Chapter 479 - Something Rotten.
"...Will you be all right?"
Right after hearing everything about the favor Dang Jemun was asking of me. Those were the words I spat out.
Words asking if she would really be okay.
It was a story that made such a question inevitable.
Because no matter how I heard it, it was truly a difficult story to believe had come from Dang Jemun's mouth.
Even at my doubt, Dang Jemun merely maintained sad eyes and did not retract her words.
"Is it possible?"
"..."
At Dang Jemun's question, I lightly pinched my own lips with my thumb. Was it possible?
'I don't know.'
Honestly, it was too much to give a definite answer.
Because it was a matter where it was difficult to think how to handle it without bringing harm to me.
However.
'Well.'
Even if I worried like this, frankly speaking, my answer was already determined.
"It doesn't seem like a matter I can run away from by refusing."
"..."
Dang Jemun smiled bitterly at my answer. Probably because I had hit the nail on the head.
She knew I wouldn't be able to refuse.
That's why she deliberately.
'She must have brought up the story about Dang So-yeol.'
She must have thought that if it was a matter she was entangled in, I wouldn't be able to refuse. And that was.
'Something I can't say no to.'
It was also something I couldn't bear to deny.
"I will at least try."
I'll try, whether it works or not. That was the most I could answer for now.
Fortunately, Dang Jemun nodded slightly, as if my answer wasn't bad.
"Thank you, Huin."
"There's no need for thanks. Anyway...."
It felt like working for compensation, so gratitude wasn't necessary.
Moreover, she herself seemed quite troubled by this issue.
'For me too, it's not exactly a pleasant matter.'
To be exact, far from pleasant, it was a fucking shitty matter.
'The problem is how to deal with the Poison King.'
Since it was a matter related to the Dang Clan, it was something where I didn't know how to talk to the Poison King.
Moreover, I had to consider only the case where the Poison King had no relation to this matter.
No matter how rotten a human the Poison King was.
I didn't want him involved in this kind of matter too.
'His own daughter is involved in this. I have to hope he's not.'
If it turned out the Poison King was involved despite that.
Crack.
I tilted my head slightly and thought.
'I have to kill him.'
My heart sank coldly. I gave a definite answer inside.
If the Poison King opposes me, I'll kill him.
I made up my mind like that. While I was steeling myself like that.
"Huin."
"Yes, Senior."
"The stories you might be curious about, I have already told Sin Cheol in advance."
"Yes?"
My eyes widened greatly at those words.
'Things I'm curious about?'
It wasn't that I didn't know what they were.
It was because there were so many that I wondered what she could have told him.
'...Really? Noya.'
I urgently called out to Noya inside.
[Hmph.]
Noya's reaction was endlessly bizarre, as if still nursing a grudge over the earlier quarrel.
...Anyway, a narrow-minded old man.
But since he wasn't denying it, he seemed to have heard something.
Just as I was wondering what information he had heard.
"Also...."
Dang Jemun continued, as if her words weren't finished.
"I've prepared a small gift for Huin."
"A... gift?"
"Yes. A gift."
What could she have prepared?
Since I had no memory of ever receiving something intact when being told I'd get a gift, I was quite anxious.
Whether she knew my anxiety or not, Dang Jemun continued.
"Originally.... this was something I should have given to Sin Cheol... or another child."
Dang Jemun spoke and smiled.
"For now, it seems right for you to take it. Because she would wish for this too."
"...She?"
At the same time as my question, Dang Jemun's hand moved toward me.
Sshuk.
"...!?"
The translucent fingertips of Dang Jemun pierced through my chest. It was a sudden attack.
There was no pain. Not even the sensation of something entering.
Was it because she was a spiritual body?
"Se..."
I tried to ask Dang Jemun what this action was, but.
"May there always be blessings on the path you walk."
Dang Jemun simply cut me off with a smile.
Then.
Kuuung-!
"...!"
With the sensation of my body flipping with a whoosh, I lost consciousness.
******************
Guyang Cheon's unconscious body loses strength and collapses.
Just before hitting the ground directly.
Tak-!
Kereung.
A small dragon (龍) flew its body and supported Guyang Cheon.
Confirming that, Dang Jemun took a step back.
And immediately examined her hand.
Sseuuu....
She could see her translucent hand growing fainter. This was evidence that the end was approaching.
Even though Dang Jemun knew this clearly, she was not sad.
She simply accepted it.
It had been too long a life to hold any lingering attachment, and she thought that if she could achieve even a fraction of what she desired, not everything, that would be enough.
However.
"Sin Cheol."
A very small regret for that remained.
"You are there, aren't you."
[...What is it.]
At Dang Jemun's call, an old man's somewhat sullen voice was heard.
At that somewhat nonchalant voice, Dang Jemun let out a soft laugh.
"Are you still sulking?"
[Sul... who said I'm sulking. Do I look like such a narrow-minded person?]
Dang Jemun couldn't bring herself to say he wasn't.
"Please stop being angry. I didn't mean it."
[I'm fine, okay? I don't even remember what was said....]
"It's because I called you a narrow-minded, tactless sympathy inspector, isn't it?"
[...]
Guyang Cheon's body trembled slightly at Dang Jemun's words. It seemed Sin Cheol inside had reacted.
[...Who... who....]
"I understand."
Just before Sin Cheol erupted in anger, Dang Jemun cut him off and spoke.
"That you didn't realize my heart and me. That you ultimately let go of Lady Moyong. I understand everything."
[...]
"Sin Cheol, you were always someone for whom conviction was most important."
Your narrow vision and lack of tact. From the standpoint of a woman who loved you, they were truly frustrating and hateful, but.
If one knew where Sin Cheol was looking during that process, one couldn't bring oneself to be that way.
"Because you are a hero."
A martial artist who looked only at the goal of saving the world.
The hero's conviction that he would plant brilliant plum trees upon peaceful land.
Sin Cheol was a person who lived looking only at that.
Dang Jemun knew he wouldn't keep a woman in his eyes.
If she had approached him with her original body under the name Dang Je-hui, would the result have been different?
No, Dang Jemun was certain.
Sin Cheol would have ultimately chosen nothing.
So approaching his side briefly in her original body.
Or, being by his side in a male body.
That was the only choice Dang Jemun could make.
"I wanted to tell you. But."
Even knowing that, she always wanted to say it.
That she was a woman.
Such a beautiful woman.
And.
That she loved you.
She wanted to open her mouth and chirp, wanted to ask to be held, touched, put to sleep, but.
Dang Jemun endured.
She had to endure.
She desperately wanted to see Sin Cheol treating her like that.
She yearned for it too, but.
"I endured. Because you are that kind of person."
Rather, it was because he was such a Sin Cheol that she loved him.
Because he was one who, despite his rough mouth, would give his life without hesitation to protect those around him.
Because if it was a situation where someone had to die, he was the one who stepped forward first.
Rather than a life as an ordinary person.
Because he was Sin Cheol who chose the conviction and longing to save the world.
Dang Jemun could love him.
"So it's okay."
She smiled.
"Don't feel guilty. I'm okay."
[...Jemun.]
Hearing Sin Cheol's voice, Dang Jemun nodded.
So this is the end.
She could feel it clearly.
She looked at her toes.
Her translucent body was gradually disappearing from there.
Watching this, Dang Jemun closed her eyes.
"I think I must go first."
She spoke calmly.
"Do you think other friends are waiting?"
[...They will be. They're all damned bastards, but they're not the type to abandon anyone and leave.]
"That's right."
Dang Jemun nodded at Sin Cheol's light words.
"Sin Cheol."
[...Yeah.]
Though she called him unnecessarily, Dang Jemun stopped her lips for a moment.
At first she had tried to say she loved him, but it seemed she couldn't.
Because.
It wasn't something to say now.
Then, what should she say now?
She pondered deeply.
She thought quite deeply, but there was only one thing Dang Jemun had to say.
Since long ago.
Since much longer ago.
The one thing she had dreamed of while enduring here for so long.
Something she had hoped he would do even just once someday.
Dang Jemun spat it out.
"...Just once... can you hold me?"
[....]
Saying it was very cautious.
In her heart she wanted to say she had been so lonely, missed him so much, so couldn't he just hold her, but.
Ridiculously, words like that wouldn't come out.
She could only ask if he couldn't do it for her.
"Ah... I just said it...."
Just as Dang Jemun was about to take it back while gauging his reaction.
Swoosh.
"...!"
A strange sensation was felt.
The feeling of someone embracing and stroking her back.
Dang Jemun opened her eyes at the sensation, but there was nothing in front of her.
Sin Cheol had entered Guyang Cheon's body, so he shouldn't be able to show himself.
Putting aside such an anomaly.
[You worked hard.]
At the voice heard in her ear.
Dang Jemun closed her eyes again.
If she didn't close them, she felt tears might flow.
[Go first and wait.]
"...Sin Cheol?"
[It might take a bit long. This useless fellow isn't a great one, so it will take some time.]
[So, just a little. Wait just a little longer. The words we couldn't share, we can share them there.]
Rustle.
The hand stroking her back changed to a hand stroking her hair.
[You worked hard....]
"...Yes."
Just a few insignificant words.
At this, Dang Jemun felt her heart ease.
They were just mere words.
But that was also the power this man held.
Because he was a man who would keep the words he uttered by any means necessary, Dang Jemun could believe.
No more words were uttered.
Saaaa....
Dang Jemun scattered completely and disappeared into the air like that.
The pieces scattering from her body were giving off light.
She disappeared gracefully as if a butterfly were flying through the air.
[...]
After Dang Jemun left.
Inside the secret chamber, only the shallow breathing of unconscious Guyang Cheon remained.
[...Ah.]
An old man there clutched his breath.
He tried not to let out any sound.
And so the silence continued until Guyang Cheon awoke.
******************
Flash-!
My eyes opened on their own at a strange sensation.
When I finally came to my senses, the first thing I realized was that I was underwater.
"Mb...?"
How surprised I was to open my eyes right in the water.
I was definitely in the secret chamber, how did I lose consciousness?
What about Dang Jemun?
And where is this?
I immediately recalled what had happened before losing consciousness.
The moment Dang Jemun's hand passed through my chest.
'And then I lost consciousness?'
That was definitely what happened, but when I opened my eyes, I was here.
I rolled my eyes looking around.
Why was I underwater out of nowhere?
'Wait, if it's underwater.'
A chilling feeling flashed at the thought.
Because I remembered where I had gone first to enter the secret chamber.
Dokcheon Lake.
A terrible lake consisting of the Dang Clan's sacred and poisonous waters.
It seemed this was that place.
'Damn...!'
The moment I was certain, I tried to move.
Because I had to get out of the lake immediately.
The moment I tried to raise my energy to get out of the water.
Shiiiiik-!
"...!"
Suddenly, vibrations began to be felt in the water.
Suuuuuuk---!!
'What!?'
Waves surged from all directions and began to pour into me.
That wasn't all.
Oooong-!
The Demonic Heaven Absorption Technique activated on its own without me invoking it.
Was this the problem?
The surging waves began to change.
'W-what is this?'
As it entered my body, it changed into energy.
No, it was somewhat subtle to call it energy.
Because it wasn't a feeling of being converted into internal energy.
It didn't enter my heart, which had begun to play the role of the dantian, but rather passed through my whole body.
It was a sensation seeping into blood points and even muscles.
Not unpleasant, but an unknown feeling.
Kwaaaaah-!
The energies being rapidly absorbed all seeped into my body before I could grasp the situation.
By the time I barely came to my senses.
"Ptooey...."
The water that had formed the lake had gone somewhere, leaving only a completely empty pit.
Spitting out the water remaining in my mouth, I looked around.
A situation where truly not a drop of moisture remained.
"...Ah, fuck."
Seeing this, I spat out crude curses.
"I'm screwed."
Dokcheon Lake, treated as a sacred treasure, had disappeared.
To be exact, I had devoured all the water.
"No...."
How did things turn out like this?
How did this body end up gulping down even the lake water?
'...Could this be the gift?'
The gift Dang Jemun said she would give.
This couldn't be it... could it? It shouldn't be.
If this was really it.
'This isn't a gift, it's a goddamn screw-over.'
How was I supposed to handle the situation with this?
Anyway, I thought all these predecessor bastards were nothing but thugs.
When I was grinding my teeth feeling screwed over to the end.
Oong.
"...Hm?"
Something rose in my head.
It wasn't my memory.
This...?
'...Looks like verses?'
Words rising on their own, these clearly seemed like verses for using a martial art.
'The hell.'
Though I wondered at the verses popping up in my head out of nowhere.
My body was automatically moving energy according to the verses.
At that moment.
Crackle-!
"Geuk...!?"
Suddenly, excruciating pain was felt from my body.
I groaned at the dizzying pain.
Crackle-!
The pain rampaged continuously as if trying to dominate my body.
'...What is this now.'
Moreover, it wasn't only pain.
Before long, I felt a difference.
Sseuuuu.
"...!"
My vision gradually lowered.
At the same time, I felt my body beginning to contract.
"...This...?"
I examined my hand at the unexpected sensation.
Checking my hand, it became clearer.
My body vessel had grown larger and changed after reconstruction.
Because of that, my thickened arms were becoming thinner.
Just like my previous appearance.
My height had decreased too.
"..."
Rolling my eyes, I assessed the situation unfolding now.
And my head automatically told me the answer to why this was happening.
It was a phenomenon I had seen somewhere.
Since it had been less than a day, I couldn't forget.
This is.
'Body Transformation Technique?'
The power that changed not only the body but even gender that Dang Jemun used.
I was using it.
I couldn't understand the principle.
Even if one knew the formulas, there was no way one could use a martial art like this.
My body simply reacted because I intended it.
Realizing this.
'Is this the gift?'
'As expected.'
'It's certain.'
"I always believed, my lady."
I thought she would give an incredible gift.
Dang Jemun didn't betray that expectation and gave me a gift.
It was good that I believed without a shred of doubt.
Dang Jemun is a god.
"Mhm."
While I was nodding my head vigorously like that.
Krr....
A scoffing groan was heard from somewhere.
I ignored it lightly.
I didn't care how Jeksusa looked at it.
'...Dang Jemun is a god.'
To me, Dang Jemun was religion itself.
It couldn't be helped.
If what she had given me was nothing but the Body Transformation Technique, I wouldn't have reacted like this.
Because in my head right now, along with the formulas for the Body Transformation Technique.
The miracle medicine the Dang Clan had lost.
The manufacturing method for the Dokcheon Pill was also inside.
I smiled as I recalled this.
The reason I was so pleased was nothing else.
Because in my head right now, along with the formulas for the Body Transformation Technique.
The miracle medicine the Dang Clan had lost.
The manufacturing method for the Dokcheon Pill was inside.