“If someone wins at the end of this power struggle, what will be left?”
Seol-Hwi asked that question first.
Why did they have to fight?
The reason to fight—
“In any case, the lives of those who have won or been handed over will be the same, and the key positions of the key leaders will probably not change either. As always only the rankings of the people will change if they are involved in the war, so what will be different from the past?”
“So?”
Fortunately, Gu Dae-yeom was not dismissing the words of Seol-Hwi. Seol-Hwi gave strength to his voice and continued,
“In the end, this war is just a game for them, a game for those with high status, those with power. It is a fight with no real purpose to pursue victory, no reason to pursue more power. Isn’t that the reason why Warlord didn’t even take a step ahead?”
“…”
Gu Dae-yeom’s position on the chair changed a little.
He was going to speak out if useless things were spoken, but now he was curious where Seol-Hwi was going with this.
“Justice huh. Obviously it is needed. So far, the Black Demon Warlord didn’t pay attention to the reasons. He told me that I should at least bring the head of one elder. But I didn’t think it would end with just that.”
Seol-Hwi began to speak with a little more confidence now,
“How dare I think that the justification for the Warlord to act has to be something that the other disciples wouldn’t do and only the Fourth Disciple would? Would that be the reason why you have turned down the offers of the people until now?”
“What is it that you want to say?”
Seol-Hwi lowered his gaze to Gu Dae-yeom, who seemed to be glaring at him. He could feel how important this moment would be for him.
“Jeok Myung, the one who died… high ranking people hardly ever know the name of a man like this or his troops… he is such a person. Because he is the captain to those who are weak and at the bottom. He wanted to live more than anyone else. At the factions meeting dispatched by the Supreme Pavilion lord, as soon as I learned that there was a defensive circle, they tried to escape from there.”
“…”
“But in the end, he had to take his own life. Warlord, do you know why?”
Gu Dae-yeom pursed his lips and frowned. Seol-Hwi lowered the gaze for a moment and then asked,
“…It was…?”
“There was no hope.”
“…!”
Embarrassed eyes. No, looking at Gu Dae-yeom’s expression, it was closer to one of surprise.
Like someone who hastily noticed something important which had been missed.
“The unchanging future. A punishment worse than the hell one falls into. A life where nothing changes at any point is the most painful one.”
“…”
“If they try to die, at least one chance will be there to climb up. Shouldn’t we create one where at least that much can be given? If we are the victors in this struggle for power.”
The Fourth Disciple was different from other disciples. He wanted to not just win the power struggle but to also change the Demonic sect.
The other disciples do not have such a cause, so in the end the one who had the greatest reason for getting things done was the Fourth Disciple.
Seol-Hwi continued,
“I will ask the Black Demon Warlord. What is the value of the captain of the Black Moon Troops, who wanted to live a lie despite being at one of the lowest positions, by the name Jeok Myung? How much will the Warlord look at the head of the man which the other disciples wouldn’t even pay attention to?”
Gu Dae-yeom didn’t say it, but Seol-Hwi felt it. The warriors representing the sect—
As a superior who led such warriors, his gaze was clear.
There was no choice but to think differently from the Heavenly Demon’s Disciples who stood at the top and gave orders.
“Huhuhu.”
Gu Dae-yeom laughed.
Seol-Hwi felt uneasy at that moment.
Because that laugh did not feel good.
“I will not price it that high.”
And his anxiety turned real as Seol-Hwi asked,
“May I ask why?”
“The world is innately unfair. Even if there are many chances given to a few people, it makes sense that some aren’t given any. Sme do not live long from their birth, and some do bad things and enjoy wealth and honor until they hit 100. That is the reality of the world and it sounds like you don’t appreciate that.”
It was a sharp rebuttal.
There were many things one would not like about the world, but that is part of the world they live in. It was always unfair.
If one denied it, they were blind and unable to see the world for what it was. And their blindness would render them unable to change a thing about the world.
Gu Dae-yeom said,
“Unjust people exist everywhere. At times as such, we should remind ourselves of what values we pursue. Our sect is a place where the logic of strength comes first. Strong pride. That is the spirit of the sect and the strength which guides us.”
The opponent hit an iron wall. Even so, Seol-Hwi looked calm. Like he knew that this could be salvaged.
“Then it is even more important for the Warlord to take our side.”
“What?”
“If the Warlord wants to reveal the strength he possesses to this world, would it be better to take the side which has the lowest reputation or the one with the highest one?”
“…”
“Strength isn’t just a number. It is something which is relative. No matter how strong a person is, he gets called weak when there are those stronger than him. No matter how weak you are, you get called strong when there are weaker ones next to you.”
Go Dae-yeom’s face twisted. As Seol-Hwi thought, this man was not easy to talk to.
On the other hand, he wondered what kind of life he had lived.
After a moment of silence passed, this time, Gu Dae-yeom spoke.
“The reason why the elder is needed isn’t just for a cause. This is the minimum condition for the Warlord to move.”
Seol-Hwi’s eyes widened at those words. The opponent’s attitude had changed. At least now, his expression was not one of straight up denial but one ready to hear him out.
“It doesn’t have to be an elder of the Nine Great Sects, but it has to be the head of someone who has a reputation or is known in Kangho.”
At those words, Seol-Hwi opened his mouth,
“How would you like it if it was the disciple of the elder of Mount Hua, Goo Jong-myung?”
“…?”
“The guy I luckily caught this time. He is also related to the First Disciple of our sect.”
“Hooo.”
Gu Dae-yeom’s expression changed. Certainly, unlike before, it contained a positive meaning. After a moment of silence, he said,
“Let’s see again.”
Was this a failure or a success?
Seol-Hwi could not say anything.
He did not think that capturing Lee Gu-myung would be useful, a disciple to Goo Jong-myung.
With a name like that, it was more than enough to meet the requirements of the Black Demon Warlord. But he was not going to relax yet.
In the end, Gu Dae-yeom would be the one making the final decision, and he would not know until he spoke.
More than that, Seol-Hwi was worried about what he would say.
Life is innately unfair.
He tried to convince the opponent, but it was not easy to refute the words he had said. Because they were the truth.
Yet, he could not accept it.
If he admitted it was all simply injustice, most of his life would be denied.
The Fourth Disciple could not surpass the First Disciple, and it would not matter whether or not the Supreme Demon Lord abandoned the lowest and weakest people of the sect. Because the world is unfair.
But it cannot be like that.
Seol-Hwi felt complicated.
Life was not fair, but he could not put it into words that hope was what should be given to all.
It was frustrating.
What kind of person was Gu Dae-yeom? On one hand, he wanted the guy to talk a little. to know what he was thinking.
And he wanted to learn what he lacked.
“Did it go well?”
There was a woman who welcomed Seol-Hwi back to the residence.
He entered the room without much thought and was shaken by the beauty of Cheon Miryo.
“Ah, are you here?”
After responding in an awkward manner, Seol-Hwi collapsed into the chair. Cheon Miryo, who was watching the scene said,
“How did it go?”
“I don’t know.”
Seol-Hwi lowered his head as he sat in the chair and looked at the ceiling again.
What have I done?
He was filled with regret.
The situation with his answer, he did not take the easy choice of going after the head of an elder of the Nine Great Sects. In addition, he chose the one that did not fit the situation at all.
He was excessively involved in the matter of Jeok Myung, who bullied and harassed him.
Was it a failure because I got too caught up in my emotions?
It was unknown now.
He just wanted to get out of the choices the system made. His direction was not aligned with the direction he was pursuing.
But that did not mean he was not sure about the actions he had taken.
“Anyway, you worked hard. It would have been difficult to convince him in a normal way,”
Cheon Miryo said in a calm tone. Seol-Hwi’s gaze, as he was lost in thought, turned to her.
“What are you talking about?”
“Even if I gave what he wanted, it wouldn’t have been easy to convince him.”
Seol-Hwi calmly thought and then asked,
“…How do you know that?”
“Just. Figured it would be like that.”
Seol-Hwi avoided her eyes as those words came, and he thought she was trying to comfort him. Well, it could not have been wrong.
Because she knew better about the Warlord than him.
“It is important from now on.”
“…”
“Unlike the past, we need to find answers which are more than just correct. If we cannot create something like that, the end is bound to come.”
Seol-Hwi frowned at her words.
“You speak like someone who took a look into my future.”
“I don’t know the future, but I do know that there is a lot of hard work to do.”
“Miss Cheon, about my life. It isn’t as obvious and easy as one might think.”
“…”
“The future cannot be predicted… Between life and death, we find the best answer. Even if we don’t like the answer, even if it holds a twist in life.”
Seol-Hwi looked at her and continued,
“So abandon the advice at that.”
Frankly, he was irritated. She was talking as if she was looking down on the world.
There was no way she knew what he had been through, having lived an enjoyable life all alone in her closed training.
She did not have anything to say back to him, and when the silence continued for long, Seol-Hwi tried to send her out of the place.
“Is the life of a player significantly different from that of a normal person’s?”
“…!”
Seol-Hwi’s body went stiff.
At that moment, the words that he thought he misheard came from her mouth.
“No matter how life is made by the system, there are things which aren’t simply decided by it. It isn’t possible for it to determine human thoughts and emotions. Like how everyone cannot be controlled.”
“…You…”
“When you do that, there will be loopholes which we have never thought of. Either someone finds out about the player’s existence or they know and hide.”
Seol-Hwi seemed to have a twitch in his eye.
The third time now—
The words she was saying—
The third one to know about the system.
“But one thing is for sure, they half know me and half don’t. So, whether or not Seol-Hwi is on the right path is yet to be determined.”
Seol-Hwi was dumbfounded at her words. And her words which followed next were even more shocking to him.
“So wait quietly. Until it shakes up the world view that these ones created.”
