Chapter 158

THUD.

I stepped into Moon Ridge Hall. The humidity inside was way higher than outside. I felt my skin turn clammy in an instant as I scanned my surroundings.

Then—

CREEEAK—! THUD—!!

The door behind me slammed shut on its own.

What the fuck?

I whipped my head around. The thick door was shut tight, latched like it had been waiting for me.

“...Oh, hell.”

Cold sweat broke out as I stared at it. Because I’d heard the warning before coming in.

Until the period you set in advance is over, you can’t open the door from the inside.

I’d come here after hearing that exact caution.

Which meant—

‘...You’re telling me I have to spend a full month in this pitch-black darkness?’

A door that wouldn’t open unless someone outside opened it.

And I’d declared I was going into seclusion for about a month.

So it wasn’t opening, no matter what, until then.

“Haa.”

I let out a breath and steadied my breathing. There was no running now.

“...So.”

WOOOONG—!!

I moved my energy and put strength into my eyes. Moon Eyes opened, and the darkness peeled back.

And in the void, staring straight at me, I met blue eyes.

“So what do I do from here?”

What do you start with, once you come into seclusion?

The moment I asked, Yoo Cheongil looked at me and grinned.

[What do you think? Put those on first.]

Yoo Cheongil pointed somewhere. I followed his finger, and the wall was stacked full of something.

Don’t tell me—

“...Those are iron weights?”

Black iron. Made to strap onto your arms and legs.

They were even sorted by weight, because the sizes were all different.

He wanted me to wear those?

I walked up to the wall and reached for the smallest one on the far right—

[What are you doing?]

“Huh?”

Yoo Cheongil frowned at me.

[Not that one. Put that one on.]

His hand moved. The one he indicated was a medium-sized weight.

I grabbed it—

“Ugh—!?”

It was heavy. So heavy it was hard to lift with one hand.

‘You want me to put this on...?’

I looked back at Yoo Cheongil like there had to be some mistake, but he only jerked his chin, urging me to hurry.

It felt wrong, but I didn’t argue. I strapped it on.

One on each arm and leg, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) and the weight hit me all at once.

“...Insane.”

My arms sagged like dead meat. My feet were so heavy I couldn’t even lift them.

I could tell I’d fall over if I didn’t use qi.

So I tried to use qi—

[STOP—!]

“...!”

Yoo Cheongil’s shout froze me in place.

“What the hell is your problem...?”

Why was he suddenly screaming and losing his shit?

I stared at him, startled, and he said with a stone face.

[For the next month, you are forbidden from using qi.]

“...What kind of insane bullshit is that?”

Don’t use qi?

I couldn’t believe it. So he wanted me to move around with these iron weights on, without using qi?

“How is that even possible...?”

[What do you mean how? You just do it.]

“Wow. Super helpful answer. Thanks a lot. You bastard...”

[And that includes Moon Eyes. Take the strength out of your eyes, too.]

“...What?”

[Now.]

“...”

I did what he said and released all my qi.

The darkness flooded back instantly.

Pitch-black darkness where I couldn’t see a thing.

And my body—heavy, suffocating—felt like it was tightening a noose around every inch of me.

Train like this?

For a month?

What kind of reason could there even be?

I didn’t know, so I just stared at Yoo Cheongil.

In the dark, the only thing I could see was his blue eyes.

[Hey.]

“Yes.”

[Do you know what your biggest problem is?]

“...No idea. There are too many to pick just one.”

[Correct. You’re a complete mess. That’s the problem.]

“...”

What was this? Was he messing with me?

If that was the goal, congratulations. It worked. My mood was thoroughly fucked.

[Your realm grew too fast, but your body is worthless. And because your body is worthless, energy doesn’t sink into it properly. On top of that, your understanding of martial arts is shattered, so you can’t even use what you have.]

“...”

Each word stabbed straight into my chest. He didn’t stop, and it hurt like hell.

[And if I ask whether your talent is outstanding—no. So you’re in a state with no answer.]

“...Tch.”

I was about to hit my limit. I wanted to throw up a hand and tell him to stop—

[So if there’s no answer, we make one.]

Yoo Cheongil grinned and added—

[You don’t even know how to use your body properly. And you’re not in a situation where you can. At this point, it’s no different than holding a famous sword and chopping radishes.]

Yoo Cheongil drifted down. Of course, since he was a ghost, there was no sound of landing.

[So start by grinding your body into shape. Time is short. But if time is short, then you just make that time worth something.]

“These iron weights are supposed to do that...?”

[Why? You thought there’d be some shortcut?]

“...I was hoping.”

[Don’t kid yourself. Martial study is endurance.]

Yoo Cheongil dropped into a sit on the floor.

[How much you can endure. That’s the only difference. The fastest way to forge the body? Tear the muscles, let them regenerate. That’s it. And do you know what got best when you reached pinnacle?]

“What?”

[You heal fast.]

“...”

[Tear and heal, tear and heal. There’s no other answer. Now. Do it.]

It was a brutish method, and it was also the truth.

[Endure it. You said that was what you were best at.]

At Yoo Cheongil’s words, I bent forward.

‘Is this really right?’

It felt insane.

But I’d already come in.

There wasn’t another option.

Do what I always do.

Yeah. I’d always told Yoo Cheongil I was good at enduring.

‘Ah. I shouldn’t have said that.’

Regret hit immediately.

I hadn’t known it would lead to training this stupid and savage.

‘Should I just tell him I’m quitting?’

The urge rose up instinctively.

But unlike my thoughts, my body was already moving.

[Heh.]

That nasty chuckle echoed.

Not long after, my muscles started screaming—

But my mouth stayed shut.

******

“Guhk.”

I collapsed, staggering, and sprawled on the floor.

I had no idea how long I’d been doing body training.

I’d moved exactly as Yoo Cheongil told me to, hauling those heavy iron weights.

And time bled away.

My limbs wouldn’t move anymore.

“Huff... huff... huff...”

I breathed hard and looked around.

A lot of time had to have passed, but there wasn’t a single window, so I couldn’t even tell how much.

Even though my eyes had adjusted to the dark, nothing was visible.

That was how thick the darkness was.

“Fuu... haa...”

I was thirsty.

I turned my head, searching for water. Far off by the wall, there was a jar.

There was water inside.

*****

I didn’t know if it was running water, but maybe it was connected to a stream—there was plenty.

And beside it, a pile of grain pellets was faintly visible in the dark.

“...Damn it...”

I was hungry and thirsty, and I didn’t even have the strength to move.

I was exhausted. I didn’t even know how much time had passed, so the frustration doubled.

“Ugh...”

Do I really have to drag myself over there?

I hesitated.

The moment my tired body sank into the floor, sleep rolled over me.

‘Whatever.’

Just sleep.

I closed my eyes.

That instant—

“...Huh?”

My eyes snapped open and I sat up.

The fatigue vanished, and my vision turned clear.

What the hell—

“Ah. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me...?”

The sight in front of me dragged the curse out of my mouth.

A pure white background stretched out in every direction.

There was no way I didn’t recognize this.

“This is insane—!!”

I spat curses as I got up—

“Heh heh heh.”

A laugh came from behind. I turned.

Yoo Cheongil was standing there.

“Sir...?”

I stared at the old man with uneasy eyes, and he spoke.

“I assume you’ve memorized everything you did today. Your head’s the one thing you’ve got, after all.”

“...What is this supposed to be?”

“What else? You already know.”

“No. You crazy bastard... don’t tell me you’re making me do something even when I sleep?”

This was a spirit-dream realm Yoo Cheongil created.

“Isn’t it nice? Move during the day, train at night. For a martial artist, it’s basically a dream come true.”

“...Wow.”

He was vicious.

So that’s why it wasn’t a question—he’d framed it like a suggestion.

Daytime body training.

Nighttime training inside a spirit-dream Yoo Cheongil prepared.

It was a schedule designed to drive someone insane.

And the problem was—

“Then... you’ll be gone for almost a month. Is that what you’re saying?”

When Yoo Cheongil cast a spirit-dream, he wouldn’t appear again unless the goal he set was achieved.

I didn’t know if that was some hard rule, but it had always been like that, so I assumed it would be again.

“Who knows? It could be faster than that.”

“What?”

“You just have to overcome it faster, don’t you?”

Yoo Cheongil said it like it was nothing.

“Repeat today’s body training from here on. You can keep the weight the same. It’s only a month—there’s a limit to how much better you’ll get.”

“...No. Seriously? You’re really leaving?”

He was just going to leave me?

What if I didn’t do what he said?

As I stood there wide-eyed, unable to believe he wasn’t even going to watch—

“You don’t feel annoyed leaving what you failed to do last time unfinished, do you?”

“Failed to do last time?”

What was he talking about?

“One month is plenty of time.

*****

Show me once. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

THUD—!!

A single iron sword dropped in front of me.

Same as before.

I stared at it, then whipped my eyes up toward Yoo Cheongil—

And he was gone.

What I could see was a rock that felt strangely familiar—

“...Ha.”

And a tall, skinny young man sitting on top of it.

Unlike Yoo Cheongil’s vivid blue eyes, his Moon Eyes looked drained of life.

A youth with a body so thin it looked dried out.

He was Yoo Cheongil, when he was young.

I’d heard it was around his coming-of-age.

He was the one I’d faced to awaken Radiant Moon Annihilation-Overturn.

Back then, Yoo Cheongil had said all I needed to do was block one strike—

‘...So what he’s saying now is—’

Was he telling me to overcome that monster?

Cold sweat slid down my back.

I couldn’t even count how many times I’d died back then.

To block a single strike, I’d gone through countless deaths.

And now he wanted me to win?

“...You really say whatever you want, don’t you?”

Because it wasn’t his problem, he could talk like it was easy.

“...Haa...”

I steadied my breathing and tightened my grip on the sword.

The bastard’s gaze turned this way.

Then—

WHIRK—! CLANG—!!!

A sound rang off my raised blade.

Sword force flared as I guarded to the side—

And Yoo Cheongil’s sword drilled into it.

“...!”

The moment I blocked the strike, Yoo Cheongil’s eyes widened.

My arm trembled.

How many times had I died to block this one blow?

I’d repeated it so much my body moved on instinct now.

‘Fuck.’

I clenched my teeth.

This wasn’t going to end with just one.

I tried to move—tried to respond somehow—

SHHK.

A flash split my eyes.

The sky was there.

My severed head was flying through the air.

As I felt it, I knew.

This was probably going to be the most goddamn month of my entire life.

And so—

A month of hell flowed by.