Black Rose 3 - Knock, Knock
A crisp knock shattered the silence—tap, tap.
Instead of stepping over the shattered doorframe I'd wrecked earlier, I straightened my clothes and knocked very politely. The clink of a teacup being set down inside abruptly stopped. A voice from within carried clear surprise, though it feigned composure—an old man's tone.
"…Come in."
I turned the handle and eased open the ebony door smoothly. No splintering, no dust cloud. Just a perfectly natural entry, as if a courteous guest had arrived.
The room felt like an illusion, yet different. Choi Ik-hyeon sat in the center of the tatami mat, his expression closer to bewilderment than leisure. Before him steamed a teapot and three cups.
"A guest has arrived."
Choi Ik-hyeon glanced at me, then at Black Rose hovering timidly behind. "I thought you'd smash your way in for sure. My foresight missed the mark."
"What's the point of breaking someone else's door? Repairs would cost a fortune."
I sat across from him. Black Rose, in her pepperoni T-shirt, awkwardly knelt beside me.
"The tea's steeped just right. Have some."
Choi Ik-hyeon offered a cup. A faint green tea aroma wafted up. But my nose caught the hidden undertone beneath.
Intuition (Rank: A) warns.
[The tea contains sleeping poison.]
"Thank you. Don't mind if I do."
I lifted the cup to my lips. Black Rose gasped and yanked my sleeve.
"H-Hey, wait! You're just gonna drink it? How do you know what he put in there?!"
"I'm thirsty. Can't refuse hospitality from an elder."
I drained the cup in one gulp. The warm liquid slid down my throat.
Dragon Heart Blessing
[Decomposes invading toxins in the body, converting them to mana.]
The poison vanished without a trace inside me. If anything, I felt my fatigue lift.
Choi Ik-hyeon's eyebrow twitched. "…Hah."
He let out a hollow chuckle and picked up his own cup. "You knew and drank anyway? Or just reckless?"
"Who knows. Tasted good."
I set down the empty cup. Black Rose seemed relieved watching me.
'Oh, if Lee Han drank it, it must be safe?'
Her tension eased too, parched throat forgotten. She grabbed her cup and chugged it down.
"Mmm, nice aroma. But kinda bitter—"
Thud. Before she finished, her head lolled. She collapsed onto the tatami, plunging into deep sleep. The pepperoni pizza print on her shirt rose and fell with steady breaths.
"Oops. Your companion's sensitive."
I shrugged. "Must be tired. Rough climb up the mountain."
"And you're fine. Fitting for the monster who devoured a dragon heart."
"Flattery will get you nowhere."
Choi Ik-hyeon kept his eyes on me, pulling over the go board beside him. "Do you play go?"
"Not well."
I reached into the black stones jar. Cool, smooth touch.
"But hell, let's learn a move or two."
Clack. I placed my first stone. Not on a star point—dead center. The board's heart.
Choi Ik-hyeon's eyes narrowed. "Bold opening. But go isn't won by claiming the center alone. Yield the corners, and you'll run short of territory."
Clack. He placed a white stone in the corner.
Clack. We traded moves in silence.
Clack. Only the clear chime of stones filled the quiet room. The unspoken tension cut sharper than any blade.
"Elder."
I spoke as white stones encircled my blacks.
"Don't you want to know what you couldn't foresee at the end?"
"…The end."
He snorted. "I'm the Elder of Prophecy. I design the future. I decide the end."
"No. What you saw was just flashy illusion."
Clack. A black stone broke through the white encirclement.
"The conclusion of your designed scenario. Trapped in repeating curses, don't you want to know the real way to save her… no, this world?"
Choi Ik-hyeon's hand froze mid-air.
'Repeating curse.' The words lodged in his mind. He slowly looked up at me. Deep in his eyes, behind the arrogance—bitter ennui and void.
"What do you know?"
"Everything you want to know."
I met his gaze squarely.
"……."
"You must know. You've foreseen it—me killing you today."
"…Indeed. You'll take my head, extract the info carved in my heart. Just like in the illusion."
"Then why not run?"
He smiled bitterly, fiddling with a stone. "Fate won't change by fleeing. And… I was curious. Your real reason for killing me."
"Reason."
"Justice? Revenge? Ambition? Your eyes are too old for that. Like an old man who's lived centuries."
'Can't underestimate a sly fox's insight.'
I picked up a black stone. "One question, elder."
"Ask."
"If sacrificing one could save all, what would you do?"
His face hardened. After a pause, he spoke calmly. "Sacrifice them, of course. The few for the many. A leader's virtue, rational choice."
His answer matched the pre-regression one. Kill the minority to save the majority. No hesitation staining his hands. Of course, only I knew how that ended badly.
"Knew you'd say that."
I recited his deathbed words from the regression, as he spat blood in the moment of ruin.
"—I was wrong. That one was the pillar holding us all up. We pulled it out, so of course the roof collapsed… I didn't realize."
Clink. The white stone slipped from his fingers, scattering across the board. His face paled like paper.
"Th-Those words…."
They were his endless nightmare regret, unspoken to anyone—future words from his own mouth, recited flawlessly by the young man before him.
"How do you know those…."
"Surprised me too. Didn't expect you'd regret it like that at the end."
I returned the fallen stone to his hand, resetting the disrupted game.
"Your prophecies are half-baked. You designed the process, but not the catastrophe it brings. I saw it."
His hand trembled clutching the white stone. His shoulders slumped. The designer's grandeur vanished, leaving only a weary old man.
"Hah, haha…."
He laughed hollowly. "I see. You're a returner. One who turned back time, walked through hell again."
He nodded, understanding everything. "Now I get why you're rushing, shaking the board so recklessly."
"Then we're done talking."
I extended my hand. "Elder of Abundance, Silent Elder, Demon King's Horn. Where?"
His expression soured. He pointed to his neck. "You know we're not free either. Silence curse binds us. Speak, and like Elder of Abundance, my heart explodes with this place."
He wasn't at Black Moon's apex either. Just a pawn for something greater.
"But."
He drew something from his bosom. A crude black jade plaque.
"Can't speak doesn't mean can't convey."
"This?"
He nodded, placing it on the board.
"Take it."
"Just like that?"
"Sacrificial pawn for the great dragon, right? Gladly, if it saves the board."
His eyes had changed. Same goal—avert humanity's doom—different path. His resolve.
"I'll buy you time to escape. Not much, but my life pays for betting on your future."
He struck the floor with his staff.
Vrrrrooom!! Mana surged in the room. Not to attack me—but self-destruction. Collapse supports, burn life force, overload the barrier.
[High mana reaction detected.]
[Self-destruct sequence forcibly activated.]
"Go! 5 minutes—no, 3, and it'll collapse!"
Choi Ik-hyeon shouted. I snatched the jade plaque.
"…Understood."
No more words needed. Instead of thanks, I gave a curt nod and turned.
I hoisted the sleeping Black Rose like a sack of rice.
"Survive, Lee Han. This time, protect that child… this world."
The old man's final voice from behind. I didn't reply, just ran.
Rumble!! The building screamed, collapsing. Ceiling caved, floor split.
"Damn, 3 minutes? Not even 1!"
I sprinted full tilt. Dragon strength maxed, vaulting corridors, leaping elevator shafts vertically.
Boom! Boom! Flames erupted below. Choi Ik-hyeon burned everything to erase traces—and buy my escape.
Whoosh! I hurled myself out the exit. A storm of destruction swallowed the entrance behind.
Taebaek Mountains' deep valley choked with dust and roar. A massive landslide buried Black Moon HQ without trace.
"Huff, huff."
I landed on a safe ridge, panting hard. Set Black Rose down.
"Mmm…."
She slept oblivious. Pepperoni T-shirt caked in dirt, unnoticed.
"This girl's got nerves of steel."
As the rumble faded, Black Rose stirred, blinking groggily. "Huh? Where…?"
She gawked around. Collapsed mountain, rising smoke. Me, unscathed.
"Lee Han? What happened? Weren't we caught?"
"Caught? All done."
"Huh? Done how? What about Choi Ik-hyeon? The info?"
She pressed urgently. I showed empty hands.
"Gone. Old man self-destructed—escaped empty-handed."
"Oh…."
Despair flashed across Black Rose's face. "No way, after all that… nothing?"
She slumped, defeated. Betrayed her own to follow me, and bust.
"What."
I fiddled with the object in my pocket. Black jade plaque.
"Says who?"
Her eyes widened recognizing it.
"How?!"
"Ways and means."
I pocketed it again, eyeing her gloomily. "But even with the elder's clue, he's dead—no way to track the rest."
Black Rose fretted. I glanced at her T-shirt, the curvaceous pepperoni art.
"Don't worry. I've got a killer strategy."
"Strategy?"
"Yeah. One stone, two birds."
My gaze locked on the slogan across her chest.
/ NO PEPPERONI, NO LIFE /