Chapter: 908
Another night passes, and once again, it’s dawn.
As the night flowed on and the sun rose, I stepped out of the dwelling.
I took a moment to look around in the refreshing air.
There were things I hadn’t noticed before.
The sounds of chirping birds that seem to come unwittingly, or the faint shouts quietly ringing in from the morning.
_*Hah! Hah!_
_*Hah! Hah!_
With a heightened sense of anticipation, I observed what looked like a group starting their dawn training right outside.
It wasn’t much different from what I had seen yesterday. A bunch of beings that didn’t look human at all were gathered together, practicing their swordsmanship.
_*Higher! Don’t let your lower body weaken!_
In front, someone who appeared to be an instructor was yelling and keeping an eye on the students.
Even amid the sweaty atmosphere, plum leaves kept falling incessantly.
If there weren’t a few signs of artificial staging, one wouldn’t doubt this was a gathering from the Central Plains’ Volcano Sect.
_*Hah! Hah!_
_*Hah!_
_*Over there! Give your arms some strength!_
_*I’m sorry!_
_*Aren’t you focusing? If you’re going to waste energy like that, I’ll just take you out of the picture!_
_*I’m so sorry!_
“…”
What on earth are they talking about?
I caught some rather harsh words. Did I mishear…?
“What are you looking at?”
A voice broke in from behind, prompting me to turn around. Shin Noya emerged from the dwelling with a weary face.
“I was just watching because it caught my eye.”
“Is it amusing to see the kids struggling?”
“Yes! After all, watching someone else suffer is the best!”
“…Looking at your expression, I see you’re not joking.”
“Aren’t you also enjoying it, Noya?”
“True.”
Shin Noya nodded, as if he could relate.
As expected, nothing beats the sight of others stumbling around in hardship.
I chuckled and took another glance at the training ground.
“How on earth did you set up this system?”
Curious about how the training was organized, I decided to ask.
“I wouldn’t call it a system. It’s really just something I threw together.”
“…And what does ‘threw together’ entail?”
“It’s just simple; you teach a couple of people, then tell them to teach the rest.”
“Ah, I see.”
It was, quite literally, an incredibly straightforward approach.
And, moreover…
‘That’s a dangerous method.’
It was indeed the simplest yet most perilous way to manage a sect.
Even if proper teachings were passed down, the real question was how many would take it to heart.
‘From what I see, it doesn’t seem too terrible, though.’
Judging by the intensity of the training and the way the disciples were accepting it, it didn’t seem likely to turn into a disaster.
“…Hmmm.”
I pondered just how skilled the instructors might be.
I was about to ask Noya again when…
“Noya…”
I choked on my words; there was something off about Noya’s expression.
Should I call it “sour”? Or maybe his spirit looked oddly twisted?
Whatever it was, it was definitely a strange face.
“…”
Seeing that, I let out an inward sigh because I knew why he was acting like that.
“Hey, are you still sulking?”
“Sulk? Who’s sulking here?!”
As I zeroed in on it, Noya snapped back, furiously. His earlier expression made it crystal clear; he was indeed sulking.
“Why are you being so grumpy when you didn’t even lose yourself?”
“Who says I’m grumpy…!?”
“Sounds like you’re pouting. Did your pride take a hit or something?”
I turned my head dramatically.
_Whiff-!
_WHAM—!!
“What the…?”
I barely dodged the punch, but the air pressure generated from his fist whipping past me was almost tangible.
It felt oddly slow today, but it seemed like he packed quite a bit of power behind it.
Looking at that, I stared at Shin Noya in sheer disbelief.
“Avoided?”
This guy looked at me and confidently stated.
“If you hadn’t dodged, you would’ve been a goner. Are you out of your mind…?”
“You’re underestimating yourself too much. You wouldn’t die that easily from just that.”
“That’s hilarious.”
“This punk…?”
As Noya raised his fist again, I urgently yelled out, “Hey, if you want to take it out on someone, take it out on the actual loser! Why are you throwing a fit at me instead?”
“I told you I didn’t lose!”
“You totally lost!”
_BANG-!
_Gah!
Finally, I took a hit. It landed much harder than usual, and I crumbled to the ground.
“Ugh….”
Clutching my forehead in pain, I glared at Shin Noya.
“Just you wait… as soon as I become strong, you’ll see what happens next!”
“Hmph, do you think you’d even get close to my toenails after becoming stronger?”
“Well, guess what? I won, right? Oh, I’m so sorry.”
Feeling the atmosphere tensing up, I hurriedly apologized.
Damn old man, his jokes just never land.
‘This is utterly unfair; it’s killing me.’
Why do I have to endure such nonsense?
It truly felt unreasonable. Furthermore, the reason Noya was so riled up was nothing other than…
‘…Because I won my duel against Noya.’
The other Shin Noya that resided in Yeongpung’s body.
It was because I had fought and defeated him during the Shinryu Martial Arts Competition.
Last night, while we were casually chatting, I had brought this up.
Upon hearing those words, Noya let out a huff.
The funny part was…
“…I lost?”
He didn’t seem to care about the existence of another self or a ghost; it appeared the only thing that mattered to him was the fact that he lost to me.
“Yes. You truly got your ass kicked and ended up crying.”
The outcome of our fight was my victory.
I caught him off guard, somehow achieving team victory.
‘In reality, it was rather close to being a fluke…’
I understood well enough.
That duel back then was practically him playing around with me.
No matter how I caught him off guard and got my win using his own underestimation, it’s clear that at that time, Noya was just letting me win.
‘If Shin Noya had truly intended it, my neck would’ve been sliced by a single sword strike.’
I knew it back then and can see it even more clearly now.
Noya had the power to take my head anytime he wanted.
Of course, there’s a noticeable difference between the current Noya and the Noya I faced back then.
Even so, I felt this fact wouldn’t change.
But then again, what the hell.
“Why do you keep getting angry at me?”
Upon hearing this, Noya began relentlessly jabbing at me.
“I’m simply annoyed that I lost to this worthless lump.”
“So, it’s just an outlet for your anger, is it?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you so loud about it, you old man?”
“You sent a person off to the grave yesterday to vent your anger. I’m just expressing mine with words, so it’s fine.”
“…Bringing that up is totally cheating.”
I was left speechless.
“But I at least have a reason. This doesn’t carry any justification at all.”
“Why doesn’t it?”
“Huh?”
Is there a justification now? I wonder how he’ll twist this logic. I was waiting to see what he’d say.
“My mood being awful—there’s my justification.”
“…”
That was a truly nonsensical answer.
Ah, my head hurts…
“…This is really driving me insane.”
That sigh was about to escape, but I held it back.
“Why do you focus solely on this and not on anything significant?”
I had said more than a couple of things yesterday, yet this old man didn’t seem to care about any of it.
Among all of those points, especially one—
“What’s important is that you lost to me, and isn’t it fascinating that I’m Noya’s reincarnation?”
What I heard from Noechonilgeom—that I was Noya’s reincarnation.
To be precise, it was the body that was supposed to have been reincarnated.
That should’ve been a rather shocking piece of news, yet Noya seemed unconcerned.
“What does it matter, such trivialities?”
“Trivial… trivial?”
How is this any trivial matter? That’s preposterous!
At that moment—
“No.”
Noya suddenly considered whether what he had said made any sense after all.
Yeah, even by his own standards, it sounded like crap.
“If that’s the case, it could lend credibility to the fact that we look alike, which is unsavory.”
“Just give it up already.”
It was my fault for expecting anything from him in the first place.
I wiped my face with one hand repeatedly.
“Hehehe.”
The old man laughed heartily as if he found his own joke amusing.
Then, Noya got serious again and faced me.
“Hey, Junior.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you have something to say? You don’t look all that surprised either, do you? Am I wrong?”
“…”
I averted my gaze slightly, forced to display a sheepish expression.
“Looking at your face, I’m sure you either anticipated it to some extent or…”
Noya casually shifted the hand he was toying with behind his back.
“Didn’t you already know?”
“…”
Listening to Noya’s words, I bit my tongue, unable to meet his gaze easily.
Those piercing eyes, which seemed to know everything, really got under my skin.
It was somewhat annoying even when we were merely souls, but facing him directly made it all the more unbearable.
“I truly didn’t know.”
How should I have known? Honestly, I didn’t quite expect it.
Despite that, my reaction stemmed from…
‘But it’s alright anyway.’
Yeah, I think it’s better to think that way.
It wasn’t as if I had anticipated or was certain about it.
I truly felt it wouldn’t change anything in the end.
Rather, if I were the reincarnation of such a being, wouldn’t my worth slightly inflate?
I pondered whether I could get a bit closer to those I wanted to protect.
Those thoughts and feelings were what mattered most to me in this situation.
Only—
“Hmm, really?”
I simply had no desire to share those thoughts with Noya, not even if I were to die.
‘In the end, was all of this preordained?’
The fact that I came to possess the plum blossom stone kept by Noya…
Also, the manner in which Guijeong came into my hand…
All of it wrapped up in this chaos.
Was everything just fated?
This thought frequently brushed across my mind lately. And…
‘If not that, then…’
Could it be that it wasn’t fate but the machinations of someone else?
Recently, I’ve been plagued by some rather unsettling thoughts.
And that made me anxious.
I feared everything I was doing now might be in vain, or perhaps just a part of someone else’s plot.
That concern lingered in my mind.
‘Erase it.’
I frowned and wiped those thoughts away. They were pointless musings that only added to my worry.
“Phew.”
Sighing loudly, I shifted my gaze into the distance.
I looked around, trying to think of something else, and I spotted the enormous tree I’d seen last time.
I think they called it the sacred tree.
“But Noya.”
“Why are you bringing that up?”
I pointed to the sacred tree and posed my question to Noya.
“I heard you planted that yourself… Are there plum trees here too?”
With trees I hadn’t encountered before in the Central Plains, it was truly incredible to witness such a grand plum tree.
Especially since he claimed he had planted it himself.
In response to my question, Shin Noya smiled and replied.
“Ah, that one? Of course, there aren’t any.”
“Huh? Then that is…?”
“That’s the impression added by the one who planted the seed. Since I did it, it simply blossomed as a plum tree. If anyone else had planted it, something else entirely would’ve sprouted.”
“Is that really possible?”
They say that what blooms differs based on the planter.
One might wonder whether such a phenomenon actually exists.
“That’s why it’s referred to as a sacred tree. After all, isn’t it unusual for a tree of that scale to exist in the first place?”
“…That’s a fair point.”
“It’s much more impressive than it seems.”
Noya gazed at the sacred tree, looking content.
“I really cherished it, so stealing it was quite the endeavor.”
“That must’ve been challenging—Wait? What?”
As I caught up to his words, my head snapped back around.
Steal?
What was he even talking about?
“Oh.”
Noya sported a surprised expression at my reaction.
“Did I forget to mention that?”
He seemed to finally catch himself and pointed at the sacred tree, saying, “That originally belonged to your mother, the mistress of the universe.”
“…Huh?”
“But I swiped it and planted it here. Hahaha! Because of that, I was stuck fighting and evading for fifty years, which was rather troublesome.”
“…”
Noya casually tossed out this insane revelation.
‘Wow, damn it.’
Upon hearing that, I thought to myself, ‘Should I make a run for it now?’
I really felt like I had made the wrong choice from the get-go.
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