Seol-Hwi had two options forced onto him, and felt complicated in numerous ways. He needed the head of an elder of any of the sects to persuade the Black Demon Warlord. The latter choice could not be taken.
Of course, this was still not an easy choice to make, as he would have to fight three skilled warriors. Goo Jong-myung of Mount Hua and then the elders of Shaolin and Wudang would not be any less strong.
Could he cut down the heads of his enemies in an unfavorable one versus three situation? He did not like this, but should he still choose the first choice?
No, this is a test for me.
Seol-Hwi changed his thought process. From his experience, he knew the meaning of this type of choice. Was it difficult? No, the fact that there was an option like this was unneeded actually.
But it meant something now.
The fact that there was a choice to save the troops means that in the future something will happen and he would have to encounter the situation related to that.
<What will you choose?> ▶Go to rescue the troops. ▷Remove the heads of the Justice Faction.
Would he choose to save dozens of innocent lives?
Or would he choose to pursue the head of an important person for a greater cause?
This was what went through Seol-Hwi’s mind.
Is the final purpose of this choice not to ask about how I value people’s lives?
The choice seemed to be asking which of the two is more important to him. He felt that situations he would face in the future would definitely be affected by which choice he decided on now.
Choices which have something to do with the purpose. I have done a lot of it before.
Seol-Hwi also lived such a life. Then, for the first time, he hesitated. He thought back to the mission related to Songhwa.
After he saved him, that child taught him a lot. Even more about this world than he expected.
<Do you want to select ‘Go to rescue the troops’?>
After some time had passed, Seol-Hwi stopped debating on which choice he would make.
If he made the wrong one, he could just do it over. Did he not have over a hundred additional lives?
<Here are the location and situation of the members.>
As soon as the choice was made, what caught his eyes were the subordinates.
“Kuak!”
“Acuk!”
They still could not break through the defensive circle and were helpless.
<Move right now!>
Came the phrase and Seol-Hwi immediately ran out.
Something not shown yet… It was the light footwork technique he recently learnt.
“Kua…”
Jeok Myung was clutching his stomach and groaning.
Kuak! Kuak!
Screams continued everywhere around, with people on the ground, having been beheaded.
Damn it.
The start was fine.
The defensive circle made by the enemies was there. However, as Seol-Hwi said, there were less people patrolling over here.
He thought that if they played their cards right, they could get through the place easily. The problem was the light footwork of these people.
They should have moved from tree to tree, but if one fell to the ground, then the impact would be easily noticed.
The enemies reacted to that sound and immediately went on alert, and then they discovered the troops in the trees.
“The vanguard! Get out of here first!”
Jeok Myung was near the end, and he instructed the members ahead. Because of the number of enemies and also because of the terrain, some of the troops could break through
The problem was the middle.
“Kuak!”
“Euk!”
It was not a small number, but surprisingly, the skills of each of them was beyond their imaginations. It was truly amazing when they saw them shoot sword energy and the sword wind technique get used.
As a result, even while the Black Moon Troops were dying one after another, Jeok Myung could do nothing.
Shit.
They were warriors but were so clumsy that they could not stand against their enemies. The Demonic Sect always taught them the gap between the powerful and powerless, but now this just showed how much they were frogs in a well.
“What? They said they were demons but… there was nothing to see here,”
Came from a young man who appeared to be the leader of the enemy troops. He looked young, but he had amazing internal energy coming from within.
“Fuck… this sucks so much.”
Jeok Myung looked down at his trembling body and cursed. It was a curse due to how he felt about his weak self compared to the opponent.
“You the captain?”
Kuak!
Kuaak!
A young man who spoke, continued.
Fucking dog like… fucking dog…!
Jeok Myung cursed inside. This was a life or death ordeal for them, but conversely, for their enemies it was simply a hunt.
Jik San, the warrior who had followed him so far was knocked down from a single hit from the other man.
And he died just like that.
Clack!
“S-save me!”
The enemy threw his sword down and bowed his head. His mind was full of thoughts wanting to live.
Shame and humiliation? Such feelings only came up from the circumstances where one was able to understand the situation.
There was no anger or anything in the difference of skill he noticed. He just wanted to live.
“I want to live. If you let me live, I will never appear in front of you again,”
Jeok Myung begged.
The thought of wanting to live was so strong. Honestly, it was embarrassing.
It was because he was afraid of dying, the life he had spent on training all the time to become stronger and following all the orders from those above him was going to end like this.
But—
“Sigh. Are all demons like this?”
“…”
Jeok Myung raised his bloodshot eyes.
The face of the young man was one looking down and making fun of him.
“The Demonic Sect, they say they are a group who are trained to stay stoic in the face of even corpses around, but that is all bullshit. You people are worse than the nameless small and medium sects.”
“…”
“Fucking leeches. Since you are born as beings of lower level in the first place, you entered the Demonic Sect. But that is all. You are worms and bugs which rot over time. No matter how hard you try, you cannot change that.”
Bugs—
Such hostile words were being said, but Jeok Myung did not care. He wanted to live, and only thoughts about how unfair the world was filled his head.
“I mean this. I have a habit of killing the bugs harmful to all. Even a person who shows sincerity now will still go back to the way of killing. This will be the same.”
The warrior did not listen to him at all and raised the sword.
Jeok Myung saw it and was unable to do anything other than tremble. All he could do was wait for his death to come.
“Kuak!”
Jeok Myung’s eyes widened in shock.
Thud
The young man who had been holding his sword and cursing him all of a sudden slowly fell down and behind him he could see someone familiar.
“Are you fine?”
It was Seol-Hwi.
“…”
Looking at the situation, it seemed like he had saved Jeok Myung. And there was a brief silence.
“Kuak, heheheh.”
Jeok Myung cried. He covered his face with hands and trembled as tears flowed.
It was shame and sadness at how pathetic he was, his true nature being shown.
“You don’t have to be so sad. If you had a chance, things would have been different.”
“Huhuhu…”
Jeok Myung who had been crying like that with his head down stopped for a moment, and then said,
“Will I ever live comfortably?”
“…”
“People like us… can such failures for warriors go and live comfortably in the central plains?”
Failed warriors—
Even though they were learning demonic martial arts, they could not produce proper results, so they were at the bottom of the sect.
Jeok Myung had risen to the point of punching people, but it was only for those on his level. When one went to the central plains, everyone would be an enemy to kill, and third rate warriors would be eaten the next moment.
“…That depends on you,”
Seol-Hwi said.
Those words weren’t truthful at all, but right now he wanted to provide little comfort to the guy.
“I am sorry… Seol-Hwi I am not confident.”
“…?”
Jeok Myung raised his head and looked at him. He had a look that spoke of unknown emotions.
“I will pay you back for this. Can I ask for just one thing?”
“…”
“You must become stronger… the powerless ones. I want to give a chance to those who live a life where they failed in the first place. A miserable life with no chance… is a hard one to live.”
“What?”
Before Seol-Hwi could even respond to what he said, Jeok Myung took the knife to his throat. And in front of death he spoke honestly,
“Be strong, Seol-Hwi.”
“Ah…!?”
Slash
That was the end.
Jeok Myung, who had taken his own life with a strike to his neck, fell limp, the light thump announcing his death.
“…”
Seeing that, Seol-Hwi had many thoughts running through his mind.
Until a little while ago, Jeok Myung was one he wanted to fight against. However, he looked at himself and chose death.
He could not figure this out at all. Was he really afraid of death?
Or did he lose all hope?
Clearly, the life of the jerk who tormented him for a long time in the previous lives could have happened from a miserable perspective.
After all, he was just a stone in the world of the Supreme Pavilion.
“…?”
Tuk
Seol-Hwi’s gaze, which was looking at the cut neck of Jeok Myung, looked up.
He saw someone pick his head up.
“Is it just one?”
The eyes, the voice, and the appearance were a little different from the other warriors around. It was the same with his clothes.
The others were dressed in brown robes that looked like training clothes.
“Did this one make such a mess?”
Tatat
And about 20 people appeared from the right side. One could tell where they were from at first glance.
Wearing long sleeves must mean that they belonged to the Shaolin Sect.
“Ehh, Hyun Kang. Some Demonic Sect bastards ran away? What will you do now? Who will take responsibility?”
A man in a brown uniform came up to him and started talking, and the one in a long skirt-like pants answered.
“Is that our responsibility? Rather, it is because of the ones who failed to keep the defense working.”
“It isn’t that the riders were followed, but aren’t you people responsible for neglecting the guard here?”
“How dare you lay the blame on us?”
The two of them were fighting. Seeing them argue, the members of Black Moon Troops escaped.
“Uh? Why are you all here?”
Another one came to where Seol-Hwi was. It was one in uniform, but the shape of the plum blossom at the end of the thread showed it was someone from Mount Hua.
“Lee Soo. You people gave them a chance and Demonic Sect guys got missed.”
“What are you saying, Lee Soo! It is because of them! It is because of those guys. We missed them because they were careless with their guard duty!”
When they protested, the guy called Lee Soo spread his hands wide and said,
“Enough. Fine. Let us deal with that later. First of all.”
He skillfully tried to sort it out.
Perhaps he was at a level which went beyond the power struggle like each sect’s pride. He seemed to hold some fame.
“Who is he?”
And only then did they turn their heads to Seol-Hwi.
“He looks like a captain?”
“Demonic Sect?”
“Thank god. The head of the troops is precious.”
When the atmosphere of their conflict calmed down, they showed interest in Seol-Hwi.
And Lee Soo, who seemed to represent them said,
“Looks like he is the captain.”
Seol-Hwi did not respond.
Even when they talked, when they said he was the captain, he did not respond. His eyes were instead on the dead Jeok Myung.
Jeok Myung, even in the end, if you don’t have strength, you will be eaten regardless of where you are.
Seol-Hwi knew this one thing through his death.
Life was given to him now.
At one time, he thought it was odd, and at one time he thought it was hell. However, after seeing the miserable death of Jeok Myung, he realized it again.
A chance to change the past, even if it was a repetitious hell, there was no doubt that it was still a chance.
Hope, it exists.
Jeok Myung did not have that. So even if he wanted to live, he had to die.
“Now, are you going to talk?”
“Do you not understand what the situation is?”
“I guess it is because he is scared. Hehehe.”
It was only then that Seol-Hwi took the eyes off of the dead man.
There were three men.
And also dozens of colleagues.
They seemed to be enjoying the present situation and what they thought was about to happen.
“Are you done talking?”
Then it was time to teach them.
Life. It gives pleasure to those who are strong.
“Well. Let us start then.”
When one met strong people, they also would tell you how fleeting life was.
“It is time to learn how hell is for the weak.”
