Chapter 99 – Trial of the Movie Spirit (5)

I hesitated.

I couldn’t move my body for a moment when I tried to throw Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so behind me.

If I didn’t act fast, the dimensional portal would close. I needed to get Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so out of here and find a way to survive.

But how? Haven’t I already done everything I could?

I tried to escape the encirclement and found out that there was no way out.

The only thing I could do was to keep dying in this endless hell.

If I didn’t want that… I had no choice but to sacrifice someone else to escape.

Then who?

Before I knew it, I was weighing Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so on a scale.

“You? What’s wrong?”

“Jin Ga-ga? Why are you suddenly like this?”

It’s been a long time. I haven’t heard their voices in a long time.

I must have worried them by suddenly grabbing their hands and not saying anything.

I didn’t even know what I was thinking, like a fool.

“It’s nothing. I’m…”

I’m fine. It’s nothing. I tried to say that, but my mouth wouldn’t move.

I’m… too tired. I didn’t want to die anymore. I just wanted to go back to the past.

To play harmless pranks like before, to eat delicious food, to stare blankly for no reason…

I wanted to live peacefully and happily day by day.

To the moment when the three of us were together…

“…Ah.”

What was I thinking just now?

Even if I survive by sacrificing someone, I won’t be able to regain what I wanted in the end.

To go back to the past, to the moment when I was happiest, I can’t give up anything.

Anything.

An impulse arose from deep within my heart to hold Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so just like this.

But I can’t. It’s too late for that.

Whoosh!

I threw Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so towards the closing dimensional portal.

I hesitated a little, but fortunately, it wasn’t too late.

They barely made it out of the door. As always, they realized the situation too late and called out to me frantically with a disappointed expression on their faces.

“What, what are you doing! Their goal is you, why are you staying behind!”

“Jin Ga-ga! No… please don’t do this….”

What should I say?

I used to smile and reassure them at first. But even that became impossible at some point.

Can I smile at them again now?

“I’m…”

Nothing changed. I tried to move the corners of my mouth, but it only twitched for a moment and stopped.

Chapter 100 – Trial of the Movie Spirit (6)

The dimensional portal was getting smaller and smaller. It had shrunk to the point where only my face could be seen.

Before it closed completely, I decided to say what I wanted to say the most.

“I love you.”

It was a phrase I had been too shy to say directly until now.

“I can die for you as many times as it takes.”

Suddenly, I felt something hot welling up and flowing down my cheeks. Tears that I had never shed before were now bursting out.

At the same time, my mouth, which had been frozen like a paralysis, twitched and lifted up.

“……”

“……”

Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so looked at me with blank expressions, their mouths hanging open.

Even though there was no mirror in this place, their pupils reflected me vividly.

They looked so pitiful, crying and making ugly faces.

When the dimensional portal was almost closed, and only half of my face was visible, I added one last thing.

“So, come and get me. I’ll wait for you.”

They seemed to regain their senses a little too late and tried to say something, but before they could, the portal closed with a snap.

But it’s okay. I can hear what they have to say later.

Did I despair because there was no way out?

No. There was a way. As always, it was the most difficult but also the easiest way.

If I couldn’t run away, I could kill them all.

That way, not only would I survive, but the trickery that was blocking the dimensional portal would also be neutralized, and I might be able to meet Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so again.

The problem was whether I could do it or not…

I wiped my face with my sleeve and gathered my thoughts.

“Phew…hoo…”

Then I took a deep breath and drew my sword. My mind, which had become blurred from experiencing repeated deaths, became clear again just from that.

I’ve faced these enemies many times before. I can do it. No, I have to do it.

After organizing my plan in my head, I pounded the ground.

First, I’ll go forward.

***

Dokjaeng-i.

I don’t know his name, but he seems to be from the Sachon-dangga, and he fights mainly by throwing memorized poison.

In other words, he’s the guy I have to take care of first because he’ll be the most annoying if it becomes a melee.

Of course, it won’t be easy. Sometimes he even threatens his subordinates to charge blindly, using them as experimental subjects.

But he’s very weak in the approach phase. It’s only happened a few times, but I’ve always managed to get inside and kill him when I did.

So I’ll open up a path and cut off his breath.

I tightly gripped my sword, looking at the unmanned soldiers who had come within sight.

Woong-

With a strange resonance, a white sword energy resembling a white snake rose above my sword.

This should be enough to take on a first-class unmanned soldier… but it’s not enough.

What is the Hoesocheon Army that I envision?

It’s a genius phenomenon that sweeps away thousands of enemies with a single sword strike, as intense as a landslide that can even flatten a mountain.

So this is not enough. I have to pour out more, a level of power that I may not be able to handle.

A pillar of determination that heats up my entire body. I push all my inner strength into the sword.

Wooong-!

The sword spirit trembles beyond resonance, and the sword energy that was like a white snake wraps around it like a whirlwind.

Even in the midst of more than a hundred deaths, this sword and the Muryeong Divine Art have never betrayed me once.

So it’s okay.

What I have to do is…

What I can do.

Something I’ve already done before.

The original usage of the Muryeong Divine Art that I first achieved in the Yongbongji Society and have been practicing steadily since then.

I hold the sword with a focused mind.

“Kuk…”

All memories related to the sword start to come up like a flash flood.

The sword I intended and swung, the sword that accidentally drew an accurate trajectory, my master’s sword, the swords of other masters I saw in the Murim League. The swords of those who killed me.

Sword. Sword. Sword.

I extract the posture that I think is the most ideal from the experience of repeatedly inflating abnormally through death, and reproduce it with my body.

The right leg takes a big step forward. The left leg is slightly bent in place to maintain tension.

The waist twists to the left to the limit, and the gaze faces forward.

The sword spirit is horizontal to the ground. The wrist gently but lightly lifts the back of the hand towards the arm to grip the handle.

And I release everything in one breath.

Ooduk.

The momentum of my run rotates from my ankle, increasing its power. Then, the elasticity of the calf, the appropriate bounce of the knee, and the explosive power of the thigh increase my size even more.

Like a small stream becoming a huge river after several bends.

Eudeuk.

Although it put a tremendous burden on every part of my body, it doesn’t matter.

With my body that has been strengthened by the Cheolwanghosimgyeol, I can endure it.

Kkadeuk.

The moment the tremendous power flowed through my waist, shoulder, elbow, and wrist and was finally poured into the sword.

The whirlwind that wrapped around the sword spirit became a storm.

Kwaaaa-!

With a muffled sound, the sword wind that burst out swept away everything in front of me.

The first-class unmanned soldiers, who had reached the limits of human ability, were torn apart without even being able to scream properly, leaving behind a thick mist of blood.

Beyond that, the poisonous bastard was making a stupid expression. Now that I look closely, one of his arms is in tatters.

Yeah. It’s not surprising. They’re always the ones who are scared just by me wielding my sword, so I thought they’d definitely fall for it.

I can’t miss this opportunity now. I forced myself to move, enduring the trembling recoil.

Thud, thud.

As soon as I took a few steps, blood splattered on my face. Even my eyes weren’t spared, and my vision was tinted red as if it had been painted over.

In the midst of all this, the bewildered poisonous bastard tried to throw a memorization technique with his other intact hand, but…

It’s a trajectory I’ve died dozens of times while memorizing. Will a hastily unfolded memorization technique with only one hand, not even aiming for a gap, work on me?

Kagakang.

From drops of blood the size of a palm to tiny needles that were barely visible, I swept them all away without leaving a single one, quickly closing the distance.

“You…!”

“Ah, aaaaaaaah!!”

Thump.

The poisonous bastard’s head, distorted with astonishment, rolled on the ground.

“….”

“….”

“….”

Silence descended around us.

Those who were luckily out of range froze in their tracks as they were running towards us.

Is it because it’s too gruesome to call it a result of just two sword strikes? Maybe they’re scared.

It doesn’t matter. I’ve only just begun.

“That’s one down.”

Next is the right.