633 - The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

"Do you truly desire this?" "If possible, please help me." Standing before the threshold that could lead me back to the real world, I made one final request to Sanhajikdo. "Once the door closes, it cannot be opened again. I promised you a gift, not a wager of your life." "……." He was right. A gift given in good faith should be received graciously and parted from with a light heart. The unexpected reunion with women I thought I'd separated from long ago was indeed miraculous, but it wasn't worth risking my life over. "There is no time for reckless bravado." Normally, I would have given up immediately. But today was different. Having met Tang Hwarin, Cheon Sohee, Im Ha Yeon, and Jegal Hyang—all of them... "I have something I must do." Moyong Sanga. There was something I needed to say to her. "Is it something you wish to see so dearly as to risk your life?" I slowly nodded. "Just give me a sign, and I'll handle the rest." "Very well. Do as you wish." --- "Moyong Sanga…" I can't forget her name, no matter how hard I try. Only a little over a year has passed since I parted with Sohee. But she is different. An escape after marriage. And a year of wandering. I roamed through Zhongyuan, meeting Sohee and later encountering Hwarin. Another year passed swiftly as I met Im Ha Yeon and Jegal Hyang. "Almost three years now, isn't it?" It's been nearly three years since I last saw her face. I would meet Moyong Sanga again. Until I stood a bit away from the pillar of light, on the golden bridge. My heart could not settle easily. "We must never let it slip that Kang Yoonho is alive." There's not much time. The traitor Kang Yoonho is alive. Capture Moyong Sanga, the wife of the traitor Kang Yoonho. It could all fall apart. If I don't wish to see everything she's built collapse in an instant, I must not leave any room for error. I steeled my resolve, especially because she's perceptive. "It's beginning…" The last remaining lighthouse begins to transform into a globe of light. The place where I briefly met Hwarin in the distance is disappearing. It's probably because every bit of energy is being consumed. Once all the energy is used, ultimately, the entrance will close. I must not let my guard down. Starlight descends gracefully from the lighthouse, sculpting beauty. The starlight lingers on the ground for a while, as if trying to express something beyond its power, before setting a woman amidst the darkness. "Where is this…?" Three years. At the sound of a voice I hadn't heard in three years, my breath caught for a moment. The melancholy voice struck my heart like the tolling of a great bell. A world covered only in darkness. The woman with brown hair looked around and soon turned her head towards the place where she sensed another presence. A distance neither too far nor too close. Perhaps because she'd face the light amidst the darkness, she furrowed her fine brows at the dazzling brilliance and asked me, standing on the golden bridge. "Who are you?" Her voice was cautious, her demeanor sharp. Standing with the bright pillar of light at my back, she couldn't see my face. What should I say? The calm I had maintained was rippling. "Assassin? Where's your sword?!" Living in worry of assassins, is she? I calmed my pounding heart and spoke to her, who was caught off guard. "It's been a while." Should I move forward or retreat? Her body, which was observing the situation closely, momentarily froze. As if hearing something she wasn't supposed to hear. "That, that voice? Could it really be…?" It’s been three years. Her voice trembles. Like someone hearing a voice they swore they'd never forget. "Madam." After three years. I called out to her too. Though it felt unfamiliar after so long, I addressed her with a name I knew well. "Sangong…?" Moyong Sanga. Her face neared me, her expression filled with disbelief as she approached. Even though all the stars were disappearing and only the darkness remained, a painfully beautiful moon was rising before me. -------- "A dream? An illusion? A ploy by the Demonic Sect? Otherwise, what on earth is…" The moon shining amidst the darkness dappled like moonlight reflected on a tranquil lake. Typically a moon so high and unyielding, as if it wouldn't budge an inch. Perhaps because her face wasn't clearly visible in the backlight, she slowly approached me with a look of utter disbelief. "There isn't much time permitted." Beyond Moyong Sanga's shoulder, the long path begins to vanish from the end. Like a lit fuse burning for an imminent explosion, it rushes towards the pillar of light. The price for conversing with Moyong Sanga was steep. In an instant, the place where I met Im Ha Yeon disappeared. Time is running out. There's no time to even inquire about her wellbeing. No time for congratulating her on the power she's built, or to offer any solace or explanation. What I can do for her after meeting after three long years is— "Do not come closer." "Sangong…?" A curt rejection was all I could muster. Her eyes quivered. It felt as though I had wounded a moon that nothing could harm. It was like tearing apart a masterpiece of the century. I steeled my emotions. I had to create a situation. There wasn't enough time for the words I wished to say. She had to believe it. For now, she surely could. "You mustn't come to me. Why do you keep trying to approach?" I spoke as if teaching, infusing each word with meaning. I needed her to grasp the metaphor in the situation and words. The whole world was steeped in darkness. A pillar of light stretching far into the sky, a single golden bridge. And me standing on it. The man telling her not to come where he stood. Even for someone as composed as her, the situation wasn't easy to decode. But she, she would soon understand this bewildering situation. In other words. "She'll think she's connected to the deceased Kang Yoonho." I am linked to her as a departed soul. "Surely… then is this…" The circumstances are ironically fitting. She would imagine where she stood now as somewhere near the boundary of the afterlife. "Sa, Sangong. Is it really you?" It wasn't the correct answer, but it was the one I had hoped for. "Madam." As soon as I nodded, she couldn't hold back any longer and ran toward me. But reaching me was impossible. "Sangong! Why is the bridge…?" The golden bridge began vanishing right before her eyes. "You were only permitted that far." Honestly, it's because it's in energy-saving mode. Once the golden bridge fully disappeared, I was supposed to go in. Of course, to her, it must look like the bridge to the netherworld that the living aren't allowed to cross. "I guess... it's still not enough." She gazed at the broken bridge for a while and then lowered her head. It's a bridge she can see right in front of her, yet she can't cross it. After seeing me for the first time in three years, she still couldn't come any closer. In a trembling voice, she asked me, "Am I not even allowed to approach you, Sangong…?" "……." I couldn't easily respond to her voice filled with despair. A moment passed. "I knew…" Until she recognized it was me and accepted that she couldn't reach me, I silently watched her. "I knew… that I'm not worthy." She gazed at me, who offered no answer for a long while, and eventually collapsed right at the edge of the bridge. I wondered if it was a mistake to even want to see her face. She was trembling so much it made me regretful. "How can a heinous sinner deserve to approach you, Sangong? If you do not permit it, how could I possibly approach you?" "……." Her voice carried guilt so heavy it pressed down on my heart. "It's been three years since I committed an unforgivable sin against you, Sangong. Three years since I received your immeasurable grace. And yet, and yet… I am a woman who cannot fulfill even one of the tasks you left behind." I know that you're living earnestly. Even though I can't send you any news about myself, I've been closely following yours. I've heard that Changbongdae was reestablished and that Moyong Bi battles on. I've also heard news about the ginseng trade restarting. Thanks to you, Hwarin was able to be saved. There is so much I want to say, but I can't. Now, even the path where Sohee was is disappearing. The golden bridge is gradually diminishing. To say what I want, I must watch her sorrow. "Our enemies are growing stronger. The burdens on my shoulders are only piling up. It's a lowly life you saved me from, but I am powerless. I can't tell anyone, but sometimes... just sometimes... living is unbearably painful." Moyong Sanga finally let out her hidden resentment. I want to hold her. As her husband, I want to rush to her and comfort her immediately. I steeled my resolve, but the internal struggle was difficult to endure. "This world feels like hell sometimes. If living is only suffering, if a world without you, Sangong, is hell, then perhaps it's better to...!" Facing her tear-filled eyes, I could no longer hold myself back. "You mustn't come closer." "If I could just see your face, I wouldn't fear any burning hell." "Madam." I looked at her with a firm voice. "I don't want a sinner without worth to hold my hand. I don't want to touch the face of Sangong I can't forget. I just… just…" She couldn't walk to me on her own two feet. All she could do was kneel and wail in front of me. "Please allow me the chance to see your face with my eyes…" Her voice was urgent and pained. "The path I'm on is not one you can follow, Madam." "Sangong…!" But all I could do was insistently refuse. "Madam, no matter how difficult, you mustn't come to me yet." "Then, where should I…!" "The path you should go is this way." I slowly reached out and pointed to another road. "There?" A separate path was illuminated by the light from the pillar. It wasn't the straight, golden path, but the winding path I had originally seen. Another road leading to where I stood. While she stared in shock at the winding path, I watched her without hiding my distressed heart. "As expected, Moyong Sanga is struggling." It's been three years now. Everyone, despite their determination, faces periods of slumps and lethargy when their motivation wanes. Times like these are tough for anyone, much less for someone like Moyong Sanga. Surely driven by guilt and duty, she ran forward, but the harsh realities must have been eating away at her heart, just as I suspected. And my assumption was spot on. Even with subordinates, she couldn’t open up to them like a true friend. During these times, shouldn't a husband step in? Even if he's a dead husband. "The winding path is a difficult one. It will be tough for you. It probably already is, but from now on, it will only get harder. But Madam." A dead husband can't offer consolation to his beloved wife. "Even if I keep walking such a path…!" "I'll be waiting." What he can offer is a promise. "Sangong…?" "At the end of the journey you'll inevitably complete, I'll be waiting." The husband cheers her on as he speaks. Though he can't wipe away all her tears, he promises to wait for her. "…Will you really wait for me?" Through her tears, a smile began to form, and I eagerly nodded in response. Someday, we will meet again. If Kang Yoonho doesn't give up on his path, and if Moyong Sanga doesn't give up on hers, we surely will, even if it's not in the way she expects. I'm looking forward to it too. We will meet again someday. "Until the day we meet again, I await with anticipation." Satisfied, I threw myself toward the pillar of light.