A Mind Reborn
Chirp, chirp.
The sound of birds chirping reached my ears, accompanied by the bright sunlight forcing my mind awake.
Ignoring the sensation, which felt more unpleasant than refreshing, I forced my heavy eyelids open.
"...Ah..."
A familiar ceiling came into view.
The moment I saw it, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
At least it wasn't white.
"Whoa..."
How long had it been since I last saw a proper ceiling? It felt like years.
Without realizing it, I let out an exclamation of awe and pushed myself up.
At that exact moment—
Zing!
"Argh?!"
A sharp pain shot through my head. I hurriedly clutched my forehead.
"Ughhhhh..."
The pain was so intense that holding back a scream took everything I had. It was so overwhelming I almost blacked out again.
"Phew... Haa..."
I panted heavily, and just as my breathing finally began to settle—
"Mmm. What a splendidly refreshing morning."
I turned my gaze toward the voice beside me.
"Did you rest well?"
"..."
Does this look like a good night's rest to you?
That was what I wanted to say.
"Does this look like a good night's rest to you?"
So I said it. I just couldn't hold it back.
"Looking at your pathetic state, it seems you had quite the nightmare... Tsk, tsk. You should have been more careful."
"...Are you insane?"
I was so dumbfounded I couldn't even speak properly.
I never expected him to be this shameless.
"You throw me into that literal hell, and now you're telling me I should've been careful? Old man, have you completely lost your mind?"
"Throw you into hell? What a dramatic fellow. There is a perfectly good word called 'training' for what you went through."
"Training, my foot."
My teeth ground together with a harsh grit.
"What exactly did you do to me?"
Training? Don't make me laugh.
That could never be called training.
How could that possibly be training?
"Do you have any idea how many times I died?"
It was too many to count. Honestly, I did keep count, and even to me, the number was staggering.
"Indeed. I never imagined you would actually endure all of it."
"What...?"
"To be frank, I intended to stop it and explain everything if you gave up halfway..."
Yoo Chun-gil wore an awkward expression.
"But child, I never expected you to finish the entire thing in a single night."
"...Ha."
I was speechless. He was going to stop it?
"Then why didn't you?"
He watched me struggle through all of that, and he didn't stop it?
Just as I was about to explode in anger—
"Because you did not give up."
Yoo Chun-gil's words made me pause.
"I would have stopped it had you yielded, but you stubbornly refused to surrender. Thus, I wished to ask you."
His blue eyes glowed as they turned toward me.
They were filled with genuine curiosity.
"Why did you not give up?"
Why did I refuse to yield through those countless deaths?
I frowned at his question and replied.
"What do you mean, 'didn't give up'? I didn't even know I could give up."
If I had known, I would have done it instantly. Why was he even asking such a stupid question?
"No."
Yoo Chun-gil spoke firmly.
"Giving up is not a matter of capability. It is a matter of whether the spirit dies or not."
His voice felt unusually calm and solemn, unlike his usual self.
"Yet, you did not break until the very end. How did you keep your grip even after being cut down thousands of times?"
"..."
I pondered his question for a moment. Why did I do that?
Thinking back, it was nothing special.
"Because it was doable."
"...!"
Yoo Chun-gil's eyes widened at my response.
"It was a space where I would revive even if I died. In that case, as long as I endured, I would eventually win."
I spoke without a single shred of hesitation. Yoo Chun-gil let out a hollow laugh.
"You speak as if you have experienced such a thing before."
"Not really."
Oh, I had.
To the point of absolute disgust.
It wasn't a memory I particularly wanted to recall.
Yoo Chun-gil stared at me silently once more, then nodded.
"This is enough."
"Huh?"
He nodded to himself.
"Indeed. It is you."
"...What in the..."
What kind of nonsense was he spouting? I wanted to snap at him, but I held back. I had too many questions right now.
"Now, why don't you answer my questions, old man?"
I furrowed my brows and asked Yoo Chun-gil.
"What was that place?"
What was the purpose of that time?
And who on earth was that guy?
"Ah."
Yoo Chun-gil reacted as if he had temporarily forgotten.
"The one you fought was my younger self."
"...Excuse me?"
My mind went blank for a moment.
"...What?"
His younger self?
I tried to process his words.
The young man who had slaughtered me thousands of times was Yoo Chun-gil in his youth?
"I believe I was around fifteen at the time."
"..."
An even greater shock washed over me.
Fifteen?
With that face and height...?
What did he look like again? He did look similar in age to me. Sure, a few years' difference could explain that.
But...
What was up with his height?
He was definitely larger than me. He looked like he could easily tower over most grown men...
I was flabbergasted, but then...
Actually... considering it's this old man's youth, I suppose it makes sense.
I quickly came to terms with it.
Just looking at Yoo Chun-gil's current spiritual form proved it.
He was more than a head taller than me, with muscles that looked ready to burst.
He easily looked over eight feet tall, so it wouldn't be strange if he was already that massive at fifteen.
"But then why..."
I wanted to ask about the opening in his wrist and the difference in his Moon Wave.
"...Well... you see... I had not yet fully matured back then."
Yoo Chun-gil spoke with a hint of embarrassment.
Ah... so what he meant was...
He was still inexperienced because he was young.
But I still died thousands of times to that inexperienced version of him?
To a fifteen-year-old?
...Damn it.
My mood soured instantly.
On top of that...
'You must be from Cheongwol Gate. I suspected it ever since I saw your Moon Eye, but to think it was true.'
'Those bastards.'
When he had mentioned Cheongwol Gate earlier, his reaction had been strange.
It was a reaction bordering on pure disgust.
What was that about?
If that was Yoo Chun-gil's younger self, why did he hate Cheongwol Gate so much?
I was curious, but...
"...Why did that situation happen so suddenly anyway?"
Even if that really was Yoo Chun-gil's youth...
I still didn't understand why I had to fight him.
"For what purpose...?"
"There are several reasons."
Yoo Chun-gil cut off my question.
"First and foremost, the biggest reason is that my usual teaching style did not suit you."
"...What does that mean?"
"It is difficult to guide you through abstract concepts. You do not possess much talent in that regard."
"..."
It was an undeniable truth.
He was calling me a blockhead to my face, but he wasn't wrong.
I was indeed a slow learner.
That was why my growth had been so slow.
It was only recently, after Yoo Chun-gil possessed me and I managed to snag a few fortuitous encounters, that I had improved.
"However, I cannot simply possess your body to teach you forever... and since a suitable method presented itself, I decided to try it."
"And that... was the Spiritual Dream?"
"Indeed."
Having his younger self slaughter me like a dog was his grand method?
"As I said, I believed this would be more effective than verbal explanations at first. I planned to explain once you grew exhausted and gave up..."
"But I just pushed through to the very end?"
"...Precisely."
Yoo Chun-gil looked genuinely astonished. He really hadn't expected me to repeat the cycle thousands of times in a single night.
"I underestimated you. You have my apologies."
I froze at his apology. I never expected this stubborn old man to actually apologize to me.
"...Fine. Let's leave it at that."
I decided to let it slide for now.
But...
"So... what was the point of that so-called training?"
I died thousands of times just to win once.
What did that actually accomplish? I couldn't see the point.
"The Spiritual Dream is ultimately just a dream."
No matter what happens in there, it's nothing but a dream in the end.
"No matter what I do in there, I can't actually gain anything in reality."
It was a fleeting illusion.
Setting aside the fact that Yoo Chun-gil could manipulate the Spiritual Dream...
Why did I have to go through such a meaningless ordeal?
That was the most important question for me.
"Is that truly the case?"
Yoo Chun-gil looked at my frustrated face with a mysterious glint in his eyes.
"Did you truly gain nothing from that place?"
"Of course. What difference does it make what happens in a dream..."
"Circulate the Cheongwol Mind Method."
"...Right now?"
"Yes."
I was taken aback by the sudden command, but my body moved on instinct, naturally channeling my internal energy.
Whirrr!
The internal energy circulated from the dantian, spreading smoothly throughout the body.
Why did he suddenly tell me to do this... Wait.
I gasped, freezing mid-circulation.
Something was wrong.
It was the same amount of energy, and I was circulating it just as I always did. But...
Why is it so easy?
Previously, it required immense concentration to control the energy with such precision.
Now, it felt incredibly effortless.
"What... is this...?"
"Controlling internal energy is, ultimately, a matter of the mind's eye."
I stared at Yoo Chun-gil with wide eyes.
"Furthermore, can a martial artist truly claim that the process of struggling to survive in real combat is useless? I think not."
"..."
"You can see the results for yourself right now."
Whoosh!
The Cheongwol Mind Method flowed through my body, completing several cycles.
Before, I had to focus my entire being just to complete a single cycle.
Now, it felt as natural as breathing.
"Whatever you do now will be entirely different. For something has been engraved onto the very foundation of your energy."
"..."
It was an undeniable difference. Nothing was clearer than being able to do something that was previously impossible.
However...
"...If I went through all that just to get this..."
Was it really worth it? The cost-benefit ratio felt a bit off. As that thought crossed my mind—
"Who said that was all?"
Yoo Chun-gil made a bizarre face, as if I had just said something absurd.
"That you only gained this? Who spoke such nonsense?"
"What?"
Did he mean I had gained more than just better control over my energy?
Intrigued by his reaction, I examined my body more closely.
Nothing's changed, though. My energy level is exactly the same.
My internal energy hadn't increased in the slightest. Aside from being able to control it better, what else could there be?
As my confusion grew—
"Get up. We must go verify this in person."
"Verify what, and how...?"
"It is simple."
Yoo Chun-gil smiled.
"You need only experience it with your own body."
"...What?"
Experience it with my own body?
I wondered what he meant, but it didn't take long for his words to make sense.
It was a very straightforward matter.
Cheon Ui-jin, looking at me as I visited him at the crack of dawn, asked in return.
"A spar?"
"Yes. If it's not too much trouble..."
"Oh! I would love to! If you are willing to guide me, Young Master... anytime!"
Cheon Ui-jin spoke with sheer excitement. I wondered why he was so thrilled, but I could guess the reason.
Because I had kept turning him down.
Cheon Ui-jin had asked me to spar and guide him several times before.
But I had never accepted.
How could I?
If I accepted, my lack of skill would be exposed instantly.
Since Cheon Ui-jin held me in such high regard, sparring was the one thing I absolutely had to avoid...
"...Please go easy on me."
Is this really okay?
I glanced at Yoo Chun-gil with anxiety, but the old man merely grinned back at me, as usual.
Suddenly telling me to spar with Cheon Ui-jin—what a load of nonsense.
And I'm no better for actually doing what he says.
Even after suffering like that in the Spiritual Dream, here I was, going along with it.
Am I possessed?
Unless I was possessed by a ghost, this made no sense.
...No way.
I shook my head, dismissing the thought. There was no way.
And even if I were, why would it be by a scary-looking old man?
Not a beautiful maiden, but this old demon? I refused to accept that.
I just want to verify it.
His claim that I had gained something from all that suffering.
I wanted to see if it was true. That had to be the reason. It absolutely had to be.
"Shall we spar with real swords?"
An excited Cheon Ui-jin asked brightly.
"No. Wooden swords, please."
Was he crazy? I had no desire to get hurt, so I chose wooden swords.
"Ah, I see..."
Cheon Ui-jin looked visibly disappointed.
Why are you disappointed?
Isn't it better to use wooden swords so nobody gets hurt?
Seriously, martial artists are a different breed...
I would never understand them.
"...Well then."
I gripped the wooden sword Cheon Ui-jin handed me.
Looking at the still-excited Cheon Ui-jin, I spoke.
"Let's begin."
"Please guide me!"
The spar began.
My anxiety lasted only a moment.
A brief moment passed.
"...Haa... Phew."
I caught my ragged breath and looked ahead.
Cheon Ui-jin stood before me with a bitter smile.
Wait...
My wooden sword was pressed against his neck.
This means...
In other words...
How did I win?
It meant I had actually defeated Cheon Ui-jin.