Crossing the Unbreachable Barrier
The Old Man was a truly mysterious person.
Or rather, I was honestly starting to doubt if that old guy was even human.
I could sum it up simply with my gut tells me so, but...
Honestly, no one—including me—would buy that the Old Man wasn't human based on gut feeling alone.
So I started organizing my reasoning in my head.
1. The Old Man doesn't sleep.
Whether Sword Master or Bow Master,
I've heard rumors that once you reach superhuman levels, you can completely control your vital functions.
They say at that realm, you can fine-tune every single cell in your body.
That's why poisons don't work on them, and their natural healing is way above average—they have total dominion over their own flesh.
2. The Old Man doesn't eat or use the bathroom...
Skipping that one.
It falls under the same explanation as number 1.
The real kicker was number 3 anyway.
3. His already faint presence had grown even fainter.
This part needs a deeper dive.
I mentioned they can control their bodies completely,
so you might think the fading presence is just an extension of that. But no, not at all.
Masters hide their presence by either vanishing entirely from sight or mimicking an aura-less commoner. Those are the two ways.
But this Old Man was right there in front of me, clear as day.
I could feel his aura, faint but unmistakable.
Yet his presence had weakened to an eerie degree compared to when I first saw him.
And crucially, it wasn't his ki that was faint—it was his presence.
There's a difference in nuance.
If there's no ki, it's like "Wait, was he even there?" But a faint presence feels more like "Is this guy about to drop dead? Or... is he a ghost?"
Lately, I've been doing a lot of this solo monologuing, sorting through my thoughts...
Can't be helped. My once-normal, routine life got hit by a sudden storm.
I need to process my situation and thoughts now if I want to plan for the future.
Right,
I almost forgot—there was one more reason I suspected the Old Man wasn't human.
'He doesn't even pretend to slash the air with his hand anymore ;;;;;;;'
Rumors tend to get exaggerated.
Most of the heroic tales you hear in taverns turn out to be nothing special once you dig in.
Take this herb gatherer who ran into a wolf beast while picking herbs in the forest, for example.
The guy had zero combat skills, obviously.
If he could've taken down a wolf beast, he'd have joined a knight order, village watch, or local guard instead.
So he bolted for dear life.
He had confidence in his legs—years of climbing mountains for herbs had built solid muscle.
But his judgment wasn't the sharpest.
He didn't head downhill toward the nearest village for help—that would've been the safest bet.
Panic must've taken over, because he ran toward a cliff instead.
Cornered, he peered over the edge and thought,
'I'm fucked. This is it for me.'
Soon after, the wolf beast—hot on his heels—lunged to devour him.
Terrified, the herb gatherer curled up in shock,
his mind flashing to loved ones as he braced for a gruesome end.
But ten seconds passed, and nothing happened.
Then,
- THUD!!!!!!!
Something heavy slammed into the ground below the cliff.
Hoping against hope, the herb gatherer rushed down to check.
And there it was: the wolf beast that had hunted him, dead on impact.
He grabbed some of the corpse and strutted back to the village,
bragging like he'd slain the beast himself, shoulders puffed up high.
Forgot all about nearly dying.
Days later,
The village had all but canonized him as the wolf slayer.
Until our mercenary group rolled in.
"Tried stabbing wolf hide with his herb hoe—couldn't even do that. Checked the intact corpse ourselves? Cause of death wasn't a sharp cut; it was massive trauma."
Edam, the 20-year wolf hunting vet, laid it out, and the herb gatherer broke out in cold sweat, backing away.
"N-no... my bad. Forgive me just this once."
We didn't corner him just to expose a liar.
A little embellishing for bragging rights? We'd have let it slide.
But he mistook us for clueless outsiders and tried scamming us with "Special herbs from a wolf-slaying master gatherer, blah blah." He paid the price for fooling us.
Bonus: saved the villagers who bought into his special herb bullshit too.
Edam's take? The spot where the guy curled up was right at the cliff edge. Wolf jumped to pounce, overshot for some reason, and splat.
Anyway, point is, rumors blow shit way out of proportion.
Same with Master rumors.
Slicing mountains, splitting skies to glimpse the cosmos?
Mostly bullshit.
They do show insane power, sure, but not that cartoonish.
Battles with Masters were brutal slogs, their victories hard-won with heavy casualties—not some fairy-tale triumph.
But what I was seeing now? Different story.
'Even underselling this, no one's gonna believe it...'
As I said, the Old Man wasn't even pretending to move anymore.
He just walked forward.
But with each step, the beasts crumpled under his aura, bursting one by one.
Like parting the sea on a beach—the waves split aside.
The blood spraying from the exploding beasts evaporated mid-air, blocked by his presence.
Onward, ever northward.
Plunging deeper into the demon realm through waves of monsters, he halted before a certain stele.
Unbreachable
(Eastern Script: Inviolable)
- Thud.
The Old Man placed his hand on the stele,
- Hum. Hum. Hum.
slowly infusing it with aura.
Then,
the pure white barrier centered on the stele became visible.
The Old Man kept pouring in aura.
The stele began to tremble slightly,
- Sizzle.
and finally, pitch-black aura melted a small hole in the barrier.
"Go."
"?"
The Old Man's canned line.
I stole it.
How many times have you pulled this exact shit on me, Old Man?
"......"
He stared at me like I was ridiculous for a moment, then wordlessly passed through the barrier.
'Ha, shit. Looks like a place we're not supposed to enter ;;'
Demon realm? Eh.
Some folks dip in and out occasionally. Could be fine.
But a stele in shady Eastern script?
A barrier?
Beyond it, scenery screaming "real demon realm starts here"?
Only an idiot would go in.
......
haha...
'Same old pattern.'
I stepped through the barrier.
"Ugh."
Thick demonic energy pressed down from all sides.
'This is not a place permitted to you. Return whence you came. Otherwise, you will not survive.'
It felt like the space itself whispered to me.
But whatever...
'What am I supposed to do about it?'
The Old Man was right there in front of me.
I couldn't imagine that monster losing to anyone.
His overwhelming might outshone even the most hyped Master tales I'd heard.
This Old Man might be the world's strongest absolute being.
'If shit hits the fan, he'll handle it. If I die, oh well.'
Why'd I cross this barrier? Rationally? No clue.
Figured he was going in to teach me the sword, so I followed.
I'm no strength fanatic, no worshipper of power.
Still,
following this man might let me gain strength enough to put the world beneath my feet.
Strength to truly protect my people, the things I care about.
That alone made risking my life worthwhile.
"......"
I caught a knew you'd do it look on the Old Man's face.
"Not afraid?"
Back when our bond began,
I was the one asking questions, demanding answers.
"Your life may mirror this demon realm unfolding before you."
But now,
nearing the end of this journey, our roles had reversed.
"The daily life you took for granted, the things you sought to protect—they may prove mere dreams."
"Even so, can you press on toward tomorrow?"
Only today did I understand the Old Man's hollow eyes.
Eyes of one crushed by endless despair and agony,
regret and fleeting hope ripped away again and again.
Eyes of someone who'd abandoned all in that eternal storm.
This Old Man might've been a monster on the outside.
No, he was a monster.
Yet despite that power, he still had something to lose.
And that was the sole proof he remained human.
I don't know the Old Man's life.
Don't know the path he'd walked.
When we met, he spoke of fate.
From his transcendent perch, maybe he did see my destiny.
Maybe that's why he said that stuff.
But,
"I'll press on. Toward tomorrow."
So what?
If it's fate, you walk it.
Struggle, resist, and walk it.
"Kuh."
The Old Man chuckled.
"Kuhuhuhuhu... Kuhahahahaha!!!!"
He burst into laughter.
"Is that so! Is that so!!"
He looked up at me.
His eyes held no more emptiness.
There, I saw myself.
The ignorant, arrogant me.
"Then watch closely! Don't miss a single thing! I'll burn brightly and vanish just for you!"