Ep498 - I Became a Drunkard in a Martial Arts Novel.
Closing your eyes and focusing doesn't mean you're cut off from the world. Your ears and nose remain open. "Ugh...!" Sensitive skin. Thunk! Everything happening around you is vividly drawn in your mind, as if you're seeing it with your eyes. Your companions are falling. First the Blood Mage, then Shin Yehwa. Gritting teeth, enduring it. You maintain a steady flow of qi despite your anger. It's okay. The wounds are severe, but not life-threatening immediately. As long as you can treat them after overcoming this crisis, there won't be any problems. "If I open my eyes now, everything will be in vain." Why have they risked so much and even fallen, stabbed by swords? All for this one technique you're preparing. Opening your eyes now would render their sacrifice meaningless. To prevent that, you need to focus even more intensely. Sinking deeper into your senses. Meanwhile, Yoo Hwawoon and Song Hee-yeon collapse one after the other. "Just a bit more, just a bit more..." Even so, your focus doesn't break. Instead, it sinks even deeper. They will be okay too. "If we can just overcome this crisis...!" Gritting teeth, your concentration continues. However, soon it hits a limit. You hear voices. "Why on earth would you do this...!" "I don’t expect you to understand. After all, there's no place here for you." You sense a killing aura. Heavenly Demon’s relentless killing intent aimed at Seol Suyeon. It's a warning. Even if others are spared, she won't be. If you don't open your eyes and intervene, she will die. And if she dies, so will the other women. Their survival depends on Seol Suyeon's sacred power. So she must be saved at all costs. The Heavenly Demon knows this and intends to kill her. "Damn it." You understand. You know that if you give up now, their sacrifice will be for nothing. Yet, leaving them behind is worse than fighting back. Baek Woojin, who barely holds his qi, murmurs softly toward the Heavenly Demon raising a sword. "That's enough." Immediately, her graceful movements come to a sudden halt. At the same time, a deep smile spreads across her face. "You held out quite well, but it seems it was too much after all." Baek Woojin replies with irritation to her teasing words. "You know how much I care for my comrades, do you have to ask?" "Haha, right. That was your only vulnerability." "Flawless, huh..." Actually, he was full of flaws. He just kept them hidden to maintain his facade as a hero. That's why it was all the more infuriating. Knowing everything, yet provoking him by calling him flawless was incredibly annoying. "Lady Seol." "Yes, hero." "Please heal them." Seol Suyeon's eyes dart between Baek Woojin and the fallen women on the ground. She has to help him. But healing the fallen women is just as urgent. After a moment's hesitation, she makes a decision. "Understood." She decides to follow his intentions. Turning her back on the Heavenly Demon, Seol Suyeon approaches the fallen women and uses her sacred power. Watching their wounds heal rapidly, she sighs in relief and turns to face the Heavenly Demon. A distance where they can see each other's faces clearly. Standing there, Baek Woojin throws down his sword and raises his hands. "You win." There's no point in fighting anymore. "Tell me." "Hmm?" "How can we all survive?" Now, the focus should be on how everyone can live. If she wanted to kill them, she could have easily done so. Yet, she stopped at the point where quick treatment could save them. "Aren't you asking for too much?" As she said, saving everyone was an exceedingly excessive desire of Baek Woojin. For someone who has fallen before the strong, wanting to save everyone seems ludicrous. But Baek Woojin has never taken this lightly. In pondering how to save everyone, he has always grown. He's managed to save even one more person and made the impossible possible. It's not about bluffing without any cards. "If you need, take my life instead." In situations like these, Baek Woojin always pledged his life as collateral. This time was no different. "If you die, everything ends." "It’s the same if anyone here dies." He doesn't fight for everyone. From the start, that was impossible for Baek Woojin. Risking his life on a thorny path for complete strangers. He's not capable of that, nor does he want to be, even if he could. He fights for the people within his small circle. He fights to protect them. It’s just unfortunate that his opponent happens to threaten the entire world. Would he wager the lives of his precious comrades to save the world? Or would he watch the world perish while saving their lives? Faced with choosing between the two, Baek Woojin would unequivocally choose the latter. "You know that." In the end, death is inevitable either way, but at least he can die holding his living comrades in his arms. "I'm a selfish person." From the start, he was a selfish person, unfit to be a hero. He just happened to be lucky and ended up masquerading as a world-saving hero. Or maybe that's not it. "Maybe I was just unlucky to become a hero." If only he hadn’t glanced at that godforsaken third-rate novel, he wouldn't be living like this. The Heavenly Demon contemplated as she watched him offer his life with such equanimity. Then, she extended two fingers. "If you promise me two things, I won't kill anyone here." "Let's hear them." "First, let me pass. No one should interfere as I head to the altar." "Fine." Baek Woojin wanted to prevent the altar’s destruction, but he had no choice. As a loser, he couldn't demand more than a plea to be spared from the winner. "And the second?" As Baek Woojin asked, the Heavenly Demon approached with large strides. A dangerous distance where they could feel each other’s breath. She spoke. "A genuine kiss." "Huh." Baek Woojin’s face twisted at the unexpected demand. Moments ago, she'd promised to kill him, and now she's asking for a kiss. "I really can't understand you." He expressed his dissatisfaction, to which she smiled and replied. "I don't want you to understand. I'm just living in the moment right now." "......" It wasn’t a bad proposition. So Baek Woojin wrapped one hand behind her neck and the other on her cheek, pulling her in for a kiss. What she desired was not a simple kiss, but a kiss with genuine emotion. A passionate exchange, intertwining their tongues and exploring the depths of each other's mouths. In that process, they shared a deep emotional conversation. Ironically, their emotions were strikingly similar. Mixed feelings of love and hatred. Love. Enough to sacrifice their own life to save the other. Simultaneously, Hate. Enough to burn their own life to kill the other. In the midst of this bittersweet exchange of emotions, dancing between heaven and hell: Thunk-! At some point, a sharp blade in her hand pierced deep into Baek Woojin's abdomen. Struggling with expressionless pain, he staggered back. Blood stained her lips, with satisfaction written across her face. Blood that seeped from Baek Woojin's mouth. She licked it off her lips and faced his betrayed expression, saying: "For now, lie as if you're dead. The stage isn't ready yet and it requires time." A genuine kiss was what she wanted. This betrayal, too, was part of her plan. She didn't want him interfering any longer. That’s why she stabbed him—to buy time until the stage perfect for both of them could be prepared. Baek Woojin staggered and eventually collapsed, losing strength. "Hero!" Seol Suyeon rushed over, frantically inspecting his wound. The Heavenly Demon whispered to her. "You'd better heal him quickly, or he'll die." "...Shut up." For the first time ever, Seol Suyeon spat out harsh words as she pressed her qi-covered hands against Baek Woojin's stomach. The healing was slow. It seemed some dark energy had tainted the wound. However, it wasn't as pernicious as the wound inflicted on the head of the Hwasan sect. It would take time, but it wouldn’t pose a huge problem to heal. Pouring out all her remaining qi, Seol Suyeon turned her head and glared at the Heavenly Demon. "You... I will never forgive you. I will, I will definitely...!" "......" What does it feel like to be resented by a comrade once trusted enough to watch each other’s backs? I don’t know. I’m so broken that it's hard to describe this feeling in words. Recalling the strong sensation of his lips and tongue, she merely smiled. “Yes, I’ll look forward to it.” With just those words, she soared into the sky. To destroy the second altar that the gods left on earth. After she rose to a height where she was no longer visible. Crash! The sound of something crumbling faintly reached their ears. "Haha, damn it..." With an uncharacteristically coarse curse leaving his lips, Baek Woojin let out a hollow laugh before losing consciousness entirely. --- Author's Note: I’ll see you in the next chapter. Thank you for reading as always. Have a peaceful night. (_ _)