Chapter 414: The Nightmare of the Dark King.

If it’s a nightmare, the first thing you should do is wake up.

Wi Seol-ah’s words echoed in my mind.

‘…Wake up.’

It wasn’t a sudden bolt of lightning-like realization in my head.

But instinctively, I knew I had to gain something from those words.

Sensing my unusual expression, Wi Seol-ah tilted his head.

As I repeatedly pondered how to find something in Wi Seol-ah’s words.

‘Ah?’

Suddenly, something flashed through my mind.

It wasn’t a particularly groundbreaking method.

There was just one method I hadn’t bothered to try all month.

For some reason, it was surfacing in conjunction with Wi Seol-ah’s words.

“…Right, why didn’t I try that?”

“Huh?”

Wi Seol-ah reacted as if asking what I was talking about, but I didn’t answer, instead reaching out to pat his hair.

“Young Master…?”

“Thanks. Thanks to you, my cunning has improved a bit.”

“Th-that’s a compliment, right?”

“Of course, it’s a compliment.”

You need to be cunning to survive in this world.

In that regard, Wi Seol-ah’s words were indeed quite helpful.

However.

‘Will that even work?’

The only question was whether the method I thought of would work on the Dark King.

In cases like this, the solution is simple.

‘If it doesn’t work, whatever.’

If it doesn’t work after trying, I’ll find another way.

That was all.

******************

Night fell.

Under the thinly curved crescent moon, in the middle of a dimly settled forest.

A man stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

He possessed a peculiar aura, making it seem as if the area around him alone was quiet.

The man had hair as white as snow, the kind that would elicit admiration just by looking at it.

Yet, paradoxically, he seemed to blend perfectly with the darkness.

Then, the man, who had been standing motionless as if turned to stone, slowly began to change.

Starting from his toes, shadows began to spread gradually.

Passeuseusseu-!

An unknown, ominous energy.

The spreading energy enveloped the field, wrapped around the trees, and darkened everything around.

And soon after.

Even the flimsy light cast by the crescent moon was swallowed, and a thick darkness descended.

Within the created darkness, the man, the Dark King (暗王), gazed forward, his unique white eyes glowing.

Sabak- The sound of heavy footsteps approached from the front.

It was the sound of the person the Dark King had been waiting for.

Also, the person the Dark King had been meeting most frequently for over the past month.

The Dark King’s brow twitched slightly as he watched the youth approaching from a distance.

‘He came again today.’

It had been over a month now.

This period held significant meaning for the Dark King.

First, the Dark King had to revise his initial thought that the youth would barely last seven days and nights.

‘I have to admit this part.’

He nodded.

Every night, this youth experienced countless deaths at the Dark King’s hands.

The average number of deaths was over twenty. For an ordinary person, their mind would have shattered within three days, but…

The expression on the youth’s face, as seen by the Dark King, showed only slight fatigue.

It looked no different from the first time.

This was something even he had to acknowledge.

Even though these were painless deaths, not involving torture, the level the youth was enduring had already surpassed the limit.

Therefore, the Dark King continued to question it.

If one were human, they couldn’t maintain their sanity after experiencing such countless deaths, so how could this child maintain such a state of mind?

In the Dark King’s view, there were only two possibilities for such a situation.

One was.

‘Already mentally broken and collapsed.’

Someone twisted, no longer possessing an ordinary mind.

While possible, in the Dark King’s opinion, the youth wasn’t at that level.

If that wasn’t the case, then there was only one other possibility.

‘Perhaps they aren’t human in the first place.’

Recalling this, the Dark King nodded.

He considered that the most likely scenario.

From their very first meeting.

Whenever he looked at the youth, the Dark King’s heart pounded erratically.

Kung- Kung-.

It was the same now.

This was his curse, tied to his blood and heart, resonating uncontrollably.

Telling him the youth was like him.

Therefore.

‘Go kill him immediately.’

It continued to emit killing intent (殺心).

Overwhelmed by the surging killing intent, the Dark King instinctively suppressed his instincts and pushed them into a corner.

The Dark King had no intention of killing the youth.

The youth might hold the key to unraveling the ‘curse’ bound to him, and since he was a being in a similar state, he shouldn’t be killed.

The Dark King, concealing his presence, watched the youth.

Whether the youth was not human in the Dark King’s eyes, or possessed something else entirely, it wasn’t important right now.

What was important was.

‘It’s meaningless.’

This current time wasn’t very beneficial.

‘Does he not know this?’

The Dark King frowned, thinking of Pae-jon, who had requested this training.

The youth had met countless deaths repeatedly within the Dark King’s ‘domain’, but in the Dark King’s eyes, it was truly a dog’s death.

He still couldn’t even brush the Dark King’s collar.

It was only natural.

This darkness itself was the domain controlled by the Dark King, and those who stepped into the domain found their five senses dulled, making it difficult to unleash their inherent power.

There was only one thing that increased.

While the five senses dulled, the perceived pain only intensified.

This power was originally used by the Dark King for torture.

Which made it even more absurd.

Pae-jon, who knew all this, had entrusted his disciple to the Dark King and thrown him into this situation.

And the youth, who followed orders and did this without fail for over a month, was also not normal.

Although the Dark King had no disciples, he could tell that this master-disciple relationship was incredibly bizarre.

However.

That was all.

The Dark King didn’t ponder the relationship between Pae-jon and the youth any further.

He only had to do the job he was asked to do, and in return, receive what he had separately requested from Pae-jon.

Furthermore.

The Dark King didn’t believe the youth, Gu Yangcheon, could overcome this trial in the first place.

His conclusion after the past month was no different from his initial assessment.

It wasn’t like the Dark King was the only one who knew this fact. The person who knew it better than anyone else was none other than.

‘That kid.’

Gu Yangcheon, who was directly experiencing this situation.

His mental state didn’t seem broken, but his somewhat weary expression was proof of that.

Seeing Gu Yangcheon’s expression, the Dark King clenched his dagger.

How much longer could he endure?

Getting this far was already beyond the Dark King’s expectations, but he felt close to certainty that Gu Yangcheon didn’t have much mental fortitude left.

At most, seven days and nights.

Barring any unforeseen events, something would happen within that time.

Then, Pae-jon would also realize it and seek other methods.

No matter how obsessed with martial arts someone was, they wouldn’t stand by and watch the person who could fulfill their wish fall apart.

Thinking so, as the Dark King prepared to move.

‘Hmm.’

The Dark King suddenly sensed a change in Gu Yangcheon.

Although Gu Yangcheon appeared as usual, he was holding something in his hand.

Seeing it, the Dark King’s eyes narrowed.

‘A dagger?’

It was because Gu Yangcheon was holding a dagger.

Judging by its appearance and quality, it seemed to be from the Tang Clan.

He probably borrowed it from the Poison King’s, that brat’s, daughter.

‘A dagger.’

Why on earth did he bring a dagger?

A question arose in the Dark King’s mind.

In the past, Gu Yangcheon had used numerous methods to reach the Dark King.

When close combat proved futile, he tried to illuminate the surroundings with poorly executed martial arts; he attempted to burn the Dark King by spewing flames around; and the most spectacular was when he tried to grab the Dark King for a fleeting moment with a dagger lodged in his neck.

The Dark King realized then that it was the most dangerous moment.

The dagger precisely in his neck was enough to cause instant death, yet Gu Yangcheon, solely through willpower, delayed the moment of death and tried to grab the Dark King.

It was then that the Dark King truly understood.

That strange fellow, Bi-ju, had indeed taken a disciple exactly like himself.

Both master and disciple were strange fellows. Terribly twisted fellows.

The Dark King looked at Gu Yangcheon with a peculiar gaze.

‘Even after suffering like that, he intends to try something else?’

He seemed to have a purpose for the dagger.

‘I’ll acknowledge that persistence, at least.’

The fact that he was still trying something even after coming this far was astonishing even to the Dark King.

Of course, despite his persistence, the outcome wouldn’t change. Unless he realized the secret of this domain, Gu Yangcheon would ultimately be unable to escape.

As he watched Gu Yangcheon’s actions, thinking so.

Gu Yangcheon, gripping the dagger, suddenly turned the blade not outward, but towards himself.

Just as the Dark King wondered what he intended to do with it.

“…!”

Gu Yangcheon thrust the dagger towards his own neck.

Upon seeing that, the Dark King shot forward.

There was no time to be surprised or ponder.

The Dark King instantly lunged towards Gu Yangcheon.

Just as the tip of the dagger was about to touch Gu Yangcheon’s neck.

Kkwak-!

He grabbed Gu Yangcheon’s wrist, stopping his action.

At that moment.

Kwak-!

Gu Yangcheon’s other hand, still free, grabbed the Dark King’s wrist.

It happened in an instant.

The Dark King stared at Gu Yangcheon with wide white eyes, expressing immense surprise.

Gu Yangcheon, wearing a full-fledged smile, looked at the suddenly appearing Dark King and said,

“Gotcha.”

“…Ha.”

His voice, brimming with undisguised emotion, seemed to ask, ‘What’s so amusing?’

The Dark King let out a sigh of exasperation.

It was absurd.

“…How did you know?”

That was the question the Dark King asked Gu Yangcheon.

Hearing the question, Gu Yangcheon tilted his head and asked back.

“Know what?”

“This method. How did you know?”

The Dark King was genuinely curious.

In this domain, if one were to die by means other than the Dark King’s hands, they could not revive.

It meant they would truly die.

Seeing that, Gu Yangcheon would have been unable to wake up again if he had died just now.

The Dark King knew Gu Yangcheon shouldn’t die, so he had appeared directly to prevent such a situation.

This meant that Gu Yangcheon, knowing this, had chosen this method to lure the Dark King out.

He knew that choosing death himself meant truly dying.

Conversely, he knew the Dark King would appear to prevent that death.

Gu Yangcheon knew all this.

But how?

The Dark King couldn’t figure it out no matter how much he thought about it.

Regarding this, Gu Yangcheon casually replied to the Dark King.

“I didn’t know.”

“What?”

At that answer, the Dark King frowned. ‘You didn’t know…?’

“How would I know that? I haven’t learned mind-reading.”

“Then, why did you do it?”

To the Dark King’s repeated question, Gu Yangcheon replied with an expression as if asking why such an obvious question was being asked.

“I just tried it. What else?”

“What…?”

…He just tried it?

Seeing the Dark King still looking bewildered, Gu Yangcheon continued.

“I was thinking about how to wake up from a nightmare.”

The Dark King listened intently as the sudden mention of nightmares caught his attention.

“First, the initial thing you need to do is try to wake up, right?”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“Well, it’s nothing special. I realized I hadn’t really tried to wake up from the dream. So, I did the easiest thing. Usually, if this happens in a dream, you wake up, don’t you?”

“…”

Gu Yangcheon’s calm words left the Dark King speechless.

Was he trying to commit suicide for such a trivial reason?

Without even knowing the situation, or what would happen if he died directly.

For such a reason?

Having heard all that, the Dark King could be certain.

“…You’re insane.”

He was truly insane.

“What if I hadn’t stopped you? Do you know what would have happened?”

“If you hadn’t stopped me, I would have survived. Then I would have had to find another way.”

Hearing that, the Dark King couldn’t help but point out the problem.

“Kid, there was a possibility that I wouldn’t have stopped you, and you would have died.”

“I thought you would stop me then.”

“Why would I? For what reason did you think I would stop your death?”

While the previous thought was something anyone could have, deliberately acting with the absolute certainty that the Dark King would stop his death was another matter entirely.

What reason made him so sure?

That was the Dark King’s biggest question, but upon hearing it, Gu Yangcheon suddenly exclaimed.

“Ah, I didn’t think of that.”

“Wh-what…”

“Honestly, I just had a feeling.”

“…”

“It’s a hunch, I guess.”

At Gu Yangcheon’s answer, the Dark King finally gave up thinking.

‘I thought another Bi-ju wouldn’t appear.’

That damned disciple was even more of a handful than his master.

To think he would try to break through this in such a way.

“Ha…”

The Dark King had to run a hand down his face for the first time in nearly a decade.

Regardless of anything else, the fact that Gu Yangcheon had reached him was undeniable.

The Dark King could anticipate Pae-jon’s expression upon confirming this outcome.

He figured Pae-jon would laugh triumphantly, which filled him with irritation.

Just then.

Hwareureuk.

He suddenly felt a heat.

There was no need to check where the heat was coming from.

It was just the man and Gu Yangcheon in this space.

The Dark King looked at the source of the heat with a slightly cold gaze and asked,

“What is this?”

“This is something I was personally curious about, and since it’s come this far, I decided to try it.”

Gu Yangcheon continued speaking, steadily raising the heat from his body despite the Dark King’s question.

His pupils had turned crimson, and the faint heat emanating from him was unusual.

What was he trying to do now that everything was over?

The Dark King, not considering Gu Yangcheon foolish enough to fight him directly, decided to just watch for the time being.

“Every time I tried to do something, I died, so there were things I couldn’t do.”

“In this situation?”

“Yes.”

Compared to someone who had died countless times just the day before, his expression seemed rather bright.

He looked slightly excited, perhaps.

What on earth was this guy?

Could he recover so much just by achieving this one thing?

No matter how much he looked, he couldn’t understand.

“I was wondering if this is truly an unbreakable formation.”

“…”

“It’s just a small curiosity.”

The Dark King offered no response to Gu Yangcheon’s words.

It wasn’t something that could be called a ‘formation’ in the first place.

It wasn’t martial arts a warrior could perform, nor a barrier set up by formation masters.

Strictly speaking, this was a ‘power’ born from a curse.

In a way.

If, as the Dark King thought, he and Gu Yangcheon were alike, perhaps Gu Yangcheon might one day be able to use it too. But the Dark King felt no need to explain it.

There was nothing good to be gained from knowing.

The Dark King simply intended to remain silent.

He didn’t stop Gu Yangcheon’s eccentric behavior or warn him.

It was tacit permission to proceed if he wished.

Seeing the Dark King like that, Gu Yangcheon softly muttered.

“Jeokcheon.”

At that moment.

A potent heat began to spread outwards from Gu Yangcheon’s body in all directions.