Chapter 635: White (White)

Quiet.

In a world scorched black, Woohyeok thought.

Truly, it is quiet.

The world that had been full of noise was, for some reason, quiet.

Just moments ago, it definitely felt like it was incredibly noisy, though.

-Kill.

-Accept.

-Praise.

It was very different from the usual noise he heard.

Unlike the jumbled sounds that couldn’t be properly heard.

This time, the sounds pierced his ears with such clarity.

How long had it been since the sounds started? Subjectively, it felt like countless hours had passed.

Boom-! Boom-boom-!

Suddenly, sounds like the ceiling was collapsing and breaking could be heard, and then…

-Praise…!

-Revere!

As if trying to brainwash him, the voices kept speaking to him.

It went on for a long time. The sounds that had been noisily ringing for a long time.

-Praise…

At some point, silence descended for a moment.

‘Hmm?’

Sensing this, Woohyeok gently opened his eyes.

Suddenly, a sense of regret washed over him.

‘It wasn’t bad, though.’

Although the repetitive voices were a bit tiresome, compared to the usual noise, they were no different from a lullaby.

He thought he could rest a little longer at this rate.

‘The sounds stopping means…’

Something is about to happen, isn’t it?

With that thought, Woohyeok opened his eyes and pushed himself up.

“Hmm?”

And he tilted his head at the situation before his eyes.

Night had fallen upon the world.

A pitch-black night, so dark he couldn’t see anything.

Not just the floor, but even the sky above was covered in black…

“Huh?”

Woohyeok looked up and let out a sound.

He had definitely seen it.

The remaining white background being swept away and disappearing into the black.

With that as the last thing, the world Woohyeok was in was completely scorched black.

“Hoho.”

Woohyeok laughed upon seeing that.

“It’s the perfect environment for sleeping.”

That thought came to him before any worry.

It was a world where not a single light could be seen.

He felt like he could sleep soundly if he closed his eyes here.

Thinking this, he considered lying down again.

“Come to think of it…”

He recalled something strange.

“Why am I here?”

Why was he in a place like this?

The question about it only occurred to him then.

How did I end up in a place like this?

‘Surely… towards the end…’

I think I followed someone and saw something.

I don’t know.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Because he felt it didn’t really matter.

Using his arm as a pillow, Woohyeok turned onto his side.

Whatever it was, what did it matter?

‘When it’s this quiet right now.’

The quiet present was more important to him.

He tried to fall asleep in the silence.

Unable to resist this temptation, Woohyeok was about to close his eyes when.

Thump.

“Huh?”

He sensed a presence.

Wondering what presence it was out of the blue, he looked.

Someone was sitting next to Woohyeok.

And.

-Grrr… ugh…

Crushing something white and unknown beneath them.

It looked… like a snake, maybe.

I don’t know.

It had a subtle appearance that made it hard to call it a snake.

And.

The one crushing it.

‘…Who is it?’

First off, it was an appearance he’d never seen before.

A torn and worn black martial uniform, and the build didn’t seem particularly large.

However, Woohyeok, looking up at his face.

“…!”

Chills!

Overwhelmed by the feeling, he instinctively had to push himself up.

Goosebumps erupted all over his body.

The moment their eyes met, he was engulfed in an unknown terror.

‘…What kind of killing intent…’

Woohyeok’s body instinctively became wary of the killing intent felt from the man.

He hadn’t done anything, and wasn’t even sending his gaze towards Woohyeok, yet.

Just by looking, Woohyeok felt death.

A figure who seemed to have transformed killing intent into human form.

That was the kind of man he was.

“…Who are you…?”

He asked in a voice full of wariness.

Swish.

The man’s head turned towards Woohyeok.

Seeing his face, Woohyeok flinched.

‘…What is it?’

He looked alike.

The man’s face bore a strong resemblance to someone Woohyeok knew.

Purple pupils and blackened whites of the eyes. Excluding the death felt even beyond his gaze.

His distinctive slit pupils and facial features reminded Woohyeok of someone familiar.

If that friend aged, he would look exactly like this.

Gulp.

In the uncomfortable silence, Woohyeok swallowed dryly.

Just then.

“I’m sorry.”

At the sudden apology, Woohyeok wore a dumbfounded expression.

It was because he hadn’t expected an apology out of the blue.

“…What?”

Woohyeok asked him, not hiding his expression.

“Come to think of it, it’s something I’ve never said to you before.”

“Hmm?”

Is this person someone who knows me? Woohyeok made a strange expression.

“How do I look?”

This time, the man directed a question towards Woohyeok.

“The me you saved. How do I look now?”

“…”

What did he mean? Woohyeok couldn’t understand.

Saved me? What could that mean?

When on earth had he saved this man?

“…When did I save you?”

“Throughout my life, even when I tried to understand, I never understood you.”

Even though Woohyeok asked, the man didn’t seem inclined to answer.

“That it was me who saved you by sacrificing your precious life. You, who did it without a shred of hesitation. I cannot understand.”

Why is that?

Hearing those words, Woohyeok felt a sense of frustration.

“…Who are you? Who on earth are you to say such things.”

“Do you regret it?”

This time was no different.

The man didn’t answer. He just continued speaking.

“I hope you regret it.”

In a very heavy, scorched tone.

“So I hope you resent me. You have the right to.”

“…”

“Back then, too. And.”

The man looked at Woohyeok, then turned his head again.

“In the future, too.”

“…”

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

What the man was saying now, who that man was in the first place. He couldn’t understand anything.

But.

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about, but…”

Woohyeok somehow found himself speaking to the man.

If you ask why.

“If I truly saved you.”

It just felt like the right thing to do.

“It must have been because it seemed worth it.”

“…”

The man still wasn’t looking at Woohyeok, but Woohyeok could see the man’s shoulders tremble slightly at his words.

“I don’t know if you truly know me when you say that. You asked me if I regret it?”

To that, Woohyeok replied with a gruff expression.

“Well. I probably wouldn’t have regretted it. I saved someone worthy. That’s enough. I would have thought that.”

I would have thought that if it were me. He spoke with that sentiment.

And on top of that.

“The beginning was wrong.”

“The beginning?”

“Yes.”

I’m sorry.

These were the words the man uttered while looking at Woohyeok.

Woohyeok, for some reason, didn’t like that.

“Thank you.”

“…!”

“That sounds a little better.”

“Ha.”

At Woohyeok’s words, the man let out a slight laugh.

“You’re still an idiot, aren’t you.”

“What…?”

At the sudden profanity, Woohyeok looked at the man as if it were absurd.

And yet, he felt a sense of familiarity.

“Damn bastard.”

“Your tongue is quite rough for a first meeting. People who look like that are all like…?”

Swish.

At Woohyeok’s words, the man stood up.

Seeing that, Woohyeok waved his hands with a somewhat flustered expression.

“It’s a joke. A joke…! Just trying to joke a bit…!”

I’m going to get hit.

Woohyeok, realizing it instinctively, tried to naturally find an angle to escape.

Fortunately, the man didn’t seem to intend to hit Woohyeok.

The man calmly approached Woohyeok and said, looking down at him.

“Now, get up.”

“Huh?”

“My hands are starting to hurt.”

“…Huh?”

Just as he wondered what that meant.

Slap-!

“Gak!?”

Woohyeok’s head snapped to the side on its own.

Woohyeok clutched his cheek from the stinging pain.

He had been hit. But.

‘That person didn’t hit me.’

The man remained still.

What in the world was happening?

Slap-!

“Guk!”

He was hit again.

That wasn’t the end.

Slap-! Slap-! Slap-!

With sharp sounds, Woohyeok’s head snapped back and forth.

“Ugh-! Stop!”

He let out a sound without knowing who he was addressing.

Even so, the man just kept looking at Woohyeok and speaking.

“Get up.”

Slap-!

“No-! Sleep…!”

Slap-! Slap-!

“I said, get up.”

Slap-!!

“You damn–!!”

Unable to bear the pain any longer, Woohyeok finally screamed.

“I’ll get up! I’ll get up, so stop hitting me!”

Suddenly-!

Woohyeok shouted as he jolted upright.

“Huk… Huk…”

“Yeah. You’re up.”

Woohyeok turned his gaze to a slightly youthful voice, not the deep one he’d been conversing with until now.

There stood Gu Yangcheon, looking at Woohyeok with his hand raised.

“…You… Ugh!?”

Woohyeok flinched at the pain he felt.

His cheek hurt terribly.

At the same time, it was incredibly hot.

“You wouldn’t wake up no matter what, so I touched you a bit. Turns out this was the answer.”

No way, the pain and sounds he’d been feeling until now…

“…You were actually hitting me?”

“Because you wouldn’t wake up.”

Woohyeok, his cheeks swollen, said to Gu Yangcheon.

“…You could have just woken me up with a bet.”

If the goal was to awaken his consciousness, he could have simply channeled energy to rouse him.

Although it was said to be a somewhat difficult method, for Gu Yangcheon’s level, it would have been easily achievable.

At those words, Gu Yangcheon chuckled sheepishly.

“Well, it’s not easy for you anymore.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

Woohyeok, about to voice his question, widened his eyes.

Because he sensed something strange.

He examined his body.

“Huh?”

Then he understood.

That his body had changed somehow.

‘What is it?’

Aside from his martial uniform being inexplicably messed up, his body didn’t seem outwardly strange.

But internally, it was completely different.

‘…The energy.’

It was truly immense energy. An enormous amount of energy was circulating within Woohyeok’s body.

Originally, Woohyeok was also of the Meteor Generation.

As one of the Six Dragons and Three Peaks, and called the highest late-stage disciple of the Wudang sect, his energy was never small.

But the level he was at now was on a different trajectory.

‘…It’s overflowing.’

It flowed and overflowed.

It was to the point where he couldn’t even gauge how much there was.

Even.

“…!”

As Woohyeok was assessing the energy, he finally noticed the strangest part.

‘Why is the energy…!’

The energy that should have been residing in the lower dantian was flowing towards the heart… meaning.

It was flowing from the middle dantian’s location.

What was happening?

“Tsk.”

At that reaction, Gu Yangcheon clicked his tongue.

“Even without that, you were already considered quite skilled, and now you’ve gone and eaten a fortuitous encounter too.”

“Fortuitous encounter…?”

“Ah, shit… It’s such a waste, really…”

Sigh.

The continuous sighs were incredibly heavy.

“…What a waste… truly a waste…”

“…What on earth are you talking about? What’s such a waste?”

“There are things like that, you bastard! If I had only eaten that…”

He cursed and examined Woohyeok’s body back and forth.

“Still, fortunately, it seems to be functioning properly.”

“…”?

“Looking at your condition, you don’t seem to know what you’ve gained… Is this a problem that occurred while transferring it?”

“You, what are you talking about?”

“Forget it. As long as it turned out well.”

Without giving any answers, Gu Yangcheon stood up.

Seeing that, Woohyeok asked in surprise.

“Are you hurt…?”

“Huh? Ah.”

It was because Gu Yangcheon’s body was in a mess.

His upper body had deep bruises, and blood was flowing.

His body was covered in scratches and scrapes everywhere.

And on top of that.

‘His breathing is unsteady.’

Gu Yangcheon’s breathing was distorted.

It was proof that he was that exhausted.

That monstrous guy is exhausted? What on earth happened?

“Just a few scratches.”

He answered nonchalantly, but it didn’t look simple at all.

At the same time, Woohyeok looked around and discovered something else.

“This place…”

Although it was all collapsed and destroyed, it was a familiar space. Definitely… the place he came with Yuseon…

Ah.

“Yuseon…! What about the First Princess?”

“…”

At Woohyeok’s question, Gu Yangcheon wore an uncomfortable expression.

And he said to Woohyeok.

“Originally, I had a lot of questions for you?”

“…”

At those words, Woohyeok shut his mouth tightly.

Things to say.

Yes, there were such things between them. Gu Yangcheon had questions for Woohyeok.

Conversely, it was a point where Woohyeok also had questions for Gu Yangcheon.

“So. Prepare yourself.”

“…Prepare?”

“Yes, prepare.”

Gu Yangcheon dug into his ear canal with his pinky finger as if annoyed.

“It looks like it’s going to be long, so let’s prepare a three-sentence summary. For both of us.”

“…”

“Long chats are bothersome for both of us, aren’t they?”

Even though it was a serious situation.

Gu Yangcheon’s reaction was nonchalant, as always.

A three-sentence summary in this situation. He truly couldn’t be anything but a madman.

‘This guy really…’

No matter how much I see him, I can’t understand this being.

Just as Woohyeok judged this.

“Then, I’ll head off first, so come slowly.”

“What?”

Gu Yangcheon said, casually turning his back.

Woohyeok was taken aback by those words.

“Heading off?”

Leaving all of a sudden?

Leaving me here?

Seeing Woohyeok filled with surprise, Gu Yangcheon said.

“Originally, I intended to take you with me once you woke up.”

That’s right.

Although the original purpose had changed, the main reason for coming here was to take Woohyeok.

But.

“I’ve gotten a bit rushed now.”

Gu Yangcheon wiped away the flowing sweat and looked somewhere.

“Damn it, that’s acting up until the very end. Why does nothing ever resolve easily.”

“…Yangcheon…?”

“At your current level, there shouldn’t be any particular problems, so come on your own.”

As if he didn’t have time to explain, Gu Yangcheon took a stance.

He bent his knees as if preparing to leap high.

Whoosh-!

For a moment, flames enveloped Gu Yangcheon’s body.

He shot out as he was.

Just as he decided and prepared to leap.

“Ah.”

As if he’d forgotten something, Gu Yangcheon looked at Woohyeok.

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

“Th… hmm.”

He paused for a moment before speaking.

Biting his lip briefly, Gu Yangcheon spoke to Woohyeok again.

“Thank you. For staying alive.”

“…?”

Woohyeok tried to ask what he meant.

Whoosh-!! Kuaang-!

Gu Yangcheon, enveloped in flames, smashed through the ceiling and left.

“…”

Woohyeok, left alone, somehow.

Felt a somewhat bittersweet feeling.

As if he felt it himself.

But not quite. That kind of feeling.