Chapter 1209: Scorched World

I will enter the Gu family’s underground.

Upon hearing that, Gu Seong-yeol froze stiff. Not only did his face stiffen, but the heat felt within the room also seemed to have stopped somehow.

“Underground?”

“Yes.”

The Gu family’s underground. That mention seemed to have ruffled Gu Seong-yeol’s temper. A stronger heat than before was felt in his blazing eyes.

“…I recall giving you a heads-up about this last time.”

“That’s correct.”

‘Do not take interest in the Gu family’s underground.’ It was a passing remark from Gu Seong-yeol, and I remembered it too.

However.

“Still, I must tell you because I need to go.”

“Denied.”

The refusal came immediately. It was a reaction that seemed unwilling to receive even a shred of rebuttal. It was an obvious statement. The Gu family’s underground…

“As someone who isn’t even the Young Master, by what right are you trying to look into the underground?”

The Gu family’s Young Master. Or the Family Head.

It was a place only those of that standing could go. The reason I could access the underground in this life was also because my destiny was to become the Young Master, so I had sought my father’s agreement.

If it’s my current condition…

‘I’m not exactly someone who amounts to much.’

From Gu Seong-yeol’s perspective, I was nothing.

“Still, is there no way it can work out?”

“Does it need to be said twice?”

“I know it’s not possible, but I’m trying to push my luck.”

“As I said again-“

“If you think about it, aren’t we practically the same as the Young Master?”

“…”

Gu Seong-yeol fell silent at the words that followed.

I wasn’t a being fundamentally different from the Young Master. Those words must have shut him up.

“…You.”

He seemed surprised I’d say it so openly.

“I’ve already been to the Gu family’s underground. And I know well what’s inside.”

“Even though you know, you’re deliberately saying you’ll go?”

“There’s something I need to ask.”

“To the guys inside?”

“Yes.”

“…”

“If you say no, I’ll accept it, but ultimately, I’ll find my own way.”

“A way…? Why, are you saying you’ll force your way in?”

“If that’s the only way, then I suppose I’ll have to,”

“Hah.”

Gu Seong-yeol laughed incredulously.

“What do you plan to do with that body?”

A state with absolutely no energy. A condition unable to contend even with a martial artist of the Flowing Mirror realm or higher. What could possibly be done in this state?

Even when I had energy, I couldn’t last long entering the underground. If my body is in this state, it would be even harder.

I knew all that, but…

“Still, I want to enter.”

“What on earth are you trying to do?”

“There’s something I need to ask that guy.”

“…”

“It will only take a moment.”

Looking at me, Gu Seong-yeol scrunched up his face. It was genuinely terrifying.

At that moment.

“You’re quite shameless, acting like this when you don’t even seem to intend to inherit the family.”

“…Haha.”

I had to let out a hollow laugh at those blade-like words. They were words that stabbed right into my true intentions.

“You know the meaning behind heading to the underground, and you know about the existence there, yet you still intend to go?”

“I don’t know about the meaning. I’ve never heard it.”

The Gu family’s underground.

I don’t know how it came to be or why it exists. All I could know, having become the Young Master, was…

‘Their names.’

And that the Gu family must oversee the place until their death.

Seeing this.

‘This is also related to karma.’

That burden is like a stand-in master. In other words, it’s like a burden entrusted by those things called ‘the world’. Furthermore.

‘The guys trapped there.’

Given that otherworldly beings were lined up abundantly inside.

‘Something must be intertwined.’

There must surely be something intertwined with that thing called karma. And among them…

‘…If I go.’

I recognized that the Black Dragon Sword had tried to use them, though I didn’t know how.

There was something I definitely needed to investigate with them.

Also.

‘Since it’s not the original world.’

Judging that there might be something to gain in this world also played a part.

Didn’t the Ancestor say?

‘Move as you wish.’

Even if you do, you’ll eventually head towards the conclusion anyway.

Having heard this, I should just move as I please.

“…”

Gu Seong-yeol stares intently without saying anything. Will it work? Of course it won’t. I was just shamelessly demanding to go in, head-on.

However.

‘If it’s about moving as I wish.’

This method might just work. This was also a way to confirm something.

A brief silence passed like that.

“…There’s a condition.”

‘Hah.’

Surprisingly, a positive response came from Gu Seong-yeol.

‘Did it really work?’

Since it’s a created world, if I go as I wish, is such a shameless request possible?

Or perhaps.

‘Is it just Gu Seong-yeol’s own will?’

I couldn’t know for sure, but I was certain it had turned out well anyway.

“What is the condition?”

“I’ll tell you when you get back. However, you must unconditionally accept this condition. Will you?”

“Those are truly scary words.”

‘Unconditionally,’ you say. Could there be a scarier word? I hesitated for a moment, not knowing what he might ask, but…

“Hmm.”

Anyway, if I wanted to gain something, I had to give something up, and having insisted this much, it was only right to concede that much.

“I will.”

“…”

Hearing my answer, Gu Seong-yeol waved his hand. As his fingertips moved, Hwa-reuk-! Sparks briefly flew, a drawer opened by itself, and something floated out from inside, arriving to me.

It was a seal.

An item I knew well.

“Use it. You know how, right?”

“Yes.”

I took the seal.

“It’s for half an hour. No longer.”

“That’s plenty.”

Nodding, I moved. I immediately turned my back and opened the door.

“…”

Someone was waiting in front of me. Someone I knew. It was the Gu family’s steward.

“I will escort you.”

“…Yes.”

As if he had expected me to come out with the seal, the steward paid his respects.

Perhaps it was because I recognized he wasn’t human. It felt strangely unsettling.

---

The entrance leading to the Gu family’s underground. I arrived there. As soon as I reached the entrance, the steward casually stepped aside.

“Please return safely.”

“…”

Accepting the steward’s respects, I headed straight inside. The stairs weren’t long. Meaning, for something made to be hidden, they weren’t that deep.

Not long after, I reached the bottom. I had to look at the huge door in front of me.

‘Really, every time I see it.’

It’s a rather ominous door. I can’t quite describe the feeling, but it was a place that strongly gave off that vibe.

“Hmm…”

Looking at it, I held the seal and brought it to the door.

Kki-ri-ri-ri-rik—!!

Hwa-reu-reu-reuk-!!

As the seal touched the iron door, sparks flew for a moment, and the mechanisms on the door activated. It was quick. Unlike the underground of a Taoist temple, nothing was densely embedded.

Simple mechanisms activated, and the iron door opened.

Kki-rik.

The heavy door opened on its own. Watching it, I did so with a tense expression.

‘It’s coming.’

It would come the moment the door opened.

That unpleasant sound and terrible pressure.

With a tense appearance, I stepped inside the door.

Tuk.

My toes fully entered inside. I gulped nervously.

It should come now. The immense pressure…

‘It should be coming…?’

It’s not coming?

I rolled my eyes. Why aren’t I feeling this?

‘What the?’

I was bewildered. What is this? Why aren’t I feeling it?

I turned my gaze and examined the interior.

Prisons lined up widely. It looked the same as last time. But.

“Huh?”

Looking inside the cells, my eyes widened.

“Where did they go?”

They’re gone.

None of the things that should have been inside existed.

What is this? What happened?

They have to be here, right? I lost my purpose in an instant. The things that should have been here didn’t exist.

I shuffled towards the center. Usually, by this point, I should have been on the verge of fainting from the pressure.

‘I’m perfectly fine.’

What on earth is going on? I kept walking and walking until I reached the door leading to the next room.

I didn’t know what was beyond that door. I had never been there before. It was a place I never intended to visit.

‘…This.’

Since there was no one inside, I ended up coming this far. If it’s like this…

‘Will it be different in there?’

Such doubt arose. Because of it, I unconsciously reached out my hand. It was to move to another room, but…

-Stop.

I froze.

I didn’t turn around. It wasn’t a voice coming from the space.

It was a voice coming from within my body. This…

‘Ancestor.’

It was his voice.

-You must not head further.

“…What happened here? Why is there nothing?”

I said, pulling my hand slightly away from the door.

-It’s an anomaly.

“…An anomaly?”

-Yes, an anomaly.

“What does that mean?”

-You must know that this world was created for you based on various information.

“Yes.”

-However, this place is different. It’s a place your mother cannot reach.

“…Mother can’t reach it?”

-It’s the limit of the information capacity. Don’t delve any further. This wasn’t prepared.

“Is what’s contained in the Gu underground that amazing?”

-Yes, even more so beyond that door.

“Hmm…”

I see.

Hearing the Ancestor’s words, I stepped back half a step.

“I see. This place is dangerous.”

A place so dangerous that he tells me not to go.

I recognized that.

“So then.”

Therefore.

“I must go further.”

-What?

Kkwak-!!

-…!

I grabbed and pulled the door. Thankfully, it didn’t just swing open.

-How…!

Although the Ancestor spoke in surprise, I clicked my tongue looking at him.

“There’s a limit to how much you won’t tell me. It’s pissing me off.”

‘Don’t do it, it’s dangerous.’

I’m tired of hearing that.

“I need to know things too, don’t I?”

I was tired of feeling stifled and didn’t want to endure it anymore.

Not anymore.