Ep515 - I Became a Drunkard in a Martial Arts Novel.

The exploration, spurred by acquiring the wooden talisman, began to rapidly progress. The key reason for this accelerated pace was none other than the remnant energy in the space. This lingering aura significantly broadened Baek Woo-jin's perception. He could now discern the vast area with ease, spanning hundreds and even thousands of sheets of space without moving. By expanding his perception further, he successfully located the Fire, Water, and Earth talismans. Now, only one talisman remained. "Only the Metal Talisman is left..." The issue was that its whereabouts were a complete mystery. "It seems to be isolated in a far-off place." If that's the case, there's no alternative. "I'll just have to wander around with my perception expanded." Even if using such a brute force method as before, its efficiency would be on a different level. Previously, his perception range was only a few dozen sheets, but now it had expanded immensely, surpassing thousands and even tens of thousands. "Hurry up and show yourself." Baek Woo-jin's mind was already occupied with plans for after recovering the Metal Talisman. Was everything going smoothly? No. The real problem lay in what would happen after finding all five elemental talismans. 'It's great that I've found them, but... now, how do I get out of here?' He hadn't thought of a way out due to his impulsive entry. He had initially come with the idea of using this place as a burial site, so it was only natural in hindsight. Who would have realized? The lone solution was to retrieve the five elemental talismans left in this space and escape. Though uncertain if this was even the genuine solution, for now, it was the only option. "There's just one exit..." The single opening serving as both the entrance and potential exit of this place. But going back through there was impossible. For Baek Woo-jin, who sought to escape, the gravitational pull of the opening acted as a repelling force. In other words, it persistently pushed him back, blocking his escape. Even Baek Woo-jin couldn't force his way against it. "...What a predicament." Waiting for the pull to cease wasn't an option either. The end of the pull would signal the completion of the world's absorption and digestion here. By then, the passage would vanish completely. Then, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind. "Ah." At that moment, his expanded perception detected the faint presence of the Metal Talisman on its fringe. He cleared his thoughts and headed toward where the Metal Talisman's energy was felt. Reaching into the mountain of debris, he grasped the sphere in hand. A smile crept onto Baek Woo-jin's lips as he looked at the orb extracted from the rubble. "Got it." He finally gathered them all. Now, he just had to use these to escape... "Is this really the only way?" He was wrestling with a sudden, unreliable-sounding idea when something leapt into his perception. It was a familiar presence and form, experienced several times before. Startled, he looked up to see Cheonma rapidly approaching him, her fierce aura ablaze. She was charging towards him with a terrifying momentum. Baek Woo-jin managed a bitter smile as he watched her approach. "I never thought you'd chase me all the way here." He simultaneously drew his sword to block her attack aimed at his waist. Clang! Her expression was far more threatening than when observed outside. Baek Woo-jin asked her, "Did you chase me because you missed me?" "...Yes. I couldn't bear it any longer." "It would have been great if we realized how much we meant to each other a little sooner." "......!" It was a sensitive topic. A memory from her life she never wanted to recall. Cheonma's face twisted even further. "Why can't you see that I'm trying to start over? Why... why don't you understand?" She loved him. Just once. If she could spend her entire life from beginning to end with him, she would forsake everything. That's why she resented him. For unreservedly opposing her, cast into this wretched space. "If you'd rather suggested that we overcome our missteps and love each other again... I would have gladly accepted." The two had diverged. Both were each other's firsts. Though she had confessed honestly, she couldn't express her feelings at crucial moments. When to hold on, how to. When to forgive, how to. Their misaligned attempts turned vain, and missing the timing to forgive, she had to let him go. Time had passed in this way. One side's wound had healed but left a distinct scar; the other's wound had festered and erupted. Just recalling it made the wound throb painfully. Despite being the happiest moment in the world, the memory brought more pain than joy. "Even if we can't return to what we were, couldn't we love anew?" Baek Woo-jin smiled wistfully. If she had wanted that, he might have obliged. If the shattered pieces couldn't be restored to their original form, perhaps they could be rearranged into a new shape that seemed more perfect. "But this isn't right." Overcoming adversity and hardship is one thing. "But I can't love by trampling on a world, on the lives of those living within it." Even if today's memories were completely erased, that was impossible. Would everyone's memories be wiped clean? Not at all. "Even if we don't remember, someone else does." The lingering malevolence in this space. The third-rate author who orchestrated this ending. As long as it remembers, today's sins will never be washed away. Cheonma then let out a heart-wrenching cry. "I'll pay for those sins as much as needed! Even if it takes thousands, tens of thousands of lifetimes...!" Baek Woo-jin silenced her with a smile. "I'm not fond of that either." "......!" "I don't want you to suffer anymore." “A-Ah….” Slowly, with her swordless hand, she caressed Baek Woo-jin's face. The trembling that was palpable through his skin. Even amid this, his concern for her was relentlessly endearing. And she mourned the fact that his love stood in her way. She respected his wishes. Yet she couldn't retreat. She released her hand that had been holding Baek Woo-jin and turned around. Then, after taking a few steps in the opposite direction, she turned back and declared. "No point in arguing any longer, is there?" "...Indeed." Ignoring his tender call, she continued. "Let's end this here. Let's settle it with the best move, without inflicting meaningless wounds on each other—something neither side wishes for." It was both a declaration and a plea. Therefore, Baek Woo-jin couldn't refuse. "...Alright, fine." He accepted. There was no way to stop her while she was alive. There remained only one thing to do. To kill her. 'That, too, is my task.' Since it stemmed from him, it was his responsibility to conclude it by his hand. No one else could drive a knife into her heart or neck. He wouldn't allow any part of her to be touched by another. Only he could. Even if the touch had to be the cold steel of a breath-stealing blade. That, too, had to be his own. It was his last, harsh love for her. 'The best move I can make.' Channeling energy through the meridian, he took up his stance. What was the most excellent move he could display against Cheonma? The answer came swiftly. 'Absolute Cut (绝).' Baek Yu-seong, who lived in this world before, had left this technique in a manual. 'A technique for an enemy you can never surpass.' It was a technique destined for failure from the outset. Planning for an enemy that could never be surpassed and yet devising a technique against it. Isn't that inherently contradictory? However, Baek Woo-jin had no doubts. It was a minuscule fragment, insignificant and unlikely to even be noticed amidst the larger whole. Yet he saw the future. Though uncertain what it was, Absolute Cut (絶) was a move crafted by Baek Yu-seong, who dedicated his life to it after witnessing whatever he did. Do you grasp it? 'A technique imbued with the protagonist's entire life.' What does it mean for a protagonist, with infinite potential, to craft something over their lifetime? Only Baek Woo-jin and Baek Yu-seong, who have stood in the protagonist's place, could truly comprehend it. Thus, it was also something he could believe in blindly. "Haah..." He inhaled deeply and calmly. And slowly reawakened his dormant senses. The passage linking dimension to dimension. The direct touch of the soul, shedding its mortal shell—a foreign sensation. The formless, freely traversing the tangible. The essence of Absolute Cut (絶) was to sever, as the name implies. A technique meant to cut through spaces that hold a defined form yet are intangible and unreachable. Crackle! Crack! The overwhelming force from Cheonma's aura brushed against him, stinging his skin. For the first time, she directed a heartfelt strike at him, a blow she had never shown before. What was to follow next—destruction or salvation? With that final thought, Baek Woo-jin cleared his mind entirely and swung his sword. --- **Author's Note** I'll see you in the next chapter. Thank you for always reading. Have a restful night. (_ _)