Baek Woo Jin, who had been watching the entire series of events unfold without missing a single detail, closed his eyes tightly.
It’s happened.
The very thing he had feared had finally come to pass.
She had shown more determination than necessary. By silently conveying his intent not to drag this match out any longer, he had tried to extinguish any lingering sparks before they could ignite.
But instead, she used this as fuel to burn even brighter. And with that fire, she shattered the wall that had blocked her path for so long and reached the peak master level.
I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.
He had wandered across both this world and the next, thinking he had experienced every situation a human could face, but he hadn’t expected there was still something left to see.
It doesn’t change anything, though.
Just as she had shown her transformation through her own will, Baek Woo Jin also hardened his resolve in response to her growth.
He kicked off the ground in an instant, closed the distance between them, and slashed at her with his sword. Despite the impressive speed of the attack, she calmly stepped back and parried the attack with ease.
Clang, clang!
In the blink of an eye, they exchanged two more blows. Baek Woo Jin’s face showed surprise at how solid her defense was. This was more than he had expected.
He raised his speed even further and swung his sword. Their blades intertwined in a chaotic dance in midair.
“Ugh…!”.
She couldn’t block every attack that came through the intricate and almost bewildering path of the Drunken Immortal Sword Technique, and a thin line was drawn across her arm.
Soon, blood began to seep out.
“Hnnng…”
She let out a moan, unclear if it was from pain or pleasure, and stepped back.
“As expected…”
For the first time, she spoke.
“You’ve gone much farther than I ever imagined.”
Baek Woo Jin had reached a level far beyond what she had thought. The few exchanges they had just shared, which she believed had reached the peak, completely destroyed her earlier confidence.
“But… I can’t let it end like this.”
Yoo Hwa Yeon had climbed and clawed her way to this point for two reasons.
One was to face Baek Woo Jin up close. And the other was to draw even just a little closer to where he had already ascended.
I’ll become someone worthy of standing by your side.
The day she had collapsed in front of him while gasping for breath.
The stories she overheard from the students only deepened her pain and finally made her realize.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t apologize to him, that she couldn’t convey her true feelings, because he had risen so high. It was all because she had remained in such a lowly place.
That’s why she had to reach where he stood, or at least close to it.
“Haaah!”
With a fierce battle cry, her defensive stance abruptly reversed.
Like a sharp awl, her blade turned into a series of piercing, razor-sharp slashes that pierced Baek Woo Jin’s wide defense.
“Oh.”
They were so precise and perfectly timed that they forced an admiring exclamation from Baek Woo Jin, who had resolved not to speak.
He deftly deflected her attacks and at the same moment, he reversed the flow. He switched from defense to offense.
The sword strike, which looked normal on the outside but contained a deadly aura on the inside, sliced through the air with deadly precision.
In a situation where the approaching blade could have easily left a long gash across her thigh, Baek Woo Jin twisted his sword.
Thud.
The flat of the blade, not the edge, struck her thigh with force.
“Ahk!”
A dull pain surged through her leg and made it feel numb as though it was paralyzed. Yoo Hwa Yeon bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood, and using one leg, she quickly moved to create distance.
If he hadn’t twisted his sword, she would have been left with such a deep wound that she wouldn’t have been able to use her leg for a while. He couldn’t bring himself to cut her, so he struck her with the flat of the blade instead, but even that was a powerful blow, leaving a deep blue bruise in the shape of the sword.
“Were you… sparing me?”
Despite the searing pain contorting her face, her lips curled into a genuine smile.
A creeping sense of dread washed over her, like a ticking bomb that could go off at any moment.
Shit….
The fact that this wasn’t a life-or-death battle was holding Baek Woo Jin back.
If only he could kill her; such a fleeting thought crossed his mind and his whole body started to tremble. The memories of her that remained in this body fiercely resisted the notion.
He was reminded of his life on Earth, where he lived in a cramped, rented room, unable to do as he pleased.
This is why it’s miserable not to own your own home, or in this case, your own body.
“Let’s continue, shall we?”
Could a single word like “we” truly weigh so heavily on someone?
Baek Woo Jin steeled his heart and unleashed a relentless barrage of sharp strikes toward her.
With each blow, more wounds and bruises began to appear on her body.
“Huuuk…!”
Her strength as she fought the sword gradually weakened.
Thud!
Unable to withstand the force of Baek Woo Jin’s attacks, Yoo Hwa Yeon was sent tumbling to the ground.
The audience watching them reacted with a mix of emotions.
“How can there be such a difference between two people at the same peak master level…?”
“How far has Baek Woo Jin advanced in just a few months?”
“Even if he fought Senior Dokgo Cheon, he could probably win…”
“No way, that’s going too far.”
Admiration erupted for Baek Woo Jin, whose overwhelming skill left no room for comparison, even against someone at the same peak master level.
“This duel seems too unfair…”
“Shouldn’t someone step in soon?”
Meanwhile, others began to voice concern for Yoo Hwa Yeon who was clearly in bad shape.
She staggered to her feet, wiped the blood from her torn palms onto her clothes, and picked up her fallen sword.
“Where are you looking…? Your opponent is me.”
So please, focus only on me.
Blood trickled from her lips as she spoke. Her appearance gradually wore down Baek Woo Jin’s spirit.
He threw an irritated glance at her and, after maintaining his silence for a while, he finally opened his mouth.
“What do you want?”
His voice was low and cold, crashing into her ears.
All it carried was the irritation, anger, and rejection that seeped through each word.
Though his coldness chilled her heart, she didn’t show it and instead answered with a small smile.
“Nothing, for now.”
There were countless things she wanted. But knowing there wasn’t a single one she could achieve at the moment, she didn’t bother voicing them.
She was also painfully aware that she had no right to ask for anything in her current state. All she wished for was that this moment could last just a little longer, just a little more.
So I can remember him for a bit longer.
To remember him at this moment, so that she could smile through the trials and hardships to come.
The exchange of blows continued.
Yoo Hwa Yeon led the attack, and Baek Woo Jin received it with a conflicted expression.
Her body and swordsmanship, which had struggled to keep up with her sudden advancement in skills, seemed to be adjusting now as her speed increased even further.
Caught up in the changes happening within her, she swung her sword with such focus that she didn’t even notice the blood dripping from her hands.
But in a single breath, Baek Woo Jin changed his defensive stance, knocked her sword aside, and aimed directly at her exposed pale neck.
“It’s over now…!”
Normally, that should have been the end. Since lethal moves weren’t permitted in this duel, the moment a sword touched someone’s neck, the opponent was expected to admit defeat.
“Haat!”
She didn’t give up. As if she had anticipated it, she tilted her neck back just in time and thrust her sword toward his chest.
The moment he thought it was over made him let his guard down. He barely twisted his body to avoid the attack, but his robe was sliced, leaving a thin line of injury across his chest.
“……”
It was a move he could only think of as a perfect counter.
Through all the duels she had seen so far, she had learned one thing: that Baek Woo Jin would eventually aim his sword at her neck.
Even as she was wounded and battered, she never forgot that single detail, and when the moment came, she used it masterfully to launch a counterattack.
“Such a waste.”
Baek Woo Jin looked down at the wound on his chest and suddenly spoke.
He raised his head and looked at her with a truly regretful expression.
“Why are you making that face all of a sudden…?”
Yoo Hwa Yeon was flustered by his unexpected expression.
“Such a waste of talent.”
Even though this exchange had made things difficult for him, the talent that had bloomed within her as a result was unmistakable.
To be a little bold, it even seemed possible that with enough training, she might soon be able to surpass Myeong Jin.
That’s why, for a brief moment, he felt a hint of pity.
In this world, the trials awaiting Baek Woo Jin, who was born with the fate of a protagonist, would only grow more intense and numerous from now on.
At such times, the most reliable thing was the presence of a comrade you could trust to watch your back.
“It would’ve been nice if we could become comrades.”
She had the talent to reach the highest of heights. If he had judged that she could cast aside all her affection for him and remain only as a comrade, as just a friend, he might have reached out to her first.
But all of it was meaningless conjecture. She had already bloomed into her full talent because of her obsession with him.
“I’ll tell you just once, so listen carefully.”
Baek Woo Jin’s expression had already turned cold as he spoke to her again.
“The Baek Woo Jin in your memories is dead.”
He had already died. He foolishly threw himself away for a woman, and wandered the mountains after being stabbed by a mere bandit of lower skill, all because he wasn’t prepared.
He’s even more of a fool than I am.
Though he wasn’t in a position to criticize, he was still better off than that fool. At least he hadn’t forgotten or failed his mission.
“I’ve become a completely different person from the Baek Woo Jin you knew.”
This meant that a completely different soul had entered his body, though she would likely only understand it as him having survived a close call and being “reborn”.
“So I can’t be the Baek Woo Jin you’re expecting. Which means…”
“Wait a moment…!”
Yoo Hwa Yeon who had an unknown ominous feeling hurriedly tried to interrupt him, but Baek Woo Jin continued without regard.
“There’s no longer any reason for you to love me.”
And the same goes for me.
Besides, neither of them had the right to love. One was a soul occupying the body of the man she loved, and the other was a woman dreaming of someone already dead.
His firm words tore at her insides. Blood suddenly spurted from her mouth. The internal injuries to her body were now compounded by her unraveling mind as her inner demons began to surface.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re not the same as before. I just…!”
Even as she coughed up blood, she tried to finish what she wanted to say. But Baek Woo Jin didn’t allow it.
Boom!
Baek Woo Jin had arrived at her side in the blink of an eye using the lightning technique. He then spoke to her with a pitiful face.
“Now, stop. Find a way to be happy on your own.”
If she was completely consumed by her inner demons, she would fall into madness. She then would either become a cripple or rage as a madwoman until her death.
Neither of those was a good outcome. So before that happened, he had to sever her consciousness and free her from the grip of her demons.
Baek Woo Jin, who had grabbed her from behind as her posture completely collapsed, struck the back of her neck hard with the hilt of his sword.
Smack!
“Ge…ge….”
Yoo Hwa Yeon muttered those pitiful words and closed her eyes.
As she fell like a rotting piece of wood, drops of blood and tears scattered along the path of her descent.
It was as if petals from a brilliantly bloomed flower were being carried away by the wind before disappearing into nothing.
Leave a Reply