Seol-Hwi stood motionlessly.
When his opponent didn’t fall even after doing everything he could, Seol-Hwi lost his will.
This is why he did not move, despite the incoming attack of his enemy.
“…!”
However, the attack was blocked from an unexpected place.
Surprisingly, it was Seo Ryeong who stopped it.
She was holding her dagger and threw it right at Lee Gu-myung.
Surprised, Lee Gu-myung jumped back.
“Got you!”
At that moment, a man jumped off the ground and grabbed him.
It was Imugi. Even amidst his throat bleeding out, he did everything he could before his life ended.
Lee Gu-myung was shocked at this.
“Hurry!”
As he released powerful energy from his spear, Yorim cried out with a pale face.
His spear, launched with his one remaining arm, pierced Lee Gu-myung.
As a strong energy burst from Lee Gu-myung, everyone thought the fight was over. But then everything turned to smoke, which disappeared.
The person on the ground was Imugi, with his head blown off.
“You were nothing, so I forgot for a while….”
He must have killed Imugi, before Yorim launched his spear.
“The only good rats are dead ones.”
But this didn’t mean the attack was useless.
Blood was gushing out of Lee Gu-myung’s shoulder.
“Right. I’ll make sure you never get the chance to breathe again!”
“…Seo-Seo Ryeong!”
Seeing where Lee Gu-Myung was heading, Yorim shouted. Seo Ryeong, who anticipated it, drew the dagger she prepared. But…
Swish!
One strike.
With just one strike from Lee Gu-myung, Seo Ryeong too had her head cut off.
“Captain!”
Yorim shouted for Seol-Hwi.
But the man still stood there blankly.
His trembling gaze fell on Yorim.
“Run away! I’ll buy some time. I don’t know how long I’ll last… but I’ll try.”
“…Yorim…?”
“Captain, hurry!”
At Yorim’s plea, Seol-Hwi’s eyes teared up. Seeing this, Yorim looked relieved.
Yorim chose to fight against Lee Gu-myung. He grabbed the spear with his remaining arm and ran.
“Please look at the wider world and devote yourself to….”
And those were his last words.
Lee Gu-myung’s swordsmanship cut Yorim’s spear in an instant.
After that, it was too easy to take his head.
“Hehehe.”
Drip. Drop.
Blood was falling down from his sword.
Lee Gu-myung smiled as if he felt happy now.
“Now the troublesome brats are gone.”
Seol-Hwi’s eyes fluttered.
All his subordinates were dead.
And Seol-Hwi left with their cold corpses.
Why did you have to go this far…!
To be honest, Seol-Hwi didn’t understand their actions.
Life ends when one dies. Why did they rush to give up their lives?
Unlike him, they had just one life.
“There was one thing I was envious of when dealing with the disgusting demonic bastards.”
Lee Gu-myung spoke to Seol-Hwi.
“The more they are engulfed in it, the more they are blindly loyal to their captain. I am quite fond of it. Can’t I just pick a few and prune them at the right time?”
“…”
“But, you’re quite pathetic too, aren’t you? Those brats suffered so much until the end to protect your noble life.”
His sarcasm didn’t stop. Each word was like a stab to Seol-Hwi’s conscience.
His subordinates who threw away their lives for him.
And he who had four lives, but didn’t fight properly.
When he saw this ugly sight, his emotions revived.
I wasn’t always afraid.
He had fought to survive.
Even in the face of death, he didn’t hesitate to always break through.
So from when?
When everything turned negative.
So that the number of lives he had didn’t decrease, and he only got more.
He lived like that.
Calculating it thoroughly.
“Don’t get eaten by the system.”
The voice of the AI which shouted at him a while back was vividly coming into his mind.
The system is a terrible poison.
Is it right to drink it? Or avoid it?
Lee Gu-myung moved to narrow the distance between him and Seol-Hwi.
Seol-Hwi didn’t stay still.
Clang!
Another fight was underway.
But it happened again. Once Seol-Hwi was struck by his opponent’s sword, his technique began to unravel.
“Kuak! Ack!”
Seol-Hwi couldn’t even defend properly.
The sharpness of Mount Hua’s sword wasn’t something he could accept yet.
Lee Gu-myung is an official disciple of Mount Hua who has accumulated a long list of martial arts and experience. There was a gap there that couldn’t be overcome with determination alone.
Moreover, Seol-Hwi’s internal energy and health were already low.
Seol-Hwi looked down at his body.
A wound to such a degree that it would be impossible for him to heal.
If he wasn’t wearing his armor and clothes, he would have died already.
“Do you know why I didn’t kill you right away?”
Lee Gu-myung, who had stopped attacking to speak to Seol-Hwi in a relaxed manner, smiled and said,
“That look. Those eyes filled with hopelessness and helplessness make my heart flutter. It’s quite fun to see.”
Seol-Hwi remained upright, even when he was severely wounded. He was looking at Lee Gu-myung with clenched teeth.
Did this seem fun?
“No matter how much you try, you’re just another cannon fodder. Those at the top are already moving to change the world, faster than you can dream of.”
“…”
“There is no room for people like you to join. So die in peace.”
Lee Gu-myung, who was watching his opponent, frowned. Seol-Hwi was not giving him the reaction he wanted.
So he prepared to end it once and for all…
“Now I think I understand, at least a little.”
Seol-Hwi shook his head.
“Why do I have to fight like this? I mean, I need to take chances and move forward.”
“…?”
“I need to go crazy. How much the system can wrestle against the fate set for me, how much I can make myself fight against it.”
“What are you saying?”
Seol-Hwi showed off his gums with a huge smile. And then spoke with a blank expression.
“It’s an opportunity. If you can’t find it…make it.”
“I don’t want to hear this anymore.”
Ignoring Seol-Hwi’s words, Lee Gu-myung injected his energy into his sword and then issued a final warning.
“Now, prepare yourself….”
And they both attacked each other.
“…!”
Lee Gu-myung’s sword pierced his stomach, but Seol-Hwi didn’t panic.
With trembling hands, he grabbed the sword that was digging into his body.
“It’s done.”
Seeing Seol-Hwi stare at him, Lee Gu-myung’s expression changed.
He tried to retrieve his sword, but…
“Idiot.”
The last move, Wind God.
Seol-Hwi’s hands were still on Lee Gu-myung’s sword.
“It’s like this.”
What did Seol-Hwi’s last words mean?
Until then, Lee Gu-myung didn’t know.
Formidable energy rose in the air and rushed through the sword and into the hands of Lee Gu-myung.
And it pierced into his body and engulfed it.
An energy that couldn’t be suppressed.
Lee Gu-myung tried to subdue it with cultivation.
Kwaang!
In the end, with the sound of an explosion, his body exploded beyond recognition.
“No more… will I be eaten.”
Seol-Hwi was falling slowly. His face looked wretched.
<Combat power increased.> <Received the Plum Blossom Sword technique.>
Darkness began to fill his vision, but Seol-Hwi took hold of his mind. He had work to do.
“I didn’t fight you right….”
<Do you want to put the Sword of Reverence in the toolbox?> <Do you want to put the shoes in the toolbox?>
The sword and shoes cannot be lost.
He was grateful for having a toolbox.
This was the last thing.
<The Sword of Reverence and shoes have been placed in the toolbox.>
Phrases appeared.
<3 lives left.>
And the lives left were shown to Seol-Hwi.
▶ Start from the beginning
▷ Continue
▷ Recall from saved point
Seol-Hwi had three save files.
□ 95th year in the Heavenly Year. Chapter 2-1. Three choices presented by the Earth Demon.
■ 97th year in the Heavenly Year. Chapter 5-9. Succeeded in training the members. 9 months after getting Imugi.
□ 95th year in the Heavenly Year, chapter 3-8 [Succeeded in becoming a core warrior] 1st bonus story
The first save was the three choices presented by the Earth Demon.
Seol-Hwi had no intention of going that far back. A life already at the crossroads had come to an end.
The third save was his first year of growth.
He had no intention of going there either. How much effort did he make into gaining the trust of his subordinates?
Seol-Hwi went for the second one. He would always save to this file before going to bed.
So, before receiving the mission, he had made sure to save.
“…”
Even though he confirmed that he was back in his room, Seol-Hwi felt out of place.
The death of his subordinates.
It kept flashing in front of his eyes.
Their cries, asking him to run, the last moments of terrible pain they went through.
“They should be alive…”
Right.
Now that he was back in the past, all his subordinates who risked their lives for him would still be fine.
“But, what is this feeling….”
The emotions which he hadn’t felt since first getting the system.
