NOVEL NEXT Chapter 262
Chapter 262: Boundary of Life and Death
“Why did you come out now? I definitely saw you…”
I trailed off. In my line of sight stood the version of me from the first life.
That’s right.
I had indeed abandoned that first version of myself. Thus, I had transformed into a true grown man and broke through Hyeongyeong’s Wall. I obtained a new Mind’s Martial Arts, different from my previous life.
Yeah.
It should have been like that.
“Hahaha. Is that so? Did I really… no, did I… completely abandon everything from my first life?”
The first-life me asked.
Bam!
The first-life me split apart.
There I stood, dressed in modern Korean attire, my memory of that time becoming hazy.
I grew up in an orphanage without parents and managed to enter college.
I was an introverted weirdo from the start, so I barely had any friends. And I was an orphan. I had to juggle multiple part-time jobs just to make ends meet.
Yes.
The day I got hit by the reincarnation truck was right after I finished one of those part-time jobs, exhausted on my way home.
“Did you really… completely discard my past?”
The modern me said.
“But I…”
I trailed off again.
“I definitely… must have discarded my past and was reborn…”
The Rebirth Great Method had succeeded in a different way.
I reverted back. Rather than a loser, I was now living the second round as a popular guy.
Yeah.
That’s not me. That’s a version I’ve already abandoned.
I had no lingering attachment to my past.
“I have no regrets.”
“It’s a past that should be discarded.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Do you really think we should forget?”
“Do you really think there’s no need for a past?”
The me from the eunuch days and the me in college asked simultaneously.
Is it really a past I should forget?
The question that arose while looking at the lantern of the first life grew larger.
Hwang Sang’s face appeared in my mind.
Not the current Hwang Sang, but the one who followed me in my first life.
Hwang Sang loved me. She regarded me as everything. She even performed the Rebirth Great Method, which had a success rate of only 1 in 1000, just to follow me.
But in my past life, I didn’t understand her feelings.
I thought her interventions were disturbances. I abandoned the life of my first life.
And that was still true.
I hated my first life. I was a loser. I never knew the joys of men and women. I was a virgin. People from the Central Plains, Joseon, and even Japan called me the greatest traitor of all time. From the common people to the gentry, scholars, and officials, they slandered me as a loser behind my back.
I had overflowing power and wealth but lived a hollow life.
So I despised it.
My second life was great. In the second life, I was a top figure, a pillar of the White Path Orthodox Faction, a beloved disciple of the Gongdong Sect, recognized by the masters of the Martial World, and received the love of countless girls.
But.
Is it truly enough to just carry on with my second life?
I lifted my head.
I saw the eunuch me and the college me.
“I…”
My voice trembled.
My first life was unhappy. I couldn’t claim happiness in modern times either.
But…
Both my first and modern selves…
They were all me.
They were all my life.
Looking back, it wasn’t just filled with hate. In modern life, I had a few friends who were with me. I had no parents, and my life was riddled with part-time jobs, but there were still moments of happiness.
The same was true for my first life.
In my first life, there was Hwang Sang. My only family. She was a coward who harbored unconfessed feelings for a long time.
She loved me constantly. Hwang Sang waited for me. In front of my tomb. Wearing mourning clothes for three years, she waited for me.
For decades.
She thought of me. I could never have guessed her feelings. Hwang Sang…
Even the first life I abandoned was more precious to her than to me.
Yeah.
Hwang Sang brought happiness to my first life. She was the first family I gained, despite having none. Every moment spent with her was happiness. In the Inner Palace, which felt like a realm of the dead, she was the only one I relied on.
It was the first time I completely trusted someone.
Hwang Sang.
Her existence made my first life not meaningless. It wasn’t something I should have discarded.
Yeah.
My first life was also me.
No.
All the life I lived was me. If I hadn’t been a modern person, if I hadn’t lived as a loser in my first life…
Then I wouldn’t exist now. Because my first life existed, my second life did too. Because I experienced being a loser, I gained the realization of being a grown man.
Due to having been an introvert, I could now transform into a popular person.
That’s right.
I shared my life, but in truth, life can never be shared from the beginning. Every trace of my life is me. My life. My life cannot be discarded.
Yes, I had merely been looking away from the first version of myself until now. I had been under the delusion that I had discarded that part of me.
And now, I was finally ready to face and acknowledge the other aspects of myself that I had been ignoring.
“Yes.”
I acknowledged.
“All of you are my life. I thought I had discarded you, but life can’t be discarded from the very beginning. I am me. The me who was a loser is me, and the modern me is me too. The current me is also me.”
I spread my arms wide.
“From the start, nothing was divided.”
Everyone was me. The ugly parts were me, and the successful parts were me. Every aspect of me was me. I wasn’t perfect, but that made me more me.
Sometimes ugly, sometimes frustrated, sometimes crying, but still happy, smiling, and enjoying.
That is life.
I acknowledged that fact. In that moment.
Enlightenment came.
Crack—crack—crack!
A huge crack appeared in the translucent wall that stood tall beyond the white land, the Wall of Life and Death.
“Finally realized, huh?”
“If I just move a bit further, then…”
The past me, the first-life me vanished in a burst of light. Their mindscape and experiences were absorbed by me in the form of glittering dust. My perception expanded. The wall of life and death appeared far away. The cracked wall of life and death.
Everything is me.
Holding onto the first-life me in my heart, I took a step forward.
But it was still insufficient.
Not yet…
I hadn’t completed the Color Spectrum.
[Noya.]
A familiar voice echoed in my ears. I turned my head. There stood Hwang Sang, her translucent figure resembling her mature self from my first life. She spoke.
[The color spectrum has already been completed.]
I completed the color spectrum?
Hwang Sang approached me, caressing my cheek with her translucent hand.
[Noya. The realization of the color spectrum has always been within you. Think back on your life. The women connected to you. You have carried their true feelings. Therefore, the color spectrum is already complete.]
The moment I heard Hwang Sang’s words…
Images of the women flashed through my mind.
[Sangong. I have already considered you my husband since the moment you first confessed. I haven’t thought of any other man besides you. Only you are my husband.]
It was Geumhu.
The vision of Geumhu appeared, smiling like a young girl.
That’s right. She had written in her diary that she had fallen for me from the very beginning. Yes, she loved me.
Her heart had already been directed toward me. The vision of Geumhu transformed into a brilliant light and collided with the wall of life and death.
Kaboom!
The crack in the wall widened.
[Brother. You have given me kindness for the first time in my life. You, brother, are truly my only reliable friend in this world. How could I not like someone like you?]
The voice of Same, Seoharin, came through.
The future Baekdojeilhwa. No, she already was Baekdojeilhwa by now. In my previous life, she had closed her heart for her entire life and walked around with a cold face. How else could she have earned the nickname Ice Noodle Sword Fairy?
But this life was different for her. She smiled now and treated others more gently than before.
She…
Trusted me. So she loved me. Seoharin. She was also a woman I had to be responsible for.
The vision of Seoharin transformed into light and merged with the wall of life and death.
Thud!
The crack deepened.
[Thinking about it, you, no, the noble one, might be the very swordsman I have imagined. At first, I was mistaken, but that was all a misunderstanding. So, the next time, instead of being combative, um… no, that’s nothing!]
The vision of Seomun Cheong-ha appeared.
Seomun Cheong-ha.
The youngest daughter of the rival Seomun Family from Gansu Province, she had fallen into the role of a servant under my pretense.
Now, she had become an irreplaceable talent for the Gongdong Sect. She harbored feelings for me. Therefore…
I had to take responsibility for her, the woman who had given her heart to me.
The vision of Seomun Cheong-ha transformed into light and flew toward the wall of life and death.
Crash!
The cracks expanded even further across the wall.
[…Hmph. It’s Yeong-ryeong. Yeong-ryeong is the cutest in the Martial World! I’ll definitely make sure you remember my charm! That, and… Hmph. The first person I’ve taken an interest in is you, brother! So you better be grateful!]
Next came Dang Yeong-ryeong.
The mysterious Goeui Dang Yeong-ryeong.
In the future, she would be known as a goddess. She was still a quack, but thanks to her, we could restore the Gongdong Sect’s recipe.
Not only that. She was an essential asset for the Gongdong Sect that was being rebuilt. Even if she was a quack, she wasn’t utterly without medical knowledge.
Of course, she had lied to me in my previous life, but I could embrace that with my generous grown-man heart.
Yeah.
What could I do? She liked me.
The vision of Dang Yeong-ryeong transformed into light and zoomed toward the wall of life and death.
[…I like you. You, who are the beloved of my master… So I’ll love you while being with my master.]
Next, the vision of Cheon Sobin appeared. She confessed to me, tears in her eyes.
The heavenly body, Cheon Sobin.
Our first meeting wasn’t particularly pleasant. But somehow she came to like me. A false confession had turned into genuine feelings.
Raising a master and a disciple together would draw societal contempt. But I didn’t care about that.
She liked me—what’s the problem with that?
I could embrace her too.
The vision of Cheon Sobin raced toward the wall of life and death.
[Ugh. Lee Cheol-soo. You are the only man I acknowledge. Also the only man my father acknowledges. So I’ll earn your acknowledgement. I’ll make sure to strip you naked. Therefore… I will become your… woman. Got that?]
Next came Baek Cheon-hwa.
She looked at me and said.
The female title, So Cheonma Baek Cheon-hwa. In my first life, she tragically died at the hands of her father without forming a proper bond with him. But in this second life, thanks to me, she established a proper father-daughter relationship.
Perhaps that’s why she felt interested in me. She felt gratitude and appreciation too. But her expressions were so clumsy that she sometimes said strange things.
That side of her was surprisingly cute.
The vision of Baek Cheon-hwa transformed into a light that soared.
[Oh, oh, brother… I’m Jiyagi’s mother… I’m your younger sister. So… don’t discard me. You said I’m charming, so… thank you. You’re the first to say that. As promised… I must take responsibility. I’ll become a hero who embraces both sides… Yes.]
Next, Wi Soryeon appeared. She shook her short black hair and smiled shyly.
Wi Soryeon.
I first met her during the Orthodox Faction Competition. Defeated by me, she’s now a disciple known as the Outstanding Post-Stimulation Indicator.
And Jiyagi’s mom. Despite her tomboyish look, she had a girl-like charm within. As promised, I will become a hero and win her heart.
Wi Soryeon smiled as she transformed into light and flew away.
[Gaga. Can you hear me? I am… no, I… like Gaga. It took me a long time to admit my feelings. During that time, I did many ugly things… I’m sorry. But since you accepted that… so… I like Gaga. You must keep our promise.]
Next, Jeoksawol appeared.
She possessed the beautiful and glamorous looks of the world’s most beautiful woman.
No elaborate explanations are needed about her. I liked her, but she couldn’t bring herself to trust me and kept floating around as a secondary character.
She had unexpectedly cute aspects too.
But she was a sad girl who couldn’t trust anyone due to her dark past.
Jeoksawol.
I became her Gaga. And I promised to embrace her.
Jeoksawol laughed as she transformed into light and flew away.
[Daddy! Jiyagi really likes you! You’re my first dad, so… I’m going to marry you when I grow up! Ugh… Hehe…].
Sosumahu appeared. She was smiling.
My first meeting with her was intense.
I was flustered when she first called me ‘Daddy.’ But as time passed, it didn’t seem bad.
Sometimes she felt like real family. She was cute enough that I wanted to buy her Tanghulu.
I had to think about marriage, but she was already my family.
The form of Sosumahu vanished into light.
[Master.]
The voice of Sahyeong echoed.
There she stood before me.
Sahyeong.
Geomseong Yujinhwi.
The person I spent the longest amount of time with in this life. The one who always tried to protect me, even when I mistook her for a man. Despite my rejection, she had stayed by my side like a clingy child.
Even when I came out as a regressor, she said she liked me regardless of age.
[I like Saje. Saje is my everything. I don’t care who Saje is. I like Saje. So I will protect Saje. Even if the whole world stands against you, I’ll stand by your side. I love you.]
Sahyeong smiled.
Her figure transformed into light that surged forward.
[Noya. Everyone has given you their true feelings. At that point, Noya’s color spectrum was already complete.]
Finally, Hwang Sang appeared.
Light emanated from her body, transforming into the Hwang Sang of my second life. She spoke.
[And I have also been fond of you, Noya. For a long time… Thank you for accepting my feelings.]
Hwang Sang smiled. Her form transformed into light and flew away.
Crack—crack—crack!
The cracks on the wall of life and death stretched like spider webs.
I opened my eyes. Warm feelings surged in my heart. The sincerity of the women who supported me.
It was then that I finally realized.
The color spectrum had already been completed. I had already become a master of the color spectrum.
I realized it already; I just hadn’t recognized it.
Everyone was supporting me. I took a step toward the wall of life and death. Before me stood the wall of life and death.
What once appeared as an unbreakable iron wall now looked like a fragile scaffold that would come crashing down with a single kick.
I smiled. As I reached out my right hand, the Ten Years Polished One Sword’s mind-set appeared in my grasp. An overwhelming amount of energy surged upward.
With my left hand, I swung it. The Mind’s Martial Arts of the Unfathomable One arose. The mind’s martial arts of the first life, reclaimed by acknowledging my past self, swirled like snowflakes of the coldest air.
Extreme Yang and Extreme Yin.
Opposing energies surged within me.
I simultaneously wielded the Mind’s Martial Arts from both my past and present lives.
Boom—crash—boom—bang—!
A tremendous sound erupted. The heavens trembled, and the earth shook. With it, the wall shattered like glass. An overwhelming force surged from my dantian. A shiver of omnipotence coursed through my entire body. Only then did I truly feel it.
I had reached the realm of the boundary of life and death.
I took a step toward what lay beyond the wall.
In that moment.
Flash.
Consciousness returned once more.