Reincarnated as the Master (1)
At the ripe age of his mid-forties, the Northern Dipper Swordsman Woo Do-min entered the ranks of the Super Peak Realm and stood among the ten greatest masters under heaven.
He had never once tasted defeat in public duels, and his string of victories was so long that people said the seat of the next greatest sword master, even the next greatest man under heaven, had already been reserved for him.
And yet, to everyone's astonishment, the Northern Dipper Swordsman one day cast away all the fame and status he had painstakingly built in the martial world and became a bodyguard for Seokga Manor. The whole of the jianghu reeled at the news.
It simply made no sense for a man with a future so bright he had practically been promised the title of the next number one sword to become a mere escort for a merchant convoy.
The martial world loathed merchants, and it loathed the martial artists who fed off those merchants even more.
They were looked down on as men who had sold the very thing that gave a martial artist life and pride for a handful of gold.
And so, in an instant, the Northern Dipper Swordsman became the Gold-Selling Swordsman, a man who had sold himself for money.
Even now, many still could not believe Woo Do-min's change of course, and the disappointment of his fellow martial artists only deepened with time.
The prevailing verdict was that one of the jianghu's greatest rising stars had sold his soul to a merchant house, and more than a decade passed that way.
By the time the names and titles of the Northern Dipper Swordsman and the Gold-Selling Swordsman were beginning to fade from the martial world,
"Hah... huff...!"
Woo Do-min, a man whose swordsmanship alone left fewer than ten worthy opponents across the entire martial world, was gasping through ragged breaths as he fought desperately.
And that was not all.
His entire body was drenched in blood, and the deep wounds crisscrossing him made it seem miraculous that he had not already collapsed.
"Heh-heh-heh. So the famed Northern Dipper Swordsman of old, no, the Gold-Selling Swordsman, has finally come to this?"
As surely as there was sun and moon, day and night, there was the Murim Alliance for the orthodox path, and the Dark Heaven Alliance for the unorthodox.
Geuk Tae-cheon, the leader of the Dark Heaven Alliance and the number one master of the unorthodox path, looked down at Woo Do-min with his subordinates at his back and sneered.
Those cowardly bastards.
Despite the sway in his stance, Woo Do-min fixed Geuk Tae-cheon and the Dark Heaven Alliance men with a sharp glare.
If they had not sprung their ambush so late in the night, he would not have been driven back like this.
And there was another reason as well.
"Mister bodyguard!"
He had been fighting while protecting Seok Geum-ryong, the fifth son of Seokga Manor and his master, and so he had not been able to use his full strength.
Thanks to that, Seok Geum-ryong remained unharmed, but the boy, who knew no martial arts, was trembling with fear.
"You may kill me if you wish. But... please spare my master, Young Master Seok Geum-ryong."
The Gold-Selling Swordsman had never pleaded for mercy before an enemy.
That had been one of his convictions ever since his days as the Northern Dipper Swordsman.
But now, he had no choice.
Young Master Geum-ryong must be protected at all costs.
Woo Do-min was in no condition to keep standing, and yet he still gripped his sword with stubborn force.
He had only needed to lose someone precious once to know he could never endure it again.
"What? What did you just say?"
"Did I hear that wrong? The great Woo Do-min, once hailed as the next greatest sword master, is begging now?"
"Hahaha!"
The cruel men of the Dark Heaven Alliance clutched their stomachs and laughed at Woo Do-min's unexpected display.
Geuk Tae-cheon, too, mocked him with contempt.
"I thought that edge of yours still had some life in it... Was Seokga Manor's gold really that sweet? You've become their dog entirely."
Geuk Tae-cheon could not understand Woo Do-min.
To be honest, he did not have the confidence to defeat Woo Do-min in a one-on-one duel, and only by mobilizing a number of elite subordinates from the Dark Heaven Alliance and striking by surprise had he managed to bring him down.
And even then, more than ten of my best men died.
Though the world had already begun to forget the Gold-Selling Swordsman's fame, Woo Do-min's sword remained as keen and merciless as ever.
Geuk Tae-cheon could not fathom why a man of such extraordinary skill would devote himself to loyalty.
"Does that young master treat you so well? Do you want to save him that badly?"
With a face full of sneering amusement, Geuk Tae-cheon asked Woo Do-min, "The master is... no."
Woo Do-min squeezed out the words through sheer force of will, despite all the humiliation he had suffered.
"Then what is he to you?"
"By now... he is the only family I have."
"Family? Hahaha!"
"You've stayed at Seokga Manor for ten years and gone mad in the head."
"So you're not Woo Do-min anymore, but Seok Do-min?"
As the officers of the Dark Heaven Alliance jeered, Woo Do-min closed his eyes.
When he did, the image of the son he had once failed to protect, even after selling his soul to Seokga Manor as a martial artist, rose before him.
No one in the world knew it, but Woo Do-min's only son had suffered from an incurable disease, and to keep the child's life going even a little longer required an enormous sum of money.
To save my son, I gave up my martial ambition and pride and came to Seokga Manor... but...
Regrettably, his one and only son had not lived even three more years before departing for the other world.
When his son died, Woo Do-min had wondered whether he should cast everything aside and end his own life then and there. It was at that moment that the only person who came to comfort him was the young master, Seok Geum-ryong.
Young Master Geum-ryong looked so much like my son.
Like a beast that has lost its cub and mistakes another for its own, Woo Do-min could not endure this world any longer unless he clung to that illusion.
From that day on, he openly cherished Seok Geum-ryong as though he were the son he had lost.
Even when he had a chance to rise to a higher post within Seokga Manor, he had declared that he would leave the manor unless he was allowed to serve Young Master Geum-ryong directly.
"How unfortunate. The man who sent us here personally was none other than Seok Dong-seo, the eldest young master of Seokga Manor."
"...!!"
Geuk Tae-cheon's revelation shocked both Woo Do-min and Seok Geum-ryong.
Though they were half-brothers born of different mothers, they were still blood kin, and yet he had gone so far as to summon experts from the Dark Heaven Alliance?
"You didn't know? Otherwise, how do you think we, an alliance of the unorthodox path, managed to get inside Seokga Manor in the first place?"
Geuk Tae-cheon shrugged and laughed.
"Our target is the head of the man you guard like family, Seok Geum-ryong... so give up already."
The words struck Woo Do-min like the sky had collapsed on him.
But there was something even more shocking.
"Th-then... kill me and spare the bodyguard."
Seok Geum-ryong, barely twenty years old, gathered his courage and stepped forward.
Shaking all the while, he moved to shield Woo Do-min, who had always cherished him as though he were his own child.
He believed it was time to repay that devotion.
"...!!"
Woo Do-min was so startled by the utterly unexpected words that he straightened at once.
"That will not do!"
He could not be the sort of martial artist who survived by surrendering his master's head.
No, he did not want to become a father who lost a son twice.
"At any rate, my elder brother Seok Dong-seo's aim is surely to remove his rivals and take over Seokga Manor. The bodyguard here is innocent, so take only my head."
Though Seok Geum-ryong had been crippled by an assassin's ambush as a child and had never learned martial arts, he could not hide his natural bearing.
He spoke now with such force that it was as though the frightened boy who had been crying a moment ago no longer existed, and the entire field fell under his authority.
"What a brazen little brat. Don't worry."
Shing!
Geuk Tae-cheon, who had remained a step back, finally drew the famed blade that symbolized him, the Ghost Crying Blade.
"I'll kill you both fairly!"
Neither Geuk Tae-cheon nor the savage warriors of the unorthodox path had any intention of honoring a bargain from the start.
"Step back, Young Master!"
Woo Do-min tried to protect Seok Geum-ryong even as he fought with his last ounce of strength, but
- Black Spirit Ascension Dance!
Geuk Tae-cheon's Ghost Crying Blade moved, and a terrifying storm of blade force came pouring down.
KWA-AAAAAAH!
Staring at the black remnants of that blade force, like the wreckage of a storm sweeping across the world, Woo Do-min could only gape in shock.
So he had hidden a hand like that after all.
Geuk Tae-cheon's skill had originally been judged to be a notch below Woo Do-min's.
But Woo Do-min himself was now in a ruined state after fighting off multiple enemies, and on top of that, he had to protect Seok Geum-ryong, who knew no martial arts.
- Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique: Fourth Form, Literary Melody!
The beast protecting its cub was truly fearsome.
Even under those brutal conditions, Woo Do-min fought on.
KWA-GAGAGAGANG!
Especially as he unleashed the ultimate form of the Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique, the art that had earned him the resplendent title of Northern Dipper Swordsman, and sent forth a shivering wave of sword force.
Like a waterfall of sword light cascading as though meteors were falling from the heavens, Geuk Tae-cheon's grasp was torn apart, and his weaker subordinates lost their heads in an instant.
He still had strength like this left?
Trembling, Geuk Tae-cheon finally realized, while watching Woo Do-min struggle with the last of his strength, that if he wanted to kill him, he would have to stake everything of his own as well.
"Kill him! Don't treat him like a man who's already dying! Charge!"
From that point on, there would be no mercy and no underestimation.
Geuk Tae-cheon could only achieve his goal by throwing in every remaining subordinate, himself included.
And he did it not by focusing on Woo Do-min, but by relentlessly targeting Seok Geum-ryong and using him to draw the bodyguard out!
Slash!
At last, with a sound that made the blood run cold, Geuk Tae-cheon's Ghost Crying Blade pierced Woo Do-min's heart.
"Kh... Khehhehheh..."
Even as his heart was pierced, Woo Do-min embraced Seok Geum-ryong and shielded him to the end.
His red blood splattered across Seok Geum-ryong's silk robes.
"Bodyguard!"
Watching it from just in front of his eyes, Seok Geum-ryong wailed until his throat was raw.
Just as Woo Do-min had thought of Seok Geum-ryong as a son, Seok Geum-ryong, too, had lived while believing Woo Do-min to be his true father.
"I can't let the bodyguard die like this! If only I hadn't been dead weight, if only I could have protected myself, even a little!"
Seok Geum-ryong trembled all over, consumed by regret upon regret.
But regret, no matter how fast it came, was already too late, and far too much time had passed to undo what had been done.
And the one whose heart hurt even more than Seok Geum-ryong's was none other than Woo Do-min.
"Y-young Mast..."
The one who ought to be protecting the young master was now being shielded by Seok Geum-ryong.
Unfortunately, Woo Do-min's entire body was already growing cold.
"Farewell, Gold-Selling Swordsman. Or should I call you the Northern Dipper Swordsman for your final moments?"
Geuk Tae-cheon waved at the dying Seok Geum-ryong.
Even as the man who had killed him mocked him, Woo Do-min did not look at him.
His heart and mind were already shattered, crumbling into dust.
I couldn't save him this time either. Not this time, too.
He had already once lost his own blood in vain.
And now he was about to lose Seok Geum-ryong as well, the only person who had filled the hollow place left by his dead son and given him reason to go on living.
His heart could bear no more; he closed his eyes at once and surrendered himself to death.
Heaven, please. I beg you... please let Young Master Seok Geum-ryong live, at least...
Even as he died, Woo Do-min prayed for a miracle to save Seok Geum-ryong.
He begged until the very moment his breath ceased.
"Aaaagh!"
But reality was cold and merciless.
Soon, Seok Geum-ryong's death cry rang out too, and it was so miserable, so humiliating, that Woo Do-min would never forget it, even after death.
Ah... ahhhh!
Woo Do-min wanted to cry out as well, to howl in anguish, but perhaps because he was already dead?
No tears came. No wails came. Nothing obeyed his will.
All he could feel was a dreadful sense of déjà vu, as though his whole body were sinking into a vast black swamp.
I'm sorry, Young Master Seok Geum-ryong. If there is such a thing as another life, I will protect you in that life for certain.
That was the end of Woo Do-min's burning thought.
Thud.
His mind and every trace of his thoughts went completely dark and vanished.
...!!
Young Master Seok Geum-ryong had been calling out in pain all this time, but something was wrong.
What is this feeling? Why does the world feel as though it is brightening again, as though light is returning?
The Gold-Selling Swordsman Woo Do-min thought that, and slowly opened his eyes again to look around.
And then, impossible as it was, he saw a figure he knew all too well in a landscape far too familiar.
"Young Master Seok Geum-ryong. Even if you cry and throw a tantrum like that, there are things that simply cannot be done. You say you want to devote yourself to martial arts and grow up to be a warrior? By all rights, a successor with the direct bloodline of the Seokga Manor lord should focus on developing business talent rather than martial talent."
Gong Sang-pil, the tenth butler of Seokga Manor and the Scholar in Blue who had watched over Seok Geum-ryong since childhood, was patiently lecturing him in the inner residence where he stayed.
What is this?
Woo Do-min felt that something was terribly off.
Surely both he and Seok Geum-ryong had died. What kind of situation was this?
More than that, butler Gong Sang-pil should have died long ago as well...
Before he could even finish reacting, startled beyond measure, a flash of light burst forth!
Woo Do-min, no, the Woo Do-min who had taken residence in his master's body, Seok Geum-ryong, inherited all of his memories and experiences.