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Chapter 285: Reminiscing the Past

“Wow, this brings back memories.”

Yeon-woo murmured absentmindedly in the middle of the forest. It felt familiar in many ways. The environment and the tasks at hand seemed vaguely similar.

It was a story from over a decade ago. Back when Yeon-woo was a snotty five-year-old, unaware of being unsuitable for mana and simply wanting to help Claire.

‘Looking back, it’s kinda funny.’

What was he thinking, swinging a sword in hopes to be of help? If he had just behaved like a normal kid and helped out around the house, his life might have turned out quite differently.

But what could one do? Being an unhelpful adult before the regression, he found himself like this after regressing too. Sorry, little Yeon-woo. But you know it’s partly your fault, right?

Taking a deep breath, Yeon-woo asked his past self for a cowardly draw. Focus on the sword’s tip. NOW was the time to cast aside distractions and focus solely on the infinitely extending arc of the sword before him.

[You said you would learn how to cut through time, and yet you just keep killing time.]

“…Shut it, Lunaria.”

Just then, as if to interrupt Yeon-woo, a silvery woman, glimmering like delicate fabric, descended from the sky.

Lunaria, sitting cross-legged in mid-air like it was a chair, sighed softly. Yeon-woo felt guilty and shot back with a sharp reply.

[Isn’t that right, Yeon-woo? You boldly set out to cut through time, yet you just keep wasting it away. Well, it’s not something that’ll get resolved in a few days….]

“Then don’t distract me! Seriously! I was trying to study, and Lunaria interrupted! With this mood, I can’t study!”

[Umm…! You did say something hard for me to reply to!]

Hehe, what could she say to me, an orphan, who often echoed words he heard from an imaginary mother?

After effortlessly tossing back a line he often heard from his academy friends, Yeon-woo saw Lunaria flinch awkwardly.

[But consider this: once cut by a sword, life is lost, so isn’t killing time and cutting through time the same concept at a large scale?]

“That pun wasn’t very funny, Sister Lunaria.”

[Really?…I’m sorry…]

Lunaria’s teasing remark was abruptly interrupted by a forceful interjection from Shar, who was sitting nearby. No matter how thick-skinned one is, they can’t withstand Shar’s reprimands.

“Dad’s the same! You need to focus and not fool around!”

“Oh shoot, I was the same… Sorry…”

But he had a point. I’m the one who needs to focus. The situation demands I remain concentrated despite Lunaria’s distractions.

After his serious reflection, Yeon-woo picked up White, which he had briefly set down on the ground.

“Alright, I’ll focus again. You two should move a little further away. Shar, it’s about time for you to take a break!”

“Umm… but…”

“No buts! You know being here too long isn’t good for you, right? If you don’t take your break on time, you won’t be allowed back in at all.”

Her harsh words made Shar give him a look full of unsaid words.

It was easy to guess what Shar wanted to say. He was probably frustrated about why Yeon-woo gets to stay locked up all day while he can’t.

Of course, Yeon-woo didn’t want it to be like this. This place had a time flow that was nearly twenty times faster.

If he stayed too long, he didn’t know what would happen to his own body once he saved Tae-oh and removed the Demon King’s power.

Yet, he couldn’t think of any alternative. There’s no way to restart a halted time.

Just like audio files on a computer need direct system intervention to play continuously from beginning to end, the system of the real world is the law of nature itself.

The Demon King of Shuyo possesses enough power to change the very laws of the world, and to reverse that, one must also step into the realm that can manipulate those laws.

‘Honestly, even being a Master makes me uneasy.’

Not only did he need the status of a Master, but he had to apply the unique mana he would gain as a Master to affect the current time.

While such outcomes were typically impossible to conceive, Yeon-woo believed that, perhaps, the property of Courage Mana he possessed could hold some potential.

He aimed the sword. The target was the world. The cursed world that stood idly by, stealing his son right before his eyes.

*

While Yeon-woo trained, Shar traveled back and forth between the northern and eastern regions every so often.

There were multiple reasons for this. Firstly, to minimize the side effects on Shar’s body. Secondly, to procure food and supplies.

Luckily, the northern area of Hae-yeon city had plenty of shops, so food wasn’t an issue. Yet, even so, Shar felt an undeniable anxiety in the current situation.

However, the source of anxiety felt by the citizens of Hae-yeon and the one felt by Shar were fundamentally different.

The citizens’ anxiety primarily stemmed from wondering how much longer they had to endure this.

It was the primal fear of the Demon King that every living creature on this planet could relate to.

But for Shar, his concern was more about Yeon-woo’s attempt to deal with the Demon King than the Demon King’s mere existence.

This was only natural. Yeon-woo had repeatedly emphasized the side effects associated with manipulating the flow of time.

He couldn’t hear everything beyond the likes of nausea, coughing up blood, or nosebleeds, but Shar had listened intently enough to feel the blood pooling in his ears.

Yet, the more he thought about it, the more worried he was not about himself or the ageless god Lunaria, but about Yeon-woo himself.

To put it simply, while Shar spent 9 minutes in the north, 3 hours passed where Yeon-woo was.

But what if Shar went north to sleep? What if he went back after having a meal? And what if he returned after chatting with Delain instead?

Every single time, Shar observed a vastly transformed father, unlike the one he saw just moments ago.

His clothes were tattered, sometimes covered in blood, possibly from battling the Demon King’s snake, and he had even seen hints of stubble on his chin.

It was a shocking sight for Shar, as his father’s chin had always been smooth.

Yeon-woo himself had claimed he wasn’t particularly hairy, so Shar had never even imagined him with a beard.

“Is he okay…?”

“Hmm, it would be irresponsible for an outsider to say everything’s alright, wouldn’t it?”

In such worrying discussions, there were only two people available for support: Delain and Lunaria.

Among them, Lunaria had to keep an eye on Yeon-woo while Shar was away, so, inevitably, Delain was the only one to turn to.

Choosing his words carefully while stroking his chin, Delain looked seriously at Shar, who sat opposite him. Their genuine concern for each other was clearly evident, making it a lovely father-daughter moment.

“Actually, you don’t doubt Yeon-woo, do you, Shar? You trust him, but you’re still worried, right?”

“How could I NOT trust Dad!! But… it just feels heavy in my chest…”

That was pure worry, devoid of any ulterior motives. Delain chuckled at her sincere expression. Even a father and daughter who weren’t blood-related could display such heartfelt familial love.

‘Perhaps Chepes, you and I could’ve been this friendly of siblings too.’

It was a story far too late now. Neither of them desired such a relationship, so their connection had already shattered at that point.

“If there’s trust… shouldn’t that be enough?”

“I wasn’t looking for such a half-hearted answer though….”

With a glum voice, Shar aimed a metal spike at Delain’s chest. “Ugh,” Delain groaned, breaking out in a cold sweat while trying to smile.

“Um, but I didn’t say it for nothing. You two are doing something, right? I heard it’s tied to a lot of mental conditions.”

“Ah….”

“I’m not sure what it is exactly, but if you can succeed in that, it might lift a great burden off Yeon-woo, I just speculate.”

At those words, Shar stared blankly at Delain, seeming to realize something, then shook his head vigorously before bowing deeply to Delain with sparkling eyes.

In such an extreme bow that his forehead thudded against the desk with a cute sound.

“I think I’ve figured out what I need to do!! Thank you, Brother Delain!”

“You’re not at an age to call me brother, though…”

“There are people who can’t hear what they want to hear in this world, Dad said. So just listen quietly.”

“Y-Yes, understood…”

Under the peculiar pressure felt in Shar’s words, Delain nodded without thinking. Seemingly satisfied, Shar waved goodbye before dashing out of the room.

Watching her leave, Delain muttered under his breath so that only he could hear.

“I truly pray for your success, Shar. Losing a wonderful business partner would be truly sad.”

He added that he didn’t pray to the god due to his race, and then Delain disappeared into the darkness.

It wasn’t something to say in front of a child, considering that their father might die.

*

“What is time, I wonder.”

[Here we go with the airy nonsense again.]

After a grueling session with the sword, during a short break, Yeon-woo plopped down on the ground and murmured to himself.

It felt late to be asking this now, but didn’t these kinds of questions often pop up in martial arts novels? I didn’t think it was so bad to at least mimic the surface.

“Normally, the path of the void is filled with profound, paradoxical dialogues. I somehow skipped that annoying process.”

[I have no idea what you’re saying.]

“You don’t have to.”

Anyway, if he didn’t understand romance, it was a shame. Taeh-oh would’ve understood him. Thinking about it, he suddenly flopped over and stared at the sky.

In fact, it’s not that he didn’t know at all. The clues were all within himself. The sword spirit and the many teachings that sprang from it, along with the sight Yuri had shown him.

The essence of the sword spirit is to make the sword your heart, and also to make your heart your sword. Once that heart is perfected, no matter how violent the storm or heavy the rain, it won’t shatter or bend.

The rain sword followed the same line. Like clouds drifting in the sky, it portrays the ability to calmly let the furious flow escape from the tip of the sword.

‘Thinking about it this way, it really feels like I’m slowly heading toward what my master first showed me.’

Calm clouds, ferocious weather, and when it comes to half-moon blade, there’s that arrogance of believing that it can slice the moon hanging in the sky.

“Arrogance, huh….”

If he took a look at the end of that path, he felt certain he could slice through the sky just like Yuri. But that’s all that it was. If he could slice through the sky, could he also cut through time?

That would be a no. Even Yuri couldn’t cut through time, which is exactly why things had come to this point.

“I don’t want to be leisurely about this, but it’s giving me a headache…”

Clenching and unclenching his blistered palms, Yeon-woo clutched his head.

(Continue in the next chapter)

 

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