The Dreaming One – II

<Good Pork Belly Place>.

It was the restaurant that Jinhee bugged her Oppa to take her to in the past for an apology date. A small restaurant by Hongik University Station Exit 2 with really good pork belly rice bowl combos.

And it was also the place where Jinhee was going to meet the person who would start her through the clearance process of learning what Oppa did for a job.

Well, her as well as Yuri and Seunghae.

Jinhee parked her car at an open spot near the restaurant and then glanced back at the two who carpooled with her.

A beautiful young woman with a beauty mark and silky black hair. She was underdressed, wearing a baggy black hoodie and torn jeans, but she couldn't hide her beauty.

Next to her was another beautiful young woman with slightly curled light brown hair. Unlike the one next to her, the brown-haired beauty was dressed up, wearing a pretty white blouse and a pleated black skirt.

Eun Yuri and Yoo Seunghae.

The self-proclaimed friend of Jinhee who was actually a superfan of her amateur webnovel, and the girl who was essentially like younger sister.

Though, Seunghae was only younger by a year.

But in any case, they arrived.

And as soon as Jinhee parked her car, Yuri got out to stretch. "Wow. That took longer than I thought."

Seunghae got out next and brushed off her skirt. After that, she said, "Of course. We're coming in the middle of peak lunch times. Although..." She glanced at the restaurant and said, "...I don't see many other people." She looked back at Jinhee and said, "Are you sure this is the place?"

Jinhee nodded. "I'm sure."

Seunghae raised an eyebrow and said, "And it isn't some shady establishment where we could get kidnapped? I don't want to say I don't trust you, but..."

Jinhee felt her face heat up and she said, "I'm sure! And I told you already, that wasn't my fault!"

Seunghae shrugged and said, "Sorry for not trusting your judgment too much these days. But it's hard to believe in the words of a girl who supports a cheater like Jihu."

Yuri chimed in and said, "Oppa isn't a cheater! He's just in a very complicated relationship... I'm sure things will clear up when we get through this orientation or whatever he wants us to attend."

Seunghae sighed and said, "Maybe. But excuse me for not believing the words of a woman who wants to get involved with that cheater despite knowing his policy of dating."

Yuri blushed and cleared her throat. "T-That's... Well. Ahem..."

Jinhee pinched the bridge of her nose and counted back from ten to calm herself. After that, she shook her head and said, "Whatever. Let's just go inside already. Hannah Unni said Oppa's company rented out the place for us to go over the paperwork with the representative." She pulled out her phone to check the time and said, "He's probably already here, so let's hurry up and go in already."

After saying that, Jinhee took the lead.

Yuri and Seunghae followed behind her. Yuri, enthusastically, and Seunghae relucatantly.

Like Jinhee remembered, the door opened with a chime and a waitress turned to greet them.

But the waitress wasn't the same that Jinhee remembered seeing last time. Even then, it was a waitress that she knew well.

"Oh." Claire glanced at the clock on the wall and said, "You arrived earlier than expected."

Jinhee blinked and then said, "Claire Unni?"

Seunghae narrowed her eyes and said, "It's the Cheater's side chick."

Yuri poked Seunghae and said, "Hey! Don't be rude!"

"Don't touch me."

Jinhee decided to ignore the two behind her and said, "Do you work at Oppa's company too, Claire Unni?"

Claire paused to think about it and said, "It is complicated."

Seunghae snorted and said, "I'll bet it is."

Claire stared at Seunghae and said, "It is. And your sister mentioned to tell you that she will explain everything to you when you finish the orientation as well."

Seunghae paused and then frowned. "...Unni works at that place too?"

Yuri's eyes lit up and said, "The world's a really small place after all, huh?"

Jinhee shook her head and said, "Can we focus?" She looked back at Claire and said, "Do you know who we're supposed to meet, Unni? Oppa texted me a while back saying we would meet someone here, and Hannah Unni said that it would be a company representative, but we don't know who."

Claire nodded and then gestured for everyone to follow. "He's waiting upstairs in the private booths. Please, follow me."

Seunghae frowned, slowly edging towards the exit.

Jinhee let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed her arm.

"H-Hey!" Seunghae glared at Jinhee and said, "Let go!"

"Look. I don't care if you hate Oppa and don't believe in him, but he's putting all this work in to help us understand when he could just shrug it off. He's definitely a scumbag who casually steals women's hearts, but he isn't going to do something that'll let us get hurt." After saying that, Jinhee glared at Seunghae and said, "And besides. I put up with your bitch of a sister breaking my Oppa's heart, so you better be quiet and behave before I take it out on you."

A tense silence.

Seunghae glaring at Jinhee, and Jinhee glaring back.

But eventually, Seunghae clicked her tongue and averted her gaze. "...Whatever. You're lucky Unni asked me to do this too."

"Sure. Whatever makes you feel better, Brat."

Seunghae bristled and said, "You're only a year older than me!"

"Age doesn't determine if a brat is a brat. Brat."

"You...!"

Footsteps echoed from the nearby stairwell. Shortly after, someone sighed and said, "It seems that Jihu left yet another mess for us to clean up."

A mature and composed male voice. Elderly, but with age instead of frailty.

Shortly after, an old man wearing a sharp blue suit and a matching fedora stepped out from the stairwell. With a suitcase in his left hand, he seemed like a senior executive or chairman from one of those fancy conglomarates.

Glancing at Claire, the old man smiled and said, "I'll take it from here, Miss Claire-"

"Miss Agnes."

"...Miss Agnes." The old man let out an amused look and said, "For now, just go help Sora out in prepping the ingredients. Ah, and forget about the booth." He looked back at Jinhee and said, "I think it's better to have this sort of discussion in an open place rather anyway."

Claire paused and then nodded. "As you say, Grandpa Maldong."

The old man, 'Maldong,' clicked his tongue and said, "All of you girls keep calling me that these days... Did Jihu put you up to it to make me feel even older?"

Claire just smiled and walked back into the kitchen.

Maldong shook his head and then adjusted the suitcase he held in his left hand. After that, he looked at the girls and said, "Well. Shall we begin with the explanation?"

xxx

Elysium's Headquarter in Eva. Jihu's office.

As usual, Hannah flipped through the various reports on the logistics surrounding the September Halfway Point as well as Elysium's general affairs.

Seora and Seohui had taken over the personnel management for the Neutral Zone and deploying manpower.

As much as Hannah loathed to admit it, they were definitely better at it than her.

Seora had a knack for picking out areas in a project where more people were needed, and Seohui had a knack for uncannily assessing the strengths and weaknesses of individuals.

Together, they made a terrifying team that could probably run up to the Parasite Queen's castle and give her a blow to the back of the head with a group of less than ten people.

Of course, they wouldn't do that.

After all, Hannah's beloved husband was apparently so charming that the former Sinyoung flowers had shifted their entire worldview to revolve around him.

Would this be useful to Jihu, would Jihu be mad about this, etc.

'Devoted' would be putting it nicely. 'Insanely dependent' would be more accurate...

But Hannah decided to let it be. While she was used to talking with crazy bastards, she wasn't about to poke a hornet's nest when she didn't have to.

Anyway.

The personnel and staffing of the Halfway Point was being handled. Those sisters were also handling coordination with the Triads and Sicilia in how they were going to arrange the Invited and Contracted across the various areas.

Less work and headaches for Hannah, which she appreciated.

Ian and Arbor Muto were working together in making new prizes to restock the VIP shop as well since Jihu had pretty much cleared it out last time.

Really, the gods were supposed to be the ones doing that. But the last time Hannah stopped by a temple to rant at Gula about Jihu, she got told that the gods couldn't really help much more at this point because of all the shenanigans Jihu pulled.

Hannah should have been surprised. After all, while not almighty, the gods definitely had at least enough pull and authority to do things in the isolated Neutral Zone...

But apparently Jihu had messed that up.

Something or another about repurposing a fragment of divinity from both the Tutorial and the Banquet making causing bugs in the design that they needed to patch up.

Honestly. The troubles never ended with that guy.

Hannah slumped over her desk and groaned. "Why did I marry that guy again anyway?"

She knew what she was getting into. She had said it over and over again that his wife would be in deep shit cleaning up after his messes.

...Oh yeah. It was because she got swept up in his sincere promise to treat his wife well, clear eyes when he said he'd fight through hell to bring her back if she died, and the fact that he was hot as hell.

Hannah didn't think she was a vain person...

Okay. Maybe a bit.

But she didn't think she was the sort to fall for looks.

Then again, when those looks were combined with an idiotic habit of giving so much without a second thought, as well as sincerity...

Not to mention in bed-

"Ugh." Hannah sat up and slapped her cheeks. "Focus, Hannah."

There was still a lot to do. The Halfway Point was only a week away now.

Grandpa Maldong had been doing a great job easing Jihu's sister and her friends and couching everything as a top-secret clearance job with tons of NDAs in place.

Apparently, Yoo Seunghae was still super suspicious about everything, but Seonhwa was working on settling that.

And speaking of Seonhwa...

Hannah checked the clock on the wall and said, "That woman should be here soon, right?"

It was almost noon and time for Hannah's lunch break. The sacred hour where she was going to drop everything work-related and relax before going back to the grind.

But Seonhwa- No, 'Baek Haeju' said that she wanted to talk about something with Hannah.

So that hour would be cut short a bit... But she also said that she would be bringing food.

That, plus the fact that Hannah still felt a bit guilty for Seonhwa losing Jihu when she was once first in his heart, made Hannah relucatantly allow it.

After all, Hannah could relate a bit. If Flone hadn't intervened, everything would be a mess right now with Jihu.

Ah. And that was something else she needed to follow up on.

Flone said that she wanted to offer some parts of her dowry as rewards in the Neutral Zone as well, so Hannah needed to catalog that and shuffle the shops around once the final list of things came back from Ian and Muto...

A soft knock on the door to the office, followed by a soft female voice. "Can I come in, Hannah?"

Hannah pulled open a drawer and cleared away her desk, shoving all the papers inside.

It'd be a mess to clean up later, but that was a problem for future Hannah.

After shoving it closed, Hannah sat up and said, "You can come in, Miss Haeju."

The door opened. Shortly after, a cold beauty wearing a thin veil and white martial robes walked in.

Baek Haeju, the Sacred Empress in Paradise. Also Yoo Seonhwa, Jihu's childhood friend and first love on Earth.

She closed the door behind her as she walked in. After that, she took a look around and said, "It seems that you've been busy."

Hannah glanced at the various stacks of paper that were definitely not her problem left on the other desks. After that, she shrugged and said, "It's just the usual burden of running an organization."

And the result of having their leader MIA in an important time like this.

But that lovable bastard wouldn't have left if he thought they couldn't handle it, so...

Dammit. It was at times like these that Hannah wished she could just hate the guy...

Seonhwa let out a small smile and said, "Then I hope this will help you relax a bit." She pulled a chair over to sit across from Hannah. After that, she reached into the air and pulled out a steaming pot of coffee, a plate of fresh pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage links.

Hannah raised her eyebrow and said, "Did you bring that from Earth?"

Seonhwa nodded as she started serving everything. "I've been practicing some Western breakfast food since Jihu likes it now. It's still a work in progress, but I hope it's fine." After saying that, she poured a cup of coffee for Hannah.

Hannah took it and said, "Breakfast for lunch is a bit weird... but it's better than the weird things that Eva's cafes have, I guess."

Seonhwa nodded and said, "True. Although, sometimes what's at hand is better than what you're familiar with..."

Hannah paused and said, "Are you implying something, or...?"

"Oh." Seonhwa shook her head and said, "No. It's just been on my mind, I suppose."

"Is that so?" Hannah sipped on her coffee.

Seonhwa didn't respond, instead focusing on plating the food.

Seeing that was the case, Hannah just waited, watching Seonhwa work.

It was strange.

Initially, Hannah thought that Seonhwa was the reason Jihu's life spiralled into a mess.

It wouldn't be the first time that a relationship falling apart led to a person resorting to gambling in a self-destructive cycle.

But from how Seonhwa had been acting, and from the times Hannah interacted with Seonhwa, that couldn't be the case.

Setting the persona of Baek Haeju aside, it was clear that Seonhwa was a caring, gentle, and kind young woman. Like Jihu, she also seemed to be the sort to hold her heart on her sleeve.

And yet, Jihu had tossed that person aside.

It made Hannah wonder if there wasn't something she was missing. Something that Jihu wasn't telling her about his past with Seonhwa...

"Something on your mind, Hannah?" Seonhwa pushed a plate of food to Hannah and set a wrapped pack of silverware next to it.

Hannah didn't grab it right away. Instead, she stared at Seonhwa for a bit longer before nodding. "Yes. You."

"Excuse me?" Seonhwa blinked and said, "Me?"

"Mmhm." Hannah took her food and unwrapped her silverware. "I'll wait for a bit though. You said you had something you wanted to talk with me about?"

Seonhwa took her own plate of food and then nodded. "Yes. I was wondering if you knew when Jihu would be back. There's something that I wanted to confirm with him about us."

Hannah started cutting her pancake and said, "If it's about whether he likes you, he definitely does. Even if he's being an ass about it right now."

Seonhwa shook her head. "It's not that... but thank you for letting me know. Instead..." She frowned and said, "...It's about the time I was overseas and what happened then."

Hannah paused in the middle of cutting her pancake and looked at Seonhwa. "...Is this something you should be telling me?"

Seonhwa let out a wry smile and said, "Well. You're his wife, aren't you? It would be rude to go behind your back about this."

Hannah blinked and then chuckled.

Seonhwa tilted her head, confused. "...Is something funny about that?"

"No. Just... I knew there was a reason I liked you." Hannah smiled and ate a piece of her pancakes. After swallowing, she said, "It's refreshing to have someone straightforward in addressing stuff about Jihu instead of going behind my back."

Seonhwa frowned. "...The other girls are doing that?"

Hannah waved her hand and said, "It's nothing big. At least, not like what those crazy Yun sisters did with the forged marriage certificates overseas. But anyway..." She set her silverware down and sipped on her coffee again. After that, she said, "Jihu probably won't be back for a while. He's doing a Divine Stigmata trial or something for the gods and said he'd probably meet us at the Tutorial."

"What?!" Seonhwa slammed her hand against the table and stood up. "The Divine Stigmata? Jihu!?"

Hannah blinked and said, "Is something wrong about that?"

"How long has it been?"

Hannah frowned and said, "Probably a week? But why?"

Seonhwa's eyes widened and she said, "And he hasn't come back yet?"

"No. Like I said, Jihu told me he'll- H-Hey!"

Before Hannah could get another word in, Seonhwa was already heading towards the door. "Miss Haeju!"

Seonhwa grabbed the door handle.

"Seonhwa!"

She paused and glanced back at Hannah.

Hannah stood up and frowned. "What's got you all riled up? Is the trial really that dangerous?"

Seonhwa paused to consider it. "...No. But..." She bit her lips for a moment and then said, "When I went through it, I took seven days in Paradise."

"Oh. So then Jihu should-"

"But in the trial, those seven days were seventy."

Hannah paused. "...Is that such a big deal? More time is better, isn't it?"

Seonhwa frowned, thinking about it. "...I suppose. And if Jihu is really that person, then it might help. But..."

"Hold on." Hannah narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean 'that person?'"

Seonhwa froze and then let out a deep sigh. "It's... complicated."

"Yeah, like everything else in my life since Jihu showed up." Hannah crossed her arms and said, "You said I'm Jihu's wife and that you wanted to respect that. So tell me. What do you mean, 'that person?'"

Seonhwa hesitated and then turned around, walking back to Hannah's desk. She took her seat again and said, "I'm still not sure. That's why I wanted to talk with Jihu first. But... Um." She looked at Hannah and said, "Did Jihu ever tell you about the first time we broke up?"

"...First time?"

"Yes. You see..."

xxx

Pain. Frustration. Irritation.

At some point, that bastard Sung Shihyun had tossed his sword over for me to use while he grabbed a stick instead.

It was a cocky and arrogant maneuver. Because of that, I wanted to cut him apart to teach him a lesson.

But I couldn't.

Not because I didn't want to, but...

"See?" Sung Shihyun casually stopped the sword slash I made with all my might. His stick tapped my blade and stopped it in place.

I growled and pushed forward, trying to overpower him. But it didn't work.

"Come on. Are you really not anything without your innate abilities? I thought you were supposed to be smart?"

Sung Shihyun chuckled and then flicked his wrist.

My sword felt like it was going to be wrenched out from my hands. Not only that, but wrenched away and used to stab my head.

But I was expecting that. Instead of resisting, I took a step back and spun with the momentum to slash at the bastard.

"There we go!" Sung Shihyun laughed and stepped back, avoiding the slash. "Only took you a million deaths and seven thousand days, but you can finally reach my toes."

What a fucking piece of shit.

I could understand why everyone hated that bastard despite his apparent skills now.

Cocky, arrogant, but annoyingly skilled as well.

Right now, he was just using swordsmanship.

But it was a fucking crazy ass swordsmanship that I didn't understand at all.

No, I vaguely understood it.

The way he fought was similar to how I used my blade after I activated Transcendent Insight properly to fix up my skills.

It was similar but different to Sora's swordsmanship.

Sora was one with her sword, letting her move it like a natural extension of her body. Not only that, but she was able to incorporate various things into it, like magic and whatever.

But that fucker Sung Shihyun was even crazier.

Whatever he grabbed turned into a blade. A piece of grass, a stick, a stone... even the freaking air.

Not only that, but he seemed to be able to sense and control the area around him as well.

The number of times my blade should have chopped that damned head off or stabbed his heart only to be twisted aside...

"Cursing me in your head isn't going to help, you know?" Sung Shihyun set his stick over his left shoulder and said, "The only way you're getting to the next trial is if you can show me something original. The only thing you've been doing so far is copying, you know? And a copy can be copied again."

"Just shut the fuck up and let me think, you bastard."

Sung Shihyun laughed and said, "Sure. Seems like you need it." He immediately flopped down on the ground and laced his fingers behind his head. "I'mma take a nap. When you're ready, try to stab me or something."

True to his word, the moment he closed his eyes, that bastard went straight to sleep.

I was tempted to chuck my sword at him, but it'd be pointless.

Instead, since I finally got a proper breather, I took the time to think.

First, this was a trial. That meant that I was supposed to pass an objective here.

If I remembered right, Seol's trials were meant to refine his mindset, personality, and clear his inner demons.

I doubted it was the same for me, but I could use that as a basis to analyze the situation.

First of all... I was being too reckless.

Like that status message showed, that trait of mine had changed to just rush head in.

That wasn't good. But it also showed my true nature.

From the way things unfolded, and from the fact that this was a realm of the soul instead of a real tangible place, it meant that I didn't actually have much 'substance' to my core.

And now that I thought about it, that made sense.

From the start, I'd just been going along with Seol's life. Not only that, but I'd just assumed that all the powers and abilities I got were 'mine.'

And while I wasn't wrong, I wasn't necessarily right either.

Because I didn't define who 'I' was.

Didn't I realize it from the start?

When I had first looked at my reflection with those eyes in my room...

---

[Seol Jihu?]

The redeemed son.

Self-proclaimed bastard.

A person who doesn't belong.

---

I thought it was describing 'me.' And it was.

But those sentences weren't describing the same person.

The redeemed son... If I remembered correctly, Sung Shihyun had only defected because his mother was killed. After that happened, he became the worst bastard in the world.

But here that bastard was doing his best to help me train. And from the fact that he showed up here, that meant he had been here for a while.

Then, the Self-proclaimed bastard... It 'could' describe Sung Shihyun. But he would never declare himself a bastard with that ego of his. Instead... Right. Blackie, or rather 'Future Seol' definitely called himself that. A bastard who ruined everything he had with his own hands.

That was how he perceived himself, meaning that the second line was about 'him' who had been in the body with me.

But the last line there. 'A person who doesn't belong.'

...Right. The only odd one out.

The person that didn't belong in this story. The 'me' that I had neglected and just decided to not think about.

Assumptions that ended up making an ass out of me at this point.

"Hoh?" Sung Shihyun cracked an eye open and said, "It looks like you figured something out?"

I raised my sword again- No. I raised Sung Shihyun's sword again.

White Fang. A white long sword that once killed the former Executor of Pride and almost killed another Executor.

It was strong, but it was also something replaceable. He just happened to use it because it was the most durable blade that could take his attacks without having to think about the compensating for the impacts.

Sung Shihyun grinned and jumped to his feet. "Great. Looks like I can finally kick it up a notch." He raised his stick as well before saying, "Don't disappoint me anymore, Kid."

'Kid.'

A patronizing name and attitude. But in truth...

A flicker of a memory.

Waking up in a place I didn't remember with a name and face that wasn't mine.

But also not Jihu's.

Instead...

I shifted my stance. Instead of holding the sword loose at my side and copying that guy, I took a step back with my left foot and pointed my sword up.

"Oho." Sung Shihyun smiled and said, "Finally using proper stances huh?"

I didn't respond. Instead, I focused on the flickering memories slowly coming back with my realization.

[Synthesis Blade (Lowest) is drawing the disparate parts into a whole.]

[Due to the nature of the surroundings, partial memory restoration is successful.]

[A fragment of your past has been recalled.]

["Pride comes before the fall. Was that why this happened? At least I should be grateful I have another life, even if it isn't really mine."]

...It didn't make sense. None of this did.

But I had a clue. And I knew that I would get more as I advanced in these trials. So...

[Your Aptitude is tempered by self-reflection. Well-Read has changed to Innovative.]

Copying wasn't enough. And it didn't matter if I knew how something worked if I couldn't make it my own. So...

[Innate Ability <Chaotic Resolution> is tempered by self-reflection. <Creative Spark> has emerged.]

I ignored the messages popping up in my vision, instead focusing on my opponent.

I understood the scope of his powers. After all, it was what I had been using this entire time.

That was why I was losing. As much as I thought I knew how to use it, that guy knew it better since it was 'his.'

I might have been an excellent copycat who improved on it a bit, but the core had been the same. Like playing music from a score with the only changes being tempo and dynamics.

I couldn't beat him like that. And even if I did, I was certain that the Sung Shihyun outside would be able to take my improvements and use them as his own.

So.

Instead of playing the same song and dance, I had to reinterpret it.

<All as One> had been built upon <One With Nature>. The core was integrating disparate parts and treating it as an extension of the body. Absolute harmony.

Sung Shihyun could do it because his arrogance was enough to dominate the world around him.

I had been able to do it because I was already subconsciously integrating various powers, memories, and identities.

Right.

The 'me' right now was a cobbled mess of various pieces that had been covered up with the name 'Jihu.'

It was fine on the outside, but a jumbled mess on the inside.

The fact that I was 'Jihu' wouldn't change. But the basis of who 'Jihu' was...

Part of that was Sung Shihyun. Part of that was Seol.

And the missing piece...

[Innate Ability <Conceptual Manipulation> is restored by self-reflection.]

A person who doesn't belong.

Someone not from this world or even reality.

...Yeah.

This was supposed to be the Second Coming of Gluttony because I had become Seol Jihu.

It could arguably be the First of Vainglory due to that cocky Sung Shihyun tagging along with us.

But...

[Your Level of Cognition is changing due to your self-reflection.]

[Empty/Lost/Karma has changed into Void(One who can be filled with countless aspects)/Determined/Vainglory(Everything begins from unwarranted pride)]

...This wasn't their story.

A slash of pure white. One that bent, refracted, and cut through the space in front of it.

Sung Shihyun immediately moved before I could and attacked with a ridiculous attack that allowed no escape or counter.

But.

[Class Ability <Synthesis Blade (Lowest) combines the disparate fragments of your soul.]

[Class Ability <Timeless Love> reacts.]

[Class Ability <Affectionate Temperance> reacts.]

[Innate Ability <Creative Spark> reacts.]

[Innate Ability <All as One> has been retrieved.]

[Innate Ability <All as One> is tempered by self-reflection.]

[<All as One> has become <All is One>]

I swung my sword.

The white slash that should have torn me apart shattered. The stick in Sung Shihyun's hand exploded.

And as for the guy himself...

"Fuck!"

His right hand was cut clean off.

"Dammit! Fuck you, causality! Just because my dumbass past self got his hand cut off doesn't mean I should too! Fuck!"

I didn't lower my guard.

Although it looked like I got some of my abilities back, I was still in the trial. Not to mention... I felt weird.

There was a sort of mental haze going on right now, so if I wasn't careful-

A low chuckle echoed from behind.

I reflexively swung my sword only to get it parried by a crimson spear.

Black Seol... No. To me, he was just 'Seol.'

Seol smiled at me and said, "Congrats. Looks like you managed to sort out who you are a bit."

I lowered my sword and nodded. "A little. Doesn't change the fact that I'm living 'your' life, but I'm starting to remember who 'I' was at least."

"Good, good." Seol nodded and said, "Then..."

A perfect spear slash without any flaws swept towards my neck.

My eyes widened and I moved to parry it.

And my sword connected. White Fang brushed against Seol's crimson spear, knocking it aside.

But the spear suddenly swerved like a snake and pierced my heart.

I froze, staring at Seol's face in shock.

He chuckled but looked at me with cold eyes. "That's for hurting Seonhwa. Now... get ready. It's my turn to kick your ass you dense motherfucker."