Geom Mugeuk slowly moved forward.
He had walked this path of blood countless times, but had there ever been a day when he felt as tense as today?
The eight Demon Venerables.
Today, they were not the people who had joked around with him. Today, they stood as the subordinates of the Heavenly Demon, as the Eight Demon Venerables of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Even the Fist Demon, in this moment, was not the Cult Leader’s in-law, but a Demon Venerable.
As Geom Mugeuk walked, he met the Demon Venerables’ eyes.
Every one of their gazes seemed to be asking him this.
Are you prepared to persuade the Cult Leader?
He could feel that they, too, were tense. Depending on what happened here today, the fate of murim would change.
The most important thing today was his father’s heart.
“You’ve come?”
“Yes, Father.”
Unlike usual, a taut tension flowed between the two of them.
“Do you have anything to say to me, one last time?”
It was his last chance to persuade his father. The Demon Venerables wondered what secret plan Geom Mugeuk had brought with him.
But the answer that came was unexpected.
“I do not.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, the Demon Venerables were shocked. The Blood Heaven Saber Demon, in particular, had believed that Geom Mugeuk would somehow persuade them today.
‘You fool, what are you planning to do!’
Geom Mugeuk truly did not try to persuade him at all. For the past five years, he had not tried to persuade his father about this matter. If he had thought he could change his father’s heart through words, he would have gone to him and tried to persuade him throughout those five years.
Instead, Geom Mugeuk had lived diligently for the past five years. He had lived diligently as the Young Cult Leader, and diligently as his father’s son. As one woman’s husband, and as one child’s father. He had also done his utmost in his relationships with the Demon Venerables.
If that life did not get through to him, then there was nothing more he could do.
At last, Geom Mugeuk asked the question.
“What is your dream, Father?”
If the answer was the unification of murim, he had promised that he would become the vanguard of that war and go out to fight.
Geom Mugeuk felt as though only his father and he existed in this space.
He could see no one else. Only his father.
At length, Geom Ujin answered.
“My dream is……”
In that brief silence, the tension rose to its peak.
“To unite murim.”
“!”
In that instant, Geom Mugeuk’s heart dropped.
No, it can’t be. It can’t be. It felt as though his vague hope shattered, and cold reality came crashing down before his eyes.
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon’s face twitched, and a soundless sigh escaped the mouth of the Ilhwa Sword Venerable. The Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable lowered his head,
and the Poison King turned his gaze toward the distant window. The Demon Buddha silently rolled the beads of his prayer bracelet, and the Drunken Demon finally opened the stopper of his wine gourd and quietly drank.
The Extreme Evil Smiling Demon and the Fist Demon looked at Geom Mugeuk without any reaction.
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk was neither shocked nor agitated. At length, he slowly opened his mouth.
“I will stand at the forefront of that war.”
He did not try to persuade his father to overturn the result. This was a promise between him and his father.
In Geom Mugeuk’s mind, a battlefield flowing with blood appeared. He saw himself standing alone atop a mountain of corpses on that battlefield.
At that moment, the eyes of the Extreme Evil Smiling Demon, whose gaze met his, spoke as they had during the fishing competition.
I will serve you.
Geom Mugeuk nodded. Could he truly bear this war? Could he point his sword at Jin Hagun and Bi Sain?
Just then, Geom Ujin spoke again.
“However……”
As everyone held their breath, waiting for what words would follow,
“The method of that unification of murim will be your method.”
“!”
Geom Mugeuk’s eyes widened. The Demon Venerables, too, exchanged startled looks.
“My method is one that does not break the table. My method is to hold the Majeongsa fishing competition and win it—that is unifying murim.
To hold a hunting competition together, and a cooking competition, and win them—that is unifying murim. That is my method.”
Geom Ujin slowly nodded.
“Then we shall unite it by that method.”
Geom Mugeuk could tell. His father had given up on his dream.
“Father.”
Geom Mugeuk closed his eyes. He felt so sorry toward his father that he could not look at him.
After a moment, Geom Mugeuk asked, his eyes filled with apology.
“Why did you change your mind? Was it because of Hayeon?”
He had naturally thought that was the reason.
“I did not change my mind because of Hayeon.”
“Then why?”
An astonishing answer flowed from Geom Ujin.
“Because of the first allowance I ever received.”
Everyone looked at Geom Ujin, their eyes asking what he meant. Only Geom Mugeuk knew. He knew what those words meant. And that was not the only reason.
“Because of the flower-patterned pajamas I was given as a gift. Because of the memory of laughing when I saw the man who had come to ask me to guarantee his debt.”
Only then did the Demon Venerables understand whose memories those were connected to.
“Because of the succession struggle that was settled without seeing blood.”
Geom Ujin’s true feelings, conveyed for the first time, rang throughout the hall. Those low yet resonant words flew one by one into Geom Mugeuk’s heart.
“Because of the go board I received as a gift, and because of the scroll painting of brothers.”
As the memories of the past naturally rose in his mind, Geom Mugeuk’s eyes trembled.
“Because of the hammock I lay in during our trip, and because of that chatter that tells me everything whenever you return after leaving the cult.”
Except when teaching him martial arts, this was the first time Geom Ujin had spoken at such length about his own feelings.
“Because of the whale I saw in the illusion, and because of the nap I took that day, when I slept without any guard up for the first time.”
Geom Ujin’s gaze turned toward the Demon Venerables standing in a row before him.
“Because you made me see anew what kind of people the Demon Venerables standing there truly are.”
All the Demon Venerables had formed new relationships with the Cult Leader. Misunderstandings had been resolved, and fear had been lessened.
“Because of my lovely daughter-in-law, and because of my precious granddaughter.”
Come to think of it, Hayeon had been just one among those many reasons.
“And. Because you made me speak of someone I thought I would never again mention aloud.”
Geom Mugeuk knew that person was his mother.
“The reason I changed my mind is……”
At last, Geom Ujin added one final thing. The very person who had made all of this possible.
“Because of my son.”
Geom Mugeuk was swept up in an overwhelming surge of emotion. He had never imagined that his father would give meaning to all those things.
On the day he regressed, the old man of the heavens had said something to him.
How could a human possibly regress through a great art made by humans? I am allowing you to regress because of your efforts.
His life before regression, and his life after regression—in the end, both had been achieved through effort.
“My son, you have suffered much all this time.”
The instant he heard those words, tears flowed from Geom Mugeuk’s eyes along with a breathless “haa.” It was the moment he shed tears in front of all the Demon Venerables.
When Geom Mugeuk cried, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon turned his head to the side. Seeing the fellow cry had made him feel as though he, too, might shed tears.
All of the Eight Demon Venerables were deeply moved. They had watched Geom Mugeuk’s efforts from beside him. They knew very well how hard he had worked. Those efforts had, in the end, moved the Cult Leader’s heart.
“Thank you, Father.”
Geom Mugeuk performed a deep bow right there.
Drip, drip, drip.
Geom Mugeuk’s tears fell onto the floor.
“Please forgive this unfilial son who broke Father’s dream.”
Geom Ujin rose from his seat. He slowly moved forward and came down from the taishi chair.
He raised up his son, who had remained prostrated until then.
“I will leave the cult for a while, so guard the main cult well.”
Because his father’s gaze as he looked at him was endlessly gentle, the tension naturally left him.
“Where are you going? You’re not going to do all this and then storm the Murim Alliance, are you?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s joke, Geom Ujin answered that he was indeed doing just that.
“Yes, I am going to unite murim.”
“What?”
“Did you not tell me before? To travel with the Murim Alliance Leader and the Sado Alliance Leader. So I made an appointment to meet those people. We decided to fish together. You said winning through fishing was your unification of murim, did you not?”
Those words meant he had already decided on today’s result in advance.
Geom Mugeuk jumped in place. He should have realized long ago why Chief Strategist Sama Myeong was not present.
“No, then you had already decided? I thought your son was going to stop breathing back there.”
Geom Ujin’s distinctive sneer appeared at the corners of his mouth.
“If I wanted to make you stop breathing, all of murim would have to move.”
Geom Ujin strode forward, and the Demon Venerables followed behind him as though spreading their wings.
“No, just because Father is going, do all of you really have to follow him? You could stay behind and talk with me, comfort me for all my hardships. I’m the Young Cult Leader.
Later, you’ll have to receive your monthly stipend from me, you know!”
As he passed by, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon poked Geom Mugeuk in the side with the handle of the Myeolcheon Great Saber.
Long ago, he had jabbed him in the side like this and left it bruised, but today, he poked him lightly, playfully.
The Ilhwa Sword Venerable tapped the sword hanging at his waist. It meant they should have a sparring match after so long.
The Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable passed by with a polite bow, and the Drunken Demon made a gesture of drinking wine. It meant they should drink celebratory wine later.
The Fist Demon raised his fist. Let us have a late-night training gathering after so long.
The Demon Buddha congratulated him while emitting a dazzling golden radiance, and the Poison King sent a voice transmission he had never expected.
—Let us go to the Central Plains next time to get some fresh air.
The Poison King was suggesting that they first do the thing he hated most in the world. This must be the Poison King’s way of congratulating him.
The Extreme Evil Smiling Demon stopped in front of Geom Mugeuk. The two eyes behind the mask were bloodshot red. It seemed that when Geom Mugeuk had cried, he had shed tears with him.
He had not protected this world by himself. He had been able to protect it because they had protected him. Because they had been there, he had learned and realized all the things he could never have known alone.
‘Thank you, everyone.’
Geom Mugeuk drew the Black Demon Sword. The Extreme Evil Smiling Demon immediately understood Geom Mugeuk’s intent.
Clang.
When the Extreme Evil Smiling Demon flicked the sword with his finger, a clear sound rang throughout the Heavenly Demon Hall. It was the sound of the Extreme Evil Smiling Demon’s congratulations, and the sound announcing a new era.
***
Late at night, Gwiryeongja was diligently writing something on paper.
Not only his desk, but the entire room was piled with all kinds of books.
His wife, Im Hyang, came there carrying tea and fruit on a tray.
“Will you be working late again today?”
“I think I must.”
Im Hyang set the tray down on the tea table beside his desk and turned to leave, but then her steps stopped.
“Do you remember?”
Gwiryeongja raised his head and looked at Im Hyang. She continued speaking without turning around.
“My parents opposed our marriage. They said the successors of the Ghost Gate had, for generations, been people who devoted themselves only to research, and that they would make a woman lonely.
Back then, you said that would never happen. You promised that you would never make me lonely.”
Gwiryeongja could not offer any excuse. Because he had indeed promised.
“Once I finish this part I’m researching now, I can make time. I truly am almost done. Once I finish, let us go on a trip.”
Im Hyang did not believe him.
“You said that last time, too. That once you finished that part, it would be done.”
Once one part ended, another part appeared. And like that, the research continued.
“Work, then.”
Im Hyang went outside.
For some reason, today, her back looked even lonelier, and he thought he ought to follow her.
Gwiryeongja rose from his seat, and his gaze turned toward the paper on the desk that he had been writing on for some time.
He had gotten a feeling about his research. If this moment passed, he might ruin the research of the past several days. Yes, he would work today. She would understand.
Gwiryeongja sat down again and diligently wrote something. Just then, the door opened once more, and he sensed someone entering.
“Dear, I am truly sorry today. Tomorrow, let us be sure to drink tea together.”
But Im Hyang gave no answer.
When Gwiryeongja raised his head, someone else was standing there looking at him instead of his wife, Im Hyang.
Startled, Gwiryeongja was about to shout, but soon recognized who the other person was.
“You are?”
The person who had entered was none other than Geom Mugeuk.
In the past, Geom Mugeuk had gone with Ian to stop his marriage. But Gwiryeongja had truly loved Im Hyang, and in the end, that marriage had taken place.
Back then, Gwiryeongja had not known that Geom Mugeuk was the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but now he knew. He knew that the person he had seen then was the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“I heard from Seojin who you are. Is my younger sibling doing well?”
“She has become the captain of Gwiyeongdae, the unit directly under my command.”
Gwiryeongja did not know whether to be pleased or worried.
“Is that not a dangerous position?”
Geom Mugeuk walked to the window, drew back the curtain, and opened it to air out the room.
“It is likely less dangerous than spending all your time researching in this stifling place. How many times do you even get up from your seat?”
Immersing himself only in research like this was probably what had eventually driven his relationship with Im Hyang beyond repair. From Im Hyang, who had just left, he could sense that they were nearly at their limit.
“Why have you come to see me?”
Then words Gwiryeongja could never have imagined flowed out.
“Send me to the past.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Gwiryeongja was startled out of his wits.
“How did you know about that?”
Geom Mugeuk gave no answer. Gwiryeongja soon assumed Seojin must have told him.
“The research is not yet complete.”
Geom Mugeuk knew. This man would devote his entire life to completing the Great Regression Art, but he would never be able to gather all the materials.
This time, it would be even harder.
He had already consumed the inner core of the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp, and even if, by some stroke of luck, another Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp were found, the crucial Bimahon, the treasure of the Heavenly Demon, was in his father’s possession.
It would be passed down to him, and no one would be able to take it from him.
This man had staked his life on an impossible dream, and yet his eyes now were filled with resolve.
“I will complete it, no matter what.”
Geom Mugeuk asked him.
“And after you complete it, what then?”
Gwiryeongja could not answer that question. He had never thought about what came after. It was research he had inherited as his family’s legacy.
To him, it was something he naturally had to do, and he had never once considered doing anything else. To him, it was fate.
“Whom will you send back to the past?”
He had never thought about that either.
“At this rate, you will probably be the one who wants to go back to the past.”
Because that was exactly what had happened.
“Me? Why do you think that?”
Geom Mugeuk looked down at the tea and fruit his wife had left behind. Untouched, the fruit had changed color, and the tea had gone cold.
“Ah!”
In that moment, Gwiryeongja understood. This young cult leader was asking whether his relationship with his wife had not already become like that.
He could not deny it.
What Geom Mugeuk meant, in the end, was this: he would want to go back in order to fix his broken married life.
“No matter who you are…”
He could not bring himself to say that Geom Mugeuk should not meddle even in another man’s marriage. The other party was the young cult leader of that terrifying Demon Cult. No, he was the direct superior of his younger sibling.
Geom Mugeuk knew. A few words from him would not change Gwiryeongja, nor would they change his married life.
Even so, Geom Mugeuk did not want him to become unhappy.
“I failed to see others clearly, and because of that, I lost many things. That is why I always keep this in my heart. When it comes to relationships between people, do not imagine things on your own. Look at them properly, and listen to them properly.”
Geom Mugeuk rose from his seat and asked him.
“Are you looking properly at your wife?”
“!”
“Perhaps understanding the heart of the person beside you is harder than the difficult and magnificent great art you are researching. Do not worry about Seojin. I will look after her well.”
With only those words, Geom Mugeuk opened the door and was about to leave when Gwiryeongja shouted from behind him.
“This research is my family’s long-cherished wish!”
Geom Mugeuk turned back toward him.
“Pass down the research exactly as it is to future generations. In some generation, even without pouring in an entire lifetime as you have, a genius will appear who can complete the great art with ease. Keep passing it down until then. That genius will fulfill your family’s wish.”
As Geom Mugeuk turned again and was about to open the door and leave, Gwiryeongja asked from behind him.
“Do you believe this great art will succeed?”
I do. I may be the only person in this world who believes it.
But for the sake of Gwiryeongja’s life, Geom Mugeuk firmly shook his head.
“I do not.”
Geom Mugeuk left him behind and came out.
When he looked back after walking some distance away, he saw Gwiryeongja come out of the study and walk toward the building where his wife was.
At the very least, tonight he would talk with Im Hyang and spend time with her.
‘You are doing well. The past you want to return to is right now.’
Today, you have succeeded in regression.
***
Swaaaash.
Waves rolled in over the sun-shattered surface of the water, and the grains of sand on the beach where crabs crawled glittered like jewels.
Within the Space-Time Transposition Art, Geom Mugeuk sat side by side with Cheonmahon on a chair.
“It is all over now.”
He told Cheonmahon that he had stopped his father’s dream of unifying the murim.
As always, Cheonmahon merely listened in silence.
Having finished speaking, Geom Mugeuk leaned back comfortably in his chair and gazed at the blue sea.
As he rested beneath the warm sunlight, he heard a low, deep voice ring out.
“How will you live from now on?”
Geom Mugeuk looked at Cheonmahon in surprise. The one who had just spoken was Cheonmahon.
It was the first time Cheonmahon had ever spoken to him.
Cheonmahon merely stared at the sea, as though he had said nothing at all. He was playing completely innocent.
Geom Mugeuk, too, looked back at the sea as if nothing had happened.
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned beyond the sea toward the sky. Even though he tried to hold it back, a smile spread across his face.
Geom Mugeuk’s bright smile, resembling the sea and resembling the sky, rode the wind and spread far away.
The End.
***
To all the readers who have read Absolute Regression until now, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
While writing this work, I received far more love than I deserved.
Throughout the entire time I was writing, I was truly happy as an author.
From my debut work until now, I have written only martial arts fiction, and I think all of you gave a pat on the shoulder to that stubborn devotion.
I bow my head in gratitude to all of you who encouraged me through your comments and sternly scolded me when I strayed down the wrong path.
During the three years and six months I spent with Mugeuk, I, too, did my very best and wrote with all my heart.
When you even created and loved the affectionate nickname “Late-Night Reading Club,” how could I not write diligently?
I truly tried, and tried again. Enough that I can confidently say, “This was the very best I could do.”
And yet, now that I have put down the final period and look back, there are so many parts that feel lacking and regrettable. It must be because of this regret that I go on to write the next work.
An ending is always regrettable. I have already parted thirteen times with the characters in my works, and parted with all of you as well, but I do not think I have ever felt as much regret as I do with this work.
(Since many people are curious about side stories, I will say just one thing.
Because so many of you are so saddened by the ending, I am considering whether I might fill a little of that regret with side stories for the tales I was unable to tell.
The only thing I can promise you is writing, but there is also nothing that refuses to go my way as much as writing does, so I cannot give you a definite answer. Still, while taking time to recharge, I will think deeply about it.)
I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Team Leader Yun Duhan, who handled editing throughout the entire serialization period.
I would also like to thank author Park Jinhwan and author JP, who are currently serializing the webtoon of Absolute Regression. They are truly making it so wonderfully!
And more than anyone else, I thank the readers once again.
Please stay healthy and happy until we meet again!
—Sincerely, Jang Yeonghun.