Chapter 10: 10

The whistle faded away, and then there was utter stillness.

Big Brother, as he was known, gritted his teeth. He’d prayed the whistle would end as soon as he heard it, but now that it was silent, he felt a huge sense of dread.

At this pace, they might collapse before whomever was behind it emerged.

The younger brothers next to him were already rolling their eyes uncontrollably and gripping their weapons with shaking hands.

He attempted to fake some courage once again, asking with a raised voice. “If you have busi…”

RrrRrrRrr…

At that moment, one of his younger brothers dropped his blade, which rolled onto the floor.

Hearing the metal sound, the big brother hastily turned around, and then he sighed—possibly of relief. The brawny man who had misplaced his weapon was frightened solely by the big brother’s voice.

Damn it. He nervously wiped away the cold sweat from his forehead.

Their group was so experienced that they’d done it all: kidnapping, human trafficking, and contract killing. They were engaged in all of this, and it was through this that they’d built up their reputation.

And the biggest reason why they were able to settle down on their spot for a long time was that they’d never sought to associate with the Moorim people.

To begin with, he kept his distance from the activities in which the Murim people engaged.

That was their—or rather, his—secret to staying alive.

After confirming that his younger brother had staggered back to pick up his weapon, he spoke again.

“If you have business with us, why don’t you show yourself?” He could feel his hands sweating and trembling as he attempted to seem as courteous as possible.

He’d never met a Murim people before, but he’d seen them plenty of times.

How chilling it was to watch the Murim people of the dark path [the Demonic Path], even in the organizations to which they belonged, strolling about, emitting their intense pressure.

But he’d never felt such intense anxiety as he was now.

Was this how it felt to deal directly with the Moorim people? If not, were they now facing “something” fundamentally different?

“……!” His mind then became utterly blank.

A figure emerged from across the back alley. Approaching calmly, his swing gait seemed weirdly poised.

His attire seemed to be that of a student, but because of the darkness, it was hard to distinguish the details of his face.

For whatever reason, they didn’t seem to feel the need to.

“Gh, ghost?!”

Some people also referred to it as a will-o-the-wisp.

It was originally a word for anything that was mysterious that people couldn’t comprehend, but it was often used to describe stares filled with resentment.

“Stares” people like them encountered all the time. Tooking a child from his mother, murdering her lover in front of her eyes, and selling the women to a violence master. How could they have missed such glares?

In any case, the expression “will-o’-the-wisp” was purely metaphorical.

However…

What the fuck am I seeing…?

His younger brothers let out a horrifying shriek and dropped to their knees, but he managed to keep his composure.

When that entity got close enough, though, and the big brother saw him beaming at them with his mouth wide open, he wet himself standing up.

“Hahaha. Yes, here it is.”

His mouth was filled with razor-sharp, saw-like teeth.

“It smells delicious.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Uh?” Soohyeon Yeon opened his eyes and tilted his head. His last memory was of leaving the inn, and then he caught a whiff of something delicious…

He stood up and took in his surroundings. “An underground tomb?”

The space, which was only lighted by a few shafts of light dimly falling from an unknown height ceiling, was filled with sarcophagi.

Each of those uncovered sarcophagi contained one body, and each body had a different degree of decay.

And….

“Whoa….”

“Aaaaah…!”

The corpses were squirming and wailing.

Soohyeon Yeon showed curiosity while walking around, swinging between the sarcophagi, and touching the bodies. “Hmm… “

He seemed so calm.

“As predicted, you must be the ruler of darkness’s chosen one. Tee hee hee.”

Soohyeon Yeon was not particularly stunned by the unexpected voice from behind.

He was far beyond the point of being courageous, as he had entered the realm of insanity.

“There’s mold in your throat, old guy, and it shows in your voice.”

When he turned around, he saw an old man wearing rags that were so worn out that it was hard to tell what kind of clothes they were originally.

At Soohyeon Yeon’s words, he leaned back and burst into peals of laughter. “You’re right!”

The old man’s mouth was rotted and twisted while he was laughing like a lunatic; in fact, his throat was full of mysterious mold.

Despite this bizarre sight, Soohyeon Yeon simply clicked his tongue slightly. “You’ll lose all your teeth if you don’t start taking better care of your mouth.”

In response, the old man sank to his knees, hitting the floor and busting out laughing again. “The more you speak, the more I like you!” He then nodded. “The ruler of darkness found the right one this time!”

“Wasn’t it the true master who found the monster?” Soohyeon Yeon clarified.

Upon hearing this, the old man grasped his stomach again and laughed hysterically.

Rotten bodily fluids mixed with pus flowed from his eyes, nose, and mouth, but no one gave a damn about that, at least not at this place.

The old man, who had been clapping his hands and laughing for quite some time until he was finally out of breath, panted, “Oh my, I’ve seen all kinds of seeds for such a long time, but I’ve never seen someone like you.”

Then the old man’s eyes narrowed. “By the way….”

The air temperature suddenly dropped.

The bodies, who had been wailing incomprehensibly, likewise stopped to move.

Even the faint light beams leaking in from the ceiling seemed to be weakening.

“I’m curious what you know about the ruler of darkness.”

Soohyeon Yeon remained silent.

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Heavenly Monster.

An object powerful enough to twist time and send him “Soohyeon Yeon” back in time.

Absence of the cause-and-effect law (Karma).

Absurd.

A defying scripture woven by the three immortals using their own skin, blood, and tendons.

Did he know about that monster?

Soohyeon Yeon looked straight into the eyes of the old man. Glass-bead eyes.

Contrary to his grotesque and ugly appearance, his eyes were extremely calm and clear. They were the eyes of a wise man, free of madness.

Soohyeon Yeon, who was looking into those eyes, politely asked. “Please educate me.”

“Whoa…” The old man was taken aback by Soohyeon Yeon’s behavior. “Those who are chosen by the ruler of darkness usually make two appearances in this scenario.”

The first group was the arrogant people, who thought that the only thing they lacked was “power.”

The second group were the people who were blinded by madness and had difficulty even conversing properly.

“You’re different from them.”

“What’s the big deal about admitting you don’t know what you don’t know and seeking guidance?”

When the old man saw Soohyeon Yeon’s modesty, he sneered and sat cross-legged in the air.

“What should this old man tell you about the ruler of darkness…” He lifted his eyes and gazed into nothingness. “Even this old man does not know properly about the ruler of darkness.”

That wasn’t what Soohyeon Yeon expected, but he nodded.

“That’s the point.” The old man mumbled. “Indeed.”

The old man continued to speak as he made a slow gesture in the air. “This monster hasn’t only existed for a long time; in fact, its origin is unknown.”

Soohyeon Yeon’s forehead furrowed at those words.

“In ancient times, there were immortals who were enraged, insane, and created it with their own bodies.” The old man covered his mouth. “But even that, I’m not sure.”

“Why?”

A ray of light flashed through the old man’s eyes.

The tremendous pressure emanating from him at that moment was so intense that even Soohyeon Yeon had no choice but to step back.

“Because this old man, too, is an immortal.”

“……!”

The old man laughed at himself and added, “To be precise, this old man was an immortal.”

His momentum vanished as if it had never been there.

“I’m now dirtier than dust.”

The momentum had diminished, but the repercussions were strong enough to shake the air.

“How long have I been confined to this monster called the ruler of darkness? Throughout those eons of time, I have been investigating and researching this monster.”

His hands trembled violently.

“When I found out one, it became two, and when I worked out two, it became three…” His glance darted across the air. “I didn’t stop; I couldn’t stop.”

His glassy eyes glowed with a dark void.

“And I still don’t know.”

Soohyeon Yeon took a bitter gulp. He had a faint feeling from the start, since the incident in which the ruler of darkness had sent him back in time.

However, the fact that a being, a former immortal, had been searching for it for eons and hadn’t discovered anything about it dwelling in his stomach was…

“…….”

 

As though peering into the abyss,

It was so far away that he felt dizzy.

“The monster has finally found its master…” the old man muttered. “Throughout history, numerous chosen ones have taken the reins of this monster and fought to become its master, but have failed.”

His voice was still low. “They were all like stars in the night sky, gleaming brightly.”

The breaths that flowed from Soohyeon Yeon’s mouth dispersed in the air as if shattered.

“And many of them were greater than me.”

Great beings, greater than those who had obtained immortality?

“And many of them were more talented than me.”

Great beings, with superior talents than those who had attained immortal status?

The old man let out a deep sigh. “They all failed—they all got eaten.”

He lifted his head and gazed at Soohyeon Yeon. “But I saw a gleam of hope in you.”

Soohyeon Yeon asked. “How come?”

The old man grinned slyly. “You are now the body that has completed the initiation rite. It’s just the beginning of a long journey.”

At that, Yeon-hyeon asked no more. His ego was not weak enough to find hope in others.

Instead, he asked something else. “So, what is the initiation rite?”

The old man cocked an eyebrow in surprise. “Don’t you know?”

Soohyeon Yeon tried once more to recall what had happened.

Before coming “here,” he had visited an inn in Luoyang, walked through the back alleys.…,

A delicious smell.

And….

Soohyeon Yeon’s pupils shrank slightly.

The old man laughed and snickered.

Even in the midst of this, his gaze clung to Soohyeon Yeon.

Madness rose in his glassy eyes.

He asked confidently, pointing his finger towards Soohyeon Yeon.

 

“You—

didn’t you devour them?”

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