Surviving in a third-rate martial arts world
Vol. 1 - Ch. 18

Pitch black darkness with no end.

Ja-hyun, whose blue eyes were flashing, suddenly burst into laughter.

The laughter held this amazing force that even a person with limited stamina would be shaken by the tone.

What was so enjoyable? The sight of him covered in blood from head to toe with pierce killing intent made each person hiding in the dark to take a deep breath.

However, there were always foolish people among them who couldn’t overcome the fear of death and would rather run like moths to fire.

“Ahhh! Die, you….!”

A young man dressed in the robe of a prestigious sect rushed to Ja-hyun with his eyes shining.

Before he could get close, Ja-hyun swung his sword, and the body of the guy split in two. Ja-hyun didn’t avoid the fresh blood that spilled on his body. This was because when someone’s blood warmed his body, he could feel himself alive.

“Sahyung-!”

“Everyone rush in at once! We need to avenge our younger one!”

Perhaps inspired by the young man’s death, people wearing military robes rushed out and formed this circle.

Ja-hyun stood still and simultaneously blew off the heads of 6 people who came close. The severed heads fell to the ground.

“So boring.”

That one word was the signal for the start of war.

Ja-hyun personally descended in front of the enemies, who were too in despair to move, and cut off their heads and slashed them.

“Hahaha!”

This was a battlefield, but it wasn’t at the same time.

For Ja-hyun, the battlefield was nothing more than a peaceful place full of sheep. All he had to do was jump into the flock of sheep and bare his teeth out like a wolf.

For that alone, everyone feared him and worshiped him highly.

Unlike the poor sheep here, he was a man who had never been a prey since he was born.

He was always the predator, a person born with the power to stain the world with blood and a unique being worthy of the title of Heavenly Demon through the times.

It was when the owner of the blood he was covered in had reached a point where the body couldn’t be counted as one. Suddenly, he felt the strange sense of oddness in his own face reflected in the blood puddle.

Ja-hyun stopped laughing, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the puddle.

‘That…’

Who is it?

It was when Ja-hyun had this question. Taking advantage of the moment he was off guard, this old Taoist took the lead.

As Ja-hyun was cutting off the man, many trivial questions got pushed to the consciousness.

And then came this one-sided massacre.

The corpses formed a mountain, and the blood that flowed formed an ocean. Ja-hyun, standing alone on the bloody sea, burst into laughter again.

No amount of wealth or fame in the world could give him this much joy.

Because he was born destined to thirst for the flesh and blood of others forever.

Right, fate.

Since ancient times, it has been said that those who were born with the will to die are destined to bring blood and wind wherever they go and ultimately bring chaos into the world.

Some people have said that heaven was punishing him for his misfortune because of the sins of the past, but at least Ja-hyun himself didn’t think like that.

Why is this a punishment of heaven?

Rather, it can be a blessing from the Gods of Heaven and Land.

Is there a greater joy under this sky than to roam around the battlefield until one’s death, slaughter, and destroy one as they please?

Those who got fascinated by his power were of all ages and genders. Countless people followed him and adored him, calling him the Heavenly Demon.

Wealth, power, and even fame. There was nothing he couldn’t have. And it seemed like there would never be anything that he couldn’t possess, as he climbed back from the abyss and finally stood on the highest level.

He truly believed that. He was, after all, Ja-hyun…

‘No.’

Tak.

Ja-hyun threw his beloved disease worthlessly on the mountain of corpses.

‘It isn’t me.’

Just in case he would forget, Ja-hyun continued to repeat himself to him.

This isn’t me, and that in the cave wasn’t me. And this isn’t reality; it is a dream and at least, it isn’t a dream, I am dreaming.

This dream is none other than….

Eyes that opened suddenly.

He could see the morning sun rising through the open window.

Under that pouring sunlight, the dust floating around the room was sparkling with light. Ja-hyun, who was looking at that scene with blank eyes, remembered that he had dreamed of his previous life last night.

It wasn’t the first time it happened.

That day, in that Blood Palace, a scene reminiscent of hell, he remembered fragments of the memory of Heavenly Demon, Jeok Mu-rin. From that day, Ja-hyun didn’t miss a single night he dreamt of the past, where a hell worse than the one he saw unfolded.

The era in which Jeok Mu-rin lived was an era of war, and the love of Heavenly Demon, who led that era, didn’t bleed even for a day.

For that reason, things that appeared in dreams were usually similar.

Corpses rolling around on the ground, screams of pain, broken flags, weapons that lost their owners, burned houses, and the acrid smell of smoke- a gruesome battlefield reminiscent of war.

And last night’s dream was no exception.

‘I am tired.’

As always, after dreaming of the past life, Ja-hyun held his pounding head and let out this long sigh. This is why he didn’t sleep.

‘As I thought, it shows nothing important.’

Even though something like that had happened last night, Ja-hyun sneered at the content of the dream, which was no different from usual. This was because the owner of the dream’s intention to hide something unfavorable to himself was clearly felt.

Now, Ja-hyun didn’t know that the dream he was having was a dream in which his past life, Jeok Mu-rin, had chosen and dreamed only the memories he wanted to show him.

Actually, it was no different from Ja-hyun’s dreams, but Jeok Mu-rin’s dream revealed life throughout the dream without filter, but it wasn’t consistent with the meaning of showing his life.

Jeok Mu-rin was hiding something even from his own reincarnation, Ja-hyun.

‘There was definitely a response this time, a pity.’

Ja-hyun had a rough guess as to what Jeok Mu-rin was trying to hide.

At first, Ja-hyun didn’t know either. He thought of Jeok Mu-rin as nothing more than a remnant of the past, and he never imagined that he would have the will and cause to trouble him.

He only learned that fact when he came to the village, many years after he first had the dream.

The person who woke him up to this unbelievable reality was right there, a woman named Ju Eun-ri, sleeping soundly on the dusty table.

There was no doubt.

Every time she unleashed that strength of hers, she had this presence that would make a bastard explode, and there is no way Ja-hyun wouldn’t notice it.

Ju Eun-ru was related in some way to his previous life, Jeok Mu-rin. Although he didn’t seem to know, Ja-hyun was sure of it.

As hundreds of years had passed since Jeok Mu-rin’s death, Ju Eun-ri would have never met him directly. But Ja-hyun guessed that the power she had could be a clue to it.

Even though he had several chances, he couldn’t get any meaningful clues. Ja-hyun sat on the bed and stared at Ju Eun-ri, who, unlike usual, hadn’t yet woken up from her sleep.

‘She wasted her qi yesterday and is now feeling helpless.’

Last night, this unidentified pattern appeared on his body.

With just one word, Ju Eun-ri, telling him to stop, caused this pattern to emerge on the left chest of Ja-hyun, making the heart of his strong.

A force so strong that he couldn’t even dare resist, Ja-hyun had to experience the most terrible pain ever experienced before Ju Eun-ri touched his body again.

But is this the Karma of using power which transcends humans?

Unbeknownst to him, Ju Eun-ri was paying for the force with the innate qi inherent in every human being.

That meant that the more she used this unknown power, the more her life would die.

Fortunately, it didn’t affect her life right away, but she would probably lose her qi for a while, and her physical condition wouldn’t be the same as usual.

‘Well, it is the same for me too.’

Last night, Ja-hyun risked his life to test Ju Eun-ri several times.

As a result, he had a bitter taste twice, but in return, she gained the assurance that the only time she could squeeze his heart was when someone tried to kill her.

Now that he knew of the limitations, Ju Eun-ri couldn’t be the object of his guard, no matter how strong she was.

Even if he doesn’t use his hands, aren’t there a million ways to kill a person? If she tried to control him with her useless power.

‘Of course that isn’t possible with her personality.’

Yes, that’s stupid and cowardly; Ju Eun-ri couldn’t dare to do that. Even if something were to happen, it was something that could be handled. It wouldn’t be so difficult.

With the eyes fixed on the back of Ju Eun-ri, who was sleeping while snoring, Ja-hyun recalled how they ended up sleeping in the same room.

So, last night…

“Ja-hyun, please.”

Ju Eun-ri knelt in front of him. Ja-hyun couldn’t help but feel shocked.

“This noona is requesting you…”

“What?”

But the moment she clung to her pants, he realized that he wasn’t mistaken.

“Please don’t go. I will do anything you ask, okay?”

“….”

“We have had good times till now. Don’t you remember how good I was to you? So, considering our past ties, please…”

“…”

Ja-hyun was confused.

This woman always went beyond his expectations, but this time, he couldn’t even guess why she was acting as such.

As Ja-hyun lost his memory and no social interactions, he had no choice but to borrow Jeok Mu-rin’s memories when judging this thing.

But, seeing the memories of a few people around Jeok Mu-rin, this was the first time they were experiencing it.

The most dangerous person in Ju Eun-rin’s life was Ja-hyun.

But she was clinging and begging him not to go. Which didn’t seem funny anymore.

But Ju Eun-ri was asked if she had special feelings for him. Like the others in Jeok Mu-rin’s memories, then no.

He knew this woman was trying to rely on him, but that was at a lesser level of consciousness.

Ju Eun-ri instinctively sensed that Ja-hyun was trying to kill in the past, so she couldn’t let go off her guard just yet.

Ever since the day when Ja-hyun tried to break her neck and she unconsciously used her qi to overpower him.

‘When was that?’

Ah, right.

The day he caught her walking into his room silently.

“If you do something foolish, I will cut your throat. So just answer what I ask. Do you understand?”

“Kuak…”

“If you lied to me.”

Even though he had warned her so kindly, Ju Eun-ri lied to him again. Now that he thought about it, it wasn’t a lie, but the pulse felt from the fingertips told him that she was lying.

So he tried to break her neck.

Looking back, it wasn’t necessary to go that far.

If he could make an excuse for that behavior, he would be more impatient than usual due to the pain in his head.

“Wa-wait…!”

The moment Ju Eun-ri shouted.

Although Ja-hyun prided himself on having experienced the greatest pain a human can experience, the terrible pain he experienced in the split second from Ju Eun-ri, who placed her hand on him, wasn’t a pain he would dare experience.

‘….!’

And that maniac laughter that echoed in his head was something he had never heard before he met Ju Eun-ri.

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