Chapter 476: For You Who Was Forgotten by Oblivion.

Thump thump.

Beyond the barrier, I could feel the old man Shin’s death throes.

Still, I tried my best to ignore the old geezer and faced Tang Jemun.

Recalling the words I’d just heard, my mind raced.

‘So, Tang Jemun’s words then.’

According to old man Shin’s story, the young lady of the Moyong family was apparently involved in… that kind of relationship with Noe Cheon-ilgeom.

For some reason, Tang Jemun’s reaction just now seemed to imply there was some kind of circumstance.

Ah, of course.

‘I’m not particularly curious.’

Honestly, I was a little curious, but judging by Tang Jemun’s expression, it didn’t seem like something I could ask comfortably.

Maybe it was because I mentioned the Moyong family just before.

For now, it was best to pretend I didn’t know and get straight to the point.

“Senior.”

I called out to Tang Jemun cautiously, and her emerald eyes turned towards me.

There was still a murderous aura lingering, and I was definitely sweating bullets internally.

I had to ask.

Calming my trembling gaze, I asked her.

“Why did you send me to that place?”

Hearing my question, Tang Jemun tilted her head slightly.

Her green hair swayed along with it.

What answer would I hear?

As I waited in silence with a serious expression.

“How was it.”

Tang Jemun’s voice reached me.

“Pardon?”

“How was that place you were sent to, my descendant?”

“What are you talking about right now…?”

Suddenly asking how that place was?

As I stared at Tang Jemun, full of questions.

Tang Jemun suddenly lowered her body and sat down on the floor.

‘Huh?’

Seeing that, I had to widen my eyes.

As soon as Tang Jemun sat down, the same dining table from before appeared in front of us.

Two teacups had materialized on top of it.

‘…Didn’t she just smash them all?’

I saw Tang Jemun blow them all away just moments ago. For them to suddenly reappear like this.

What kind of messed-up world is this place, anyway?

Questions flooded my mind, but.

“…”

First, I cautiously sat down in front of Tang Jemun.

Because I knew she wanted me to.

Swoosh-

Following Tang Jemun’s movements, tea filled the teacups.

As I quietly watched the rising liquid, Tang Jemun’s voice reached me.

“What did you see? Or did you change anything?”

At Tang Jemun’s words, my brow furrowed involuntarily.

I couldn’t help it.

“…I couldn’t do anything. Absolutely nothing.”

I hadn’t done jack shit in the place I was sent to for this ‘test’.

What exactly did she expect me to have seen or done?

‘All I saw was….’

My own pathetic past history.

What was I supposed to have experienced in this test?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.

With those feelings, I asked Tang Jemun.

“You called this the ‘Test of Regret,’ Senior.”

“Yes.”

“You also said that no matter what I did, nothing would change.”

“That’s right.”

“Considering I couldn’t do anything and was dragged back here anyway, what exactly was this test for?”

I couldn’t understand anything.

What did I do there? What did I gain?

What could possibly have satisfied them enough to drag me back here?

“I couldn’t do anything.”

Facing the life of my past incarnation, which I regretted endlessly.

Was that the content of the test?

Or perhaps.

Did they want to show me that no matter how much I struggled, nothing would change?

Whatever it was.

What I had seen weighed on my mind, leaving me feeling so uneasy.

‘What is this.’

What was I supposed to have felt?

If it was a test, I should be here because I felt something and resolved it.

But I truly hadn’t done anything.

With my frustrating feelings, I asked Tang Jemun.

“…What exactly was I supposed to do?”

“Descendant.”

“Yes.”

“I told you at the beginning. This test has no success or failure.”

Yes, she definitely said that.

Right before starting the Test of Regret.

Tang Jemun clearly told me this.

-The test you will receive has no success or failure.

-By the time the test ends. Whatever thoughts you, my descendant, come to have. It doesn’t matter what they are.

No success or failure.

Was it because I took those words too simply?

No, even so.

“…I still don’t understand what this test means.”

I never would have imagined being put in this situation.

“What was I supposed to do there…?”

I faced my past self.

I faced the woman who died for me, and the woman who killed me.

I also faced the woman called a calamity upon the world.

It wasn’t like there was no harvest from these encounters.

Meeting the Blood Demon, I learned about the multitude of worlds and the reasons for their existence.

I rebuilt my vessel, abandoning my humanity, yet gained power.

Furthermore.

‘Sword Demon Empress.’

I also had time to truly feel that the Sword Demon Empress, no, Namgung Bi-ah, was her in every life.

But.

‘So what?’

Even after going through such processes. It’s still all a mystery.

What was I supposed to have seen when I was sent to those worlds?

I certainly didn’t go there just to gain insights like these.

Hearing my words, Tang Jemun quietly took a sip of tea.

A gentle movement, so quiet I couldn’t even hear her drink.

After that smooth action.

Tang Jemun looked at me again and spoke.

“Descendant.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know which world you went to, descendant. Or what you saw there.”

“…What?”

My eyes twitched at Tang Jemun’s words.

You don’t know anything?

“Then, what was the purpose of this test?”

What was I sent there for?

At first, it was for the Poison Heaven Pill, but now, I just feel an inexplicable unease all over.

“…I…”

“The name of this test is ‘Regret and Lingering Attachment’.”

“…”

These were the words I heard when Tang Jemun told me about the test.

“Furthermore, descendant, it is a test to face your own regrets and lingering attachments.”

“I don’t understand.”

My regrets and lingering attachments.

Are they regrets and attachments towards the Divine Sword?

Or perhaps, regrets and attachments towards the Sword Demon Empress?

At first, I thought it might be that, recalling the Sword Demon Empress’s death.

But.

‘It was none of that.’

I didn’t even get close to the Sword Demon Empress’s death.

Instead, the situation was concluded when the Heavenly Demon appeared.

Why did the Heavenly Demon appear there?

I couldn’t know that either.

Was it because the steps of the Three Saints reached the land of Sichuan?

Did He descend directly because He noticed that?

From Xijiang, where the Heavenly Demon resides, to Sichuan?

It doesn’t matter how He noticed, or how He covered that distance in an instant.

The perception that anything was possible for the ‘Heavenly Demon’ was deeply ingrained in me.

And indeed, the Heavenly Demon was such a being.

Since such a being appeared and the test was forcibly ended.

“I couldn’t properly face any regrets or lingering attachments.”

I simply couldn’t understand this situation.

“I…”

“No.”

Just as I was about to continue speaking, Tang Jemun cut me off with a firm voice.

“You have finished this test, descendant.”

“…Finished what, exactly?”

I felt suffocated, as if I were about to burst.

“I really didn’t…”

“If it’s over, shouldn’t you just be happy?”

“…!”

Tang Jemun’s words felt like they clamped my mouth shut.

“If you experienced nothing and the test ended without anything happening, you could even consider it fortunate.”

“That’s…”

“So why are you agonizing and struggling like this, descendant?”

Listening to her, I suddenly clenched my fist.

Because what she said was somewhat true.

Right.

‘…Why?’

A world that had nothing to do with me.

A world that might have already disappeared.

If I gained information and some sort of fortuitous encounter, ending the test wouldn’t be bad for me.

So why.

‘Am I getting this angry?’

Is it the lingering attachment from not being able to speak with the Divine Sword?

Or the lingering attachment towards the Sword Demon Empress upon meeting her?

Or perhaps.

Is it self-reproach for still being unable to do anything despite facing the Heavenly Demon?

If it’s not even that….

‘Is the problem that I didn’t smack that idiot?’

Is it anger that I faced my past self but didn’t beat him up like catching a rat?

I don’t know.

I don’t know, but I was definitely angry.

As I was overwhelmed by unknown emotions, my mind becoming hazy.

“The regret you faced.”

Tang Jemun looked at me and spoke.

“Is about things you should have known, or should have remembered, but didn’t.”

“What kind of…”

Shitty bullshit.

I almost spat out, but managed to hold back.

Because even if anger surged, I couldn’t cross the line.

However, even though I didn’t speak, Tang Jemun seemed to vaguely guess what I was going to say.

“I hoped you wouldn’t make the same choice as me.”

“…Senior. If you’re going to explain, do it properly….”

“Your body, descendant, feels it after experiencing it. That is not anger.”

This isn’t anger? If this isn’t anger, then what is?

“Terribly deep sorrow can sometimes feel like anger.”

“…Do I look like I’m grieving right now?”

“If not, then why are you crying?”

“…?”

I frowned at Tang Jemun’s words.

Crying? I wasn’t crying.

I raised my hand to check my cheek, but as expected, there were no tears flowing.

What on earth made her judge that I was crying?

I stared at Tang Jemun with a strange expression, but.

Perhaps ignoring me, Tang Jemun simply continued speaking.

“It’s about oblivion.”

Oblivion.

That familiar yet difficult word brushed past my heart.

It felt like it had struck a deep chord.

“Sometimes it offers comfort, but it inevitably leaves a trace for those left behind.”

“Why are you suddenly talking about that?”

“You might think you’ve erased everything, but unfortunately, you can’t erase it all.”

Why?

I wanted to yell at Tang Jemun right away.

To speak properly.

“This test signifies your regrets and lingering attachments, descendant, but it is also…”

But I couldn’t.

I felt like someone was covering my mouth, preventing me from doing so.

“…a record for the forgotten.”

“The forgotten?”

“Descendant, what did you forget? And what did you face there?”

“…”

I couldn’t answer Tang Jemun’s question.

The reason is simple. I don’t know what I forgot.

I know the Divine Sword’s life.

I remember the Sword Demon Empress’s death.

I haven’t forgotten those who died for me.

So what exactly did I forget?

“It’s okay if you can’t remember. As I said, this test has no success or failure.”

“…Your words just sound like wordplay to me, Senior.”

My words had become somewhat harsh, but even after hearing them, Tang Jemun merely nodded slightly.

Feeling stifled, I took a sip of tea.

Just then.

Vwoom,

“…!”

As the tea went down my throat, my body began to vibrate.

Feeling an unknown vibration, I jumped up from my seat.

“What… what did you just do?”

It was clear Tang Jemun had done something to me, so I looked at her with urgent eyes.

Was it poison? It didn’t feel like poison, but something had definitely happened, so I couldn’t help but raise my guard.

“I… don’t want them to be forgotten.”

She looked up at me with wistful eyes and said.

“Originally, I hoped Shin-cheol would experience this, but I’m glad it was you.”

“So… you’re admitting you did something to me?”

“I’m sorry.”

What did she do? I have no idea.

I was boiling with frustration because I didn’t know what was happening, but Tang Jemun just smiled sadly.

“She might wish to be forgotten, but that’s such a sad thing, isn’t it?”

“What else did you do to me? Why are you all so hell-bent on getting me?”

My respectful speech was practically shattered by now.

It was too much to maintain respect in this situation.

Why do these damned ghosts of the past keep grabbing me and trying to do something?

My life is already shitty enough as it is.

“What you swallowed, descendant, is a fragment of oblivion.”

“…A fragment of oblivion?”

“Originally… Shin-cheol was supposed to swallow it. But this must be fate too.”

Tang Jemun suddenly reached out her hand into the air.

RUMBLE-

With her gesture, the pure white space slowly began to scatter.

“I believe you will be different from us.”

Hearing that, I guessed something was about to happen.

“Trying to disappear after talking only about yourselves again…!”

These people are always pulling this crap, it’s so damn annoying.

I tried to grab Tang Jemun, filled with all sorts of emotions, but.

Snap-

With the sound of Tang Jemun lightly snapping her fingers.

“…!”

I was transported not to the original white space, but to a different one.

“Ah, fuck…”

Should I call this fortunate?

The place I suddenly arrived at was somewhere I knew.

I couldn’t possibly not know it.

The hidden place beneath the lake where I first met Tang Jemun.

The space where the Poison Heaven Pill and the White Horse Stone were piled up.

It was exactly that place.

---

“…”

Right after sending Gu Yangcheon away.

Tang Jemun gazed at one spot with eyes full of various emotions.

It was the teacup Gu Yangcheon had drunk from.

For some reason, Tang Jemun looked at it with sad eyes.

Tang Jemun, who had been quietly staying there without a word.

Suddenly uttered a single word inwardly.

‘Was this truly the right thing to do?’

These were words spoken to someone who could no longer hear.

It wasn’t recorded in history.

And they were words directed towards a woman whom later generations likely couldn’t remember properly.

‘I’m sorry.’

Nevertheless, Tang Jemun offered her apology.

She knew.

Tang Jemun knew well that she would respect her choice.

Because that’s the kind of person she was.

However, even knowing that, the feelings pent up in her heart didn’t disappear.

Rather, they only deepened and intensified.

The iron-blooded woman who protected the Moyong family alone.

Thinking of her, Tang Jemun closed her eyes for a moment.

As she took a moment to catch her breath.

“…Ah, damn it all.”

A familiar yet nostalgic voice reached her ears.

“What the hell is this prank?!”

At the old man’s voice, Tang Jemun smiled.

That person is still the same.

That’s what she thought.

“Huh? Where did this brat go?”

“I sent him ahead.”

“What?”

Looking at the old man’s fierce face, Tang Jemun said with a smile.

“I had something to discuss with you alone.”

The meeting she had waited for so long.

Rather than a woman’s heart and her own love.

The giant of Huasan whose conviction to save the world came first.

Facing the man who was more than worthy of being called a hero, the woman smiled.

Of course, Shin-cheol’s expression upon seeing that smile was somewhat awkward.

The woman looked at the old man and called his name.

“Shin-cheol.”

“Huh?”

The old man frowned accordingly.

Seeing that, Tang Jemun brought out the words she had held for a long time.

There was no hesitation.

It had been too many years to ponder, so she had already decided on the answer long ago.

“I missed you. Very… very much.”

Words that pierced her like madness.

At the woman’s words, finally spoken.

“…Uh, uh… yeah…”

The annoyed expression vanished, replaced by a thoroughly awkward one on Shin-cheol’s face.

The reason was simple.

‘Why the hell is that bastard acting like this?’

Because to Shin-cheol, Tang Jemun wasn’t a woman, but a man.