Sometimes, there are days like that.
When you lie down to sleep but your eyes are wide open, and you feel like sleep will never come.
Sensing he wouldn’t easily fall asleep, Baek Woo Jin decided to take a short walk and he looked at the bright moonlight streaming through the window.
“This is nice.”
A pleasant breeze rustled and the radiant moonlight lit the path ahead. This gave him a feeling that something good might happen if he kept walking like this.
At the corner of the academy building where his feet led him, there was a picturesque pond, a pavilion, and a couple.
Even from a distance, it wasn’t hard to recognize them thanks to the bright moonlight.
“Namgong Soo… Yeon Mae?”
Baek Woo Jin couldn’t understand the scene before his eyes.
Yeon Mae, or rather Yoo Hwa Yeon, was his fiancée.
“Why on earth is Yeon Mae…?”
Countless men had tried to win her over because her fiancé was rather plain, but she always maintained a cold demeanor. What on earth was she doing at a picturesque pavilion at night with Nangong Soo with whom she had no connection?
Baek Woo Jin gathered his limited internal energy to enhance his hearing. The conversation between the two who were standing a distance away started to faintly reach his ears.
“Yeon Mae.”
“…!”
The first words that came out of Nangong Soo’s mouth shocked Baek Woo Jin.
The only person who could call Yoo Hwa Yeon “Yeon Mae” was himself, her betrothed.
“Gege.” (TN: Gege is like oppa.)
Yoo Hwa Yeon’s response was even more shocking.
She addressed Nangong Soo with “Gege” without any hesitation. This was something she used only for Baek Woo Jin.
“Isn’t it about time you came into my arms?”
Nangong Soo naturally reached out and pulled her into his embrace.
Yoo Hwa Yeon didn’t seem to mind at all but she playfully resisted for a moment before settling quietly in his arms. Her face turned red.
“The heads of our Yoo clan and the Baek clan are closer than you might think.”
She gently slipped out of Nangong Soo’s embrace before extending her thin and delicate hand to softly stroke his manly face.
“To break off an engagement between such esteemed families, there must be a good reason, right?”
Nangong Soo gently grasped her hand which was moving away from his face.
“Yes. If I become the Divine Dragon, that reason will be enough.”
Divine Dragon.
A title allowed to only one first-year student at Jeongmu Academy (Righteous Martial Arts Academy). It signified not only being the strongest among the first-year students but also being considered a future leader of the orthodox martial arts world.
“I have no doubt you will become the Divine Dragon. But…”
Her affectionate smile faded away and she withdrew her hand from his grasp with a proud expression.
“I don’t want to seem like a fish caught too easily. Hehe…”
She knew exactly how to drive a man crazy. And despite his disappointed look, Nangong Soo steeled his resolve once more at her seductive smile.
“Then, let’s end our night stroll here.”
“Hehe, just wait a little longer. The day I embrace the swallow is not far off.”
“I’ll look forward to it, hoho.”
As the two finished their conversation and walked towards him, Baek Woo Jin who had been watching in a daze hurriedly hid in the bushes. He covered his mouth and nose with his hands.
What did I just see…?
Even though he saw it with his own eyes, it was hard to believe. He didn’t want to accept that the woman who had always comforted him during his times of despair was now promising a future with another man.
…
“Aah…”
Baek Woo Jin staggered back to his room with a deflated sigh and closed his eyes.
He was hoping everything he had just seen with his eyes was just a dream.
But even when he woke up from his sleep, nothing had changed.
If anything, a colder reality awaited him.
“Hey, Woo Jin.”
While returning to the academy after completing a light mission, his childhood friend Shin Ye Hwa who had been with him since they were young called out to him.
“Is something wrong? It seemed like you couldn’t focus during the mission.”
Even after several days passed, Baek Woo Jin’s mind was constantly filled with the conversation between Nangong Soo and Yoo Hwa Yeon.
Because of this, he made repeated mistakes even on simple missions. This left Shin Ye Hwa to bear all the burden.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
He wanted to confide in his childhood friend with the thought that it might be okay to tell her, but in the end, he kept his mouth shut. He felt that revealing everything would destroy the bond between them.
“Um, then… can you do me a favor?”
“What favor?”
She twisted her body and fidgeted with her fingers as if she was embarrassed.
“This time… isn’t brother Moo Hyeok coming back?”
Baek Moo Hyeok.
Baek Woo Jin’s older brother and the eldest son of the Baek clan. Unlike his younger brother whose skills rarely improved, he had already surpassed the middle peak master level and was expected to reach the late peak master soon. He was a talent that had been highly anticipated by the righteous faction in the martial world. Not just the academy.
“If it’s okay, could you arrange a meeting with Brother Moo Hyeok?”
The girl who always had a confident expression on her face avoided his gaze with a flushed face.
“You, could it be…?”
“Y-Yes, actually… I like Brother Moo Hyeok.”
His heart sank.
Why?
Though they were not lovers, they had been childhood friends for a long time. Yet for some reason, he had never considered the possibility that she would find someone else.
Why…
It felt the same as that time, when he had seen Namgong Soo and Yoo Hwa Yeon together. His heart pounded unpleasantly.
“Oh, I see.”
His mind burned hot.
The people he cherished were leaving him one by one.
…
As time passed, Baek Woo Jin withered away.
No matter what he ate, it felt like he was chewing sand and he didn’t want to do anything.
Even so, no one worried about him. Yoo Hwa Yeon gradually distanced herself, and after completing a long mission, Shin Ye Hwa spent more and more time with Baek Moo Hyeok who had returned to the academy as if she was trying to build a relationship with him.
Sometimes others worried about him, but just when he thought their bond was deepening, they would suddenly leave.
Baek Woo Jin who was left alone went on a mission in a poor state. It was a mandatory mission to fulfill a set number of training points.
It wasn’t a particularly difficult one. It was just the lowest-level mission. He simply had to clear out a small mountain bandit group led by a third-rank martial artist.
“Heh, can you believe this bastard is a student from the great Jeongmu Academy?”
“Maybe he’s a fake?”
“Yeah, right. Hahaha!”
Unable to eat properly and weakened from lack of training, Baek Woo Jin couldn’t handle their numbers and fell to his knees.
“Huff, huff…”
A sharp pain emanated from his side where he had been slashed by an axe.
Why…
As death grew close, the question “Why?” dominated his mind once again.
Why does everyone leave?
He wanted to ask them, those who lacked the courage to stay, the question he had suppressed all this time.
I have to survive.
Baek Woo Jin turned and began to run away.
“Hey, that brat is running away!”
“Catch him now!”
He endured the blood dripping from his side as he made his way through the forest.
Damn it, damn it all!
His lack of internal energy held him back.
After wandering in the forest for a while, he stopped in a clearing hidden among dense trees.
“Ugh…”
He had barely managed to shake off the bandits, but the situation was dire.
He was soaked from throwing himself into a small stream to wash off the blood, and his side was bleeding again.
Since he came here unprepared, he had no tools to start a fire or medicine to treat his wounds.
Ah…
He had fled here trying to survive, but it seemed to be the end.
“Oh my. Damn”
It was when Baek Woo Jin was almost dying that the Drunken Immortal arrived in the lower world with a large sack in his hand.
The Drunken Immortal cursed at the sight of the injured man who collapsed in this place and shook his head.
“It’s too late.”
He was already dead.
He briefly thought that if he had arrived a little earlier, he might have been able to save him but he did not regret it.
If he was destined to live, he would have survived regardless, but he died because he was destined to die.
“Let’s see….”
The only reason he had come down here was to gather the herbs needed to brew alcohol.
“When I looked with my clairvoyant eyes, it was definitely around here…, huh?”
He was pushing through the bushes when it happened.
Drunken Immortal hurriedly returned to the spot to examine the corpse.
“No, what is this…?”
From the body that had stopped breathing, he could feel a faint heartbeat and breathing.
“This is unbelievable.”
The face that had been pale to the point of coldness was now gaining color. The Drunken Immortal felt a mysterious pull of fate from him.
“Well, well.”
An immortal who had ascended to the heavenly realm was not supposed to form any ties with any human in the lower world.
“Cough!”
When blood gushed from the man’s mouth, the Drunken Immortal snapped out of his thoughts.
“For now, I’ll have to save him.”
The Drunken Immortal’s hands began to move swiftly.
Leave a Reply