Ch.213EP.48 – Men’s Farewells Don’t Need Many Words.

The military is a love-hate relationship for men.

Anyone who’s served even once would understand this meaning.

Something you can neither completely hate nor completely love…

It wasn’t entirely bad, but when you recall it, only terrible memories come to mind…

There were certainly enjoyable and meaningful experiences, but as time passes and you look back, you realize they weren’t entirely meaningful…

Someone listening might say I’m being unnecessarily philosophical, but many would probably relate.

That’s what a love-hate relationship is.

Just like a girlfriend who wears her rubber shoes backward…

“Why do you keep talking to yourself? Besides, you’ve never even dated a woman.”

“…Sergeant Dokgo, don’t attack people with facts.”

“Hey! Call me Platoon Leader! This isn’t inside the army, it’s outside!”

“Dear Counselor…”

“…Just call me hyung.”

Sergeant Dokgo grumbled complaints at him, and Ihan watched with curiosity as he muttered to himself, “Ah, if only I hadn’t been promoted, I would’ve hit this bastard.”

‘This feels so real.’

Not just his face, but his manner of speaking and personality were exactly like the Sergeant Dokgo he knew.

This hyung’s father had read an impressive martial arts novel and named him “Gupae.” Perhaps influenced by his name, he had a magnanimous side.

He never treated soldiers carelessly and knew how to take care of them. Even when people like Ihan called him “hyung,” he would just grumble but let it slide.

That’s why even soldiers with the firm belief that “officers are the main enemy!” would designate Sergeant Dokgo as “one of us.”

‘He was a good person…’

Only those who know understand what an incredible achievement it is for an officer to be considered “one of us.”

Ihan couldn’t help but smile.

“Why are you grinning?”

“Nothing, just happy to see your face.”

“…?”

“It’s just one of those things.”

“…Crazy bastard.”

…There was no need to simulate even the cursing so realistically.

‘What a twisted [Trap].’

And an extremely vicious one at that…

* * *

Ihan didn’t need much time to realize he had fallen into a vicious trap.

There was some confusion, but he understood this was an “illusion.”

And at that…

‘An extremely well-crafted illusion.’

An illusion where all five senses and even pain felt real.

The coolness of the wind could be felt, food had taste, and exercise made him breathless and painful.

With sensations feeling so real, others might have wondered if they had actually been resurrected in their past life.

But Ihan didn’t ignore the “sense of incongruity” tickling at the corner of his mind.

Uneasiness.

That discomfort, which he could name as such, made him recognize this world as an illusion.

Above all, the greatest evidence was…

Bang!

“Wow! Ihan, how did your fist make a gunshot sound?!”

“Amazing…!”

Gyeong, his self-created martial art, was proof of his effort and what history had taught him.

…That this world was nothing but an illusion.

‘The reactions are ever so slightly delayed.’

Microscopically slight.

An ordinary person probably wouldn’t even notice such subtlety.

It was just a tiny element at the micro level.

But how many times had these micro-level differences saved Ihan’s life?

Ihan might deny everything else, but he couldn’t deny his own efforts.

That would be an insult to his life.

So this world was full of lies.

‘How do I wake up?’

He recognized it was an illusion.

Then there must be a way to break it.

That would be…

“-Ah, but there’s something I need to do first.”

Ihan suddenly remembered there was something he needed to do in this illusion.

Namely…

“-Hey, you crazy bastard! How could you beat up the battalion commander and his son like that!”

“But it felt good, didn’t it?”

“…That’s not the point…!!”

“Hehehe.”

“Don’t laugh like that, you jerk!”

Ihan laughed heartily inside the military prison.

It was an undeniably satisfying moment, like clearing a decade-old—no, a 40-year-old blockage.

* * *

In his previous life, he had several people he held grudges against.

The number one on his list was undoubtedly the battalion commander and the lieutenant, the commander’s son, who had been the source of stress during his time as a non-commissioned officer.

In his previous life, when being obedient and living kindly like a pushover was considered virtuous, those two were nothing short of mortal enemies.

Even beating them for seven hours straight was honestly lenient compared to what they had done to him.

However, Ihan still had many more people to beat up.

‘Since it’s just an illusion anyway, might as well settle some grudges.’

As long as he didn’t know how to get out, shouldn’t he enjoy this world?

Boom!

Ihan promptly escaped from the military prison.

There was no point in staying when he’d just be punished for insubordination and assaulting a superior officer. If he was going to be punished anyway, he might as well do everything he wanted first.

Although his physical body possessed strength that was insignificant compared to his main body’s capabilities, even such modest power would be treated like Kryptonian-level in modern society.

Ihan went after his revenge targets one by one.

“It’s been a while, teacher.”

“W-who…?”

“They say perpetrators don’t remember their victims, and it feels disgusting even in an illusion. Well, you don’t need to remember. Let’s just have you take as many hits as you gave me.”

He gouged out the spine and eyeballs of the teacher who had treated him as less than human because he had no money and no parents.

“Living so well, you bastards. I guess you have to live badly to make a lot of money? Nothing but foreign cars, damn it.”

“H-how did you get here…?”

“That’s not important. What matters is that I can’t forgive you.”

“W-wait…!”

For the school bullies, he gave them the full course of bone-breaking and muscle-twisting.

How pleased they must have been, expressing their joy as every bone and muscle in their bodies twisted.

And then…

“Y-you! Why are you here?!”

“Ah, I felt like beating you up once wasn’t enough.”

“D-don’t come near me! Stay away!!”

He went back to beat up the battalion commander and his son again.

Could anything be more refreshing than this?

‘Wow, who says revenge is empty?’

“Anyone who says that has never taken revenge.”

“……”

“Oh, is that you, Sergeant Dokgo?”

“…Hey, shit. Take it easy, you crazy bastard…”

Dokgo Gupae, who had been behind him for who knows how long, approached while messing up his hair, having said nothing while Ihan beat up the father and son.

“Then you should have stopped me, instead of just standing there.”

“Would you have listened if I tried?”

“Probably not.”

“Right, you’re that kind of guy.”

“……”

Ihan observed Dokgo Gupae carefully, and after a while, he nodded.

“…You’re not really Sergeant Dokgo, are you?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“You seem to imitate others well, but you failed at imitating Sergeant Dokgo. Maybe you’re the reason I’m more convinced this world is an illusion?”

“……”

“The Dokgo Gupae I know is an even bigger martial arts fanatic than me. He’d be more curious about the techniques I’m using than about my indiscriminate revenge. But you show no interest in my techniques? That’s not the Dokgo Gupae I know.”

The person who had guided Ihan into the world of martial arts novels, and who at some point even discussed martial arts novels with him.

If Ihan had a martial arts mentor, it would be none other than Dokgo Gupae.

“With a name like that, he was probably teased as a child, but because of his name, he came to love martial arts too much.”

“……”

“So, who are you? Are you the master of this illusion?”

“…Hmm, I didn’t expect to be caught for such an absurd reason…”

The man with Dokgo Gupae’s face wore a dejected expression.

As if he hadn’t expected to be discovered so quickly.

And also…

“I didn’t expect you to pass through the ‘Gateway’ so quickly either.”

“…Gateway?”

“That’s the name of this world you call an illusion. It’s like a security device to block illegal intruders. This is the first time it’s been activated in nearly 300 years.”

“That bastard, acting all high and mighty…”

Ihan thought of the spear wielder.

He had thought he was impressive, but in reality, he had just fallen into this trap.

“Don’t blame him too much. Even though it’s illegal entry, you still broke through. And this Gateway isn’t all bad. There are many benefits you can gain from it. For example, you can overcome past traumas.”

“…But since I’m just hitting illusions, it doesn’t really mean much, does it?”

“Hmm, I can’t be so definitive about that.”

“?”

“This Gateway is [Mystery] itself. Thanks to the numerous priests’ holy laws and the power of the sacred relic inside the Holy Treasury, it can construct a world as real as reality… It can even summon existing ‘souls,’ even if they are characters from ‘another world.'”

“!?!!”

Ihan’s eyes flashed at those words.

That means…!

“Then I…”

“You’ve taken your revenge. Since you struck their souls, they’ll probably spend their entire lives in pain without knowing why, and various misfortunes will keep befalling them. Their remaining lives will become miserable.”

“…My goodness.”

Ihan was more astonished than ever before.

Honestly, after reincarnating, he had forcibly put aside all his past grudges, but he never expected them to be resolved in this way.

‘No wonder the satisfaction felt different, and my heart feels so clear…’

What luck!

Ihan opened his eyes wide, unable to understand why this was called a gateway or security device.

It was truly a miraculous coincidence.

To Ihan’s thoughts…

“No, it is a gateway. Normally, people wouldn’t be able to maintain their memories or sense of self in this gateway. Originally, you would have been assimilated into this gateway and struggled forever in your trauma. It’s only because you’re a knight with a ‘trained soul’ that you can maintain your memories and sense of self.”

“……”

“Moreover, even if you overcome your trauma, you still need to successfully find me, the [Gatekeeper] who maintains this gateway. In that sense, you’re the fastest among those who infiltrated the Holy Treasury to overcome your trauma and find me, the gatekeeper. So congratulations.”

“Is this, something to be congratulated for?”

While passing through the gateway was certainly a happy thing, he had ultimately come to steal a sacred relic…

It felt somewhat awkward to be congratulated for that.

But the gatekeeper answered lightly.

“If a knight with a righteous soul like you is infiltrating, there must be a reason. Or it means the temple is doing something wrong.”

“……”

“The temple makes many mistakes and becomes corrupt about every 30 years. It’s a familiar occurrence, haha.”

“…That doesn’t seem like something to laugh about…”

“I don’t expect much from humans anyway.”

“……”

…Ihan thought the darkness of the temple was indeed deep, but it was refreshing to know there were periods when they didn’t commit corruption for 30 years.

‘Why did they have to be corrupt when I was in the kingdom, of all times?’

He felt a bit of resentment too.

“Life…”

“Haha, that’s just how life is. Don’t despair too much.”

“…Forget it, just let me out quickly.”

“Hey, watch how you talk to your superior.”

“You’re just a gatekeeper.”

“Hahaha, you caught me.”

“…Hm?”

Suddenly, Ihan raised his head.

A somehow familiar, warm laughter different from the gatekeeper’s.

Hearing this, Ihan looked at the gatekeeper’s face, or rather, Dokgo Gupae’s face, with wide eyes.

“-I’m glad to see you’re healthy. I’ll visit your grave later. Well, even if I don’t, the kids you saved visit often. Can you believe those kids you saved are already in middle and high school? Hehe!”

“…Sergeant Dokgo?”

Ihan called out to him belatedly as their eyes met, and he reached out his hand.

But…

-Flash!

“……”

The next moment when he opened his eyes, there was no one in front of Ihan.

As if there had been nothing there from the beginning.

Ihan.

Ha!

“…You could have given me some time to talk.”

While newly realizing the greatness of [Mystery], he shook his head with a bitter smile, but the bitter smile didn’t last long.

“…I’m glad to see you’re healthy.”

He was simply satisfied with having met a cherished connection.