Chapter 320: Listening to Cheol Jiseon. (3)
A night when the moon had risen.
A somewhat gaunt young man stood in the middle of the plains with his eyes closed.
Even though the winter wind was blowing fiercely.
The young man did not move in the slightest, quietly closing his eyes and exhaling.
He was recalling the past.
Cheol Jiseon.
No—Jegal Jinseon had realized his own peculiarity around the time he had just turned ten.
From one day onward.
Jegal Jinseon’s fingertips trembled.
Whenever he moved his arms, he felt a crawling sensation from an unidentifiable texture spreading across his entire body.
Due to that inexplicable discomfort, he could not sleep for months.
With goosebumps rising to his throat and tension coiling in him, he skipped meals until his body gradually grew weaker.
What on earth was happening to him?
Jegal Jinseon had pondered and endured for a long time, but.
He could not know the reason.
Around the time half a year had passed like that.
An incident occurred.
The alien discomfort that Jegal Jinseon felt.
He could no longer endure it and tore it out.
From the moment he realized he could snatch it.
Because he knew that doing so would bring about a dangerous situation.
Jegal Jinseon had endured until now, but.
Perhaps having reached his limit. In the end, he committed the deed.
Jegal Jinseon’s hands were sensitive.
If he waved his hands through the empty air.
An unidentifiable, uncomfortable sensation could be felt.
That place.
Jegal Jinseon could grab and tear at that place.
One might ask how one could tear at empty air.
But Jegal Jinseon could do it.
He simply had to grab and tear.
He did not know why it worked, but Jegal Jinseon could do it.
If only—truly, if only.
If it had ended at merely being able to do it, that would have been a good thing.
But.
“Ah, no!”
Jegal Jinseon could have avoided witnessing the disaster—that was the thing.
“Father!”
In the blazing flames.
Dwellings swallowed up by something.
Watching that horrendous sight.
Jegal Jinseon had to cling to his sister and scream.
The place slowly being consumed was the dwelling he had lived in.
And his father was inside.
It was a past he did not wish to remember.
And yet, he had to keep it in his memory somehow.
Only then could he continue to recall his sins.
The moment he tore the air with his hands, unable to endure that texture.
The torn space spread massively in an instant.
The place where a small fissure had formed.
Grew in size.
Before long, it gnawed at the surroundings and became a monster.
The Demonic Realm Gate that people of the world spoke of.
Space was evolving into a Demonic Realm Gate.
Was that all?
As it was a Demonic Realm Gate, it also produced demonic beasts.
Just as it devoured Jegal Jinseon’s home and his father.
The Demonic Realm Gate itself sometimes transformed into a monster and swallowed space whole.
How could a human create a Demonic Realm Gate, a calamity called a natural disaster?
It was unknown.
This was the truth that Jegal Jinseon continuously pondered and wished to escape.
After killing his father with his own hands.
His mother could not bear to look at him.
His sister, who had watched their father die while holding their screaming younger sibling.
Held her younger sibling and spoken.
“Jinseon. You must never use your power.”
Jegal Jinseon had nodded while sobbing, but.
Contrary to his sister’s desperate wish.
There were many days Jegal Jinseon could not endure.
He tried to endure the discomfort and alien sensation.
But there were days he could not.
If calculated in cycles.
Approximately once a year.
A period where he absolutely could not endure without using his power.
Matching this timing, Jegal Jinseon would find an uninhabited mountain or a specific area, use his power, and disappear.
Even if there were no people, the act of creating a Demonic Realm Gate and disappearing.
Was something that brought guilt.
But he could not do it where his sister was nearby.
Because he wanted to protect his sister even if it killed him.
His power was dangerous.
No matter how familiar Demonic Realm Gates were, and even though it was an era where human casualties had decreased significantly.
The fact that his power was dangerous did not change.
Moreover.
The Demonic Realm Gates that did not produce demonic beasts but sucked in the surroundings and swallowed them into the demonic realm.
Were on a level that even peak experts could not easily escape.
That was why he lived hiding it ever more desperately.
Just as he hid his family name.
The moment it became known that the one who possessed such power was, of all things, a descendant of the Jegal family.
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It was a matter where not only himself but also his sister might suffer a terrible fate.
Even so, he needed power.
While hiding himself and concealing his power, while enduring.
He had come to the Divine Dragon Hall by ridiculously begging Cheol Hwan-o, and the reason was the same.
He needed power to protect.
‘But I have no talent.’
Jegal Jinseon himself knew that he had no talent in martial arts to raise his own body’s strength.
So he needed a different kind of power.
His mother had dissuaded him as if to tear him apart.
His sister had also strongly discouraged him, saying it was dangerous.
Yet that was the reason Jegal Jinseon had come here using the name Cheol Jiseon.
‘This Divine Dragon Hall is the greatest in history.’
The generation of shooting stars, where countless geniuses poured forth.
And the time when the most such shooting stars gathered was none other than now.
The pillars of the Orthodox Faction called the Four Great Families.
All bloodlines of that place gathered.
Bloodlines said to be born of prestigious families.
Descendants of renowned sects.
Furthermore.
The vanguard of the younger generation now.
It was said that most of the Six Dragons Three Peaks, seen as those who would lead the Central Plains in the future, were gathered.
Truly, the future of the Central Plains was there.
‘I must go.’
To protect himself and his sister.
To reclaim their family name, which had been his father’s dream.
To change and reclaim their tainted history.
It was the path to do so.
Rather than his frail sister.
If push came to shove, it was right for him to go, as he could keep himself safe even if it was dangerous.
The time when he would run rampant was still far off.
The calculated time.
Was the point when the hall briefly closed and the hall students returned to their respective families and came back.
He would release the accumulated power then.
The initial calculation was as such.
The problem was.
That calculations often did not match expectations.
Jegal Jinseon knew this as well, yet he had likely never thought it would hit so close to home.
One of the facts Jegal Jinseon had overlooked.
Was that merely going to the Divine Dragon Hall did not make building connections easy.
The relationships already formed among them even before entering the hall were one thing.
He was not outstanding enough as a person called Jegal Jinseon to dig his way in and take a seat.
And beyond value, lacking martial prowess to be recognized was the problem.
He admitted that he had quite an extraordinary mind, but.
There were too few situations to express it.
They were ultimately martial artists.
Because it was an era where visible martial prowess was the answer.
The ability to open a demonic realm with one’s hands?
At a glance, it was indeed an absurd power.
Not only could he not control it well.
It was a power like a double-edged sword and an ability ominous beyond compare.
From the Orthodox Faction’s standpoint, he should count himself lucky if he was not deemed a target for extermination.
If even his family name being Jegal were revealed….
Probably even getting his head cut off would not be strange.
‘…Could I actually be in an incredibly dangerous situation?’
He realized the truth.
During the first-round exam, when his passion had cooled upon colliding with reality.
Along with his despairing martial prowess.
When he realized he could not squeeze his way into the circle of prestigious families.
Only then did Jegal Jinseon understand how bleak his situation was.
There was no answer.
He had entered the enemy camp’s den filled with blades.
Yet none of the proper methods worked at all.
Somehow gritting his teeth and struggling.
He had barely passed the second-round exam, but.
The third-round exam was the problem.
Stealing an opponent’s sash.
An absurd exam where one had to find a sash attached to a demonic beast.
Jegal Jinseon was certain.
That he truly would not pass this exam.
‘…’
A sense of despair was all there was.
Even as he thought himself so weak.
He belatedly realized that it was because he had never properly faced a fellow member of the younger generation.
‘…I’m screwed.’
He had no one his age other than his sister.
It was not easy to even hold a proper conversation with others.
And in a situation where his martial prowess was lacking.
What connections, for heaven’s sake…
The cruel reality dug into Jegal Jinseon’s heart like madness, but.
‘…I can’t give up.’
He could not give up just like that.
He had to grit his teeth.
At the same time, Jegal Jinseon racked his brains.
Because he had to pass the third-round exam.
‘Since I can’t use my power, should I set traps?’
Excluding the choice of hunting down members of the younger generation.
It would be better to use the terrain to dig traps and catch demonic beasts.
Judging by the contents of the third-round exam.
It seemed to be an exam that also determined how one hunted demonic beasts.
In this aspect, he was rather confident.
‘…Good.’
To prepare traps right away.
The moment he tried to find suitable terrain.
“Hm?”
Into the sight of Jegal Jinseon, who had been pushing through the bushes.
Someone entered.
‘A person…?’
Tension shot up Jegal Jinseon’s spine.
Of all the luck, to run into someone so quickly.
Should he take a combat stance? Could he win?
Most likely, the chances of not winning were high.
The fortunate thing was….
‘…He’s lying down?’
In the middle of the exam, his opponent was lying on the ground.
Slowly exhaling with his eyes closed.
Somehow, it felt like he was sleeping.
Sleeping in this situation?
‘What kind of person is he?’
Surely he was not in his right mind.
‘…Then, is this an opportunity?’
Perhaps due to the sudden discovery.
Jegal Jinseon, who had been about to set traps to catch demonic beasts.
Perhaps thinking it was unexpected fortune.
He approached the opponent.
Because the opponent happened to have the sash he wanted.
Jegal Jinseon, carefully silencing his presence.
Approached right before the opponent’s nose and reached out his hand.
If there was one thing the excited Jegal Jinseon failed to recall.
In these blood-soaked exam grounds.
A human who had the guts to lie on the ground and openly sleep.
He failed to consider whether such a person would truly be weak.
Crack!
Just before his fingertips touched the opponent.
Jegal Jinseon’s vision turned upside down in an instant.
In a gap he could not even perceive, the opponent’s hand grasped Jegal Jinseon’s throat.
“Who are you?”
A voice that sounded uncomfortable, as if he had just hit puberty.
At the cold emotion contained within.
Jegal Jinseon couldn’t help but tremble.
Those eyes were like—
‘A… a demonic beast…’
The eyes of the demonic beasts he had faced.
They resembled them to a strange degree.
“I asked who you are.”
“I… I was wrong….”
Crushed by fear, the words would not come out properly.
He had messed with the wrong person.
One wrong move and he might die.
So a human’s gaze could be that frightening….
Ah, could this be a human wearing the guise of a demonic beast?
He knew it was a strange thought.
But that was how terrifying it was.
This was Jegal Jinseon’s first impression of Guyang Cheon.
Guyang Cheon, who had questioned Jegal Jinseon as if interrogating him.
Having extracted all the information he wanted.
He put on a briefly satisfied expression and spoke to Jegal Jinseon.
He said let’s be friends from now on.
At the sudden shift in the situation.
Jegal Jinseon could not even react properly.
The man who had been glaring daggers at him and grilling him until just now.
Had abruptly asked to be friends, so it was absurd beyond words.
The funny thing was.
This human’s identity was the youngest peak-level martial artist in recent times.
And the True Dragon said to stand at the top of the Six Dragons Three Peaks.
As if to keep his word, he had even let him pass the third-round exam.
Until that time, Jegal Jinseon had thought.
That Guyang Cheon was planning to use him like a slave under the name of friends.
Since one could not enter Divine Dragon Hall with attendants, he must be planning to use him like a servant.
That he was a man as wicked as the rumors said.
He had judged so, but.
The True Dragon he met up close was a somewhat different person from Jegal Jinseon’s delusions.
His words and eyes were fierce.
He did not torment without reason… No, there were people who tormented in such a way.
But if he considered someone his own person, he showed care for them.
He would sometimes go around personally checking on his companions.
While he would frown and curse at backtalk about himself.
The moment he heard someone cursing his companions.
Truly, as if witnessing the return of an evil spirit.
He would often crush that opponent.
Much more affectionate than the rumors… No, perhaps not affectionate, but.
He seemed like a decent enough person.
However.
There was one more fact Jegal Jinseon could learn from seeing such a Guyang Cheon.
He, who was called a friend and kept at his side.
‘I am not within him.’
The fact that he was not truly one of Guyang Cheon’s companions.
The feeling was such.
The gaze was such.
Where had he noticed it?
The moment Shinseong came to find him?
Or after that?
No.
Precisely, it was from the very beginning.
Because the way Guyang Cheon looked at him had been like that from the start.
When they first met.
The meaning of having said they resembled a demonic beast’s eyes was this.
With prey before its eyes.
The eyes of a demonic beast watching for a long time.
Because it could kill at any time.
Eyes pondering how to devour.
Guyang Cheon’s eyes looking at him resembled that.
Beyond the demonic realm he had torn open.
Because the eyes of the demonic beast he had faced once were the same.
That was why he had blurted it out.
‘Because you intend to kill me.’
In conversation with Guyang Cheon. To turn speculation into certainty.
Words spat out casually.
And.
Confirming the gaze Guyang Cheon had directed at him then.
Jegal Jinseon was certain.
Interest.
The emotion contained in Guyang Cheon’s eyes that he had revealed for an instant.
‘…It’s certain.’
Then, Jegal Jinseon realized that Guyang Cheon had truly tried to kill him.
Why?
If he was thinking of killing, why?
What had he done?
Could it be that Guyang Cheon also knew he was of the Jegal family name?
If he was thinking of killing, how was he thinking of doing it?
He should not be able to do that inside the hall.
Was he truly thinking of killing?
Could it be his own delusion?
Should he have gone to Shinseong instead?
While countless such thoughts brushed past.
Jegal Jinseon answered Guyang Cheon’s question.
“I… can open Demonic Realm Gates.”
Words close to a confession.
He could not read the flow at all.
At the aura he felt from Guyang Cheon.
He had blurted them out unconsciously, wanting to survive.
Thinking about it now, even if Guyang Cheon had made up his mind to kill him.
He knew it would not be easy.
But probably even if that situation came upon him again right now.
Jegal Jinseon felt he would make the same choice.
Guyang Cheon was different somehow.
There was something different from other members of the younger generation.
That was why those beings called Hidden Dragon, Sword Dragon, Snow Peak, and Poison Peak.
Were by Guyang Cheon’s side.
“This is hard….”
His head throbbed.
Was doing it this way right?
He had already done the deed, but had no certainty at all.
The reason Jegal Jinseon was so confused.
Was partly because he could not know Guyang Cheon’s reaction.
But also because of what Guyang Cheon had said with a smile after hearing about his power.
“So… from now on, rather than Shinseong.”
“No. There’s no need for that.”
Rejecting Shinseong’s offer.
At the resolve to go to Guyang Cheon. Guyang Cheon smiled and waved his hand.
—Hah.
At the words that he could open a Demonic Realm Gate.
Without even asking how he could do such a thing.
Without even asking if he really had such power.
As if he had known from the very beginning.
Guyang Cheon spoke to Jegal Jinseon—no, to Cheol Jiseon.
“Keep doing what you were doing.”
“…What?”
“Next to that Jang bastard, do everything he says.”
“What do you mean… I…”
“Yeah, I know you want to come to my side. I’ll save… No, I’ll take you in, so.”
Guyang Cheon’s smile was frightening.
Because he vaguely seemed to know the meaning contained in that smile.
“Do what he says next to that bastard. That’s your job.”
Toward Cheol Jiseon, who could not understand.
Guyang Cheon had clearly spoken thus.
‘Why?’
And Cheol Jiseon still could not understand those words.
Do as he says?
To participate in Shinseong’s scheme to eliminate Guyang Cheon?
That’s my job?
‘What the hell is he saying?’
At an inexplicable trembling.
Cheol Jiseon clenched his fist.
Had telling Guyang Cheon really been the right thing?
Worries still came and went.
Even so, since he had already let it out of his mouth.
He could not turn back the choice.
Then.
Rustle.
A presence was felt beyond the bushes.