Chapter 321: The Way to Endless Hell (3)

Heavenly Demon Soh Baekhyang had a secret that she couldn’t tell anyone. She had gone easy on Namgung Woon, the leader of the Murim Alliance. He was hailed as an unparalleled genius from the Namgung Clan and was the most skilled swordsman in the Righteous Path, gaining fame from a young age through his heroic deeds and extraordinary feats. That was the man she had gone easy on.

I guess this is all.

Snow fell. Namgung Woon broke through the swirling snowflakes. Even as the blizzard raged on, the snow melted away around him. His intense qi was blazing in his muscles, burning them away.

This is all there is.

Snow fell. At one glance, she saw the snowfall, a single snowflake landing on the Murim Alliance leader’s forehead and melting, and the clash of swords as thousands of Righteous and Demonic Paths warriors fought in the Great War of Good and Evil.

The Great War of Good and Evil. Everyone sensed the world’s destruction and poured their last ounce of strength into the battlefield. Only I—Teacher—wasn’t out of breath.

He’s trying so hard to defeat me.

Claaaang!

I felt sorry as I blocked Namgung Woon’s ax.

He’s noble and upright and is using his martial arts purely to defeat me. I can feel what he feels about me in his every ax swing.

I knew that if Heavenly Demon Soh Baekhyang had never been born, Namgung Woon would have become the greatest martial artist in the world. He could have been called the greatest of all time, too. Namgung Woon, the leader of the Martial Arts Alliance, was the greatest opponent I could have hoped to face. Asking for anything more would have been excessive.

Ahhhhh.

I didn’t want this to end.

Why is it that I don't have the talent to slay down the sky when I try, but have the skill to surpass anyone if I do?

I didn’t want to finish this.

Is there no one?

Is there no one I can indulge my greed with? Namgung Woon? Buwolseon, can’t you be that person?

If only he had been a little stronger, I would have gladly given him my life.

I don’t have the courage to lie to you in this match.

It was snowing.

I don’t want to lie to myself to be satisfied with my life.

Tick.

No one could ever lie to me, so who can possibly be my equal?

I was bored.

No.

Yes.

I’m lonely.

Tick.

On that day, Soh Baekhyang didn’t—no, couldn’t strike down Namgung Woon, the Murim Alliance leader. Teacher couldn’t kill the man who had traveled all the way to answer her declaration for the Great War of Good and Evil.

However, Teacher couldn’t give her life to someone who had failed to make it all the way to the end of her path either. This life had no choice. She probably sensed that, when the first day of the Great War of Good and Evil was postponed, this winter would stretch on forever.

[Unable to locate your killer’s title.]

[Unable to locate your killer’s real name.]

[Unable to locate your killer’s appearance.]

Although my life couldn’t be more lonely, Gong-Ja...

[Trauma recreation failed.]

... you would come find me with a flower-blooming smile, calling me Teacher.

[Replacing the required data for the trauma recreation.]

Tick.

***

I blinked. The Guardian appeared before me.

“

Oh

.”

“You’re here,” he told me.

He was a little taller than I remembered, with slightly longer hair and a thinner face. He was sitting at a desk with his chin resting on his hand. I was slightly taken aback.

“Mr. Sword Emperor?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Oh, you’re in the trauma too? I mean, you were always there, but after I reached Class B... Wait, I have a body.”

I felt my body. It wasn’t Raviel’s or Teacher’s. In fact, it wasn’t anyone’s body. My own body, which should have been familiar to me, felt as if I were touching it for the first time in decades.

The Guardian watched me with amusement. “

Haha

, you look ridiculous.”

“Come on. I feel like I’ve spent over twenty years in this trauma! Maintaining my sense of self alone is an incredible feat, but where am I?”

The Guardian chuckled. “Well, you’re probably still in the middle of the Skill penalty and watching the trauma.”

“... So this is your trauma?”

“I have no business with trauma.”

I looked around. As the Guardian had said, there was nothing here. Nothing at all. It was like a waiting room before entering a new floor: an empty field. It seemed like an endless white sheet of paper spread in all directions.

In the middle of nowhere, the Guardian held only a sword. “Why? What are you looking at?”

“It’s just... your legs.”

I pointed at his legs. They were usually slightly blurry, but now they had a clear shape.

“Not just your legs, but your whole body... It’s so vivid. Your voice, too.”

“

Hmm.

”

“Why do you think that is?”

“What do you mean? It’s simple.” The Guardian shook his sword. “It’s just that your trauma penalty is showing you the image of me alive, but, like I said, I don’t have any trauma. I suppose that’s why it’s recreated in somewhat of a weird way.”

“

Huh.

”

“Specifically, I remember you being brainwashed by a perverted Constellation and chasing after them, shouting, ‘My Constellation! My Constellation!’ But my memory of the last day or so is vague. How about you? Do you remember ‘Make that bullshit ripe. That bullshit is ripe?’”

“Yeah, I do.”

Finally, I felt real again. Yeah. Since the trauma began, I had lived through half of Raviel’s and half of Teacher’s life. It felt like I’d been dreaming for too long.

“I thought I was experiencing your trauma this time...”

“

Oh

, were you looking forward to it? My bad, my bad. I’m a guy who enjoyed my life, you know. When I was four, a shopkeeper caught me stealing his dumplings. He beat me senseless, but I kept chewing on the dumplings while he hit me. Even if he beat me, he couldn’t put the dumplings in my stomach back up on the display, could he? Ultimately, it was my victory. I’ve known nothing but victory since I was four.”

“You... Never mind. Forget it.”

“What? I remember whispering, ‘This is the moment for terror to be gone. Moment for death’s end has come.’ What happened after that? Come on, tell me. I should know it to give you advice or something.”

I told him everything that had happened to me. The Guardian smiled and listened to my story. He remained in the same position, his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands.

As soon as I finished, he said, “

Hm

, Zombie. How do you use the Demonic Heaven Arts?”

“What?”

“Demonic Heaven Arts. Your cult’s demonic arts. How do you use it?”

“How dare you? That’s harsh. How do I use it? I just do.”

“Really? That’s interesting. Hunger is different for everyone, isn’t it? Take Starvation Death, for example. Some people starve because they can’t eat millet rice, but others starve because they can’t eat hamburgers. Are these types of hunger the same? What about a farmer’s hunger? How is an adult’s hunger different from a child’s? How can you lump all hunger together and use Starvation Death?

“It’s the same,” I answered immediately.

I would have probably answered differently if I had been asked this question right after I started learning the Demonic Heaven Arts. However, that question couldn’t faze me anymore.

“Being the same doesn’t mean

everything

has to be completely the same. Only the base has to be—the pain of not being able to eat something, like millet rice or arugula pizza. It doesn’t matter, so—”

“Right.” The Guardian narrowed his eyes. “That’s why people can understand each other. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

“The trauma you’re experiencing right now is similar.”

Tick.

I blinked. “What?”

“Understanding people and experiencing the same thing. That doesn’t mean people have to experience the same thing at the same time in the same place with another person. It’s different, but it’s still the same thing. That is what understanding is.”

The Guardian hummed.

“You can’t see the past of ■■■■ ■■ ■■■. Why? Because they have no name or appearance. They have no coordinates in this universe. No one can call or see them, so how are you going to peek into the life of someone like that? But we know they failed. Their life is filled with failure. You can tell from

Endless Universe.

They used it on someone else twice, but there’s no one by their side now.”

The Guardian’s voice was quiet.

“They were betrayed.”

Even though he was quite far away, his voice felt as if he were whispering right into my ear.

“Gong-Ja, do you have to know who betrayed ■■■■ ■■ ■■■? And how, when, and where were they betrayed? Do you really need to know all that to understand their trauma? Betrayal is betrayal, and so is disappointment. Your betrayal can be my betrayal. Even though you are you and I’m me, we both understand what betrayal is.”

Right. Actually, that was the Demonic Heaven’s teaching.

“Your teacher also said so. Isn’t that right?”

It was the doctrine of shadows.

“Yes.”

I understood why I couldn’t see the past of ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ and why I had to watch half of Raviel and my teacher’s lives.

“The traumas that were most similar to those of the Constellation were replayed,” I murmured.

I was sure of it.

“■■■■ ■■ ■■■ trusted someone at first. Even though it wasn’t satisfying, they believed this person would use the Endless

Universe

to create enjoyable quests, a happy story, or at least a new world.

However, the Constellation was betrayed, like Raviel had been betrayed by Ramen the Crown Prince.

“Boring.”

Although ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ and Raviel were different people in different situations living in different times and places, the depth and angle of the wounds they suffered when they were first betrayed were the same.

That was why ■■■■ ■■ ■■■’s past was replaced by Raviel’s.

“Boring.”

“After that, the Constellation believed in someone else.”

Their second companion.

“After experiencing the first betrayal, the Constellation grew a little. This time, they didn’t choose a companion just because they thought this person seemed new. They chose someone who was clearly the best of their generation, someone with exceptional imagination and the greatest talent of their time. They thought that they might be able to enjoy a series of fun quests with their new companion, so that’s why they chose their second companion.”

However, it wasn’t enough, just like how Murim Alliance Leader Namgung Woon was one step behind his master.

“I’m lonely.”

The second companion would have been exceptional. With

Endless Universe,

they would have spread their wings of imagination. Just like I had done, a village would have appeared when the companion imagined it. When enemies were needed, they would have appeared, yet...

“I’m lonely.”

The imagination unfolded by the second companion couldn’t fully satisfy ■■■■ ■■ ■■■. I felt like I could understand why the Constellation felt that way.

“No one... Actually, most have never experienced death. They can imagine the sea, whether it’s detailed or blurry, but would they be able to imagine drowning in it? As they struggle, they would gasp for air as seawater forces its way into their throat. Can they really imagine all that pain?”

The answer was simple. If they hadn’t experienced death, then they didn’t know how it felt.

“Their other companions... probably failed to imagine their death or near-death crises very well.”

Because ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ had said so.

“How... how can you... How can you imagine pain so well? How can you imagine it so vividly? Have your bones melted and veins burned away before? How can you possibly know pain like that and recreate it under my power?

Yes, they had said so.

The Guardian nodded. “You’re probably right.”

The first companion had betrayed the Constellation, and the second companion had disappointed them. Thus, they finally chose me as their third companion and last follower of the

Endless Universe,

even at the cost of their existence.

“Then there’s only one mystery left.”

“What?”

“You, Mr. Sword Emperor.”

My eyes were fixated on the Guardian, the Sword Emperor who manifested in the image of when he had been alive.

“

Endless Universe

has only been used twice before it was used on me, so two people’s traumas were replayed during the penalty. But why are you here? Why are you here, as the replacement for the third trauma, sitting alone in this empty place? Who are you?”

The Sword Emperor grinned, his eyes reflecting the image of a young man with black hair. “What do you mean nothing’s here? I see plenty of stuff around. You’re here, Kim Gong-Ja. You must be the third trauma.”

Tick.

“I’m a ghost possessing you, so I would have been recreated as your plus one. Well, it may be because you and I teamed up and screwed over ■■■■ ■■ ■■■. Anyway, you’re here.”

Tick.

“Just as your love and your teacher waited for you, Kim Gong-Ja, this Constellation’s third wound is about waiting for you. Maybe that is the only wound that hurts them the most, and the rest doesn’t matter.”

Tick.

“When a day rewinds, neither I nor the Constellation know. The wound that only you know will remain. Go.”

[The trauma recreation has been completed.]

“This is the best I can do for you, Partner.”

[It has been confirmed that the ego of the subject under the Skill penalty is intact.]

The Guardian smiled. “Think more about how you will live from now on.”

[Ending the Skill penalty.]

The world around me shattered into pieces.