<Chapter 3. I’ve become younger. I’ve lost weight.>

Jaegal Hye slowly moved her steps. There was no rush. Anyway, if she mentioned that she prepared delicious food, the head of the house would get up laughing heartily.

But when Jaegal Hye reached the front of the head’s chamber, she frowned. Before even opening the door, a strong scent of blood wafted out. She immediately opened the door and went in.

The sight in the bedroom was cruel.

Around the huge body of the lying head of the house, dark red blood had dried. And even a bloody dagger was at the head of the bed.

Jaegal Hye slowly looked around the entire room.

The window, the walls, the ceiling, and the door she had come through were all checked. There were no signs of external intrusion.

Only then did Jaegal Hye find her composure.

“I can understand why the maid was shocked. Using the deafening trick for a joke. My lord, today’s prank is too much.”

Deafening trick.

It was a profound martial art technique to disguise oneself as dead by stopping one’s breath and heartbeats for a certain period and even lowering the body temperature.

It was ridiculous to use the deafening trick just to pretend to be dead for a joke.

“My lord, please get up now.”

Jaegal Hye knelt on one knee by the bed and looked down.

In a moment, Jaegal Hye retreated backward in horror, falling down repeatedly.

Her eyes widened as large as lanterns and she was breathless, gasping heavily because she couldn’t breathe.

The wound on the neck was deep, and the flesh split open by the knife was stained black. Even now, blood was clotting through the gap.

“My lord, this can’t be happening. It can’t be happening, right? Why, why does it have to be like this…?”

Her cry was so loud and sorrowful that people gathered around, but she did not even notice that.

* * *

The alliance was plunged into great chaos.

The alliance leader had died.

The one considered the best in the world had died.

It was the death of a martial god, someone who could still be called the best even in ancient times.

However, the shock and chaos were not solely due to the death.

There were no signs of external infiltration.

Among the external figures staying in the alliance, there was no one capable of assassinating the alliance leader. No, it wasn’t even a topic to be discussed. Who could say, be it from outside or inside, that they could kill the alliance leader?

The alliance leader was a being with whom not even a god could assuredly win. Moreover, disguising it as a suicide was an impossible task.

Poisoning wasn’t even brought up.

Not only was there no poison found in the alliance leader’s body, but even if it was a type of poison that evaporated post-mortem, it would be meaningless.

To begin with, the alliance leader had a body impervious to all poisons.

The alliance leader, who would even recommend adding poison if it could enhance the flavor, once said that the poison of the blue net snake, which could poison a thousand people with just one drop, was the best seasoning.

It had an exceptional tingling taste.

There were no witnesses to this death.

The alliance leader did not keep protective magic around his residence.

The reason was, who would protect whom?

No one could refute it.

If someone who could breach the alliance’s defense approached, neither protective magic nor guards would be able to handle it; rather than being protected, the alliance leader would have to protect them himself.

Suicide was an unthinkable event.

Wasn’t it the alliance leader who excitedly pondered what dish to eat every day?

Just two weeks ago, he went to visit the entirety of Green Forest and tasted the beef raised by Green Forest King.

The king of Green Forest grilled the meat by the alliance leader’s side.

With the alliance leader exclaiming in admiration, praising “Why do you grill meat so well, you guy?” the Green Forest King reportedly hopped joyfully like a puppy.

Therefore, only questions remained.

Someone who couldn’t die had died, and in a place where one couldn’t die, the best in the world was found dead.

And that too, by suicide.

Yet, this was reality.

* * *

But the alliance Leader was alive.

It was just that his body had changed.

On a night when someone joyfully slit his throat, the alliance Leader realized the changes in his body as he lay in some kind of place.

‘What the hell is this body? Ah, was breathing always this difficult?’

Even while lying on the bed, he could recognize several changes.

The changed body was a mess, and this place was not the usual Murim.

First of all, the softness of the bed was different.

The touch of the blanket was unfamiliar, and the flow of the air was heavy.

The body felt cumbersome and it was difficult to breathe properly.

He found himself in a strange place, not in the Murim Maeng, and within a strange body.

He barely managed to lift his body and get down from the bed.

When he looked in the mirror, a frail young man was reflected, and he protruded his lips in a pout.

‘I’ve become younger. Even lost some weight.’

He couldn’t be entirely pleased. It wasn’t the face he had when he was young.

It wasn’t a dream either.

Without even needing to pinch himself to check, just a few steps it took to get down from the bed and walk to the mirror left him breathless.

No, let’s put it accurately. The moment he took a step, his legs gave way and he nearly fell over.

If it had been a dream, he would have woken up by then.

Was this one of those reincarnation jokes that have been popular lately?

A while ago, Jaegal Hye also made such a joke she picked up from somewhere.

―If you were to reincarnate, when would you want to go back to?

When he asked back if one would retain their memories upon reincarnation, Jaegal Hye blinked in contemplation, seemingly having not thought that far.

Well, anyway, the current situation wasn’t reincarnation. Even after looking several times, it was not his face. No matter how much weight he lost, there was no resemblance.

Possession?

It couldn’t be possession because there wasn’t someone else residing within the body.

Transmigration of the soul?

Or perhaps, was it hell?

It wouldn’t be hell. A hell with beds, really?

Could it be another world? No, before that, what era is it now?

So far, there was nothing he could know.

Gradually, irritation rose.

It could be a prank of a god, or perhaps the harmony of the universe.

He couldn’t commend it as a job well done.

Daring to arbitrarily change my life. Even though I harbored no grudges. How charming my original body was…

“Damn it…”

Looking at the mirror, his anger surged even more.

This new body had a skeletal face.

It looked like it had lived on only water for a whole year, a stark skeleton.

The flesh was merely thinly spread over the bones.

There was no firmness or muscles to speak of.

And that wasn’t all.

The sallow eyes and the deeply hollowed cheeks were problematic, but what was more serious were the wrists.

The wrists were fragile and slender as if they would break just by lifting a glass of water, and they bore many scars from knife cuts.

There were also knife marks on the neck.

The furniture in the room was luxurious and elegant, giving off the vibe of a fairly well-off household, but why was the body so skeletal and what was the explanation for the numerous signs of self-harm?

“Huh?”

Hu Gong’s train of thought could not continue. The sound of footsteps reached his ears.

They were getting closer and closer. For a short moment, Hu Gong pondered.

“Should I pretend to be asleep? Or should I confront them?”

The hesitation didn’t last long.

No, there was no choice to begin with.

To pretend to be asleep, he had to quickly go and lie down on the bed, but given the current state of his legs, it was clear he would fall midway if he hurried.

The footsteps stopped at the door.

Then the door opened.

A white-haired old man entered.

With a big stature and a body that was overly thin, his white beard reached down to his chest.

His complexion was dark and he looked frail and sickly.

A peculiar feature was the two moles on his forehead.

“Moles?”

The question wasn’t why there were two moles on his forehead. Hu Gong recognized this old man.

It was Beom Cheon, the head of Cheonhwa Library.

Around 4 or 5 years ago, Hu Gong had encountered the old man.

Although he looked different from the vibrant figure back then, there was no doubt that the old man was head Beom Cheon, who strangely managed to make the moles look rather stylish.

One thing became clear.

It was the same era, neither the past nor the future, but the present.

“Is this the doing of the Cheonhwa Library?”

Cheonhwa Library.

A family of geniuses, and one of the three great libraries in the central plains.

Specializing in ancient documents and artifacts, Beom Cheon’s scholarship was so outstanding that it made the scholars of his time seem laughable.

“You were awake, child. That’s good.”

“…”

Hu Gong was startled, almost widening his eyes in surprise.

Under normal circumstances,

Alliance Leader, were you surprised?

He would have asked something like this,

And the answer should have been,

Not really. But it seems that an explanation regarding this situation is needed.

This would have been the natural sequence of events.

But calling him “child?”

Beom Cheon did not know about the reincarnation. He recognized him as his grandson.

There was no deception in his sorrow-soaked eyes. The air in the room also became heavy as he entered.

“A sorrowful look in the early morning…”

It was utterly unfathomable.

At times like this, Hu Gong knew well what he had to do.

Hu Gong stayed still.

“Your wish has become my wish. Come here.”

Beom Cheon gestured as he sat down on the bed.

Hu Gong hesitated for a moment but then took a step.

With a thud, as he took a step, his knee buckled and twisted awkwardly, and he was breathless after a few steps.

Thus, he sat beside Beom Cheon.

“Swallow this.”

It was a small pill.

Hu Gong looked at the medicine, then looked down at his own body.

Specifically, it was his wrist. There were more than one or two scars created with a knife.

What kind of medicine is it?

Considering his pathetic body, it would be a miraculous medicine that improves the body.

But it probably isn’t.

Looking at the self-harm marks on his body and Beom Cheon’s sad eyes, and considering the words promising to grant a wish, it would be poison.

He couldn’t help but lean towards it being poison.

“Is it poison?”

There was no answer to the question.

Instead, Beom Cheon narrowed his eyebrows.

“….”

“….”

They only exchanged glances.

Hu Gong tightly shut his mouth.

‘This is tricky.’

The issue that just arose was different from whether it was poison or not.

The tone. The way he just spoke was not a tone a grandson should use towards his grandfather.

“Heuheum… so.”

It should have been a tone asking, ‘Is it poison?’ However, Hu Gong could not manage to speak honorifically.

“Poison?”

He found a compromise of sorts and asked like that.

Is it because the question was short, the answer became short as well.

“Take it.”

It seemed like Beom Cheon now didn’t care at all about the tone he used.

Seeing that he did not deny it, it was poison.

Beom Cheon handed over the poison nonchalantly.

Hu Gong had no intention of accepting it.

“Before that, there is one thing I’m curious about….”

“If you’re asking whether it will kill you immediately, don’t worry.”

He knew that. It would be a lethal poison.

“Who is the current leader of the Murim Alliance?”

Hu Gong wanted to be sure. Whether Beom Cheon was involved in soul transmigration, whether the era was the same.

“What are you talking about?”

Beom Cheon growled lowly.

“It is a crucial matter.”

“Shut up!”

“…??”

“The guy who was desperately struggling to die and praying every day to be allowed to die suddenly asks who the leader of the Murim Alliance is! Is it not enough just to die? How far are you planning to insult this old man!”

Beom Cheon’s eyes flared up.

Hu Gong calmed his mind.

Further conversation in this situation was impossible. First, he had to calm him down.

“I don’t know how I have been all this time, huh…but I have no intention of dying, so please leave for now. When the day breaks, let’s have a calm conversation. Kheum.”

Hu Gong got up from where he was sitting.

He directed his gaze towards the door, indicating he wanted him to leave.

Was there some kind of backstory?

Why was this body’s original owner, the grandson, desperately trying to die, and how did the old man come to give up on his grandson? Understanding it immediately was impossible.

‘I can only find out slowly over time….’

Hu Gong’s contemplation was cut off there.

“You bastard!”

Beom Cheon rushed in with a furious look.

Instinctively, Hu Gong raised his hand and launched a chi strike.

Just causing minor bleeding in the demonic vein. It was an easy task.

However, reality was cruel.

No chi strike came out.

No, to begin with, he couldn’t even lift his arm, let alone unleash a chi strike.

By the time Hu Gong remembered that he was a body that was out of breath just by walking, he was already pinned under Beom Cheon.

“Eugh….”