Do Not Trust Him
My hazy consciousness slowly returned.
A strange sensation washed over my body as it floated aimlessly.
Bubble, bubble.
Oxygen escaped from my mouth, forming bubbles.
Sensing this, I snapped my eyes open.
I was underwater. Why was I suddenly in a place like this? The realization jolted me awake, and my five senses flared to life.
It was cold.
That was the first sensation I registered.
A freezing, biting cold. I was submerged in freezing water.
What is this?
I flailed my limbs, trying to move. I thrashed around, parting the water.
The problem was...
I can't see.
I couldn't see a thing. Even though my senses told me I was underwater, my vision was completely blocked by a suffocating darkness.
What is this?
Where on earth was I?
How did I wake up in such a pitch-black place?
To make matters worse...
Gah—!
With no oxygen, I was slowly suffocating.
What the hell is...
What was going on? I clawed at my throat in panic.
I wanted to escape, but my body wouldn't cooperate.
What should I do? How do I get out of here?
...Where is the old man...?
Where had Yoo Chun-gil gone?
I wanted to call out to him, but no sound came out of my mouth.
Damn it.
Was I going to die like this? My consciousness began to fade as my lungs screamed for air.
Vrrr.
...!
Suddenly, something appeared in front of me.
Two red lights flickered in the pitch-black void.
I focused my gaze on the sudden apparition. What was that?
Not only did they appear, but they were also slowly drawing closer.
What is it? Why is it coming toward me?
Even as the questions piled up, a chill ran down my spine.
Shiver.
Goosebumps broke out all over my body. Staring at the red lights filled me with an inexplicable sense of dread.
Before long, as the lights drew nearer...
Ah...?
I finally realized what those lights were.
They weren't just lights.
They're eyes.
It was someone's gaze. A pair of glowing red eyes.
Who is it?
Who could possibly be staring at me with such murderous eyes in a place like this?
The glowing eyes, which hadn't blinked once, stopped just two paces away from me.
Even then, no figure was visible.
Only the glowing red eyes pierced the darkness.
What are you?
What on earth was this? Did the owner of these eyes drag me here?
If so, for what reason?
Why would they bring me here? As I questioned this, another strange emotion bubbled up beneath the fear.
This was...
Familiarity.
It felt as if I had seen those eyes somewhere before. A sense of familiarity tugged at the corner of my mind.
Where had I seen them?
Where could I have encountered such eyes?
I couldn't remember. I was certain they were familiar, yet the memory eluded me.
...No way.
I rarely forgot anything I had seen once. How could I not remember eyes that bizarre?
It made no sense.
Gurgle.
Urgh!
At that moment, my breathing faltered.
I was reaching my limit.
If this kept up, I would really die.
What do I do?
Is there no way out?
I desperately tried to think of a solution, but there was no way I could find one in this state.
So, I could only choke and gasp in helpless agony.
Whoosh.
The glowing red eyes in front of me shifted slowly.
They flickered, staring down at me, and then...
...gil.
Do not trust Yoo Chun-gil too much.
With those words...
My consciousness completely faded into the painful abyss.
* * *
"Gasp!"
I sat up abruptly, sucking in a desperate breath.
"Pant... pant..."
I panted heavily, as if catching up on all the air I had missed. As my tense body relaxed, a wave of heat washed over me.
I stared at my hands with trembling eyes.
My palms were drenched in sweat. I raised a shaking hand to wipe my forehead.
My forehead was equally damp.
Not just that; my entire body was soaked in sweat.
"...Pant... pant..."
Forcing my breathing to stabilize, I recalled what had just happened.
"Was it a dream...?"
Had everything I just experienced been a dream?
Well, obviously.
Why on earth would my body suddenly be submerged in some random body of water I'd never seen before?
It was something I should have realized immediately if I were thinking rationally.
...But I couldn't perceive it properly.
I had failed to recognize it while inside.
How long had it been since that last happened?
Which means it wasn't just a simple dream.
I could easily recognize a Spiritual Dream, yet...
An nightmare powerful enough to cloud my perception...
What is this?
Frowning, I retraced my recent actions one by one.
Nightmares like that were, without fail, related to evil spirits.
And a high-ranking one at that.
But I haven't crossed paths with any evil spirits.
Lately, there had been no reason for me to get involved with them. I had been so careful; how could I have run into one?
At least, not to my knowledge.
Then what the hell was it?
Where did this problem even stem from?
And furthermore...
...What was that last line about?
Do not trust Yoo Chun-gil too much.
Those were the words uttered by those mysterious glowing red eyes.
Does that mean whoever it was is connected to the old man?
Just as I was furrowing my brow at the thought...
"So, you are awake."
"...!"
I looked up. Yoo Chun-gil was floating near the ceiling, looking down at me.
"...Were you there the whole time?"
"Indeed."
"..."
Perhaps because of what had just happened, looking at Yoo Chun-gil felt a bit uncomfortable.
"What is the matter with you?"
"It's nothing. Just had a weird dream."
I got out of bed. I was drenched in sweat, and the sticky feeling was incredibly unpleasant. I needed to wash up first.
Just as I was about to head out...
"...Ah."
My hazy mind cleared, and I snapped my head back to Yoo Chun-gil.
Come to think of it...
"...What happened?"
Should I really be waking up like this?
I was supposed to be in the middle of the Sowol Hall duel or whatever.
Specifically, I was dueling Cheon Hye-in.
Why...
...did I wake up in my own bed?
A sense of incongruity washed over me, and the memories of that moment rushed back.
"...That wasn't you, was it, old man?"
"..."
The entity that had entered my body.
It definitely wasn't Yoo Chun-gil. I remembered it clearly. The moment I was possessed, I had seen Yoo Chun-gil looking at me from the outside with a bewildered expression.
"Indeed, it was not me."
"...Then what on earth was it? What happened?"
If it wasn't Yoo Chun-gil, who the hell had suddenly hijacked my body?
"Hmm... Well, I am not entirely sure myself."
I frowned at his response.
He doesn't know?
It wasn't strange that he didn't know, but...
His reaction is off.
Yoo Chun-gil's reaction was peculiar. Rather than genuine ignorance, his expression seemed somewhat evasive.
What was with that attitude?
His ambiguous response brought back the words I had just heard in my dream.
Do not trust Yoo Chun-gil too much.
"..."
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and asked him.
"Then what about the duel? How did the duel end?"
Someone else had taken over my body. That was highly disturbing and bizarre, but putting that aside, I needed to know the outcome of the duel.
That was far more pressing to me. Hearing this, Yoo Chun-gil gave me a somewhat awkward look.
"Go outside and see for yourself. You will understand soon enough."
"...Excuse me?"
Go outside?
I tilted my head, my brow furrowing.
* * *
Following his advice, I headed outside. I needed to wash off the sweat anyway, and I had things to attend to.
Not long after stepping out, I finally understood what Yoo Chun-gil meant.
...What the...?
I changed my clothes and started walking.
As I walked along the paths of Cheongwol Gate, which had now become familiar, I felt gazes piercing me from all directions.
My path inevitably took me past the training grounds. The moment I appeared, the martial artists in the wide open space froze solid.
Every single one of them.
From the looks of it, they were the third-generation disciples of Cheongwol Gate.
At the same time, the second-generation disciple who was instructing them flinched upon seeing me.
Intense tension flooded his face.
And then...
"Everyone—!"
He barked at the third-generation disciples.
"Show your respects to the Martial Uncle!"
"...What?"
"We greet the Martial Uncle...!"
At the second-generation disciple's command, the third-generation disciples all bowed to me in unison.
Their perfectly synchronized fist-and-palm salutes left me utterly bewildered.
What is wrong with them...?
Flustered, I gave them a half-hearted wave.
"...Don't mind me. Please, carry on with your training."
"No, how could we..."
"Seriously, it's fine."
Receiving treatment I wasn't used to only made me feel more uncomfortable.
Why were these people acting like this?
Grimacing, I quickly hurried away.
I hastened my pace, but...
Every single person I encountered along the way reacted abnormally.
They either looked at me in shock, showed hints of fear...
Or stared at me with eyes full of awe.
...Seriously, what is going on?
What was wrong with everyone? Their attitudes had completely flipped overnight. I decided to ask around to figure out what had happened.
"...So, basically..."
The situation was as follows.
"I beat Cheon Hye-in to a pulp? Until she was covered in blood? And not even with a sword, but with my bare fists?"
Unlike the beginning of the duel where I was getting thrashed, I had suddenly grabbed Cheon Hye-in midway and pummeled her mercilessly.
And it wasn't just a simple beating. Apparently, I had tossed her around and thrashed her like a ragdoll.
The display was so brutal and violent that it had shocked everyone to their core.
...Me?
Furthermore, I had defeated Cheon Hye-in without even drawing a sword.
Cheon Hye-in was known to possess the greatest talent in the history of Cheongwol Gate since the Sword Saint.
She was considered one of the top talents even among the Seven Great Talents. And I had beaten her to a pulp without using a sword.
...Did I just prove it?
There had been rumors that I was a monster incomparable to the Seven Great Talents.
It turned out those weren't empty rumors. The fierce debate over whether I was truly the successor of the Sword Saint had been settled in a single fight.
...And on top of that, I tried to kill her?
They said that during the duel, I had grabbed the already unconscious Cheon Hye-in and tried to end her life.
And the one who stopped me was none other than the Moonmaster himself, Wolseongeom.
...Crazy.
I shuddered upon hearing the details.
So, I beat his daughter to a bloody pulp and tried to kill her, and her father, Wolseongeom, had to step in to save her?
Which meant...
I'm screwed.
In short, I was in deep trouble.
...Just who the hell was that?
Seriously, what kind of bastard was he? Where did he come from, and why did he hijack my body just to ruin my life like this?
And do you want to know the funniest part of all this?
After causing such a massive scene, he didn't even stay to watch the rest of the Sowol Hall event and just went back to my quarters to sleep.
Apparently, he had just walked off and gone to sleep before the event even concluded.
Thanks to that, I was now treated as a complete lunatic whom even the Moonmaster couldn't control.
What an absolute psycho.
How could he ruin my reputation like this?
"Tsk, tsk. What of it? I often lived like that in my youth, and it caused no issues."
Oh, what a grand thing to boast about.
Damn it.
Just how shocking was it that people flinched every single time I walked past?
Flinching was the least of it. Some were even looking at me with outright terror in their eyes.
Was this really going to be okay?
Just as I was about to take another step with a deep sigh...
"Excuse me... Martial Uncle."
"...Ah."
I was about to respond out of habit, thinking someone else was trying to greet me.
But the one who approached me was a third-generation disciple who looked absolutely terrified.
He spoke to me, his voice trembling with tension.
"...The Moonmaster is summoning you."
"..."
Those words felt...
Even more terrifying than a summons to the slaughterhouse.
...I'm so dead.
I felt like crying.
* * *
And so, filled with all kinds of dread, I arrived at the Moonmaster's office.
Contrary to my expectation of a cold, murderous atmosphere, I was faced with a completely unexpected situation.
"I watched the duel. You did well."
"...Excuse me?"
I had braced myself for the absolute worst.
Yet, surprisingly, Wolseongeom was offering praise to the very guy who had beaten his daughter's face to a bloody pulp.