A Nightmare Reborn
A pure white world. A space filled with an eerie sense of foreignness, where the ground, the sky, and everything else had turned completely white.
Standing still in this place, I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"...Ah, shit."
I spat out a curse. I couldn't help it.
"Sigh..."
I had been here before. If I had to count, it was a few times, but regardless of the number, every single visit had been a dogshit experience.
"...Why the hell am I back here again?"
Why was I here? As soon as the reason crossed my mind, I turned around and spoke.
"No wonder you said I'd find out once I went to sleep. Was it for this?"
As I spoke with a deeply grimacing face, a change occurred in the space.
Smoke began to gather slowly, taking shape, and before I knew it, it had formed the figure of a man.
The Sword Saint, Yoo Chun-gil.
The old man had appeared right in front of me.
"Heh heh."
Yoo Chun-gil wore his trademark annoying smirk, clearly amused by my reaction.
"Well? How does it feel to be back after all this time?"
"It's absolute dogshit. Seriously."
There was no way I'd give him a positive response.
How many times did I die here?
It was a place where I had died over and over again, so many times that I didn't even want to count.
This place was the Spiritual Dream, created by Yoo Chun-gil.
...It's just like last time.
I had experienced this back at the Cheongwol Gate.
The place where I had fought like a madman against a younger version of Yoo Chun-gil.
Actually, calling it a "fight" was generous.
It had been a one-sided slaughter.
"...What are you trying to do this time?"
What was his true intention in dragging me back here?
At my question, Yoo Chun-gil put on a thoroughly puzzled expression and spoke.
"What do you mean? Didn't you ask me earlier?"
"...Huh?"
"How to make the moon shine. You asked how to do that."
"..."
I certainly did ask that, but...
"...Then you could have just explained it with words. Why did you bring me here?"
"As I told you back then, explaining it in words is both bothersome and difficult. I figured this method would be much easier."
"...No, wait..."
"Besides, the time seems ripe. It was a necessary step."
"The time is ripe?"
"Indeed. You said so yourself, did you not? That you wanted to take something from the storehouse."
"..."
I had said that. The snack storehouse Yoo Chun-gil had set up. He had mentioned that deeper inside, there were far more treasures hidden than what I had seen before.
He had promised to give them to me in exchange for doing him a favor.
And this is what's required for that?
I wondered how those two things were even connected, but...
"Since things have turned out this way, I expect you to master it as quickly as possible."
Saying so, Yoo Chun-gil tossed something toward me.
Thud!
The object flew and embedded itself right in front of me. It was a sword.
This, too, was exactly like last time.
Which meant...
...He wants me to do the same thing as before?
No way. Surely not? He wouldn't use such a barbaric method again, right?
Despite my anxiety...
"Don't worry, it will be a bit easier this time," Yoo Chun-gil said, reassuring me.
"Just once. You only need to block it a single time."
"...Block it?"
"Yes. And..."
Yoo Chun-gil pointed his index finger straight at me.
"Do not focus solely on making it shine. Look a little deeper. The answer lies there."
"What does that even... Ha."
Before I could even ask, Yoo Chun-gil vanished from sight.
That damn old man.
I gritted my teeth.
Even so, I had to pull out the sword in front of me.
"...Sigh..."
I couldn't believe I was going through this bullshit again.
I shouldn't have asked.
I ran a hand through my hair.
I had only asked because I felt frustrated, and look where it got me.
I thought he wouldn't pull this stunt twice after the massive fit I threw last time.
I must be insane.
Of all things to trust, I trusted that old man.
"Whew."
I let out a sigh and was about to look down at the sword.
Freeze.
"..."
My moving body stiffened on its own.
I turned my head to look somewhere.
It wasn't because I felt a presence or heard a sound.
It was pure...
Instinct.
A primal instinct coiled deep inside my body forced my head to turn.
There was something where my gaze landed.
In stark contrast to the pure white background, a single boulder sat there out of nowhere.
...What is that?
Why was there suddenly a boulder? There was nothing like that last time.
As I stared at the random rock, I noticed something else.
Someone was sitting on top of it.
His shirt was nowhere to be seen, and his tattered pants were drenched in blood.
His bare torso was covered in wounds and scars.
As I watched him silently...
Slowly.
The figure turned his head toward me.
Our eyes met.
"...!"
I gasped involuntarily and took a step back.
What the hell is that?
What on earth was that?
The moment I met those blue eyes, the hairs on my body stood on end, and my heart felt like it dropped to the floor.
Cold sweat broke out.
What was that? Could that thing even be called human?
His eyes are...
Despite being dyed a deep blue, there was no light or shadow in them.
The expressionless face beneath blood-stained hair made me gasp in sheer terror.
It was terrifying.
Just facing him felt like being crushed by pure dread.
Ssssshh.
No wind blew, yet my hair seemed to flutter.
Only after feeling it did I realize. Could this wind-like sensation be...
...Murderous intent?
Was it the bloodlust radiating from him?
Did it mean his bloodlust had materialized into a wind brushing past me?
Crazy.
Is that even possible?
Can a human being actually do something like that?
While I stood there dumbfounded by the absurdity of it all...
Thud.
The figure sitting on the boulder moved.
"...Whew... Haaa..."
Watching him stagger to his feet, I thought:
He's thin.
He was strangely emaciated. He was clearly quite tall, but why was he so skin and bones?
A gaunt body covered in scars and wounds.
That only made him more terrifying.
He's like a starving beast.
A predator so starved it would do anything. That was exactly the vibe radiating from him.
But still, this is way too much.
There was no room for hesitation.
Palduyeok? Even when I faced him, or when the Poison King unleashed his presence, it wasn't like this.
The moment I saw him, a sense of vast, insurmountable distance washed over me.
A wall that made it hard to believe we were the same species.
The moment I recognized that wall, helplessness flooded my chest.
The helplessness and terror of facing an existence infinitely higher than myself.
That was what I felt as I looked at him.
Crunch.
The man walked toward me barefoot.
Step by step.
As he walked, he left footprints behind.
Footprints made of deep, crimson blood.
Soon, the man stood right in front of me.
My body was so frozen I couldn't even take a step back.
"...Who... are you?"
"..."
His voice was dry and raspy. It carried almost no strength, sounding almost like a sob.
I wondered how a voice could sound so utterly exhausted, but...
I couldn't open my mouth to answer.
Like a prey frozen before a predator.
I couldn't make a single move.
Hiding the cold sweat running down my face and stopping my body from trembling...
...that was the absolute best I could do.
After a brief moment passed...
"...You..."
The man tried to continue speaking, but...
"...No..."
He shook his head.
"...It's fine now."
He whispered, as if resigning himself to something.
"Now... it's all meaningless."
His voice carried absolutely no emotion.
In contrast to his terrifying bloodlust, his voice was completely hollow.
I felt that was even more terrifying.
Such beings existed even among demons.
Some demons were consumed by rage, seeking only vengeance.
Others fell into corruption, buried in regrets and sorrow.
But the most terrifying of them all...
...is a demon that has let go of everything.
Those who had abandoned their emotions and memories.
Existences that submerged their entire being in pure, flowing malice.
I knew that dealing with those kinds of demons was far more difficult.
And yet...
...This guy feels pretty similar.
Of all things, the vibe of the man standing before me was dangerously close to that.
Was I going to be okay?
The moment I stared at him with anxious eyes...
Crack.
Along with the sound of something shattering...
"...Gasp..."
My eyes snapped open.
"Haaah... Huff!!"
I bolted upright, breathing heavily as I scanned my surroundings.
It wasn't the white world.
The scenery was familiar. It was my room.
Realizing this, I quickly covered my mouth with my hand.
"Ugh..."
I dry-heaved involuntarily.
My stomach churned so violently I could barely stand it.
"...Ugh..."
Did I die? It certainly felt like it.
When did I die?
Was that cracking sound the sound of my own skull breaking?
I didn't see a thing.
I hadn't seen how I died at all.
Fortunately, it didn't loop, and I was able to wake up from the Spiritual Dream, but...
This is insane.
I shuddered as I recalled what had just happened.
What the hell was that?
What was that thing I faced?
...Was that Yoo Chun-gil too?
Since the first person I met in the Spiritual Dream was a young Yoo Chun-gil...
I figured the man I met this time was also Yoo Chun-gil's past self.
...But was it really?
I couldn't be sure. He was far too thin to be Yoo Chun-gil.
His height was similar, and he had the Moon Eye, so it probably was him, but...
If it was him, when exactly was that from?
What period of his life could possibly exude such a monstrous aura?
"...His teenage self was weird enough, but this is on a whole different level."
Seriously, even if I made a hundred concessions, this version of him was just too much.
How am I supposed to fight something like that?
I had demoted him to "something like that," but I couldn't help it.
There was a limit to everything. In my eyes, that wasn't something you could overcome just by trying hard.
There were levels to this, and that was way out of bounds.
Conscienceless old bastard.
I looked around immediately, intending to demand an explanation.
But Yoo Chun-gil was nowhere to be seen.
Where did the old man go now?
He was gone. He was always prone to vanishing, but...
He leaves without even explaining?
Where did he go after forcing me into that Spiritual Dream?
As I was wondering...
Wait.
A thought struck me, and I furrowed my brow.
Could it be...
...that he can't manifest while the Spiritual Dream is active?
Until I met the conditions to escape the Spiritual Dream.
Maybe he couldn't come out. The thought crossed my mind.
Right. It was like that back then too.
When I first entered the Spiritual Dream at Cheongwol Gate.
Yoo Chun-gil hadn't shown up at all while I was suffering inside the dream.
I remembered it clearly because I had cursed him out for not being there when I needed him.
He had only appeared after I overcame the trial in the dream.
Which meant...
...the same applies now?
Was it the same case this time?
Clutching my chest and stomach at the realization, I groaned.
"Ugh..."
The nausea wouldn't go away.
I decided I needed some fresh air and stood up.
To hell with thinking, I was going to throw up at this rate.
I hurriedly grabbed the doorknob to head outside, but...
Slide!
Before I could, someone opened my door.
"You should be awake by now, right? It's time for—"
"Blegh...!"
I covered my mouth, desperately trying to hold back a dry heave.
"..."
The person who witnessed my state.
A woman who had dressed up beautifully since early morning.
Moyong Yeong-sun, the greatest beauty of Yoryeong, furrowed her pretty brow in deep disgust.