A True Introvert
“Didn't you say you didn't have any plans earlier? Why aren't you coming?”
Looking at my dumbfounded friend, I recalled the conversation we had just had over our phones.
And right after that exchange, I ran straight into him in the hallway.
To him, my behavior was probably completely incomprehensible.
He was likely wondering why I was suddenly changing my tune after saying I had no plans.
It wasn't the first or second time either; it was almost always like this.
I feel bad, but it can't be helped.
But I hadn't actually changed my tune.
I had been perfectly clear.
My plan for this weekend was, quite literally, 'doing absolutely nothing'...
This was entirely different from 'waiting for something to do.' It was an active expression of my ironclad will to 'do nothing under any circumstances.'
It wasn't that I 'didn't have plans.' Rather, it meant I had the most important appointment of all: 'an appointment with myself.'
“Actually, I've been feeling a bit under the weather. Let's go next time.”
After offering a polite excuse and sending my friend on his way, I started walking.
My plan was to grab a solitary meal at a nearby restaurant, go home, and read web novels.
Ah, of course, it wasn't that I disliked the guy.
We first met as college freshmen, went to the military together, and now, as seniors, we've been close for five years. He's a good friend who has always been kind to me.
He's always cheerful and incredibly sociable. Great personality, a really likable guy.
It's just... my personality is the problem.
My friend!
For you and me to be informal enough to go on a trip together, haven't we only known each other for a mere five years?
If it were just you, maybe I could manage, but you said other guys I barely know are coming too...
Ugh, just thinking about it exhausts me.
Yes, that's right.
I am a so-called 'introvert.'
The type of personality that corresponds to the 'I' in MBTI.
While introversion has many characteristics, in a nutshell, I am someone who 'recharges their energy by being alone.'
Of course, if you just look at E versus I, there are plenty of I's out there. But I am a rather special kind of I.
Usually, even introverts have a tiny bit of extroversion in them, but I have absolutely zero 'E' traits.
A 99.99% pure 'I,' if you will.
Extroverts, like my friend from earlier, apparently gain energy when they meet other people.
But I am the exact opposite.
It's not that I hate people, but interacting with unfamiliar people drains my energy and emotions at an extreme rate.
I'd rather eat alone a hundred times over than have a meal with someone I'm not close to.
The restaurant lady has made eye contact with me twice now. She might try to strike up a conversation next time. It looks like it's time to find a new restaurant...
When I was younger, this introverted nature caused me to be misunderstood.
People thought I was a gloomy, weird kid who actively avoided others.
But they say humans are social animals, don't they?
Having survived middle school, high school, college, and even the military, I underwent enough socialization to adapt to society, even as an extreme introvert.
However, after a week of meeting countless people in my daily life, I find myself completely drained.
In introverted terms, we call this 'having your soul sucked dry.'
At the very least, during the weekend, I need to spend time alone to replenish my energy.
It's exactly like how you have to plug in your phone to charge the battery at home after carrying it around all day.
On my way from the restaurant to the bus stop, and even inside the bus, I didn't run into a single person I knew.
It was truly a blessing.
No one stood in my way as I headed home.
Let's go.
To my home, where no one else is, and where I have absolutely no plans for at least the next two days.
Let's go. Time to recharge my battery.
Muttering this to myself, I waited for the pedestrian light to change at the crosswalk.
“Huh? Whoa!”
Suddenly, a loud chorus of startled shouts erupted from the crowd.
What's going on?
I looked up and saw a young child, looking to be about five years old, suddenly step off the curb and wander into the road.
A truck was speeding down the asphalt toward him.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
The bystanders could only scream, frozen in panic.
Before my brain could even process what was happening, my body moved on its own.
SCREEEEECH!
The moment I shoved the child out of harm's way, the truck slammed on its brakes, looming right over me.
...That was my very last memory of that world.
...
“Did you not see the Young Sect Leader's eyes emitting a crimson glow? It was the Heavenly Killer Star!”
What are they babbling about...
Is this a dream?
“The Heavenly Killer Star?”
“Indeed! The very proof of one's worthiness to lead the Sun and Moon Sect!”
Unfamiliar voices drifted in from somewhere.
It was clearly a language I had never heard before, yet miraculously, I could understand every word.
“But Young Master Baek Yeon is only eleven years old...!”
“Which is precisely why it is so astonishing!”
Struggling to open my eyes, I found myself in a dimly lit room.
I was lying on some sort of bed, surrounded by hanging drapes.
“So, the Young Sect Leader awakened the Heavenly Killer Star when he struck down that assassin?”
“Undoubtedly.”
Shadows of people flickered in the faint light.
They were middle-aged men wearing robes and long coats, the kind of attire you'd only see in historical martial arts dramas.
Their voices continued to drift over.
“What a tragedy. To possess the talent to become the great Heavenly Demon, only to end up like this...”
“Is the Young Sect Leader's condition truly that dire?”
“They say he might not survive the night. The wound is in a vital spot...”
It seemed this boy, the 'Young Sect Leader,' was dying from an assassin's blade.
Is this a hospital? How am I even alive?
I remembered the massive truck bearing down on me.
Fortunately, the child I pushed away seemed to be safe, but...
Considering the speed of that truck, it was a miracle that I was still breathing.
Though, looking at the thick bandages wrapped tightly around my torso, I was clearly severely injured.
“Even in such a state, to immediately turn around and slay the assassin who stabbed him... It is nothing short of extraordinary.”
“And what does the Sect Leader say?”
“Sigh. Don't even ask.”
I lay there silently, listening to these people discuss grave matters like 'Heavenly Demons' and such.
It wasn't intentional, but they might think I was eavesdropping on their private conversation if I spoke up.
“He probably said that if his son is weak enough to be felled by a clumsy assassin from the Orthodox Murim Alliance, he is better off dead.”
“He is his eldest son, after all. That is far too cruel.”
“Would he be called the King of All Demons, the Heavenly Demon, if he were soft?”
“Sigh...”
With a long sigh, their conversation came to an end, and one of them soon left the room.
I figured it was safe to wake up now.
“Excuse me?”
I tried to make my presence known, but immediately startled myself.
My voice sounded like that of a young boy who hadn't even hit puberty yet, and on top of that, I was speaking in a completely foreign tongue.
And why on earth were my hands so tiny?
“Eek!”
However, the one who was truly startled was the middle-aged man standing near the bed.
“Young Sect Leader!”
He pulled back the drapes, thrusting his bearded face forward to look at me with an expression as if he had just seen a ghost.
Wait, what is this guy saying?
“You have regained consciousness!”
“Ah... Yes.”
“What a miracle! Ah, this is no time to dawdle! Someone, quick! Summon the physician immediately! And report this to the Sect Leader!”
At the man's roar, the room erupted into chaos.
People dressed in similar robes rushed in, checking me over, shouting orders, and some even weeping tears of joy.
Feeling increasingly bewildered, I asked the bearded man.
“Um... where is this? And who are you?”
“Young Sect Leader? I am the Right Guardian, Baek Ryeong-hu. Do you not recognize me?”
“Me, the Young Sect Leader? That... can't be right.”
“You are undoubtedly our Young Sect Leader, Young Master Baek Yeon! Oh, heavens, this is a disaster!”
“Has the Young Sect Leader lost his memory?”
“The temporary shock of the trauma could certainly cause such a thing.”
I was just as panicked as the frantic crowd around me.
Then, my eyes caught a mirror hanging just beyond the parted drapes.
“!!!”
When I saw the reflection staring back at me, my heart nearly stopped.
Long, pitch-black hair tied back, sharp eyebrows arching over piercing eyes, a defined jawline, and skin so pale it looked almost translucent, like a vampire's.
In the mirror, a young boy I had never seen before was staring straight back at me with wide, startled eyes.
Cough!
Suddenly, a surge of blood welled up from my chest and spilled past my lips.
The bandages wrapped around my upper body quickly stained crimson.
It seemed the stab wound had reopened.
But the trauma to my mind felt far more severe than any physical injury.
The current situation was far too shocking for the fragile psyche of an extreme introvert to handle.
My heart began to hammer frantically against my ribs.
“Young Sect Leader!”
“Lay him down, quickly!”
Seeing me spit up blood, the attendants turned pale once more and gently pushed me back onto the bed.
They began wiping away the blood and changing my bandages.
Unable to believe the reality unfolding before me, I stammered out a question.
“So... I am the Young Sect Leader... Baek Yeon?”
“Yes, of course, Young Sect Leader! You are the eldest son of our Sect Leader, and the rightful successor who will one day lead us all.”
“And the one who was stabbed by an assassin and nearly died... was me?”
“Yes, yes! It happened during the grand assembly. An assassin launched a surprise attack, but you, Young Sect Leader, struck the scoundrel down with a single blow instead!”
“And... the Heavenly Killer Star?”
“You awakened the Heavenly Killer Star the very moment you slew that assassin, Young Sect Leader!”
I couldn't believe it. Everything they were talking about was actually about me.
The absurd reality made my heart race even faster.
Socialization be damned; my introverted instincts were screaming at me to find a cave or a mouse hole to crawl into and hide.
Thump! Thump!
My uncontrollable heartbeat was now echoing in my ears like a war drum.
Right then.
Step. Step.
A single man walked into the room, yet his mere presence seemed to freeze the very air.
He wore a purple robe adorned with intricate, luxurious patterns.
His long hair and sharp eyebrows resembled the face I had just seen in the mirror, but his eyes—eyes that seemed to pierce through everything—were unlike anything I had ever encountered.
The attendants in the room fell to their knees in unison.
The man cast a cold glance at my face, paused in thought, and then swept his sleeve.
With their heads bowed low, everyone silently filed out of the room, and the heavy doors clicked shut.
Left alone with him, I could only blink in silence.
“Young Sect Leader. No, Baek Yeon... Listen to me carefully.”
I knew instantly that this man was the Sect Leader.
Yet his voice was so utterly devoid of warmth, so chillingly ruthless, that it was impossible to believe he was speaking to a son who had just escaped the jaws of death.
I couldn't find the words to speak.
“The Young Sect Leader of the Sun and Moon Sect is destined to rule over all demons. I have held great expectations for you... but I am beginning to doubt your worthiness. To think you were nearly slain by a mediocre assassin, left clinging to life by a mere thread.”
In the suffocating weight of his presence, the truth finally began to sink in.
This world, straight out of a wuxia novel, was not a dream. It was real.
“Had I not witnessed the Heavenly Killer Star within you, I would have stripped you of your title already. However, considering your past achievements, I shall grant you one final opportunity...”
It was hard to believe.
The man standing before me was the King of All Demons, the Heavenly Demon, the Sect Leader of the Sun and Moon Sect...
And I had been reincarnated as his son and successor, Baek Yeon.
“Prove that you possess the qualities of the Young Sect Leader.”
I understood what his words meant.
I understood the immense expectations he placed on the son who would one day inherit the Sun and Moon Sect.
But... at that moment, a sudden wave of resentment welled up from deep within me.
Qualities of a leader or whatever, this is just too much.
How could anyone be this cold to a son who had just barely survived?
Couldn't he at least ask if I was okay?!
I wanted nothing more than to snap back at this heartless man.
But.
Being the hopeless introvert that I was...
“Yes...”
I could only turn my head away, avoiding his piercing gaze, and whisper my meek agreement.
“...!”
“...!?”
And for a long while after, only an awkward silence filled the room.