Calling this place a 'space where nothing exists' seemed apt. Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t see anything beside darkness, after all.

However, he couldn't say this space was inside darkness. The concept of darkness was the absence of light. So, when no light existed in a space and only darkness could be seen... Didn't that basically imply

nothing

existed here?

In this empty space, Kang Jin-Ho was... simply drifting around aimlessly.

It was hard to say whether he was awake or unconscious.

In a space where he might or might not be looking at things, Kang Jin-Ho floated away in utter silence.

How long had it been since he entered this space? Kang Jin-Ho forgot how to think. Even his will to do something, anything, vanished. In utter silence, he aimlessly drifted away and away. Aimlessly, and...

“That's not much different from your current life, now is it?”

Kang Jin-Ho was roused up from his aimless drifting by a voice ringing in his ear. That voice echoed like a thunderclap inside this still space.

Inside a space devoid of anything, even a normal-sounding voice transformed into a raucous racket.

Kang Jin-Ho finally remembered the concept of 'looking' just then. He turned his head, which he wasn't even sure if it still existed, and glanced in the direction of that voice.

That was when he saw... himself. He saw Kang Jin-Ho. As if he was staring at a mirror.

Kang Jin-Ho instinctively realized that he wasn't merely staring at his reflection. No, that figure was him. He was talking to himself.

“My... life?”

“Yes. Just going with the flow. Drifting around. Matching the pace of others as they drag you around... Isn't that the path you've decided for this life?”

“...”

“Tell me, then. What have you willingly decided for yourself lately?” The other Kang Jin-Ho, the one calling himself Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor, didn't even bother to hide his ridicule.

Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly while staring at his other self. “So, you were still around, then. I figured you had already disappeared by now.”

“Disappeared?” Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor... No, Crimson Heaven, smirked strangely at Kang Jin-Ho. “Me? Disappear? Get your head out of the clouds, fake me. I am the real one here. I am the real Kang Jin-Ho! That's why I can't disappear. How can I when I'm the real one? You should be the one disappearing.”

“...Still repeating that nonsense, are you?”

“Nonsense?” Crimson Heaven sneered derisively. “Why don't you take a good look at yourself first?”

Kang Jin-Ho looked down, at his own body. And it... definitely existed.

His previously blurry, hazy figure gradually became 'solid'. And it was a perfect facsimile of Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor right next to him.

“So, who's the fake here, again?” Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor snarkily asked again, his words stabbing into Kang Jin-Ho's heart. “You can feel it too, don't you? You've been thinking of it as 'change'. But I've got news for you. It's not 'change'. It's 'difference'. You're not Kang Jin-Ho. You are just trash created from the combination of things that don't belong to the real Kang Jin-Ho!”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly stared at Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor before cocking his head. “Are you saying that because you've lived far longer?”

“Don’t be an idiot...!” Crimson Heaven glared at Kang Jin-Ho in sheer disappointment and contempt.

The intensity of contempt in that glare was so strong that Kang Jin-Ho reflexively flinched.

Crimson Heaven grunted loudly. “Who cares about who lived for longer? No, what matters is 'density'. What you think of as yours came about because of me.”

“No. Not true.”

“What makes me 'me' is the life I've lived. Nothing changes even if your consciousness wishes to replicate our first life, okay? Since we longed for the past, the old 'you' is the real us? I hope you are not deluding yourself into thinking that is the truth.”

Kang Jin-Ho didn't respond. He couldn't even if he wanted to.

“Your everything was created in Zhongyuan. You might have been born in Korea, sure. And you're a part of the modern era. But, so what? You will always be a denizen of Zhongyuan. Your entire being, your everything... was shaped back in Zhongyuan! Let's not beat around the bush, okay?”

So much sneer! Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor was openly sneering at Kang Jin-Ho.

“Let's say you can become the real Kang Jin-Ho but must give up everything you've acquired as Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor. You think you can do it?”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho already knew the answer to that question, even though he couldn't say it out loud. Separating Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor's abilities from him was impossible at this stage. The life he had built so far was all thanks to those abilities, after all.

“You rely heavily on Crimson Heaven's abilities, yet you also deny being Crimson Heaven. That's pretty straightforward, then. Whatever is convenient for you, am I right?” Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor leisurely approached Kang Jin-Ho. “Can you say I'm wrong?”

“...”

“I'm asking you if you can deny everything!”

Their eyes met just then. Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor's murderous glare locked on to Kang Jin-Ho.

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly held that hate-filled glare before sighing softly. “So... You wish to argue that you're the real deal? Is that it? And you want to take over this body?”

“Not at all.” Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor spun on his heels and walked a little distance away before spreading his arms wide open. “Me saying I'm the real one doesn't mean I'm excluding you. That I'm denying your existence. Because... You're also me.”

Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor turned around to face Kang Jin-Ho.

“Your guilty conscience, your sense of responsibility, for murdering countless people... Living in the modern era with that kind of weight pressing down on you is impossible. Don't worry, I'm not unhappy about bearing that particular burden. It's proof that I am Kang Jin-Ho, after all. Not wanting to take responsibility for what you've done only serves as more concrete proof that you're a fake. Even then…”

A strange smile floated up on Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor's face.

“You've been excluding me way too much. And you've morphed into a full-on personality in the process. That's why... You'll get absorbed into me sooner or later. I can exist without you, but you can't exist without me. When I finally step into the open, you'll experience something completely different from what I've experienced. You will... simply become another part of me.”

“...But now is not the time? Is that what you're saying?”

“That's right.”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned. “Why not? Is it because I hold the upper hand right now?”

“You already know the answer, don't you?” Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor teasingly asked. And Kang Jin-Ho's expression gradually hardened.

Yes, he... Kang Jin-Ho already knew the answer.

Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor smirked. “You know you won't cope with the future about to come.”

“...!”

“You will crumble. All the things you've done will choke the life out of you. And you'll die from them. You're 'Kang Jin-Ho', not Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor, so you've been prioritizing other people over you. However... When you start prioritizing yourself over things like your family and friends... That's when you and I will become one again.”

What a dilemma this was.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Kang Jin-Ho obviously knew very well what Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor was saying here. If he started prioritizing himself over everything in this world and only focused on his own survival... How would he be any different to Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor?

However, he didn't have enough strength to prioritize other people around him. Which meant he'd inevitably reach out to Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor for help.

Regardless of what he'd choose, the end result seemed plainly obvious.

“I shall be waiting. Right in this space,” said Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor as he leisurely settled down on an impressive throne that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. At the same time...

Kang Jin-Ho's figure began falling lower and lower. In the blink of an eye, he was engulfed by darkness again, but his ears still caught the whisper of the familiar existence.

“Don't forget, okay? Like how you can never fully become me, I can't become the full me, either. Things I should've acquired were taken away by you, you see? I'm sure you know what I mean by that…”

And then, everything got cut off.

***

Kang Jin-Ho opened his eyes.

It didn't quite feel like he had regained consciousness on his own, though. No, it was more like someone had forcibly pried his eyelids open. And the first thing he saw after waking up was...

“When I... opened my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling greeted me,” Kang Jin-Ho quietly muttered.

“You even have enough energy to crack jokes, sir?”

Kang Jin-Ho's head slowly turned to the side. He found the pale-faced Lee Hyeon-Su sitting on a hospital chair.

Lee Hyeon-Su continued to speak. “Since you can crack jokes, your condition must be better than I thought, sir. That's great news. Although, I'm not sure if it's actually great…”

Kang Jin-Ho noticed that Lee Hyeon-Su's condition seemed a little strange.

Lee Hyeon-Su spoke with a calm, nay, cold, attitude, but his complexion was quickly turning red from excitement. It was as if he was trying so hard to contain his overwhelming emotions.

Of course, Kang Jin-Ho didn't point that out. Pretending to not notice anything was the right thing to do in a situation like this, after all!

Kang Jin-Ho grunted and rubbed his face. “How long have I been out for?”

“Three days, Assembly Master,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.

“I've been snoozing for a while, then.” Kang Jin-Ho muttered while sitting up.

Lee Hyeon-Su jumped up in alarm and hurriedly pushed Kang Jin-Ho's shoulders down. “Wait, sir! I think it's better for you to stay in bed. Your condition is bad enough for a rag doll to start calling you big brother, you see? If your wounds open up again, forget doctors, we might need to call on the team of seamstresses instead. Along with the top-of-the-line sewing machines, too!”

Kang Jin-Ho could only chuckle hollowly at that. Why did it feel like Lee Hyeon-Su would become more prone to cracking weird jokes the worse the situation was?

“I'm fine,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“But the doctors said...”

“Don't worry. I know my body the best,” Kang Jin-Ho chuckled while lightly brushing aside Lee Hyeon-Su's hands. He leisurely got up, then began unbuttoning the drab hospital clothes.

“What the... Assembly Master, how about holding off on the strip show for some other... Huh?” Lee Hyeon-Su tried to crack another joke, only for his mouth to clamp shut on its own.

Kang Jin-Ho took his top off to reveal his torso tightly wrapped up in bandages. Taking those bandages off led to his muscles being exposed.

Those were some seriously impressive muscles. And no, they weren't 'pumped' up to look good in photos, either. In some ways, Kang Jin-Ho's muscles might seem a little lacking in volume. However, the more one looked at those muscles, the more impressed the one would be.

What stunned Lee Hyeon-Su into silence wasn't those muscles, though.

Kang Jin-Ho's appearance couldn't be called attractive right now. As if an elementary school kid had been scribbling messily on his skin using a Sharpie, Kang Jin-Ho's average-sized torso was covered in countless crisscrossing stitches.

The combination of dried blood and black stitches was more than enough to force Lee Hyeon-Su into a deep frown.

'...What's going on here?'

However, Lee Hyeon-Su quickly discovered something odd after taking a closer look at Kang Jin-Ho's torso.

Sutured skin looking bloated and swollen should be the norm, but Kang Jin-Ho's wounds weren't like that. Only some redness remained on the surface, but not much else. Without those stitches in place, Lee Hyeon-Su would have been fooled into believing that Kang Jin-Ho was never injured, to begin with!

He would've thought that someone or something had scratched Kang Jin-Ho.

“W-what? But how?” Lee Hyeon-Su gasped in shock.

Without saying anything, Kang Jin-Ho began tearing off the stitches one by one. However, he soon furrowed his brow and glanced at Lee Hyeon-Su. “Scissors.”

“...”

“Isn't there a pair of scissors in here?”

“I don't think we can find scissors in a hospital room, but...” Lee Hyeon-Su groaned loudly. “Please wait for a bit, sir. I'll call a doctor. We might not need one, but it's better to have a professional take out the stitches.”

“Mm. Yes, I agree that might be...”

Slam!

That was when the door to Kang Jin-Ho's hospital room was violently shoved open.

Since delivery services promptly showing up at people's doorsteps were all the rage these days, the two men inside the room thought that a doctor had shown up without being summoned beforehand. Of course, their anticipation was brutally kicked out the window almost immediately after they spotted the gigantic figure visible through the open doorway.

“Master!” Vator roared loudly.

That roar sounded like it came from a train horn, forcing Lee Hyeon-Su and Kang Jin-Ho to hurriedly cover their ears.

“Master! Are you feeling better now?”

Kang Jin-Ho grimaced a little. “...I was. Until you showed up.”

“Your body! Does anything feel off? Strangely out of place?”

“My body also felt fine until you showed up.” Kang Jin-Ho groaned softly.

He lost count of how many times he recovered from grave injuries. However, this must be the first time someone in the same room was raising a huge fuss about his health.

“Your complexion still doesn't look so good, my lord,” said Wiggins.

His figure became visible only after Vator ungainly squeezed his massive frame through the doorway.

“...” Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes, his probing gaze locking onto Wiggins' shoulder. He bit his lip a little at the empty space where Wiggins' arm was supposed to be.

Wiggins also didn't say anything, knowing now wasn't the ideal time to crack jokes and brush things aside.

Eventually, Kang Jin-Ho broke his lengthy silence. “Still...”

His voice sounded a little hollow just then.

“...I'm glad everyone's alive.”

This was the moment the lengthy battle had finally come to an end.