… what is it! In a more romantic place! Huh? With a ring! You have to say it then, what am I supposed to do if you say it here and now?!”
I told you, it wasn't a proposal.
“Hah, anyway, you punk. Saying weird things all of a sudden…”
Ha-eun fanned her blushing cheeks with her hand.
She glanced around before taking a small step back from Oh-jin and cautiously opening her mouth.
“W-Well… O-Okay.”
“……”
He hadn't exactly proposed, but.
‘Well, maybe I'll just let this be.’
Oh-jin let out a chuckle and lightly kissed Ha-eun's lips.
Not everything was resolved.
No, in fact, none of the important issues had been resolved.
“Let's go back home.”
It was time to put an end to their long journey to the Magyeong.