After walking through the forest following Gu Jueyeop for a while.
Bi Yeonseom was able to reach the center of the forest.
Unlike the entrance where no presence could be felt.
As they reached the middle, traces of presence finally began to be felt little by little.
'Dense.'
The impression of this was brief.
But it was not light.
The internal energy filling the surroundings was uniformly deep and dense.
It was a level unfelt at the Alliance's resting area near the entrance to the frontlines.
He walked carefully, following behind Gu Jueyeop.
Then, he saw someone standing guard in the distance.
Though not clearly visible, seeing as they wore the same martial uniform as Gu Jueyeop.
They were likely from the same family.
"Halt."
However, for some reason, the guard pointed the tip of his blade at Gu Jueyeop.
In response, Gu Jueyeop, as if it were natural, raised both hands to show he had no intention of fighting.
Seeing this, Bi Yeonseom also raised his hands.
The martial artist who confirmed this took a step toward Gu Jueyeop.
Thud.
"•••!"
At that moment, Bi Yeonseom couldn't help but flinch at the sharp aura emanating from the guarding martial artist.
It was a much more viscous and dense aura than he had thought.
'What is this...!'
Bi Yeonseom could tell.
That the martial artist before his eyes had crossed the wall.
Crossing the wall meant being a Peak-tier martial artist.
'A Peak-tier martial artist...?'
How could this be such an absurd situation?
A Peak-tier martial artist was standing guard?
Under the fighting spirit that made cold sweat flow just by feeling it.
Bi Yeonseom could only gulp down dry saliva.
The viciously sharp internal energy brushed past Bi Yeonseom's body, inspecting him up and down.
'Such delicate control...'
It was an absurd level of internal energy application.
The martial artist who drew his sword glanced over Gu Jueyeop and Bi Yeonseom, as if checking whether they were dangerous individuals.
What was unexpected, however, was that if Gu Jueyeop truly belonged to their group.
Would there be a need to verify with such vigilance?
Especially since he wasn't even wearing a mask and his face was fully exposed.
After observing for a while like that.
"•••Butterfly."
In a trembling silence, Gu Jueyeop spat out a word lowly.
It was truly a sudden and out-of-place word.
But Bi Yeonseom seemed to understand why Gu Jueyeop had uttered it.
'Is it a password?'
It certainly seemed to be a password.
...
！..
....
Moreover, the martial artist over there must have already initiated it.
'I didn't hear it, but...'
Then was it a sound transmission.
He thought that was probably it.
"Hmm..." = •
Whether the word Gu Jueyeop uttered was correct.
The martial artist nodded slightly and reduced his fighting spirit.
As the intense aura that filled and pressured the surroundings disappeared.
The suffocating feeling in his chest eased, and only then could he barely breathe out.
Phew.
Was that the starting point.
The martial artist looked at Gu Jueyeop, relaxed his stiff expression, and held back a smile.
Gu Jueyeop, faced with that smile, frowned as if he didn't like it.
"•••Please do not laugh."
"Haha! How could I not laugh?"
"That's already three just this month."
"•••I know that too."
What could 'three' mean.
Perhaps, the number of people the Yeolhyeopgeom had saved?
Just as that question crossed his mind, the martial artist asked Gu Jueyeop.
"Will you be alright?"
At the martial artist's question, Gu Jueyeop let out a deep sigh.
All the worries and anxieties in the world seemed contained within that sigh.
"•••I am not alright."
"Yet, you always bring them, Young Master."
" "
At the martial artist's words, Gu Jueyeop glanced at Bi Yeonseom.
"•••Because I couldn't just leave them and go."
At Gu Jueyeop's hesitantly spoken words, the martial artist held back a smile once again.
Watching this, Bi Yeonseom thought.
Somehow, he felt a somewhat different vibe from the Peak-tier martial artists he had seen before.
There was none of the complacency and arrogance characteristic of those who had reached their level of mastery.
Instead, he seemed full of humility and good intentions.
'He's so different from when he raised his fighting spirit earlier.'
It was to the point where he wondered how he could seem like such a different person.
While Bi Yeonseom was feeling surprised.
Gu Jueyeop, with a somewhat cautious expression for some reason, asked.
"•••What is the Young Master doing right now?"
"Ah! He probably went out hunting. I saw him leave after reporting to the Branch Leader this morning."
At the martial artist's words, a hint of vitality returned to Gu Jueyeop's expression.
"Phew... That's a relief at least."
In the meantime, Bi Yeonseom could hear Gu Jueyeop muttering very quietly behind him.
-If he's coming back after sweating it out, he'll probably beat me less.
Nodding his head as he said it, the words were quite gruesome.
Just why was he trembling like that since earlier?
Bi Yeonseom was extremely curious.
Just as he was thinking of casually asking.
"Young Hero."
The guarding martial artist spoke to Bi Yeonseom.
At this, Bi Yeonseom felt his body tensing up without him realizing.
After all, the opponent was a Peak-tier martial artist.
However, unlike Bi Yeonseom's tension, the voice that came was quite gentle.
"If it's not too presumptuous, may I ask for your name?"
"Ah! I-I am Bi Yeonseom of the Biseon Sect."
"I see."
Biseon Sect, that martial artist had probably never heard of it.
How would he know a small sect in a rural mountain valley?
A strangely rising sense of inferiority crept up inside Bi Yeonseom.
But he had to try his best to suppress it.
Whether he knew this or not, the martial artist smiled softly and spoke to Bi Yeonseom.
"I am Muyeon."
Bi Yeonseom envied the confidence and unfathomable chivalrous spirit that sprouted from that way of speaking.
"Please take care of me, Young Hero Bi."
"••Ye-yes! Please take care of me too."
As Muyeon reached out his hand first.
Bi Yeonseom, who didn't know what to do, carefully clasped his hand.
Up until the moment he grabbed it, he repeatedly worried whether he should grab it with both hands.
For now, he grabbed it with one hand.
Watching this, Gu Jueyeop asked Muyeon.
"How much time is left until your shift change?"
"Not much left. Do you have some business?"
"Ah, it's nothing much... I was wondering if I could ask for a spar later."
At Gu Jueyeop's words, Muyeon grinned.
"I'm fine with it, but will you be alright?"
"That's why I'm saying... could you perhaps make up an excuse for me...?"
Muyeon nodded without losing his smile at Gu Jueyeop's words.
Was it a sign of agreement?
Gu Jueyeop sent a look of praise to Muyeon as if he had believed he would agree.
"That won't do."
" "
It was a much more firm answer than expected from his gentle face.
Muyeon also valued his own body, after all.
The resting area prepared inside the forest was much better equipped than expected.
So much so that one might wonder if such a setup was possible in the forest, let alone a frontline at that, which was called the center.
'It's completely different.'
The somehow differentiated atmosphere from the Alliance also played a part in this.
Stiff and cold.
Unlike the Alliance members who were distrustful of each other.
This place had a somewhat more natural atmosphere.
Yet, it was also solid.
Though he couldn't understand why he felt such a difference.
While Bi Yeonseom was walking around and observing.
Gu Jueyeop, who was walking ahead, stopped.
The largest tent among the visible ones in the vicinity appeared before their eyes.
It seemed like this was where the person managing this area stayed.
They entered carefully, but there was no one inside the tent.
It seemed the place was empty.
Just as he was wondering what to do, Gu Jueyeop spoke.
"•••The Branch Leader isn't here. Please wait here for a moment."
"Pardon?"
Bi Yeonseom was quite flustered by Gu Jueyeop's words.
No matter that Gu Jueyeop had saved him, it was strange to leave him alone like this when he knew nothing about him other than the fact that he belonged to the Murim Alliance.
'What does he think I'll do?'
Leaving him all alone in a place like this.
However, as if he didn't care about Bi Yeonseom's worries at all.
Gu Jueyeop brought a chair from beside him and handed it to Bi Yeonseom.
"Please sit down. Soon... or maybe not? Anyway, I will be back."
"Pardon...? I'd rather go with you...!"
"No."
It was an incredibly firm refusal.
"•••It's a situation that's a bit hard to show to an outsider."
"Ah... Yes."
If he put it that way, he had nothing to say.
Bi Yeonseom was in the position of receiving help, after all.
"Please wait just a moment."
Having finished speaking, Gu Jueyeop left the tent.
Left alone, Bi Yeonseom sat in the chair Gu Jueyeop had given him, maintaining the tension welling up to his throat, and only rolled his eyes around.
Gu Jueyeop dropped Bi Yeonseom off at the tent and walked toward the back of the forest.
The one he was looking for would be somewhere in this vast forest.
But it wouldn't take too long to find him.
Crunch.
The sound of stepping on a branch brushed past his ears.
The sound of grass insects chirping without pause disappeared.
The faintly felt presence of demonic beasts vanished without a trace.
In that gap, solely.
What filled the surroundings entirely was heat.
'It's hot...'
The vicious heat felt as soon as he took a few steps was surely emanating from ■him.
It was a heat so intense that even Gu Jueyeop, who harbored a similar heat, felt like his breath was being suffocated.
At this, Gu Jueyeop had no choice but to raise even his internal energy.
The further he walked, the thicker the heat became.
The forest, which had been wearing a mask of vivid blue, also gradually revealed its true identity the deeper he went in.
Ssss-!
"Hah..."
At the turbid energy that suddenly rushed in, Gu Jueyeop raised his internal energy even more.
This was not a place where one could endure if they couldn't properly resist such eccentric energies.
As he raised his internal energy, he recalled the words he had once said to him.
-If you don't want to die, consider this forest itself as a demonic beast.
The words he had said.
At the time, he didn't know what he meant, but now he thought he understood a little.
It meant that this forest was that dangerous.
Even though the person who spat those words was roaming this forest as if it were his own home.
« * »
•••Phew-
Gu Jueyeop let out a sigh.
Because the sky far in the distance caught his eye, lightly reddened as if bathed in the sunset.
It was only a little past noon now.
It was far too early for the sun to set.
Then, what could that be?
"Every time I see it, it's a level I can't understand."
That was not a sunset.
If it were a sunset, it would be strange that only the sky over there was reddened.
It was proof that it was a space made entirely of heat and fire energy.
With an absurd amount of internal energy whose level couldn't even be gauged.
The flames created by martial arts soaked the sky in their unique color and dominated the surroundings.
*Kyu*,,
Watching that, Gu Jueyeop smiled bitterly.
The past year.
Rolling around on the frontlines, Gu Jueyeop's level had risen absurdly.
His once monotonous sword paths began to contain his own will.
His naturally refined energy control had risen to a level that raised sword resonance as if it had been waiting.
Others saw this and told Gu Jueyeop.
That he definitely had talent.
That he was truly a genius.
To have raised his level this much in such a short time.
That he couldn't be without talent.
However.
Gu Jueyeop couldn't just be happy about it.
When he thought of the one very close to him, he couldn't help it.
Because the one who had grown the most over the past year was not himself, but him.
Moreover.
The one who had tortured and rolled him the most, dragging him up to this point, was none other than him.
When he was rolling on the floor, unable to even refuse his words, it was fucking awful, but looking back, he could clearly know.
That because he was there, he was able to rise to this point.
Of course, separate from that.
Frequent violence and.
Receiving sarcastic prodding all day long had changed Gu Jueyeop's personality a bit.
"•••Gulp."
The closer he got to the domain, Gu Jueyeop had to swallow dry saliva.
He could tell from his past experiences that he wouldn't suffer a good fate if he went there.
"•••Should I just go back?'
The dilemma didn't last long.
Yeah, let's go back.
He could clean up the mess after returning.
There was no need for him to know about this kind of frequent occurrence.
Gu Jueyeop nodded firmly, turned the steps he had painstakingly taken, and headed back in the direction of the tent.
His retreating steps were about twice as fast as his approaching ones.
"...If I just go back quickly and end it by sending a letter to the Alliance appropriately..."
"Where are you going?"
Flinch.
Gu Jueyeop, who was trying to escape with quick steps.
Stopped in his tracks and flinched at the voice coming from behind him.
"I asked where you're going."
At the voice that rang out twice.
Gu Jueyeop's neck turned with a creaking sound as if it were broken.
There was clearly still a distance to go before he arrived.
How on earth did he get here so quickly?
At the end of his forcibly turned gaze.
With still fierce eyes.
And eyes that were fully reddened because his body's heat hadn't cooled, looking at Gu Jueyeop.
A demon—no, Guyangcheon was standing there.