Chapter 104 – Nobleman

Attempt number 108.

The number was oddly fitting, but after 108 attempts, I finally managed to escape that damn infinite regression.

And so, I returned to the original world where Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so were waiting for me.

“You’re awake!”

“Jin Ga-ga! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so clung to me like ducklings licking their mother’s feathers.

Well, that’s understandable. The problem was that the scenery around me was completely different from the scenery beyond the dimensional portal.

What did it look like again?

I couldn’t remember for some reason, but I do remember it being indoors. But this was definitely outside.

What bothered me the most was…

“You woke up. What does that mean?”

Could it be…?

I tried feeling around my lips, but thankfully, I wasn’t smiling.

The problem was that I couldn’t feel any wounds or dried blood on my lips.

Even the phantom pains that had been tormenting me until now had completely disappeared.

Could it be… that the body was originally this light? Even my head feels clearer.

I shrugged my shoulders for no reason, and the pressure from behind and in front of me became even stronger.

“You have suffered greatly. Although I couldn’t do anything, I watched over you.”

“Huh? Uh…”

Was it because she buried her head in my chest? Her voice was small, but I could feel her regret, admiration, and immense affection.

Reflexively, I stroked Hong Yeon-hwa’s round head, and this time, I felt something damp on my shoulder.

“Huh… Jin Ga-ga… Are you really okay? I was so worried about you… Hic… I was fine, but you kept repeating it… You were screaming, and even though I couldn’t hear it, your expression… Huhu…”

“Why, why are you crying? Huh? Don’t cry…”

Like any other man, I’m weak to my woman’s tears.

I comforted Paeng So-so, who was resting her head on my shoulder, while wiping my face with hers, but she only cried harder.

I wanted to ask what was wrong, but it wasn’t the right time.

For now, I had to desperately comfort Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so, but I heard a strange voice from a distance.

“Are you confused?”

“Well, yeah. Everything suddenly changed, and I thought what I experienced was just a simple dream… But who are you?”

A servant dressed in a white and yellow dobok, with a mysterious energy that made him seem anything but ordinary.

If I had to describe him, he was like a monk.

Not a shaman or a hermit living in a volcano, but more like a monk who often appeared in old stories, flying talismans and using exorcism techniques.

When I asked him with a bit of caution, the servant, who introduced himself as Myeongwolja, smiled softly as if he understood my wariness.

“Myeongwolja, a disciple of Mosanpa’s Jangmunin. That’s who I am.”

“Myeongwoljinin…?”

Was Mosanpa’s Jangmunin’s doho named Myeongwoljinin? I’m pretty sure it was a different name, but I can’t remember what it was.

It’s like someone erased my memory with an eraser.

Myeongwolja, who saw my expression, nodded as if he understood and spoke.

“Don’t worry too much. The experience in Sohyeop is too intense, so it takes a little time to sort it out. You don’t need to try to remember it. I’ll explain everything, so for now, come inside and have a warm cup of tea…”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

Hong Yeon-hwa interrupted him and glanced at Myeongwolja.

“Please guide us to where the Yeonghwa Linghwa is. We’ll talk about it there.”

“Oh, I see.”

Then, the mysterious feeling Myeongwolja had just a moment ago disappeared, and he became a simple old man who trembled like a jellyfish.

It’s like a grandma with white hair or something…

I followed Myeongwolja, who was looking at Hong Yeon-hwa excessively, with Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so in front and behind me, stumbling with my steps.

***

A space that was transformed into a room inside a cave. In the center, there was a huge flame burning bright red without a single piece of firewood.

That must be the Yeonghwa Linghwa.

As requested by Hong Yeon-hwa, Myeongwolja, who guided us here, told us the truth about what I had experienced.

“So… it was all just a dream?”

“To be more precise, it’s an illusion that is infinitely close to reality that Yeonghwa shows you…”

Grit.

“…but you can roughly call it a dream.”

Myeongwolja hastily changed his words, receiving Hong Yeon-hwa’s gaze, who buried her head in my right side.

He asked Paeng So-so, who was holding onto my arm tightly on my left, in a low voice.

“Why have you been acting like that since earlier, Myeongwolja? Did you… hit Yeon-hwa or something?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that Yeon-hwa was startled when Jin Ga-ga suddenly lost consciousness, so she threatened me a little…”

According to Paeng So-so, Myeongwolja knocked out all the disciples of Mosanpa’s Cheonmagunrimbo and gave Myeongwolja a minor injury.

Of course, later, after Myeongwolja’s explanation and seeing Paeng So-so wake up safely, I was able to calm down my anger.

I knew it wasn’t Mosanpa’s fault, so I helped move the disciples who had collapsed to the inside.

The current Myeongwoljinin seemed to be just feeling the weight of Hong Yeon-hwa’s power and was being overly cautious.

-But even if it were me, I would have been cautious. Just one gesture from Hong Unni made everyone around me float in the air and enter the room in a row….

Paeng So-so shuddered as she recalled the scene at the time.

Well, he had shown overwhelming force against a giant martial arts faction like Mosanpa alone.

I know that Hong Yeon-hwa doesn’t wield that kind of power recklessly, but Myeongwoljinin isn’t the same.

In a world where rumors spread that a small martial arts faction was destroyed by a single master, it’s only natural to be cautious.

“Ahem. Can I continue?”

“Oh, yes. You said what I experienced was not reality but some kind of dream?”

“That’s right. Most of the memories you experienced during the trial will feel like illusions by now.”

Myeongwoljinin was right. Despite experiencing such intense things, I didn’t feel anything.

Especially the painful experiences, I couldn’t even recall the feeling of phantom pain or the sensation of facing death, no matter how hard I tried.

“This is just a test of the Yeonghwa’s trial, not something to torment someone.”

Although he was clearly talking to me, Myeongwoljinin’s gaze was on Hong Yeon-hwa.

But Hong Yeon-hwa herself was not paying attention to Myeongwoljinin, instead glaring at the Yeonghwa as if she wanted to devour it.

Is she really considering destroying it like this? And is Myeongwoljinin trying to appeal for harmlessness to stop her?

It’s a plausible story. Anyway, I had to hear the rest of the story, so I asked while tickling Hong Yeon-hwa’s neck.

“I see. I have a few more questions. Is that okay?”

Myeongwoljinin looked at me and Hong Yeon-hwa alternately with a strange expression. Then, he seemed to have guessed the relationship between me and Hong Yeon-hwa and smiled gently, nodding his head.

“Please feel free to ask.”

“First of all, the Yeonghwa’s trial is said to be for great masters with exceptional qualities. What is the reason for me and Soso to have taken it?”

“I have a guess about that. Have you learned high-level divination techniques?”

“Yes, I have. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“It does and it doesn’t. Since you two created a perfectly balanced sun and moon inside your bodies, it’s nothing but a reproduction of the principles of yin and yang. That was enough to qualify for the Yeonghwa’s trial.”

“Why wasn’t Yeonhwa here also a subject of the trial when she has also mastered the Yeogong?” I asked.

“I have two guesses about that. One is that she is already a completed martial artist, so the trial would be meaningless. The second is that she may have repelled the interference of the Yeonghwa with her own power.”

I glanced at Hong Yeonhwa, who was ticklishly biting her lips while squirming under my touch.

“Ahem….”

She may look like this, but she is a great martial artist who has already stepped halfway into the realm of Hyungyeong….

Lost in thought, I was the first to snap out of it, and Myeongwoljinin opened his mouth.

“Ahem. So? Is that all you wanted to know?”

“No, not yet. Um…where did the things I saw come from? I don’t know anything about Tangga, Sorim, or Hwasan’s martial arts. As you said, are those memories in the Yeonghwa? Or…”

“Everything you experienced during the trial is not in the Yeonghwa, but within the Sohyup. At this time, the Nokokgu of the Prince and the age and skill of the Sohyup can be guessed. You did not participate in this year’s Yongbong gathering, did you?”

“That’s right.”

Just then, Hong Yeonhwa, who had been playing with my fingers, suddenly raised her head, and her pink eyes sparkled.

“Ahem. My husband and younger brother have just received new star titles at this year’s Yongbong gathering. They are the star titles of Samjaegeomryong and Myeongyeondobong… If my husband had a good draw, he could have won the championship! And also…”